Avenger Assembled

It was around that time that Moira's cellphone rang, the familiar caller ID number belonging to her friend Stephanie. The voice on the other end, though, belonged to Jack. "Hey, Moira? Do you have a car to take Stephanie home? She's a little thrashed still from last night, and I don't want to just stick her in a cab."

Hi all. Would there be any interest (down the road) in a group of interlinked characters who are all members of a government-backed superteam operating out of Freedom City? You get lots of free publicity, free money, and free equipment if you don't mind obeying the orders of Uncle Sam. Inspirations come from _The Order_, _Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters_, and the like.

Huh, prolly should have used Skill Mastery there. Ah well, makes things more interesting. I need Notice checks from everybody, please. And a Sense Motive check from you, Scarab ol' buddy. :D

Avenger's mind was distinctly odd as it slid against Scarab's mental fingers, his thought-grains like black volcanic sand against the plain Nile silt of others. When his thoughts come back, there is something strange as well. "Scarab. Yes. Aware of his presence. Ducts in basement level. Vault door sealed. Can you enter this level?"

Oh! I'll also take 20 on Gather Information on Scarab and Slamdance, naturally. :)

That's Intimidating with Skill Mastery (but as a move action) for a total of 17. And that's an unarmed attack, all right!

Inside the mask, Jack didn't like the look of that blade at all. He'd certainly seen magical weapons used against vampires in his time, and if that weapon's runes were the sort he thought they might be...well, even an injury could at the very least give the game away. All the blood in the air wasn't helping him think, either. Thinking about the young woman upstairs engaged in combat with the man with the big sword, he concluded he had to bring this to a finish fast. "Fool." He was all blackness in the dark, eyes gleaming with predatory rage as he approached the mercenary. "No blade hurts me. No magic hurts me. But I know pain. I share it with you!" He followed with a snap kick a moment later, driving his boot into the man's face.

The Scarab's scan revealed a building far more crowded than it looked, a place practically overrun with activity of one sort or another. There were at least two individuals down in the basement vault; one shadowy creature of pure darkness that vanished inside the floor of the most secure vault the moment Scarab's psychic "eye" passed overhead, leaving behind traces just barely discernible through the material of the floor. Its still there, and it hasn't gone far. In a corridor outside the vault, there was another figure moving quickly through the darkness below, a half-familiar outline that ironically got all the more familiar when the figure vanished from Scarab's psychic eye entirely. Scarab had met some people who can do that particular trick, but only one recently. Outside, an innocent-seeming fellow was just coming in the main door, where Jos Terhune has managed to get inside the front foyer of the library. It's closed this late, naturally, but the University doesn't lock out its students out late at night in cold weather. The inner doors are locked, the foyer, information desk, and shelves inside just visible in the gloom. There's a glassed-over display board showing various library events, some of them canceled after the break-in, and a security phone for calling campus security. Where Scarab and Jos Terhune had enjoyed good fortune, Dark Star and Avenger were both running into difficulties. Dark Star's evasion in the floor got him away from that visual regard he'd just been conscious of, but unfortunately his investigation in the darkened vault has run into some difficulties. His normal vision wouldn't get him very far inside the vault, as the staff and police in leaving had turned off all the lights that night. As for Avenger, his sudden leap into the ducts overhead had neatly avoided the Scarab's searching eye (and won't he feel dumb when he realizes who that is?) but his hasty maneuver left him with a very wrong idea about who his enemy was. Whoever had been watching him was obviously right there in the vault!

Point taken, and edit successfully...edited.

Suffice it to say that dreams of gold-plated blood packets will be dancing in Avenger's head tonight. Taking 20 on the Knowledge checks requires access to a library. You cannot Take 20 on Gather Information. According to the description of the Contacts feat, I can take 20 on Gather Information in 20 minutes. As for the Knowledge checks, I submit that beating up low-level members of the supernatural underworld counts as visiting one's local supernatural/streetwise library. :D

Ah, but the GM is supposed to be more protective of Device swords than Equipment swords. After all, it was a bigger PP investment. So it's got Toughness +11, can be used if he happens to upgrade his strength even further, etc. As for power-stunting, things like a low-level Deflect to knock policemen's bullets out of the air, channeling his necromantic energies to provide a rank of Affects Insubstantial, that sort of thing. :D

'Hokay, D-A, we just need B's arrival.

