Ari

Alrighty then. Slight retcon here because for some insane reason I wrote that Marcy went outside into the world of nameless horrors, which is an awful idea on Earth, let alone here.

IC:Marceau had begun to move after the Half-Shadow, thinking to get some guarantee of their safety from the creature. The sight that had followed Jubatus's attack had stunned him into total silence. He had had not the faintest idea that anything like that would happen in the worst places. He was no stranger to cruelty, but such careless psychopathy nauseated him to his core. He staggered to the door of the bus pushing his way past Jubatus and was nearly sick. Fortunately, he saw something that took his mind nearly completely off what he had just seen: a blue sky, with a golden sun blazing in it, reflected off of the ground like in still water. He turned excitedly to tell to the others, only for the words to die in his throat. He leaped backwards, staring in shock at what he saw on the horizon. GM: Towering above the bus, head reaching up into the clouds, was a giant. A massive, needle-thin figure like a mass of black paint. It slowly shrank, stepping forward as it did, until it was 5 feet high and walking up to the opened door of the mass transit vehicle. It stopped and looked up into it, a voice as sweet as poison coming from it Pussycat, Pussycat, will you let me in? I won't pull you tail if you don't scratch my chin. Norman, for his part,just groaned wearily. The terrible series of events told him plainly that their likelihood of escaping was approaching zero, meaning he gave little heed now to the specifics of what was happening. Martin, at Jubatus's question, hurriedly ransacked his pockets, turning put dozens of odds and ends of small gizmos and pieces of larger works, including half of a temporal disturber(helpfully labelled). After over two-thirds of a minutes' frantic searching, he pulled from the depths of his left inside coat pocket a device like a large, flat spiral. Poipping the back cover off he began looking desperately around the bus, "Electricity," he explained to Jubatus, "I need a massive charge, coupled with a bit of a temporal shift, to get this thing to work. It's a Dimensional Channeler, supposed to take you back to the dimension its tracker is set to, which fortunately I set to ours last week".

Rene's offer to paint him came upon Marceau quite unawares. For what in hindsight he cringed at as an embarrassingly long time, he stared at the old painter with a stunned expression. When he found his voice, he couldn't even begin to keep the excitement out of it "<Rene, I swear upon all permissible that I shall treasure and cherish such a gift up to and including my dying moment. If you happen to have the time...>" he dug out a small piece of paper and a stubby pencil, and wrote a phone number on it. Passing it over to Rene's side of the table, he concluded "<...please call this number. Only I answer it, so you're certain to contact me that way>".

Rene's admonishment brought a flicker of the sort of disgruntlement he was probably used to into Marceau's eyes, but he shrugged off his instinctual urge to try and argue. After all, it would be both rude and wrong-headed to ignore advice so earnestly given. Glancing over the heads of the diners, he checked carefully the space between Lady Tarot's hair and a picture of a beautiful grassy hill. "<I would be glad to see your art, Rene. If I have the money I shall even buy it! If my eyes do not deceive me, that lady is none other than Lady Tarot, right-hand of the Don. I have heard that she has a skill for divination, but only from rumors that I place little stock in. What I am sure is that she has a good ear for plots against the Don. He's survived and avoided dozens of assassination attempts in the past years thanks to her. I think she may be a relative of a friend, but I am not sure>" he shrugged and sipped at his wine, savoring the wonderful taste.

"<No, no trouble with him->" Marceau frowned, obviously in careful thought "<Not yet, would be more appropriate. I live in the Fens, a rather impoverished area of this city. That Ape, as call him, is of Italian blood, I dare say, but that is the only Italian thing I know of him. He is, I think the most powerful man in organized crime in this entire city, since Augustus Roman retired in the '90's. His thugs and legbreakers often come into my part of town. For that, and his open attempts to kill the costumed champions in this city, I plan to make as much trouble for him as I can.>" He scowled for a moment, but it passed almost immediately "<But that is both a dull and unpleasant subject, so let's speak of something else. What sort of paintings do you do, Rene?>" he looked with great attention at the older man, taking a small forkfull ofcassoulet into his mouth as he did.

King of Suits Habitat for Metahumanity 1 IC post. Haute Cuisine 38 IC posts. How Do You Fight a Warded Man? 9 IC posts. Wayward Transit 2 IC post. GM Wayward Transit 9 GM posts. Extracurriculars July 2001 Vignette 1+38+9+2+4= 54 posts in July

Marceau smiled at Rene's enthusiasm "<Down with plutocracies indeed, Rene! Though,>" he added jokingly "<you'll have to sell a mountain of paintings to keep yourself well-payed when they go!>". He toasted the old man and set to work eagerly on his cassoulet. After a few bites he looked up, a sudden look of unease on his face "<By the way, did you see Don Driogana, near that table with the lilies? Don't look, please, no need to catch his eye by mistake>" he flicked his eyes in the direction the immense Don was sitting, leaning against the back of his chair as he did so.

