Vanguard Roll Call!

Vanguard Roll Call!

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Vanguard: Issue 124: Blood Reward!


Vanguard had awoken from a madhouse into a strange, otherworldly landscape where they now fought the Crimson Coven for their team mate Avatar!

The Warlock yelled, “Crimson Coven! Now! Strike as one at the Avatar of the Pantheon, and the promised reward shall be yours!”

The Black Dragon glanced in the Warlock’s direction.
The Witch cried “Mine!” through bloody broken teeth!
The Fallen hissed “Mine!” from inside that terrible helm!
The Golem roared unintelligibly.
Sentinel saw the Wraith hesitate for a moment.
“Mine,” said the disembodied voice of a man.
Superstition, from beneath the bloody jaws of the wolf, cried, “Mine, curse you all!”

Avatar, with the speed of winged Mercury, circled behind the Warlock to place the shielded sorcerer between him and the ravenous occult creatures of the Crimson Coven! The Warlock turned to face him as the last son of Olympus crashed his sword once more into the cyan shield! SKRAASH! The shield flickered and went out, gone from existence! The Warlock braced himself. “To me, my Coven!”

The Black Dragon, his ebon flame extinguished from his hand, leapt forward, tumbling impossibly through the air! He landed next to Avatar and in one fluid motion, struck at him with all his momentum intact! POW! (16 points of damage! Roll with 3. Take 13 from Hits) Avatar flew back thirty feet away from the Warlock, who chuckled: “Yes. Break him for our master!”

The Fallen’s terrible attention had turned to Avatar now!

Talon saw his chance and clawed at her helm! SKASHHH!!! The bestial birdman’s strength tore the black helm open, revealing unnatural pitch darkness within it, and two cold glowing eyes!

The Fallen shrieked and flapped up and away from Talon, and then dove headlong for Avatar, hurtling down at the heir of antiquity with that black, unholy sword! KRANG!! The Fallen’s attack was parried by Avatar’s Hephaestus sword! Avatar was unharmed, but his sword was knocked from his hand somehow!

Superstition, meanwhile, had wriggled out from under the large wolf and levitated toward Avatar!

Soldier evaded (with his action) and moved to help Zephyr into the center of the perimeter. "Clone, can you spare a body to give me hand?!"

Zephyr whispered to the patriotic powerhouse, “Thanks Matt, you’re so sweet, but I’m okay. I can sense objects and their movements by the way they displace air currents! Come on! Avatar’s in trouble!” Shelley flew toward Avatar, with Soldier following her and covering her. Then Zephyr blasted the Fallen with a hurricane force wind blast that crashed the winged wrongdoer into the ground a second time to the sound of crumpled iron! “Gruesome, I could do this all day!” Shelley said.

The Witch was filled with hate for Soldier! The spiteful crone pointed at the star spangled superhero with her withered left hand and began to recite an incantation and… could not! Her speech was impaired by the Soldier’s taser round! The harridan screeched like a harpy in impotent rage!

Lightning Strike left the defeated Demonoid and raced back to the battle! Standing alongside Talon and Symbiote, he blasted lightning at the Warlock’s back! SHAKOW! With his energy shield destroyed, the Warlock took the full force of the extranormal electricity, crying out involuntarily! The wicked wizard turned and growled, “I curse you and your loved ones, Lightning Strike!”

Symbiote became more agitated and the Bronx began to come out in his normally controlled voice. "Hey, Kung Fu!! I ain't done wit chew yet! Ya hea me?!? I'M TALKIN' TA YOU!!!"
With that, he hurled another lightning bolt at the malevolent martial artist from alongside Lightning Strike! SHAKOW!

Black Dragon, forewarned, once more tried to dodge the lightning! The sinister sensei failed again! He was clearly wounded now. Breathing heavy, his attention turned from Avatar back to Symbiote! He held his arms out and his cape flowed… and.. transformed… into black reptilian wings! Then, the mystic master of martial arts himself transformed! Into a giant black dragon! Its body was covered in thick scales and the mighty leviathan reared up on its hind legs and released a deafening roar!!! (see image!)(Vanguard make their “cool saves” thanks to Avatar’s presence!)

The Warlock laughed. “Avatar of the Pantheon, your time is ended. Your power shall be ours! I can already taste it!”
VOMMMmmmmm BOOM!! Blue energy exploded out from the Warlock’s forehead again and blasted the demigod of destiny! (15 points of damage! Roll with 3, take 12 off Hits!)

Avatar was knocked back another thirty feet, across the broken marble terrain!

Menagerie, in his Wolf form, raced after Superstition and pounced at her from behind! His jaws caught her right leg, biting hard and pulling her to the ground again! THUMP! She was badly hurt and cried out! “Help me, Warlock!” Menagerie could smell her fear.

The Warlock, if he heard her, gave no sign of it, his avaricious eyes focused entirely upon the Avatar!

Clone said to the other Clones, “Our friend is in needing of us comrades!” The Clone stampede raced to aid Avatar! Two stopped to attack the Warlock, and both missed! “Peasant filth, you dare try lay hands on me?!” snarled the Warlock with a slight Russian accent.Three Clones stopped to attack Superstition with stones! All three hit her prostrate, wounded form and she was beaten into unconsciousness! “Warlock! Hel-”The Black Dragon’s scales looked as invulnerable as the skin of the Golem, so the remaining seven circled Avatar, ready to shield him with their bodies!

The Golem lumbered forward to charge that human shield! RRRAARRGGHHH!!! The mystical man-mountain roared and smashed down on a Clone that stood between him and the Avatar of the Pantheon! KERUNCH!! (Another Clone beaten unconscious and absorbed by the collective!) Plague began reforming his unnatural body again!! Avatar held his action from within his Clone fortress! (see below!*) The Warlock goaded his craven colleagues on! “Yes! Bring the Avatar to his knees! Break him, I command it!”

Meanwhile!
Sentinel flew on across the misty wasteland, tracking the mysterious energy source! The Wraith had stopped pursuit and turned back toward the site of the unseen pentacle and the battle, and was no longer in range of Sentinel’s senses! Sentinel knew Slingshot was far ahead of him. Then, in the distance, rising above the moonlit mists, Sentinel saw a pale silhouette. It seemed to be the soaring towers of a mighty city! The energy trail led directly to it!!
Meanwhile!

Slingshot hurtled through the air toward that mysterious city and Baron Samedi! He tried his communicator and found there were no satellites in whatever place this was!
Slingshot moved within range of Baron Samedi and stretched out a big hand at the voodoo priest and grabbed him, saving his wretched life! Scott reeled him in by reducing the length of his malleable arm and the vulgar houngan of the underworld said, “Ha! I knew you were no *@#$%! killer, boy! You haven’t got it in you!” Samedi was without his stick and voodoo doll of Slingshot, but he still had his hat.

Scott gazed at the city they were hurtling towards. The elastic engineer did not recognize its silhouette. The architectural style was different than anything he’d seen before, even at the Lost Lands or on the Star Giant. But entwined within it were elements that reminded him of Hellenic Greek architecture!
The wind rushing at them, the city growing closer. Baron Samedi laughed, “You have no idea what you are getting into, do ya boy?! Ha! Hahahahaha!”

To be continued!

OOC:
Replies/Actions for one round of combat please.

*Avatar gets three attacks, due to Heightened Speed and the fact that I held your second action this ish since your situation was so changed, what with your human shield phalanx thanks to Clone. Next issue will be your second turn from this issue, then your two turns for next issue. The first two actions will be concurrent.

To follow is the 'End of Issue' Map, with continued thanks to Tom!
The map marks your placement at the end of Issue 124, but not which way you are facing.
Sentinel, Slingshot, Baron Samedi, and Demonoid, are off the map, to the “north.”
Okmenhotep, the Wraith and Mirage’s placement are unknown to almost everyone.
Demonoid, Le Fou, and Superstition are unconscious!

Have fun!
Viva Vanguard!
Jeff

--------------------------

Current Conditions:
Avatar: Hit Points: 25, Power Points: 29, Manifesting: Heightened Strength and Speed
Clone: Bodies: ,Hit Points: 1 ,Power Points: 29, Hit Pool: 12
Lightning Strike: Hit Points: 36, Power Points: 56
Menagerie: Hit Points: 14, Power Points: 47, Form: Wolf
Sentinel: Hit Points: 19, Power Points: 18, Shields: 28, Creation Points: 36, Evading til 126
Slingshot: Hit Points: 44, Power Points: 73, Invulnerability: 8
Soldier: Hit Points: 19, Power Points: 64, Invulnerability: 8, Evading til 126
Symbiote: Hit Points: 25, Power Points: 65, Charges: 13, Copied: Strike
Talon: Hit Points: 38, Power Points: 44
Zephyr: Hit Points: 13, Power Points: 58, Charges: 9, Armor: 25, Blind!


--------------------------------------------------

Menagerie:
If the Fallen is low enough to the ground to reach, the Menagerie will move and attack the Fallen. He will use the same method as before, try to bite an extremity and use his momentum to knock the Fallen down.

If the Fallen is not a viable target, then Menagerie will run over to attack Warlock. He will leap in the attack to strike Warlock in the torso with his bite.

If the Fallen and Warlock are not viable targets, Menagerie will turn into an Eagle. He will fly over to Plague using his wings to generate wing in an effort to preventing him from forming, if flying through Plague wouldn't cause damange to Menagerie then he will do that to keep Plague from forming.

If the Fallen, Warlock, and Plague are not viable targets, Menagerie will turn into an Eagle. He will fly around Black Dragon's head attempting to distract or block his vision from attacking.

If the Fallen, Warlock, Plague, and Black Dragon are not viable targets, then Menagerie will run over to attack Witch. He will leap in the attack to strike Witch in the torso with his bite.

If none of these are viable actions then Menagerie will pick up Avatar's sword and bring it to him. If Avatar already has his sword then he will move to help protect Avatar and hold his action.

Thanks
Tom

--------------------------------------------------

Clone:
OOC: Seeing that Clone’s actions usually take place towards the end of the turn, I’m going to give my ICC Response in a way similar to Tom’s response.

IC: The two duplicates that are next to Warlock will try to attack him from behind ( I’m assuming that he is facing Avatar at the moment ). The three duplicates that had just attacked Superstition will try to circumnavigate the Black Dragon’s dragon form and head towards Warlock to attack him as well. If Warlock is down before any of them get a chance to attack him, then the five of them will head towards the rear of The Golem. As they’re moving towards The Golem they will start throwing stones at Black Dragon in an almost taunting fashion in order to get his attention. They know they can’t get passed either of these armed giants thick hides, but what if they could get the two of them to attack each other some how? Basically the idea is to get Black Dragons attention ( a.k.a. get him angry enough to try and attack the Clones ), get behind The Golem, and then try to dodge the Black Dragons attack ( a.k.a. evading ) so that it hits The Golem.
If either one of these Crimson Coven members are already knocked out by the time the Clone Army gets to go, then all the Clones will form up on Avatar to act as a human shield for him. They will use their turn to evade ( although they have no qualms being targets . . . they would rather not be hit lol ), making sure that they’re not formed up too tight as to block Avatar’s field of vision or preventing him from lashing out with an attack of his own. If evading an incoming attack would result in Avatar being hit instead, then the attacked Clone will forgo evading and take the hit for Avatar.

OOC: I hope that all made sense lol ;)

Talk to you all soon, -Kev

--------------------------------------------------

Slingshot:
So where's that pile of manure?

