[Mutants & Masterminds] A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

[Davies]

Well, what will probably happen is that (a) the Futurian Academy students and some resistance fighters end up fighting Mhaim and her minions, with Ariel and Amagda joining forces against the Commissioner herself, (b) the Ghost Sweepers fight the Dragon until he surrenders, and (c) the Princesses of the Universe and an unexpected ally fight the Shadow Dragon in a desperate battle to take her out before night falls and she becomes a foe beyond them.

 

[Davies]

Prince Charming

An Ascendant who achieves the summit of power within their Sphere, becoming its Hierarch, has two options for how they leave that position -- either to wait until someone unseats them, either by straightforward battle or by demonstrating their superiority in some other manner, or to walk the long road of reincarnation, becoming an infant mortal who might one day accomplish something to earn Ascension and from there might become a Hierarch once again. Supposedly, at the end of that road is a prize beyond imagination. However, no Ascendant really believes this to be possible, and all five of the current Hierarchs have been in their positions for thousands of years now.

Orsolya Callixius, oldest daughter of a Baron in the east of Palameros, does not know how she knows these facts. She cannot remember ever not knowing them, but suspects (correctly) that they are things that the Ascendants would rather that mortals not know. Most mortals treat stories about immortal beings who originate as mortals as fancies, tales fit only for children. The choices she has made in her life have been greatly influenced by her knowledge that they are anything but that.

A decade ago, when she was nineteen, Orsolya's father retired from his Baronial title after the death of his wife, intending to spend the rest of his life in a monastery and pass the rule of their tiny domain onto her. For reasons she could not fully explain, Orsolya hesitated to accept this seemingly ideal life, and followed old rumors into a marsh not far from their property, where three old witches supposedly gave wise counsel to those who would answer their riddles. When she finally arrived at their shack, she was a bit confused by the way that she could somehow tell that there was only a single presence within it, despite illusions of a trio. Nevertheless, she answered their first riddle, and then took a moment to consider the question she should ask in return. The simple thing to do would have been to ask whether she should accept the title or reject it, but she found herself asking a different question of broader import: "What question should I ask you?"

She got her answer to that question, and then left without asking anything else. Her life would be the answer to the question she should ask.

The next day, after receiving the title, she promptly abdicated it and passed the barony to her wicked uncle, who had been scheming to seize it for as long as she'd been alive. (He was pleasantly surprised this; somewhat less pleasantly a few years later, when he ended up hanged for treason.) With that out of the way and her red-gold hair dyed pink, she departed to walk the road to adventure with nothing more than her father's court sword and the clothes on her back, and a blessing she didn't fully believe. Despite that, her obviously aristocratic upbringing led to fellow adventurers dubbing her a Princess, but she soon became known as a Prince instead when it became clear that she was no fainting maiden but a brave and deadly fighter. The 'Charming' sobriquet just came naturally.

The Prince has adventured throughout the continent, from Troatis and Al'Aram to Tohrukin and the Great Desert to the west, from the Dread Sea to Newlund in the far north. She has seen things no other mortal has seen; one of the few outsiders to have visited the City of Stone and met the hobfolk within it, she even traveled alongside their great explorer Sellula. Throughout these legendary journeys, she has lived her life heroically, and lived it with style. Her exploits have not always been successful, and sometimes not even meritorious, but she never regrets the choice that she made, and greets everything that comes her way with a smile.

Most recently, she has spent quite a bit of time assisting Galantrian emigres in Tohrukin to settle in to their new lives, even sneaking into the land they fled in hopes of recoverng the treasures -- and occasionally people -- left behind in their flight. Very soon, she will be offered yet another job of that nature, to discover the fate of one Amagda Levent, which will get her involved in a fight alongside Ascendants and visitors from beyond, determining the fate of nations. A typical Midweek, basically.

Prince Charming -- PL 9

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

Powers:
Beyond Destiny: Permanent Concealment 1 (precognition), Innate - 3 points
Blessing of the Fates: Enhanced Advantage 4 (Luck); Luck Control 4 - 16 points
Charmed Life: Enhanced Defenses 6 (Dodge 3, Parry 3), Subtle - 7 points
Longevity: Immunity 1 (aging) - 1 point
Sense Immortal: Senses 2 (ranged detect immortal) - 2 points

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Agile Feint, All-out Attack, Attractive, Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll, Equipment, Evasion, Fascinate (Persuasion), Fearless 2, Improved Initiative, Languages 4 (many, [Troatian is native]), Power Attack, Precise Attack (Close/Concealment), Seize Initiative, Takedown, Uncanny Dodge

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

Skills:
Acrobatics 9 (+13), Athletics 8 (+10), Close Combat: Sword 5 (+13), Deception 5 (+12), Expertise: High Society 9 (+10), Expertise: Magic 3 (+10), Intimidation 5 (+12), Perception 8 (+9), Persuasion 5 (+12), Sleight of Hand 4 (+9), Stealth 7 (+11).

