GranspearZX

I don't think Arc's officially on a team yet, so... I'd be interested. :)

GM "Well... I didn't wanna come out here anyway," the male tagger said, frowning. His partner snorted derisively and muttered something that sounded like 'coward', continuing to spray paint the wall for several moments before stopping. "...man, you're such a baby. Fine, lady, whatever." She shot Lucy a look that bordered on murderous before forcefully throwing things back into her bag. "Bad enough Mike didn't show either... that jerk. Always late for everything." "Cut the guy some slack. He probably had more sense than all of--" He didn't get to finish his sentence before a yell pierced the night air, followed by what sounded like a series of canine howls. * * * From Victoria's vantage point, she could see four distinct flashes of light--bright, blue, and brief--coming from an alley not far from the graffiti artists' chosen tagging spot...

The further Arcturus went into the sewers, the more he felt drawn by something. The faint buzzing that he often felt when trying to keep himself 'balanced' between his human persona and the magic that was the Beast Rune was growing in its resonance as well, forcing him to concentrate. He'd become practiced enough where he didn't have to try nearly as hard to keep them synchronized, and the Beast Rune hadn't overpowered his own personality in a long while. Not since the incident in Pennsylvania... Both Marcus and the rune were silent; both were concerned for similar reasons. If one of these cultists got the idea of trying to make the Beast Rune permanent on someone, things could get really ugly with astounding speed. It occurred to him that he might be walking into a trap, but that didn't seem to slow Arcturus down. Moving forward was probably the only thing keeping him from being nauseous at the smell, slipping through the stagnant and foul water lapping at his fur. ...runes. Everywhere. Wards? ...no, wait... What's wrong now? These are... phrases. Strings of runes used for... well, kind of like physics, but for magic. Someone's trying to build on the Beast Rune and turn it into... I don't know what. An image of the picture Summers showed him of his father flashed into his mind--a 12' tall red, horned monstrosity. Someone did this same thing to my dad... Arcturus's features darkened as he approached the wooden door. Things were starting to make a disturbing amount of sense. Whatever had turned his father into a rampaging beast that destroyed that Arizona town was likely behind this as well... and they were after him now. Was this why is mother was in hiding? There was a lot going through his mind... leaving Arcturus to tear the door open.

The further Arcturus went into the sewers, the more he felt drawn by something. The faint buzzing that he often felt when trying to keep himself 'balanced' between his human persona and the magic that was the Beast Rune was growing in its resonance as well, forcing him to concentrate. He'd become practiced enough where he didn't have to try nearly as hard to keep them synchronized, and the Beast Rune hadn't overpowered his own personality in a long while. Not since the incident in Pennsylvania... Both Marcus and the rune were silent; both were concerned for similar reasons. If one of these cultists got the idea of trying to make the Beast Rune permanent on someone, things could get really ugly with astounding speed. It occurred to him that he might be walking into a trap, but that didn't seem to slow Arcturus down. Moving forward was probably the only thing keeping him from being nauseous at the smell, slipping through the stagnant and foul water lapping at his fur. ...runes. Everywhere. Wards? ...no, wait... What's wrong now? These are... phrases. Strings of runes used for... well, kind of like physics, but for magic. Someone's trying to build on the Beast Rune and turn it into... I don't know what. An image of the picture Summers showed him of his father flashed into his mind--a 12' tall red, horned monstrosity. Someone did this same thing to my dad... Arcturus's features darkened as he approached the wooden door. Things were starting to make a disturbing amount of sense. Whatever had turned his father into a rampaging beast that destroyed that Arizona town was likely behind this as well... and they were after him now. Was this why is mother was in hiding? There was a lot going through his mind... leaving Arcturus to tear the door open.

Gonna try to ID the runes along the walls and door in the sewer tunnels. Taking 10 for a grand total of 20. :)

Gonna try to ID the runes along the walls and door in the sewer tunnels. Taking 10 for a grand total of 20. :)

They don't feel particularly threatened (if anything, the one doing the tagging is just annoyed). Feel free to make a Diplomacy or Intimidate check though.

