Solara version 2.0

[Mark Rand]

What can I say? I'm thinking of bringing Solara back and dropping her into the IST San Angelo campaign as an NPC heroine that sometimes bumps into the PCs while she's fighting the good fight.

 

Solara herself is a magical girl. She appears to be in her early 20s, stands 6'2" in two-inch heels, acts refined, and has a solid grasp of magical and hand to hand combat. She's also quick-witted and dodges attacks with a dancer's (or acrobat's) grace.

 

Tim Clark, Solara's civilian identity, is nothing like his alter ego. He's 14-years old, 5'8" tall in sneakers, skinny, wears glasses, is in drama club, and is a bit of a klutz. He does, however, have a good heart.

 

After his parents split in a nasty devorce, he ended up in his widowed Aunt Grace's custody. At 55, Grace Clark has seen a lot. After graduating high school in 1968, Grace worked as a waitress while attending first a beauty school then a modeling school. Although she wasn't a success as a model, her skills as a hairdressser and makeup artist made up for that. She was injured in an on-set accident in 1972 and she spent one month in a hospital. She decided to be a nurse and modeled only in the summer while spending the rest of her time as a student nurse. She was a nurse for 20-years before being laid off. After thinking about it for a bit, Grace became a school guard. In 2000, Grace's husband was killed when a drunken driver ran a red light at high speed and slammed into his car before ramming it into a parked bus that was unloading passangers. The drunk was also killed in the wreck.

 

Now, Grace has to help Tim cope with both the pressures of high school and the weirdness of being a female superhero.

 

Next, Solara's skills and powers.

[Mark Rand]

Re: Solara version 2.0

 

As promised, here are Solara's powers.

 

Shape change to female, all sense groups, cellular, IIF bracelet, incantations.

Cosmetic transformation, Tim's clothes to Solara's costume, linked to shape change.

Costume is armored, OIHID.

Primary charistics increased, OIHID.

High-range radio hearing, OIHID.

Movement multipower: +20 Running, regular flight; 16"; 0 END, traveling speed; 6" megascale; 1"=1 kilometer, all OIHID

Attack multipower 1: Sunburst sight-group flash attack, Sunburn thermal energy blast, Sunstroke plasma energy blast; suggested limitations, limited number of uses per day, time delay to let energy build up, reduced range; all powers have gestures and incantations (Solara must identify attack) all are OIHID.

Attack multipower 2: Sunsword energy katana; 1 1/2 D6 HKA, Sunbow energy bow and arrows; 1 1/2 D6 RKA, Solar Stars shuriken attack, all are OIHID.

Defensive multipower: Solar Shield force field, Solar Castle force wall, desolid (Solara uses this ability while flying. It protects her from windburn and lets her slip through buildings, trees, utility lines and other stuff unharmed. Also, it prevents sonic booms), all OIHID.

Tim has the proper skills for a ninth grader in high school. Solara's has all of Time, plus high society, tactics, acrobatics (or ps dancer), martial arts training, and various other mystical and social skills.

[Mark Rand]

Re: Solara version 2.0

 

This thread is tied into my IST San Angelo version 3.0 thread which may be found at http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=38526.

 

I've created a map of the area around the high school Tim attends. It's been attached to this message.

[Mark Rand]

Re: Solara version 2.0

 

"Now, you look like a girl," Grace Clark said after adjusting her nephew Tim's wig. "I think you'll look great in your school play."

 

"What will my friends think?" Tim asked, thinking of how his peers would react.

 

"Hopefully, they'll think you'll make a good actor," she replied. "I'm sure you'll do better than Moose and Rocko."

 

"Yeah," Tim admitted. At 5'8" tall, he made a better girl than the two 6'4", 300 pound, brain-dead football players. "I'm going to change," he said.

 

"Fine. I'll be in my room balancing my checking account."

 

"Okey."

 

Five minutes later, Tim entered Aunt Grace's room and said, "I can't get this bracelet off."

 

"May I see it?" Grace asked.

 

"Sure," Tim said. "Wait a minute. There's writing on it. `Princess Solara power-up.'"

 

In a burst of energy, Tim was transformed. "Whoa," he said. "That was something."

 

"Let's get you to a mirror," Grace said, trying to stay calm.

 

"What just happened and why do I sound like a woman?"

 

"You are a woman," Grace replied. "You look like one of the sailor soldiers from Sailor Moon."

 

"I thought they were sailor scouts."

 

"They were sailor soldiers in the original text."

 

"Oh." A pause. "Aunt Grace, I'm picking up an emergency call. There's a monster loose in Samuel Bracket Park. With the IST in Oregon and the Slayer team hunting a vampire nest in Sacramento, I'm the best person for the job."