Offense:
Initiative +11
Unarmed +8 (Close Damage 2)
Sword +13 (Close Damage 5, Crit 19-20)

Defense:
Dodge 11/8, Parry 13/10, Fortitude 6, Toughness 5/3, Will 8

Totals:
Abilities 62 + Powers 29 + Advantages 21 + Skills 34 + Defenses 16 = 158 points

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

Complications:
Thrills--Motivation. Fame. Impulsive and Carefree. Power Loss (Blessing of the Fates, if she ever behaves in a cautious and prudent manner.) Secret (knowledge she should not possess.)

Her battlecry: "I AM YOUTH! I AM JOY! I AM THE CHICK WHO BROKE OUT OF THE EGG!"

 

[Davies]

Nephren-ka

More than two thousand years before the current era, the last king of Egypt's Sixth Dynasty was named Netjerkare Siptah. Closer to his time than to our own, yet still many centuries later, a Greek author would tell a story about this era which claimed that a queen named Nitocris had taken vengeance on her brother's murderers by diverting the Nile to drown them. For a long time in the history of Egyptology, this story was thought to be complete fiction, and later a distortion in which Netjerkare's name was misrepresented as Nitocris, but even then just a silly story.

The silly story covered something far more horrible. Netjerkare Siptah's reign came to an end when he was murdered by the local governors of Egypt, but they were not so foolish to place his younger sister, whose name has not come down to this day, on the throne in his place. Her desire was not for vengeance, but for her brother to return and take back what was rightfully his. Invoking powers she did not fully understand through an ancient song, driven by the twin madnesses of love and hope, she called something down out of darkness between the stars that took up residence in her brother's corpse and rebuilt it to suit itself. Netjerkare -- Nephren-ka -- had awakened, and the chaos of the Seventh Dynasty was his first great triumph.

Eventually, sanity reasserted itself with the start of the dynasty that followed. Fleeing those who sought his end, Nephren-ka took refuge within Earth, sleeping for centuries and rising when there was opportunity to work his will. How many times he did this, how much his actions shaped the history of the World That Burned, may never be known. He rose again in the 1920s and worked much madness, yet suffered a serious defeat that forced him into hiding in 1936, sleeping fitfully before he returned in 1983 as a foe of the Justice Alliance. For more than a decade, he strove to drive the world insane for his own amusement and that of the Old Ones.

And then, in the last years of the twentieth century, the world went mad in a way he had not anticipated, and nuclear war broke out. The death and destruction might have amused Nephren-ka, had a megaton blast not come down not far from where he was lairing in 1997, near Memphis, Tennessee, before he could prepare appropriate wards. He suffered horribly and retreated into a deep sleep, unsure if the world would still be there when he awakened. The process of his awakening began some fifteen years later, when he was finally restored enough to perceive and influence the minds around him.

For the first time in eons, he found himself genuinely surprised when he learned who some of those minds were. Some years before his awakening, the World That Burned had been discovered by interlopers from the extradimensional city known as the Sprawl. They naturally sought to take advantage of the diminished circumstances of the former reality by looting as much as they could, openly employing their technological advantages. As it happened, one group of them discovered the tomb of Nephren-Ka and mistook it for a supply cache, and so became the Dread Pharaoh's first conquests from another world, bringing their master's body back with them to the Sprawl.

There, he continued to seize command of minds, exploiting the Sprawl's medical technology to heal the wounds he'd suffered much sooner than they otherwise might, ending his slumber in six years instead of the decades that it would have taken naturally. He learned much in the process, about the many worlds that the Sprawl sought to plunder. Fate and his own will had delivered him to a place where he might have his way with not just a nation or even a world, but all possible realities.

