Masks: A New Generation of Heroes

Game Master Cwethan

Playbooks
Moves
Character Bible


3,451 to 3,500 of 5,817 << first < prev | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68 | 69 | 70 | 71 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 75 | next > last >>

Labels: Danger: 1 Freak: -1 Savior: -2 Superior: 3 Mundane: 3 | Condition(s):Hopeless, Angry, Insecure, Afraid|Potential 7/5 | Doom: 8/15
Influence:
Bran, Kay

Wednesday

Alexandra holds Kaoru as he talks. Gods above, Jack did a number on him, didn't he.

Do you want me to show you... or back off?[/b] She says.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Wavy line of speaking with Bron~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okay, I'm not gonna tell you to be... well, my family was always pretty open about sexuality. So long as none of us were dumb enough to get pregnant, our parents weren't too... But I kinda suspect you grew up a little different.

'Maybe even beyond'? You're religious? Alexandra asks, surprise evident in her voice

Yeah... that does sound tricky. but not especially fixable. she isn't likely to get close to me or Cassie, Alexis is unlikely to be of help. and then Kay and Shaun... might actually be worse than nothing. Which leaves her with either a 1500-year-old Celt, or one of the worlds Icons to talk to... Shit. she says

I'm... wow, bars on your windows? If you wanted to, I could try to help... but, I suspect you'd find my help either distasteful, or appalling. But I could maybe help you with the Bars, if you decide to go back. she offers as an olive branch.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Wavy line of the spooky doll!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alexandra catches Bron again, and gets her over to a stump, setting her down, and offering her water. No. She was probably mind controlled. but she threw it into a tree, not on the ground... start checking trees, once you're back on your feet. my instinct it that this is a breadcrumb.


Potential 0 / 5 --- Dan -1 | Fre +0 | Sav +2 | Sup -1 | Mun +3
Conditions:
Afraid, Hopeless, Insecure
Influence:
Influenced By: Bron/Bran the Blessed, Hex, Wingblade --- Influence Over: Hex, Mercy, Wingblade

Going on a Picnic...

Over her shoulder, Alexis can see Shaun deflate with defeat. "Yea', picnic grounds..." He stuffs his hands into his pockets and follows her glumly.

Alexis wrote:
"She will be okay. She has family that loves her. They will make her feel better,"

Shaun's mind immediately goes to his old man's response to the nightmares. "...just 'cause somebody loves ya' doesn't mean they'll do ta' right thin'..."

As they reach the picnic grounds, Shaun looks out over the metaphorical sea of people peppered across the trio of low hills. Checkered blankets and colorful kites add splashes of joyous colors to the field of serene green grass. It's almost picturesque. And somewhere out in there is a man who will magic your mind and whisk you away. Welcome to Halcyon...

Since the Picnic and Fountain teams don't have Cassie with them, when we/you reach your target locations go ahead and roll Assess and Event rolls. (You don't have to choose any questions if you do not wush to. A success on the Assess means you found the target you were sent after.) Carousel team, just roll Event please.
Assess the Picnic Grounds: 2d6 - 1 ⇒ (6, 6) - 1 = 11
Event: 1d10 ⇒ 2

As Shaun surveys the location, he frowns slightly. "That's not a good thin' Lex. Pain's important. It keeps us human. An' who said it can't be ye' in ta' suit? Way I see it, ye're at your best when ye're just you, know what I mean?"
Comfort and Supprot Alexis: 2d6 + 3 ⇒ (3, 1) + 3 = 7

- - -

The Carousel

Carnival music twinkles through the air as the trio approaches the carousel. Young children crowd around the ride and fill the waiting line to board the plastic animals. Parents watch from behind a rope cordon, some holding phones or cameras to record their children's faces of joy.

Within moments, Cassie singles out the the possible abductor.

A side-effect of her spell is that, while she can see the hat on the man's head perfectly, the rest of his features are somewhat obscured. She can discern, however, that he is darkly skinned. A quick point by Cassie easily draws Shayera and Kaoru's attention to a man sitting opposite the carnival ride.

He is seated on a bench, dressed in a mint green suit and wears aviator sunglasses. The straw fedora is perched on the front of his head, resting partially over his eyes as he dozes in the afternoon sun. What can be seen of his face is wrinkled and liver-spotted. He is seemingly alone, and does not have a guitar with him. What do you do?

- - -

Bronwyn and Alexandra, you can roll for the fountain now, or when you get there. I'll leave it up to you.


Influence:
I have influence on: Bran the Blessed, Mercy
Conditions: Insecure
Labels:
Danger +2, Freak +2, Savior 0, Superior +2, Mundane +1. Potential 0/5

Shayera spots the old man sitting and possibly dozing on the bench. Putting her phone to her ear, she also activates her communicator so Whip and the SCA can listen in. "I've got eyes on one possible target, by the carousel. Close match, no guitar that I can see. Dark-skinned male, sixties or seventies, maybe older. Green suit."

She whispers to Kaoru and Cassie, "The others don't have Cassie's spell, so we need to move fast in case this isn't him. I'll take point, watch my back."

Shayera approaches the man and makes a show of looking around the bench. "Excuse me? ¿Discúlpeme señor? My little brother dropped his video game around here. You haven't seen anything like that, have you?"

Pierce the Mask: 2d6 ⇒ (3, 2) = 5
Oof. Marking potential


Danger -2 | Freak +3 | Savior +1 | Superior +3 | Mundane 0
Influence:
Influence on: Alexandra, Alexis, Bronwyn | Influenced by: Alexandra, Bronwyn
Conditions: Afraid, Insecure | Potential: 3/5 | Team: 0

Wednesday
Kaoru reflexively licked her lips as her stomach flipped. Since when was her room this warm? "You could I guess? Teach me, I mean. If you wanted to? I can't...really imagine that would be any fun for you though. So, uh, whatever? I'm sure the internet has, like, pictures and diagrams and stuff. It can't really be, like, that hard to pick up, right?"

Thursday
Kaoru led the possibly kind of blind Cassie on a different approach from Wingblade, making sure that they would be close enough to back her up if for some reason the girl with razor feathers and super regeneration needed, like, someone to troubleshoot why her wifi wasn't working or someone to fill out her dating profile (really, she wasn't sure what Wingblade was really expecting out of them).

She briefly angled Cassie away from the man and pulled her out her phone. "Smile!" She then pretended to take a picture of Cassie when in fact she was taking a picture of the man. She then quickly turned on the video recording on the phone but lowered it, using the feed to her watch to make sure the phone was subtlely angled to be on target.

Moving closer to Cassie, Kaoru carefully avoided looking directly at the man, relying on her camera feed to keep an eye on him. Her eyes flicked briefly around to make sure if he had a partner or something, she would be able to see them approaching Wingblade and give her a heads up. "Don't suppose your magic mojo can tell if this is our guy or not?"

Pierce dude with questionable fashion sense: 2d6 + 2 ⇒ (6, 1) + 2 = 9
What are you really planning? (long term, since that seems slightly more likely to tell me if he's our guy than the short term one)

Event: 1d10 ⇒ 6


Labels:
Danger +3 Freak +2 Savior +1 Superior -2 Mundane -1
Influence:
Bronwyn (Love), Alexandra, Cassie, Kaoru (Rival)
Conditions: Angry, Afraid, Guilty, Insecure | Potential 2/5 (6A)

Assess: 2d6 + 2 ⇒ (5, 2) + 2 = 9

Event: 1d10 ⇒ 5

"Which me? The hurt, angry homeless girl? The high schooler who wants to experience love? The unit that knows to stay on mission and not let emotions compromise her?" Alexis asked him. "I have read Shakespeare, and I understand that everyone puts on a face to different people. You have seen several of my faces. I have only ever seen your drunk and angry face. You are the one who could be better."

"Who I am depends on the role I am playing. But this time, I will not let others choose my roles for me. I will decide who I want to be." She pauses and points. "You see the man there too, right?"

Clearing Insecure for the Comfort role. Hope that suffiently opened up to him.


Potential 0 / 5 --- Dan -1 | Fre +0 | Sav +2 | Sup -1 | Mun +3
Conditions:
Afraid, Hopeless, Insecure
Influence:
Influenced By: Bron/Bran the Blessed, Hex, Wingblade --- Influence Over: Hex, Mercy, Wingblade

Picnic Grounds

"Ta' me that is ye'...I-I mean, just be you...this makes no f~!!in' sense, uh..." He scratches his neck in thought. "Look, I used ta' be like that too. I had..."faces" f'different people. But my gran'da' taught me ta' be just me, ta' just be who I am n' not try ta' be anythin' f'anybody but a hero. It wasn't easy ta' do, but now all I am is me. I'm honest with everybody 'round me, an' I'm honest w'me."

