GM WhtKnt's Forge of Heroes (Inactive)

Game Master WhtKnt

"So we're here to make sure he gets killed? That's kind of twisted. "

Rigel smiles knowingly at SJ's comment

"Kythea, do you want to have a discussion with any of us about your work, and what it means to do that kind of work? Do you maybe want to tell my colleagues about the downside to your work? Warn them about how it might feel to be a preserver of tragedy? I think the deserve to know."

A very soft blue glow forms around Rigel's ring as he continues ...

"Hope is a power in this Universe, but it is largely a power of faith. I am lucky to have gained access to the Green Lantern Corp's database; but much of what I have learned is hard to understand. There are times when the Guardian's perception of destiny is at odds with the Will and the Hope of the Corp. It is possible we will be presented with one of those times here."

"We are NOT here to save someone, specifically, we are NOT here to save JFK. Our present and Kythea's best future depend on the foundation of their history. It could be that we unravel the single-bullet theory AND find that we have not one, but 2 shooters who we have to ENSURE are successful." Rigel pauses - "Are we ready for that?"

MINOTAR shakes his head as his fear of discovery lessens.

"Admonishment and statement: You all think too narrowly. We could be here to make sure his wife or Texas Governor John Connally survives, or that Lee Harvey gets caught. Or none of it. The 'Butterfly' effect of time distortion could mean anything as far as we know. Some super-powered child could gain an advantage now that leads to a different future for all of us...so literally anything could happen. I for one have no problem making sure our future remains intact: Maybe its my tactical brain that gives me that advantage here, but 'doing what's right for the future' is bigger than whatever is happening 'right now' in my opinion."

"The robot is correct. While I do know that we are not here to save Mr. Kennedy, I do not know exactly why we are here. Our mission could be indirectly related to the tragedy that is slated to occur. But, you are correct. I should have warned you that there is a possibility that we must ensure that history stays on its correct path, even if that means correcting it ourselves. For that, I am sorry."

"Ok, my brain hurts now. Just tell me what do to. I wasn't so hot about ancient history. "

"Ok, so lets assume for the moment that we have no idea why we are here. How do we figure out what is being changed? It might be someone gives a kid a science book from the year 2534 and changes technological understanding of the next half millennia. Do you have some way of narrowing this down?" Voltage asks as he glances down the road and tries to make sure no one is listening in on their conversation.

"I do feel compelled to ask: is there anything that we could, in fact, consider changing for the better?"

Rigel's look is quite thoughtful as he continues.

"I am aware that we just got here, but isn't it possible that there are things that we could do to not only stabilize time, but enhance the future? Should I have my ring contact the database on OA to look for information there? Should I have it plant new information there? A suggestion for a squad of Temporal Lanterns? Should we seek out the homo-magi of this time and ask them to stay in seclusion and/or send a bunch of magic commandos forward to your time?"

"Really just spitballing here but it seemed worth asking. There are actually super-people even LESS well known than we are ..."

"Son, the lantern doesn't understand the time stream. Any change has potentially catastrophic effects which cannot be foreseen. You want it the way it was before, no better and no worse. "

"Umm, Dad says you really don't want to change anything since what we might think is better ends up far worse after it all resolves. "

MINOTAR puts a finger in the air and runs it down a few inches.

"Statement and Example: One point for SJ. Yes...anything we do could change ten million things later on in the future, or worse, create multiple uncontrolled branches of reality that are out of sync with this one and could threaten all of known existence itself...but that is only a theory. However...if it helps...an example: I literally was made by combining different technologies from multiple sources and backgrounds. An accident. One in a billion chance that I turned out the way I did. Would you see my existence erased, me become the near mindless killing machine I was intended to be, or worse...a maniac villain whom you would have to fight directly at some point?"

He then waves a hand across the horizon.

"Explanation: Please...our best action now would be to 'blend in' and gather information. Try to see if someone has noticed anything unusual or reported something to the authorities. Unless the time traveler person or persons came back fully prepared, its very possible they will stand out much like us. We will have to cover as much ground as possible."

He begins pointing at each person in turn.

"Assignments: Rigel, you and SJ are on the president's motorcade and his entire entourage. You two have the best chance to blend in and try to find these other time travelers and stop them without causing a major incident. Voltage? You are good at talking to people. Try seeing, VERY carefully, if there is someone from this time who might be able to help us out in finding the ones who want to change time. A scientist...a police detective with an open mind, Batman's Grandfather: Whatever it takes. The Dallas area has some very interesting people in this era who are eccentric enough to possibly understand our situation and sympathize enough to help. This alien young lady and I will then focus on monitoring the city in general. I will follow the local Radio and Television signals subtly to hopefully get us closer to our quarry's location, and she...I'm assuming...can read the surface thoughts of those people nearby to help us narrow down who might know something or lead us in the right direction. So...Divide and conquer so to speak. We then meet back here in this alley at dawn tomorrow to update each other and coordinate on any possible successes. If you cannot make it at dawn, try to leave a hidden note or some other communication to let us know you were here...or need help."

