In Dreams to Come 2 - Back to the Future

Sheema... still didn't quite understand what was going on. Based on their other selves, she suspected she was in the future. What she didn't figure out was how and why this timeline is apparently "collapsing." What the heck did that mean? The time travelers seemed to know it, but not her nor Makhana, nor her dad, nor Aquila. Seriously, she's going to need an explanation after this is done.

Both her and Makhana braced themselves as they saw the cold wave coming. Shemma twirled Galadhil in front of her to deflect the worst while the dire rhino merely shrugged off the frigid blast. It saddens the dire rhino that she must retreat with the rest. She was enjoying this fight, even though both Sheema and Wulther are involved. She only hopes that there will be another chance later as she checks up on the suddenly-paralyzed Wulther. Like his strength, Makhana also respects his mighty rhino form, brutal and hardy in appearance and about as big as herself. Though, quite clearly, he needs to condition himself to the frigid cold.

Sheema, in all her naivety and lack of knowledge, runs over next to the woman they had freed just a bit ago. "Sorry, but we should go!" Sheema warns Tara as the Perallan princess places her hand on the mysterious woman's arm. "We'll get another chance I'm sure! Next time we can get 'em outside of their base!" As little as Sheema knows, she's sure enough that this battle was being fought on the enemy's home ground; that had to be why the group was summoned to this point and then immediately attacked, right? That and, seeing Tara's friend pleading to stop, it'd help to get him over here before making another attack. "You're welcome to come with us too!" she calls to Daryll in a long shot that he'll agree... which is only if Tara agrees to retreat.

She did seem a bit vengeful after all...

Spoiler: OOC

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Alright, technically I think I can do this, so Sheema is asking Tara to basically retreat with the rest of them in support that they'll get a better shot at the Master next time. I... THINK this will take a Persuasion check via Standard action, but just lemme know Quellian if it requires something else.

Makhana meanwhile... Uh, I do kinda need to arrange things but I'm thinking she'll be grabbing Tara in case she disagrees with the plan, and possibly grabbing Wulther too. Am I allowed to delay Makhana's reaction until after Tara's response?

"Forget his words Tara. Master! I'm still you. Only better! And together, WE WILL DETHRONE YOU!"

Leviath holds his breath and reaches out with his mind towards everything he can reach. Foreseeing hell on his body and mind once this was done, he makes his way to Future Makhana. The retreat was in order. This was just his spite

He targets the Wyvern, the Dreadnought, the Queen and the Knight

"I know you know who I am. I am the original. I am the real deal. I AM THE SUMMONNER. HE IS NOTHING BUT A BAD MEMORY!"

Spoiler

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Move: Into Future Makhana
Hero Point: Heroic Feat: Extraordinary Effort. Which means I'm using 2 extra efforts tooo
Add a +2 bonus to my Control Summon roll and then the other effort to boost it to +5
Which leads to...
Standard: Control Summons
+5 Inspire, +5 Extra Effort, rolled twice
Dreadnought
[roll0]
[roll1]
Queen
[roll2]
[roll3]
Knight
[roll4]
[roll5]
Wyvern
[roll6]
[roll7]

Eric wasn't sure why a timeline would take time to change based on changes to the past, but he didn't see any reason not to trust the future versions of the others. Someone else could do the math. He sprung into action, now with the goal of evacuating. He grabbed the frozen Wulther to carry him along, then called forth a wall of thick vegetation between the escaping heroes and their foes.

Spoiler: Actions

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Standard: Grab Wulther (if necessary).
:smallcool: Extra Standard: Plant Growth to create the largest wall possible between the heroes and the villains. Not likely to last more than one attack, but it's one attack not directed at us.
Move: Get out of here!

Simon responded to Future Josh with a nod. He'd learned, and he had critical tactical information that Simon currently lacked. And the window for eliminating the Summoners before they could call upon insurmountable levels of reinforcements was all but closed.

"Everyone fall back! We're getting out of here. Tara, you too."

Spoiler: OOC

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Move: To Future Makhana
Standard: Defend

Beginning to agree with Simon's assessment, Aquila went on to hurry over to Makhana: while he could likely burrow to escape by himself, he did not want to risk the matter: staying in group simply seemed wiser when faced with an enemy this strong. But there was still something he could do to help their escape.

Raising his hand suddenly, Aquila focused all of his power to moving earth underneath the building, bringing up sudden solid walls one after another, seeking to stall the Master and his summons for long enough for everyone to evacuate.

Spoiler: Actions

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Moving to Makhana for a lift and using Earth My Servant + Decree to erect as thick of an earthen wall around Master and other remaining enemies as I can while leaving the pods with dreamers in them untouched.

Josh popped the Recruiter's forcefield another good one, sending more sparks cascading from the belt, but it still didn't break. Future Josh answered him, "Already? Haha, sick. Once we're back at base, I want the details."

Gestalt unleashed everything, all his will and all his power, augmented twice-over by the full might of Tara Ellens, to take back control of his summons!

