The World In The Aftermath (Formerly A World Less Magical)

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EternalPhoenix
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by EternalPhoenix »

I really like her. Heroes shouldn't all get along with each other or even have agreeable personalities to be effective and respected. And her death is appropriately heroic and tragic in equal measure.
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by Davies »

Thank you!
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by Davies »

Dr. Abraham van Helsing
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"Abraham van Helsing" was a name made up by Bram Stoker (partially from his own name) while editing the various diaries and letters of the Dracula operation into a novel. "Martin Hessel", the name used for this individual in official British documents, is likewise known to have been an alias. Any record of the actual identity of this person was likely lost in the large-scale destruction of secret documents during the final stages of the November Revolution that brought down the German Empire in 1918. "Van Helsing" will be used for its familiarity hereafter.

Very little that was stated about his background in the novel should be taken at face value. His comments about his "late son" were chosen to create a sense of sympathy between himself and "Arthur Holmwood", much like the unlikely account of the start of the supposed friendship between himself and "Dr. Jack Seward". Likewise, his comment about his supposed wife, imprisoned in an asylum, was part of a rather crude joke that he made, betraying a much more cynical attitude towards his patient than he had expressed so far. His official dossier reported that "Van Helsing" had been married, but that his wife had predeceased him and that their marriage had never produced any children. The accuracy of that assessment is open to question.

That same assessment portrays him as a man driven to hunt "the undead" (a term that really was of his own coining, apparently) because of both his deep Roman Catholic faith and his scientific curiosity. These were indeed significant parts of his character, but the dossier failed to note that he was also quite patriotic. It is possible, even likely, that whoever put together the dossier, influenced by their own prejudices, believed that his Catholicism would contraindicate such a nationalist sensibility. This would be a costly mistake, but not the greatest made in this operation.

In 1894, when "Van Helsing" was called in to assist in the clean-up of the Dracula operation, the British believed that he had already "eliminated" two vampires in Europe in the past decade, neither of which were "kindred" to Dracula. (This was considered important when he was contacted, suggesting that the King Vampire was even then regarded as a potential asset.) These were only those that whose existence, and the cessation thereof, the British could confirm; there may have been others. It is unlikely, given what he emphasized about "the power of combination" in addresses to the others involved in the operation after it turned into a vampire hunt, as well as his advanced age -- roughly seventy years -- that he acted alone, but nothing is known about these accomplices.

Perhaps the most controversial aspect of his involvement in the treatment of "Lucy Westenra" was his use of blood transfusion. This was, prior to the official discovery of blood variation in humans*, an extremely dangerous procedure. Some have suggested that his actions were undertaken not to save the life of his patient, but rather to hasten her death and transformation into a vampire. This does not seem consistent with his expressed attitudes, but subsequent events make it harder to defend him. After staking the so-called "Bloofer Lady", rendering her helpless and immobile, he and Seward turned her over to British intelligence so that she, and not Dracula, would be their vampiric agent. His "fee" for this service was a pair of vials of her blood, ostensibly for his own experiments. However, the affair was not over, and it is likely that his true character began to emerge at this point.

After eliminating the brides of Dracula and (seemingly) the Lord of Darkness himself, "Van Helsing" returned to his native Leipzig (or so he claimed.) It is now known that the vials of vampiric blood (and possibly samples that he illicitly obtained from "Mina Harker") were given into the care of agents of Abteilung III b, the military intelligence branch of the Imperial German Army. They used them, along with a number of other examples of mad science, to create the creature later dubbed "Orlock". It is unclear whether "Van Helsing" was aware of these experiments, but even if he was, he may have regarded them as a regrettable necessity.

By 1898, his health was failing, and his death, by what seems to have been natural causes, was reported in 1900. But there is an ambiguity here, even, for no remains were to be found in the crypt where he was supposedly laid to rest when it was opened in 1931. The dreadful possibility exists that Dracula, or some agent of his during this period of inactivity, arranged for his great enemy to become ... perhaps not an ally, but a useful slave. Or perhaps some other weird tale ensued.

"Dr. Abraham van Helsing" -- PL 5

Abilities:
STR
0 | STA 1 | AGL 0 | DEX 3 | FGT 3 | INT 2 | AWE 4 | PRE 2

Advantages:
Assessment, Contacts, Eidetic Memory, Equipment 2, Fascinate (Persuasion), Favored Foe (vampires), Improved Aim, Teamwork, Tracking.

Equipment:
Stakes (Strength-based Damage 1), garlic, an allegedly consecrated host, other vampire hunting gear.