--------------------------------------------------

Sentinel:
I'm not sure of the distance issue here on either end anymore but I'd still like Kirk to get to the energy source feeding the Coven so that perhaps he can actually try to help in the battle. Seems like Slingshot is Kirk's best ticket. Kirk will send out an energy tether/construct to try to grab hold of Slingshot. Perhaps he could use it as sort of a megaphone to make Slingshot aware that Kirk needs the lift and he would state that he's picked up that an energy source from the city is directly tied to the Coven. If Slingshot is just outside of Kirk's range perhaps this could help attract his attention to grab hold back. If Kirk gets within distance of them and sees any flow of energy between Baron Samedi and Slingshot (ie either an attack or some sort of control being exerted over his teammate) he will smash Samedi unconscious first and ask questions later.
Given Kirk's current energy levels and that one more Wraith attack renders him powerless or worse (and that the Wraith certainly seems to have 'Kirk's number') he feels he has a better shot at assisting in the battle by hopefully eliminating the energy source, however if that doesn't seem possible and Slingshot wants to return to the battle and Slingshot slinging Kirk to the city won't get him there anytime soon, then Kirk would go back with Slingshot and hopefully be able to smash into and take out one of the Coven whose looking bad from the battle (perhaps the Witch at this point). I'm trying to avoid Kirk spending the next couple of issues flying towards the city as the battle ensues and being of no help to his teammates. Although it might provide some comedic relief ... that's not the role I'd hope for Kirk here. (Picture big splash pages of Vanguard battling the Coven with loud sound effects interspersed with small silent panels of Kirk flying at 'top speed' (currently a turtle's pace apparently due to his lack of power) towards the city, perhaps the same panel repeated except a bead of sweat slowly making its way from Kirk's forehead down his cheek) - very Giffenesque JLA. Again, NOT looking for that here, but right now, that's what it feels like :)
If I've misunderstood or missed anything in my current assessment of Kirk's situation here that might give me some more options, let me know. (ie my only other option is Kirk tries to turn around and head back to the battle under his own power, but he won't make it in the next round or two anyway and there is the best chance he will pass the Wraith on the way and be rendered powerless and/or unconscious by him if attacked - I've got to think Kirk has a better chance helping at the energy source than throwing a right hook into the face of a Coven member - although if that's his only option, he'd take it).

Best, Seth

--------------------------------------------------

GM:
OOC: Hi everyone.

Menagerie and Clone: Thanks! Understood.

Slingshot: The battle was in a ruin of some sort, littered with broken white marble architecture and statuary. The mighty city looms in the distance. The land between the ruin and the city, that you are now hurtling over, is a barren wilderness. You see no mud, water or manure. Only mist… and Sentinel, who is trying to flag you for a lift!

Sentinel: Your megaphone construct idea works in attracting Slingshot’s attention. Also, to be clear, I never said the energy was “feeding” the Coven. In Issue 122 I said, “Away from the myriad energies of the battle, the beacon of justice detected an energy current that connected the Crimson Coven to something far beyond Sentinel’s energy range. The energy type was new, but reminded him of Avatar!”

Sentinel and Slingshot: You can just barely reach each other via a Sentinel energy construct tendril AND a Slingshot super-stretched limb!

Best, Jeff

--------------------------------------------------

Sentinel:
Thanks for the clarification and my misuse of the words - in my mind I knew there was a connection and just typed 'feed'. And if Slingshot makes the connection, Kirk will go where he leads at this point per prior choices emailed. A good week to all ... hey maybe because it seems like we're all just giving battle directions we can get an early issue :)

Seth

--------------------------------------------------

Clone:
From your lips to God's ears - an early issue would be great! =)
-Kev

--------------------------------------------------

Lightning Strike:
OK, if everyone is going to guilt me into it, I will post tonight so that there should be no reason for a delay. Of course you do realize that this will probably trigger a GM cataclysm that will end the universe as we know it.

--------------------------------------------------

Avatar:
Jeff: Does Avatar still have access to his bow and arrows? If so, what sort of cost does deploying them take? What was the earlier ruling on adjusting of the bow to account for Heightened Strength?

--------------------------------------------------

Slingshot:
No manure?! Where are all the cows when you need them?! I'm easily satisfied. One medium sized paddy will be just fine. I see that Kirk is willing to hitch a ride, and this ride is willing to hitch! So I'll super stretch to grapple him to me.

Back to the Cajun, "You should really be careful. My temper got you this far. Do you really think it would be intelligent to tempt my one more time? There are very finite limits to my patience and you're treading it." Scott might squeeze him a bit as his temper rises again, just a smidgen. "If you have anything useful to say, say it. Otherwise zip it before you truly become roadkill."

OOC: regarding the city, will I make it in one slingshot? Do I need to find something to land to and use for another slingshot? How farther is it?

--------------------------------------------------

Lightning Strike:
OK, just on the off chance we might get an early comic and maybe a double-sized issue 125 I will post way early.

After blasting Warlock and seeing him becoming visibly staggered Strike pressed the offensive. He screamed at Warlock "It was scum like you that took away my loved ones. You want power Warlock!! Feel my power and burn in hell!!!" Strike let loose with a mighty blast with lightning crackling all over his form. Once Warlock is down, Strike will turn his attention to the Dragon or Golem, whichever is closer and more threatening. OK that's all for now.

Go Jets!!

Tony

--------------------------------------------------

GM:
Hey gang. More OOC replies below.

Avatar: He does have his bow and arrows. I think it’s 1/5 of full movement to deploy, and ½ of full movement to modify bow tension for your great strength.

Slingshot: You’ll land before the city in a few minutes, perhaps a quarter mile from the city. Distances are hard to judge due to the emptiness of the wilderness, and the mist. There is ample flat ground for an easy landing.

Slingshot and Sentinel: You guys will hook up so assume free conversation between you. Also, please give intentions for the immediate future. I’ll decouple you from the battle timeline. I’m assuming you continue to the city? Do you intend to enter on foot? Leap into it? Fly over it? Burrow under it? Thanks!

Lightning Strike: This is the big one, Elizabeth!

Best, Jeff

--------------------------------------------------

Avatar:
So it's just movement and not actions? If this is the case, Avatar will deploy and modify the bow quickly and start using it, first on The Warlock (one action), then on Golem (one action) and then on Golem again (last of the three actions).

IC: "Powers of the Pantheon, you want? Powers of the Pantheon you may have, then! Ares and Apollo guide these shafts!"

--------------------------------------------------

Slingshot:
Seth, So what do you want to do? Fly/Jump in? I'm more than a little tempted to show up a la Hulk. I'm still carrying Samedi. He might be useful or we could just lose him a quarter mile out of the city.

--------------------------------------------------

Sentinel:
Kirk would be thrilled to have Slingshot along to investigate the city (especially at his current power levels) but would be feeling concerned that his power wouldn't be in the battle helping the rest of the team... Slingshot is a heavyweight! I was hoping that the investigation of the energy link might lead to something that could turn the battle but am now concerned that whatever we do won't be in the time frame to help with that ...
However, assuming Kirk doesn't end up knocking out Samedi immediately within distance, he was already checking for energy levels for a sneak attack on Slingshot, so he'd likely remove any artifacts (ie the hat) that Samedi could use against them. Then he'd hit him with a 'mind read' as he and Slingshot ask a few questions like, "What are your intentions with Avatar and what is the ultimate goal of your group?" "What is the connection between your group and the city and your current attack on Vanguard?" "What does your group fear most that Vanguard can do here to win this battle?"
Samedi will likely lie or give mixed truths for theses sort of questions, but Kirk should be able to sort through it while monitoring his thoughts and perhaps we'll finally get some answers to the big picture here. On the city, as soon as Kirk gets within energy perception distance, he would try to determine the area of the source of energy tracing to the Coven to direct them and also whether it is inhabited, abandoned, etc by life forms. If we can pinpoint the area it would seem that a Hulk-like approach might be the only way to perhaps be able to take some action that might allow us to help Vanguard in the battle ... but a lot depends on if this is an inhabited city or abandoned and if there are only a few lifeforms around the energy source or what? We might land right in the presence of those granting Avatar his powers or just some mystical setup with a link to them and/or their dimension or something we hadn't thought about.
It would seem that to be of any use to the team whatever we do here would have to be quick and immediate. If we aren't doing that or it seems that isn't prudent, then it seems like we would need to consider going back to the battle itself now. Kirk can't make much of a difference at this point in the battle, but Slingshot could... and maybe if things went his way he could help take out another minor opponent before falling in battle. If we go into the city unless the mind scan shows differently, I'm thinking we need to knock Samedi out either way so he poses no threat. My question to Jeff would be does it appear that if we enter the city we may have enough time to influence the battle if we find something to do so... or are we that far out at this point? Or do we just not know? Given the above thoughts, what do you think Stephane?

Seth

--------------------------------------------------

Symbiote:
Symbiote looks up at the huge dragon poised to strike before him. Huh. Didn't see that coming, the Analytical Avenger thinks to himself for a split second, his intensely curious mind tempted to ponder just how this could be possible. But then, before the split second is over, he remembers: There's a gigantic dragon about to attack me. OH CRAP!!!

OOC: Given that Black Dragon is probably still faster than Hal in this form, Hal will try to evade. If he can't and the Dragon gets claw or tooth on him, Hal will try to sheath his entire body in electricity in that moment, giving the sinister shape-shifter a hot foot or a bad toothache. That's all. Hope we survive.

Viva Vanguard,

Greg

--------------------------------------------------

Slingshot:
I'm inline with you, Seth, regarding what to do. I'm sorry for the rest of the gang (especially with the dragon showing up..), but I think we just might have more effect neutralizing this "link".

1) interrogation

2) get into the city and investigate this link. So since I have to touch down a quarter mile from the city before rebounding.. Let's interrogate Samedi until that point then drop him there on the next leg of the jump. I'm a little weary to use my full strength on him.

IC: The wind rushing at them, the city growing closer. Baron Samedi laughed, “You have no idea what you are getting into, do ya boy?! Ha! Hahahahaha!” He looks at Samedi an icy smile on his face, "So your response to me saving you from certain death is this? Did you not just figure out that..", Scott raises his volume to full shout, "..PISSING ME OFF MIGHT NOT BE THE HEALTHY THING TO DO RIGHT NOW!" He resumes his calm voice, "So if you're not interested in becoming a splatter or better yet squished little rag doll, you might want to start talking and make yourself helpful for a change little man."

--------------------------------------------------

Sentinel:
Sounds like a plan ... hope we get to do some good here. At this point, Sentinel and Slingshot are actually out of communication range to even know what is happening back at the battle ... and I'm hoping that the dragon is an illusion or ruse or certainly not the stats of a real dragon. I know the guys name, but think about it. He was pretty kick-ass just doing the flying martial artist before the battle really started - he laced into Kirk good. Then he pulls out the Iron Fist ... now your going to try to convince me on top of that he can transform into a bonafide giant dragon? If he was that tough you'd think he'd be leading the Coven, not following it... anyway, just my guess. Although my guesses and my gut haven't read things too well so far in this adventure so who knows :)

Looking forward to the next issue to find out!

Seth

--------------------------------------------------

Soldier:
Soldier, blushing at the complement, closely follows behind Zephyr to ensure she's not just playing tough. He'll evade as he moves to assist Avatar. As soon as The Witch begins to screech, she'll attract his attention. "Apparently the old bag's a lot tougher than she looks." He'll target her with two (multiple attack) of his explosive rounds, firing at the ground in front of her, hoping to catch her, and any other Coven member, near her, in the blast radius (he want to put her down quick, and move on to assist Zephyr and and Avatar).
He'll wait to see the results of his actions, before doing anything else (Save any actions I have left). If they don't take her out, and I have another action left, he'll try hitting her with another Taser round. If they take her down, and I have an action, I'll sprint to catch up with Zephyr, and help take the heat off of Avatar.

--------------------------------------------------

GM:
OOC: Sorry, missed this:
Sentinel wrote: My question to Jeff would be does it appear that if we enter the city we may have enough time to influence the battle if we find something to do so... or are we that far out at this point?

GM Reply: Hard to say. Physically, you guys are probably out of the battle. If you shut down the link it may or may not affect the battle, depending on what the link actually is. Your and Slingy's actions are pretty solid as written though. Also, fun.

Best,
Jeff

--------------------------------------------------

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Vanguard: Issue 123: Swords and Sorcery!



Vanguard had awoken from a madhouse into a strange, otherworldly landscape where they now fought the Crimson Coven for their team mate Avatar! The epic battle was total chaos!

The Witch spied Zephyr, who was the closest hero to her. The wretched old crone mumbled an ancient curse and pointed at Shelley!
Zephyr gasped in surprise! “Guys, something’s wrong. I can’t see. I.. I’m blind!”

Avatar hurtled at the Warlock with the blinding speed of Hermes! Avatar’s deadly sword, forged with the skill of Hephaestus and guided by the strength and skill of Ares, slammed into Warlock’s sorcerous screen of cobalt energy! SKRAASH K-k-k-k-kkkk. The energy shield shrieked and flickered (like a light saber when it hits a light saber). "Why do you seek your own doom?" the manifestation of mythology said.

Talon continued his aerial combat with the Fallen, slamming into her with speed, and raking at her with his claws! SLASHH!! His deadly talons sliced open her black, battle-damaged plate armor at the shoulder, revealing nothing behind it but absolute darkness!

