Raveled

The two heroines moved down the tunnel, alert for trouble that never manifested. Instead the passage ended rather abruptly, and they were suddenly overlooking a squat stone cylinder fifty feet deep by seventy-five wide, made of the same sweating stone as the tunnel but on a more massive scale. It was an overflow basin for the city's sewage system; when a nasty storm (or a villain with water-control powers) hit the city, structures like this on kept the city's streets from flooding. It was more or less dry at the moment, and what looked like a group of street people had colonized it. There was a crudely built dais/throne at one end, where a ragged figure in a long trench coat extorted the group. Most of his speech was lost in echoes, but what phrases drifted back to the heroines was not encouraging: phrases like "cleanse the streets with fire;" "punish the unbelievers;" and "turn their obscenities upon themselves!" The street preacher wasn't the alone on the platform. Both heroines recognized the slim man in the suit as the one who had interrupted their fight earlier and had run off with Dragonfly's case. There was also a woman up there, older and unkempt but not dirty like the street people. It was hard to make out details at this distance, but she appeared to be wearing a straitjacket. Ironclad mentally bumped image magnification up her list of improvements to the suit. The ping on her comm link back to her grandfather was good at least, and she cut the exterior speaker to talk to him. "I need advice here," she said. "Recognize anybody?"

:arrow: Gain 8 ranks of Gather Information. :arrow: Add Astral Form as an AP on her Magic Array. Powers: 6 + 8 + 16 + 1 + 27 + 2 + 2 + 2 = 64 PP Comprehend 3 (Magic; Read, understand, & speak any language) [6PP] Immunity 2 (Magic; Aging, Sleep; Flaws: Limited [1/2 Effect]) [1PP] Device 2 (Spell-Wrought Longcoat; Magic; 10PP, Flaws: Hard-To-Lose) [8PP] Protection 10 (Magic) [10PP] Device 5 (Staff Foci; Magic; Easy to Lose; 25 PP) [16PP] BE: Air Control 10 (Air, magic; Feats: Alternate Power 5) [25PP] AP: Magnetic Control 10 (Magnetism, magic; 12 tons) [20PP] AP: Environmental Control 6 (Fire, magic; create intense heat & daylight, 250 ft radius)[18PP] AP: Obscure 10 (Water, magic; Visual and olfactory, 1 mile radius; Extra: Independent; Flaws: Partial) [20PP] AP: Strike 10 (Earth, magic; Feats: Affects Insubstantial 2, Accurate, Improved Defense, Knockback 3; Extras: Penetrating 3) [20PP] AP: Strike 10 (Electricity, magic; Extra: Area/Line [Targeted]) [20PP] Magic 12 (24PP Array, Feats: Alternate Power 5, Drawbacks: Power Loss 2 [when unable to speak or gesture]) [27PP] BE: Strike 10 (Magic, soul; Feats: Affects Insubstantial, Accurate, Extended Range 2 [15ft]; Extra: Alternate Save [Willl]) [24PP] AP: Emotion Control 8 (Magic; Extras: Area [General, Burst, Stationary], Independent) [24PP] AP: Nullify Magic 10 (Magic; Feats: Accurate, Selective; All magic effects) [22PP] AP: Illusion 5 (Magic; All Senses; Feat: Progression 2 [25ft radius], Slow Fade 2 [5 minutes]; Extra: Duration [sustained], Independent; Flaw: Phantasm) [24PP] AP: Telepathy 7 (Magic, Mental; Communication [Mental] + Mind Reading; 200 miles; Feats: Selective; Extras: Area [Communication]) [22PP] AP: Astral Form (Magic; 1 mile; Feats: Dimensional [Mystical dimensions], Selective, Subtle]) [23 PP] Super-Senses 2 (Magic; Detect Magic [Visual], Extras: Analytical) [2PP] Super-Senses 2 (Magic; Detect Magic [Tactile], Extras: Ranged) [2PP] Super-Senses 2 (Magic; Magical Awareness [Mental], Magical Awareness [Olfactory]) [2PP] Drawbacks: -0PP DC Block: Air Control 10 --- DC(D20+10)/Acrobatics or Strength Electric Strike 10 --- DC25/Toughness Emotion Control 8 --- DC18/Will Illusion 5 -- DC15/Will Mental Strike 10 --- DC25/Will Nullify Magic 10 -- DC20 Will Staff Strike 10 --- DC25/Toughness Telepathy 7 --- DC17/Will Abilities (24) + Combat (22) + Saving Throws (16) + Skills (22) + Feats (9) + Powers (64) - Drawbacks (0) = 157/157 Power Points Done by Sandman XI