Of course, first Nephren-ka must complete the conquest of the Sprawl itself. While its leaders are largely pathetic, powerless non-entities, some of them have nevertheless managed to avoid becoming his dominated vassals and resist the assassination attempts of those who serve him. As yet, vanishingly few of the denizens of the Sprawl even know that the Dread Pharaoh even exists, viewing the current situation as just a more intense period of intercorporate struggle. It is a vexing situation, and may become even more vexing if he is opposed by that which created him and that which has ever thwarted him -- a voice raised in song, driven by the twin madnesses of hope and love.

Nephren-Ka -- PL 13

Abilities:
STR 9 | STA 7 | AGL 4 | DEX 5 | FGT 7 | INT 13 | AWE 10 | PRE 12

Powers:
Alien: Immunity 31 (aging, life support, mental effects); Protection 6, Impervious 12; Senses 8 (mystical awareness, vision counters all concealment and illusion) - 57 points
Sorcery: Array (46 points)

• Call of the Wild: Summon Animals 3 (wild beasts), Broad, Horde, Mental Link, Multiple Minions 5, Dynamic - 47 points
• Darkling Bolts: Ranged Multiattack Damage 14, Incurable, Dynamic - 2 points
• Lord of Illusions: Illusion 11 (all senses), Resistable (Will), Dynamic - 2 points
• Mind over Matter: Perception Range Damaging Move Object 11 (50 tons), Dynamic - 2 points
• Obey Me: Perception Range Progressive Affliction 9 (Resisted by Will; Dazed, Compelled, Controlled), Dynamic - 2 points
• Protean Form: Flight 8 (500 MPH); Insubstantial 2; Morph 4 - 1 point
• Scrying: Remote Sensing 8 (all senses; 250 miles), Subtle 2, Dynamic - 2 points

Voice of the Mind: Comprehend Languages 3 (speak and be understood in all languages); Mental Communication 3 - 21 points

Advantages:
Improved Hold, Jack-of-all-Trades, Ritualist, Taunt.

Skills:
Close Combat: Unarmed 4 (+11), Deception 5 (+17), Expertise: Magic 6 (+18), Insight 4 (+14), Intimidation 3 (+15), Perception 6 (+16), Persuasion 1 (+13), Ranged Combat: Sorcery 7 (+12).

Offense:
Initiative +4
Unarmed +11 (Close Damage 9)
Darkling Bolts +12 (Ranged Multiattack Damage 14)
Mind over Matter -- (Perception Range Damage 11)
Obey Me -- (Perception Range Will 9)

Defense:
Dodge 11, Parry 11, Fortitude 10, Toughness 13, Will 12.

Totals:
Abilities 134 + Powers 135 + Advantages 4 + Skills 18 + Defenses 16 = 307 points

Offensive PL: 13
Defensive PL: 12
Resistance PL: 11
Skill PL: 13

Complications:
Power--Motivation. Sadism. Vulnerability (sonic and music attacks.)

 

[Voltron64]

Of course, first Nephren-ka must complete the conquest of the Sprawl itself. While its leaders are largely pathetic, powerless non-entities, some of them have nevertheless managed to avoid becoming his dominated vassals and resist the assassination attempts of those who serve him. As yet, vanishingly few of the denizens of the Sprawl even know that the Dread Pharaoh even exists, viewing the current situation as just a more intense period of intercorporate struggle. It is a vexing situation, and may become even more vexing if he is opposed by that which created him and that which has ever thwarted him -- a voice raised in song, driven by the twin madnesses of hope and love.

Vulnerability (sonic and music attacks.)

Rockerboy vs the Black Pharaoh, now that is a story worth telling and a sight worth seeing (from a very safe angle of course).

 

[Davies]

Rockerboy vs the Black Pharaoh, now that is a story worth telling...

I thought so.

 

[Davies]

Astolfine

Art by macarious

The Duchy of Artheld lies far to the west of the Torm Basin, past the Haglophian Mountains which form the Basin's western border, and the Great Salt Desert beyond them. Vanishingly few travelers have ever ventured that far and returned to speak of what they found there, and most dismiss the tales told of such voyages as lies meant to cadge drinks or coin from the gullible. As it happens, Travis Ritter holds a different view, having heard the same basic tale over and over again from these voyagers, and recognizing something hauntingly familiar about it; a little bit of the world he left behind, impossibly preserved.