The attempt was sufficient to disorient the recently-summoned wyvern, and distract the ice queen...but neither of the knights so much as flinched, and none of them obeyed Gestalt's commands. "It is almost painful to watch. Was I really so weak...?" the Master idly mused. If it was a struggle for him to hold off his past self's will, he did not show it.

Mandragora and Summit raised their barriers. Under normal circumstances such defenses would not likely hold for long in the face of the power of the Master's summons, but...

Something was different. Both of them received a flickering vision, just for an instant, of a great stone keep rising out of what looked like some verdant expanse of tropical land, and they felt...something. A presence, a power, not the same as the sheer energy that Tara had invested in them, and perhaps not in itself as strong, but...deeper, and utterly pervasive, and just vaguely familiar.

And the stone and soil answered their call like never before! A veritable mountain of earth and wood sprang up around the Master, the Recruiter, and their summons, doming up around them and tearing through the roof of the building, blocking them off entirely.

There was a resounding clang as the Iron Dreadnought and Diamond Champion struck blows against the mountain from within. The force of the blow sent cracks running through it - but it held. For now.

Now, the problem was that there were still a few of the others in the thick of things with no wait nevermind Future Josh.

Thanks to the speedster, the only summoner still outside of the trap was Darryll - injured and with his summons dismissed. Tara gave him a measured look. Despite her best efforts, retreat was the order of the day, and they could hardly ask for a better opportunity for it. So be it. He would get his due in time. "I understand why you worked with him. I understand why you tried to convince me not to fight. You were trying to protect my life, even at the cost of my freedom. That...is what it is. Now, you can come with us, and we can fight him another day. Or you can remain here, and try to negotiate for my safety. I do not expect that Legion will hear it, but frankly, it is a moot point."

"Because Darryll, I do not care what you negotiate. I do not care what deals you manage to make or what promises you manage to exact. I swear on the Promise that I will not be placed in that pod again. Do you understand what I am saying?"

Darryll just sighed, and dismissed his prior spell, before looking at the group. "You have doomed us all," he had you know, as he (somewhat tentatively) approached Future Makhana alongside Tara. "Although I suppose it's not the first time."

Future Makhana growled lowly at Darryll as he approached. It...wasn't so much a sound as just a low vibrating rumble you felt in your chests. And, uh, maybe a little bit the walls of the building. They seemed to be vibrating. Darryll...wisely shifted course to Past Makhana instead.

Future Josh gave the shaman a...look. It was a very meaningful, and yet very inscrutable look. He glanced at Future Sheema, who seemed to be biting her lip just a bit. But neither of them actually said anything.

Once everyone was mounted, the two rhinos took off at speed, the booming clangs of inhumanly powerful blows cracking into the risen mountain echoing behind them. Future Makhana was...actually even faster than her past self, but that was nothing a quick augment from Tara couldn't fix.

Spoiler: Insight DC 26

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Although she did actually seem mildly surprised that it worked.

Spoiler: Expertise (Dreamer Lore) DC 25

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Tara's ability allows her to augment powers. While she can augment non-Dreamer powers, such as her magical rituals, and she has proven able to augment natural traits with ritual assistance, she wasn't actually certain whether the augmented physicality of Perallan beasts actually counted enough for her to boost on the fly. But let's just say, it sure ain't physics that lets animals get that large and still move that fast; Spiritual Energy is definitely involved somehow, and if there's enough Spiritual Energy, Tara can augment it.

So, the good news was, everybody got out of the hangar!

The bad news was they were still in the middle of a military base occupied by hostile summons.

The rhinos raced on, Future Makhana pretty much straight trampling any knights that tried to get in her way. Future Josh and Flashpoint ran about the perimeter to take down advancing units, or shot through the air to beat rainbow birds and red wyverns out of the sky as they approached. Jenny provided supporting fire, while Future Sheema sniped anyone trying to come up on their flanks with deadly throws of Galadhil, pulling the weapon back with a practiced tug on a little attached cord of Perallan spider-silk.

William...William had quietly positioned himself behind Darryll. He didn't take any hostile action, but his sword was still in his hand.

The base...had definitely seen better days. It wasn't super easy to make out details at the speeds the rhinos were moving (except for Josh and Simon), but...signs of extensive and crudely-patched battle damage were everywhere. And if one looked out beyond the base, they could see all too clearly.

The city of Adaros, as far as you could see, was in utter shambles.

Spoiler

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Since Gestalt spent a Hero Point, Future Gestalt suffers a Complication - in this case, Mandragora and Summit's actions getting a foreshadowriffic supercharge. Mandragora, this Complication also refunds the HP you spent for the Extra Effort.

You guys aren't in the clear yet, but you have a brief respite while the Master's forces get themselves organized - the initial response is mainly Minions that the future folks can take down fairly trivially, but if you want to claim some pot shots feel free, you don't have to roll for it. PL 12 or not, they're still Minions. And between Mandragora, Judy, and Tara, all combat conditions get healed (and Mandragora you can set your Triggered healing back up), but fatigue conditions remain.

If you guys want to discuss anything among each other or the future folks you have enough of a respite to do so.