Ironclad :arrow: Trade-Offs become -2 Def +2 Tough, -2 Att +2 Dam. :arrow: Edited her history to removed some grammatical errors. :arrow: Reworked Powers & Tactics :arrow: Add a Complication, elaborated on Secret Identity: "Life Alarms: Jessica has programmed her suit to remind her to eat and sleep on a regular basis. However, these alarms have a tendency to go off at the worst time. :arrow: Reduce Att to +3. :arrow: Edited the Knockback and Toughness lines to reflect her current build. :arrow: Gain 4 ranks of Notice. :arrow: Lose Power Attack, gain Accurate Attack :arrow: Lose the Multifuction Battlesuit for something quite a bit less complicated. Device 13 (Battlesuit; Technology; Hard to Lose; Feat: Accurate; 65 PP) [53 PP] BE: Blast 9 (Particle Beams; Feats: Ranged Disarm, Alternate Power) [20 PP] AP: Enhanced Strength 18 (Feat: Improved Grab) [19 PP] Concealment 1 (Radar) [2 PP] Feature 4 (Technology, computer; Library, communications, computers, holo-projector) [4 PP] Flight 5 (Technology, magnetic; 250 MPH; Feats: Subtle) [11 PP] Immunity 9 (Life Support) [9 PP] Protection 9 (Technology, armor) [9 PP] Super-Movement 1 (Technology, magnetic; Slow fall) [2 PP] Super-Senses 5 (Technology magnetic; Radius all vision, darkvision, communication link [with Malcolm Dawes]; Feat: Rapid 2 [Normal Vision; x100]) [7 PP] Malcom Dawes :arrow: Replace the Device with a different version. Device 4 (Comms and Sensor Rig/Technology, Satellite uplink; Easy to Lose; 20 PP) [12 pp] Super-Senses 1 (Communication [with the Ironclad II suit]/Technology, Satellite uplink; Power Feat: Subtle) [2 PP] Sensory Link 5 (Satellite uplink; Extras: Duration [sustained], Simultaneous; Feat: Subtle; Flaw: Limited [the Ironclad II suit]) [16 PP] Done by Sandman XI

Ironclad’s throat hurt and her head swam, but she got to her feet, hands balled into fists. She didn’t turn around to look at Kid Cthulhu; she just staged up to the dead man and swung at him with a hammerblow. Whether it was due to some residual double-vision or just because anger was making her uncoordinated however, her wild strike connected only with air. Perhaps in a blind reaction, the dead man struck out against the armored heroine again and she was forced back a few steps, trying to catch her equilibrium.

Ironclad ATTACK!! 1d20+7=14 And she whiffs. I'm putting it down to starved brain cells. Frank attacks! 1d20+8=24 Hits Ironclad! DC 23 Toughness Clad's Toughness! 1d20+8=22 Down by 1. *Cries* Second Bruised condition. Frank --- Bruised, minus 5 Wis Clad --- Bruised x2 KC --- Bruised

Robin noticed Nick's reaction and studied the latest arrival cautiously. There were enough wards, charged auras, and items of power in the vicinity to make her nose itch and her head ache, but apparently one of these individuals was setting off alarms. For the guy who paints his face like a skull, she thought, and wears the name of a loa of the dead. The sorceress put her half-eaten sandwich down and took her staff in hand. She took a few steps down the long table piled with finger food, until she could watch the growing gaggle of mystical types without turning her head. "If Eldrich isn't showing," she said, her tone carefully neutral, "who's emceeing this party and when are we getting started?"

Ironclad wanted to smack herself, but that wouldn't bee very heroic. Instead she waved at a command line that only she could see. "The trail's pretty good." She nodded down the tunnel and started walking, her metal boots ringing on the bare stone. After a few steps she started floating through the air, silent. The access tunnel roughly paralleled the river, headed towards the coast-line. As they neared the docks the smell of the ocean -- salt and fish, mostly -- filled the tunnel, with just a hint of raw sewage. Ironclad couldn't smell it, but the suit informed her of the air's contents just fine -- and made her very glad her suit was a closed system.

Ironclad started getting butterflies in her stomach. "Uh, no. Listen, if that creatures comes, give -- well, give just about anyone a call, really. I'm tied into the CB and police band, 911 system, and the cell network. Just make a call with the word, uh, 'hellhound' in it and I'll hear, okay? As for now I have to --" The heroine cut off as memory flooded into her. She grimaced behind her mask. "I've, uh, got some stuff to get back to." She took off without another word, heading back to where she parked -- okay, left -- the truck.

Robin hadn't made her circuit very wide, and when she felt the surge of Phantom's magics she appeared in front of Wesley quickly. She gave him a long, steady look. She didn't say anything, just stood there, leaning on her staff. She wanted to see what Wesley would say, what he would volunteer immediately.