Before he realizes what he's saying, he blurts out: "'Sides, all I've seen ya' seein' from Shakespeare is his softer stuff. Comedies n' romance shit. Ta' tragedies are way better, 'specially-" With a face like he'd just realized he was swallowing a sea urchin, Shaun cuts himself off. NO! What the hell Me?! Shut the f*&& up! "I-I mean, I've heard that his darker stuff's better..."

Yeah that'll do for opening up.

He coughs and tries to change the subject. "Yea', yea' I see him."

The fedora-bearer was sprawled over the nearest hill, seated on a picnic blanket with his face turned skyward. He is darkly skinned, with a light blue shirt dangling unbuttoned off of his lithe frame. His undershirt is decorated with stylized hibiscus flowers in yellow, purple and red. Combined with the hat and his bright pink flip-flops, the young man has a very tropical vibe about him. From their position, Kilt and Mercy cannot tell if there is anyone with him, or if he has an instrument.

Shaun glances over to Alexis. "Uh...I don't suppose ye've ever tried ta' approach a perp without just punchin' them? 'Cause I haven't..."

Mercy, what do you do?

- - -

The Carousel

@Kaoru: This man is definitely asleep. However, judging from his position, and his lack of accoutrements, he's likely waiting for someone.

The elderly man in green snorts awake when Shayera speaks. "Oh? *yawn* Ah, must've dozed off..." He rights his hat and looks Shayera over. "Is that so? Well!" He carefully hauls himself to his feet and dusts off his pants. "We can't just let your brother go without his toy now can we!? How about I help you look, hm?" He makes a bit of a show of looking around and over the bench he was just seated on. His tone and expressions are comically exaggerated, implying to all observing that he's being (or at least trying to be) intentionally funny.

As the mint man looks around, Kaoru can see a trio of men dressed similarly to him enter the carousel area from the other side of the ride, out of sight of the man and Shayera. They are each dressed in a suit in a different shade of green, and each have a differently styled fedora. Each of them is also carrying a instrument, with one of them also holding a guitar case that seems full.

What do you do?


Danger -2 | Freak +3 | Savior +1 | Superior +3 | Mundane 0
Influence:
Influence on: Alexandra, Alexis, Bronwyn | Influenced by: Alexandra, Bronwyn
Conditions: Afraid, Insecure | Potential: 3/5 | Team: 0

Kaoru taps her watch to have her comm connect to Wingblade's.

"Looks like your new friend was waiting for someone. Probably the similarly dressed trio approaching from your 7. They look like they might be a band, but at least one has a guitar, so that might just be their cover. I'm taking pictures of all of them." She angles her phone to make sure to get a good shot of the three newcomers.

She doesn't bother to cut the comm connection as she turns to address Cassie. "Cassie, don't suppose the newcomers have any kind of magicky aura that you can see?"


Labels: Danger: 0 Freak: 2 Savior: 2 Superior: 1 Mundane: 1| Conditions: Guilty
Influence:
Influenced by: Thor Girl, Bioshock, Wingblade, Silver Shadow. Influences: Thor Girl, Bioshock, Wingblade, Eabha, Kaoru, Mercy, The Kilt, Whipoorwill

Bronwyn looks up in surprise, "Of course I'm religious." She instinctively reached up to where the crucifix she'd loaned Shaun wasn't. How did she figure out I was staying somewhere else based on the alterations to my weekly schedule and not notice I go to church at least once a week? "But umm... I wasn't talking about up in heaven or anything. You know Shayera really did die, right? And yikes. No offense, but I really wasn't talking about her talking to any of you guys. That's why we went with someone neutral." A little of Bronwyn's wariness seeps out of her. [b]"We're really trying to make sure we do everything we can to be happy together."

"Thanks but no thanks on the bars." Why does everyone focus on getting rid of the bars?! "Heck, I could tear those off too, with some time and my tools. Or if I just stopped telling Bran and Shayera not to rip them apart, they'd probably be gone overnight. The problem is that they put them up."

***

Bronwyn looks a little unconvinced by Alexandra's assessment of the doll. "But if she was mind controlled, why tell her to get rid of it? That just leaves more clues behind for someone like us... I think the guy who took her wasn't just taking her, he was taking her away from her daughter. Everyone was separated from a group, that's a much harder way to take people. That has to matter."

She hadn't been able to get a really good look through the enchantments, not enough to track the abductor or anything, but there was enough here to figure out a little of what kind of mischief he'd been working...
Pierce the Mask: 2d6 ⇒ (6, 5) = 11What are you really planning?
What do you intend to do?
How could I gain Influence over you?

Why is he doing this?

Fountain Assess: 2d6 + 1 ⇒ (3, 4) + 1 = 8
Event: 1d10 ⇒ 2


[X] [X] [X] [X] [ ] Labels: Da: 1 Fr: 0 Sa: 0 Su: 3 Mu: -1 | Conditions: Insecure, Angry, Guilty
Influence:
PCs: Alexis, Shaun; NPCs: Odysseus

Cassie took the sunglasses proffered by Shayera and put them on before letting the others guide her towards the carousel. She nods at Kaoru's words, turning to the newcomers and, extending her magical sense.

Unleash (read auras): 2d6 + 0 ⇒ (3, 5) + 0 = 8


Labels:
Danger +3 Freak +2 Savior +1 Superior -2 Mundane -1
Influence:
Bronwyn (Love), Alexandra, Cassie, Kaoru (Rival)
Conditions: Angry, Afraid, Guilty, Insecure | Potential 2/5 (6A)

"I don't normally punch people." Mercy said as she thinks for a moment, before nodding. "Surveillance only. Shayera, we have an abductor in sight. What are your orders?" She whispers through the comm, so not to attract attention.


Influence:
I have influence on: Bran the Blessed, Mercy
Conditions: Insecure
Labels:
Danger +2, Freak +2, Savior 0, Superior +2, Mundane +1. Potential 0/5

Shayera chuckles at the man's antics while she glances about looking for the fictitious toy. She trains her other senses on him, but he doesn't seem to have anything unusual about him. Then Kaoru reports just ahead of Alexis, their voices buzzing in her ear thanks to her earbud.

She puts her phone to her ear and acts as if she's received a call for the old man's sake. She straightens, and lets her gaze drift in the direction that Kaoru provided while responding to Alexis. "Hey. No luck so far here at the carousel. Can you keep an eye on him? I can't really talk now, but keep me updated."

She takes her phone away from her ear as she steps back and takes in the entire scene. She considers this man, the three others approaching and the fact that Alexis has also spotted another at her location.

Be Mindful of Your Surroundings: 2d6 + 2 ⇒ (4, 5) + 2 = 11
What here can I use to identify the kidnappers?
What here is the biggest threat?
How can we best end this quickly?


Labels: Danger: 0 Freak: 2 Savior: 2 Superior: 1 Mundane: 1| Conditions: Guilty
Influence:
Influenced by: Thor Girl, Bioshock, Wingblade, Silver Shadow. Influences: Thor Girl, Bioshock, Wingblade, Eabha, Kaoru, Mercy, The Kilt, Whipoorwill

I've gotten a rundown on some of the elements in play, so while, I can't post for Shaun, I should be able to resolve a couple of the rolls for the bits I'm not in on.
Also, Alexandra, not sure if you saw (and I don't have sufficient info to resolve it), but you could go ahead and pre-roll an Assess and Event so that Shaun can more easily hop back in with that ready :-)

Cassie and Shayera look around with all the wariness that their upbringings have instilled in them, whether from long torture or recent betrayal.

Shayera doesn't sense anything specifically unusual about the man or the approaching musicians, but her instincts keep screaming at her that everything is not okay! Despite that, she doesn't see anything that would identify them as the kidnappers, and as far as she can tell, she's by far the most dangerous thing here.

To Cassie's eyes though, something else is clear. Some of the enchantments that thrum through the park are in synchrony with these men's instruments. It's nothing overtly harmful, just a gentle tugging compulsion to listen and appreciate if they were to start playing.

What she can't tell is if they're a part of the enchantment, or if their mere presence here has been enough to infuse them with that charm...

