DrakeMarshall

And then a Dysian Aimian absorbed the remnants of Dominion, and was rapidly mutated. Soon, First of the Sun was devoured down to the rock by an agressively expanding swarm of mutant hordelings. The hivemind wanted Dominion over all life, and adapted it's hordelings to form massive organic space ships. The hive fleet is now converging on the Nalthian beacon. Also, Lunu’anaki still survives, and is still fighting his old nemesis Odium. He is also the last surviving Horneater deity, and so some of the Horneaters have rallied around him, renouncing the ways of their people and swearing to fight Odium. They dress as King's Wits and Imperial Fools to show their allegiance to Cephandrus, the laughing god.

The knife crumpled on contact with the epic's skin, forming an exchange of sorts, each party revealing capabilities to the other. As hilariously anticlimactic as it might have been, Quietus would have been insulted if she had simply died. It would be like going out to hunt tiger, and finding a rat. He sought a more exotic prey. The kind that could endure for a deliciously long time, under the scalpel. Like Firebrand, this epic that was making a significant effort to communicate, but of course, whatever she was saying died in the air as it got too close to him. She was also gathering herself for either a fight or a flight. Quietus grinned, casting off his power without a concern and meeting her eyes. "Looking for somebody to talk to, belle?" he greeted her cheerily. "Perhaps get a feel for the local epics?" "If we're going to have a quality heart-to-heart, I insist that you come a little closer."

Taya is impersonating an agent of the Circle of the Shield in the heart of Alberta government territory, and effectively saying "take me to your leader" in less trite phrasing.

It's kind of funny, Impact and Quietus have almost perfectly opposite powers. Yeah I couldn't find Riley in the character sheet but I remember them being discussed in this thread a little while ago. Basically, Riley can absorb and release heat, very much similar to what Obliteration can do, except that at maximum capacity he could only level a building, as opposed to an entire city. Not necessarily, but you are talking about the subset of the groups "non-epic", "hellbent on getting a healing motivator", and "capable of getting a healing motivator." Any two of those things is not unheard of, but the set of people that belong to all three of those groups at a given time is very small, probably less than five people in a city the size of Edmonton and the surrounding area.

Oh yes, I hope it turns out interesting. Taya is nothing if not reckless. But, she does actually have a plan. True that. This must be the first time “don’t move your under arrest” has actually worked. What would you change? Anyway, I seriously need to sleep. Good night.

"Vitriol, I need you to spit on this person." "I think I'm gonna be sick," Vitriol replied, looking queasy. "Even better! Bucket's over there," Quietus pointed. "Try not to melt it." His mobile ringed. It was Epoch. Quietus scowled. "Hello?" "I need you over at Mill Wood checkpoint, asap." Annoying. "There are two epics," Epoch added. Better. Quietus walked out of the room, leaving his subject still restrained and Vitriol still retching in the corner. Once he got outside, he turned on his power and broke into a full run, moving parallel to a main road. One of the few remaining cars that was still operational drove by him, shuddering violently as it got within Quietus' range, losing significant momentum. The car was considerably heavier than he was, and he could feel the wealth of stolen energy coursing through him, allowing him keep pace with the speeding vehichle. His footfalls struck the ground hard enough to hurt, but not hard enough to do real damage. He was running fast enough that his immediate surroundings were indistinct, but his power slowed the wind to a gentle breeze on his face. He glanced over at the driver whose progress he was riding on, grinning lazily and making a thumbs-ub sign. Predictably, the woman in the driver's seat looked like she was going to have a heart attack. And perhaps she would, if this continued much longer, as her pulse slowly wound down to a halt, extinguished just like any other movement around him. Quietus wondered who would be powerful or stupid enough to attack the border. Not exactly the most vulnerable part of ERA. Still, both a rebellion and an epic attack? It was a good day. He ran on in perfect silence for a few minutes, before noticing that the car was gradually beginning to veer off the side of the road. The driver was slumped at the wheel, passed out from exposure to his power. Well, this is my stop anyway. He shrugged, turning away from the car just before it slammed into a building, watching in fascination as both vehichle and structure were decimated in the impact. A piece of flying debris that should have impaled Quietus tapped him gently on the chest before slowly falling down to earth. Epoch probably wasn't tracking his commute, and didn't have to know about that. Quietus walked the rest of the way to the checkpoint, taking in the scene. One of the epics was already subdued, restrained on the ground and grinning wildly, her eyes stained a deep red. The other epic was hovering imperiously over the scene, completely untouched. Disgusting. His enforcers were idiots. They had somehow managed to be simultaneously completely useless and irritatingly effective. They outnumbered the flyer ten-to-one but were too gutless to face her, yet they had already taken the one that looked like a good fight out of action. He wished he could kill them for their incompetence. "Morons. What are you all waiting for?" He activated his power, and the enforcers scattered, struggling to distance themselves from Quietus. He used their ridiculous efforts to fuel his next movements, hurling his knife at the flying epic with superhuman speed. The challenge should be obvious enough.