"Well, to your first two questions, the answer are thankfully 'yes'/ To the third, Wolfgang said that the wizard had effectively sold his power to attack in exchange for gargantuan protective abilities against magical and physical threats, so no". Marceau winced slightly when Equinox asked what he could do "That's just it, actually: hardly anything. Because of my family's zodiacal lineage I can channel rays of power that seem to come from the very substance that makes up the universe, and with it I can also lift things many times my weight and size, but neither is really all that much use against this wizard from what I've been told, and they seem to be constrained somehow" he turned slightly on the bench to face her better "So, really, I'm hoping that there's some way of peacefully resolving this, as I'll not be able to fight him directly unless there's some trick to doing it I can do"

Welcome to the boards! One quick thing I should mention: Skills are counted in ranks of 4 at a time, not 5. Slight mistake where what I take to be Regeneration 9 becomes Regeneration 39, and in Skills you have 28 Ranks for 7 PPs instead of 36 for 9.

"<With will, Rene!>" came the chipper response. The starter gave Marceau ample excuse to focus on the things he should avoid mentioning, no reason to spoil the pleasant scene with his past troubles. At the mention of his home in Aude, Marceau gave a slight start, hurriedly saying "<Oh, it's not really picturesque or anything, a solid home, well-built, but boring beyond belief if you don't have any personal attachment to it. As for what I've done here? Well, I'll be blunt, Rene: I'm a janitor. I work at an office complex which houses a bunch of accounting offices and can get incredibly dirty in a staggeringly short amount of time. Takes about twenty of us working nearly constantly to keep it tidy and inline with the building code>" he laughed openly at that.

After scanning the menu for a sparse few seconds, Marceau smiled politely to the waitress and placed his order: "I'll have a La frisee and a cassoulet. On the side, I'd like a Garbure soup" he placed the menu back where it had come from. Turning to Rene, he explained "<Well, Monsieur de Saens, I came to this city two years ago, actually. I had heard that this place was perfect for honing one's skills in most areas of life, and also that the job market here was good. There wasn't much I could do back in Aude, and I had no ties keeping me there, so I left. Keep the family home kept clean and in good repair though, it's a good house, and I'd love to live there in peace when I grow older>"

Marceau, when Rene had glanced over to check if he objected to the choice of wine, indicated by a quick movement that he didn't. He didn't drink wine very much as it was, so he saw little reason to turn down a new taste. Rene's declaration of his intent to pay brought considerable relief to the younger man: while he had recently discovered a couple hundred dollars hidden behind a wall in a part of the office complex he worked at, he knew such money wouldn't last long. "<Monsieur de Saens, I have no compunction against receiving generosity, I thank you greatly for your willingness to pay. Consider me in your debt>" he said with sincerity, "<From Paris? Alas! I have not yet seen that city, though not from lack of desire, but rather from lack of time. I have heard much of its beauties, however. I agree with your readily, sir. The world has its wonders, yet the beauty of our home is like no other>" he raised his glass along with Rene's. "<To France!>"

Ah, okay, that makes it much clearer. I'll revise that then, make it Knowledge(Current Events).

Marceau relaxed into the hard wood chair when it turned out he wouldn't have to skip out next moment. He had always enjoyed being around people older than he, which on reflection probably stemmed from doing so for most of his life. Shaking his hand enthusiastically, Marceau answered cheerfully in his best French "

Truly? Is Gather Information not the way we're supposed to place the Secret ID checks? I am sorry for the blunder. Anyway, Marcy's Knowledge(History) check comes out to: 12. Huh, so I guess he doesn't recognize him.