Le Fou laughed and leapt up onto the chest of another Clone and gleefully crowned him between the eyes with his short staff! KRAK! The Clone fell over unconscious. Le Fou rode him down, and ended up comically pirouetting on one foot upon the unconscious Clone’s chest. “These men are made of balsa wood! They are one man, spread terribly thin. Bred, it would seem, to be victims of my tender mercies. How delightful!” The demented dwarf’s sadistic smile was a terrible thing to behold.

Demonoid barked at Sentinel like a rabid dog! “Come on, ya virgin. Let’s see how tough ya are!” The two were alone, away from the unseen pentacle, when Baron Samedi came screaming over them across the sky! Demonoid laughed so hard he had to catch his breath. Then he breathed fire at Sentinel! VROOOSSSHHHH!!!! (10 points of damage. Sentinel elects to take it all off shields!)
“You bloody wanker, come down here and fight me like a man!”

Soldier began to race to shield Zephyr from the Witch with his augmented frame! “Zephyr, I’ve got you, just stand where you’re at for a second.”

Black Dragon intercepted him in mid action! His right fist was enveloped in magical, translucent black energy that flowed like slow moving flames! The mystic master of martial arts had identified his nearest foe. The Dragon leapt, and in one motion struck Soldier in the chest with the black hand of the Dragon! ZVWA-POW!! (25 points of damage! 8 off Invulnerability. Roll with 7. Take 10 off Hits!) The dragon fire was extinguished upon contact! VOOF!

Soldier flew back 25 feet but remained conscious! Shaking off the blow, the patriotic powerhouse continued to shield Zephyr! Once positioned between them, he targeted her mouth at point blank range with his smart pistol to cease her spell casting. “Try chewing on this, you old hag!” BLAMM!
The special, taser-like round hit its mark and the wicked bride of Satan let out a red scream as she writhed on the ground! “RAAAAGGGHHHH!!!”

Symbiote tried to not rush to his sister’s aid. Instead he positioned himself to attack Black Dragon from behind with a lightning bolt so that his Dragon Fist attack could not be used again! SHAKOW! At the last second, the Black Dragon, turned and tried to dodge the lightning bolt!
But the lightning was too fast even for him and he was pierced in mid-air by the jagged arc of white hot electricity! The Black Dragon was injured. Breathing slowly, he resumed a defensive stance, facing Symbiote!

Superstition smirked as electricity from Symbiote’s attack again arced back at him! KRAKOW!
(12 points of damage again! 7 off Power. 5 off Hits!)

Zephyr said, “Thanks Ma-, uh, Soldier!” Then she put her arms at her side and concentrated. The wind shifted around her slightly. “I… think I’m okay!” Then she seemed to notice Plague, reforming.
“This guy again?!” she said as flew around Soldier and blasted Plague with another hurricane force gale, scattering his swarm form into the wind! “Bug off!” she yelled happily. Two superhero zingers!

The Fallen, meanwhile, met Talon’s fury, blow for blow! Her black blade struck the avian antihero as the two were locked in deadly aerial combat above the battlefield! KER-RANG! (14 points of damage and an additional 10 points off Power! Rolling with damage, Talon takes a total of 16 to Power, and 8 to Hits!)
From within the infinite blackness of her iron helm, the damned woman’s voice hissed, “Merely human.”

Sentinel used what remained of his fading energy constructs to throw Demonoid away from him and the battle! “Cowardly little @#$%&*!” the hateful hell creature spat as he hurled away!
Sentinel tried to reach Vanguard on his communicator and found it not working. There were no satellites in whatever place this was!
With that, the beacon of justice flew off in the direction of the mysterious energy trail he had detected! Sentinel’s ability to fly came from his energy constructs, which were now perilously low. He was not making great speed! From just above the ground, he turned around and sensed…

The Wraith, silently and invisibly coming for him! It seemed the intangible specter floated at a slow pace as well. She was gradually closing the distance, but could not attack at this range!

Lightning Strike stalked Demonoid! The electric avenger couldn’t locate any conductive materials, just broken masonry and stones! So he ran to where he lay wounded on the broken ground where he had landed from Sentinel’s throw. Demonoid saw Lightning Strike’s boots and looked up as SHAKOW! Lightning Strike blasted him, electrocuting the bestial devil into unconsciousness!

The Warlock, clearly concerned at the raw power facing him now in the form of the Avatar unleashed, snarled “I do not seek my doom, Olympian. I seek my transcendence…. my immortality!”
VOMMMmmmmm BOOM!! Blue energy exploded out from the Warlock’s forehead again and blasted the myrmidon of myth (18 points of damage! Roll with 4, take 14 off Hits!)

Menagerie stared at Mirage and snarled. Then with a quick spin, the man in wolf’s clothing focused his senses and will on Superstition! He sprinted and pounced up at her! His lupine jaws snapped hard on her torso and his weight pulled her down from her levitation to the ground, hard! WHAM!
“Merde!” she cursed as the big black wolf stood over her bleeding form. Menagerie tasted human blood and realized that a real wolf would now burrow his sharp jaws into Superstition’s soft exposed stomach!

Mirage was motionless and silent. Then he blinked out of existence.

Clone swarmed over the Golem again with all fourteen of his bodies! Blinding its vision, tangling in its trunk-like legs, throwing it off balance, the human flash mob managed to topple the Goliath a second time, this time steering him onto Le Fou!

Le Fou looked up as the Clone beneath him vanished, reabsorbed into the collective. The merry maniacal midget’s jaw dropped as the shadow of the man-monolith covered him. “Le yipe!” he said and then BOOMMM! He was crushed beneath the lumbering leviathan! Two of the many Clones that rode the Golem down hit their earthen adversary with sticks and stones, to little avail!

The Golem slowly, methodically pulled himself up again, revealing the unconscious and smashed Le Fou at the bottom of a Golem-shaped impression. Now the Golem was getting mad! The living mountain smashed a massive fist down onto a Clone, crushing it into unconsciousness! KRA-POW!

Slingshot meanwhile felt sickened by what he had done to Baron Samedi, but through the sting of the pain, he had reacted without thinking through the consequences. "Can't believe that I've just did that!" He said to Soldier, "They are setup to attack our weaknesses! I can handle electricity well, help Clone or someone else. I have to go after the Cajun."

Slingshot grabbed at a column in his patented move. He looked at Okmenhotep, "You and I, let's fly." He threw his other arm at the Egyptian and entangled him in it, and then launched himself in the air after Samedi! BOIINNG! The malleable man of might hurtled up high with the ancient Egyptian!

Okmenhotep calmly said something Slingshot didn’t understand, and then disappeared! The mystic left only vapors of dark green smoke that dissipated in the rushing air!

Slingy shrugged and gazed ahead to find Samedi, to save his life. He saw Sentinel far below him, travelling in the same direction. Then Scott looked ahead. In the distance, rising above the moonlit mists, he saw a pale silhouette. It seemed to be the soaring towers of a mighty city!

Avatar, meanwhile, continued his unrelenting assault on the Warlock! The blade of Hephaestus crashed down again into the cobalt shield! KRAASH K-k-k-k-kkkk. The energy shield moaned again and wouldn’t stop flickering. It wasn’t going to withstand much more of this!

The Warlock knew it. He yelled, “Crimson Coven! Now! Strike as one at the Avatar of the Pantheon, and the promised reward shall be yours!”

The Black Dragon glanced in the Warlock’s direction.
The Witch cried “Mine!” through bloody broken teeth!
The Fallen hissed “Mine!” from inside that terrible helm!
The Golem roared unintelligibly.
Sentinel saw the Wraith hesitate for a moment.
“Mine,” said the disembodied voice of a man.
Superstition, from beneath the bloody jaws of the wolf, cried, “Mine, curse you all!”

To be continued!

OOC:
Replies/Actions for one round of combat please. Avatar gets two attacks, due to Heightened Speed.

Below is the 'End of Issue' Map, with continued thanks to Tom!
The map marks your placement at the end of Issue 123, but not which way you are facing.
Sentinel, Lightning Strike, Slingshot, Demonoid, the Wraith and Baron Samedi are off the map, to the “north.”
Okmenhotep and Mirage’s placement are unknown to almost everyone.

Have fun!
Viva Vanguard!
Jeff



--------------------------

Current Conditions:
Avatar: Hit Points: 50, Power Points: 36, Manifesting: Heightened Strength and Speed
Clone: Bodies: 13, Hit Points: 1 each, Power Points: 30 each, Hit Pool: 13
Lightning Strike: Hit Points: 36, Power Points: 61
Menagerie: Hit Points: 14, Power Points: 48, Form: Wolf
Sentinel: Hit Points: 19, Power Points: 19, Shields: 28, Creation Points: 38
Slingshot: Hit Points: 44, Power Points: 74, Invulnerability: 8
Soldier: Hit Points: 19, Power Points: 67, Invulnerability: 0 til issue 125
Symbiote: Hit Points: 25, Power Points: 70, Charges: 13, Copied: Strike
Talon: Hit Points: 38, Power Points: 45
Zephyr: Hit Points: 13, Power Points: 59, Charges: 10, Armor: 25, Blind!

--------------------------------------------------

Avatar:
The Warlock yelled, “Crimson Coven! Now! Strike as one at the Avatar of the Pantheon, and the promised reward shall be yours!”

OOC: I don't like the sound of that!

As the Crimson Coven members look like they are going to attack me en masse, I'll try and slip around behind The Warlock, hopefully timing things well enough and being fast enough that any ranged attacks might have a chance of hitting him (looking at the map it seems that, if I'm behind him, he will be between Avatar and everyone else).

I'll try and grab him as an action, hopefully after his shields are down and I can actually touch him but, if not, then around the shields, and pick him up and run at Heightened Speed toward Golem, hopefully smashing into him with The Warlock and damaging both of them.

If that tactic doesn't seem to have a chance of working, Avatar will continue to work at the shield with his sword, still trying to keep The Warlock between him and the rest of the CC, still hoping that ranged attacks might strike the CC leader rather than him.

In any case, Jeff, have both of Avatar's actions focused on neutralizing The Warlock along the lines of those tactics. If it doesn't work initially, then Avatar will grab The Warlock as soon as the shield is down and attempt it later.

--------------------------------------------------

Symbiote:
Symbiote will again lash out at Black Dragon (especially since Superstition seems to be otherwise engaged with taking a piece of Avatar's skin at the moment).

IC: As Hal becomes more agitated, the Bronx begins to come out in his normally controlled voice. "Hey, Kung Fu!! I ain't done with you yet! Ya hear me?!? I'M TALKIN' TO YOU!!!"

With that, he hurls another lightning bolt at the Malevolent Martial Artist.

OCC: Native New Yorkers on the mailing list: I hope I got that right. Please feel free to correct if necessary.

--------------------------------------------------

Avatar:
OOC: Perhaps you should speak in OUR native dialect for them, Greg?

--------------------------------------------------

Symbiote:
OOC: "Y'all done opened a meth lab full of whup ass!!"

Nah, just doesn't flow as well.

--------------------------------------------------

Clone:
With all the villains making their way over to Avatar’s position, one of the Clones will turn to the others and say,”Our friend is in needing of us comrades!” At which point they will all start running over that way as well. Ultimately the goal of the ‘Clone Mob’ is to keep Avatar from getting mauled ( given Clone’s weakness ). He’ll intentionally throw himself in-between any ranged attacks aimed at Avatar or even act as a human shield for him if he can against HTH attacks. While running over to help Avatar , if the Clone mob can get a ‘cheap shot’ off ( a side or rear attack, aka - trampling, run-by haymakers, etc. ) against Black Dragon ( unless Symbiote has already taken him out ) they’ll do so. Judging from the map it looks like a side attack may be possible, but I’m not 100% sure of that. Any Clones that are not knocked unconscious, actively blocking attacks, etc . . . will attempt to attack The Warlock ( armed with sticks and stones . . . in order to break his bones lol )

OOC: Just for the record Jeff – the Clone’s are done trying to take out The Golem lol – that boy is just too damn tough – I can’t even scratch ‘em lol. Also – I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this ( although you’ve been doing it any way ), if any of the duplicates get knocked unconscious, the others will automatically try to reabsorb him into the collective.

GREG WROTE: As Hal becomes more agitated, the Bronx begins to come out in his normally controlled voice. "Hey, Kung Fu!! I ain't done with you yet! Ya hear me?!? I'M TALKIN' TO YOU!!!" With that, he hurls another lightning bolt at the Malevolent Martial Artist.

