Comatose

I smell one as well, but then again life is a double standard in some ways . Brandon would have been in a sketchier, not-lasting, epic situation when he served Radiance in Vancouver. Then again, Braylor/Taydon is pretty sketchy as well. To be fair, he purposesly puts himself into those situations, so its hard to feel too sorry for him. As for the explosion, I'm open to suggestions, lol.

Fair enough. I'll think about it more. Is there a reason we need an exact population? I'm a big fan of vague stuff. I'm fine you you taking him (or her). And martyrdom sounds great!!

I was thinking it was the same. The population would have gone down post Calamity, but for the last approximately two years, it's been seeming like a pretty attractive place to live. I'd assume that people would be moving there from the surrounding areas, so I figured the population would be back to normal.

Yes, she will after the demonstration. I'm interested to see how Iconoclast reacts to being summoned with all the other epics and Vanillas. As a side note, since learning that 'Vanilla' is a non-canon term, my head-canon is that it is colloquialism unique to Oregon.

That's the high epic coming out in her, haha. I was thinking Rainmaker could do some lightening flashes in the distance to create thunder, and one of those could cause the explosion? Why would a lot of people die? Does Converter go on a killing spree every time she resurrects? We could have her appear at the gathering, but we should probably talk out some of the details. Maybe I should stop haha. It makes sense in character for her to be thinking about it, but I don't want to build it up to more than it is ... Personally, I don't think epics can have children, and if they did, I don't think they could pass down powers anyways. While we know a part of an epic can be used to make tech, unlike mutants in other settings, their powers seem pretty tied to the changes calamity made in them, rather than to their genetics.

Now I'm listening the the original haha. Love this line: "You can't have a nightmare if you never dream." Definitely suits Corvallis.

o As she looked out into the night, Rainmaker continued to glimmer dangerously, her rage sustained Blossom's suggestion. Of course she could kill all the farm workers. If she wanted to, she could kill everyone in the city, Blossom included. That would be a waste she reminded herself. As she turned back to face the other Queens, Rainmaker forced clouds to appear in the night sky all across the city. Moments later, it was drizzling lightly outside; not enough to force to rioters back indoors--she still wanted a chance to punish them, after all--but enough to make them cold and miserable. "We are not sure how long Euphoria will be absent. For the moment, let's limit the scope of our demonstration to ten or twenty." It would be a shame. Rainmaker could kill far more people on her own in an instant. It would hardly be a good show of her power. "Per group, that is. There may be more than one gathering, and we will need to keep them all in check. And as further punishment, they can all work in pouring rain tomorrow. Maybe then they'll be ready to prove to us they deserve some sunshine." She would have to be careful though, not to drive people away. If word got out that Euphoria was missing and Corvallis was falling apart, their stream of fresh immigrants would drive up. Rainmaker had amassed an incredible team of epics and a near limitless supply of human slaves. She couldn't give that up now. Thinking of her supply of slaves reminded Rainmaker of Hypno. He would have a price, he always did. She could always threaten his life, but that would be a risk. A man with Hypno's talent was difficult to hold captive. While his power was limited in scope, it was useful in specific situations, and it would be a shame to lose him just because of a misunderstanding. As she continued to give instructions, Rainmaker checked her mobile again. "Ready when you are." His text was still there, unanswered. Rainmaker closed the message and opened a new one to her chief of household staff. Find three servants you wouldn't mind firing, and have them waiting in my office four hours from now, and keep them there until I return. "Buttercup, you'll deploy the police and our other forces in full riot gear. We'll get them to gather all of the rioters in the Crystal Lake sports-field. I'll send my winds along with them, to help with the herding. Cornucopia has many plants there, so it should serve well to show off her powers. Actually," Rainmaker smiled to herself, as a new idea began to form, "Let's see about gathering the whole city, shall we? We will keep the rioters cordoned off from the rest of the populace of course, but I want everyone to see us for the goddesses we are. We'll show them what happens to people who disappoint us, announce that we will be testing their loyalty by withholding Euphoria's power, and then send them off to enjoy the rest of their miserable night, and the miserable work day that will follow."

