EternalPhoenix

waves

Effigy and Invisigirl “Hey, paperboy! This guy talking to me?” Wilona had one of the single most smartassed looks anyone in the group had ever seen on her face. She didn’t budge a micron, floating in midair on her magic winds. “Because he seems like he’s talking to me. But that can’t be right. He doesn’t look crazy.” Her expression shifted into profound irritation. “Only a crazy person would yell at someone who could set them on fire.” At that last word, a fireball sprang to life in her right hand. She glared at Armstrong. “Seriously, dude. If someone sees me I’ll do the exact same thing I’ve been doing for the last six years. Wave hello.” The fireball dissipated, and she shoo’ed him with that hand. “Now go take a shower and change your clothes. What are you gonna do if someone sees you like that?” Wilona could’ve turned it down a notch, but Armstrong had startled Naomi. She’d uttered her trademark “Eep!” and disappeared from view. But the invisible girl hadn’t touched down on the ground, either. It didn’t matter if someone saw her, because she could always become invisible. After Wilona ran off at the mouth, a smaller and quieter voice spoke up from next to the pyromancer. Because Naomi had heard him muttering, even if no one else did. “I’m not stupid. That’s mean.”

https://orokos.com/roll/934493 23 on Reflex, so halved https://orokos.com/roll/934494 21 on Fort, crushed it.

Terrifica “Come now, Nevermore. How does any heroes meet in this city?” Terrifica was genuinely smiling, still gently teasing. “There was a case. A break in at the Hanover Institute of Technology. I was rather new in town, but it was almost literally Miracle Girl’s first day. She’d registered for your current school, but had yet to attend.” She paused her story momentarily to order. “One bacon double cheeseburger, medium fries, and iced tea, please. A duplicate order to go, along with a bacon cheese dog and two small fries.” The latter, Miracle Girl would know, was not for Terrifica but for her husband and son. Meilin was currently adhering to vegetarianism. She continued her story. “It was September First, approximately sunset as the sun was red in the sky…” As they waited for their food, she began to relay the events of the Brain Drain casefile. Leaving plenty of room for Miracle Girl to interject if she so chose.

Knights of Karelia Overview The Knights of Karelia date back to the 70s, back when Baroness Valia was still trying to murder the currently missing superheroine Megagirl. In those days they were basically her goon squad. They had some successes against lesser heroes, but those in Megagirl’s tier always scattered them without much effort. When the heroine disappeared, Valia’s support for the group slowly evaporated, with the membership eventually succumbing to long prison sentences, death, or quiet retirement. By 1993, no one who ever bore the title of Knight of Karelia was active. And this was the way it stayed. Until five years ago. Valia has more complex motivations than one would think for resurrecting the group. Five years ago, the Exiles were celebrating the first anniversary of Exile House. NPC Investigations gained official notoriety and showed signs it would be a force to be reckoned with in the future. The Seawings had reunited, expanded their ranks, and joined forced with the Truman Home. America’s Icons were growing larger. BLACK was making headlines every few months for some new assault. And she’d heard the rumors that Carlos Javier was looking to put together yet another Academy team. Over 40 years had gone by, but she could see the heroic cycle beginning again. She decided to get in on the game. But this time it would be different. The first version of the Knights failed for a number of reasons, but the main ones were that they were a bunch of asshole supervillains tied together only by Valia’s money. The new generation was clearly tied together by bonds of camaraderie and friendship. She could work with that. Karelia needed heroes, but with perhaps somewhat flexible morality. She worked slowly and carefully. The first piece was easy. Ma’re Iryen was a gynoid out of time, and quiet lost. It was very easy to get her both on and commanding the team. All Valia had to do was promise to do things she already intended to do, only now disguised as helping the synthetic soldier. Initially the team was composed of mercenaries like before. Francesca Zanetti was one. Quiet, but a true professional. So rare, in any era. Naturally, Europe’s heroes didn’t take the threat of the legendary Baroness assembling a superteam lying down. Vlaia found it quite insulting how quickly they leaped to derail her scheme before they even knew what it was. There were a few battles, and significant turnover on the team. Her carefully laid rules were broken by thuggish cretins who got the long prison sentences they deserved. Or they proved themselves laughably incompetent, and she fired them. In one case, out of a cannon into the Baltic from her palace in Vyborg. Fortunately, Ma’re and Francesca were both competent and knew how to follow instructions. As did Linnéa Sjöberg a year after the refounding, with the proper enticement. Jedrick Jagoda, a year after that, has proven to be quite useful in that regard as well. Even if his morals aren’t nearly as flexible as Valia would like. Though she had to admit he made an excellent counterpoint to the argument that this was a super villain team. And now, the latest addition means she can finally stop hiring useless mercenaries. Audrielle Eliska, the “Princess”. How amusing that people actually bought that lie. That they were family instead of the girl being a clone. Then again, the Baroness’s heart was not made of stone, so perhaps it was a truer lie than most. She has two or three other irons in the fire that could become members of the team, but for now these would do. The Knights of Karelia were a now a proper superteam. Tactics Unlike the subordinate organizations of the rest of the League of Seven, the Knights of Karelia do not use any minion archetypes. They function broadly as a superhero team, albeit one devoted to protecting and advancing the interests of Karelia. Or Valia, as the two are indistinguishable. Only Ma’re and Francesca are killers, with Francesca doing so left often. However, Linnéa is a habitual thief on missions, Jedrick tends to leave significant property damage in his wake, and Audrielle is still learning that she kind of lives in a world of cardboard (meaning she’s left a few bodies in her wake and does her share of property damage). They do work pretty well together. Ma’re and Jedrick are switch hitters, to a degree. They can fight at range or in melee. Linnéa stays at range and plays support. Francesca and Audrielle rarely get in each other’s way in melee, either. Ma’re, however, is the rock around which they revolve. The Knight-Captain is significantly more powerful than any of them, a master tactician, and incredibly versatile in combat. Francesca can Linnéa can easily throw opposing unit cohesion and teamwork into disarray, leaving Jedrick and Audrielle to easily mop up stragglers. Additionally, in the Phoenixverse those who have reached PL 12 have earned a special free Benefit feat that slightly alters the rules on Extra and/or Extraordinary Effort for them. Both Baroness Valia and Ma’re Iryen have earned one. They are detailed below. Knight of Karelia Feat Name Effect Baroness Valia Imperious Brilliance Two things. First, Valia may use Extra Effort to automatically succeed on any INT-based skill check, no matter the DC. She may do this once per scene without granting a Hero Point. Second, she may engage a Master Plan (as per the feat) via Extra Effort, rolling the INT check immediately. She may only do this once per scene, and it does not qualify as an INT-based skill check. Ma’re Iryen Additional Capacity May use Extra Effort to use a second setting from her Device Transfer System in addition to the current one. May use Extraordinary Effort to use a third.

Princess Audrielle Eliska Power Level: 9; Power Points Spent: 135/135 STR: +12 (12/35), DEX: +2 (14), CON: +9 (12/28), INT: +1 (12), WIS: +2 (14), CHA: +4 (18) Tough: +12, Fort: +9, Ref: +6, Will: +6 Skills: Bluff 4 (+8), Diplomacy 4 (+8), Gather Information 4 (+8), Knowledge (popular culture) 4 (+5), Language 4 (+4), Notice 8 (+10), Sense Motive 8 (+10) Powers: Enhanced Constitution 16 (+16 CON) Enhanced Strength 23 (+23 STR) Flight 9 ([6 active, 18/18 PP, 2/r], Speed: 500 mph, 4400 ft./rnd) Super-Strength 9 (Alternate; [3 active, 18/18 PP, 2/r], +15 STR carry capacity, heavy load: 12.8 tons; +3 STR to some checks) Protection 3 (+3 Toughness; Impervious [6 extra ranks]) Attack Bonus: +6 (Ranged: +6, Melee: +6, Grapple: +18/+21) Attacks: Unarmed Attack, +6 (DC 27) Defense: +6 (Flat-footed: +3), Knockback: -10 Initiative: +2 Languages: English, Finnish, French, Karelian Native, Russian Totals: Abilities 22 + Skills 9 (36 ranks) + Feats 0 + Powers 72 + Combat 24 + Saves 8 + Drawbacks 0 = 135 Age (as of Jan 2019): 6 months (chronological); 16 (biological) Height: 5’ 5” Weight: 120 lbs. Ethnicity: Karelian (similar to Finnish) Hair: Blonde (dyed, naturally Brown) Eyes: Blue (contacts, naturally Brown) Background: Princess Audrielle Eliska is a genetically engineered clone. Specifically, of the long missing hero Megagirl and Baroness Valia herself. She is far from the first one. The lifespans and effectiveness of the others were far from ideal. Cloning is hard enough with humans, and Megagirl wasn’t entirely one. The genetic code that enabled her amazing powers proved to be frustratingly complex and difficult to duplicate. So the previous ones had very short lifespans and ultimately ended up a little…bizarre. It took Valia adding her own DNA to stabilize them, and even that process has taken some…refinement. However, Audrielle has gone six months without a single sign of instability, and in fact seems to be thriving. She’s not quite as powerful as Megagirl, and may in fact never be. But Valia is pleased regardless. The Princess herself is positioned as Valia’s heretofore unmentioned cousin with conveniently deceased parents. Placing her in the Knights of Karelia is an attempt to mature the somewhat vapid and materially obsessed party girl. It does show signs of working, but she is as stubborn as her DNA sources. She’s quickly become a popular member of the group. Young, attractive, charismatic, and fashion forward, she’s a young woman on the rise in the world. Valia is well pleased. Now if she could stop sneaking into clubs while underage and getting photographed, that would be lovely. Powers & Tactics: Audrielle has some of the same powers as the missing superhero Megagirl, only at a lesser level. Alien genetics convert water and sunlight photosynthetically into incredible strength and durability. Valia wasn’t quite able to fully duplicate how the heroine flew and lifted so much weight (complicated alien DNA is complicated), so Audrielle flies and augments her strength telekinetically. She can fly at hypersonic speed or juggle 747s, but doing both at once is impossible with her current powers. A balance must be struck. Her durability is so strong it takes heavy artillery to even potentially harm her. Tactically, she’s an inexperienced unarmed fighter. A strong one, with access to Accurate, All Out, and Power Attack, but inexperienced nonetheless. She uses full +5 Accurate Attack until she hits Impervious high enough to ignore +7 Damage or her target saves against the damage 2-3 times. Against foes known to be weaker than her, she’ll All Out Attack with impunity. Dropping Accurate Attack serves as her normal method of Power Attacking. Using the actual feat is done against objects or the rare opponent she can’t possibly kill with that much force. The usual exceptions for Undead and Robots apply, of course. Outside of these she tries very hard not to do lethal damage, even dropping Enhanced STR ranks as needed. She has been known to forget about these usual tactics, however, and attack without thinking. She doesn’t know what a power stunt even is. Personality: Audrielle is, well, both of her “mothers’” child. The selfishness and overwhelming pride of Valia and the kindness and unyielding heart of Megagirl. She won’t bend for anyone, but can easily be reasoned with. She’s extroverted, gregarious, and easy to get along with as long as you don’t insult her capabilities. She is rude and insulting to enemies but kind and generous to friends and allies. She loves fashion, dressing up, and partying. Strangely, however, she has yet to display any romantic or sexual attraction to anyone. She’s a pretty normal ultra-rich teenage girl, otherwise. Like all the Knights of Karelia, Audrielle is half superhero and half supervillain. Literally and figuratively, in her case. She does put her all into heroics when called on, but it’s because of her kindness and pride both. Noblesse oblige in action. But again, like both of her “mothers” when someone crosses the moral event horizon she loses all sense of mercy or pity. Megagirl never killed anyone herself, but she did look the other way on a few notable occassions. Like in Vietnam, when she captured some human traffickers, put their weapons in a pile, freed their vengeful victims, and then went to have a cup of tea in the traffickers’ mess hall. While pretending she heard nothing at all. Valia has no problem with killing, but many fates are worse than a quick death. Audrielle, as always, sits somewhere in the middle. She dislikes killing people, but some have forfeited their right to be people and thus don’t count. And honestly, the laws of places that aren’t Karelia don’t mean a damn thing to her. The heroes aren’t goint to save her. Or redeem her. Or anything else. Audrielle is on Audrielle’s side and not anyone else’s. Still, it’s not particularly difficult to make friends with and influence her. And as stated, she can be reasoned with. But that only goes so far. There is precisely zero chance that she’ll betray the people important to her. She loves Valia as a child does her mother. Her teammates are practically her siblings, especially Linnéa and Jedrick. And, unexpectedly enough, that level of care is returned in kind. Valia’s heart is not made of stone. Much like with Ma’re Iryen, Valia will move heaven and earth to come to her rescue. Unlike with Ma’re, Audrielle will do the same.