He then looks at the others to gauge their reactions to his multiple statements.

"I've been waiting for a plan, and this sounds like a plan. I'm in with this. Umm, though could you tell me what is supposed to have happened? Like I said I'm a bit dim on history. "

"Good Lord Son, did you sleep through all your classes? I know the history, I'll keep you covered. "

"Oh, nevermind, Dad has it. I'm good to go. "

MINOTAR will turn toward the city center.

”Statement and Question: Good luck everyone. Remember meet back here tomorrow if you can. Then we go from there. Shall we start from the city center and work outward in a counter clockwise direction?”

"Yes, that's fine. Let's just get moving. "

MINOTAR: A monitoring of the local radio and television traffic indicates a general level of excitement about President Kennedy's visit two days from now. Police are making arrangements for his motorcade, but in general, not much else is happening.

SJ and Rigel: With the President's visit still two days away, there isn't much to be done in the way of prep. The cars to be used are being thoroughly checked out, to ensure that they are in good working order.

Voltage: A check of the local newspapers turns up little of interest. Most of the news of the day focuses on the President's upcoming visit.

If anyone has any specific actions they would like to take, we can handle that now, or I can advance time to the next day.

Voltage plans to wander around the grassy knoll and see if there is anything off about the area.

Good to proceed on.

I'm unsure when 'Police Scanners' were invented but MINOTAR will also try scanning for unusual Police, or possibly Fire and Ambulance calls as well. Portable Police Radios were introduced in the 1960s and Police Car Radios had been around for years already by this point. Considering most technological equipment in this century is nothing close to digital (real computers of the time filled entire rooms and they were mostly just fancy calculators if I remember correctly), this is his best source of strange and unusual local info probably. That and maybe Ham Radios. I'm hoping the 4-armed telepathic lady can help a bit more once we get closer to anyone who might be 'out-of-time.'

Perception(Awareness): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9
Technology(INT): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (12) + 8 = 20

Still scanning the airwaves and such, MINOTAR turns to his alien companion.

"Question: Maybe we should try to procure a local vehicle of some sort? Although we could attempt to use public transportation as a substitute if you prefer. Also, do you have a moniker that you would prefer I use for you? One that does not draw attention in the place? You can call me...'Mr. Ed' for now while we travel. That should not sound too much out of place, and is the name of a popular TV program of the current time period..."

MINOTAR
"Please call me Karen when others are around. That should be less suspicious. I must confess that I am not familiar with the technology of the era, so perhaps public transportation would be best."

Voltage
You do not notice anything odd about the grassy knoll, other than it commands a good view of the area the motorcade will pass. However, you do notice someone else checking it out. They do not appear to be a random passerby as they are moving about the knoll to different locations and pausing at each.

Straightjacket/Rigel
With little else to do, you decide to wander to take in the city and the local culture before reporting back to the rendevous site. In your wanderings, find yourselves at the corner of 10th Street and Patton Avenue. A small male child is playing there.

Rigel takes a deep breath ... this really was like being inside of history.

What actually is the small male child playing with? Could be a fun opportunity for Rigel to use his non-ringbased psychokinesis

The boy is playing with a Tonka truck.

The boy is playing with a Tonka truck.

I used to own a more modern version of that when I was a kid!

MINOTAR nods casually to the alien woman.

"Statement: 'Karen' works perfectly. Ed and Karen? Yes this is fine. Let's see if we can find a bus that can take us across town then. The sooner we get started the sooner we can finish and go home."

MINOTAR continues to scan the local radio, TV, and short wave signals hoping to find an anomaly as soon as possible.

Now if we can only find a bus stop...

Voltage will watch the man and will tail him from a good distance when he leaves.

MINOTAR and Kythera manage to find a crosstown bus. Voltage watches his target, who takes a few more notes, returns to a black government vehicle, and drives off.

Voltage tries to get the license plate number before the car leaves his sight.

Voltage manages to get the license plate number, G-519. MINOTAR, what did you hope to accomplish by going across town, or were you just riding around trying to pick up signals? Rigel, any other interaction with the boy?

Mainly just trying to monitor as many signals as he could. TV, radio, short wave, heck he’s checking Sputnik’s signal to see if it is still beeping! We are basically shot-gunning for anything that could lead to any clue as to where/when the time villains might strike. Going across town just seems the smarter thing to do than just sitting still and looking suspicious.

Voltage goes to find MINOTAR to see if he might be able to track anything down about the license plate that he saw. "These guys were looking around the hill. It might be part of the real history or our changes." He tells MINOTAR.

MINOTAR quickly relays Voltage’s info to their time ally, and responds.

