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For NPC Tier, Emerald City refs count as creators for the Terror, if you want to use the Terror. The Terror Power Level: 12 (263/263PP) Unspent Power Points: 0 Trade-Offs: (Touch of Terror) -2 Attack / +2 Damage In Brief: Artificial fear spirit created by the Chamber uses bystanders as hosts to spread fear. Alternate Identity: Varies Birthplace: Varies Residence: Varies Base of Operations: Emerald City Occupation: Varies Affiliations: None Family: Varies Description: Age: Varies Apparent Age: Varies Gender: Varies Ethnicity: Varies Height: Varies Weight: Varies Eyes: Varies, usually glowing white lights Hair: Varies Almost everything about the Terror's physical appearance varies by its host: Height, weight, age, gender, hair color, eye color, beard or not, as does it clothing. Typically, the Terror is dressed in old, ragged clothing, often including several layers, making it different to estimate the current Terror's size, though it has on occasion broken this pattern and worn more refined clothing, though it will always cover its entire body, leaving at most the skin on its hands visible. Said skin will usually be a sickly, light yellow color, with dark fingernails. The one constant about the Terror's appearance is that it will always wear a hood of some kind, shrouding the Terror's face in complete darkness, with only its glowing white eyes being visible under the hood. The Terror's entire body always seem to be covered in a dark miasma that makes it difficult to see in the entire area around it. History: The being known as “The Terror” is an Emerald City urban legend and media sensation. According to victims and eyewitnesses, a dark-clad figure stalks and corners victims in the city at night, apparently emerging from the city’s underground or sewer system. Victims report lights dimming in the area around them immediately before the attack and a growing sense of fear which becomes paralyzing terror upon spotting the figure swaddled from head to foot in dark, concealing, tattered garments. Initially, sightings of the Terror ended there: victims experienced long moments of utter fear, then the mysterious figure disappeared as quickly as it came, leaving its victims gasping for air and thankful to have escaped. Things progressed, however, until an eyewitness reported a shadowy figure matching descriptions of the Terror fleeing the scene of a victim left catatonic and unresponsive. Emerald City police have potentially connected the Terror to several unsolved incidents of coma or catatonia in the city. In spite of their best efforts, they have no clear leads: the Terror seems to appear and vanish at will, and conscious victims and witnesses are all too badly shaken by the experience to provide any useful details. Many are concerned the authorities are not doing enough, or that the Terror may be unstoppable, which only increases public concerns and has everyone jumping at the slightest sound or movement out of a dark shadow late at night. Whatever it may be, the Terror has become a force in Emerald City, and it is growing more powerful. In truth, the Terror is a creation of the Chamber that secretly rules Emerald City. Through means known only to themselves, the members of the Chamber was able to create an artificial spirit of fear, created through cultural signifiers that were psionically stapled together. Normally docile and controlled by the Chamber, the fear spirit can be sent to posses an unsuspecting person, turning them into the Terror. The Terror will then run wild, attacking at random, spreading fear throughout Emerald City until the host body burns out. The fear spirit then returns to its masters, waiting for its next host. The perfect tool for those special occasions where the Chamber needs someone out of the way, but murder would look weird. It is, after all, much easier to blame something on a single crazy person that disappears into the night. Personality & Motivation: Virtually nothing is known about the Terror’s personality or motives beyond its stalking behavior. It has never spoken to a victim, so far as anyone knows, nor has it contacted the authorities or the media, as some serial killers do. It seems driven to find new victims to feed on their fear, although some of its earliest survivors have described the Terror as hesitant, perhaps even afraid itself, although it seems to have become bolder over time. The fear spirit that creates the Terror seems to have little in the way of sentience. A beast, it lives to inflict terror and fear on the world around it. Or perhaps it is much more cunning than the Chamber believes, simply biding its time? Only time will tell. Powers & Tactics: The Terror appears to mystically or psychically induce unreasoning fear in anyone who sees it, impairing the victim’s ability to function until complete paralysis sets in. In some cases, victims pushed beyond this point become catatonic or comatose, completely cut off from the outside world. The very presence of the Terror seems to carry a dark aura; lights go dim in its presence and it is difficult to make out details. Every shadow seems filled with menace. What’s more, the Terror feeds on its victims’ fear, giving it the ability to recover from injury or harm. It is difficult to damage in the first place, being apparently immune to most mortal concerns (like breathing) and virtually invulnerable to counter-attacks from its victims. They report that, even when able to attack the Terror, their efforts seemed utterly ineffective and did nothing to deter it. Any character suffering from the Terror’s Aura of Terror or Intimidation is unable to affect it with damaging attacks, or anything resisted by Toughness. Even if they can, so long as someone within sight feels fear, the Terror quickly recovers. Power Descriptions: All light around the Terror is dimmed, be it natural or artificial, created through powers or technology, creating a sort of dark miasma.. It is immune to a great many concepts that can give its prey trouble, such as breathing. Just seeing the Terror is enough to cause paralyzing fear in a subject. The Terror is strengthened by the fear of its victims, being all but invulnerable to their attacks, while feeding on the fear to regenerate any damage they might manage to cause. Further drawing on the fear it causes, the Terror is able to strike with terrifying power to quickly incapacitate its victims. Complications: Motivation - Inflict Terror: The Terror exists to create—and feed upon—fear. It is driven to seek out and stalk victims. Outsider: By its very nature, the Terror is an outsider incapable of interaction with society, and apparently with little understanding of people beyond their ability to feed its hunger for fear. Neverending Nightmare: The Terror is constantly creating fear in all those that surround it. The powers Aura of Terror is constantly active, which makes it difficult for anyone to work alongside the Terror. Abilities: 10 + 0 + 10 + 0 + 4 + 10 = 34PP Strength: 20 (+5) Dexterity: 10 (+0) Constitution: 20 (+5) Intelligence: 10 (+0) Wisdom: 14 (+2) Charisma: 20 (+5) Combat: 14 + 18 = 28PP Initiative: +0 Attack: +7 Base, +7 Melee, +7 Ranged, +11 Unarmed (+7 Base, +4 Attack Specialization) Defense: +12 (+9 Base, +3 Dodge Focus), +4 Flat-Footed Grapple: +12 Knockback: -2 Saving Throws: 0 + 10 + 9 = 19PP Toughness: Immune to attackers that feel fear / +5 (+5 Con) Fortitude: Immune / +5 (+5 Con) Reflex: +10 (+0 Dex, +10) Will: +11 (+2 Wis, +9) Skills: 68R = 17PP Climb 6 (+11) Intimidate 17 (+22) Skill Mastery Notice 8 (+10) Skill Mastery Sense Motive 15 (+17) Skill Mastery Stealth 17 (+17) Skill Mastery Swim 5 (+10) Feats: 16PP Attack Specialization [Unarmed] 2 Chokehold Distract [Intimidate] Diehard Dodge Focus 3 Fascinate [Intimidate] Fearless Hide in Plain Sight Improved Grab Improved Pin Move-by Action Skill Mastery (Intimidate, Notice, Sense Motive, Stealth) Startle Powers: 9 + 30 + 40 + 1 + 60 + 5 = 145PP Damage 8 ("Touch of Terror"; Feats: Mighty) [9PP] (Fear, Impact Damage Type, Mutation, Psionic) Immunity 30 ("Beyond Mortal"; Immunity to Fortitude Effects) [30PP] (Fear, Mutation, Psionic) Immunity 80 ("Invulnerable Terror"; Immunity to Toughness Effects, Flaws: Limited [Subjects feeling fear]) [40PP] (Fear, Mutation, Psionic) Environment Control 1 ("Dark Miasma"; Visibility -4) [1PP] (Darkness, Mutation, Psionic) Paralyze 12 ("Aura of Terror"; Extras: Action 3 [Reaction], Area [Perception, Visual], Flaws: Uncontrolled) [60PP] (Fear, Mutation, Psionic) Regeneration 10 ("Feeds on Fear"; Recovery Bonus 10; Flaws: Source [Fear]) [5PP] (Fear, Mutation, Psionic) Drawbacks: (-0) + (-0) = -0PP DC Block Name Range Save Effect Attack bonus Unarmed Touch DC20 Tou (staged) Damage +11 Touch of Terror Touch DC28 Tou (staged) Damage +11 Aura of Terror Visual Perception Area DC22 Will (staged) / DC 22 Reflex for no effect Slowed/Paralyzed N/A Totals: Abilities (34) + Combat (32) + Saving Throws (19) + Skills (17) + Feats (16) + Powers (145) - Drawbacks (0) = 263/263 Power Point