Finally, they had found her. Epoch watched a pair of enforcers walked up to the now cloakless interloper, who was slumped in front of a bookshop. The description fit. A lot of epics looked impressive in person, but this one took that to a whole new level. She had been leading them in circles, quite literally. She would have easily lost them with her twisting escape route, if Epoch hadn't been tracking her from afar and giving them updates. She was slippery, probably some kind of mastermind epic. Epoch couldn't hear it, but he thought he could what one of them was saying. "Don't move. You're under arrest."

Ah, how adorable Time for any sane person to be alarmed. That's actually a very good drawing though.

South Edmonton Common A new message scrawled itself across the windowpane. Dear Typhon, By the way, an Epic calling himself "Armageddon" has said that he intends to destroy all of humanity. And if he is taken out, his followers have orders to destroy the city as much as they can. I thought you'd like to know. -Blank Jayce pictured her reply, and caused the words to materialize just below the first one, transcribed in a curving script. Thanks for letting me know. I've already heard about Armageddon while I was doing some stuff in the MEC. Who did not react well to him, by the way. I don't suppose you can see about how many people he has following him? Also, while we're doing the current events thing, you might be interested to know that there was apparently an attack on the Belt last night, by unknown epics. Anyways, hope you are well, -Typhon Satisfied, she left the illusory message fixed onto the window. She knew it had been received. "Another epic in the city," Beckett observed from behind her. "Yep. It's been a while since there were this many new epics in town to look into." "And a while since so many people sheltered in South Common, too. How's your rookie holding up, by the way?" "She was determined to learn the illusions... I don't think she slept at all last night." Jayce allowed some concern to enter her voice. She was staring out of a window, looking across South Common. Today, the headquarters was styled as a set of colorful towers taken out of a work of pre-Calamity fiction: the Chromeria. It was somehow fitting. She glanced back at Beckett. With the sight, she could see the signs that marked him as an epic. A third eye fixed to his forehead, following the movements of the other two. A network of shimmering, multicolored threads tangled around him, reaching out in all directions, connecting to everybody he had gifted. One of them connected to Jayce. One of the ones that stretched off in the distance would be connected to Taya, now. "She's made a lot of good progress, but I don't know how she'll handle things in this state," Jayce explained. "I suppose it isn't any more disabling than being poisoned, though." "...did you know who she was?" "What?" "When you picked her up, did you know she was the same girl from the incident at Fort Sasketchewan?" "I suspected," Jayce admitted. "Their descriptions were a close match. It was part of what caught my attention." "Ah." Beckett shook his head. "I should have known better than to think you had only one reason for doing something," he said dryly. Jayce grinned. Now - Sherwood Park The bad news is, we don't know of any epic in this city or in a neighboring city that could possibly cure your condition. The good news is, a possible new lead just surfaced. If you intend to follow it, you don't have much time. Taya entered the Alberta Government offices, taking in the pleasant coolness of an air conditioned facility. She didn't trust herself to alter her appearance with an illusion, yet. Instead, she relied on more mundane tricks to obfuscate her identity. Her jet-black hair was pulled back in a ponytail and dyed a half shade lighter. She dressed more formally than she normally would. A small birthmark on her neck was covered over. It wouldn't hold up under scrutiny, but nobody in Olympia Polaris would know her well enough to make the connection. Her eyes ached from staying open too long. She felt oddly numb. After forcing herself to stay awake for long enough, she had pushed through the exhaustion. She would probably crash hard, later. For now, she was able to function. "Hello," Taya greeted the assistant, whose placard named her Louise. "I would like to speak with Premier Notley..." She held out her palm, and a glowing insignia flashed across it, "As an agent on behalf of the Circle of the Shield." Rather irresponsible of them, to flash that badge at every checkpoint guard they came across. It was the only reason South Common even knew who they were. She had spent the better part of the last hour practicing the illusion. "I see. I'll let her know that you are here, Agent...?" An idea occured to her. She smiled slightly at the irony. "Rook. Agent Rook."