Skills:
Deception 6 (+8), Expertise: Civics 6 (+8), Expertise: Magic* 5 (+7), Expertise: Science 5 (+8), Expertise: Theology & Philosophy 7 (+9), Insight 6 (+10), Investigation 6 (+8), Perception 5 (+9), Persuasion 6 (+8), Stealth 6 (+6), Treatment 6 (+8).
* INT-based ...?

Offense:
Initiative +0
Unarmed +3 (Close Damage 0)
Stake +3 (Close Damage 1)

Defense:
Dodge 3, Parry 3, Fortitude 2, Toughness 1, Will 8.

Totals:
Abilities 30 + Advantages 10 + Skills 32 + Defenses 8 = 80 points

Offensive PL: 2*
Defensive PL: 2
Resistance PL: 5
Skill PL: 5

Complications:
Faith--Motivation. Elderly. Physical Limitation (missing two fingers on his right hand.) Secret (vampire hunter, secret agent.) Subject to Orders.

* The existence of blood types had been discovered by a handful of mad scientists in the years after Blundell, but their results were generally not well-accepted.
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by Davies »

Doctor Typhon/ドクター颱風
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Nearly fifty years after his death, he remains one of the most notorious supervillains in the history of Japan. (His notoriety outside of Japan was much more short-lived.) It is somewhat telling that there are those in Japan who will insist that he was not Japanese himself, citing his birthplace and some old rumors about his birth as proof. This would have annoyed him -- and his annoyance tended to have fatal consequences for its subjects.

Ichikawa Sousuke was born in Taiwan in 1924, but Taiwan was then a colony of the Empire of Japan, and his father was a bureaucrat within the colonial administration. His mother died not long after his birth, and the rumors derive from the fact that his father quickly married his Taiwanese housekeeper (and reputed mistress.) Regardless of such gossip, the young man grew up full immersed in the nationalist ideology of the time, and fully intended to serve in the Japanese army. He would get his wish, but not in the way that he expected. By his seventeenth birthday, it was already clear that he was had a prodigious intellect, and he was promptly recruited for a special unit. No, not that one. There were others, and his was based in the Home Islands.

While working there, Ichikawa made the acquaintance of an older scientist, one Kunisawa Chihiro. They were not friends, but the younger man did find some of the theories that the older proposed concerning the hidden strengths of the human body to be fascinating. Even if they had been friendly, however, Ichikawa would have come to despise Kunisawa after the latter deserted the unit and went underground midway through 1943. For his part, Ichikawa vowed to fight to the bitter end. Of course, then Japan as a whole surrendered, and there was nothing he could do about that. Worse, the critical research he and the others had accomplished during the war was judged irrelevant, and he was neither prosecuted for war crimes nor recruited to continue his work elsewhere. Frustrated, Ichikawa settled down with a wife and soon grew a family, taking out his frustrations on them when they grew too much for him.

In 1954, however, some of the work he had done on the nascent science of gigantology came to the attention of an office of the recently established Japan Self-Defense Forces, and he was contacted with regards to an expedition to Dread Island. Pleased to be at work again, Ichikawa agreed and joined the expedition, leaving his pregnant wife and two young children behind. The last radio contact with the expedition reported that they had arrived at the island and were setting up camp. After that, there was nothing but radio silence.

Ten years after, an Australian expedition to Dread Island was startled when a delirious and disheveled Japanese man stumbled out of the jungle and into their campsite. Ichikawa claimed to be the last survivor of his own expedition, but was confused about how long he had been on the island, believing that it had been no more than a month since his arrival. The Australians had already concluded their observations, and they agreed to take him back to Japan on their way home. After reporting on the disaster to the JSDF, Ichikawa prepared to return home, sure that his family must be deeply mourning his absence.

They were not; once seven years had passed, his wife had promptly remarried and his children now viewed her second husband as their father, and were quite happy about their new circumstances. This annoyed him, fatally so. The one survivor of the massacre was the son who had not even been born when Ichikawa set out, who happened to be playing baseball with some friends. In the aftermath, Ichikawa went underground and abandoned his name, assuming the alias Doctor Typhon and seeking to punish the world for not recognizing his genius and for the suffering he had endured.

Doctor Typhon had several clashes with the Reid group and other American heroes, but his most frequent foes were Jiraiya and Tsunade. (It is not clear if he ever realized they had been trained and enhanced by Kunisawa.) However, he generally worked through minions or lieutenants, rarely allowing his opponents to confront him directly. He developed many horrific inventions in his career as a supervillain, most famously a series of kaiju-scale robots that each caused as much damage as any of the actual creatures of Dread Island. His signature weapon, however, was the aptly-named "dust of death", a paralytic compound that suffocated its victims. Fortunately, his efforts to produce a form of the chemical which could affect large areas came to naught.