The Iron Matron Power Level: 10 (163/163PP) Unspent Power Points: 0 Trade-Offs: (Fists of Iron) +4 Attack / -4 Damage, -2 Defense / +2 Toughness In Brief: SHADOW assassin with skin like iron turned caretaker and bodyguard of the Big Brain. Alternate Identity: Natalie Nelson (Secret) Birthplace: Columbus, Ohio Residence: Secret location, Emerald CityBase of Operations: Emerald CityOccupation: Caretaker and bodyguard of the Big BrainAffiliations: The Big Brain, (formerly) SHADOWFamily: Unknown mother and father, deceased. Description: Age: 55 (DoB: 1963) Gender: Female Ethnicity: Caucasian Height: 5'7'' (projected image) / 6'4'' Weight: 150 lbs. (projected image) / 350 lbs. Eyes: Blue Hair: Blonde At age 55, Natalie Nelson is still an attractive woman. She has kept herself in peak physical condition, and hasn’t let age slow her down. She stands at 5’7” with a willowy build and her face possesses an unassuming beauty. Her straight, shoulder-length blonde hair is normally kept in a utilitarian bun and she spends most of her days wearing a nurse’s uniform. When the Big Brain sends her out in the field, which happens very rarely, the Iron Matron wears a black leather dress reminiscent of a nurse’s uniform. A pair of small red circles with a white cross in the center adorns the front of her costume near the hips, while similar circles attached to red bows embellishes the tops of her stockings. On her feet she wears black stilettos, that in no way interfere with her fighting ability. Her identity is protected by a small black domino mask. This is all a lie, hidden behind a holographic device that continuously projects the image. Natalie is in reality 6'4'', weighing at least 350 lbs., with a powerful, muscular build. A strong woman's build, broad shouldered, muscular. Her skin is not just like iron, it is iron. Though once her iron skin was shiny, almost like a mirror, it has dulled in the years between. The creaks and joints of her body has begun to rust, and her once almost beautiful metallic skin is filled with blemishes and dents from a life of combat. History: Natalie Nelson was an agent of the criminal organization SHADOW. An assassin and martial artist, she earned her code-name from her iron skin, a mutation she possessed from birth. Given up for adoption soon after, she was snatched up by SHADOW. While a formidable ability, her iron skin also left her unable to feel any touch, leading to her becoming isolated from the world around her, easily manipulated into joining SHADOW by the always unfulfilled promise of a cure. SHADOW’s founder, Overshadow, sent her to recruit the Big Brain while he was still in the hospital. Overshadow felt the nascent super villain would make an excellent addition to SHADOW’s growing stable of super-powered operatives. However, if the Big Brain refused his generous offer, the Iron Matron was to eliminate him, making it appear his artificial life support had failed. But Overshadow underestimated the Big Brain’s powers, even at that early stage of his development. The budding criminal mastermind saw what the Iron Matron had in store for him in the recesses of Natalie’s consciousness, but rather than lashing out and destroying her mind, Big Brain gave Natalie what she had always dreamed of: The sensation of touch. Through the use of his powers, Big Brain could let Natalie felt what others felt, or even simulate the responses that a touch would bring her. The Iron Matron defected immediately, leaving SHADOW to take care of the Big Brain as his caretaker and bodyguard, keeping his body alive and protected. Whether the Big Brain truly sees her worth or not, he seems content to simply help the Iron Matron feel, rather than exercising his mind control powers, making her one of the few persons to be truly loyal the Big Brain. Personality & Motivation: The Iron Matron is a hard woman. She is direct, and suffers no nonsense, moving quickly and decisively to eliminate any threats to the Big Brain. She is absolutely devoted to the Big Brain. She will protect him to her dying breath, though so far, it has been to the dying breath of his assailants. The Iron Matron will only rarely leave the Big Brain's side, not trusting anyone else to keep him safe. Powers & Tactics: The Iron Matron is an extraordinarily skilled martial artist, knowledgeable in many techniques that have helped make her an efficient and dangerous killer. Her skin is as hard as iron, which has the added benefit of turning her hands into bone-shattering implements of destruction. Though she does not eschew the use of weapons, she rarely has need of them. Power Descriptions: As the name implies, the Iron Matron is as hard as iron. While this makes her incredibly hard to hurt, it also means that the Iron Matron posses no sense of touch, which has isolated her greatly. Her true appearance hidden by a holographic device, the Iron Matron skin is not just as hard as iron, it actually appears to be iron. Complications: Motivation—Responsibility: The Iron Matron’s first and foremost responsibility is to keep the Big Brain safe. Relationship: The Iron Matron is intensely loyal to the Big Brain. Iron Skin: The Iron Matron's skin is iron. As great as this sounds, this also means that she do not posses any sense of touch, be it to harm or to pleasant experiences. It is only through the power of the Big Brain that she is able to experience the sensation of touch. Don't Look At Me: The Iron Matron is vain. She hates her true appearance, and will react negatively to anyone seeing her without her holographic disguise. Abilities: 4 + 8 + 8 + 4 + 0 + 1 = 25PP Strength: 14 (+2) Dexterity: 18 (+4) Constitution: 18 (+4) Intelligence: 14 (+2) Wisdom: 10 (0) Charisma: 12 (+1) Combat: 10 + 16 = 26PP Initiative: +8 (+4 Dex, +4 Improved Initiative) Attack: +5 Base, +6 Melee (+5 Base, +1 Attack Focus), +11 Ranged (+5 Base, +6 Attack Focus), +14 Unarmed/Fists of Iron (+5 Base, +1 Attack Focus, + , +8 Attack Specialization) Defense: +8 (+8 Base), +4 Flat-Footed Grapple: +7 Knockback: -6 Saving Throws: 6 + 8 + 4 = 20PP Toughness: +12 (+4 Con, +8 [Impervious Protection]) Fortitude: +10 (+4 Con, +6) Reflex: +12 (+4 Dex, +8) Will: +4 (+0 Wis, +4) Skills: 132R = 33PP Acrobatics 12 (+16) Bluff 18 (+19) Climb 9 (+11) Disguise 18 (+19) Drive 6 (+10) Medicine 9 (+11) Profession [Assassin] 9 (+9) Notice 12 (+12) Pilot 6 (+10) Sleight of Hand 12 (+16) Stealth 12 (+16) Swim 9 (+13) Feats: 29PP Accurate Attack Agile Bluff All-Out Attack Attack Focus [Melee] 1 Attack Focus [Ranged] 6 Attack Specialization [Unarmed] 4 Benefit 1 (Cipher) Chokehold Equipment 3 Fearless Improved Initiative Improved Trip Instant Up Interpose Power Attack Quick Draw Seize Initiative Takedown 2 Equipment: 3PP = 15EP Heavy Pistol (Blast 4) [8EP] Knife (Damage 1 w. Mighty, Improved Critical) [3EP] Holographic Disguise Device (Illusion 1 [Visual] w. Duration 2, Limited [Human forms only]) [3EP] Powers: 16 + 16 = 32PP Impervious Protection 8 ("Body Like Iron"; Extras: Impervious) [16PP] (Metal, Mutation) Ironclad Offense 7.5 (15PP Array; Feats: Alternate Power 1) [16PP] (Metal, Mutation, Training) BP: Fists Like Iron Rank (Linked) [15PP] {15/15PP} (Impact Damage Type) Damage 4 ("Fists Like Iron"; Extras: Penetrating 5, Feats: Mighty) [10PP] Enhanced Feat 5 (Improved Critical 2, Improved Disarm, Improved Sunder, Weapon Break) [5PP] AP: Deflect 4 ("Weapon-Breaking Stance"; Feats: Precise, Subtle 2) (Deflect all ranged attacks) {15/15PP} Drawbacks: (-0) + (-0) = -0PP DC Block Name Range Save Effect Attack bonus Unarmed Touch DC17 Tou (staged) Damage +14 Knife Touch DC18 Tou (staged) Damage +6, Crit 19-20 Heavy Pistol 40 ft. DC19 Tou (staged) Damage +11 Fists Like Iron Touch DC21 Tou (staged), Penetrating 5 Damage +14 Totals: Abilities (25) + Combat (26) + Saving Throws (18) + Skills (33) + Feats (29) + Powers (32) - Drawbacks (0) = 163/163 Power Points

