Vorld Var Two... Always a sensitive topic at family reunions, the doctor says with a faint smirk. Mein Gott im Himmel... I vill most certainly regret dis...
Allison hesitantly grabs a vial and downs it like a shot, Vhy does it taste like blue Gatorade? Oh... Loki save me...
See ya on the other side.
Koran swigs his vial and waits for it to kick in.
Hurrying off to find a comfortable recliner to lounge in at the Castle, Mikey quaffs his vial and closes his eyes....
Suddenly, his mind is racing through memories of key moments and lessons in his life that shaped Mikey Jay into the man he currently was.... Triumphs and failures, adventures and misadventures, opportunities exploited and opportunities untaken.... This goes on for some ten minutes....
Then a brief intermission redolent of the infinite and eternal....
Style of no style.... A punch is a punch.... A kick is a kick.... I will free them from the restraints of classical style.... To understand combat, one must approach it in as direct and simple a manner possible.... I am Bruce Lee.... My movies have introduced an entirely new world to the West.... Everybody was Kung fu fightin'.... I have laid the foundation of mixed martial arts with my system, jeet kun do.... I have revolutionized cross-training and humanity's perception of fitness.... I am the Dragon....
Another blissfully spacious intermission....
Alberich the dwarf raised me.... Trained me in the craft of smithing as the dwarves do it.... I forged a sword, and slayed the dragon Fafnir, and drank of his blood, whereby I gained the power to understand the speech of the birds and beasts.... I heard the birds speak of Alberich, mine ward, planning to murder me, so I did unto him before he could do unto me.... I slayed many foemen and monsters dire, and won the heart of Brunnhilde the Valkyrie.... I passed through fire to find her, and wakened her from enchanted slumber.... But the tale turns bitter.... And eventually, I am betrayed.... And murdered.... I am Siegfried....
Another period of infinite, eternal intermission....
My father is the King of the Gods, Almighty Zeus.... My mother is a mortal woman, and that puts me right in the way of Hera's jealous wrath.... I have had to struggle mightily to survive the murderous machinations of Hera, Queen of the Gods.... Twelves labors were set to me, each more daunting than the last, to the point of ridiculous impossibility.... And yet, I passed each test.... I completed each trial.... I am Herakles.... My strength is without limit....
Mikey Jay opens his eyes, somewhat stunned by awe from his experience....
takes the potion and drinks it cheers here we
takes the potion and drinks it oh well this cant be too safe
Marcus closes his eyes and within minutes, is forced to confront the often disturbing events of his life that have shaped him....warped him....melted his mind....
After what seems an eternity of this distress, but in reality lasts perhaps ten minutes, their is a merciful reprieve from being Marcus Greer....
I am a pioneer who explores the human psyche.... I have discerned a deep-rooted sexual component to the developing stages of the human personality.... I have cracked the code of dreams, and can tell you that it all boils down to a primitive desire to return to the womb....this cocaine is a magnificent drug....a certain book in my library once exploded with a loud popping sound.... I am Sigmund Freud.... Tell me about your mother....
A moment of suspended, blissful communion with the Oversoul....
I am Emperor of Rome.... I will show those arrogant asses in the senate.... I will name my horse consul.... In fact, I'll make of him a god.... That will show them what I think of them--that a horse has more sense than the lot of them!.... While I'm at it, I'll open an imperial brothel, where the senators' wives can service the common citizen of Rome.... I, Caligula, will purge Rome of its self-serving parasites.... At least until they finally have the balls to assassinate me....
Another brief respite from identity....
I was born cursed.... Prophecy dictated that I would kill my father and marry my mother.... To prevent this, my father pinned my foot to the mountainside.... But I was rescued, and as Fate cannot be cheated, I fulfilled my tragic destiny unwittingly, killing a man I did not know as my father on the road, and taking to wife a woman I did not know
as my mother.... I blinded myself with her brooch pins after she hung herself when the truth came to light.... I am Oedipus, who answered correctly the Sphinx's riddle....
Then it is over....
Dr Jones sinks deep into the Collective Subconscious after a brief but thorough inventory of the key moments of her life that define who she is now....
Then there is a peaceful expansion of consciousness outward, encompassing everything, and ceasing temporarily to identify with any single human personality....
I have mastered the art of illusion, sleight of hand, and escape.... Mind over matter.... You can lock me in a straight jacket, inside a locked chest, and submerge me underwater, and I will find my way out.... I am Harry Houdini.... I know every trick in the book, and I've debunked thousands of hoaxers....