In 1974, Doctor Typhon was contacted by an individual interested in recruiting his scientific services. Amused at her presumption, he agreed to the meeting, fully intending to murder her for her effrontery and completely uninterested in what she had to offer. Despite that, he found her ideas intriguing, but as Jiraiya and Tsunade had begun an attack on his base at the same time, he was forced to cut the interview short and end it as he had originally planned. Before he could do so, however, she somehow disarmed him, as though she knew exactly what he was about to do, and shot him with his own dust. When the two ninja broke into the control room of his base, they found him stone dead and completely alone.

The son who had survived his rampage kept the family name of his stepfather, going by Serizawa Katsuhito for the rest of his life.

Doctor Typhon -- PL 8

Abilities:
STR
0 | STA 2 | AGL 2 | DEX 3 | FGT 3 | INT 7 | AWE 3 | PRE 4

Powers:
Dust of Death: Affliction 9 (Resisted by Fortitude; Dazed and Vulnerable, Stunned and Immobile, Dying and Paralyzed), Extra Condition; Removable (-3 points) - 15 points
Imperturbable: Immunity 5 (interaction skills) - 5 points

Advantages:
Assessment, Defensive Roll 2, Equipment 10, Improved Aim, Improved Initiative, Improved Trip, Inventor, Ranged Attack 2, Startle, Uncanny Dodge.

Equipment:
50 points as needed for any given plot, typically including bases and vehicles.

Skills:
Close Attack: Dust of Death 2 (+5), Deception 6 (+10), Expertise: Criminal 2 (+9), Expertise: Science 4 (+11), Insight 6 (+9), Intimidation 8 (+12), Perception 8 (+11), Ranged Attack: Guns 4 (+7), Stealth 5 (+8), Technology 6 (+13), Vehicles 3 (+6).

Offense:
Initiative +6
Unarmed +3 (Close Damage 0)
Dust of Death +5 (Close Fortitude 9)
Gun +9 (Ranged Damage varies)

Defense:
Dodge 7, Parry 5, Fortitude 4, Toughness 7/2, Will 9.

Totals:
Abilities 48 + Powers 20 + Advantages 21 + Skills 27 + Defenses 15 = 131 points

Offensive PL: 7
Defensive PL: 7
Resistance PL: 7
Skill PL: 8

Complications:
Power--Motivation. Casual Killer. Intolerance
(persons who express emotion.)
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RainOnTheSun
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by RainOnTheSun »

Davies wrote: Sun Apr 24, 2022 6:12 am Regardless, by 2008 she had developed enough of a reputation for competence, if perhaps not for tact, that she was offered membership in the Powerhouse, which she rather rudely declined. It has since been suggested that she expected the group to press the issue, and was offended when they took her first refusal for her final word on the subject.
Silly Powerhouse, doesn't understand tsunderes.

I'm glad that Gravitar I wrote up was useful for something! :D

Nice choice on the song, too. It's funny, the thing I associate it with most is an old anime music video about Asuka Langley, which doesn't seem all that far off from La Dame.
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by Davies »

RainOnTheSun wrote: Thu Apr 28, 2022 9:36 am

Nice choice on the song, too. It's funny, the thing I associate it with most is an old anime music video about Asuka Langley, which doesn't seem all that far off from La Dame.
Exactly why I picked it. :lol:

Thank you!
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by Davies »

Tiger Girl/タイガー・ガール
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Image by MK Castaneda.

In some versions of Chinese mythology, the Tiger and the Dragon are eternally at war, neither able to permanently defeat the other. This is definitely not the case among the Shēngxiào, where the first occupant of the house of the Tiger, known by the alias Hidden Tiger, constantly came out the loser in any conflict with Shēng Lóng, who regarded him with contempt. (Ironically, he was also the only person there who got the reference, as that movie is known as Green Destiny in Japanese.) Nevertheless, Shēng Lóng endured this with transparently false patience until a meeting in 2014 where he received what he took for permission from Diorite, and then snapped the neck of his supposed rival without resorting to the use of his superpowers. The meeting ended soon afterwards.

On that very same day, in a hotel room rented by the hour, a certain executive at a certain talent agency was having a private meeting with one of the idols whose career he was producing, nineteen year old Furukami Yuna. It was a somewhat awkward meeting, as she wanted to discuss her next public appearance and he wanted to discuss how the agency was going to cease representing her. Despite the entirely inappropriate relationship that had existed between the two of them since she was fifteen, he had come to agree that the other two members of her group were simply better entertainers than she was, and that it was time for things to end. He finally explained this to her, bluntly, and told her that she would be expected to do one last "graduation" performance where she would bid farewell to her fellows.