Cortex Power Level: 10 (244/244PP) Unspent Power Points: 0 Trade-Offs: (Pulse Blasters) -2 Attack / +2 Damage, -3 Defense / +3 Toughness In Brief: Mutated super genius drug lord. Alternate Identity: Henry Todd (Secret) Birthplace: Emerald City Residence: Hidden location in Emerald City, normally known simply as the Laboratory. Base of Operations: Emerald City Occupation: Drug Lord Affiliations: The Cartel Family: Louisa Todd (Mother, deceased) Description: Age: 36 (DoB: 1982) Apparent Age: Difficult to tell, due to mutation. Appears to be at least early 40'es. Gender: Male. Ethnicity: Caucasian. Height: 5'4'' Weight: 190 lbs. (most contained in cranium and brain) Eyes: Black Hair: None Cortex is a rail thin man, standing below average height. His face twisted, his body seemingly having little fat or muscle, he would appear just malnourished, if not for his very visible mutation: A gigantic skull and brain, weighing enough to make movement all but impossible for the man, stretching down to almost at his waist. His face appears older than it should be, perhaps from the strain. Without the mechnical support pod he has built for himself, he would have difficulty even moving. He is usually dressed in loose green suit, with a large yellow belt, a yellow harness on his chest, connected to his support pod and yellow boots. History: Cortex grew up in Black Pines, a small town south of Emerald City. His mother was a former mental patient, institutionalized after she was found wandering on the highway in a state of hysteria with no memory of who she was or how she had gotten there. The doctors determined that she was pregnant, and at birth little Henry seemed normal. By the age of two, however, his head was already starting to show growth outstripping that of the rest of his body; he was also already reading at a college level and spoke several languages. As he continued to grow, so too did his frightening intellect. Louisa Todd (given a first name by a caring nurse and taking her last name from the county hospital that had delivered Henry) tried to provide for and protect her son, but she was a weak and fragile woman that never recovered from whatever ordeal had placed her on that road the night she was found. She lacked marketable skills and was prone to incapacitating panic attacks. Unable to hold a job for long, she and little Henry stayed in subsidized housing, where her son quickly became the source of amusement and target of ridicule for the neighboring children. He learned quickly and painfully that the world broke down into two fundamental categories of people: victims and victimizers. Henry Todd resolved that he would not remain a victim, no matter what it cost himself or others, especially others. Early in life, he was exposed to drug dealers, their processes for making drugs, and their business practices… and he observed the respect and fear people showed these men, as well as the money they made. By the age of five he had mastered “kitchen” chemistry to the point where he could produce marketable merchandise using only cheap and legally obtained materials. Effective drugs bought him allies, who sold his drugs in the surrounding area. Money bought him better material to work with, and connections, both of which he leveraged to make more powerful merchandise. By the age of ten, he had manipulated a number of older teenagers into forming the first of many short-lived gangs used solely to front his product. Where money alone failed to motivate, he supplied drugs; where money and drugs both failed to sway, difficult to trace toxins crippled or eliminated. As he grew older, those who encountered Henry learned that it was very profitable to work for him, and very dangerous to work against him. By his early teens, Henry’s mother had passed away gently in her sleep (with a little assistance) and he had disappeared from social service’s records completely. Todd took the name “Cortex” and used various inventions to portray himself as a “supervillain” simply because such beings held so much sway over certain elements of the criminal underworld. Over the past two decades, he built a sophisticated network of fronts, connections, and distributors so large it became a drug cartel all its own. Despite the fact that Cortex would rather stop designing drugs and instead follow his own interests into more esoteric research (still in the realm of biochemistry and organic engineering), his money and respect are both tied up with the cartel, so he continues to split his time between the two. However, in his mind, he now views the cartel as the source of money for his research, not the goal itself. Personality & Motivation: Henry Todd has no conscience or moral restraint. People and money are both just tools to be used and discarded as needed. As Cortex, Henry doesn’t aspire to world domination or other traditional manias associated with the villainous set. He simply wants to be left alone to pursue his research; however, he knows his kind of research usually provokes some form of interference from those with badges or costumes, and so he makes sure he has the resources and power base to deal with any such obstacles. Cortex is coldly vicious when interfered with or confronted. He doesn’t waste time with games or bluster or other egotistical displays unless he thinks such actions grant him some form of advantage. Though not a coward, Cortex is invested in his own personal safety above all else—he abandons facilities, people, and projects without hesitation if he has to choose between himself and them. He is a patient man and in his estimation, he can always get more ”tools”. Powers & Tactics: Cortex possesses superhuman intelligence. He can forecast the likely events of the future from current information and work out the past with the same certainty. Telepaths find it difficult to process his thoughts, granting him a degree of resistance to most forms of mental intrusion. His knowledge and mastery of the biological sciences knows few equals, knowledge he uses to develop and sell designer drugs ranging from horribly addictive narcotics to super-soldier treatments. Cortex’s body is highly underdeveloped thanks to his cranial deformity, but the support pod he uses more than compensates as it is capable of protecting him from even most superhuman threats with its offensive and defensive capabilities. Power Descriptions: Cortex's powers are all ultimately due to his genius. Either the cause of it, or made by it. While his grotesquely oversized brain makse him incredibly intelligent, he has created a support pod to both stabilize him when standing, protect him and aid him in combat. The support pod's most obvious enhancement are the pair of extendible cyberarms, capable of supporting Cortex's weight, fine manipulation and being used in combat. Less obvious are the protective force field that keeps Cortex safe, and the gravitic pulse generator that not only helps keep him upright, but also allows him to fly. The onboard systems include computer and navigation systems, and tools to enhance Cortex's senses, allowing him greater clarity as he works on new drugs. The support pod's weapon systems include pulse blasters, gravity wave discharges and neurotoxin aerosol dispensers. While the exact origin of Cortex's mutation remains unknown, his father might have been involved. Was his mother abducted and experimented on by aliens? Did she escape some secret lab where research on the DNAscent process was being conducted? Or is he simply a mutation or Terminus Baby? Or something far more sinister in pedigree? Complications: Disability: Cortex’s grossly overgrown cranium and brain are larger than the rest of his body. He needs artificial support for his head to keep his neck from breaking and would barely be able to crawl without its support. Motivation - Power and Fortune: In the back of Cortex’s mind, he is never very far from the roach-infested countysubsidized housing where he grew up hungry and ridiculed. Power and money are his security blanket and he can never have enough of either. He may find the cartel and its upkeep tedious now, but they are too necessary to discard. Rival - The Labyrinth: Cortex has created many enhancement drugs and cutting edge bio-modification technologies. This has put him into competition with other fronts for the Labyrinth’s DNAscent enterprises. Todd suspects there is more to his competition than is apparent, but is far from piecing together Taurus’s involvement. Abilities: -2 + 0 + 2 + 20 + 8 + 2 = 30PP Strength: 8 (-1) / 18 (+4) Dexterity: 10 (+0) Constitution: 12 (+1) Intelligence: 30 (+10) Wisdom: 18 (+4) Charisma: 12 (+1) Combat: 8 + 14 = 22PP Initiative: +0 Attack: +4 Base, +4 Melee, +8 Ranged (+4 Base, +4 Attack Specialization), +10 Cyberarm Smack (+4 Base, +6 Accurate) Defense: +7 (+7 Base, +0 Dodge Focus), +0 Flat-Footed Grapple: +8 Knockback: -6 Saving Throws: 0 + 0 + 6 = 6PP Toughness: 13 (+1 Con, +12 [Force Field]) Fortitude: +0 (+0 Con, +0) / Immune Reflex: +7 (+0 Dex, +7 [Enhanced Reflex Save]) Will: +10 (+4 Wis, +6) Skills: 200R = 50PP Bluff 15 (+16) Computers 15 (+25) Craft [Chemical] 15 (+25) Craft [Electronic] 15 (+25) Craft [Mechanical] 15 (+25) Diplomacy 9 (+10) Disable Device 8 (+18) Intimidation 6 (+7) Investigation 6 (+16) Knowledge [Business] 9 (+19) Knowledge [Life Sciences] 15 (+25) Knowledge [Physical Sciences] 15 (+25) Knowledge [Technology] 15 (+25) Medicine 12 (+16) Notice 9 (+13) Profession [Drug Lord] 12 (+16) Sense Motive 9 (+13) Feats: 27PP Attack Focus [Ranged] 4 Benefit 1 (Status: Head of drug cartel) Benefit 3 (Wealth: Multi-millionaire) Connected Eidetic Memoery Equipment 10 (Underground Lair, 3 Abandoned Warehouses) Inventor Languages 5 (Japanese, mandarin, Chinese, Russian, Spanish, whatever else needed by GM) Well-Informed Equipment: 10PP = 50EP The Laboratory (Headquarters; Underground Lair) (19 EP) Secret Labs in Abandoned Warehouses x3 (Headquarters; Abandoned Warehouse) (10x3EP = 30EP) Powers: 19 + 90 = 109PP Computer-Like Mind 3.8 (19PP Container) [19PP] (Mutation, applies to all powers in Container) Impervious Will 10 [10PP] Quickness 10 (Flaws: Mental Only; x1000 normal speed) [5PP] Super-Senses Rank 4 (Postcognition; Flaws: Limited [Requires evidence to study]) [2PP] Super-Senses Rank 4 (Precogntion; Flaws: Limited, [Macro-scale trends]) [2PP] Support Pod 22.5 (112/112PP Device; Flaws: Hard-to-lose) [90PP] (Technology, applies to all powers in Device) Extendible Cyberarms 2.8 (14PP Container) [15PP] Damage 6 ("Cyberarm Smack"; Flaws: Limited [Extra Limbs Only]; Feats: Accurate 3, Mighty) [7PP] Elongation 2 (Flaws: Limited [Extra Limbs Only]; 10 feet) [1PP] Enhanced Strength 10 (Flaws: Limited [Extra Limbs Only]) [5PP] Extra Limbs 2 [2PP] Gravimetric Pulse Generator 2.8 (14PP Container) [14PP] (Gravity) Enhanced Reflex Save 7 [7PP] Flight 2 (Flight Speed 25 mph, 220 ft./rnd) [4PP] Flight 3 (Flaws: Distracting; Flight Speed 250 mph, 2200 ft./rnd) (Stacks with Flight 2) [3PP] Onboard Systems 1 (5PP Container) [5PP] Features 2 (Computer, Navigation System) [2PP] Super-Senses 3 (Analytical Auditory, Analytical Visual, Radio) [3PP] Protective Fields 10.8 (54PP Container) [54PP] (Kinetic Energy) Force Field 12 (Extras: Impervious) [24PP] Immunity 30 (Fortitude Effects; Extras: Linked to Force Field) [30PP] Weapon Systems Array 10 (20PP Array; Feats: Alternate Power 3) [24PP] BP: Blast 10 ("Explosive Gravity Wave Discharge"; Extras: Area [Burst (50 ft. radius)]) {20/20PP} (Kinetic, Gravity, Impact) AP: Blast 12 ("Pulse Blasters"; Extras: Secondary Effect 8, Feats: Autofire, Incurable) {20/20PP} (Kinetic, Impact) AP: Stun 10 ("Gravity Knockdown"; Extras: Alternate Save [Reflex], Area [Burst (50 ft. radius)], Flaws: Daze) {20/20PP} (Kinetic, Gravity, Impact) AP: Stun 6 ("Neurotoxin Aerosol Dispensers"; Extras: Area [Cloud (30 feet diameter)], Feats: Subtle 2) {20/20PP} (Pharmaceutical, Gas) Drawbacks: (-0) + (-0) = -0PP DC Block Name Range Save Effect Attack bonus Unarmed 10 ft. DC19 Tou (staged) Damage +4 Cyberarm Smack 10 ft. DC25 Tou (staged) Damage +10 Explosive Gravity Wave Discharge 50 ft. radius DC25 Tou (Staged) Damage +8 Pulse Blasters 120 ft. DC27 Tou (staged) (DC23 secondary effect) Damage +8 Gravity Knockdown 50 ft. radius DC20 Ref (staged) Dazed +8 Neurotoxin Aerosol Dispensers 15 ft. radius cloud DC16 Tou (staged) Dazed/Stun/Unconscious +8 Totals: Abilities (30) + Combat (22) + Saving Throws (6) + Skills (50) + Feats (27) + Powers (109) - Drawbacks (0) = 244/244 Power Points Cortex tends to use criminals that he enhance with his drugs as foot soldiers. While they can be different, these are their common stats. Enhanced Soldier Power Level: 7 (70/70PP) Unspent Power Points: 0 Trade-Offs: +2 Attack / -2 Damage, -2 Defense / +2 Toughness Complications: Drugged Loyality: Addition to the drugs provided by Cortex means that the enhanced soldiers are fanatically loyal to the drug lord. Abilities: 2 + 2 + 4 + 0 + 0 + 0 = 8PP Strength: 12 (+1) / 20 (+5) Dexterity: 12 (+1) Constitution: 14 (+2) / 22 (+6) Intelligence: 10 (+10) Wisdom: 10 (+0) Charisma: 10 (+0) Combat: 10 + 10 = 20PP Initiative: +1 (+1 Dex) Attack: +5 Base, +5 Melee, +5 Ranged Defense: +5 (+5 Base, +0 Dodge Focus), +0 Flat-Footed Grapple: +6 / +10 Knockback: -4 Saving Throws: 3 + 4 + 1 = 8PP Toughness: +9 (+6 Con, +3 [Body Armor]) Fortitude: +9 (+3, +6 Con,) Reflex: +5 (+4, +1 Dex) Will: +1 (+1) Skills: 24R = 6PP Climb 4 (+9) Drive 2 (+3) Intimidation 3 (+3) Knowledge: Tactics 4 (+4) Notice 3 (+3) Profession: Soldier 4 (+4) Swim 4 (+9) Feats: 12PP Attack Focus [Ranged] 4 Equipment 7 Fearless Equipment: 7PP = 35EP Assault Rifle (Blast 5) [16EP] (Ballistic damage) Body Armor (Protection 3) [3EP] Assorted other Equipment worth up to 16EP Powers: 16 = 16PP Chemical Enhancement 8 (Container) [16PP] (Pharmaceutical, Physical) Enhanced Constitution 8 [8PP] Enhanced Strength 8 [8PP] DC Block Name Range Save Effect Attack bonus Unarmed Touch DC20 Tou (staged) Damage +5 Assault Rifle 50 ft. DC20 Tou (staged) Damage +9 Totals: Abilities (8) + Combat (20) + Saving Throws (8) + Skills (6) + Feats (12) + Powers (16) - Drawbacks (0) = 70/70 Power Points

