GranspearZX

As discussed in chat, Crusader's going to move, Surge for an extra action, and CdG. Did I still need to make an attack roll, or can I use my last one?

! Forgot about Power Attack. Yeah, just in case. :)

Arcturus gave a slow, solemn nod. He hadn't expected the conversation to go quite this well, and he certainly wasn't expecting to have given the speech he gave about balance. It was the first time in a long time that he felt as if the Beast Rune had actively backed off of pressuring him both mentally and physically... All that reading and theorizing had, in fact, paid off. He couldn't help but be a little bit proud of himself. He knew, however, that he wasn't quite finished yet. “I’d be honored to accept the invitation.†The whole truth was that there was something odd about the young prince that still held Arc’s interest. He wasn’t sure if it could be called dangerous, but referring to himself as ‘we’ always was a sign of some sort of strange magical shenanigans—THAT, unfortunately, he couldn’t simply ignore… even if this was a simulation.

Crusader is--for the moment--all punching things, so he goes with that: Attack Roll: (1d20+10=26)

How the heck are you gonna hold that thing still?! Crusader certainly agreed, however; their blows were having very little effect, and short of somehow dropping a house on the beast, he wasn't sure how to bring it down. He merely nodded as the other man spoke, pausing only for a moment when the card flew through the air and transformed into a large metal coil that snapped shut around the Ultragoblin's body. ...oh. That's how. "Wow. Nice trick," he complimented, continuing his forward rush toward the now immobilized goblin. Crusader spurred himself onward to pick up even greater speed, using the momentum to take a short leap and nail the monster in the face with a shield-aided forearm to the side of its head.

Arcturus Eight Minutes to Sunrise (2) Last Stop (3) Two's Company, Four's a Party (6) Psychics and Tigers and Bears... Oh My! (11) Crusader Forward Movement Only (2) Vanguard #1: Swords & Shields GM & NPC A Fool's Errand (5) 2 to Arcturus, 3 to Crusader Special Rewards Crusader's Rep Chart Crusader's Wiki Page

Arcturus None; archived Crusader Vanguard #1: Kings & Swords 1 IC Post

Attack Roll: (1d20+10=13) Rerolling with an HP: Attack Roll (HP Reroll): (1d20+10=23)

The resolve in Clark's eyes hid the minor freak-out he had when the huge hunk of metal aimed at him went wide, slamming into the freight car next to him with frightening force. He didn't move, but his heart sped up as the sound of it toppling over filled the freight yard. Dust filled the air from the impact. Clark was very much aware that he'd made this creature very, VERY angry. That was, of course, the plan--only now did the Crusader realize that his plan wasn't quite as well thought out as he'd assessed in the beginning. Ah well. No point in worrying about it now. Crusader shot forward through the rapidly thinning cloud of dust and sent his shield charging ahead, spinning upward in an arc aimed right between the beast's glaring eyes. He'd successfully snagged the beast-thing's attention... now he had to disable it. Somehow.

Arcturus Two's Company, Four's a Party Crusader Vanguard #1: Kings & Shields

Attack Roll: (1d20+10=28)

Crusader stared blankly as Marceau waved at him. It almost made him forget that there was a giant, rather unattractive-looking beast bearing down on the two of them. Moving closer to Marceau and away from the monster, Clark hefted his shield, eyes narrowed a bit in thought as he considered the situation. It was easy before when they were small and ignoring him. This one, however, seemed smart enough to see him as an actual threat. This whole night got a little bit longer. "Well. Introductions later. For now..." He reared back with his shield arm and turned his entire body into a powerful throw of his shield, the blunt edge of the impervium weapon aimed squarely for the monster's forehead.

Currently about 60 miles from home on a work trip. I'll be back Friday or Saturday at the latest...