Unfortunately, Ritter has never found the time or opportunity to voyage there to confirm or deny the rumors, for there are always other heroic deeds to be done on the near side of the Haglophians, and in the east. But this misfortune is balanced by the fact that there is an emissary of sorts from those distant lands who has made her way to the Basin, to seek her fortune, her fate, or some combination of these. Sometimes allying with Ritter, sometimes drawn into schemes which place her in opposition to him, the gun for hire known as Astolfine is one of the knights without armor of Artheld.

Astolfine has rarely spoken of the reasons she left her home in the west to roam around the Torm Basin. From unguarded comments that she's made in the decade or so that Ritter has known her, while speaking to him and to others who've spoken of her, he's reached the conclusion that she is an exile from her homeland, and not a voluntary one. She will not, under any circumstances, ever speak of the reasons that she might have been forced out of the Duchy. Only the deepest, most violating psychic probing will reveal that she killed a mother and child -- her own mother, and her neverborn half-sibling -- under circumstances that she cannot bear to think about.

Despite that grim origin, Astolfine rarely exhibits much in the way of sorrow or regret, or most other strong emotions. By nature or nurture, she suppresses such things, with her most emotional reactions coming out when she gives in to her most mischievous tendencies. She enjoys inflicting embarrassment and even humiliation on potential opponents (and allies who have lost her good opinion) more than she would enjoy inflicting actual injury or death, though she will deal those out if she must. Astolfine has been known to snicker or even let out a single peal of genuine laughter at the sight of a foe's ruined dignity, whether she caused it or not.

The guns that Astolfine employs are at once much more advanced than many weapons in use in the Torm Basin, and yet much less advanced than the energy weapons that are often used by soldiers of Nerath and other wealthy states. Astolfine has repeatedly turned down opportunities to learn to use the latter, prefrring to rely on what she knows will work. A good part of this is that she is quite capable of creating replacement ammunition to replace that which she expends, using tools she brought with her from Artheld and relatively cheap raw materials, which she would not be able to do with the cartridges that power blasters. At heart, Astolfine is both a bit overly proud of her traditions, and more self-reliant than most people in the World Closer to the Grave can really afford to be.

In addition to her talents as a gunslinger, Astolfine has one other major advantage -- the Voice. She can somehow speak in precisely the right timber to make someone hesitate and be lost, possibly employing some sort of mesmeric talent in the process. She cannot command others actions through this ability, but it works on any opponent who can hear her speak, regardless of whether they understand the language. From off-hand remarks, it seems that Astolfine is a relative novice in the use of these talents, and has spoken soberly of people who were able to heal wounds by shouting at the wounded. Of course, that could be the set-up of an elaborate prank ... but maybe not.


Astolfine -- PL 8

Abilities:
STR 2 | STA 3 | AGL 5 | DEX 6 | FGT 5 | INT 3 | AWE 2 | PRE 2

Powers:
The Voice: Perception Range Affliction 6 (Resisted by Will; Dazed and Vulnerable, Defenseless & Stunned), Extra Condition, Hearing Dependent, Limited Degree - 12 points

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, All-out Attack, Benefit (Paired Guns), Defensive Roll 2, Equipment 3, Fearless, Improved Aim, Improved Critical (pistol), Improved Initiative, Language 3 (many incuding Tormanan, [Varangais is native]) Precise Attack (Ranged/Cover), Startle, Takedown, Tracking.

Equipment:
Two Pistols (Ranged Damage 3), gunsmithing tools and 2 points of equipment as needed.

Skills:
Athletics 5 (+7), Deception 4 (+6), Expertise: Survival 4 (+7), Intimidation 7 (+9), Investigation 4 (+7), Ranged Combat: Guns 4 (+10), Perception 5 (+7), Sleight of Hand 2 (+8), Stealth 3 (+8), Technology 2 (+5).

Offense:
Initiative +9
Unarmed +5 (Close Damage 2)
Pistol +10 (Ranged Damage 3)
Paired Guns +10 (Ranged Damage 6)

Defense:
Dodge 8, Parry 6, Fortitude 5, Toughness 8/3, Will 9.

Totals:
Abilities 56 + Powers 12 + Advantages 19 + Skills 20 + Defenses 13 = 120 points

Offensive PL: 8
Defensive PL: 8
Resistance PL: 7
Skill PL: 5

Complications:
Survival--Motivation. Nomadic. Outsider. Prankster.

