TheTemplar

Re: Storn's Art & Characters thread. Hey Storn, great displays at GenCon. That Fantasy HERO cover was awesome. I hope it sold. I would've taken it off your hands if I could have. Nice to get a chance to meet you. -T (the guy who had all the supers you've drawn for his campaign's PCs on his t-shirt)

Re: Champions Assemble! The Defenders have earpiece communicators that are very small and very clear, making them practically invisible and, ergo, useable in S.ID. They're also linked to the base computer system so that in the event of a Trouble Alert at the base, all 7 active members are notified regardless of where they are.

Re: [Campaign] DEFENDERS CONGREGATE!! Glad you liked it TB. Like I said, I really had a lot of fun with that one, too. Thanks!

Re: [Campaign] DEFENDERS CONGREGATE!! No Session or update this weekend as most of us will be at Gen Con.

Re: [Campaign] DEFENDERS CONGREGATE!! That's true - it was about 1:00 or so.. maybe even later. I don't remember. And, yes, if the D-Jet's computer was an AI, he/she would likely be pretty steamed at TB right now.

Re: [Campaign] DEFENDERS CONGREGATE!! Hey, after Eurostar, you guys have EARNED a little mindless greed action. Enjoy it while it lasts.... It's all downhill from here.

Re: [Campaign] DEFENDERS CONGREGATE!! Next Session: Smash And GRAB

Re: [Campaign] DEFENDERS CONGREGATE!! Eurostar Rising, Pt. 2 The Defenders Season IV, Issue 12 Cast Fantastic-Man: Team leader/ Flight Brick w/ Density Alteration powers Nighthawk: Martial Artists/ Gadgeteer/ Detective/ Mega-Bajillionaire The Mac Bashtee: Avatar of a divine Celtic being with Nature Mystic powers Tomorrow Boy: Teenage Gadgeteer/ Telekenetic from the future La Espijisma: Metamorph with Power Mimicry abilities Warforge: Big mystic-style construct brick. "He's just a metal man." The Tornado!: Speedster (NPC) _______________ Act I: Using his innate shapeshifting powers to pass himself off as a normal doctor at Stronghold's medical bay, The Mac Bashtee entered the room where Zorran the Artificer was being held and treated. Getting in to Stronghold and disguising himself as part of the medical staff had been easy enough. He saw the Lemurian sorcerer laying there, powerless. He reached into the pocket of his robes, his hands brushing the two gold coins he had brought to place on the eyes of the wizard after the deed was done, to pay his fare for the Boatman. He pulled out the vial of poison he had created. It would be very fast, and very lethal. Zorran would feel no pain as he passed from this life into the next. The various machines around the sorcerer's body appeared to be working properly - his heartbeat displayed on one while another helped him breathe. The Mac Bashtee pulled aside the sheets of Zorran's bed to make sure his IV was connected to a good, strong vein before pouring adding his lethal potion into the I.V. mixture... ...and discovered none of the life support machines or IV drip were even hooked up to the sorcerer's body. Something was wrong. As the Mystical Defender of Earth studied Zorran more closely, he realized it was a fake... a duplicate designed to look exactly like The Artificer. He quickly turned toward the door only to discover it had been locked behind him. He was trapped inside the power dampening field of Stronghold. It was then that he realized... Someone had set him up. _______________ Act II: Nighthawk braced himself to keep himself standing as the ground beneath him trembled violently, and the sonic resonations blasted up the elevator shaft. "Sometimes I wish I wasn't right..." he muttered gravely as he peered over the edge into the blackness as he drew his cape around him and dove headfirst down the deep, dark shaft. Below, Fantastic-Man had managed to avoid the stunning effect of Ultrasonique's sonic concussion bomb, and staggered to his feet, right as Nighthawk flared his cape, levelling up and soaring through corridor. Fantastic-Man hit the elevator send switch and the platform carrying his unconcious companions started to ascend, taking them to safety. Miraculously, his flight powers had not failed him in this critical hour. Nighthawk, meanwhile drove himself feet first squarely into the chest of Ultrasonique, sending the frenchman tumbling across the floor, but leaving Nighthawk open to an immediate counterattack by Feuermacher and Scorpia. Fantastic-Man, meanwhile, found himself busy with the 300-pound wall of muscle that was Durak. The mighty Russian wrapped his tree-trunk arms around the Earth's Greatest Hero, screaming, "Durak will Break You!" Praying that his flight powers wouldn't fail him again, Fantastic-Man soared into the air, with Durak holding onto him, slamming both men into the ceiling, and causing Durak to fall to the ground, dazed. Feuermacher blasted the elevator, stopping its upward movement, and stirring the dazed Titanium Titan, Warforge. Warforge smashed through the floor of the elevator and charged at Durak to join the fray. La Espijisma had also regained conciousness and followed suit. After delivering a powerful flying kick to the Dark Defender, Scorpia found herself, Feuermacher and Durak staring down La Espijisma, Warforge and Fantastic-Man. Fantastic-Man landed a devastating blow to the airborne Feuermacher, launching the German through the air and into the wall of the bunker. However, Fantastic-Man was badly burned by Feuermacher's body and fell to the ground himself as the world around him grew black. La Espijisma touched Durak's elbow turning herself into a powerful combination of strength and fortitude, and it appeared that the remaining Defenders would win the day, when a soft, sensual, lightly Spanish-accented voice rang clearly in Warforge's head, "Enough..." The Titanium Titan felt a blinding flash of pain as he fell backward. As his conciousness left him, he saw two forms emerging from the adjoining hallway... Mentalla and Fiacho. Fiacho, carrying a cannister labeled Biohazard in one hand, levelled one of his gauntlet blasters, first at the dazed Durak at his feet, and then at La Espijisma, in Durak's form, blocking the exit corridor leading back to the elevator shaft. "Which one?" he barked at Mentalla, who pointed at La Espijisma. Durak grinned, "Farewell, my dear." He fired a grenade from his wrist gauntlet which exploded at La Espijisma's feet, rendering her unconcious as well. The Tornado! was the first to recover, he managed to rouse Fantastic-Man, La Espijisma and Nighthawk. Eurostar was gone... and Warforge had disappeared. "NOW what do we do!?" said the World's Fastest Man. As if in answer, the series of Sonic Concussion bombs that Ultrasonique had planted around the room began to beep. The D-Jet soared up into the air, with the five remaining Defenders on board as the ground beneath them erupted in explosions and sinkholes. _______________ Act III: Warforge awoke in a room lined with black stone... asphalt perhaps. He was in too much pain to be sure. His hands and feet were bound to the wall by powerful energy shackles. He tried to break free to no avail. After several minutes, the door to his room opened, and Fiacho, Feuermacher and Mentalla entered. "I trust you are comfortable enough?" Fiacho taunted the Titanium Titan. "Don't worry... we won't need you for long. You're just our insurance policy to ensure that your friends don't try to interfere with my plans.. You also proved to be the greatest threat to us. For one man.. or.. whatever.. to fell Durak? No small feat..." a sinister grin crossed his deformed face. "We'll be... letting you go... soon enough," and Eurostar's leader turned to go, leaving Mentalla and Feuermacher to keep an eye on the hostage. After what seemed like several hours, Mentalla stood and went to the door, "I'm getting a drink... do you want anything?" Feuermacher nodded as the beautiful mentalist left. He then turned to Warforge, creating a ball of flame in his hand and tossing it up and letting it fall back into his hand like a baseball. "I'm bored...." a fiery, cruel grin crossed his face. "It's PLAYTIME!" Meanwhile, aboard the D-Jet, Cmdr. Wellington broke in via the comm system. "Fantastic-Man! This is being broadcast via every channel and satellite feed in all of Europe! We don't have much....." Wellington's face was replaced by the visage of Fiacho. "Citizens of Europe! For too long now have we, the European Community taken a back seat on the world stage! We have lived in the shadow of other nations while the rest of the Earth, that WE civilized, has stared down it's collective noses at us! The time has come for us to unite under ONE ideal, ONE banner, ONE EUROPE!" He raised a triumphant fist in the air. "I, Fiacho, and the rest of Eurostar will restore our great homeland to its former glory.... Unfortunately.... not all dreams can be achieved without certain.. sacrifices. In this case, I refer to the people of the British Isles. They have betrayed us! Casting their lot with the dogs and rebels of the West... but because of their, we shall achieve victory! The British peoples are about to experience something not seen in this world for nearly seven hundred years... the Black Death. Fear not, noble Britons! What God created, I have perfected! Our bubonic plague is far more effecient than the original. You will all die quickly and painlessly.... probably. And once the financial centers of London have been destroyed, the rest of Europe will NEED Eurostar to save them.. to help them rebuild." He paused dramatically, "And help them we will. Do not grieve, my brothers. Today is the day of a new beginning! The rising of a glorious new star! EUROSTAR!!" The transmission faded to static. Feuermacher blasted Warforge with another burst of flame as Fiacho's transmission ended. Warforge seemed to writhe in agony as each blast grew stronger and stronger. As Feuermacher unleashed a horrifying, sustained stream of fire, Mentalla re-entered. At first, she presumed the eager anticipation she sensed in the room was coming from Feuermacher, who was known to take no small delight in using his powers to torture others... ...but the wineglasses she carried fell from her hands to the floor shattering when she realized she assumed wrong. "NO! You idiot! He WANTS you to!!!" Startled, Feuermacher looked up at Warforge, whose mystical golem body had absorbed the intense heat of Feuermacher's attacks, making him stronger... and stronger.... and stronger. The energy bonds snapped as Warforge broke free from the wall, staring Feuermacher down. "Oh.... Scheise..." The enormous hammerhand of Warforge turned Feuermacher's lights out as Mentalla sprinted down the hall to alert the others. Warforge pursued her, but could not find where she had escaped to. He crawled up the elevator shaft to the next floor, where his comm link began to crackle as it came back online. "Warforge?!" shouted Fantastic-Man. "Where are you?!" "I'm bringing up his signal onscreen now," said Nighthawk as the Dark