Shaking her hand enthusiastically, Marceau shrugged, looking abashed. "In lots of places I've been, people who have secret business tended to take them to open areas, where it would appear they had nothing to hide. Thought that would work out here, too.". Seating himself down after Equinox, he looked puzzled at her mention of him being a 'practitioner' "I'm not sure I follow, miss, my abilities are-oh! I understand, astrological, still just magic, heh" he smiled to himself for a moment before looking earnestly at the witch. "Quite so, there's been a rash of petty thefts theses last few months. The reason I was referred to you was because the thieves turned out to be working for a wizard of some sort from another dimension, who calls himself 'The Contrarian', after his incredible defensive powers and his natural gift for deflecting the attacks of others. His hideout is situated in a sort of fold that keeps him hidden by seeming to be part of this universe, according to Wolfgang, the only thief who knows how to get there unaided. Seems this wizard sought out people with low magical talent and offered them power if they would help him by gathering personal effects from people so he could perform a divination spell for some reason" he leaned against the table, frowning as he carefully recalled all he had discovered about the case. "At any rate, I broke up the gang and now have been tasked with finding more evidence that can lead to a conviction for this Contrarian character. As you are known to have a great deal of expertise in the world that magicians inhabit, I was advised to contact you and get your advice on how to deal with this situation." He turned to her and added politely "What do you think best in this case, Mz.? Should I drop it and inform someone else with more power in them than I? Or is there some method I can use to fight this wizard, if it comes to it?"

A tall and very lean man came through the door shortly after the aging artist had manged to secure his seat. He wore a battered, immensely tough-looking suit of beige coveralls that looked like he had taken a baseball bat to them. He looked swiftly about the crowded restaurant, checking for an unoccupied table in the crush of bodies, and saw the one with what looked like the only unoccupied seat in the place. He set of for it nimbly, moving heron-like through the jostling lot with practiced ease. While making his way to the table, almost stopped short: Don Driogana, most powerful mob boss in the city, was sitting in the place. It took all of his self-control to not stop and stare, which was fortunate, as the lean man then saw that Lady Tarot was seated next to the massive mobster, not to mention the ill-disguised bodyguards who had arranged themselves around their employer, standing out by the surly demeanor and constant alertness. Suppressing a shudder as he moved past, the narrow youth slid neatly past a waitress carrying a tray to the Don and Tarot, and landed in the seat across from old man with the stylish beret. Smiling pleasantly at him, he offered his hand, saying "Good day to you sir, my name is Marceau Suvou. Is anyone expected at this seat? If so, I shall happily vacate it, and if not, I would be honored to make your acquaintance."

Streetwise, , 6. Darn. Using a hero point to re-roll, result: [url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3095122/, plus the 10 from using the hero point makes 19. So, success.

Marceau's eyes lit up with relief, and he jumped up quickly from the bench, hand outstretched for a handshake. "Quite so, Equinox! I said my name and description on the message, but introductions are still in order. My name is Marceau Suvou, I work as the superhero called the 'King of Suits', mostly in the Fens. Would you like to sit down? I thought the park would be inconspicuous enough, but if it's not I'll happily follow you to a better place." with his free hand Marceau began rolling his beard through the three metal rings he slipped off it. "I apologize for not sending a message through a less cluttered medium, but I don't have a computer, and I guessed you get bags of letters nowadays" he added, "So that was pretty much the only way I could think of asking for your help."

OOC for How Do You Stop a Warded Man? (IC)

The day was warm, the sky was clear, the sun shone down. In a space roughly between three trees, each one shading the table in the middle with a mass of leaves, Marceau Suvou sat slightly sideways, whistling a Balkan folk song between his teeth while his eyes watched carefully for the magical expert he had contacted and requested help from. According to Detective Wlodjyka, Equinox would be singularly helpful, bringing with her a great deal of knowledge on the various methods and disciplines of practiced magic. On the other hand, he thought to himself, She might not get that message I left on her answering machine at all. Seeing as she's publicly known, she probably gets dozens of calls a day, maybe she doesn't even bother checking her voice messages anymore? He shrugged, feeling again the odd sensation of feeling just the fabric of his clothes, without the armor that usually went with him everywhere he went. He frowned as he remembered that half of the razor-cards needed a pretty thorough cleaning after what had happened in the sewers a short while ago Eh, I'll just do it when I get back, odds are when I do I'll have a lot to think about . He drummed his fingers on the wooden table while carefully scanning the walkways, worried he'd not see her unless he kept a hawk-like watch on the paths.

What happened was beyond probably even Jubatus's expectations: the Half-Shadow exploded. Of course, he began to melt first, for a second or two, but the explosion that rocked the bus and sent wisps and melting giblets of solid shadowmatter throughout it was what everyone remembered. The singing shut off at once, and a slow, calm voice like a storm whispering, My son, my son, why have you forsaken me? Alas, there is not time to make another, nor will they now be fooled. I must intervene myself." with a miniscule shudder, the bus stopped. The shadows suddenly were torn away from the bus, and nothing obstructed the passenger's view. All was silent and still, except for the last few shadows burrowing into the inky ground. Outside was a grey land, irregular humps and hillocks stretching as far as the eye could see, with many strange stick-like things holding aloft what looked like a layer of smoke. A soft layer of some sort of downy substance covered the hills around them. The sky and sun were black. The ground was only a little lighter. Suddenly the obliterated Half-Shadow reformed out of the ground before Jubatus, only horribly changed. Before he had been a corpselike, fish-eyed monster, now he looked merely like a very pale caucasian man in his early twenties. He looked at Jubatus with eyes full of terror and relief, only for the terror to suddenly over-rule all else. He sprang at Jubatus, crying in clear, unaccented English "Please! Whoever you are, have mercy! For God's sake don't let him-!" he was gone, his last wail of anguish faded much slower than his body did, which turned to ash as he leaped, and scattered on the ground outside the bus into the half-lighted world.