Since you didn't mark a condition, I'll assume temporary/unstable


Labels: Danger: 1 Freak: -1 Savior: -2 Superior: 3 Mundane: 3 | Condition(s):Hopeless, Angry, Insecure, Afraid|Potential 7/5 | Doom: 8/15
Influence:
Bran, Kay

Paizo ate a post, sorry...

Yeah, I figured you went to church. I've gone to church... cute guy was my motivation, figured pleasing your family was yours. she says, electing against sharing details, even if Bronwyn's reaction would be priceless But, you've... like you've met gods. You work for someone is who basically a pagan demigod, and do you remember the goddess who challenged your boyfriend to a duel? The one I got to fight a dragon with, during the last bit of surprise giant monster escapades...? Figured it would be hard to be religious after that... plus, y'know, a holy book more riddled with Contradictions than it is with misogyny, and just living in Halcyon. she says

I'm a great relationship counselor. I can see right through most lies, and know all the signs of infidelity, understand most forms of power imbalance, and don't take Bullshit... she says, smiling with mirth But, yeah... I'm the best option of the group, and I'm probably not actually very good.

For the record, I am rooting for you two crazy kids...

I didn't mean removing them. overt, counterproductive... though, would send a good message. "you aren't in control of me, and you never will be". but I meant more just... subborning them, make them open on hinges.

But, the other problem is the one I'm actually qualified for. I'm a PI, could dig around a little, find some dirty laundry, some hypocrisy you could throw in their faces. No such thing as a clean past. Alexandra offers. her face genuine

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It means something, but we have too few clues to get anything here. she says F!!+in' hate mind magic. that f@+~ing trinket, that powder at the museum... all of it gives me the creeps.

Event: 1d10 ⇒ 10
assess: 2d6 + 2 ⇒ (5, 4) + 2 = 11


Labels: Danger: 0 Freak: 2 Savior: 2 Superior: 1 Mundane: 1| Conditions: Guilty
Influence:
Influenced by: Thor Girl, Bioshock, Wingblade, Silver Shadow. Influences: Thor Girl, Bioshock, Wingblade, Eabha, Kaoru, Mercy, The Kilt, Whipoorwill

Bronwyn made a face at Alexandra's confession about going to church to ogle a cute guy, but let it pass. " 'There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy,' right? Sorry, Alexis has me on a Shakespeare kick. I mean, just because I don't understand how a few pieces fit doesn't mean that the puzzle's incomplete. I don't know what gives Bran or Skuld their powers. I don't know what gives Shayera her powers either. I don't need the bible to explain that to me, because it tells me what they should do with that power. 'To whom much is given, much is required.' As for the rest... Despite its inspirationn, the bible was written by human hands and human minds using the best thinking and compassion of their time."

"And I don't want to blackmail them into taking me back! I'm sure my parents have made mistakes in their lives - we all have, but what kind of person would I be if I used their mistakes as a weapon against them?!"

She paused and gave a smile that stopped well short of her eyes. "You'll need to do better if you're still trying to get me to punch you."

***

"Yeah... Not much worse than taking away someone's free will."

"C'mon. Let's check the fountain. Sooner we find this guy, the sooner we can stop him."

***

Oh, and since I didn't really explicitly answer Shayera's How Can we End this Quickly - Narrow down the real culprit and strike!
I'll hold off on making up what the Event chart or fountain hold for Bron and Alexandra for another day or so, but otherwise I plan to keep us rolling :-)


Potential 0 / 5 --- Dan -1 | Fre +0 | Sav +2 | Sup -1 | Mun +3
Conditions:
Afraid, Hopeless, Insecure
Influence:
Influenced By: Bron/Bran the Blessed, Hex, Wingblade --- Influence Over: Hex, Mercy, Wingblade

I'm back! Let's rock!

Picnic Grounds

Shaun semi-discreetly taps his comm to reply. "Got it boss. Watchin' now." He scratches his chin as he takes a seat on the grass, the tropical man well within view. "So...uh...wanna hear a joke?"

- - -

The Carousel

(A little re-itteration here from Bonwyn, just for the sake of information inventory.)
@Shayera:
1. Seemingly nothing. Best guess, these lot aren't the kidnappers.
2. ...you. :/
3. The best way to end this search is to find and apprehend the true culprit(s). As for the specific situation at the carousel, it seems that Mint Man isn't taking this too seriously, so it would probably be pretty easy to excuse yourself if you stay friendly.

@Cassie: The magic in the park is fogging your magical gaze, but one thing is clear: these men aren't magical. BUT, the enchantment is reacting to their instruments. In what way, you aren't certain.

As the other three men round the carousel and come within view, the first green man notice them and, somehow, his smile broadens further. "Hey-howdy boys!"

The youngest of the band, the one carrying a guitar case, smiles himself and picks up his pace a bit to reach the man first. "There you are you old man!" he says in a jokingly scolding manner. "We finally got a spot towards the beach. You all ready to sing?"

"Ah, well y'see, I would be, 'cept this little lady lost something important to her brother. I can't just leave her hanging now can I!?"

As the both turn to look at Shayera, it starts to become apparent that these men are street performers, probably some combo of comedian and musician. What do you all do?

- - -

The Fountain

@Bronwyn:
1. It's difficult to guess what exactly this kidnapper is really planning, but if he was simply killing his victims, then he likely wouldn't have them dispose of their belongings first. The presence of disposed evidence suggests that he has another purpose for his victims, one that might mean their still alive.
2. Assuming he doesn't know he's been found out, then he's likely planning on just continuing as he has done for the last few months. If he does know he's been discovered, then he's more than likely trying to flee of he can.
3. This guy is COCKY. He had the balls to enchant an entire park in the middle of Halcyon, a city so prepared for magic that there's (probably) a special SWAT unit for magical situations. If you can disrupt that confidence, you will almost certainly get into his head.

Still brushing the odd leaf out of their hair, Bronwyn and Alexandra approach the pearlescent plaza, shimmering titles lining the walkways to a towering display of sculpture and flying water. An angel carved in the likeness of the man who funded the project tops the art installation, and the bottom of the basin glitters with wished-upon coins.

Of course, this does little to distract from a sizable crowd of people all gathered around...something. Thankfully, both girls have the thought to clamber up onto the lip of the fountain and look over the heads of the crowd.

Situated near-dead center of the throng of people is their target.

Dressed in a violent shade of red, the fedora-wearer is clearly a street magician. As they watch, the duo can see him perform simple slight-of-hand tricks like making cards disappear and making birds appear from his long jacket sleeves. Notably however though, he is light skinned.

...until he isn't.

In the blink of an eye, the man's skin, his entire appearance, changes drastically. He is now copper-toned, with a blue jacket and a tiny bowler hat. That wasn't just an illusion. That was almost certainly real magic. [ooc]What do you do?


Labels: Danger: 0 Freak: 2 Savior: 2 Superior: 1 Mundane: 1| Conditions: Guilty
Influence:
Influenced by: Thor Girl, Bioshock, Wingblade, Silver Shadow. Influences: Thor Girl, Bioshock, Wingblade, Eabha, Kaoru, Mercy, The Kilt, Whipoorwill

Bronwyn reached up to grab at Gae-Dearg, but didn't make any hostile moves, yet.

He doesn't have any instruments. If he starts singing, then we'll have to rethink things, but sleight of hand and musical magic just aren't the same... idiom.

She gave her comm a quick tap and reported in. "We've got something strange by the fountain. Confirmed strange, but probably not our target, maybe not even mischievous. Anything from you guys yet?"


Labels:
Danger +3 Freak +2 Savior +1 Superior -2 Mundane -1
Influence:
Bronwyn (Love), Alexandra, Cassie, Kaoru (Rival)
Conditions: Angry, Afraid, Guilty, Insecure | Potential 2/5 (6A)

She shakes her head, staring at the man in front of them. She chews on her lip for a moment before making a decision.

Shayera said there were more targets. Meaning that sitting and waiting was pointless. They needed to capture this one and bring them Shayera.

Assess the situation: 2d6 + 2 ⇒ (4, 4) + 2 = 10

What is most vulnerable to me? What here can I use to capture the straw hat man?


Influence:
I have influence on: Bran the Blessed, Mercy
Conditions: Insecure
Labels:
Danger +2, Freak +2, Savior 0, Superior +2, Mundane +1. Potential 0/5

As the reports come through on her earbud, Shayera decides they need to go back up the others.