Defender locked onto Warforge's transmission signal, which had been blacked out until now. "He's in Zurich." "Alright, Warforge." Said Fantastic-Man. "Find some cover and stay put until we get there." A computerized voice echoed through the hall where Warforge was hiding. "Launch in 10...9...8..." Grimly, Warforge stood and charged down the hall toward the only door he could see. "Not an option..." the Titanium Titan replied. He burst through the door into a control room of sorts, though obviously not the main controls for the rocket. "5..." Ahead, he saw the blast shutters closing, and glimpsed the missile on the other side. "4..." With all his strength, Warforge slammed into the blast-proof glass, causing it to crack and form spider webs, but not break. "3..." His arsenal arm transformed into a powerful battleaxe as he rained down blow after blow on the window... "2..." Finally, the window gave way beneath the might of the Titanium Titan. "1..." He crouched, preparing to leap "Ignition..." Warforge launched himself through the window as the blast shutter closed behind him. He grapped onto the missile as it rocketed up and out of the launch silo. London was twenty minutes away from total annihilation. "I've tracked the launch coordinates..." said Nighthawk. "They've targeted Trafalgar Square. If Warforge can't stop that thing..." "We've got to get to the control center and shut it down!" said Fantastic-Man emphatically. "We'll never make it in time. We're at least an hour away from Zurich and..." Tomorrow Boy jumped to his feet. "Nighthawk! Fly straight up!" "WHAT?!" the Dark Defender replied. "The same principle the Concorde flies on... get high enough and the Earth's rotation will get you where you want to go faster..." he pulled out the controls to the D-Jet's Jump Drive, the device used to make the jet hyperspace capable. "You... you can't use that thing in the atmosphere..." The Tornado! warned. "Trust me!" yelled Tomorrow Boy as he began furiously rewiring the system. The D-Jet continued streaking into the upperatmosphere. "Alright... take us back down... now!" Nighthawk put the D-Jet into a dive as Tomorrow-Boy powered up the jump drive. The modifications that Tomorrow Boy had made to the jump drive allowed the device to be used inside the atmosphere for a short period of time, but the resulting power drain was devastating on the D-Jet's systems. However, as the Defenders sped toward the coordinates of Warforge's last transmission, it appeared as though time itself was moving backwards. "......What did you do?" Nighthawk asked the boy genius, warily. "Made a few modifications to the warp field to create a minor temporal anamoly..." The D-Jet shuddered tremendously. "...Minor?" The computerized voice of the D-Jet computer announced, "5 seconds to destination... 3 seconds to critical system failure." "Critical what what?!" Bawked Tornado! "Spaz it!" Tomorrow Boy cursed as he began furiously rerouting power from other parts of the D-Jet to keep the Jump Drive running. "Ok.. shutting down power to the holding cells.." "4 seconds to destination, 3 seconds to critical system failure." "Ummm... rerouting power from interior lighting.." The cabin grew dim. "3 seconds to destination, 2 seconds to critical system failure." "SPAZ IT!! Alright... cutting aft deflector screens..." the D-Jet shuddered violently. "Ehh... leaving forward deflector shielding on..." "2 seconds to destination, 2 seconds to critical system failure." Tomorrow Boy sighed heavily and warned the others, "Hold on to something... cutting all deflector power!" It felt as though the D-Jet had hit the side of a wall, it shook violently and smoke and showers of sparks erupted from control panels inside the cabin. "1 second to destination. 1 second to critical system failure." "Here goes nothing..." thought Tomorrow Boy... "No sense in telling the rest of them that I'm cutting life support..." With a thunderous boom the D-Jet emerged from the temporal rift that Tomorrow Boy had hastily created using the D-Jet's jump drive. The ship was in a nose dive, hurtling toward the earth, leaving a trail of thick black smoke behind it. Tomorrow Boy managed to re-route enough power from the burned-out jump drive back to life support and piloting controls as they saw the Black Death missile, with Warforge firmly attached, launch from a hidden silo behind a large chateau in the mountains below. Nighthawk managed to barely pull the D-Jet out of its nosedive in time to level the ship up and crash into an alpine snowbank. The ship slid for several hundred feet, finally coming to rest as a smoldering, blackened hunk of metal about 100 yards from Eurostar's mountain chateau base, just outside Zurich. As Warforge pressed with all his strength against the raging headwinds to climb up to the access panel just under the nose of the missile, the rest of The Defenders stormed Eurostar's base, hoping to find some way of aborting the attack or self-destroying the missile. They found all six members of Eurostar (including a very roughed-up looking Feuermacher) in the main control room awaiting them. The fight was long and furious. The Defenders initially focused on Mentalla, hoping to bring down what they believed to be Eurostar's biggest weapon. Fortune was with Fantastic-Man, as his flight and density powers were working. He rocketed through the air toward the flying mentalist, only to instead collide with all 300+ pounds of Durak, who leaped into the Earth's Greatest Hero's path. The collsion knocked both men to the ground, dazed. Nighthawk also attacked Mentalla, but found himself toe to toe with Fiacho in a flurry of martial attacks. The leader of Eurostar kept calling out coded commands to his teammates, who would move and attack based on his orders. Nighthawk realized that in order to beat Eurostar, they'd have to start at the top and eliminate the villains' obvious tactical advantage. He delivered a flying kick to Fiacho that sent the former Danish politician sprawling across the floor. Mentalla, meanwhile, far too preoccupied by maintaining a mental illusion on Fantastic-Man that caused him to think that Scorpia was in fact La Espijisma, failed to notice Tornado!, who sped across the floor, up the wall, and along the ceiling, striking the airborne mentalist with his forearm and sending her to the floor unconcious. With Fiacho and Mentalla down, it seemed the rout was on. Scorpia called "Visiting Hours" and the other four members responded by retreating to the windows... ...but then the entire building exploded in bright light, deafening booms and a shower of debris. The Tornado, Nighthawk and Tomorrow Boy all recovered in time to see the outline of a Quetzacoatl-class gunship hovering over the massive hole it had blasted through the ceiling of the complex as several rappeling lines dropped from the ship, and 3 VIPER Superhuman Combat Specialists descended... followed by Boa Constrictor, Sidewinder, Halfjack, VIPER-X and Draconis. Draconis nodded in approval as he surveyed the devastation. Fantastic-Man and La Espijisma were both partially buried in an avalanche of debris, Tornado!, Nighthawk & Tomorrow Boy had moved to one wall, and Fiacho and Mentalla both lay unconcious in the far corner. Boa Constrictor hissed and moved toward the three Defenders with a murderous glare in his eyes when Draconis reached out and stopped him. "We shall have to sate ourselves on the glory of battle at another time, my friends..." Draconis spoke to the others. "For now... we have our orders. Bring me the target!" At his order, the three agents moved toward Fiacho's unconcious form. Tomorrow-Boy assessed the situation. Nighthawk and Tornado! were both badly injured, and they were outnumbered at least 2 to 1 and without Fantastic-Man and Warforge, who was still climbing up the side of the missile as it rocketed across Northwestern Europe toward the United Kingdom. Still... whatever VIPER wanted Fiacho for couldn't be good. He jumped in front of the unconcious superterrorist. VIPER-X responded in the blink of an eye, drawing a blaster pistol on the youngest Defender. "Don't make me do it, kid. This isn't your fight... Just step aside, let us go about our business, and no one gets hurt." Tomorrow Boy thought long and hard about what he was doing and replied, "Can't let you do that.." "Suit yourself," VIPER-X responded cooly as he blasted the heroic boy genius, dropping him to the floor. Sidewinder sped past the agents, grabbed Fiacho and ran him back up to the Quetzacoatl. One by one, the remaining VIPER forces also withdrew to the gunship as The Tornado! and Nighthawk tended to Tomorrow Boy, who aside from being dazed hadn't suffered any serious injury from VIPER-X's blast. As the Quetzacoatl soared away, Fantastic-Man dug himself and La Espijisma out of the rubble. They found no sign of Scorpia, Durak, Feuermacher or Ultrasonique. Mentalla was still unconcious. Warforge, meanwhile, had finally reached the top of the missile. He could see the London skyline ahead on the horizon as he ripped the access panel off, tore out the biological payload, and hurled it out into space. Then, with a powerful blow, he shattered thrusters of the now mostly harmless projectile, sending it into the Atlantic. UNTIL arrived, having picked Warforge up on the way, and took care of apprehending Mentalla and made arrangements to have the D-Jet brought back to their hangar for repairs so that The Defenders could at least fly themselves home, with the eternal gratitude of all of Europe. As what could be salvaged of the D-Jet soared back over the Atlantic, Cromwell pulled Fantastic-Man aside, "Nice work over there.... Now we've got another problem. Your trap seems to have worked." _______________ GM Notes: I had a lot of fun this time, and I think everyone else did, too. I thought the panic and atmosphere as the D-Jet was racing toward Zurich (and falling apart along the way) was absolutely electric, and I attribute that every bit as much to the players (if not more so) than anything I did as GM. The look on Jo-El's face when he realized that Warforge (who can't fly, btw) was going to have to jump on the missle before it launched in order to try to stop it was pretty priceless too. But, the "WHAT THE CRAP!??!" moment of the night had to have been when VIPER crashed the party. Frydaddy and I have always said that we can tell whether or not we're doing a good job of GM'ing based on the facial reactions of Mole (Fantastic-Man.) Based on his face when VIPER showed up, I'd say things went well. The group really seemed to hate Eurostar, which tells me I did my job. I'm EXTREMELY impressed that they managed to capture Mentalla, especially considering this is the first time Eurostar's been used in the 3-year long campaign. I'm very curious now to see where the Mac Bashtee plot plays out now. It's pretty rare that a GM gets to just sit back and watch his/her players call all the shots. Exciting!

