Mutants & Masterminds - The Hunt for the Progenitor

Started by Reepicheep, February 02, 2018, 08:55:05 AM

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Deaths Jester

Wild Card shakes his head concerning the comment from Bill about him finding the ladder and Wild Card not figuring it out on his own.  Some people just have to take the credit for everything, he thinks to himself. Even after you talk out lout about what you discovered.

Spoiler
Ladder, Cat?  What ladder? Reep hasn't said anything about a ladder yet!!

He turns his attention towards where the former dented machine once sat and the tile that sat below it.
Avatar picture originally a Brom painting entitled Marionette.

Reepicheep

Bill Morgan & Wild Card

With the hatch and the machine both now out of the way, the hole is pretty clear. There are rungs down the shaft beneath it. Even if you hadn't spotted them, they may have been communicated to you by Queen Ant.

Queen Ant

The reverberations in the air are wilder underground. It's interesting that they aren't harmful. They should be. You've had bad experiences with this sort of sensation before.

There are rats scurrying about. They are frantic and panicked. Some of them are starving too. They're already approaching you in their manic starvation to see if you might constitute a dinner.

Those who descend...

You are in a subway tunnel. The air is thick with smoke and dust, and the green glow now hangs heavily in the air like a bad smell. The ground feels like it is coated in slime. It even squishes uncomfortably beneath your footsteps. Trash of all sorts has been thrown about - dirt, debris, furniture, electronics. Some of the rails have even been bent out of shape, others thrown up off the ground altogether. A single light illuminates the dark, but even it is struggling to stay alight. It flickers occasionally, flooding the tunnel in darkness.

In either direction to where you have climbed down are what look like service exits.


Deaths Jester

Wild Card descends first, making sure to keep an eye on the odd organ grinder as he goes.  Something just isn't right with that guy," he thinks as he descends further.

Covering his mouth and nose with his left hand he looks over the place for a second and then turns back to the ladder.  "Go ahead and hand that organ down here, comrade," he yells back up.
Avatar picture originally a Brom painting entitled Marionette.

catwhowalksbyhimself

Bill Unslung his organ from his shoulder as Confidence scrambled off it and down the tunnel on his own, then hung it down by its strap and dropped it into Wild Card's arms.  He then climbed down himself, recovering both Organ and monkey after doing so.  Looking around at the two exits, he said, "We take left, you take right?"

Spoiler

Sorry, I assumed that rungs would be obvious once everything was out of the way.  Also, can I see the ant colony and the rats coming after them?
I am the cat that walks by himself, all ways are alike to me.

UnkoMan

Frantic, hungry, she recalls creatures like this from the place she was before, although these ones seem larger, more vicious. She tries to command them not to turn their hunger on her, but if they are too mad with starvation she will flick some acid towards them in the hopes of scaring them off.
The sticky ground seems like a struggle for an individual ant, so she gathers her colony as best she can on any available raised surface. She hopes to stay out of the sticky substance, to keep her colony with her. She watches as one of the others descend into the mire, and understands and his calls for the other to give him something. They both intend to follow her, however she now wonders if she had made a wrong choice. The creatures down here are less easy to reason with. She can sense that some are even ready to turn on each other in their struggle for survival.

Spoiler
Reep, I'm assuming you are letting me know everything about the waves that I can remember, and there's no need for some kind of tech roll or use of my memory skill here?
PS: Very cool map!

Deaths Jester

#65
"Your call, organ grinder," Wild Card replies.  "Just make sure to yell if you find someone, okay?"

With that, Wild Card trudges off towards the right room, his mouth and nose still covered by his arm.  As he goes, he flicks his right wrist  causing the cards stored up his right sleeve to fall back into his right hand.  Slowly he goes, searching the area ahead of him - ever prepared to hurl a card at any minute.

Reaching the service entrance door to right, he slowly reaches out with his left hand - uncover his face during this - and tries the handle.