Robin Cross prowled the first floor of the abandoned tenement, her staff shedding a cold, pale blue light. The floor had been an institutional green tile at one point, but now many of them had been broken, carted off, or worn through, showing the baseboard underneath. Junk and detritus had gathered in the corners and where the floor and walls met, and Robin was forced to avoid the larger piles in oreder to preserve her stealth. This close to her quarry, the tracking charm wouldn't work, so it came down to checking every single room personally. The sorceress moved through each room carefully, the werelight from her staff pushing back the dark. None of the ground floor rooms were occupied, but even that tripped Robin's senses. The poor didn't change much from millennia to millennia; this place was dry, warmer than outside, and there wasn't any obvious structural damage. There should've been someone on the most accessible floor, but it was deserted. The word must've gotten around that this was a bad place to stay. Robin stood at the bottom of the stairwell and looked up, fighting the urge to tap her staff on the floor. How many stories could she go up before her phobia froze her? She took a deep breath a put her foot on the first step.

The monster reeled from the mental assault, its tiny mind overtaxed and blanking out. It dropped the armored heroine with a loud CLANG, falling to its knees and clutching its head. Ironclad's neck armor expanded to its normal size and she sucked in air nosily, coughing as she tried to get to her hands and knees.

Will Save 1d20+5=8 O.O Oh-kay... Frank --- Bruised, Stunned Clad --- Bruised, choking KC --- Bruised

The dead man clutched at his head with his free hand, turning clumsily and swinging at Kid Cthulhu again. This time the armored form connected with the tentacles hero, and within her suit Ironclad felt the bruises forming on her legs.

Will save for Frank! 1d20+6=18 Oops. Attack 1d20+8=20 Well, that hits! DC 23. For Clad, too. Ironclad's Toughness 1d20+9=20 *Winces* What do you think the count is for? Oh, and: Round 4

If the dead man was affected by Kid Cthulhu's threat, he didn't show it. Instead he charged the tentacles superhero, swinging Ironclad like a flail! Fortunately for both heroes, the giant didn't connect, thundering to a stop a few feet away.

Frank CHARGE! 1d20+10=16 Round 3

Most of the green blasts flew past the giant, but even the few that impacted didn't seem to do much. The dead man raised his arm and pointed it at the hero again... But nothing happened. He brought his palm around, staring at it dumbfoundedly, wiggling his fingers like he was expecting the energy to suddenly surge up.

Frank only needs to make one Toughness save. 1d20+8=25 Hahaha. Round 2

The dead man took the mystic fire full in the chest, but it only staggered him and singed his longcoat. He didn't loosen his grip on the armored heroine's throat, but he did turn his gaze to the tentacles superhero. One long, heavy arm raised and gathered power, before launching another lightning bolt down the street. The heroine in his grasp twitched as excess energy bled into her. Beneath her mask, Jessica's face went from her normal untanned-pale to a blotchy red as blood began to pool up in her head. Her armor had its own internal air supply, but the hand around her neck was keeping that from reaching her. She cursed the idea of fully-enclosing her suit and flailed uselessly at the limb that held her, unable to bring her augmented strength to bear.

Uh, what is Frank, now? PL 8? Toughness 1d20+8=24 Frank shrugs off the evil magic! Lightning attack! 1d20+8=15 Doubt that hits KC. Round 1

Where does the Craft (Structural) come from?

I understand the whole 'time-displaced' thing, but he still dresses as a samurai from the feudal era?

"I've worked with Dead Head before," Robin offered. "Dealing the restless undead really isn't a calling for him. It's more like going around to a noisy neighbor and getting them to turn down their stereo, I think." She turned back to Nick and continued their conversation. "Yes, come to think of it, I did deal with Ogoun once. He needed a never-ending bottle of rum and I needed help with, well, a project." She brushed distractedly at the red leather of her longcoat, threaded through with silver.

Added a second version of the tecnopath container. Probably going to grab that one first, as it's less expensive.

The bedrock of Freedom City was so undermined by sewers, tunnels, caverns, and secret bases, it was a wonder the city above didn't collapse after a hard rain. The access shaft went deep into the earth, Dragonfly climbing and Ironclad floating a few rungs above her. They eventually hit bottom in an arched passageway, made of fitted stone blocks, sweating in the damp and the chill. Dragonfly's lamp showed that the tunnel continued without change for fifty feet or so -- past that, blackness. In the privacy of her helmet, Ironclad unraveled her 360 degree sensorium into a panoramic, 2-D picture. Her eyes darted over it, but there didn't appear to be any immediate threats, so she transferred her attention to the heroine standing next to her. "Which way," she whispered.