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3 yrs ago
Current A Perpetual Motion Engine of Anxiety and Self-Loathing

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So there I am, in Sri Lanka, formerly Ceylon, at about 3 o'clock in the morning, looking for one thousand brown M&Ms to fill a brandy glass, or Ozzy wouldn't go on stage that night. So, Jeff Beck pops his head 'round the door, and mentions there's a little sweets shop on the edge of town. So - we go. And - it's closed. So there's me, and Keith Moon, and David Crosby, breaking into that little sweets shop, eh. Well, instead of a guard dog, they've got this bloody great big Bengal tiger. I managed to take out the tiger with a can of mace, but the shopowner and his son... that's a different story altogether. I had to beat them to death with their own shoes. Nasty business, really. But, sure enough, I got the M&Ms, and Ozzy went on stage and did a great show.

Most Recent Posts

<Snipped quote by Dedonus>

I refuse to have a team at all... in any sport. It's bad enough my Dad's a Bear's fan and mom's Colts. When those two went to the superbowl, it was living purgatory in my house. Everyone was smart enough to avoid save for those unfortunate enough to live there!


I agree. It is bad enough that your Dad is a Bears fan...

...I'm sorry. I tuned everything else out after that.

Earlier...


One of the elder regular patrons of Bogarts Pub, LHU faculty aside, Isaac Fontaine stepped into the local from the cold, a manila folder tucked under his arm.

"Evenin' Jimmy." He greeted the bartender informally.

The bartender was taking down a small memorial set out on a table by the entrance. A large photo of a local student with flowers around it. Ronnie Chang, he could remember the name from when he asked earlier. Wouldn't forget it in a hurry either. It happened soon after he'd made his decision... and then riots broke out very soon after that. He felt a little guilty, but still felt like he was doing the right thing.

"I'm grabbing two of the usual!" he called back to the bartender, who nodded in acknowledgement. He'd keep a tally and charge him for it when he bought his inevitable third beer. Isaac stepped behind the bar and grabbed a pair of a local microbrew he'd recently discovered in the area, and pulled up a small table close to the bar where he opened the folder containing a 20 to 30 page document.

"Which is it this time?" the barkeep asked, making conversation.

"American revolutionary war." Isaac replied, pulling a highlighter out of his pocket and striking through names, years and excerpts as he scanned the first page, before turning to the second.

"Is it ok?" the barkeep asked.

"Huh?" Isaac replied, not really understanding the question.

"I mean, are you gonna be alright with it? Did they teach you any of that stuff back in Terraria?"

"Well, yeah... It's all history, Jimmy. I mean, did they NOT teach you guys about the French revolution... or the industrial revolution? Or World War II? I mean, they didn't just teach you about what happened in the US, right?"

"Huh. I guess. I mean, been a long time since I went to school..."

"And yeah, I'm gonna be all right. I mean, they're not going to deport me. It's just college."

Suddenly the game on the tv set above the bar cut out and a silhouette backlit by a red light took center stage.

“Hello, world.”

“Pardon the interruption of your nightly shows. Don’t worry, once this broadcast has ended, you will be returned to your regular programing...”

"Hey, turn this down, Jimmy." Isaac said, looking up from his work.

"I-- I can't..." The bartender stammered, clicking buttons on the remote and then trying the set itself.

“Our world has been struck by calamity after calamity ever since these metahumans have made their appearance known to the world. There was that mass murderer who was taunting a secret organization called S.T.R.I.K.E. There was the ‘demon’ invasion of Lost Haven. Now there is this entity called Umbraxis that has already started to pile up a death count! How is the normal person supposed to live in a world full of metahumans who can obliterate an entire city block?"

Isaac stared at the screen with complete concentration... it would remain for the entire address.

