GranspearZX

So, Arc's gonna try to break out of his stone cage: STR Check (vs DC13): (1d20+9=29) Ooh. And he REALLY breaks out. Do I need to roll another Intimidate check?

And bear-Arc attempts to intimidate Waker! Intimidate check: (1d20+17=33)

Marcus was thinking. It wasn't something he was accustomed to doing; at this point, the usual plan was something along the lines of 'break out of cage, beat up bad guy'. He could still disable him, sure, but Marcus wanted to avoid physical confrontation entirely. It was a strategy that ran counter to everything he knew, even without the Beast rune prodding at his psyche. He sighed, fully understanding what was going on magically. He had to stop it, of course... but the question became how. Rescuing the prince was his primary goal, but could he really stand here while this wizard's ritual killed an entire army? Of course not. "So that's your answer then. Force... tch. Anybody can do that. I'm not gonna pretend that I know all about this succession stuff, but really... This isn't worth thousands of lives. Now, I'm all for giving people the benefit of the doubt..." There was no aggression or malice in Marcus's voice; he was focused on the task at hand. Breathing in deeply, he exhaled slowly closed his eyes and the Beast rune burned against his back, surrounding him in a sphere of magical power. The hunter green field of light lasted only a moment, entirely obscuring Marcus's form until only Arcturus the bear was left. His eyes snapped open, flashing red as he looked squarely into Waker's eyes. "...so I'm gonna give you one shot. Stop the ritual. NOW." Arc had no intention of harming the guy. But Waker didn't know that.

He's been captive for five YEARS? That didn't sound right at all. Further, he never actually said it was the prince who had sent him--he hadn't said who did, or even given his own name. Something was definitely missing in this equation, and he needed to know what; the last thing he wanted was to jump to unnecessary conclusions. "...summoning a storm, huh? Hm." Marcus realized that his own powers marked him just as much as the scent of magic carried off of Waker. Certainly no sense hiding it. His tone almost suggested that he was considering helping. "What'd this armada do to you?"

"...uh." Marcus stopped as the stones impeded his passage, trapping him where he was. He was genuinely surprised when it happened, and he touched down on the ground, not entirely sure how to react. The wizard didn't exactly look like the evil sort--but then, what did evil look like? A twinge of guilt passed over him as he considered the fact that he'd more or less broken into the guy's house, and now he'd been busted red-handed. "...your door was open." He cleared his throat. "I was sent here after a guest of yours. A prince." He was fairly certain he could break out pretty easily, even without the benefit of the Beast rune's transformative power. still, he thought it best to play it cool for the moment. That was, after all, one of the points of the exercise.

Marcus's eyes narrowed a little. In his studies, he'd learned plenty of lore on magical entities and gods. Ghorummaz was no different. Simply invoking Ghorummaz's name wasn't an implicit act of evil or darkness. Ghorummaz was a binder of unnatural things, and held dominion over natural disasters. Nature... in its rawest form. In fact, Marcus's natural power and inclinations ran disturbingly close to the Dragon Within the Earth--an irony that wasn't at all lost on the young mystic. From what Marcus could gather, the wizardwas conjuring a storm. What exactly was he trying to do? It was more than just bringing rain; Ghorummaz's magic, when used in that way, always heralded destruction, with little exception. Lightning storms, hurricane-force gales... Was he trying to level something? Marcus figured he could always ask... but it seemed far more prudent to get the prince somewhere safe first. He continued his way up, silently floating to avoid the eyes and attention of the chanting wizard.

Assuming that I can take 10 for this one (Skill Mastery), that'll give Arc a 24 right out of the gate. So he'd know who Ghorummaz was. :)

Hm. Using Extra Effort to stunt Flight 4 (Wind rune) off of Arc's Leaping power.

Something was off. Marcus hadn't had a whole lot of training when it came to sniffing out magic, but he was quickly learning. When he concentrated, it definitely had a scent all its own, and he could smell it coming from the stairs. He could even feel a gentle pushback from them--and instinct told him that taking a forced step would end badly. Magical alarm, huh? Probably a ward or something on the stairs... mm. Not really sure how to disable it, so... guess I'll have to go around it. He closed his eyes and channeled the Beast Rune's power; flowing from his lower body, he allowed it to invoke the Wind rune. He slowly began to rise off the ground, levitating in place for a few moments before attempting to head up the stairs that way.

Hm. Is Arc's Detect Magic picking up anything from that stairway? Or is that the pushback he's feeling?

