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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Davies" data-source="post: 8430048" data-attributes="member: 30538">Aperion<img src="https://photos.smugmug.com/My-First-Gallery/i-m9MV8Nd/1/a092c90c/S/Oa-S.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />Located slightly more than a thousand parsecs coreward from Earth, not far from those sectors of space that have been conquered by the Dark Side, the planet Aperion is the capital -- and sole inhabited planet -- of a tiny pocket of space that those forces have not yet challenged. It seems likely that this is due to the fact that it is the home base of those who use the Power Prism, who have never used any less awkward collective name. This is where the Power Prisms are created, and the Technate believes that this is also where those who use them are chosen and trained.That last belief is not completely accurate, but the Council of Aperion does absolutely nothing to disabuse the Technate of that notion. The fact of the matter is that the majority of Power Prisms change hands completely at random, passing from one failing hand to another. Matters being as they are, it is a quite common occurrence for the new possessor of a Power Prism to be the individual who ended the life of its previous possessor. Not all of those who use this instrument are law-upholding, or even law-abiding, and the Prism will function regardless of the user's character. The case of Derat Bahasta, alias el Diablo Rojo, should be ample evidence of that.There are two main authorities on Aperion. The Council is composed of current and retired users of the Prism, recruited from countless worlds within the Technate, the Unclaimed Regions, and further afield. They handle the planet's defense, diplomacy and most other daily business, having been established to do all this some four hundred years* ago by the other authority. These are the beings known as the Lightsmiths, who run the machinery that create the Prisms. As a certain entity claimed, telling a half-truth, they are a species who consist of a giant human-like brain attached to a vestigial semi-humanoid body.The Lightsmiths' sole interest is in creating new Power Prisms and observing their development. Aside from what little effort they expend on the basics of life -- feeding, resting, and other biological functions -- and on study to improve their abilities, this is literally all that they do. They possess instrumentation which can detect the whereabouts of any Power Prism that they created anywhere in known space, and which can inform them as to how developed they have become through regular use.  They do not have the ability to detect anything about the entities who use them. Nor would they be interested in having that ability. With only one exception, they don't care who uses their Power Prisms, as long as they are used.That exception is that they were, at one point in the past, able to focus enough of their attention on other matters to realize that, if they gave this power to any individual without concern, the possibility existed that it might be used against themselves. To prevent that possibility, they created the Council after vetting its immediate members for such ambitions, and charged them with defending Aperion in general, and the Lightsmiths in particular, from all threats. In the early centuries of its existence, the Council acted like any military focused group would do, often engaging in pre-emptive attacks against potential threats to Aperion. More recently, since shortly before the formation of the Technate, the Council has begun to act more like a combination of a law enforcement agency and emergency services provider, working with friendly governments against mutual threats, so as to discourage potentially hostile activity.Regardless, the Council receives information about the whereabouts of those Power Prisms which are in use from the Lightsmiths. While the latter are not generally interested in the character of those who use their creations, the same is not true of the Councilors, who dispatch agents to investigate the activities and nature of such individuals. Those who are using their abilities in what these agents believe to be an inappropriate manner will have their Prisms removed, and probably be turned over to local law enforcement where possible. Others will be invited to return to Aperion for a time in order to learn more about their abilities. If that invitation is refused, they won't (generally) press the issue.The Power Prism that is used by Victor Furtado was, for most of his career, assumed to still be in the possession of B'zz Trgal, who had indicated a complete lack of interest in journeying to Aperion when he was confronted, on several different occasions, by agents of the Council. After the Powerhouse joined forces with the Last Men Standing, however, the intelligence that it had passed to another hand was shared with them, and an experienced agent, Edeth, was sent to investigate. This took longer than it should have due to some other problems, involving defending the planet from the Dark Side, and resulted in