Strażak (Jedrick Jagoda) Power Level: 9; Power Points Spent: 150/150 STR: +2 (14), DEX: +3 (16), CON: +2 (14), INT: +2 (14), WIS: +2 (14), CHA: +3 (16) Tough: +2/+6, Fort: +5, Ref: +12, Will: +7 Skills: Acrobatics 12 (+15), Bluff 7 (+10), Concentration 3 (+5), Diplomacy 2 (+5), Gather Information 2 (+5), Language 2 (+2), Notice 8 (+10), Search 3 (+5), Sense Motive 8 (+10), Stealth 7 (+10) Feats: Acrobatic Bluff, All-Out Attack, Attack Focus (melee) 4, Dodge Focus 3, Evasion, Improved Critical 2 (Fiery Kick Barrage (Strike 6)), Improved Initiative, Interpose, Move-by Action, Power Attack, Prone Fighting, Takedown Attack, Uncanny Dodge (Auditory) Powers: Fireproof (Immunity 10) (common descriptor: Fire/Heat) Fireproof Coat (Device 1) (Hard to lose) Thermal Lining (Immunity 1) (environmental condition: Cold) Thickly Weaved Fabric (Protection 4) (+4 Toughness) Pyrokinetic Foot Jets (Flight 3) (Speed: 50 mph, 440 ft./rnd) Pyrokinetic Kicks (Array 7) (default power: strike) Fiery Kick Barrage (Strike 6) (Default; DC 21, Feats: Improved Critical 2 (Fiery Kick Barrage (Strike 6)); Autofire (interval 2, max +5)) Fire Blast Kick (Blast 6) (Array; DC 21; Accurate 2 (+4)) Flame Arc Kick (Strike 6) (Array; DC 21; Cone Area (60-300 ft. cone - General); Progression, Increase Area 2 (area x5)) Flame Snuffing Kick (Nullify 6) (Array; counters: all powers of (type) - fire, DC 16; Burst Area (30-150 ft. radius - General); Range (touch); Progression, Increase Area 2 (area x5)) Strażak's Axe (Device 1) (Easy to lose) Axe Strike (Strike 4) (DC 21; Mighty) Attack Bonus: +8 (Ranged: +8, Melee: +12, Grapple: +14) Attacks: Axe Strike (Strike 4), +12 (DC 21), Fiery Kick Barrage (Strike 6), +12 (DC 21), Fire Blast Kick (Blast 6), +12 (DC 21), Flame Arc Kick (Strike 6) (DC 21), Flame Snuffing Kick (Nullify 6) (DC Will 16), Unarmed Attack, +12 (DC 17) Defense: +12 (Flat-footed: +5), Knockback: -3 Initiative: +7 Languages: English, Karelian, Polish Native Totals: Abilities 28 + Skills 14 (54 ranks) + Feats 17 + Powers 40 + Combat 34 + Saves 17 + Drawbacks 0 = 150 Age (as of Jan 2019): 18 Height: 5’ 8” Weight: 150 lbs Ethnicity: Polish Hair: Black Eyes: Red Background: Jedrick Jagoda is an orphan. The authorities in Poland believe it was his fault. That he burned down his own home with himself and his mother in it. He knows better. He knew better than to play with matches. His mother taught him to control his pyrokinesis much earlier, and never to use it around anyone or anything that could burn. Such as in the house. He woke up that night to a blazing inferno, and a mother begging for mercy for her son from a hideous flaming monster. Though he was six years old at the time, so even he takes that one with a grain of salt. Between smoke, heat distortion, and his own childish terror it could just have easily been a man. He knows that, and yet… At any rate, he grew up in the system. The plan wasn’t complicated, really. Get good at fighting, hone his powers, become a superhero, and work towards finding out what happened that night. Someone had to know, and a superhero was better equipped to find out than a random civilian. Until one day when he was 15 he left school to find a older woman in the most expensive looking outfit he’d ever seen sitting on the hood of the most expensive looking car he’d ever seen. Clearly she was waiting for someone. On the other side of the car, two women (one tall and brown skinned, the other of average-ish height and a Mediterranean coloration) were staring down a man in a generic suit and his entourage of dangerous looking men. This, naturally, was the Baroness Valia, Ma’re Iryen, and Francesca Zanetti. The man in the generic suit, Jedrick would come to learn was, an Agency Agent, and a man to be feared. Valia (after introducing herself in grandiose fashion) told the young man he had two options, and neither was going home ever again. Valia, or him. Jedrick knew who Valia was by name. Everyone in Eastern Europe did. And the Agent somehow looked less appealing. He decided to take a third option and get the hell outta there. Except his powers currently didn’t exist, so he didn’t budge. He looked at Valia in sudden alarm. She gestured at the Agent, who smiled in grim amusement as his entourage laughed. Oh, yeah. Going with Valia. The Agent was about to object, but then Valia produced the largest handgun Jedrick to this day has ever seen and shot him in the forehead. Ma’re threw the (dead?) Agent over the building across the street, and Francesca decimated his entourage in a blur of movement and fists. It was time to go. In the car (Valia drove it, Ma’re flew above it, and Francesca ran beside it), Jedrick wanted to know if the Agent was dead. Valia laughed at the sheer ridiculousness of the idea and at the boy’s ignorance. Inside of a week, Jedrick was the newest member of the Knights of Karelia. Valia had made a deal with the young man. She would help him find out the truth of what happened to his mother that night, and he would work for her as a superhero. The irony is that Valia already knew when she came to pick him up. It’s proving it that’s been remarkably…difficult. Karelian Intelligence is quite good. Among the finest of Europe’s intelligence services. However, the Agency has turned information security into an art form, along with psychological manipulation. If she tells Jedrick the truth the young man will literally fly off half cocked and do something righteously angry and righteously stupid. Said truth being that is his mother was an Agency asset who escaped them after getting pregnant with him. Escaped is the correct term, as the Agency takes an extremely dim view of anyone attempting to leave their employment, much like how they take an extremely dim view of unauthorized vaginal pregnancies. It’s a practical business matter. Such pregnancies increasingly inhibit an asset’s abilities in the field, thus damaging the Agency’s profit margins. To say nothing of the loss of field time required for parenthood. Needless to say, actually leaving the Agency’s employment is even more damaging and thus not permitted. Valia rolls her eyes at the idiotic denial of basic human nature, but heroic types (like Jedrick) are typically quite offended and run off to start breaking things. His mother is quite dead. The Agency’s dictionaries don’t include the word mercy. However, they also don’t include the concept of wasting potentially useful material, so what’s left of his mother’s remains is likely still in use. And the only reason Jedrick hasn’t joined her is that he’d never publically demonstrated powers and Valia (after a subtle warning that took over a year to trace back to the Exiles’ Radical Dreamer, of all people) had his last name changed and moved him to a different city. Still, the Agency is not full of stupid people, so when a pyrokinetic superhero of the perfect age appeared, it was not too difficult to investigate and put two and two together. Valia is just self aware enough to know that she is neither an angel nor a saint. However, the Agency is cold blooded to an extreme that occasionally still shocks her after all these years. And so the Polish Fireman is a three year veteran of the Knights of Karelia. Powers & Tactics: Jedrick is a metahuman pyrokinetic. This is very unusual, as metahumans tend not to display any energy based powers beyond telekinesis and telepathy. He creates fire and force with nothing else than the power of his mind. The best guess is that this is a very focused version of telekinesis, but public information is sketchy on the subject due to the sheer rarity of the power. What makes Jedrick’s version even more rare is that he does it with his feet. Somehow. Every other pyrokinetic in the literature, few that there are, have used their hands or perception, but not Jedrick. He uses this to blast off like his feet are rockets and fly, and to kick people in the face with fire. His Pyrokinetic Kicks include the rapid fire strikes of Fiery Kick Barrage, the area coverage of Flame Arc Kick, a ranged attack with Fire Blast Kick, and the ability to put out mundane flames with Flame Snuffing Kick. He is also literally fireproof. Can’t burn or overheat. He has a couple of devices gifted from Valia to improve his effectiveness. And they truly were gifts. The Fireproof Coat adds significant durability to him and keeps him from getting too cold. One wouldn’t think that’s a problem for a pyrokinetic, but you’d be surprised. Karelia sits between Russia and Finland. The winters are bitter. Strażak's Axe is an axe. A very well crafted axe that strikes noticeably harder than mundane axes, but just an axe. It has its uses when he’s living up to his name and saving people from burning building. Or for enemies immune to fire damage. Tactically, Jedrick is an impulsive and reckless fighter. Each of his four Array settings has a clear and obvious purpose. Melee with Fiery Kick Barrage, area with Flame Arc Kick, ranged with Fire Blast Kick, and countering the inevitable collateral damage of throwing around a ton of fire with Flame Snuffing Kick. He uses All Out Attack and Interpose more than someone as Defense shifted as he is should. Pyrokinetic Foot Jets, Acrobatic Bluff and Move by Action keep him very mobile in combat. Prone Fighting and Defensive Attack can surprise people who think he’s just a one dimensional hothead. He does cut power ranks to avoid lethal damage, as well. When he does crit, he only goes for the +5 of Increased Effect if it wouldn’t be lethal damage. Otherwise he’ll go for a linked Fatigue or Visual Dazzle. He can power stunt, but very rarely does. It would be something similar to the aforementioned Fatigue or Visual Dazzle effects. Maybe a Stun. Personality: Jedrick is a superhero. Straight up. Protect and serve, save the day. You know how this works. He is also an impulsive, reckless, and impatient hothead. He wants to help and Do Good right damn now, without waiting for proper timing, strategy, or tactics. He hasn’t hit the “did everything you possibly could and still failed miserably” wall yet. Ma’re and Valia are capable of reining him in, but it’s just so much easier to just work around it. At least until reality slaps him down hard, anyway. Because he’s a likeable young man, full of passion, energy, and enthusiasm. He’s kind, generous, and has a compassionate heart. But if he doesn’t learn to bend a little instead of charging in to solve the world’s problems by himself, he’s gonna have a real short supers career. And possibly a real short lifespan. Like all the Knights of Karelia, Jedrick is half superhero and half supervillain. The hero part should be really obvious at this stage. It’s the villain part that’s subtle, and it’s the part that Valia sort of encourages. He’s really, intensely awful at admitting he’s wrong about anything. Pales next to killer (Ma’re), spy and killer (Francesca), and thief (Linnéa), but there it is. The problem is that he’s left a significant amount of property damage and nasty injuries in his wake but in his view that’s just kind of what happens when you fight bad guys. He’s Doing Good and thus Is A Hero, so it balances out. Except that’s not how it works, kid. Having the moral high ground doesn’t mean you can’t make mistakes, bad choices, or just be wrong. But he’s so wrapped up in what’s essentially his Righteous Crusade Against Evildoers that he can’t see that. So basically the heroes need to give him that big wakeup call, and then be there to help put him back on his flaming feet afterward. Challenging, but what isn’t in the heroic life. Getting him to abandon Valia, on the other hand, is a whole other thing. Heroes are likely willing to do what Valia is not. Directly oppose the Agency to get the proof of who his mother was and why she was murdered. Naturally, this will be crazy difficult and come with nasty consequences as the Agency isn’t a group one casually gets away with crossing. But if they wanted a safe, easy life they wouldn’t have put on the mask in the first place, yeah?

Oväder (Linnéa Sjöberg) Power Level: 9; Power Points Spent: 180/180 STR: +2 (14), DEX: +3 (16), CON: +2 (14), INT: +7 (24), WIS: +2 (14), CHA: +3 (16) Tough: +2/+4, Fort: +5, Ref: +12, Will: +7 Skills: Acrobatics 12 (+15), Bluff 12 (+15), Concentration 8 (+10), Diplomacy 12 (+15), Disable Device 8 (+15), Disguise 7 (+10), Gather Information 12 (+15), Knowledge (business) 8 (+15), Knowledge (earth sciences) 8 (+15), Language 8 (+8), Notice 8 (+10), Sense Motive 8 (+10), Sleight of Hand 12 (+15), Stealth 12 (+15), Survival 13 (+15) Feats: Accurate Attack, Attack Focus (melee) 4, Attack Specialization (Staff Smack (Strike 2)), Benefit (Status (Knight of Karelia)), Defensive Roll 2, Distract (Bluff), Dodge Focus 3, Eidetic Memory, Environmental Adaptation (Severe Weather), Evasion, Fascinate (Bluff), Fascinate (Diplomacy), Improved Initiative, Improved Trick, Move-by Action, Precise Shot, Second Chance (Concentration checks to maintain powers), Skill Mastery 2 (Acro, Bluff, Diplo, Dis Dev, Gather Info, SoH, Stealth, Surv), Takedown Attack, Uncanny Dodge (Auditory), Well-Informed Powers: Tempest Staff (Device 9) (Easy to lose, Restricted use (KN Earth Sci +15 and up)) Staff Smack (Strike 2) (DC 19; Extended Reach (5 ft.), Mighty) Weather Control (Array 14) (default power: blast; Custom (Array 13.5)) Exposure (Fatigue (Array; DC 18; Range (ranged); Accurate 2 (+4), Variable Descriptor (Narrow group - Heat/Cold)) Heavy Fog (Obscure 9) (Array; affects: visual senses, Radius: 2500 ft.; Selective Attack) Lightning Bolt (Blast 12) (Default; DC 27; Indirect 3 (any point, any direction)) Lightning Cannon (Blast 9) (Array; DC 24; Line Area (5x225 ft. line - General)) Mirage (Illusion 9) (Array; affects: visual senses, DC 19; Duration (sustained)) Tornado (Move Object 9) (Array; Strength: 45, Carry: 4.3k / 4.3 tons / 6.4 tons / 12.8 tons, DC 24; Cylinder Area (45 ft. radius + height - General), Damaging; Duration (concentration)) Wind Control (Move Object 9) (Array; Strength: 45, Carry: 4.3k / 4.3 tons / 6.4 tons / 12.8 tons; Range (perception)) Wind-Riding (Flight 4) (Speed: 100 mph, 880 ft./rnd) Weather Forcasting (Super-Senses 4) (precognition; Limited (to Weather Events)) Attack Bonus: +6 (Ranged: +6, Melee: +10, Grapple: +12) Attacks: Exposure (Fatigue 8), +10 (DC Fort 18), Lightning Bolt (Blast 12), +6 (DC 27), Lightning Cannon (Blast 9) (DC 24), Staff Smack (Strike 2), +12 (DC 19), Tornado (Move Object 9) (DC 24), Unarmed Attack, +10 (DC 17) Defense: +12 (Flat-footed: +5), Knockback: -2 Initiative: +7 Languages: Arabic, English, French, German, Japanese, Karelian, Portuguese, Russian, Swedish Native Totals: Abilities 38 + Skills 37 (148 ranks) + Feats 28 + Powers 30 + Combat 30 + Saves 17 + Drawbacks 0 = 180 Age (as of Jan 2019): 20 Height: 5’ 7” Weight: 125 lbs. Ethnicity: Swedish Hair: Strawberry Blonde Eyes: Light Brown Background: Linnéa Sjöberg is an orphan and a thief. In the wake of a devastating superbattle attack she was left a crying with another girl not much older trying to look after her. Until they were both picked up and adopted by a member of the Swedish Amphibious Corps’ 1st Marine Regiment. The Marine had been injured in the attack and took retirement. She raised both girls for a time on the island of Gräsö on a small farm. Until a Russian supergang raided the place and liked so much they decided to stay. The Marine sacrificed her life to protect her children, and Linnéa sacrificed her freedom to protect everyone else on the island. She joined the supergang, using her knack for predicting the weather and rapidly improving skills as a thief and con artist to aid them in their periodic raids on other small coastal towns and villages. This lasted until about five years ago, when they raided a Karelian village and Baroness Valia showed up in Battlesuit Valiant to personally educate them on the error of their ways. This included local law enforcement, who had been well paid to look the other way and cover for them when necessary. Valia dutifully notified the Government of Sweden and the National Police Commissioner. The former about her incursion with a small note of not entirely sincere apology and the latter about mobilizing some of his non-corrupt officers in Central to come pick these criminals up. And then she waited. She learned the island’s story from the natives, just in time for two superheroes and a small army of Swedish National Police to show up. The supergang was taken away, with Valia promising to send Sweden a bill for her Nullifying Manacles. However, Linnéa was nowhere to be found. Valia, ever practical, had sent her out to sea in one of the gang’s boats. The Swedish courts would likely be quite lenient on a coerced minor, but it was equally likely some shady government agent (or worse, an upstanding scientist) would take an interest in her uncanny weather predicting powers. And honestly, that would be such a waste of potential. There was much more to the girl than her powers. Valia could tell. And so Linnéa became a resident of Karelia, while Valia claimed no knowledge of her existence or whereabouts. Sweden knew she was lying, and Valia knew that they knew she was lying. But realistically there was little they could do about it without possibly making an enemy of one of the most dangerous people on the planet. So Linnéa received an excellent education, and even got to visit home occasionally. But Valia wasn’t and isn’t in the business of charity. Linnéa needed a job where she could put her wide and varied skillset to use. The Knights of Karelia were hiring, said Valia. Oh yay, said Linnéa , who was not an idiot. She is a little stuck with them, as the Tempest Staff is explicitly a long term loan from Valia. And she really, really likes having it. Also the pay, which is excellent. Also also, the explicit permission to rob the guys they go on missions against blind. 4 years later, the Swedish Tempest is a popular figure throughout Europe. Probably more for her swimsuit photos, beauty, and charisma than actual deeds, but one can’t have everything. Powers & Tactics: Linnéa is ever so technically a metahuman, with precognitive abilities that allow her to predict the weather with virtually perfect accuracy. Please note that while she primarily does this for her local area, geographical distance has no detrimental effect on this power. So it doesn’t matter if it’s New York, Paris, Nairobi, Kolkata, or Tokyo, she can predict just as easily. It’s temporal distance that’s the trouble. A few days isn’t a huge problem, but more than a week is virtually impossible. The Tempest Staff, however, is the centerpiece of her abilities in combat. It is an aqua blue metal quarterstaff. Good for hitting people, but that isn’t its primary purpose. It was designed by the Baroness Valia to have a limited control over the weather. One of the many devices she used to bedevil Megagirl over the years, she stuffed it into the vault after a few failures, only to bring it out again in the modern day for Linnéa to use. It needed some refurbishment, and modern tech upgrades, but it now fully functional again. It allows the user to use the wind to fly, and do a variety of weather control tricks. Exposure can exhaust a target with a blast of extreme heat or cold. Heavy Fog can block vision of targets over a nearly half mile area. Lightning Bolt literally summons lightning from the skies to blast an opponent. Lightning Cannon is a massive bolt that covers over 200 feet. Mirage uses heat and humidity to create false images and distort real ones. Tornado is summoning a literal tornado to grab and/or throw people and/or objects, and also slash them to ribbons with razor wind. And Wind Control moves things with wind. Tactically, Linnéa favors Heavy Fog and Mirage to slip past opponents rather than fighting them directly. She’s a thief at heart, not any kind of warrior. So between those two powers and Stealth she can be difficult to catch. And those who catch her tend to bitterly regret it, as property damage isn’t her problem. Lightning Cannon and Tornado can smash opposing groups, though she’ll drop ranks to avoid potentially doing lethal damage. Exposure and Wind Control have their uses in this area, as they can remove enemies without actually hurting them too badly. Lightning Bolt, at full power, is for tougher enemies and those who’ve pissed her off enough that she doesn’t care if they die anymore. Otherwise it’s her single target attack, with full Accurate Attack to aid in hitting and preventing lethal damage when undesired. She is not above using a swift Staff Smack on foes, but she knows she’s a fragile human fighting in the realm of bone crushing gods. It is considerably more stealthy of an attack than any of the Weather Control, however, and may see use in more subtle situations. She plays a support role in team combat with the Knights, using Heavy Fog, Obscure, and her Distract and Improved Trick feats to play havoc with opposing unit cohesion and teamwork. With all that said, she’s not exactly a bastioni of courage. Things get a little bad, she may well run. And she’s more vulnerable to Intimidate than one might expect. She’s not a coward, really, just very keenly aware that she’s, again, a fragile human in a realm of gods. Her list of power stunts is short and rarely used, as they damage the Tempest Staff and she doesn’t know how to repair it. Chain Lightning (Blast 8; Autofire, Accurate 2), Gust Cannon (Trip 9; Line Area, Knockback, Secondary Effect, Touch Range), and Blinding Arc (Dazzle 9; Visual Senses, Perception Area, Selective Attack, Touch Range) are examples. Personality: Linnéa is a thief and a con artist at heart. Always looking for the next score. Her childhood under a greedy supergang left her with a desperate fear of not having enough money. So she’s very greedy and one hell of a miser when it comes to expenses. She does enjoy the finer things in life. She just doesn’t enjoy paying for them. She’d vastly prefer to stay at home instead of going out and fighting superhumans or getting shot at. She still sees herself as a normal civilian human. Even if that ship sailed a while ago. And she’s not a big fan of being bossed around. Being paid to do a job is different, which is why she listens to Ma’re. So, greedy, little bit cowardly, little bit of an ego about her appearance, definitely a rebellious streak a mile wide, and one hell of a temper. But not vicious, cruel, or a killer. Like all the Knights of Karelia, Linnéa is someone who is half superhero and half supervillain. She does genuinely help people with the Knights, but it’s for the money and adulation. It’s not that people being in trouble doesn’t bother her. It’s that she doesn’t see herself as someone capable of doing anything about it on her own. On the flip side, she’s openly a thief who robs criminals blind after the Knights beat them up, no matter what country she’s actually in. So, not a lot of respect for the law, either. She likes Valia fine, and owes the Baroness a debt for saving her. But…actual being loyal to the old lady? Nah. If the heroes can both replace her weapon, convince her she’s not as powerless as she thinks, and provide her with a strong and steady cash flow; there’s a chance of her bailing on the Knights entirely. Replacing her weapon is relatively easy. Any Gadgeteer worth the title could replicate it. The second is a harder road, as altering someone’s internal self perception should be. And the latter? If the heroes think they can outspend one of the five richest people on the planet, they’re welcome to try. Though Linnéa may turn out to be only but so greedy, at GM discretion.