Yuna stared at him a moment, and then, just as bluntly, told him that this would not be possible. "Because I went to see the two of them before I came here, and I killed them both with this knife." She was upon him and had cut open his stomach before he could even cry for help, not that any would have come. He managed to claw at one of her eyes before he bled out, and this really upset her; her eyes were one of her charm points after all. So she was engaging in some retributive desecration of his corpse when someone cleared their throat behind her. Diorite had not expected to find the new occupant of the house of the Tiger this quickly.

Seven years later, Furukami Yuna is one of the top idols in all of Japan, selling vast quantities of merchandise and constantly pushed by her agency -- which she secretly owns, and whose employees and other idols are kept in a state of suspended terror, never knowing whether any given day will be their last. She ignores those who claim that she is at best an average singer and dancer on the grounds that they are people who understand the price of everything and the value of nothing. (She came up with that by herself, incidentally.) As part of her image, she wears an eyepatch over her left eye, although it has long since healed thanks to her regenerative abilities. However, it does slightly change color when she takes up her aspect.

Yuna works patiently to use the entertainment industry to promote the nihilistic agenda of the Shēngxiào, spreading an ideal that all that matters is whatever pleasure you can squeeze out of life, regardless of who has to be hurt in the process. She has come under suspicion of being an influencer for the group repeatedly, but has always dodged out of the way of investigations by the Ghost Sweepers thanks to clever use of sacrificial pawns. She realizes that she is herself a pawn of the senior members of the Shēngxiào, but plans to gradually change that.

However, she has no intention of directly challenging the Dragon. Rather, she will slowly arrange for the other occupants to be replaced by new members who are primarily loyal to herself, then have them collectively challenge Shēng Lóng, wearing him down until he falls. Then she will rule under Diorite, until she finds a way to attack her, dethrone her, and take her place. That there might be someone behind Diorite is not something she has considered, but if she does, she will view them as just one more obstacle set in the path to becoming God that providence, or rather her own future God-self, has laid out for her. And then she will hurt everyone everywhere all at once, forever.

She is Tiger. Hear her roar.

Tiger Girl -- PL 9

Abilities:
STR
5/-1 | STA 5/-1 | AGL 7/1 | DEX 1 | FGT 8/2 | INT 2 | AWE 4 | PRE 3

Powers:
Aspect of the Tiger: Activation (Standard Action, -2 points)
* Catseyes: Senses 3 (low-light vision, acute and tracking Olfactory) - 3 points
* Claws: Strength-based Damage 2, Accurate, Improved Critical 3, Subtle - 7 points
* Transformation: Enhanced Agility 6; Enhanced Fighting 6; Enhanced Stamina 6; Enhanced Strength 6; Regeneration 5; Subtle - 54 points
Deranged: Immunity 20 (mental effects), Limited to half effect - 10 points

Advantages:
Attractive 2, Benefit 2 (independently wealthy), Chokehold, Defensive Roll 2, Evasion, Hide in Plain Sight, Improved Grab, Improved Hold, Improved Initiative.

Skills:
Acrobatics 5 (+12/+6), Athletics 6 (+11/+5), Deception 7 (+10), Expertise: Magic 4 (+7), Expertise: Performance 4 (+7), Expertise: Popular Culture 6 (+8), Insight 4 (+8), Intimidation 8 (+11), Perception 6 (+10), Sleight of Hand 8 (+9), Stealth 6 (+13/+7).

Offense:
Initiative +11/+5
Unarmed +8/+2 (Close Damage 5/-1)
Claws +10 (Close Damage 7, Crit 17-20)

Defense:
Dodge 7/1, Parry 8/2, Fortitude 7/1, Toughness 10/5/4/-1, Will 7

Totals:
Abilities 22 + Powers 67 + Advantages 12 + Skills 33 + Defenses 5 = 139 points

Offensive PL: 9
Defensive PL: 9
Resistance PL: 7
Skill PL: 8

Complications:
Sadism--Motivation. Delusion
("I am the greatest idol the world has ever seen".) Fame. Laziness (prefers to make men do things for her.) Secret Identity. Subject to Orders.