Crusader's brow furrowed underneath his cowl. The attack seemed to do little to discourage the gremlin horde, although he really wasn't certain why he thought it would have anyway. He raised his hand and caught the shield's edge as it returned to him, hopping right off the side of the building with next to no hesitation. He had to get closer; there was no way this was going to be that easy, not if someone really wished this man harm. The feeling from his vision persisted as he latched onto a window sill and then a fire escape, angling for a clear shot at the engine. He had to stop this. There was no other choice. Crusader hurled his shield into the latest addition to the crowd, his left hand and foot still anchored to the fire escape he was using to descend the building. There's gotta be a better way to do this... He was still high enough off the ground that falling might actually hurt, and getting across the rail yard to the man he was trying to save would have been faster if he'd had a little technical assistance. Still, he saw enough to know that this man, whoever he was, was perfectly capable of handling himself... ...which meant there was something worse than a couple dozen goblins on its way. Ah well. Bring it on, universe.

Right then. Now that I know I only have to roll once (*facepalm*): Attack Roll (Targeted Area): (1d20+10=30)

"...what the..." Those were the only appropriate words that Clark could really think of. He could tell something was moving, but not WHAT; when he saw what it was, it gave him pause. Monsters were something few and far between for him, but he wasn't as surprised as he could have been. The memories of his previous incarnations made him feel as if it wasn't entirely unfamiliar, and even his father had dealt with otherworldly threats. Including the Terminus Invasion. Clark quickly took control of himself and let loose a sharp whistle, crossing his shield arm across his chest to get the creatures' attention. "Hey! BACK OFF!" The warning itself was largely superfluous. Crusader sent the shield flying, a faint red trail following in its wake as it sailed into the crowd of gremlins.

Hoo. Are these guys minions or...? Not that it matters, since Crusader doesn't have Takedown Attack 2 (yet!). In the meantime, he's going to send his shield flying (Blast 6) at the gremlin group: Attack Roll (vs Gremlins [10]): (1d20+10=12, 1d20+10=30, 1d20+10=23, 1d20+10=27, 1d20+10=13, 1d20+10=26, 1d20+10=21, 1d20+10=19, 1d20+10=28, 1d20+10=22) (And I probably rolled that wrong. Herp.)

GM At the bottom of the stairs was a wider corridor that wound its way underneath the building. There weren't any lights to speak of save the small, rectangular windows up towards the ceiling. A small sign indicated a "Maintenance Only" area, but the door was shut tight, with plenty of yellow caution tape criss-crossing the entrance. That in itself might not have aroused suspicion, but the smell of cigar smoke--strong enough to have been recent--hung heavily in the air. Even standing in the lower hallway, the spatial disturbance was distressingly clear. At this point, though, it wasn't growing quite as fast. The energy was rising, of course, but it seemed to be plateauing.

Initiative: (1d20+7=11) Apologies for the delay... a bit of an emergency going on and lack of computer access. :I

The tone didn't go unnoticed, and even though he wasn't looking directly at the prince, his right eye twitched a bit in irritation. Still, he said nothing about it, choosing to focus on other things instead. "You may not want to hear it, but... there's some truth to what your uncle says." Arcturus drew a small circle on the ground, dividing it into fourths. "This is the world as you and I know it. The primal elements affect a lot of what we do. Weather patterns, all of that. And being in tune with it through runic magic allows us to directly affect those forces..." He drew the four basic elements in each fourth of the circle. "Simple enough concept, yeah? Well, what happens when these powers get unbalanced?" He pointed the stick he used at the Flame and Water runes. "Let's say there's a drought and you decide 'hey, I'll make it rain for this village!' Noble enough gesture... but no element is simply conjured out of nowhere. It has to come from somewhere. That cloud that rained on that village? Used up. And the next village over that would have received that rain suddenly goes without..." Arcturus straightened up a bit, frowning. "The balance will always find a way. And it won't always be in ways you can anticipate. That castle you build today can alter wind patterns and cause a tornado somewhere else. That's how the balance works. And the more you try to fight it, the more it asserts itself. I can understand wanting to make the world a better place to live in... more than you can imagine. But Waker tells you these things out of caution. I'd imagine that he's made a similar mistake once or twice..." He didn't ask, of course, but as he spoke, Arcturus realized just how close to home the entire conversation was. Finding that balance within himself kept the Beast rune mostly in check, save the occasional physical alterations that seemed to remain. He had always been an advocate of harmony with the natural world, even without realizing what he was doing most of the time. If anything, the conversation was making him feel a whole lot better about the choices he had made up to now, and the path he was on regarding his own magical heritage. That, however, wasn't the point. "Besides... when you work hard at a goal, no matter how hard it is or how long it takes, it looks MUCH different than when someone simply snaps a finger and does it for you. People take pride in the things they do, whether it's tilling a farm or building a city with their own two hands. There's merit in hard work."