The Big Brain Power Level: 12 (186/186PP) Unspent Power Points: 0 Trade-Offs: None In Brief: 60'es smartest boy in the world, fallen from grace. Mutated by a bizarre disease, he uses his giant brain and mental abilities as a criminal mastermind. Alternate Identity: Copernicus Oliver (Secret) Birthplace: London, United Kingdom Residence: Secret location, Emerald City Base of Operations: Emerald City Occupation: Criminal Mastermind, Head of F.O.E. Affiliations: The Chamber, F.O.E. Family: Unknown mother and father, deceased. Description: Age: 68 (DoB: 1950) Apparent Age: Difficult to tell, due to atrophied body and giant brain. Gender: Male Ethnicity: Caucasian. Height: 5'6'' Weight: 260 lbs., with at least 90% of body weight coming from his brain Eyes: Unknown Hair: None Copernicus appears as a giant, pink, floating head, with a huge exposed brain, easily the size of the rest of the head. His eyes are yellow, as are his teeth, his face usually contorted into a grimace of anger, with heavy wrinkles making even his face appear brain-like. This is but a projection, created by the Big Brain to participate in the world. In reality, Copernicus Oliver is an atrophied body on a table, attached to a truly gigantic brain. It has been decades since his body was strong enough to life his head, and he appears almost like a corpse, kept alive by an artificial life support system. History: In the 1960s, Copernicus Oliver was touted on television quiz shows as “The Smartest Boy in the World”, and amassed a small fortune in winnings and endorsements before his fame waned after he failed to answer a single question correctly during Beatles Day on the show Q and A. His fame faded and he became another footnote in the history of the Golden Age of Television. Embarrassed, Oliver escaped the public eye, buying a sailboat called Friendly and setting out to sail around the world. Desperate to avoid England, Oliver set a course that took him across the Atlantic and then directly down the coast of Africa. Sailing was smooth until the Friendly was suddenly caught up in a storm that wrecked the boat on a rocky shore. Before he could be rescued, Oliver contracted a rare tropical disease that caused his brain to swell, putting him into a coma for three months. When Oliver awakened, he found himself at home in a hospital — and smarter than ever! Discovering he was also still in the grips of a fatal disease, Oliver turned his intelligence to finding a cure. Facing failure after six months of fevered research, Oliver instead attempted to accelerate the course of the disease, in hopes that he could unlock more of the power of his brain. Injecting himself with an experimental formula, Oliver screamed as his brain swelled against the confines of his skull. A thousand voices crowded into his mind, and he pushed back with a single command: “QUIET!” As everyone in the hospital paused at the voice they heard in their head, Copernicus Oliver died... and the Big Brain was born. Discovering that he could now speak to and command the minds of others, the Big Brain directed doctors to keep him alive and to remove the top of his skull to allow his brain to grow. Once that was accomplished, he needed a place to stay since the hospital and his old home were of no use to him. In order to build it, he’d need money... much more than he currently had. The Big Brain searched through the minds of the city until he found a criminal planning a bank robbery. The Big Brain helped him improve his plan in return for some of the proceeds from the robbery — the same deal the Brain would strike with dozens of other criminals as he assembled his new organization: F.O.E.. Initially, the Big Brain needed the money for himself, but over the years he’s come to enjoy the challenge of bringing villains together for missions and the power he has over a small army of super-beings. F.O.E.’s members assume the giant, disembodied brain that issues them orders is merely a projection disguising their leader’s true nature. Little do they suspect that the Big Brain’s actual appearance isn’t far off: a gigantic brain atop a nearly atrophied human body hidden away in a secret, secured location far away, projecting his will around the world! Personality & Motivation: The Big Brain is a thinker and a planner. Almost all other aspects of his personality have been left by the wayside over the years. He cares little for companionship and has little interest in the “animal” concerns of the physical world. He keeps his body alive because without it he will perish. The one thing he enjoys in life is feeling superior, which he prefers to achieve by outsmarting others. He abhors violence and only involves himself in combat when all other avenues have been exhausted. He prefers to let his underlings handle any violent confrontations, while he remains behind the scenes to direct their activities. Powers & Tactics: The Big Brain is one of the most—if not the most—powerful telepaths in the world, with the ability to project his consciousness anywhere on Earth, communicate with and mentally control others, inflict debilitating mental attacks, and read minds. However, physically, he’s a paraplegic with a brain so large and deformed his body is incapable of supporting it and his atrophied body has been bedridden for decades. If his body is found and threatened, he may be able to defend it by surrounding it with his mental projection, but if that’s not possible, he is defenseless. Power Descriptions: All of the Big Brain's powers are mental in nature. Unable to move on his own, he lives his life by projecting his senses and mind across the world. When the Big Brain projects himself to a given location, he appears as a giant, floating face with a gigantic brain. The powers of his mind is mostly visible in effect only, as he destroys, probes or dominates minds. Complications: Freakishly Large Brain: Though the Big Brain can project his senses, will, and powers around the world, his body is mostly useless and his head is too large to move under his own power. Motivation - Power: The Big Brain wants power. He wants to prove to the world that he’s the smartest, most influential criminal on the planet. Abilities: -2 - 4 + 0 + 20 + 4 + 6 = 24PP Strength: 8 (-1) Dexterity: 6 (-2) Constitution: 10 (+0) Intelligence: 30 (+10) Wisdom: 14 (+2) Charisma: 16 (+3) Combat: 0 + 0 = 0PP Initiative: +14 (+10 Int, +4 Improved Initiative) Attack: +0 base Defense: +0 base Grapple: -1 Knockback: -0 / -10 for Remote Sensing Saving Throws: 6 + 0 + 16 = 22PP Toughness: +0/+20 (For ESP Feedback, ESP +8, Protection +12) Fortitude: +6 (+0 Con, +6) Reflex: -2 (-2 Dex, +0) Will: +18 (+2 Wis, +16) Skills: 80R = 20PP Bluff 12 (+15) Diplomacy 15 (+18) Intimidation 15 (+18) Knowledge [Civics] 8 (+18) Knowledge [Streetwise] 6 (+16) Knowledge [Tactics] 9 (+19) Notice 15 (+17) Feats: 4PP Eidetic Memory Jack-Of-All-Trades Speed of Thought Ultimate Effort (Will Saves) Powers: 11 + 51 + 54 = 116PP All powers have the Psionic/Mental and Mutation descriptors Mental Prowess 5.5 (11PP Container) [11PP] Enhanced Feat 1 (Improved Initiative) [1PP] Quickness 4 (Flaws: Mental Only; x10 normal speed) [2PP] Super-Senses 8 (Accurate Acute Radius Detect Psionic (5 ranks), Psionic Awareness (2 ranks), Radius Visual (1 rank)) [8PP] Power of the Mind! 24 (48 PP Array; Feats: Alternate Power 3) [51PP] BP: Blast 12 ("Mental Blast"; Extras: Alternate Save [Will], Range 1 [Perception]) {48/48PP} AP: Mind Control 9 ("Mass Mental Domination"; Extras: Area [Burst], Conscious, Selective) {45/48PP} AP: Mind Control 12 ("Mental Domination" Extras: Conscious) {36/48PP} AP: Mind Reading 12 ("Mind Probe"; Extras: Sensory Link) {24/48PP} Telepathic Presence 27 (54PP Container ) [54PP] Communication 9 ("Big Brain Is Talking"; Extras: Area [Burst], Feats: Selective) (Mental Communication, Worldwide Range) [19PP] Big Brain Is Watching (Linked) [33PP] ESP 8 (Flaws: Feedback, Feats: Subtle 2) (Auditory, Mental/Psionic, Visual senses, Continental Range) [26PP] Feature 1 (Projected Image of Giant Brain) [1PP] Protection 12 (Flaws: Limited [only applies to Feedback to ESP]) [6PP] Drawbacks: (-0) + (-0) = -0PP DC Block Name Range Save Effect Attack bonus Unarmed Touch DC14 Tou (staged) Damage +0 Mind Probe Perception DC22 Will (staged) Can read surface thoughts N/A Mental Blast Perception DC27 Will (Staged) Mental Damage N/A Mental Domination Perception DC22 Will (staged) Mind Control N/A Mass Mental Domination Perception DC19 Will (staged) / DC19 Reflex Save for DC Mind Control N/A Totals: Abilities (24) + Combat (0) + Saving Throws (22) + Skills (20) + Feats (4) + Powers (116) - Drawbacks (0) = 186/186 Power Points

Prologue Anne Leonard Books had been a fixture in Emerald City's trendy University Hill district since the late Sixties, but earlier in 2018 the elderly proprietor announced her plans to retire and sell the store, as none of her grown children had any interest in something as archaic as running a used bookstore. For several months, it looked as though she'd have to sell to some developer, who would either want to turn the painted lady into an Airbnb, or worse, just tear it down to put up ugly condos. Luckily for Anne, a pair of young out-of-town investors contacted her in August, expressing interest in buying the store outright, including all current stock. They both flew in all the way from Freedom City to begin negotiations, and the retiring bookseller couldn't be more delighted with the young women; true, there was some unspoken tension between the two of them (Anne suspected some sort of romantic entanglements), but they couldn't be more professional or courteous in the business dealings. She felt a small twinge when they stated they would change the name to reflect the connection with the parent store back East, but it was hardly surprising; only her own children wouldn't have made such a change Apparently the younger of the two named Gretchen would actually be operating the store, and she asked a lot of very educated questions about the neighborhood, the store's clientele and what sort of books sold best as well as the most requested items they didn't stock. When all was said and done, Anne felt very good about the sale, and even considered stopping in from time to time to see how young Gretchen McDaniels would fare

So now that the Shrike has been approved, I'm thinking about having a grand opening sale at the new Silberman's location in the University Hill section of EC-OR. This would be an opportunity for any EC-based PCs to check out the new used books and records store in town, and meet Gretchen in their civilian identities. Sign up here if you're interested!