“Now, I know there will be those who will try to stop my plans. These are your so-called heroes. Your champions of freedom and liberty. Yet, they are also the defenders of the status quo, upholders of the current chaos caused by the regular person’s lack of means to defend themselves from the average metahuman, let alone some global threat. They claim to want to protect the world, yet they don’t want it to change. Without change, more innocent people will die. These heroes are hypocrites. They will sacrifice your change at godhood for maintaining their own uniqueness within this world. They would rather have you all be dependent on them whenever some catastrophe happens.”

Isaac watched in silence. Not wanting to give an opinion that might give himself away.

At the end of the video, the man extended a long neck to the camera, revealing himself as a metahuman, as if to establish his credentials before signing off.

“Welcome to the Pax Metahumana.”

"Hooooo-lee shit." said the bartender. "How 'bout that? Get me some superpowers, maybe I could clean up some of the punk kids and scumbags who've been starting to move in here more lately!" he exclaimed. "Maybe show that punk cat-man he can't just go messin' with whoever he wants.." he muttered to himself.

"Whadda you think?" he asked.

"I think you should be careful what you wish for. I think the notion of "free powers" is very damn vague. I've seen a little girl who had the powers of god. Not a god. God. And furthermore, while I'm sociable and friendly enough... you're the exact kind of person who I wouldn't want having any in the first place. And that's assuming he can safely do what he claims without loss of life in the first place." he thought to himself, as he gazed out the window into the night in thought.

Suddenly a piercing bright column of light shot into the heavens on the horizon, coming from downtown in the direction of LHPD Headquarters, before seeming to be contained by a maelstrom of weather anomalies, thick clouds and hurricane-level winds.

Isaac looked down at his hand and the scar tissue from where his finger had been reattached, then back out the window into the pitch black darkness.

"I think I'll settle up my tab now and go..."










Now

It had been just over a month now since Isaac had worn the black kit. They named the whole affair Demon-Day, and it hadn't been fear or trauma that led to the decision.

He had to get organised.

This was a whole new world. One he had a more tenuous grasp on. The old world he'd laid the groundwork. He had an alibi - a justification for being in Lost Haven. He knew all about the world and global events. In fact, he made it his business to be better informed of rumour, of shifting in the criminal underbelly than anyone else, hero or villain.

In this universe there were historical facts that were just different from anything he knew. One of his closest friend's surnames was different... there was just too much he didn't know that he would rely on as given facts. And in all honesty, he'd been getting by on a lot of dumb luck. He had a heavily banged up hand to prove it.

So he got to work. Not as the Vigilante, but as Isaac Fontaine. He'd given himself an alibi - he was now studying law at Lost Haven University. He also was taking an extra history class per semester to take care of that uncertainty between universes. The best news was that most of his classes could all be taken virtually entirely online. Lectures were recorded, literature was provided and each course had it's own message board and discussion forum. If he didn't want to he'd never need to set foot on campus again... at least until he took the job.

But we'll get to that later.

The point is, he was more organized and stable than he had been in years.

...and that's how he came to be repeatedly watching a recording of the original feed in the news van that gave him a lift on D-Day.

"When they hijacked your frequency, were you able to tell where the feed was coming from."

"Not exactly. Not with our equipment. But we can vaguely triangulate it back, with the signal getting beamed from the tower on top of the Chambers Building and the tower at Central Station... to about 5 blocks around here."

A Google Maps image printed out with the tech guy drawing a circle on the page. "You find 'em, we get the story, right?"

The Vigilante grunted in reply, deep in thought.
<Snipped quote by Fallenreaper>

Oh god...

Looks like Athena is going to have to swoop in and save Arachne from all you perverts.


Well, as Huey Lewis sang, That's the Power of Boobs.

I mean "Love".

...that's the Love of Boobs, right there. On full display. Yup...
Onto the last page now... should start working on posts tonight.

Some great stuff, guys...
<Snipped quote by Hound55>

>.<

Don't give her any ideas!


I doubt I'm giving her any she hasn't already had, flicking through the OOC...
I'll have Alexa receive the invite for the orgy in the woods.

