Blood of Heroes - A 3rd Edition Mutants and Masterminds Campaign Setting
Earth, 2021. An alien race known as the Skree has ruled over the planet for the past 20 years, subjecting the local populace to the sadistic whims of their most brutal reign. True heroes have been all but eradicated during the Skree Invasion of 1999-2001. That or they have fallen prey to the Skree's corruptive influence and mind-altering technology. Those heroes that still survive, do so either in reclusive hiding or by battling one another in gladiator-like fashion as the Skree's amusement. Now after twenty years of servitude, a new breed of heroes are slowly starting to emerge. Fed up with the decadence that now surrounds them and fueled by their own personal desires, these young heroes have decided to try and make a stand for humanity, once and for all.
Does this new breed of heroes have what it takes to rise up against the Skree and take back their homeworld? Are they capable of breaking the shackles of oppression that bind them to a life of unwavering servitude? Time shall tell True Believers, to see whether or not these few elite individuals truly possess...the Blood of Heroes.
** Trogdor **
Mr. Han struggles to maintain his balance but gladly accepts Nikolai's hand to help keep him stable. Eventually standing upright once more, the elderly japanese man begins to chuckle out loud softly. "Yes," the man begins, a smile now creeping its way upon his face, "We seem to be much more, Hai! I apologize if I frighten you. It just that Mr. Han has no sense another like our kind in long time."
Placing a comforting hand upon Nikolai's chest, Mr. Han continues to smile and pats the man softly. "Mr. Han understand, he know you good man. Mr. Han good man too. Talk later. Right now fix boiler in basement!"
Bang on in your presumption! One in a hurry could easily presume the static "white noise" of magic to be their own. A touch like this suddenly breaking their assumption and making them aware of the harsh reality that something "else" is currently out there as well.
When Life Hands You Razorblades. You Make A Baseball Bat Covered In Razorblades!
"Indeed," Tenebrous agrees with a nod. "I fear there may be few of us remaining in the world." He shakes his head sadly. "But as you say, work before pleasure." He smiles. "Lead on to the boiler room. I am, as I said, at your disposal."
The creature thrashes in his sleep, as though he could somehow hunt down the people who hunted down his pack, just for being wolves. He spits, trying to eject the taste of the burnt flesh of his mate as he tried to pull her out of the fires. After a short time, he springs awake once again, after another hour of an attempt to sleep. Snarling, he looks around, as though the humans responsible were near him.
When sneaking up on people, leave your cell phone at home... or at least off.
Trog wasn't being mean, just eager and insightful. He knew what was coming and expected me to halt things as I did with Chanur's and thehitcat's Prelude. After all, we ALL know too well the burdens of work and that foul thing called real life. Each of us having been kicked in the crotch by them on more than one occasion.
Poor Trog just loves him some Superhero games is all
** ardh05 **
Still snarling at the darkness, the wolf-man hybrid sniffs the air for any signs of intruders. Nothing. Now feeling slightly relaxed, the creature listens to its stomach growl painfully. Rummaging about the water-damaged ruins of the basement, the beast successfully manages to locate a cardboard container half-filled with moldy fried-chicken. Sniffing the food with caution, the creature finds the smell repugnant but not undesirable. Tearing the bucket open completely, the beast then begins to devour his newfound meal quite greedily. As he does so, the haunting images of his nap still plague his mind.
** Trogdor **
Mr. Han smiles warmly at Nikolai. The elderly Asian man seems to be quite pleased with having met someone of his own profession. The two men exit Nikolai's apartment and carefully lock the door behind them. They then begin to make their way outside and share a rather peculiar silence, descending the side stairwell to the ground floor below. Mr. Han pauses briefly to try and catch his breath. The four-story descent seems to have winded him, though his smile never once leaves his face. Having finally regained his composure, the elderly man continues onward, leading his newfound friend to the basement's entrance.
"Mr. Han have key," the old man states bluntly, his hands now fiddling about his pockets for a keyring, "Please, give moment and let him find." A resounding click is eventually heard as Mr. Han finally manages to locate his keyring and places the appropriate one into the door's lock.
The smooth-faced wrought iron door leading into the basement is stubborn and Mr. Han struggles to open it. He does so however, and the two soon find themselves descending the steep stairs downward. The basement stairs are dark and the air smells of mold and mildew. Distinct dripping sounds can be heard coming from somewhere up ahead in the distance. At the bottom of the stairs is an iron screen door, also locked. "Please," comments the elderly man once more, "Mr. Han have key for this one too. Give moment."