 

[Voltron64]

In addition to her talents as a gunslinger, Astolfine has one other major advantage -- the Voice. She can somehow speak in precisely the right timber to make someone hesitate and be lost, possibly employing some sort of mesmeric talent in the process. She cannot command others actions through this ability, but it works on any opponent who can hear her speak, regardless of whether they understand the language. From off-hand remarks, it seems that Astolfine is a relative novice in the use of these talents, and has spoken soberly of people who were able to heal wounds by shouting at the wounded. Of course, that could be the set-up of an elaborate prank ... but maybe not.

 

[Davies]

Pallin and Vallesta

While Feleks and Rafnr the Ruddy are two of the most famous delvers of Bemarris, their reputations in Bemarris are not entirely positive. As often abroad as they are, they are frequently considered 'unreliable' by those who might want to employ their services; that particular characterization is also informed by their tendency to abandon activities that offend their sometimes mercurial sensibilities. Other delvers, less competent ones, are often considered more 'reliable' ... or perhaps more 'dependent on the goodwill of others'.

Of these, one of the most recently famous is Pallin, a denizen from one of the farming villages surrounding Bemarris. His story is entirely typical; two years ago both of his parents died during a brutal winter, and while their neighbors were willing to take him in for a few months, he chose to leave for the city when spring came. Unable to find more sensible work, he became a dungeon delver to feed himself, and found that he had something of a knack for it. So he's kept at it, and gained a reputation for efficiently bringing back bounties from the darkness underneath.

Of course, the source of that 'something of a knack' is not what it seems, for an untrained farm boy would surely only have found a brutal, nameless death in the dungeon. Pallin was lucky enough to cross paths with a wizard before he began his adventures, and receive her favor and blessing, granting him slightly enhanced physical attributes and an enchantment that allowed him to cast a magical arrow from his hand. He is entirely aware of how much of an advantage he's been given with these, and always prioritizes helping his patron over other considerations. Fortunately for him, she never requests anything of him that would prevent him from fulfilling someone else's requests.

The wizard Vallesta is not nearly as powerful or as skilled as Cagana the Crazed or Valensian Ral, but is also not as physically twisted as either of them, and thus can move freely within the city. Or rather, she seems less physically twisted, but if it were known that a soul nearly seven hundred years old dwells within her seemingly youthful body, she might seem much more so. Long ago, while studying under a wizard in her homeland, far to the east, she was cursed to live as she was until such time as she truly learned what magic truly is.

This 'curse' has not only prolonged her youth, it has made her invulnerable. (Or so she thinks; in fact, she can be harmed by sufficient force, but heals most wounds so quickly that scars cannot even form.) Having conducted auguries, Vallesta believes that here, within Bemarris, she will find the answer which grants her the mastery of magic that she has sought, and will use whatever means she has to in order to find it. Fate has delivered her a worthy agent in the form of Pallin, who survived a dangerous magical experiment she conducted that linked the two of them, granting him the ability to use a spell she'd developed long before.

While Pallin began as only a means to an end for her, she has grown fond of him in some ways ... though give a choice, she would always choose to have greater power over something like friendship. It is quite possible, though, that such callousness is actually an obstacle to her goals, though she doesn't yet realize that.

Pallin -- PL 7

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

Powers:
Flame Arrow: Ranged Damage 5 - 10 points

Advantages:
Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll, Equipment, Evasion, Hide in Plain Sight, Luck 3, Power Attack, Trapfinding 2*.
* Grants +2 circumstance bonus to Perception checks to find traps and uses Dexterity for Technology checks.

Equipment:
Starforged Knife (Strength-based Damage 1, Improved Critical 2), armored clothes (Protection 1).

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+7), Athletics 5 (+7), Close Combat: Knife 4 (+9), Expertise: Magic 2 (+5), Expertise: Streetwise 3 (+4), Investigation 3 (+4), Perception 4 (+6), Persuasion 2 (+5), Ranged Combat: Magic 4 (+8), Stealth 3 (+7), Technology 3 (+6).

Offense:
Initiative +4
Unarmed +5 (Close Damage 2)
Knife +9 (Close Damage 3, Crit 18-20)
Flame Arrow +8 (Ranged Damage 5)

Defense:
Dodge 7, Parry 9, Fortitude 5, Toughness 5/4/3/2, Will 7

Totals:
Abilities 44 + Powers 10 + Advantages 11 + Skills 18 + Defenses 15 = 98 points

Offensive PL: 7
Defensive PL: 7
Resistance PL: 6
Skill PL: 2

Complications:
Adventure--Motivation. Friend (Vallesta.) Obligation (also Vallesta.) Power Loss/Weakness (Flame Arrow, if Vallesta is annoyed; also loses 2 ranks from all physical abilities and Fighting.)


