Shadowland - The Vanguard Issue #1B The Lion and the Lightning

OOC Your PSI Blast costs 1D10 htc (or htk your choice) per x1 multiplier. I'll let you decide on how powerful he makes the blast and in the meantime...

Lionhearts hand closed around the cup, and instantly his mind flashed with images...

Most came and went in a blur, fading like a dream. Ancient times, a once and future king, changing of hands into the possession of those who knew not what they had, a time spent in a darkened place lost from the hearts and minds of men... A Victorian explorer excavating an ancient tomb, and the grail recovered, brought before the Queen in a private audience.

The rise of an Empire, driven by unnatural patriotic fervour and love for a Monarch...

Lionheart shook his head. What had seemed like hours had taken a heartbeat and he gestured towards the K'Atinarian, which was busy throttling Peterson!

It looked over, caught the comment and saw the hasty hiding of the cup. The creature paused, it's head formed into a massive maw that was about to devour the unconscious Peterson! "What have you got there, little man? What... what is that?" it said eyes narrowing. "Once I have fed, I shall take your body, then look at your trinket! Bright it is, and strange..." and it turned to Peterson, about to take a huge bite!

OOC Just decide how many D10 of health (either htc or htk) you want to lose and that becomes the damage multiplier. So if you lose 4D10, you inflict x4 damage if the attack is successful, and so on.

2) PSI blast no longer relies on energy points as per normal PSI powers. He can blast per action and whilst the effect is painful to him (it costs 1d10 htc or htk - his choice per damage multiplier) there is effectively not much in the way of a limit. To attack with his PSI blast he makes a check of ego (18) +2d10 vs targets ego +2d10 +1 per 2m of range (no upper limit). Damage is the difference between the two scores, multiplied by a damage multiplied. Each damage multiplier costs 1d10 htc or htk from Lionheart, starting at x1 (so it costs him 1d10 htk or htc to use the power. x5 would cost 5d10). There's no maximum range and the maximum multiplier relies on how much health Lionheart is prepared to lose (in d10s). Damage inflicted is whatever health type (htk or htc) Lionheart himself lost. He could (with a poor roll) lose more than he inflicts with this against a strong willed foe...

Admin wrote:

Lionheart

OOC Just decide how many D10 of health (either htc or htk) you want to lose and that becomes the damage multiplier. So if you lose 4D10, you inflict x4 damage if the attack is successful, and so on.

Lionheart shouted as he blasted definitely at the creature about to devourer the hapless Peterson

OOC: Sorry should have said upfront. Ok so we are including hero point to make this go further etc, so lets use 4d10HTC, as I think I am going to need all my HTK once we get into Melee :].

Sj

OOC He uses 4D10 (x4 damage multiplier) Htc and 1 Hero Point on his attack. The 4D10 comes up 4d10 → [1,5,9,4] = (19). Could've been much worse... Current points totals are now:



OOC Lionhearts attack is Ego (18) plus roll 2d10 → [4,4] = (8) 1d10 → [3] = (3) Take the double 4, plus 2d10 → [6,4] = (10). 18 Rolled + 18 Ego=36. the K'atinarian has mind shields up (it adapts to every attack you make) so has an effective Ego of 30. Plus roll 2d10 → [7,3] = (10) = 40 total. Lionhearts attack is unsuccessful...

The Lion 'roared' and mental energy coalesced into the form of an Energy Lion that leapt at it's prey! Unfortunately the K'atinarian produced its own manifestation, this time of a wall of thorns that the Lion crashed into, roared its pain and defiance, then it dissipated!

Lionheart swept a smear of blood from his nose - the thing in front of him overpowered him in every way! He needed something else, an edge... or it would catch him and take his body!

"Huh huh huh..." laughed/rasped the creature as it ignored Lionhearts attack. "Why did you come here, puny man? You knew I would come here, so why? Perhaps I should look inside YOUR mind!"

And with that the K'atinarian concentrated, then unleashed its own psychic assault on Lionheart! It held Peterson, forgotten and struggling feebly in its hand for the time being - Lionhearts attempts at a diversion had worked, for the now.

