Ari

@Thevshi @Dr Archeville @Zeitgeist Blue @Heritage @Azuth65 @RocketLord @Tiffany Korta Thread begun: Stellar School

GM July 1st, 2019, 4.51PM Lor Diplomatic Navy vessel A Grace in Steel, in orbit of Xix Yr, first planet and capital of the Lia system civilization... The meeting room was structured along clearly hierarchal lines, in contrast to the more egalitarian architecture of the Science Navy ship that had carried the Earth teens to the Lia system. The Ambassador's seat was elevated by a few significant steps, the room arcing inward from there, encompassing a torus-shaped table. Everything was birds, from the Great Galactic Bird blazing across the walls and ceiling to the bird-shaped chairs with crossed wings for backs to the furred and snuffling eagle-like creatures that appeared from nowhere to snuggle against the legs of everyone in the room. From his seat, poised as if about to take flight himself, the Ambassador spoke. "...which is why Squire B'ka will not be joining us! Hopefully your visit to Xix will be less eventful! On behalf of the Coalition Council, and the worlds it represents, welcome to the galactic community!" Ambassador Ortilac already looked angelic with his sweeping red wings, long gold hair and dazzling white formal gown; his outright glow of joy at meeting the 'Terresi' teenagers was infectious, and the previously stern and solemn Lor Navy personnel had been suppressing grins at the excitable envoy throughout his welcoming speech, which had veered spectacularly from the Ealan's dignified, practical notes into vivid speculation about the glories to be seen, the wonders created and the almost frighteningly-rosy picture of the future Ambassador Ortilac believed in. Luckily, he had very easily been dissuaded from trying to hug everyone in glee at paragraph breaks. With a wing, he indicated the armored feline at the table "Squire Kath'lana, of the Star Knights," with the other he gestured to the armored Earth woman and her strange, robotic associate "Sitara the Traveler, and Universal Field Operative 777, of our Praetorians. These good people have agreed to be present at this, the final stage of union with our newest member. For form's sake, the Li have requested we only meet them face to face on the planet surface. I promise, you won't be disappointed!" The ambassdor's ash-grey face creased as his grin returned. He leaned back in the chair, nodding to the assembled officers, dignitaries and Claremont students. "So, any questions?" "Dozens, Ambassador, but they can wait." Dr. Rakesh Chawla never smiled, but he especially didn't around people as gregarious as Ortilac. Cold and quiet, the Claremont head of Extrasolar Studies had been watching his students like a hawk's keener-eyed and more vigilant cousin, keeping the party firmly on track and where, in his mind, everyone was supposed to be. His uncanny talent for finding people just in time to spoil things hadn't endeared him to the teenagers, and even the Lor found the brooding young man hard to get along with. Rakesh glanced at the Claremont students "I am sure the young heroes have questions, however, that can't wait. Not you, Leroy," he added with a sharp look at the tattooed boy who'd started to jump up, arm raised, causing him to wilt in disappointment, "you have done enough damage for today. I will be writing to your mother about that, rest assured." Seated beside Nicole, the gravity-bending prince of Earth-2 practically sunk into his chair. "I merely wished to know where the bathroom was" he murmured in utter dejection, golden eyes fixed miserably on the table.

So, Claremont Crystal-Gazer Gauss Horrorshow Salvo Let's lean a little over to Space for filling it out: Space Star Squire Kath'Lana Traveler U.F.O. For GMPC, I'm going to pick Sun Dragon.

Claremont Academy has organized a summer school program based around projects on and vists to non-human societies. This thread is about a visit to Coalition space, the newly-joining worlds of Xix(around the nearby, undiscovered star of Lia) hosting an open celebration around their union with the interstellar alliance. The hope is that observing a peaceful transition between isolation to community will provide a safe, helpful means of understanding the galactic neighbors they might encounter later in life. At the same time, a group of spacefaring heroes have also come to the party. Some are already aligned with the Coalition, there to observe and guard the dignitaries at work finalizing the union of Lia and the galaxy. Others, however, are there following rumors that something horrible is planned, some devastating strike at the heart of the young civilization by an unknown threat. WHO: 3-6 PCs, from either Space or Claremont Academy, no PL limits. WHAT: Mingling, then reaction to a crisis, depending on reaction combat or escape closes thread(with possible follow-up). WHEN: Summer vacation, dated July 5th, 2019.