After a good few seconds trying to figure if Marceau was kidding, Wlodjyka shrugged his wide shoulders and decided to accept that the oddly-dressed hero was telling the truth. However, the issue of what to do with this information still existed, and he was all aware of how hard it was to make criminal investigations into the world of the arcane. After a moment's thought, Wlodjyka realized that technically, they would have to find evidence beyond the thieves' say-so that this Contrarian' guy was even real, and that he really had set them up for the job. Turning to the be masked hero, Arnold said simply "We need more information, and significantly more evidence. I need you to go find this Contrarian guy, and get a confession out of him. We'll alert Mr. Eldritch to this, and get everything we have about this case together for the prosecution. Assuming, of course, you can get what we need." Arnold peered at the grinning mask and the cloak with the sign of hearts on it, a feeling in his gut that this guy wasn't nearly up to the task. Marceau for his part was all for it, and said so: "Detective Wlodjyka, you can rest assured that I will get this Contrarian character to confess. All I have to do is get back to his hideout and find out where he's hiding in it." the smile under the mask slipped slightly, "There is, however, one thing I'll have to do first: you know where I can get some insider info on how defensive mages operate? Would do a power of good." Arnold stroked his chin, a far-off look in his eyes. After a few seconds, he looked Marceau full in the eye and said, "You know, Mr. Suits, I just might. Let me get a phonebook out and see if they're still there." The two set off towards the toll-phone on a nearby sidewalk, Marceau relaxed as he went. The night wasn't nearly over, his job as a costumed hero was still to be done, but at least he would soon have someone to go to for help in this case. That, at any rate, was more than he had at the start of the night. TO BE CONTINUED!