Vallesta -- PL 9

Abilities:
STR -1 | STA 7 | AGL 1 | DEX 0 | FGT 2 | INT 4 | AWE 6 | PRE 6

Powers:
Invulnerable: Immunity 11 (aging, life support); Protection 7, Impervious 14; Regeneration 10 - 42 points
Mystic Senses: Senses 2 (acute mystic awareness) - 2 points
Shielded Mind: Impervious Will 9, Limited to mental effects - 5 points

Advantages:
Attractive, Benefit 2 (independently wealthy), Equipment 3, Languages 4 (several including Tormanan, [unknown native]), Ritualist, Startle, Taunt, Well-informed.

Skills:
Deception 4 (+10), Expertise: Magic 6 (+12), Insight 4 (+10), Intimidation 4 (+10), Investigation 7 (+11), Perception 5 (+11)

Offense:
Initiative +1
Unarmed +2 (Close Damage -1)

Defense:
Dodge 3, Parry 4, Fortitude 9, Toughness 14, Will 9

Totals:
Abilities 50 + Powers 49 + Advantages 10 + Skills 15 + Defenses 9 = 133 points

Offensive PL: 1*
Defensive PL: 9
Resistance PL: 9
Skill PL: 7

Complications:
Ambition--Motivation. Pretense of Friendship (possibly the real thing?) Prejudice (wizard.)

 

[Davies]

Iridescent

Like many of the superheroes of World More Grim, Kelly Sue Red Owl does not have a secret identity. The public is well-aware that she divides her time between a mundane career at the Smithsonian and a more active one as a costumed superhero, frequently called upon by the DC Police to assist them in dealing with supercriminals. However, that's pretty much all they know, as Iridescent doesn't give interviews or talk to the press. In particular, she has never discussed how she developed the power she calls 'colorweaving', the ability to project a variety of different energy types whose effects vary depending on their color.

A few dogged investigators have traced her origins back to the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, where there are many people who will confirm that a young girl who possessed these powers grew up there in the 80s, and nobody ever made much of a big deal about it. This has struck more than one investigator as odd, but no obvious holes have been found in the official account. This is just as Red Owl wants, though she regrets exploiting the people at Pine Ridge in this way. The truth of the matter is that she does have a secret, and a big one at that. Red Owl was born more than a century before her supposed birthdate, and was seventeen years old when her entire family died at Wounded Knee Creek. She herself took lethal wounds in the massacre, and might have died herself if the civilians hired to bury the dead had not been more than what they seemed.

The exact origins of the unaging transhuman beings known as the Vima is not clear. They themselves believe that they were created by those they call the Primordials, identifying them with the forebears of the Olympians, whom they call Titans. (There has been a long-standing rivalry between the two groups of superbeings.) Their self-appointed purpose is to protect the Earth and its peoples from the shadows. The Vima are unlike the Olympians in one key respect; they cannot reproduce themselves but must create new Vima from human beings who agree to the procedure. Their society may underlie many tales of immortal beings who recruit new members, such as the Eight Immortals of Taoist alchemy.

On discovering that Red Owl had survived the massacre and the blizzard that followed it, the Vima offered her the opportunity to join them. Not fully understanding what she was agreeing to, Red Owl nevertheless did so and was transported to the group's hidden fortress in Labrador. There she underwent a number of processes that transformed her into a unaging transhuman, and began to build a new life for herself, studying with the Vima's masters. She developed her 'colorweaving' powers gradually, and is quite famous among the Vima for the versatility of her powers.

A century after Wounded Knee, Red Owl finally felt comfortable enough in her new identity to start living openly among humans once again, and created the identity of "Kelly Sue Red Owl" with the help of other Vima. She soon found a job at the Smithsonian, working to gradually return what had been taken from indigenous peoples around the world to them while also educating about their history and traditions. It was a fairly good life, and she could be proud of herself, but Red Owl often found herself a bit dissatisfied at how mundane it was after all that she had experienced.