Herein lies a tale, a tale of two cities...

OOC thread for this thread. The ur-haunted house, go get that file! @Supercape @Tiffany Korta @Zeitgeist Blue Knowledge rolls, preferably Current Events, Arcane Lore, Technology and Pop Culture.

GM 1st January, 2018, 4.45PM Emerald City, Oregon, United States of America, Earth-Prime By the time everyone was where they had to be, night was already fallen. For those used to rising with the eastern Sun and seeing it vanish behind the distant western mountains, it was a faint shock to see that old stalwart's final moments, dragged slowly into the cold, grey mists of the Pacific. In its place a vibrant silver supermoon glared down, stark light reflected from the agless stone mirror. The world was light and shadow, the forbidding mass of the Elysian Forest brooding just beyond the flashing police lights and the searchlights of the near-noiseless choppers and drones hovering overhead. By comparison, the horror show that had burst into being that morning was a comforting reminder of normalcy. Never a very large building, or more than meekly grand, Bethlehem Heights Mental Hospital & Historical Society crouched atop its high and lonely hill like a forgotten child of the gleaming silver-green metropolis just a mile away. What remained of its classic Young Victorian design was covered in spiked and grisly chains that gleamed in the ruddy light spilling from the occluded windows. Only its front door was open, and then just a crack, revealing nothing. If you listened, very hard, the sea breeze coming in off the bay sounded remarkably like you were shrieking in purest agony. At 7.28AM, Pacific time, Mayor Amanda Talbot had made a general call for assistance on national television, radio and internet channels. The directness and candor of it had been a surprise, referring to a "deadly paranormal entity" that "has already claimed the lives of twelve dear friends in the Emerald City Police Department." Usually, you couldn't even get a straight answer about where all the homeless people kept vanishing to. Captain David Wrath, sweaty and wide-eyed, greeted them at the edge of the police cordon, stepping through the simple holographic "tape" to give them a fervent handshake. He was a big man, built like a bison with a mustache like a square bracket, but at that time under that cold cosmic stare, he looked as small as could be. "Wrath, ECPD, do you know what this is?" He pointed one brawny arm covered in carbon fiber armor at the dismal thing silhouetting dozens of officers in the blue and green of Columbia's Keenest. The low brick wall that wouldn't keep out a determined cat was more than enough of a barrier for the people milling behind it. "That place took twenty of us before we pulled back at 5 this morning. They walked in, and...just vanished. Not even a scream over the radio. Gone." Wiping his steaming forehead to spread the sweat more evenly, the police captain said "Tried to scan through the walls, blew out the truck. Tried to use echodrones to get a sonic picture, shot the waves back so hard they shattered the things. Please, if you can figure out anything..." he shook his head "I can't go tell Mitsy Shin's not coming back and I don't know why. Even if it's demons or something, I gotta know."

OOC for this thread, Levity and Sha'ir deal with sky ghosts. @Sailor @olopi

GM July 30th, 2017, 12.12PM Nolan Airfields, Emerald City @olopi @Sailor Nolan Aerospace's proud and elite cadre of pilots, trained in the rigors of modern search, rescue and survival techniques, were assembled on the airfield for a very abrupt mission. Also in attendance was a smaller team of marginally less-fit people, almost all with glasses and pale skin from a decade or so indoors. "Okay, team, this is the situation!" Carrie Ping had to yell to be heard over the spectral howling that rang in the air. With one hand busy holding her coat's neon orange hood down, she used the one with the tablet to point at the scene right above their heads. An enormous, pulsating cloud of neon green, violet and orange swam and writhed a hundred thousand feet in the air, wrapped and skulming over the chassis of an immobile passenger jet. Sometimes the forms that burst from the cloud, or coalesced within its depths, looked almost human. Like people screaming and struggling to escape. But they always collapsed back into the great morass. The shadows it cast across the Emerald Cities Valley weaved with colour to create some truly unsettling sights. "We have no idea what that is, or what it's doing! ASTRO Labs and Archetech claim it's some kind of partial tear in our dimensional fabric, but even that much isn't for sure! All we know is it burst out of nowhere, grabbed the plane and started screaming!" "J-C Base dispatched some recon craft, but they couldn't even get into the cloud! Archetech has called Citizen, but he won't be here for hours, something's going on over in 'Jersey! Your job is to try and get to the plane, free it if possible!" The screams rose to a howling shriek, like the inner wall of a cyclone. For a moment everyone there had to cover their ears and wait for the rattling in their skulls to stop. "If not-! Sweet Sidda, my ears...if not, evacuate everyone you can! Techs, WestRock probably already told you, but you're needed in case the plane's systems are damaged, and all of it runs on WestRock software!" With a semi-free hand, Carrie pointed to Anne, Jaime and Hakim. "You three! You get to take point! The rest will follow your lead! Jaime, is the Peregrine prepped and ready?" "'Course she is, boss! No thanks to the pilot!" The red-haired woman who'd answered grinned easily and looked thoroughly relaxed, despite the bizarre situation. Putting an arm around Anne's shoulder she squeezed against her "Just my luck I love a sleepyhead!" "That's great!" Carrie gave a thoroughly unenthusiastic thumbs-up "Go with peace, people! We'll be praying for your safe return! Please, please, please do not do anything stupid to try and be heroes!" She gave a sharp wave to encompass the group as a whole "Dismissed! Everyone to your stations! Good luck!"

GM May 1st, Monday, 2017, 12.45AM Emerald City, Washington, United States, Fort Brewer Naval Base, Sub-level 2, briefing room "This is the only visual we have on your target, uh...Ms. Masterson" Admiral Henry "Hank" Finley was a fit, imposing man at 6'8", with his close-cut greying hair and constant frown softened little by a short spadehead beard. He also clearly had little experience dealing with superhumans. The darkened room he and the other, conspicuously silent, officers were gathered in had enough Cold War atmosphere to choke somebody from the bright and clear Forties. The lights were dimmed to help accentuate the ten-foot-wide picture humming softly in the air. With a slight cough and a swipe of his fingers, the projected image of a distant, misty lump of grey on a time-stamped horizon sharpened and jumped into focus. Hovering above the conference room table, the picture resolved into an island. An island with towering cliffs for shores, great tangles of hanging greenery and a liberal sprinkling of palm trees. "As you can guess, there's nothing like this on any of our charts. Satellite has nothing, even got Argus down here last weekend to scan. Nada." The Old Man of Fort Brewer folded his arms and looked down into the enigma that had brought Mary Masterson, the Torpedo Lass of World War 2, to far-off Emerald City, Washington. "Sent some scouts out, they got to the spot and swear up and down the thing just vanished. But I noticed something." "The sub crew I dispatched along with the other boats, they say it vanished just a little after the others lost track. Could mean nothing, but," Finley turned to Torpedo Lass, a gleam of cunning in his dark eyes "got me thinking somebody who can go faster than anything we've ever built and do it under the surface might stand a chance of clearing this up." "What we're asking is strictly recon, understand. Just get there, take a look around, come back and give us what you get. We give that to Citizen and he takes care of anything dangerous." the admiral shook his head resolutely, and his tone became one Mary was all too familiar with. "I'm not inclined to risk your safety, miss, no matter how bulletproof they tell me you are. I've got kids older than you." May 2nd, Tuesday, 2017, 8.45PM Liverpool, England, A very nice side-street The hero Dr. Deoxy had needs any human had. Being at the center of artistic life and on the crest of the glittering wave of imagination, for one. So strolling from one dazzling get-together had seemed like a good idea at the time. Just a little shortcut and he'd be back in the circle of greats... Dr. Nathaniel Anderson only knew he was being followed when he felt the sudden shock of lightning, fell spasming to the ground and heard somebody whisper "You. Have been. Thunderstruck!" There was a giddy giggle as the darkness closed comfortably around Nathan's head "Nothing? Aw geez, overjuiced..." A squalid room somewhere The darkness slid away to reveal a room that had once been stark and harrowing. A massive, altar-like table occupied the centre, letting the eye of the Sun in to bathe Nathan in cosmic fire. The rest was gloomy and indistinct, though clearly vast and of the Modernist school. Vines and tree roots reached in through the roof, turning the yellow light a gentle emerald. Other vegetation scrawled across the walls and floor. Somewhere birds chattered and sang. Of more immediate importance was the fact that Dr. Anderson was pinned to the stony bed by some invisible force, preventing movement of any kind. And he wasn't alone. Somewhere close, and getting closer, was the clopping sound of clumsy booted feet making their way towards him...

Summer 2017 It was a beautiful summer day in Emerald City, Oregon - especially if you stood here on the edge of the Pacific Ocean, far from the noisy, delicious minds of the city and enjoyed the peace and solitude of crashing waves at the base of this seaside cliff. The beaches here weren't like the ones Sensus had known back on the Jersey coast, much rockier and colder, but they had a wild beauty all the same. "Excuse me, miss. Did you need some help?" Turning behind her, silhouetted by an east-rising morning sun, Sensus looked up to see Citizen - the most famous superhero in Emerald City. For his part, Citizen's early morning flight had let him spot this girl by the edge of seaside cliffs that had taken the life of more than one young man or young woman in the last few years. There was a fence - but it wouldn't be hard for someone that small to slip underneath it. At first glance, he'd assumed this was a lost child - but she clearly wasn't too far from his own early twenties, though his black costume and glowing blue chest symbol marked him as a superhero.