She shakes her head after scanning the ground one last time. "I don't see it; I'm sure if it was still here, I'd have seen it. Great, now I gotta go find the taxicab we took. I was really hoping it'd be here." She looks up at the old man and his musician friends. "Thank you, sir! I'd stay and listen to you play, but I gotta go!"

She hustles away at a brisk clip, expecting Kaoru and Cassie to follow. She puts her phone to her ear but broadcasts to the group through her earbud. "Carousel's a dead-end, unless our perp is a group of musicians. Cassie's got the seeing spell running, so we'll check out Bronwyn's target first, then come around and see what Alexis and Shaun's found."


Danger -2 | Freak +3 | Savior +1 | Superior +3 | Mundane 0
Influence:
Influence on: Alexandra, Alexis, Bronwyn | Influenced by: Alexandra, Bronwyn
Conditions: Afraid, Insecure | Potential: 3/5 | Team: 0

@Alexandra: No response to Kaoru? :-P

Kaoru pauses her video recording and loops the possibly still slightly blind Cassie's arm through hers as she guides her towards the fountain. For as long as she's within possible sight of the band, she maintains a reasonable distance between the two of them and Wingblade, even going so far as to head in a slightly off-kilter direction rather than directly following her. She remains within line of sight and shouting distance of their leader though.


[X] [X] [X] [X] [ ] Labels: Da: 1 Fr: 0 Sa: 0 Su: 3 Mu: -1 | Conditions: Insecure, Angry, Guilty
Influence:
PCs: Alexis, Shaun; NPCs: Odysseus

Cassie cast a look back towards the other musicians as she let Kaoru guide her through the crowds towards the fountain. "Whatever the magic is, it's kind of,.. linked to other instruments. Watch out for anything like that, it may be that any music could have a similar effect, even if its not being played by whoever cast the spell." she said over the comm.

Once at the fountain, she turned to Kaoru. "Get me somewhere I can see the target,.. then we'll see what's going on."

Not sure what to roll.... Maybe Unleash? Unleash: 2d6 + 0 ⇒ (4, 3) + 0 = 7


Danger -2 | Freak +3 | Savior +1 | Superior +3 | Mundane 0
Influence:
Influence on: Alexandra, Alexis, Bronwyn | Influenced by: Alexandra, Bronwyn
Conditions: Afraid, Insecure | Potential: 3/5 | Team: 0

Kaoru frowned as she led the blind mage after Wingblade. "Specifically the instruments? Or do you think music in general? And I don't suppose you have any idea if this is just a side-effect of the spell or if the caster is somehow using the fact that people like to perform here to give power to his spell?"


Labels: Danger: 0 Freak: 2 Savior: 2 Superior: 1 Mundane: 1| Conditions: Guilty
Influence:
Influenced by: Thor Girl, Bioshock, Wingblade, Silver Shadow. Influences: Thor Girl, Bioshock, Wingblade, Eabha, Kaoru, Mercy, The Kilt, Whipoorwill

Subbing in again an eentsy bit.

@Alexis, I'm not sure what else you're determining between for what's most vulnerable, so my answer's kind of tangential to that.

Alexis scans the area for backup, but if he has any with him, it's beyond her telling. As far as she can tell, this guy is alone and vulnerable. Everything that's been figured out about the abductor suggests he's doing it through music, so taking away an instruments around him and gagging him should go a long way towards capturing him.

I don't have notes on the Blue Bowler, so I'll just make something up for him tonight or tomorrow if need be :-)


Potential 0 / 5 --- Dan -1 | Fre +0 | Sav +2 | Sup -1 | Mun +3
Conditions:
Afraid, Hopeless, Insecure
Influence:
Influenced By: Bron/Bran the Blessed, Hex, Wingblade --- Influence Over: Hex, Mercy, Wingblade

No need, I'm here!

Picnic Grounds

Answers from Bronwyn hold true. The Tropical man seems physically vulnerable, and from what you know, his voice and any instruments he might have are his weak point.

Shaun rolls his eyes when Alexis refuses the joke. "Okay then, uh...ya' know any good-?" He cuts himself off when he see the girl walking off towards the man on the picnic blanket. "Whoa hey, where ye'goin'!?" He stands and rushes up to her, but stops short of trying to insert himself between her and the man. (She'd just walk through me...literally maybe...) "We were told ta' watch this guy! We get any closer n' he might get wise! If we blow this then...then Shayera might not trust us ta' get anythin' right ever again!" He knew that was both a reach and an unlikely result, but it wasn't like he could physically get her to stop.

Provoke Alexis to stop her approach: 2d6 - 3 ⇒ (5, 6) - 3 = 8
Oh shit! I wasn't expecting that to work! Okay then, if you don't do it then you mark a condition.

As Alexis gets closer to the tropical man and peaks a small hill, she can see that the man does indeed have a guitar with him. It's nothing fancy, not much more than some lacquered wood and strings, but it is clearly well-cared for. The man stretches and scratches his chin, a tuneless whistle passing through his lips.

- - -

En-Route to the Fountain

The band waves goodbye to Shayera as she departs before trotting off to perform, completely unaware of the suspicion they were under.

As the trio weave their way through the crowds between them and the second target, they pass a hot dog stand that currently seems to be hosting some kind of bizarre business outing. Nearly a dozen people wearing charcoal-grey suits and black ties gather around the cart, each eating two or even more sausages. The aged vendor looks somewhat taken aback as three particularly burly men come up and order even more. All that being said, there clearly isn't any danger to the harried man (aside maybe the danger of running out of hot dogs), so it is not a priority.

Kaoru, as you help Cassie along, you happen to look back at the hot dog scene just in time to see a familiar face: it's Duncan, still dressed in his finely tailor suit, handing over a roll of bills to the vendor with a bored look on his face. He has not noticed you. What do you do?

Cassie, as Kaoru helps you along, something pushes at the edges of your magical senses. A powerful presence that somehow is managing to disturb the enchantment of the park. Unfortunately, you can't really tell where the presence is coming from due to your detection spell. Though, if you were to release the spell, you would almost certainly be able to tell where that energy is coming from. And considering that your mother might be involved in this...
So, I give you the choice to release the detection and use that Unleash roll to find the presence, or keep the spell going and use it on the magician at the fountain. What do you do?

- - -

The Fountain

The crowd "oohs" and "ahs" as the street magician makes a string of scarves change colors in his hands. He bows, taking the bowler had off his head to show his smooth, shaved scalp. "Thank you, thank you all! You are too kind!" He rights himself and puts his hat back on, which has now transformed into a top hat. "Now, for my next trick, I will need two volunteers from the crowd! Any takers!?" What do you do?


1 person marked this as a favorite.
Labels:
Danger +3 Freak +2 Savior +1 Superior -2 Mundane -1
Influence:
Bronwyn (Love), Alexandra, Cassie, Kaoru (Rival)
Conditions: Angry, Afraid, Guilty, Insecure | Potential 2/5 (6A)

Alexis pauses long enough in front of Shaun to consider if Shayera wouldn't trust her if she engaged the target. She feels strongly that she needs to stop him from potentially threatening other people. But she also sees that Shaun happens to have a point, though not a strong one. She thinks Shayera would think her actions to be justified, if against orders.

"Fine. If he starts to play music, I'm going to destroy his instrument," She tells Shaun, bristling as they stand together watching the man in the straw hat from a distance. "We need to blend in. Try to kiss me. Act like you're on a date with me."

The look on Alexis' face shows that she does not in any fashion consider this a date.


[X] [X] [X] [X] [ ] Labels: Da: 1 Fr: 0 Sa: 0 Su: 3 Mu: -1 | Conditions: Insecure, Angry, Guilty
Influence:
PCs: Alexis, Shaun; NPCs: Odysseus

Cassie let herself get lead towards the fountain, mostly able to see enough to avoid bumping into many of the bustling crowd. At the sensation of,.. something else, affecting the enchantment she pulled up short. Halting her and Kaoru. "Something, someone else is here." she whispered over the comms to the others. "I don't know what, but it could be bad. I'm going to drop the detection on ugly hat-man if you think you've got eyes on him and see if I can find who else is involved in this. OK?"