June 2011 Vignette: Legend of the King of Suits. In the first third of Earth year 2525, in orbit of the star Vega. The crippled starship The Aspiration, emblazoned with the sign of the ancient Suit of Hearts, revolved slowly on its axis, scarred and blackened with wounds inflicted from within, heading inexorably towards the dwarf terrestrial planet Vegas Met, a green gem in an otherwise barren and gloomy system. the Aspiration rocked with a sudden explosion from the bridge that sent debris hurtling through the vacuum, and to the shining emerald below. Within,Captain Parnesset Anslaleh jumped nimbly through the closing blast doors, leaving the ruined bridge behind him, and his quarry before him. Parnesset, a short, powerfully-built man of thirty years and mixed Earth-Jovian heritage, had managed to get the other colonists to the escape pods when he first learned of the threat on board, leaving himself purposefully alone with the secreted monster who otherwise might have vanished on Vegas Met. Said monster was an escapee from a prison for immortal super-villains, by all accounts nearly unstoppable, and by this point in his life almost totally removed from reality. At a junction between three halls, lights flickering fitfully, the floor strewn with cast-off toys and scraps of food, and all around he could hear the monster's mutterings in its gravelly voice: "N-n-n-now is there thr-three to be stabbed! All o-o-of them strings of bubbles....blood, where's my blood?". Panesset shuddered, a feeling of icy fear clawing at his chest that he did his best to ignore. He now had to choose where he went with utter care, for if he went the wrong way the monster could sneak up on him. But what would he do if he did find the man? Fight him? Scare him? Talk him out of being crazy? He realized with a feeling like a black shroud covering his head that he had not the least idea what to do. He had disabled the ship, blown up the bridge to make sure there wasn't the least chance of accidental triggering of any of the ship's security functions(which would have only hindered him, the captain), destroyed all the weapons aboard save the ones that answered to his DNA alone, but he knew it wouldn't be enough. For the first time in his entire life, Parnesset knew he had no way of winning a battle. He fought with the idea, but the longer he stood and hearkened to the horror stumbling through the ship, just sane enough to keep from walking into space, the more fully he knew how hopeless his situation was. He thought of dashing to the pods himself. He could destroy the others easily, leave no chance for the monster to run from the vessel drifting to its doom..but no, the thing was immortal, with regeneration powers that dwarfed those of the Freedom Legion's own Caar-Bos, who could recover fully from a head-wound in under three seconds. Being burned up in entry would no more kill it than burning its fingers. With a groan, Parnesset forced himself to follow the horrible sounds coming from the hallway to his left. As he ran quietly through the dimming halls into the Living Quarters, he thought back to the tale his crippled grandmother had told him once, after he had fought off two would-be muggers who had sought to take her new hoverchair in the city of Maliktu... "There was once a man a lot like you in our family, little Parssenet" she had murmured, half-asleep. " He came from a family far removed from ours, a family of simple farmers and fishers of rivers-" she stopped, noting his puzzled expression, and calmly explained "trails of melted water, there used to be frozen water atop the mountains of Earth". Settling deeper into her chair, clicking the chair's mode from 'recliner' to massage-bed', she went on: "he didn't come because he wanted to, either. Like you, he was orphaned when he wasn't even old enough to walk. A supervillain attacked his parent's house, and though his father fought with the power of the stars on his side, the villain's plots were laid so deeply the stars faltered and could lend not their aid. His father dead, his mother Kyini fled to Africa, a terrible desert then, filled with millions of bandits. After many years of travelling through the wastes, Kyini was killed when the bandits fought against her en mass, flinging their millions against her and her son. The bandits were slaughtered to the last man, and her son awoke to the power of the stars! He served as the guardian of the ancient city of Tiumbkuattu, along with his comrades-in-arms the Circle of Freezers, who sought to still the shifting sands" Taking a sip of wine from the stand nearby, the matriarch cast her mind's eye back into he distant past, to an evening over a century ago when her grandmother had told her this story. She had a nagging feeling she had forgotten something, but plowed on regardless. "After a few years of guarding the legendary city, a place of peace and prosperity, the son, Massou, left the place when his adopters were placed in danger by his presence, defeating two-score and seventy of the supervillain's forces. He showed no fear in his battle, though it destroyed the only happiness he had had in life. He left for the land of the Balkites, in what is now Koserbvio, where he met the ones who led him to his final destiny: the House of Cards! A group of heroes gifted with the powers of the four Suits, who trained Massou, your ancient kinsman, in the usage of his stellar might. Thus empowered, Massou traveled to Freedom, where he fought with valor for many years. Now, this is where you must play close attention: one night, when Massou was walking unseen through the streets of what is now the Fens, he stumbled upon a giant metal man preparing to kill the machinist who had built it. Even Massou wasn't strong enough to beat it on his own. There was no time to call for help, however, so he dashed forward and caught the metal man's blow with his right arm, while with his left he shoved the machinist into the street, and ordered him to call for help. The help came quickly, less than a minute, but no quickly enough. It turned out that Massou had, while distracting the robot, been surrounded by the robot's fellow machines. His end came quickly" she gave a small sigh, she had always hated that part "however, because of his actions, the robots were distracted from their goal: the destruction of a gathering of junior mages. They would have been helpless before such an onslaught, and it was only narrowly that they escaped. So remember: if you choose to make a habit of helping others, you must be prepared to sacrifice your life for the ones you wish to save..." ...and then Parnesset realized the now-blatantly obvious tack he could take. An experimental device was aboard the colony ship, a machine that enveloped the ship in a field that distorted the flow of time, to the point where it ceased. The device was intended to be used in the event that a catastrophe could by no other means be avoided. On the plus side, nothing could ever harm the ship until the device's battery ran out, which would give whomever around 13000 years until the catastrophe occurred. On the negative side...everyone aboard would be frozen in time until that time, and then they would have to trust that there wouldn't be a malfunction that would turn them all to dust when the field dissipated. Still, the captain had no other option that kept his ship safe from the monster, so he steeled his resolve and, leaving the Living Quarters behind, went racing to the Engine Room, where the device and Cold Fusion generator were kept. On he ran, metal halls a slowly-deadening blur around him as he honed his senses to the task of hearing the monster's cries. The monster, however, was far away, tearing apart some child's toy from the sounds of angry shredding of cloth. He came at last to the Temporal Emancipation Node, a large spherical object as tall as he was, its only features a single button and a gauge that showed how much power was available for the field. Parnesset reached out his hand and froze, terror slowly growing in him, the questions buzzing through his head, will I die? Awaken to find that creature devouring me? Go back in time? What will happen to me?. Then he realized that none of that mattered, that his ancestor hadn't died wondering what would happen to him, rather, what would happen to them? He turned to look out the small holographic window, saw the beautiful world spread out beneath him, and hesitated no longer. He closed his eyes, thought of his unborn daughter, smiled and pressed the button.