In the twenty-first century, everything began to change. A few months after Shadowraptor made his debut in 2007, Red Owl happened to witness what she took for a gay bashing incident committed against a young man. Rescuing the victim, she attempted to use her powers to heal, but found that the victim's injuries were more serious than she could treat. Somewhat impulsively, she flew to Labrador and placed Charlie Dozier into the Rebirthing Matrix, and was surprised when her new friend emerged as a young woman of the Vima. This development, and the fact that Red Owl did this on her own initiative, has unsettled some of the more conservative Vima. Charlie's education has been placed in Red Owl's hands, and it is largely at her urging that her mentor has begun to act as a 'superhero' under the alias Iridescent.

Iridescent strives to maintain friendly relations with other superheroes, but has politely turned down invitations to permanently join both the Superhuman Crew and RAH Inc., though she was grateful of the assistance of the former while dealing with a recent riot in DC. This has inspired one of her old rivals, a matter-manipulating Vima named Thélgo to join the latter group, which has led to some awkward and uncomfortable confrontations. However, Thélgo has also been of great help to Iridescent and Charlie in fighting the ancient Vima criminal known as Dulkharnein the Life-Drinker. As yet, none of the factions of the World More Grim are aware of the immortals living among them ... but that could very easily change now that their ancient rivals, the Olympians, are becoming more active.

Iridescent -- PL 11

Abilities:
STR 2 | STA 4 | AGL 5 | DEX 6 | FGT 5 | INT 3 | AWE 4 | PRE 5

Powers:
Colorweaving: Array (24 points)

• Red/Heat Blast: Ranged Damage 12 - 24 points
• Orange/Tractor Beam: Move Object 12 (100 tons) - 1 point
• Yellow/Blinding Light: Ranged Cumulative Affliction 12 (Resisted by Fortitude; Visually Impaired, Visually Disabled, Visually Unaware), Limited to One Sense - 1 point
• Green/Grapple Beam: Ranged Affliction 12 (Resisted by Dodge, Overcome by Damage; Hindered & Vulnerable, Defenseless & Immobile), Extra Condition, Limited Degree - 1 point
• Blue/Stun Bolt: Ranged Cumulative Affliction 8 (Resisted by Fortitude; Dazed, Stunned, Incapacitated) - 1 point
• Indigo/Healing Ray: Ranged Healing 8 - 1 point
• Violet/Antipsi: Nullify Psychic Powers 12, Broad - 1 point

Instant Change: Feature 1 (change from any clothes to costume) - 1 point
Levitation Field: Linked Flight 14 (32,000 MPH); Linked Sustained Protection 10 - 38 points
Vima: Immunity 11 (aging, life support); Regeneration 10; Senses 2 (darkvision) - 23 points

Advantages:
Agile Feint, Connections, Defensive Attack, Improved Initiative, Jack-of-all-trades, Languages 2 (English, French, Spanish, [Lakota is native]), Power Attack, Precise Attack (ranged/cover), Teamwork, Uncanny Dodge.

Skills:
Acrobatics 5 (+10), Close Combat: Unarmed 2 (+7), Expertise: Art 5 (+8), Expertise: History 8 (+11), Expertise: Survival 5 (+8), Insight 8 (+12), Investigation 6 (+9), Perception 6 (+10), Persuasion 5 (+10), Ranged Combat: Color 4 (+10).

Offense:
Initiative +9
Unarmed +7 (Close Damage 2)
Heat Blast +10 (Ranged Damage 12)
Blinding Light +10 (Ranged Fortitude 12)
Grapple Beam +10 (Ranged Affliction 12, Resisted by Dodge)
Stun Bolt +10 (Ranged Fortitude 8)

Defense:
Dodge 8, Parry 7, Fortitude 9, Toughness 14/4, Will 12

Totals:
Abilities 66 + Powers 92 + Advantages 11 + Skills 27 + Defenses 18 = 214 points

Offensive PL: 11
Defensive PL: 11
Resistance PL: 11
Skill PL: 7

Complications:
Responsibility--Motivation. Friendship (Charlie Dozier.) Inhuman (bleeds light.) Rivalry (Thélgo.) Secret (Vima.)

Note: Character concept by Voltron64.