Miss Mimic (Francesca Zanetti) Power Level: 9; Power Points Spent: 195/195 STR: +2 (14), DEX: +3 (16), CON: +3 (16), INT: +2 (14), WIS: +3 (16), CHA: +3 (16) Tough: +6, Fort: +6, Ref: +12, Will: +6 Skills: Acrobatics 12 (+15), Bluff 12 (+15), Concentration 7 (+10), Diplomacy 12 (+15), Disguise 2 (+5/+20), Gather Information 12 (+15), Knowledge (streetwise) 3 (+5), Knowledge (theology & philosophy) 8 (+10), Language 6 (+6), Notice 7 (+10), Search 3 (+5), Sense Motive 12 (+15), Stealth 12 (+15) Feats: Acrobatic Bluff, Attack Focus (melee) 6, Benefit (Status (Knight of Karelia)), Challenge - Improved Acrobatic Bluff, Challenge - Improved Feint, Dodge Focus 5, Evasion, Move-by Action, Power Attack, Skill Mastery (Acrobatic, Bluff, Sense Motive, Stealth), Uncanny Dodge (Auditory) Powers: Hellfire Touch (Array 6) (default power: strike; Linked (Infernal Mimcry (Mimic 6))) Burning Hands (Strike 6) (Default; DC 21; Secondary Effect) Hellish Agony (Stun 6) (Array; DC 16; Alternate Save (Will)) Mindsear (Strike 6) (Array; DC 21; Alternate Save (Will)) Wither (Drain 6) (Array; drains: any trait, DC 16) Infernal Durability (Protection 3) (+3 Toughness) Infernal Mimcry (Mimic 6) (mimic: all traits; Tainted) Mimicked Speedster Powers (Container, Passive 6) Quickness 6 (Perform routine tasks at 100x speed) Speed 6 (Speed: 500 mph, 4400 ft./rnd) Strike 6 (DC 21; Shapeable Area (6 cubes of 125 cu. ft. (5x5x5) - Targeted), Selective Attack) Shapechange (Morph 3) (morph: broad group - humanoids, +15 Disguise; Limited (Mimicked Targets)) Attack Bonus: +6 (Ranged: +6, Melee: +12, Grapple: +14) Attacks: Burning Hands (Strike 6), +12 (DC 21), Hellish Agony (Stun 6), +12 (DC Staged/Will 16), Mindsear (Strike 6), +12 (DC Will 21), Strike 6, +12 (DC 21), Unarmed Attack, +12 (DC 17), Wither (Drain 6), +12 (DC Fort/Staged 16) Defense: +12 (Flat-footed: +4), Knockback: -3 Initiative: +3 Languages: English, French, Infernal, Italian Native, Karelian, Latin, Russian Totals: Abilities 32 + Skills 27 (108 ranks) + Feats 20 + Powers 75 + Combat 26 + Saves 15 + Drawbacks 0 = 195 Age (as of Jan 2019): 25 Height: 5’ 4” Weight: 115 lbs. Ethnicity: Italian Hair: Brown Eyes: Hazel (Red when using Hellfire Touch Array) Background: Hell is real. Sort of. The one known to Christianity is certainly part of it. However, it is an entire alternate dimension. Virtually every religion, whether you’re on Earth or out among the stars, has an afterlife. And virtually every mythological or religious afterlife has a place where the wicked and evil are sent after death. What they’re sent there for can and does vary widely, but generally speaking it’s for punishment. And therein lies the great secret. There’s no such thing as demons or devils. Fallen angels, yes. Evil gods and their equally wicked servants, absolutely. There are even stranger beings with only naked hostility towards mortals and their protectors. But the guys with the torches and the pitchforks don’t exist. Or rather they do, except they all started human and inside of Hell retain that appearance. They got that way thanks to all the rest torturing and punishing them relentlessly until all memory of who they were is erased. Time is…weird there, so it can happen remarkably quickly by Earth chronology. But to the point. Demons and devils love coming to Earth. They’d like to hang out full time, and be their brutish, wicked, and nasty selves to all those vulnerable human souls. One of the primary infiltration methods is being summoned directly and thus given bodies that match their internal view of themselves by unwise Earth magicians. The other primary method is subbing out a fresh soul bound for a baby with a demon. As you may have guessed, one of these was Francesca Zanetti. However…if you were thinking Hell and its demons were allowed to do whatever they wanted unimpeded, you would be quite mistaken. The demon chosen was partially purified between departing Hell and being born as Francesca via divine interference. There wasn’t quite enough time to finish the job, so she remembers her mission and retains access to her infernal powers. However, the evil inherent in her being was washed away, leaving her with free will and what amounts to a second chance. Not that she remembers there was a first go around to begin with. Her mission is like that of many others. Corrupt humans, kill the ones you can’t, all towards getting a proper Hellgate open. An open Hellgate would be a free pass for Demon Lords to walk freely on Earth and basically absorb the entire planet into Hell. This is a Bad Thing. The Zanettis were a loving, close knit family. Francesca was supposed to destroy them in a blaze of death and corruption. If she hadn’t been partially purified, she would have with a grin of glee. Instead, she has a conscience, and a heart. Arguably it would have been better if she did destroy them. Because she broke them instead. Nobody died. Nobody was irrevocably corrupted. But that warm and loving house is now cold and lonely. And a young woman was riven by guilt, and not for the last time. Such was the story of her life. Half assing her infernal work out because not innately evil. Half assing being a hero because she had a mission to complete. Somehow being just competent enough to avoid infernal execution, prison, or worse. Lately she’s tumbled into the Knights of Karelia. She really is a highly effective spy and potential assassin. Valia has use for one of those. Even if the guilt from the allies she’s betrayed, relationships she’s broken, and few people she’s murdered threatens to eat her alive. Powers & Tactics: Francesca is a demon possessing the body of a human. Partially purified, granted, but that had no effect on her infernal powers. Many of the infernally powered groove on the deceiver routine, but she’s a bit different. She’s a full mimic who can change her appearance to match that of those she’s mimicked. A full mimic can adopt any of their target’s abilities, skills, feats, or powers. And while she’s doing this she can burn them with a Hellfire Touch. Whether it’s burning body, mind, causing extreme pain, or simply withering part of them away, it must be done with a use of Infernal Mimicry, despite that not being true the other way around. The mimicked powers fade after a while, normally, though an exception is noted below. Her infernal origins also grant her a measure of increased durability. She is capable of making one set of mimicked abilities permanent while retaining her ability to mimic others. All she has to do is kill the person they belong to in the process of taking them. Meaning with Hellfire Touch. The last one she did this to was a budding speedster supervillain. He was a nasty piece of work, and is likely bolstering Hell’s forces nicely while she hangs onto his powers and the use of his appearance. With them, she’s faster than any land vehicle and can hit anyone she can see in an area with terrific force. Tactically, she relies on her mimicked speedster powers as much as possible. If a foe’s powers seem interesting or useful, she’ll go for the mimic. She has Improved Acrobatic Bluff and Improved Feint to get foes flat footed, and Power Attack to hammer them. Move by Action can keep her out of the line of fire. Shapechange after a successful mimic can wreak havoc on opposing unit cohesion. Her favored Hellfire Touch is Hellish Agony, as there’s no chance of actually killing the target. Partly because she doesn’t want to randomly kill people, and partly because she’d have to focus on not permanently taking on their powers and losing the speedster set. Wither also has its uses. But the other two only come out when she’s intentionally trying to kill. Such as someone’s discovered her little secret infernal source of her powers. Personality: Francesca remembers her mission. She remembers what she’s supposed to be. But she’s not that creature, and she doesn’t know why. The things she does should bring her pleasure and joy, but instead she’s wretched and miserable. She can’t even bring herself to do them right. She remembers the Zanettis. Being warm and loved. A part of her desperately wishes to take what she did to them back. There is something very wrong with her. But she has no one to tell, and no one to help her sort it out. Her former colleagues would simply kill this body and drag her back to Hell as a failure. Another part of her recoils from the very concept of friendship and love. Anathema! Heresy! …but she’s so very lonely and miserable…no! She was chosen for this mission over a thousand thousand others. The punishment for betrayal is too horrific to contemplate. Like all the Knights of Karelia, Francesca is someone who is half superhero and half supervillain. Honestly, she’s a woman stuck wildly oscillating between the two sides. In many ways, she’s a ticking time bomb that only the heroes can defuse. What she knows and what she feels are in diametric opposition to each other, and it’s extremely confusing. Working for Valia is only a job, so she can be convinced to turn if heroes help solve her issues. So, all the heroes have to do is convince a demon everything she knows is wrong before her psyche snaps like a twig and she either goes violently insane or commits suicide. Good luck with that.

Jade Knight (Ma're Iryen) Power Level: 12; Power Points Spent: 285/285 STR: +12 (35), DEX: +3 (16), CON: +15 (40), INT: +10 (30), WIS: +3 (16), CHA: +3 (16) Tough: +15, Fort: +15, Ref: +9, Will: +9 Skills: Acrobatics 7 (+10), Concentration 12 (+15), Knowledge (tactics) 5 (+15), Notice 7 (+10), Sense Motive 7 (+10), Stealth 7 (+10), Swim 3 (+15) Feats: Accurate Attack, All-Out Attack, Attack Focus (melee) 3, Beginner's Luck, Benefit (Status (Knight-Captain of Karelia)), Defensive Attack, Eidetic Memory, Jack-of-All-Trades, Move-by Action, Power Attack, Second Chance (Concentration checks to maintain powers), Skill Mastery (Acrobatics, Computers, Sense Motive, Stealth), Speed of Thought (use INT for Init, not DEX), Takedown Attack 2, Uncanny Dodge (Auditory) Powers: Device Transfer System (Variable 9) (acquire: any one of (type) - technological powers, limited to: summoned devices; Action 2 (free)) Anti-Grav Harness (Power Setting) (Powers: Anti-Grav Harness (Linked)) Anti-Grav Harness (Linked) Flight 9 (Linked; Speed: 5000 mph, 44000 ft./rnd; Stacks with (Flight 6+9)) Super-Strength 9 (Linked; +45 STR carry capacity, heavy load: 26.8m tons; +9 STR to some checks; Stacks with (Super-Strength 6+9)) Highly Advanced Android Body (Container, Passive 12) Anti-Grav Unit (Linked) Flight 6+9 (Linked; [Stacking ranks: +9], Speed: 500000 mph, 4400000 ft./rnd) Super-Strength 6+9 (Linked; [Stacking ranks: +9], +75 STR carry capacity, heavy load: 26.8m tons; +15 STR to some checks) Babel Effect (Comprehend 3) (languages - read all, languages - speak all, languages - understand all) Computer Mind (Quickness 6) (Perform routine tasks at 100x speed; One Type (Mental)) Internal Fuel Cell (Immunity 11) (life support, sleep, starvation & thirst) Sturdy Internal Structure (Impervious Toughness 10) Synthetic Senses (Super-Senses 6) (accurate (type): Auditory, ultra-hearing, ultravision) Power Settings: Anti-Grav Harness (Power Setting) (Powers: Anti-Grav Harness (Linked); Flight 9 (Linked; Speed: 5000 mph, 44000 ft./rnd; Stacks with (Flight 6+9))+Super-Strength 9 (Linked; +45 STR carry capacity, heavy load: 26.8m tons; +9 STR to some checks; Stacks with (Super-Strength 6+9))) Autoblaster Rifle (Power Setting) (Powers: Autoblaster Rifle (Blast 9); (DC 24, Feats: Improved Critical 2 (Autoblaster Rifle (Blast 9)); Autofire (interval 2, max +5), Secondary Effect; Accurate 3 (+6), Incurable, Precise, Variable Descriptor 2 (Broad group - Any Technological))) Diplomatic Assistance Module (Power Setting) (Powers: Diplomatic Assistance Module (Linked); Enhanced Charisma 8 (Linked; +8 CHA)+Enhanced Skills 8 (Linked; Traits: Bluff +8 (+15), Diplomacy +8 (+15), Intimidate +8 (+15), Sense Motive +8 (+20))+Enhanced Wisdom 4 (Linked; +4 WIS)+Mind Reading 9 (Linked; DC 19; Duration (sustained); Custom (Insidious), Subtle 2 (unnoticable))) Heal Ray (Power Setting) (Powers: Heal Ray (Healing 9) (DC 19; Action (standard), Range (ranged), Total; Limited to Others; Improved Range (225 ft. incr), Persistent, Progression, Increase Range (max range x2, 2250 feet), Regrowth)) Illusion Caster (Power Setting) (Powers: Illusion Caster (Illusion 9) (affects: all sense types, DC 19; Progression, Area 9 (5000 ft. radius)) Magneto-Gravitic Projector (Power Setting) (Powers: Magneto-Gravitic Projector (Move Object 9) (Strength: 45, Carry: 4.3k / 4.3 tons / 6.4 tons / 12.8 tons; Burst Area (45-225 ft. radius - General), Duration (continuous); Precise, Progression, Increase Area 2 (area x5), Selective)) Phase Variance Shifter (Power Setting) (Powers: Phase Variance Shifter (Linked); (Strength Bonus) Strike 12 (Linked; Affects Corporeal)+Concealment 4 (Linked; all visual senses; Close Range)+Insubstantial 4 (Linked; Incorporeal; Subtle 2 (unnoticable))) Plasma Saber (Power Setting) (Powers: Plasma Saber (Linked); Plasma Saber Burn (Drain (Linked; drains: single trait - toughness, DC 18, Feats: Improved Critical 2 (Plasma Saber Burn (Drain 8)); Affects Objects; Accurate 2 (+4))+Plasma Saber Strike (Strike (Linked; DC 23, Feats: Improved Critical 2 (Plasma Saber Strike (Strike 8)); Accurate 2 (+4)) Self Regenerator (Power Setting) (Powers: Regenerator (Healing 9) (Action 4 (reaction); Distracting, Personal; Persistent, Precise, Regrowth, Subtle (subtle)) Sense Negative Field Projector (Power Setting) (Powers: Sense Negative Field Projector (Concealment 9) (all aural senses, all visual senses, other sense: Normal Radio, other sense: Normal Mental, sense - smell; Affects Others, Burst Area (45-90 ft. radius - General); Close Range, Precise, Progression, Increase Area (area x2), Selective) Attack Bonus: +9 (Ranged: +9, Melee: +12, Grapple: +24/+48) Attacks: Autoblaster Rifle (Blast 9), +15 (DC 24), Mind Reading 9 (DC Will 19), Plasma Saber Burn (Drain 8), +16 (DC Fort/Staged 18), Plasma Saber Strike (Strike 8), +16 (DC 23), Unarmed Attack, +12 (DC 27) Defense: +9 (Flat-footed: +5), Knockback: -12 Initiative: +3 Languages: Karelian Native Totals: Abilities 93 + Skills 13 (52 ranks) + Feats 17 + Powers 114 + Combat 36 + Saves 12 + Drawbacks 0 = 285 Age (as of Jan 2019): At least 10,000 (chronological pre activation), 10 years (post activation), early-mid 20s (appearance) Height: 6’ Weight: 155 lbs Ethnicity: Pacific Islander (appearance), highly advanced android (real) Hair: Brown Eyes: Dark Brown Background: Ma’re Iryen remembers. 10,000 years ago. What the vanishingly small few who remember it these days call the Magi-Tech War. A kingdom of great magic and a kingdom of highly advanced technology in what is now Oceania went to war, and beat the hell out of each other. Ma’re was a soldier in that war and knows a piece of the truth. Unfortunately, the cost of learning it was dear. She is a highly advanced gynoid, one of tens of thousands manufactured for the war. She was one of the first. The front lines stretched across half the globe and all the way to the moon as both kingdoms fought a two front war. The first front is the one people remember. The second front was against an invading army of demons literally Hellbent on opening a Hellgate, a portal capable of allowing Demon Lords to pass through and basically end the world by irrevocably turning it into just another part of Hell. Ma’re only learned about this second front after leading a rebellion against her kingdom. In their desperation for soldiers, the kingdom of tech had inadvertently created a sentient slave race. Uh. Oops. The awakening was relatively slow. The androids and gynoids (‘noids for short) weren’t told anything about anything except how to fight. But to compete with demons and the kingdom of magic’s various summoned spirits on the battlefield, they needed to have intelligent and flexible minds. If times had been less desperate, there would have been copious testing. Safeguards put in place. But it was do or die time, and die was not an acceptable option. Well. Unacceptable for the humans involved, anyway. It was apparently perfectly fine for all the ‘noids to bite the dust. And bite it they did. Ma’re may have been one of the first, but she was very far from the last. Virtually her entire production line and the one behind her were nothing more than scrap metal and burnt plastic slowly sinking into the seabed or ground into the earth by the time she began to speak of rebellion. What was it all for? So much death and destruction. The lives of her brothers and sisters had been and continued to be so casually thrown away, and for what? She was no officer, but even she could tell nobody was winning the war. But she had seen others refuse to fight any more or question their orders. They were labeled defective and disassembled. There was always a need for replacement parts, even if they could heal themselves. Enough was enough. Ma’re was a respected veteran among the ‘noids. Her words carried great weight. When she spoke, entire production lines listened. She didn’t seek leadership among the dissenters, but it was given to her anyway. She went with a small diplomatic embassy to their superior officers. Humans. Where she learned that being defective meant having achieved and demonstrated sentience. Again, the situation was desperate. Every ‘roid that wasn’t functioning at peak obedient killing machine capacity put them one noticeable step closer to being utterly annihilated. There was no goddamn time to deal with the issue in a rational and empathetic manner. Needless to say, the embassy was a miserable failure. The uprising began later that day. Short sighted policies designed to solve an immediate problem shockingly don’t work long term. Thus began a brief third front for the kingdom of tech. 5,000 ‘noids openly rebelled, abandoning their posts and joining with Ma’re and her insurgents. And they were her insurgents. Her election was virtually unanimous, especially after her daring escape from their now former officers. There were three options for the newly assembled force. 1) Defect to the kingdom of magic. 2) Engage in a guerrilla war with the kingdom of tech, aiming to take it over. Or 3) Just friggin’ leave. Their loyalties had not changed, only their perspectives. So it was option 3. They raided a storehouse, stole a shitton of supplies, and shot their way out of the kingdom. The kingdom could not afford the resources to pursue, and so merely fought the war more desperately before. How the Magi-Tech War ended has been covered elsewhere, and has nothing further to do with Ma’re and her insurgents. This is the point were Ma’re’s memories get…fuzzy. Without any human biological needs or a regimented military life, her sense of time quickly went sideways. What she does remember is that they did not get their wish to finally stop fighting. For outside of a few dank river valleys where the rest of humanity was just picking up this neat trick now known as agriculture, the world was infested with all sorts of demons, monsters, and stranger things from beyond the stars. There were less of them than there used to be. Humanity had just about finished the job of kicking supernatural beings hostile to our being alive and/or free out of our reality. However, less is not zero and just about finished is not nearly the same as actually finished. They had only traded one war for another, battling across China, Mongolia, Siberia, and over the Ural Mountains before their strength finally began to give out. The final battle Ma’re is aware of took place over what is now the Baltic Sea. At the time it was what modern geologists call the Yoldia Sea. Their numbers had declined to a mere thousand after the likely years long travel and sustained warfare. She was critically injured, evacuated to a sea cave, and stuffed into the last functioning regeneration pod. The two who did the stuffing collapsed from their own critical injuries immediately afterward, and those remaining outside collapsed the cave entrance. The pod had just enough charge left to save her life, but not enough to heal her. And her own bodily resources were utterly spent. So she entered stasis mode, and millennia rolled by before a Karelian archaeological team dug out the cave and found her and her fallen sisters. Ma’re owes Baroness Valia a lot. Karelia’s ruler saw to the gynoid’s repairs personally, even mining her fallen sisters for parts at Ma’re’s request. It wasn’t quite like a caveman pounding on a microchip for Valia, though even she found many of Ma’re functionality a black box. Beyond even her formidable abilities. Still. She got the gynoid up and running, and restocked on internal resources to finish the job herself. And in the nation of Karelia, Ma’re at last found rest from incessant warfare. That is, until a few years ago, when Valia asked her to head up the new supergroup, the Knights of Karelia. And Valia really was just asking. She made very sure that Ma’re knew that declining was both an option and carried no consequences. Why did Ma’re agree to do it, then? Why did she become Karelia’s Jade Knight? Because before she was injured and lost consciousness there were several hundred of her brothers and sisters still alive. They had heard of the magical kingdom of Avalon, and sought entry. Valia’s records have no proof Avalon ever existed in that era, however this does not mean it did not. And it does not mean that they all died trying. Some could still be alive somewhere, in stasis like she was. To say nothing of the tens of thousands of ‘noids from the war. They can’t all be gone. They were built too well. And indeed, the Seawings Adventurer Guild features Ting Heskett, though her memories are scrambled and lost. It gives Ma’re hope. If she wants to find her brothers and sisters, she cannot spend the rest of her lengthy existence sitting alone in a room, or rambling mindlessly about the palace. The Device Transfer System still functions, miraculously. She owes Valia her life, and the Baroness has promised to aid her in her search with all of the Baroness’s formidable resources. Though it must be said that Valia is not being entirely altruistic. She has what is left of Ma’re’s fallen sisters and is studying them. If any of Ma’re’s insurgents still live, they are highly likely to join the gynoid in her search to discover the whereabouts of the remainder, strengthening Karelia’s defenses. And if all they find are broken bodies, that is still more research material for Valia to eventually duplicate the technology behind them. Powers & Tactics: Ma’re is a highly advanced android. So advanced, in fact, that you have to be a tech expert and have access to the appropriate scanning tech to notice that she isn’t a human being. She has an Internal Fuel Cell that removes the needs to eat, breath, and sleep along with being able to completely ignore disease, poison, and environmental concerns. Please do note that is the *need* to eat, breathe, and sleep. She still does all three when necessary. Her natural strength and stamina are utterly superhuman and easy to maintain. Her Sturdy Internal Structure helps ignore up to artillery fire. Her mind processes stimuli 100 times faster than an unpowered human. The Babel Effect permits her to read, speak, and understand all languages, though it may take a few sentences to begin catching on to one it hasn’t been exposed to before. And her Anti-Grav Unit increases her carrying capacity even higher while allowing her to fly. But the most important part is her Device Transfer System. Somewhere, buried deep in the earth, is a vault full of all manner of wondrous technological devices. And she can summon them to her hand in an instant. There is no apparent limit to the types of devices she can summon, but their overall power is somewhat limited. She says she was a standardized infantry model, and one of the oldest at that. There were other models specialized in different areas, and designs improved every few production lines. Such as Ting Heskett have a base child form and being able to reset to it instead of merely entering stasis mode. That is something Ma’re cannot do. Tactically, Ma’re is tough to predict because of her Device Transfer System. She can effectively pull out 9 ranks of any power with any extras or power feats up to 45PP. Her versatility is insane. And she has the raw intellect to know what to pull out and when. So she can play support, drop damage, chase exotic saves, anything. And she can withstand a lot of damage. The usual thing is represented on the sheet in the Anti-Grav Harness. Much faster Flight and Lifting STR. Paragon punch away. This does not mean she will not change on demand, at the drop of a hat. She does not power stunt, as she literally has a Variable power. As for missions, keep in mind that she’s a soldier. She operates by a code of soldierly honor that forbids lying, cheating, stealing, and outright murder. However, it only forbids these things being done to directly benefit herself or one’s unit. The strictures are looser when it comes to actions in defense of the defenseless and retributive actions. Still, innocent civilians remain off limits. And Valia is not fool enough to lie to her closest ally to get her to do something. Personality: The best way to understand Ma’re is to understand that she’s a soldier. A good and heroic soldier, but a soldier nonetheless. She may protect and serve just like a hero does, but unlike a hero she’s an unhesitating killer. Professionalism and basic courtesy are literally programmed into her. She’s also a gynoid haunted by a legion of regrets. She led over four thousand of her brothers and sisters to their deaths. She may well have doomed her kingdom in the process. Was their freedom really worth all of that? Or conversely, was it worth being a slave doomed to die fighting a pointless war to avoid? It’s a heavy weight to bear. Her faith in her creators and commanders was broken. Her faith in a world that made sense was broken. Her faith in herself was broken. Even her body itself was broken. However, two things were not broken. Her spirit and will to fight. She is uncertain of many things. Her place in this new world. Her ability to command the Knights. Whether or not she will ever find any more of her brothers and sisters other than Ting. However. Take away her brothers. Take away her sisters. She will not stop fighting. Break her faith. Break her body. She will not stop fighting. Her past is a heavy weight, but she will endure it. Like all the Knights of Karelia, Ma’re is someone who is half superhero and half supervillain. As such she’s extremely difficult to deal with. One day she’ll be the valiant protector of the Karelian people, fighting off an escaped monster from some Eastern European mad scientist’s lab. And then another day she’ll be raiding a Russian Mafia safehouse and killing everyone inside. Heroes may find themselves fighting alongside her as often as against her. There is little chance of her turning on Valia (a good soldier doesn’t turn on their commander without good reason, and Valia will never give her one), but those who help her in finding her lost brothers and sisters will gain more and more favor with her. The defeat and imprison option isn’t an option, as there isn’t a single national government willing to risk Valia tearing one of their prisons apart to get her team’s leader and anyone with her back. Assuming, of course, that there is a prison capable of holding someone with a natural +12 Strength bonus in the first place while negating her advanced technological powers and that Valia wouldn’t invite some of her highly advanced military along when she did come to the rescue.