The vocal chords behind the carved-in seal thrummed something, Leroy rolling his eyes at Corinne's request but brightening up at the arrival of his co-students, and particularly at his roommate. Waving excitedly to the two new arrivals and falling in behind Davyd, the taller boy indicated Kam, light filtering redly to shape a Raven symbol, a yelling caracal face and an armored guantlet. Veronica took a moment longer, Leroy frowning and striking his mouthless chin as he considered her, head cocked to the side and beads of black blood sizzling down his neck. At last, the ruddy trio of a fedora, a car and a five-pointed star on a chain. With a sweep of his hand Leroy spun to indicate Davyd, light bending to create a vaguely-humanoid shape that changed one leg to a tentacle, another to a crab ike claw, one arm to an abstract geometric shape and the other to a second head, the original head itself of course turning into a chair. He shrugged as the light relaxed back into place, the veins on his neck jutting and eyes crisscrossed with black veins. A warning rumble sounded on the grounds outside the gym, followed by a green dragon crashing out of a portal and into the turf, a frilled monster with sleek emerald scales and skin, clawed and gouged with wings torn in several places. Spitting most of a long, whiplike tail out of their mouth, the dragon slumped next to the gym door. One giant eye glared into the room. "Hey. Got 'im. Or her, I don't actually know. Anyway, you need me to talk for you? Taking things literally? Okay, go." It was unclear how the dragon was talking, lacking an even vaguely human mouth, with no lips, flat plates for teeth and a slithering forked tongue that should have interrupted at least half of every sentence. "Hey 'shifter," the dragon nodded to Davyd "name's Dio, bound to this guy with no mouth. He'll make me put him back to normal when he remembers he needs to talk in class. Shake the earth."

GM "Awww, you're too kind, Meridian! Averting total ecological collapse isn't something just one person can do, even our metas can't do it by themselves, it will take all of us putting our heads together to get through this!" He pointed dramatically in a sweeping motion that, magnified on the big screen looming above, had it looking like he pointed right at everyone in the stands. "We all have each other, and even without amazing powers or technology we can all make a difference!" By some coincidence, he ended on Robin. "You! Frequent Flyer! Come on up here! Let's hear from the next generation!" A MarsTech employee had seemingly materialized next to the young toku fan, an impeccably-groomed young man who looked like they came Jadetown, who offered a winning smile and a clear path to the stage. "You don't mind kids, do you?" Max asked Meridian out the corner of his beaming face, joining the Munchkins in their applause of the lucky teenager.

"Nothing to give. Traditionally, children sent offworld return with something that enriches or strengthens the community. As the son of our most honored citizen, it is expected I will return with something truly magnificent." Even under the circumstances, Leroy looked happiest talking about his home. "My brothers...they returned with worlds of people who longed for freedom and better lives. Their lies to steal power condemned them, and they died for their crimes on the Stareway, but the horizon is marked and I must reach it." He frowned. "My elder sister, 'Yemi Mo', she rescued captives from the Terminus. The information has been crucial to our successes against them." Forgetting the weight of the oars, he spread his arms in frustration "But I? Nothing. All year. Held back by ignorance and worthless fear of failure that is worse than any lost battle could possibly be." He took in a breath. Their boat skimmed on, Leroy setting the oars back in the locks and sculling lightly against the lake. "Dee," he said quietly, "I am sorry. This is nothing you can affect, you have your own life. Forget it, please." He smiled again, a little ruefully "I vow I will not speak of it or anything like it again. Every day of life is a treasure. What would you like to do?"

Facs notices countless electrical 'blips' going through the substance, which is functioning a lot like daka crystals are supposed to, but on an unimaginably larger acale than anything on Earth. He figures that the whole thing is probably 'programmable', if you can just figure out a way to change the patterns of electrons. @Exaccus

@Exaccus Ex would you make me Notice and Knowledge(Physical Sciences) rolls?