Sheema holds on tight to her dad as the two ride Makhana out of the military base. She's a lot more relieved now that escape was the right call of action. She just had to help her dad-turned-rhino-and-back-to-human get on Makhana when he had been chilled by the cold wave. Having others on Makhana made for an exciting experience for Sheema... less so for Makhana. She had already approved of Summit from past battles; but she wasn't quite as accepting to William or Darryll, both of which she gave a small glare to. Were this not a life-or-death situation, Makhana would've rejected both of them. She's a great beast, not a transport!

It's only Sheema's, and the other Sheema's insistence on fleeing that makes Makhana tolerate the others.

Sheema herself grips her arms tightly around her father's chest. She's not used to Makhana going as fast as she currently is; what was that power that Tara woman used on her? Whatever it is, it's awesome! If it weren't for all the monsters around, Sheema would throw her arms up in the air and let the air rush past her dark-skinned and guarded body.

Instead she has to actually deal with the monsters around her, swiping at them with Galadhil when they get close. A quick look over at her other self indicates what she's missing; a grappling line for her spear. Where'd she get Perallan silk? You have to kill then cut open an old dire spider before weaving its silk right out of its body. It's a difficult and complicated process that, if done correctly, yields a soft-yet-sturdy material excellent for both clothing and rope. Sheema should keep that in mind next time she goes back to Peral.

Sheema motions with her legs to move up next to the other Makhana as the two rhinos run besides each other. With a moment to spare, Sheema looks over at Tara and tries to talk to her amidst the chaos of escaping. "Hey!" Sheema yells. "sorry again we had to run. But we'll get another chance! Not like he'll let us just escape freely." The princess talks so casually beyond the yelling to make sure that her voice doesn't get drown out by the stomping of hooves on cement. "Tara, was it? I'm Sheema. Good to meet you!" She briefly tries extending her hand out to shake Tara's before the rumbling of the rhinos send it back to hugging Wulther. "I know this isn't the best time," Sheema continues, "But what was that guy doing to you? He called it something like a battery?!"

The fact that Sheema is trying to talk happily to who would become Ilessia's #1 supervillain is potentially alarming to... just about everyone. Too bad Sheema and Makhana aren't aware of what happens five years later!

From atop Future Makhana, Simon scanned the skies and swatted enemy fliers from the sky with blasts of kinetic energy. He trusted the others to clear the way on the ground and their group had never had an overabundance of ranged firepower. In the close confines of Adaros it had never been much of an issue. With the devastation to the city... the situation had changed.

Which was a good place to start while they had a lull in the fighting. How much had changed in this timeline? More to the point, the timeline was supposed to have collapsed after they'd uncoupled it following the Disappearance and yet somehow The Master had brought them here.

"Maybe we'll take another shot at him. Maybe victory lies elsewhere," he responded to the perallan girl. They were flying blind and didn't even know their objective. Fortunately, they had a lull in the battle and someone who did.

Simon eyed future Josh. "If the timeline is collapsing, why would The Master bring us here, then drag out a fight and run out a clock? What's his objective here?" It was subtle, but the questions had a different inflection than usual. It was a straightforward request for information, but the inflection was that of one speaking to an equal - or at least a near-equal - rather than an old seen-it-all warrior instructing. Evidently something in the red-suited speedster's demeanor earned Simon's acknowledgement.

The sudden, Dreamlike vision Mandragora received shook him somewhat. It was more awe than fear, though. The towering fusion of stone and tree that he and Summit had conjured somehow felt right. It was as though Nature itself had blessed their efforts. He wondered what power had given them the vision. A servant of Nature? Balance or Chaos? Both?

Once the crew had a long enough relief from the barrage of summoned minions, Mandragora asked Summit "Did you see it, too? The stone keep rising from the jungle?" He awaited Summit's response, and then continued "I learned the last time we were in a situation like this to pay close attention to visions like that. I don't know if it's as important as last time, but I thought I should let everyone know as soon as possible. When Summit and I created the barrier around the summoners, I saw a vision of a great keep rising out of a jungle. I could feel something else involved, too, but I'm not sure what it was."

"Maybe some level of stability? Maybe as long as we're here rather than the past, he can keep the timeline going? Or he could send Summons back in time again to try to get his timeline to consolidate, and we can't stop it from here?"

"He said he would be safe if I was destroyed," Josh butted in.

"Doesn't leave very much to the imagination, man. If they take me out, I think Lorelei's corrections won't get made. Undo everything we did to stop him.".

Tara looked to Sheema as she addressed her.

Spoiler: Insight DC 26

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There was...just a momentary flicker of surprise on her face. Honestly, mostly at the "it's good to meet you" bit, but kinda the whole thing. By this point in her life, Tara Ellens was...not particularly used to being regarded in a friendly manner.

"Something like that," she answered, a distant look in her eyes, the vague hint of a pained frown on her lips. "I'm an augmenter. A...powerful one, I guess," she said with a shrug, although even discounting her actions during the fight, the mere fact that she was up and talking would have made that clear - the other Dreamer that Gestalt had rescued from the pods had pretty much passed out the moment he was set atop Future Makhana's back.