This made me laugh out loud! Glad you enjoyed Rainmaker's logic.

LOVED all the new posts! The girls were great, and that Hypno post did such a good job of establishing character. Great work! Also, I was waiting for Reader to hone in on Brandon, haha. He's been twiddling his thumbs, but he had to know he couldn't stay unnoticed forever. I'm excited to see where this goes. Also, Kobold, do you still want to do a Glamour/Taylor meet up? I was thinking you could post with Glamour and have him listening to a T-Swift song, and then Taylor could happen by and overhear what he's listening to.

Rainmaker was distracted from Chase's explanation by a vibration from her mobile. "Ready when you are." A message from Hypno. Rainmaker smiled. The minor mind-control epic would actually be of great use to her tonight, but perhaps not in the way he expected. Finally, Blossom, Buttercup, and Bubbles arrived completing the circle. Or at least, completing the circle save for Euphoria. "Yes, yes," Rainmaker said, waving a hand for the girls to take a seat. "Chase has already informed me of the riots. We were just figuring out what to do about them," Rainmaker eyed Chase out of the corner of her eye, warning her not to interject this time. "Euphoria has gone missing, and my agents have been unable to locate her. All of her power has been recalled, which is why the people are beginning to riot. What we need now is a way to remind the population of who we are, perhaps making an example of a few, and to show off the extent of our combined power. Then, we need an excuse to give them about Euphoria's absence. I'm still partial to the test idea, let them think it's their fault she's gone. Once are announcement is over, we send everyone back to their houses, and kill anyone who continues to riot." Rainmaker got up from her seat and walked over the window, watching the last sliver of sunlight vanish below the horizon. "We have spoiled these people terribly, and now we are paying for it. They act out like children, wanting a sweet. It is time to understood that the happiness they enjoyed was at our pleasure, and what we give, we can take away."

BRANDON HENNESSY During all the commotion, Brandon did his best to crouch down in a seat in the corner and try to remain unnoticed. Surely with all of these random epics running around, they would forget about him. Wouldn't they? When Reader's pants went down, Brandon bit his tongue and did not react, not wanting to risk drawing any attention to himself. When the woman who seemed to be in charge was teleported away in a shower of sparkles, Brandon stayed completely still, praying that maybe if he was still enough, everyone would leave and he would be free to go find Taylor. When the two epics who had apparently made it impossible for Reader to get his pants back on stormed out, Brandon also kept quiet, staring at his hands in his lap. Where was Taylor, and why had she abandoned him with these people? Initially, Brandon had thought that maybe, if he liked what he saw, he could make a home in The Dalles. However, as time went on it was becoming increasingly clear that even though regular people might pretend to be in charge, The Dalles was overrun with epics. He couldn't find safety here. Of course, just when it seemed like everyone was going their separate ways, and Brandon might actually have a chance of getting out of the clinic in one piece, Reader, the slontze, came up to him with an ultimatum. Epics sure did love their ultimatums, didn't they. I didn't ask for this. I'm just a regular guy, doing regular things... Regular things liking dating a homicidal former pop star with shape-shifting abilities. I'm just a regular guy... Brandon eyed Reader's hand with distaste before taking it and shaking it gingerly. Just answer honestly. Play by the rules and you'll be fine. Despite all the epics running around, it did seem like they had some form of rules here. Maybe everything would be okay. "I'm sorry, what were your questions again? I must of missed them while you were demonstrating that you already know everything about me." Yeah Brandon, snark the angry epic when you have no one to back you up. Real smart.. "But, if you repeat them, I'd be happy to answer anything you ask." Brandon let a nervous giggle. That's good, show him you're nervous Epics usually like making people nervous right? At the very least, it should give Reader some feelings of power, which would hopefully stop him from doing anything unpleasant. "So, what do you want to know?" Where are you Taylor?