Danger -2 | Freak +3 | Savior +1 | Superior +3 | Mundane 0
Influence:
Influence on: Alexandra, Alexis, Bronwyn | Influenced by: Alexandra, Bronwyn
Conditions: Afraid, Insecure | Potential: 3/5 | Team: 0

Kaoru blinks when she sees Duncan. It was a tad unexpected, but he did also seem to like parks, so perhaps not that out of the ordinary. She still had that gift to give to him. But that could wait. She wasn't about to get distracted and get herself and Cassie separated from Wingblade to go be social with a guy she barely knew. That kind of thing was sure to get her yelled out.

She's startled but halts when Cassie tugs on her arm to halt their brisk pace. She does her best to keep an eye on Wingblade, so they can resume their trek if needed. She wasn't really sure how this whole magic-thing worked, and she wasn't about to start arguing with Cassie about if it was really related to the task at hand. Besides, Bronwyn and Alexandra were at the fountain already, so surely they could handle it. Or...at least Alexandra could handle it, and Bronwyn could...run away really quickly to go get help? Hmm, maybe Bronwyn needed to start carrying a javelin around. Make use of some of those other track skills.


Influence:
I have influence on: Bran the Blessed, Mercy
Conditions: Insecure
Labels:
Danger +2, Freak +2, Savior 0, Superior +2, Mundane +1. Potential 0/5

Wingblade hurries to the next possible target, frustrated that she has to rely on others to figure out what's happening here at the park. She wasn't really used to it; her own senses were usually acute enough to find hidden foes and her training advanced enough to piece together clues. But this magic stuff wasn't her forte, hence the reliance on some new teammates. That's what I've gotta do, as leader. Use their talents so we're stronger as a whole.

It was a nice sentiment, she keeps reminding herself, but she much preferred handling things on her own, or with Whip.

She glances behind her to see Kaoru and Cassie checking out a group of gray-suited men around a hotdog stand. Okay, that's... a little weird, I'll grant them. But why? Then Cassie says something else is here, so she's dropping her other spell so she can get a better look.

Wingblade decides to let her senses work to assist, since finding people is something she's very good at. She inhales deeply while letting her gaze lose focus, and concentrates on the sounds that she usually filters out. It's a cacophony in the park so close to the waterfront, but when mixed with the scents and sights, she gets a larger picture of the area than ordinary people are capable of.

Unleash (extend senses): 2d6 + 1 ⇒ (1, 6) + 1 = 8
I'll let it be temporary or unstable


Labels: Danger: 0 Freak: 2 Savior: 2 Superior: 1 Mundane: 1| Conditions: Guilty
Influence:
Influenced by: Thor Girl, Bioshock, Wingblade, Silver Shadow. Influences: Thor Girl, Bioshock, Wingblade, Eabha, Kaoru, Mercy, The Kilt, Whipoorwill

Can't just let two innocents walk into whatever this is... And if he *is* doing something bad, there's no one who can power through some 4-bit street hustler better than me.

"If this goes bad, get me out, if this goes real bad, get Shayera and get me out.

Pierce the Mask: 2d6 ⇒ (3, 4) = 7 What do you intend to do?

If Alexandra disagrees:

Bronwyn sucks in her lips and quietly loses her temper, "Look! If it makes you feel better, fine. Let's go with it. I'm Branwen the great and terrible. Daughter of Llyr and tamer of Starlings. Just be ready if something goes bad."
Provoke: 2d6 + 1 ⇒ (4, 1) + 1 = 6 Currently Bran has influence over Alexandra, but I'm not sure if Bronwyn does. If she does, I'll go ahead and choose to boost our Team Pool


Labels: Danger: 0 Freak: 2 Savior: 2 Superior: 1 Mundane: 1| Conditions: Guilty
Influence:
Influenced by: Thor Girl, Bioshock, Wingblade, Silver Shadow. Influences: Thor Girl, Bioshock, Wingblade, Eabha, Kaoru, Mercy, The Kilt, Whipoorwill

On a re-read the subject of my Pierce the Mask was a little ambiguous, I was referring to 'Criss Angel' in that case.

Cassie, the pulse is elusive, but it's not leading you towards Bronwyn and Alexandra, it's leading towards Shaun and Alexis...

Shayera meanwhile doesn't notice anything magical or overtly supernatural about the grey-suited bunch, but there's one thing that's instantly recognizable to her. They're a pack on the hunt. Whether its their uniformity, or just the simple awareness they have for one another and their surroundings, even while they're feeding, she's certain.


Labels: Danger: 1 Freak: -1 Savior: -2 Superior: 3 Mundane: 3 | Condition(s):Hopeless, Angry, Insecure, Afraid|Potential 7/5 | Doom: 8/15
Influence:
Bran, Kay

Sorry, finals season

Wednesday night

Alexandra blushes, as Kaoru asks to be taught. but she takes their cheek with one hand... Okay. so, light pressure, breathe through your nose. Move your lips like this. open them a little, but only after they are touching your partners. she says, thinking for a moment... Don't be afraid to lean in. and don't just leave your hands there. embrace your partner. back of head, gently, and small of back, or shoulders and small of beck, are good starting plaes... though if it goes well, they won't stay there... Alexandra blushes again, and puts her lesson in action.

Philosophy class

Ah, the parable of Talents. I...gods above, I guess I figured the super-scene was pretty atheistic. She says, ignoring the irony of her exclamation.

I'm not saying Blackmail. I'm saying remind them of their own hypocrisies. They were poking around in your personal life, turnabout is fair play. She says And, you'd be someone on an even footing with them. someone they don't get to control. Alexandra says, looking down a little.

I assure you, I'm not. Just offering help... And maybe a helpful perspective on a few things.

the magician's platform

Alexandra is holding up her and Bronwyn's hands before Bron has finished making that the plan.

I want up close, and given you aren't super either, we both go because it stops innocents getting hurt, or neither go, because it's too dangerous. inform the others through the comms, and keep the line open.


1 person marked this as a favorite.
Danger -2 | Freak +3 | Savior +1 | Superior +3 | Mundane 0
Influence:
Influence on: Alexandra, Alexis, Bronwyn | Influenced by: Alexandra, Bronwyn
Conditions: Afraid, Insecure | Potential: 3/5 | Team: 0

Wednesday
Kaoru was startled by Alexandra's blush. Which led to looking at her face. Which inevitably lead to looking at her eyes. Which was quite clearly a terrible idea because they were oh so very much a trap, and once caught she was unable to look away. On the bright side, even though her head very much refused to move, her ears were still functional, and she did her best to absorb the information being presented.

She couldn't help but tense a little as Alexandra moved to close the already not considerable distance between them. Her still not quite functional body was frozen enough that she didn't meet her, but at least she didn't move away either. Somehow, knowing exactly what was happening did absolutely nothing to quell the initial surge of anxiety and mild panic as a million different voices in her head immediately started clamoring for her attention, each with their own doubt or worry to present to her. She squeezed her eyes tightly shut, trying to force her brain to quiet. She focused on the soothing warmth of Alexandra's hand on her cheek and the memory of deep, caring green.

Ok, Step 1: Breathe through your nose

She slowly let out the breath she had been holding as she let her free hand, the one not already wrapped around Alexandra's shoulders, move from the cat on her lap to cover the hand on her cheek. She lightly stroked the back of Alexandra's hand as she focused on centering herself and breathing steadily.

Step 2: Embrace partner.

She already had one arm around her, so she let her other lightly ghost along the bottom of her arm until it reached her shoulder and dipped down to rest by the small of her back. Their side-by-side positioning made it a little awkward, and she almost tugged the other girl closer to move her into a more comfortable position but managed to stop herself.

Step 3-

Her brain promptly ground to a halt, face flushing reflexively even as her thoughts adamantly refused to even mentally vocalize the other instructions. Nevertheless, she pushed through her nervousness and embarrassment; if Alexandra was going to be kind enough to put up with giving her lessons, the least she could do was try not to be an absolutely horrible student. She tentatively did her best to imitate the motions her partner had demonstrated earlier with a light pressure. She resisted the urge to pull back and ask for feedback or further instruction, instead trying to focus on what Alexandra was doing and how she was reacting to try to tell her what she should be doing more or less of or what she should be doing next.

My goal of figuring out if this was going to go far enough that Kaoru needs to have contemplations later has been met. :-P

Thursday
Kaoru watched as Cassie tried to zone in on this oh-so-specific "someone else". Whatever she was doing seemed to be taking forever. Or at least, that's how it felt. Shouldn't they keep heading to the fountain? Or if not, did she at least have time to pull out her phone and respond to Alexis' email? Though knowing her luck, no sooner would she do that as Cassie would be ready to move again.