I'm just assuming it's going to be an orgy because lets face it-

No event in the woods being hosted by the Greeks can be anything but.


Kali to go Grant Morrison meta and write herself into the arc feeling up Arachne...

Sorry, just catching up on the OOC too...
Yeah. Just to be safe, I'd keep the sword away from Isaac and only bring it out for Show and Tell...
Basically, he flies in the face of "the laws of magic" (just like there are "laws of physics").

Sword's physical properties remain. Magic properties gone (whether permanent or temporary).
@Hound55 Kinda curious now, if he's "Non-conductive to magic" That would apply to magical artifacts as well? Like Excalibur? Although it still is an actual combat ready sword even without the magical enchantments. Would Excalibur cease to exist should it come into contact with Vigilante? Or would it's magical and cosmic properties allow that as an exception?


Good question. Excalibur is a physical object which has been given magical enchantments and mystical properties... so unlike the demons from Demon Day (which were inherently magic creatures... beings of magic given physical properties as they come across to our dimension) it would presumably NOT be torn from existence. It would just cease to have those magical properties.

Now whether they would once again have magical properties once that contact was broken... I guess that would depend on the artifact and the person wielding it. A person who is adept in magic may be able to re-cast the original enchantment or it could be something that re-generates its own mana.
Aaaaaaand...

Character you have created: The Aquilifer
Alias: Dennis Connolly

Speech Color (Actually say what you're using, don't go "Like this", or what not): Yellow, Georgia

Character Alignment: Hero

Identity: Secret. Not yet public knowledge

Character Personality (Give information on how your character acts, what he/she believes in, how they handle situations): 24 years of age. Lazy, born-loser. Has a massive inferiority complex to his dead brother and sizeable self-confidence issues. Cares too much about what other people think, compared with doing the right thing. Unemployed, drinks, has partaken in what his mother calls “the pot” and is just completely ill-equipped to inherit the legacy of a super hero...

But other than that he’s a nice enough, personable type. Just not someone you’d trust to loan money too, let alone significant power or responsibility.

Uniform/costume:
Dresses fairly casually usually, although will tend to wear a leather flight suit jacket lined with down to protect from wind-shear with only an emblem of wings over the breast-pocket as evidence of his “eagle-bearer” legacy. An old flight helmet with a decal of eagles wings and jeans when he intends to go into action.

Origin Info/Details:
In the 1920s and 30s the United States had their own golden era of heroic figures. People who would prevent bank robberies, retrieve cats from trees (if asked politely, as all would do in the salad days of yore), put out fires, save people who fell whilst cleaning high rise windows (hey! It happened more than you may think) and otherwise making the world a better place. Whilst never looking to get involved in global politics. (Because, gosh darn it, hard working types had earned those positions and had more experience and were doing the work they were best suited for in those roles).

Then came the ‘30s. And Nazis. The Attack on Pearl Harbor awoke a sleeping giant. And suddenly the U.S. was unable to stay out of the war.

And the earliest heroes suddenly realised where their efforts would best be suited.

Amongst these heroes, was one man. The Aquilifer. Who named himself after the ancient Roman standard bearers who carried the symbol of the eagle. Armed with the Golden Rod, a powerful technological device years beyond anything mankind could surely have devised – possessing a power that surely could have come from God himself, the Aquilifer quickly forged a name for himself as a symbol for justice, righteousness and freedom from tyranny.

Eventually, the good guys won the day. Soldiers, both powered and otherwise came home and returned from making America and the free world safe from rat-zi jackboots, and set to work once more in their role of making the country the best place possible to live. The Aquilifer returned to his home town of Lost Haven and looked to use the Golden Rod to do just that and more. While the Aquilifer set to work in that regard, a gentleman by the name of Alan Coghlan looked to achieve the same goal himself... by providing a new technological renaissance, CoghlanGears grew into a large company coming up with many patents and tremendous innovations that were years ahead of their time.