 

"Be careful and good hunting," Grace said as Solara phased through the window.

 

Next, Solara vs the monster.

[Mark Rand]

Re: Solara version 2.0

 

Sorry about the delay. I'll post "Solara vs the monster" as soon as I find my notes.

[Mark Rand]

Re: Solara version 2.0

 

Solara climbed to 500 feet, spotted Samuel Bracket High School and headed west, passing over the neighborhood synagogue that Tim and Grace attended, before arriving at Samuel Bracket Park. Decending, she spotted Lieutenant Jerry House, who headed the San Angelo Police Department's Paranormal Alert Response Team.

"How are you, young lady?" the lieutenant asked.

"Solara," she replied.

"Never heard of you," Lieutenant House said.

"My first night out," Solara admitted. "I picked up the emergency call and came to help. I'll leave if you want me to."

"You sanctioned by anyone?" the lieutenant asked.

"No, but I was thinking about getting sanctioned by the DMI."

"They're good people," Jerry admitted. "Right now, we have a larger problem, a twice life-size, fire breathing, version of Grond."

"Is it alive or is it some kind of undead creature?" Solara asked.

"We don't know," Lieutenant House replied. "Neither the Watcher Council records, nor any law enforcement agency we've talked to knows what it is."

"Okey," Solara said. "Since it breathes fire, it's probably immune to it, too. My best shot is to hit the creature in the eyes with a blinding flash of light."

to be continued

[Mark Rand]

Re: Solara version 2.0

 

"We've tried that with lasers," Lieutenant House said.

"Guess I'll have to get right in its face," Solara said.

"Yeah," the lieutenant said as the creature charged. He ordered his men to back off and let Solara try.

She moved in quickly, positioned her hands, and said, "Sunburst." Suddenly, for a split-second, the creature saw daylight. Then, it roared and began smoking, before becoming a column of fire and crumbling to ashes.

"Must have been some kind of undead creature to react that way to your light burst," Lieutenant House said.

"If you say so," Solara said.

"I just remembered that the DMI requires you to be active one year before they'll sanction you," the lieutenant said. "In the meantime, you can be sanctioned locally."

"I'd like that," Solara said.

"Good. Stop by police headquarters and ask for either me or Lieutenant Chet Dawes. Both of us have the forms you'll need."

"Understand," Solara said. "Thanl you."

"You're welcome," Lieutenant House said before Solara flew off.

[Mark Rand]

Re: Solara version 2.0

 

"How'd it go?" Grace asked as Solara entered through the wall.

"It went well," Solara replied, walking toward her aunt. "This form feels as comfortable to me as my other does, but it shouldn't. This one is so new."

"I think you have two sets of bahaviors, which includes motor skills, in your head," Grace said. "Only one can be active at any one time. Right now, Solara's are active and you're comporting yourself as a woman. When you become Tim again, his bahaviors will become active again and Solara's will be suppressed."

"Okey," Solara said, walking to the mirror and getting a good look at herself. She had red hair that fell to her knees. Her bangs almost hid the gold headband/tiara on her brow. Her top was white with gold trim and a yellow bow. Her very short skirt, with its own bow, pumps and the trim on her elbow-length white gloves were all gold.

"Not bad," he said. "However, this isn't me. Princess Solara power-down." In a burst of energy, Solara vanished and Tim took her place.

"That was weird," Tim said. "I'm myself again, right?"

"Yeah," Grace replied. "How much do you remember about Solara?"

"All of it," he replied. "I'm going to bed, Aunt Grace. I've had a tiring day."

[The Souljourner]

Re: Solara version 2.0

 

Very interesting concept... never thought about someone turning into an opposite sex superhero.

 

I'm wondering why you didn't use a multiform. As listed, it sounds like solara will have the characteristics of a clumsy 14 year old boy.

 

-Nate

[Mark Rand]

Re: Solara version 2.0

 

Very interesting concept... never thought about someone turning into an opposite sex superhero.

 

I'm wondering why you didn't use a multiform. As listed, it sounds like solara will have the characteristics of a clumsy 14 year old boy.

 

-Nate

Thank you.

I'll probably use multiform when I finally write Solara up. Right now, I'm still working on the concept.

[Mark Rand]

Re: Solara version 2.0

 

"How are you doing, Tim?" Grace asked as he joined her for breakfast.

"Still freaked out after last night, Aunt Grace," He replied. "I had this real strange dream. It caused me to do some research about her on the web. Want to know what I discovered?"

"The first Solara was a young female samurai in 16th century Japan," Grace replied. "The first American Solara was a widowed Japanese woman who came to Colorado Springs, with her daughter, in the mid-1870s, married a rancher and became one herself. She was also the first Solara to change forms with the aid of a bracelet."