Unko
Spoiler
I'm not sure but your character might be able to pick up a combination of consternation towards the organ grinder and a slight amount of preparedness to strike from my character.  Unsure though seeing as I'm not sure how your character's empathy thing works exactly...nor if my character is one you'd pick up as well as Cat's seeing as I'm not a hive minded being.
Avatar picture originally a Brom painting entitled Marionette.

UnkoMan

#66
The queen watches as the other creature... colony? comes into the tunnels alongside. She notices the two make sounds at each other. This time she takes more care to pay attention to their thoughts. They appear to be searching for more people still, yet they also seem to not take much notice of the starved life already in the area. She wonders if they are searching for specific beings?
She watches as the one heads away to a door.
The friendly, and more calming of the humans she has met today seems intent on going to the other door, so she decides to follow along with this and heads towards the left door, taking careful note of her surroundings.

Reepicheep

Wild Card

You trudge westwards through the cacophony of stuff on the ground. The service exit from the rails is up a few stairs, ascending into a smaller tunnel. There's a door at the top. Or rather, there was a door. Now there's a hole. The actual door is behind you, flung off its hinges and bent out of shape. The side facing you is scorched and slightly melted.

DC15 vs Perception 7 + (d20 = 12)
Success to one degree


The effect on the metallic door is similar to the damage the ants did to the metal hatch.

If you enter the room, through the door, you will find yourself in an office. The damage here is worse than the railway. Desks, computers, chairs, desklamps, coffee mugs, a fridge. They've all been tossed out of place. The only light is a glow from a computer monitor that managed to survive being hurled off its desk. You notice that a lot of the debris has been thrown towards the left hand side of the room.

To the right there is another door. Like before, the door is missing. It's been blown off its hinges. Only this time the opening has been covered by debris.

DC15 vs Perception 7 + (d20 = 20)
Critical Success to three degrees


On closer inspection, it isn't just debris. Someone has intentionally barricaded this entrance with desks, sheet metal and steel shelves for a buttress. If you peer through the gaps in the barricade, you will see a man in a lab coat. He isn't unconscious. He's sat, trembling on the ground in a foetal position. He's covered in a film of green slime. All you can see of him is his wild, upstanding hair. Listening closely, you can hear him groan.

Bill Morgan & Ant Queen

You head eastwards. You too have to clamber over or through the wreckage of the room to get to the eastern room. Here, the door is still on its hinge. It was blown open and bent out of shape, but it has catapulted itself back into position. It wouldn't take much to open the door.

DC15 vs Perception 11 + (d20 = 10)
Success to two degrees
DC15 vs Perception 14 + (d20 = 6)
Success to one degree


You find that you are trudging through puddles of slime. It's a sickly green. In fact, the slime is glowing softly. It seems to be bioluminescent, when before it seemed like it could have just been the reflection of the light. The slime is responsible for the green glow. It flickers in the broken light, but watching it carefully you might spot that it seems to be pulsating slowly, as though breathing. It smells horrendous.

It makes navigation hard for Queen Ant.

Queen Ant will receive a -5 circumstance bonus to any move actions while there is still slime.

Spoiler
That's not to say you can't safely move around. This will come into effect in combat. Not to say there isn't any combat coming up. Um... Uh... Look over there!

UnkoMan

Treading carefuly, the queen ant tries to stretch her "legs" to make sure she steps on any debris that may be free of the slimy substance, though it may prove futile in the thick wastes. She wants to get away from the slime as soon as she can.
She reaches out and tries to push the door aside, secreting acid to any attached pieces she needs to. Hopefully the other room will not have this green sludge covering it. Either way, she will slip in and continue to try avoiding it, stretching the colony around as needed.
For onlookers the shapes they are making would be even less human than usual. Extended, twisted shapes.