Peaceful eternity.... Silent infinity....
The Lord has called upon me to lead France in victory against the English oppressors.... He sent omens and signs, and left for me in a field a holy sword, which was to be a sign unto me, that The Lord wanted me to lead Frenchmen in righteous battle.... I gave victory to King Charles, but what did it get me in the end? Burnt alive at the stake.... A terrible way to die.... At least they made me a saint later.... I am Jean de Arc....
Ever expanding, encompassing, liberating nothingness....
It was a curse to be born the most beautiful woman in the world.... I provoked envy even in the goddesses.... Poor Paris.... Poor Menelaus.... Woe for Hector, and Achilles, and all those noble heroes whose blood was spilt for my sake.... I was the ruin of Troy.... Helen, the fairest of womankind....
And then it subsides....
Sieg lays back as the drug begins to take hold.
All of his battles, both won and lost play back through his memories. He manages a smile as he recalls how much joy the thrill of combat brings him, despite the horrors that have recently tainted it.
And then his mind begins to drift further back...
They call me cruel...sadistic...maybe I am but I wear the badge with pride...fear is the great deterrent...death the ultimate peacekeeper...I am Vlad Tepes, the Impaler...hero to some, villain to others, but feared and respected by all...
He has a moment to dwell on the images of cold blooded cruelty before being swept off again.
Strong, brutal, descended of kings...slayer of Grendel...killer of his mother...veteran and victor of a thousand other battles, destroyer of countless foes...even the dragon could barely match my might in the twilight of my life...I am Beowulf, the mighty, the proud, warrior without equal...
Sieg half-smiles, half grimaces as the memories and knowledge of combat flow into his head, along with flashes of nearly uncontrollable rage, before the next life drifts into his consciousness.
I am the son of Poseidon...heir of Athens...I am Theseus...scourge of bandits and monsters...slayer of the minotaur...powerful, skilled... rivaled only by Heracles in the art of Pankration...the strength of gods and kings flows through my veins...
And then it was done, as if no time had passed.
Sieg stares at the ceiling, trying to absorb all he's seen.
Koran sees in his mind's eye the events of this life.... The furious rages that threatened to break lose his demonic nature.... The savage battles.... The bonding with friends, and the exercise of discipline over his inner rage....
Then there is a deep, peaceful vacuum.... A void of infinity and eternity....
I am El Conquistador.... Explorer.... Adventurer.... Navigator.... I blazed a trail through the New World.... Helped Pizzaro conquer Peru.... I am Hernando De Soto.... I am not afraid of slaughter and bloodshed.... In the pursuit of gold and glory, I would march to the ends of the Earth!
Again, the vacuum....
What is greatest in life? To crush the enemy, see him driven before you, and hear the Lamentations of their women.... I am the descendent of the Great Hun.... I am the Great Khan.... Genghis Khan.... Lord of the Mongol Horde.... The Earth shook beneath the thunder of our horses' hooves!
Again, the vacuum....
I am King of the Huns! The Scourge of God! I weild the sword of Mars, and no foe can stand before me! I brought the Roman Empire to its knees! I am Attila! I am wrath incarnate!
And then, about 7 hours after it begins, it is over....
Yingzen closes his eyes and begins an inventory of his past experiences in his current incarnation as a Tengu.... Training in swordplay under elven masters in Alfheim.... Feeling an outsider in spite of the kindness of the elves.... Learning to be still and listen with supernatural acuity, and then to move with sudden, lightning speed....
Then a period of dissolution into the elements.... A peaceful lack of being....
I am the youngest of the Musketeers, but yet I am the finest swordsman among them.... My adventures on behalf of the King of France have been chronicled by Monsiuer Victor Hugo.... I am D'Artagnan, the Fourth Musketeer! I fought to free the Man in the Iron Mask.... And I will fight to free all who suffer under the yoke of oppression! All for one, and one for all!
A period of blissful nothingness....
I killed my first man at 13.... By 16, I had learned to fight.... There is a ring around me.... A ring of death.... If my enemy steps within my ring of death, he will die.... I am Myamoto Musashi.... Samurai.... Kensai.... Author of The Five Rings, in which I delineate the art of killing with a sword.... I have never met my match with the blade....
Blissful, infinite space....
I am the clever one, the stealthy one, the wise one.... I am the trickster.... Raven is my name.... The people of the Great Land worship me as a god for my cunning and lore.... I taught them many secrets.... I have returned to help the people!
