Ari

Happy birthday Knight! With many returns!

OOC thread for A dark avenger of the night, a knight from another world, and a lightning-flinger deal with some chivalric shenanigans.

GM 8.25 PM, March 4, Tuesday, 2014. Waterside Bayview, corner of McCulloh & Grant Freedom City's three-hundred and eighty-third year had slid into its third month without much incident. The few rumbles in January and February had been largely relegated to within the super-set, the first anniversary of 2013's tragic event had come and gone with somber remembrances, and the world's far-off turmoils seemed especially distant as snow blasted through New Jersey, few things seeming as important as the by now much-loathed storm. But there were always those looking to exploit the misfortune of the innocent, and the icy march of winter did little to deter them. Luckily, there were also those willing to step forward and defend the guiltless, and a little snow didn't stop them either. Polarity, Solvrytter and Nevermore had found a good waiting place on their roof, between two mighty fans whose housing blocked the howling north wind and stood tall enough to catch most of the snow that didn't blow over it, leaving a more or less bare and windless spot. The rooftop business wasn't particularly necessary, most Freedonians and foreigners huddling by without the customary glances up, but tonight was their first one out as a group. That and the area along the river had become a bit of a trouble-spot. Rumors had spread about a gang with unusually advanced technology on the edge of Bayview. There weren't many of them, but their mark, a sleek stylized silver dragon, was spreading quickly, and the scorches on walls and loss of power on streets during their most recent fights with the encroaching Los Diabolos Rojos were making them an increasingly dangerous nuisance. That would have been reason enough for the new generation of supers to be there, but it wasn't the only reason. Headmaster Summers had mentioned at his and Aleksander's last meeting that while self-sufficiency was important, every crime-fighter needed allies. He'd dropped a casual hint about two students Nevermore might want to get to know, and while he didn't openly condone them testing themselves in the real world he did say it would be a shame if evil went unchallenged... They had been waiting almost an hour, and there was still no sign of the Dragons.

Thanks for that Sandman, edited for correction.. Breaker, The Crier, Mindsteel, Miras and Nevermore entries added.

Roi's eyes widened and his voice quavered "'HJ'? That cannot be anyone but Jack, but...Handsome Jack offered to help me, why would he try and get me for...this Olivetti man?" Sinking down onto the captain's bed, ignoring the creaking springs, the young man answered his own question. Suddenly that 'favor' Jack wanted of him didn't seem so light any more. "No...I am to pay his debt." Even for an arrival that had started off with finding a body that had once been his cousin, this was a bitter turn. Freedom City had shone from the harbor, a beacon after the weary days crossing the grim Atlantic, but somehow it was turning out just as cold and cruel as the ocean. Looking up at last, he asked Agnes "Angel, do you know where this Olivetti man could be? I think we should have a meeting."

GM The pair had come up to the lighted floor, and the formerly silent air was filled with the noise of cheerful conversation from voices that soundly just a little familiar to Joe's ears. Bursting into the room, Fielders waved grandly to the crowd of hard-looking men and women who had managed to cram themselves onto the floor, "Brothers! And sisters. This is Joe, he's gonna help us make a deal, and he's gonna do it the way we can't: calmly, and without shooting anyone." The chorus of laughter that followed was broken up with scattered "Nice to meet you!"s, and a few of the less hard-bitten ones came up to shake the newcomer's hand; but there was a clear divide between Joe Fielder's company and Joe Macayle. For the most part he was regarded with a little unease. With most of the ice broken, the security teams settled up against the walls of the main room, clearing the desks and waiting patiently. Before the first five minutes had passed, however, the clock above the bare reception desk chimed eight, and the door Joe had just passed through opened again. Two middle-aged women in business suits of exciting grey hues entered, pausing as they surveyed the assembly of muscle before them, and then proceeding to the table with four chairs set up in the middle of the main room. One of them with greying black hair and a severe expression began "On behalf of our clients, we're here to commence the negotiations for-" "Just a sec, ma'am" interrupted Fielders, the man stepping forward with a glint of iron in his suddenly very dark and cold eyes "Lemme lay something out first. We're through with the hackjobs and verbal contracts, nobody's leaving this room until my crew has something solid. And this guy," he gestured at Joe, waving him forward "is gonna mediate, he's here to make sure this is done right. His name's Joe, and he's like me but younger, with his life more together. But by all means," he spread his hands and smiled disarmingly, the blazing lights illuminating every white scar that lined his head, "continue." Blinking in surprise, the woman who'd spoken first glanced at her compatriot, who shrugged in mute empathy. "Very well, Mr. Fielders, Mr...Joe. We're here as representatives of our clients, the entrepreneurs Desmond Lettam and Bradley Raymond to negotiate a contract with your security company. I cannot say I blame your choice of words there, Mr. Fielders," she added gravely, putting on half-moon spectacles as she drew out a slim packet of legal documents from a briefcase "nobody likes the word 'henchman' these days." A rumble of sage agreements spread through the crowded room.