She glanced over at Wingblade. The good news was that she was waiting for them, so they wouldn't get separated. The bad news was that she looked bored. Her eyes seemed to be kind of glazed over, which surely didn't bode well for the two of them. But at least this was totally all Cassie's doing, so she couldn't really be blamed for it, right? ...probably best to keep her phone firmly in her pocket rather than to risk further ire.

"I...uhhh...don't suppose you have an ETA on figuring out what pinged your witchy-senses?"

Not entirely sure if Bronwyn's provoke was used/was successful/was followed, but unless told otherwise, I'm going to assume that a team was not added to the pool.


[X] [X] [X] [X] [ ] Labels: Da: 1 Fr: 0 Sa: 0 Su: 3 Mu: -1 | Conditions: Insecure, Angry, Guilty
Influence:
PCs: Alexis, Shaun; NPCs: Odysseus

Cassie, the pulse is elusive, but it's not leading you towards Bronwyn and Alexandra, it's leading towards Shaun and Alexis...

Cassie's eyes refocussed and she found herself looking at Kaoru. "There's something else here too. Not where we are but,.." she waved her hand towards Shaun's and Alexis's location. "Over there somewhere. Where Shaun and Alexis are. It's strong too. Strong enough to be affecting the enchantment that's affecting the park. Maybe you two should stay there and keep an eye out. Be careful though. I'm not sure what's going on but maybe,...."

Again her eyes glaze over....

Assess: 2d6 + 2 ⇒ (6, 1) + 2 = 9
What here (in the park) is the biggest threat?


Labels: Danger: 0 Freak: 2 Savior: 2 Superior: 1 Mundane: 1| Conditions: Guilty
Influence:
Influenced by: Thor Girl, Bioshock, Wingblade, Silver Shadow. Influences: Thor Girl, Bioshock, Wingblade, Eabha, Kaoru, Mercy, The Kilt, Whipoorwill

Definitely that pulse. It's powerful, and old.


[X] [X] [X] [X] [ ] Labels: Da: 1 Fr: 0 Sa: 0 Su: 3 Mu: -1 | Conditions: Insecure, Angry, Guilty
Influence:
PCs: Alexis, Shaun; NPCs: Odysseus

As Cassie's eyes refocused, they widened and she looked at Kaoru with a touch of fear. Putting her hand to her ear, she talked over the communicators to the rest of the team.

"Whatever it is near Shaun and Alexis, It's powerful! Be careful! Whatever it is is much stronger than what's here. We should go and see what it is. I've got a bad feeling it won't be nice."


Danger -2 | Freak +3 | Savior +1 | Superior +3 | Mundane 0
Influence:
Influence on: Alexandra, Alexis, Bronwyn | Influenced by: Alexandra, Bronwyn
Conditions: Afraid, Insecure | Potential: 3/5 | Team: 0

Kaoru pursed her lips, looking back in Wingblade's direction. She wanted to go meet up at the fountain. For...a variety of reasons. Actually, quite a lot of reasons really. The other team had Alexis as part of it, so surely they didn't need any backup, right? Though Alexis had Shaun with them, and logistically, he was basically an anti-powered person with his incompetence. Even she had been more useful than him in that fight on the highway. So given that, it seemed relatively likely that he'd manage to trip over his own mini-skirt and impale Alexis with his sword. ...which actually probably made them a decent team since Alexis would just shrug that off and anybody else except Wingblade would most likely be dead as a result.

But still, whatever Cassie was sensing couldn't be that bad, right? They didn't really all need to redirect surely. Uggg, things had been going so well. Or at least, relatively well. She had tricked that guy into giving them the footage. She had done a good job playing lookout. Most importantly, nothing had yet threatened her life. Now it was looking like she was just going to be redirected to deal with something out of her league and pertaining to magical things she knew nothing about that would probably be dangerous. Which was just oh so very great.

She waited to see how Wingblade wanted to distribute their resources.


2 people marked this as a favorite.
Labels: Danger: 0 Freak: 2 Savior: 2 Superior: 1 Mundane: 1| Conditions: Guilty
Influence:
Influenced by: Thor Girl, Bioshock, Wingblade, Silver Shadow. Influences: Thor Girl, Bioshock, Wingblade, Eabha, Kaoru, Mercy, The Kilt, Whipoorwill

The magician's gaze passed over the beaming crowd and visibly brightened when he saw Alexandra and Bronwyn volunteer.

"Two lovely young volunteers, both just perfect for my next grand invocation. It's clearly a great day for magic folks! Come on, give them a hand as my two new assistants make their way through."

The growing crowd was already nice and warmed up and gave a more than polite round of applause that left Bronwyn wishing she weren't standing in front of everyone in torn leggings.

Whatever. Just focus.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you." The magician held up his hands for silence. "Now there are a few kinds of magic that every magician has to learn before he performs in front of fine folk like you. Well, every magician worth his hat at least." As he worked through his patter he brandished his hat in one hand, somehow flipping it inside out into a small straw boating hat which he placed back on his head with a grin.

"You can transform things..." A loud crack drew everyone's attention back to his other hand, which now held a large brass ring, almost the size of a hula hoop. "You can create things..." his grip constricted then slackened, and suddenly what had looked like one hoop was clearly two. "You can separate them and make them whole..." He reached out a hoop to Bronwyn and Alexandra. "And with a little help from a pair of lovely young assistants, you can even make things disappear!"

"Now most magicians when it's time for someone to disappear, they have them step into a box on the floor, or up against a closet, but here we are out in the open air," he reached up to roll his shirt up to the elbows with a sly grin, "I won't even be able to fit them up my sleeves."

"So, ladies, please hold those hoops up for me, high as you can. Go ahead and stomp on the ground if you like too. No trap doors to worry about."

He cracked his knuckles and intricately wove his fingers together. "Okay...

One,

Two,

Thr- You know what?" The tension of the moment ebbed as the crowd let out a nervous chuckle.

"They're kind of close together, aren't they? Trust me, this'll be much better if we split them up. You, umm, tall one."

"Bronwyn."

"Well I had a whole trick planned where I read your mind and told you your name, but I guess we'll skip that then won't we." The crowd murmured with laughter again.

"Now you look like a runner Bronwyn"

"Yep."

"Well since you're clearly not running your mouth, would you mind picking a tree, whichever tree you like, and running over to it? Not too close, people will think they've figured this whole thing out if you're too close." He gave the audience a big grin once more.

Bronwyn jogged over about 50' to stand a couple arms-lengths away from a young oak.

"Now raise that hoop back up?

Perfect.

One,

Two,

...You know, I think they need just a little bit of privacy for this first. Disappearing can be a very private sort of thing, and I'm guessing neither of them have ever disappeared or reappeared before, especially not in front of a crowd. So..." He clapped his hands twice and forest green curtains unfurled from the hoops, each of them barely brushing the ground at the girls' toes, concealing them both from sight.

The tension was back in the crowd.

"Now as far as you know, they're already gone. Nothing there but a couple of hoops, right? But it's not really disappearing if you don't show that they're gone? Bronwyn? Other girl whose name I certainly already know? Go ahead and drop the hoops."

Neither hoop moved, but there was a brief rustle in the fabric.

"Come on now, no need to be shy. Tell you what, we'll all help. On the count of three, drop the hoops!"

He held up a finger, a look of firm concentration plastered across his face. [b]"One!

Two!" A bead of sweat trickled down his cheek as the crowd roared behind him.

"Three!"

The hoops dropped with a pair of soft clinks; the cloth puddled up at the ground, and there was Alexandra, some 50' away, about two arms-lengths from Bronwyn's tree.

Her gorge was rising, and the back of her head throbbed. But still her natural acuity honed to a razor's edge by relentless practice showed her three things before the crowd had time to even begin their applause.

1) There was nothing in the hoop where she had been standing earlier.

2) There was a sharp pain in the side of her foot where one of the charms from Bronwyn's bracelet had somehow punched through her shoe.

3)Whether he was surprised that Bronwyn was still gone, or that Alexandra was still here - The magician's trick hadn't gone as planned...


Influence:
I have influence on: Bran the Blessed, Mercy
Conditions: Insecure
Labels:
Danger +2, Freak +2, Savior 0, Superior +2, Mundane +1. Potential 0/5

Shayera feels her hackles rise. Something instinctual, primordial in her wants to run those gray-suited predators out of her territory. She takes a slight turn towards them...