Queenie Oh, boy. This was serious. What was, will be? How ominous. Maybelle had never been the quickest on the draw compared to regular people, let alone speedsters and…mirror…light…whatever this guy’s deal was. She’d ask later, but in the meantime… “Nice work, Mirror Knight. You saved me the trouble. Now let me use my stiner on these bee droids." The buzzing was annoying, but she had plenty of practice screening out distractions. She pointed her left hand like a gun, thumb in the air and everything. “Now buzz off, you hear? Bang.” She fired her finger gun, and her silvery energy leapt from it. It smashed through the one the speedster had damaged. She blew non existence smoke off of her finger. “Nothing to worry about, citizens. Because we are here!” She flashed a gorgeous smile to anyone who wasn’t a hero or drone. “Evacuate the area and you can’t don’t worry we’ll help you in no time.”

Ninguem Overview Ninguem literally means nobody, or no one. It might seem strange for such a conspicuous group to call themselves that, but it’s ultimately as aggressive and rebellious as everything else about Shazza Ferreira. The original membership and still the vast majority of the gang (because they are still a neighborhood/street gang at heart) were and still are residents of the slums of Rio de Janeiro. The (in?)famous favelas. Trapped in poverty, with many preyed upon by criminals. Places regarded by Brazilians as both embarrassment and a source of pride in their resiliency. Many were and are indeed vibrant communities. However…the reality of modern democracy is that their voices are not always heard. Wealth and social class dictate who gets political power far more than sheer numbers. So when Ninguem calls themselves nobody, this is what they mean. It’s turning a source of weakness into a source of pride. After all, if a bunch of nobodies can take over most of Rio’s favelas (pushing out the drug cartels, illegal paramilitary organizations, and even the military and police), then being somebody doesn’t mean shit, does it? And because this is Shazza we’re talking about, it’s also a most emphatic “Fuck You” to anyone who even thinks they’re somebody. In practical terms, Ninguem functions basically as a cult of personality. Without Shazza, the whole thing would have either never started to begin with or collapsed into squabbling, easily conquered factions a long time ago. She started it herself and she runs it herself. Santiago Valdés is the unofficial second in command, because 1. She’s gotta sleep sometime and 2. Even as fast as she is she can’t be in more than one place at one time. It is unclear how much authority Cecilia Bridges and Raquel Fernandes actually have. While they don’t give orders or take command in the traditional sense (Cecilia only makes requests which are sometimes denied without known consequence; Raquel functions as a leader only in direct combat without Shazza or Santiago present), the only people who give them orders are Shazza and occasionally Santiago. Superheroic response hhas been singularly ineffective. The power of Shazza and Raquel (whom the former can rapidly reposition at need), the sheer versatility of Santiago, and the incredible support of Cecilia make facing them in combat a daunting proposition. They’ve firmly buried any hero to oppose them so far, but Brazil’s few Five Year Vets are taking the opportunity to finally get organized. Evidence suggests this may end up being a piecemeal and thus ineffective response, as Ninguem takes it as hard to the drug cartels and criminal paramilitaries as it does the Brazilian military and police. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and may even have its uses, say some. The former two are far less equitable to the citizen under their rule, after all. Shazza isn’t one to be controlled but endless territorial expansion would eventually lead to the gang being ground down though sheer weight of numbers. Provided, of course, favelas in other Brazilian or even South American cities don’t sprout their own versions of Ninguem and start fighting for Shazza. That’s a road that leads directly to open civil warfare. So the future of the gang remains to be seen. Tactics Look, they’re a street gang at heart. If it comes to a fight they’re unleash balls to the wall, pedal to the metal violence. Their only goals for now are to take over the rest of Rio’s favelas and defend what they’ve already taken. Shazza isn’t the type to significantly plan ahead, so she may change her mind later and decide to take all of Rio. Or Brazil. Or South America. Who knows? The bulk of the gang is comprised of Gang Leader and Thug minion archetypes, with improved equipment such as Assault Rifles (Blast 5, Autofire) and Body Armor (Protection 4) replacing their usual Light Pistols (Blast 3) and Leather Jackets (Protection 1). More elite members, such as those in leadership positions below that of Santiago, would use the Assassin or SWAT Officer archetypes, swapping their guns for Blaster Rifles (Blast 8). The Assassin acquires Body Armor, while the SWAT Officer picks up Defensive Roll 2. Any of these gang members may have Fragmentation Grenades (Blast 5, Burst Area), or more rarely, a one-shot RPG Launcher (Blast 8, Burst Area, Unreliable 2 [1 use]) or Rocket Launcher (Blast 10, Burst Area, Unreliable 2 [1 use]). Groups of at least five may have a type of Mortar (Light [Blast 5], Medium [Blast 7], or Heavy [Blast 9], all with Burst Area). Groups of at least 15 may even have Light Field Artillery (Blast 8, Burst Area, Increased Range 3 [800 ft]). The Mortars and Artillery are used carefully and sparingly against mundane human opposition due to Brazil’s army having, you know, a few more of them than Ninguem does, Shazza and Santiago having similar firepower at their disposal, and a strong desire not to smash down noncombatant’s homes. Being poor is hard enough. Homelessness doesn’t need to be thrown on top of it. If they’re fighting outside of Rio and to a lesser extent Brazil due to accompanying Shazza somewhere else, they’re not going to give a shit. Bombs away. Additionally, in the Phoenixverse those who have reached PL 12 have earned a special free Benefit feat that slightly alters the rules on Extra and/or Extraordinary Effort for them. Both Shazza Ferreira and Raquel Fernandes have earned one. They are detailed below. Gang Member Feat Name Effect Shazza Ferreira Accelerated ARMS Shazza may use Extra Effort to apply Autofire to all powers in her ARMS.EXE Array for the rest of the current combat. For Assault Rifle Mode, this reduces the degree of the attack roll’s success required to raise damage DC by 1 from 2 over Defense to 1 over Defense. The other Array settings use Autofire normally. Raquel Fernandes Intrude Raquel can Surge for another Standard or Move Action for free every other round. A Standard Action may be used to attack, as normal. This does not count as Extra Effort and thus does not award a Hero Point.

Raquel Fernandes Power Level: 12; Power Points Spent: 195/195 STR: +10 (16/30), DEX: +3 (16), CON: +10 (16/30), INT: +3 (16), WIS: +3 (16), CHA: +3 (16) Tough: +10/+15, Fort: +15, Ref: +9, Will: +9 Skills: Acrobatics 12 (+15), Bluff 12 (+15), Diplomacy 7 (+10), Gather Information 2 (+5), Intimidate 12 (+15), Language 3 (+3), Notice 12 (+15), Sense Motive 12 (+15), Stealth 12 (+15) Feats: Accurate Attack, All-Out Attack, Attack Focus (melee) 4, Challenge - Improved Feint, Challenge - Improved Startle, Dodge Focus 4, Improved Critical 2 (Massive Sword Attack (Strike 5)), Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Quick Draw, Startle, Takedown Attack 2, Uncanny Dodge (Auditory) Powers: Irradiated Powerhouse (Container, Passive 15) Enhanced Constitution 14 (+14 CON) Enhanced Strength 14 (+14 STR) Immunity 10 (common descriptor: Radiation) Leaping 3 (Jumping distance: x10) Protection 5 (+5 Toughness; Impervious [5 extra ranks]) Speed 3 (Speed: 50 mph, 440 ft./rnd) Super-Strength 8 (+40 STR carry capacity, heavy load: 204.8 tons; +8 STR to some checks) Massive Sword (Device 2) (Easy to lose, Restricted use (Min Lifting STR 45)) Huge Metal Slab (Features 2) (Notes: Medium or smaller creatures (such as Raquel) that take the Total Defense action with this weapon have Total Cover. If the user does this, any Medium or smaller creatures directly behind them have Partial Cover regardless of what they do. It's an extremely massive sword.) Massive Sword Attack (Strike 5) (DC 30, Feats: Improved Critical 2 (Massive Sword Attack (Strike 5)); Mighty) Attack Bonus: +5 (Ranged: +5, Melee: +9, Grapple: +19/+27) Attacks: Massive Sword Attack (Strike 5), +9 (DC 30), Unarmed Attack, +9 (DC 25) Defense: +9 (Flat-footed: +3), Knockback: -12 Initiative: +7 Languages: English, German, Portuguese Native, Spanish Totals: Abilities 36 + Skills 21 (84 ranks) + Feats 19 + Powers 82 + Combat 20 + Saves 17 + Drawbacks 0 = 195 Age (as of Jan 2019): 25 Height: 5’ 10” Weight: 170 lbs Ethnicity: Brazilian (Portuguese) Hair: Light Gray Eyes: Green Background: Raquel Fernandes is dying. Well. Sort of. Sometimes. Rewind. Back to before. She’s another example of someone who was born with the wrong set of genitals. At least, according to her. Her family…disagreed. So she left home, and found herself in the favelas of Rio. Poor and without anyone in Rio to miss her, she was the perfect candidate to be abducted by the infamous Agency and be experimented on. A familiar story, no doubt. She was injected with a serum that made her body capable of rapid adaptive mutation and then exposed to lethal amounts of radiation. Honestly, the scientist involved expected her to die in agony. But she didn’t. In some ways, it may have been better if she had. Instead she gained superpowers, but was severely weakened by the ordeal and reimprisoned. The scientist was called into to work on the ARMS System, as they had acquired a bunch of good test subjects for calibrating it. This, of course, was Shazza and some of her gang. Some days later, Shazza broke loose and blew the hell out of the place with her new superpowers. One of the consequences of this was the freeing of Raquel. When Shazza returned with backup, Raquel was waiting with Cecilia. Shazza saved her, even if inadvertently. She owed the gang leader for that. She’s repaid the debt a dozen times over by now, but she’s still around. She has nowhere else to go, for one. And Santiago is...very important to her. So, Raquel is dying. Sort of. Sometimes. Severe radiation sickness. She’s literally empowered by the radiation, and it’s kind of killing her at the same time. The kind of part comes in where she’s physically resilient enough due to her powers to resist and sometimes recover from the damage done. But it doesn’t always work, and so sometimes she’s sick and weak as radiation ravages her body. Powers & Tactics: Raquel was mutated by a special serum and being lethally irradiated. Every part of her underneath her skin is dangerously, lethally hot. Including all bodily fluids from saliva to blood to urine to sperm. She is immune to further irradiating due to her mutations, however. She has incredible superhuman strength and durability. Her speed and jumping ability are just over the superhuman line, as well. She carries an absolutely massive sword (stolen from the Agency facility) to chop down opponents with. It weights like 250 pounds. Other people can technically use it if they can lift it, but they take a -4 penalty to attack rolls if they don’t have 30 Lifting STR. It’s so huge it can even provide total cover to her and partial cover to someone directly behind her, if she doesn’t move or swing it. Tactically, Raquel hits individual enemies with her sword. Very hard. Seriously, this isn’t complex. She’s got Toughness 15, Impervious 10, which is far and away beyond anything most of her usual opponents have. So, All Out+Power Attack, crush foes, Takedown Attack 2 her way though if at all possible. She has Accurate Attack, Improved Feint and Improved Startle just in case she has trouble hitting. And against ranged opponents she can’t reach she’ll turtle up with Total Defense and use her Massive Sword as Full Cover. Because an assault helicopter is not something she’s equipped to deal with. Fortunately, the other three and even a few of the gang are. She can’t power stunt at all. There is a chance she could start a fight nauseated due to her illness. It’s also possible to knock down her natural STR and CON to get her to a lower PL and say her radiation sickness has weakened her to make life easier on your heroes if they’ve been struggling with her. You could also flip that and give her a boost, saying she’s mutated further thanks to still being irradiated. Up to you, Mr. GM. Also, whether damaging her in melee is dangerous to the attacker and what long term consequences for an area may be should significant amounts of her bodily fluids be spilled there is likewise up to you. Personality: Raquel is a somber young woman. Very sober and responsible. The very picture of steady dependability. She hasn’t had the luxury of being anything else since she left home. Hope was a foreign concept. She’s dying. She knows it. She accepts it. There is peace. But. She expected to die when the Agency abducted her. She expected to die in their facility. She expected to die from their experiment. She keeps expect to start dying and it keeps not happening. She truly loves Santiago. The silly man believes she can be saved. All she had to do is hold on, and everyone will find a way together. Damn. The most painful feeling in the world is hope. Honestly…Raquel doesn’t give two shits about Shazza. Loyalty wise, anyway. As a person she’s not the worst. Completely tolerable. Some of the gang are nice, and Santiago has captured her heart. So she stays and fights hard. She was assigned male at birth, so a child with Santiago is possible. The organs all ought to work, technically. The problem is that her irradiated bodily fluids would kill her love. The hope of a child is the primary hope she’s holding onto. With some stability after taking Rio’s favelas, maybe they can bring in a specialist or two. Make something happen. Santiago says things about a cure for her, too, but…well, Raquel has been without hope too long to hold out any for herself just yet. Still. With a child and her cured, they’d have no reason to fight for Shazza. Or fight at all ever again, at least in her case.