"No." It was more a reaction than a response. Leroy shuddered, turning to look over the edge into the dark water. "It would be...unbecoming to return at this time," he said at last, "Lavern-father, I mean, he said as much after a talk with mother." "S-so instead I am attending the summer trip off-world, the one observing a nearby planet join the Coalition. I hear it is a 'magical' place, full of wondrous creatures, marvels of art and the strange science. I will try to get good pictures for you, Dee." He smiled, looking back at Judy, settling back into the rowing carrying them across the lake. "Dio is remaining as well. He has rituals to do in the fiery depths of Prime. Quite uninterested in any human faith, I am afraid! I should love to go traveling with you, someday. Somewhere new to both of us, somewhere neither of us expect." He twisted around, scanning the oncoming shore. They were close enough to see the pavilions and other structures housing the fair's attractions. Leroy squinted uncertainly at one distant sign "House of...oh! 'Hall of Mirrors', never heard of such a thing. Are either of you familiar with it?"

GM Nobody could deny there were grander space castles out there. Larger, perhaps, better-formed than the sprawling, ungainly mass Blackstar called home. But none was likely to be as silent. As the travelers stepped out of the Pegasus their footsteps rang from wall to wall, echoing down the corridors of transparent crystal. The pressure of Castle Starshell's synthetic atmosphere was just loose enough to be unnerving, just heavy enough to be uncomfortable. Without the breathing apparatus it would have been even worse. The problems that did face the scouts were pretty bad, of course. For a start, how would they even find their way to anything? There was no visible interface between inhabitants and the castle, everything was massive corridors going every which way, with the central heart a truly daunting distance of miles winding around silicate arms. Luckily, there didn't seem to be anyone around. At all. Anywhere.

Leroy had said nothing to Davyd, merely nodding at his answer. The reactions of the two sisters had apparently not been what he'd expected, Ashley's words in particular stopping him in his tracks. He didn't immediately follow the rest, looking at the glowtrapper intently as the other students left the greenhouse. Shortly after Corinne and the shapeshifter got to the building, he silently appeared. His mouth was gone, a smooth, blank stretch of skin in its place, some kind of angular rune carved into it, seeping black blood. Raising a hand, he gestured upwards. The light around the various stations concentrated, the color above them filtering to form their names and which areas of the body they best exercised. Leroy looked at Davyd curiously. His hand fell, the light in the room resumed its proper spread and spectrum, and an almost Egyptian pictogram of the new student formed beside Davyd, lifting weights and steadily gaining more muscle. The gravity bender pointed at the pictogram, a question mark taking shape above it.

"My elder sister encountered a world truly without powers," Leroy mused, examining the craft with great interest "it was there she was reborn as a whalesquid, in defiance of its local natural laws and her own death. Its liberation was then accomplished with no other resources. Perhaps you carry the spirit of earnest sayings in your heart, Dana?" "Regardless, our battle-maid raises a point too easily overlooked: whatever we know to be possible about that Earth may not be the whole story. After all, it was only until the arrival of the Centurion on Earth-Prime that many secret forces and facts came to light. For all we know, everyone might have powers and be keeping each other in the dark!" He laughed lightly "All jokes aside, lead on. I believe in you, Astrid, Pan. And Dio! Trace a path, to be lost without that ship would be a needless risk." Turning away from the ground which he had been addressing, Leroy joined the rest of the party when they headed up the ramp into Dana's ship.

"An admirable choice!" The taller boy had leaned against the wall as Davyd spoke, holding his chin between thumb and forefinger, nodding attentively during gaps in the exposition. "My mother hosts yearly recreations of significant moments in the Dragon's Daughter series, since she objects to some...creative decisions made by the producers and writing staff. She finds it very inspiring, and instructive to children, as the main character must frequently choose between prioritizing the emotional and physical needs of her supporting cast and defeating the latest cadre of villains in the most efficient means possible." "The advantages of having actual dragons and magic at your disposal is breathtaking. Fire that splits the skies, a world of iridescent imagination as real as the sand beneath your feet." The prince smiled fondly at something only he could see "The battle with the Lunarite colony beneath the corrupt Temple of Stars is an especial favorite, as due to an editing error the motivation for primary love interest Jack Frost to hate aliens was omitted. Everyone invents their own reasons, some very compelling and true to the character!" The boy suddenly seemed to remember something, adding to Judy "Allowances are made for a younger audience, of course. Protests by survivors of various atrocities have also led to significant revision." Leroy tapped the glass wall, visibly turning over what Davyd had said. "If that does happen, and people with powers take on creative roles, do you think assisted art will lose its value? For example, if Adam Lancaster, strong and enduring far beyond human limits, became a stuntman, would the people of this world take more human actors cheaply?"

