Zeitgeist Blue

Right. That's Bruised + Injured for The Dreamer. And the dude's lying. They don't have any intention of throwing Blackstaff out. Quite the opposite actually. They're probably thinking of throwing The Dreamer overboard. And sure, write in the IC The Dreamer using Move Action on the P.T. boat and what're you gonna do with it.

Everyone roll a Toughness Save vs DC15. For some fairness and sense of suspense, let's say without your protection bonuses. Alaynah - 11. Bruised, Injured. Zach - 17 Mixnus - 19 Nixnus - 17 Advay - 13. Bruised. Injured. @Kaede Kimura, roll a Bluff or Sense Motive against DC13.

GM @Spacefurry "Yeahhh. About that," Alaynah say, rolling the words in her mouth. She looks at you in the dark and you see she isn't in a joking mood. "She's not here to avail of our services but to take Advay away. "To justice", she said, wherever that is." She snuffs out another cigarette, obviously stressed. "But I stay true to my clients whatever the cause and she's not taking Advay. I managed to keep her from doing it so far but she's going to guess that we've been stalling and take him anyway." She quirks an eyebrow up at him. "And the reason why we haven't done anything to get rid of her is because she's got this demon bound to her or something. Nasty thing." She shudders involuntarily. "I say, with your help we could all gang up on her and throw her overboard before making off quick. I've heard of you around, so maybe I think we have chance." She waves a hand. "She's a summoner of beings and things. Speaking of which, she gave us of gold, diamonds, and cash like it was nothing. You can have your share when this job's over. Think of it as a bonus for the extra work." "So what do you say?" *** Once you're done speaking, she opens her mouth to reply but she gets two words out before the radar on the dashboard starts beeping. A dot from port clicks closer to the P.T. boar every second. There's no mistaking that it has the Red Summer as their target. She looks at the radar screen, her eyes wide as if not comprehending. "What the-- This ship's proofed for mundane tech and eyes. "Get your seatbelt on!" Alaynah guns the boat's engines and with a roar the boat surges forward. You're pressed to your seat from the burst of speed. Soon enough, you gain distance from the click until it vanishes off the side of the radar screen. The Captain relaxes behind the wheel. "Looks like we lost them. Was a little bit too easy if you as-- &*@%!" Out of thin air a Coast Guard cutter appears at the fore of the boat. It presents its sides to you and you see the crew waiting for you. Your boat swerves hard to the right, the hulls of both boats screeching from the near hit but it looks like you're about to make a clean getaway. Then another cutter appears ahead and you slam on its side. You're thrown against the dashboard. Though the impact is hard, it wasn't a full-speed collision. Alaynah had to slow to turn from the first cutter. "SS Red Summer!" A hail from one of the ships rings as Alaynah pushes her face from the steering wheel, a thin trail of blood from her nose. She wipes it away. "You seem in a hurry, so don't mind us. We'll just be searching your boat quick! So long as you don't have anything to hide that is." *** @Kaede Kimura Zach exhales at your words, then shakes his head. "I think the time for talking's done. We've got to get him out once he comes back. Alaynah'll gather the crew with some excuse, then together we can knock him over the head and throw him overboard with a lifejacket. We'll be gone before he even wakes up." He sighs, leaning back on the chair. "I'll wait here when he gets back. It's now or never." Several seconds pass in silence, before his head cocks to the side. "You hear that?" He stands on the deck and steps starboard, peering at the darkening horizon. Even in your seat you see a Coast Guard cutter in the distance, quickly gaining on you. Zach starts as the other boat's intention becomes clear. "Are they... gunning to us? How-- what--" Your boat's engines roar before he could finish his thoughts and he is thrown sidewards as the Red Summer lurches forward. You too fall on your side as the table and chairs clatter to the floor from the sudden speed. Zach pushes his body from the floor to watch the cutter quickly fade in the distance. "Huh," he says aloud, turning to you. His glasses are askew but he picks himself up and walks over to you to give you a hand. "That wasn't so bad. Odd but--" The both of you are thrown violently sideways as your boat swerves suddenly, and before you could settle, the boat crashes and the both of you and your table and chairs are thrown forward. Uncontrolled, your shins slam against the railing as Zach slams his shoulder against the door. Before you can get up, a loudspeaker's shrill tone rings through the air. "SS Red Summer! You seem in a hurry, so don't mind us. We'll just be searching your boat quick! So long as you don't have anything to hide that is."