OOC It's trying to read Lionhearts mind. Want to put anything into defence? Hero points etc? Will be updating tomorrow and (hopefully) every day for rest of week as yesterday and today were the longest days for different reasons (son in A&E yesterday for 9 hours waiting to be seen. NHS is stretched, but that really was an unfunny joke...)

Admin wrote:OOC It's trying to read Lionhearts mind. Want to put anything into defence? Hero points etc? Will be updating tomorrow and (hopefully) every day for rest of week as yesterday and today were the longest days for different reasons (son in A&E yesterday for 9 hours waiting to be seen. NHS is stretched, but that really was an unfunny joke...)

OOC: Oh that is aweful. I remember the last time I had to wait with my daughter, that was 3 hours, but that was in a busy hospital. Where I live it tends to be quieter so if you catch it at the right time it works out well. 9 hours is worthy of a complaint of some sort, no one should have to wait that long, especially a child.

Lionheart snarled, in his mind brought down his defences and from within some inner resource. Some inner innate defiance struck back to seeking to use this attack to his advantage.

OOC: Ok I will use 2 fate points and hero points, to try and not only defend but use my defence as an attack and make the creature regret attacking me. I claen forgot about fate points which is why I've never therefore used them before anyway to defy or defend and then use hero points maybe 5, together with another 20 HTC to attack back at the creature along its probe. Sort of try and use its attack as a means to get back along the same route right back into its brain!

In any case I certainly don't want to divulge what my real game is. But I am happy as part of what I do to lay a false trail that gives it the impression I want to give it regarding the grail.

Lionheart felt the aliens barrage against his brain. He gritted his teeth as it felt as if he was a straw caught in a hurricane as the thing sort to batter down his defences with shear force and brutality and yet he thought he might even be able to use this against the creature.

Sj

OOC When you use Fate Points you use them one at a time. They work by allowing you to pick one die from those you roll and assuming (automatically) that you have rolled the same number on another die - in other words a guaranteed double. You can use them with Hero Points to roll more dice, then pick the one you'd like to double up on. I'll assume you do that with 2 Hero points and a Fate point for the defence.

Roll is 2d10 → [2,9] = (11) 1d10 → [7] 1d10 → [3]. No doubles would have been rolled there without the Fate Point - best roll would've been 16, probably not enough. However the Fate Point allows you to pick the 9 and assume another 9 was rolled. 18 (Double) plus 2d10 → [3,6] = (9) for a total of 27 rolled plus 18 Ego=45.

The K'atinarian uses 30 Ego for its attack, plus a roll of 2d10 → [5,9] = (14). Total 44... The K'atinarians mind reading attack failed!

Lionheart shored up his defences, summoning his incredible will to the fore!

The creature from nightmare cackled in glee, then its expression changed to rage as it realised that its incredible, indomitable power would not be enough in this instance! Furthermore, it was given cause to doubt itself, though of course Lionheart didn't know that!

What he DID know was that the creature wanted his body - therefore any physical attack that came his way would be restrained in some way, to incapacitate rather than kill!

Nonetheless Lionheart wasn't cowed by the beast in front of him and returned the favour with his own PSI attack!

OOC Using 2D10 HTC and 5 Hero Points to attack. Lionheart loses 2d10 → [2,1] = (3) HTC (that was cheap!) and rolls are 2d10;1d10;1d10;1d10;1d10;1d10 → [10,7] = (17) [7] [6] [2] [4] [1]. 10+7 is the highest result, but 7+7 gets you a double, so we'll go with that. Add roll 2d10 → [8,7] = (15) and it's a total of 29 rolled, plus 18 Ego for 47 total. Pretty good!

The K'atinarian rolls 30 Ego + Roll 2d10 → [4,1] = (5), total 35. 12 points difference, multiplied by 2 = 24HTC damage. Not enough to really hurt it, but enough to know that whilst it thinks it can copy your abilities and use them as well as you, it can't really

Initiative is 2d10 → [10 Lionheart,3 K'atinarian] You have 5 frames to act, it's standing 4m away and holding Patterson who appears to be unconscious. Behind you is the ice block containing Queen Victoria, and you have the Holy Grail in your hand. The K'atinarian, a dark empowered evil P'utinarian, wants to take your body to use as its own vessel! Over to you...

