Search the Community

Pier 6 was a nightclub nestled among the warehouses of Bedlam's docks, which despite its location maintained a modest reputation of a safe space where people from all walks of life could mix and mingle, engage in discreet business, or simply drink and dance the worries of the city away. The industrial aesthetic of brick walls and exposed steel combined with leather seating and wood surfaces gave the club a contrasting, if comforting interior. But none of that mattered at the moment, for it was closing time. The patrons of Pier 6 were disgorging into the street and Chance had settled back behind his own bar with a drink, toasting another relatively quiet night.

*CN: Violence, Police Brutality, Racism, Sexism* *Bang Bang BANG* "Bedlam PD!" preceded the shattering of door and frame as the boys in blue spilled into three apartments across Bedlam. *** In Wolverton the office door declaring Excelsior Investigations shattered under the blow the police spilling in with full tactical loadout weapons raised as if the middle aged resident kneeling in the center of the room next to a half empty cup of coffee was the greatest threat to public safety the city had known. Xavier Steadman was slammed to the ground bloodying his nose as he was cuffed and taken into custody. He knew better than to antagonize them with questions about his rights or the charges and patiently accepted the abuse as each badge number and face was committed to a memory more refined than most artificial data stores. *** Not far away in Hardwick park the sizzle of some kind of heavily spiced breakfast meats sizzled as Abuela Orellana called not for the first time to her school age grandchildren to dress and pack for school. The Garage downstairs was already open with her son hard at work for hte day when the police came. Only the elderly woman's rapid fire demands of "What did you do?!" threatened to drown out the SWAT teams demands the residents of hte crowded apartment get on the ground. When the family was all restrained and no few of the struggling families meager belongings shattered the apparent lead detective stomped up and down the line of hispanic faces glaring at each, "Somebody shut her UP!" he bellowed as Abuela Orellana continued her lamentations in non-stop spanish. "Sophia Orellana!" he demanded as he tried to place his quarry which seemed to finally silence the old woman just in time given the raised rifle butt one officer had aimed her direction. All eyes turned in shock to Sophia removing any chance of hiding who she was from the police and the young woman was quickly hauled to her feet and shoved toward the door and a waiting cruiser to snickers behind masked faces as to her upcoming popularity. *** The secluded Downtown apartment Alice currently called home should not have been a thing the police could find even if they did have reason to look for her. So it came as quite the shock when she found herself surrounded with eagle eyed tactical officers with guns leveled at her before she had the opportunity to even consider fleeing. The beefy detective that followed the officers in barely even looked at her before nodding to an officer behind her. There was a sharp pain on the back of her skull then everything went black. *** Lou sat in the lockup sleeping off last nights drunk, his continued presence in dry out a sign that someone wanted him here, maybe he made a pass at a wise guys arm candy, or maybe someone had a reason for him to be here. He woke to the door slamming open as an unlikely trio of perps were thrust into his cell the smallest in a barely stirring heap on the ground. The middle aged African American man made his way to the sink to begin to clear some of the blood from his face as the young hispanic woman was thrust into the cell behind him. Even by Bedlam PDs lax standards for inmate safety this was far from regulation. Xavier looked up at the others warily as he settled in to carefully dab at his nose and check it for a break, "I don't suppose they were more forthcoming with any of you as to why we are here?" he inquired with unusual calm for an honest man thrust amongst what one could only assume were hardened criminals.

So HP to Gremlin for the railroading but teleporting kinda wrecks this whole set up Alice will be coming too without more than minor bruising whenever Fox wants to post. At most Gremlin, L0vel@ce and Savant might have heard something about Bedlam Savings and Loan getting hit last night by an organized crew. Obviously you all are in some way suspects. Lou knows nothing about the bank job but does know he's supposed to be scouting for a crew to pull a delicate heist for the Scarpia family that can't use their usual guys without risking tipping off the other families to what they are pulling. Lots of delicate physical and computer security to get past among other issues. Government building important records that sort of thing.