I think I've got almost everything with Sub Soter sorted out. In the meanwhile, however, and no doubt greatly aggravating to Fox's patience and care, I have realized that SS isn't really the sort of character I would like to play for much time at all. So to in order to broaden my options, I'll go with something closer to my preferences: Player Name: Arichamus Character Name: Viepontas Power Level: 10 150/150PP Trade-Offs: None Unspent PP: 0 Progress To Bronze Status: 0/30 In Brief: Piscean Lor sent crashing to Earth in the 1980's, brought up by Atlanteans and granted powers by an artificial fusion of the Moon Stone and Star Stone. Alternate Identities: Ekthreto Vrefos/ Parl Ger Identity: (Public or Secret) Public Birthplace: Piscea Prime capital city. Occupation: Super hero, diplomat, sea-monster wrangler Affiliations: Atlanteans, the Ocean-dwelling peoples, Freedom City, Mercy. Family: Hass Ger(Father), Kert Ger(Mother). Xeno and Sappho Vrefos(adoptive father, adoptive mother) Age: 27 (DOB: August 1st 1984) Apparent Age: 27 Gender: Male Ethnicity: Grey-blue skinned. Height: 6'5" Weight: 164 Lbs. Eyes: Left eye: dark green, Right eye: solid silver. Hair: Orange. He dyes it black. Description: Tall and powerfully built, with broad and webbed hands and feet, long arms and legs and a barrel chest. His face, though noble and classically handsome enough for his duty, is elongated nearly to the point of deformity, his ears are finned, and his hair is smooth. His teeth are his shame, a series of deadly knife-blades lain on his jaws. His costume consists of a form-fitting dark green jumpsuit, over which he wears a long sea-blue cape attached to large bosses to the jumpsuit. Power Descriptions: The Sea Stone(actually fragments of the Star and Moon Stones fused together) has attained a rudimentary sapience, and its dim memories of the Lor have led it to grant its unique gifts to young Ekthreto. Said gifts are vastly increased strength(and with it increased swimming speed), endurance and hardened skin, the power to cast the sight of one eye throughout the ocean, to project silvery rays of force from his right eye, walk on water and even thin air with the aid of force-fields, which he can use in battle. The energy that flows through him also allows him to move at speeds far greater than any animal can run on land, though Viepontas hasn't figured out how to make that one work underwater yet.. History: In August, 1981, a research vessel from the Lor Fleet Science Division was destroyed in the Oort Cloud, after escaping Lunar City with a fragment of the Moon Stone. The leaders of the expedition, Hess and Kert Ger, had been instructed to examine the fragments and see if its physical makeup and reaction to its environment corresponded to that possessed by the Star Stone. As the final stage in their experiments on the two fragments, the two were fused together into a whole, the idea being that the Stones were once a larger whole themselves, in which case the reunion of the two would react favorably to each other and combine their power. What happened instead was that the resultant outlet of power tore open the space-time continuum in a large area around the vessel, through which several dozen pirate ships several hundred light-years away came spilling out. The science ship was hardly armed to take down a mining ship, and was destroyed, but with no loss of life, the crew having managed to access their escape pods in time. Fortunately, the Lor Blockade Task Force was at the ready, and neatly dispatched the pirates. However, in the scramble to evacuate, Hess and Kert missed seeing that one of their ten children(their second son) had fallen into the enclosure where the two Stone fragments were housed in the press of fleeing crew-members. Young Parl wasn't much more worried than any other child would have been in his situation, and his strict parenting had taught him to keep a tight leash on displays of emotion. However, when you're alone in a place you can't get out of and you can feel and hear that place being smashed apart by you know not what, you'd like it if nobody thought worse of you for crying and embracing the large glowing rock emitting the comforting thrum. As it turned out, that was what the Stone was waiting for, as it happily explained to Parl through a hastily-developed mental link. The Stone, it seemed, had inadvertently attained a state of near-consciousness, roughly equal to a sharper-than-average human right after waking up and before their morning infusion of energy. While it wasn't(and still isn't) the sharpest knife in the drawer, the Fused Stone could still figure out how to get the two of them into orbit of a planet, far enough away from the pirates to its mind. It also managed a perfect life support bubble around the child, and a force field around that when the two fell through the atmosphere into the ocean. Thankfully, the planet was Earth. The child and Stone alike were retrieved by Atlantean soldiers from the southern reaches of that people's domain in only a few minutes after their landing. The Atlanteans hadn't had much contact with Lor at the best of times, and privately considered it a cruelty to send the little boy back to his parents. Declaring him most likely from