Admin wrote:

Lionheart took the cup, if he couldn't find a way to make the creature drink from it he might still be able to use it to affect the creature if he attacked with it. He was desperate enough to try anything right now. Making sure his forcefield was intact, he speed in using his fastest speed ready to sever the arm that held Peterson and attack the creature with the cup firmly held in his hand. It was a long shot but what else could he do.

OOC: So speed in and do an attack aimed at getting Peterson away, if at all possible. Using the cup firmly grasped in my hand. Use 5 Hero points and 1 fate point to make sure I get a guaranteed double here. Once I've done that I will speed on through, hopefully grabbing Peterson and try to escape/evade the creature and get it to follow me out of the chamber.

Sj

OOC I assume you've switched your power set to concentrate some on Speed, Strength and Force Field. Have assumed Speed 3 (6 points) Strength 3 (6 points) and Force Field 1 (1 point) because you need to be able to attack through it. Use 1 frame to move (split into move/move) and another to attack, then another to grab Peterson, rest of split frame to get out of there and 2 frames to get some distance. If you want it different, holler

Lionheart sped in, a blur of controlled power!

With the grail in hand he swept it out and down, hoping that the cup was more than a mere trinket or curio, and that it held real power!

OOC With Speed grade 3 Lionheart is DC 0, in other words much harder to hit, which is how it should be, but I won't get into that again... He attacks ... Roll (with 5HP) [6,9] [10] [8][10][7][6]. Easy choice there. It actually wastes your Fate point as you rolled double 10, but there was no way to know that. So double 10 (20) plus [10,2] = (32) plus WC3 + DC of foe (currently DC1 - Invulnerability. It learns fast...) -17. 19 Accuracy, a solid hit!

Scything his hand with the Grail downwards towards the main tentacle grasping the limp form of the old man, Lionheart knew his hunch was right - the Grail glowed briefly on contact with the evil creature and splattered through the limb which collapsed like liquid! There was an ear busting shriek of outrage and pain from it, but Lionheart didn't stick around for that!

With a scoop he grabbed the unconscious guardian up and raced over the ruins of the vault door, along the corridor, up the stairs, through the secret door in the kitchen, now dangling from hinges and through the palace.

Even at speed it was clear the creature had not wasted much time with the Palace Guards or soldiers that had turned up to stop it.

All were dead, and had died horribly, their blood staining the walls of the place, turning Palace into charnel house!

In the grounds outside Lionheart gave pause. The man in his arms was breathing, and just regaining consciousness. His eyes fluttered open, and he looked about. "Out...outside? Damn you man! I need to be in there! I need to *cough* defend the Queen! Not out here in the..."

He looked up, and so did Lionheart.

The sun was breaking through in tiny streams from the black cloud dispersing about it, which could only mean that the Dark Emissaries were heading towards Earth!

OOC And that is covered already in the main thread.

There was a crash, a roar and more smashing of walls. In the Palace the creature had recovered from the blow dealt to it and was coming back up to the surface, intent now only on one thing - the destruction of Lionheart!

OOC it uses it's frames to recover (heal) and move, smashing most of the Palace up as it goes. Lionhearts next actions?

Admin wrote:OOC it uses it's frames to recover (heal) and move, smashing most of the Palace up as it goes. Lionhearts next actions?

Grateful that he had at least done something with the time he had, Lionheart sped away, His immediate aim was to get Peterson to a hospital, but then discounted that idea. The man would hate leaving his post and Lionheart didn't want to lead the beast to any more people.

So depositing Peterson to one side, with strict instructions to take himself back to the Queen's side, he then sped off in the opposite direction down the mall. He aimed to get to the fountain at the Victoria Memorial where he knew there were pools of water. He wanted to make sure that if push came to shove, he could use the water there to fill the grail and use it as Victoria herself had instructed him. Besides the irony of fighting at Queen Victoria's memorial and using the waters there to defeat the K'atinarian, didn't escape Lionheart.