GM 4:00 PM, August 3rd. Ross Haywood had seen better days, but he’d seen worse ones too. The mark of those darker times was still on him. He was underweight for his considerable height, and a spider angioma extended its tendrils along the right side of his neck and the base of his chin, harsh purple-red against the soft brown of his skin. But he was walking more steadily than he used to, and the shaking of his hands was so slight that it was hardly noticeable. Smiling at the thought, he patted the little iron crucifix he carried in his jacket pocket, close to his heart. Twelve steps had seemed an awful long way a year ago, but he’d walked them. That kind, honest smile faded as he remembered his purpose. He’d worn his best suit, secondhand and faded but still possessed of a reserved elegance, in the hopes of gaining an air of respectability. Maybe it was stupid to think of hiring a PI as an occasion, but Ross had been turned down in enough interviews to know that first impressions mattered in any deal. One hand in his pocket, he ran his fingertips across his daughter’s picture and said a little prayer in the back of his mind. He was running out of options, and out of time to make this right. They said that Xavier Steadman was honest. In a town like Bedlam, that was either said derisively or with a vague sense of awe. Ross clung onto the hope that it was true like a drowning man to the edge of a raft. He didn’t have much, but he had learned the hard way what really mattered in life, and he would spend every penny he’d ever scraped together for this if he had to. He’d walked several miles to Steadman’s building; it’d been a long time since he’d been able to afford a car, the buses were dismal, and it would crush his soul to be one taxi fare short of whatever price the PI named. As the building loomed up before him, he took a deep, steadying breath that came out shakier than he’d meant to let it. “Okay, Susie,” he whispered, his voice a deep, rich baritone. “Here we go.” Reaching the office door, he forced one trembling hand to knock.