Salvo The wards broke. The outer door rose and Salvo stepped inside to witness a scene of carnage and massacre. Her head snapped to Sea Devil as the Deep One speared a decapitated head with her trident. Then Salvo's looked down once more. Her eyes narrowed, though she felt no fear or disgust. What she felt was an increase in paranoia, her armor's sensors spiking in response to the unknown danger. "There is something here," she said, stepping over the bodies and body parts to go deeper into the temple. "Though whether it'd be a temple guardian or the Thule Society's ritual gone awry, I can't tell." She pointed at an arm with the patch of the Thule Society half-soaked in blood. "Idiots. They clearly don't know the forces they're messing with or this wouldn't have happened. I don't know if I would have preferred actual competent practitioners over this, but the ultimate mission remains the same. We stop the ritual and keep a eye out for anyone or thing who wants to harm us." She stood farther down the temple than the others, looking straight ahead as she sent radar pulses down the ancient corridors and chambers. If she could pick out anyone left alive, they might get more information of their adversaries.

Salvo Salvo stepped up beside Ouroboros as the vampire laid a hand wreathed in shadow on the gate. Wisps of shadow curled from the hand and Salvo mimicked the action, laying an armoured gauntlet on the wall. "I really really hate other-dimensional magic. There's no telling what will happen," she said as purple electricity began to spark from her gauntlet. She threw a thumb back at the unconsious Thule wizard. "But if they can get in, then it's possible." The gauntlet electricity grew more frenzied as more information was drawn into Salvo's systems. She could see the primal magic from the temple take shape, data and information to be decoded. Then she found the shadowy Void, its tendrils snaking through the wards of the gate in ways both effective yet increasingly complex, so much so that she could barely match the pace. Yet she was familiar with Ouroboros' magic and she slotted her own magic to compliment the Void filling through the Wards. Her brows furrowed in concentration at the challenge she and Ouroboros faced. It was slow but steady, and she realized that she was lagging behind, slowing their progress. Soon the gate-wards would have halted them completely and perhaps even reverse some of their efforts. This wouldn't do. "Justice!" She called gesturing at the hero. She reached out with her hand. "I need more power. Your amulet has it."

GM @Kaede Kimura "Getting comfy now, the both of you?" Up from the stairway came Zach, the Hawaiian-wearing wizard. His glasses shimmered against the golden nightlight from the twin cities as he approached your table. "The Boss said to call for you. Said she wanted to discuss business," he says, throwing a thumb back towards the stairway. "She's at the helm. It's the door right ahead when you go down. You can't miss it." He watches impassive as Blackstaff leaves and descends, disappearing into the lower deck. Then he turns to you and takes Blackstaff's seat without your prompting. He looks at you from above the rim of his glasses. "Have you found a way to get him to leave us alone?" He leans forward, his voice barely heard above the waves and the engine of the boat. "We're nearing our jump-off point and we don't want him tracking us down or want to dump him in the middle of the Atlantic. It's now or never when he gets back." *** @Spacefurry The boat is as small and utilitarian as you'd imagine a repurposed Vietnam-era boat to be below decks. A narrow and short corridor with heavy metal doors set on either side of the corridor. Zach's instructions were simple enough and you move to the third door right ahead. "P-p-please! Please be careful with that!" The professor's voice is muffled behind thick steel as you pass the door to your left. Then you cross the corridor and the voice fades. The wheel on the door turns with a screech of metal on metal sound. The door opens and you see Alaynah reclining on her Captain's seat, one hand on the steering wheel. She turns as the door opens and recognizes you. "Hey," she says as she turns back to the her driving. She stubs out a cigarette on an ash tray half-full of cigarettes, then gestures to the co-pilot's seat. "Take a seat, you've been on the deck for a while. How was your chat with our other stowaway? I doubt it was enlightening. She's tight-lipped that one, wouldn't let anything identifiable slip."