The sun was slowly fading below the horizon. It hadn't completely disappeared, but it was approaching what could be considered 'dark' in the Fens. No one wanted to be in the Fens after dark. Clark Noble, however, wasn't like most people. There were far worse things in the world than muggers and thieves. That didn't make busting them any less enjoyable, but Crusader often wondered if there was supposed to be something more than that to his father's legacy. He was starting to catch glimpses of that now. When he neared the destination he saw in his sleep, he moved his motorcycle to a well-hidden alley and headed the rest of the way out on foot. Leaping from rooftop to rooftop was dangerous, but Clark Noble wasn't some out of shape gym teacher. He paused, however, when he caught movement ahead of his position--more than one person, looking as if they were tailing someone. His heart sped up as he realized how close to his destination he was. This is about to get ugly... I'd better see where these jokers are headed.

Huzzah!

Clark Noble was tired. The school year was officially over, and for the first time in a while, Clark actually found himself able to think... and all he could think of for the moment was catching up on sleep. As disheveled and neglected as his apartment was, his couch was still comfortable, and after a few minutes of channel surfing, he was dead to the world. Clark had visions before. They weren't exactly common, but since finding his father's shield, he learned just how deep his ancestry ran with respect to the destiny of the Crusader legacy. He often had vivid dreams of lives lived long before. Being a history teacher, he'd even been able to confirm the existence of one or two of the personae he seemed to become when he slept. This time, though, felt vastly different. Clark's eyes snapped open and he gasped as if he'd been drowning; for a moment, he forgot where he was. His living room slowly shifted back into focus, and the nightmare he'd had suddenly seemed incredibly elusive as far as details were concerned. All he was left with was a feeling... a very bad feeling. That address... have I been there before? He sat up and rubbed his face vigorously, trying to remember. He remembered an old freight yard in the Fens that had seen better days, and then the railway yard beyond it. The words "Percy-Edward" stood out in his mind, along with a transparent figure of a man he'd never met before. There was a sense of urgency, the deep-seated feeling that he needed to be somewhere yesterday. He blinked a few times at the clock and frowned. 7:45... ...crap. He hopped up and ran into his bedroom, quickly donning the red and white costume of the Crusader. From there, it was out the window and down the fire escape, onto his motorcycle and off into the Fens, towards the old railway yard he saw in his vision. His shield was strapped to his back as he sped through the streets, eyes narrowed with concentration as he hurried to get where he was going... even if he didn't know why yet. He was convinced that he'd seen the future rather than the past, but it seemed unusually bleak. He didn't like it at all.

"...I see." Arcturus straightened up a little bit, considering where the conversation was going and what both he and Waker were trying to accomplish. An idea popped into his head, and he nodded slowly. "So here you are, studying magic... hoping to gain power. Certainly nothin' wrong with that, but... what will you do with that power once you have it? What will you do with the power you already have?" "My father isn't all that special. Spent most of his life as a simple dockhand. Still... he always said that a man's actions define him. And that was BEFORE I learned magic. Your uncle is walking that path, from what I gather... trying to gain status, not so much for himself but for others. Can't say I endorsed the way he was going about it, mind you, but... perhaps you could do something about that."

I'm ready whenever. Still dealing with my Accounting final and various school issued with fundraisers and what not, but I'm in a much better position to do stuff than I was last week.