In the late ‘40s during a battle with one of the Liberty Legion’s great foes, Tempus Flare the Time Pirate several members of the Liberty Legion, including the Aquilifer, disappeared. It was a dark day for the nation and the lost members were honoured in the Hall of Heroes at the Museum of Supers in Lost Haven, which had quite a large representation of members of the group, and in numerous other memorials in cities ranging from New York to Washington D.C.

Strangely it was around this time that the founder of CoghlanGears, Alan Coghlan, also disappeared. Apparently seeking a life of solitude and meditation.

It was with great jubilation that the world saw these missing heroes return in the sixties. It appeared that instead of dying or being lost for eternity in the terrible time tunnel of the Time Pirate, they had merely all “been misplaced” and jumped forward over 20 years until they had successfully taken down the dastardly Tempus Flare.

Many of the heroes struggled to adjust to the changes they had seen in the American culture after their lost twenty years, and many settled down presumably to families or perhaps a well earned retirement. The Aquilifer continued to strive for justice, albeit in an increasingly limited capacity for the following ten years.

Around the same time the elusive Alan Coghlan had been discovered. Due to his unreliable absence over the years his company had moved in other directions from the conscientious board of directors who had assumed control in his stead. A nice suburban house in the Little Ulster quadrant, with a white picket fence and a second chance with the wife he had unthinkably left behind all these years were suitable enough payment for his years work in constructing the company he had abandoned. It was around this time that his wife Margaret fell pregnant to Alan and gave birth to a daughter; Helen.

The ‘70s saw the retirement of the Aquilifer, who had undoubtedly deserved a peaceful retirement after decades of service.

The mid-to-late 1980s saw Helen (now Connolly) Coghlan have her own two children, both sons, named Sean and Dennis Connolly (nee Coghlan).

The early nineties saw a tumultuous period in the U.S. and the world as a whole. Desert Storm, the L.A. riots, Waco and the bombing of the World Trade Center saw a re-emergence of the Aquilifer of sorts. Despite clearly being a different man than the last Aquilifer, this man was a little harder nosed than the last. A different hero for a different age, his methods were at times swifter and more shocking than the previous Aquilifer. However in an age when several heroes were taking more drastic measures in response to darker threats, the Aquilifer was a steadying force and generally not in favour of needless wanton acts of violence.

The Golden Rod saw many changes itself over the years in the hands of this new Aquilifer, and also developed new tricks and uses for the Rod as well as different ways of utilizing its new features.

Meanwhile, Helen Connolly raised her boys through high school in Lost Haven, before moving across the country to Seattle to join her husband who had until this point been putting off starting his own business. Sean was doing well, was Valedictorian and also starting quarterback for his final two years. Sean received several offers from fairly big football schools but chose to stay in Lost Haven, the home he’d always known, because he couldn’t see the NFL being in his future. Dennis... was also still around. Dennis decided to go the junior college route before attending the Rockefeller Community College before eventually getting his degree in English literature. The two boys would remain in Lost Haven watched over by family in the absence of their mother and father.

The modern Aquilifer had a strong determined streak and would push himself to his very limits. But the years started to get to him by the late ‘00s, his fateful inevitable demise came in 2012, where Tempus Flare got his revenge. Traversing through time and appearing out of thin air, attaching a device to the wielder of the Golden Rod whilst the Aquilifer aged to dust on national television.

A private will-reading saw the Golden Rod bequeathed to science, however through what must have been a terrible accident on behalf of the man who was the Aquilifer, he bestowed it on the former owner of CoghlanGears, Alan Coghlan rather than the company itself.

A new, considerably younger Aquilifer appeared almost immediately after the funeral. Presumably after the elderly and disorderly Coghlan misplaced the Rod.