"I am the revelation! The tiger force at the core of all things!"
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EternalPhoenix
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by EternalPhoenix »

Davies wrote: Sat Apr 30, 2022 6:02 am "I am the revelation! The tiger force at the core of all things!"
:lol: :lol: :lol:

Though in all seriousness, we're on similar wavelengths, I guess. Strength Revolution. Special Tactics Group. Squad B. The Sin-sations. Also musicians as a cover for their criminal activities.
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by Davies »

EternalPhoenix wrote: Sat Apr 30, 2022 2:05 pm
Though in all seriousness, we're on similar wavelengths, I guess. Strength Revolution. Special Tactics Group. Squad B. The Sin-sations. Also musicians as a cover for their criminal activities.
Quite looking forward to seeing that.

The primary inspiration for Yuna (other than general knowledge about some of the rather toxic aspects of the idol business) was a manga entitled Catastrophe of the Neighboring Town where an idol very similar to Yuna ends up becoming the secondary antagonist of the story. (The main antagonist is nature, being that gravity has reversed itself.)
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by Davies »

Madalin LeSinistre
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Photo taken around 1968

By the middle of 1964, many authorities across the United States had become used to contactng the Institute in general, and Diane Fortune in particular, when unusual and bizarre phenomena occurred within their jurisdiction. Depending on her mercurial moods, Diane often passed these cases on to her colleagues (or occasionally to Jeremiah Wander) but sometimes took a personal interest, as she did when summoned to Broken Arrow, Oklahoma to investigate a series of seemingly impossible burglaries. Working out that these crimes had been commtted by someone able to be both invisible and intangible, Diane developed a means of trapping the burglar, having -- somehow -- divined that they would be unable to pass through silver and -- somehow -- imbuing the force field she created with the "mystical essence of silver". Or so she claimed.

Regardless of how she actually did it, Diane wound up capturing a frightened young woman whom she judged to be about fifteen years old. In bizarrely accented English, she claimed to be the Princess Madalin LeSinistre of the Kingdom of Specially. Before Diane could interrupt to object to this absurdity, the girl continued with the tale that her parents had fled into exile here in America, but that she herself had been kidnapped by wicked people and taken underground to the Realm of Darkness. While the strangers in that place had treated her kindly, and even taught her their ways, she had nonetheless yearned for freedom, and after stealing one of their treasures -- the Cloak of Sh'Halla -- she had fled back to the Lands of Light. There, desperate, she had stolen only to feed herself.

Diane believed that at most one word in three of that was truthful, but part of it quickened her pulse nonetheless. She had heard rumors of a great city beneath the surface of the world, called Xinaián by some and inhabited by people known to others as the Shonokins, whose abilities supposedly included the same power to dematerialize themselves that "Madalin LeSinistre" demonstrated. The possibility of learning more aroused her curiosity, and she persuaded the Broken Arrow police to let her take custody of the burglar after everything that she had stolen was returned to its rightful owners, then took "Madalin" back to Washington with her.

Her hopes were dashed. Even when she was able to get as much of the truth out of the younger girl as she thought she could, "Madalin" had only been a child when she came to what she called the Realm of Darkness; she had not understood much of what she saw, and had learned through rote rather than any deeper understanding. Giving up on this idea, Diane employed the resources of the Institute to discover who the girl was and where she had come from. She was tentatively identified as Sheila MacMillan, who had gone missing in 1956 when her family had visited the Spiro Mounds in Oklahoma. Interviewing her parents confirmed that their daughter had frequently playacted as a princess named "Madalin", and they were thrilled when she was returned to them.

Madalin was less enthusiastic, and became a frequent headache for the people pretending to be her parents. Twice in the years that followed, she crossed paths with Diane again, once as a hindrance to another affair but once as an ally of some worth. For the most part, however, she kept her mischievous activities focused on her home in Little Rock, Arkansas, and rarely attracting any official attention. Her interest in young men captured much of attention, and while her boyfriends all considered her a spooky little girl, particularly in light of how she seemed to change her mind at the drop of a hat in response to her empathy or foresight, she was quite popular. On Halloween of 1968, one of them proposed marriage, and they were married early in the next year, with a daughter coming along soon after.

She met Diane Fortune for the last time shortly before the Battle of Vietnam, and also met her new apprentice at the same time. It is thought that she had some foretelling of what was coming, and attempted to warn Diane, only to have her claims dismissed as more lies. After her marriage broke up in 1974, she took her daughter with her when she left the United States, travelling through Europe and eventually settling in Finland, specifically in a tower she erected in Lemmenjoki National Park. There they both lived, only leaving on occasional trips to purchase supplies, until 1982, when Madalin was assassinated during one such trip at the start of the Pythonian Insurgency, which she apparently failed to foresee. Her daughter survived, stole the Cloak off her body, and used it to escape back to the tower. She still lives there, alone now.