Ditto with Salvo able to use an Aid action to unlock it or blast it to pieces with magic.

Salvo will take a roll of 10 with Skill Mastery. Notice: 20 Super-Senses 11 (Mental [Magic] Awareness [+3]; Awareness [Enhancement: Accurate (+2), Acute (+1), Analytical (+1), Extended [10,000 ft] (+3), Radius (+1), Ranged (+1)]) {11/11}

Salvo Salvo pointedly ignored Ouroboros, instead turning to Justice. "The realms are littered with ritual magics and arcane symbolism, ready to be used. Our world stands always at the precipice and if it were not for the guardians and masters of the myriad disciplines it would have fallen many times over." "Guardian." Salvo looks to Ouroboros. "Master." She looks at Aquaria. "Every second we delay is a second the curse runs free. Lead the way or I will." Then she looks up to the Temple of the Devourer. She has cleansed fear from her heart, and only determination sits within her thoughts. Her armor whirrs its approval and the anticipation. There were enemies to deal with and danger to oppose. And though she was out of her element, things were truly simple if you boiled down to it. Shoot at anything that stands in their way, and don't stop.

Salvo: 7 posts + 4 GM posts = 11 posts = 1PP Tail of Gold (7) GM: 2 posts = 4 GM posts (to Salvo) Fate of the Serpent (2)

Salvo Nicole held up her hand at Justice in the universal sign for 'Wait' as the air sliced open, forming a multitude of colors in the starry void. She walked to a dark area of the dilapidated building for some privacy, the phone still to her ear. "I ain't the one who repeated highscool for nine years," Nicole shot back. Then she ended the call and pocketed the phone. The portal was here and she needed to suit up. Salvo stepped out of the room with Justice, fully armored and armed, just as the portal completed its transformation and revealed both Ouroboros and an armored frog on the other side. Salvo recognized the Star Knight armor from the Deep One she had met at a gathering a year ago. She knew the name of Aquaria, the one who had established the ritual shielding for that gathering, though Aquaria would probably not be able to connect Nicole and Salvo together. She was not wearing Bellios to the party afterall. "My batteries burn eternal in the forges of war." Salvo said as she strode past Huang to the lip of the blood-waterfall, blood-red water splashing from her sabatons, and looked down at the bottomless edge. "This is the Temple of Vhoka," she told Justice. "Built above the boundless Sea of the Devourer, in the void of the Dreamlands, and passable through the twisting paths in the Cosmic Coil. Take care lest the madness of the Deep grip you for all your days, short as they will be." She turned to face her companions, nodding at Aquaria as a greeting. "The Sea Devil among the Surfacers. Your reputation precedes you. You may call me Salvo." She stepped beside Huang. "This is Junior."

@RocketLord "Hallow's Eve! You hear me!" Nicole screamed on her throw-away phone, her voice high and shrill enough to hurt even through the phone line. "It's always Haloween when something happens! Why don't you think I never went treat-or-treating or drowned in pumpkin-flavored alcohol, huh?" Set up on mind's eye were several screens, all showing various news channels and cities around the world. Scenes of chaos played out across all of them as werewolves ran free and wild. "Cause there're jackasses out there who see skeletpn costumes and go, 'Gee guess I'll summon an undead horde' like some unimaginative. Low-budget. B-Movie. Hack!" Swept up in her rant, she slashed her hand across the screens and senr them tumbling from the desk in a crash of breaking glass and plastic. A stream of expletives issued, heard from Robin's end of the line. Then she heard Nicole's voice again but as if she was speaking on another phone. "No, Comrade. I haven't pinpointed where in the Coil the energy is coming from. Why don't you ask someone who doesn't hate this?" "Sorry, sorry," Nicole's picked up the phone with Robin on it as she checked her fifth empty cup of coffee and tossed it in the bin. She needed stronger, caffeine just wasn't working anymore. "The Freedom League and Aux is clueless as if they don't have all the money in the world." Nicole's voice visibly calmed down as she talked to her sometimes-part-time student in the magical arts. "I'll tell you about that time I slapped Baal tonight last year after this but it's just like that but bigger and across the world. Portals everywhere but leading to the Cosmic Coil. I've got all my units and rituals working overtime and contacts across cities and I'm not picking anything useful!" "Waitaminute." Nicole's glasses glinted as she dove for a tablet on the floor, its screen cracked. She was clearly suffering from palpatations, pupils dilated, heavy eyebags, and hair done in a messy ponytail but she recognized the data for what it was. She twitched. "I'm... a genius." She crowed in victory and dove for another pile of phones, picking her real one among the throw-aways and dialed a number. @angrydurf The call rang through dimensions to reach Huang. "Hey Junior! Where's your mom? Or you'll do fine cause I need an Uber to the..." She leered at the screen. "Vhoka, stat!"