Re: [Campaign] DEFENDERS CONGREGATE!! Yeah... I'm about to make Nights pay points for his Paranoia... it's practically a superpower. Frankly, I was more than a little surprised that TB fell for it.

Re: [Campaign] DEFENDERS CONGREGATE!! Next Session: Eurostar Rising, Pt. II

Re: [Campaign] DEFENDERS CONGREGATE!! (Delayed again... Deal. ) Eurostar Rising, Pt. 1 The Defenders Season IV, Issue 11 Cast Fantastic-Man: Team leader/ Flight Brick w/ Density Alteration powers Nighthawk: Martial Artists/ Gadgeteer/ Detective/ Mega-Bajillionaire The Mac Bashtee: Avatar of a divine Celtic being with Nature Mystic powers Tomorrow Boy: Teenage Gadgeteer/ Telekenetic from the future La Espijisma: Metamorph with Power Mimicry abilities Warforge: Big mystic-style construct brick. "He's just a metal man." _______________ Act I: The Defenders stood in the comm room staring at eachother. Fantastic-Man spoke first, "Did you say... you were coming with us?" "Glad you were listening," replied Cromwell gruffly. "Tell your grampa to load a duffle bag, too. He's been invited as well." Fantastic-Man was leery about letting his Grandpa join them on a mission. Sure, he was Amazing Man, but that was decades ago. But, Frank Sr. had overheard the conversation and was packing anyway. Fantastic-Man knew his grandfather well enough to know that he would likely not be able to dissuade him. Once the others had left, Fantastic-Man opened up a secure channel with Cromwell, and discussed his concerns over the safety of their latest prisoner, the Lemurian Zorran the Artificer. The Earth's Greatest Hero was greatly troubled by the words of their mystical companion, The Mac Bashtee. To make things worse, Dr. Arcane, who had helped design the power suppression field at Stronghold so that it would affect magical powers - even the divine magic of The Mac Bashtee - had seemingly vanished and so far had not been reachable. Realizing that there was nothing that he could do by himself, Fantastic-Man brought in Nighthawk and Tomorrow-Boy and informed them of the situation, that he feared The Mac Bashtee might in fact try to take the life of Zorran while The Defenders were in Europe. Tomorrow Boy created an amazing replica of the Lemurian sorcerer, right down to the last detail, and Fantastic-Man informed Cromwell that they would be leaving the dummy in Zorran's room in the medical ward of Stronghold, and to keep an eye for anyone going in there. Satisfied that his trap was set, Fantastic-Man left for DC along with Nighthawk, Tomorrow-Boy, Tornado!, La Espijisma, Warforge & Frank Sr., on their way to pick up Cromwell. ______________ Act II: After an eternity of flying over the Atlantic (the flight seemed much longer with Cromwell aboard,) the group neared the British Isles, where they were escorted by a pair of Harrier Jets to a remote island off the southwestern shores. On the island was a state of the art facility with runways, helipads, aircraft hangars, and an enormous towering structure bearing the logo of the United Nations Tribunal on International Law... UNTIL. Once they landed, they were led by an enormous scandinavian lieutenant named Fors Fagerstrom. Lt. Fagerstrom led them to a meeting room, where they met with Commander James Wellington, whom Frank Miller Sr. had met back in WWII during a joint Allied Forces operation between the British and the Americans. The two traded greetings and stories for some time before The Defenders and their UNTIL hosts finally sat down to discuss the reason for their summons. Cmdr. Wellington believed Europe was facing a threat that even his forces could not stop - Eurostar. He gave a lengthy history of the group's activities, and as much information as UNTIL had available on each of the superterrorist organization's six members. He was mostly unimpressed by the jabs of the American superheroes, who questioned why UNTIL had waited until now to do something about Eurostar. He had hoped they would conduct themselves in a more diplomatic manner - particularly Fantastic-Man, who seemed to take the most delight in ridiculing UNTIL's delay in contacting them. The understanding looks the aging British soldier received from Cromwell assured him that the matter would soon be taken care of. He then showed the superheroes footage taken from Saulnier Cryogenics, a cryogenic research lab in Paris, where two weeks ago, Eurostar's Ultrasonique was seen entering through the water ducts briefly before one of his sonic disruptors destroyed the surveillance equipment. Several containers of cryogenic fluid were stolen. The next footage came from an old, reportedly decommissioned Soviet missle silo in Siberia, where surveillance footage showed Durak smashing through the main entrance, the bullets of the soldier's AK-47's bouncing off his massive frame before the guards bodies went mysteriously stiff as Mentalla entered, right before they all shot themselves. An ICBM was taken from this site. Finally, two days ago, a CDC station in Rammstein, Germany was attacked by Scorpia, Feuermacher and Fiacho. They stole several disease and chemical samples, though none were by any means the deadliest stored there. As Nighthawk watched the footage of Eurostar in action and began to assemble the pieces of what they had stolen together, he realized they were making some sort of Biological WMD, but it wasn't until he realized that the various diseases that were stolen had nearly destroyed Europe once already, albeit over 600 years ago, that he realized their true plan. Eurostar was recreating the Black Death. The missing piece, he surmised, was a genetic accelerator. With modern medicine, the old plague wouldn't have lasted 3 days, and the death toll would barely reach double digits. But, with a little genetic help, Eurostar could unleash a super-engineered plague capable of wiping out entire countries. "You mean like what COIL tried with the Ophidian plague?" Asked Warforge. One could almost hear Nighthawk's brain firing into action. "Commander... get me a printout of all known COIL bases in Europe, including the former USSR." The Dark Defender studied the map, with 6 known COIL bases shown. It was too perfect. "I know where they're going to strike next. Let's go." _______________ Act III: "You still haven't told us where we're going," Tornado! said as The Defenders rocketed through the skies above Austria. "Good thing I had those UNTIL guys watch for any abnormal heat signatures via satellite," said Fantastic-Man. "Feuermacher's literally visible from space, and we're still following him due East. Nights? Where's he headed?" "Chernobyl..." Nighthawk replied gravely. When they landed on the northern banks of Lake Karachay, there didn't seem to be anything but a small barn. Upon further inspection, they discovered the barn infact housed an abandoned COIL base with an elevator in the center of the room, going down, but no sign of Eurostar. Tomorrow Boy approached the elevator shaft, which extended far below into darkness. He pressed the call button, and nearly a full minute later, the elevator appeared. He, Fantastic-Man, La Espijisma, The Tornado! and Warforge all climbed aboard, while Nighthawk elected to stay at the top. The elevator reached the bottom, opening into a narrow hallway leading into a much larger room. Standing there, waiting for them, was Ultrasonique, who regarded them all with a light "Bon Jour!" and depressed the trigger on the detonating device in his hand, causing the sonic concussion bomb attached to the bottom of the elevator platform to explode. _______________ Epilogue The Mac Bashtee stood in his godly robes, made of blue gossamer, before the High Council at Avalon. Such things were but a formality, but that does not mean they should be brushed aside. "What, then, will you do?" a clear voice rang from the light and sky above him. "In defense of Mother Gaea, I shall kill the Lemurian Zorran." _______________ GM Notes: Great session. This is one of those where I had the overall theme planned out, but very little of the nuts and bolts. I knew Eurostar would need a genetic accelerant for this plan to work, but I had no plans about where they would find one. It was Jo-El, the player of Warforge, who piped up about our previous rendesvouz with COIL (Sharper than a Serpent's Tooth) where they had developed a highly advanced genetic disease and theorized that there might still be some genetic accelerant left in any of their old bases. The team was frantically searching for known COIL bases when Ryan (Nighthawk) said something about "good thing they didn't have a base at Chernobyl." Anyway, a fun session. I've been looking forward to rolling Eurostar out for some time now. I suspect the team isn't going to like them very much. Meanwhile, in other news, after the Zorran session, Tempus (Mac Bashtee) and Mole (Fantastic-Man) both came up to me individually. Tempus decided his character would need to kill Zorran because he was too much of a threat now to the planet - after what his kind did with the Mandragalore. Fantastic-Man was worried after Mac Bashtee's comments and decided he needed to increase security around Zorran, so he came up with the idea for the trap. Both parties were 100% committed to going forward with their individual plans regardless of the consequences, so.... away we go!

