Ari

@Zeitgeist Blue That works, what happened is fairly obvious to Nicole's eyes. There's these round holes in their bodies as big around as a forearm. Whatever killed them punched right through their armor and drained their blood. Surprisingly, there's no sign of a struggle in the foyer or any blood left on the ground. They might have just been attacked too quickly to react, or else the bodies were brought here from somewhere else. Also, under the larger pile of stiffened husks, Nicole finds a trap door.

Congratulations @TheAbsurdist on one and a half centuries of hard work. Someday, somehow, we will pay you back. In full.

GM "...Uh, yeah, that's basically it." Cpt. Wrath blinked between the bizarre trio for a moment, his eyes squinting a little as he visibly tried to disbelieve what he was seeing. That failed and left him no other options. Waving to the four officers in armor noticeably splashed with the red half-moon of MarsTech and the starry eye of Ming Xi Visions(their chestcams were already sweeping the nation, just a few weeks after being introduced), Wrath barked "Let them in! If they ask for anything, give it to them! Give a hand for our new best friends!" For an eyeblink, as the loose and on-edge Munchkins tentatively applauded the force's salvation, a silhouette flickered in one of the windows over the foyer. They seemed to meet the heroes' eyes. The trio blinked. It was only natural. And with that, they were standing in the dark and lonely hospital. It was utterly silent save for a faint drip-dripping from the ceiling. It was just a room, nothing really wrong with it, besides the dead bodies in green and blue uniforms, that is. And the utter lack of any doors or windows. It was reasonably large for a hospital last remodled in 1907, nice mahogany desk running the right-hand wall stuffed with binders and racks of forms surrounding a computer and monitor that might be younger than the Amiga. There were some couches and chairs around a table generously decorated with books, hooks for coats, a basket for sticks and umbrellas, plaques and certificates running the oak walls in frames. Still no doors or windows, though. No smells, either.

@olopi @Sailor The people in the plane look like they're doing pretty well and not dealing with any kind of ear-splitting screaming directly into their brain. Which might actually be better than it travelling through the ear canal, but who knows? Nobody there is a medical doctor and while the pilot does have some experience with first-aid the finer details by necessity were not covered under his training. Really it's the obsession with productivity, with things being done now, this very instant, that's responsible for the greatest threats and atrocities of history. Which brings us to the weather. Nobody inside the cloud of psychedelia can really tell what's going on outside, but it's probably not great. That time of year on the west coast is often a miserable slog of grey and drizzling rain broken up by clouded days with chill winds. As for Sense Motive, Levity notices that the people aboard are more uneasy or wary than frightened or happy or truly neutral. The voice over the radio sounded perfectly sincere, if unclear. I apologize for forgetting Levity does not have that skill, Sailor. Arcane Lore indicates to Sha'ir that this dragon might be onto something. At present, nothing around them is strictly real. Not even his own senses are, precisely, worth trusting. Also this dragon might be one of the Chinese water dragons, the ones who manage the flow and change of the seasons and souls through the cycle of reincarnation. Why one is here raises rather serious questions. And this cloud, whatever it is, is some kind of personal Hell.

That hits and is high enough level to just work. For the next few hours there will be no eyes from here looking for her.

A very happy birthday to you, Sailor!

@Sailor There's no roll for slowing or stopping the Peregrine. But a Sense Motive roll wouldn't go amiss. As well, a Knowledge(Technology) roll would get something since she's been around defence contractor products for so long. @olopi Notice, Sense Motive, Knowledge(Arcane Lore)/(Philosophy, Religion) might be handy. DC10 Fortitude roll to avoid a -1 to future rolls.

GM The screaming steadily increased in pitch and volume as the Peregrine made its slow, steady way towards Flight 286, which in the kaleidescopic haze resolved only reluctantly into a solid grey-white mass. Flight 286 was unhurt and the duo could see the passengers pressing their faces against the windows, pointing and wondering about the bizarre sight of a sleek, futuristic jet crawling awkwardly towards them. "Do not be decieved" the dragon's breath was...muggy, like a waft from a swamp. Eerie in its stark contrast from the bloodless lightshow, the dragon's voice gurgled and rustled "You know the power of false appearances. There are no barriers here." Suddenly, the Peregrine's radio crackled unsteadily to life "2-6, w---door---open u-?" From the windows, the flight attendants could be seen beckoning and signalling to the doors placed along the plane's hull. The markings on the aircraft were in English, but the company and logo on the tailfin weren't anything even Anne had ever seen, something that might be a small or select outfit. An especially piercing wail sent tingles through the two heroes' bones, making Sha'ir's filling burn.