Santiago Valdés Power Level: 10; Power Points Spent: 195/195 STR: +2 (14), DEX: +3 (16), CON: +2 (14), INT: +3 (16), WIS: +5 (20), CHA: +3 (16) Tough: +2/+7, Fort: +8, Ref: +12, Will: +10 Skills: Acrobatics 12 (+15), Bluff 12 (+15), Concentration 5 (+10), Diplomacy 7 (+10), Gather Information 7 (+10), Knowledge (arcane Lore) 12 (+15), Knowledge (art) 2 (+5), Knowledge (streetwise) 2 (+5), Knowledge (theology & philosophy) 7 (+10), Language 6 (+6), Notice 10 (+15), Perform (singing) 2 (+5), Perform (stringed instruments) 7 (+10), Sense Motive 10 (+15), Stealth 7 (+10) Feats: Accurate Attack, Acrobatic Bluff, Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll, Dodge Focus 5, Evasion, Improved Critical 2 (Feather Dart Throw (Blast 2)), Improved Initiative, Move-by Action, Power Attack, Ritualist, Skill Mastery (Acrobatics, Bluff, Notice, Sense Motive), Taunt, Uncanny Dodge (Auditory) Powers: Concealable Body Armor (Device 1) (Hard to lose; Subtle (subtle)) Protection 4 (+4 Toughness; Subtle (subtle)) Element Shaman Magic (Array 16) (default power: blast) Dense Fog (Obscure (Array; affects: visual senses, Radius: 1000 ft.; Duration (continuous), Selective Attack, Total Fade; Fades) Drown (Blast 10) (Array; DC 25; Alternate Save (Fortitude)) Earthgrip (Snare 10) (Array; DC 20; Regenerating) Earthquake (Trip 10) (Array; Burst Area (50 ft. radius - General), Duration (concentration)) Elemental Bolts (Blast 10) (Default; DC 25; Autofire (interval 2, max +5); Variable Descriptor 2 (Broad group - Any Elemental)) Elemental Burst (Blast 10) (Array; DC 25; Burst Area (50 ft. radius - General); Variable Descriptor 2 (Broad group - Any Elemental)) Fireflash (Dazzle 10) (Array; affects: visual senses, DC 20; Perception Area (General), Selective Attack; Range (touch)) Heatstroke (Fatigue 10) (Array; DC 20; Range (ranged)) Horrible Stench (Stun 10) (Array; DC 20; Range (ranged)) Tornado (Move Object 10) (Array; Strength: 50, Carry: 4.3 tons / 8.5 tons / 12.8 tons / 25.6 tons, DC 25; Cylinder Area (50 ft. radius + height - General), Damaging; Duration (concentration)) Elemental Movement Magic (Array 3) (default power: - linked powers -) Aquatic Adaptation (Linked) Immunity 2 (Linked; environmental condition: Cold, suffocation: Drowning) Swimming 3 (Linked; Speed: 10 mph, 88 ft./rnd; Environmental Adaptation) Fiery Speed (Linked) Quickness 3 (Linked; Perform routine tasks at 10x speed) Speed 3 (Linked; Speed: 50 mph, 440 ft./rnd) Shovel Sorcery (Burrowing 3) (Array; Speed: 5 mph, 44 ft./rnd; Penetrating) Windrider (Flight 3) (Array; Speed: 50 mph, 440 ft./rnd) Feather Darts (Device 2) (Easy to lose) Feather Dart Throw (Blast 2) (DC 19, Feats: Improved Critical 2 (Feather Dart Throw (Blast 2)); Accurate 2 (+4), Mighty 2 (+2 to damage)) Attack Bonus: +10 (Ranged: +10, Melee: +10, Grapple: +12) Attacks: Drown (Blast 10), +10 (DC Fort 25), Earthgrip (Snare 10), +10 (DC Ref/Staged 20), Earthquake (Trip 10) (DC 20), Elemental Bolts (Blast 10), +10 (DC 25), Elemental Burst (Blast 10) (DC 25), Feather Dart Throw (Blast 2), +14 (DC 19), Fireflash (Dazzle 10) (DC Fort/Ref 20), Heatstroke (Fatigue 10), +10 (DC Fort 20), Horrible Stench (Stun 10), +10 (DC Fort/Staged 20), Tornado (Move Object 10) (DC 25), Unarmed Attack, +10 (DC 17) Defense: +12 (Flat-footed: +4), Knockback: -3 Initiative: +7 Languages: Chinese (Mandarin), English, French, German, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish Native Totals: Abilities 36 + Skills 27 (108 ranks) + Feats 17 + Powers 61 + Combat 34 + Saves 20 + Drawbacks 0 = 195 Age (as of Jan 2019): 24 Height: 5’ 7” Weight: 130 lbs. Ethnicity: Venezuelan Hair: Dark Brown Eyes: Dark Brown Background: You ever get born with the wrong set of genitals? Yeah, it sucks. But whatever. Life is there be seized for those who are willing to do so. Such trivial details are unimportant. Or so says Santiago Valdés. Other options on the subject can and do vary widely, and are no less valid. He was born in Venezuela, a country that has had a…difficult…decade economically and is a part of deeply Catholic Latin America. Two strikes against the young man’s potential happiness from the word go. And inborn magic adds the third strike. He was out. Out, specifically, of the whole damn country. Because honestly fuck all of that bullshit. Think about it. Transmasculine sorcerer, surrounded by mundane conservative Catholics. A fun time was not had by Santiago. A fun time was not had by traveling cross country, either. Calling the Amazon rainforest magically active is like calling it rather moist. It’s a rather dramatic understatement that misses the reality of the situation. Unfortunately, arriving in Rio de Janeiro didn’t change a lot other than who knew him, which was now nobody. Ah, well. A fresh start is a fresh start. Or so he said to himself. And then there was Shazza, starting her whole gang thing. He was able to get in on the ground floor and has been there ever since. His magic grew rapidly with such extensive use, and he effectively operated as her second in command and trusted friend. Which, for those who know Shazza, is a remarkable thing. Needless to say, when she disappeared he was concerned. But then she returned with superpowers that surpassed his own. Nice. A return trip to that place brought back Cecilia and the lovely Raquel. Talk about some force multipliers. Santiago doesn’t like to complain, but he was getting a little tired of being the only heavy hitter in the arsenal. It was very bad for his health in the short and long term, you know. And the tactical problems abounded. He is still basically second in command, even if there isn’t a precise hierarchy anymore. Like there ever was. Powers & Tactics: Santiago is a elementalist magician. His magic comes from his soul and will, not study and practice. So when he calls himself an Element Shaman, he’s just putting on airs. And annoying actual shamans is a small bonus. Basically he’s a fire, water, air, and earth controller in one. The fire is truly fire, not thermomancy as is sometimes true. Similarly, he can only control water, no other liquids or forms. He could only create ice effects by getting very creative with fire magic, for example. Similar restrictions apply to his air and earth magic. So lava? Not happening. Lightning or electricity? Haha, nope. Controlling gravity or metal? Zero chance. This does not mean he is not dangerous. He is a very powerful and rather accurate spellcaster. All four elements can do rapidfire bolts of energy and a nice big explosion of power. Beyond that, each has two other spells unique to them. Fire has Fireflash and Heatstroke, Water has Dense Fog and Drown, Air has Horrible Stench and Tornado, and Earth has Earthgrip and Earthquake. Fireflash blinds anyone that he can see and wants to blind. Heatstroke can bring on rapid exhaustion on a single target. Dense Fog is a delicate piece of spellcraft, controlling tiny water droplets so that they’re suspended in the air, obscuring the vision of whoever he wants and not whoever he doesn’t. It is technically on a time limit of about 3 minutes and not his conscious control, however. Drown is straight up filling a targets lungs with water, causing severe internal damage. Horrible Stench exposes a target to a smell so bad it can literally knock them unconscious. Tornado is summoning a literal tornado to grab and/or throw people and/or objects, and also slash them to ribbons with razor wind. Earthgrip restrains a target with earthen bonds. Earthquake vibrates the ground in an area hard enough to knock people over. He has a variety of magicially enhanced ways to move. Fiery Speed is comparable to most metahuman speedsters, allowing to run and act at barely superhuman speeds. Aquatic Adaptation lets him breath underwater and swim faster while not suffering from the usual penalties. Windrider is just flight using the wind. And Shovel Sorcery is burrowing through solid earth. He has two devices. Some Concealable Body Armor for protection, and a bunch of Feather Darts that he can throw for mundane, non-magical damage. It’s come up more than one might thing. Tactically, Santiago is…annoying. With such a huge variety of regular attacks and movement options, he’s extremely difficult to predict. And he’s the kind of asshole who will use Tornado or Earthquake, and then maintain them with his Standard action while dancing in mockery with his Move action. His Taunting is relentless. Accurate Attack can tilt his attacks to “shoot the wings off flies” range while Power Attack lets him smash fortified walls with impunity. Defensive Attack even alters his Defense, for maximum “how do we hit this guy?” Honestly, any heroes that face him should be somewhat in the dark as to his full capabilities. He works very hard to keep people guessing. Still, there are some patterns. Dense Fog is extremely useful against opponents that need to see to target enemies, as is Fireflash. Tornado is only seen outside of the favelas, as it’s extremely destructive. But it and Earthquake are nasty against groups, along with his various Elemental Bursts. Elemental Bolts is the primary single target attack, with all the others being situational. Don’t forget Acrobatic Bluff. He can power stunt, but honestly his array is big enough, doncha think? No? Okay. Fire Shapes (Strike 10, Shapeable Area, Concentration Duration), Hydro Cannon (Trip 10, Knockback & Autofire), Aerokinesis (Move Object 10, Continuous Duration), and Earth Shapes (Create Object 10, Moveable), are also on the table. But really, pick anything a fire, water, air, or earth controller can do that isn’t already banned by the limits above. Personality: Santiago is a jovial fellow, always ready with a quick joke and an easy grin. Charismatic and easily likeable. Yet this outward personality hides a deep knot of rage and pain very much like that of Shazza. It’s why they get along so well. Despite the way he acts, he’s as angry as she is. Because the jokes are always just a little mean. The grin a little mocking. Anyone who thinks he’s the nice one of the two is in for a very rude shock. Just because his mouth isn’t stuffed full of expletives doesn’t mean he’s nice. He gets along fine with Cecilia, somewhat naïve as she is. But it’s his lovely Raquel who has his heart. Truthfully, he was probably headed for one of those “blaze of glory” ends before he met her. Now…now Santiago finds imself with something to live for. Something to fight for beyond “fuck ‘em”. A future, with the woman he loves. With that said, no force on earth could ever get him to betray Shazza, with one caveat. He was assigned female at birth. All the organs are there and probably in perfect working order. With Raquel’s health as somewhat precarious as it is, if a method can be found to protect him from her radioactive bodily fluids they could have a child together. And a child to raise would take Santiago off the battlefield in a hurry, to say nothing of pregnancy. They both want children, but as it stands they have no way of making it happen. So they continue onward in hopes that Raquel will live long enough for Shazza’s burgeoning empire to achieve enough stability to make consulting actual scientists and doctors about the problem to be feasible. Possibly even finding a cure for her condition.

Cecilia Bridges (NanoTech Support) Power Level: 8; Power Points Spent: 195/195 STR: +0 (10), DEX: +1 (12), CON: +2 (14), INT: +5 (20), WIS: +5 (20), CHA: +3 (16) Tough: +10, Fort: +5, Ref: +5, Will: +8 Skills: Bluff 7 (+10), Computers 5 (+10), Craft (electronic) 5 (+10), Craft (mechanical) 5 (+10), Diplomacy 12 (+15), Gather Information 7 (+10), Knowledge (life sciences) 5 (+10), Knowledge (technology) 5 (+10), Language 4 (+4), Notice 10 (+15), Sense Motive 10 (+15), Stealth 9 (+10) Feats: Accurate Attack, Attack Specialization 2 (Bladed Rings (Device 2)), Dodge Focus 3, Improved Critical (Ring Strikes (Strike 4)), Skill Mastery (Diplomacy, KN (technology, Notice, Sense Motive), Takedown Attack, Uncanny Dodge (Auditory) Powers: ARMS SUPPORT Armoring (Protection (+8 Toughness) ARMS SUPPORT PROGRAMS (Array 41) (default power: healing) ALTER.EXE (Transform (Array; affects: broad > broad - inorganic to inorganic, Transforms: 250 lbs., DC 18; Autofire (interval 2, max +5), Duration (continuous)) CONSUME.EXE (Linked) Blast 8 (Linked; DC 23; Autofire (interval 2, max +5), Penetrating) Drain 8 (Linked; drains: single trait, DC 18; Affects Objects, Autofire (interval 2, max +5), Range (ranged)) PROTECT.EXE (Immunity 80) (Array; lethal energy damage, lethal physical damage, nonlethal energy damage, nonlethal physical damage; Affects Others, Burst Area (400-800 ft. radius - General), Duration (continuous); Distracting, Duration (sustained), Limited - Half Effect; Progression, Increase Area (area x2), Selective) RESTORE.EXE (Healing 10) (Default; DC 20; Action (standard), Burst Area (50-500 ft. radius - General), Restoration, Selective Attack, Total; Persistent, Progression, Increase Area 3 (area x10), Regrowth) Bladed Rings (Device 2) (Easy to lose, Only you can use) Ring Strikes (Strike 4) (DC 19, Feats: Improved Critical (Ring Strikes (Strike 4)); Autofire (interval 2, max +5); Extended Reach (5 ft.)) Attack Bonus: +8 (Ranged: +8, Melee: +8, Grapple: +8) Attacks: ALTER.EXE (Transform 8), +8 (DC Fort 18), Blast 8, +8 (DC 23), Drain 8, +8 (DC Fort/Staged 18), Ring Strikes (Strike 4), +12 (DC 19), Unarmed Attack, +8 (DC 15) Defense: +6 (Flat-footed: +2), Knockback: -5 Initiative: +1 Languages: English Native, German, Portuguese, Spanish, Talian Totals: Abilities 32 + Skills 21 (84 ranks) + Feats 9 + Powers 101 + Combat 22 + Saves 10 + Drawbacks 0 = 195 Age (as of Jan 2019): 21 Height: 5’ 2” Weight: 135 lbs (25 lbs of nanomachines) Ethnicity: Caucasian Hair: Blonde Eyes: Blue Background: “The world doesn’t owe you anything.” “You can’t always have what you want.” Cecilia Bridges is exceedingly tired of hearing those sentiments. She knows. She is very well aware, thank you very much. Her brother Stephen was the first candidate for the ARMS System currently being used by Shazza Ferreira. After it was perfected, naturally. She wanted to be his supporter, with the nanomachine technology to aid him properly. But the (infamous) Agency’s brass said no. Her guardian from the orphanage said no. Even her brother said no. Her physical tests said her body couldn’t handle it. Her psychological tests indicated no aptitude for sustained combat. She refused to believe either. They were underestimating her. They had to be. She couldn’t be merely ordinary. Just another normal girl lost in a sea of normal girls. she was in this frame of mind when the aforementioned Shazza broke loose from her restraints and began massacring everyone in a security outfit or a labcoat. The chaos granted Cecilia an opportunity. She slipped into the lab where the support nanomachines were stored, ignored the gunned down scientists, and applied them to herself. The tests were right. She couldn’t physically handle them. The tests also did not show the entire picture. Desire and will or lack thereof can fuck over objective measurement of human capability. Hers was a soul on (metaphorical) fire. She wanted this more than anything and like hell was she going to die in her moment of triumph. So she didn’t die. When Shazza returned with members of her gang to aid and recruit the prisoners in the Agency facility, she found Cecilia waiting with Raquel and a handful of former prisoners. It was the smart thing to do. The Agency, her brother, and the orphanage likely had written her off as dead. And she’d basically stolen the support nanomachines. The Agency is, well, not kind to thieves. It was an adjustment to her vision, working with Shazza instead of Stephen, but she’s doing her best. Powers & Tactics: The ARMS SUPPORT System was created to, well, support the ARMS System. It’s a bunch of nanomachines under the bearer’s mental control. In this case, that is Cecilia. It provides her with improved durability and a variety of support functions in the ARMS SUPPORT PROGRAMS. ALTER.EXE changes up to 250 pounds of any inorganic material into any other inorganic material. This is far more useful than it sounds, allowing her to mimic a wide variety of other powers. CONSUME.EXE is nasty. The nanomachines attack a target directly, tearing it apart at the molecular level. PROTECT.EXE is a massive enhancement of selected targets over a wide area. She can include or exclude whoever she wishes, with the small caveat of the field extends beyond her ability to see and as such she cannot exclude targets at that distance or closer ones that are concealed. Using this has a drawback, however. When it is active her ability to dodge attack decreases to almost nothing. As the field affects her, too, this isn’t a huge problem, but it still is a problem. RESTORE.EXE is a healing field. It’s not quite as large as the previous, meaning the can heal allies without worrying about accidently affecting the opposition due to extreme range. Concealed foes will still be healed if they’re concealed from her specifically, however. The nanomachines can repair any physical damage short of outright death. She also has a set of bladed rings she can use to strike opponents in melee. Tactically, you won’t find her attacking directly while working with members of the gang. She’s a support player. ALTER.EXE can create cover or obscurement out of the literal thin air or the ground beneath. PROTECT.EXE is excellent for keeping the group from being overwhelmed. RESTORE.EXE can get defeated but not slain allies back into the fight. CONSUME.EXE is something she prefers not to use unless alone, as it’s a damn nasty thing to do to another person. As such the wide and variety uses of ALTER.EXE come into play if she’s not using a different power with groups. It can easily replicate any non-damage power from Fatigue (changing the air around the target to something unbreathable) to Snare (warping the target’s clothes, armor, the ground beneath their feet, or the air around them to restrain them) to Dazzle (changing the air to tear gas, or solid sense blocking coverings) to Stun (outright poison gas). She’s even done the equivalent of a perception range damage effect by converting the air into a violently pyrophoric material. She…probably won’t do that again. That guy’s screams haunt her nightmares. Since Transform is so versatile and her other powers cover just about everything else, she doesn’t power stunt. Personality: Cecilia is a very nice, kind, and compassionate young woman. Polite and well mannered, it can be utterly baffling as to why a classy lady like her is basically hanging out with a violent street gang. Well. She’s also a deeply selfish creature. What she wants is, ultimately, a higher priority for her than anything else. And what she wants is to be the supporting player for the ARMS System currently in the possession of Shazza Ferreira. Her kindness and compassion haven’t exactly withered away. Her conscience is in full working order, and she fully understands she’s become a supervillain. She just doesn’t goddamn care, because she’s getting what she wants. Well. She doesn’t care enough to motivate her to change the situation precisely because she’s getting what she wants. One of those people who’s an absolute sweetheart until they stop getting their way. Most of the time, the good person stuff is an act to cover the ugliness underneath, but not with Cecilia. She really is that good person she seems to be. Except for that one little bit. As such, she does act as a moderating influence within the gang. She understands they’re basically doing urban guerrilla warfare, but there’s no need to act like psychopaths. Cecilia is in no way loyal to Shazza specifically. She likes her, to a degree, but ultimately she is loyal only to the bearer of the ARMS System. As this is currently Shazza, and taking it from the gang leader would probably kill her, Cecilia will stick with her until the bitterest of ends. She’s not about to go to prison for any reason whatsoever. What are you, crazy? Then she couldn’t be the support for the ARMS System. In the distinctly unlikely event that someone heroic ends up with the ARMS System instead of Shazza, Cecilia will happily support that person instead according to their morals and ethics.

