The Shield Team (Vagabond Knight, Tresa M'Orrigan, Pas d'Armes, and Li-Hwan), trapped in an alternate dimension where opening chests destroys the world, receive some timely help from Mender Silos (aka GM_Sven)

Tyrant!

Jez Cavell: about to clean Dominatrix' clock. Or just stick a knife in it.

Blood Crucible trying to keep his eyes from popping out of his head at Jez's "undercover" outfit (insert ribald joke here).

Update!

Just to summarize my City of... of late. Some items briefer than others. :)

Vagabond Wizard
I love the RP between DefenderVagz and Lunatrix. We've hit a point where I'm really curious to see what will happen next, and I'm eager to play again. :)

I know the ice shields aren't any fun to look at, but Luna's a freakin' tank with all those buffs. I've added Electric Mastery, so Vagz has a single-target immobilize to throw down now: the same Electric Fence that he spams with gleeful abandon as BlasterVagz. Luna's added Cold Mastery, so in addition to Vagz' three slows, we have another one. With all the talk of caps, I wonder what the bottom is? >:)

A few more levels and Vagz will have armor and Luna will... have another shield. Yikes.

Sounds of Silence
I love the VEATs. When we actually come up against a challenge, we're shocked. I love that! I wasn't going to take Mind Link 'cause I didn't think we needed another defense buff, but the Devouring Earth taught me that sometimes we will. And it gives a huge buff against psi which, you know, very handy. And it gives a to-hit buff. So that's what I'm mainly slotting it for.

Silence can tell the three of them are getting stronger. And now he's discovered that Lord Recluse has been screwing with them. That just firms up his resolve to become the best of the Widows. He's working his way up to... well, it might be obvious, and if it's not... I'm not going to tell you! :-D

Vagabond Blade
After sitting at 48 forever, Fyre and I went on an ITF yesterday (yay for paid days off). She took Evan Caine, that defender everyone's talking about (I teamed with her once before, honest). It was a good strong ITF, and we did really well. Afterwards, I was just over 2 bubbles from level. So we went and smacked around some Praetorians... and Vagz is now Hero of the City twice over.

Shouldn't be too much longer 'til it's three times...

Derick Darklight
Darklight finally made a full-blown appearance last night. Derick was walloped a few times by Red Caps and ended up face-planting a lot. Darklight seized the opportunity to force Derick to the back and take over. Ellianne Sylvanie had a chance to actually talk to him once she realized Derick wasn't in control any longer.

Unfortunately for Darklight, while he's getting stronger, Derick is still a force to be reckoned with. Derick forced the Nictus back down again relatively quickly. Elli almost sounded disappointed... :)

But Darklight's not done yet...

The Doomed Task Force

First of all, I had intended to post this sooner, but things have been busy here, and I begrudge my time at home, preferring to play instead of blog.

Fyre made excellent points in her blog. If you have not read it, go look. I'll wait.

Done? Good.

I have not played E-VAC/E.VAC in quite some time. I even had him in a coma for a while, specifically to get away from the character. There are good reasons for that and the fact that he's twice level 50 is the least of the reasons. So what are the primary reasons? Well, the first and foremost is very simple: I was tired of the RP in Team 2.0 (aka Team Angst). It had settled into a horrible and annoying little cycle:

Masonry would do something terrible. He'd revel in being evil for a bit. He'd suddenly regret it. He'd tell revised versions of what happened to people who weren't there. Those people would get righteously indignant on his behalf, believing E and Fyre were terrible people for not forgiving Masonry's "minor" faults. Fights and arguments ensued. Quiet descended. The cycle begins again.

When I heard Fyre and I were going to be invited to a Statesman Task Force that involved Masonry and was going to focus on RP, I knew no good would come of it. I don't say this to be mean to any of the players involved, but my first thought was that there was no way I would do it. My four eligible characters would be two versions of E and two versions of Vagz (Vagabond Mage and Vagabond Blade). There's no way E would team with Masonry. As for Vagz, while he tried to meddle and be helpful a while back, he washed his hands of the whole situation with Masonry's "death", even taking back the mace he had crafted special for Masonry.

I was not going to go, and looking back on it, I was not wrong. I should've refused to go in the first place.

Yes, I realize extra people were needed for there to be any hope of getting past even the first mission or two. Yes, I realize there was plot to be advanced and all. Yes, I know the people I normally team with on Sundays would've been there with or without me. Guess what? That's why I ended up going.

But I regret it.

The next time E sees Masonry, it had better be a fight to the death (E's or Masonry's, just so long as it happens). And as has already been guessed, E is none too happy with Frost, either, after hearing he's gone back to Masonry. E understands that Frost has to follow his heart, but in this case, it's a betrayal. Nothing matters more to E than his daughter and Masonry put her in harm's way. Frost is fraternizing with the enemy.