OOC thread for this, featuring @NineOfSpades's Meridian and @RocketLord's Justice! Time to fight a robot!

May 27, 2019, 12.47PM, a lovely warm late spring day Emerald City, Oregon, waterfront, annual MarsTech Science Fair "Wow, Meridian! Amazing! If you hadn't stopped those robot ninjas, my MarsTech Olympus-class air-scrubber would be in the hands of evil! Our ozone and oxygen are safe yet again!" Max Mars, standing beaming like a happy child while surrounded by smashed bits of cyclopic glossy-black robots dressed like ancient stage hands, seemed for once even smaller than his five feet next to the towering heroine. His curly red hair, peppered with grey, had caught plenty of the debris from the magnificently-staged mock-combat, and his lovely deep-blue suit and bearded face had caught a full blast of smoke from an all-too real electrical fire, but the grin on his face wasn't damaged or dimmed in the least. The West Coast's favorite source of super-science had been urging for something like this ever since meeting Sophie Powers, and evidently it had lived up to all his dreams at once. The rest of the dock had been cleared and meticulously calculated to allow for the fight to happen without causing any real harm, while the stands stood close enough to the action to let the Emerald City munchkins feel the vicarious thrills. The platform Max and Meridian stood on was two-level, letting the real point of the show make an imposing backdrop-a monolithic black wall marked out with the red planet logo of MarsTech-keep up a presence. The Olympus was some kind of greenhouse gas-condenser, and had been busily proving its worth since its unveiling. By processes Max had been very happy to explain, but which relatively few people understood, it had been drawing carbon and other heat-trapping airborne substances from the air and converting them into other, less harmful solid forms. To hear Max talk, one could be forgiven for thinking the entire ecological crisis was solved for all time. Emerald's favorite son swept a hand to the crowd "A big hand, everybody, for Meridian, today's greatest hero!" The request wasn't necessary, since Emerald citizens weren't yet jaded enough to not be amazed by the sight of people punching robots in front of them, but it did get a standing ovation going! The only less-than-enthralled response was from the Emerald City South Girl Scouts box, in which several hundred uniformed girls busily scribbled notes onto tablets or inspected fragments of metal that blown their way, the wall of uniformed older women around them clapping politely but with veryobvious skepticism. By tradition, the Emerald City North Girl Scouts box was as far from the South's as reasonably possible, and was resolutely and coolly silent. The flying news-drones swept closer, circling to capture the moment, their human counterparts chatting with the MarsTech company reps and snapping photos. Except for the skinny, greasy woman in the grey 50's suit and 'PRESS'-carded trilby who'd been politely put behind the security line after trying to reach the stage and ask questions. She just scribbled and glared from time to time.

Leroy had spun around at Monica's touch, surprise followed by sheer joy on his already radiant face. Before he could properly reapond, they were abruptly welcomed to Ectoplasm by the small man from nowhere. Offering up his ticket with all grace, Leroy looked very excited at the right times and followed the man's indication of the 'Basilisk' with wide-eyed anticipation. Once the little man was gone, Leroy turned quickly to the rest of the party. "Monica, Sara, how wonderful! If it is no trouble, I will follow your three leads." Waiting for the other three to go in first, the dragon rider ducked inside after them. Surrounded by the arcade cabinets, synthesized music and human smells, the prince looked about with no little curiosity at the people clustered around games. They yelled, banged on things, and there was only a slim difference between the sounds of victory or defeat. "So, where is this 'Basilisk'? I assume this is not like the creature, otherwise everyone in this city would be dead." He frowned suddenly "Which reminds me: that 'Terminus Invaders', I heard this planet has suffered enormously from those parasites, why would anyone memorialize them?"

