Variant Earth 13 E Mail Game Archive Number 10

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Wed, 19 May 1999 03:07:05 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

As soon as you blurt out your first question, Rebound, that rather short
fellow in the Indiana Jones (TM) gear and thick wooly beard says "Well,
we came here to fight that robot for her," and he motions to the heavily
armed woman people seem to be calling Jinx.

Another person, a girl in tight black spandex shorts laughs at that.
"Yeah... and now we're gonna go to prison for it.  Them cops out there
look positively pissed!"  You see the Joes outside being covered by a
veritable army of police.  They put their guns down and hands up.

After you move over to Ken, you see he's got a bizarre, distant aspect
to his features.  "So much power... power..."  You don't know why he's
whispering this all of a sudden, as he's had this power for more than a
day, now, but it's not all that pleasant to see him stunned so.

After the others reply to your questions, and you then decide to sneak
back out via the tunnels, you note that the others here seem to like
that idea as well.  The 'colonel' mentioned before seems to concur.  "If
there are secret tunnels out of here, I say you people use 'em!"

"That'll leave me to deal with the local cops, and I can explain this
situation better," he motions to the robotic slag parts, "if the lot of
you super-powered fellows simply aren't here.  Especially you, Jinx.
Ronin's right - you can't be seen here, not now!"

This colonel fellow seems on the up and up, especially since he's
putting himself on the line to allow you all to escape; after all, the
lot of you are the only people that can verify that him and his Joes
didn't come in here shooting for no good reason.

You note with some unpleasantness that several of the folks in this room
are, indeed, following you and the suddenly stumbling Ken into the
basement of this building.  The short fellow speaks to you again.
"Don't worry, son.  We're not going to hurt you."

"We're just going to escape this building with you.  Just what were you
doing here, anyway?  Not that I'm trying to be nosey, mind you, but it
is an odd coincidence that you wound up here at the same time we did,
now, isn't it?"

(theoretical response space)

(So, just for reference, Rebound, Ken, Och, Tammy, Jinx, Hardcore, and
Ronin are hitting the tunnels, are everybody else, as well?)

At any rate, you all emerge a small distance away, via the manhole
through which Rebound and Ken first entered the tunnel.  Oddly, Rebound,
you saw no sign of those three Aussie biker thugs or their leader in the
tunnels - even if you did see that Zartan in the building with Jinx.

Nice vanishing trick, that...

Back outside the guttering remnants of the Direct Action Americans'
former headquarters, you see the two Joes get arrested pretty roughly,
Silhouette, Reaper.  Even after this Colonel Hawk fellow comes out, they
are treated pretty roughly - though they saved countless lives.

They may've been questionable fellows, but those D.A.A. people didn't
necessarily need to be dealt with so harshly, and the Joes' mad drive
through town may have very well allowed most of them to flee to parts
unknown - instead of being wiped out by a murderous robot.

However, while you're being screened from the senses of those cops,
Reaper, you can't help but sense that buildup of cosmic energies within
the building, there.  Something's building towards critcal mass, though
the focus of the power, itself, seems to be heading northeast.

Again, what do you do (if anything)?

Subject: RE: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Wed, 19 May 1999 08:47:01 -0400
From:    Douglas Lohse <LohseD@mscdirect.com>

"Odd coincidence?  You might call it that.  To make a long story short, we were chasing a pink-skinned alien through the sewers when we happened onto this whole mess.  Someone was breaking into that building from the sewers so we followed... and things just seem to have gotten worse from there."

> (snip snip snippity snip snip)

> Again, what do you do (if anything)?

Rebound turns to Ken, becoming concerned at his mumbling...

"Hey, Star-Child, you OK?  You sound pretty spaced out in there."

(response space)

(OCC: Knock, Knock, anybody home? )

Rebound decides to make an introduction now that everyone seems to be
out of danger.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I don't believe we have been formally introduced.
You can call me Rebound.  My companion here, is still looking for a
nifty code-name, but he IS the most powerful being in the Universe,
(whispered conspirationally) so be careful not to get on his bad side.
And who might you all be?"

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Wed, 19 May 1999 09:52:44 EDT
From:    "Peter Chamers" <lil_blk_duck@hotmail.com>

>"Yeah! Sewers! Access tunnels! Great! No cops...definitely no cops!" she
>blathers following Rebound eagerly, lapsing back into her own daydream of
>utterly destroying Roy, occasionally making suggestive motions with her
>hands.

Ronin watches Jinx's mania and sighs.  Sheathing his sword, he follows the train.  Even unarmed, Ronin will keep his eyes and ears open to make sure nothing nasty sneaks up on them.

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date: Wed, 19 May 1999 12:11:36 -0500
From: Christopher <cwacers@home.com>

> Rebound decides to make an introduction now that everyone seems to be out of 
> danger.

> "Ladies and gentlemen, I don't believe we have been formally introduced.
> You can call me Rebound.  My companion here, is still looking for a
> nifty code-name, but he IS the most powerful being in the Universe,
> (whispered conspirationally) so be careful not to get on his bad side.
> And who might you all be?"

Masque stumbles up to you, walking in a sewer with all those robes on is not very easy... try it sometime, and points upwards,

"If I'm correct, we should be somewhere around 10th and main, there's a House of Pancakes right on the corner, If we just go out that manhole right there....Oh Sorry, I'm Masque..."

He leans a little closer to you, almost conspiratorially, and whispers
to you...

"I call myself that because I wear this Mask..Don't tell anyone that though."  And with that he does that thing that kids do when they 'zip their lips'.

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Wed, 19 May 1999 14:19:44 EDT
From:    "Peter Chamers" <lil_blk_duck@hotmail.com>

>"I call myself that because I wear this Mask... Don't tell anyone that though."

>And with that he does that thing that kids do when they 'zip their
>lips'.

Ronin shakes his head disapprovingly.  "Not that -now- is the time for such
social observations but I am called Kenji of the Mora Clan.  These..." he
gesutres towards Jinx and Hardcore, "...assocites of my have taken to
calling me Ronin.  Which is true enough, I suppose as I am without clan and
master."

Ronin shuts up suddenly as if he realizes he's been babling.
Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date: Wed, 19 May 1999 13:23:09 PDT

I check on Tammy once we all make it out of the hole and whisper to her "I
think that we should find out what we are involved in and what this key has
to do with anything.  I wish somehow that I could tap into it and maybe
shed some type of light on the subject."  This said as I revert back to
normal form.  Stone Cold

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Wed, 19 May 1999 13:32:20 -0700 (PDT)
From:    Michael Joiner <ml_joiner@yahoo.com>

"Its...its...so MUCH..." Reaper brings his hands to his face, seeming to reel slightly from the effects of something... "My sense...its almost blinding..."

He tries to shake it off, holding onto Sil for support.

"If we need to - I can help..."

He tries to focus on the scene in the street...

> (snippity snip snip)

"It...moves..." Reaper sighs, noticably feeling some relief.  He stands somewhat straighter.

"Is there any sign of our friends in there?"  He asks.

He tries to tell if the rest of their party is holed up in there or if they got out - basically watching the building for any energy sign, watching the law enforcement for any sign that they've discovered something...

"I don't think a group like the Joes oughta be treated like that...man - I don't know...taking out the local police doesn't sound much like a winning idea though!"

He shrugs, looking at Sil...

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Wed, 19 May 1999 21:27:07 -0500
From:    William Lockwood <albedo1@home.com>

Jinx is still way out of it, just tagging along, occasionally nodding
when she hears her name, but is still far from lucid.

She tromps along through the muck of the sewers, her force field no
longer muffling her voice or distorting her appearance.

Subject: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Fri, 21 May 1999 04:49:46 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

>From the Mouth of Lady Arakne:

> "It...moves..." Reaper sighs, noticeably feeling some relief.  He stands 
> somewhat straighter.

<<What moves?>> Sil asked, confused for a moment.

> "Is there any sign of our friends in there?" He asks.

<<Let me see who I can find...>> she said, trying to telepathically "look" for Masque and the Joes....

(rolled 74)

> (snippity snip snip)

> He shrugs, looking at Sil...

Sil shivered slightly, <<I don't neccessarily like tangling with local peacekeepers, especially ones this triggerhappy.>>

(resp)

- Not Firebomb

'not ruining it for everybody'

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Fri, 21 May 1999 06:11:47 -0500
From:    Christopher <cwacers@home.com>

Masque starts whistling.

Subject: RE: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Fri, 21 May 1999 15:04:06 -0400
From:    Douglas Lohse <LohseD@mscdirect.com>

> Now what?

Rebound is nice and confused right about now, so he decides to find out
who is in charge and what the robot-thing was all about...

"Which one of you is in charge of this little band?  And what is the
deal with that robot?"

(response space)

Rebound turns to Masque...

"Masque, huh?  Well, I wear one too, but the more the merrier, I guess.
What's your obsession with pancakes anyway?"

(response space)

(OCC:  Um, Ken, you mind not pointing that reality-warping ability my
way?  I'm warped enough right now, thank you.)

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Fri, 21 May 1999 15:23:05 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

You peek your head up from the manhole, Hardcore, to see that everybody
that went into the D.A.A building with you is now here, safely away from
the local constabulary - except for Hawk, of course.  You don't know the
fate of the Joes that came here with you, but you think they'll be okay.

After all, they *do* have massive government clearances and such.

At any rate, you notice that everybody's sort of sitting around in this
deserted alleyway, as if they didn't quite know what to do next.  Of
course, that makes sense, as this whole encounter was an effort to help
save the lives of Jinx's compatriots in the D.A.A.

You may detest her to no end, but you've worked with those vigilantes,
and they are of a somewhat decent caliber; at least, better than most of
these secret societies that you've worked for in the past, like those
blasted Terran Directorate fiends.

The weird thing is that Jinx seems broken, not issuing forth her usual
string of profanity and insult, but instead just muttering and staring
off blindly into the background.  You see that stealth isn't too
necessary - she's not tuned in to this channel right now.

The one thing you do notice, as Masque there pleads for you all to go
get pancakes and the others sort of introduce themselves, is that one of
these strangers is... affecting the air around him, some.  You see a
visible distortion form around him for a second or two, and vanish.

He smiles, this fellow in brown leather, and then looks over at two of
these newer super-folks, and one of them, the girl in the black spandex
shorts, turns into water!  However, she continues her conversation with
her friend as if nothing had happened.

Tammy looks at the man who calls himself Stone Cold, and nods, though
it's weird in a way, as she's all water.  "Yeah, you're right.  We don't
know who any of these people are.  But you got me as to where that key
is concerned... see any buttons on that thing?"

She then turns back to normal.  As she switches back, you see that guy,
that Ken fellow, waggle his fingers as she makes the transformation, as
if he were causing it.  Ken smiles a darkly, evil grin, and then he
looks right at you.

You suddenly hear a voice in your head.  "Ah, ah, ah!  I've clouded the
minds of these chatting little buffoons so they can't watch my
experiments with this body, but I seem to have forgotten about you.
Speaking of forgetting..."

You feel a shaft of pain strike you in the brain, or what you think is
your brain, and suddenly, things feel... fuzzy.  You lose your grip on
the manhole rungs and fall back into the sewer, and knock your head on
something hard in that goop... something metal.

You feel faint for a second, as the darkness and pain swallow you up,
but then you're back, and somebody's pulling you out of the muck.  It's
that guy who you saw with Jinx in the D.A.A. building, that Zartan
fellow.  He smiles at you, and motions for you to be quiet.

He then points up, and shakes his head, but you think you know what he's
trying to say.  That is, the voice that was talking to you in your head
wasn't Ken's, but instead the voice that Mutilator robot was wielding as
it goaded you all into action.

It was Roy Shijitzu's!

You're starting to see why Jinx hates this fellow.  Luckily for you,
though, that impact seems to have disrupted his ability to make you
forget.  The trick, though, is getting everybody else to figure out
what's in their midst - before it's too late!

Meanwhile, several blocks away, you manage to locate everybody,
Silhouette, in that they've moved a block northeast, likely through the
sewer tunnels beneath Manhattan.  However, you also detect something ...
wrong about them, like a sort of psychic blanket around 'em.

At the same time, Reaper, you've noticed a massive flare-up in the
cosmic power you've been detecting... it is reaching out and altering
reality itself in subtle, head-ache inducing ways.  Each time it
happens, the alterations become more... subtle.

Somebody's learning how to use this cosmic power, and quickly.  And you
get the slight impression that they're not planning on using it for the
good of mankind, either.  No, the alterations have a malicious edge to
them, tainted with what can only be called evil.

Now what?

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Fri, 21 May 1999 21:10:56 -0500
From:    "Andy Hicks" <ahix@mail.utexas.edu>

>Now what?

"Aaaarrrghhhh," Hardcore grumbles quietly.  "This just ain't been my week."

He begins to pull himself together and out of the sewage, trying to regain
his bearings.

"Somethin's tellin' me," he thinks,  "I should probably try to get as far
away from that Shijitzu fella as I can, as fast as I can.  Hell, I don't
know why I've been goin' to all of this trouble anyways.  I've got enough of
my own problems to deal with.

"But I'll be damned if that dirty son-of-a-gun didn't just try to completely
knock me fer a loop.  Thinks he's pretty damn cute with his robots, and his
mind tricks, and all of that crap.  Maybe it's time somebody knocked him
down a coupla notches...  Damn, I hope he didn't hear all of that."

Having sufficiently worked himself up, Hardcore begins his climb back to
street level.

"I got a plan," he whispers to Zartan (or where he thinks Zartan is).

Summoning up all of his dislike for Jinx, and trying to clear his mind of
anything else, he bursts out of the manhole and heads straight for Jinx.

"Hey, bitch!" he screams.  "Ya thought ya could just knock me out in that
tunnel and leave me fer dead, didya!?!?  Ya didn't do much of a job of it!
We're gonna settle this-- right here, RIGHT NOW!"

With that, Hardcore begins to rain punches down on Jinx, pulling them
slightly, but putting enough behind them to make them look real.

[OOC: 10+3=13 Initiative, 72 for extra attacks, 26 for extra dodges
(failed).  Punch 1:  41 to hit, 38 damage.  Attack 2:  80 & 76.  Dodges:
39, 65.  Extra rolls: 99, 32, 16.]

He'll try to stay close to Jinx, then whisper for her to "Snap out of it,
girl!  Shijitzu's taken over that guy over there!  Light him up-right now!"

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Sat, 22 May 1999 04:21:44 EDT
From:    MLJoinerJR@aol.com

> <<What moves?>> Sil asked, confused for a moment.

"The...", he sways slightly, "the incredible amount of power that I feel is
somewhere nearby...Its...its trying to overwhelm my mind...reminds me of when
I used to go around chasing Death back home...only this time its
different...and I wasn't ready..."

> "I don't think a group like the Joes oughta be
> treated like that...man - I don't know...taking out
> the local police doesn't sound much like a winning idea though!"

> He shrugs, looking at Sil...

> Sil shivered slightly, < tangling with local peacekeepers, especially ones
> this trigger happy.>>

"Yeah," Reaper replies, eyebrows emphathizing with the extreme nature of what
they were seeing...

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Sat, 22 May 1999 04:21:47 EDT
From:    MLJoinerJR@aol.com

>  At the same time, Reaper, you've noticed a massive flare-up in the
>  cosmic power you've been detecting... it is reaching out and altering
>  reality itself in subtle, head-ache inducing ways.  Each time it
>  happens, the alterations become more... subtle.

Reaper tries to control his physical reaction to an involuntary wince every
time he feels it, staggering occasionally with the heavier hits.  He looks at
Sil with a reasuring smile - trying to play it off a little more...

>  Somebody's learning how to use this cosmic power, and quickly.  And you
>  get the slight impression that they're not planning on using it for the
>  good of mankind, either.  No, the alterations have a malicious edge to
>  them, tainted with what can only be called evil.