News thread for Savant Reputation The Questionnaire Twenty Questions Guidebook

Savant Power Level: 8/15 (207/230PP) Unspent Power Points: 23PP Trade-Offs: +5 Attack / -5 Damage (unarmed), +3 Attack / -3 Damage (Collapsable Baton) , +4 Defense / -4 Toughness In Brief: Memetically enhanced genius atoning for the wrongs done while controlled by Labyrinth Catchphrase: Theme: Redemption Song Alternate Identity: Xavier Steadman, Subject 24005 Birthplace: Unknown Residence: Bedlam City Base of Operations: Bedlam City Occupation: Private Eye Affiliations: The Fix Family: Unknown Description: Age: 45 (DoB: 1971) Apparent Age: Also 45 Gender: Male Ethnicity: African American Height: 6'2" Weight: 210 Eyes: Grey Hair: Black Xavier is a dark skinned, broad shouldered man of middle years, Dark grey eyes peer out from a heavy brow with an intensity bordering on unsettling. He keeps his hair closely shorn in a no nonsense easily maintained style. He normally dresses in a dark grey woolen suit though varies his outfit as needed for a job. When disguising his identity he opts for a heavy indigo scarf and dark grey fedora in the style of mystery men of old, though this is less sentimentality than pragmatism, even in disguise being able to bled into a crowd is just sound survival policy in Bedlam. History: His history is largely a blank slate. Until his escape in his early thirties Xavier was under lock and key in a Labyrinth run facility as part of 'Project Savant' an attempt to unlock the mind's potential through intensive hypnosis and memetic training. He was a rare success, most minds buckled under the strain of the deep hypnotic states and the assault of the memetic learning programs, the results were varied some crippled, some catatonic or driven to psychotic breaks. Subject 24005 as he was labeled also began the process earlier than most, he was taken or given up by his parents shortly after birth and even his enhanced recall techniques can not summon a memory a time before the project. By the time he was twelve he had outstripped most of his tutors and phase two began. Rather than focusing his capabilities toward any specific goal he was brought in to troubleshoot problematic research or operations for the organization. His ability to rapidly bring himself up to speed on any given subject and bring in disparate knowledge made leaps in both technologies but more often methodologies. Initial projects were presented as further tests and puzzles though the change in faces and the time pressure did not go unnoticed by the young Savant. Nor did he miss the clear discomfort and sometimes hostility his suggestions were met with by older experts. By adulthood he realized his simulations and tests were all too real and that his choices would impact real people though his conditioning kept him from outright rebellion he began to quietly plot and plan a way out. It took him nearly ten years to work his way free of the memnetic controls. More time still of active effort to plot an escape, he knew he'd get but one chance. Once they realized his programming was compromised he'd be a liability. He made his escape though not as efficiently as he'd have hoped, they'd be looking for him in the likely refuges and it was uncertain his efforts at reform would be met with anything but scepticism by the heroes of the world. Subject 24005 took the name Xavier Steadman, and made for the one place he knew they'd not suspect him to go after all, no one came to Bedlam voluntarily. But in this wretched hive he could vanish and work at erasing his trail, and maybe begin to atone for the wrongs he'd been part of. In Bedlam a false identity was easily enough crafted, a disgraced investigator, working PI jobs for his meager wages snapping shots of cheating spouses and fraudulent insurance claims. A small fish in a small pool, unremarkable but for a stalwart refusal to do the gangs or mobs dirty work. A clean PI trying to make due, slowly earning a reputation as one of the rare good guys in Wolverton. Not someone to make waves but someone of integrity and a distant cold kindness. Personality & Motivation: Xavier is driven by shame and fear. Not of death or pain, such things can be managed and are perhaps what he deserves in the end, but he fears the shackles of the mind returning and putting his brilliance once more to used for nefarious ends. He fears being weaponized again, turned to his former master's greater plans. Yet beyond that fear and shame is a desire to try and make right in some small way what his genius had put wrong. His actions are subtle and long term, a file mailed anonymously, a tip on a fraudulent lien. He wants to do more, but lacks the resources to take on his former masters on their terms so he works at the edges growing cracks and fissures, weakening, wearing them down. If his memetic enhancements hold through old age he might just survive to see some of his work bear fruit. Powers & Tactics: Savant has little in the way of flashy powers, he'd not even consider himself 'Super' though he knows his enhancements put his intellect in a frame rivaled by only a handful. He is an efficient and tactical fighter using terrain and situation awareness to his advantage to strike exactly where he needs to when he needs to. To ruthlessly exploit any weakness he uncovers and to always have a backup to his backups. He prefers to avoid confrontation but when unavoidable he'll strike fast and sure with his collapsible baton or fists to end the fight as quickly and quietly as possible. He understands the power of guns but refuses to rely on such means, they are usually more liability than benefit with the work he does. Power Descriptions: Savant has no obvious powers, his abilities are in the planning and execution of the plan, and always being ready with another, always seeking a weakness to exploit. Complications: The Good: Xavier is trying to make right the wrongs he was part of while under labyrinth control. He head is full of memories of the wrongs done and aspects coudl pop up and drive him to go further than is wise on a job. The Bad: Labyrinth wants him back or possibly just eliminated. Taurus hates loose ends. The Ugly: Xavier is a black man in Bedlam trying to to the right thing, the Mobs and Cops will target him for 'stepping out of place' and the Wolverton gangs will see him as potential threat to their power. Man with No Name: Xavier Steadman is a fabrication, there may be records of the infant that became subject 24005 somewhere in some dusty city hall waiting to be digitized but for all intents and purposes Savant has no Official past. Abilities: 6 + 0 + 8 + 20 + 10 + 0 = 44PP Strength: 16 (+3) Dexterity: 10 (+0) Constitution: 18 (+4) Intelligence: 30 (+10) Wisdom: 20 (+5) Charisma: 10 (+0) Combat: 22 + 24 = 46PP Initiative: +10 Attack: +13 Unarmed, +11 Base Defense: +12 (+12 Base, +0 Dodge Focus), +6 Flat-Footed Grapple: +14 Knockback: -2 Saving Throws: 4 + 5 + 5 = 14PP Toughness: +4 (+4 Con) Fortitude: +8 (+4 Con, +4) Reflex: +8 (+3 Dex, +5) Will: +10 (+5 Wis, +5) Skills: 68R = 17PP Bluff 4 (+4) Diplomacy 4 (+4) Gather Information 10 (+10) Investigate 10 (+20) Knowledge: Tactics 10 (+20) Notice 10 (+15) Search 10 (+20) Sense Motive 10 (+15) Feats: 16PP Ambidextrous Attack Specialization: Unarmed 1 Beginners Luck Eidetic Memory Equipment 1 Improvised Tools Jack-Of-All-Trades Luck 2 (4 Total) Master Plan 2 Power Attack Speed of Thought Teamwork 3 Equipment: 1PP = 5EP Collapsable Baton (Damage 2, Improved Crit (19-20), Mighty, Subtle) 5 Powers: 9 + 15 + 41 + 5 = 70PP Comprehend 4 (Polyglot; Codes, Language: Understand, Language: Speak One at a Time, Language: Read; Power Feats: Innate) [9PP] (Savantry) Luck Control 4 (Plan M; Spend HP for others, Grant HP to others, Negate Fiat, Force Reroll; Power Feats: Innate, Luck 2) [15PP] (Savantry) Probability Control 10 (Polymath; Power Feats: Innate) [41PP] (Savantry) Device 1(Earbud; Flaws: Hard to Lose, Power Feats: Subtle) [5PP] Communication Link 4(Other Earbuds; Radio; Power Feats: Subtle) [5PP] Drawbacks: (-0) + (-0) = -0PP DC Block ATTACK RANGE SAVE EFFECT Unarmed Touch DC 18 Toughness Damage Collapsable Baton Touch DC 20 Toughness Damage Totals: Abilities (44) + Combat (46) + Saving Throws (14) + Skills (17) + Feats (16) + Powers (70) - Drawbacks (0) = 207/230 Power Points