Count Salvo for Number 3 if you need more!

Right, IC post is up. You guys don't get much on the rolls, which is reflected in the post. The Dreamer failed so she is unaware and Blackstaff barely succeeded so all he has going for him is a gut feeling.

GM "Oh it's done more than enough. Me and my crew are set for life. One night and we've hit the payload thanks to you," Alaynah says, giving you a wide grin. "We might just go our separate ways after this, play golf or I don't know with the nieces." She pockets her cigarette pack and strides back down to where Mixnus and Nixnus were unloading the gold bars, then she turns on her heels to face you again, a last comment ready on her lips. "But if you are in need of the best smugglers this side of the Albian River, and you continue to pay even half as well as you do now, consider us eager to be in your employ whether it is to catch murderers or save orphanages." "Alaynah," she says as she leads the way into the deck of her PT Boat, the engine ready and purring softly inside the sewer. Then she points at her crew saying their names as she goes through each one. "You can call the horrid Hawaiian fashion, Zach. And that's Mixnus and Nixnus." The gargoyles unfortunately look indistinguishable from each other. Then Alaynah points at The Dreamer. "And you can introduce yourself." Brief introductions finished, she goes right back to work, gesturing at the gargoyles and instructing them to lead Professor Advay into the guest room and help him unpack. They do so without complaint, taking Advay's boxes two in a pile before plodding to the entrance of the lower deck. With a quick nod and thank you at you, Advay scurries after the two gargoyles, and the trio soon disappears below deck. After a few seconds, Zach, wearing the Hawaiian-shirt, stamps out his own cigarette and follows them down. "You've got your own designated cot," Alaynah says to you as soon as Zach is gone. "We'll let you know when it's ready." Then she too moves to enter the PT Boat, but she stops at the doorway and turns to look at both you and The Dreamer. "Just so you know, it'll take a day to get from here to our site in Toronto if we want to make sure to throw any tails. Zach says there's an anti-tracking device on Advay, had to use Christopher here to track them, but you can never be too sure." She looks at the both of you then nods, descending to the lower deck. "Give us a few minutes and we'll be out of Emerald." *** The PT Boat's engines kick off with a metallic roar that propels it forward in the sewer. It isn't long until you see the evening sky at the end of the sewer. The lights in the twin cities of Emerald City, Washington and Emerald City, Oregon greet you as you exit the sewer and enter the Albian River. They glow softly and golden, under a dark sky devoid of stars. But the moon hangs above the city, a lone and silver crescent. Though you see boats and ships of all kinds in the distance, none are so close that you can make out the people on them. The roar of the PT Boat cutting through the water, the boat vibrating under your feet, and the splash of the waves fill your ears. Standing on the main deck, sea-salt greets your face and nostrils, and only one other person observes the things you see now. For the Dreamer, it is Christopher Daye of Blackstaff Investigation, someone who protects the murderer Advay for his own reasons. For Christopher, it is an armored woman on a clockwork pony, one with Alaynah's crew. Yet for the paranatural investigator, something seems off, like a detail he had missed waiting for him to uncover it and unravel a scene.