Reapers forehead wrinkles in concentration, "Its...getting 'better'?  Whatever
is wielding all this power - damn!" he winces slightly, "Whatever it is - its
'learning' I think...getting it down..."

He takes a deep breath, "and its...bad.  Like 'evil' power if that makes any
sense.  Definitely like back home..."

He follows Sil's lead in finding their friends.

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Sat, 22 May 1999 15:39:26 -0500
From:    William Lockwood <albedo1@home.com>

Jinx barely looks up from her mutterings as she gets tackled.

"Ow...ow...yeah...that's it...doesn't matter...ow...oof..." she mumbles,
not even bothering to try and fend off the attacks.

Her eyes focus a bit as she hears Roy's name, but she goes slack again
shortly thereafter, apparently resigning herself to her fate.

~Guns won't work against him...knives won't work against him...it'll
just kill the guy he's in...no use...no point...~ she thinks to herself
as she gets pummeled.

She continues to let Hardcore beat the living tar out of her,
occasionally moaning and reacting like anyone else would who's getting
beat up as her probability field was dropped long ago, the gash in her
side from Pete's knife oozing blood from the reopened wound.

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Sun, 23 May 1999 08:29:28 EDT
From:    "Peter Chamers" <lil_blk_duck@hotmail.com>

>She continues to let Hardcore beat the living tar out of her,
>occasionally moaning and reacting like anyone else would who's >getting
>beat up as her probability field was dropped long ago, the >gash in her
>side from Pete's knife oozing blood from the reopened >wound.

Thinking that Hardcore has gone skippy,  Ronin rushes it and tries to pull
him off of Jinx.

"What is this?!?  Stop immediately!"

Poor kid hasn't bothered to actually 'listen' to what Hardcore was saying.
He just sees a woman getting attacked.  He's not even considering that this
woman is probably as hardened a warrior as he.

"Cease this madness!" he orders as he lays in a few licks on Hardcore.

Subject: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Sun, 23 May 1999 14:11:03 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

> He takes a deep breath, "and its...bad.  Like 'evil'
> power if that makes any sense.  Definitely like back home..."

> He follows Sil's lead in finding their friends.

<<Then maybe we'd better try to find the Joes and
some of the others...>> she suggested, <<Then we'd
have enough firepower to find out what ever your
"evil" is and do something about it...>>

(tag)

Sil made a point of dropping them through the shadows
and then found an exit point that would be near the
others, but still giving them enough cover to not be
notised...

She chuckled as she saw someone giving Jinx an
attitude adjustment, <<Well, looks like Jinx's own
badluck came back to haunt her....>>

(tag)

- Not Firebomb

'not ruining it for everybody'

Subject: RE: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Wed, 26 May 1999 09:07:59 -0400
From:    Douglas Lohse <LohseD@mscdirect.com>

> "Cease this madness!" he orders as he lays in a few licks on Hardcore.


Rebound begins to tug Ken away from the group.

"Come on, buddy, these guys are just plain nuts."  (nudging him a bit
harder)  "You OK in there?  Come on, say something already.  One of
these guys mind controlling you or something?"

(OCC: Well, no, but Rebound is blissfully unaware of who is...)

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Wed, 26 May 1999 19:58:03 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

Well, Silhouette and Reaper, the two of you manifest in the alley where
everybody else - save for the Joes - had escaped the authorities, and
you see that Jinx and Hardcore are suddenly scrapping; well, it's really
a one-sided fight, as Jinx isn't fighting back.

Just then, that oriental warrior fellow, you think his name was Mora
Kenji or something, you can't remember, starts kicking Hardcore in the
ribs, trying to get him to stop pummelling Jinx.  And then the avalanche
starts, as both Och and that Tammy girl try to intercede, as well.

The weird thing, though, is that one of them is laughing at this mess,
laughing heartily.  You can't see his lips moving, but you can indeed
hear his laughter.  That fellow in the brown leather outfit is laughing
a good laugh, though his face doesn't seem to indicate such.

He pulls off his helmet, and turns to face the two of you, and suddenly,
you can see more of what's happening.  He's a rather tall, blonde
fellow, this man in the brown leather outfit, and he grins at the two of
you with raw menace painted on his face.

Silhouette, you see a striking visualization of psionic energy overhead,
in what looks like pair of pliers gripping his skull, with a streamer of
energy streaking off it to the southwest, towards Jersey.  You see that
this fellow is the guy that got himself mind controlled, but why?

Reaper, you see something else entirely.  You see lines of force that
extend from this fellow into the environment around you, white lines
that merge in a sort of swirling vortex around his hand.  Then it
happens - he raises his hand towards you!

The light!  The blinding white light totally overwhelms your awareness
with a stabbing pain in the core of your mind!  Before your awareness
reflexively shuts down, the image of an eight pointed star is burned
into your mind, and then you (and Sil) hear a voice in your head.

"Foolish interlopers!  This body, and all its power, are Mine!  Leave
here now or be obliterated!!"  Just then, a cloaked fellow nudges the
threatening man in the arm, and whispers something to him.  In his real
voice, he says, "Sure thing, Rebound.  Let's bail."

You can't help but notice how odd that is, Rebound, in that Ken, only an
hour ago, was exceedingly worried about people finding out who he is and
what he can do, and now he's parading about without his helmet.  And he
doesn't quite seem himself.

Just then, something pops through his forehead.  It looks like an arrow
tip, and it's covered with bits of his brain and skull.  Behind him, you
see that Zartan fellow looking curiously at the still-standing Ken, and
he says "You idiots!  He's enslaved your minds!"

The collected lot of you realize this, and feel a sensation akin to a
blanket being lifted off of your mind, and see that this Ken fellow is
still standing there, with an arrow protruding from his head!!  "Fools!
You think a mere arrow can stop me!"

"I don't need this imbecile's mind completely intact to destroy you all
before he suffers brain death!"  With that, Ken swivels on Zartan, and
as the mysterious man ducks into the sewer manhole, Ken fires a blast of
blinding white energies at the hole, creating a deep, smoking crater!

You can't tell if Zartan got out in time, but he *did* try and kill Ken,
so you don't know if that's necessarily a good thing or not.  At any
rate, Ken pushes you aside, Rebound, and addresses the lot of you.
"Fools.  Were it not for you, I would have had the ultimate power."

"For interfering with my plans, I will now see you all dead.  Pray to
whatever ridiculous entities you usually entreat for mercy, for I am
going to make you suffer like no-one has ever has.  So swears I, the
Psi-Fox!!"

Jinx, you hear Roy Shijitzu's voice coming from this fellow, though no
one else here would recognize it as such.  You see that this Ken fellow
is gonna die shortly, and that if you all can survive the imminent
attack on your persons, you can live to put Roy in his place later.

However, you see power building up in Ken's body quickly.  He's starting
to glow in a very, very dangerous way.  How do you all deal with this???

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Wed, 26 May 1999 21:20:17 -0500
From:    Christopher <cwacers@home.com>

> However, you see power building up in Ken's body quickly.  He's starting
> to glow in a very, very dangerous way.  How do you all deal with this???

Masque just throws up his hands, in disgust.

"I suppose we aren't gonna eat anytime soon huh?!"

Masque throws up his eldritch shield and attempts to charm the guy into
submission....

(10 for init. 78 for the spell(yellow on Rm) and thats about it)

Subject: RE: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Thu, 27 May 1999 08:47:55 -0400
From:    Douglas Lohse <LohseD@mscdirect.com>

> However, you see power building up in Ken's body quickly.  He's
> starting to glow in a very, very dangerous way.  How do you all deal with
> this???

"Sorry, Ken, if you're still in there, I'm sorry."

Rebound gathers every bit of tendril he can fit around his fists and
gives Ken the biggest two-fisted uppercut right to the tattooed arm he
can manage hoping to blast/knock him far enough into the air/out of the
way for the threat to pass. (Init 8+1=9, Hit 87+13karma=100, Damage 95.
Still no thoughts of dodging a counterattack)

(Should he survive to this point...)

Having hit Ken with everything he can muster, Rebound hangs his head for a moment before turning to Jinx.

"you seem to know who did this horrible thing...tell me where I can find him.  He's going to answer for this..."

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Thu, 27 May 1999 14:45:02 PDT
From:    "Charlie Clay Jr." <cclayjr@hotmail.com>

Can really figure out where I am so If I am still in the area.  I try to
whip up a Ice shield and push him further away from the group.
Stone Cold.

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Thu, 27 May 1999 19:05:12 -0500
From:    William Lockwood <albedo1@home.com>

Jinx looks up from her stupor, bleary-eyed for a bit.

"Wha-? Who? Did what? What are you talking about? Hey! Get off me
Hardcore! No need to be pushy..." she mutters, trying to get up.

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Fri, 28 May 1999 15:27:39 -0700 (PDT)
From:    Michael Joiner <ml_joiner@yahoo.com>

> The light!  The blinding white light totally overwhelms your awareness
> with a stabbing pain in the core of your mind!  Before your awareness
> reflexively shuts down, the image of an eight pointed star is burned
> into your mind, and then you (and Sil) hear a voice in your head.

Reaper tries to cry out, to even gurgle, but he can't seem
to breath as he collapses.  He reaches out for Silhouette
as he falls, and ends up on his knees...

****Snip-dilly-snip!****

> "For interfering with my plans, I will now see you all dead.  Pray to
> whatever ridiculous entities you usually entreat for mercy, for I am
> going to make you suffer like no-one has ever has.  So swears I, the
> Psi-Fox!!"

"AAAAAARRRRGGHHHHHHH!!!" Reaper screams, throwing his arms
back and unleashing what seems to be the sum total of his
ability to manipulate ions - he attempts to funnel heat,
electricity, disintegration, everything at the incredible
power source his mind is reeling from.  His body shakes in
convulsions as he does this - seeming to be responding out
of some primal instinct...

OOC:

Ack!  I do not have any dice here with me!  I hate to
prevail upon you Firebomb - but could ya roll for me this
time?  I'll probably not be back on-line again until Sunday
or Monday from home where my dice are currently living...

Subject: [v13] Endgame...
Date:    Wed, 02 Jun 1999 01:05:21 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

(Okay, I didn't get this back, so here's a repost.  If you got it...)

(Well, oops.)

As you're casting your magic, Masque, that little fellow, Och, throws
his magical axe right at the controlled Ken, and buries it deep into his
right shoulder.  "Aargh - that hurt!  That's not supposed to happen, I'm
--"  Of course, Roy's rant is cut short by several serious assaults.

First Rebound, then Reaper nail Ken's body with everything they've got,
bathing him in a sheath of explosive energies that seem to tear it
apart.  His face betrays surprise at this as he falls to the ground
burning.  "But... but this body is invulnerable..."

The body quits twitching after a few minutes, as if Roy was willing
himself to fight on.  However, as Ken's body shuts down, you can sense
Roy's psychic presence vacate, Silhouette, and you see streamers of
psionic energy retreating towards New Jersey.

Things are suddenly silent in this dark alley, but many of you take this
as a hint that the authorities are going to arrive - and soon.  After
all, there was enough noise and light to convince just about anybody
that a small army had trampled through here.

Though the wall of ice may be a bit difficult to explain.

As the dust settles, you say your piece, Rebound, and Och goes to get
his axe from the corpse of poor Ken Connell.  Wandering into the smoking
area, you all can hear him scream out "Aargh!  By Yohahn's Great Beard!"
He seems totally surprised by something.

Those of you that wander over see him standing over Ken, whose body
seems to have completely rebuilt itself - in mere moments!  He looks up
at you all, and then becomes painfully aware that you all blew up his
clothes.  "Um, anybody got a pair of pants...?"

Just then, a figure descends out of the clouds, or at least the
cityscape, and lands amongst you all.  "Here you go."  You all look at
him, and a majority of you all recognize him from some point or another
in your recent pasts.

He's about six foot tall, with long white hair, and is wearing gray,
billowing robes around his person.  His knowledgable smirk is what
really gives it away, though, and Tammy screams out "Ahom!"  He smiles
brightly with that, having been recognized, and continues.

"Hello, all.  Many of you don't quite know me yet, and some of you may
simply not like me, but the simple fact of the matter is that time is
short, and there is a great danger lurking nearby.  I can't put my
finger on it yet, but it threatens to engulf our world."

"If you would be willing to help me fix this problem, feel free to
follow me."  He looks at you, Masque, and smiles.  "We're going to a
pancake shop..."  He then waves his hands in a circle, and a mystic
portal opens up before him.  He steps through.

Any takers?

(Out Of Character:  er, sorry bout the delay in the action, folks.  As
you all may know, the list had a temporary outage that I've been assured
won't happen again (or very soon, at least).  Also, I had my own little
internet blackout last night, so, well, oops.  Sorry!)

Subject: RE: [v13] Endgame...
Date:    Wed, 2 Jun 1999 08:53:12 -0400
From:    Douglas Lohse <LohseD@mscdirect.com>

> Any takers?

"Ken, you're OK?!!?    Thank God!   I thought...I...I'm just glad you're OK."

Rebound looks around at the group.  What is the deal with all of these people?

He turns to the portal created by Ahom.

"Anyone have a clue what is going on around here?"

Following the first to enter the portal...."Hey, where do you think you're going..."

Subject: Re: [v13] Endgame...
Date:    Wed, 02 Jun 1999 10:51:50 EDT
From:    "Peter Chamers" <lil_blk_duck@hotmail.com>

>Any takers?

Ronin sheathes his sword, looking at the assembled.

"It would seem that our karma has predestined us for this time and purpose.
Who are we to question the dictates of Fate?  I for one will follow the path
set out before me...."

Ronin, after a glance at his comrades-in-arms, will enter the portal. In for
a penny, in for a pound.

Subject: Re: [v13] Endgame...
Date:    Wed, 02 Jun 1999 12:53:47 -0500
From:    Christopher <cwacers@home.com>

> "It would seem that our karma has predestined us for this time and purpose.
> Who are we to question the dictates of Fate?  I for one will follow the path
> set out before me...."

Masque looks a little confused.

"FAte, FAte?....Hell, we're goin' to get pancakes!!"

And with that he sprints on through the portal, and if one looks closely, one might be able to see the fork he is brandishing with some purpose.

Subject: Re: [v13] Endgame...
Date:    Thu, 3 Jun 1999 02:09:30 EDT
From:    MLJoinerJR@aol.com

>  Any takers?

Reaper stays on the ground where he fell.  His body is still shaking, and his
eyes appear glazed...

He seems to be trying to speak...only unable to...

OOC:

Attempts to communicate with him mentally result in contacting a mind that
has been severely traumatized.  Reaper is still in there, but does not seem
to be able to control anything mentally on his own.  The part of him that is
barely able to percieve this is trying to speak, but everything is jumbled.

Subject: Re: [v13] Endgame...
Date:    Thu, 03 Jun 1999 17:20:52 -0500
From:    William Lockwood <albedo1@home.com>

Jinx is slowly bouncing back to her normal self, but is still pretty
shaken. She just follows everyone else, tagging along for the ride,
strangely quiet.

Subject: Re: [v13] Endgame...
Date:    Fri, 4 Jun 1999 01:04:40 -0500
From:    "Andy Hicks" <a.hix@mindspring.com>

>Jinx is slowly bouncing back to her normal self, but is still pretty
>shaken. She just follows everyone else, tagging along for the ride,
>strangely quiet.

Hardcore, fresh off of his semi-intentional pummeling of Jinx, watches her pass by him incredulously.

"God damn..." he thinks, "There must really be somethin' wrong with that psycho."

He then follows along after the rest, eager to avoid any entanglements with
the authorities for now.

Subject: Re: [v13] Reaper and the Endgame...
Date:    Fri, 4 Jun 1999 05:12:47 EDT
From:    MLJoinerJR@aol.com

>  Attempts to communicate with him mentally result in contacting a mind that
>  has been severely traumatized.  Reaper is still in there, but does not seem
>  to be able to control anything mentally on his own.  The part of him that is
>  barely able to percieve this is trying to speak, but everything is jumbled.