Arcturus immediately dropped the guy as he reverted. He didn't say anything as the sewer worker started screaming; he took a few steps back into the darkness. Guy's got quite the pair of lungs on him. ...mmm. Marcus frowned; he didn't particularly like scaring innocents. He hated being looked at like some sort of freak, and hearing the sewer worker's screams echo through the tunnels only made him feel worse. Still, if he could save the guy and others like him from magic they clearly couldn't handle... Cult of the Beast. Not even a little bit familiar... but at least I know where these guys keep coming from. Somebody's using the same runic magic as I am... Similar. Not the same. There's at least a little bit of synergy with us. Arcturus looked down at his right hand; the Light Rune flashed a few times against the back of his palm before fading, its magic spent after the Solar Flare spell he'd cast earlier. It made him actually feel better about the Beast Rune that had 'infected' the sewer worker; etched in the way he usually did it, runes were more or less temporary. They said they were waiting for us, right? ...well, let's not disappoint.

GM "Aw crap." "What? ...oh." The two turned to face Lucy--the only person they could immediately see. Both had a messenger bag with various cans of spray paint, and each was wearing a yellow bandana over their mouths to protect from the fumes. "Relax, it's not like she's a cop. Geez... ...wait, she just call me a guy?" The more assertive of the two was short and female, with strands of blonde hair sticking out of her backwards black cap. It was pretty easy to make the mistake though; her clothes were baggy and loose, making her easy to confuse for male until she actually spoke. The other artist was wearing a black hoodie, a pair of flight goggles showing underneath the hood, resting on his forehead. "It's not exactly safe out here, y'know. Don't you watch the news? We have vampires. He waggled his fingers, chuckling to himself at his joke.

I thought that was two rolls; my mistake. Attack roll: (1d20+10=21) And yes, I was gonna use my Move action to intimidate.

Glad you paid for those boxing lessons, junior. Yeah yeah... damn, we're gonna have to get him out of here to fix him. And the only way he's goin' quietly is if he's unconscious. It's a win-win! Arcturus crouched and then lunged forward, throwing his body weight into the beast. He aimed his forearm at the beast's neck, pinning him against the wall and keeping those slavering jaws away from the rest of his body. "Who did this to you? Tell me and I might not tear your hide off, lizard."

Next, Arc tries his hand at gator wrestling! Grapple check: (1d20+23=36) And then, Arc tries to get some info out of the beast through Intimidation. Taking 10 via skill mastery, +17 for a total of DC 27.

Unarmed attack: (1d20+12=21) Arcturus strikes!

Arcturus hopped backwards as the crocodile flailed at him, snapping its jaws viciously. The last thing he wanted was to get bitten, but he didn't want to hurt the guy either... ...well, Marcus didn't. Arcturus was pretty much of the mind that snapping at him constituted an act of war. Arc lunged forward, swinging a balled-up fist upward at the gator-beast's jaw. I'd rather not knock the guy out, but... where the hell did he get this rune from?!

Initiative: (1d20+5=15) So, Marcus transforms... then flashes the Light Rune in the croc's face! Dazzle (ranged attack roll): (1d20+8=26) Reflex save vs DC 26. Huzzah!

"...holy..." ...crap. Marcus didn't even make it halfway back before his body started to change, stretching and breaking the limits of his clothing. He took several steps back, an odd mixture of surprise and fascination as the man changed... all that was instantly gone when he saw the Beast Rune on the man's forehead. "Son of a..." Hey, don't look at me, kid; this ain't me. Well... not really. What do you mean 'not really?! Now is NOT the time for 20 questions, cub. "Fine." Marcus closed his eyes, stowing the flashlight into the bag. In the next instant, he opened them, an arcane circle bursting outward from his feet as his the Beast Rune burned through his shirt. In an explosion of energy, Marcus was replaced with a snarling Arcturus, the pack barely hanging over his shoulder. He slammed one fist into his padded palm, the Light Rune flashing against the back of his hand as he did so. "Let's dance, handbag." He extended his right hand and a dazzling burst of light shot from his fist, illuminating the cavernous tunnel for a brief second. The light was a lot worse in intensity at the crocodile's face, where he was aiming...