Then it is over....
Al'Torac goes through the major moments of his life as a gold-dragon-descended kobold in a mainly red-dragon-descended kobold tribe in the Underworld of Alfheim for about ten minutes....
Then a period of dissociation that is partly unnerving and partly peaceful....
I am a terrible engine of destruction! The very worst monster the people of France have ever beheld! I am the invulnerable Tarrasque! It took them forever to figure out how to kill me! HAHAHAHA!!!
A period of calm darkness....
I am death incarnate! A crimson doom that flies over the land! I sleep on a mound of jewels, gems, and gold coins--a hoard so rich, it could ransom ten kings! I am the fire dragon that killed Beowulf, though he also killed me....
Another dark intermission....
The Rhinegold belonged rightfully to me.... More precious than life's blood it was to me.... I tried to keep it safe by slumbering upon it.... But the greed of gods, men, and dwarves was greater than my vigilance.... I was slain by Siegfried, and by drinking my blood, he became wise, and could understand the tongues of all birds and beasts.... I am Fafnir the dragon....
And then a return to the present life....
Bottoms up....
Grimm quaffs the solution....
The formulative events of his life flash before his eyes....
I am two beings within the same body.... Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.... The bestial, brutal Mr Hyde can do things that would be impossible for the polite Dr Jekyll.... The animal strength.... The pure adrenaline....
Then a moment of spacious nonexistence....
I have discovered the Philosopher's Stone.... I have relearnt the secret that was lost with the death of my ancestor.... King Midas.... I can turn lead into gold! This has made me one of the richest men in Paris.... But it has also made me a target.... Others want to know Nicolas Flamel's secrets.... Others hunger for the recipe to make the lustrous gold....
Then another intermission.....
Everything I touch turns to gold.... This is not a gift.... It's a curse.... My descendants will build the Maze on Crete that would be the minotaur's lair.... I am King Midas of the Golden Touch....
And then a return to the present....
Wait a second.... I wonder if the Philosopher's Stone is still in that vault under Paris where I....where Nicolas Flamel left it?
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The Philosopher's Stone
No slot, as per ioun stone;
The damage dealt by the possessor's alchemist bombs ignores immunity and bypasses protection and resistance, and deals +2d6 damage;
As long as the PS is equipped and active, the possessor does not age;
1/day--baleful polymorph (DC 20), heroe's feast, mage's mansion, major creation, polymorph object, polymorph other (DC 20), polymorph self, raise dead, restoration
3/day--transmute flesh to stone, transmute mud to rock, transmute rock to mud, transmute stone to flesh
At will--create water, light, prestidigitation
But you must brave the perils of Paris' catacombs to get to it....
As Daisy is meditating in her room at the Castle while most of the other FOs are tripping on Dr Hoffmann's new past life drug, a soft golden radiance falls through her window, coalescing into an angelic being, nearly twelve feet tall, with pearly feathered wings, sunbronzed skin, opalescent eyes without pupils, clad in shining, golden breast plate, girdle, shin guards and bracers, a blazing bastard sword in one hand, a long, golden trumpet in the other....
Fear thee not, Daisy Eaglefeather.... I am an angel of the Great I Am.... The Ein Soth.... The Yaweh.... The Allah.... The God of Israel.... I come in peace to bring thee glad tidings.... A cup of great holy power, known unto mankind throughout time as The Grail, awaits thee in the Holy City of Vatican, within the city mortals call Rome.... A priest of the Father Almighty awaits thee therein, and keeps safe the Grail until thy company goes forth to claim it.... I have told him to expect thy coming.... There will be perils in Rome that thou must overcome, for the glory of God, and the good of His people.... Armed with the Grail, thou wilt be fully girded for battle with the Beasts of Revelations, that plague the Earth.... For now is the time of trial, when the Beasts hath dominion over the world.... But the Kingdom of Heaven is nigh, and a New Earth shall rise under thy mighty feet.... The Lord of Hosts hath come among thee, and shall fulfill all that the prophet hath written....
Just as the archangel's words are starting to become too much for the young cleric's ears and mind, he vanishes in a flash of golden light and a crack of thunder....
Breathless and awestruck, Daisy does not move for several minutes....
Did that really just happen, or am I dreaming?.... No, I'm definitely awake.... I wish Sister Maria could've been here for that.... She would be on cloud nine.... So, I'm to bear the Holy Grail?
The archangel hones the blazing blade of his bastard sword on the broiling molten whetstone that is the sun, fierce eyes staring unblinking at Sol's intense blaze....