To the brightly coloured dual-creature she sends the message, Come. Follow. With me. She tempers this with a warning of caution. She mentions the air. The vibrations. Continued. Danger? She assumes they can feel it like she can, but does not know if they would have felt it before.
They remind her of something unpleasant, but the memories are far back, before she could understand them fully. Before she had the senses she does now.

Spoiler
She will be doing her own perception check upon entering the room, but I suspect you already are aware. Hold off on brainscan, since I'm going with her assuming the minds have been accounted for.

catwhowalksbyhimself

#69
Seeing the bug creature and understanding it's message to let it take point, Bill Morgan and Confidence began playing the organ again, placing the Sound Barrier around the creature this time.

"For protection,"he tried to sent to it.  "Do not be afraid."

To a human, the sound barrier would seem to be the faint sound of organ music coming all around with a faint shimmer in the air surround which does not interfere with the ability to see and is easy to tune out.  They are not sure how this will appear to the insect mass.

Spoiler
I'm assuming I can only have one Sound Barrier at once, so I'm giving it to Queen Ant instead of myself.
I am the cat that walks by himself, all ways are alike to me.

Reepicheep

Spoiler
Correct, though keep in mind that it drops your own toughness down to 2. That's extremely vulnerable. Though Queen Ant would definitely benefit from the buff, you may want to consider using it more situationally, to keep yourself preserved. Hopefully that will make more sense during combat.

Unko, you might feel the vibrations of the sonic power differently other people. But since we've not discussed any mechanical effect (Like a weakness to sonic?), it won't do anything harmful. Also, I don't know enough about ants to judge.

I'm assuming you both have entered the room, since the door has no DC to open.

Queen Ant & Bill Morgan

The shimmering kinetic field softly hums around Queen Ant.

Opening the door, you find that there isn't less slime, but more. A lot more. The walls and floor are caked in puddles of it. Some of it even drips from the ceiling. It gives the space a very eerie glow that breathes in and out, from a dim mossy colour to a sickly hue the colour of lime. You also notice the rats.

There are dozens of them in total, scurrying about the floor trying to avoid the puddles of goo. It's clear that they were caught in the explosion. Some of them are missing fur, or lay dazed and bewildered.

DC15 vs Perception 11 + (d20 = 6)
Success to one degree
DC15 vs Perception 14 + (d20 = 20)
Critical Success to four degrees


None of them are dead, however. You'd think that since the explosion had the kinesis to tear up a steel hatch, dent a metal machine and then blow down a concrete wall, it would at least kill off a few rats. But it seems that they've all survived.

Some of them are unusually large, others grotesque, others malformed. They're too panicked to investigate the two of you - it would seem like you're trivial compared to what they've just been through.

Part of the function of the room you are in was to cage them. The cages are smashed along the northern wall, not one of them left unopened. They didn't look like they would have been totally brutal - the cages would have had plenty of feeders, exercise wheels, water supply and space to run. But they were definitely not for pets. There are also what look to have been hydroponic beds and incubators. The glass on them is smashed, and whatever might have been growing within is gone. Littering the ground are files, syringes, measuring tools and microscopes. There are machines and tools that you wouldn't be familiar with.

Queen Ant

This is all too familiar to you. The cages, the tools, the incubators. You've seen all this stuff before. Most of all, you've seen the vague, vinyl decal that marks the heavier pieces of equipment. It is a circle with a line through it, like the negative space of a stop sign.

Deaths Jester

Wild Card finds himself torn between two equally interesting and potentially info laden objects. This guy probably has a ton of answers but he also might be nuts he thinks. Yet there's a computer probably packed with info about my target over there but it's not safe to dig through it with this guy here...

He finds himself forced into one situation - one that is less profitable or potentially safe. Sighing, he turns to the guy and says, "Jasper?"
Avatar picture originally a Brom painting entitled Marionette.

UnkoMan

The queen feels her colony surrounded by currents. She gets the message from the other being. This creature is able to make vibrations on its own. For protection? She hasn't encountered this in a human before. This was a strange creature.