Really sorry to hear that, Moira! Here's hoping Sand recovers soon.

El Heraldo stared in brief confusion at the talking croc, before he lowered the Bandera and relaxed his posture a little. He kept a close watch on the creature though, knowing what was behind those shifted eyes. "Hail, Queen of Murk." he said with strained politeness "Dunno why I get called 'love', I don't remember that coming up much when...um...yeah. Anyway, on subjects that aren't likely to make me regret dating a ninja, we're here to make a deal." Cautiously, as he spoke Subito began slowly putting the Bandera into the ring on his jacket, keeping his eyes on the possessed animal "See, we kind of don't agree with that you're doing and want you to stop, and my friend here has something that might make you consider it." Stepping forward he glanced meaningfully at Young Britannia, eyes darting from her to Malaise. 'This is really not my strong suit, glad we don't have to fight but hopefully I won't have to do much of the talking If that is the case, then we need to get to work on it, my Herald! I suggest we start by going to some local debate clubs I've noticed around the city, and we can't neglect city politics! If you're going to become a diplomat then we need to look into study courses, try and make connections with some of the people in the Chamber of Commerce, you might have a good perspective considering the places you work...' For no reason either of the two women could see, Heraldo made a long-suffering sigh.

The Coast Guard vessel that received and sent out the uncanny call for help, the usually dauntless crew trusting to powers beyond the human, lost a passenger. Wave-Eye was used to resting against the hulls of boats, his finned head below the gunwales as he listened to idle human talk. It was pleasant, and something he quietly envied the busy mortals. A few times he'd tried to get involved, but that often ended in terror and disaster as his inhuman form rose into view, and once a nasty cut from a bullet. So around then the son of Chalchiuhtlicüe had been listening with a careful ear to the crackling radio, waiting patiently for something to come up he could help with. At the word 'ghosts' his ears had twitched upwards, and his fan-like hair stood up with alarm. Pausing just long enough to hear the coordinates, he dove into the water below with a faint splash, his tail lashing as it propelled him like a red arrow towards the endangered cruise liner! A chance glance upwards caught sight of a flying block of ice with a familiar coat flapping above it, and, grinning in relief and recognition, the triton changed course to better follow the witch-sighted girl.

Good luck Vahnyu! Hope things go as smoothly as they can.

Wave-Eye hangs out in the South River sometimes so as not to be wholly isolated from the people in the weird city he's supposed to be benefactoring, chances are good he and Temperance could meet there. Or else just hearing about it from hanging around Coast Guard vessels in case they stumble upon something.