And Cassie's words snaps her out of it. She takes one last glare at the pack, then turns to jog towards Shaun and Alexis. She doesn't bother holding her phone up, just responds to everyone. "Okay, heads up, everyone. Converge on Kilt and Mercy's position, we've got an AMT headed their way."

Crap. "Uh, AMT: Apparent Mystical Threat."


Labels:
Danger +3 Freak +2 Savior +1 Superior -2 Mundane -1
Influence:
Bronwyn (Love), Alexandra, Cassie, Kaoru (Rival)
Conditions: Angry, Afraid, Guilty, Insecure | Potential 2/5 (6A)

Alexis listened to the comms, heeding the warning that Shayera was giving them. She pushed Shaun gently back, before turning and running towards the magical musician. She was fast, bounding over a picnic table easily as she approached as quick as she could.

Disarming the potential threat was her goal here as she reached them in record time.

Directly Engage (In A China Shop): 2d6 + 2 ⇒ (3, 2) + 2 = 7

Resisting blows, and taking away their guitar.

Her leg swept up high, before slamming down onto the guitar. It wasn't just crushed, but it exploded, wood shrapnel flying everywhere, alarming other park goers as they were scratched or buffeted by the jagged pieces.

Alexis stood in a combat position, staring at the magician. "Surrender or else," She warned them.

Owner - Gator Games & Hobby

1 person marked this as a favorite.

Heads up: I'll be expanding on the crowd's response since it had to be significant collateral damage to take the extra option >:-)


Influence:
I have influence on: Bran the Blessed, Mercy
Conditions: Insecure
Labels:
Danger +2, Freak +2, Savior 0, Superior +2, Mundane +1. Potential 0/5

At the sound of crashing, Wingblade's heart sinks. "Dammit! I said converge, not engage!"


Danger -2 | Freak +3 | Savior +1 | Superior +3 | Mundane 0
Influence:
Influence on: Alexandra, Alexis, Bronwyn | Influenced by: Alexandra, Bronwyn
Conditions: Afraid, Insecure | Potential: 3/5 | Team: 0

Kaoru grimaced as Wingblade made her choice. The fact that everybody was supposed to head there, meaning that at least Bronwyn and Alexandra wouldn't be alone to handle whatever was at the fountain, only really removed two of the several objections she had to this plan of action. Admittedly, the "safety" objection had been the biggest one (objectively speaking from a 3rd party's point of view anyway), but she could still think of at least 4 other reasons she didn't like this plan. Even if 3 of them weren't worthwhile objections to anyone who wasn't her.

"You can see again, right? I don't have to guide you any more?"

If yes, Kaoru quickly retrieves her arm and begins jogging towards the designated position, making sure to still remain relatively close to Cassie/not split them up. If no, Kaoru awkwardly attempts to quickly guide Cassie in the correct direction.


Labels: Danger: 0 Freak: 2 Savior: 2 Superior: 1 Mundane: 1| Conditions: Guilty
Influence:
Influenced by: Thor Girl, Bioshock, Wingblade, Silver Shadow. Influences: Thor Girl, Bioshock, Wingblade, Eabha, Kaoru, Mercy, The Kilt, Whipoorwill

The shower of debris quickly sends the nearby bystanders into clumps of fear and pain. Some flee, some rush to pick up the fallen, a couple try to steady a man with most of the guitar's neck through his thigh.

"He's bleeding!" "Oh my God!" "Where did she come from?" "Aaaaoooowwww! Oww! Oww!" "Someone call the Defenders!"

Aside from the injured guy, the crowd is shifting your Danger up and your Savior down, Mercy

The musician meanwhile staggers away from the sudden assault, eyes wide as he tries to apprehend what's happening

"Merda, merda. Que diabos?"

He's fast, very fast, and quickly he catches up with some of the other fleeing bystanders, and with only an instant out of line of sight, vanishes into the crowd, leaving only a fleeting glimpse of his skin and clothes twisting into a new disguise.


Influence:
I have influence on: Bran the Blessed, Mercy
Conditions: Insecure
Labels:
Danger +2, Freak +2, Savior 0, Superior +2, Mundane +1. Potential 0/5

There was no time for recriminations or criticism; despite how pissed off she was, she had to try to salvage the operation.

"Bronwyn and Kaoru, first aid. Cassie, you're with me to find the shapeshifter. SS, watch the perimeter. Shaun and Mercy, you wait for my signal!"

Wingblade races towards the scene, taking notice of the wrecked guitar and stretching her senses to follow the fleeing target.

Unleash: 2d6 + 1 ⇒ (1, 6) + 1 = 8
Marking angry. She's piiiiisssed


Labels:
Danger +3 Freak +2 Savior +1 Superior -2 Mundane -1
Influence:
Bronwyn (Love), Alexandra, Cassie, Kaoru (Rival)
Conditions: Angry, Afraid, Guilty, Insecure | Potential 2/5 (6A)

Rejecting Influence: 2d6 ⇒ (1, 6) = 7

Alexis shakes her head. The guitar's magic was probably causing the panic, she should have realized that could happen. Or at least not smashed it apart so violently to cause a scene. It was the fault of the magician, and she was not going to allow him to get away.

Canceling out the magician's Influence and taking +1 Forward against them.

But Shayera seemed angry too, which was potentially a bad thing. But she looked like she was also searching for the magician, so she spoke to her. "I saw the target fleeing that way, it seems they can disguise themselves to look different, but I don't know if that's just clothes or not!"

Spending some team to boost Shayera's roll up by one.


Danger -2 | Freak +3 | Savior +1 | Superior +3 | Mundane 0
Influence:
Influence on: Alexandra, Alexis, Bronwyn | Influenced by: Alexandra, Bronwyn
Conditions: Afraid, Insecure | Potential: 3/5 | Team: 0

Kaoru stopped in surprise as she came up the scene of chaos and destruction. She flinched very slightly at Wingblade's tone, but it was at least enough to snap her attention back to the task at hand. She briefly considered ignoring the command in favor of helping give aerial pursuit, but, well, if she really wanted to, Wingblade could fly. So really, such action would gain them nothing while also making an already scary, angry, superpowered person even angrier and scarier and also giving her reason to direct that rage at someone without supernatural healing abilities. So overall, following orders was the course more likely not to put her in danger, either from the man they were pursuing or from their leader.

The hacker resisted the urge to dash in and try to help the first person she came to. No, in times like these, it was best to stop and choose your course of action carefully. Most of the people seemed to have only minor scrapes, so it was important to find anyone who actually had a life-threatening injury and tend to them first. They were also the most likely to get trampled to death in a panic.

Assess: 2d6 + 3 ⇒ (1, 4) + 3 = 8
Who here is in the most danger? Probably the guy with the guitar neck through his leg? That's what my flavor text is going to assume, but I'm fine with redirecting elsewhere.

Identifying her target she rushed towards him. Shit. That was a lot of blood. She quickly pulled out her phone to google how to handle this (other than the obvious 'put pressure on the wound' thing). No doubt multiple other people were already calling 911, so there was no point going that route. She shoved the phone back in her pocket, put on her best smile, and rushed forward.

"Sir, don't worry, I'm here to help. You're going to be ok." As she talked, she adjusted her voice to make it come out warm, soothing, and confident. It wasn't perfect, but in his panicked state, she doubted he would notice. "Now, it's important that we don't pull the guitar neck out of the wound. It's actually slowing the bleeding down."

Fk, why hasn't she thought to bring a first aid kit? She had been so wrapped up in tools for fighting or defending (not to mention she seemed to be surrounded by people with magical healing), that it had completely slipped her mind. Next time. Just gotta keep him alive until someone better comes along. She pulled out her knife instead, using it to help tear the sleeve off of her shirt. The bruises on her arm were still visible, but thankfully not nearly as eye-catching as they had been on Tuesday when she'd gotten them.

She quickly wrapped the cloth around the nect of the guitar, making eye contact with the scared civilian. "Now, this is going to hurt. But I need you to be brave and bear it. You will be fine." She kept her gaze locked with his and she put pressure on the wound with all her weight to try to stop the bleeding. While she did this, she kept telling him how good he was doing and how it would all be ok. Anything to keep his attention on her voice and not on the terrifying looking wound in his leg. Goddamn it, I *liked* this shirt. Why couldn't all the clothing-ruining things happen *before* I went and bought an entirely new wardrobe. I'm going to ruin most of my clothing after only getting to wear it once!