Re: [Campaign] DEFENDERS CONGREGATE!! Next Session: Eurostar Rising, Pt. 1

Re: [Campaign] DEFENDERS CONGREGATE!! Dude, is that YOU on the R in your Avatar? Hilarious. Apologies for the horrendous delay. Started a new job (INFINITELY better than the old one) this week so things have been kinda cuh-razy. The Lemurian, Pt. 2 The Defenders Season IV, Issue 10 Cast Fantastic-Man: Team leader/ Flight Brick w/ Density Alteration powers Nighthawk: Martial Artists/ Gadgeteer/ Detective/ Mega-Bajillionaire The Mac Bashtee: Avatar of a divine Celtic being with Nature Mystic powers Tomorrow Boy: Teenage Gadgeteer/ Telekenetic from the future La Espijisma: Metamorph with Power Mimicry abilities Warforge: Big mystic-style construct brick. "He's just a metal man." ____________ Act 1 The Defenders struck fast and hard, pinched in between a pair of giant Lemurian Constructs in the remains of the lobby of the Paragon Ritz Hotel. Fantastic-Man, still unable to control his flight or mass manipulation powers, charged one of the constructs while The Mac Bashtee used a powerful spell of Magic Dispelling to quell the magical fires pouring out of that same golem. Meanwhile, Warforge recovered from the construct's surprise attack and got to his feet, as Nighthawk double checked the security logs remotely from the hotel security office to make sure that he had prevented Zorran The Artificer from using the keycard he had stolen. He had succeeded in preventing Zorran from opening the vault door, but a security alarm had been triggered by one of the security guards. He emerged from the security office and informed the team that he needed to get to the Omnitech Building, about 2 kilometers away, as soon as possible. At the same time, Dr. Marianna Gutierrez (aka La Espijisma) was on her way home after a long shift at the hospital, when she saw the two giant constructs attacking her teammates at the hotel. She pulled over and got out of her car, crept up behind one of the golems and placed her hands on it. She felt her cellular structure changing as her body took on the properties of the construct - her strength increasing exponentially. She pulled back and unleashed a devastating punch to the golem's backside, sending it reeling into the hotel lobby interior. Mac Bashtee and Fantastic-Man, meanwhile, were faring well against the other golem. Mac Bashtee's powerful metal withering spell had reduced the constructs armored plating to practically nothing, and it couldn't long withstand the powerful blows being rained down upon it by Fantastic-Man, who had managed to regain control of his ability to fly once again - tenuous as that control might've felt. Mac Bashtee took notice for the first time that the team's leader seemed to be struggling. ____________ Act 2 Tomorrow Boy had teleported his ultra jetpack in and grabbed Nighthawk, and rocketed off toward Omnitech Headquarters. They arrived and landed in a small, unlit parking garage, to determine the best course of action when Nighthawk heard something approaching... something very fast. He wasn't able to dodge the speeding Thunderbolt as he blew past Tomorrow Boy and landed a painful blow to Nighthawk's mid-section. Something was strange about Thunderbolt - he was no longer insulting the heroes and bragging about the hit he landed on the Dark Defender. The lone villain was no match for Tomorrow Boy and Nighthawk, once Nighthawk had returned to the fight. Shortly thereafter, the other Defenders arrived at the Omnitech building. The second construct had proved no challenge for the combined efforts of Fantastic-Man, The Mac Bashtee, Warforge and La Espijisma. Together once again, the team entered the building through the parking garage entrance and made their way to the main lobby. Upon reaching the lobby, Nighthawk examined the security booth and discovered that Zorran was just outside the vault entrance with both security guards. On the monitor, Zorran appeared to be furiously swiping his locked-out keycard, unable to open the vault door. The team charged down the stairwell, ready for a fight. As the team entered the large central room outside the vault where the Lemurian Cube was being kept, Fantastic-Man, who had regained some control over a few of his powers, flew straight toward Zorran the Artificer - and straight through the wizard into the hard metal vault door. Zorran and the guards faded from sight as Zorran's illusion spell dissapated. Zorran then appeared, standing against the south wall of the room, and guards stood against the North, their eyes glazed over and their faces expressionless. "Meddling interlopers!" the Lemurian spat. "Again you insist on interfereing in things you cannot comprehend!" "You're not getting the artifact Zorran," Fantastic-Man shot back. "We're here to stop you." The wizard's eyes gleamed, "Stop me? You intend to stop ME?" A sinister grin crossed Zorran's face, "You can't even stop THEM!" At his command, the security guards drew their firearms, and aimed at their own temples. Nighthawk reacted first, launching a bolo at one security guard, wrapping his arms tightly at his sides so he could no longer aim at himself. Tomorrow Boy proceeded to use his telekenesis to disarm the second guard as Warforge leapt into the room, swinging his hammerhand at Zorran the Artificer.. which passed ineffectually through the wizard thanks to his desolidification spell. "I grow tired of you pathetic mortals... I can trifle with these games of yours no longer! I did not want to do this, but it appears you've forced my hand." The wizard cast a spell and disappeared in a puff of blue-black smoke, only to reappear in front of the vault door. He reached inside his cloak and pulled out a small stone... the Philosopher's Stone fragment that he carried with him at all times, but knew it's power was not infinite, and would use very judiciously. He aimed at the door and spoke the command word, causing the solid titanium door to explode in a shower of gold dust, settling in piles like ash on the floor. But before the sorcerer could claim his prize, The Mac Bashtee was upon him, his hand transformed into the silver gauntlet of his father - Nuada the Silver Hand. He landed a devastating blow, sending Zorran the Artificer reeling through the air into the vault and into the side of the Lemurian Cube. Then, with Zorran and the Philosopher's Stone both touching the ancient arcane conduit, the room filled with magical lightning. Zorran screamed in pain as a thick, dark smoke roiled out from behind him. Several seconds later, he slumped down and fell forward to the floor, the philopher's stone rolling from his hand to rest at the Mac Bashtee's foot. The stone's power was gone... as was the latent mana that had been left in the conduit device. Given his knowledge of arcane artifacts and lore, Mac Bashtee deduced what had happened. The cube, a conduit of magical energy, had drained the remaining power from the philosopher's stone, and transferred it into Zorran. Fearing that the mage had now become too great a threat to the Earth, and that he could now possibly destroy the world as his people nearly did centuries ago, The Mac Bashtee turned to his companions. "Maybe we should.... end the threat he poses... permanently." The group debated the ethics of this decision for some time, as many had strong, personal convictions about taking the life of anyone, including a villain like Zorran. In the end, it was decided that Zorran would be taken to Stronghold, where the power dampeners would keep him from doing anything that would put the world in jeopardy. The PRIMUS pick-up squads from Stronghold arrived, with Ogre and Lazer, and proceeded to arrest Thunderbolt and the unconcious Zorran. Satisfied with a job well done, but perplexed by the strange anomalies plaguing Fantastic-Man's powers, The Defenders returned to base. ____________ Act 3 Nighthawk cornered Fantastic-Man, pressing him about his powers and what was happening to him. At first, Fantastic-Man tried to play it off like it was no big deal and that it was an isolated incident, but Nighthawk wouldn't be so easily dissuaded. He convinced Fantastic-Man to go down to the med lab for some tests. Nighthawk took a blood sample and ran it through analysis, and found something curious - a microscopic radioactive component in Fantastic-Man's bloodstream, which testing confirmed were particles of Micellium, an element created by WWII era Italian Chemist Ferdinand Micelli. Fantastic-Man's weakness to radiation caused Nighthawk to initially deduce that maybe it was this material that was causing Fantastic-Man to lose his powers, but it was then that Fantastic-Man finally realized what happened to him that fateful night 10 years ago, when the mysterious old movie director named Ferdinand Micelli brought in two canisters of film to the shipping company that Frank Miller worked at. The kooky old filmmaker had vehemently insisted that the film be shipped out by midnight, but Frank blew it off as the eccentricities of an old man. That is, until midnight that night when the two film canisters began shaking and glowing - one in a strange reddish and orange light, the other in a blueish-black light. The first cannister exploded, bathing Frank in orange and red light, and then all went black. Over the next several days, Frank began to realize that he had changed. He wasn't just Frank Miller, shipping clerk. He was on his way to becoming Fantastic-Man. He explained the story to Nighthawk. "I don't think the Micellium is draining my powers... I think it's what gave them to me." After a bit more probing, they realized that Fantastic-Man's power loss started after his grandfather, Frank Sr., arrived. After a great deal of persuasion, Nighthawk managed to convince Fantastic Man to talk to his grandfather about letting Nighthawk run some tests on him. It took even more convincing for Fantastic-Man to talk Frank Sr. into letting Nights do the testing, but in the end, Nights got a blood sample to compare Fantastic-Man's with. Sure enough, Frank Sr.'s blood also registered Micellium particles as well. Frank Sr. explained that before WWII, he had been a nobody - a skilless bum who couldn't even find steady work to support his wife, who was expecting. His inlaws hated him for it. Even his own parents were embarassed by him. Frank Sr.'s father-in-law dabbled in the occult, a common fancy for the wealthy elite in that time, and decided to use Frank Sr. as the physical component for a spell that would ensure great power and wealth for his family for centuries to come. When Frank Sr. came home from jobhunting one day, he found his inlaws, his pregnant wife, and his own parents waiting on him. Only too late did he realize he was standing on a strange arcane symbol that had been drawn on the floor. Pain wracked his body as his father-in-law began casting the spell, and then all faded to black. Frank Sr. awoke in the middle of a park near downtown, with no idea how he got there. He knew he couldn't go back to his family, so he enlisted with the army, and went to join the war effort in WWII. In the early days of US involvement in the war, Frank was part of a special ops team, sent in to Italy to destroy a secret Axis project involving the creation of Ubermenschen. They successfully stormed the old castle where the project was going on, and freed a brilliant young Italian scientist (anybody?) - Ferdinand Micelli. To show his gratitude for his release, Micelli offered to use the procedure he had developed on the US forces to give them their own superhuman soldiers. Frank volunteered. The pain was unbearable, but afterward, he could fly, was nigh-invulnerable, and could throw panzers around like baseballs. He was Amazing-Man. Amazing-Man played a huge part in the war as the US's involvement increased. He helped ensure an Allied victory at D-Day, and was an intrical part of the offense as the Allied Forces advanced. However, as the war drew to a close shortly before Munich was taken, Amazing-Man's powers mysteriously disappeared. He returned home a war hero and honored soldier, even though no one but his company ever knew that he had been Amazing-Man, and lived a normal life after that. He eventually remarried and had a son with his new wife, and thought his days of being superpowered were long gone... until, as he explained to Fantastic-Man and Nighthawk, his powers began to remerge last year. His 2nd wife had passed away a few years back, and he decided before he died that he needed to make peace with his first family. He sought out the son of the daughter he never met - the daughter his first wife was pregnant with when his father-in-law had tried to kill him all those years ago. Her son.. the grandson he had never met, but that his daughter had named after him.. maybe as her way of seeking atonement for what her mother's family had done to him. Frank Miller. Fantastic-Man. As Nighthawk finished his analysis, the comm alert rang on the private channel reserved for Cromwell's use only. Warforge, Tomorrow-Boy, Fantastic-Man, Nighthawk & La Espijisma assembled in the monitor room to answer the call. As expected, Cromwell was on the other end. "New assignment, team. You need to be wheels up for DC within the hour." "Why DC?" asked Fantastic-Man. "Because you're picking me up....on your way to London." GM Notes: Boy oh boy... You ever have one of those sessions where the poo just hits the fan all at once... and then the rest of the manure truck comes along and runs the fan over? And then someone drops a giant flaming bag of poo on the truck? Well.. I give you, Season IV, Issue 10. I haven't had to do the GM Tapdance that much.. well.. ever (unless you count an NWN faction error that resulted in a bar room brawl that ended with the city guard slaughtering a tavern full of reasonably innocent patrons... but I digress.) All sorts of new information about characters and backstories started popping up that hadn't been relayed to me before I took over running the campaign started to surface. But, after a few gallons of sweat, a lot of blank stares, and some serious behind the scenes deus ex machina, I think I've managed to merge just about everything that I hadn't been told (the stuff the players themselves knew about, anyway) in with what I had personally planned. Disaster averted.. resume DefCon 3. But THEN, two different players come up to me with individual schemes for their characters that are likely to be a powder keg to end all powder kegs. I decided to go ahead and let them proceed... but I have a sinking feeling that one way or another, the face of the campaign will be forever changed very very soon.

A character w/ shape shift touch group spends 1/2 phase shifting from his "original form" to a different form. On his next phase he wants to revert back to his normal form. Is this correctly accomplished by: 1) "Turning Off" his shape shifting as a normal Constant power to revert back to his normal shape (as he would if KO'ed) as a 0 phase action... OR... 2) Having to spend another 1/2 phase action (and his Shape Shift END cost) to Shape Shift back to his original shape again. The rules for Constant powers would indicate that it could be shut off, causing the character to just revert back to normal. However, the Shape Shift rules in 5ER state that using Shape Shift is a 1/2 phase (unless bought down w/ advantages.) So, I guess my question is - technically - is the metamorph USING shape shift to change back, or is he Discontinuing use of his Shape Shift to revert back?

Re: Champion Battlegrounds: What do you think? Our prior GM ran the Construction Site back before he moved away. It happened to be a labor day weekend that he ran it, so we played on Sunday night since everyone was off on Monday. That 5-hour combat (which ran close to if not over 4 full turns - definitely OUR longest combat ever) sparked our Labor Day/ Memorial Day games traditions, put the fear of Holocaust in ALL of us, and stood as the most exciting moment of our campaign in my mind for a long, long time. The Amusement Park game is GREAT, too. Getting to chase down a roller coaster that was rigged to explode was a lot of fun for me.

Re: Toy,Props and Terrain for Champions Might I suggest.... http://www.worldworksgames.com/urbanmayhemsom.html Downloadable, printable PDF's & you build the cityscape you want from it.