Taking a stand he was defiant as he waited for the best, aiming to surprise it simply be a change of tactics, stopping and attacking rather than running and baiting.


OOC: Ok my plan is not to wait for the creature to hit me, but as soon as I am able to respond again, to attack it, as it comes forward to the memorial. Again speed in, hit with the grail, clasped hand, and speed out. Keep adopting hit and run tactics. As best I can. For the time being I will hold off on fate points and instead use hero points alone to attack. Lets say 4 a pop, for each attack. 2 on Attack 2 on damage if attack is successful. If not then go for attack, otherwise nothing will result. As soon as the creature starts to respond to attacks I'll switch tac and go for mind attacks at some point during the rushing in and out I will fill the grail and pretend to drink from it, as if there is within it some great power that is itself the source of my power. I want the K'atinarian to believe it too can possess that power from the cup. Hopefully leading it to use the cup as Queen Victoria commanded. Here's hoping I do get to give the game away too quickly.

Just to say when its, its turn to attack I will dodge and weave as per normal, trying to avoid having a hit land on me.

Sj

OOC This could be a long drawn out battle due to the nature of Lionhearts abilities (when he wants to he can be nigh on impossible to hit) but the creature facing him has the Dark power inside, and is learning with every moment. At some point it will realize that if it wants to hit Lionheart and be sure of it, all it needs to do is lay waste to a mile square area of London. Easily done with the Dark Power. So with that in mind...

The creature from Nightmare came into view...

The wail of sirens and bells as more Police and Army trucks rolled up barely distracted it. Lionheart didn't even have time to shout "Get out of there!" before a sweep of the creatures tendril like arms slashed through the air with a blur of speed copied from Lionheart and disembowelled everyone within 100' to the left and right of the creature.

There was a crash as the top halves of the vehicles they'd travelled in clattered in heaps on the floor, the bodies of the valiant police and soldiers landing in wet piles, and silencing the scene.

Gritting his teeth, Lionheart turned and raced off in a blur. Immediately his strange 'sixth sense' warned him to duck to the left and roll, which he did.

Where he'd been running a spiked mace like fist THOOOMED! into the floor, creating a huge crater and smashing the road outwards in every direction for dozens of yards! Lionheart rolled smoothly to his feet and saw the K'atinarian was speeding towards him, almost as fast as he was, and as strong or stronger! Everything Lionheart was doing seemed to be within its abilities to copy, whether it had a visible effect or not!

He sped off again, and skidded to a halt with the monument and fountain behind him... Immediately one, then several thrusting sharp edged tendrils flashed through the air! Normally Lionheart would have watched them come at him in slow motion, but this time he had to dive, duck, veer and roll to the side, then do the same again as yet more tendrils thrust from the creature stood 10m in front of him! The air was thick with the rasping, living tendrils of death that darted and jabbed like snakes!

After what was seconds but seemed like an age, Lionheart finally managed to tilt backwards to avoid a thrust, then flip onto his hands, hop and twist in the air, land in a crouch then rise and slash out with his hand holding the artifact!

Half a dozen tendrils splattered to the floor as red liquid, and started to ooze slowly back to the host form which pulled its tentacles back into its body and strode towards Lionheart.

"You are beginning to weaken little man" snarled the K'atinarian. "And I am getting faster. Your time is running out. It is measured in seconds!"

In response Lionheart whipped about, filled the Grail with water and turned to raise it in mock 'cheers' to the watching creature and tipped it back! Instantly he was invigorated (OOC all damage healed) and held the cup back in amazement! The K'atinarian saw the reaction and hissed "What is that? I want it!" and walked towards Lionheart...

Who responded by launching his psychic Lion at the creature! This time it held the full force of his will and slowed the creatures stride to a halt! He couldn't tell if he had hurt it or not, but he'd certainly gotten its attention!

"Your... mastery of your powers is impressive... But I tire of this game! I want the cup, and I want your physical form!" rasped the creature! With that it abruptly exploded!

Lionhearts incredible superhuman speed and senses registered the impossible - the creature had exploded into millions of microscopic barbed spores that pulsed out in every direction for a hundred yards!