She enters the door and is confronted with a familiar room. It strikes a chord in her of self preservation. She won't have her colony contained again.
However, this isn't the same as before. No flowing white humans. The sterility of the environment obviously compromised. Something violent took place here. And the rats... She sees now they were like her, subject to the whims of those people. Twisted from their original forms. She feels... what is this feeling? It reminds her of something the multicreature felt earlier. Compassion?
She tries to communicate with the rats. Run away. Leave this place. Get out of here! Their minds are less familiar than the humans'. Less capable. She doesn't know if they will understand.

She backs out of the room. Communicates with the paired humans in the bright coats. This is a bad place. We should leave. There is much danger here.
She tries to convey  a lesser version of this to the other human they entered with, though he seemed less receptive.

catwhowalksbyhimself

Bill and Confidence are a bit amused by this turn of event.  Of course it didn't think to distinguish between humans and rats.  Why would it?  Still, there no reason not to try to the help the things.

Receiving Queen Ant's message to leave, they agree, suggesting that they go find the other person instead and also suggesting that she try and communicate to the rats that safety lay in the next room and up the shaft.  They should be able to scramble up the rungs okay.  He then suggests that maybe she should simply communicate great fear in the room they are in and great safety in the room topside, as he doubts that rats could understand anything more than that.

They will then go back to the entry way and then on to the right hand door where the other man left.  As they leave, they will transfer the shield back to themselves, as they are uncertain as to what might be ahead.

Spoiler

I am assuming that they can't hear the message she already sent to the rat, so they don't know that she's already done so.  His suggestion of how to get them to leave might still be helpful though.
I am the cat that walks by himself, all ways are alike to me.

UnkoMan

The brightly coloured creature seems to agree with her course of action. She affirms their message to the rats, Up the hatch. Leave this place. Safer outside. She wants them to understand.
She also sends a stronger message to the other man, the determined one. We should escape.
Not knowing what else to do, she follows the Organ King. She feels as the vibrations he had made on her leave to his own body. What a strange sensation. A remarkable new creature.

Deaths Jester

#75
A wave of panic and the idea of leaving or something - he's so unsure of the emotion or the cause - passed over Wild Card.  Words kept repeating something about leaving and danger and bad place with the waves.  Why would I want to leave, he thought as he waited for who he thought might be Jasper to respond.  I've got to find out more! Now is not the time to leave! I've still got to get some concrete evidence on my target and what he has to do with all of this.

Shaking his head side to side to clear it - he pushes the odd, almost psychic phrases and emotions from his mind. "Jasper Forbes," he repeats his question to the man on the floor amongst the debris/makeshift barricade.

Spoiler
I'm waiting for Reep to chime in before moving forward.....want to know what I can learn before making my next move so I'm more than willing to wait until Reep has time to post before moving forward with everything. Esp seeing as I've got an interaction with an NPC to play out...
Avatar picture originally a Brom painting entitled Marionette.

Reepicheep

Queen Ant

DC15 vs Presence 1 + (d20 = 15)
Success to one degree


The trembling, swarming, scattered rats start to slow their pace. Some take a moment to actually survey their surroundings. Others explore the edges of the room, perhaps looking for egress. A small handful come and investigate you a bit more closely. One nibbles experimentally at the colony.

The rats are calmer, but they don't seem to obey your orders in the same way that your colony does. Between that and the issue of scale when you compare rats to ladders, it doesn't seem like they'll be ascending.

Spoiler
Without a mind control effect, you can only communicate. The rats would have to decide for themselves that what you're saying to them is a good idea. But, y'know, they're rats.

Bill Morgan & Queen Ant

Returning back to the railway tracks, past the hatch you descended from and into the western room, you see Wild Card. He's peering through gaps in what looks like rubble in a doorway. The room is littered with debris, trash, crashed furniture and puddles of slime.