I have an idea for something that will involve Liam and Kokichi. It involves Taya, and exactly why she is doing what she is doing will make more sense eventually. But first, it might also involve the Honourable Rachel Notley, Premier of Edmonton (@Comatose). So basically, this would happen specifically to an unpowered person, who also badly wants a healing motivator, and is one of the few unpowered people with the means to get one? The universe must really, really hate Taya...

Alder Moran aimed a taser at the red epic across the street. A group of four enforcers backed him. Another team of five was advancing on the flyer. "I repeat: please relinquish your weapons and come with me." He pulled the trigger. . . . Epoch stopped watching the scene, and started scanning his territory for the cloaked epic. He assumed she was on foot. The enforcers were about to reach the red epic and the flyer epic, and Quietus was on his way. More importantly, this situation might just be a distraction to let her slip into his territory unnoticed. If it was only a distraction, it raised troubling questions about what she was really after. He finished a circle around the checkpoint, and started a wider circle. Either she was very good at hiding or she was moving faster than expected. Possibly still running? If she was trying to escape into another territory, there wasn't that much he could do to stop her, unless he got lucky and spotted her with his remote vision, or she tried to use one of his fast lanes as a way out. ERA didn't care nearly as much about who left the territory as who traveled into it.

Welcome to Edmonton Olympia Polaris!

You know, I think I'm just gradually getting more and more concerned by the future, and I haven't even posted Quietus' arrival on the scene. So far, he has made a point of sounding excited and upbeat while he does his thing, so he would probably enjoy something like that.

Worse option #2: Nighthound is Kelsier. He died but used hemalurgy to come back.

Red could easily be a special case, but generally, he doesn't torture people he sees as allies. Partially because Epoch keeps him from getting too out of control. Partially because torturing the people that help you torture other people results in overall less torturing. If he decided she was a victim, then he would get pretty mad when he realized Red was enjoying herself. But after that, he might well see it as a challenge, and start looking for a way to seriously hurt Red. Who knows, he might even succeed, after enough tries. After all, everything I've described Quietus doing so far has had a significant psychological dimension to it. And I would guess that with somebody for whom self-harm is a major part of their identity, they are almost by definition more resistant to physical pain but proportionally more vulnerable to emotional pain. Yeah, that's kind of what I had in mind too. Epoch would call on them if the situation was severe enough then, I think. The speed corridors simplifies things if you want Ironwood to participate.

Yeah, I realized Red and Quietus would probably be running into each other eventually. Which is disturbing. Thing is, being part of a relatively organized faction results in a stronger "friend or foe" mentality (or, in Quietus' case, more like "accomplice or victim"). For Red, I'm honestly not sure which he will see her as, and both would be... Disquieting (pun totally intended). If I remember right, he's in the vicinity of mid-twenties. Wow. I don't think awkward even begins to describe such an exquisitely terrible situation. In general, enslavement is not Quietus' trademark. Nighthound already did such a good job of it, and I don't just want to clone Nighthound (nor had I properly read up on Nighthound's epic slontzedom when I started writing). But, Quietus might enslave Jacklyn under the right(?) circumstances. He prefers not to repeat the same methods of breaking somebody twice. So at some point, he would definitely experiment with slavery. At least once, possibly more, if he could think of a sufficiently novel approach to enslavement to justify giving it another try. Monophobia. It triggers if he is alone, or if everybody around him is overtly hostile. It is also part of why he feels the need to have so many mooks. That depends. Do you want Ironwood to get involved? It would not be too difficult to justify either situation, so I think you should do what you prefer. Logistically speaking, Epoch asking for Ironwood's presence depends on the exact relationship between Epoch and Phytomagnet (ie, is Phytomagnet sort of like a satrap/governor, or a normal extension of the ERA chain of command, or pretty much just an ally, or something else entirely?). It also depends on how vulnerable that part of the territory would become with Ironwood gone. Also, I just thought of a random power that for some reason I find rather amusing. Basically, an uncontrolled ability to generate coincidences. In the epic's vicinity a lot of weird things would happen, which could be pretty entertaining. But it would also extend throughout the city, which makes for an interesting plot device, since it justifies the use of coincidence to advance the plot in interesting ways (for example, multiple unrelated epics all just happening to cross paths at the same time). In the right setting, this could also be a catalyst for why things are suddenly getting so interesting at the beginning of an RP thread.