I'm sure Arc would LOVE to meet Catalyst again. :P

Wow. That's... impressive detail. Now definitely wasn't the time for sightseeing. Still, it was pretty impressive. He certainly wasn't about to touch anything. There was no way of telling if the objects were cursed or not--so he cautiously assumed everything was dangerous and not to be messed with. Navigating his way around the room as quietly as he could, Marcus couldn't help but wonder how this prince ended up a captive, and what this wizard really wanted. There was always the possibility that he could reason with the guy... a slim one, but a possibility all the same. His next order of business was looking for a way up. Stairs, a ladder... anything.

Marcus had played enough video games to know that sneaking up on a dragon was probably the worst idea a person could come up with. It certainly wasn't the dumbest thing HE'D ever done, though, and it seemed like a fairly good idea at the time. Crouched low, Marcus moved forward; while the thought of using the Beast rune came to mind, he didn't want to attempt it so soon--especially if he didn't need to. The beast seemed to be sound asleep--definitely a good thing. He only hoped his luck would hold out in sneaking his way to the top; the last thing he wanted was for the wyvern to wake up mid-rescue and decide to make him lunch. He cautiously stepped around the beast's massive tail, trying to get to the front door.

This poses an interesting dilemma, yes. *ponders* Sneaking up on the wyvern is in order then! Stealth check: (1d20+10=20)

No worries; figured you'd get to me eventually. Arc's looking for entrances other than the front door and the smoke-spewing window. Also, does the 'no harming' rule extend to the wyvern? Just curious, just in case there's some scaly wrath on the way. :P

"Don't think I've met her yet... I mean, not officially. Seen her around though." She was, in fact, quite attractive; he wasn't entirely sure if he was supposed to say so. She WAS someone else's significant other, after all. "It was trying to possess this little girl named Mary through this amulet... Rene's still got it; I'm sure he'd show it to you if you asked him. But it was manipulating her nightmares, trying to scare her into saying 'yes' to being taken over. Usually they just feed off peoples' bad dreams, but this one decided it had ambition." Marcus shuddered a little at the memory. The acidic blob, the spiders, the water... He shook his head, moving on to Morgan's next question. "It always starts minor, and it just escalates from there. I mean, I haven't gone hurting anybody permanently yet, but..." It's just a matter of time... Marcus frowned a little at the notion, but it was the truth. The Beast rune often ran away with him; it shared his motivations, but none of his restraint or reason. Ever since that fight with Gauntlet in the woods outside Parkhurst, it was getting progressively worse. "Just a few says ago, it got REALLY out of control in the Doom Room. I wasn't even using my bear form, but I could feel it coming... I don't even remember what happened after that. Everything's kind of hazy. Woke up covered in sweat, lying down, and suddenly, this." Marcus showed Morgan his 'new and improved' dental work--canines and incisors that were clearly larger than normal.

Arcturus Bull Session Run! The Gauntlet Two's Company, Four's a Party

"...wow." Marcus frowned. He really was most comfortable in a natural setting, but the wyvern and tower reminded him vaguely of his time on War-Earth. It wasn't an entirely pleasant memory, and the wyvern itself was going to prove to be a real challenge. He took several deep breaths, his heart rate still a little elevated from his earlier episode. Doing a quiet inventory of himself, he clenched his right fist and then opened it again, a short fiery puff of smoke and flame expelling from his palm. Well, I guess at least that's in working order. Now what... This didn't seem like the sort of thing that he should brawl his way through. He was actually going to have to think a little bit this time. He nodded slowly and first looked around for entrances, keeping to the trees as he started to circle the tower. The more information he had, the better... especially since he had no clue as to what this wizard or his pet were capable of doing. Even without trying, the Beast rune was giving him plenty if ideas. Though his bear form was his 'default' form, he'd used Primal elements to transform into different things before. Just a few months ago, he'd used the Water rune to change into a reptile. He was too worried about having another episode of atavism--something that he'd been warned about long before and was beginning to see a lot more often. He flicked his tongue against his thickened, sharpened teeth and sighed, shaking his head to clear it. One crisis at a time, Marcus.

"I was born in Chicago though. Moved here when I was 11 or 12... transferred from FDR to Claremont after my magic started getting active... Injured a federal agent. Not on purpose, mind you, but... yeah." Of course, the agent shoved him first, and the situation made him panic. The Beast rune responded in its usual manner, and the rest was history. He was just glad no one was severely injured in that little incident. "Yeah, I tried that solo thing for a while too. Even just one partner makes a huge difference... I'm just lucky that I heal a little quicker than most people." Marcus smiled faintly as he considered his history with the Beast Rune. In hindsight, it really wasn't all bad up to now. "Three days in the hospital, man. I never want to see the inside of a hospital room again." "First time I even used the rune on purpose was in the park. Rene and I saved a little girl from the Boogeyman." He laughed at saying it out loud. "Man, that still sounds crazy. Still... I try not to go all beasty if I can help it. That's why I've been training a little differently than usual. Tryin' to tap the Beast rune without changing, y'know? I don't know why, but lately it's been... acting weird. Takes a little more effort to turn it off, especially if I get all worked up."