GM Joe nodded, and started to lead the way inside, opening the front door with a rattle of the uncooperative key. "Alright. We're in good time, so I've got a second to give you a few more details." He began in a low, almost conspiratorial tone as the pair walked up the dimly-lit stairway, their booted feet echoing through the cryptlike offices they passed "Last month there was a big mess with my crews' last two jobs, just catastrophic. The clients, a tech firm and a chemistry group had this deal going on where they'd share resources, eye-ee us, between 'em, and we'd make sure neither got more than the other in terms of manpower, since their operations were pretty much the same size and risk level. See...it locked it behind me, 'course." Halting at a locked door half-way up the building, the older man grimaced to himself, a move that badly twisted his already craggy face, and pulled out the ring of keys again. Trying one and then another fruitlessly, he glanced apologetically at Joe "Sorry, doors and me are mortal enemies. Snapped the key to my own home three times this week. Gimme a second." sliding one it halfway, he suddenly hit the underside of the lock with a precisely-placed rap, grinning in triumph as it clicked and the key twisted neatly. Jiggling out the key and resuming the walk and talk, he seemed that much more at ease. "Anyway, both places came under fire, Foundry attack, you know how it goes. Suddenly the security systems are working against you, automatic doors trapping whole floors, bad stuff. But my teams have dealt with it before, and they were doing a pretty good job fighting back, waiting for STAR Squad and our friends in the sky to show up. Then the chemical leak started in the labs, pumped by the vent system through the whole building. It didn't do much to organic material, or they'd be dead, but it ate right through metal, including the guns and armor plates my teams use, and it destroyed their gas masks. Five are hospitalized from all the airborne heavy metals alone." For a few seconds Joe's jaw worked silently, his easy-going attitude cracking, then he smiled "They're tough bastards. They'll pull through. And the four from the roboticist's can keep 'em company with their own story. See, the company was working on AIs. Who isn't, right? Drones, automated defense installations, the future of war is lookin' pretty darn detached right now. So the boss gets this bright idea to hand some of his robot friends guns from our armory and join the fray. So they charge in, and start doing some real damage, seriously I was pretty impressed when I saw the footage. But there was a flaw in the boss's brilliant scheme. They were fighting the Foundry. With robots. You can guess how that went."

"We are honored to have been of service. May Poseidon's waves of earth and water crumble the strengths of your enemies." As a loyal son, Nochehuatl would have been glad to challenge the King of Earthquakes' claim, but among Atlanteans and in a temple it was plain even to him that then wasn't the best time for such posturing. Rising with surprising grace for such a massive creature, he wandered over to the Spider and Temperance, meeting their eyes with one of his. "Well, our work here seems done. The Sea King armies are potent, their magic more than enough for such as the Deep Ones, and I have no gold to trade for something from the markets. I say we depart." As he spoke, the triton glanced a little anxiously at the whirling red-veined water over the hole. Keeping things still wasn't something he really had much practice with, and an error now would be both embarrassing and dangerous besides.

El Heraldo 1 IC post. King of Suits Non-Canon: 1 IC post. 1 IC post. Osprey 1 IC post. 4 IC posts. Red Moon 2 IC posts. Wave-Eye 1 IC post. GM 1 GM post. 2 GM posts. 3 GM posts. 2 GM posts. 1 GM post. 4 GM posts.

After intense and high-stakes negotiations*, AvengerAssembled has agreed to be our Gamemaster. *asking in Chat.

Wave-Eye winced in quiet sympathy at Silver Spider's impact with the creature of murk. "Well hit" he gurgled approvingly, watching as it fell to slimy pieces "I doubt the Princes could do better in full harness. Now then!" Stopping down he grabbed the traitorous Atlantean around his waist and tossed the man over a mighty shoulder. Turning to go he saw the descending lance of water carving its way through the temple, and paused in midstep as he weighed the problem in mind. 'The lady...well, she seems of some old blood, but Temperance does not seem to have the strength for this yet, and the Spider has no sway over water. So the Red Wave must suffice' Sighing deeply he picked up the conch from his hip and put it to his tin lips, taking a deep breath as he summoned the power that hovered always just beyond his reach. With a roaring boom that crashed through the temple and reverberated through the very stones, the seawater hammering into the Atlantean marble suddenly paused and then swung upwards, coiling into itself until a large and slowly expanding globe of red-veined water swirled under the opening. Letting the shell drop to his side again the triton nodded "It will not hold forever, but it should hold for long enough" he rasped, sounding just a little proud "I think we shall soon have our answers." With that he marched off with enormous, plodding strides that carried him rapidly over the streaming slabs to the gathered watersingers, laying the unconscious form of the renegade magician to ground in front of the high priestess, before whom he knelt humbly.