"I'm not certain of the technological details of how it worked, but fundamentally...you know the basics of how Dreamer powers actually work? Our Spiritual Energy forms certain shapes that, when energy flows through them, produce reality-altering effects? The shape of an augmenter's power...predominantly, what it does is heighten the energy that passes through it, and allow that volume of energy to be directly safely. Those pods stole our Spiritual Energy, yes," her voice wavered just a hint as she said so; it was clear that while she was giving the explanation with technical dispassion, it had been a traumatic experience. "But that was only part of it. They stole it through our powers, heightening it even as it was ripped from us, and funneling it through the next augmenters in line, boosted again and again, maximizing its intensity. Like sunlight focused through a magnifying glass."

"I was the strongest. It passed through me last."

"Well, sort of," Future Josh answered the speculations in between racing off to dispense super-speed beat-downs to various nearby and not-so-nearby summoned creatures.

"Thing is...okay, remember how we actually made the decision to give the information to Lorelei?" he asked his past self. "We basically went through all the possible ways it could go and the salient point was that passing the message on would be better than not. But it's not like we were a Doctor of Temporal Sciences or anything. It was basically speculating as wildly as we could and coming up with way more ways it went right than it went wrong." He might have sounded just a touch sheepish when he put it like that, but there it was.

There was a half-second pause as he went to knock a few wyverns out of the air. "Anyway, thing is? The understanding of the situation that we gained from that? Ten years later, that's still the most comprehensive understanding anybody has on what's actually going on with this timeline. Legion included."

"I don't know how long it's been for you guys since then. For us, it's been a week and a half. Pretty much the moment Lorelei delivered her message, we started seeing those...specs." He gestured broadly at nothing in particular, because the little bits of staticky nothingness were basically everywhere. "Only a few, only every so often. But as time went on, they got more common, denser. Everybody's pretty sure it's the timeline disappearing. All our memories are still normal, so if like...our past-to-us-future-to-you selves have already gone through the full whatever and it's just catching up to us, it hasn't rippled to our memories, anyway. We're pretty sure it'll finish in less than a week, at this point. Or at least, the furthest Jenny's seen since it started was twenty days from the message. But what happens when the timeline disappears...that we don't know."

"Yes, we do," Shamus interrupted sullenly. "This timeline has been rendered a logical impossibility. A paradoxical occurrence. We will all cease to exist. Not merely die. Cease. In trying to save your country, you have doomed your entire world."

Having been exposed to Shamus' fatalistic spiel before, Future Josh took advantage of the opportunity to go kill-steal from Flashpoint a couple times. "That's one school of thought," he picked up when he got back, in a bit of a snarky tone. "My personal hypothesis is that the timeline will simply correct itself to a not-paradoxical version, ideally one where you never went off the deep end in the first place," he said with a wink to Gestalt. "Lorelei speculates it will merge with the least paradoxical timelines. There's a few other theories bouncing around but they don't come from either of the country's foremost experts on the subject, so they're hardly worth discussing," he said with kinda-joking loftiness.

"Far as killing you to stop it goes," he said, again more to his past self, "You're correct that that's Legion's goal. But he has no more evidence that it'll actually work than he has for...well, anything regarding the timeline change. I mean, logically it shouldn't matter at all, since even if he kills you this is the you from after you gave Lorelei the information. Although when Jenny got her vision of this whole thing going down she said something about you guys having been in the past or something? So, if you went further back in time and he pulled you from there...maybe he thought he could trick time into thinking he killed the version of you that had changed the timeline and undo the change? I'm not sure what all's going through his head exactly. Point is, he believes that the timeline is collapsing and that killing you would stop it. Whether he's right or not is irrelevant. Whether this timeline ceases to be, changes, merges into another, or something else, what happens to anyone who's being all staticky isn't going to matter all that much in another eight days. But you guys are still in crystal-clear HD, so what happens to you does, at least as far as your timeline is concerned."

"Long story short, we won ten years ago, Legion's grasping at straws, and the only reason that's actually a problem is that the straws he's grasping at happen to be your throats. But don't sweat it. Lorelei's already working on a way to get you back to your proper time. And once we get to base, we're safe. Even Legion's never been able to take it." For whatever reason, he actually upnodded at Mandragora when he said so.

Holding on tightly to her dad, Sheema keeps her head down while listening to Tara's response. The augmenter's explanation helped put her importance into perspective. She is the world's strongest augmenter? That's an incredible title to have... Or perhaps the most unfortunate, if her captive situation was any indication. The details of the containment pods made Sheema's dark skin crawl. She's never heard of something so technically advanced and technically cruel. It's a horrifying wonder that Tara was still able to stand, much less fight, the moment she was freed.

It's a miracle that not only is she escaping now, she's doing so with her lover in tow.

"That's..." The Perallan princess desperately tries to find a response to Tara's explanation. Truth be told, there isn't much to say besides the obvious. "That's awful! I can't even imagine how painful it must have been..." The wording is quite literal. What is it like to have Spiritual Energy sucked right out of you? To Sheema, it comes off as if the pods outright sucked out the will to live. That's not containment, that's outright torture.