The cave's exterior was deceptively rustic, stark stone that cycled open without even a breath of inner air to reveal a sparkling, glistening metal wonderland burrowing into the Satellite's crust. Atraxia stood behind it, her shoulders hunched and head thrust out on a stalk-like, shriveled neck. Her helmet was off, so there was nothing to hide the lifeless blue eyes, withered flesh and the rows of needle-like teeth gleaming between rotted black lips. Her limp black hair curtained the nightmarish face. A skeletal hand held a slim silver wire to her neck, a strand touching Vortex's skin-tight suit. Her rasping voice echoed tonelessly into his ears. <"Enter. Good to meet another mindblind. Leave the meat at the door."> With that out of the way, Atraxia turned and flew deeper into the complex. She flew slowly, so Vortex could keep up. The mirror-like metal plating the walls, ceiling and floor let her surreptitiously watch her guest. She didn't get many, and even fewer of such distinction. <"The transpad can take us to any point on the Garden. Would you tell me all you know?"> Red Moon couldn't help but feel pretty certain that, if this really was so dangerous and important, she wouldn't have anything to do with it.

Sur-Gor's head, after the static and curt movements onboard the ship, swiveled and twisted as sharply as a bird's. Their icy eyes scraped the impromptu settlement for information, twitching to catch the smiles, the frowns, the weary slumped shoulders and galloping feet. The layout was very blatantly and methodically scrutinized, the Speaker of Dotrae stooping to examine the foundations of the buildings, rapping experimentally on the sides, even pulling a loose flake of metal off a support strut and popping it into their mouth, chewing as they followed their Goliath host. Entering into the middle of the circle, Sur-Gor dropped into a cross-legged seat on the ground. Inclining their bald grey head to the leaders of the refugees, the manymind's Speaker announcing "We wish only to understand and to aid. What biochemical dangers have you experienced in this part of the galaxy? Have you been attacked or threatened by anyone or anything since your arrival to our space? Do any of your number wish to link your consciousness to ours, to fill some gap of knowledge?"

"Sure! I've got good harki for when things are about to go wrong, no worry." Paris couldn't guess what the white whale was talking about, but the context made the meaning hard to miss. He glanced out to sea. Abe would know what she was talking about, though he did have his phone... No, not worth it. People think I'm an expert on Dragon's Daughter and I only know it from the memes.That can wait. "Glad to have you! Yeah, this kind of meetup isn't too usual, but Joy's is a little outta our price range." A slight pause "Not that I'd go there, I have a guy. A friend, I mean, we're not..." It was a relief when Sha'ir offered a lifeline "Well...jiggo, let's do it! Snap on, my good Shai-man" Salmon jumped to his feet and clapped his gloved hands together, rubbing them with a smile slightly hampered by the gaping fish face on either side of his own "Yeah, why not? What's the worst that could happen? I only saw it for a couple minutes and there's gotta be stuff there I'll never see when I'm working." The smile faded. "Spide-E, I love you, but you're not thinking about this right. Americana already has somebody more powerful than the Centurion in Lower Emerald. She's got mutants and aliens and all those bintas to choose from. Mars will take what he can get. If I try and press a deal with Americana, you think she won't just throw me out? Mars needs somebody who can smile and say some lines and is cool with mudslides and forest fires. I'd put up with more than that to get the suit he's promised." Paris had followed Warp's finger and stayed dead silent, staring at Emerald Tower. It was hard to keep every instinct he'd ever learned from his aunt Ellen from screaming over what Mars and Lan had told him just hours ago... "Me, Spide-E and Shai have seen a different face of Mars than anyone else, Warp. I don't know him well but I know what he wants. He wants metas on his side, he wants someone who doesn't mind advertising for one of the best tech companies on Earth and he wants an Emerald City kid in one of his suits." He pulled the mask back over his face. "But wouldn't hurt to check the place out, huh?"

Okay, first off: @Supercape Mr. Murk's result: @Tiffany Korta Emerald Spider's result: @Zeitgeist Blue Salvo's result: @Supercape Murk's Precognition has directed him to this city, with visions of consuming fire and a great shadow spreading from Bethlehem Heights to consume the Emeralds.

OOC thread for this thread. The ur-haunted house, go get that file! @Supercape @Tiffany Korta @Zeitgeist Blue Knowledge rolls, preferably Current Events, Arcane Lore, Technology and Pop Culture.