Re: Energy Body...... Are you using Multiform? If not, that's where I would start. The "base" form has the average defenses & all the powers that don't just work while in Energy Form, then the Energy form would have all the flight powers, etc. Let's continue. Yeah... that'd be the kicker. W/ the damage shield there's really no way around that, unless you created some heavily modified version of Telekinesis... but then you have to consider SFX and character concept and whether or not that fits, which based on what you've spelled out here, I'm not all that sure it would. You could also consider adding "Always On" for that Damage Shield, since it WOULD be a problem if he touched any friendlies while in Energy Form. Makes sense. Anyway, that gives you a starting point at least. The Multiform cost for a single 200 base-point form would be 40 pts, leaving you 310 points on which to construct the "normal form" (assuming we're talking a standard 350 Champions game.) If all the disads from the normal form are in effect in the energy form, then you get those points to build your EF on, too (sweet! ) Since this mutant is new to his powers, it might make more sense to have EVERYTHING (or most things) cost normal END to begin with, to represent that he hasn't mastered control of his powers and they wear him out quickly. W/ XP he could add CEOTA on the desolidification or other Body Affecting powers (or more if the GM allows) or Reduced END as he gets into "better shape" with his mutant abilities. As to Linking, I'm not sure that any of it would necessarily need to be linked in the Multiform version I've spelled out. If you went w/ the OIHID approach instead of Multiform, then you could link the powers to the Damage Shield power. Hope that helps!

Re: The Night of the 1001 Character Pics… Very cool indeed! Rep to you both! If you're interested, I've got several pics that I've colored for use in my games that you're more than welcome to. I should note that I'm not the original artist - I just colored them. They were originally greyscale images colored from various published HERO books. So, it might be necessary to get the blessings of the various original artists and the HERO crew before I could send them to you for posting. But, if you want them, I don't mind if they don't.

Re: Anatomy of a diorama Alright, cool. We're typically only able to make it to 1 day of the Con and spend most of that in the exhibit hall. We'll be sure to make our way around to your area this year. Can't wait to see the finished product. Belkar for Governor!!

Re: Anatomy of a diorama Holy crap, man! What an awesome idea and that dungeon looks SWEET!!! The crew and I will DEFINITELY be sure to stop by at Gen Con and see how it goes! Any idea where this will be at the con?