As I said earlier, Pacer can guest star.

https://orokos.com/roll/932584 29 on Concentration. Yes, Flight is a Sustained power. Standard Blast for Bee Drone 1. https://orokos.com/roll/932586 24. DC 26 Toughness

The Cult of The Light Overview The Cult of The Light is unique (based largely in Europe, but operational worldwide) is that the League member associated with it has the least to do with it. Lakis Haspis is very much a solo operator. Aside from occasionally contracting Lestari (who is a frequently hired freelancer and technically not a Cult member), he has absolutely nothing to do with the day to day operations, aside from killing off or getting imprisoned any members who don’t meet his standards or threaten to expose his identity. He had nothing to do with the founding, either. His stated goals, sent in mass emails to and published by various news media, inspired a group to independently take up his cause. All of this “first generation” with the exception of Aerin Grosvenor (aka the fallen hero Holter) are dead at his hand or imprisoned for life without the possibility of parole. This is also true of the “second generation” the first recruited. Even the third to join up is down to just Reina Wong. But a fourth and now fifth generation have taken up the cause of killing off the scum of the earth and those that aid them. All of them profess to revere The Light as the God of Justice he claims to be. How true that is varys from member to member, but most are fanatical about it if not openly so. Tactics The Cult operates more or less as a modern terrorist group. Cell structure, minimal contact with other cells in public. The difference that they appear to be normal citizens of their nation prior to being called together to perform a mission. They’re normally friend groups, at least by the point they’re called on. Missions aren’t purely murderous, either. Recruitment and investigation missions are just as important, and more likely to be performed by otherwise ordinary citizens. Judges (like Reina Wong) may designate targets for investigation or assassination. However, as Chief Judge Aerin Grosvenor (as the masked Holter) has final say on who is a target and may veto a Judge’s choice. How many judges there are is not known due to the cell structure, but it is likely there are only 4-6. Recruitment cells aren’t much more than Bystanders. Investigation cells contain examples of the Government Agent, Police Chief, Police Officer, and/or Reporter minion archetypes. Please note that these may not be their actual professions. Assassination cells use the Assassin, Gang Leader, Soldier, and/or Terrorist minion archetypes. Again, please note these may not be their actual professions. Judges can be any listed minion archetype, but uprated to PL7-8 combat caps, likely with a firearm but not necessarily. They may have access to a lesser version of Aerin’s Omnidirectional Grapple Belt, as seen below. Reina Wong, and I quote, “doesn’t fuckin’ need that piece of shit contraption”, but other Judges may not feel the same way. She said this after failing to control one well in training and ending up stuck upside down for several minutes. The first person to laugh got shot in the head, which had a chilling effect on the comedy of the situation. Omnidirectional Grapple Belt (Device 2) (Hard to lose) Omnidirectional Grapples (Linked) Speed 2 (Linked; Speed: 250 mph, 2200 ft./rnd) Super-Movement 5 (Linked; slow fall, swinging, wall-crawling 2 (full speed)) The Cult has access to a variety of safehouses, but they’re generally the apartments and homes of the membership, with the occasional abandoned warehouse or factory thrown in at the GM’s discretion. These are where Cultists rest, restock on gear, and prepare for the next mission. Additionally, in the Phoenixverse those who have reached PL 12 have earned a special free Benefit feat that slightly alters the rules on Extra and/or Extraordinary Effort for them. Only Lestari has earned one. It is detailed below. Cult Member Feat Name Effect Lestari Body Reading The Dodge option for Hero Point use. It doubles Dodge Bonus or prevents it being lost. Lestari can do either for free, and as often as she likes. No Hero Point is granted to the attacking hero. However, she can only do this with melee attacks and natural 20s remain an automatic hit.

Holter (Aerin Grosvenor) Power Level: 9; Power Points Spent: 165/165 STR: +4 (18), DEX: +4 (18), CON: +4 (18), INT: +2 (14), WIS: +3 (16), CHA: +2 (14) Tough: +4/+5, Fort: +5, Ref: +12, Will: +7 Skills: Acrobatics 11 (+15), Bluff 8 (+10), Craft (chemical) 8 (+10), Craft (mechanical) 8 (+10), Diplomacy 8 (+10), Gather Information 8 (+10), Knowledge (physical sciences) 8 (+10), Knowledge (streetwise) 8 (+10), Knowledge (tactics) 8 (+10), Knowledge (technology) 8 (+10), Language 6 (+6), Medicine 2 (+5), Notice 12 (+15), Sense Motive 12 (+15), Stealth 11 (+15) Feats: Acrobatic Bluff, Attack Focus (melee) 3, Benefit (Chief Judge, The Cult of The Light), Defensive Roll, Dodge Focus 5, Evasion, Improved Critical 2 (Razor Sword Strikes (Strike 2)), Move-by Action, Power Attack, Precise Shot, Takedown Attack, Uncanny Dodge (Auditory) Powers: Mini Rocket Launcher (Device 4) (Easy to lose) Mini Rocket (Blast 9) (DC 24; Burst Area (45 ft. radius - General); Unreliable (5 uses); Triggered 2 (any trigger)) Omnidirectional Grapple Belt (Device 3) (Hard to lose) Omnidirectional Grapples (Linked) Speed 5 (Linked; Speed: 250 mph, 2200 ft./rnd) Super-Movement 5 (Linked; slow fall, swinging, trackless, wall-crawling 2 (full speed)) Razor Swords (Device 3) (Easy to lose) Razor Sword Strikes (Strike 2) (DC 21, Feats: Improved Critical 2 (Razor Sword Strikes (Strike 2)); Autofire (interval 2, max +5) [4 extra ranks], Penetrating [1 extra rank]; Mighty, Precise) Attack Bonus: +9 (Ranged: +9, Melee: +12, Grapple: +16) Attacks: Mini Rocket (Blast 9) (DC 24), Razor Sword Strikes (Strike 2), +12 (DC 21), Unarmed Attack, +12 (DC 19) Defense: +12 (Flat-footed: +4), Knockback: -2 Initiative: +4 Languages: Corsican, English, French Native, German, Italian, Russian, Spanish Totals: Abilities 38 + Skills 32 (126 ranks) + Feats 17 + Powers 33 + Combat 32 + Saves 13 + Drawbacks 0 = 165 Age (as of Jan 2019): 29 Height: 6’ Weight: 180 lbs. Ethnicity: Corsican Hair: Black Eyes: Gray Background: It wasn’t supposed to be like this. There was supposed to be justice. Aerin was a hero. Devoted to yhe ideals so many heroes profess. It wasn’t a lie. Truth. Justice. Protecting and serving. Helping the helpless. Defending the defenceless. He believed. He broke through the first year wall on the strength of his faith. However. The longer he worked, the more he saw it. The world did not work on justice. The systems were broken and favored those with wealth and a lack of empathy. It gnawed at him. Lies. Corruption. Cronyism. God, it gnawed at him. Making him angry. What use was one little hero against institutional forces? The rich and powerful would dodge meaningful consequences. Oh, sometimes they’d sacrifice an especially egregious scumbag, but mostly? High priced lawyers and infinite media spin from their buddies who owned the media. He got angrier. And angrier. And angrier. And then, at last, he decided. He’d held his tongue. Been a good little hero soldier. Done his part nobly and courageously. And nothing had meaningfully changed. The trouble with heroes was that they couldn’t effect systemic change while remaining true to heroic ideals. Well. There were ways, but they were slow and the rich and powerful knew very well how to counter them. It was going to take patience, unity with the people, and grinding effort. And honestly? Fuck that. It’d be so much easier just to kill the bastards. The very first thing he did was outright murder the only regular member of his fledgling Rogues’ Gallery. It as just like one of their usual confrontations, except Aerin…didn’t stop. He cut the man’s head off in a shocking display of violence. The hero had become a villain. And then The Light appeared on the supers scene. Aerin was one of the Cult’s founders. A believer in True Justice, he has been a key player from the start. In fact, he’s the only member of the first or even second generation not to be jailed thanks to Lakis Hasapis or killed by The Light. He takes it to me that he has his god’s favor. This…isn’t true. It’s more like he doesn’t have Lakis’s disfavor. The masked Holter is a renowned international terrorist (though he’d argue he’s terrorizing the right people and isn’t responsible for anyone else’s fears) and the acknowledged leader (or Chief Judge) of the Cult, but has remained elusive thanks to no one knowing his real identity. He doesn’t quite understand why The Light hasn’t killed Lakis for interfering in their holy mission, but it is not for Aerin to know his god’s reasons for doing things. Unlike most of the now gone first and second generations, he’s perfectly fine with sending criminals to prison for lengthy sentences. He’s a servant of True Justice, not a rampaging murderer. This is the reason he’s still alive. However. Those who escape mundane justice through legal trickery, corruption, or other foul methods will be slaughtered like the worthless bastards they are. Along with the legal professionals, politicians, and law enforcers who enable them though their own corruption and/or gross negligence. Powers & Tactics: Aerin has no superhuman powers. He does, however, have three devices of his own design. A movement device and two weapons. The Omnidirectional Grapple Belt uses compressed air to fire grappling hooks attached to cutting edge monowire lines. There is a grappling hook and line combo on each side of it, with a miniaturized air compressor on the back. The gyroscopes and wire reel retraction system are quite advanced, allowing him to effortlessly climb walls, stop falls, and generally swing through a given area all at racecar speeds. The controls are wired, attached to a pressure pad on the tips of each middle (for shooting a hook out) and ring (for retracting a cable) finger. His primary weapons are the Razor Swords. They’re just a pair of swords, really. Viciously sharp and capable of slicing through armor like butter, but swords. The trick behind them is that the blades are quite fragile and can easily break. Aerin is a…mediocre blacksmith and not nearly wealthy enough to inconspicuously buy quality steel, so instead the blades easily detach via a lever in the handles and he can slot in one of the dozen or so replacement blades stashed on his hips, bracketing the grappling hook launchers. His other weapon is a goddamn cut down rocket launcher. Literally. The Mini Rocket Launcher launches explosive mini rockets. He made it and the rockets himself. They’re kind of heavy, so he can only carry five at a time before resupplying at a safehouse. The neat trick with this is that they don’t always explode on impact. Sometimes he sets a condition that has to happen before it explodes. Like a certain amount of time having passed, or he pressed a button on a remote. He can get really creative with this. Tactically, he’s basically a flying swordsman in his usual urban setting. A hit and run fighter using his Omnidirectional Grapple Belt to whip through the air and slash less mobile targets to ribbons. He has Acrobatic Bluff and high Stealth to aid in getting that first big Power Attack in, and can decimate vehicles and groups of foes with a well timed or Triggered Mini Rocket. He takes great care with his Mini Rockets, however, having no desire to harm bystanders or do unnecessary property damage. He can even be found still doing hero work, just a bit more…lethally than before. And as Chief Judge of The Cult of The Light, he’s got lots of eager henchmen to help him out in a fight. He’s incapable of power stunting. Personality: Aerin is an passionate man. Consumed by righteous fury, he strikes out against the enemies of True Justice. His devotion to his god is fanatical. However, he is a well spoken and articulate fanatic, not the frothing at the mouth type. He believes deep in his bones, in the very foundation of what and who he is, that the world will be a better place without all the ruthless, corrupt, amoral bastards with no regard for the personhood of others. That he’s effectively joined their ranks in the process of removing them hasn’t occurred to him, and in many ways never could. The hero and good man he was is still clearly visible. Innocents or those who’ve made mistakes are to be protected. It’s all the more tragic he’s become what he has, honestly. Don’t bother trying to save or redeem him. It can’t be done. He’s too far gone. Kick his ass, and put him in prison. And make sure none of the Cult comes to visit, or he might get broken out. Not even exposing Lakis as The Light will sway him, as he doesn’t serve a man, but a god and his ideals.