FYI, do your IC posts first. Just imagine you haven't roll against Bluffs yet. Hahaha.

The Dreamer, 2HP Blackstaff, 4HP @Kaede Kimura, roll me a Bluff or Sense Motive against DC25. Attractive doesn't apply. @Spacefurry, roll me a Sense Motive vs. DC20. Will put up results with my next IC post.

OOC for the IC. https://www.freedomplaybypost.com/topic/13063-fate-of-the-serpent/

The Undercity, Emerald City, Washington Sunday, May 17, 2020 07:38:21PM @Kaede Kimura The Red Summer's resident magic specialist smokes a cigarette as he watches Mixnus and Nixnus lug the bars of gold from the deck of the PT boat down to its cabin. Blonde, sporting an obnoxious Hawaiian shirt, and eyes half-hidden by the rim of his glasses and the darkness there is no mistaking the naked greed and slightly slack-jawed awe as he intently follows the gargoyle twins carry their newly gained wealth. It had been nearly half an hour of continuous back and forth trips from the gargoyles, and only a small pile of gold bars lies in neat stacks on the sewer floor, when Alaynah goes up to you. She smacks her pack of cigarettes and offers one up to you. "Gotta tell you, should have asked for more." She chuckles slightly then shakes her head, obviously in a good mood. "Tell me, you can create all this wealth so why're you here chasing after a murderer knee-high in sewer water?" *** A few more minutes pass before Zach, holding a hand-held radio, waves at Alaynah. "Boss, the package's coming." Alaynah nods at the comment and turns to you, her one good eye hard, all business now. "We'll keep this simple. We all get on my ship and when we're in the middle of the river, nowhere for him to run to, and then you take him and leave. Then me and my crew gets out of dodge, never to show our faces in this city again." She motions for the gargoyles to finish their work with a "Hurry up." "Oh, and I almost forgot," she turns back to you. She raises two fingers. "There's another one coming with Advay, some P.I. in-the-know and packing magic. Goes by the name of Christopher Daye of Blackstaff Investigations. He's yours to handle and, uh, your pet if it comes to that." *** @Spacefurry At long last your trip is nearing an end. You can see the metaphorical and literal light at the end of the tunnel as you guide Advay down the sewers, the professor's boxes of personal belongings and research bobbing up and down as they trail the both of you in the air. "I-is that it?" Advay asks as your flashlight gleams against a PT boat's hull. "I must say, I can't wait to finally sleep somewhere that isn't a cramped, dusty cave always with one eye open. It takes a lot out of a person, you know." Your flashlight quickly beams over the whole of the PT boat and its light is joined by several other flashlights from the crew of the boat. A dark-haired woman with an eyepatch, who looks to be the leader, walks forward to meet you. A bespectacled man in an obnoxious Hawaiian shirt watches from the deck, smoking a cigarette. Then two gargoyles emerge from the boat's cabin, matching and glowing runes on their foreheads. They move to a a couple of gold bricks lying on the sewer floor and haul it back into the PT cabin. Lastly, a woman in armor atop a clockwork pony made of bronze and brass. "Cristopher Dayes?" The woman with the eyepatch greets you with a smile and an offered cigarette. "Advay Upal? Welcome to The Red Summer . We're your ticket out of here." She gestures at her PT Boat. "None of us want to be inside a sewer for longer than we have to. So get on board."