Madalin LeSinistre -- PL7

Abilities:
STR
-1 | STA 0 | AGL 0 | DEX 1 | FGT 2 | INT 3 | AWE 4 | PRE 4

Powers:
Cloak of Sh'Halla: Array (20 points); Removable (-4 points)
  • Cloaking Field: Concealment 10, Affects Others and Self, Passive - 20 points
  • Defense Field: Reaction Damage 5 (when touched) - 1 point
  • Disguise Field: Morph 4 - 1 point
Dematerialization: Linked Insubstantial 4, Quirk (cannot pass through silver); Linked Flight 4 (30 MPH) - 27 points
Empathy: Mind Reading 6, Limited to emotions - 6 points
Seer: Enhanced Advantages 4 (Defensive Roll 2, Evasion 2); Enhanced Defenses 8 (Dodge 4, Parry 4); Senses 1 (danger sense); Senses 8 (postcognition, precognition), Unreliable - 17 points

Advantages:
Attractive, Equipment 3 (after 1977), Fascinate (Deception), Improved Initiative, Ritualist, Seize Initiative, Uncanny Dodge.

Equipment:
Tower: Size Medium; Toughness 10; Features Dual-Size (Huge), Isolated, Laboratory, Library, Living Space, Security System, Workshop - 12 points

Skills:
Deception 7 (+11), Expertise: Magic 5 (+9), Expertise: Streetwise 7 (+10), Insight 5 (+9), Perception 4 (+8), Sleight of Hand 8 (+9).

Offense:
Initiative +4
Unarmed +2 (Close Damage -1 and Reaction Damage 5)

Defense:
Dodge 9/5, Parry 8/4, Fortitude 3, Toughness 5/0, Will 8

Totals:
Abilities 26 + Powers 68 + Advantages 9 + Skills 18 + Defenses 14 = 135 points

Offensive PL: 6
Defensive PL: 7
Resistance PL: 6
Skill PL: 6

Complications:
Thrills--Motivation. Deceitful (exaggerates or outright lies.) Family (daughter, after 1969.) Fear (Xinaián.) Flirtatious.

Note: The stats above, with some modifications, can also be used for her daughter, Alison Auringvalo (alias Baba Zenobia.) While she lost the Cloak of Sh'Halla to Captain Mystic in 1991, she had learned how to partially replicate its Disguise Field with her own powers; add Animal Forms: Morph 3 (animal forms) to her powers. She also has Intimidation 6 (+10) and Stealth 8 (+8) as skills. Her motivation is Survival and she lacks Family, Fear or Flirtation complications, being Paranoid instead; during the 80s and late 90s she also had a Relationship (Killshot).

Photograph of Alison Auringvalo, c. 1986:
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EternalPhoenix
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by EternalPhoenix »

What I want to say is that the Pythonian Insurgency has much to answer for...except they already did, which leaves me at loose ends as far as things to say. Does Captain Mystic still have the Cloak?
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by Davies »

EternalPhoenix wrote: Mon May 02, 2022 7:25 am What I want to say is that the Pythonian Insurgency has much to answer for...except they already did, which leaves me at loose ends as far as things to say. Does Captain Mystic still have the Cloak?
She eventually passed it on to one of her students, Myr Hlnsky, who's used it a bit more nobly than either of its previous owners did.

And this particular bit of the Insurgency's work had some interesting positive outcomes. If not for Madalin's murder, it's unlikely that Alison would have met Killshot, much less become the mother of Nick Grey. Without Nick Grey, Jennifer Chase would probably never have escaped the hospital where she was recovering to join the Powerhouse or become Blakestone. Without Blakestone, a lot of the Powerhouse's cases would have gone differently -- and worse.

On the other hand, without that, Rose Madder and Jaana Auringvalo would not now be rampaging across Europe. So it's a mix.
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by Davies »

Peshkera
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Surface view
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Caverns

Peshkera, the second planet out from its G-type main sequence star, was one of countless planets "discovered" by the Manguai in their first bursts of interstellar exploration and then promptly forgotten when neither it nor any of the other planets in its star system demonstrated either easily accessible resources nor life forms who could be convinced to become clients of their discoverers. It would much later be rediscovered by the Gebela, whose interest in pure science was greater, but even they were inclined to accept the verdict of their patrons that the second planet had next to nothing to offer them, with its acidic atmosphere and barren surface. But then the two peculiarities of this planet were discovered, one that made it fascinating and the other that made it frustrating.