OOC: Native New Yorkers on the mailing list: I hope I got that right. Please feel free to correct if necessary.

RESPONSE: As a native Noo Yawk’a that works in, on and under the streets of Noo Yawk, ya might wanna go with someth’n like this: Ay-oh! F*$k Face! Yeah – I’m tawk’n to you! I ain’t f*$k’n dun wit you yet! Then as you come with in hand-to-hand distance and go to throw that big right hand ( or in this case – power up a big juicy wad of deadly electricity ) with a look of complete distain and rage . . . Lets go moth’a f*$k’a!!!

Yeah – lol – unfortunately theres a lot of F-Bombs being dropped in the streets of Noo Yawk. I’ve met a bunch of people over the years that have come from over-seas to live here in Noo Yawk and they almost all say the same thing – one of the first words they hear ( or learn if English isn’t their first language ) as they leave the airport terminal, is the F-Bomb lol. Oh and before I forget . . . its not ‘The Bronx’, its ‘Da Bronx’ lol

Talk to you all soon,

-Kev

--------------------------------------------------

Menagerie:
OOC: Awesome issue!!

[OOC] Okay, I need GM help. The way I visual the scene, Menagerie is standing with his front two paws on Superstitution's torso. His weight is holding her down (like a pin). She can turn her head and move her arms and legs. She is bleeding. Is this a correct assessment?

Menagerie is going to fight off his "wolf instincts" to burrow his sharp jaws into Superstition’s soft, exposed stomach! but he still wants to knock her out cold.

What is my best option of doing that?

I have considered biting her neck to suffocate her into blacking out, but with his wolf teeth, that may not work well.

I have considered striking with both paws. If I did that. would I still get full HtH damage? I am not sure, because that is not how a wolf typically fights.

If I choose to rake Superstition's torso with the claws on the front paws, would that still fit the 4-color image or is it the equivalent to attacking the stomach. What would the HtH damage be for raking?

I have considered having Menagerie change into his human form and deliver a right cross to Superstition's jaw. Would there be any attack bonuses since Superstition is prone on the ground and Menagerie is above (on top of her)? Since he is so low on the initiative totem pole, if I choose this option would I need to provide a few If-then responses in case Superstition moves/escapes? I wouldn't want to change forms if that happened.

Menagerie's goal this turn would be to minimize the attacks on Avatar as possible, He believes removing Superstition from the fight is the best solution since she is able to use Vanguards' powers for her purposes. He is willing to evalate the lethality of his attack to the appropriate level of the setting (4-Color Hero protecting a teammate).

If you don't feel like responding with details on all the options I have listed, providing the best attack on Superstition and the details with it is all I really need. I trust your judgement on which option is best.

Protect the Avatar!
Tom

--------------------------------------------------

Sentinel:
OOC:
Hi everyone.

Things have been hectic, so I'll just get things in order quickly since Kirk seems to be in a position here to have little effect and out of the range of things.

Given that Kirk doesn't know much of what his happening his first priority is to get to the source of the energy flowing to the Coven and disrupt it if possible. He will continue at 'top' speed towards that source and hopefully stay out of the range of the Wraith. You haven't given me an idea at this point of the time frame to reach it, and I'm hoping that it won't be so long that Kirk does nothing to help further with the Battle, but at this point, Kirk has no idea on that distance and no idea on the battle circumstance, only that he is close to being totally powerless from the Wraith's attacks.

If Kirk gets any further energy reads to help him to determine the best course of action here, he'd take them. If he gets close enough to Slingshot to let me know the situation with the energy he is tracking he would do so. If he gets within range of Slingshot and things changed so that he needed help, he would certainly do whatever he could, even at minimum effectiveness.

If nothing else comes up for Kirk's action, unless his action could be used to speed his arrival to the source of energy somehow (which I'm assuming not, since he only has whatever speed he has left), you can use his action to evade in case of a sneak attack or in case Wraith gets within attacking distance... however, if he can reach the source, his attack would be to disrupt it.

It Wraith catches Kirk and it appears he has no other choice before being rendered totally powerless he would try to time his attack with the exact moment Wraith 'makes contact' with him figuring that if Wraith can touch him at that point, Kirk would have his best opportunity to have a physical effect on Wraith and at that point, giving it a shot that 'resummoning his energy' might open a portal to 'short circuit' the Wraith is all I can come up with at this point.

If I missed anything, let me know, and if any other situation comes up, Kirk would respond 'as heroically' as possible.

Best,
Seth

--------------------------------------------------

GM:
OOC:
Hey Tom,

Thanks.
Your assessment of your positions is correct.
The damage listed for Wolf is a bite attack. Paws / raking would be half that at best.
Thanks for considering the silver/bronze age feel of the campaign.
The Human-form right cross option works, and you get bonuses because she's prone. The transfomation could also surprise her, preventing her from rolling with damage.

Your initiative as Human or Wolf is the same, I think, so you may need if-then statements in any event. Thanks.

Best,
Jeff

--------------------------------------------------

Menagerie:
[OCC] Instead of doing a series of ‘If –Then’ statements, I am going to describe a situation and based on the situation give Menagerie’s action.
[IC]
Menagerie is standing where he is and Superstition is still lying prone below him. Menagerie will turn human and deliver a right cross to Superstition’s head.

Menagerie has been knocked off Superstition and he is flying in the air from the knockback. He uses his action to turn into the Eagle. He will use his movement to get the best location to survey the battle scene and use his senses to try to find a weakness in the Coven.

Menagerie has been knocked off Superstition and he is lying on the ground from the knockback. If Superstition is next him, Menagerie will charge attacking her legs. His goals will be to bite her leg and slam into both legs, hopefully knocking her down.

Menagerie has been knocked off Superstition and he is lying on the ground from the knockback. If Superstition is not near him, Menagerie will charge attacking her legs. He will turn and look for the easiest target to attack with order of preference: Superstition, Witch, Fallen, and Black Dragon. He will move to attack from behind attacking the target’s legs. Easiest to target is more important than preference. Preference is to break ties.

Menagerie has been knocked off Superstition and he is lying on the ground from the knockback. If Superstition is floating above him, Menagerie will charge her after he leaps up into the air he will turn into the Eagle. He will fly into her face flapping his wings to disorient her, if slamming into her doesn’t count as an action but just movement then he does that.

Menagerie is standing where he is and Superstition vanishes, he will turn and look for the easiest target to attack with this order of preference: Superstition, Witch, Fallen, and Black Dragon. He will move to attack from behind attacking the target’s legs. Easiest to target is more important than preference. Preference is to break ties.

[OOC] Let me know if you have any questions on this.

Thanks
Tom

--------------------------------------------------

Soldier:
Once Solider is able to get to his feet, he'll move toward Zephyr, continuing to try to place himself between any attacks. He'll call out, "Zephyr, it's me I'm going to take your hand, so don't panic, just stay close to me, and I'll do my best to get you out of here." As he does so, he' do his best to evade with Zephyr in tow, as he tries to get closer to the loose circle formed by his fellow Vanguard members, keeping Zephyr toward away from any possible attacks. He'll save his actions to respond to any attacks directed at him. If he's got time. He'll yell over to Clone, and ask for a little assistance, from one of his duplicates. "Clone, can you spare a body to give me hand?" If he can, he'll hand off Zephyr to one of his duplicates and concentrate on the Coven. In the event he's directly confronted, or another teammember is being attacked, fire a taser round at the attacker. If he still has an action, and can spot one one Crimson Coven along the outter perimeter, he'll fire off one of his explosive rounds trying catch them in the burst effect.

--------------------------------------------------

Slingshot:
So unfortunately.. I should have been asking a bunch of questions regarding this mighty city before this. My bad.

Instead, I'll be looking for that poor shlep of Baron Samedi.

What I will also do is: 1) Look for is any indication of what that mighty city might be. Being in contruction, I should have an eye for shapes, building and such. So I should be able to recognize any well known city, architectural details to a degree or another (could it be a somewhat olympian style city?). That sort of detail while I try to get to the human before he dies from my irresponsibility.

Also, are the communicators working?

--------------------------------------------------

Talon:
Talon will continue to attack The Fallen. He will press her in an effort to avoid her sword attack and claw at her armor, especially her helm.

Thanks,

Denny

--------------------------------------------------

Lightning Strike:
After taking out Demonoid, Lightning Strike looked around for another foe. He couldn't let them all gang up on Avatar so the best bet seemed to be to try to take more of them out before they coordinated the attack. Warlock seemed to be leading the group to some extent so Strike will target him with a blst of electricity. Hopefully the others will get discouraged if they see him go down.

Strike will take note of the city in the horizon but make no move to head to it yet. Usually cities mean some sort of conductive material.

Thanks for waiting.
Tony





Vanguard: Issue 122: To Battle the Black Arts!



Vanguard had awoken into a strange, otherworldly landscape where they now battled the Crimson Coven for their team mate Avatar!

Talon growled as he recoiled from the Fallen's black blade. Using his powerful wings to drive forward, the bestial bird man rammed the knight of darkness, tangling her up until he threw her at the Warlock! SMASH! The Fallen’s cursed armor crashed into the blue energy field that protected the Warlock, making it screech and flicker (like a light saber when it hits another light saber) KKKKK-K-K-K-k!
The Warlock was unharmed, but clearly concerned. Talon continued to keep control over his battle rage.

The Fallen was deflected to the ground in a loud heap. She looked up at Talon and swore a black oath to his death.

Black Dragon’s calm eyes regarded his right fist. The mystic master of martial arts concentrated and his fist was enveloped in magical, translucent black energy that flowed like slow moving flames!

Avatar suddenly manifested Hermes! His face and eyes took on a new countenance as he cried "εδώ είμαι!" The demigod of destiny hurtled toward The Warlock like a warrior borne!

Le Fou cackled, “I tried to tell you Warlock, but would you listen? Tick tock tick tock.” He tumbled backwards through the air with malevolent mirth and landed on an unsuspecting Clone, crowning him with his short staff! KRAK! The Clone fell to the ground and Le Fou mused, “Hmm. Don’t make ‘em like they used to.”

Demonoid turned back to Slingshot. “Hate to give the little bastard any help,” he snarled, indicated Samedi, “but I’m the one what’s been charged with sending yer lily white soul screaming down to hell! And I’m a man what loves his work!” ROOAAROOOSSHHH!!! Fire erupted from the hateful horrors’ jaws at Slingshot! (20 points of damage, as per Vulnerability! 8 from Power. 12 off Hits.) Slingshot was still not on fire!

Baron Samedi snapped at Demonoid, “Shut up, monster!” Then to Slingshot: “I warned ya, boy!” The voodoo master produced a small handmade doll from his coat pocket. Attached to it was a scrap of purple cloth that looked like it had been torn from Slingshot’s costume! A cigarette lighter appeared in his other hand. “I warned ya I did, aha ha ha ha!” he laughed as he set fire to the doll!

Slingshot felt intense heat as if invisible flames engulfed him! (18 points of damage, as per Vulnerability. Cannot be rolled with. All off hits! But Slingy retains consciousness!)

Soldier, after witnessing the devastating attacks on Slingshot, opened fire on Demonoid! BLAM! BLAM! Both bullets hit! Demonoid snarled as Soldier scanned the area with his thermal imager. He found that Mirage gave no heat signature! There was a human-shaped cold spot where Wraith is marked on the map! And everyone else was giving off a heat signature! Soldier reported this intelligence to Vanguard and moved up to help form the circle!

Symbiote also targetted Demonoid, trying to get him off Slingshot. "Hey, Ugloid!," he yelled at the Firebreathing Foe. "With that tongue I bet you'd be a hit with the ladies, if they could get past that trainwreck of a face!" With that, he unleashes a lightning bolt. SHAKOW!! The electricity struck Demonoid in his big twisted face and illuminated his entire inhuman skeleton for an instant! The savage hellion roared in pain and anger!

Superstition laughed coyly as electricity from Symbiote’s attack arced back at him wildly, and struck Symbiote as well! KER-ACK-KOW! (12 points of damage! 8 off Power. 4 off Hits!)

The Fallen did not bother standing. From the ground she launched herself upward upon her black, angel wings, hurling herself at Talon! The accursed blade barely missed him and she hissed, “Insolent mortal, I shall teach you respect!”