Using the Conch device, switching to the Move Object(water) part of the Array, and using that to contain the seawater coming in through the broken shield.

...Well then. I ask your pardon for my forgetfulness there. And seeing as you already have some idea of where you want to go, that makes things a lot simpler. Second is pretty good back the basics choice, nothing commends it or detracts from it in any especial way. It's practical and useful without being very exciting or unique. One of the potential problems with your third choice is that while it's a neat twist on the 'all gods are Herakles' trend, and a good tie into how many demigods were portrayed in classical myth, it's pretty restrictive on what you can do with her. Unlike her old self you can't really be as effective as the dedicated fighters(even the unpowered Crimson Tiger has loads of Feats to mix things up), and while being superlative with Interaction Skills is excellent, the added immortal Powers on top of being at 24-ish in Abilities(even if a few) will cut down pretty far on what Skills she can take besides those. A Jack-of-all-trades can be handy, but rarely as much as a specialist is, to my understanding. Of course, if that's something you've already taken into account and all and this is redundant, I'm sorry for that. The first seems like a pretty good one, seeing as both her Olympian parents were all about swaying the wills of others, and would be pretty different from most godly PCs we have around here. Of course, even with a lot of Extras and Power Feats, Emotion Control can only do so much and go so far. What else did you have in mind for that option?

GM Christina nodded thoughtfully, finding a flattened rock to lay the map out on. "That's a good point. Guess we could all start on the east side and work our way around..." busily scribbling, she started the quick but tedious work of figuring out the best route through the mini-ravines that circled the dead castle. At Kimber's words the dust swirled up, and just for a moment the half-seen figure regained its form, only to collapse again into nothing sighing faintly. Then, a faint wind blew, and another shape took its place. Misty at first but soon gathering strength in the eyes of the watchers. This one showed an old man with dark skin and in ragged clothes, a hood over his head, lying on his back in the dirt as he examined the underside of a small but full and sturdy cart above him, a donkey tied to it chewing peacefully. Suddenly the donkey's ears shot up and with a noiseless bray dashed forward, sending the cart wheels crashing over the man's neck. Spasming once, the dead man's jaw ran with blood, working up and down horribly as he stared up at the sky, his eyes reflecting a dazzling sun before they slowly closed, and with a shudder he lay still. A dry whisper drifted into Ghost Girl's uncanny ears "You..can give..me..rest?" The silvery shape of the dead man turned to her, lifeless eyes opening again, full of hope "I would...give much for...that. Seen...many pass through this valley....do you look for one of them?"

That gets everything to be seen there. It's just one ghost, an old man, his neck broken when he was run over by his own cart.

GM Wharton State Forest was more than a mile away from Elaine Summer's home on shadowy Lantern Hill, but the uncertainty would have lasted even that short distance without the instant travel to keep it fresh. Somewhere in that tangle of ancient wood and leaf, where civilization melted away and the old world quickly took back its steely presence and endless quiet, was what they were looking for: a way to get to wherever the knight had vanished to. All woods humans had lived near seemed to have at least a trace of the Fey, the more tractless the better, and Crow and Blodeuwedd were anything but novices when it came to sussing out the habits of Otherwoirlders. The knight wouldn't dream of going very deep into the woods if he could avoid it, if nothing else to keep his armor clean and cut down on his commute. The problem was that there was no way to really know which half-formed portal, which weakened part of the great barriers he might have chosen to slip under. But guessing was a pretty good substitute for exact knowledge here, and there was a certain method to fleeing murderers. They tended to want to go to ground, hide below or behind things and people. And they'd chose the fastest way to get others between them and their hunters. The burrow they chose was in a stony overhang, an oak's roots framing it in a picturesque way that looked more painted or arranged than grown. The hole was far enough from the beaten track that it would have taken a long time to find if you didn't know exactly what you were looking for. Crawling into it wasn't too much fun, the dirt beaten down by a dozen arms and knees before them stirring up in their robes and hoods, the smell of moist earth all around; when they fell with a sudden tumble onto a sandy floor with a distant voice laughing in the darkness, echoing through the dimly-lit tunnels that opened before them, it seemed to have payed off. The small but very tough black mare munching hay in a corner seemed a solid clue as well. On the wall hung a simple set of steel horse armor scattered with deep scars, including one that looked uncomfortably like a deflected bullet. The cave Blodeuwedd and Crow found themselves in was just high enough for them to stand upright, surrounded by walls of root and earth, and lit like the tunnels beyond it by a blaze somewhere farther off. From what they could make out with their goggles and mask, something with pointed feet had walked in here a while ago with the horse, and strode off down one of the two passageways that appeared to curve around some central chamber. The laughter from elsewhere was joined by several other voices, each with the deep and throaty gurgling chuckle of Redcaps.