To the players involved in Sunday's TF: please don't try and put these characters together IC again without a strong, definite plan. And even then, talk it over with me first. I will not be willing to go through that again. Ever.

Oh, Captain, my Captain.

I know I've started a lot of posts this way lately, but...

It's hard, sometimes, to play a character who is an outsider to your own story. It's difficult to separate Piett from what I know from playing E for so long. And lately, I've had some moments where I've had a hard time remembering what Piett has heard or been told versus what I know because I was E. Heck, I'm pretty sure I've screwed up that separation a few times, usually erring on the side of "he doesn't know", leaving others to remind him (IC or OOC) that he really should know by now.

In any case, the Rikti are definitely not freaking Will out as much as I thought they were going to. They are freaking him out, especially when he's hip-deep in them for too long, but he gets back to "normal" pretty quickly. Does that mean he's all right? Hell, no. It means he's in even more layers of denial than I thought when I created him. And it actually gets easier to bury himself in denial when there's more people around. More to think about, more to keep track of, and more reason for him to put on his game-face and focus on the work.

No, I'm not suggesting less teaming. Don't be paranoid. I love the teaming.

When it comes to Master Masonry, Will doesn't trust him in the slightest. Mas keeps asking some very (to Will) personal questions. The probing just makes him that much more determined to keep his own council. There's something seriously wrong with this "hero" who leads a pack of thugs around, breaking their necks when he's unhappy. The only thing Will knows for sure right now is that he's got to be ready to try and take Mas out if it becomes necessary. How? Well, he's got some ideas...

Then there's Keen Havoc. Fyre and Mas treat him like "instant friend" because of his relationship to the other Keens (Stronghold and Frost). Will thinks they're nuts to do so. He's very obviously his own person with his own (hidden) agenda and plans. He seems like a decent (if rude) fellow, but the more decent someone on the Isles seems, the less likely they are to actually be decent.

As far as Ges and Schlachtfeld go, Will thinks of them as decent soldiers and somewhat useful. If they actually are Nazis... well, there's worse on the Isles. So long as all they're doing is work, it's fine. Just... don't want to get into a political or philosophical discussion.

Then there's Fyre-Hex. Will feels very protective of her, but he's confused as to whether he's having bodyguard feelings, fatherly feelings, or if he's developing a crush. She is quite capable of handling almost anything the Isles can dish out at her, and yet... why is someone like her on the Isles in the first place? He's taken rich idiots into dangerous places before, usually to see them lose their lunch and beg to be taken home. He's worked with heroes and villains before, but Fyre... it's like she's both at the same time. The player obviously knows a few things the character doesn't, so the character is still pretty confused about the whole situation.

Oh, and after last night's conversation, I think I pretty much have to put some more levels on my newest Virtue alt Lost Phantom. The RP idea that made me create him in the first place seems like even more of an interesting idea now. I just have to find a way to get some more levels on him so I can pull it off.

*chuckles evilly*

The End?

Well... um... wow. Okay.

If you read Masonry's blog, you've already got a pretty darn good idea of what happened last night. Styrm had spent the better part of the day banging on the inside of my skull, demanding screen time. I gave in and wrote the previous post here, but that didn't placate him. He wanted to talk to the heroes again. Oh, all right...

Well, Styrm knows the weak link is going to be Mason. He's prone to anger, talks too much, and hates (depending on the day) one or two of his teammates. Ask a couple questions, make a couple offers, add in a couple threats, call it a night with the information Mason's bound to let slip.

Neither I (the player) nor Styrm expected what happened last night. E certainly didn't. Masonry's blog summarizes it very well, but here's the highlights: Styrm now knows Fyre most likely knows where Jen is. Masonry doesn't really care about anyone but himself. Mason is practically looking forward to E's death. If Mason knew where Jen was, Styrm would already have her. Mason has let anger, hate, pride, selfishness, and cowardice lead him down the Dark Path.

Just when E had started to think he was wrong and that Mason not only could change but would... Mason turned evil.

We've talked about how sometimes the characters will do things we don't expect. We've talked about how we as the writers and players of these characters can force them back into the stories we want to tell or the game we want to play. I think Masonry is one square peg who resented being forced into that round hole. He squirmed and wriggled until he finally broke free. And I don't think he's going back in.

For putting Fyre in danger and for not only saying he doesn't care about Jen but nearly proving it... E is done with Mason. For good.

Maybe it's time to solidify and start Team 3.