Reaper reaches for Sil - his eyes seem to plead with her...

<tag?>

His left hand absently holds the pouch containing the Infinitum tightly against his body...

OOC:

I wanted to apologize if it seems Reaper is sorta "draggin' but" here - but
there IS a method to the madness!

en'guard!

Subject: Re: [v13] Endgame...
Date:    Sat, 05 Jun 1999 11:53:49 PDT
From:    "Charlie Clay Jr." <cclayjr@hotmail.com>

"Ok.  Its about time I find out what this key really does?  Tammy hold up,
jumping through the portal."

Subject: Re: [v13] Endgame...
Date:    Sun, 06 Jun 1999 23:39:11 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

> Sil will stay next to Reaper, not sure she should try to mindspeak
> to him or not (erring on the side of caution, she won't); She will
> defend him if necessary, until he regains his composure as it
> were. And she will atemmpt to use ASL (american SIgn Lang.)
> to see if she can attract his attention..

- not from aie

'honest'

Subject: Re: [v13] Endgame...
Date:    Mon, 07 Jun 1999 19:57:14 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

After the lot of you walk through the shimmering hole in space that this
Ahom fellow generated, you find that you've been delivered right to the
door of a pancake shop.  None of you are quite sure exactly what town
you're in, as it only appears vaguely familiar, but it seems... cozy.

Walking in the door, Ahom waves his hands, and suddenly, it seems that
all the other patrons are blissfully unaware of your presence; this is a
good thing, as most of you are visually intimidating, to say the least.
A waitress then appears to take all of your orders as you sit down.

As you sit, you notice that this table is rather odd, in that it is big
enough to accommodate you all; most restaurants would be hard pressed to
come up with something this size, but there you go.  It's a nice, round
table, with a hole in the middle - a hole Ahom jumps into.

Looking at all of you as you sit, make orders, and possibly begin idle
chatter, Ahom smiles and thanks you all for coming along with him.
"Trust me, all of your questions will be answered soon enough.  Let us
eat and rest, and I will share what I know of this threat."

As your orders (if any) appear, Ahom indeed eats his stack of pancakes,
and when he's finished, he sits up to address you all.  "Now, then.  I
can't really explain this situation without starting at the beginning.
And when I say beginning, I mean it!"

"Over twenty thousand years ago, this world was controlled by two
powerful nations of humanity:  the state of Varaknis, and the Granx't
Empire.  These two nations sat at a level about thirty years ahead of
your own society, and they were fiercely opposed to each other."

"Their technological warfare upon each other brought this world to the
brink of destruction, and the side-effects of their pollution and mayhem
didn't help any.  In fact, if drastic steps were not taken, the world
you now know would never have come into being."

"To this end, I and several stalwart allies pooled our powers and caused
a natural weather phenomenon to increase to the point that it brought on
what you call the Ice Age, a terrible tide of global freezing that wiped
out everything in its path."

"The two nations of Earth then fled their home, believing it destroyed
by their folly.  Once they were gone, I and several extraplanar allies
rebuilt the earth's biosystem from the ground up, erasing all traces of
these two destructive nations and allowing for a global fresh start."

"However, one of my allies went bad, and decided to seize upon this
golden opportunity.  He tried to rally the remnants of the two nations
to overthrow me and my worldly cleansing.  In fact, he would have
succeeded if not for Stone Cold and Tammy, here."

"They helped me to remove from this enemy of humanity, a technomancer of
startling power by the name of Morbis, a weapon of terrible powers
called the stellar key.  I then brought them back to the present despite
the efforts of their would-be assassin, and here we now sit."

"The trick, though, is that a rogue varakni has returned to our world,
and is attempting to repeat the process I used to cleanse the earth of
his nation.  That is why you all may have noticed a startling amount of
cold and ice descending from the skies of late - despite the season."

"Furthermore, the spirit of Morbis has clandestinely used the Key to
allow for his resurrection, and he now lives again, gaining power as we
speak, under the streets of New York City.  In fact, I believe that he
is behind this Varakni's mad plan to destroy the earth with ice."

"That is why I must ask of you two things.  One:  I need the Stellar Key
from you, Stone Cold, so that it may not be used by evil again.  Two:  I
need all of your help to find and end Morbis' threat, for unchecked, he
will do everything in his power to restore his would-be Empire!"

"I won't lie to any of you, in that this conflict will be fierce and
deadly.  In fact, several of you may not survive the battle.  That is
why I beg you to help me, for alone, I cannot defeat Morbis; I have the
power, but I am sure he has something planned for me."

"Something very, very special, I'm sure.  If you don't wish to, I
understand, and I'll send you home.  However, if you do agree to help me
in this, we will move as soon as tomorrow comes; no need to go into
battle without proper rest.  So, are you with me?"

Subject: RE: [v13] Endgame...
Date:    Tue, 8 Jun 1999 09:20:27 -0400
From:    Douglas Lohse <LohseD@mscdirect.com>

> "Something very, very special, I'm sure.  If you don't wish to, I
> understand, and I'll send you home.  However, if you do agree to help me
> in this, we will move as soon as tomorrow comes; no need to go into
> battle without proper rest.  So, are you with me?"

"Hmmm, let's see...fighting for truth, justice, and the survival of the
planet as we know it.  If it wasn't for what I've seen in the past few
days, I'd call you insane and walk out the door.  However, since
witnessing these strange events, and seeing my tattooed friend come back
from the dead, I'm willing to believe almost anything.  I just have one
silly little question...What in the world is a 'Technomage'?"

Rebound continues to eat his cholesterol surprise while he waits for
someone to explain just what it is he is up against.

Subject: Re: [v13] Endgame...
Date:    Tue, 08 Jun 1999 09:49:01 EDT
From:    Peter Chamers <lil_blk_duck@hotmail.com>

>"Something very, very special, I'm sure.  If you don't wish to, I
>understand, and I'll send you home.  However, if you do agree to help me in
>this, we will move as soon as tomorrow comes; no need to go into battle
>without proper rest.  So, are you with me?"

Ronin stares at his mostly untouched plate.  He looks up with a grave
expression.  "Whether we help or not, that does little to change the fact
that the consequences will effect us one way or another. That being the
case, there is not much choice.  I choose to help...my meager skills are
yours, Aho.  I will do what I can. My chi demands I follow this path."

Subject: RE: [v13] [V13] Endgame...
Date:    Tue, 8 Jun 1999 09:56:09 -0400
From:    Douglas Lohse <LohseD@mscdirect.com>

> "Something very, very special, I'm sure.  If you don't wish to, I
> understand, and I'll send you home.  However, if you do agree to help me
> in this, we will move as soon as tomorrow comes; no need to go into
> battle without proper rest.  So, are you with me?"

"Hmmm, let's see...fighting for truth, justice, and the survival of the
planet as we know it.  If it wasn't for what I've seen in the past few
days, I'd call you insane and walk out the door.  However, since
witnessing these strange events, and seeing my tattooed friend come back
from the dead, I'm willing to believe almost anything.  I just have one
silly little question...What in the world is a 'Technomage'?"

Rebound continues to eat his cholesterol surprise while he waits for
someone to explain just what it is he is up against.

Subject: Re: [v13] Endgame...
Date:    Tue, 08 Jun 1999 17:34:16 -0500
From:    William Lockwood <albedo1@home.com>

Natasha meekly orders a plate of hotcakes and a whole lot o' sausage
links, apparently starving for some solid sustenance.

After she wolves her food down and tops it off with a tall glass of OJ,
she looks at Ahom, a bit of the glint returning to her eyes.

"I'm all for saving the world, but I have an idea about how you can
scratch my back if I pitch in on this job. I'll shoot whoever you want
shot, even this Morbis fellow, if you promise to help me wipe Roy
Shijitzu's smile of his smug face. I haven't wanted someone to hurt as
bad as I want Roy to feel in a long, long time..." she coldly states, a
bit of her icy tone returning.

"So, does that sound like a deal to you, Mr. God-like being?"

Subject: Re: [v13] Endgame...
Date:    Wed, 9 Jun 1999 02:09:33 EDT
From:    MLJoinerJR@aol.com

Reaper sees her gesturing to him (he doesn't seem to know sign language, but
somehow understands in his present condition that she's trying to
communicate) he focuses on her eyes - intently.  He carefully places his
hands on both sides of her head and guides his head to hers - touching
foreheads.  He looks intently into her eyes, almost pleadingly...

** Attempting to connect with his mind results in images of sheer
chaos...like a room full of filing cabinets with all of the papers scattered
about (OOC:  did anyone else see that old Disney film in school?  Oh well...)
 Flashes of conscious thought attempt to navigate through this mess, but
don't quite make it to their destination.  Its a mind in need of some
help...***

Subject: Re: [v13] Endgame...
Date:    Sat, 12 Jun 1999 14:42:39 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

> Rebound continues to eat his cholesterol surprise while he waits for
> someone to explain just what it is he is up against.

As you consume vast quantities of breakfast, Ahom answers your question.
"Well, a technomage is something like a regular sorcerer, you know, a
practitioner of magic - like your friend Masque, there.  However, this
mage's magics mostly involve the merger of magic and technology."

"A very, very dangerous combination."

"And I understand your apprehension about all these 'strange' events...
I, myself, was rather astounded when it was first revealed to me just
how bizarre the world is, underneath the thin veil of normalcy that we
all are accustomed to.  These things happen..."

Ken seems somewhat distanced from the conversation, though.  He's waving
his hand around in the air, and you can almost see streamers of energy
following it here and there.  He looks somewhat worried, though given
what he's survived recently, one can only guess at what...

Subject: Re: [v13] Endgame...
Date:    Sat, 12 Jun 1999 14:45:29 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

> Ronin stares at his mostly untouched plate.  He looks up with a grave
> expression.  "Whether we help or not, that does little to change the
> fact that the consequences will effect us one way or another. That
> being the case, there is not much choice.  I choose to help...my
> meager skills are yours, Ahom.  I will do what I can. My chi demands I
> follow this path."

"Excellent!  Every person that can lend a hand is a godsend.  And don't
discount yourself so easily, my friend.  I may be something of a
powerful sorcerer, but even after so many thousands of years, I am not
really that good a physical combatant, you know."

"Morbis, on the other hand, is..."

Subject: Re: [v13] Endgame...
Date:    Sat, 12 Jun 1999 14:49:50 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

> "So, does that sound like a deal to you, Mr. God-like being?"

The gray-robed wizard looks at you, and almost appears to say no, when
he stops, waving his hands around in a circle a couple of times.  "Hm...
this Shijitzu you speak of is... remarkably evil.  His corruption has,
in fact, unbalanced the lives of many, many people."

"You, in particular."

"I tell you what, Jinx.  I will give this Roy Shijitzu a balancing
factor in his own line, something to keep him so occupied, he won't have
time to give you any trouble.  I won't kill him or cause him injury, but
this may allow you, yourself, to.  Will this be sufficient?"

Subject: Re: [v13] Endgame...
Date:    Sat, 12 Jun 1999 15:01:00 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

> ** Attempting to connect with his mind results in images of sheer
> chaos...like a room full of filing cabinets with all of the papers
> scattered about (OOC:  did anyone else see that old Disney film in
> school?  Oh well...)  Flashes of conscious thought attempt to navigate
> through this mess, but don't quite make it to their destination.  Its
> a mind in need of some help...***

Och, the diminutive fellow with that bizarre golden axe looks up at you,
Reaper, and speaks.  "Are you all right, son?"

(ooc:  sorry, dunno what else to say... waiting for Silhouette...)

Subject: Re: [v13] Resumption!
Date:    Thu, 17 Jun 1999 16:19:32 -0400
From:    Douglas Lohse <LohseD@mscdirect.com>

> Ken seems somewhat distanced from the conversation, though.  He's waving
> his hand around in the air, and you can almost see streamers of energy
> following it here and there.  He looks somewhat worried, though given
> what he's survived recently, one can only guess at what...

Rebound takes a look around the table to see if any of them really
believe this magic stuff and the guy spouting off about it.

"Let me just set the record straight right now...I still don't believe
in magic.  There may be forces in the universe that can be harnessed in
unusual ways, but there just is no such thing as magic.  And as for this
guy you describe as a 'Technomage'...he can't be all that different from
some of the freaks I've run into.  Hit him hard enough and he'll fall
down.  So what, he's got some nifty gadgets...I know all about nifty
gadgets.  That still doesn't make it magic."

Rebound stares at the people around the table, waiting for someone to set him straight...mumbling "magic, yeah right...more likely atomic spin doctoring..."

Subject: Re: [v13] Resumption!
Date:    Thu, 17 Jun 1999 13:30:51 PDT
From:    "Charlie Clay Jr." <cclayjr@hotmail.com>

Order some breakfast himself.  Traveling through time can be a real headache.
"I would prefer to hold on to the key if you don't mind.  I still seem to have a lot of trust issues to deal with.  I can let you use it when you need it, but as of now the only one I can truly trust is Tammy.  So anything else, That is the bottom line."

Subject: Re: [v13] Resumption!
Date:    Thu, 17 Jun 1999 18:09:21 -0700
From:    "Lady Arakne" <arakne@lit.org>

> Sil will stay next to Reaper, not sure she should try to mindspeak
> to him or not (erring on the side of caution, she won't); She will
> defend him if necessary, until he regains his composure as it
> were. And she will atemmpt to use ASL (american SIgn Lang.)
> to see if she can attract his attention..

Reaper sees her gesturing to him (he doesn't seem to know sign language,
but somehow understands in his present condition that she's trying to
communicate) he focuses on her eyes - intently.  He carefully places his
hands on both sides of her head and guides his head to hers - touching
foreheads.  He looks intently into her eyes, almost pleadingly...

** Attempting to connect with his mind results in images of sheer
chaos...like a room full of filing cabinets with all of the papers
scattered about (OOC:  did anyone else see that old Disney film in
school?  Oh well...)

Flashes of conscious thought attempt to navigate through this mess, but
don't quite make it to their destination.  Its a mind in need of some
help...***

Sil looked deeply into the young man's eyes, and reached out past
the chaos to soothe and organize the "mess"... (77 to "clean
house", Denny-doo)

Subject: Re: [v13] Resumption!
Date:    Sat, 19 Jun 1999 01:48:59 -0500
From:    "Christopher W. Acers" <cwacers@home.com>

> Rebound stares at the people around the table, waiting for someone to
> set him straight...mumbling "magic, yeah right...more likely atomic spin
> doctoring..."

Masque throws a pancake at Rebound.

"Spin Doctor that!"

Subject: Re: [v13] Resumption!
Date:    Fri, 18 Jun 1999 16:19:49 -0400
From:    Douglas Lohse <LohseD@mscdirect.com>

> <Yeah>

"For someone so anxious to get to your pancakes, you sure do waste them pretty quick."

Rebound cuts a heart-shaped hole in the pancake and throws it back at Masque.

"There you go...all doctored.  I'm happy to say surgery was a success."

Subject: Re: [v13] Resumption!
Date:    Sat, 19 Jun 1999 01:47:39 -0500
From:    "Christopher W. Acers" <cwacers@home.com>

> "A very, very dangerous combination."

"And How!"

Masque toasts the Mage with a glass of Milk and then goes on.

"Boy Oh Boy , you can count me in. There is something inherently wrong
with that mixture. My Pappy always said that the mixing magic and
technology was like mixing chocolate with Peanut Butter..."

Masque stops for a moment, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"Well, he wasn't very good with words, but he meant well, One time he
was trying make dinner, but that damned fool of an elephant kept sucking
up the dumplings with that infernal nose. So my pappy was so angry he
shot that elephant and we all had a barbecue. Just to feed his family.
But he didn't quite look at who's elephant it really was.  Well, it was
the Bearded Ladies and boy did she whoop my pappy good. AS I was saying
he always means well."

MAsque takes a triumphant bite of his Pancakes and continues...