Re: [Campaign] DEFENDERS CONGREGATE!! Next Issue: The Lemurian, Pt. 2

Re: [Campaign] DEFENDERS CONGREGATE!! The Lemurian, Pt. 1 The Defenders Season IV, Issue 9 Cast Fantastic-Man: Team leader/ Flight Brick w/ Density Alteration powers Nighthawk: Martial Artists/ Gadgeteer/ Detective/ Mega-Bajillionaire The Mac Bashtee: Avatar of a divine Celtic being with Nature Mystic powers Tomorrow Boy: Teenage Gadgeteer/ Telekenetic from the future Warforge: Big mystic-style construct brick. "He's just a metal man." ____________ Act 1: Struggling to keep his eyes open after his first big-time parents-out-of-town high school party experience the previous night, Tomorrow Boy sat at monitor duty in the Headless Cross. The coffee that Frank had tried to make earlier that morning was terrible. They all couldn't wait for Noelle, their receptionist, and Graham (better known as The Tornado!) to get back from their vacation. The place was falling apart without her here to keep it running... and Fantastic-Man's coffee could strip the paint off the D-Jet. Tomorrow Boy started as the door to the monitor room suddenly slid open and the giant centaur, Chiron, strode in. "Young one," he proclaimed in his usual imperious tone. "Wherefore art thy companions? I wouldst have words with them." Tomorrow Boy yawned, "I dunno." "Summon them, then. I shall awaiteth you all in the War Room." The team assembled and met with Chiron in the war room. "My friends," he addressed them. "My time with you draweth to an end. There is little else that I can do to prepare you for the Dragon. To face the dragon, thou must be of strong body. Verily, thou hast proven thyselves in this regard. Thou must also be brave of spirit, and indeed you have likewise proven this. Now... prove thyselves sound of mind!" The centaur paced back and forth in front of The Defenders as he recited his riddle. "What is the beginning of eternity, the end of time and space; the beginning of every end and the end of every place?" The Defenders stared at eachother with perplexed expressions for a few moments before Nighthawk raised his head, meeting Chiron's gaze. "That would be the letter 'e." "Excellent," the centaur praised him. "Thou art of sound mind indeed." "Okay... great. How's the letter 'e' supposed to help us against the Dragon?!" Fantastic-Man asked incredulously. "Thou must do battle against the Dragon with a focused mind, Fantastic-Man," Chiron chided. "Bravery and strength alone shalt not thee the victor make." "But what IS the Dragon? Where does he come from?" Asked Tomorrow Boy. "Thou cannot knowest all that there is to know about this foe... not yet. However, I shalt relay unto thee all that I can." The centaur went on to explain that The Dragon, a malevolent entity of pure evil and darkness, first appeared in the legends and myths of the ancient Mongol tribes and in Northern Chinese folklore. Soon, however, he appeared in all of Chinese mythos, and even appeared in name in some legends of Greece, Rome, and even Celtic lore. Millenia ago, a great warrior named Shugoshin crafted a set of mystical crystalline eggs, capable of imprisoning The Dragon's essence, and in the egg of Shugoshin, the dark essence remained until about a decade ago when the Night Dragon Ninja Clan stole the egg from its appointed guardians. The clan's sorcerer, the evil Ichi Ban, used ancient magics to release the imprisoned essence and bind it to one of the clan's greatest warriors - a man from North Korea named Park. Infused with the powers of the Dragon's Darkness, Park became "Shadow Dragon," a powerful assassin whom The Defenders had fought previously. After being permanently blinded by a blast of pure sunlight from The Mac Bashtee, however, Park regained enough of his former conciousness to seek those who could remove the Dragon's essence from him. They were successful, and the Dragon was once again imprisoned in one of Shugoshin's eggs. This would not last, however, for less than two years ago, Park arrived in Paragon City to warn his former Night Dragon Ninja colleague, Jack Kirby (Nighthawk), that the egg holding the Dragon had again been stolen by the Night Dragon clan, this time led by Whisper, the daughter of the clan's leader, Master Shinjin, who Jack had once loved before she was believed to have been killed during a battle with a rival clan. The Defenders travelled to Ichi Ban's fortress and fought the Clan, destroying the Egg of Shugoshin before the spell to bind the Dragon to Whisper could be completed. The Dragon's essence was then released and roams the Earth hidden to this day, shielding himself and his followers from those who would stand against them, and growing in power. Chiron went on to explain that the dragon only exists partially in this plane. He retains only a fraction of his power in this state and must rely on his followers to do his work. However, if the other fragments of his essence that Shugoshin spread throughout the multiverse are reunited with him, he would be unstoppable. This, Chiron explained, must be the Dragon's goal and most likely is what his followers - the Night Dragon Ninjas, Ichi Ban, and whoever else he can twist to his will - will be working toward. The Defenders had more questions for Chiron, but Chiron would only reply, "Thou art not yet ready for this task. Destiny shalt twist our paths to meet yet again... I am certain." After his final farewells, Chiron cast a teleportation spell, and was gone. ____________ Act 2 Nighthawk stood in the courtyard with the other Defenders watching as Chiron departed when he detected the buzzing of Jack Kirby's cell phone in his pocket. He quietly dismissed himself from the others and took the call once back inside the base. "Mr. Kirby? It's Daniella... Dr. Jackson. I've finished my report on the Lemurian cube and thought you'd want to take a look at it. Shall we meet for dinner.. say 8 o'clock at the Aerie?" "Of course," Nighthawk replied. The Aerie was the extravagant gourmet restaurant revolving on top of the Ritz Paragon, the hotel where Dr. Jackson was staying. Jack had, of course, eaten there countless times. "Good." Dr. Jackson hesitated. "There's something else I should tell you. When I was examining the cube it... turned on." "What do you mean it turned on? I thought there wasn't a power source inside." Nighthawk replied. "There isn't. I can't explain it. It just started glowing for a few seconds and then stopped." "Alright," Nighthawk said. "You can tell me more about it tonight." "Great. I'll see you then. Oh, and Mr. Kirby? Would you mind bringing that cute environmentalist friend of yours along?" Dr. Jackson asked impishly. Jack Kirby and Sebastian Grey arrived at the Ritz Paragon and took Jack's usual table in the Aerie awaiting the arrival of Dr. Jackson. She finally arrived, wearing a stunning red backless dress, her long golden locks spilling down around her shoulders. "Gentlemen," she greeted them as she sat down. She placed a folder on the table containing her findings. "As you can see, the material that this cube is made from doesn't appear on any periodic table of known elements. But what's more amazing is what's on page 8." They flipped through the report. "I wasn't able to decrypt the runes and symbols on the outside of the cube, but after it glowed earlier, I found that inside." She indicated a chemical formula on the page. "Trace amounts of that substance were found in those cylinders carved into the cube." "Dr. Jackson," said Sebastian, "how much do you know about these Lemurians?" "Well... according to legend, they were wiped out by a superpowerful weapon they had created some 40000 years ago, but there's no evidence to support any of that." Sebastian smiled, for in his collection of tomes in his own private pocket dimension, The Grove, he had found much more information. The Mandragalore - a magical creation created by the Lemurians to eradicate their eternal nemeses, the Empyreans of Arcadia - had indeed wiped the continent of Lemuria off the face of the world when the sorcerers who created it weren't able to control it. However, as powerful as The Mandragalore (also often referred to in ancient texts as "The Tree of Fire") was, he had found vague record of another Lemurian superweapon even more powerful. This device, known only as "Shirak the Destructor" had apparently just been created when The Mandragalore sank Lemuria beneath the waves, and no further record of it was found. It had presumably been destroyed along with Lemuria. Sebastian took one look at the chemical formula in Dr. Jackson's report and immediately realized what it was. Mana. Pure magic existing in a physical form. "What is this?" Jack asked. "I don't recognize the formula." "No one does," Dr. Jackson replied. "But... whatever it is, when the atoms of this," she indicated one part of the formula, "and this," she pointed to the latter compound, "combine, the yield is off the charts. We're talking atomic-scale power in a device that predates the Manhattan project by over 35,000 years." Sebastian Grey then realized what The Lemurians had done. The Tree of Fire was a Mushroom Cloud. The Mandragalore was a nuclear warhead. The lights in The Aerie all went out as, from below, a violent explosion shook the Ritz Paragon Hotel. ____________ Act III Screams filled the air glass-walled restaurant atop the posh Ritz Paragon Hotel, which now sat in near total darkness. After several seconds, the emergency lighting kicked on, and panicked patrons rushed for the emergency stairwell. Dr. Jackson quickly scooped up the papers from the table, tucked them back into her folder and shouted, "Let's get out of here!" to Jack and Sebastian. She turned and ran for the door without waiting to see if they followed or not. Once they were the only two people left in the restaurant, Jack turned to Sebastian. "Get her someplace safe. I'll figure out what happened down there." "Right.." said Sebastian Grey, as he was enveloped in a blinding light and wings of beautiful magical energy sprouted forth from his back, transforming him into The Mac Bashtee. "Don't forget backup." "Right," the Dark Defender replied. The Mac Bashtee soared over the heads of the panic-stricken civilians shoving their way down the stairs from the 18th-floor restaurant. He swooped down to pick up Dr. Jackson. "Who are YOU?!" she asked, stunned. "Do you believe in magic?" The Marvelous Mystic replied as he cast a spell at the wall in front of them, opening a swirling portal of magical energies. The two emerged on the other side in The Mac Bashtee's grove. He led her to the impressive stacks of his library. "You will be safe here," he said to her trying to calm the obviously frightened woman. "Those books over there will hopefully answer any questions you still have about Lemuria." "Th...thank you.." the stunned Dr. Jackson sputtered out. With a nod and a smile, The Mac Bashtee returned to the portal to go back to Earth and help Nighthawk. Meanwhile, Jack Kirby had made it to the hidden wall compartment on the 17th floor of the hotel where he stowed a spare Nighthawk suit, put on the utility belt he had kept concealed under his Versace, and radioed Headless Cross. "Trouble, at the Ritz Paragon. Power's out, there was an explosion and I'm pretty sure I heard gunfire from the lobby as I was coming down the stairs." "Alright," replied Fantastic-Man. "We'll be