Zephyr, who was right next to Talon, gained altitude and then fired a wind blast down at the Fallen, driving her back to the ground with a crash of armor! CLANG! “Gee gruesome, you’re really earning your namesake today,” Zephyr said, beaming with pride that she had just got off a bonafide superhero zinger, in combat no less!

The Warlock watched Avatar charge him and said with steady determination from behind his cobalt shield, “Your fate is already sealed, Avatar! You will be broken, and your awesome power stripped from you. There is no escaping that. All you can do now is save the lives of your friends. Surrender to us, and we will spare them!” VOMMMmmmmm BOOM!! Blue energy exploded out from the Warlock’s forehead and formed a beam that struck Avatar’s chest! (17 points of damage! Roll with 4, take 13 off Hits)

Menagerie was released by Slingshot. In the form of Wolf, he raced through the battleground, hunting the scent of Mirage and the Wraith! The Wraith eluded his detection, but he believed he found Mirage! Menagerie picked up the scent of a nervous man floating 40-50’ above the battle! Unable to reach him, or to communicate this information (sorry Sentinel can’t pick up your thoughts), Wolf joined the mass attack on Demonoid! Barking and growling, the big wolf lunged at the hellish horror and sank his jaws deep into Demonoid’s shoulder! SNAP! Demonoid shook him off, and roared again, staggered now from the combined onslaught!

The Wraith silently drew more of Sentinel’s life force from him! (Lose 14 more Power Points!)

Sentinel threw insults at Mirage and charged him, Wraith, Demonoid and not Superstition! His hand-shaped energy construct ram passed harmlessly through Mirage and the Wraith! Both were insubstantial as ghosts! Superstition wasn’t targeted or affected, but the wounded Demonoid was pushed out of the battle area (and off the map, along with Sentinel!), cursing and conscious the entire way! Sentinel found that the mists reduced visibility at 100 feet, not that there was a wall of mist.
Away from the myriad energies of the battle, the beacon of justice detected an energy current that connected the Crimson Coven to something far beyond Sentinel’s energy range. The energy type was new, but reminded him of Avatar! Demonoid barked, “Come on, ya virgin. Let’s see how tough ya are!”

Le Fou laughed at Demonoid’s undignified departure. “Well, they’ve managed to carry off our trained gorilla.”

Mirage chuckled, “And not a moment too soon, for my tastes.” The mystical malefactor looked down and regarded the lupine Menagerie sardonically. “Although at times, the direct approach is what’s called for.” VWOOOM! Green flames leapt from Mirage’s hands and engulfed Menagerie! But the Wolf form was unharmed! The shamanic shapeshifter detected that this was merely an illusion!

Okmenhotep held his ankh aloft again and whispered more words that had not been heard by Men since the days of Ancient Egypt. A bolt of lightning fired from the ankh and struck Soldier unawares in the back! KABOOM!!! (24 points of damage, as per your Vulnerability! All off hits!) Soldier focused on Okmenhotep and saw his pulse hadn’t risen above a rested state. He seemed like a man contemplating well practiced chess moves.

Clone dogpiled Golem with ten of his bodies, representing nearly a ton of weight on the geologic juggernaut! “I am in needing of help here comrades!”
The remaining six Clones charged Baron Samedi and pummeled him through the webbing of Slingshot’s flesh net! POW! BAM! Two connected with punches! Two missed! One got possession of the Slingshot voodoo doll and extinguished its flames! And one wrested the skull topped cane from his hand! “Gimme dat, boy! Now you listen to me!” the injured Samedi demanded.

Slingshot said with a mirthless smile, "Cajun man, you might want to hear this instead. You have made a grave mistake by taking on Vanguard." Then the pliable powerhouse slungshot Baron Samedi into the sky! “No no no, wait!....” The skull-faced sorcerer’s protests and curses faded in the distance. (almost a mile of distance! He is off the map, and if he is human, will certainly die from the fall.)

The Golem stood up despite the Clone army that hung to him! The granite goliath pried one Clone off and threw him hard into the ground! RUNCH! (another Clone body unconscious)

Lightning Strike had been holding off, waiting for an opportune moment to attack. Now the electric avenger fired a blast of jagged electricity at the Golem! SHRA-KOW!! The bolt hit its mark, but its only effect was to attract the monolithic monster’s attention. The Golem methodically scanned the earth for a boulder or broken piece of architecture.

Plague began to reform his writhing, buzzing cloud-body as the scattered insects clustered again into a giant man shape!

The Witch spied Zephyr, who was the closest hero to her. The wretched old crone mumbled an ancient curse and pointed at Shelley!

Zephyr gasped in surprise! “Guys, something’s wrong. I can’t see. I.. I’m blind!”

To be continued!

OOC:
Replies/Actions for one round of combat please. Avatar gets two attacks, due to Heightened Speed.

Below is the 'End of Issue' Map, with continued thanks to Tom!!!
The map marks your placement, not which way you are facing. Also, Wraith is invisible, even tho placed on this map. Sentinel, Demonoid and Samedi are off the map, to the “north.”

Have fun!

Viva Vanguard!
Jeff



--------------------------

Current Conditions:
Avatar: Hit Points: 64, Power Points: 41, Manifesting: Heightened Strength and Speed
Clone: Bodies: 15, Hit Points: 1 each, Power Points: 40, Hit Pool: 15
Lightning Strike: Hit Points: 36, Power Points: 65
Menagerie: Hit Points: 26, Power Points: 64
Sentinel: Hit Points: 19, Power Points: 20, Shields: 40
Slingshot: Hit Points: 44, Power Points: 75, Invulnerability: 0 til issue 123
Soldier: Hit Points: 29, Power Points: 75, Invulnerability: 0 til issue 123, Evading til 123
Symbiote: Hit Points: 30, Power Points: 81, Charges: 13, Copied: Strike
Talon: Hit Points: 45, Power Points: 62
Zephyr: Hit Points: 13, Power Points: 60, Charges: 12, Armor: 25, Blind!

--------------------------------------------------

Menagerie:
[OOC] please tell me Superstitions position in relation to the ground (ie. standing, floating 4 feet off ground, flying 20 feet of ground).

Thanks
Tom

--------------------------------------------------

Avatar:
Sorry for no repartee, but Avatar will grimly plow into Warlock with his sword. Since energy came from Warlock to Avatar, it's obvious that he should be where he appears. Avatar will merely attack like the Stoic that he is.

"Why do you seek your own doom?", Avatar responds, hopefully at least matching the damage that Warlock did to him with the deadly sword forged with the skill of Hephaestus and guided by the strength and skill of Ares.

--------------------------------------------------

Slingshot:
[ooc] Sometimes the player doesn't think through the repercussions of the character's actions. Slingshot certainly would not have slungshot a human that high or that far. [/ooc]

Scott feels sickened by his actions, but through the sting of the pain, he reacted without thinking through the consequences. On the other hand, he might be able to use this as a bluff. He turns to Demonoid and his features exaggerated snarls his reply, "How do you feel about getting a little closer to heaven too?"

[depending on the talk back (if any) I'll take my actions]

--------------------------------------------------

GM:
Tom, Superstition is levitating 4 feet above the ground. Stephane, Demonoid was pushed 30 feet beyond the northern end of the map by Sentinel. Did you want to bluff another Coven member, or close with Demonoid? Thanks. Also if Slingy is that heartsick, he could slingshot himself after Samedi. He'll be flying/falling a long time. JBest,Jeff

--------------------------------------------------

Slingshot:
Yeah. I really should learn to read the whole thing before replying.. Here's what I would like to do, let me know if I can pull it off.

Scott feels sickened by his actions, but through the sting of the pain, he reacted without thinking through the consequences. "Can't believe that I've just did that!" He says to Soldier, "They are setup to attack our weaknesses! I can handle electricity well, help Clone or someone else. I have to go after the Cajun."

Slingshot grabs at a column in his patented move. He looks at Okmenhotep, "You and I, let's fly." He throws his other arm at the Egyptian in an attempt to entangle him and then launches himself in the air after Samedi.

[ooc]So, an action (grab) and a move (slingshot after Samedi).

Next round, grab Samedi (Assuming I'm close enough) drop them both in a pond or something and fly back.[/ooc]

--------------------------------------------------

Menagerie:
Menagerie stares at Mirage and snarls. Then with a quick spin Menagerie focuses his senses and will on Superstition. He sprints and leaps at Superstition. He is attempting to hit the torso. He will bite down and hope his weight and momentum will drive Superstition to the ground.

Regards,
Tom

PS: [OOC] What is the distance from Superstition to the Witch?

--------------------------------------------------

Clone:
Clone is getting frustrated with The Golem at this point, and is getting annoyed with the other members of The Crimson Coven bopping him over the head with canes, staffs and sticks. Time to take out the trash! The two unconscious duplicates will be reabsorbed back into the collective. One of the Clone’s standing in front of The Golem will charge him head-on and let loose a mighty battle scream, “YYeeeaahhh!!!”. He will attempt to jump onto the front of the stony giant and do his best to block his eye sight ( with his body, his hands, etc . . . whatever works essentially ) in order to keep him from seeing what the other Clone’s are about to do with him . . . The remaining duplicates will once again ‘bum-rush’ the earthen juggernaut in an attempt to topple him over for the second time. There is a twist though – they’re trying to knock him down in the direction of Le Fou! They’re hoping that their wolf-pack tactics will take out two birds with one stone . . . one really, really big stone. With any luck the ‘duplicating mob of dog piling mayhem’ will also be able to reabsorb the Clone attached to the front of The Golem before he gets crushed as well ( OOC which hopefully will also slightly increase the Hit Points of the other duplicates – hopefully ).
As with Baron Samedi, if Le Fou’s short staff falls from his hand one of the Clone’s will try to pick it up. If the duplicates still have any actions remaining after this attack they will start hammering away at Le Fou and The Golem with the chucks of marble that they picked up from the ground and the skull topped cane of Baron Samedi, and the short staff of Le Fou if one of them was able to grab it. The last two attacks ( with the cane and staff ) will be reserved for The Golem.

OOC:
I have to say – it feels REALLY great to be able to finally cut loose with Clone. Next time Clone levels up I’m definitely going to have to take that Telepathic Link we discussed last time Jeff – so if you want to start working it into the story line slowly to show its slow progression into a full fledged ability ( with my next level advancement ), by all means go for it. Also – if my little ‘wolf-pack / two birds with one stone’ tactic requires a Luck Point or something to successfully execute I would like to do so – I really want to see this move come off. I would love to see the expression on both their faces ( in slow motion ) as Golem comes toppling down upon Le Fou – that would just be too comical lol. Le Fou’s jaw hitting the ground as Golem’s shadow grows over him, and Golem’s ‘oh no!’ expression as he realizes just moments before he makes contact ( since one of the duplicates was intentionally blocking his view ) with the terrified Le Fou. I do have a question about that little maneuver, Jeff – if the Clone’s do manage to squash Le Fou with The Golem, will Le Fou be taking damage based solely on The Golems weight or the combined weight of The Golem and the horde of Clones attached to him? I ask because the duplicates definitely intend to ride the ‘big man’ all the way down in order to increase the damage done to Le Fou. If the duplicates get the impression that their combined weight won’t add to the damage that Le Fou would take, then they won’t bother going along for the ride – after all, why risk getting hurt if it won’t make a difference to the out come of the attack.
Talk to you all soon, -Kev

--------------------------------------------------

GM:
OOC Replies:

Stephane/Slingshot: Cool. If there is no body of water, I assume the best possible soft landing without slowing you down/costing an action?

Tom/Menagerie: Superstition is ~25 feet from the Witch.

Kevin/Clone: Gotcha. Only the Clones that will cause damage to Le Fou will ride Golem down if he topples.

Thanks.

Best,
Jeff

--------------------------------------------------

Slingshot:
Yes, but something wet would be nice. I'm not opposed to manure either. I like to add a little insult to the injury.

--------------------------------------------------

Symbiote:
Hal immediately perked up, ready to zap the bejeezus out of The Witch upon hearing about his sister's blindness...

...but then he remembered. While wearing that windsuit, Shelly didn't necessarily have to rely on her eyes. Probably she was startled to suddenly lose her sight, yes, but she was also putting on a show of weakness for the Coven so she could surprise attack one of them. Time to trust that she knows what she's doing, Hal. No matter how much it hurts, the Superheroic Simulator thought to himself. He could only pray that the blindness was temporary.