Bethlehem Heights Psychiatric Hospital has served the mentally ill of the greater Columbia Basin with compassion and skill that has gone largely unrecognized outside of the professional medical world, thanks largely to being located in the conspiracy theory capital of the USA. For close to two and a half centuries after its founding 'Bedlam Heights' has been dogged with rumors of monstrous malpractice and evil government experiments, demonic influence and even psychic tampering with patients. Not helping matters is its use as a convenient place to shuffle inconvenient relatives, spouses or co-workers. No matter how diligently the hospital and its beleaguered legal staff uncover and expose fraudulent doctors, forged medical papers and suspicious court orders, public opinion remains firmly against the ill-funded and decaying institution, which hasn't been in the black since 1971. Now, the rumors appear to have come true. On New Year's Day, 2018, dawn revealed a dramatic shift to the staid Victorian manor on its high, lonely hill. The building is wrapped in spiked chains, the walls splattered with blood, an eerie red glow emanating from indoors and the faint sound of screams coming from somewhere inside. Its staff and patients are trapped inside, hopefully alive. Emerald City, Oregon's Mayor Amanda Talbot has given an open call to anyone who can help find out what's going on, why, if it can be stopped, how, and what it will cost them to do it. WHO: 2-3 PL8-12 PCs, of any sort. Preferably magical, but doesn't have to be. They will be joined by the Nightwatchman, a mysterious NPC whose mysteries are unknown. WHAT: Depends on how they approach the building and the interests of the players. WHERE: Emerald City, on the Oregon side of the Columbia delta, a bustling and colourful mini-metropolis majorly influenced by steady Asian immigration, whose burgeoning reputation as a center of technological development and application is well-earned. Like if a US Vancouver had some of Silicon Valley.

Player Name: Ari Character Name: Mag-Might Power Level: 7 (105/111PP) Trade-Offs: None Unspent Power Points: 6 In Brief: Upper-strata Magmin bruiser, dispatched to the surface on an impossible quest. Catchphrase: "MRGH!" Theme: Alternate Identity: Magh'kee/Maggy (Secret: nobody knows Maggy is Mag-Might) Birthplace: The Glasslands, Sub-Terra Residence: An apartment complex in downtown Emerald City, Oregon Base of Operations: The Emerald Cities Occupation: Underwater welder/ knight of the Chasm Affiliations: The Chasm, Sub-Terrans, the Oregon Welder's Union Family: 3000 brothers and sisters born from the same sorcery. Description: Age: 53 (DoB: 1964) Apparent Age: N/A Gender: Woman Ethnicity: Green obsidian Height: 4'6"/1.5m Weight: 330lbs/150kg Eyes: Opal Hair: dark green/black strings Maggy is stocky, a vaguely human-shaped block of green and blue obsidian crystal, burning inside with a never-ending green flame. Her eyes glow, her crystal skin is warm to the touch and slight wafts of flame lick from her mouth when she's angry or excited. Her long strings of glassy hair is shaped into small, numerous loops that frame her head like an elegant crown. Her hands are huge and powerful, and her feet are little more delicate. She's slightly top-heavy, with broad shoulders and a disproportionately large head. Most of the time, she wears large coats and hats to disguise herself among humanity. Sometimes she remembers to wear shoes. On the job, she wears proper protective gear. As Mag-Might, she wears nothing at all. History: Magmin are born from sorcery, transformative spells laid on humans, sub-terrans, morlocks and lemurians. Maggy was born from from fire and volcanic glass, what she once was a mystery never to be revealed, not that she's interested. She had a new life to live. She joined the communities of upper-strata magmin that dwell far above the seething magma flows and smoking lava tubes of their blazing brethren, in the dazzling gardens and wide, pitch-black meadows of razor-sharp. She learned the ways of war by endless skirmishes in broken ruins, ambushes in the depths of sunless seas and one-on-one duels at the blinding mouths to the overworld. Despite the violence and fear, she was content. There was the clan, those who meant it harm, and her, who stood between them. The Chasm was her home, with all its beauties and horrors, and that was all the world she needed. For fifty years Maggy lived like this, and the few times she saw people from the surface she kept well-hidden, her bright eyes watching the slender, frail creatures with awe and pity. Then came Lord Quake and the stonekin. A race of giants who could mould and reshape the very world around them, gods with fiery eyes and an endless hunger. Lord Quake named himself the King-Under-The-Mountain, the Black Spear of Justice and the Saviour of Monsters. He brought hundreds of surface creatures with him, pitiful things not meant for the deep, and made them lush and peaceful homes in the great Chasm. He made a new sun, one that even the morlocks could bear to see by, carved out palaces, reactivated long-forgotten technology that protected all in his dominion, banished or slew terrible monsters and named all Sub-Terra as his rightful domain. He told the people of the underworld of the evils of humanity, their rapacious greed and the need to band together to survive. He demanded peace between all who would join him. The morlocks and the magmin were the first to break this truce, a squabble over tunnel rights leading to a pitched battle which boiled over into Chasm's tiers. Both sides found themselves separated within moments, and forced to confront the fury of Lord Quake. He spoke softly, but in his wrath he forced a terrible price on the feuding peoples: to each give up one of their number in a mission to the surface. Two were chosen, one of them Maggy, who hadn't even been in the fight. They were charged with finding an ancient artefact which was rumored to control the flow of continents, giving one the power to cause or avert earthquakes at will. They had a year to succeed. Training was swift and to the point, instructing the pair in surface politics, culture and language relevant to their mission in the Emerald Cities. They were dismissed with enough money and legal cover identities for their sojourn amongst the humans, aided by a strange fact about the Emerald Cities. For decades they had become a haven for metas and mutants with no interest in heroics or villainy. As a result, truly strange appearances and minor powers weren't as uncommon as they are on most of the surface. Maggy found herself a job helping in the underwater construction of the city's new wave-power generator, with more than enough money coming in to support herself and her strange, chatty partner. Now all she needs to do is find a mysterious mystical weapon, bring it back to Lord Quake, and all will be back to normal. She hopes. Personality & Motivation: Maggy is a straightforward and uncomplicated person. She's the muscle of the operation, a role she's inhabited for half a century, one she understands and enjoys. She's mildly curious about the strange world of humanity, but always as a tourist attraction rather than as a place to really appreciate for its own sake. It's still relatively the same routine as her old life, but the stakes are higher. Deep inside, she relishes this as a jolly, inconsequential adventure. She doesn't entirely trust Lord Quake, but in her own calculations it would be much riskier to defy him than to obey. Her relationship with Mo is one of strict lines and boundaries. He deals with all the things with talking and making problems go away, she steps in when things can't be talked out. She doesn't see Mo as a friend so much as an invaluable tool for their mutual success. Powers & Tactics: By and large Maggy charges in and punches, then punches again. Then breathes fire by venting the inner furnace that powers her crystalline body. Then punches some more. She's a competent but uninspired fighter, with the additional mobility of creating launchers out of the ground. She's confident that if she gets into real trouble she can just regenerate her way out of it. Power Descriptions: All crystal and fire, Maggy is an upper-strata magmin with the power to partially reshape herself and the world she stands on. All the elements that make up her body are, in a real sense, part of her no matter where they are or how scattered throughout the crust. They can be summoned into a fragile pillar that rockets her into the air, used to repair her crystalline lattice and even bolster her already prodigious strength by partially bonding her to the planet. Her inner fires let her create light in deepest darkness and can be concentrated into white-hot bolts or great green waves of fire. Her crystal body lets her ignore most mundane concerns, but has drawbacks. She must eat, sleep, avoid cold places and is totally incapable of human-style speech. Complications: Code: Unlike Mo, Maggy operates on a very strict code of ethics. She can't refuse a challenge, must keep her word under any circumstances and must never reveal the secret of the Sub-Terran Chasm. Mission: To find the Claw of Ghorummaz, a powerful artefact. To protect her ally 'Mo'. To serve the mighty Lord Quake. Secret: To most people she's encountered, Maggy is just a weird mutant with a disfiguring condition and severe disability. That she's kin to the magmin of Sub-Terra must be kept secret, to avoid a LOT of awkward questions and scrutiny her mission can't survive. The Thinnest Veil: Keeping the secret that she's not Mag-Might is impossible in the long-term. Abilities: 10 + 0 + 8 - 2 - 2 + 6 = 20pp STR 20 (+5) DEX 10 (+0) CON 18 (+4) INT 8 (-1) WIS 8 (-1) CHA 16 (+3) Combat: 10 + 8 = 18pp ATK: +5 (+7 Unarmed, Blast) DEF: +7 (4 Base, +3 Dodge Bonus, +2 flat-footed) Init: +8 Grapple: +10/ +20 w/S-STR Saves: 3 + 5 + 6 = 14 pp TOU +7 (+4 Con, +3 Protection, +7/+0 Impervious) FORT +7 (+4 Con, +3) REF +5 (+0 Dex, +5) WILL +5 (-1 Wis, +6) Skills: 6pp = 24r Intimidate 9 (+12) Language 3(American ASL, English, Igneous, Sub-Terran(native)) Notice 6 (+5) Sense Motive 6 (+5) Feats: 10pp Attack Specialization (Unarmed) 1 Dodge Focus 3 Improved Initiative 2 Luck Power Attack Second Chance (Intimidate checks) Uncanny Dodge (tactile) Powers: 1 + 1 + 7 + 5 + 7 + 3 + 2 + 2 + 17 = 45 pp Burrowing 1 (1MPH) [1PP] (Earth/Rock) Environmental Control 2 (10ft radius, Light, Flaws: Range [Touch]) [1PP] (Fire/Heat) Immunity 7 (All Suffocation, Hot, High-Pressure, Radioactive Environments, Disease, Poison) [7pp] (Earth/Rock) Immunity 10 (Fire Damage, Heat Damage; Flaws: Half-Effect) [5PP] (Earth/Rock) Impervious Toughness 7 [7 pp] (Earth/Rock) Protection 3 [3 pp] (Earth/Rock) Regeneration 4 (Bruised 3 [No Action], Resurrection 1 [1 Week]; Power Feats: Regrowth; Flaws: Source [stone]) [2PP] (Earth/Rock) Super-Senses 2 (Tremorsense) [2pp] (Earth/Rock) Mantle Array 7 (14PP Array, Feats: Alternate Power 3)[17PP] BP: Blast 6 (Feats: Accurate, Precise) [14PP]( Fire/Heat) AP: Damage 7 (Extras: Area [Cone]) [14PP] (Fire/Heat) AP: Damage 2(Extras: Penetrating 2, Feats: Mighty [DMG7]) [5/14PP] (Earth/Rock/Slashing) + Super-Movement 3 (Wall-Crawling 3) [6/14PP] (Claws/Slashing) + Enhanced Burrowing 2 (to Burrowing 3(5MPH); Extras: Penetrating 1) [3/14PP] (Earth/Rock/Slashing) AP: Super-Strength 10 (+50, 70 (+effective STR; Flaws: Duration [Sustained]; Feats: Groundstrike [50ft radius], Shockwave [50ft max range, DC20 TOU]) [7PP] (Earth/Rock) + Leaping 7 (x250 jump distance (3,750ft long-run/1875ft long-stand/937ft vertical) (Earth/Rock) Drawback: -4 pp Disability (Cannot Speak) (Very Common, Moderate) [-4] Vulnerable (Cold) (Common, Major(x2 DMG rank)) [-4 pp] Cost: abilities 20 + combat 18 + saves 14 + skills 6 + feats 10 + powers 45 - drawback 8 = 105/111PP