The prince shrugged "If not, Mr. Skyler will have us calculating their growth rates in a hurricane on Venus when we least expect it." He'd listened closely enough to his schoolmates, and for once didn't even seem lost in some inner tangent. "Well said, Corinne," Leroy watched Lady Liberty draw the glowtrapper to her hand, his own hand not around Judy clenching as if on its own. "There are still lives to be lived and work to be done, people need food and drink and something to make this planet bearable. It is still surprising, turning from one of the weakest creatures in the universe at home to merely on the lower end of the scale. I forget local realities too easily." He smiled at Judy "Though, really, my family is no representative sample of Earth-2. Not everyone gains cosmos-shattering powers and trains constantly to dethrone tyrants. We have our bloodshell engineers and space-shapers, whatever fits a citizen's talent and inclination..." That gave him sudden pause, and he turned curiously to the shapeshifter. "Davyd, you mentioned powered labour. What sort would you wish to provide, if there were no pressures one way or another? I have never heard of Primes taking that choice, the closest are the hyper-minds who form companies and powered mercenaries."

"True. He can be so quarrelsome at times. Besides, the earth is his mother, and fire his father, it would be cruel to break up a family." Leroy bent into another stroke, the rowboat skimming smoothly along and leaving twin whorls in its wake. By now they were far out into the lake, the water a deep blue beneath the keel and the morning air rushing around them. "But no matter, Dee, I can just draw the Earth up to us any time you like. From summit to seabed, field to forest, city to stream, whatever we desire would be at your command." He frowned, leaning back to look at Ashley, his face an upside-down mask of concern. "Though that leaves you out entire, Ashley. I rarely see you two apart, and could never bear to cause you grief. What do you want?"

"All glory is in the past, Ms. Beaumont, the deed must first be done. If he decides to care about his brother, that would be worthy of a song." If Leroy comprehended of the meaning behind Corinne's stare, he gave no more indication of it than any other time that exact same situation arose. He was possibly the one person she had met who seemed to get slower on the uptake the more you got to know them. At Davyd's words he nodded and set them out for the greenhouse, trotting down the stairs at the head of the little party. The question about his name had brought the smile back to his face and the light back to his eyes. "That I was! A long and lovely story, I will tell you about the Golden Marvel in full someday. But what Corinne says hits to the mark: this school is a starting point, and imperfect. There will be gaps that you must fill for yourself, knowledge they do not possess, experience you must have beyond its walls." He paused at the door, frowning to himself "Although, now I think of it, that is advice I do not follow. Rather hypocritical. Oh well." The walk to the greenhouse was delightful, following a winding path lined with plants sprouting or flowering from fresh soil, the air fragrant from them and the rich earth. At its end stood the glass and metal enclosure of the greenhouse proper, practically stifling inside and flourishing with vegetables, fruits and plants of every description. Some of them were in enclosures of their own, and some of those looked distinctly like they weren't in Earth soil or even native to this planet. "For example, Mr. Palahniuk, studying these might help if you ever end up on another planet and need to hide in some bushes!" Leroy indicated a bristling, dangerous-looking puce mass of sword-like thorns that all swiveled aggressively at the motion of his hand. "Without knowing its habits, you might make some crucial mistake and reveal yourself. Around every corner is a lesson, if you but look to see it."

"I was ready to call it quits half a mile back. Could hardly give up in front of you or Ashley, though, could I? But yes, I agree, give the legs a rest." Leroy gently hoisted Judy up onto his shoulders, heading towards the boats. "I feel like a dragon carrying a castle," he chuckled as they swayed along the shore, "mother says that was how New Atlantis began, in ancient days the people called up great dragons and built palaces on their backs that sailed miles in the air. Once risen, they used magic to fix them in place, casting the dragon back into the earth. She heard the story and tried it herself...and now the sky is home to the greatest city ever built." "Hey there!" A burly young man had appeared as if by magic, wearing a red polo shirt with a nametag('Aragorn'), a slight sunburn and the blackest pair of shorts Ashley or Judy had ever seen. He nodded brightly to the lines of clean, well-tended rowboats running along the nearby piers "You here for the boats? Only $15 per hour, plus five for every-" Leroy clucked his tongue irritably "Tchah, money, money everywhere! Here, this should cover it!" Aragorn suddenly found a slim but meaningful stack of 20's thrust into his hand. The other boy marched briskly past past him, plucking life vests and a set of oars that were then tossed into a likely-looking boat, followed by Judy, lifted and placed as delicately as a vase. In moments the trio were sweeping briskly across the water, sunlight dancing around them. "Would you like that, Judy? A castle in the sky?" Leroy smiled at her from the rowboat bow, leaning back and forth as he rowed "I have a dragon, after all, and you have a sky free and clear."