there as soon as possible." "Right." Nighthawk ran back to the stairwell. The sounds of gunfire from below were clearly audible now... 9mm.. possibly a GLOC.. police issue? Fighting his way through the throngs of evacuees would take too long. He took a few steps back, got a running start, and dove head first over the railing. He was in freefall for almost 12 stories before flaring the wings of his cape, allowing him to glide comfortably to the ground. "Oh.. look! It's Nighthawk!" The citizens gasped and whispered to themselves. Drawing himself up to full height, Nighthawk turned to them all. "Go back up to the second floor, down the hall to the fire escape and get out of here." They obeyed without questioning and Nighthawk turned his full attention to the door leading from the stairwell into the lobby. He pressed up against the small rectangular glass window to get a look at what was going on outside when he heard a familar "GRAAAAAHHH!!!!" and saw a police officer sail through the air past the door into the wall, and slump down to the floor. "Why is Ogre trashing the lobby of the best hotel in Paragon City?" The Dark Defender thought to himself. As he disconnected his commlink with Nighthawk back at Headless Cross, Fantastic-Man sounded the Trouble Alert and rushed off for the D-Jet. Tomorrow Boy & Warforge met him there and they streaked off for the downtown hotel. The Mac Bashtee reappeared from a swirling vortex of energy in the stairwell behind Nighthawk. Nighthawk had managed to get a clear enough view of the lobby to see three hostiles - Ogre, whom The Defenders had battled before, was in the middle of the room, being shot at by the 3 remaining police officers who had taken cover under the overturned tables and other debris littering the extravagantly apportioned lobby. Their bullets bounced harmlessly off the huge supervillain's tough skin as he howled in rage. The other two villains stood behind Ogre, back near the main entrance. One appeared to be a young man wearing a red and blue bodysuit. The other wore robes of fine purple and black, a gold horned facemask, and a long, flowing golden cape. His pale forehead and jaw were visible above and below the mask and his long, dark hair was pulled back. "Quickly, my faithful minions!" the masked man called out to the other two. "We must find her before any of those lowly meddlesome heroes attempt to intervene! Thunderbolt, GO!!" At the masked man's command, the blue and red clad Thunderbolt dashed over to the computer at the front desk. His movements were a nearly invisible blur of speed. "Of COURSE Tornado's on vacation..." muttered The Mac Bashtee to Nighthawk. "Got it!" Thunderbolt called out. "She's in room 1623!" "More than one way to deal with a speedster," said Nighthawk as he reached for his belt, pulling out one of his flashbombs. Seconds later the lobby exploded in a burst of light accompanied by an unbearably loud sonic boom. The disoriented Ogre began smashing the floor, tables, and anything else in front of him in a berserker rage. Thunderbolt, who was wearing a helmet, and the other masked man, appeared to be unaffected, however. "Vile Interlopers!!!" spat the masked man. "You meddle in affairs you cannot comprehend! Feel the wrath of a TRUE Lemurian Noble! Know that Zorran the Artificer has defeated you!" Zorran raised his hands above his head, weaving them in the arcane patterns of spellcasting, and uttered an incantation, as a burst of powerful magical energy shot forth from his hands, striking the floor in front of Nighthawk and The Mac Bashtee. The two Defenders were barely affected, but the three remaining PCPD officers were knocked out by the edges of the blast radius. "Better make sure he can't do anymore of that..." said Nighthawk as he pulled one of his bolos from his belt and threw it at the wizard, trapping him in the taut lines of the bolo trap, preventing him from moving his arms to cast anymore spells. "Good idea... I'll take care of the other one," said The Mac Bashtee, as he cast a spell of his own, causing large vines to spring through the floor of the lobby and ensnare the speedy Thunderbolt. The two villains struggled mightily to escape their bonds, but to no immediate avail. "Curse you altruistic morons!" hissed Zorran. "Lazer! We require your assistance immediately!" At Zorran's command, a jet-pack equipped man in a bronze powered-armor suit flew in, crashing through the window. He levelled his rifle at The Mac Bashtee and fired off several shots. 4 of the 5 connected with The Mac Bashtee for minimal effect. Meanwhile, Ogre had managed to recover from Nighthawk's flashbomb. "Get over here and get this wretched entangle off of me, you musclebound oaf!" ordered Zorran. Ogre turned and ripped Nighthawk's bolo off the wizard effortlessly. "Good...You three deal with this garbage, I have more pressing matters to attend to." The wizard began moving his hands in the spellcasting gestures again, but this time, instead of unleashing yet another arcane blast at Nighthawk and Mac Bashtee, he disappeared in a puff of blue-black smoke. "Fantastic-Man.." Nighthawk yelled into his communicator as he dodged a blast from Lazer, "Get to room 1623... one of the hostiles is on his way there. Be careful... he's some kind of wizard or something." "Right," replied Fantastic-Man as the D-Jet was closing in on the Ritz Paragon. Tomorrow Boy took over the D-Jet controls to finish the landing cycle as Fantastic-Man soared off to the balcony of room 1623. Ogre howled in pain as The Mac Bashtee's psychic blast spell sent waves of pain rippling through the giant's mind. The Mac Bashtee's moment was short-lived, though, as another more focused blast from Lazer caught the Marvelous Mystic square in the chest, knocking him flat into the wall behind. Thunderbolt, meanwhile, had finally managed to break himself free of the Thorny Vine spell Mac Bashtee had cast on him and rocketed toward Nighthawk. His punch missed the Dark Defender, however. "Big guy first?" Tomorrow Boy quipped from the doorway as Ogre, Thunderbolt and Lazer all wheeled around to face him. "Yep." replied the mechanical mammoth Warforge, standing next to the teen genius. Meanwhile, up in room 1623, Fantastic-Man discovered that the instability of his powers was growing worse. He could neither desolidify his way through the patio door or boost his strength with his increased density. Fortunately the sliding glass door of the patio was unlocked and he slipped inside. He crept through the empty, dark bedroom of the corner suite toward the door leading into the living room area. He could hear the sounds of someone tearing the room apart, looking through drawers. He burst through the door as Zorran pulled a keycard bearing the Omnitech Industries logo from a desk drawer. "Ah!" Zorran intoned condescendingly. "You must be the one known as Fantastic-Man!" "Ah!" the Earth's Greatest Hero retorted. "You must be the one who needs a breath mint!" "Charming..." Zorran replied wryly as he began to cast another spell. But, Fantastic-Man was prepared for such an attack since Nighthawk had warned him of Zorran's powers. He lept at the Wizard, locking his arms around him and preventing him from completing any further gestures. "How deliciously futile..." laughed Zorran. Fantastic-Man felt the force of the sorcerer's will pressing in around his mind. He struggled to resist... but could not. "Good...good!" Zorran beamed. "Now... set me down at once, you filthy creature!" "Yes....master..." Fantastic-Man replied, his eyes glazed over. "That's a good mortal." Zorran mocked him. "Now... I must be off! I've spent all the time among you wretched Defenders I can possibly afford. Ta!" Keycard in hand, Zorran disappeared once again in a puff of blue-black smoke. Fantastic-Man's senses returned to him almost immediately. He tapped his communicator, "Nighthawk... the wizard got away I think... he had a keycard..something with Omnitech on it." "Of course..." muttered Nighthawk as he delivered a devastating fist strike to Thunderbolt. "We could use a hand in the lobby." "Be right down." Fantastic-Man went back out to the balcony where he discovered that his flight powers had also failed him. Frustrated and confused, he turned and ran down the hall to the elevator, taking it to the lobby. By the time Fantastic-Man reached the lobby, Lazer was down on the floor, covered by Tomorrow Boy who was using the villain's own weapons against him. Ogre had crashed through the wall after a devastating Hammerhand punch from Warforge and was lying unconcious out in the street, snarling downtown traffic for blocks. Thunderbolt, recognising the futility of his situation and the nigh-improbability that Zorran would bother paying him if he was incarcerated, however, had taken advantage of the Defender's preoccupation with Ogre and Lazer to make a mad dash for the front door and freedom. Fantastic-Man made the call to PRIMUS to pickup Ogre and Lazer while Nighthawk rushed to the security room. Once there, he found a computer and accessed his backdoor into the security systems at his company, Omnitech, locking out Dr. Jackson's keycard and hopefully preventing Zorran from gaining access to the Lemurian Cube. Warforge meanwhile had gone out to retrieve Ogre's unconcious body so as to allow a normal flow of traffic to resume through downtown Paragon City. As he lifted Ogre off the ground, he looked up in time to see a pair of car headlights coming toward him... through the air. The vehicle hit him with such force that Warforge, Ogre and the car all three crashed back through the hotel wall into the lobby, as the 25 foot tall Lemurian Golem that threw the car at the Titanium Titan loomed menacingly over the street. The Defenders inside the lobby barely had time to react to this when a second Construct smashed through the wall on the opposite side of the lobby, and raised it's enormous metal foot over Fantastic-Man and The Mac Bashtee... To Be Continued... ____________ GM Notes: Fun session. The group got a lot of story information this time, and the hotel fight was a lot of fun to run. Hopefully it was fun to participate in. I think Tomorrow Boy and Warforge have created a new Brickbuster maneuver - TB lifts the target in the air w/ his Telekenesis, and then Warforge drops the 2x Knockback Hammerhand attack on them. Ogre went airborne to the tune of 23"s.. which is pretty darn good considering he has a bit of resistance, too. Zorran rolled a whopping 72 pts. of effect on his Mind Control, an average roll of 4 per d6.. slightly above average. More than enough to achieve +30 over F-Bomb's EGO - MD. He's actually a pretty flexible villain and a hoot to roleplay. He's got all the condescending attitude of Dr. D without the ridiculously high player mortality rate. He's growing on me considerably after this one. I had intended this session to be a one-shot adventure, but a record-shattering amount of pre and in-game OOC screwing around by the group (myself included) streched it into a 2 session gig. No big deal. We only get together once every two weeks, and I'd rather us just have fun hanging out and being around eachother than forcing us to adhere to a rigid gaming schedule. Still... hopefully we'll ALL be a bit more focused in our chaotic ramblings next time! We actually wrapped up close to on-time for once, so that's a plus!