Gabriel flies within sight....
Hail, Gabriel. What brings thee so swiftly?
My wings, of course, Michael.... But I suppose you mean to ask wherefore the urgency of my arrival? I have been thither and yon, delivering messages, as is my charge.... I have arranged for the passing of the Grail into the hands of a mortal woman named Daisy from its current keeper.... She is part of a squadron called The Fierce Ones.... They have been helped through the unwitting channel of another mortal named Derrik by The Unwitting Fallen.... How's that for irony? A champion who doesn't realize he's been chosen by a fallen archangel who doesn't realize he's fallen?
Gabriel grins at Michael....
Irony, maybe.... I see it as the logical conclusion.... The only possible outcome....
Michael turns his blade to sharpen the other side against the sun....
I hope for Kraid's sake that he achieves a sense of contentment from his plan.... He has suffered much for his fall.... Not, perhaps, as Lucifer has suffered.... But he has always been ridden by his own compulsions....
Time shall tell.... So, dost thou feel like visiting some world with beauteous mortal maidens and siring some more nephilim?
I can't stop thinking about this stone!
Currency is not of the same importance as it was before Cthulhu, but it is pretty much the same to the absent-minded and jittery Professor. So many experiments, so many chemicals passing through his body and mind. He is permanently altered, both mentally and physically. The extra right arm is proof enough lest he forget.
Time flies by me while I am engulfed in my obsession in comprehending the composition of every living organism and it's chemicals and how they can be controlled and manipulated. I have to raise a family now as well as save the planet.
Emotions rush back to the family he had lost and how he would again be a father. Feeling guilt for starting over when they could not. It was the emptiness that fueled his reckless abandon to destroy himself and willingly sacrifice himself to return the world to any resemblance of how he once knew it.
I've got to get that stone. At the very least to secure it. If nothing else, we can have one heck of a party in the mansion.
The state of paranoia returned to him as he was constantly hunted in past lives, remembering the lengths that he would have to go to to conceal his curse.
Thoughts race through his mind uncontrolled.
I have friends now...and family
Did someone say "Strange Brew"?
As ever!
Michael sheathes his impossibly sharp sun blade and smiles broadly at Gabriel....
Both archangels disappear in a flash of bright lightning....
Grimm smiles lovingly at Kate.
I'm going crazy in the lab. Sometimes I catch myself staring into the corner. I have to stop waking up on the floor.
Kate returns Grimm's loving smile, rubbing her nearly six-month pregnant belly....
I'm really craving snow cones.... Blue raspberry snow cones.... Will you go make me some, babe?
Coming out of her state of pharmacological reverie, the doktor was taken aback for a moment.
Mein apologies, Herr Doktor Hoffmann. It vould seem your potion verked quite beautifully. I... I vas previously quite unaware of mein past lives. It has certainly shed new light onto our mission. Und I vonder if any of the gear of Houdini... or of me I suppose, has survived to be of use now...
As Dr. Grimm entered, Allison turned and offered a hand, Herr Professor Doktor Grimm, it is mein pleasure to finally meet you. I have heard much from the others about your many talents. I am Allison Jones, former surgeon und medical researcher, but it seems now I am a Fierce One instead.
Grimm responds to Kate, Sure thing, hun
This is why it would be nice to have an automaton. Like a C3PO that can punch holes in people. He grins at the thought.
Walking to the fest hall, Grimm runs into Dr. Jones.
Hello Doctor Jones, pleased to meet you. I'm sure the stories of my talents are greatly exaggerated. You sure are fierce!
Seeing Grimm enter Koran crosses the room, his mind relatively unaffected by any lingering amounts of the chemical. "Nice to have you back doc. Ready for some thrilling heroics?" He claps Grimm on the back, perhaps a little harder than intended.
Recovering from the friendly pat on the back he receives from Koran, Grimm regains composure and extends his upper right hand for a handshake thinking quickly to himself.
I should feel honored. I believe that that is the most I have ever heard him say.
It's good to be back. I need to get back in the action again, although I have heard that it is best to stay out of your way.
After a slight pause, Grimm turns and adds.
There would be a monster shortage if Cthulhu did not spawn so many.
He grins slightly knowing that as long as Cthulhu remains alive there will be plenty of ichor to fill the streets.
Hearing talk about the destruction in the far east, Grimm thinks to himself,
I need to find Rad. I need the power of that stone to help bring balance back to the planet. I'm unsure if I can even hang with the FO's now.