Degeneration

I want to start by saying that it's sheer coincidence that Keen Frost and E-VAC are both dying slowly. We did not get together and decide to do it at the same time, and I think he's as surprised by E as I am by Frost. Unfortunately, it means we're competing for the same spot on stage. Not actively or intentionally competing, mind you, but I gotta tell you: nothing makes me feel as foolish as hearing Keen Frost say "the radiation is killing me" only to have E come out and essentially say "me, too". Or vice-versa. We're not trying to do it, and we're both taking different tacks on it, but still...

The day before yesterday, I decided E was going to be starting on drugs. Up until then, he was trying to do without, confining himself strictly to experimenting on the radiation and injecting himself with different substances designed specifically to target the radiation. But the pain is getting worse and worse. His empathic powers don't trigger it, but every time he uses the radiation, it's new worlds of pain. So he started to take something for the pain. Naturally, my very first outing after making that announcement, I started screwing up. It was a series of total accidents, but it quickly made sense there were side-effects of the medication, making E get sloppy, lose control, lose concentration.

Let me explain how I envision E's powers actually work. RP-wise, his powers basically fall into five categories, and they don't necessarily fall where you'd expect.

Containment Suit
Power Blast: Kit apparently installed a few extra gadgets in the containment suit she built. A hidden trigger inside the gauntlets sends out pulses of energy.

Empathic
Accelerate Metabolism: E once had refined his empathic powers to where he could actually stimulate the adrenal glands directly, one of his favorite beneficial uses of his empathy. This is much harder with the radiation interfering, but he eventually learned to combine the empathic stimulation with a "squirt" of radiation, making this a "combo" power.
Blind/Spectral Wounds: E's oldest and most-used power is to use his empathy to make his victims feel pain. He either takes pain they're already feeling and amplifies it, or he makes them feel injuries they don't have.
Deceive: One of E's favorite tricks is to insert paranoia into his victim's mind. This tends to work best with villains who already have reason to distrust their companions.
Mutation: Another "combo" power, E uses his empathic powers to reach in and re-stimulate his fallen comrade. A little burst of radiation causes the process to happen more rapidly as well as invigorating the body at the same time.
Radiant Aura: Yes, I know this is a radiation power mechanically, but to me (RP-wise) it's his old empathic healing aura.
Spectral Terror: E summons up (in his words) a wad of pure fear and tosses it up in the air. Since it's just a raw emotion, the victim's minds will sometimes conjure up mental images to rationalize the sudden fear.

Haunted
Phantom Army/Phantasm: The spirits of the people E killed during his criminal career have been raised to serve as bodyguards. As spirits, they have powers they did not have in life (PA) or altered versions of the powers they used to have (Doppleganger).

Mutagenic Radiation
Accelerate Metabolism: See above.
Choking Cloud: Most the time, E is holding in the radiation his body produces. When he relaxes his control, this poisonous, mutagenic radiation leaks out into a cloud around him. In my mind, it should affect friend as well as foe, but mechanics don't allow for it.
EM Pulse: By concentrating on forcing his body to produce more radiation, but holding it in for a few minutes, E can do a quick burst, causing an electro-magnetic pulse as well as shooting out radiation in all directions.
Enervating Field, Lingering Radiation, Radiation Infection: E sort of... squirts some of the radiation from his own body at a target, coating them with a specific radiation type, generally harmful.
Mutation: See above.

Pocket Dimension
Group Invisibility: With a little effort, E can nudge friends around him part way into his pocket dimension. This causes them to be harder to see and harder to hit (yes, I slot GI for defense).
Recall Friend: E can reach through his pocket dimension, grab a friend, and yank them over near him.
Teleportation: While in L.A., E was able to go virtually anywhere he liked just by stepping through his pocket dimension. Unfortunately, the dimensional instability of Paragon City only allows him jumps of about 200 yards at a time.

Now the other four "categories" work just fine, but his radiation-based powers hurt. The radiation courses through his system and generally comes out through the marks on his hands and arms. But this is not a natural process and his body has to heal itself every time the radiation comes through his pores. This is part of why his regeneration is burning out. In addition to having to constantly repair him internally, he's also been forcing it to constantly work on him externally as well. And the more he uses his radiation, the more it builds up in his system and hurts him.

But now, rather than risk hurting the people he cares about or innocent bystanders, he's refusing any more pain medication. So last night, as people in a lot of pain often do, he went back and forth between quiet and sullen and grumpy and rude. He was more uncomfortable than he's ever been, and I tried to make it show.

And at the end of the night, he noticed his hands are bleeding again...

On Keen Stronghold

No slight meant, but this is probably going to be a short one. See, Keen joined up with Team 1.0 late and sporadically. And he was quiet. I mean really quiet. He spoke up very rarely and usually just to let us know what he was doing tactically.