Sheema pauses, unsure of what to say next. Leaving the conversation as it is will be too negative for what is a really bleak time; the ruined city of Adaros should be a good-enough sign of that. So instead, she tries to look up at what they've already done and smiles at Tara. "Well you're free now, and your boyfriend is here too! Once this is all done and you got your revenge on that Master guy, you two can live happily together!"

Surely Tara and Daryll must normally happen to be powerful but harmless Dreamers that got unfairly captured by the Master.

While Galadhil holds tightly on her right hand, Sheema listens... or tries to listen to the long-winded explaination offered by the other Josh. If this happened to make sense for someone else, then it's merely Sheema being out of the loop; and judging by everything going on, she and Aquila are really out of the loop.

So she gives Gestalt, Josh, Simon, Vines and Judy all a uncharacteristically sharp glance as the princess speaks up. "Alright, so very little of that made sense to me and it sure seems like you got all that. Now that we're sucked into this I think you owe me, Summit, and my family an explanation: who and when in spirits are you people?!'

"Simon Candler, Josh Miles, Leviath Cinder, Mandragora. Hero Corps Adaros Chapter, 5 years to your time," he responded to the perallan girl. He swatted a dive-bombing summon from the sky with another kinetic blast. "The rest can wait. You picked an awful time to get cold feet."

Still, the possibility of escaping this timeline presented some... considerations. It seemed The Master could Summon individuals under restricted circumstances into the timeline, but he couldn't send himself out of it. Not on his own. Under no circumstances could The Master be allowed to escape this timeline. Or Tara, for that matter. She may be working with them now, but Simon had no illusions that she was reformed. That vengeance streak of hers still burned hot. It just happened to be pointed at their enemy for the moment. All of which meant that Lorelei's device absolutely could not be allowed to fall into either of their hands. Whatever the cost.

"So we either wait it out or escape the timeline. Presumably without Tara, he can't repeat the ritual he used to drag us here?" He glanced at Daryll for confirmation. "In which case we win and hes toast. He'll know it too, so his next obvious move is an all out assault on your base. If it came to it, could you withstand him?"

"Josh, let us know when we're getting close. Leviath, we'll need you to wear a blindfold when we get there."

As he raised a knot of trees as a blockade in the face of a line of charging knights, Mandragora added his own thoughts to Simon's response to Sheema's burning questions. "I'm not sure about everyone else, but I wasn't sure what kinds of things might happen to the timeline if we told you too much. Now that we've been summoned into a seemingly-unstable future anyway though, I can't see how it would make any more difference. I just wonder how or if we can get back to our own time at this rate."

The vine man braced for the landing from Makhana leaping over a twisted piece of debris in her way, and took a moment to continue to be impressed at her. She must weigh a lot more than a normal rhinoceros, yet still makes jumping work. He then continued "The Master dragged all of us into this with some kind of mass-summoning-kidnapping-ritual. Well, he didn't summon us, but a lot of other people. Anyway, I guess we foiled him with what we did after that somehow. I'm still not totally clear on the details."

Trying to follow the incredibly complicated discussion regarding temporal theory, people he had never heard about, insane future selves and power theft while ALSO attempting to halt some of the incoming summons with walls of stone was proving to be new and frustrating experience for Summit. Although he had measure of trust in the heroes apparently originating from the future after the battles they had fought together so far, he couldn't help but be somewhat annoyed at the enforced vagueness of answers, necessary or not as it might have been.

Bickering, however, would likely have to wait until they were not all in danger of possibly being retroactively erased from existence by time paradox or destroyed by numerous summons around the place.

"I cannot say I understand most of the temporal stuff being thrown around in this discussion, but I do understand we should likely go" he pointed out, looking at the rest of the motley crew of paradoxical capes. "However, I have absolutely no idea how to escape this timeline, so I will leave that to more capable hands than my own. I will admit, though, that there best be some explanations once we are in less danger of being torn apart because someone has gone insane in the future."

Sheema stays silent as she hangs on tight to her dad. At this point, finally, finally getting a response from the time travelers is enough for her. She is, however, surprised at the response. Their identities and association sounds... normal, almost too normal for her expectations. "Oh, that's... that's it?" She raises a skeptical eye on her black-skinned face. "You four are Hero Corps? Not sure why you had to hide that." She looks over at Mandagora and smiles slightly. "I mean, telling us about yourselves isn't gonna completely change history or whatever." The princess' carefree thoughts echo a certain naivety, as if the consequences don't seem all that severe to her. Given they helped save her dad, time travel seems more awesome than dangerous.

Continuing, all the while swinging her spear around to get the pursuing summons to back off, Sheema addresses the four time travelers again as she notices Simon made one glancing omission. "Hey, what about Judy?" she asks, looking over at the shy-but-intelligent scientist. "She's Hero Corps too, right? And, uh, what's with this blindfold thing? This got to do with that Leviath-lookalike?"