"You can count me in Mister. As far as I am concerned, these
...Techno-mages... seem to have sold their souls. And should be shackled
with their own entrails....muhahahha..."

Masque wipes his mouth off.

"Sorry, sometimes I get carried away"

Subject: Re: [v13] Resumption!
Date:    Sat, 19 Jun 1999 18:23:11 -0500
From:    William Lockwood <albedo1@home.com>

Natasha stops to ponder Ahom's offer of evening the odds then shrugs,

"What the hell! Even getting the chance to get at Roy on even grounds is
enough to get me to do...well...a lot of things!" she exclaims, an evil
grin spreading over her face.

"So, when do I...or well, we...start? What do we need to know about this
Morbis guy, other than the fact that he's nasty and does magic and
shit?"

Subject: Re: [v13] Resumption!
Date:    Mon, 21 Jun 1999 04:16:14 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

> Order some breakfast himself.  Traveling thru time can be a real
> headache.  "I would prefer to hold on to the key if you don't mind.  I
> still seem to have a lot of trust issues to deal with.  I can let you
> use it when you need it, but as of now the only one I can truly trust
> is Tammy.  So anything else, That is the bottom line."

The mage stares at you for several moments, Stone Cold, and shrugs.
"Well, I'd really rather not allow you to run amok with that dangerous
weapon, but I am loathe to take it from you.  That simply isn't my way,
good sir."

"So, if you insist on carrying the Stellar Key with you, I must warn
you.  Be very careful.  Once people realize that you hold it, they will
try and take it from you - either to prevent you from using it or to
acquire it for their own twisted ends."

Ahom shrugs again, as if he were truly worried about your immediate future, but he doesn't try to change your mind any more...

Subject: Re: [v13] Resumption!
Date:    Mon, 21 Jun 1999 04:19:43 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

> Sil looked deeply into the young man's eyes, and reached out past
> the chaos to soothe and organize the "mess"... (77 to "clean
> house", Denny-doo)

Well, Reaper, you feel a little bit more ... connected to the here and
now.  You're not totally 'cured', per se, but you can at least think
again.  And, since Ken isn't using that blasted tatoo of his, well,
you'll be here for a bit.

If you had any idea how to counter that vast mind-wrenching effect the
Star Brand has on your cosmic awareness, now would be a good time to try
it.  That way, you don't wind up getting mentally blended in the near
future, from the talk moving about the table.

Sounds like there's some sort of scrap about to be undertaken...

Subject: Re: [v13] Resumption!
Date:    Mon, 21 Jun 1999 04:27:55 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

> "So, when do I...or well, we...start? What do we need to know about
> this Morbis guy, other than the fact that he's nasty and does magic
> and shit?"

The mage who brought you all here looks at you and smiles.  "Well, young
lady, we will begin our hunt for Morbis come morning; I'd hate to have
you all go into battle tired and such.  I believe that one good night's
rest should be enough to cure what ails you all."

"Even that leg, Hardcore."

"As far as what you should know about Morbis, well, he is a powerful
wielder of technomancy, as I have already stated, but that's not all.
The man is ruthless, fanatical, and totally insane, and believes that he
is destined to rule the universe - not just this planet."

"He will not hesitate to slay any of you, nay, all of you, to further
his goals.  Those of you with any technological or mystical abilities
may be at a disadvantage against him, for he can turn both forms of
power against you."

"Furthermore, I know for a fact that he has at least one minion in this
era.  The fellow behind this warp in global weather, definitely, is one
of his followers.  He may have more; I do not know.  However, it is
likely that Morbis has *made* some additional minions."

"Likely robots, possibly magical animates of some sort - maybe both."

"Still wish to help?"

(ooc:  Andy, you oot there?)

Subject: Re: [v13] Resumption!
Date:    Mon, 21 Jun 1999 04:32:56 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

> "Sorry, sometimes I get carried away"

> <Squeeze Me>

(no - you'd like it too much)

"Excellent."  Ahom smiles at you, as well as the others that have
offered their aid in the upcoming battle.  "I know that you, aside from
myself, are the only trained mage here, Masque, so your help in this
will be invaluable.  I thank you for your aid."

Ahom then points at your chin.  "Um... Masque, you... you have a little
something there... on your face."  He then itches his chin, in the
time-honored way of trying to tell you where the food is... and failing.
It's not where he's itching at all...

Subject: Re: [v13] Resumption!
Date:    Mon, 21 Jun 1999 18:29:59 -0500
From:    William Lockwood <albedo1@home.com>

Natasha nods at Ahom's words, yawning a bit at his mention of sleep.

"Now that you mention it, I am completely wiped out. I definitely could
use some sleep. Especially before I dish out a good ass kicking!" she
exclaims, stretching a bit.

"So, do we have places to crash for the night?" she inquires of the
table's occupants.

Subject: Re: [v13] Resumption!
Date:    Wed, 23 Jun 1999 08:26:36 -0400
From:    Douglas Lohse <LohseD@mscdirect.com>

Finishing his third glass of OJ, Rebound decides he'll go along with the
rag-tag group.

"A full night's sleep?  I haven't had one of those in weeks.  I hope you
have a place for all of us to stay.  I can't exactly stop in at the
local Holiday Inn...I'm a bit strapped for cash right now and they don't
seem to take too kindly to people in masks asking for rooms anyway.  And
if you're even thinking about it, no way.  This mask does not come off.
Not for anything."

Rebound gets real quiet after his outburst, perhaps embarrassed about
something.

Subject: Re: [v13] Resumption!
Date:    Wed, 23 Jun 1999 11:37:41 EDT
From:    Peter Chamers <lil_blk_duck@hotmail.com>

>Rebound gets real quiet after his outburst, perhaps embarrassed about
>something.

Ronin gives Rebound a look.

"Those who are honourable and upright need night hide their identities.
Only theives and criminals need do that...."

Ronin gives Rebound a smug, superior gaze that says 'I know which side I'm
on, do you'.

Subject: Re: [v13] Resumption!
Date:    Wed, 23 Jun 1999 11:40:14 EDT
From:    Peter Chamers <lil_blk_duck@hotmail.com>

>Rebound gets real quiet after his outburst, perhaps embarrassed about
>something.

Ronin gives Rebound a look.

"Those who are honorable and upright need night hide their identities.
Only thieves and criminals need do that...."

Ronin gives Rebound a smug, superior gaze that says 'I know which side I'm
on, do you'.

Subject: Re: [v13] Resumption!
Date:    Wed, 23 Jun 1999 12:03:49 -0400
From:    Douglas Lohse <LohseD@mscdirect.com>

> Ronin gives Rebound a smug, superior gaze that says 'I know which side
> I'm on, do you'.

Rebound turns to Ronin and jumps to his feet, obviously agitated.

"You should know who you are speaking to, and what you speak of, before
you pass judgment, little man.  I do not wear this mask to hide my
identity.  You think I LIKE being like this?"

Rebound pulls Ronin close with his right hand while gripping the base of
his mask with his left.(Init 9+1=10, Rolls: 71, 87, 61)...

"YOU REALLY WANT TO SEE WHAT'S BEHIND THIS MASK?  WELL HERE YOU GO!!!"

Rebound pulls his mask up and stares Ronin in the eyes...

(What you see is a horror...Rebound's face is vaguely human, the bone
structure has been warped and the skin is completely covered with a
disgusting milky-white substance that is slowly dripping down.  His eyes
swim in this substance and seem to have lost all other color.)

After several seconds, Rebound pulls his mask back on and stalks off to
the bathroom, not wanting to deal with anyone else right now...

Subject: Re: [v13] Resumption!
Date:    Wed, 23 Jun 1999 14:05:46 EDT
From:    Peter Chamers <lil_blk_duck@hotmail.com>

>(What you see is a horror...Rebound's face is vaguely human, the bone
>structure has been warped and the skin is completely covered with a
>disgusting milky-white substance that is slowly dripping down.  His >eyes
>swim in this substance and seem to have lost all other color.)

OOC: Eeeewww....yucky, yuck yuck!

>After several seconds, Rebound pulls his mask back on and stalks off to the
>bathroom, not wanting to deal with anyone else right now...

Ronin, his face like granite, watches as the man stalks off.  His expression
is grave.  He sits silently just looking in front of him. He fights hard not
to give any hint of the shame and dishonor he now feels for having so
rudely disrespected Rebound. (Psyche roll - 83)

He does not say anything else for a very long time.

Subject: Re: [v13] Resumption!
Date:    Thu, 24 Jun 1999 07:28:20 -0500
From:    "Christopher W. Acers" <cwacers@home.com>

> He does not say anything else for a very long time.

> -Ronin

Masque drops his fork...

"Oh that's just great, I'm not hungry anymore..Thanks Karate Kid"

Subject: Re: [v13] Resumption!
Date:    Fri, 25 Jun 1999 17:44:24 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

Ahom stands at this, looking worried.  "Yes, yes.  Perhaps now would be
a good time to break for the evening.  I have procured rooms at the
hotel across the street from this eatery.  The place is pretty much at
your disposal; simply ask the man at the front desk for a key."

"For those of you that have offered to help me defeat the dread Morbis,
I thank you, and for the rest, well, please sleep on it and give me your
answers in the morning.  Since you haven't said no yet, I assume you're
simply thinking about it still.  I hope."

"Either way, I will see you then.  Good night."

The mage then leaps out of the hole in the table's center, and makes his
way to the door, apparently headed for the hotel as well.  He leaves you
all to your various devices, assuming you can make your own way to your
room for the night.

Unless you have more speakings to do...

(ooc:  hey, is everybody still out there?  I haven't heard from some of
ya in a good long time.  I haven't lost anybody, have I?)

Subject: Re: [v13] Resumption!
Date:    Fri, 25 Jun 1999 18:04:09 -0500
From:    William Lockwood <albedo1@home.com>

Natasha blinked a bit, stretching.

"Yeah. Sleep. So, where can I shack up, O' Holy One?" she inquired, looking to be without a clue.

Subject: Re: [v13] Resumption!
Date:    Mon, 28 Jun 1999 12:17:15 PDT
From:    "Charlie Clay Jr." <cclayjr@hotmail.com>

> (ooc:  hey, is everybody still out there?  I haven't heard from some of
> ya in a good long time.  I haven't lost anybody, have I?)

Roll on, I am still here.

Subject: Re: [v13] Resumption!
Date:    Mon, 28 Jun 1999 19:51:58 -0500
From:    William Lockwood <albedo1@home.com>

Jinx nods and drops a nominal tip onto the table out of habit and makes
her way across the street and asks the man at the front desk for a key.

Once she finds her room she takes a nice long shower and then crashes,
one of her guns tucked safely under her pillow.

Subject: Re: [v13] Resumption!
Date:    Tue, 29 Jun 1999 08:01:04 -0400
From:    Douglas Lohse <LohseD@mscdirect.com>

> Unless you have more speakings to do...

Rebound will get a room and crash out on the bed...sleeping for as long as he possibly can.  Maybe he'll feel like talking to someone in the morning.

Subject: Re: [v13] Resumption!
Date:    Tue, 29 Jun 1999 14:40:48 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

As Ken Connell and Rebound make their exits, Tammy also starts to rise,
having finished her pancakes and feeling rather tired.  "I say we help
this guy, Stoney.  I didn't like that Morbis joker back in the past, and
I sure as hell don't like him now."

(theoretical response space)

Och then looks at the friends he came here with, the insane mage Masque,
and the shadowpsi Silhouette, and shrugs.  "I seem to have been mixed up
in way too many battles of late, since meeting these two, but I'll go
ahead and help you war with this evil mage, Ahom."

"But if I find that this is some trick or another, you'll be sorry."

Och then follows the others who've left for the eve, letting the weight
of his comments sink in to the mage.  Ahom simply sighs, as if he wished
the man didn't distrust him so, and returns his attentions to the rest
of you, those of you who haven't yet committed to his cause.

Or, those of you who haven't yet gone to bed for the night, in the event
that any other odd questions you may have need an immediate answer...

Subject: Re: [v13] Resumption!
Date:    Tue, 29 Jun 1999 15:58:20 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

> Rebound will get a room and crash out on the bed...sleeping for as
> long as he possibly can.  Maybe he'll feel like talking to someone in
> the morning.

As Rebound leaves, Ken gets up to do the same, stretching and yawning
all the way.  "Ugh, I guess I'll see you all... tomorrow?  And hey, old
man, I'll give you all a hand in this 'mission' of yours, but then I've
got to take care of some stuff.  Like figuring out these powers."

"Later."

Ken then walks out of the room, and after a few minutes, Reaper, you can
feel an appreciable pressure lift from your shoulders.  Your awareness
had shut itself down reflexively, of course, but the power of that star
brand thing was still applying pressure upon it.

You feel MUCH better...

Subject: Re: [v13] Resumption!
Date:    Wed, 30 Jun 1999 01:38:24 EDT
From:    Peter Chamers <lil_blk_duck@hotmail.com>

>Or, those of you who haven't yet gone to bed for the night, in the event
>that any other odd questions you may have need an immediate answer...

Ronin retires to his room along with the majority, where he could meditate
and rest in solitude.  His thoughts were troubled although
he did his best not to show it. Better to focus on the battle at
hand. No need to die like a fool, afterall.

Subject: Re: [v13] Resumption!
Date:    Mon, 05 Jul 1999 16:15:43 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

As the rest of you sift off to bed, the master sorcerer, Ahom, finally
follows himself, hoping to get a spot of rest before the terrible war he
sees occurring tomorrow.  He checks into the hotel himself, and makes
his way to his room, looking out over the balcony on his room.

As he spies the landscape of this small urban area, he can't help but
worry about what the future will hold.  He'd been putting this
particular conflict off for over twenty thousand years, now, and felt
something he hadn't in years... trepidation...

                                    ***

Meanwhile, back in New York City, a van loaded with mysterious men and
women arrives on the scene of a terrible battle that occurred mere hours
ago.  The gray, nondescript van sheds six people in gray, nondescript
jumpsuits, all of which survey the area.

One spies the carnage played about on the street, including the gunshot
craters around some sort of military bus, which is in the process of
being towed by the authorities.  Another scopes out the dead bodies
being hauled out of the building, itself devastated by gunfire.

A third scans the area of a major battle with some high tech equipment,
taking energy readings and molecular samples; some still-melting ice,
caustic goo, and some highly advanced shells stand out amongst the many
bits of evidence left behind.

A fourth sees the massive damage done to a small back alley a block or
two away, and finds out some startling things from a homeless observer,
in exchange for a handy twenty.  The energy signature gained off the
crater in the ally is completely off the scale.

The fifth one simply inspects the bodies as the police drag them out,
seeing what killed who.  Of particular interest is a fellow that seems
to have been chopped up into little itty bitty bits, and incredibly, is
stitching himself back together (not literally, of course).

The last marveled at how her psionic powers allowed her and her
compatriots to investigate the scene of this metahuman battlefield
without interference of any kind.  She also reflected on the folks she'd
been following since their little riot in Omaha.

They seem to have gotten much larger in number, and this worried her.
Not only have they torn up bits of Omaha and New Paris, but now New York
City.  She would have to put these jokers on top of the Normalcy Squad's
list, since they are something unseen in a good long time.

A roving, super human gang...

                                     ***

Karma Time!

I know it's been a good long time since we started 'phase two' of this
v13 thing, but hey, that's only because of several oddball delays in
technology and such.  But that doesn't matter, for it's Karma Time!  I
will start with the easiest, and goo from there, no?

Rebound

I have taken it upon myself to give you 225 Karma points.  You didn't
get in all that much conflict, mostly fighting those goons in a back
alley, that Mutilator stooge-bot, and of course, Ken.  Hehhehheh.  The
rest is all good role-playing (gave me lots to woik with).

Reaper

You've already had a nice, long ride, starting in scenic Elk Snout when
you first met War, and saved that nice town from utter annihilation.
Then, of course, was the whole deal in Toronto with the Society of
Illudicated Brethren and the Magician, and then the New York stuff...