"Perhaps another time, Mr. Palahniuk! I should love to, but now is a bad time as indicated by reactions...about five minutes past." Leroy laughed heartily, patting Davyd on the shoulder. The weight was surprising, and this close to him the shapeshifter felt an almost oppressive, stifling air around the ever-smiling young man. "As for training...understanding and application of your gifts is the aim of this school, not merely fighting. I have yet to even see the ominously-named and much-rumored 'Doom Room', for example. If your interest is how to avoid and forstall violence, the instructors will respect your wishes, though how to throw and take a punch is still something they expect you to learn." Stepping to a window, he glanced around the line of structures opposite the dorms, when something caught his eye. "The greenhouse! Dear friend, you must see it, a thing of beauty and life in all times of the year! Ever-changing, yet all components united by a shared essence! A place of peace and silence, nigh-on as holy as any chapel." Leroy scowled "Though I cannot seem to get the knack, everything I plant dies without Dee also caring for it. Regardless, would you like a look?" "And I must give my sympathies on your father, Mr. Palahniuk, my own father has not an adventurous bone in him either. All he talks about is art and music and eugh. How he caught mother's eye remains a mystery to me. His brother, Leroy Conte, was a hero and the people of this world jailed him for it, and my father shrugs and talks about concerts and creativity." He shook his head "No wonder this world is so filled with injustice, with men like him running it!"

Sun Dragon "Welcome and goodeve!" Landing beside Selena with a *thud*, Leroy brushed himself off, looking about at the scene with a carefree grin. His coiled, coarse black hair now reached to his back, gathered by a series of gold rings into thick braids that fell down his left side and jingled softly as he moved. Drawing a ticket identical to the mistress of magnetism's from somewhere on the sparse, glossy black outfit that clung to him, he compared it for a moment to the one she held, golden eyes lighting up at the match. Replacing it where it came from, the prince of Earth-2 beamed down at his schoolmate. "How lovely! I had not expected to see you here, Serena, have you any notion what this den of dreams and horrors might contain?" His smile crooked a little, the six deep scars on his cheeks twisting shamefacedly. "Ah, disgrace upon foolishness, but I have spent the better part of today merely searching for this place. It never occurred to me to learn what is or why one might attend!" He stirred at the asphalt with a sandled foot "We were so long about it, Dio dumped me from his back rather than land. I fear I have offended him direly." The boy laughed, dismissing the matter with a wave of a hand shining with winding gilt tattoos of other, more constant dragons. "But I ramble! How are you, and what tempts you, dear classmate?"

"I would give much to see my sisters again. Even once a year, that would be enough." At some point Leroy had ducked into his own room, changing swiftly into a fresh tunic and trousers to replace the tatters and handing back Ashley's leather jacket with a grateful smile. Nestled against Judy again, the boy shone in green and gold, a black sun reaching fiery hands across an embroidered desert, conjuring emerald plants and beasts from gilt sands and stone. "Hope is hard to find this far from paradise." At the mention of siblings, his easy cheer had faded a little. "I bunk with the valiant and wise Mr. Kingdom, and our talk often turns to the evils in this world. Many are ones my elder sisters have destroyed elsewhere, but here there is no respite or salvation from them, for all the power arrayed against. On such nights the walls close tight and the very air smells of ash and slow death." As he spoke, Leroy's face grew ever more grave, and his hand held Judy's more tightly. "But such is a passing shadow!" He beamed suddenly at Davyd, golden eyes sparkling, totally relaxed. "Soon the world will be born anew, we need only overcome this hourly trial." He snapped his fingers. "Which reminds me! It bears mentioning that the floors are divided by gender, intrusions are not tolerated and strongly discouraged!"

@Tarrakhash Jesus Tarra hope you get well smoothly. On the list of bad things to break that's way up there.