Clearly still confused, Sheema reaches back a moment to touch Summit's shoulder as if trying to comfort him. They're both in this together and are about as confused as it gets. There's a lot more needed than "some" explanation; they need a lot more than that; these time travelers owe them that much. "Let's just follow their lead," she insists to her friend. "And we'll make sure to get all our questions answered before they go. If not, we'll just nag them about it five years down the line!"

For a hopeful wanting to enter Hero Corps, it'll definitely be exciting to meet these time travelers in the future... After they get out of this alive.

The military base had been left far behind. The group was travelling miles in seconds, after all. But the city of Adaros was enormous, and as they raced through it, it was all the same story - charred, blasted husks of buildings, shattered roads, slain bodies and destroyed vehicles - civilian and military alike - littering the streets. The group passed thousands of corpses, hundreds of ruined tanks, jets, and ACVs, and even the broken remains of three mecha as they rode on. As summons vanished when slain, it was impossible to tell how many of their opponents the defenders of Adaros had taken with them, but they had clearly fought to the last. Leaving the base behind had somewhat slowed the attacks of the summons, but hadn't halted them. Rainbow birds and red wyverns still swooped in from all directions, and many of the buildings they passed had iron knights sallying forth and ice witches sniping from rooftops.

"M-me?" Judy kinda squeaked when Sheema asked if she were Hero Corps too. "No no, not...not at all. I'm just an artificer. Josh rescued me and we've been going treasure hunting together and when I heard they were going to check out a time machine I wanted to see it."

"Will do," Future Josh answered Simon. "I mean, for the sake of clarity, I suppose it's worth mentioning that you guys aren't technically our direct past selves anymore. Like, I don't have a memory of this whole thing from his perspective," he said with a nod to Josh, "Because I didn't go through whatever experiences you guys have since splitting the timeline. Not to say that the blindfold isn't still a potentially good idea though. Not like Legion plays by the rules or anything."

"Legion's never managed to take the base, and it's not for lack of trying," William said.

"Tara's power was key to the Mast- that is, to Legion's greatest feats of power, but at the end of the day he does still have over two-hundred augmenters. I would not rule out the possibility that he might still be able to pull together enough energy to summon things from the past, but certainly not on the same scale as he was able to manage previously. In any case, summoning people from other timelines is not something that I understand him to be capable of regardless of how much energy he puts to the task. The only reason we tried it with you was because my divinations indicated that you would be between timelines entirely if we timed it correctly. Even then, I was rather surprised that it worked at all."

~Incoming, everyone,~ Jenny warned the group. It wasn't...quite telepathy. The knowledge of her words simply appeared in their heads.

Precognition was a useful but not always super-reliable power. In this case, Jenny's warning came in the nick of time and not a single moment sooner, as an enormous avian with rainbow feathers, crackling with an aura of multihued lightning, just...appeared. It didn't teleport in, it flew at them so fast that even Simon's hasted eyes couldn't make it out at all, and even Josh's super-speed perceptions perceived it as little more than a streak of prismatic light until it slowed down as it reached them, hovering several hundred feet up and letting out a piercing shriek, drawing the attention of any permasummon nearby.

~That's Legion's Rainbow Phoenix,~ Future Josh sent, and while his voice may not have shown concern, quite, and certainly not fear, it was definitely just a shade more serious. ~We're gonna have to banish it. Leave it to us, if you guys can deal with whatever goons it attracts that'll be great.~

Unfortunately, the avian summon wasn't the only threat to suddenly appear. The dark-robed, dark-haired man who appeared about a hundred feet from the group with a sudden pop of teleportation was all too familiar.

Because if there was one thing that was certain amidst all this crazy time-traveling shenanigans, it was that you lot simply could not have a single timeline where you didn't encounter Harold Brace.

In this particular timeline, though, Brace was carrying Arcanis' staff. Tara's eyes might have lit up just slightly when she saw it.

~Um,~ Future Josh sent with a bit of annoyance.

~New plan!~ Future Sheema sent, still cheerily, but with authority in her mental voice. ~My time's Josh, Flashpoint, you two engage the Rainbow Phoenix. Jenny, provide them sniper support. Darryll, Tara, assist with whatever magic you've got. William, Ma, we're going to take down any other summons that try to get involved. Warlock's all you guys!~

~No,~ Tara answered. ~I will assist against Warlock.~

~And I will support Tara.~

A sense of annoyed frustration passed through the oracular link briefly, but Future Sheema answered, ~Fine. I'll help the speedsters. Dad, Judy, if you can help William and Ma, please?~

Spoiler

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Mechanically, I'm only going to resolve things for you guys (with Darryll and Tara supporting because hey you earned it!) and Warlock. If you want to attack something else you may, but the NPCs can be assumed to handle them every bit as well as you guys handle Warlock - so if you utterly wreck him, they'll utterly wreck their opponents, if you guys have a hard fight they will, etc. Josh, Sheema, if you want, you can call for an assist from your future selves, at the cost of one of their Hero Points (basically their spending a Hero Point gives them enough of a momentary edge that they can dedicate some attention to your fight). I'll control Darryll and Tara but if you guys want them to do a certain thing let me know and I'll at least take it under advisement.

Tara is still at -2 on stats and ranks. All damage and such from the previous fight is gone, but fatigue remains.