Just finished Epoch's reaction. Unfortunately, Jacklyn's powers may rather be working against her at the moment, although she has a head start on fleeing to another territory. Also, I updated my post in the characters thread in a few ways. In light of recent events, it is very possible that they will cross paths. Which is slightly concerning.

Greetings to Karabiner, I hope this message finds you well. A great deal has changed recently, but ultimately, I do not believe we have a conflict in interests. In any case, I understand that time is a precious resource to some (I have even heard people say that time is money), so I will get to the point. I would like to open negotiations to make a purchase. I am specifically looking for a directed energy weapon that fulfills certain requirements, requirements that I suspect nobody in Edmonton could meet as well as you could. I would, however, be willing to consider any other acquisitions you wish to offer. I wait upon your response. Best regards, Epoch Finley slipped the note into an envelope and sealed it. A tad old-fashioned, but it was less intrusive and more formal than trying to call Karabiner's mobile. Most epics failed to grasp the sheer utility of treating others with respect. For that reason, Finley was almost grateful of his weakness, and how it forced him to think differently. Of course, it was still galling to have it leaked to the entire city. It kept him from taking certain risks, from fully taking advantage of Edmonton's power vacuum. "I want this delivered to the Fence. Preferably, to Karabiner in person." "I'll bring it." His assistant accepted the envelope. "Good," Finley nodded his assent. "Also, somebody get me some more tea," he continued absentmindedly, gesturing vaguely at the empty cup beside him. He wondered how Karabiner would react to his proposal. He wondered what the Alberta Government was getting up to. He wondered for at least the tenth time who was behind Doubletake's death. "Epoch?" It was Ashla. "Yes?" "There's been an incident. At the checkpoint you asked to have investigated." "Checkpoint... Right, I remember. With the stranger in the big cloak." Already, his awareness slipped away from the immediate surroundings and went out to that general part of his territory, zoning in on the checkpoint. He could see multiple perspectives worth of information in any given area, enough to be overwhelming at first. "Yes, the cloaked one," Ashla confirmed. "But she abandoned the cloak. As for what happened after that... The reports are conflicting. But, there's definitely an unknown epic wearing red at the checkpoint." "An epic wearing red... Aha! Found her." Dressed in dark red and a ponytail, she was facing down one of his enforcers, holding a knife made of... Was that blood? Interesting. She said something, but he couldn't identify what. The visions were not accompanied by sounds, although Finley was working on improving his lip-reading. In any case, whatever it was she said, it made his enforcer bolt. Finley suppressed a surge of irritation. He wanted to see what this epic was capable of. "...and now we have another epic is arriving on the scene," he observed, spotting a second epic as she soared from the sky, touching down one block over and hovering above the ground. Watching. He wondered if she watched in the same way that people before Calamity would slow down to catch a better look at a car accident, or if she watched in the way that a bird of prey might regard a potential meal. Or, perhaps more like a scavenger bird. She was yet another unknown factor. This could get messy. "So, conflicting reports," he said tersely. "Explain." "In the last report from the enforcer tasked with finding the cloaked stranger, he was certain that it was the red epic. But a team at the border claims that they saw somebody else under the cloak, a woman who ran away. In which case, the cloaked woman could be unrelated." "No. No, I don't think the cloaked woman is unrelated. The sudden appearance of two unidentified and apparently unrelated epics in the very checkpoint I wanted investigated is no coincidence. She played a role in this, I can feel it." Finley examined the new arrival, a thought occurring to him. "This woman, she didn't look anything like the flyer who just arrived, by any chance? Long blond hair, blue eyes? Ask the checkpoint team." "...negative. The cloaked one and the flyer are not the same person. They are claiming that the cloaked one would be very easy to recognize." "Interesting. In this case, I think I can piece together what happened here then. The cloaked one is undoubtedly a third person. Since everything happened after she revealed herself, we have to assume she caused all of this. Tentatively, I am going to label her as some kind of epic, probably indirect in some way, but exceedingly powerful and dangerous. The enforcers say they could recognize her easily? Good. If she is still in ERA territory, I want her found." "Noted. And the situation at the checkpoint?" Trespassers, testing his borders. Edmontonian epics would be testing him because his weakness was leaked. Newcomer epics would be testing him because they didn't know any better. So, this obviously wasn't just a simple matter of dealing with trespassers. People would be watching, and he had to send a very clear message to the rest of the city. If some people would only ever submit to a show of force, then so be it. "Shut it down. Start by sending in the enforcers immediately. Quietus will be arriving not very long after." "Very well." "If it is convenient, try to capture the epics. If it proves less than convenient, feel free to just kill them. Or, if all else fails, at least give them some interesting new scars to live with as they make their way out of my territory." With that said, Epoch waited, still watching the distant scene unfold.