** ardh05 **
Ookami continues to devour his bucket of half-rotten fried chicken. As he does so, the ears on his head perk up suddenly. Something or someone is coming down into the basement. An overwhelming sense of anxiety floods the hybrid's senses as he desperately ponders what to do.
Figure two rounds reaction time for ardh05 since his keen hearing heard you as soon as Mr. Han opened the upper door leading down. This being said, cross-posting can be avoided by simply understanding that ardh05 has somewhat of the drop on you two guys.
When Life Hands You Razorblades. You Make A Baseball Bat Covered In Razorblades!
I know, I was apologizing for making trog wait for me to get off work for the day...
The creature immediately looks for a place to hide, and does so quickly if one is found. He then sets up to see if the noises are looking for him or coming down for some other purpose.
When sneaking up on people, leave your cell phone at home... or at least off.
Tenebrous follows patiently. Each time Mr. Han pauses to get a key, the dark-haired tenant waits without a word of comment, simply nodding in agreement. There's no need for haste or concern. They're just going to tend to a broken water heater. What could possibly go wrong?
For what it's worth...
[Ookami's Take 10 on Stealth, DC 24]
Nestling itself amidst the corner of a rack of storage shelves, the beast growls softly and continues to sniff the air. Two men, some grease and metal, approaching. The creature places a single palm against the side of the wall next to him and the other atop one of the storage shelves. Should things go awry he can now use the two to his advantage, climbing up the shelves upright or possibly even leaping off the wall with ease. The hairs on the beast's body are rigid and coarse as it remains in the shadows and begins to wait impatiently.
** Trogdor **
Mr. Han unlocks the iron screen door and enters the basement. A flip of the lightswitch reveals the basement's damaged contents. Numerous rows of storage shelves line the basement floor, each one randomly stacked with piles of crates and cardboard boxes. The smell down here is rank, then stench of dampness and mold filling most of the room. A portion of the basement is even ticker-taped off, apparently the spot where the pipes burst last year. Several pieces of the ticker-tape flap loosely in the breeze, having been severed in the middle.
"Come," states Mr. Han politely, "Follow me. Mr. Han show you boiler."
Darkvision cancels concealment in the shadows, obstacles and such however, still remain in effect. Overall ruling = 2/3 base result of Ookami's Stealth roll.
[Nikolai's Notice check, DC 16, d20+5=23, Success!]
As you make your way to the boiler, you notice THIS attempting to hide itself in the shadowy recesses of the basement's water-damaged section. The creature's fur is jet black and slightly silver on the tips.
When Life Hands You Razorblades. You Make A Baseball Bat Covered In Razorblades!
BTW, Eanwulf was right. I didn't mean anything by my comment. I'm just so eager to be in a supers game again that I can hardly contain myself.
"Lead on," Tenebrous replies. "I shall follow, Then, as they head toward the boiler, the mystic walks such that he is between the wolf-creature and Mr. Han. Once in this protective spot, he holds up a hand. "Wait a moment, Mr. Han," he says, coming to a stop. "We're not alone." He shines the light into the darkness to illuminate a lupine form hiding among the crates and shelving.
"Who's there?" he calls out. "We mean you no harm. There's no need to hide." The fact that this creature is an anthropomorphic wolf gives Tenebrous no pause. He's seen far stranger things in his dimensional wanderings.
Not that I need it. But for Han's sake, illuminate the beast.
Mr. Han stumbles to a halt. The old man then begins to look about the darkness through squinting eyes, following Nikolai's flashlight's every move as best he can. "Oh!?" the old man eventually proclaims with wonder and awe, now having spotted the furry beast's form breathing in the shadows himself, "A kami! Mr. Han not seen one in many years. Big one too, hah, hai!" The old asian man quickly begins to ramble on in japanese, his tone surprisingly bold and fierce.
"Oh venerable spirit, we mean you no harm. I am Hanzo Murakumo, Guardians of the Four Winds and Vanquisher of Evil. Step forwards from the shadows and show yourself at once! I need to know if you mean us any harm."
Here's the chance for ardh05 to get his new name? A kami = Ookami?
When Life Hands You Razorblades. You Make A Baseball Bat Covered In Razorblades!
Ookami looks at the pair for a second, then deciding that they mean no harm to him, drops down to the floor. He still keeps a cautious distance from them, but tries not to threaten them. In a raspy voice, both from long periods of disuse and never being used to using it in the first place, "Who be you? Me Ookami... Me... hiding... from bad people... killed pack..."
I'm actually borrowing speech patterns from an earlier home game character who was not a native speaker of common... figured it would work well here...
When sneaking up on people, leave your cell phone at home... or at least off.