Salvo: 0 posts + 6 GM posts = 6 posts = 1PP GM: 3 posts = 6 GM posts (to Salvo) Fate of the Serpent (2) Hunt for the Serpent (1)

GM Alaynah looked at you skeptically. "I was expecting you to bargain," she says. Then she shrugs. "But if you're okay with anything, then fine. I'll think of my payment when we get there." The Carnifex disappears but your creatures swarm out of the open, and Alaynah's hand goes back to her weapon as she watches a multitude of your dreams arrive. Her companions stiffen at the sudden influx too, but they do not engage. Instead, they pick up their luggages warily. Alaynah steps forward and gives you a nod, before she moves carefully around your griffin and the rest of your dreams. The two gargoyles follow, pulling their hoods up to cover their faces. "Come on then, whoever you are." She waves you over then begins to retrace her steps through the dark alleyways. Her flashlight turns on, sending a beam of light through the dark. After a few minutes of silence, she looks up at you, sitting in your griffin. "I never asked how you would be able to pay me. Form isn't a problem so what are you? A mage? You transmute lead to gold or rocks to cash? Or do you have a hoard of treasure like a dragon, which you can pull out of at a whim?" *** Whatever your answer, Alaynah seems to accept it better than most people would. She is someone who dabbles in weirdness after all, as she quickly points out. It takes a half hour of walking through the twisted maze of alleyways and derelict buildings, but finally Alaynah leads you towards what looks to be a broken gap in the wall, bricks and concrete surrounding it. Inside, a large sewer greets you, large enough to fit you and your griffin multiple times over. Water fills the bottom of the sewer, though it looks as clean as water could be in an abandoned ruin of a place. Two walkways hang above the water as if it was designed with navigation of the sewers in mind. Alaynah looks at you then points to the water and shrugs. "Your griffin can't fit the walkways so you'll have to take a dip. Don't worry, no one's toilets lead down here anymore though plenty of water from above drips through, especially when it rains hard. And some of the Undercity locals might use it when they need to go, but it's not so bad if you don't think about it." *** From there it is another several minutes down the sewer until you find yourselves walking down a straight path. Then Alaynah's flashlight catches a hint of gray steel. Then the light moves over painted words, The Red Summer. Alaynah bangs her fist against the side of her PT boat. "Hey Zach! Get up here will you?" Then she turns to you and hands a slip of paper to you. It reads 100 million dollars in 100 dollar bills. 250 gold bars. Four luggage bags of colorless diamonds. "How fast can you churn that out?"

Salvo "Just the coffee. Thanks." Nicole took the offered coffee and began to sip from it, still warm in her hands, as she listened to Justice talk about her experiences. Nicole had to admit she didn't know who or what Justice talked about, though they seemed plausible enough. The Emerald Cities were big and even accounting for only the magical population native to the cities, that was still a whole lot of people and stories. Nicole looked down at the amulet held in her hand, then up at Justice. She gestured at the other hero, the amulet tracing purple light in the air as her hand moved. "It depends on what you want. It's your amulet, your tears and sweat. To be a practitioner of the occult requires a different way of understanding the world, one which most would be hard-pressed to do, especially women committed to the pursuit of science." She glances at the pieces of armor scattered around the room, obviously Justice's handiwork. "And I guess you can call it that, a magical underworld scene. But in a way, we're already used to the secrets and the isolation as self-acknowledged superheroes could be. You do things and see places and meet beings very few people even dream about. Extraordinary doesn't come close to what we do, if only it wasn't paid for with equivalent struggle. What's one more?"

GM Alaynah eyes you wearily, though she still stands on edge from the Carnifex as her brief looks at your dream monster every few seconds testify. "How much compensation are you talking about here?" she says. Beside her, the gargoyles move just the tiniest bit to glance at her. She continues slowly, ignoring them. "Because it will take a lot to compensate for the loss of my reputation because word will get out one way or another. It'd need to be enough for me to move to another city or even country so I continue making my living. I'd need to set up shop, to regain contacts and start with small contracts before the locals start trusting me for the really big things." She quirks an eyebrow up at you. "Is that payment you are willing to make? Because if so then I can lead you to him myself. He's waiting for me in my PT boat right now, ready to be transported away from the Emerald Cities for good. Once I get my payment and you do what I need to do then I'll leave the Northwest for good." She nods as if convincing herself of her plan. "Just one more thing." More confident now, she points at the Carnifex. "Get your pet out of my sight."

The Dreamer, 1HP Alaynah's Diplomacy: 1d20+3 = 23. Nat 20.

Could you roll The Dreamer's Diplomacy for the last post?