I bequeath upon thee 260 Karma.

Stone Cold

You also had quite the long starter-up mission, being ripped through
time and all that, before being shoved dead-center into the meat of this
whole debacle... coincidence?  But, that's cool, and i believe you've
earned a good 240 Karma through all this misadventuring.

Masque

You madman, you.  On yer second adventure, you got to pontificate on all
things magic, beat up on some Illudicated folk, and generally spread
your brand of mayhem all over the place, as well.  I calculate for you a
good 233 Karma point thingie.

Ronin

Another interesting ride, upon which you got to play around with the
Plantmaster and his frondly stooges, and blow up a good section of New
Paris, Ohio...  Of course, there's also the matter of helping Jinx in
her goofy quest for vengeance.  I call it... 275 Karma.

Hardcore

Same thing, more or less, in that you were on the Joe bus with the
others as you busted up the scenery on your cross country trek.  Despite
yer wounded leg thingie, you managed to do good - and with style!  I
call that... 266 Karma.

Jinx

Troublemaker... heh.  As the resident uber-combatant, you managed to
bust up lots of folks, and even stir up the pot with your
manic-depressive bouts of anger.  I call your particular award 225 (it's
all good - save for a thingie or deux).

Silhouette

I'd say you helped in the whole roleplaying aspect, in addition to the
whole head-bashing thing (not that you directly got in on any of the
violence, but it's a presence thing).  I'm gonna go with a 250 Karma
point reward this time.

Kay... if anyboody has any comments or such (especially death threats),
go ahead and send 'em my way.  Otherwise, I'll get the next stage of
y'all's game movin' along here in a few hours.... groovy?

Subject: Re: [v13] Digest Number 13
Date:    Wed, 7 Jul 1999 19:43:16 -0700
From:    "Lady Arakne" <arakne@lit.org>

Sil found a room she could share with Reaper, so she could keep an "eye" on him...

She finally fell asleep, curled up against the young man's shoulder.

Subject: [v13] Schemes and Dreams
Date:    Mon, 12 Jul 1999 14:56:41 -0600
From:    "Firebomb" <firebomb@darkspiral.com>

You feel rather rested after your night here at this odd little three story
hotel, Jinx.  More rested and refreshed than you've been in a long time; all
your aches and pains lifted away, your bruises vanished, cuts healed.

Nice service, that.

As you freshen up with your daily cleaning rituals, you hear several odd
reports over the television news.  The first involves a contempt of court
charge being filed against your pal, Roy Shijitzu.

It seems that the Jersey authorities didn't like his edited version of the
A-S security tapes he submitted as evidence after your little mayhemous bout
there with him and his nice little robot.

Secondly, it seems that a certain materials plant in New Paris, Ohio, was
pumping mutagenic goo into the nearby water supply - just as that goon, the
Plantmaster, was claiming all along.

This was found out after a raid conducted by the G.I.Joe team rooted out the
perpetrators, several operatives of the international terrorist group known
as Cobra, who happened to be testing out biological weaponry there.

Odd coincidence, that.

The news then goes on to talk about the weather, the bizarre cold front
overwhelming the nation in particular.  As the smarmy weatherman goes into
his David Letterman wannabe routine, your mind instinctively tunes him out.

Though you're no longer listening to the man, your mind turns back to the
threat described to you by Ahom... you can't help but wonder if this Morbis
fellow and his crony are really altering world weather patterns or not...

And, if so, why?

                           ***

You're also feeling rather good, Rebound, when you finally drag yourself out
of bed in the morning.  Though you're feeling rather hungry for pancakes,
everything else seems in order; save for the usual, of course.

As you put yourself together, you can hear your pal Ken wake up; or rather,
you quit hearing him snore so much.  He rolls off the couch with a loud
thud, and goes to brush his teeth and all that other mundane stuff.

Luckily, somebody managed to provide a toothbrush, bottle of shampoo, and
even some deodorant (for the hero on the move, of course).  However, he
waits until you're done, of course, since barging in on you'd simply be...
rude.

While he's waiting, Ken pops on the television and sees the aforementioned
news reports.  "So Rebound, you think this Morbis goon is all he's cracked
up to be?  Or you think this Ahom guy's smokin' too much...?"

                           ***

You wake up on your luxurious bed, Ronin, and only now notice the loud, loud
snoring coming from the direction of your room's couch.  Once you get there,
you see that the source of the nasal nightmare is none other than Och.

When your eyes gaze upon his diminutive self, he abruptly wakes up, and has
a very unhappy look on his face.  "Urm..."  He sits up and, before you can
ask what the hell he's doing in your room, says "I guess this isn't my
room?"

Looking around, you see several bottles which, by staring at them closely,
you accurately identify as beer.  Large bottles of beer, which the man must
have incredible constitution in order to consume without being ill.

The should-be hung over dwarf looks at you and grins again.  "Hm... I guess
I took a wrong turn somewhere... funny how my key still worked, eh?"
Actually, Och is incorrect.

You see an Och-shaped hole in the door.  He must have fell through it.

                           ***

As you slowly ascend to consciousness, Hardcore, you find that you feel
absolutely right with the world.  No aches, no pains, no nothing.  Just a
warm and fuzzy feeling that suffuses your being with all that is good.

That was one heck of a matress - no kinks in your back or anything!  In
fact, as you pull yourself out of bed, you find that your leg is even in
good order; that hole Jinx put in it has completely healed up.

You walk around in a circle a few times, noting the lack of a limp, and
smile.  Sure, you were still gonna get her for that, but at least you don't
feel it anymore.  Always a plus when it's all about to hit the fan...

Clicking on the television, you see some of your Joe pals on the news, as
they bring in some terrorists in that odd factory you fought the Plantmaster
in.  Looks like there was more to that place than meets the eye...

                           ***

Good Morning, Masque!

You wake up with the birds singing, the crickets chirping, and you feel
electric!  You haven't slept in an inherently magical room in several weeks,
and it's just seriously pumped you up - you're practically glowing!!

It is an interesting mystery, in that you didn't sense any of the power
around you before you went to bed.  But now, now, you detect the
overwhelming healing energies built into this hotel room, and it's kind of
neat.

Almost your idea of paradise, really, save for the television in the room.
And the air conditioner, which has the area cooled to a pleasant seventy
degrees.  But oho, somebody even left you chocolates on the desk.

Chocolates!  Now this is a good hotel.

After you properly investigate this mystery, you find your way back out of
the hotel and over to the pancake house.  After all, it's there - and they
have pancakes!  And, of course, that Ahom feller's over there waiting...

                           ***

As you drag yourself off the couch, Stone Cold, you hear that Tammy's
already up and refreshing herself with the usual routine; you know, the
shower, shave, brushing of the teeth, all that stuff.

Since you see you gotta wait a few minutes, you also flip on the television,
but can't make much sense of the stories they're playing.  Weird global
weather havoc, strange terrorists in Ohio?  Not your bag, really.

What catches your interest, however, is that you spot a familiar face in a
crowd behind a reporter covering the scene of that battle you participated
in the night before.  You'd recognize him anywhere.

The black hair with the bone white roots, the maniacal grin almost
resembling a rictus, the smug look in his face.  It's Morbis!  As a useless
journalist talks about what might have happened, the technomage waggles his
fingers.

Crispy blue letters appear over the image on the screen... and they seem to
be directed at your person.  They read "I want my Key back, thief!".
Directed at you, that is, unless somebody took his car keys...

                            ***

When you wake up, Reaper, your head feels right again.  You can think, you
can concentrate, and your brain doesn't hurt anymore.  Of course, you can
sense that terrible Star Brand thing in the distance, but that's just it -
it's not here.

As you take personal stock of yourself, you realize something else... you're
not alone in this bed.  Rolling your head over to get a look, you see the
familiar face of Silhouette, who's sleeping in a ball behind you.

You're not quite sure how she got there, in that most of yesterday is rather
fuzzy to you still, but who knows?  Perhaps she was treating your mental
condition, but you simply don't remember.

Of course, you could just ask her... she seems to have just woken up...

(ooc:  sorry 'bout the delays, everybody, I'm, er, out of town right now...
Doing things, and all that, on vacation.  Oh, and treating my lobster-like
arm... gaah.  But hey, let the fun begin!!!)

Subject: RE: [v13] Schemes and Dreams
Date:    Mon, 12 Jul 1999 17:11:56 -0400
From:    Douglas Lohse <LohseD@mscdirect.com>

> You're also feeling rather good, Rebound, when you finally drag yourself
> out of bed in the morning.  Though you're feeling rather hungry for
> pancakes, everything else seems in order; save for the usual, of course.

> As you put yourself together, you can hear your pal Ken wake up; or
> rather, you quit hearing him snore so much.  He rolls off the couch with a
> loud thud, and goes to brush his teeth and all that other mundane stuff.

> Luckily, somebody managed to provide a toothbrush, bottle of shampoo, and
> even some deoderant (for the hero on the move, of course).  However, he
> waits until you're done, of course, since barging in on you'd simply be...
> rude.

> While he's waiting, Ken pops on the television and sees the aforementioned
> news reports.  "So Rebound, you think this Morbis goon is all he's cracked
> up to be?  Or you think this Ahom guy's smokin' too much...?"

Rebound gets himself together and waits for Ken to get himself together.  As
he passes the time watching the TV, he wonders to himself how much of this
crap the agency is involved with.  Cobra, huh?  Maybe they were the goons
down south.  If so, I'll find them and give them a taste of their
handiwork...

As Ken seems to be ready,

"Hey Ken, you feel like tagging along on this little party?  I promise I
won't blow you up again.  Really.  What was that like?  Having your whole
body demolished, and still getting up and walking away just fine a few
minutes later?  That'd about freak me out and I don't freak out too easily
anymore."

Assuming Ken joins him, Rebound heads out to the Pancake place for some
breakfast and the morning briefing...mumbling something like "I thought I
left the Army" to himself...

Subject: [v13] The return of Reaper Part 1
Date:    Mon, 12 Jul 1999 14:49:58 -0700 (PDT)
From:    Michael Joiner <ml_joiner@yahoo.com>

> Well, Reaper, you feel a little bit more ... connected to
> the here and now.  You're not totally 'cured', per se, but
> you can at least think again.  And, since Ken isn't using 
> that blasted tattoo of his, well, you'll be here for a bit.

> If you had any idea how to counter that vast mind-wrenching effect the
> Star Brand has on your cosmic awareness, now would be a
> good time to try it.  That way, you don't wind up getting
> mentally blended in the near future, from the talk moving about the table.

Reaper sits back from Silhouette, a weary smile on his face.  Slowly a look of alarm replaces it as he takes in the rest of the room...

"Ah!" he gasps, backpedaling against a wall, staring out at everyone.  He presses his palms to his eyes, the tears them away looking around...

"Its...its GONE!!"  he cries..."Everything is gone!" He holds his hands out as if to ward off something., "All of you...I can't 'see' you anymore...Silhouette - whats
happening?  Its like...like I'm seeing you 'normal'..."

<resp?>

He slides up the wall, and cringes as people begin to leave
the room.  He looks as if he's going to reach out and touch
one or another of you, then recoils....

> Ken then walks out of the room, and after a few minutes,
> Reaper, you can feel an appreciable pressure lift from
> your shoulders.  Your awareness had shut itself down 
> reflexively, of course, but the power of that star brand thing was still 
> applying pressure upon it.

>                  You feel MUCH better...

Reaper's face pales even more as Ken walks by, reflexively
holding his hands up to block...something...

Then once he is gone...
Reaper exhales suddenly, a look of amazement on his face.
He looks back at the door Ken walked out of, then back in
the room.  His eyes still seem to dart about in fear, but
his breathing has calmed slightly.

He stays there against the wall, staring speculatively at
his hands as he makes the ions dance between his fingers in
small arcs of lightening.  His eyebrows furrow in
concentration until suddenly he looks up as if realizing
something...

"I...need to go..."

Subject: [v13] (no subject)
Date:    Mon, 12 Jul 1999 14:50:40 -0700 (PDT)
From:    Michael Joiner <ml_joiner@yahoo.com>

He heads out the door, making a point of checking for Ken, then going in whatever would seem to be the opposite direction. He looks for a Outdoor - outfitters type store, or a surplus store.

(OOC - Being that its nighttime - I'll go ahead and play this as if the place is closed...)

He approaches the store, and checks for a rear-entry.  He looks for the most secluded area, and with a deep breath - phases his body and enters...

Once inside, he looks around the store for a pair of sunglasses - wraparound preferably.  He crouches in the dim light, staring at the shades.  He takes a few deep breaths to calm his nerves, then slowly begins to manipulate the
ions in the sunglasses.  His goal is to render them fundamentally unstable - allowing them to act as variable shielding from particularly high-powers, but allowing for his awareness to register anything else as if normal.

(OOC - Okay - quantitatively the biggest power stunt I've ever tried to pull!  I'm not too hip to how rolling for this works - as I recall, once for initial success at some difficulty, again at a lesser difficulty, and so on?  If
so, and given the stakes at hand here - I'll go ahead and make the 'big plunge' and spend as much as necessary to ensure success - say 100 karma per roll? - and exactly how many rolls?

Here's some anyway - maybe to account for the "breaking and entering" and so forth... 100 <whoa nelly!>, 40, 61, 27, 51)

As soon as he accomplishes this, he puts the shades on, and tries to relax his mind to let his Awareness re-activate again.

As he looks around the store, he finds a strange mesh-like cloth.  The label calls it a "Snipers Cowl".  They seem to come in a variety of camoflauge patterns, as well as black.  He picks up one of the black ones, holding it to his face.  He sees that he has almost perfect vision through this thing, but one glance at a mirror, and he sees that his features are neatly hidden.  He grabs two of these and stuffs them into his pocket.

He leaves the shades on though, and returns to the wall he entered through.  He "pokes" his head through to check if the coast is clear, then leaves.

He goes to the hotel everyone else entered.

> Sil found a room she could share with Reaper, so she could keep an "eye" on 
> him...

> She finally fell asleep, curled up against the young man's shoulder.

Reaper stirs during the night, notices Silhouette, and wraps his arm around her.

Subject: Re: [v13] Schemes and Dreams
Date:    Mon, 12 Jul 1999 15:02:34 -0700 (PDT)
From:    Michael Joiner <ml_joiner@yahoo.com>

> Of course, you could just ask her... she seems to have just woken up...

Reaper shakes his head, clearing the cobwebs, then smiles
warmly.  He thought he woke up during the night to find her
there, and is pleased to see it wasn't a dream.  He raises
himself up onto one arm, watching her awaken.

"Good morning," he says a wealth of emotions behind the
simple words - affection...relief...exhaustion, "I..." he
takes a quick breath, composing himself, "thank you for
saving me, for pulling me out of wherever that was my mind
went.  That's the biggest thing anyone has ever done for
me..."

He leans forward and kisses her.  Pulling away, he bites
his lower lip as if pondering something.  He smiles again,
and slowly rolls out of bed.  He looks back at her as he
pulls his shirt on.

"So...what's going on out there?"

Subject: Re: [v13] Schemes and Dreams
Date:    Mon, 12 Jul 1999 16:53:17 -0700
From:    "Lady Arakne" <arakne@lit.org>

> "So...whats going on out there?"

The little telepath stretched as she disappated the "shadow
blanket" from herself, <<Not a clue. I stayed in here, in case
you weren't okay....which I'm glad you are. I could certainly
use a shower.  I'll scrub your back if you'll scrub mine...>>

(tag)

Subject: Re: [v13] The return of Reaper Part 1
Date:    Mon, 12 Jul 1999 16:54:03 -0700
From:    "Lady Arakne" <arakne@lit.org>

> "Its...its GONE!!"  he cries..."Everything is gone!"  He holds his hands out
> as if to ward off something., "All of you...I can't 'see' you anymore... 
> Silhouette -  whats happening?  Its like...like I'm seeing you 'normal'..."