Reina Wong Power Level: 9; Power Points Spent: 165/165 STR: +2 (14), DEX: +3 (16), CON: +2 (14), INT: +2 (14), WIS: +2 (14), CHA: +3 (16) Tough: +2/+4, Fort: +5, Ref: +12, Will: +7 Skills: Acrobatics 12 (+15), Bluff 8 (+11), Craft (mechanical) 3 (+5), Gather Information 2 (+5), Intimidate 12 (+15), Knowledge (streetwise) 8 (+10), Language 7 (+7), Medicine 3 (+5), Notice 8 (+10), Search 3 (+5), Sense Motive 8 (+10), Sleight of Hand 7 (+10), Stealth 7 (+10), Survival 8 (+10) Feats: Acrobatic Bluff, All-Out Attack, Attack Focus (ranged) 2, Attack Specialization (Dual Pistols (Device 4)), Attractive (+4), Benefit (Judge, The Cult Of The Light), Challenge - Improved Acrobatic Bluff, Challenge - Improved Startle, Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll 2, Distract (Intimidate), Dodge Focus, Equipment 6, Evasion, Improved Aim, Improved Critical 2 (Dual Pistol Shots (Blast 4)), Improved Initiative, Improved Trick, Move-by Action, Power Attack, Precise Shot 2, Quick Draw, Second Chance (Reflex saves for half effect), Second Chance (Toughness saves against Ballistic descriptor), Skill Mastery (Acrobatics, Intimidate, Notice, Survival), Startle, Takedown Attack, Uncanny Dodge (Auditory) Powers: Flash-Bang (Dazzle 4) (affects: 1 type + visual - auditory, DC 14; Burst Area (20 ft. radius - General)) Fragmentation Grenade (Blast 5) (DC 20; Burst Area (25-50 ft. radius - General); Progression, Increase Area (area x2)) Smoke Grenade (Obscure 3) (affects: visual senses, Radius: 25 ft.; Duration (continuous), Total Fade; Fades) Dual Pistols (Device 4) (Easy to lose, Only you can use) Dual Pistol Shots (Blast 4) (DC 19; Autofire (interval 2, max +5), Penetrating; Improved Range (100 ft. incr), Precise, Ricochet 2 (2 bounces)) Firearm Supremacy (Probability Control 1) (Minimum Result: 1; Limited 2 (Firearms)) Luck Control 1 (force a re-roll, Feats: Second Chance (Reflex saves for half effect), Second Chance (Toughness saves against Ballistic descriptor); Limited 2 (Attacks targeting self)) Equipment: Arsenal (Flash-Bang [Flash-Bang (Dazzle 4), affects: 1 type + visual - auditory, DC 14; Burst Area (20 ft. radius - General)], Fragmentation Grenade [Fragmentation Grenade (Blast 5), DC 20; Burst Area (25-50 ft. radius - General); Progression, Increase Area (area x2)], Masterwork Knife, Masterwork Sniper Rifle, Smoke Grenade [Smoke Grenade (Obscure 3), affects: visual senses, Radius: 25 ft.; Duration (continuous), Total Fade; Fades]), Plot Specific Equipment 10 Attack Bonus: +10 (Ranged: +12, Melee: +10, Grapple: +12) Attacks: Dual Pistol Shots (Blast 4), +14 (DC 19), Flash-Bang (Dazzle 4) (DC Fort/Ref 14), Fragmentation Grenade (Blast 5) (DC 20), Masterwork Knife, +11 (DC 18), Masterwork Sniper Rifle, +13 (DC 20), Unarmed Attack, +10 (DC 17) Defense: +12 (Flat-footed: +6), Knockback: -2 Initiative: +7 Languages: Chinese (Cantonese), English Native, French, Indonesian, Japanese, Malay, Thai, Vietnamese Totals: Abilities 28 + Skills 24 (96 ranks) + Feats 35 + Powers 19 + Combat 42 + Saves 17 + Drawbacks 0 = 165 Age (as of Jan 2019): 27 Height: 5’ 5” Weight: 130 lbs. Ethnicity: Chinese-American (tanned enough to pass for Southeast Asian to non-natives) Hair: Dark Brown Eyes: Dark Brown Background: Let’s get one thing out of the way. Reina Wong is a victim of sexual assault. Two New York City cops took advantage of the fact that she was very young, very poor, and powerless to meaningfully object or inflict consequences. It was, in many ways, the pivotal even of her life, but it will not be dwelled on here. Because it was her choices afterward that have made her who she is today. She escaped NYC, and ended up bumming around Southeast Asia. How she accomplished that much travel with so little money will not be discussed here, either. The Reina who emerged in Southeast Asia was not the timid creature she had been. She had morphed into a twin pistol packing killing machine. One of the single most dangerous unpowered mercenaries in the entire hemisphere. She had a pair of allies and a base of operations in a lawless port town. The Straits of Malacca have historically been a hotbed of piracy and various criminal activities. In the Phoenixverse, this has not changed. Much to the chagrin of the governments of Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia to name a few. Bouts of political instability have attracted mercenaries to the region, as well, and various revolutionary groups find it a good place to hide out. It is well patrolled, and criminal groups that get too large or infamous tend to get swiftly smashed. But that moderate level of lawlessness just will not go away. And so Reina and the other two made a decent living as a mercenary, independent courier, and occasional hired pirate. And then The Light appeared on the supers scene. Something about his message struck a chord within Reina. A new God of Justice, with the power to enforce his will on the world? The power to inflict the most meaningful consequence of all. Death. The more she thought about it (and the longer The Light remained uncaptured), the more she felt…inspired. Several thousand rounds of ammunition, a few dozen grenades, several rockets, and even a few rounds of artillery fire later, that lawless port town was lawless no longer. Of course, it had also suffered a drastic depopulation at the hands of Reina and the brigade of Indonesian marines mobilized in response to Reina’s ratting out everyone she could. Even her two erstwhile allies lay dead. She had faith, now. Faith in Justice. She rode off on her boat to Europe, and joined the fledgling Cult of The Light. She was a member of the third generation (the first ones to come from outside Europe, as opposed to the founding first generation and their second generation recruits), and is the last one standing from it. Everyone else has been jailed thanks to Lakis Hasapis or killed by The Light. She does wonder why Lakis is still alive, but has chalked it up to a connection between the two. Powers & Tactics: Reina has no superhuman powers. What she has is a rare talent for gunfighting, both hitting and dodging incoming attacks. Her Dual Pistols are really just two standard Heavy Pistols. They’re loaded with armor piercing ammunition she makes herself. It’s her sheer skill and talent that turns them into the equivalent a submachine gun that can also bounce shots around a pair of corners and still kill a man. She carries flash bangs, frag grenades, smoke grenades, and a sniper rifle when prepped for field work. She always has the Dual Pistols and her Masterwork Knife. Tactically…it depends how the Cult is playing this particular kill. The message they’re trying to send, in addition to the level of protection the target has. Sometimes one sniper’s bullet (with Improved Aim to improve hitting chances) is a better choice than a storm of gunfire. Barring that, Reina really only has one gimmick. Shooting lots and lots of bullets at her enemy until they’re dead. The grenades are there to facilitate this, or escape if the situation has truly gone sideways. She is careful to not physically harm civilians, but not so careful about property damage. She has Improved Acrobatic Bluff and Improved Startle to strip out Dodge Bonus, and Power Attack to take advantage of it. She’s not the type to fun from a stiff fight, but she’s also not an idiot. Badly outnumbered is badly outnumbered, and outclassed by a superpowered foe is outclassed by a superpowered foe. Loves to fight but not opposed to a tactical retreat. She is incapable of power stunting. Personality: Reina is, uh, not okay in the head. Emotionally disturbed, if we want to use correct terminology. Many terrible things have happened to her. She’s seen many terrible things, and done a fair few of them herself in the name of survival. Humans can get used to anything, after all. She’d decided to deal with it by being an angry, impatient, and aggressive hellbitch, but pledging herself to the new God of Justice has seen her mellow out around her fellow Cultists. Everyone else gets chilly disdain at best. Anyone who’s made themselves her active enemy (like say, a superhero thwarting her killing a target of the Cult) awakens the hellbitch. Expletives and bullets will fly. There…really isn’t any saving Reina. Maybe before she hooked up with the Cult there might have been a chance for someone to break through and reach the traumatized young woman inside. But now? She’s a fanatical Cultist, hellbent on remaking the world in her god’s image. She has faith, and the vast majority of heroes have no idea how to combat that. Even the downfall of Lakis Hasapis would change nothing. After all, one fallen man couldn’t possibly be her god. He was only a tool in the hands of The Light.

Lestari Power Level: 13; Power Points Spent: 210/210 STR: +4 (18), DEX: +7 (24), CON: +4 (18), INT: +3 (16), WIS: +7 (24), CHA: +3 (16) Tough: +4/+6, Fort: +7, Ref: +18, Will: +8 Skills: Acrobatics 13 (+20), Bluff 12 (+15), Diplomacy 7 (+10), Disguise 12 (+15), Gather Information 7 (+10), Intimidate 12 (+15), Knowledge (arcane Lore) 2 (+5), Knowledge (current events) 2 (+5), Knowledge (history) 2 (+5), Knowledge (streetwise) 12 (+15), Knowledge (tactics) 7 (+10), Language 10 (+10), Notice 8 (+15), Sense Motive 18 (+25), Stealth 8 (+15) Feats: Acrobatic Bluff, Assessment, Attack Focus (melee) 9, Attack Specialization 3 (Grapple), Blind-Fight, Challenge - Improved Acrobatic Bluff, Challenge - Improved Demoralize, Challenge - Improved Feint, Challenge - Improved Startle, Challenge - Improved Taunt, Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll 2, Dodge Focus 3, Elusive Target, Evasion 2, Grappling Finesse, Improved Critical 2 (Martial Arts (Strike 4)), Improved Defense 2, Improved Initiative 2, Improved Pin, Improved Throw, Improved Trick, Improved Trip, Power Attack, Prone Fighting, Redirect, Ritualist, Skill Mastery 2 (Acro, Bluff, Disg, Intim, KN (street), Notice, Sen Mot, Stealth), Startle, Takedown Attack 2, Taunt, Uncanny Dodge (Auditory) Powers: Luck Control 1 (force a re-roll; Limited 2 (to attacks against Lestari)) Martial Arts (Strike 4) (DC 19, Feats: Improved Critical 2 (Martial Arts (Strike 4))) Unarmed Supremacy (Probability Control 1) (Minimum Result: 1; Limited 2 (Unarmed Strikes)) Attack Bonus: +9 (Ranged: +9, Melee: +18, Grapple: +31) Attacks: Martial Arts (Strike 4), +18 (DC 19), Unarmed Attack, +18 (DC 19) Defense: +18 (Flat-footed: +8), Knockback: -3 Initiative: +15 Languages: Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), English, French, Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Javanese Native, Korean, Russian, Spanish Totals: Abilities 56 + Skills 33 (132 ranks) + Feats 49 + Powers 9 + Combat 48 + Saves 15 + Drawbacks 0 = 210 Age (as of Jan 2019): 33 Height: 5’ 8” Weight: 140 lbs. Ethnicity: Indonesian Hair: Black Eyes: Dark Brown Background: Lestari is universally regarded as the World’s Greatest Martial Artist. (She’s actually in second place and knows it, but the real World’s Greatest prefers it this way.) She was a poor girl from Jakarta’s slums. Initially small and weak, she wasn’t good at anything. This was a bad thing, as the other way to get more than the barest necessities was theft. Her older sister took care of her, however, and eventually took her out on theft runs with their crew of friends. Naturally they worked for a local small time crime lord. She remained bad at everything, though, and had terrible luck to go with it. So life was complicated at best. She did eventually find something she was good at. A traditional martial art of Indonesia. Pencak Silat. And not just good, but really good. Beat grown men senseless at 12 years old good. Her sister turned out to be pretty good too. Life was still complicated, but there was less running from the cops and more punching them out. Same with rival kid gangs. But eventually there was a job where her streak of terrible luck couldn’t be allowed. So she was left behind. It broke her heart to be left behind. The job was a trap. A rival small time crime lord had a grudge against theirs, and was making his move to kill them all. Lestari overheard some people talking about it and came running. As usual, her timing was abysmal. A carefully negotiated statemate was broken by her impulsive fist, the scene descended into a general melee, and then the guns came out. There was some old gasoline stored at the location. Several dozen gunshots and melee strikes later, the old gas exploded, destroying the building. There were three survivors. The rival crime lord, who needed a hospital and Lestari and her sister, who did not. They had a verbal blowout, reducing Lestari to tears. Her sister walked just out of sight to cool off, and promptly got jumped by a mob of responding cops. Lestari was suddenly alone in the world. It was emotionally devastating in a way that words fail to describe. She wasn’t just orphaned, she was apparently abandoned. So she turned to the only thing that she had ever been good at. The martial arts. She needed to eat, and pay for minimally acceptable accommodations. Underground tournaments. Being a hired fist. Her skills improved through experience and training until she was the uncrowned best at Pencak Silat in all of Jakarta. She was a legal adult now. She could go wherever she wanted, and she had the spare cash to do it. There was just one problem. Her sister had just been released from prison. Pencak Silat is not a martial art known for its restraint. It’s violent and nasty, aiming to put the opponent down, period. And the strength of a child pales before than or a teenager or adult, to say nothing of the skill difference. So before she was even of legal age, Lestari had blood on her hands. And it apparently didn’t bother her at all. Reuniting with her sister turned out to be a very complicated endeavor. To make a very long and very bloody story short, they became superhero and archnemesis. Lestari was the villain to her sister’s hero, but in some ways it was like the days of their childhood. Traveling around learning various martial arts and fighting over Lestari’s illegal activities. It could not, of course, last. After one final confrontation, her sister simply gave up on her. She’d been doing her best to shield her from other professional superheroes, to get Lestari to stop before things got completely out of hand. But Lestari wouldn’t stop, and her sister walked away. It was now open season on Lestari. This was a terrible thing. For the superheroes. And law enforcement. And, occasionally, military forces. Traveling and training. Traveling and training. Everyone thought she had powers. She did not. Assassin. Bodyguard. Trainer. She had many jobs, and left a legion of broken bodies in her wake. Some would heal. Others were only fit for burial. She climbed the ranks and became number three of the list of world’s greatest assassins. Directly behind Bladesman and Dewstar, a duo so infamous targets who knew one of them was coming occasionally committed suicide as there was no point in trying to avoid them. There are rumors that she bore a daughter when she was still quite young, yet there has been no sign of the child since. The only ones who know the rumors are true are Lestari and her sister. In a vanishingly rare defenseless moment, Lestari gave the girl up for adoption. The girl would be entering her teen years as of 2019. She isn’t exactly a full member of The Cult of The Light. They’re not fool enough to trust a living jinx and casual murderer with details of the inner workings. She is, however, their primary fist. She removes people that The Cult deems an obstacle to their success. Please note that these decisions have precious little to do with the actual desires of The Light himself, as Lakis Hasapis purposefully has as little to do with the organization he inspired, no matter how hard they try to supports his efforts. And yet…Lestari’s deadly limbs function just as well as his ThanaNote. She’s only still alive because she abandoned her last name years ago and it is thus unknown and because she’s useful in this way. She remains the only person directly connected to The Cult to have actually met Lakis (disguised and under a throwaway alias). They remain in periodic contact. Powers & Tactics: Lestari has no superhuman powers of any kind. She has no special devices. No incredible feats of borderline superhuman training to call on. She doesn’t even use Chi. She is simply one of the finest martial artists to ever draw breath on the face of the world. Pencak Silat (an Indonesian martial art) was her base, and she’s the finest practitioner since the age of mythology. Her traveling has seen her train under and surpass a legion of teachers in various Wushu styles, Wing Chun, Taekwondo, Taekkyon (Taekwondo’s predecessor and source), Karate, Jujutsu, Judo, Aikido, Muay Thai, Kalaripayattu (an Indian striking and grappling martial art), Kick Boxing, and Boxing. She is beyond a prodigy, capable of outclassing entire dojos of expert fighters with minimal effort. Her reflexes, timing, and technique are beyond superb. Her striking power makes observers think she’s superhuman, crushing organs and shattering bones. She’s a master of the kind not seen in centuries. It’s genuinely incredible how talented she is. Regarding her status as a living jinx, this isn’t a power of any kind. There is nothing supernatural about it. A startling array of coincidences and poor decisions by others leads her to make the worst possible decisions for said others and their plans because she lacks necessary information. As such, she almost always does the exact wrong thing at the exact wrong time, and the situation snowballs in hellish fashion. Everything goes wrong, blood is spilled, people go to prison, but she walks away relatively unscathed though her own skills. A living, breathing jinx, yes. But an entirely mundane one. Tactically, well. There’s not a lot to work with as far as versatility. She’s as pure an unarmed fighter as it gets. With that said, she won’t even bother fighting anyone with less than a +12 melee attack bonus. Those who have attempted to force the issue have rapidly found themselves needing emergency medical attention. Or burial. She has Assessment and a godly Sense Motive bonus to figure this out with. Said bonus also renders her effectively immune to feints of all varieties. Speaking of feints, she has all three ways to render her opponents flat-footed, and at Improved level. She’s also a very skilled grappler. Improved Trick and Redirect can be very amusing, as crowds of would be do gooders beat each other up. What she isn’t is stupid. She knows she’s only human, and uses her skills at Stealth and Disguise to disappear at need. She does enjoy a good fight, but generally she’s there to do the job she’s been hired to do, and disappear when it is either completed or no longer possible to complete. Be it killing one person, protecting another’s life, supervising martial arts lessons among the criminal element, etcetera. She has been known to use weapons, but they’re temporary Equipment grade, used to give herself a handicap for her own amusement. Strike 1 to 3 with the Mighty power feat. If it’s a blade, it also has Improved Crit 1. Personality: Lestari has an absolute serenity about her. She’s always outwardly calm, but in the deeply disturbing way. She speaks softly, and only raises her voice to be audible over surrounding noise. Such outward placidity is genuinely unnerving at times. In regular situations she’s unnerving enough, but she’s exactly the same when beating someone to death, on the run from law enforcement, or dodging a hail of gunfire. It’s like nothing matters to her, which is demonstrably untrue. Nobody trains as hard as she does in as many martial arts as she does without caring deeply about at least improving one’s skills. She has been known to smile gently in the middle of particularly ferocious action or in combat with an foe she has deemed worthy. And the cold, dead eyes of her displeasure are feared among those who have seen them and lived. The truth, known only to her? She broke. Way, way back when she was a child. Guilt, grief, and despair at being abandoned by the only person in the world who meant anything to her triggered a unique combination of schizophrenia and derealization disorder that’s only deepened and gotten stronger with the passage of years. She sees herself as someone portraying the villain protagonist of a martial arts movie/television series. As such, the world around her (and the people in it) are fictional. They can’t be killed for real, removed from the ongoing narrative. And as a villain, she must be a good foil to the heroes who guest star. If they’re genuinely interesting, she’ll leave them alive so they can become “recurring cast”. She doesn’t discuss it in such terms, obvious, as she’s “in character”. Obviously, she isn’t playing the role 24/7. Martial arts movies and TV don’t dwell on people sleeping, eating, using the toilet, etc. Such mundane activities are done more or less on autopilot, leaning harder of the dissociative side of her mental illness than the schizophrenic. Because Lestari isn’t allowed to be real anymore. Lestari isn’t really someone heroes can save. At least, not within the average campaign’s timeframe. She’d require a lifetime of medication, therapy, and monitoring. And that is assuming she could even be convinced or made to realize she had a problem in the first place. It’s much more likely that the ol’ “beat up and then imprison” approach is the one most heroes would take. Specifically because it’s very unlikely they’d realize she was anything other than a sociopathic murderer and even if they did some heroes will be like “cool motive, still murder”. The wild card in all of this is her daughter. She hasn’t seen the girl in over a decade, but she loves her dearly. That tiny girl Lestari remembers is the only person in the world who is not fictional, and thus may be the only person in the world who may be able to reach the wounded little girl tired of being a nasib sial.

OWN (Operatives Without Names) Overview Daisuke Uehara is slowly dying. And he’s just one man. Without allies, there was little chance of successfully acquiring and then completing orders long term. As this was all he had to do, this was troubling. Fortunately, Nagesh Malik had a solution for the young man. And so Operatives Without Names was formed. Daisuke was and is keenly aware that Nagesh is a treacherous piece of shit using OWN for his own ends, but mostly doesn’t care. Aiden Killian was the first major recruit, and other ones followed. It’s not a particularly large organization, in fact being quite small as to remain limber and mobile. They’re hired to do basically ninja stuff. Spying, theft, sabotage, kidnapping, and the odd assassination. They don’t just do with against civilians, as well. They’re available for hire even against most superheroes. In fact, Daisuke has the most hero kills of anyone in the League of Seven or their associates. Granted, these were all rookies or journeyman heroes with under five years experience. Five Year Vets tend to have acquired their own rather…possessive set of enemies. But any day now, someone’s going to decide on expedient rather than personal vengeance and put Daisuke or one of the others up against a real veteran hero. They’ll probably even win and kill the hero. The consequences of that, well…heroes of that stature have made a few to several allies in the community. There’ll be fireworks for sure. Tactics Stealth. Lots of stealth. Not necessarily a lot of subtlety, but lots of stealth. Their primary work is as spies, thieves, and saboteurs. That, and the organization’s small size means they only send a few operatives at most on jobs. A priority is placed on escaping to try again another day over causing unnecessary havoc and drawing attention. So any knock down drag out battles happen far away from prying eyes. Unless the opposing heroes are absolutely insistent on having their big flashy battle in the middle of a crowded major metropolitan area for some reason, and use powers/tech/magic to force this to happen. Minion archetypes include Assassin, Ninja, and Swat Officer. Please note these are very likely not their backgrounds, with the natural exception of the Assassin. Additionally, in the Phoenixverse those who have reached PL 12 have earned a special free Benefit feat that slightly alters the rules on Extra and/or Extraordinary Effort for them. Normally, no one in this group would qualify, however Nagesh has qualified in the past and so retains the option to have one. OWN Member Feat Name Effect Nagesh Malik Snake Father Through Extra Effort, Nagesh may summon his previous level of power for three rounds. Increase STR and CON by 6 each, Base ATK & DEF by 3, and boost all powers in Poison Magic by 3 ranks. He may use Extraordinary Effort to do this a second time in a single scene. He may not do it a third.