 

[Davies]

Sanjurou Satsuki

Kyoto, the capital of Japan for eleven centuries, is home to an enormous amount of Japan's enduring cultural heritage. One can scarcely walk down any given block in the city without encountering some site of historical significance. Needless to say, this results in a great deal of tourism, both from within Japan and without ... and needless to say, where there are tourists, there are those who prey on them, and on any unfortunate locals who happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Since 2018, however, Kyoto's nights have become just a bit safer thanks to the presence of one of the country's few vigilantes. On those few occasions when she has answered questions about herself, she claims the name Sanjurou Satsuki, though she's quick to point out that she's only twenty-five years old. (It's a joke that only works in Japanese.) Garbed in a white kimono that seems to miraculously clean itself, Satsuki usually just uses her fists and feet to deal appropriate punishment to street criminals, reserving her sword for those mystical threats that she comes across during her nightly patrols. She has never been sighted during daylight.

Her activities, and the fact that she had dealt with a number of developing supernatural phenomena before they came to the awareness of those who were supposed to be dealing with them, naturally attracted the interest of the Ghost Sweepers within a year of her debut. If she could be recruited and her talents put to work for the national interest, she should be; if not, and if it turned out that she was a potential threat, she needed to be neutralized. So an investigation began, and evidence soon turned up that seemed to support the worst fears.

While disguised, it was fairly easy for the team's detective to identify "Satsuki's" civilian identity -- Shindou Kaede, a college drop-out who operated a small cigarette shop in Kyoto, having inherited it from her late uncle. She had no history of martial arts training, and seemed entirely focused on operating the shop, uninterested in the world around her. And yet psychic scanning failed to work on her, suggesting that she might be the victim of possession or some other form of mind control.

With the investigation complete, the Ghost Sweepers moved on to a confrontation, with Megan Excalibur taking point. She approached "Satsuki" while the latter was returning from a night's patrol, and asked to speak with her. Satsuki declined to acquiesce to this request, and they moved on to the inevitable swordfight. It was a great duel, ranged all over, they were both masters, you get the idea. Ultimately, the entire thing was a set-up meant to lure the target into range of a device that was supposed to nullify possession. She was caught squarely in its blast.

"Was that supposed to do something?" Satsuki asked a moment later.

The truth came out fairly quickly. While Shindou Kaede was the victim of possession, her supposedly mundane identity was the result of that possession -- specifically, by the 'ghost' of her late uncle, who apparently wanted nothing more than to continue running his cigarette store even after he'd died. During the day, his personality overrided her own, with her own mentality retaking control after he closed down the shop for the day. Kaede accepted this situation as a way to show respect to the dead, since she and her uncle had always gotten along better than either did with other members of their family. Meanwhile, her own superpowers had developed shortly before she started being possessed, and were apparently straightforward psychic talents.

After all this was cleared up, Satsuki was offered a position with the Ghost Sweepers, but politely declined. Their missions took them all over Japan, after all, and she was firmly bound to Kyoto. She agreed to call them in if she ever found herself in a situation where she needed backup, and they parted as respectful friends -- while both she and Megan were convinced that the duel would have gone their way if it had continued.

Sanjurou Satsuki -- PL 8

Abilities:
STR 2 | STA 3 | AGL 6 | DEX 4 | FGT 8 | INT 2 | AWE 4 | PRE 2

Powers:
Mind's Edge: Strength-based Damage 3, Affects Insubstantial 2, Improved Critical 4, Penetrating 5; Easily Removable (-4 points) - 10 points
Parkour: Leaping 4 (120 feet); Movement 1 (environmental adaptation [urban]); Movement 4 (safe fall, sure-footed 2, wall-crawling 1), Limited to urban Environments - 10 points
Strange Mind: Immunity 20 (mental effects), Limited to half effect - 10 points
Uncanny Senses: Senses 5 (accurate hearing, low-light vision, tracking mystic awareness) - 5 points

Advantages:
Agile Feint, All-out Attack, Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll, Evasion, Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Uncanny Dodge.

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+10), Athletics 6 (+8), Close Combat: Sword 3 (+11), Deception 6 (+8), Expertise: Magic 6 (+8), Expertise: Streetwise 7 (+9), Insight 8 (+12), Perception 9 (+13), Stealth 5 (+11).

Offense:
Initiative +10
Unarmed +8 (Close Damage 2)
Mind's Edge +11 (Close Damage 5, Crit 16-20)

Defense:
Dodge 9, Parry 11, Fortitude 4, Toughness 5/3, Will 9

Totals:
Abilities 62 + Powers 35 + Advantages 7 + Skills 27 + Defenses 12 = 143 points

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

Complications:
Justice--Motivation. Possessed (during the day, functions as a PL 0 Bystander.) Secret Identity.