<<What's gone?>> she 'pathed worriedly, reachng out to touch the young man on the shoulder, <<Is your "knowing way" gone??>>

> He slides up the wall, and cringes as people begin to leave the room.  He 
> looks as if he's going to reach out and touch one or another of you, then 
> recoils...

>> (snippity snip snip)

> "I...need to go..."

The telepath, now dressed in her black and green body armour
and a small black carisak slung over her shoulders joined him,
<<If you're going, then so am I. You need someone to watch
your mind and your back...>>

Subject: Re: [v13] The return of Reaper Part 1
Date:    Mon, 12 Jul 1999 17:31:14 -0700 (PDT)
From:    Michael Joiner <ml_joiner@yahoo.com>

> <<Is your "knowing way" gone??>>

Reaper looks at Sil helplessly, "Yeah...I'm supposed to be
able to 'see'...things about people...'feel' stuff...now
its like I don't know anything about anyone - not
anymore..."

> The telepath, now dressed in her black and green body armour and a small black 
> carisak slung over her shoulders joined him, <<If you're going, then so am I. 
> You need someone to watch your mind and your back...>>

Reaper turns and smiles in appreciation, "Thanks, I...think
I could use someone exactly like that right about now!"

On the way to the store - Reaper tries to explain his idea..

"I think that my awareness is somehow tied into this
ion-manipulating thing I do." He sparks the lightening
between his fingers for emphasis, "Something like picking
up on the state of ionic energy in something.  Someone like
that...guy..." he involuntarily shudders at the memory,
"That guy...when I saw him - it was like...too
'bright'...it blinded me - only more than visually..."

"So I thought, what does someone do when something's too
bright to look at?"  He's standing in front of the wall he
wants to go through.

"He gets a pair o' shades!" he smiles, a little of the old
playfulness back in his eyes as he lightly takes her
hands, and pulls her through the wall (phasing her as well)
with him.

Subject: Re: [v13] Schemes and Dreams
Date:    Mon, 12 Jul 1999 17:38:26 -0700 (PDT)
From:    Michael Joiner <ml_joiner@yahoo.com>

--- Lady Arakne <arakne@lit.org> wrote:

> The little telepath stretched as she dissipated the "shadow blanket" from 
> herself, <<Not a clue. I stayed in here, in case you weren't okay....which I'm 
> glad you are. I could certainly use a shower.  I'll scrub your back if you'll 
> scrub mine...>>

Reaper freezes in the middle of pulling his shirt down.

"...'Kay..." he says in a small voice.  He looks like a
deer in the headlights...then he smiles kinda nervously
pulling his shirt back over his head and off, walking
towards her.

He extends his hand politely inviting her to come with him
into the bathroom....

Subject: Re: [v13] Schemes and Dreams
Date:    Mon, 12 Jul 1999 21:22:07 EDT
From:    "Peter Chamers" <lil_blk_duck@hotmail.com>

>You wake up on your luxurious bed, Ronin, and only now notice the loud,
>loud snoring coming from the direction of your room's couch.  Once you get
>there, you see that the source of the nasal nightmare is none other than
>Och.

>When your eyes gaze upon his diminutive self, he abruptly wakes up, and
>has a very unhappy look on his face.  "Urm..."  He sits up and, before you
>can ask what the hell he's doing in your room, says "I guess this isn't my
>room?"

>Looking around, you see several bottles which, by staring at them closely,
>you accurately identify as beer.  Large bottles of beer, which the man
>must have incredible constitution in order to consume without being ill.

> The should-be hung over dwarf looks at you and grins again.  "Hm... I
> guess I took a wrong turn somewhere... funny how my key still worked,
> eh?"  Actually, Och is incorrect.

>You see an Och-shaped hole in the door.  He must have fell through it.

"Yes...quite 'funny', as you say" replies Ronin glancing at the Och sized
hole in the door with much dismay.

"Well...since we are both awake, I suggest we ready ourselves and be on our
way."

With that, Ronin hops out of bed and heads into the bathroom to get ready.
Damned if he's gonna let Och get in there first...lord only knows what state
he'd leave the bathroom in.

Making small talk, Ronin comments from the bathroom.

"That is a most impressive axe that you wield, my sh...errr.. bearded friend.
  What do you know of its origin?"


Subject: Re: [v13] The return of Reaper Part 1
Date:    Mon, 12 Jul 1999 20:21:09 -0700
From:    "Lady Arakne" <arakne@lit.org>

> Reaper turns and smiles in appreciation, "Thanks, I...think
> I could use someone exactly like that right about now!"

She gave him a kiss on the cheek, <<No worries... I could
always wite a novel about our adventures and make you
some decent money in royalties as a co-writer... Something
to fund yourself with... Besides, I *like* you. You're a really
down to earth person--for an aspiring superhero.>>

> "He gets a pair o' shades!" he smiles, a little of the old
> playfullness back in his eyes as he lightly takes her
> hands, and pulls her through the wall (phasing her as well)
> with him.

Sil wriggled, feeling like she was being tickled all over,
<<You realize that you need a pair of "psychic sunglasses",
which I can teach you how to do that. I'm a telepath, and I have
to wear a "pair" all the time...>>

Subject: Re: [v13] Schemes and Dreams
Date:    Mon, 12 Jul 1999 20:35:27 -0700
From:    "Lady Arakne" <arakne@lit.org>

> He extends his hand politely inviting her to come with him into the 
> bathroom....

Sil took his hand and squeezed it reassuringly, <<Nothing wrong with sharing one's bath. It is wise to conserve water, and time.>>

(tag)

She quickly mixed a pleasant spray of hot water and pulled some pleasant sandalwood & amber scented soap out of the odd backpack she had brought with her, a nice loofah sponge and finding a nice supply of clean white towels...

She unselfconsciously peeled the black bodysuit she wore as part of her costume to reveal a lithe, muscular body with some-- interesting--"tribal" tattoos gracing her form.

She ducked into the shower, <<C'mon in! The water's fine...>>

(tag)


Subject: Re: [v13] Schemes and Dreams
Date:    Mon, 12 Jul 1999 22:06:44 -0600
From:    "Firebomb" <firebomb@darkspiral.com>

> Doug Loshe said:

> Rebound gets himself together and waits for Ken to get himself together.  As
> he passes the time watching the TV, he wonders to himself how much of this
> crap the agency is involved with.  Cobra, huh?  Maybe they were the goons
> down south.  If so, I'll find them and give them a taste of their handiwork...

> As Ken seems to be ready,

> "Hey Ken, you feel like tagging along on this little party?  I promise I
> won't blow you up again.  Really.  What was that like?  Having your whole
> body demolished, and still getting up and walking away just fine a few
> minutes later?  That'd about freak me out and I don't freak out too easily
> anymore."

"Well, to be honest, man, I can't say.  I don't really remember all that
much.  I crawled out of that hole with you and the others, and then
everything's blank up 'till the point where I woke up."  Ken gives you that
sort of 'I don't know' shrug.  The man then follows you out of the hotel and
into the pancake shop, happily ordering some more breakfast goods.

> Assuming Ken joins him, Rebound heads out to the Pancake place for some
> breakfast and the morning briefing...mumbling something like "I thought I
> left the Army" to himself...

"Ha!"  Ken laughs as he orders a dish.  "I get the feeling that this is just
the first in a whole lot of fights we're gonna get stuck with... you know
what I mean?"

Subject: Re: [v13] Schemes and Dreams
Date:    Mon, 12 Jul 1999 22:14:46 -0600
From:    "Firebomb" <firebomb@darkspiral.com>

> Peter Chambers wrote:

>> You see an Och-shaped hole in the door.  He must have fell through it.

> "Yes...quite 'funny', as you say" replies Ronin glancing at the Och sized 
> hole in the door with much dismay.

> "Well...since we are both awake, I suggest we ready ourselves and be on our 
> way."

> With that, Ronin hops out of bed and heads into the bathroom to get ready.
> Damned if he's gonna let Och get in there first...lord only knows what state 
> he'd leave the bathroom in.

> Making small talk, Ronin comments from the bathroom.

> "That is a most impressive axe that you wield, my sh... errr.. bearded friend.
>   What do you know of its origin?"

"Not very much, unfortunately.  It was given to me several years ago when I
accepted a commission by my elders to protect our ancient, buried cities
from those who would plunder our racial treasures.  You know, grave robbers
and the like.  I do know that it is several thousand years old, and it was
made by a forge known as Sammery."

Och stops, pausing as if deep in thought, or perhaps memory.

"I can't say much else, as I do not know who else has wielded it before my
humble self.  Truth be told, I cannot be sure that I know all that it is
capable of.  For sure I know that its' edge has mystical qualities, as does
the gold it was forged from; otherwise, striking it against virtually
anything would deform it.  Gold doesn't hold shape well, you know."

He then pauses again, and all is quiet, save for a faint whooshing sound.
You get the dreadful impression that he's juggling the weapon...

Subject: Re: [v13] Schemes and Dreams
Date:    Tue, 13 Jul 1999 04:36:36 PDT
From:    "Charlie Clay Jr." <cclayjr@hotmail.com>

Feeling really irate about now, feeling that it is truly directed at me.  I
rush into the bathroom, Tammy we have to go.  "Ooops, sorry so much in a
rush I actually for got you were in the shower."  Trying my best not to
blush, I leave out of the bathroom and wait.  Realizing that I haven't had a
shower myself in almost a few hundred years.  I clean myself up and try to
spend the majority of the morning apologizing and trying to make up of the
fiasco of seeing her naked.

Subject: Re: [v13] Schemes and Dreams
Date:    Tue, 13 Jul 1999 07:40:45 -0500
From:    "Christopher W. Acers" <cwacers@home.com>

>>Good Morning, Masque!

>>You wake up with the birds singing, the crickets chirping, and you feel
>>electric!  You haven't slept in an inherently magical room in several
>>weeks, and it's just seriously pumped you up - you're practically glowing!!

Masque pounds on the wall until the crickts stop chirping and trys to open the window to yell at those noisy birds. Failing in that attempt, he just yells through the window.  "This is New York for Hoggoth's sake, where the hell did the birds come from?!"  And promptly goes back to sleep.

>>It is an interesting mystery, in that you didn't sense any of the power
>>around you before you went to bed.  But now, now, you detect the
>>overwhelming healing energies built into this hotel room, and it's kind of
>>neat.

>>Almost your idea of paradise, really, save for the television in the room.
>>And the air conditioner, which has the area cooled to a pleasant seventy
>>degrees.  But oho, somebody even left you chocolates on the desk.

>>Chocolates!  Now this is a good hotel.

As if awakened by 'magic', Masque glances at the desk and smiles.

>>After you properly investigate this mystery, you find your way back out of
>>the hotel and over to the pancake house.  After all, it's there - and they
>>have pancakes!  And, of course, that Ahom feller's over there waiting...

Wiping his mouth, he stumbles on over to the pancake house.

" I never said I was a morning person."

He looks around:

"Garcon?....So What's the plan Ahom?"

Subject: RE: [v13] Schemes and Dreams
Date:    Tue, 13 Jul 1999 08:46:29 -0400
From:    Douglas Lohse <LohseD@mscdirect.com>

> "Ha!"  Ken laughs as he orders a dish.  "I get the feeling that this is
> just the first in a whole lot of fights we're gonna get stuck with... you know
> what I mean?"

Patting him on the back..."Well Ken, it looks like we won round one.  I
think this Ahom guy is pretty much on the side of the good guys, so maybe we
should stick with him for round two.  If nothing else, he at least seems to
know something about what is happening in the world and from my experience,
knowing what is happening and why is the most important part of any
strategic puzzle.  Let's hope this morning's briefing is thorough and to the
point."

Rebound orders his pancakes and makes sure there's maple syrup.  "Is this
maple syrup from Maine?  if it's not from Maine, it's not real maple syrup."

Being ravenous, he eats his pancakes regardless and waits for everyone else
to get there...especially their mysterious benefactor.


Subject: Re: [v13] Schemes and Dreams
Date:    Tue, 13 Jul 1999 11:39:19 EDT
From:    "Peter Chamers" <lil_blk_duck@hotmail.com>

>"I can't say much else, as I do not know who else has wielded it before my
>humble self.  Truth be told, I cannot be sure that I know all that it is
>capable of.  For sure I know that its' edge has mystical qualities, as does
>the gold it was forged from; otherwise, >striking it against virtually
>anything would deform it.  Gold doesn't >hold shape well, you know."

Ronin really doesn't know but he nods and replies in the affirmitive. "Of course...errr..."

>He then pauses again, and all is quiet, save for a faint whooshing sound.
>You get the dreadful impression that he's juggling the weapon...

Ronin pokes a head out of the bathroom and sees, to his dismay, that Och is
indeed juggling the axe.

Stepping out, Ronin tightens the sash on his robe.  He is dressed in dark
blue and white.

Ronin sighs slightly. "Is that not a dangerous stunt there, my friend?"

(Dangerous to me that is...) Oo. thinks the young warrior.

Ronin continues, "If you would make yourself ready, we could find the others
and be about our way.  I dislike waiting for battle...better
to face things directly."

Subject: Re: [v13] The return of Reaper Part 1
Date:    Tue, 13 Jul 1999 16:21:45 -0700 (PDT)
From:    Michael Joiner <ml_joiner@yahoo.com>

> She gave him a kiss on the cheek, <<No worries... I could always write a novel 
> about our adventures and make you some decent money in royalties as a co-
> writer...  Something to fund yourself with... Besides, I *like* you. You're a
> really down to earth person--for an aspiring superhero.>>

Reaper shrugs, "Little dimensional travel, brushes with
demons, more magic than you can wrap your mind around,
beutiful women with telepathy...all that isn't normal where
you come from?"

> Sil wriggled, feeling like she was being tickled all over, <<You realize that 
> you need a pair of "psychic sunglasses", which I can teach you how to do that. 
> I'm a telepath, and I have to wear a "pair" all the time...>>

Reaper's eyebrows raise, "Really?", he seems to think it through, "Yeah - what the hell right?  I know I don't want my mind to be like *that*  again... maybe... could it work along with the unstable ions?  Or...if my mind is safe... do I *need* to tamper with how much power I am exposed to?"

<tag>

Subject: Re: [v13] Schemes and Dreams
Date:    Tue, 13 Jul 1999 18:49:34 -0500
From:    William Lockwood <albedo1@home.com>

Natasha wakes up, almost instinctively acting groggy despite the fact
that she feels 100%.

She nods grimly as she checks out the news on Roy and Cobra. "Well, at
least he's getting some of the trash thrown back at him...Now I just
need to find a way to remove various choice bits from his
anatomy...extremely slowly."

She practices in her room after cleaning up and preparing her weapons,
trying to get a feel for the vibro blade she had picked up recently
during her battle with Proctology Pete.

Once she felt she could handle the knife without disemboweling herself,
she sheathed it carefully and looked herself over in the mirror.

Her blonde hair was pulled back into a severe ponytail and her black
bodysuit was tripped out with all of the gear she could muster.

She sighed as she realized the majority of it wouldn't matter once the
fight against Morbis really started.

"That Ahom guy said Morbis could do shit to tech...oh well, I can at
least give it a shot. It'll all be worth it if Roy takes a good shot
where it counts." she mused to herself before heading out to find the
others.

Subject: Re: [v13] Schemes and Dreams
Date:    Tue, 13 Jul 1999 17:04:18 -0700 (PDT)
From:    Michael Joiner <ml_joiner@yahoo.com>

> Sil took his hand and squeezed it reassuringly, <<Nothing wrong with sharing 
> one's bath. It is wise to conserve water, and time.>>

Reaper nods silently in agreement, mouth open as if he was
going to say something, but nothing emerges.  He slowly
closes his mouth as he watches her.

> (snippity snip snip)

> She ducked into the shower, <<C'mon in! The water's fine...>>

He absently tugs his shorts off, too enraptured by what is happening to think about being self conscious.  He joins her in the shower - taking the sponge and turning her away from him.  He begins to slowly run the sponge back and forth accross her back.