Here's the OOC

Reputation Chart 20 Questions

Mo Player Name: Exaccus Character Name: Morris "Mo' Locke" Power Level: 7 (105/105PP) Trade-Offs: -3 Damage / +3 Attack; -2 Toughness / +2 Defence Unspent Power Points: 0 In Brief: Telepathic Morlock, dispatched to the surface on an impossible quest. Alternate Identity: MorahnsuIdentity: SecretBirthplace: SubteraniaOccupation: Private DetectiveAffiliations: Subterrania, Lord Quake, Emerald City, Family: Description:Age: 36Apparent Age: 30's Gender: Male (CIS)Ethnicity: Psionic MorlockHeight: 6'5"Weight: 140lbsEyes: BlackHair: Grey Appearance Tall and slender with sharp angular features and neat but sharp teeth, Morahnu Is considered to be of average appeal in so far as mating requirements go, lacking the bulk of of his elder brother and the sleek beauty of his younger sister he is in every manner of the word average by morlock standards Power Descriptions: What stands out about morahnu most is his gift with mind speech or telepathy as the surface dwellers call it, though he is of middling strength he has an uncanny cunning for applications of the gift, there are very few subtle indications of his powers being in use other than strange behaviour of his targets and changes of facial expression when he concentrates. History: Born the middle child of a Noble clan in morlock society was the only thing that had saved Morahnu from a life as a tunnelling thrall, for he had inherited his ancestors talents in mind speech in spades and whilst his brother learned the art of subterranean warfare and his sister the ways of statecraft and leadership he was largely left to his own devices studying and practising his gifts in whatever way he saw fit. His early life was one of quiet self reflection and isolation from his would be peers and siblings for it was believed that emotional connections weakened mind-speakers abilities to influence others and as his sole desirable trait his family did everything in their power and understanding to cultivate it, both so that he might marry and produce stronger still offspring and to increase their own standing in morlock society. For his own part, he cared extremely little for his cultures strange traditions and the socio-political manuverings of the upper eschelons of the clan and instead preferred to delve into the depths of his own subconscious in search of unparalleled insight of ever greater understanding of the universe and his place within it. This all changed when the clan foolishly opted to ignore Lord Quakes Decree and engage in open warfare over some desolate swath of arable or defensible tunnel and it was demanded that they surrender a member of their house to serve as an agent of the stone throne that he was promptly and unanimously submitted by the majority families outside his own for their own machinations. Personality & Motivation Morahnu is quiet, introverted and prone to long periods of silence and answering questions with questions, he dislikes physical confrontation and would much rather simply compel the weak minded amongst the surface dwellers criminals to surrender themselves without struggle, he is for the most part largely uninterested in returning to subterrania and the seemingly impossible mission he's been given suits him just fine as a form of exile. He greatly enjoys thinking critically and solving problems with his brain, though this is not his sole motivations he is more likely to take cases that interest him than ones that feel too straight forward or petty for him. Powers Tactics When facing Surface criminals Morrison Locke will favor picking off the weaker minds amongst them, forcing them to subdual, surrender or even turn upon their erstwhile allies when faced with sufficiently large numbers, though particularly powerful metahumans he works on damage control, trusting his partner and allies to deal with minds too strong or alien for him to effect. He only resorts to using his not inconsiderable physical strength when faced with aggressive but weak enemies once he has enthralled one amongst them Complications Agent of the Stone Throne Morris "Mo" Locke Is a Morlock, sent on a quest by Lord quake, ruler of subterrania and wanted criminal on the surface world, either of these facts alone with engender mistrust if discovered, both would be catastrophic. The Mo' you know. Morris Locke is a real person in so far as the documentation goes, one with a history, family and all the documentation that goes with and has through his work as a private detective built up quite a social structure around himself complete with friends and colleagues in the ECPD and shadier parts of Emerald city, needless to say it is very important that he keeps some of these things seperate from others, the ECPD would not think kindly on some of his less than legal connections and in turn many of the minor crooks that hold a grudge against the heroes he's helped or even Lord Quake himself would react poorly to seeing one of his agents working against them with their enemies. Blinded By the Light. Though he has become somewhat more adapted to the light of the sun he remains a creature of the deep dark places within the earth and sufficiently bright lights such as flood or search spotlights are still capable of overwhelming him and dazzling or in extreme cases stunning him, even particularly bright days will give him a headache without taking proper precautions. Abilities:: 8 + 4 + 6 + 0 + 4 + 4 = 26pp STR: +4 (18), DEX: +2 (14) CON: +3 (16) INT: +0 (10) WIS: +2 (14), CHA: +2 (14) Initiative: +2 (+2 Dex) Combat;12 + 8 = 20PP Attack: +6 (+6 Base Attack) -Ranged: +6 -Melee: +6 Defense +8 (+4 Base Defense +4 Dodge focus) -Flat footed: +2 Grapple: +10 (+4 Strength +6 Base Attack) Saves: 4 + 5 + 6 = 15pp Tough: +3/+6 (+3 Con +3 Undercover Vest) Fortitude: +7 (+3 Con + 4) Reflex: +7 (+2 Dex + 5) Will: +8 (+2 Wis + 6) Skills: 14PP = 56 Ranks Bluff 4 (+6), Diplomacy 4 (+6), Disable Device 4 (+4), Disguise 8 (+10), Gather Information 2 (+4), Intimidate 4 (+6), Investigate 4 (+4), Knowledge (current events) 4 (+4), Knowledge (streetwise) 4 (+4), Language 2 (Base: Subterran, English, Korean), Notice 4 (+6), Sense Motive 4 (+6), Stealth 8 (+10) Feats: 10PP Attack Specialization 2 (Unarmed Attack), Dodge Focus 4, Hide in Plain Sight, Move-by Action, Power Attack, Uncanny Dodge (Mental) Equipment: 2PP = 10ep Binoculars [1ep] Camera [1ep] Desktop Computer [1ep] Digital Audio Recorder [1ep] Lock Release Gun [1ep] Multi-Tool [1ep] Undercover Vest [4ep] Powers: 2 + 1 + 4 + 11 = 18pp Dark Vision (Super-Senses 2) (darkvision; Biological) [2pp] Super-Senses 1 (danger sense: Mental: Mental BIological) [1pp] Telepathic Communication (Linked; Mental Biological) [4pp] Communication 3 (Linked; sense type: mental 1000' Range) Mind Reading 1 (Linked; DC 11; Extras: Action 2 (free); Flaws: Limited by Language, Limited to Surface Thoughts) Telepathy (Array 5) (default power: mind reading, 10pp array PF: Alternate Power; Mental Biological ) [11pp] BE: Mind Control 7 (Array; DC 17; Extras: Conscious; Flaws: Distracting , Sense-Dependent (Auditory) PFs: Precise, Subtle (subtle)) AE: Mind Reading 8 (Default; DC 18; Extras: Burst Area (40 ft. radius - Targeted), Insidious, Selective Attack; Flaws: Limited to Mind Probe, Range 2 (touch); PFs: Precise, Subtle (subtle)) Totals: Abilities 26 + Skills 14 (56 ranks) + Feats 10 + Equipment 2 + Powers 18 + Combat 20 + Saves 15 + Drawbacks 0 = 105 DC Block Name Range Effect Save Unarmed Touch Damage DC 19 Toughness (Staged) Mind Reading 40ft burst Mind Probe DC 18 Will save (staged) Mind Control Perception (sense dependant: Auditory) Mind Control DC 17 Will Save

GM March 31st, Friday, 2017, 9.40PM 2150 Hanamaru St, Riverfront district, Emerald City, Oregon, USA Stumbling into the gentle, even glow of Emerald City's streetlights, the prey stopped to catch their breath. The unseasonally warm air, a sign of the impending catastrophe, burned in their frail lungs. The cotton suit was splashed with mud and the leather office shoes were soaked through from running through puddles. The hair that had been curled that afternoon, silky black, reminding the hunter of a smiling, care-worn face above a cradle, hung in tangles. They weren't moving, just slumped, huddled against a staff of the elegant spire of light. The hunter did not dare enter the cursed, white pool. In the southern Emerald their night-time lights caught the Sun's fury and made the streets a Hell of silent fire. But the hunter had other means, greater than any other beast's claws, venom or sinew. With easy grace a human-llike shape swept from the low roof to the alley below. "Come out of the light. Come to me." All it had to do was not turn around- It did. Its eyes met those of the vampire. They were dead before the fangs sank into their neck. April 1st, Saturday, that afternoon Hakim Naifeh could count on a few small blessings in life. Foremost was the nigh-inevitability of having Saturdays off at Westrock. The office was at a convenient location(though really, given the needs of young people in tech, most offices were someplace convenient) with easy access to food and places to relax, but it wasn't the same as taking your own pace where you wanted to be. Today that place was the Library. Since last winter super-activity had exploded, the Emerald City Originals were rapidly becoming a point of tremendous city pride and Sha'ir had been coming into more and more situations needing creative mystic solutions. Which meant time spent poring over the electic collection in his private extradimensional space. But today, from the moment he had stepped into the close, musty air and glanced around the bookshelves twisting and reaching in every direction, something had been off. The first sign was the arch. It had never been there before, a pile of loose leaves arranged haphazardly into a square archway, leading into other, unfamiliar ranks of shelves and cramped desks. These books were arranged, organized with a meticulous hand. They were also mostly in languages that Hakim had never even seen, let alone knew. Harsh runes, cuneiform-like symbols, flowing script that looked like ocean waves. The second were the voices. Coming from down the narrow hallway, arguing over something. A crisp English alto was holding firm, but a bass from the Deep South was tenacious. The books and carpet muffled all sound, but it seemed like just moving a little further would reveal these intruders...