GM 1st January, 2018, 4.45PM Emerald City, Oregon, United States of America, Earth-Prime By the time everyone was where they had to be, night was already fallen. For those used to rising with the eastern Sun and seeing it vanish behind the distant western mountains, it was a faint shock to see that old stalwart's final moments, dragged slowly into the cold, grey mists of the Pacific. In its place a vibrant silver supermoon glared down, stark light reflected from the agless stone mirror. The world was light and shadow, the forbidding mass of the Elysian Forest brooding just beyond the flashing police lights and the searchlights of the near-noiseless choppers and drones hovering overhead. By comparison, the horror show that had burst into being that morning was a comforting reminder of normalcy. Never a very large building, or more than meekly grand, Bethlehem Heights Mental Hospital & Historical Society crouched atop its high and lonely hill like a forgotten child of the gleaming silver-green metropolis just a mile away. What remained of its classic Young Victorian design was covered in spiked and grisly chains that gleamed in the ruddy light spilling from the occluded windows. Only its front door was open, and then just a crack, revealing nothing. If you listened, very hard, the sea breeze coming in off the bay sounded remarkably like you were shrieking in purest agony. At 7.28AM, Pacific time, Mayor Amanda Talbot had made a general call for assistance on national television, radio and internet channels. The directness and candor of it had been a surprise, referring to a "deadly paranormal entity" that "has already claimed the lives of twelve dear friends in the Emerald City Police Department." Usually, you couldn't even get a straight answer about where all the homeless people kept vanishing to. Captain David Wrath, sweaty and wide-eyed, greeted them at the edge of the police cordon, stepping through the simple holographic "tape" to give them a fervent handshake. He was a big man, built like a bison with a mustache like a square bracket, but at that time under that cold cosmic stare, he looked as small as could be. "Wrath, ECPD, do you know what this is?" He pointed one brawny arm covered in carbon fiber armor at the dismal thing silhouetting dozens of officers in the blue and green of Columbia's Keenest. The low brick wall that wouldn't keep out a determined cat was more than enough of a barrier for the people milling behind it. "That place took twenty of us before we pulled back at 5 this morning. They walked in, and...just vanished. Not even a scream over the radio. Gone." Wiping his steaming forehead to spread the sweat more evenly, the police captain said "Tried to scan through the walls, blew out the truck. Tried to use echodrones to get a sonic picture, shot the waves back so hard they shattered the things. Please, if you can figure out anything..." he shook his head "I can't go tell Mitsy Shin's not coming back and I don't know why. Even if it's demons or something, I gotta know."

@ThevshiHey Thev, doesn't Hyperslice cover the Martial Artist niche along with the Speedster one?

DC22 TOU check: 16. Bruised and Dazed, I believe.

And we have our party. It will start forthwith, watch this space!

@Zeitgeist BlueThanks for your interest, Geist! Which you have ti work with depends on you, but I do recall you saying several times you wish you had more chances to actually USE Nicole's suit, and since this is a thinly-veiled Silent Hill/Resident Evil riff, would be entirely fitting for horrible monsters in need of annihilation.

Bethlehem Heights Psychiatric Hospital has served the mentally ill of the greater Columbia Basin with compassion and skill that has gone largely unrecognized outside of the professional medical world, thanks largely to being located in the conspiracy theory capital of the USA. For close to two and a half centuries after its founding 'Bedlam Heights' has been dogged with rumors of monstrous malpractice and evil government experiments, demonic influence and even psychic tampering with patients. Not helping matters is its use as a convenient place to shuffle inconvenient relatives, spouses or co-workers. No matter how diligently the hospital and its beleaguered legal staff uncover and expose fraudulent doctors, forged medical papers and suspicious court orders, public opinion remains firmly against the ill-funded and decaying institution, which hasn't been in the black since 1971. Now, the rumors appear to have come true. On New Year's Day, 2018, dawn revealed a dramatic shift to the staid Victorian manor on its high, lonely hill. The building is wrapped in spiked chains, the walls splattered with blood, an eerie red glow emanating from indoors and the faint sound of screams coming from somewhere inside. Its staff and patients are trapped inside, hopefully alive. Emerald City, Oregon's Mayor Amanda Talbot has given an open call to anyone who can help find out what's going on, why, if it can be stopped, how, and what it will cost them to do it. WHO: 2-3 PL8-12 PCs, of any sort. Preferably magical, but doesn't have to be. They will be joined by the Nightwatchman, a mysterious NPC whose mysteries are unknown. WHAT: Depends on how they approach the building and the interests of the players. WHERE: Emerald City, on the Oregon side of the Columbia delta, a bustling and colourful mini-metropolis majorly influenced by steady Asian immigration, whose burgeoning reputation as a center of technological development and application is well-earned. Like if a US Vancouver had some of Silicon Valley.