In-character, E was always suspicious of Stronghold for several reasons. First of all, quiet people who invent super-powerful devices and dress in strange costumes usually are building an army of killer robots in their basement in order to take over the world.

Secondly, Stronghold doesn't fight. Oh, sure, in addition to those potent and useful force fields of his, he'd occasionally take a long-range shot. But Stronghold seemed to take far more delight in pushing his targets around, knocking them to the ground, and other (to E) non-aggressive tactics. I mean, what's up with that? Shoot somebody, for cryin' out loud!

Thirdly, Stronghold made pushes into what E considered to be his territory. He had devices to heal and clear minds which, granted, came in very handy a number of times, "...but dammit..." E would think, "I'm the healer around here! Get back to your bubbles!"

So E spent a lot of time with one eye on the enemy, one eye on Masonry and Fyre to make sure they were okay... and one suspicious eye on Keen Stronghold. Just in case.

Yes, I know that's three eyes. Hush.

On Masonry

I never expected E & Fyre to be anything more than just another duo. But somewhere in the Hollows, in the piles of bad players, we found a "keeper". Well, I should say, Fyre found him. I don't remember which Hollows mission it was, but there was this crazy Stone/Mace tank called Masonry. He was funny. He had skills. He had a clever name. And after the mission was over, Fyre said those immortal words:

"Can I keep him?"

The world of CoH would never be the same. :)

Let me start by forcing E to admit something: he has always been jealous of Masonry. If you read between the lines of his backstory, E became the kind of villain he was to earn respect or to be feared and to not have to be afraid of anyone or anything. While his priorities changed as he grew out of the villain and started growing into a hero, those desires remained, smoldering deep down, but still there. Masonry is good-looking, strong, and seemingly fearless. Women flirt with him and people like hanging out with him.

Warring with this sentiment, however, is the fact that Masonry needs help. Even though he's a little older than E, there's a very strong "little brother" feel to him. He's gotten himself in trouble. He does stupid things sometimes. He's earnest, and most of all, he was killing himself. Fyre and Mason have likened Mas to a big dog: loyal, strong, not too bright. To Jason, Nathan (Masonry's real name) is his long-lost little brother. Someone he has to watch out for, teach, and help out of bad situations, hoping that one day, Masonry will become a better person than E-VAC.

And E took Masonry's slowly killing himself personally (back in the Team 1.0 days). There was no way E was going to let Mason die. He was going to fight that tooth and nail, even if it meant stripping Nathan of his powers and showing him that he could still be a hero without them (I was expecting/hoping Masonry Redux would be an AR/Dev blaster or BS/SR scrapper or something).

Even now, this conflict of how to feel about Masonry wars inside E, made worse by the things that have gone on since starting Team 2.0. In addition to jealousy and brotherly love, other warring emotions have been added: fear (what is he capable of?), anger (he was willing to betray us), mistrust (mix the two). And on top of it all, Masonry has (in E's mind) always been his chief rival for Fyre's affections, made worse recently by Fyre's willingness to forgive Mason.

With Masonry's attitudes (and intelligence) having been all over the map through his career, E is never quite sure what's going to happen with him from day to day. One day, close friends. Another, deadly enemies. Friendly rivals, comrades-in-arms, priveleged favorite, ally in trouble... There's really no way to predict where this relationship will end up.

On Fyre Hex

I'm not sure when it happened. I'm not sure exactly how or exactly why it started. But somewhere along the way, in spite of their fights and in spite of how hard she tried to push him away, E fell in love with Fyre.

He saw that she had been hurt. He could tell that she'd broken. He felt the sharp edges, but underneath, in spite of everything that had been done to her, the real Alexandra (Fyre Hex's real name) was a warm, caring person who still clung to high ideals. She saved people, helped people, and protected people. Even after years of betrayal, she still said it herself, over and over again, even if she didn't realize she was saying it: people deserve to be treated better than they are.

Jason saw something in Alexandra not only reflecting his own past, but to be admired. Fyre Hex should've been a worse villain than E-VAC had ever been... and she wasn't. She had far less reason to be a hero, and she was still out there as often (or more) than he was. She had so many people who would've been very happy if she just fell apart and let them make a puppet out of the pieces that were left... and she had the strength to pull all her pieces together and not only stay standing, but remain in command of her own destiny.

On the outside, she sometimes comes across as strong, cold, all hard edges. But the person at the core of Fyre Hex is protective of people around her, possessing of deep emotion, and generous to a fault. And in spite of all claims to the contrary, Jason saw someone he wanted to protect, care for, and yes, even save. He has a bit of a martyr complex to begin with, but here was someone E was willing not only to be hurt for: he was (and is) willing to die for her.

Or to kill for her.