Requested an Arcane Lore check(so as find the passages in Wharton Forest from Earth to the Faery underworld) for Crow. DC20 lets him have a good idea where the most likely one is. Quinn took ten with a bonus of +10, so that's good!

'If you're slipping off, best do it fast' Osprey commented over the mental link, aloud he said, for the listening officer's benefit "What Ms. Britannia said. Turns out there's quite a bit that none of us knew was here. Rather you didn't risk your life getting impatient, sir." He didn't like the flippancy, but it was better that than rushing through things. Besides, it would put the man at ease if he heard it from more than one voice. Turning quickly to Dee he asked 'What now? I can have the turrets and trigger lasers properly out in not too long, if you'd rather wrangle with this...computer person than them. Still a fair bit that's unknown if there's much need for scouting, especially if they have a decent fridge. Small places hold big clues. Wait a tick...' "Mr. Cruxberry, while you're there, can you tell us how the Haven was supplied?"

GM "Great to hear it brother!" Joe's grin had gone from almost falsely beaming to thankful, and he raised his glass to Joe "I'll give you the address so we won't need to coordinate too much; it's a place on Kissinger, hard to miss..." That Saturday, 7.50 PM... The 'place on Kissinger' turned out to be a blocky brown office complex that proudly advertised the local firms and factories it did the paperwork for on a lit sign out the front. Most of the floor lights were already off, but the windows at the top still shone. Joe Fielders was waiting in the parking lot, sitting on the roof of a small yellow car that looked at least two decades old and hadn't so much as a speck of dust. He was smoking a stubby cigarette with a downright meditative air, apparently lost in thought. Despite the icy chill and the snow his only visible surrender to winter was a faded tan trench coat that looked like it had been dragged and beaten as much as worn. He had turned to watch the windows high above, and from the faint sound of his voice and the movement of his scarred lips Joe was talking to himself. The crunch of snow under the approaching superhero's feet jerked him out of whatever reverie he was in, and coming down from his perch the man smiled cheerfully at Joe, grinding out the cigarette under his boot as he hollered "Hey there, brother! Good to see ya, glad you're here. Let's head in and introduce ya, then get started, eh?" The stark lights made it hard to tell, but he almost seemed relieved.