Besides, these distance attacks weren't working out so well, at least while Mirage (or whoever was responsible) was redirecting them back at the team. And there was another opponent that he might do more damage against.

Symbiote move is to throw a lightning bolt at Black Dragon (this "Iron Fist" power he appears to be about to manifest looks like it won't be pretty).

Viva Vanguard,
Greg

--------------------------------------------------

Menagerie:
Menagerie stares at Mirage and snarls. Then with a quick spin Menagerie focuses his senses and will on Superstition. He sprints and leaps at Superstition. He is attempting to hit the torso. He will bite down and hope his weight and momentum will drive Superstition to the ground.

[OOC] If PCs and NPCs acting before Menagerie makes it impractial to attack Superstition, then Menagerie priority of attacks are Witch, Warlock, and Le Fou.

Thanks
Tom

--------------------------------------------------

Sentinel:
A good weekend to all, here is Sentinel's post:

If anything surprised Kirk at this moment it was the continued attack and drain from the Wraith, he thought for sure if something like this was possible his energy senses would have alerted him, but he was wrong and it was costing him big time. He could sense his power all but gone and unless he broke that link he had only seconds of energy left and he could only guess what would happen to him beyond that. He turned his energy senses inward trying to isolate the presence of that putrid unnatural energy of the Wraith clinging to him like a parasite.

Kirk suppressed his panic with needed detachment and conveyed necessary intel to Vanguard. “The mists around us are not a wall and do not demarcate the ending or barrier encapsuling the area we have been brought to. I’m past them. I’ve detected an energy current connecting the Crimson Coven to something currently beyond my range … but with an energy type close to that of Avatar… ‘Avatar, apparently you and the source of your powers ARE the key to EVERYTHING happening here.’ I’m going to track that trail to its source.”

Kirk then turned his attention towards Demonoid knowing he had no time to waste with him. He took a superior tone of suppressed annoyance like a busy New Yorker brushing off the efforts of someone trying to solicit them in the street as they walked. “You haven’t been charged with sending my soul anywhere creature, and I wouldn’t want you to get in any trouble with your ‘masters’ so I’ll do you a favor,” and with that, Kirk’s energy pushing Demonoid formed back into a hand-like construct with the fingers performing a ‘flicking’ motion sending him careening into the distance, ridding himself of Demonoid’s presence like one would a crushed insect, and Kirk added, “and with all of your vaunted posturing I know what you truly are at your core and I find you to be a little man and I pity you.”

Kirk picked up his transmission to Vanguard this time with a tone of scientific detachment along the lines they’d expect of Hal describing an experiment he was witnessing, “Wraith has a continued energy lock on me which is draining my power. I’m working on cutting the flow. Beware his touch.”

Attempted actions:

Regarding Demonoid:
Kirk will continue flying towards the energy source at his current ‘top speed’. He will use any movement from the end of the last round to make sure that Demonoid is as far a distance as possible away from Kirk hoping to distance himself from the range of Demonoid’s attack before it hits. If Kirk gets a lock on the source of the Avatar like energy and it is within his travel distance at this point and the source appears to be a physical thing (device, physical presence of a cast spell, being) Kirk will flick Demonoid at it trying to disrupt it. If it appears that Kirk won’t be in range this turn, then he will flick Demonoid off into the distance in another direction away from both Vanguard and the source of the energy hoping that the damage from the flicking and fall, along with everything the team hit him with, will knock him out and if not, put him so far away that he will be out of the battle. He wants to be sure that he doesn’t have another ‘round’ with Demonoid near him as a threat.

Regarding Wraith’s ongoing attack:
Kirk’s approach here will be two-fold. First, he is hoping that his flight towards the energy source will get him out of the range of Wraith’s attack severing the link. Second, if he can sense the flow of energy leaving him, likely intermixed with the dark energy of Wraith, he will try to contain it from leaving him with his shields. If his shields can keep energy attacks from coming inward, he is hoping that now that he is aware of it, he can use them to contain the energy from leaving him and continue to draw upon it. I’m not sure if you allow something along those lines not knowing how Wraith’s power works, but at this point given that Kirk couldn’t physically touch Wraith with his energy (and I was hoping that Kirk’s energy would have interacted with Wraith’s energy allowing it) to take the battle to him, I’m grasping for anything here to keep Kirk going.

After ridding himself of Demonoid (hopefully), Kirk will continue to fly at top speed towards the source of energy but he will lower himself to flying just above ground level so that if he loses the balance of his power his fall will be minimal (and about the only benefit of the power drain would be the speed of his flight will also have disappeared with the loss of his power so his actual fall should produce little to no damage).

If Kirk rids himself of Demonoid before reaching the energy source, but does reach the source, and it is something he can disrupt, he would use movement with whatever means possible to do so.

Best,
Seth

--------------------------------------------------

Soldier:
Okay, after much procrastination on my part, here's Solder's reply.
After making his scan, and relaying the information on target’s to his teammates, Soldier will move to help sure up the circle, while looking for any targets of opportunity (he’ll save his action to either defend himself, or fire on one of the Crimson Coven villains if a target presents itself).

Upon hearing The Witch utter her curse, he’ll attempt to shield Zephyr from any attacks, by placing himself in the Witch’s direct line of sight. “Zephyr, I’ve got you, just stand where you’re at for a second.” He’ll then attempt to make a special attack targeting the Witch’s mouth with one of his Disruptor rounds. “Try chewing on this you old hag!” (He’s not trying to be brutal, or vindictive, but at the moment he needs to ensure that she’s taken out, and a round in the mouth should immediately incapacitate her).

If he’s unable to get a clear shot at her face, he’ll still fire on her, as he considers her the greatest threat at the moment. As he does so, he thinks to himself, “We’ve got to get organized. If we don’t they’ll pick us off one by one.”

If the shot is successful, he’ll attempt to move in closer to Zephyr and continue to take well paced shots at any target that presents itself, or providing cover for anyone who needs assistance. If his special attack misses, he’ll fire one of his explosive rounds at her can, as long as it won’t endanger the other members, hoping to break hear concentration, and keep her fixated on him.

--------------------------------------------------

Talon:
Talon will try to attack The Fallen before she has a chance to recover. He'll use the momentum gained from his flight to drive her backward then rake at her with his claws.

If she is able to right herself he will use his speed and agility in flight to avoid her sword and strike at her when the opportunity presents itself.

Thanks,
Denny

--------------------------------------------------

Lightning Strike:
Strike is beginning to get pissed off over his lack of effectiveness. It is time to kick ass!!!

Seeing that Demonoid was affected by a lightning blast, Strike takes the opportunity to light him up again, hopefully taking him out of action. After the attack, Strike will look aound for any conductors so that he can take electrical form and move to a more advantageous attacking position.

Take care all,
Tony

Monday, October 25, 2010

Vanguard: Issue 121: In the Clutches of the Crimson Coven!


Vanguard broke free from a nightmare reality of madness and powerlessness into an otherworldly landscape of broken marble ruins beneath a red sky. Surrounded by shattered columns and crumbling statues of long dead gods and heroes; sightless eyes and passive faces gazing out from antiquity into infinity. Beyond the full moon were other worlds, other galaxies.

Surrounding Vanguard was a circle of figures that stood facing Vanguard with arms outstretched, as if in a ritual. Beyond them lay the howling landscape and then a pale, eerie mist that obscured visibility beyond a hundred feet.

“Impossible!” they heard a man’s voice whisper.
“They’ve pierced the nightmare illusion!” gasped another.
“Warlock, they’ll be able to see us!” hissed an old woman’s voice.
“Silence. Calm yourselves. They still don’t know where they are. We have the advantage,” said a female voice in a French accent.
“Superstition is right,” said the one called Warlock. “I want the so-called Avatar brought to me alive,” he commanded. “The rest we will sacrifice. Now attack, my Crimson Coven!”

Sentinel cried, "Vanguard, they want Avatar, let's make sure that doesn't happen!" Vanguard leapt into action without missing a beat!

Mirage spat, “We’re not your anything, Warlock.” He sounded English. Then he said, as if to himself: “Bloody Impossible! I had them trapped by their own minds, How did they escape?!”

Demonoid chuckled wetly and blackly. “Craven coward. This arrangement suits me better anyway. They broke your precious spell…” His sardonic laughter gave way to a guttural roar fuelled by pure malice.
“I GUESS WE’VE NO CHOICE BUT TO BREAK THEIR SPINES!”

Black Dragon was silent and fast. He jumped into the air and his body rotated and spun, building velocity that was released in an impossible spinning roundhouse kick into Sentinel - CHOK! - before the beacon of liberty could raise his shields! (15 points of damage! 6 from Power, 9 from Hits!)
His cape swirling, the mystic master of martial arts seemingly defied gravity until he landed without a sound in a defensive stance facing Sentinel!

Talon gathered his senses and used his powerful wings to widen the tight circle, driving the Crimson Coven back to buy Vanguard more time to prepare! At the end of his circular barnstorming, the avian antihero attacked Black Dragon with his claws and missed! The Dragon dodged the attack, expertly misdirecting with his cape. He allowed himself a small smile that passed quickly.

Le Fou laughed madly, cartwheeling backwards from Talon’s divebombing. The freakish dwarf smiled with his whole face and said, “Coven, the longer this battle lasts, the worse our chances become. Nip it now before it has time to flourish.”

Avatar’s subtle powers bolstered his teammates’ morale despite disorientation, the mysterious terrain and being outnumbered! The myrmidon of mythology manifested the power of Ares (Activates Heightened Strength) and got on his feet.

Warlock marveled, “It’s true then. He is the Avatar of the Pantheon.” His eyes were filled with naked avarice, as were those of Mirage, Demonoid, the Witch, Le Fou and Baron Samedi.

Demonoid turned his baleful reptile eyes from Avatar to Slingshot, whom he had been standing over. VRUF!! Flames suddenly leapt from the demon’s maw in a jet of acrid yellow! “Don’t like that do you huh?” he chuffed. “Well, we know all about you lively lads. Ha ha ha! Howzabout a little fire scarecrow?!” VWOOOSSHHH!! Flames engulfed the malleable man of might! (22 points of damage, as per Vulnerability! 8 from Invulnerability. 9 from Power. 5 off Hits.) Slingshot was not on fire.

Mirage clucked, “Ah Demonoid, ever the subtle one. There’s no need to show our entire hand, is there?”

Baron Samedi, the skeletal houngan of Death laughed with Cajun mirth. “You @!&%$* fools have no idea the trouble you have wandered into! We’re not threatening your pathetic pointless lives -NO! We are threatening your @!&%$* immortal souls! Now ask yourself, who could be worth so dear a price?”
Suddenly he cracked Clone in the head with his skull topped cane! KRAK! “Listen to me boy, when I am talking! Haha ha ha!” (Clone takes 10 points of damage! 6 from Power, 4 from Hits)

Soldier evaded and coolly surveyed his battle field, his hands unconsciously checking his gear and weapons. It was all there. All cybernetic systems were up and running.
Soldier saw the terrain ranged from hazardous to deadly; cracked masonry and unsound structures scattered the stony ground. He also noted the enemy forces moved without organization. That, and their diverse accents, made the taciturn tactician think that perhaps these combatants had never fought alongside each other before. It was even possible that they may have only known each other for a very brief time.

Lightning Strike lit the scarlet sky with crackling electricity SHAKABOOM!! "Let's see how your mind games work against primal forces beyond your control!" The electrical avenger fired a blast at Superstition, only to watch the arc warp away from her and hit the unsuspecting Symbiote who had been moving toward Strike! SHAKOW! (13 points of damage! All off hits!) Symbiote was still conscious!

Superstition smiled impishly. “Careful, monsuier. I believe it iz you who are playing vis primal forcez beyond your control.”