Wild Card

Your first prompt to the man in the lab coat is met with heavy breathing. He shuffles slightly, but each movement sends violent tremors through his body.

He groans, almost a cry or wail. At this point, Bill Morgan and Queen Ant appear in the room with you.

All:

"Jasper Forbes," Wild Card asks,

There is silence for a moment. The voice that follows is hoarse, barely audible.

"I have it here . . . I can hold it . . . Help."

catwhowalksbyhimself

Bill Morgan approaches as the man speaks.

"Bill Morgan, the Organ King will be pleased to render aid."  Turning to Wild Card, he said "We need to get this man to a hospital.  There are lots of police just outside the building.  I'm sure they help us get him to a hospital if we asked.  Bill Morgan will go get them, and you can stay with him in the meantime."

Spoiler
I will stop here to give the others a change to respond/interrupt.
I am the cat that walks by himself, all ways are alike to me.

Deaths Jester

#78
Wild Card cocks an eyebrow at Jasper's response.  "You have what? What can you hold? What caused all of this," he asks.  "And what does Dr. Marko have to do with all of this? And where might he be"

Feeling the approach of onlookers, he turns to see Bill and...the insect woman or hive....he's unsure what exactly it maybe.  "I found him here like this," he tells them.  "I haven't had time to check out the computer over by the wall that is still in working condition - been more involved with Jasper here. You two find anything in that other room that might makes any sense of what he's mumbling about?"

At Bill's mention of tons of cops outside and taking Jasper to a hospital, Wild Card hesitates.  "You sure you want to do that?  I mean, for all you know they could come rushing down here with their guns drawn and arrest this poor man.  They are going to be looking for someone to take the blame for the explosion and old Jasper here is the only one that was here beforehand. Isn't that right Jasper?" Before Jasper has time to reply, Wild Card continues on. "Besides, I'm not exactly sure the cops will know how to handle any of this."  He waves his hand around the room.  "It's best if we take care of him and see exactly what thing he supposedly is holding before putting anyone else at risk."

That and I don't want any cops to see me here.

"Course, if you are so interested in getting the cops down here then I'll go get them.  I think I remember you saying had a way to take care of folks when we first ran across each other upstairs. Or perhaps we can send your..umm...friend."

Spoiler
For those wondering, italics for my in character stuff revolve around his thoughts, not what he says out loud or anything.
Avatar picture originally a Brom painting entitled Marionette.

catwhowalksbyhimself

"We found some kind of lab experiment involving rats.  Apparently our friend here doesn't distinguish between rats and people.  Some of those things barely look like rats anymore, so I doubt whatever they were involved in was very legal, or ethical.  Explosion seems to have come from there.  Regardless, we should still get this man some medical attention."
I am the cat that walks by himself, all ways are alike to me.

UnkoMan

Spoiler
Didn't think those rats would listen, but she was going to try anyhow. If they actively nibbled on her she would probably start attacking them, with intent to kill. Can we go with them coming close with intent to nibble, and she moves to avoid them? She certainly wouldn't stick around to let it happen.

The queen "listens" to the exchanges between the humans. This Billmorgan wants to bring more people. His words sound like helpful people, but she is uncertain if she should be around more humans than necessary. The fact that there are people outside causes her to think about her next actions. Perhaps there would be a different way to leave this place.
The other man is asking questions of... a third... She moves forward, towards where he is speaking. A bunch of rubble stacked up against an opening. Beyond that, another human, covered in the same slime. She reaches out.

Do you know how to leave this place?

Deaths Jester

Spoiler
Edited my post, just so everyone knows.   :thumbup:
Avatar picture originally a Brom painting entitled Marionette.

Reepicheep

The man behind the barricade has his back to the three of you. You can only see him through small gaps in the makeshift wall, unable to get a clear view. From the angle you're at, and through the letterbox views you have of him, all you can see of him is his labcoat, his scraggly mess of hair and the ominous green slime that coats him. He's hunched over, sat on the ground.