a ship lost in battle, Parl was adopted by a kindly couple from the Atlantean territory off the coast of Peru, Xeno and Sappho Vrefos. They named him 'Ekthreto', or 'Foundling', and raised him with ever-present reminders of the great heroes and heroines that had made their civilization what it had become, telling the splashing sproglet regularly about how people with great power used it to improve the lot of others, rather than hoarding it it for themselves. Thus, Parl often went to the Fused Stone, who's powers proved impossible for Atlantean science to crack and thus was given back to Parl, to discuss this very intriguing idea. He had found that whenever he was in contact with the Fused Stone. he felt a sense of enormous power, just out of reach. He had plenty of time for it, the other Atlantean children being more than a little irritated at his comparative weakness and slow swimming speed, and thus disinclined to invite him into their games. These visits became a beloved routine for both of them, and for eight long years Ekthreto and the Fused Stone pondered what they would do with powers if they had them. These ponderings came to an abrupt end in 1989, when they were on a short swim with Xeno and Sappho visiting relatives in the South Sea. A giant octopus attacked full blown from nowhere, drove off the faster Atlanteans and snatched Ekthreto and the Stone, dragging them back to its cave. Fortunately for Ekthreto and the Stone, the young boy finally got a grip on how to use the power latent in the Stone. He discovered this, moreover, by driving the Stone through the monster's head, the Stone having abruptly realized, in a moment of clarity, that the best way to unlock the energy radiating inside it for use by second-parties was to have the user just move in the way they wanted to use the power. The very large and extremely dead octopus proved a resounding affirmation of this theory's efficacy, and Ekthreto took his first steps into the world he was to inhabit for the rest of his life. The use of the other powers available to him gradually followed, the force-beams from his eye proving the most difficult, requiring Parl to inject a small piece of the Stone into his eye. He wasn't alone for this training either. The Atlanteans in charge of over-seeing the placement and missions of those of their race gifted with super-powers found out about Parl's odd gift the day after it manifested, and arranged for the boy to be trained alongside others in similar situations. A definite plus of this was that Parl got a much better and broader view of what it meant to 'be super'. If he had practiced the usage of his powers on his lonesome, he would have most likely developed a mindset that focused overmuch on what benefited him, directly. As it turned out, his education helped to make him much more appreciation of the well-being of others. His early life as a super-hero took place mostly in the warm, relatively peaceful waters of the south-east Pacific, and were painless, with swift, easy victories and no true danger. As might be expected, somebody raised to think highly of going the extra mile found such things almost boring. It was after the fiftieth Deep One acolyte fell to that most subtle of combat maneuvers, the delicate 'Fist to the Face" attack from Ekthreto's hand that the youth felt truly angry about it. The group's overseers had made plain before each mission why the young supers were being called in, but each time failed to convince the eager youth that this was the best use of him and his compatriots' power. After sealing the portal the acolytes had managed to briefly open, Ekthreto openly expressed his desire, before the overseer council, to use his powers in places where they were more needed. He got off, thankfully, with a patient lecture on how he and the other young supers weren't nearly ready to face true threats, but it still rankled. We'll pass over the intervening years from when Ekthreto was 10 to when he turned 19, as little happened between those dates of any importance except to himself. It was when he was on the verge of his twentieth year alive that he found his true vocation. In the Great Bay of Freedom City, 1998, a large fleet of pleasure yachts, a cruise ship or two(the captains and helmsmen of which have nightmares of that night to this day) and the odd submarine were gathered in the Bay to have a party celebrating the birthday of one Cabot. This celebration was rather quickly cut short when a group of four sea-serpents rose out of the water and started to move towards the gathered pleasure boats. The reason for this attack, not discovered by Cabot until much later, turned out to be caused by his failure to observe a bylaw in his demonic contract that involved how many times a year he could claim to be a 'self-made man'. However, the sea monsters suffered a painful surprise when one of their number was abruptly pulled underwater, and failed to resurface. A minute later, the other three were dragged under in rapid succession, and similarly failed to resurface. However, in a few minutes the whole mass of them arose out of the sea,sending a small figure flying out of the water, blood streaming from a multitude of wounds. Ekthreto's clairvoyance had activated