Okay, that's taking 20 on Knowledge: Arcane Lore: 22 Knowledge: Streetwise: 26 and Gather Information: 26

Avenger spent a busy, dangerous night on the streets of Freedom as he dug up all the information he could on "Danielle Lynn." He asked a 'sensitive' on Ditko Street named Maria who occasionally sold her blood to vampires (and was thus bribeable) to analyze the hairs collected from the murdering demoness as best she could, then had her do all she could to track that very demon with various low-level rituals. From there he hit the streets, shaking down and bribing informants, finding out the places in Freedom where demons congregated, looking for spots where a serial murderer with supernatural abilities would present herself. At the end of the night the bundle of cash he'd gotten from Scarab was considerably smaller and his knuckles considerably bloodier, but he certainly felt much more productive. As dawn rose, Avenger crept into the library by the expedient measure of going in through the window. Down in the newspaper archives in the basement, taking advantage of a nearby laptop terminal, Avenger delved deeply into the city's supernatural underworld, hunting for the places where a demon on the loose might go.

Changes made. And his sword is a device for durability/power-stunting purposes. It may be "just a sword" but it's a verra nice one. :D

Okay, great!

While we're waiting for the others: Scarab, you recall distinctly that there were some pretty dangerous components to Fletcher's collection: Schlasbringer's poison gun, the knife that killed Schwarzpanzer and empowered Nacht-Krieger, the ashes of Varney Orloff, and many other things that would certainly be very bad if they fell into the wrong hands. [Alexander used to have to remind Fletcher that he himself was _not_ immortal, and that he had a wife and kid to look after. But it was always hard to convince the first Bowman of that.] If someone was looking to rob Fletcher of something valuable, they'd probably have broken into one of his other vaults around the city. This seems to have been an effort to steal one dangerous item (or items) in particular.

Aight, I'll just wait for Belphegor's arrival to be posted and then I'll post what it is Scarab sees and such. Also, Dark Star, you can go ahead and react to what you see in the vault. In the meantime, everybody make that Notice check, along with a Stealth check if you're actively trying not to be observed as you go about your business. Avenger's Notice Avenger can tell someone is looking at him. Avenger's Stealth A tie! Since Avenger's +17 Stealth modifier is higher than Scarab's +15 Wisdom modifier, Avenger wins.

All Avenger knows is that he's going to buy a ride-then pimp it! EDIT: naturally, Avenger is disappearing via Skill Mastery and Hide in Plain Sight. He simply leaves, disappearing at the end of the conversation.

Sounds good to me, StB. You're welcome to make a history roll to remember exactly what _was_ in Fletcher's collection beyond the generalized stuff I said in the PM. (You do remember that Fletch Jr. drank up the old man's expensive liquors and he never replaced them. It was a terrible tragedy. )

"Stay out of my head," Avenger replied levelly, the ten thousand dollars an almost shocking green against the shiny black armored leather gloves wrapped tightly around his hands. "You might not like what you find. I'll call you," he added a moment later, slipping the money into his pocket. "Suggest we rendezvous in 24 hours. Status report. Be seeing you." And with that he was gone, disappearing into the darkness around him with the alacrity and stealth of a ghost.

Okay, I've expanded on his background some.

Hey all, just checking in. In 24 hours from this post, I'm going to close the thread to new PCs. If you want in on the larger plot this is part of, don't worry. There will be several threads before the climax comes in.

Avenger snorted as he took the hairs, neatly bagging them before slipping them away inside his costume. "Contacts everywhere. 'Swhat I do." He looked up with a nod as Slamdance came downstairs with the computer. "Good work. Better all get out and do our job. Scarab, Slamdance," he adds a moment later, "Professional. Competent. Surprised me. I'll remember."

Hmm. I'll keep an eye out; if it looks like a situation Avenger might be there/respond to, I'll post. If not, don't worry about a thing. :D