Talking is clearly difficult for him. Not that he doesn't want to, just that you can hear him wheezing and struggling for breath between anything he says. "It... must be... contained." the voice barely sounds human at this point. "Container." He coughs, hardly able to assemble the words. "Brandon." .... "Peter"

He goes silent for a moment, trying to listen before, "No. No. NO. Can't leave. Can't leave it..."

Deaths Jester

"What container? Whose Brandon? And what does Peter Marko have to do with this," Wild Card turns back to Josef, ignoring Bill Morgan's want to get the cops down here.  "Whatever it is, I'm certainly not going to leave it.  I'd rather you keep hold of it for safety or maybe tell us about this container and where it might be. Once we get whatever it is contained, then you and I can talk about Peter and what the hell happened here. That sound good, Josef?"

Spoiler
Am using Persuasion for this, seeing as Bill Morgan seems to have helped frighten the man a bit with the idea of leaving and cops.  Maybe try to calm him down some that way and get more answers to this all?
Avatar picture originally a Brom painting entitled Marionette.

catwhowalksbyhimself

#84
Bill will add "If you don't want to leave, fine.  We won't bring the police if you don't want us to.  Tell us what we can do to help."

Spoiler

Bill's still new the whole superhero thing is a bit naive at times, but he's not going to force help on someone who doesn't want it.
I am the cat that walks by himself, all ways are alike to me.

UnkoMan

Spoiler
While I figured the italics are for your internal dialogue, have we talked about how that should go, Reep? My character communicates solely through that so would she be hearing it the same as if he was speaking, or would she actively have to listen?
Now that we are in play I am realizing we didn't really go over the totality of her mental communication.
In addition, though forming words with his mouth is difficult for the scientist, how about forming words with his mind? Or does his mind have something in it as well?

The queen peers through the cracks and the human behind the debris. She sees the white coat... He was one of the captors. Has this all been a trap?
She flings her mass quick as she can to one corner of the room.

Spoiler
Ha ha, wish I could be more gun-ho about investigating right now, but Queen Ant's just freaking out at this point.

Deaths Jester

Unko

Spoiler
I highly doubt your character would hear my character's thoughts due in part to the fact he seems a bit resistant to your broadcasts..and has some training in his history that {I}might[/I] protect him some.  I'm unsure though, so is up to Reep.
Avatar picture originally a Brom painting entitled Marionette.

catwhowalksbyhimself

Bill and Confidence see the mass of ant retreating into the corner.  They send out the message "What is wrong?  Are you okay?"
I am the cat that walks by himself, all ways are alike to me.

UnkoMan

As she shrinks in fear she gets the message Bill sends. They seem sincere in their concern. She was worried they had brought her down as some kind of trick, some way to return her or possibly terminate her. They appear, instead, to have even less knowledge about this place than she did.

White coat. Bad creatures. You can't trust them. They lie. They hurt you. Communication is coming easier for her now. The ideas seem less abstract. Thoughts feel more like a language.

catwhowalksbyhimself

Bill and Confidence find its fear more than a little puzzling.  Confidence also remembers white coats.  He was born in a lab.  Lots of those people around.  They were always kind to him.  Confidence's memories were vague as he was just a baby, but Bill remembers that a lab had been working on cancer treatments and needed to test their effect on pregnancy and had injected Confidence's mother.  While they never discovered Confidence's powers--those didn't manifest until long after Bill had him--they had noted abnormal changes in the babies DNA, had canceled the project, adopted out the babies when they were old enough and still had the mother.  She was useless for experiments now, but they kept her as a mascot.  Bill and Confidence still visited her sometimes.

You are safe with us they send back.

Spoiler

For consistency, I'm going to start using italics for thought communication.  Also, the memories while faint, are still very powerful.  It's possible that Queen Ant may cast some impression of them.
I am the cat that walks by himself, all ways are alike to me.