Lionheart ducked, dived, rolled...and knew he had lost! The spores were not only too small and numerous/fast to avoid, he had also breathed in thousands of them! He knew the creature would, in moments, start to control his body and with that, he would be trapped, a prisoner as the K'atinarian gained the prize it sought!

He staggered, coughing, leaning on the edge of the pool and swaying drunkenly, feeling the spores burrow through the forcefield and into his skin, whilst his lungs and internal organs, even his blood, were contaminated by the creatures spores!

He could feel them growing, multiplying, and his vision started to blur! He saw pools of red forming on the floor and flowing across to him! As soon as the K'atinarian reformed and closed around him, it would flood his system with an unstoppable, incureable virus! he had only moments of life left! With failing strength, intense, agonising pain blocking out his control of his superhuman abilities, and a virulent, hostile organism raging through his body, it was clear that he'd met his match!

OOC or has he? You have... 2 frames to do something, then I'm going to do something nasty...

Admin wrote:OOC or has he? You have... 2 frames to do something, then I'm going to do something nasty...

OOC: Touché, if the roles were reversed I'd have been trying something massive like this. I guess its just that the creature has been lazy up until now...

Lionheart's hands shook, his vision blurred, he felt his world begin to darken, his grip beginning to weaken. First his force field shut off, then he realised how weak he felt, he couldn't remember sinking to his knees. The grail in hand, began to tip... The grail. He world coalesced around the cup, its beaten weather worn look, so humble and ordinary looking. It seemed to sparkle, Lionheart knew his vision was blurring, his whole world being consumed from within. With a last might effort, he brought his hand, the grail to his mouth.

"You want it...you can have it!"

There was no sadness, just defiance, Lionheart had been bread in a vat, but had found a humanity he didn't know he had. In serving people, people who mistrusted and therefore reacted poorly, but still people he'd found a humanity that never came from a test tube. With his last strength he drank the water, unsure what it would do to him. But sure it wouldn't go well for the K'atinarian shadow now within him.

Sj

With his vision failing Lionheart saw red all around, then realised he was being encased, cocooned by the evil thing that had hunted him down!

With a last, defiant, colossal effort he raised the cup to his lips even as his skin turned red, and he felt a million billion needles puncture it! Almost gagging on the water, he fell back, knowing that he would live a little longer, but as a spectator in his own body, and that he had lost.

The water tingled down his throat, and where it touched the spores they shrivelled and vanished! The K'atinarian realised it had been duped! It was a thing of pure evil even before the Dark Power had chosen to meld with it, and the Grail was a thing of absolute, unbending good! Even the Dark Power needed a host form, and that form was desperately trying to free itself from Lionheart!

The Police, breathless from a run to heed the call from the Palace, stopped and stared in horror at the downed man with the stringy red strands peeling away from him! They were aghast at the bodies scattered around, most decapitated or disembowelled, and the clear devastation that had been wrought on the Palace!

Meanwhile Lionheart felt strength and vitality flood through him, and the spores died in their multitudes. He regained strength enough to stand, and leant on the side of the fountain, dipping the cup into the water again.

Turning, he saw the strange string like remnants of the K'atinarian flop across the pavement to a point a few feet away where they all started to flow and rejoin. The creature would regather its strength, seek new sustenance to aid its dying form, or another form entirely. yes! It would join with a puny human, one that would last but hours but would serve its purpose before being drained like a husk. It would...

splatter...

The water from the grail tipped from the cup in Lionhearts hand to land on the creature which writhed and sizzled as if burning! The Dark Power fled from the dying host form and in doing so sealed the death of the K'atinarian, for the evil thing had been dead since the Dark Power had joined with it, and kept alive only through continued symbiosis.

Even as the Police and Soldiers closed in, wondering how the blond haired man sagging against the side of the fountain was, Lionheart looked at the cup in his hand. A force for good, it not only had saved his life, but also seemed to herald the start of a brand new day - and end of the endless night - for the sun shone from on high as the Shadow Emissaries that formed the incalculable mass of the Devourer died in their trillions when the Lunarium wave was sent outwards across the universe in every direction.