Trying to get the guy to accept her authority/not resist her helping him since he's probably freaked out. Considered trying Comfort and Support, but that seemed more appropriate if she actually cared about him instead of just trying to manipulate him so she could succeed in her task? Thought C&S seems more like the "make someone feel better" move.
Provoke: 2d6 + 3 ⇒ (5, 3) + 3 = 11 Possibly with +1 for Assess? ...though looks like I don't need it even if it's a C&S instead of Provoke

Team Pool: 5, Shayera's Unleash roll: 9


Labels: Danger: 0 Freak: 2 Savior: 2 Superior: 1 Mundane: 1| Conditions: Guilty
Influence:
Influenced by: Thor Girl, Bioshock, Wingblade, Silver Shadow. Influences: Thor Girl, Bioshock, Wingblade, Eabha, Kaoru, Mercy, The Kilt, Whipoorwill

A sour mist kept her from seeing too far, but there was one thing that was certain.

This wasn't Halcyon.

"Alexandra?

Shayera?"

She sucked in a great gulp of foul air, then breathe it out with a grimace and reached up to her earpiece.

Nothing.

Oh my God. Am I... dead?
No! Come on! The magicky guy is clearly helping abduct people and he sent me... to a damp field? With none of the other people around?

I really hope he's not feeding them, us, to something...

Y'know- She reached down to her wrist and grimaced. Okay that's a nasty burn. Doesn't hurt much though. "...and I guess no spear means no Bran the Blessed"

"Bendigeidfran? Pam ydych chi'n ceisio'r brenin sydd wedi syrthio?"

The sudden quorking interrogation whipped Bronwyn's head around to stare at a large raven with pristine white feathers.

"Umm... you talked, right? That was you? Something about a fallen king?"

"Fodd bynnag, rydych chi'n siarad Cymraeg yn gywir?"

Great, a talking bird
"I guess I do speak Welsh, a little, but... not well? I guess you understand English though."

"Iaith y Saesneg? Na. Nid dyna yr ydych chi'n siarad. Rydych chi'n siarad iaith y duwiau."

"What? No, I'm not speaking the Godstongue right now! I'm..." Slowly she replayed the actual sounds she'd been making while she spoke and clapped her hand to her mouth until she could bring herself to consciously mouth the strange syllables . "Okay, so Godstongue then. Where am I?"

The quorking tone left the fair raven's voice, and its words came through smooth as silk, their beauty hiding the cutting tone beneath them. "You are some sort of hero aren't you? It's only heroes to whom we offer guest right anymore. Show some wisdom. Show some cleverness. You know where you are."

Bronwyn nodded slowly, eyes wide. "We're Elsewhere." Think! Think! What else makes you a guest?! "I'm so... honored that you'd think of me as a hero, or as a guest. I'm Bronwyn."

"I know." The bird took flight, almost disappearing into the mists before Bronwyn began to race after her.

"And umm, your name?"

"I am Branwen, child. Now come. My brother needs to speak with you."

***

While they were all running together, Shayera couldn't specifically nose out the musician from the rest of the fleeing bystanders, but every time they split off, she knew which ones to follow. It wouldn't be long until he was all alone...

***

"Okay. Okay. Thank you." The bleeding man reached up to grab Kaoru's shoulder painfully tight as he choppily breathed out another, "Thank you."

When you're insecure you take a -2 to reject influence, so that was actually a miss, Mercy. Go ahead and mark a condition
...and after actually checking your labels, since Savior can't move down, mark a second condition and leave it and Danger where they were.

You can Comfort/Support someone without really caring about them, which I think fits this moment better since it's really about helping him so long as he listens to you, which he is, rather than convincing him to take a specific action. Either one worked, but you can take th ebenefits of the high C&S roll :-)


Influence:
I have influence on: Bran the Blessed, Mercy
Conditions: Insecure
Labels:
Danger +2, Freak +2, Savior 0, Superior +2, Mundane +1. Potential 0/5

Wingblade stayed with the dispersing crowd, focused on other senses rather than her eyes. Alexis at least managed to tell her that they were dealing with a shapeshifter, so vision would be the least useful sense at this point. Scent, though, was harder to disguise. When Mercy smashed the guitar, she sent tiny bits of lacquer and seasoned wood into the air. Their foe was at ground zero for the explosion, and was covered by microscopic bits of his guitar. How other people couldn't smell it was beyond her, but she used it. She narrowed the search. Another group, and she was closer. Another. Another...


Labels:
Danger +3 Freak +2 Savior +1 Superior -2 Mundane -1
Influence:
Bronwyn (Love), Alexandra, Cassie, Kaoru (Rival)
Conditions: Angry, Afraid, Guilty, Insecure | Potential 2/5 (6A)

Soldiers don't save lives. You can't save lives by taking others. You're a killer, Mercy. That's why we can never live peacefully.

The screams were becoming too much for her to drown out, especially as unbidden memories surged up as she stood, staring at the man that Kaoru had come to help. He was kind, fixing the problem - the problem that she had caused.

Would they all hate her now?

Fear gripped her heart, a different fear from that of being discovered. She feared that her foolish actions were going to push everyone away from her. Marking Afraid, Hopeless and potential.

"I...They were kidnappers. We had to stop them," She protests over the open line, doubt creeping into her voice. She was right to go after the target, hadn't Shayera confirmed they were the immediate threat? She was confused now, trying to understand where she'd failed to understand.

"I'm sorry," She muttered, staring at the ground now, hands over her ears to try to block out the screams - but too many of those voices were more memory than sound.


Potential 0 / 5 --- Dan -1 | Fre +0 | Sav +2 | Sup -1 | Mun +3
Conditions:
Afraid, Hopeless, Insecure
Influence:
Influenced By: Bron/Bran the Blessed, Hex, Wingblade --- Influence Over: Hex, Mercy, Wingblade

SURPRISE B~~%@ES! I finally found some free time on vacation! :P

”K...Kiss ya’...!?”

A lot of things tumbled through Shaun’s head at once, so many that he kind of blanked out when orders came through to approach. He froze when Alexis went ape on the guitar. His head flatlined when the guy booked it.

He could hear his heartbeat in his ears. What...? No...no, I’m freezing. I can’t freeze, not now. Go. Go! GO!. Cold sweat on the back of his neck, he started running.

First stop, Kaoru and the bleeding guy. Shaun quickly popped open his kit and tossed his sporran first aid kit over to the hacker. ”Use this,” he says in an uncharacteristically chilly tone. ”Keep pressure, do NOT leave him until EMTs show up.” He’s off again before he catches Kaoru’s response.

For the briefest of moments, he stops by Alexis. ”On your feet soldier. We gotta move.” Again, he’s running before hearing a response.

Shoving his way into the crowd, he flagrantly taps on his comm. ”Shayera, gimme a headin’. I can cut this guy off.”


Danger -2 | Freak +3 | Savior +1 | Superior +3 | Mundane 0
Influence:
Influence on: Alexandra, Alexis, Bronwyn | Influenced by: Alexandra, Bronwyn
Conditions: Afraid, Insecure | Potential: 3/5 | Team: 0

Oh right, there are other things to rolls. Sure, I guess I'll use that roll to get rid of Insecure.

Kaoru resisted the urge to smirk; the guy was totally buying it! Hook, line, and sinker. Which, of course, he should. She had plenty of practice with this sort of thing. Though she had never actually put those skills into play in quite this way.

She ignored Shaun's half-hearted attempt to be useful. If he were stupid enough not to see that she was already putting pressure on the wound or to see that the first aid kit was too little, too late, then...well, ok, she didn't actually have a second part to that thought. He was just stupid.

Hopefully the EMTs or someone else would arrive soon. There was really only so much inane comforting BS she could spew before she'd run out. She kept glancing around, checking for...she wasn't really sure what. Something something situational awareness? Shouldn't Bronwyn have arrived to help out yet? Sure, she had been further away, but she was also probably faster than Kaoru. Maybe she was just somewhere not quite in her line of sight yet? Or some other perfectly reasonable explanation.

3,451 to 3,500 of 5,817 << first < prev | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68 | 69 | 70 | 71 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 75 | next > last >>
Community / Forums / Online Campaigns / Play-by-Post / Masks: A New Generation of Heroes Gameplay Thread All Messageboards

Want to post a reply? Sign in.