The fascinating aspect was what their ground penetrating sensors revealed. Beneath that storm-wracked surface was a series of vast caverns that contained a breathable oxygen atmosphere, suggesting the presence of water and plant life. Accessing these caverns without exposing them to the hazards of the surface would be difficult, but not impossible. That was where the problem became frustrating. Some unknown factor in the makeup of the planet, whether geological or atmospheric, caused the gravitic thrusters employed by all spacecraft to shut down if they descended below a certain altitude. While other thruster types would still function, they were extremely rare, and constructing them for the sole purpose of exploring one planet was not economically sound.

Therefore, the Gebela explorers eventually set up an orbital platform to study the planet dubbed Peshkera, with generations of scientists passing through to perform their remote studies. It remained in operation even after the Gebela departed from the Imperium in the wake of the Schism Wars, passing into the hands of a scientific firm operated from a Chiraben-settled planet. They were therefore in the right place at the right time to benefit from the development of projective teleportation technology, allowing the first exploration of the caverns. They were everything that the remote observations had indicated, perfectly able to support humanoid life, with fungal growths that proved quite edible.

Just how the decision was made to use these caverns as gigantic unsupervised prison complexes remains somewhat obscure, but the project had been active long before the rise of the Crimson King. The orbital platform was converted into a fortress, from which the prisoners who arrived daily were dispatched by teleportation to the caverns. Exile to Peshkera was frequently framed as a merciful alternative. Rather than being confined or executed, sapients who had demonstrated that they could not or would not function as part of a civilized society were sent to a place where they could not harm those who could, but where they would also have the liberty to live as they pleased. And that was not even the freedom to starve, for the generous Imperium regularly sent supplies through the teleporter along with new prisoners. The situation has continued right up into the present; if anything, the authorities of the Crimson Imperium have slightly reduced the number of prisoners who are sent there.

Within the caverns, some of the exiles have succeeded in building a civilization, albeit an extremely low-tech one, farming the fungi for food and adapting to the darkness. Their settlements often come under assault by other prisoners who have proven themselves too violent to remain and been driven out, in what might seem an ironic echo of their own circumstances. No deliberate weapons are ever sent through the teleporter, but both sides have learned how to adapt farming or crafting implements into improvised ones. These internal struggles would be bad enough, but there are also bizarre sentient and mobile fungal growths haunting the lower caverns, preying on prisoners who stray too far from their communities and sometimes growing bold enough to attack large groups.

All this has led to the development of a class of armed explorers, sometimes just called "venturers", hired by the settlement communities to keep these so-called monsters and bandits in check. These threats cannot reasonably be eliminated, but they can be prevented from growing strong enough to endanger the settlements. In the process, the venturers also often discover new resources and new places to establish settlements. However, that is not all that they have discovered, and some of those discoveries have been new sources of concern for the exile leadership.

In the deeper caverns, there are signs ruins of an earlier civilization, created by a now-vanished sapient species. Where these people came from and where they went remain mysterious, but a handful of art objects have been found that suggest that they resembled the Vizugta people* of the Imperium, but with six fingers on each hand. (The Vizugta within Peshkera who have learned of this are just as mystified as anyone else.) Aside from this art, they have left behind some technological relics that are both highly useful and often quite dangerous, depending on whose hands they end up in. Needless to say, venturers and their patrons are keen to learn more, and so are many bandits.

Early in the history of the Insurgency against the Crimson Imperium, captured insurgents were often sent to Peshkera. While that policy has stopped since Gelesh, with captives now rarely surviving their captivity, this has resulted in the presence of the Insurgency among the exiles. Unfortunately, they are divided between two factions: one seeks to covertly improve conditions within the caverns; the other, under the leadership of someone in the midst of a serious psychological breakdown, seeks to drill to the surface and flood the caverns with the toxic atmosphere, killing everyone within, on the dubious theory that this will cause outrage against the authorities within the Imperium.

One of the most noteworthy venturers, loosely associated with the former group of Insurgents, is a Chiraben woman who goes by the name Callixa Tall, who is keeping a great secret from even her supposed allies. A mystic, possessed of one of the greatest connections to the Source that any Chiraben has ever demonstrated, she was trained by one of the few members of the order to not retreat to their garden or go into hiding, and was on the verge of crafting a laser sword for herself when her mentor was killed by criminals. Seeking to punish them got her captured by the law and sent into exile. While understandably a bit upset about all this, Callixa still seeks to follow the teachings and protect the innocent, but she also hopes to find a way of escape.

That hope was recently both helped and harmed by her latest discoveries. In one particularly dark cave, further down than she had ever before ventured, Callixa discovered a group of creatures who seemed to be made out of living fire who had just come through what seemed to be some sort of free-standing portal. She hid and watched while one extremely large example of the creatures joined them, looked about and made a sound she took for laughter -- frightening, horrible laughter -- before returning through the portal.