Also, Jenny's Shared Awareness power connects you all with Rapid 2, Subtle 2 Mental Communication. While it's active, everyone knows everyone else's positions and status if willing, and as long as you're physically together with another person in the link you may make reaction Perception, Insight, and Expertise checks as Team Checks if you wish to.

Also I noticed while updating the status list you guys had a floating HP leftover. Sheema and Aquila were tied for lowest resources, so I rolled randomly and Sheema got it.

Initiative:
Mandragora: [roll0].
Gestalt (-2 for Exhausted): [roll1].
Simon: [roll2].
Josh: [roll3].
Sheema: [roll4].
Aquila: [roll5].

Darryll: [roll6].
Tara: [roll7].

Warlock: [roll8].

Josh is on turn.

Josh stopped squaring up to fight for a second to glance at Tara, then at Brace, and then he smirked.

"I know what you want."

He leapt from Makhana with such great efficacy that he flew towards and then right beyond Warlock.

"Hey, big man!" He had just enough time to let out a taunt as his body whizzed by.

Half a moment later, leaping from someplace else, he sailed right by the hairs on Brace's skin once more. Five or six or twelve dozen more times in the space of a few seconds he harried Harold from all directions before suddenly slipping in front of the mage, snaking a tight grip around his staff, and then twirling about to plant both feet on his chest.

If he got into position, he would kick himself off of Brace with such force that the mighty staff of Arcanis came with him, plummeting back down to the rhino he had started on.

Spoiler

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Move Action: Agile Feint Brace at [roll0].
Standard Action: Switch to Flight, go to Brace, Aim at him.
Free Action: Extra Effort Surge.
Standard Action: Flurry of Blows on Brace, All-Out Attack 2, Power Attack 5. Attack [roll1] for Opposed DC [roll2]+Multiattack Strength versus Disarm.
Free Action: Go Insubstantial.

Status: -2 Defence, Incorporeal, Fatigued next turn.

Softly landing next to Tara, Josh gave her a smile, twirled Arcanis' staff about in his hand, and then passed it to her.

"Alright, you can have this. Don't waste it."

Round 1

Future Josh and Flashpoint raced up to engage the Rainbow Phoenix, running along the air because the laws of physics had nothing on speedsters, with Jenny providing covering fire. Now, you'd think Future Sheema would be a less than ideal choice for engaging a super-fast, flying opponent. But look Sheema had survived Legion with no Dreamer powers, no super-tech, no Chi, no magic, not even the totemic augments of a Perallan Hunter. She had some tricks up her sleeve, which she demonstrated by throwing Galadhil into a nearby building, wrapping its spider-silk cord around her arms several times, and running up the wall, past the spear, leaping and swinging out in a high arc and pulling the spear out as she went despite using it for leverage for her swing. Her incredible strength and agility, coupled with the leverage offered by the indestructible spear, sent her soaring up above the Rainbow Phoenix; by the time her momentum brought her down, Galadhil was back in hand and going straight for the summoned creature's back.

Wulther went rhino and charged into the fray alongside Future Makhana as some iron knights came out of a building, while William made use of the high natural Spiritual Energy of an experienced Dreamer to parkour up to the rooftops to engage the witches up there. Judy...stayed planted firmly atop Future Makhana, but she had a pair of wands in hand and used them to launch fireballs and lightning bolts at any knots of enemies she spotted.

But up against Warlock, Josh led the attack, the speedster rushing in and snatching Arcanis' staff from the dark wizard like it wasn't no thing. Brace just kinda blinked a couple times as he looked down at his now-empty hands. "You...are very annoying," he had Josh know.

Tara accepted the staff with a huge, appreciative smile. It didn't look wicked at all! The runes on the device began shining with brilliant white light the moment she laid her hand on it. "Ohh...I've missed this," she said contentedly.

Arcanis' staff was a powerful tool for a magic user, but Harold Brace had gained quite a bit of experience over the past ten years, and there were few powersets indeed that responded as well to study and practice as magic. Of course, it wasn't all about new spells. Sometimes, the oldies were the best. Brace cast his baleful gaze out over the group, assailing the minds and wills of anyone who met his eyes. By now, the heroes had enough experience with the Warlock's magic that they could feel immediately that there was substantially greater force behind his will...and his gaze attack carried with it not only its normal hypnotic power, but a niggling sense of doom, as if it had been imbued with a portion of his warlock's curse.

Spoiler: Expertise (Magic) DC 20 OR Perception DC 25

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You notice that Brace didn't say a word or make any gesture other than a swift glace around when using that spell. Evidently, in the intervening years, he had mastered his magic sufficiently to cast spells with will alone. Warlock no longer has a Spell Components Complication.