The new Aquilifer was a breath of fresh air, bringing back a sense of joy and whimsy to the role whilst also possessing strength, stature and intelligence. It was his inexperience however that was his downfall after the beloved hero was lured into a trap and slaughtered by Miz Demeanour and the Fel-honeys after Demeanour misrepresented herself as a rape victim. The Aquilifer eventually recognised his attackers but by then it was too late, they had him trapped, outnumbered and were armed and prepared for the specific defences of the Golden Rod.

Sean Connolly was found deceased on the scene and it appears that he had discovered the Golden Rod after his grandfather had misplaced it and had the foolhardy thought that perhaps he could use it himself.

The funeral temporarily brought the entire family together, but the parents have since left back for their Seattle home. The sole surviving son Dennis still resides in Lost Haven with his grandfather.

Few fear Dennis might have similar benevolent thoughts of flying out and changing the world should he ever stumble upon the Rod...

Hero Type (Select one):
Regular human wielder of the Golden Rod. A tech-based “energy weapon” of so-far unknown origin, which is far more than just a weapon.

Power Level (Select one below):
City level/World level

Powers (Be Specific):
The Golden Rod is a tech based energy weapon which has a myriad of uses:
Energy absorption
Anti-gravity fields that allow flight or for objects to be moved/lifted
Defensive force fields
Energy blasts to a range of roughly 75 metres
Heat emission
Light emission
Solid constructs of energy

Attributes (Select one at each category):
Strength Level: Normal Human, but the Golden Rod allows him to lift 10 tons.

Speed/Reaction Timing Level: Normal Human reaction time, able to fly at 400 mph (straight line at a high altitude with no fear of hitting birds) but with a cruising speed of 75 MPH (remember, while the Golden Rod allows him to fly at subsonic speeds, he's still a guy holding onto it with regular human reaction times, so he seldom gets the opportunity to "open up" and push it to it's limits).

Endurance at MAXIMUM Effort: Normal Human, but the Golden Rod never requires any form of recharging. The upper lengths of it’s endurance falls upon that of the wielder. At this stage Dennis is in somewhat less than peak condition.

Agility: Normal Human

Intelligence: Average

Fighting Skill: At this stage untrained

Resources: His own resources are minimal, but he has a supporting benefactor in his grandfather; whose own resources (assets) are average, but his resourceFULNESS is large.

Weaknesses: Psychological – Dennis has large self-confidence and inferiority issues to his late brother,

Has numerous self-destructive bad habits.

Still just a regular guy, who has access to a remarkable tool.

Supporting Characters (Does your character have a significant other? A mother? Friend? Who are they, what do they have to do with your character?):
Alan Coghlan, grandfather – Alan was the original Aquilifer, from a different time. Having lost 20 years of his life had a traumatic effect on the old Golden Age hero, and the heavy adjustment to just how much the world had changed in those years have taken their toll. Now more than ever Alan believes the role is necessary... and he’ll mould Dennis into someone suitable even if it kills the both of them.

I’ll list more as the character develops.

Do you know how to post pictures on RPG boards?: Yup.

Sample Post (Minimum Four paragraphs containing dialogue. As this is an Advanced Level game, Sample must also meet the RPG forum's minimum requirement of 12 lines):

“Mmmm-eah?” he grunts into the phone.

“Oh thank God you’re OK! It’s all over the news!”

“Geez, ma. Calm down, what’s all over the news?”

“Wait, where are you? Are you home? You can’t be home if you don’t know what I’m talking about... Where’s Grampa Alan?”

“Ma, calm down. It’s too early for this. Now slow down. I am home, what’s all over the news?”

“Go check on Grampa Alan...”

“Alright, I’ll check on Grampa Alan. I’m going now, I’ll call you right back.”

“No! Don’t hang u--! Clik”

Dennis threw on some pants and a tee, to make the small trek from the accessory apartment he lived in to the main house which was his grandfather’s. Strange that his mother would call on his cell. It’s an expensive call from Seattle, she’d normally call the house number. But for all he knew, maybe she had and he slept through it. He was a pretty heavy sleeper after a night on the town, so it’s not unheard of that he could have slept through... oh...
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