shortly before that day, and he had seen the attack with his furthered vision, and despite knowing for a fact that he wasn't strong enough to fight full-grown sea-monsters yet, had swam off to help, alerting the guards in the area of the situation before setting off. He was unaware, however, of the fact that while he could perhaps kill two normal sea-serpents, a demon-possessed one was far beyond his power. He was fortunate that the Siren was in the Bay herself, having seen the commotion from the Narrows, where a school kayaking trip had gone awry. She snared the serpents together and had dragged them more than three miles from Bay when three more had risen from the waves, their attempt at a charge foiled by Ekthreto, who blasted the third while dragging the other two underwater by their jaws. Thanks to this, Siren could then easily bash the four already in the net senseless, and make room for the other three. Due to losing a great deal of blood, the young Lor had to be towed back to the city, where he was lauded for his bravery and upbraided for his foolishness in attacking four gigantic sea-serpents single-handed. Good feeling won out, however, and his initiative was seen by the overseers as a definite positive. Upon being asked what he wished to do after he healed, his respone was As a result, Ekthreto was allowed the honor, after he recovered from his injuries, of receiving diplomatic training, the overseers knowing that such close proximity to humans would allow his quixotic impulses some gratification while also helping further cement the friendship between the two peoples. He has now been sent, at the completion of his training, to Freedom City to serve as an ambassador for Atlantean interests in the surface world, which allows him more than enough free range to serve as a protector for those who travel the water and meet danger, not mention all the great people he's likely to meet on the surface. Personality & Motivation: Ekthreto Vrefos is no fool. While he can be swayed by threats to others and his sense of personal honor can be used against him by those who know his buttons, he is quite likely to have already decided on a plan to thwart the efforts of the threatener beyond simply doing what they say. His personality is easily one of his greatest strengths, a composite of steely intensity that can turn in his mind the smallest of confrontations into gargantuan battles of Good against Evil, and expansive grandeur such that he could find a way to laud someone for taking out the trash and they'd feel like they had done a task equal to slaying a dragon. As his work requires him to be so, Ekthreto is a very model of tact and understatement one moment, a storm of unrelenting passion the next. Unlike what his work requires, both are very real indicators of his mood, being powerfully motivated against lying by either commission or omission. Powers & Tactics: Viepontas's first move in nearly any fight is to close the distance between himself and his opponent/s, should said opponents possess ranged attacks. If his enemies are only able to attack at close-quarters, he has no issue jumping up onto a platform in the air and blasting away with his super-powered eye. In a fight with someone of equal or greater strength to his, he will most likely retreat into water, where most humans are at a massive disadvantage. Complications: This Does Not Represent My People!: Ekthreto's work as a diplomat means he has to make sure he stays within the limits of human and Atlantean law at all times. Let, Me, Dowwnnnn!: Despite his general courage, Ekthreto harbors a deeply rooted fear of heights, which can make him panic at the worst times. Culture Clash Away!: Ekthreto's diplomatic training hasn't covered many well-known figures in human culture, meaning many references will fly straight over his head. Abilities: 6 + 6 + 6 + 0 + 4 + 10 = 32PP Strength: [30]16 (+10/+3) Dexterity: 16 (+3) Constitution: [30]16 (+10/+3) Intelligence: 10 (+0) Wisdom: 14 (+2) Charisma: 20 (+5) Combat: 14 + 16 = 30PP Initiative: +7 Attack: +7 Grapple: +3/+10 Defense: +10 (+8 Base, +2 Dodge Focus), +4 Flat-Footed Knockback: -0 Saving Throws: 0 + 3 + 6 = 9PP Toughness: +10/+3 (+10/+3 Con, +0 [Other]) Fortitude: +10/+3 (+10/+3 Con, +0) Reflex: +9 (+3 Dex, +3) Will: +8 (+2 Wis, +6) Skills: 44R = 11PP Concentration 8 (+10) Diplomacy 10 (+15) Intimidate 8 (+13) Knowledge(Civics) 8 (+8) Sense Motive 10 (+12) Feats: 12PP Accurate Attack Attack Focus (Melee) 2 Contacts Dodge Focus 2 Environmental Adaption (Underwater) Improved Initiative Inspire Interpose Luck 2 Powers: 14 + 14 + 0 = 0PP Enhanced Constitution 14[/b [14PP] Enhanced Strength 14[14PP] Fused Stone Optics Super-Strength 7(Feats: Groundstrike, Thunderclap)[16PP] Drawbacks: (-0) + (-0) = -0PP Drawback (Description, Frequency: [uncommon, Common, or Very Common], Intensity: [Minor, Moderate, or Major]) [-XPP] Example: DC Block: ATTACK RANGE SAVE EFFECT Unarmed Touch DC15 Toughness (Staged) Damage (Physical) NOTE: The easiest way to get your DC Block to line up is to write it out in a word processor in a Courier font, then just copy/paste it into your post. Abilities (0) + Combat (0) + Saving Throws (0) + Skills (0) + Feats (0) + Powers (0) - Drawbacks (0) = 0/0 Power Points