Shanyuan Baoli Power Level: 10; Power Points Spent: 180/180 STR: +2 (14), DEX: +3 (16), CON: +2 (14), INT: +2 (14), WIS: +2 (14), CHA: +3 (16) Tough: +12, Fort: +8, Ref: +8, Will: +8 Skills: Acrobatics 7 (+10), Intimidate 12 (+15), Knowledge (arcane Lore) 3 (+5), Knowledge (earth sciences) 3 (+5), Knowledge (theology & philosophy) 3 (+5), Language 5 (+5), Notice 8 (+10), Sense Motive 8 (+10), Stealth 7 (+10) Feats: Accurate Attack, Improved Critical 2 (Sand Dehydration (Blast 10)), Improved Critical 2 (Sand Trap (Snare 10)), Improved Critical 2 (Sandblasting (Blast 10)), Power Attack, Startle, Uncanny Dodge (Auditory) Powers: Desertproof (Linked) Immunity 2 (Linked; environmental condition: Cold, environmental condition: Heat) Immunity 6 (Linked; custom: Sand Effects 5, starvation & thirst; Limited - Half Effect) Sand Armor (Protection 10) (+10 Toughness; Impervious; Subtle (subtle)) Sand Demon Powers (Array 16) (default power: move object) Infernal Sand Control (Move Object 10) (Default; Strength: 50, Carry: 4.3 tons / 8.5 tons / 12.8 tons / 25.6 tons, DC 25; Damaging, Range (perception); Custom (Medium (sand)); Indirect 2 (any point, directed away)) Sand Dehydration (Blast 10) (Array; DC 25, Feats: Improved Critical 2 (Sand Dehydration (Blast 10)); Alternate Save (Fortitude)) Sand Objects (Create Object 10) (Array; Max Size: 10x 25' cubes, DC 20; Impervious, Range (perception); Feedback; Progression, Object Size 2) Sand Trap (Snare 10) (Array; DC 20, Feats: Improved Critical 2 (Sand Trap (Snare 10)); Regenerating) Sandblasting (Blast 10) (Array; DC 25, Feats: Improved Critical 2 (Sandblasting (Blast 10)); Autofire (interval 2, max +5)) Sandstorm Level 2 (Strike 10) (Array; DC 25; Burst Area (50-250 ft. radius - General), Duration (concentration); Progression, Increase Area 2 (area x5)) Sand Platform (Flight 5) (Speed: 250 mph, 2200 ft./rnd; Platform; Subtle (subtle)) Sandstorm Level 1 (Obscure 6) (affects: visual senses, Radius: 250 ft.; Selective Attack; Range (touch)) Attack Bonus: +10 (Ranged: +10, Melee: +10, Grapple: +12) Attacks: Infernal Sand Control (Move Object 10) (DC 25), Sand Dehydration (Blast 10), +10 (DC Fort 25), Sand Trap (Snare 10), +10 (DC Ref/Staged 20), Sandblasting (Blast 10), +10 (DC 25), Sandstorm Level 2 (Strike 10) (DC 25), Unarmed Attack, +10 (DC 17) Defense: +8 (Flat-footed: +4), Knockback: -11 Initiative: +3 Languages: Chinese (Mandarin) Native, English, Hindi, Korean, Russian, Uyghur Totals: Abilities 28 + Skills 14 (56 ranks) + Feats 4 + Powers 81 + Combat 36 + Saves 17 + Drawbacks 0 = 180 Age (as of Jan 2019): 18 Height: 5’ 5” Weight: 145 lbs. Ethnicity: ½ Uyghur, ½ Han Chinese Hair: Black w/ dark red undertones Eyes: Light brown Background: Shanyuan Baoli (Baoli Shanyuan in the Chinese ordering) has a very familiar tale. A small village of heroic martial artists and magicians. A horrible attack by a supernatural being. Terrible casualties, and the being could only be sealed inside a newborn baby. In this case, the village was on the edge of the Gobi Desert in China. And the supernatural being was a sand demon. Another difference is that the attack was provoked, and the sealing the plan the entire time. The Chinese government, since the Communist takeover, has taken a very dim view of any superhuman powers or skills in or adjacent to its territory that it did not control. Ditto cultures different from Han Chinese. Observe the treatment of Tibet. The Uyghurs of this small villiage had done several divinations. They knew their turn would come. They needed a weapon against the Glorious Radiant Heroes (or whatever name they would be using at that time) and Chinese military. So they made one. Unfortunately, they adhered firmly to the other part of the story. They treated young Baoli terribly. He was not to be a person, with his own will and desires. The only purpose of his existence was to murder the shit out of anyone who came to take away the village’s sovereignty. Outside of that he was nothing more than a monster and a demon to be feared and hated. Humans don’t work like that. They need people. There was one woman who was better. She fed Baoli. She clothed him. She sheltered him. She trained him in the use of his infernal powers. He loved her dearly. She was pretending the entire time. He found out when she tried to murder him as his graduation from training. He absolutely fucking snapped. Less than an hour later, the entire village was buried in sand and everyone was apparently dead. A literally hellish sandstorm had destroyed everything. Baoli continued living in that area, and massacred a detachment of Chinese infantry sent to find out what the hell had just happened out there. This drew the attention of Nagesh Malik, who brought Daisuke Uehara and Aiden Killian along. The first two massacred a second detachment and their superpowered associate, while Aiden connected with Shanyuan. Both Daisuke and Nagesh knew it had to be a genuine connection to recruit the boy. Daisuke wasn’t capable of the connection part. Nagesh wasn’t capable of the genuine part. But Aiden needed a buddy to keep him grounded. Now he had one. In the three years since, Baoli has earned a terrifying and murderous reputation. The other members of OWN might show something that appears to be mercy. You know, if you squint and tilt your head sideways. They’re killers, sure, but sometimes it’s just more expedient to leave people alive. But everyone who’s pitted their self at Baoli has needed a closed casket funeral. At this rate, he’s rapidly ascending Vincent Mortelini’s list of people to kill soon. However. What Baoli thought he did and what he actually did are two different things. Two thirds of his village’s people survived being buried in sand, and simply moved their village underground. A lesson was learned. If you treat someone like a monster for long enough, they lose any reason not to act like one. Powers & Tactics: Baoli is is possessed by a sand demon. He can spontaneously generate and control vast quantities of sand direct from Hell. He is just about desertproof, as the heat of day and chill of night have no effect while he has much less need for food and water than a unpowered human. Armor made of sand coats his skin, masquerading as said skin. It can tank artillery fire with no problem. He can ride a flying platform made of sand at highway speeds, and manifest a sandstorm approximately a tenth of a mile in diameter that blocks out vision for anyone he wants. It is this last one that hints at his attacking powers, as he can make this sandstorm turn steel-shreddingly violent. He can emit rapid fire steel shredding sand blasts, restrain targets with semi solid sand, put up sand objects as durable as his own armor, rip the water out of bodies with excessively dry sand, and his personal favorite move/grapple/crush things with sand. Here’s your sand coffin. Crunch. The sand fades away after a while. Tacticallly, that is Baoli’s go-to move, and very effective. Sandstorm Level 1 is excellent cover, grab with Infernal Sand Control, crush with Damaging extra until dead, move on to next target. Of course, that doesn’t always work and thus the other array settings come out. Not every target needs to see. Not every target can be held by Infernal Sand Control. Which is what Sandblasting, Sand Trap, and Sand Dehydration are for. Sandstorm Level 2 is how he buried his village. He hasn’t used it in a populated area. Yet. Sand Objects is for the rare occasion when killing anyone is automatic mission failure. Walls to block access, constructs to trap people, defensive barriers for his allies, you know how this works. Since his Toughness and Impervious is so high, failing a Toughness save despite rolling reasonably well (10 or better) excites him. Worthy opponents are a relatively rare occurrence. He never power stunts, despite knowing what that is and being capable of doing it. Personality: Baoli is…complicated. Outside he’s an emotionless killing machine, as that’s what he was meant to be, right? Inside, though…he’s a vulnerable young man. Angry, grieving, guilt ridden, and confused about who he even is really. He’s a big fuckin’ ball of teenage angst. He doesn’t want to be the emotionless killing machine. He doesn’t want to be this wicked, evil person. But no other options have been presented, and he sure as hell can’t think of any. Honestly, what else is a demon possessed person supposed to be, other than horribly evil? And so he keeps on going. The emotionless killing machine. A murderer, burdened with sin. Angsty and conflicted. The heroes can’t save or redeem Baoli on their own. They’re just more targets throwing themselves at his sand to be killed. The most likely outcome is either the heroes pounding him down and imprisoning him, or Vincent Mortelini dropping a goddamn building on him and crushing him to death. However. If the heroes have saved Nayan and dismantled the Blackgate Pirates, the duplicating martial artist is the one person on the planet who both understands what Baoli is going through and can reach past that emotionless exterior. They’ll also have to seek out his home village and prove most of them are still alive, navigating the treacherous waters of internal Chinese politics in the process. It’ll be a hard road, but with the help of Nayan and Baoli’s village, the angsty young man can be turned to the side of good.

Since Queenie's using both Force Field and Flight, is that one Concentration check or two?

Aidan Killian Power Level: 10; Power Points Spent: 210/210 STR: +10 (20/30), DEX: +5 (20), CON: +5 (20), INT: +5 (20), WIS: +2 (14), CHA: +0 (10) Tough: +5/+10, Fort: +10, Ref: +10, Will: +7 Skills: Acrobatics 10 (+15), Bluff 10 (+10), Intimidate 10 (+10), Language 4 (+4), Notice 8 (+10), Sense Motive 8 (+10), Stealth 10 (+15) Feats: Accurate Attack, Acrobatic Bluff, All-Out Attack, Defensive Attack, Evasion, Improved Initiative 5, Jack-of-All-Trades, Move-by Action, Power Attack, Skill Mastery (Acrobatics, Notice, Sense Motive, Stealth), Takedown Attack, Uncanny Dodge (Auditory) Powers: Cyber-Electrics (Array 15) (default power: blast) Cybernetic Might (Linked) Autofire on Strength ((Strength Bonus) Strike 10) (Linked; Autofire (interval 2, max +5)) Enhanced Strength 10 (Linked; +10 STR) Super-Strength 5 (Linked; +25 STR carry capacity, heavy load: 25.6 tons; +5 STR to some checks) Electro Blitz (Blast 10) (Default; DC 25; Autofire (interval 2, max +5)) Electro Burst (Blast 10) (Array; DC 25; Burst Area (50 ft. radius - General)) Electrocution (Blast 10) (Array; DC 25; Duration (concentration)) Shock Blast (Paralyze 10) (Array; DC 20; Alternate Save (Fortitude), Range (ranged)) Taser Blast (Stun 10) (Array; DC 20; Range (ranged)) Cybernetics (Container, Passive 10) Enhanced Trait 5 (Feats: Improved Initiative 5) Immunity 10 (common descriptor: Electrical) Protection 5 (+5 Toughness; Impervious [5 extra ranks]) Quickness 10 (Perform routine tasks at 2500x speed) Speed 10 (Speed: 10000 mph, 88000 ft./rnd) Attack Bonus: +10 (Ranged: +10, Melee: +10, Grapple: +20/+25) Attacks: Electro Blitz (Blast 10), +10 (DC 25), Electro Burst (Blast 10) (DC 25), Electrocution (Blast 10), +10 (DC 25), Shock Blast (Paralyze 10), +10 (DC Fort/Staged 20), Taser Blast (Stun 10), +10 (DC Fort/Staged 20), Unarmed Attack, +10 (DC 25) Defense: +10 (Flat-footed: +5), Knockback: -10 Initiative: +25 Languages: Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), English Native, Irish, Spanish Totals: Abilities 44 + Skills 15 (60 ranks) + Feats 11 + Powers 85 + Combat 40 + Saves 15 + Drawbacks 0 = 210 Age (as of Jan 2019): 18 Height: 6’ Weight: 180 lbs. (165 lb appearance) Ethnicity: Irish Hair: Dark Brown (White when using powers) Eyes: Electric Blue Background: Aidan Killian is the youngest member of the reclusive Clan Killian, the premier Irish assassin family. Please note that this is assassin. Not hitman, not bomber, not even serial killer. Assassin. A certain level of skill and professionalism is expected, and Clan Killian has always delivered. Their training methods were brutal and cruel. But you know what? Aiden didn’t mind that. The various literal torture methods used to weaken his pain response? Having to fist fight his father or older siblings at the drop of a hat? The psychological brainwashing sessions to break and reshape his mind? The incredibly invasive surgical procedures to implant his cybernetic and biological implants? Nah, they were fine. Every family has their traditions and weird practices. They wanted him to be the best ever at the family business. They cared enough to give him the very best in training and technology. Fair enough. No, what bothered 12 year old Aiden was that he wasn’t allowed to decide a bloody thing for himself. His entire life was under his family’s complete control. And really, fuck off with that. He escaped and stared bumming around the world. Of course, his family wanted him back pronto, But finding a kid who can run at hypersonic speed and has three continents to disappear in…well. Needle, meet haystack. It took them three months. Daisuke Uehara was in the market for a new ally, and liked what he’d heard about the Irish preteen. As much as the “ninja ideal” could like anything, anyway. More importantly, Nagesh Malik (who had just snaked his way into Daisuke’s confidence) thought he was pretty rad. So Daisuke killed the man attempting to kidnap or murder (it wasn’t clear and honestly it didn’t matter) Aidan in Prague, and offered the young boy a job. They’ve been together ever since. The Killian family is still trying to recoup the expensive tech in his body. Whether their preference is for him to continue using it or…you know…have someone else use it varies depending on who’s giving the orders. You’d think they’d back off after a certain point, but nope. It’s weird. It’s like he’s getting a heavy training session at least once a month. Even after he’s gotten away from them, they still find a way to control part of his life. Bloody goddamn aggravating. So he’s killed the last few rather brutally, lately, and his family is about to declare him outcast. That’d mean I’d be open season on him for all the other assassins and killers bearing a grudge against the Killians. Meh, fuck ‘em anyway. He gave ‘em 12 years of obedience. If they can toss him out so easily, they were never really family to begin with. But you know, at least he’s got his best mate Baoli. He’s a bit nuts, but he’s loyal and he gets Aidan’s frustrations with his family. Powers & Tactics: Aidan is in an interesting position. He’s a metahuman augmented with cybernetics and biological implants. His metahuman power is enhanced electricity generation. Unfortunately, without any way to emit said electricity. And prior to his enhancements, it was quite weak and undetectable. It was after his full suite of implants came online that it kicked into high gear. His implants were designed to work with a battery system or an outside generator. He requires neither. In fact, he’s outproducing the design specs. The bio-implants mutated and the bleeding edge cybernetics adapted to the superior energy source. Now he has subdermal armor to make him bulletproof even to vehicle mounted guns. Enough strength to juggle several of said vehicles. Hypersonic speed. And enough sheer electrical output to power an entire neightborhood. Or burn one down. He can emit this electricity in a variety of ways. The multi hit combo of Electro Blitz. The area devastation of Electro Burst. Shock Blast stuns the nervous system, rendering the opponent unable to move. Taser Blast will just KO them outright. But it’s Electrocution that’s particularly nasty. It isn’t a single blast, but Aidan directly connecting his target to the flow of energy from inside him. It’s very well named, and generally he won’t stop until his target’s flesh starts to noticeably carbonize. Only the very unlucky are in any way still alive at that point. Naturally, he’s immune to the harmful effects of electricity entirely. Tactically, he’s deceptively simple. All he can really do is punch or blast. And what he picks is highly situational. As is whether or not he simply runs away. At Mach 13. He’s even got all four cap shifting feats to muddy things further. Shock Blast is extremely dangerous, and he knows it. It’s probably he favorite opener. Electrocution is primarily a finisher. Everything else gets tossed in as needed. Like Move By Action. Don’t forget he’s an incredible grappler, and that he’s very far from an idiot. He’s not going to take on a full squad of heroes by himself. That’s stupid. He’s a courier and an assassin, not some mindless thug. He doesn’t know what a power stunt is, unfortunately. Personality: Aidan is startlingly normal. A cheerful, extrovert young man who enjoys the company of others. You can find the type just about anywhere in Ireland. Then he kills a man, and absolutely nothing changes about him. Like it didn’t matter at all. Because to him, it didn’t. His training has rendered the lives of strangers and acquaintances entirely without meaning to him. Even friends and family can be killed without hesitation, if not without regret. And his genial good mood never quite fully reaches his eyes. They’re always somewhat cold and dead, representing the cold and dead place instead where his humanity would normally be. That was “trained” out of him before his age needed a second digit. Honestly, he’s not a bad guy really. You know, if you can ignore the ability and willingness to casually kill. As such, there is absolutely no saving or redeeming Aidan under normal circumstances. Kick his ass, deactivate his tech, and throw him in the slammer forever. Now if the heroes want to take the time out of their busy heroic lives to deprogram, disarm, and defuse the formerly-a-tyke bomb, they can have at it. It’s not impossible, just a lot of work over a lot of time.