Symbiote shook off the effects of his unexpected electrocution. "Sit rep, Zephyr! What the hell is going on here?" he shouted at her as he continued toward Lightning Strike to absorb his powers. Strike exposed his arm to Hals’ glove and the Harper Harness activated! It replicated the following powers!
1) Transformation: May transform into Sentient Electricity: Costs 8 power points and one action. Changing back costs nothing. Bestows: a) Near-instantaneous travel, almost like Teleportation. Can only travel via wires or transmitted waves (cell phones, radio, TV, etc.). Will burn out devices not meant to receive electricity.b) Non-Corporealness defense.
2) Lightning Control: May control electricity. As an attack: Range: 36” (180 feet), 2d8 damage, PR=4. Electrical defense costs one action and no PP to activate. May attempt to control or short out electrical machinery, circuitry, etc. Costs 4 PP and one action per attempt.
3) Heightened Intelligence: +15 to Intelligence


The Fallen’s armor, battle damaged, blackened and scarred, emanated pure evil, as did the cruel and accursed longsword she held. Her black wings flapped like the rustling of dead leaves as she took to the air, and from within the infinite blackness of the iron helm, the cold whisper of a damned woman’s voice hissed, “Leave Talon to me.” She charged her aerial adversary, the sword set to impale! ZANG! The icy sword pierced Talon’s side! (14 points of damage and an additional 10 points off Power! Rolling with damage, Talon takes a total of 18 to Power, and 6 to Hits!)
“This sword drinks souls,” she hissed. “There is no escape for you, mortal.”

The Warlock spoke again, betraying a subtle Russian accent. “This conflict can have but one resolution. How can you defy destiny herself?” Suddenly a translucent blue energy surrounded him! VOMMMmmmm!

The Wraith disappeared into thin air. Sentinel’s energy sense allowed him to still see the invisible specter as she raised her hand at Sentinel! The guardian of justice felt his life force drawn from him! (Lose 17 Power Points!) The Wraith’s undead energy reminded Sentinel of the Black Bat’s!

Okmenhotep held an ankh in one hand and spoke words that had not been heard by Men since the days of Ancient Egypt. (In the Vanguard comic book, these words are depicted as Egyptian hieroglyphs). The words summoned a beam of white light that projected from the ankh and pierced Lightning Strike! ZZSSIL! (14 points of damage. 7 from Power. 7 from Hits)

Sentinel summoned his energy shields and scanned the area with his energy sense. This place was like nowhere he’d been before. Furthermore, his foes deployed energy signatures too powerful and varied to count. Energies marked each foe. Energy bound the Coven together and had permeated Vanguard! Coven members were summoning new energies into being! It was overwhelming.
Kirk looked down and detected the energy of a pentagram circle that surrounded Vanguard, invisible to the naked eye!
Sentinel took to the air as his energy tendrils scratched out the pentagram circle. There was a brief flash as the connection was broken, and Kirk saw the circle’s energy, and the energy that permeated Vanguard, fade! At this, the Witch shrieked in rage!

The Witch peered with anguish from her one good eye. She snarled like a cornered animal and blessed herself with the twisted, gnarled claw that was her left hand.

Menagerie viewed the scene with his Nature Sense and found he was not on Earth. Perhaps it was another dimension entirely? All of the members of the Crimson Coven, being magical, were against the Natural Order. Menagerie could not see the pentagram circle but detected magic in his vicinity until Sentinel broke the circle.
None of the Coven seemed vulnerable to Nature, and the Wraith, Demonoid, the Fallen and Baron Samedi were abominations to Nature, being Undead or From Hell.
Menagerie assumed an animal shape! (Please choose which. Transformation takes your action. Thanks)

The Warlock said, “There is your shaman, Okmenhotep!”

Clone multiplied violently until there were 18 of him! Then he charged the Golem with bludgeons of broken marble! The Golem was nine feet tall and made of stone and earth! Clone’s charge seemed to have little effect against such a creature. But then suddenly the army of Davids toppled the granite Goliath, who had lost its balance. CRASH!

The Golem fell to the ground and roared out with a voice like an avalanche of stones on a slab of bedrock! He grabbed one Clone and crushed his ribcage with a bare hand! KRACK! (1 Clone body unconscious) Golem was Gulliver overwhelmed by Lilliputians, but just as invulnerable to their attacks!

Slingshot looked around for Nanite. He didn't find her anywhere in sight. A somewhat threatening amorphous growl, "How dare you take it away from me?" He flung his arms at the Coven. His arms grew to trunk-sized cords of writhing flesh. His fingers grew too, into tentacles that extended themselves impossibly long, grappling at Mirage, le Fou, Baron Samedi and Superstition!
The net of black flesh passed harmlessly through Mirage, as if he were a hologram! He chuckled with satisfaction, “I dare say, that will never do.”
Le Fou tumbled clear of Slingshot’s grasp!
The net meant for Superstition entangled Menagerie instead, like a netted animal! “Oops,” she smiled.
Baron Samedi was caught with Menagerie! “Let me go, you @#$%&! Or you’ll learn about pain!”

Plague, the giant, man-shaped insect swarm, buzzed and hissed and the drone of insect wings formed words that disturbed the mind to hear. “Van-guaaarrrd… Givvvvvve uzzz Av-a-tarrrr! And thizzz will be overrrrrr” The sentient cloud of winged pestilence descended upon Avatar and Soldier and engulfed them in writhing veil of stinging, biting insects! (Each takes 12 points of damage that cannot be rolled with! Avatar takes 12 off hits! Soldier takes 8 off Invulnerability and 4 off Hits!)

Zephyr yelled, “Get off of him!” and fired a gale force blast of wind at Plague! The insect cloud blew back and dissipated into individual insects that were scattered! The winsome windstormer said, “Geez!” Then, “Sit rep? Sit rep? Oh, situation report! No clue where we are, Ha- uh, Symbiote. I dreamed I was in an asylum and everything was different. Doc was there. But it wasn’t really him.”

Demonoid laughed blackly. “You’ll wish you were safely back in your little delusion when we get through with you, sweetheart!”

To be continued!

OOC:
Replies/Actions for one round of combat please.

Have fun!
Attached is the 'End of Issue' Map, with many thanks to Tom!!!
The map marks your placement, not which way you are facing. Also, Wraith is invisible, even tho placed on this map.

Viva Vanguard!
Jeff

--------------------------

Current Conditions:
Avatar: Hit Points: 77, Power Points: 71, Manifesting: Strength +15
Clone: Bodies: 17, Hit Points: 1 each, Power Points: 41, Hit Pool: 17
Lightning Strike: Hit Points: 36, Power Points: 70
Menagerie: Hit Points: 26, Power Points: 65
Sentinel: Hit Points: 19, Power Points: 35, Shields: 70
Slingshot: Hit Points: 74, Power Points: 83, Invulnerability: 0 til issue 123
Soldier: Hit Points: 53, Power Points: 78, Invulnerability: 0 til issue 123, Evading
Symbiote: Hit Points: 36, Power Points: 94, Charges: 13, Copied: Strike
Talon: Hit Points: 45, Power Points: 63
Zephyr: Hit Points: 13, Power Points: 62, Armor: 25



--------------------------------------------------

Menagerie:
Jeff, do you want the animal I changed into now, so you can put it into issue 121 or is it part of my turn submission for issue 122?

Great issue! I can't wait to get after the Crimson Coven!!.

Tom

--------------------------------------------------

GM:
It can be Issue 122 but sooner than later please so the other PCs know. Thanks,Jeff

--------------------------------------------------

Menagerie:
Menagerie transformed into a Wolf.

I don't know if we sent emails to talk strategy or not, but I wanted to do that. I think that Menagerie should use his heightened senses of smell and hearing to attack one of the wizards that showed signs of illusion or invisibility.

I was thinking of attacking Superstition or Mirage. What of does the rest of the team think?Clone now that you have toppled the Golem maybe some weaker targets are in order like Le Fou or Demonoid

Via Vanguard!!
Tom

Regards
Tom

--------------------------------------------------

Clone:
CLONE’S OOC RESPONSE Jeff - Does it seem like Clone’s attacks are even scratching Golem? I mean I realize that Golem probably has a high ADR, or Invulnerability, or SR, or something - so I wasn’t under the illusion that I would just step up and ‘one punch K-O’ him or anything, but if it seems like my attacks are completely useless against him I might just ‘jump ship’ and head for a different target.


TOM WROTE: Clone now that you have toppled the Golem maybe some weaker targets are in order like Le Fou or Demonoid RESPONSE: I would love to, but I have a feeling that all I’ve done is knock Golem off his feet. I don’t think I’ve done any actual damage to him yet. =O Talk to you all soon, -Kev

--------------------------------------------------

Menagerie:
MY RESPONSE to CLONE’S RESPONSE:
I didn't mean he was defeated. I was thinking of a turtle on his back. Hopefully it would take an action or two for the Golem to stand back up.

Tom

--------------------------------------------------

Soldier:
Well, this is Soldier's IC response."Form a circle, back toward each other, we need to form a defense now!" As far as who's attacking who, I'm open to suggestions.”

--------------------------------------------------

GM:
Clone seems to have caused little damage to Golem. He's hitting a rock with marble. This same tactic would massacre any normal person.
Btw, Be aware that a standing target might only allow 4-5 Clone attackers, giving the space involved. Those attacking from the side or rear gain standard bonuses.
Attacking a target on the floor, like the Golem, allows 5-6 attackers and awards bonuses to hit, and the target can't always roll with the damage.
Attacking a giant target, like the Golem, multiplies the number of possible attackers by his size factor (1.5 in the Golem's case)
Fyi, Last ish, 8 Clones tangled and tripped the Golem up and toppled him, then 10 attacked him/jumped on top of him while he was on his back. (Dogpiling allows more attackers to jump on top of him, but the guys on top of the pile are adding weight not HTH damage to the target, if that makes sense)
Best,
Jeff

--------------------------------------------------

Slingshot:
OOC:
I "wasted" an attack on purpose. I wanted to check who was real and who wasn't.

Guys, we are going to need help tracking down the Coven's real locations. Sentinel's mental skills should help as well as anyone that has some form or heightened sense. I'll smack Baron Samedi, next round, but I'll likely try to grab a bunch more the following round.

I need someone to occupy Demonoid. I don't last long with fire attacks.

--------------------------------------------------

Soldier:
Well between Soldier's enhanced senses, he should be able to direct others onto actual targets, especially with his thermal vision.

Jeff, quick question. Did I get my upgrade? Namely the Wi-Fi link. If so, I'm going to see if I can dig up any info on these guys. I'm also going to use my Thermal vision to determine who's real, and who isn't. I'll hold off until I can figure out who's who, and I who's the greatest threat to the group.

--------------------------------------------------

Clone:
I have another question for you Jeff, is the edge of the map the edge of the mist that we can’t see through ( sortt of like a heavy fog covering the ground ), or is it a ledge type of thing? Just wanted to make sure before I made up my IC Response for this issue.


JEFF WROTE: Clone seems to have caused little damage to Golem. He's hitting a rock with marble. This same tactic would massacre any normal person.

RESPONSE: Damn – I figured as much – thanks for the heads-up Jeff. I’m actually beginning to wonder if it’s Golem I’m actually attacking or just another illusion ( maybe an illusion of Golem placed over one of those stone statues ) – OR – are my melee attacks with a rock, against a rock based entity, simply an act of futility.

JEFF WROTE: Btw, Be aware that a standing target might only allow 4-5 Clone attackers, giving the space involved. Those attacking from the side or rear gain standard bonuses….

RESPONSE: OK – cool – thanks again for that Jeff, that actually really helps to know all of that. Talk to you all soon, -Kev

--------------------------------------------------

Symbiote:
Per Soldier's suggestion, Symbiote falls back into a circle. His target is still Demonoid, trying to get him off Slingshot. "Hey, Ugloid!," he yells at the Firebreathing Foe. "With that tongue I bet you'd be a hit with the ladies, if they could get past that trainwreck of a face!" With that, he unleashes a lightning bolt.

--------------------------------------------------

GM:
Soldier, your Wi-Fi link was installed last downtime and is working, but it can't detect any wireless networks here!Use of your Heightened Senses will occur on your action, next ish.
If it will help decide who you target, please give me some basic if-then statements;example: Soldier is attacking Demonoid, assuming he has a thermal signature that indicates he's real.
If you shout out your findings from the Heightened Senses use, please let me know that too.
Thanks.

Clone, the map edge doesn't reflect the mist placement. In fact, the mist is all around, right outside the circle the Coven had formed. The mist causes visibility to be one hundred feet.

--------------------------------------------------

Menagerie:
Menagerie focus his thoughts toward Sentinel, hoping Sentinel will pick them up, "I will, grr, to find Mirage by smell and sound. With him disabled, attacks from distance should be easier for the rest of Vanguard. growl, permission to proceed."

Regards
Tom

--------------------------------------------------

Sentinel:
Hi everyone. I put the stuff from the issue in [] to separate it from Kirk's stuff, but wanted it there so Kirk's thoughts and actions follow and make sense.