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group... More from last Saturday (didn't realize TB had written more on back! D'Oh!) At the meeting w/ Dr. Jackson, as she explains that she cannot scientifically identify the purpose of the Lemurian artifact: Mac Bashtee (in his secret ID w/ pick-up line voice): Do you believe in magic? Nighthawk (OOC): Jeez... there's the main line of our "Can You Read My Mind" song when this adventure gets picked up by Hollywood. ____________ Zorran the Artificer: Ah! You must be the one they call Fantastic-Man! FM: Ah! You must be the one that needs a breath mint! ____________ Tomorrow Boy (after telekinetically disarming Lazer of his rifle and pistol: Lazer?! That's the best name you could come up with? Nothing with Pizazz, like Laserbolt? Or Lightbeam? GM as Lazer: You are so dead, kid!! TB: Yeah? Get in line behind Ripper! ____________ Finally, after The Defenders had defeated Ogre, Thunderbolt (II) and Lazer, two 25-ft. tall Lemurian Golems appeared - the first throwing a car (with Warforge attached as the hood ornament) through the hotel lobby wall where the team had fought Zorran & his superhenchmen, and the second just punching his way through the wall next to Fantastic-Man & Mac Bashtee: Mac Bashtee: I'd like to go on record as saying... CRAP!!

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group... From The Defenders last Saturday: GM as Chiron the Centaur (training The Defenders for their upcoming battle with The Dragon): To be ready, you must prove you are sound of Body, which you have done. Players: Okay. Chiron: You must be sound of Spirit, which again you have proven. Players: Uh-huh. Chiron: Now, you must prove that you are sound of Mind... Warforge: We are so screwed!! Chiron (after Nighthawk solves the riddle): Excellent. You have proven that you are of sound mind. Tomorrow Boy Well, HE is! What about the REST of us?! Sebastian Grey (Secret ID of The Mac Bashtee) and Jack Kirby (Nighthawk) on their way to meet with the archaeologist, Dr. Jackson, who has finished studying the Lemurian artifact that Kirby's company found. Prior to the meeting, Dr. Jackson requested that Kirby bring his "cute environmentalist friend" - that being Grey. SG: So... she specifically asked me to come? Maybe she'll bring a friend. JK: Maybe... but I don't know how good of a wingman I'll be. I've never played that role before! Later, as FM struggles through an unexplained loss of his Mass Manipulation, Flight powers, and superstrength: FM: Yeah, I suck now, but somehow I manage to do things!

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group... From 2 sessions ago - The Defenders Vs. Gravitar Someone... can't remember who: So... If you're so hellbent on proving that you're the most powerful being on the planet, why haven't you gone after Dr. Destroyer yet? GM as Gravitar (who is French): Bah! Destroyer is a hack! A pathetic coward who hides in the shadows sending his toys and minions to do his dirty work! He is beneath me! Fantastic-Man: Awww... Could Frenchie not find Dr. D? Fantastic-Man attempts to knock Gravitar into orbit with his super-mega-knockback punch Nighthawk: I thought we were done sending monkeys into space. The Mac Bashtee: Yes, now we've moved to [amphibian reference deleted to avoid offending any of our Herophile brethren in France. ]