Lionheart had felt it, but knew there was nothing he or anyone else could do about it. It might effect every living thing on Earth, or it might do nothing. All he knew was that he needed to get to Stonehenge, where his friends were.

He stood, then heard the click clack! of weapons arming and pointing at him.

"You're to come with us sir. You and your friends have been branded an enemy of the state and of Planet Earth, for almost bringing us to extinction!" said a Peeler at the forefront of the gathered soldiers. Even given the realisation the Earth was saved from the eternal darkness they had regathered their wits and were acting coolly, methodically, robotically. They had a job to do.

Elsewhere, the world stopped fighting, then the people sagged to their knees, and started rejoicing. Their laws, way of life, everything they had known, was gone. In its place was uncertainty, but there was also hope. For they had stared into the abyss, and whilst on the cusp of falling in, had been dragged back.

=========

Whitehall...

"Are you sure about this Prime Minister?" asked an aide.

The large man turned round, puffing on a cigar and looked at the dozens of chiefs of staff, aides and ministers gathered in the meeting hall. "Absolutely. Superhumans for a time seemed to be the saving of us all, and look what happened! They will be declared outlaw and enemy of humanity itself!"

"But... what of the other countries? They may disagree, even offer safe haven to them?"

"Harrumph! Britain has long surrendered her sovereignty and the power she wielded so wisely and graciously across the globe! It is time to claim it back, starting with the colonies who were upstart enough to seek independence! Gather our forces! This world will be remodelled and governed in a way that suits us, for the benefit of our people and all who would be led by us."

"And those that won't?"

Churchill answered that with a hard stare. "We have technology, resources and a single focussed determination that no other people in the history of humankind has ever had. Those that do not bend the knee shall cease to be!" he bellowed. "This world WILL be a better place, and there WILL be an end to war! No more suffering, no starving children, no illiteracy, no lack of direction. All of humanity shall unite under a single flag - and they will forge a new future, brighter than any could have imagined!"

He gauged the reaction of those gathered. Neutral, to a man. They all had their duty, they would do it, without question. Churchill nodded, and turned to the man beside him. "We'd best set to with making plans Mr Trowers. How are you feeling anyway? Those look like nasty burns."

The scarred, burned man smiled painfully. "Don't worry sir. I'll look as good... better than new in a few days, and so will you. Until then we have work to do..."

OOC Just need a final 'wrap' post for you to get to Stonehenge to meet up with the others and next up - Epilogue (In the main Final issue thread)

Admin wrote:Lionheart
He stood, then heard the click clack! of weapons arming and pointing at him.

"You're to come with us sir. You and your friends have been branded an enemy of the state and of Planet Earth, for almost bringing us to extinction!" said a Peeler at the forefront of the gathered soldiers.

Lionheart never felt so good, but within struggled still with the emotions he felt. The men who'd been slaughtered by the K'atinarian and their families. He knew that whatever had happened to England would mean people stoically soldering on. But he wondered what they'd done, was it all worth it?

He thought about offering an explanation, but knew that the soldiers would more likely be under orders and not want to listen. Duty was the order of the day. So whilst the Peeler looked on, his eyes weary of Lionheart making a false move, it still took him a moment to register that where he was now looking was empty. Lionheart had gone, the pool he had been standing in, barely rippled with his passing, so quick was he gone.

Meanwhile Lionheart headed toward the tunnel under Buckingham Palace, he intended to return the grail. And then without a glance back, head for Stonehendge. He didn't know what the future held for him there, whether he'd find Beth, just to say goodbye, or the others. He wondered what he was leaving, but he had a mission to finish and finish it he would.

OOC: Trowers Clones, ugh, forgot all about him having spares to take over should he die. Great twist, didn't see that coming, he is a tricky fish. Anyway wonder where things will go from here, do we jump back into a refocused time line or does this become Earth 2 to our Earth 1?

In any case Lionheart isn't keen to see the Grail fall into the wrong hands, Queen Victoria has done a great job, perhaps she best hold onto it. Besides the grail was fooled once, by Morrigan, don't want to see that happen all over again. So best speed to Stonehenge and see what we will see next.

Sj