Grimm begins looking for Radsworth to ask for his help in convincing the group to assist him in getting the philosopher's stone back from the vault in Paris.
I will have to see Doc Solomon to be hypnotized again, so I can remember where it is.
After thinking about the hypnosis, Grimm remembers the sessions with Dirge and waking up each time exhausted and confused at first, before the puzzle pieces started falling into place. It was like watching three shows at once... Then they started to come together and make sense.
He felt strange for days after each session. He would spend hours researching any missing information and sometimes find information contrary to what he remembered.
His past lives unlocked secrets to his alchemist skills that he was unaware of and may not of never discovered.
Grimm recalls leaving one session where he felt almost indestructible. Something coursed through his veins, but he was not sure of it's exact origin.
I always thought that science could explain any phenomenon and was almost assuredly the sole cause of all my gains. Now I wonder if there is something beyond science. There must be. A mystical force that grants us abilities that are simply beyond the reach of science.
I need to find Kerm and grab a beer.
Daisy calls a meeting with the other FOs, where she reveals her angelic visitation and requests their aid in securing the Holy Grail in the Vatican at Rome....
I feel that having the Grail in our possession will be vital to surviving our confrontations with the Kaiju and the King in Yellow....
"The Holy Grail? That's like the, uh....Holy Grail of artifacts." Marcus finishes lamely.
"I'm all for a little delving through the Catacombs."
"Having something that powerful on our side would be a great help."
"Then it's settled I suppose. I am not sure that we need much more in the way of magic in order to stop our enemies. That said, every power WE grab is one they do not. If you can describe or show me the place Daisy, I can take us there."
"I think we could use every edge we can get. The Old Ones are no joke, especially one like Hastur. He has a good chance of squishing all our minds like grapes and taking control whether we like it or not...without even factoring in everything else he can do."
"I'm all for a little reckless mayhem when it come sot fighting these bastards but suicidal overconfidence doesn't help anyone."
"Or maybe I'm just a pessimist, who knows."
Quickly joining the conversation the Dr. nervously ticking, expresses his opinion on the matter.
I think that we would be much better off having retrieved the artifacts...We would be better equipped to face whatever comes.
After hearing about the Arena of Death, Grimm believed that Cthulhu and his minions would come at them, wave after wave.
We need to go to the Vatican for the a Grail.... A priest of the Almighty is holding it there for me.... I was told to expect to have to fight monsters....
What're we waiting for?
Radsworth has seen enough pictures of Rome and the Vatican during his lifetime of academia to teleport to either....
He has also studied Paris well enough to teleport to the major sites therein....
Vatican City map, showing the 110 acre city state within Rome....
And a pic of a chamber within the Catacombs of Paris....
Let's assume that Radsworth teleports the FOs to Vatican City to recover the Grail first....
The FOs gather in the courtyard of the Castle on the morning of September 13th, at 9:00 AM, and link hands for Radsworth to teleport them to Vatican City....
They arrive in St Peter's Square, just west of the obelisk....apparently, just as a fierce battle is about to begin!
A band of devils has formed a line about 50 ft west of where the FOs stand near the obelisk:
A towering, horned, scarlet-skinned, bat-winged fiend with monstrous claws on its hands and feet, a long, forked tail, and an aura of hellfire seems to lead the other six devils from the middle of their line....
Flanking the leader are two similar-looking (but somehow obviously inferior in power), which most of the FOs recognize as the same kind summoned by the Rod of Faust--Levinson had called them horn devils, or cornugons....
The other four devils, two on each end of the line, are snow-white, chitinous, mantis-like devils armed with ice-glazed spears, which seem to give off an aura of frosty cold fog....
Another 60 ft west of the line of devils stands a line of angels....
A towering, radiant, triple-eagle-winged warrior with metallic gold skin, golden hair that falls in curls past his shoulders, a golden breastplate, greaves, bracers, and wargirdle, armed with a sword that blazes like the sun, and a long golden trumpet, stands at the center of the angel band, and seems to be their leader....
Flanking the mighty center angel are a pair of tall hairless, emerald-skinned, double-bronze-winged angels brandishing huge warhammers.....
On each end of the angel line stands a silver-haired, silver-eyed angel with azure skin and silver wings, armed with shining silvery greatswords....
The angels are outnumbered 7 to 5....
Both on Initiative
Both on Initiative
All four on Initiative
Initiative
Both on Initiative result 27
Initiative
Initiative