GM "Another dimension?" Castle started back a little, the black river swirling around his feet, frowning as he looked her over once again "Ohhh...kay? Well, I dunno much about that, not real big into quantum mechanics ****, you know? But you seem pretty okay, so I won't hold your otherworldly past against ya. Still, I'd love to know what you call yourself, 'specially when you're not wearin' that cozy number." "Dunno what King'll say, that girl's hard to figure sometimes, but I can probably show you 'round Freedom, sure." With a shrug and a stamp of his foot, the black river swept out and under her feet with a faint chilling of the air...only to be burned away by a flare of light. Looking now deeply baffled, Castle motioned again, more gently this time, and the encroaching power was flung back again. Rubbing his chin thoughtfully the young man glanced back at the city below them. He glanced back from Agnus to the dully glittering skyscrapers below before coming to a decision "Ehhh...That's not too important I guess, you can fly anyway. C'mon, I'll give you a look around. Stay close!" He shot downwards gracefully, spreading his arms out and flinging himself into a swooping twirl as he fell, the black river a ribbon that dissolved behind him. Leveling out as he got closer to the ground, he slowed to call over to Young Britannia "We'll just stick to Riverside and Midtown for now, the rest of the Chessmen will be back in a couple of hours. If you're really from some other world, then..." he shrugged, turning upside-down just in time to evade a flagpole and righting himself with a cocky smirk "...you'll wanna talk to the dudes in the Boardroom.Our main base," Castle added at the patriotic paragon's questioning look "it's like some kinda future-barracks, even got a huge prediction machine! Hanks made it for us when we were first starting out. He's a hell of a guy, brilliant and wise and everything you'd want in a leader. You'll like him, all megas do." From the light in his eyes and the deep admiration in his voice, this was no mere hyperbole. The tour was relatively quick and uneventful. Castle was very ginger about getting too close to the public with another 'mega' in tow, especially one who seemed to defy a lot of his expectations. Young Britannia caught him glancing worriedly over his shoulder at her once or twice, but he was mostly at ease and eager to explain his world to the lovely visitor. "This is the Vigilance statue, commemorating the greatest man our world's ever seen! Some people say it talks whenever something big's about to happen. Dunno about all the dark steel, but it's a classic look. Not like the big guy would have wanted us to think he was all sappy, you know?" "The Graveman Building, supposed to have some kind of really secretive tests going on here, about aliens or something, that's why it's all closed off. Still, they're probably doing something good or they'd be shut down." "City Hall! All those frescoes with the eyes and masks on the walls, they were done in a single night. Nobody knows how or who did them, but anybody messes with them gets hurt, and hurt bad." Along the sweeping tour Agnus couldn't have helped but notice something odd: whenever they soared over an alley, shot past a window, wheeled above a humming street, she saw something. It was never there when she glanced back, but she knew she'd seen it. Somebody ducking out of sight. The city was darker than Freedom City was, the lights dimmer, the clouds thicker, even for her it was already a little hard to make things out when her guide pointed them out to her. "Aaaand here we are! The Boardroom!" sang out Castle as they dropped on the manicured front lawn of a stately manor where Freedom Hall was on her Earth. It was four stories high, with intricate ironwork around the windows and roof depicting stylized chess pieces, and a very gloomy look. "We should only have to wait about ten more minutes-" Suddenly the heavy checkerboard-patterned doors slammed open, and a slim young woman with a long red ponytail, wearing the same outfit as Castle save for a crown on her chest and a mask covering her face, marched through them up to the pair. Halting to give Agnus a cold glance she barked "Castle! What the %)@$ are you thinking?! Hanks is having a meeting in ten minutes and you drag your new girlfriend over here? Get inside!" Visibly stunned by this outburst, Castle waved his muscular arms furiously as he protested "Whoa, whoa there King! This here's a new mega, Britannia, claims she's from another universe! I was just gonna have her meet the guys and see if we could help her out!" King's silent stare was disbelieving and contemptuous enough that it sent a brief shiver down Agnus' spine, and made her guide visibly squirm. Fortunately, he quickly rallied, giving the woman an earnest smile and powering on "It can wait until after the meeting, we'll get the heads-up from Hanks and sort out what's going on later. She won't cause any problems while she's here, we might find something out that'll help us if this happens again, and we'll be following orders too. 'Look into any unknown variables', I think are the words in the charter, that right King?" he asked with a meaningful quirk of his eyebrows. The new arrival had slowly relaxed, nodding tersely at the final words "Yeah Castle, that's true. We'll...give her the benefit of the doubt for now. You" she pointed at Young Britannia "Don't make me regret letting you in. I'm King, leader of the Chessmen, and I don't trust you. Let's get inside." she added, turning to go back into the mansion "We don't want to keep Hanks waiting."