"You knew?" Tim asked. Grace nodded. "How?"

"Think," Grace replied with a grin.

"I will," he said before beginning to eat. Halfway through the meal, it struck him. "The bracelet was yours."

"Yes," Grace said. "I was Solara for 20 years. One year after I retired, the bracelet finally came off. I put it in my pocket, then placed it in the jewelry bag that I kept with my modeling stuff. Counting it, there were five identical bracelets in the bag. Somehow, I chose the Solara bracelet to lend you and somehow, it activated for you. I just don't understand it, Tim. Up to now, Solara has always been nearly identical in both forms."

[Mark Rand]

Re: Solara version 2.0

 

"Nearly identical?" Tim asked.

"Yes," Grace replied. "In Japan, Solara was always addressed as if she was a representative of Amsartasu, the Shinto sun goddess. The first American Solara was Keiko. As family legend has it, she received the bracelet from Amartasu herself."

"This is weird," Tim said.

"I know," Grace returned. "Keiko was the first to call herself Solara. Until you became her, Solara was female in both heroic and civilian identities. Her height and weight remained the same. Her physical abilities increased slightly when she became Solara and her costume reflected the age she was active in."

"You didn't wear a costume like mine?" Tim asked.

"I wore a blouse, slacks, with a belt, low-heel, knee-high boots, and wrist-length gloves," Grace replied. "The blouse and slacks were gold while the belt, boots, and gloves were yellow. I also went from brunette to blonde and my features changed."

[Mark Rand]

Re: Solara version 2.0

 

"Do the powers stay the same?" Tim asked.

"No," Grace replied. "All of us have been able to form energy shields and walls as well as produce bright light, heat, and high-energy plasma. The last can be used only three times a day and takes a bit of time to power up."

She paused, then continued, "When Keiko powered up, her mare changed from a blood bay to a palmino. That horse could race the wind, pass through obstructions and feared nothing."

"That's some horse," Tim said.

"Yeah," Grace admitted. "The first Solara that could fly appeared in the 1930s. She was also the first that could pass through stuff. My mother was the first to use the energy sword and bow. I was the first to use the energy stars and refer to myself as `Princess Solara of Heliopolis, the City of the Sun', and `Mistress of the Solar Winds.'"

[SKJAM!]

Re: Solara version 2.0

 

While Solara herself seems like a fairly sound character, I still find the fiction bits rather flat and inclined to "tell" over "show."

[Mark Rand]

Re: Solara version 2.0

 

While Solara herself seems like a fairly sound character' date=' I still find the fiction bits rather flat and inclined to "tell" over "show."[/quote']

I hear you. My writing style still needs work, but, hopefully, I'm improving a bit.

[Mark Rand]

Re: Solara version 2.0

 

While I figure out what happens next, I thought I'd tell you about Samuel Bracket High School.

The school's colors are blue and gold. The mascot is the panther. (This the American panther, or mountain lion.) The school covers grades 9 through 12 and has a student population of 1600.

The school students participate in all sports but gymnastics. The football and basketball games are well-attended, the others aren't. Students interested in gymnastics attend San Angelo Gymnastics, which is located across the street from Samuel Bracket High School.

Among the notable students are the three area Slayers, one of which is Ellen Hoynes, Vice President John Hoynes's daughter, and their team members. Secret Service agents are keeping an eye on her in school and at social and state events. While the team's out on patrol or on the hunt, they stay alert while keeping their distance.

[Mark Rand]

Re: Solara version 2.0

 

Another Slayer is Mariko Nakamura. Her mother, Kimiko, ownes the dojo across from the school. Grace's school guard post includes the corner it's on.

The third Slayer is Ronna Wells. She's African-American and wears her hair in braids. Her father, John, is the school's head librarian and her mother, June, who always wears blue scrubs, is the school nurse.

[Mark Rand]

Re: Solara version 2.0

 

As you probably already know, I've dropped the IST San Angelo idea for a campaign that's closer to the CU. In this one, Millennium City was once Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Will Solara show up? I don't know. If she does, she won't be part of the Champions.

Now, what about Tim? From what I recall, there is usually very little difference between a magical girl's physical appearance and that of her civilian self. The only time there is any change is when the civilian identity's male. Even then, the heroine resembles a female version of her civilian identity. Therefore, for Solara to be athletic-looking, Tim has to be, too.

[Mark Rand]

Re: Solara version 2.0

 

It occurred to me this morning that Solara, like Isis, is an avatar.

Consider the following: 1) They both use a piece of jewelry and utter a phrase to change to their metahuman forms. 2) They utter incantations before casting their spells. 3) They are the latest in their family to be a goddess's avatar.

Comment is invited.