something of a comedy of errors following Victor Furtado's departure from Earth for a journey to Aperion.The greatest secret of the Lightsmiths is that their factory is powered by a single object -- one of the five Cosmic Gems of interstellar legend, arguably the prototype for the Power Prisms themselves. It would be possible to remove the Power Gem from their factory, and this would not affect the Prisms that exist in any way. But it would make it impossible to create further Prisms, and the Lightsmiths would spare no effort to retrieve it, for they literally cannot imagine any existence that does not involve making more Prisms for all eternity.Aperion Lightsmith -- PL 13<img src="https://photos.smugmug.com/My-First-Gallery/i-4LRdCMK/0/ef2c9f1d/S/d4r624f-556f0b24-a17d-4ac6-a44b-31df9f3baf89-S.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />Abilities:STR -1 | STA 0 | AGL 3 | DEX 4 | FGT 6 | INT 11 | AWE 8 | PRE 6Powers:Basic Telepathy: Mental Communication 4; Comprehend Languages 3 - 28 pointsDefensive Field: Enhanced Defenses 16 (Dodge 8, Parry 8); Sustained Protection 8 - 32 pointsPsychic Functions: Array (52 points)<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Clairsentience: Remote Viewing 18 (250,000 miles; visual, mental), Dynamic - 2 points</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Memory Alteration: Perception-Ranged Cumulative Affliction 13 (Resisted by Will; dazed, stunned, transformed) - 1 point</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Mind Probe: Cumulative Effortless Mind Reading 13, Dynamic - 53 points</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Mind Thrust: Perception-Ranged Damage 12, Resisted by Will, Split Attack 2, Subtle 2 - 1 point</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Parakinesis: Perception-Ranged Shapeable Area Damage 12, Variable 2 (energy), Dynamic - 2 point</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Psychokinesis: Perception-Ranged Damaging Move Object 12, Precise, Subtle 2, Dynamic - 2 point</li> </ul>Psychic Senses: Senses 9 (detect life [accurate, acute, analytical, radius, ranged], darkvision) - 9 pointsPsychokinetic Flight: Continuous Flight 6 (125 MPH) - 18 pointsShielded Mind: Impervious Will 13, Limited to Mental Effects - 7 pointsAdvantages:Assessment, Beginner's Luck, Extraordinary Effort, Improved Defense, Jack-of-all-Trades, Speed of Thought, Teamwork, Well-informed.Skills:Deception 8 (+14), Expertise: Galactic 5 (+16), Expertise: Science 7 (+18), Insight 9 (+17), Perception 5 (+13), Persuasion 9 (+15), Technology 7 (+18)Offense:Initiative +11Unarmed +6 (Close Damage -1)Memory Alteration -- (Perception Range Will 13)Mind Thrust -- (Perception Range Damage 12, Resisted by Will)Parakinesis -- (Perception Range Shapeable Area Damage 12)Psychokinesis -- (Perception Range Damaging Move Object 12)Defense:Dodge 16/8, Parry 18/10, Fortitude 6, Toughness 8/0, Will 13Totals:Abilities 74 + Powers 156 + Advantages 8 + Skills 25 + Defenses 20 = 283 pointsOffensive PL: 13Defensive PL: 13Resistance PL: 10Skill PL: 13Complications:Obsession--Motivation. Slow Movement (becomes Hindered if Flight is nullified.)The Power Gem<img src="https://photos.smugmug.com/My-First-Gallery/i-FqP7vZC/0/621b8132/M/Power-M.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />Actual sizePower Gem: Removable (-31 points)Force Field: Sustained Impervious Protection 20; Sustained Immunity 10 (life support) - 50 pointsPhased Flight: Flight 18 (500,000 MPH), Aquatic; Insubstantial 3; Movement 3 (environmental adaptation [zero-g], space travel 2) - 58 pointsPower Uses: Array (45 points)<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Basic Blast: Ranged Damage 20, Accurate 2, Affects Insubstantial - 45 points</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Exo-Armor: Enhanced Advantage 5 (Close Attack 5); Enhanced Strength 16; Enhanced Strength 8, Limited to Lifting (400 kilotons, minimum) - 1 point</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Explosive Blast: Ranged Burst Area 3 Damage 11, Affects Insubstantial  - 1 point</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Force Objects: Moveable Impervious Create 10, Precise - 1 point</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Reactive Armor: Reaction Damage 11, Affects Insubstantial - 1 point</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Stun Blast: Ranged Affliction 22 (Resisted by Fortitude; Dazed, Stunned, Incapacitated) - 1 point</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Tractor-Presser Beam: Move Object 22 (100 kilotons), Precise - 1 point</li> </ul>Note: It is not possible to replicate all the abilities of a Power Prism with the Power Gem; the  former creations are infused with the psychic energies of the Lightsmiths, and someone adept in their use can do things with them that the Power Gem cannot do. In theory, it would be possible for someone using a Power Prism to achieve levels of power comparable to that of the Power Gem and the Mind Gem ... but the Lightsmiths believe that it would take more than a thousand years of training.</blockquote>

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