I know that look. Marcus had seen people visibly shaken before. He'd done it to people in his bear form--so whatever the worker saw must have been terrifying. Fear's effects on a human being were rather unmistakable. This guy had it written all over him. Added to that was the fact that his clothes were torn and wet--clearly he'd been in the water and attacked by something. Marcus couldn't imagine him doing that to himself. Were he a better mage, the Calm Rune would at least temporarily ease the guy's mind. He didn't have that kind of time, so instead, he walked the sewer worker back towards the manhole he'd come through; it was the nearest to the surface, and Marcus hadn't gotten himself so horribly lost yet that he didn't know his way back. Once the civilian was escorted to safety, Marcus headed back towards his original direction.

Notice roll: (1d20+5=20) Sense Motive roll: (1d20+5=24)

OOC thread for this thread.

GM July 17, 2011 8:33 p.m. Nights on the West End were usually quiet, but there was a definite tension in the air. Men and women of various ages were turning up missing since much earlier in the week, and the police didn't seem to have much of a place to begin. The disappearances seemed random; a bartender walking home from the Secret Bar, two young women visiting a friend at Trinity Hospital... seven in all, over the past five days. The closest clue that could be found were other attacks in the same area, leaving a subway operator in a coma-like state, with two puncture wounds in his neck. Naturally, speculation went wild after that. No one was supposed to be going anywhere alone; it wasn't a direct order or martial law, just a friendly, sound suggestion. Just like with any friendly advice, however, even if it was coming from respected television and radio personalities, someone always thought they knew better than everyone else. The pair of graffiti artists near Ashton Mall had no idea they were being watched as the sun sank below the horizon...

That old geezer... why does he never give me any details? Marcus looked the man over, then pointed the beam just past him. The warmth of the Light Rune in his right hand was mildly comforting, but the sewer worker's shaken demeanor was practically contagious. The Beast Rune buzzed at the back of his mind, wordlessly pushing him to focus. "..uh huh." Marcus looked skeptical--it was mostly an act. He believed the worker, of course, figuring that whatever had scared the wits out of this poor guy was his goal. Several things instantly bothered him though, including the nature of whatever it was swimming through the sewers... and the fact that it was swimming. A brief chill ran up his back at the thought of deep water. Rene had sent him down here for this, though, and he had to go through with it. It was hard to say whether it was morbid curiosity or plain stubbornness that was driving him, but he wasn't about to turn back now. He gave the other sewer worker a comforting pat on the shoulder as he stepped around him. "You look terrible... Go ahead and go if you want; I'll cover for you if anybody asks. Besides... what could possibly be down here?"

Three's fine. Good lord, it's like Charlie's not-quite-Angels up in here. XD I'll have the thread up shortly, and I'll PM you with the thread links. Before I begin, though, I need a date--since I see all three of you are in a thread run by Supercape, I figured it might be best to ask now so that they don't overlap in your timelines.

So... yeah. Gonna try to run a thread. Again. This time, however... much smaller. 2-3 people, may or may not be a long one depending on how people interact and such. Location: West End. Date: July 16-31 (depends largely on players' timelines and what's agreed upon) Premise: Several young people have turned up missing over the last several days, and the few that managed to elude pursuers have turned up at Trinity Hospital with significant blood loss and strange puncture wounds on their necks...

I'm definitely in with Arcturus, either on the Parkhurst side of things or via Claremont.

Surprisingly enough, the smell didn't bother him, at least not outwardly. His natural senses had grown so accustomed to his bear senses that this sort of thing didn't even bother him any more. The foul scents were still very much offensive to the senses, but he recognized that in bear form, it would have been much, MUCH worse. The stagnant water, the stale air, and the 'other' smells that he dared not mention... he was still very much aware of them, and concentrated just as much on keeping his stomach steady as he did on where he was going. His heart skipped a beat when he saw the other flashlight... Then he realized that the footsteps were running in his direction. His disguise would afford him a decent cover story, but what could someone possibly be running from down here? I think we're gonna find out real soon, cub, the Beast Rune chimed in from the back of his mind. Marcus slowed his pace, gripping the flashlight a bit more tightly.