[Le Fou laughed madly’’ … and said, “Coven, the longer this battle lasts, the worse our chances become. Nip it now before it has time to flourish.”]

Kirk caught Le Fou’s concern and wondered how prolonging the battle increased Vanguard’s chances of victory.

[Black Dragon was silent and fast. He jumped into the air and his body rotated and spun, building velocity that was released in an impossible spinning roundhouse kick into Sentinel - CHOK! - before the beacon of liberty could raise his shields! (15 points of damage! 6 from Power, 9 from Hits!)
His cape swirling, the mystic master of martial arts seemingly defied gravity until he landed without a sound in a defensive stance facing Sentinel!]

[The Wraith disappeared into thin air. Sentinel’s energy sense allowed him to still see the invisible specter as she raised her hand at Sentinel! The guardian of justice felt his life force drawn from him! (Lose 17 Power Points!) The Wraith’s undead energy reminded Sentinel of the Black Bat’s!]

Kirk could hardly believe it. He felt as if he had been cut down before he could even move.
He accessed his situation and the power he could summon after the devastating attacks, particularly that of The Wraith. In his estimate he felt himself at about half where he should be … before … he … could … even … move.

Had he been himself, he would have gladly kept the Black Dragon occupied as his blows harmlessly glanced off Kirk’s shields; he no longer had that luxury. Normally he would have crossed his legs casually sitting mid-air meeting the glance of the Black Dragon in defiance. Instead he quickly moved past him and out of his range.

(OOC: Jeff: I think I do have some movement on my Issue 121 action, Kirk will ignore the Black Dragon as if he isn’t there and move past him. If he wants to attack Kirk again he will have to pursue him.)

[Sentinel summoned his energy shields and scanned the area with his energy sense. This place was like nowhere he’d been before. Furthermore, his foes deployed energy signatures too powerful and varied to count. Energies marked each foe. Energy bound the Coven together and had permeated Vanguard! Coven members were summoning new energies into being! It was overwhelming.
Kirk looked down and detected the energy of a pentagram circle that surrounded Vanguard, invisible to the naked eye!
Sentinel took to the air as his energy tendrils scratched out the pentagram circle. There was a brief flash as the connection was broken, and Kirk saw the circle’s energy, and the energy that permeated Vanguard, fade! At this, the Witch shrieked in rage!]

Kirk did his best to sort through the kaleidoscope that was currently his energy sense continuing to look for an edge for Vanguard. He tried to sort and observe things as best he could. But with so much happening so quickly, he began to try to focus on their environment; this world around them which he knew was not earth. Just how did they all get there together at that place without any of them knowing how? And what was beyond that mist?

OOC: Regarding this energy sense – Kirk will try to see if the environment itself shows any reading that might be a ‘gateway’ of sorts as to how they got here. Vanguard may need this as a retreat if there is one and based on the first round of battle.

Unless Kirk picks up something to convince him it’s not going to work, he wants to push one of the Coven though the Mist per my prior plan and see what happens. Unless you tell me it will really mess up my chances of getting anyone, he would go with trying to expand his energy and push a group of them. With the current layout there appears to be a group of them ‘above’ him including Wraith, Mirage, Demonoid, and Superstition… again, I know the positioning may change greatly by the time Kirk goes, but he would be happy going after any of them nearby and tagging just one, anything more would be a bonus.

Using the same strategy of misdirection he would fly towards and address Mirage who admitted that he was the one who had messed with their minds… he’s also at the center of the group… then per the prior directions, he would try to expand the first into a hand into a construct to push and pull them along using his own speed and movement and that of his construct.

[Mirage spat, “We’re not your anything, Warlock.” He sounded English. Then he said, as if to himself: “Bloody Impossible! I had them trapped by their own minds, How did they escape?!”]

“You’ll find ‘mate’, that with Vanguard nothing is bloody impossible.” And Kirk continued to speak now doing an awful British accent, “And you be sure to ‘hop to it’ for Warlock now, wouldn’t want to let your master down, would you? Wouldn’t want him to make you hop the twig, eh wot?”

(OOC: Kirk picked up on the fact that Mirage resents Warlock whom at least some of the others did ‘answer to’ and hopes to play off that and figures some insulting banter couldn’t hurt in making him angry and careless)

On the pushing attack, again Kirk will take anyone nearby if he can get them – if somehow he ensnares a teammate, he can control his energy enough to let them loose.

Two things on this:
(1) His primary target will be The Wraith. He is closest to Mirage and thinks he is unseen at this point but you established Kirk can sense him with his energy, so Kirk should benefit because he isn’t expecting it due to Kirk’s concealing his type of attack until the last moment and also because he thinks he is unseen by everyone including Kirk. Also, at this point, Kirk knows he is BAD news and that likely the rest of his teammates would be defenseless against him, so he is the primary target. Plus from a character standpoint, he HATES that undead energy (we established that with Black Bat) and his attack really hurt Kirk bad.
(2) If Superstition is within range of the attack, Kirk will specifically try to AVOID his energy attacking her and catching her in the ‘push’. At this point he’s seen direct attacks of two teammates go awry because of her. He’s hoping that if somehow she gets involved in his actions his attempt to successfully avoid her would actually reverse his intent and catch her.

Again, the positioning may change much by Kirk’s movement – he will do his best to entrap any foes he can and avoid his teammates and use the misdirection. The primary target will be the Wraith and if there are a few foes near him not currently engaged by other teammates he would go for those… and hopefully when Kirk misses a number of the Coven in his attempt, it may help his teammates success with the Coven members in their attacks because they’ll be focused on avoiding Kirk's ensnaring construct.

Hope this is clear Jeff, if not, or if I’m trying too much in ‘game terms’, let me know.

(Totally OOC – Wow 23 characters! When I first ‘saw’ the Coven I thought we’re outnumbered two to one, but I forgot how many of Vanguard there are now

--------------------------------------------------

Soldier:
Just in case I forgot to send this out earlier. Soldier is "switched on" concentrating on the battle, and making sure that none of his teammates get injured. He wants this over as quickly as possible. He'll use his heightened senses to scan the area looking for targets, as he sees them he'll yell out to his fellow team members, using clock positions (target at 12 O'clock high, three O'clock low, etc), to describe the targets location. He'll evade while doing so, saving his actions to defend himself, or to fire on "targets of opportunity (someone turning their back toward him, coming into point blank range, not paying attention to where Soldier's at, etc.).

If possible he'll try to coordinate an attack with someone, say some sort of one, two punch where their combined efforts will inflict more damage on one their attackers. As for his thoughts, he's really not "thinking", it's more reflex action, and muscle memory at this point. His body will do what it thinks is necessary to keep him alive, it's almost machine like (which once he has a chance to sit down and think about his actions, will bother him).

--------------------------------------------------

Avatar:
Avatar will now activate Heightened Speed. He will still target The Warlock with any future attacks unless he is attacked by someone else.

"εδώ είμαι!", Avatar cries as he draws upon the divine speed and flashes toward The Warlock.

--------------------------------------------------

Menagerie:
[OOC] Menagerie will move out of Slingshots grasp. He use his wolf senses to attempt to find the hidden locations of Mirage and Wraith. If he is successful, he will attack who he has found.

If he finds more than one, he will attack the Mirage first. If he can’t tell who he has found he will attack the closest first.

If he finds no one then he will attack Demonoid.

[IC] GROWL!!!!

--------------------------------------------------

Sentinel:
OOC

It seems that Menagerie and I will be 'working' the same general area. If some coordination can work in their attack, Kirk would do what he could. Some examples might be Kirk's attack distracting the foe for Menagerie (mentioned in my post) to get a better chance of an attack or if Kirk is successful in his 'pushing' and Menagerie wants to hitch a ride on Kirk's shields to attack and possibly assist pushing the foes past the mist if needed.

Of course, at this point, we're still unsure if the mists are anything significant as Kirk is hoping... unless Menagerie's 'mystical' read kicks in as Kirk gets closer enough to gave his energy sense give a better read too.

Also, FYI Tom, unless Jeff allows something out of the ordinary normally Sentinel doesn't pickup on random thoughts. Usually his power requires an action to activate and targets a specific individual ... although Jeff has used it as a plot device for very strong thoughts at least once.

Best,
Seth

--------------------------------------------------

Menagerie:
OOC: I know that Sentinel's power isn't full telepathy. While it is still a year away, I know Menagerie's next level power will be the ability to send thoughts from his animal forms. I just wanted to get in various issues, Menagerie attempting this until he figures out how to do it. Also, it made sense to me, Sentinel would be the person to help bring the ability out of Menagerie.

Jeff can use or ignore Menagerie attempts at sending, whichever makes the best issue.

Thanks
Tom

--------------------------------------------------

Sentinel:
OOC:
Sounds good to me.

Hopefully round two of the battle will see the Coven take some damage - as round one crushed Kirk pretty bad and it seemed most of what Vanguard did was ineffectual (most of us 'gearing' up our powers and those that did attack having things go awry) and with them outnumbering us, unless some stuff goes our way quickly, we are in big trouble here.

Wish Clone's goat 'brother' was here to help :) ... we could use it. Where's the Legion of Vanguard Super-Pets when you need them?!

Seth

--------------------------------------------------

Menagerie:
I agree on coordination. I expect Sentinel has first action (since I am detecting hidden) and moves faster (flying vs running). So Menagerie will trail after Sentinel. If any of the Coven escape Sentinel's attack but are knocked down, Menagerie will jump on them with his attack. Again attack priority is Mirage, Wraith, Demoniod, and any other coven member.
Thanks
Tom

--------------------------------------------------

Soldier:
If possible, Soldier's going to try to join in this coordinated attack, as it's apparent to him that individual attacks just aren't cutting it.

--------------------------------------------------

Clone:
I hate to give such an unimaginative response, but unfortunately that what I’m going to do.

1. The unconscious Clone will be reabsorbed.

2. After checking the map carefully – it seems like we would could have a small area of it to ourselves if we could just take out Baron Samedi and Golem . . . so that’s just what I’m going to do. ;)

3. Ten of the remaining Clone’s will drop their rocks and focus on holding down Golem. Any Clones that can’t find a spot to hold onto will simply ‘dogpile’ on top. While the duplicates struggle with holding down Golem, one of them will blurt out loudly, “I am in needing of help here comrades!” Hopefully someone will be able to swing over and pulverize his rocky @$$!

4. The other six Clones are going to charge over to Baron Samedi and give him a little taste of what Golem got. Any of the duplicates that can’t attack him will simply ‘dogpile’ on top after the others have gotten in their attacks ( still armed with marble stones ). If there is a chance to get his skull topped cane away from him, the duplicates will take it.

OOC: Count me in for a unified attack . . . right after Baron Samedi and Golem get their heads handed to ‘em. I figure by taking them out of the picture we’ll essentially limit the number of fronts that we’re fighting on and have a small area ( like I already mentioned ) all to ourselves from which we could push outward from.

Talk to you all soon,

-Kev

--------------------------------------------------

Slingshot:
Scott was a little miffed at how unsuccessful his attack was, but he might as well make the most of it. He releases Menagerie and answers Baron Samedi's diatribe with a mirthless smile. "Cajun man, you might want to hear this instead. You have made a grave mistake by taking on Vanguard."

With that, Slingshot winds up and slingshots Baron Samedi as far as he can. In this landscape, that might mean nasty repercussions, but then Scott doesn't take well to have his soul threatened.

[OOC: Fling as far away as possible. I want him out of bounds and hopefully far enough away that if we won't have to deal with him for a few turns as he gets back, assuming that he can]

--------------------------------------------------

Talon:
"Aarrgghhh!", Talon growls as he recoils from The Fallen's black blade. Turning to square his body with hers he uses his powerful wings to drive forward, closing the distance between the two and attempting to trap her arms.

Without stopping his flight, he will turn and build momentum as they hurtle back toward the ground with her(hopefully) held tight in his grasp.

As they near the fight he will make an abrupt stop and throw her headlong into Warlock, hopefully ruining his combat preparation and taking them out of the fight until they can regain their composure.

He will then set upon her with his claws and work in tandem with Avatar against the two opponents.

Viva Vanguard,
Denny

--------------------------------------------------

Lightning Strike:
Just got back from work and I have not had a chance to read all of the posts. In the interests of keeping the game moving Strike will attack the biggest opponent that seems real. I think that would be the one that Clone knocked down.

Better replies soon,
Tony