"Detroit, huh? Hm... well, if we ever get a chance..." He hadn't been back up north since moving out of Chicago with his parents, and even that was a vague memory. He could definitely relate to working with one's hands; he had half a dozen unfinished art projects strewn about his room, and four or five sketchbooks filled with random art. There was also the business of his senior project--a definite work in progress. "Yeah, my parents were pretty great. Mom was always out on business trips and stuff, so it was a lot of me and my dad doing stuff." His mother was an 'art appraiser'--or at least, that's what he thought up until he was 15. He knew now that was mostly a cover for her to go around stealing and reselling magical artifacts. The thought of her doing it made his expression darken a little bit, but he knew that she was in Freedom City only a month or two ago... "I thought I saw her a while back, but... I was in a situation. Couldn't really catch up to her." He would have liked to, but he was pretty banged up at the time. He'd spent days in the hospital and nearly gotten his magic and identity exposed. It was a dumb mistake, and it was the first time he'd really let his subconscious anger run away with him. He couldn't even blame that entirely on the magic. "So... where exactly are you from?" He realized that he didn't really know, and it seemed like an innocent enough question to ask.

Coming down from an adrenaline rush was always a process. For Marcus, however, it was a genuine struggle. Lying down made it a lot easier and more bearable, and though he was exhausted from the effort of fighting and suddenly reining himself in, he was beginning to, slowly bus surely, regain his composure. He would never admit it, but it was easily the most scared he'd been of the Beast rune since his father's arrest and his subsequent discovery of his magical heritage. He felt like he was on the edge of a vast chasm, looking in and being prodded towards the fall. Marcus had 'episodes' like that before, but there was something distinctly different about this one. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, until he sat up to get out of the bed he'd been placed on. "Agh! Son of a... !" He grimaced, accidentally biting his tongue. Marcus paused, then reached up to examine his teeth with his fingers--his canines and incisors hadn't gone back to normal like they usually did when he wasn't actively using the Beast rune. He couldn't feel its magic actively influencing the change either... ...oh God. I think it's... permanent. Nah, it's just... maybe I haven't come down yet. If not... I'm sure I'll be able to figure it out later. The young shapeshifter shook his head, forcing himself to focus as he stood up, stumbling a little bit before regaining his footing. If nothing else, the episode had strengthened his resolve to control the Beast rune, rather than the other way around. Marcus even tried to smile as he rejoined the group--a faint grin, not wanting to freak the others out with a fully fanged smile. "I think I'll live," he quipped, rubbing at the back of his neck. He still had something of a headache, though. It was a faint buzzing at the back of his mind, the kind he usually got when he was tired and spent too much time in front of a television or computer screen. He looked at the doors as they appeared, an eyebrow raised at the one with his name on it. "...mm. Lovely."

He wanted to lie and say he was okay, but there was no way anyone was buying that--especially not Archer. Marcus sank to his knees, palms on the ground as he tried to will back the Beast rune's influence. He was only vaguely aware of what was going on around him, but he could tell parts of him were physically changing under the stress of the primal magic coursing through him. His fingernails were distinctly more clawed than before, so much so that they were leaving scratches on the floor. He really did feel as if he was about to lose it... Kristin's voice and touch were the first to break the haze buzzing at his mind, and his left arm shot upward to grab her wrist. It wasn't forceful--or at least, not as much as it could have been. Somewhere amidst it all, he realized the holograms had disappeared, and the danger, such as it was, had passed, and the Beast rune's hold over his emotional and physical state started to recede. Suddenly, he felt nauseous. He didn't even react as the force field picked him up, putting him on the bed. "Sorry guys..."

"..." Arcturus stood there, panting heavily as Gauntlet... imploded? He wasn't sure what he was looking at, and the strangeness of the entire thing was enough to firmly snap him out of his rage. He wasn't sure what to do; technically, the golem was escaping, but there was little he could do about it without proper tools and time to trap him. And that was exactly what was going to have to happen. "I'll be waitin', rustbucket." Arc's body glowed for a few moments before the magic in him fully subsided, changing back into his human form. He rubbed his right arm, grimacing a little as the adrenaline wore off and the soreness of the fight and the running began to set in. At least that girl is okay... or at least, I hope she's okay...

Ooh, you're right... *facepalm* Never mind about that one, then.

Using an HP to add Knockback to Arc's unarmed strike! Attack Roll (+PF: Knockback): (1d20+12=13) ...and gonna use my last HP to reroll that. Ow. Attack Roll (+PF: Knockback, HP Reroll): (1d20+12=24) +10 for 34.