GM March 21st, Tuesday, 2017 Then With a final burst of power Citizen's android housing scattered across the floor. The unimaginable scale of the energy needed to discorporate an Archetech android originally built for super-level combat against space-borne opponents had the air tingling and crackling for a long time. The explosion's titanic BOOM faded, cushioned by the noise-cancelation field, but it rang in the ears of those watching for hours after the fact. The core was a whiff of vapor. Behind the screens someone said "It worked." Someone else began "Now we are all sons of b-" "We talked about this. No." "Sorry." A third "He's just going to come back." The last "And now we know we can beat him. Again and again and again..." Now Citizen woke up in the quiet peace and humming familiarity of Gina Evans' digital sanctum. To a quiet little house and a big happy dog panting lovingly on his shoulder. To the certain knowledge something very wrong had happened. Archetech West wasn't equipped for holding copies of Citizen. Its spare android sets weren't even unsealed. So far as anyone knew, nothing in either Emerald City was actually personally dangerous to what was effectively the most powerful single entity on the Pacific Coast. Apparently that had changed.

OOC thread for this thread. The whodunnit of our time! Citizen's Murder Mystery. @Avenger Assembled

Preserver Stones & virdian Stones Fragmented remnants of efforts to crystallize raw energy, these relics of Preserver science have lain buried under the Atlas Mountains for millennia, only recently becoming unearthed and exploited. History The Star Stone, power source of the mighty Citadel, its master, the artificial being called Mentor and the famous Star Knights. The Nightstone, gateway to the Schattenwelt and conduit of yet darker secrets, long lost on Zultas and recently come to Earth. The Moonstone, core of Farside City's society and infrastructure, with unimaginable transformative power. These and more were created by the enigmatic Preservers to sustain and empower their creations throughout the cosmos. But, as with all science, there is no clean line from hypothesis to successful result. A small group of gems, enough for one human to count within their lifetime, were preceded by countless failures that had to be shattered to avert catastrophe. These fragments of searing cosmic power could have been dumped into some black hole, but the Preservers had different ideas. Most of these shards had exhibited a loose kind of intelligence, a compatibility and drive to connect with other forms of life. On Earth their experiments in uplifting new intelligences were just beginning to bear fruit and they had already noticed a faint glimmer of what might be psionic potential. The tribes with roughly the strongest strains of this potential were taken to a preserve on the Moon while the Preservers started a little terraforming. Where the Columbia River would one day empty into the Pacific Ocean a mountain range arose, covering a titanic extraterrestrial mineral deposit emitting a subtle psychic pull on humanity. The Preservers then left the deposit be, confident that humans would discover it and be guided further towards a future mirroring the Preservers' own. But all those shards' competing energy impulses slowly warped the shattered, failed cosmic gems. The pull on human minds ebbed to nothing in mere decades. By the time the people who would become the Chinook had moved into the river delta thousands of years ago, their migration had nothing to do with the staggering wealth hidden in the harsh and game-poor mountains. For millennia the Preservers' gambit mutated and fused, until something totally new simmered beneath Mt. Stanley and Mt. Forge as the young volcanoes hurled fire and ash into the sky. One eruption sent a rich vein of viridian scattering over the globe. It's only recently that the so-called viridian Stones have started to come out of the ground and directly into human hands, starting with the 1840's gold rush where the mania swept all the way to tiny Fort Emerald. Though the Atlas Range turned out to have a startlingly rich supply of gold, silver and precious stones, it put Fort Emerald on the map when Viridian Stones were discovered. Their composition by then had bonded with terrestrial chemistry, the lustre and quality of these "Atlas Emeralds" raising many eyebrows. However their still-latent bond to living things made it hard for people to sell or trade them, feeling an irrational attachment to the gems and little urge to find more. That and the trouble and expense of shipping said riches out of isolated Fort Emerald helped slowly kill the mining industry in what shortly became the first Emerald City, though viridian stones have recently undergone a renaissance thanks to a dedicated tourism and heritage marketing campaign focused on the rugged frontier days of the 1800's. In the 1860's Emerald City's one and only brush with the American Civil War occurred when Confederate agents stole stocks of precious metals, gemstones and cash from the Red River Diamond Exchange, including a shipment of viridian stones meant for Freedom, New Jersey. In the modern day viridian stones are usually found in centuries-old heirlooms, chic handmade jewelry, arranged into street art sculptures, or as components in secret supertech labs scattered throughout the Emerald Cities. In the Sub-Terran Chasm(other upcoming Guidebook entry) created by the dimensional reshaping which resulted in the Atlas Range, viridian stones are the universal currency among the Igneous and Magmin kingdoms, as well as the basis for the new technology of the Morlock coalition. They have no psychic impression on non-humans, so the stones trade monsters' hands with ease. What they are A viridian stone is in some ways analogous to one of its greater cousins, a nigh-limitless and effectively infinitely-malleable power source accessible to both technology and organic beings. The chief difference is focus and scale. A viridian stone isn't capable of the same stunning feats as, for instance, the Star Stone, but it is also much less overwhelming and manageable. Physically the viridian stones are, in natural state, raw minerals found nowhere else on Earth. They are smooth and faintly warm to the touch, with obvious jagged breaks where they were shattered and partially-reformed in Earth's volcanic furnace. Polishing and shaping them is easy even for unskilled persons, and a common hobby around the Columbia river delta, revealing an inner light. What they do viridian stones enhance and strengthen existing attributes of the beings they bond to and who bond to them. It makes insightful people more empathetic, the strong-willed are even more unshakable, if superhumans get their hands on them they discover new things about their powers. Some of them are similar to daka crystals and can transmit and store energy in an incredible variety of forms, a quality being investigated by ASTRO Labs. Some people who bond with viridian have their latent powers awakened. But usually the stones cannot spark "real" powers in isolation, most being far too weak. There is a loose correlation between the colour of the Stone and the trait it strengthens, though that varies drastically thanks to humans normally only capable of seeing in the visible light spectrum. Roughly, the most common colours are: RED: Red viridian stones strengthen inner resolve, focusing existing drives and making it easier to push through fears or distractions. Stronger bonds can make one all but impervious to outside influences but at a cost. Some become obsessively fixed on something that used to be a mild interest, given to enormous mood swings or driven at a goal to the point of irrationality. Mechanically speaking, they usually affect Will saves and Will effects along with Concentration checks. ORANGE: Orange viridian stones increase one's attention to detail, to how things work. Most commonly this makes their people better in social situations or in understanding technology, but culture, physics and other areas of academia open up as well. As the bond strengthens innovations and new angles come more naturally and a viridian bearer can get an accurate read on a mark or comprehend alien power systems with a mere glance. The problem is how it tends to push people toward determinism or fatalism, restricting their potential unless the bearer has a powerful will and sense of self. Bearers of orange stones also run the risk of megalomania thanks to seeing around the veil that blinds the world. Mechanically it effects Craft, Knowledge, Notice and Sense Motive checks, gives bonuses to Assessment, Artificing and Invention rolls and can give access to the Analytical(Normal Visual) or Detect Weakness Super-Sense. YELLOW: Stones of this color attract and hold the attention of other beings on its bearer, giving them an imposing and magnetic presence. Bonding with a yellow viridian stone lends itself well to natural commanders or shyer types who hate being talked over. Bearing this stone runs the risk of autocratic tendencies, loss of empathy and otherwise having trouble being a follower and not a leader. Mechanically, it can give bonuses to Intimidate checks, Daze, Fascinate and Startle rolls and enhancement to Emotion-Control: Fear and Mind-Control rolls. GREEN: Verdant viridian stones deepen ones understanding of their own and others' wellbeing and mental and physical state. Closer bonds with the stone even allow bearers to tangibly affect the health of other beings at a fundamental level, and improve their own phsyical capabilities. Stronger ties to greenstones can weaken the sense of humanity as bodies and minds become more under the bearer's control, either aloof and inhuman or savage and bestial. Mechanically they can give bonuses to base Attributes. Handle Animal, Knowledge(Behavioural Sciences/Life Sciences), Medicine and Sense Motive checks and enhance powers with a Constitution or Fort check. BLUE: The most common colour are the sky-blue stones. These tie minds together with thin threads, enhancing empathetic and persuasive traits, artistic skills and deception. Stronger bonds with the stone can turn a merely eloquent speaker into a spellbinder, evoke hope in the depths of utter despair, give insights into the depths of another's thoughts and feelings and radically alter other's perception of the bearer. Mechanically, they give bonuses to Bluff, Diplomacy, Disguise, Handle Animal, Perform, Sense Motive and Sleight of Hand skills, at higher levels they add to the bonuses from Aid actions, Distract, Inspires and Fascinate rolls, Mind-Reading, Mind-Control and Morph(increasing the DC on checks to Notice) rolls. INDIGO: The deeper blue expands perception. Bonding with an indigo stone grants eyes eagles would envy, or the skill to feel the tug and ebb of gravitons, the gift of never failing to know where anything you have touched is. Mechanically, indigo stones can give bonuses to Notice, Search, Sense Motive, Survival, Tracking, gain access to the Blind-Fight and Uncanny Dodge Feats, add a bonus to rolls on Perception range effects VIOLET: BLACK: WHITE:

Emerald City, United States Saturday, May 27, 2017 Afternoon The sun beat down on Emerald City, reflecting off the Albian River in all shades of navy and cobalt and sapphire. It was the first wave of spring on the West Coast and the city was enjoying it. Families were playing out in Magic Hill Park or Elysian Forest. The campuses of Arcadia College and ECU were crowded with coeds studying or playing on the grass. The streets of Southern Shore were crowded with people enjoying the bright day. Tona Baudin reclined in a chair outside a coffee shop, tight trousers and a tee giving her the chance to show off her definition. It wasn't just because she enjoyed the warmth as much as anyone and enjoyed showing off the results of her exercise. She finally had a chance to show off Emerald City to her girlfriend; Sam wasn't around nearly as much as Tona wished she was, but now that she was here Tona intended to make up for lost time. "It's called Ghost Sightings," Tona said, frowning as she hunted for something on her phone, "but it's not all about ghosts. It's about a lot of stuff happening around town, like fishermen down the coast turning up monster-sized lobster shells or a rash of disappearances among the homeless. It's a really fun read and a good source of information. I just wish I could find the damn site on my phone..."

Here we go again with a group of three.

@olopi OOC thread for this thread. Sha'ir meets some great new friends and gets into wacky vampire shenanigans!