”Statement and Request: Excellent work Mr. V. Tracking down a government license plate might be difficult in this day and age. Stay with him and observe. If things change, then call us in and we will converge on your location. He could just be doing prep work for the President’s motorcade, but again he might be masquerading as a government agent to move around quickly. He could also be involved with the assassination attempt too.. Regardless, be careful and contact me the moment anything major happens.“

We are trying to hide our powers right? I could fly and follow, but I am a human lightning bolt when I fly. It would be pretty noticeable.

Understood. But my point was following him would be easier than trying to find out anything with his license plate in some government documents file somewhere, which we don’t have access to at the moment. If you can follow in a cab or steal a car or something then do so…otherwise I suggest flying extra high in order to stay out of general sight. What you do is up to you and is part of the challenge of our situation.

Voltage, how do you wish to proceed? Rigel, what are you up to?

Voltage will transform and then fly up high and hope no one is looking up. If possible he will take refuge in clouds to keep track of the car without being too obvious.

Contemplating multiple scenarios as he scans the airwaves, one suddenly pops an interesting question into his head. Without turning he speaks to his temporary teammate.

”Query: Maybe we should have the ‘time villains’ come to us? Would there be a certain action or signal that would cause them to respond to us? Draw them out, rather than us hunting needles in a thousand haystacks.”

Kythea looks at MINOTAR. "What did you have in mind?"

Voltage, the man does not seem to notice that he is being followed. He proceeds to the nearest police department and goes inside.

Pausing only a moment, MINOTAR replies.

"Statement: You would probably have a better idea on how to get the attention of a of a time traveler. My suggestions are limited by my knowledge of time travel which is minor at best. If nothing else something 'obvious' hitting the news that seems unbelievable but a time traveler would recognize instantly. Or an encrypted radio burst...some thing like that."

Voltage will try and land out of sight before heading into the building to see if he can find the man.

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12

Pausing only a moment, MINOTAR replies.

"Statement: You would probably have a better idea on how to get the attention of a of a time traveler. My suggestions are limited by my knowledge of time travel which is minor at best. If nothing else something 'obvious' hitting the news that seems unbelievable but a time traveler would recognize instantly. Or an encrypted radio burst...some thing like that."

"Is it possible that our presence is enough though? Like MIN's core energy cannot have existed in this time. There were Lantern's, but not with a ring signature like mine. The density of metahumans overall was a lot lower also. LOL do we find an empty warehouse somewhere and blast a lot of things to create energy signatures?"

Voltage
The man enters the police station and proceeds into a room with two other men dressed similarly to himself. He closes the door behind him.

MINOTAR
Kythea considers for a moment. "You may be onto something, Ringbearer. But rather than randomly blasting things, I think it may be sufficient to send a signal that other travelers would recognize. My only concern is that in doing so, we may give away our advantage if they don't realize we are here."

Voltage

The man enters the police station and proceeds into a room with two other men dressed similarly to himself. He closes the door behind him.

MINOTAR
Kythea considers for a moment. "You may be onto something, Ringbearer. But rather than randomly blasting things, I think it may be sufficient to send a signal that other travelers would recognize. My only concern is that in doing so, we may give away our advantage if they don't realize we are here."

"Truth be told, that was one of the reasons I suggested myself; while Earth of this time period does not have all that many metahumans, the universe has had Lanterns for many thousands of years. Even if it seemed odd that there would be one here and now, it isn't all that odd overall. Just a thought."

"Ring: search database for known locations of active Green Lanterns at this time."

Again, without turning his head, MINOTAR states the obvious…yet again.

”Statement: We would need a place out of general view of the public, but not that far from the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex itself. We would also have to be careful and hope our enemies cannot turn our trap back on ourselves. Of course we also need to protect the timeline as well.”

Voltage wanders by the door and tries to hear what is going on in the room.

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (5) + 6 = 11

Voltage
You are only able to catch snippets of the conversation through the door. Something about "line-of-sight" and "potential threats."

MINOTAR
"I agree. To the Metroplex, then?"

Rigel/STraightjacket
Are you also heading to the Metroplex?

Voltage will duck out and head back to meet the others.

MINOTAR would laugh but was afraid to offend their new compatriot.

Statement: Technically we are already in the ‘Metroplex.’ The United States Census Bureau determined the ‘Dallas-Ft.Worth Metroplex’ encompasses 9,286 square miles (24,100 km2) of total area; 8,991 sq mi (23,290 km2) is land, and 295 sq mi (760 km2) is covered by water. The conurbated metropolitan area is larger in area than the U.S. states of Rhode Island and Connecticut combined, and larger than New Jersey. If the metropolitan area were a sovereign state, it would rank the 162nd largest state by total area after Lebanon. The U.S. Office of Management and Budget combines the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex with the Sherman–Denison metropolitan area and seven micropolitan statistical areas to form the Dallas–Fort Worth TX–OK combined statistical area. At least in our modern times. We will need to pick a more specific location.”