(OOC:  At the tremendous risk of "going there" with this - no matter which way I imagine Reaper and Sil in this situation - and role play it accordingly - I...gotta make some sorta Psyche Feat roll here - as a guy imagining what
a guy admitedly attracted to someone would do if faced with taking a shower with her - please forgive me but it just wouldn't be remotely "real" otherwise!  so...90...hopefully with that Reaper can stay focused on the task at
hand...er...yeah...but I guess its really up to ol' Firebomb "- ruining it for everybody" ;-) !  Once again - sorry 'bout that!)

** Back-In-Character**

Reaper looks at the tattoos, "What are these?"  He asks,
tracing one with his finger, absently rubbing her shoulder
with the other hand, "They're beautiful."

Subject: Re: [v13] Schemes and Dreams
Date:    Tue, 13 Jul 1999 18:38:55 -0700
From:    "Lady Arakne" <arakne@lit.org>

> Reaper looks at the tattoos, "What are these?"  He asks, tracing one with his 
> finger, absently rubbing her shoulder with the other hand, "They're 
> beautiful."

<<A tradition amonst my people.... One's tattoos can tell
what clan your from, your history, or just a story. Mine tell
the legend of the Dancing Goddess, whose festival I was
born during..>> she explained, <<And thank you for indulging
in a custom of my people that I truly miss...>>

Subject: Re: [v13] The return of Reaper Part 1
Date:    Tue, 13 Jul 1999 18:38:55 -0700
From:    "Lady Arakne" <arakne@lit.org>

>> Sil wriggled, feeling like she was being tickled all over, <<You realize that 
>> you need a pair of "psychic sunglasses", which I can teach you how to do 
>> that.  I'm a telepath, and I have to wear a "pair" all the time...>>

> Reaper's eyebrows raise, "Really?", he seems to think it through, "Yeah - what 
> the hell right? I know I don't want my mind to be like *that* again... 
> maybe... could it work along with the unstable ions? Or...if my mind is 
> safe... do I *need* to tamper with how much power I am exposed to?"

<<It's workable. I'd have to know more about how your mind
is 'normaly' before I could do more than teach you psychic
defenses....>> she considered.

(Tag)

Subject: Re: [v13] Schemes and Dreams
Date:    Tue, 13 Jul 1999 21:47:28 -0600
From:    "Firebomb" <firebomb@darkspiral.com>

Peter Chambers wrote:

> Ronin pokes a head out of the bathroom and sees, to his dismay, that Och is
> indeed juggling the axe.

> Stepping out, Ronin tightens the sash on his robe.  He is dressed in dark
> blue and white.

> Ronin sighs slightly. "Is that not a dangerous stunt there, my friend?"

> (Dangerous to me that is...) Oo. thinks the young warrior.

Och looks at you and smiles, taking his eye off the axe as it tumbles madly
through the air.  "Not at all, my friend, not at all!  However, to assuage
your fears..."  Och then leans forward, allowing his axe to fall straight
into his backpack - without incident, oddly enough.  You expected at least
one cut to come from all this.

> Ronin continues, "If you would make yourself ready, we could find the others
> and be about our way.  I dislike waiting for battle... better to face things 
> directly."

"Sure thing!"  Och then gets into the shower, and you hear him bellowing
loudly as he washes himself clean.  Singing something that, though muted
through the water flow, sounds distinctly like 'gold, gold, gold' or some
such.  About half an hour later, the dwarf is finished, and seems to gleam
in the early morning light.

All dressed up and apparently ready to go, he smiles at you.  "Onward, then!
I would have more waffles!"

Subject: Re: [v13] Schemes and Dreams
Date:    Tue, 13 Jul 1999 21:53:43 -0600
From:    "Firebomb" <firebomb@darkspiral.com>

> "That Ahom guy said Morbis could do shit to tech...oh well, I can at
> least give it a shot. It'll all be worth it if Roy takes a good shot
> where it counts." she mused to herself before heading out to find the
> others.

You make your way across the street to the pancake shop, and can't help but
wonder about this strange town.  It seems familiar, yet... you don't know.
You can't put your finger on it.  There's something strangely missing here,
and you can't see what it is...  However, before you know it, you're there.

Upon entering, you see that Ahom is already waiting there for you all, in
the center of his silly round table there.  Masque seems to have arrived as
well, and is busy eating a lot of... something.  Rebound and that ... Ken
fellow is here as well.  Everybody seems at ease for now, as if resting
before the storm.

Or simply waiting for the others.  What do you do now, Jinx?

Subject: Re: [v13] Schemes and Dreams
Date:    Tue, 13 Jul 1999 21:55:41 -0600
From:    "Firebomb" <firebomb@darkspiral.com>

Michael Joiner wrote:

> (OOC:  At the tremendous risk of "going there" with this -
> no matter which way I imagine Reaper and Sil in this
> situation - and role play it accordingly - I...gotta make
> some sorta Psyche Feat roll here - as a guy imagining what
> a guy admitedly attracted to someone would do if faced with
> taking a shower with her - please forgive me but it just
> wouldn't be remotely "real" otherwise!  so...90...hopefully
> with that Reaper can stay focused on the task at
> hand...er...yeah...but I guess its really up to ol'
> Firebomb "- ruining it for everybody" ;-) !  Once again -
> sorry 'bout that!)

Erm... don't EVEN look at me on this one.  No comment...

Subject: Re: [v13] Schemes and Dreams
Date:    Tue, 13 Jul 1999 23:33:49 -0500
From:    "Christopher W. Acers" <cwacers@home.com>

> Erm... don't EVEN look at me on this one.  No comment...

I couldn't have put it better myself... Chris

Subject: Re: [v13] Schemes and Dreams
Date:    Wed, 14 Jul 1999 12:36:22 EDT
From:    "Peter Chamers" <lil_blk_duck@hotmail.com>

>All dressed up and apparently ready to go, he smiles at you.  "Onward,
>then! I would have more waffles!"

Ronin nods, strapping his sword to his back and hiding beneath his dark gray
trench coat.  Ronin then heads with Och to the restaurant.

"I meant to ask you..." questions Ronin, "What are 'waffles' and why do
people in this country insist on such rich, unhealthy foods?"

With that, Ronin promptly strides into the restaurant and orders boiled
rice.

:)

Subject: Re: [v13] The return of Reaper Part 1
Date:    Wed, 14 Jul 1999 14:38:56 -0700 (PDT)
From:    Michael Joiner <ml_joiner@yahoo.com>

> <<Everyone is a telepath where I'm from, and everyone has the ability to 
> manipulate darkness and the Shadow Realm, too.... I just happen to be stuck 
> here, with "powers" that are perfectly normal for me, but not for the locals, 
> I had to make a living somehow--what better way than to make a comic book and 
> novels based on the legends and heroes of my people?>> she asked, <<I'm 
> perfectly "normal" for a L'sombre.>>

"L'sombre..."he says the word like he's tasting something, "So...how does it feel to be 'stuck' here on this world?"

Subject: Re: [v13] Schemes and Dreams
Date:    Wed, 14 Jul 1999 14:47:11 -0700 (PDT)
From:    Michael Joiner <ml_joiner@yahoo.com>

> <<A tradition amonst my people.... One's tattoos can tell what clan your from, 
> your history, or just a story. Mine tell the legend of the Dancing Goddess, 
> whose festival I was born during..>> she explained, <<And thank you for
> indulging in a custom of my people that I truly miss...>>

Reaper drops the sponge, and rubs her shoulders gently, he
tries to reach out with his awareness - using its ability
to sense weak points in an object or person to enable him
to find tense muscles, etc.

"Your welcome, I guess - I don't know your customs, but
either way - I'd be glad to share a shower with you
anytime."  If the muscles in her back seem fully relaxed,
he slips his arms around her in a hug, pulling her close...

"Who was the Dancing Goddess?" he asks.

Subject: Re: [v13] Schemes and Dreams
Date:    Wed, 14 Jul 1999 18:11:47 -0500
From:    "Christopher W. Acers" <cwacers@home.com>

Hey...I think we get the 'jist' of yer sitution here!

Subject: Re: [v13] Schemes and Dreams
Date:    Wed, 14 Jul 1999 18:26:47 -0500
From:    William Lockwood <albedo1@home.com>

Natasha is just real quiet as she stoically orders an omlette and orange
juice.

Once she has gotten her food, she settles down in one of the booths
relatively close to the others, but doesn't say anything, just calmly
eating her breakfast.

Once she finishes her food, she fiddles with one of the pieces of
silverware at her table, catching her stony reflection in its tarnished
surface.

Subject: Re: [v13] Schemes and Dreams
Date:    Wed, 14 Jul 1999 19:27:21 -0700
From:    "Lady Arakne" <arakne@lit.org>

> "Who was the Dancing Goddess?" he asks.

<<She is the patroness of artisans and performers....>>
Sil tried to explain as her mindvoice trailed off, <<I will have
to "give" you my language so you can understand the full scope
of the tales.>>

<tag>

She relaxed in the warm mist, the tension easing out of her
shoulders like the proverbial molasses in January.... a soft
purr elicited from her throat, and a flood of warmth seeping
through the telepathic link, <<You could spoil a lady, y'know...>>

Subject: Re: [v13] Schemes and Dreams
Date:    Thu, 15 Jul 1999 20:01:59 +0000 (GMT)
From:    Michael Joiner <ml_joiner@yahoo.com>

> <<She is the patroness of artisans and performers....>>

> Sil tried to explain as her mindvoice trailed off, <<I will have to "give" you 
> my language so you can understand the full scope of the tales.>>

Reaper nods his head, which she could feel on her shoulder.

"How does 'that' work?" he asks softly.

> She relaxed in the warm mist, the tension easing out of her shoulders like the 
> proverbial molasses in January.... a soft purr elicited from her throat, and a 
> flood of warmth seeping through the telepathic link, <<You could spoil a 
> lady, y'know...>>

"Anytime," he says playfully, "just let me know how."

Subject: Re: [v13] Schemes and Dreams
Date:    Thu, 15 Jul 1999 17:50:15 -0700
From:    "Lady Arakne" <arakne@lit.org>

> "How does 'that' work?" he asks softly.

Sil tried to think of the proper words, <<To "give" one a language, you build it up in their head from the simplest concepts of language and then layer it in as though they'd grown up knowing it... it makes a person bilingual in what ever language you're "giving" them.... or in my case, how I "took" English and several other languages from people on this world, so I could survive.>>

>> She relaxed in the warm mist, the tension easing out of
>> her shoulders like the proverbial molasses in January.... a
>> soft purr elicited from her throat, and a flood of warmth
>> seeping  through the telepathic link, <<You could spoil a lady, y'know...>>

> "Anytime," he says playfully, "just let me know how."

<<Believe me, I will....>> she replied, <<And I know a few things that might spoil you, too....>>

Subject: Re: [v13] Schemes and Dreams
Date:    Thu, 15 Jul 1999 21:14:14 -0400 (EDT)
From:    Michael Joiner <ml_joiner@yahoo.com>

> <<...or in my case, how I "took" English and several other languages from 
> people on this world, so I could survive.>>

Reaper pauses to think about it, "Alright.  How do we start?"

> <<Believe me, I will....>> she replied, <<And I know a few things that might 
> spoil you, too....>>

"Mmmmm..." Reaper replies, "That pretty much makes me the luckiest guy around - as far as I can tell anyway."

He squeezes her again, then releases her - running his hands back up her arms to her shoulders.

Subject: Re: [v13] Schemes and Dreams
Date:    Thu, 15 Jul 1999 20:17:56 -0700
From:    "Lady Arakne" <arakne@lit.org>

> He squeezes her again, then releases her - running his hands back up her arms 
> to her shoulders.

She took advantage of being slippery from water and soap and
twisted around in his embrace to give the oddly attractive young
man a warm embrace and a kiss.....

Subject: Re: [v13] Schemes and Dreams
Date:    Fri, 16 Jul 1999 14:36:09 -0400 
From:    Michael Joiner <ml_joiner@yahoo.com>

"Really...and it involves us *having* to be alone together for at least an hour?  Well if you put it 'that' way - absolutely!  But...maybe we should wait until my mind is a little more...'stable' I guess..."

> She took advantage of being slippery from water and soap and twisted around in > his embrace to give the oddly attractive young man a warm embrace and a 
> kiss...

Reaper brings her to him again, once she's twisted around, and holds her more fully in his arms.  He returns the kiss with more passion than previously, feeling her entire body against his...

OOC:

...alright...so - should we veer off-line with this?  I know a couple of games I'm on are, like, "mature" or "NC-17" - style, or whatever, but I don't know about this one.  Firebomb?

I'm cool with it either way, I just don't want anyone to be offended or anything.  This kind of thing, when its well written (not that I profess to be all THAT but you know!), can be very beautiful in my opinion, and quite a challenge to roleplay, but it also may not be everyone's cup of tea.

Of course - I'm reading into what Lady Arakne is posting for Sil - but the more I thought about it - the more I thought that a young lad like Reaper would pick up on Sil's words and actions as a pretty significant hint - and he would begin to respond to that...

Thanks for your time, and let me know whats more
comfortable for ya'll...

Subject: Re: [v13] Schemes and Dreams
Date:    Fri, 16 Jul 1999 15:36:24 -0500
From:    "Christopher W. Acers" <cwacers@home.com>

> Thanks for your time, and let me know what's more comfortable for y'all...

I, for one, don't care to read about it.  I appreciate you asking and commend you on that. It ain't often that a member of an 'online' group will even consider the others. Yes it would be a ' show of talent' to show how well it can be written out but that is not something I am here for.  I, personally, find it repulsive and just plain old weird.  This is a marvel game, not some cheesy vampire game.  To me it isn't any different than 'cybersex'. And the people who take part in that need some serious help... but anyhow...  Do what you will, that is my opinion, likely I will unsubscribe if it continues, as I said, it is a marvel game.

Thanks for asking again.
Christopher, aka Masque

Subject: Re: [v13] Schemes and Dreams
Date:    Fri, 16 Jul 1999 17:56:56 -0700
From:    "Lady Arakne" <arakne@lit.org>

This is going off panel.

Decided by Lady Arakne.

Subject: Re: [v13] Schemes and Dreams
Date:    Sun, 18 Jul 1999 04:05:32 -0400 (EDT)
From:    Michael Joiner <ml_joiner@yahoo.com>

> This is going off panel.

> Decided by Lady Arakne.

OOC

So we'll just see ya'll at breakfast!

Subject: Re: [v13] Schemes and Dreams
Date:    Sun, 18 Jul 1999 03:27:58 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

> "I meant to ask you..." questions Ronin, "What are 'waffles' and why
> do people in this country insist on such rich, unhealthy foods?"

> With that, Ronin promptly strides into the restuarant and orders
> boiled rice.

You walk in and see several of the others, already eating or waiting for
their orders to be served.  As you order your rice, Och smiles and then
orders his waffles.  "As far as your question goes, well, I don't know
what waffles are... they're something you must experience for yourself."

He gets a stack of six and a heaping jug of real maple syrup.

"Trust me.  You need more than just rice for breakfast.  Like... like some sausage links!"

Subject: Re: [v13] Schemes and Dreams
Date:    Sun, 18 Jul 1999 03:39:04 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

"Charlie Clay Jr." wrote:

> Feeling really irate about now, feeling that it is truly directed at
> me.  I rush into the bathroom, Tammy we have to go.  "Ooops, sorry so
> much in a rush I actually for got you were in the shower."  Trying my
> best not to blush, I leave out of the bathroom and wait.  Realizing
> that I haven't had a shower myself in almost a few hundred years.  I
> clean myself up and try to spend the majority of the morning
> apologizing and trying to make up of the fiasco of seeing her naked.

"Aaaargh!  You... you... you!"