The intruder looked entirely unconcerned at the sight of a firearm, in the way that only the powered or delusional could manage. Actually, she was beginning to look slightly amused. A sense of dread crept over Alder. You didn't survive this long in his line of work, unless you maintained a healthy fear of all things epic. He remembered the profoundly cursory training sequence ERA provided on the subject. ERA Enforcer's Handbook, V.iii - Unauthorized Epics. When dealing with any epic, it is important to identify what kind of threat is present. A knife clattered to the ground at her feet. Then, a second knife appeared, flowing from her hands, glistening and blood-red. She carefully ran the edge down her own palm, and droplets of blood spilled across the street. The implication was obvious. Drop my weapons? I am a weapon. For an epic that lacks immunity to conventional weaponry, engage with caution. Detain if possible. See Appendix C for the necessary protocols with common ability types. Alder doubted he could pose a serious threat to this epic. She lacked the unshakable confidence of a truly invulnerable epic, but she still regarded him like he was a particularly interesting specimen of bug that had crawled across her path. Also, the cut in her hand didn't concern her. For an epic that possesses immunity to conventional weaponry, comply with all demands, then flee at the soonest opportunity. Prioritize contact with ERA superiors. "Can you make me?" the epic asked, seeming to place genuine curiosity behind the question. Alder could never get over how casual most epics sounded. Even while they carried out unspeakable acts. Especially then. Alder couldn't help but remember the time he had been assigned on a team with Quietus to stamp out a local gang... And what happened after. He remembered Quietus sounding downright cheerful as he removed the gang leader's eyelids so he couldn't close them, then forced the man to watch as Quietus brought in his family members one by one and found unique ways to torture them each to death, then carved out his eyes entirely at the end so it was the last thing he ever saw. The gang leader was allowed to go free, after all that. He lasted two days before throwing himself off Capilano Bridge. Alder shuddered. If he could have afforded to, he would have resigned then and there. For an epic of unknown standing, assume that they pose a serious threat. Alder had never heard of a blood epic in Edmonton. She could be new to the city, or new to being an epic. Who knew what she was capable of? Most importantly, never engage an epic of any caliber in groups of less than three. That decided it. He ran like hell.

Well put, Winter. I really enjoy how people go out of their way to explore unusual character ideas in this, beyond the standard superhero package with a Calamitous twist. Going somewhere interesting with the foundation of the superhero genre, and the Reckoners canon. That is also one of the reasons I enjoyed Worm. I have high hopes for this RP. And I'm hoping I'll learn to be a better writer from it too.

Yes, I noticed Skinsaver's abilities. He is possibly the only epic in Edmonton that could cure Taya (although, you are free to have Skinsaver refuse to help her, if you want to; I can write about either scenario). Taya might take issue with Skinsaver killing off a host to cure her (if she knew about it, anyway), but somehow I don't think she would mind at all if Skinsaver held on to the poison with the intention of weaponizing it. In any case, she's definitely going to have reasons to interact with the Corvallis refugee group a fair bit.

Apologies, I realize Red was waiting on a reply. Here you are.

"Hello," the red-clad intruder greeted him. Talking. That was a good sign. Still, she had caused enough of a disturbance to send another lady running away as fast as she could. Alder unholstered his pistol and flicked off the safety, but did not point it at her. "Hello," he replied warily. "Please relinquish your weapons and come with me."

I just noticed that Bort's reputation title is "Kandra" How very fitting

Ah. For the record I rather liked Kokochi’s censored flashback.