The flame creatures headed off down one of the tunnels, but before Callixa could make up her mind about whether to follow them or to see where the portal led, a different group came through it. Another Chiraben woman, a green-skinned android, a rock creature and a drone of some sort. They stood a while talking, and Callixa decided to greet them. "Hello," she said, hand raised and ready to burn. "So, you came from the same place as the bad guys, but you don't look like them, so I'm going to ask first if you're the good guys. And I hope to Kaos that the answer is yes."

"Well," said Wissen. "We try."

Callixa Tall -- PL 8
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Abilities:
STR
0 | STA 1 | AGL 5 | DEX 3 | FGT 6 | INT 2 | AWE 4 | PRE 2

Powers:
Adapted to Darkness: Senses 1 (low-light vision) - 1 point
Draw On The Source: Impervious Will 8, Limited to mental effects; Regeneration 5 - 9 points
Sense The Source: Enhanced Defense 8 (Dodge 4, Parry 4); Senses 5 (Accurate, Acute, Ranged Danger Sense) - 13 points
Work With The Source: Array (32 points)
  • Burn: Perception Range Damage 8, Concentration - 32 points
  • Move: Flight 5 (60 MPH); Perception Range Move Object 7 (3 tons), Subtle - 1 points
Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Close Attack 3, Defensive Roll 2, Equipment, Evasion, Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Takedown, Tracking, Uncanny Dodge

Equipment:
Sword (Strength-based Damage 3, Improved Critical).

Skills:
Acrobatics 6 (+11), Athletics 8 (+8), Deception 6 (+8), Expertise: Galactic 8 (+10), Expertise: Survival 6 (+8), Insight 6 (+10), Intimidation 6 (+8), Perception 7 (+11), Persuasion 8 (+10), Stealth 4 (+9), Technology 5 (+7).

Offense:
Initiative +9
Unarmed +9 (Close Damage 0)
Sword +9 (Close Damage 3)
Burn -- (Perception Range Damage 8)

Defense:
Dodge 10/6, Parry 10/6, Fortitude 4, Toughness 6/1, Will 8.

Totals:
Abilities 46 + Powers 56 + Advantages 13 + Skills 35 + Defenses 8 = 158 points

Offensive PL: 8
Defensive PL: 8
Resistance PL: 6
Skill PL: 6

Complications:
Responsibility--Motivation. Secret (mystic.) Temptation of Power.

* Such as Derat Bahasta, alias El Diablo Rojo.
"I'm sorry. I love you. I'm not sorry I love you."
pathfinderq1
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Joined: Sun Mar 12, 2017 4:04 pm

Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by pathfinderq1 »

Davies wrote: Wed May 04, 2022 6:08 am
The flame creatures headed off down one of the tunnels, but before Callixa could make up her mind about whether to follow them or to see where the portal led, a different group came through it. Another Chiraben woman, a green-skinned android, a rock creature and a drone of some sort. They stood a while talking, and Callixa decided to greet them. "Hello," she said, hand raised and ready to burn. "So, you came from the same place as the bad guys, but you don't look like them, so I'm going to ask first if you're the good guys. And I hope to Kaos that the answer is yes."

"Well," said Wissen. "We try."
Woo-Hoo! We're famous! Or what that infamous? Or Notorious?

I do so love reading about this world (these worlds?), even if we aren't playing in it anymore...
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Davies
Posts: 5080
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Location: Edmonton, AB

Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by Davies »

pathfinderq1 wrote: Thu May 05, 2022 12:24 am
Davies wrote: Wed May 04, 2022 6:08 am
The flame creatures headed off down one of the tunnels, but before Callixa could make up her mind about whether to follow them or to see where the portal led, a different group came through it. Another Chiraben woman, a green-skinned android, a rock creature and a drone of some sort. They stood a while talking, and Callixa decided to greet them. "Hello," she said, hand raised and ready to burn. "So, you came from the same place as the bad guys, but you don't look like them, so I'm going to ask first if you're the good guys. And I hope to Kaos that the answer is yes."

"Well," said Wissen. "We try."
Woo-Hoo! We're famous! Or what that infamous? Or Notorious?
Famous on Earth, at least -- which is a bit like saying "big in Japan" from an interstellar perspective :lol:
pathfinderq1 wrote: Thu May 05, 2022 12:24 amI do so love reading about this world (these worlds?), even if we aren't playing in it anymore...
Happy to hear that, hope I continue to entertain.
"I'm sorry. I love you. I'm not sorry I love you."
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