Yep, Tammy's pissed, all right.  She quickly finishes up her shower and,
seemingly as loud as humanly possible, stomps out of the bathroom.  "Go
ahead, Stoney - your turn, already.  Since you're in such a rush!!"  She
then stomps out of the hotel room, presumably to get some breakfast.

"Gimme two pounds of bacon!!"

Those of you already eating and such see the angry red visage of Tammy,
complete with dripping, still-wet hair practically vibrating with anger.
A few seconds later, she whips her silverware at Ken, who's sitting
across from her at the big round table.

"What're you looking at, blondie!?"

This leaves poor Ken stammering, and making quite the effort to not look
up from the table.  If you didn't know better, you'd think Tammy had
switched minds with Jinx, over there, being all angry and such.  She
almost turns purple, then, when Stone Cold comes walking in thereafter.

She looks up and simply says, "..."

(theoretical response space)

Subject: Re: [v13] Schemes and Dreams
Date:    Sun, 18 Jul 1999 03:55:45 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

Douglas Lohse wrote:

> Being ravenous, he eats his pancakes regardless and waits for everyone
> else to get there...especially their mysterious benefactor.

The waitress looks at you and grins.  "Of course, sir.  We wouldn't have
anything else.  I'll have a nice, big vat of it ready for you when your
order's ready!"  She give you another big, teethy grin and walks off,
leaving you two to your own devices for the time being.

Anyway, Ahom himself makes another appearance in the quaint little
diner; he was already here, but had apparently stepped out for a moment
or two.  "Ah... most of you seem to be here... We seem to be waiting for
only one or two of you."

"Before we get going, is there any other questions I can answer for you
all??"  Before anyone can get a word in edgewise, that telekinetic girl,
Tammy, tosses her silverware at Ken, apparently angry that he's
apparently looking at her, or in her vicinity.

Looks like something's really got her torqued off...

Subject: Re: [v13] Schemes and Dreams
Date:    Sun, 18 Jul 1999 04:02:14 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

> Masque pounds on the wall until the crickts stop chirping and trys to
> open the window to yell at those noisy birds. Failing in that attempt,
> he just yells through the window.

> "This is New York for Hoggoth's sake, where the hell did the birds
> come from?!"  And promptly goes back to sleep.

Oddly enough, the crickets and birds are obliging enough to be quiet.

> (snippage)

> As if awakened by 'magic', Masque glances at the desk and smiles.

> Wiping his mouth, he stumbles on over to the pancake house.

> " I never said I was a morning person."

> He looks around:

> "Garcon?....So What's the plan Ahom?"

Ahom looks at you and, after keeping an eye out for any other flying
silverware, answers your question.  "Well basically, Masque, we need to
locate and contain Morbis, no matter the cost...  I believe that he is
headquartered somewhere under New York City, but I know not where."

"If we could find some clue as to where his location were, we could
greatly narrow down the amount of time it would take for us to defeat
this evil technomancer.   I'll check on that, though, when all of us
that will be participating in this little adventure are here..."

Subject: Re: [v13] Schemes and Dreams
Date:    Mon, 19 Jul 1999 05:29:56 PDT
From:    "Charlie Clay Jr." <cclayjr@hotmail.com>

After stopping for a bouquet of flowers Jeremy walks over to Tammy "Tammy, I
am truly sorry, if I really had not been so upset about seeing dudes face
talking to me through the TV.  I would not have done that.  Besides, if I
really just wanted to look at you naked I would have done so long before
now.  I apologize, I am very sorry."  Trying to do his best to make it up to
Tammy.


Subject: RE: [v13] Schemes and Dreams
Date:    Mon, 19 Jul 1999 14:20:58 -0400
From:    Douglas Lohse <LohseD@mscdirect.com>

> "If we could find some clue as to where his location were, we could
> greatly narrow down the amount of time it would take for us to defeat
> this evil technomancer.   I'll check on that, though, when all of us
> that will be participating in this little adventure are here..."

> Rebound speaks up at this point.

"Well, Ahom, I don't know too much about this guy, but I have seen some
things that may point to his location, or at least somewhat to his
operations.  Firstly,  I ran into a pair of cyborgs down in Texas.  They
were dead, but that's where they were.  From the people who apparently
killed them, I found out about something called the "Technologist's Guild"
or something like that.  From there, I met some mad scientist in
Pennsylvania.  He was absolutely loaded with gear.  The last place I saw
something strange and definitely out of place, was in the New York sewer
system.  I wound up following some bizarre alien creature before I ran into
this whole group.  Any one of those three locations could be the key to
finding Mr. M.  Anyone else got something to share?  Don't be shy, it could
be all of our asses on the line if we don't all work together on this one."

With that, Rebound sits back and waits for someone to comment or add
something to the information he has provided.  Mmmmm....good syrup...

Subject: [v13] Reaper 'a shoppin...
Date:    Tue, 20 Jul 1999 19:35:42 -0400 (EDT)
From:    Michael Joiner <ml_joiner@yahoo.com>

> "How, uh, do you do that? - The finding out part I mean..." he asks, tilting 
> his head in curiosity.

OOC: I don't think we finished this -

Reaper pauses in thought, "I think it might be a while before my mind is anything like 'normal' anyway."  He takes a breath, deciding - "I'll try this - anything to get my awareness working right...its like...the hardest thing to
have to live with when I have it...but the biggest thing missing when I don't."

His eyebrows rise, "I just don't think I can handle a world where I can't see the real world behind it... not anymore anyway..."

He continues with the ionic-manipulation on the sunglasses...

> He takes a few deep
> breaths to calm his nerves, then slowly begins to
> manipulate the ions in the sunglasses.  His goal is to
> render them fundamentally unstable - allowing them to act
> as variable shielding from particularly high-powers, but
> allowing for his awareness to register anything else as if normal.

> As soon as he accomplishes this, he puts the shades on,
> and tries to relax his mind to let his Awareness
> re-activate again.

> As he looks around the store, he finds a strange mesh-like
> item.  The label calls it a "Snipers Cowl".  They seem to
> come in a variety of camoflauge patterns, as well as
> black. He picks up one of the black ones, holding it to
> his face. He sees that he has almost perfect vision
> through this thing, but one glance at a mirror, and he
> sees that his features are neatly hidden.  He grabs two of these and stuffs 
> them into his pocket.

"Come on," he says, smiling, "lets get outta here!"

He takes her hands, placing her "in phase" again, and leading her out of the back of the store.  Once out, her
returns her ions to normal, and jogs with her back to the
hotel...

OOC:

I'm not sure if I included any rolls on this post -

57, 50, 52, 42

and for the little ionic-manipulation bit - like I said - I
don't know much about trying to do something like this so
I'll just do, like, 4 rolls...Reaper has something like 200
karma or more right?  Then 50 per roll...

50+ 84, 50+ 02, 50+ 18, 50+ 88

And if for some reason (say a 02 that 50 points karma can't
even save!) something happens to make the sunglasses
ruined/destroyed/whatever - he'll just try again...

Sorry for the long post - Thanks!

Subject: Re: [v13] Schemes and Dreams
Date:    Thu, 22 Jul 1999 15:06:36 EDT
From:    "Peter Chamers" <lil_blk_duck@hotmail.com>

>"If we could find some clue as to where his location were, we could
>greatly narrow down the amount of time it would take for us to defeat this
>evil technomancer.   I'll check on that, though, when all of us that will
>be participating in this little adventure are here..."

Ronin chimes, pausing over his bowl of rice.

"Would not a foe as powerful of Morbis be surrounded by a potent aura? Might
we not track him by his chi?  That notwithstanding, if he is a master of
technology, might he not reasonably be close to a ready source of hi-tech?"

Looking directly at Ahom, the young warrior asks:

"Ahom-san, have you devised a plan whereby this evil one might be defeated?
I know you spoke highly of his vulnerability to martial skills but I doubt
things would be as simple as that.  How shall we approach this challenge?"

Subject: Re: [v13] Schemes and Dreams
Date:    Sun, 25 Jul 1999 16:10:11 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

> After stopping for a bouquet of flowers Jeremy walks over to Tammy
> "Tammy, I am truly sorry, if I really had not been so upset about
> seeing dudes face talking to me through the TV.  I would not have done
> that.  Besides, if I really just wanted to look at you naked I would
> have done so long before now.  I apologize, I am very sorry."  Trying
> to do his best to make it up to Tammy.

"Hmph."

She doesn't say anything else for a bit, but at least Tammy's no longer
flinging silverware around the restaurant, eh?  After you make your
comments, however, Och, that short hairy fellow, looks at you with a
look of confusion on his face.

"Somebody was talking to you through your... television?  I may be a bit
out of sync with this world's technology, but I didn't think that was
quite... possible.  Who might this mystery man be, Stone Cold?"

Subject: Re: [v13] Schemes and Dreams
Date:    Sun, 25 Jul 1999 16:12:56 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

> With that, Rebound sits back and waits for someone to comment or add
> something to the information he has provided.  Mmmmm....good syrup...

"Aliens, huh?  Bah!"

That was Tammy, of course, who seems rather annoyed in general (the man
bearing flowers there gives a clue as to whom she is irked at, however).
Once the mental dust settles from her little outburst, however, Ahom
speaks up.

"A bizarre alien creature, you say, Rebound?  Just what did this
'creature' look like?"

Subject: Re: [v13] Schemes and Dreams
Date:    Sun, 25 Jul 1999 16:18:23 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

> "Ahom-san, have you devised a plan whereby this evil one might be
> defeated?  I know you spoke highly of his vulnerablity to martial
> skills but I doubt things would be as simple as that.  How shall we
> approach this challenge?"

"Hm... that's an interesting thought.  If you have such an ability, by
all means bring it to bear.  However, the dread mage has masked himself
from my abilities specifically, which is why I have been thus far unable
to locate him."

"However, as far as a specific plan is concerned, I was hoping that we
could locate the man and, once that was accomplished, simply overwhelm
him with sheer numbers.  That sounds unsophisticated, yes, but when your
opponent has all manner of abilities to counter your own..."

"... sometimes, simple is the best way."

Subject: RE: [v13] Schemes and Dreams
Date:    Mon, 26 Jul 1999 08:54:02 -0400
From:    Douglas Lohse <LohseD@mscdirect.com>

> "A bizarre alien creature, you say, Rebound?  Just what did this
> 'creature' look like?"

"Bizarre.  Yep, you could say that.  It was completely pink and..."

(Rebound describes it as best as he can remember, asking for Ken to fill in
any details he may have missed--especially since MY memory isn't that good).

"So, Ahom, what do you think?  Sound anything like one of this Morbius'
guys?  Or maybe that was him, and I missed the supreme opportunity to smack
him silly before his 'nefarious scheme' could come to fruition."

Subject: Re: [v13] Schemes and Dreams
Date:    Mon, 26 Jul 1999 06:11:59 PDT
From:    "Charlie Clay Jr." <cclayjr@hotmail.com>

"Ahom, I think you know.  He mouthed something about wanting the 'Key' and
as I said before at this time I am very reluctant to give it up."  Eyeing
Tammy from time to time, searching for a opening to talk to here freely.
Jeremy orders a large breakfast, enough for about 3 people and gobbles it
down hurriedly but not to the point of disgust.  "So what are we waiting for
now?"

Subject: Re: [v13] Schemes and Dreams
Date:    Thu, 29 Jul 1999 17:22:15 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

> "So, Ahom, what do you think?  Sound anything like one of this
> Morbius' guys?  Or maybe that was him, and I missed the supreme
> opportunity to smack him silly before his 'nefarious scheme' could
> come to fruition."

Ahom takes a sip from his orange juice (yes, even he must eat breakfast
now and then) and then looks right at you.  "Well, Rebound, I don't
believe that was him.  However, I do believe that fellow was the Varakni
minion I spoke of, the one altering global weather patterns on us."

"He's also one of the people we need to deal with this day, if only to
stop the world from being blanketed in eternal winter.  Icebergs are bad
for society, let me tell you.  I should know, I inflicted them upon the
Varakni and the Granx't long, long ago..."

(for reference, Rebound basically described the 'alien' as looking
perfectly humanoid, but with unnaturally 'pink' skin.  You know,
crayon-pink.  He's human-shaped, of course, because the Varakni are, in
fact, an off-shoot race of humanity, as Ahom explained...)

Subject: Re: [v13] Schemes and Dreams
Date:    Thu, 29 Jul 1999 17:25:45 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

> "Ahom, I think you know.  He mouthed something about wanting the 'Key'
> and as I said before at this time I am very reluctant to give it up."
> Eyeing Tammy from time to time, searching for a opening to talk to
> here freely.  Jeremy orders a large breakfast, enough for about 3
> people and gobbles it down hurriedly but not to the point of disgust.
>  "So what are we waiting for now?"

"Well... I'm still waiting for the rest of you fine fellows to meet up
with us this morning, before we begin our quest.  I haven't seen
Silhouette, Reaper, or Hardcore stop in for breakfast yet.  We truly
need the full lot of you all before taking on Morbis."

"And I'd rather us be at full strength before attempting to do so..."

(speaking of which, where are the three of you?  Are the two of you -
Silhouette and Reaper - still in conversation off-list?  If not, are you
two ready to hop back on board with the lot of us?)

Subject: RE: [v13] Schemes and Dreams
Date:    Fri, 30 Jul 1999 11:31:41 -0400
From:    Douglas Lohse <LohseD@mscdirect.com>

> (for reference, Rebound basically described the 'alien' as looking
> perfectly humanoid, but with unnaturally 'pink' skin.  You know,
> crayon-pink.  He's human-shaped, of course, because the Varakni are, in
> fact, an off-shoot race of humanity, as Ahom explained...)

"Well, I'm not that much of a patient man.  If everyone else doesn't get
here soon, I'm going to have to go give them all a wake-up call or
something.  I just hate waiting.  It's bad enough that I'm with such an
obviously abnormal group, but to sit here and do nothing...that's driving me
insane.  Hey, that brings something else to mind, Ahom, Why doesn't anyone
seem to notice just how outrageous we all look?  You have some kind of
camouflage or holographic device that makes them ignore us?"

Rebound plays with his silverware restlessly, obviously uncomfortable with
the current situation.

Subject: Re: [v13] Schemes and Dreams
Date:    Sat, 31 Jul 1999 18:43:05 -0500
From:    William Lockwood <albedo1@home.com>

Jinx finally finishes her meal and just watches and listens to the discussion of the plans.

She finally opens her mouth to say, "Well, I wish I could help out with finding this bastard, but the only thing I'm good at is shooting stuff.  Once we do find him, I'll throw in with the best of them, but until then I'm just going to sit here and be quiet.  Wake me up when it's time to go."

As she finishes this, she settles back in the booth, putting her sunglasses on, and apparently starts snoozing.

Subject: Re: [v13] Schemes and Dreams
Date:    Mon, 2 Aug 1999 13:30:02 -0700
From:    "Lady Arakne" <araknesweb@crosswinds.net>

Sil and Reaper showed up later in the morning, both armed and
armored from a recent trip to the various stores they'd dropped in
on the night before...

The sat apart from the others, consuming their breakfast of Belgian
waffles, fruit and bacon in silence though an occasional chuckle
broke the isolation that seemed to surround the pair...

They seemed quite at ease with one another as though they
shared some secret that the rest of the group would never be privy
to...

Lady A.

posting for Sil and Reaper (joiner's char)

Subject: Re: [v13] Schemes and Dreams
Date:    Thu, 05 Aug 1999 20:07:00 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

> They seemed quite at ease with one another as though they
> shared some secret that the rest of the group would never be privy
> to...

As you walk in, Ahom looks at the two of you and smiles.  "Aha!  And
that just leaves one... in fact, I had better go check on him now.
Sorry I cannot tarry and talk, but we really must get this show on the
road..."

Once you've received your waffles (mmm... waffles...), Och leaves the
big round table the others are situated and greets the two of you.
"Ah... good morning to the two of you.  You look as if you have rested
well.  In fact... are you glowing?"

(theoretical response space)