They look great, can't wait for them to join! I think that will be a suitable time. I'll include an explosion in the post . In other news, I'm done my Legal Ethics essay, which means I'm a single exam away from being done with my second year of law school! In other news, I technically started my summer job today, so I should probably be getting ready for that, but I plan to do a Rainmaker post once I clean up my house a bit and give my eyes a break from the computer screen. Blaze, if you want the girls to go first, go right ahead! Once everyone is there, and the discussion gets going, what would you guys say about utilizing a time jump to bypass the rest of the conversation, once we have an idea of what is happening in the next scene, and skip right to the demonstration? The Hypnotist's mission will be happening after the demonstration, so if the chain of events goes like this: (1) Queens Meeting, (2) Demonstration, (3) Converter appears during demonstration, then the mission can happen after, I think. Rainmaker will wait for a while after the Queens go about their business before coming to get him, since she wants to keep it a secret.

I thought the term was unfamiliar! I just thought I'd somehow not noticed it when reading the books. I don't know why, but it seems to fit in well with the rest of the Reckonerverse terminology.

So Taylor Swift's latest album, 1989, came out post calamity... interesting... Thanks for the timeline, this is VERY helpful. In terms of time jumps, I'm not necessarily set on having one, I was just exploring the possibility. We'll just have to see how things go though. The "special mission" shouldn't mess up anything. The timing of it is pretty flexible .

In other news, I think I've completely figured out a way to work Euphoria's back story into the RP! Just need to work out some kinks. With Euphoria's happiness power, how incapacitating do you guys think a full, rending level dose of happiness would be? Like would people just sit there dazed, overwhelmed by all of the positive emotion? In my head, I more just pictured it would make them super agreeable--they'd be fine with anything, as long as they keep feeling the burst of positive emotion, and have less thoughts about consequences, that sort of thing. I know Euphoria sometimes used her happiness power to distract people while she used her revision power, but I'm not sure to what extent. Feedback?

I'll let Rainmaker tell the Hypnotist what it is. If you are curious, there's a hint in one of Rainmaker's posts

Let's just say Rainmaker likes using Vanillas for everything, even if its not the most efficient way of doing things, haha. She definitely will, but likely not right away. She'll do her thing with the Queen's first. Also, she may have another top secret job for the hypnotist...

That might be a good idea anyways, since I'm not entirely sure how the timelines match up anyways (Like, for example, the Corvallis thread is starting in the evening, so I'm not sure when that is compared to the Dalles, Astoria, or Portland). Also, on a slightly related note, how long after Calamity is this RP taking place again? The books took place ten years later, right? When was Oregon destroyed in relation to the books? That's what I was intending. When I said a "convenient time" I definitely meant after the riot was quelled. Though, if Iconoclast gets involved with the riots, war might just start right there...

I saw and adjusted. I think it worked well! On an unrelated note, what do you guys think about time jumps? I was thinking that including a few in Corvallis could help move the plot forward (especially since Iconoclast is going to need to time to save up on ghouls). I'm thinking we could just wait for opportune point between scenes and then jump forward a few days. What do you guys think?

Never one to let someone else speak for her, Rainmaker took the lead, ignoring Chase's response to Euphoria's question and talking over her instead. "Welcome, Cornucopia. We were just discussion what to do about Euphoria's disappearance, and..." Oh, that was right, Cornucopia wouldn't know. Cornucopia preferred to spend more time with her plants than with other epics or humans, usually keeping herself isolated in her base at the Arboretum. "Rainmaker, I don't suppose you would kindly elaborate for us?" Again, Rainmaker resisted the temptation to lash out, though she could feel her skin was still shining. Chase was just being helpful. She was not intending to be an annoyance. "Of course, you wouldn't know, would you? Euphoria seems to have vanished, earlier this morning, and she took all of her happiness with her." Rainmaker did not apologize for the her earlier assumption. If she could help it, Rainmaker never apologized. Lightning usually worked better anyways. "Chase has just informed me we may have a riot on our hands, and we'll have to find a method other than 'dosing' or 'appointments' to deal with them. I was thinking a public display of our combined power, and a few examples might be best, followed by an explanation for Euphoria's absence." Again, Rainmaker did not acknowledge Chase's part in forming the idea. Chase worked under her after all, so it might as well have been all her idea anyways. "Do you have any suggestions Cornucopia?"