Hyperslice would be happy to volunteer, though she might suffer strained loyalties due to seeing entirely too much of herself in this definitely on-the-level upsetter of an intrinsically exploitative and unjust status quo.

Welcome back! I'm still here. After January starts will have school, but a relatively light load and no work to drain every ounce of energy. Will be glad to help you get more things rolling Thevshi.

Salmon hurtled to his feet at Sha'ir's sudden appearance, but flopped back to the roof with a groan. "Oh, hey there, Spells. Please stop giving me heart attacks. Yeah, I've been thinking about this ever since the hospital, back last year when Fastcat showed up." The Emerald Cities' first home-grown supervillain's bizarre name had quickly shortened in the passage of time. Mostly from lobbying by the retro freaks who had thoroughly colonized the comment sections of any periodical that dared raise its head on either side of the Columbia. That and, even though nobody had seen her since her mysterious escape from police custody en-route to the city jail, it was kind of a mouthful to tell people you were being attacked and/or robbed by a speedster with such a long name. The really out-there theorists were claiming the government had given her that name for just such a reason. Waving aside that long-cold case, Salmon grabbed the box of noodles and upended around half of the steaming mess into his mouth. It was several seconds of noisy, slurpy chewing before he spoke again. "Please give my compliments to the chef, Spide-E, and tell them I am at their service for all time." he said around a mouthful of grain and spices, rolling onto his back to stare up at the sky "And I know what Max is like. We've all seen his other face. He just wants supers on his side to protect him and his business. But...that's not wrong. There's a bunch of supers over on the East Coast who have other supers as security and lab assistants and stuff, if the Ghost's not talking cuss. And-" Salmon found himself staring up at what wasn't a familiar face, but the cause for a very familiar phenomenon. The Outsider. Dragoneye had detected a new power in the Emeralds, one who could walk through the void as easily as walking through a doorway, who brought the chill of endings and the red darkness of a butcher's cleaver with every step. Inside, Salmon thanked his lucky stars that he was lying down and(mostly) wearing a mask. It made concealing the waves of raw terror a lot easier. Careful. Tip-toe. You'll get used to this in no time. ---------- "Evening, stranger!" a lanky kid in a weird, Coast Salish art-derived costume waved from what was presently the floor. "I was just telling these fine people that I've decided to sign up with Mr. Mars. Always wanted to find out what's up at the top of that tower of his," another hand, one holding a very-much-depleted box of noodles, waved at the distant gleaming shard of emerald glass that was the Emerald Tower of Emerald City, Oregon. "Name's Salmon, but call me Ishmael. The fine shou in the high-tech suit is Emerald Spider, our city's loveliest and first heroine. The glowy-eyed shon in the robes is my main man Sha'ir the Spellsmith. What d'you call yourself?"

@olopi Combat: Sorry, that's from an earlier iteration. Fixed. Saves: That was from an earlier iteration when they were +2 Toughness -2 Defence. Fixed. Powers: That bit in Regeneration is just a mistake. Fixed. Sorry for the huge delay, Olopi.

I'd like to offer my Red Moon for this one. I have several points to put into the ship with them, and frankly they aren't much use on this Earth anyway.

There was a sound of scrabbling, a whirr of movement, and suddenly a young man in a torn green, black and orange costume was rolling over the edge of the roof and flopping like a sack of potatoes onto the smooth, blessedly solid procrete. Salmon took a few gulps of air before managing a husky "Hey, Spide-E." It had been a whirlwind of a day, and one Paris was still trying to fit into any kind of logic he understood. First had come the invite to Emerald Tower, to meet Max Mars and the "friends" he was bringing in from Tokyo and Singapore, even some from distant Freedom City. All to help make good on his promise from last year's Christmas party. This isn't right. I'm not some oru who thinks it's all glitz and glamour. I know what it's like to be a corp-hero. I won't...if I go through with this, I won't have my own life back even after I die. "Do I want to run forever?" Though he said it aloud, it was obviously not aimed at Emerald Spider. That was the crux of Mars' argument. Frankly, on Paris it wasn't a hard sell. Rolling into a cross-legged seat next to Spider, Salmon said, without preamble, "I'm going open, Spide-E. A new name, a new identity. I'm going to work for Mars." The rest of the day....actually, now he thought about it, the rest ofthe day was kind of a blur. He'd sort that out later,