Working on a RM post now. Loved Cornucopia . I'm assuming based on your post that she doesn't know about Euphoria yet. Let me know if I have that wrong though!

I usually autosave, but it didn't work this time for some reason . A Cornucopia post would also be fantastic, but I understand if you are still working on her, or want to wait longer.

Riots, so soon? They must have started recently, or Gossipmonger would have informed Rainmaker of them. It was likely only the field hands rioting, those with no Epic to serve or take immediate commands from. At least the reason they were rioting was because they wanted Euphoria back so that the status quo could return. How long before the realized how Euphoria's powers had been used to control them and started fighting back? Rainmaker bristled at the thought. How dare these impudent mortals flout her wishes? She would have to teach them a lesson, and soon. Part of her wanted to just destroy the entire city and call it a day, but there was still too much for her to do and learn here. She was not yet ready to allow Corvallis to be destroyed. At least Chase still seemed to assume Euphoria had been taken. That was good, it wouldn't do for the Queens to appear to be fighting among themselves. It was especially important that Rainmaker and Euphoria appear to be on the same page, especially in the latter's absence. Why would she have left me? Rainmaker could not think of a possible motive Euphoria could have betraying her. Before Rainmaker had found her, Euphoria had been living like a common Vanilla, barely even using her powers out of fear that another epic would destroy her for being too much of a threat. Then, Rainmaker had turned her into a Queen, giving her a life of power and luxury. It must have been another Epic. Even if Euphoria had left on her own, surely she would have been detected. Chase had eyes all over the city, and would have caught at least some hint of Euphoria's whereabouts. Unless she's not working alone... Again, the thought of Euphoria's betrayal seemed strange to Rainmaker. Why would she dare, knowing the consequence was death? The possibility Euphoria could be working with other Epics against Rainmaker was a dangerous one, and she would have to prepare for that eventuality. Whether Euphoria had left or been taken, Chase was right. It must have something to do with the attack from two weeks ago. Should I have taken her fears more seriously? That meant that the two epic attackers had likely not been working alone. Perhaps I'll have to take a trip to the river later... That would have to wait for the time being though. Rainmaker didn't want the other Queens to know about that, and besides, at the moment they had a riot to deal with. "I agree, these riots must be dealt with, and making an example is a good way to do that" she said, after a moment of thought, resisting the urge to fly out right now and send down her rage among the population. Despite her self-control, Rainmaker could feel her skin begin to faintly shine. "I was thinking of something a little more... dramatic. We could have all of us Queens confront the crowds together, show a united front, and remind them of everything we have given them." And everything they have to fear if they disappoint us. "We'll also have to come up with an official reason for Euphoria's disappearance, and why she recalled all of her gifted power so suddenly. Perhaps there was an important mission out of the city? Or maybe we could spin it as a test of the population's loyalty after the attack, some sort of collective punishment. We can tell them we will bring Euphoria back when they impress us with their service and loyalty. That might work, don't you think?" Brainstorming ideas was already making Rainmaker feel better. Maybe she would only fry a few dozen of the rioters with her lightning when the time came, instead a few hundred.

Almost done Rainmaker post, only to accidentally go back a page and lose everything... Back to the word doc! I've already written one pre-Calamity flashback, and there are more in my head. Just trying to decide how I want to work them in! I'm definitely open to suggestions.

This is kind of what I was imagining in my head, so thanks for confirming! For Euphoria's rending, let's just say I know EXACTLY what snapped her out of it. Also, both the Rending itself, and what happens after, are totally heart-breaking... (at least for me, I won't presume about you all). I was expecting Cornucopia to come, but take your time. She doesn't have to be in the Arboretum at this point if you don't want her to be, I just mentioned she was there during the prologue so she wouldn't be caught up in the attack. She would have fields and things all over the place, so there would be reasons for her to leave to Arboretum if you would like her to show up sooner. Also , I definitely missed that, so thanks for reminding me!