Tara and Darryll quickly averted their eyes from Warlock's gaze. Once his eyes had passed, they looked him over. Darryll knew a little of what Warlock was capable of, and he shared what he knew with Tara as she appraised him, and she passed their judgment along to everyone else. Tara was, after all, the ultimate team player, when it suited her to be.
~At the peak of my power I would have crushed him trivially. At the moment, I expect he can muster somewhat more raw magical energy than I am capable of. Even so, I would not fear him in single combat. Darryll and I together would have little trouble defeating him. Against all of us? He doesn't stand a chance. His wards have no particular strengths or weaknesses, so hit him with whatever you deem best.~

Spoiler: Tara and Darryll's Team Checked Assessment results

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PL 15+1 (15+2 with the staff, it basically was just a straight 30 PP add-on). No tradeoffs. All stats at PL.

Frankly, Darryll didn't feel like a summon was even required here. He could provide plenty sufficient contribution to this battle with shamanism alone.

Oh, don't get me wrong. He still summoned a towering sixty-foot roughly-humanoid mass of water. I mean, he was a summoner. He wasn't going to just not summon something. He just didn't particularly feel it was required, is all.

Tara, meanwhile, channeling the power of her persistent rituals through the Staff of Arcanis, let loose with her preferred element, sending a storm of lightning bolts crashing down on Warlock.

Spoiler

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Warlock:
Move: Attempt to Demoralize Josh at [roll0].
Standard: Hypnotic Gaze. Everybody give me Dodge DC 25 to negate. If it fails, Will DC 25 vs. Entranced/Compelled/Controlled. Failures also cause Impaired+Vulnerable/Disabled+Defenseless, Limited to only against Warlock. Tara and Darryll rolled OOC and avoided the effect.

Darryll:
Free: Team Check Tara's Assessment.
Move: Meh.
Standard: Summon the Spirit of the Pitiless Sea.

Tara:
Free: Assess Warlock.
Free: Augmentation on self. With the Staff of Arcanis, her Augmentation is reduced to a free action and gains two additional ranks, when augmenting her magical powers, offsetting the two rank reduction.

48 points to add Linked Affliction 16 (Vulnerable/Stunned/Incapacitated; Alternate Resistance [Fortitude], Multiattack) to Ritual of the Eldritch Assault.
2 points to add Incurable and Precise to the Damage of Ritual of the Eldritch Assault.

Move: Meh.
Standard: Ritual of the Eldritch Assault on Warlock. Variable Descriptor is Electricity. Attacking at [roll1]. On a hit, Toughness ([roll2]) DC 29+Multiattack vs. Incurable, Secondary Effect Damage, Fortitude ([roll3]) DC 24+Multiattack vs. Vulnerable/Stunned/Incapacitated. Bruised

All PCs are on turn.

"Yeah dude," the speedster agreed, swinging through the air to Warlock so that they were close enough to speak.

"On a salary for it!" He yelled his line as he fell past the mage and towards the ground, and then he took to running alongside the Makhanas, keeping a short lead on them as he watched the battles above unfold.

Spoiler

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Standard Action: Recover from Fatigued.
Move Action: Move away from the group.

Status: Recover used.

Simon smiled on the inside observing the rapid tactical back-and-forth among his future teammates. If that thinking was characteristic of other timelines, Hero Corps would be in good hands. But that was a thought for another time.

~Agreed.~ Simon readied a strike but held it for just a moment, studying this version of Brace's movements. Collectively their team had more than enough firepower to deal with Brace, but individually he had enough spiritual energy to be difficult. Still, Spiritual Energy didn't mean anything if the user was unable to apply it.

Simon struck the air in front of him and let his suit deliver the force directly to Brace's nerves.

Spoiler

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Standard: Aim at Warlock
Move: Charge Target the Nerves
Extra Effort: Attack Warlock with Target The Nerves, PA 5, AoA 2. [roll0]. On hit, Toughness DC 30 vs Damage & Fort DC 25 vs Weaken [All Defenses]

Sheema is in awe at her other self.

The Perallan princess has always been skilled and experienced in combat; but that skill of her's is nothing compared to her older self as she performed a mammoth of a trick: using Galadhil to help her run up a damn building and getting distance above the rainbow phoenix. Sheema never believed she can pull something like that off and her older self does it as easy as breathing. It's amazing! She'll have to learn that trick in the future.

Sheema waves off her dad as he transforms and charges forth alongside the other Makhana. Even if he may not be as experienced and as fast as the older Sheema and Makhana, Wulther has enough experience and power to keep up with them. Sheema and Makhana should be more concerned about the wizard halting their progress; that strange, old-looking villain that... looks... familiar...

"Uh, Makhana?' she asks loudly to her dire rhino, "Didn't we see this guy die before?" Makhana just shakes her head nonchalantly, evidently not concerned with the specifics from that battle awhile back. Sheema... just looks at Makhana and then shrugs. May as well not worry about the specifics if she can't quite recall who's who; nothing today is making sense for her anyway.

The dire rhino stomps besides Tara and Daryll as Sheema looks in wonder at the staff. "Wow," she says slowly, clearly admiring the white glow presumably reacting to Tara's magical capabilities. "That originally belonged to you? It looks amazing!" A weapon that amplifies magical power sure sounds like a fantastic weapon to have. Wonder if that staff works with shamanism...

Lacking any use for it, Sheema instead draws out her own Galadhil, pointing it up to the sky as Makhana begins charging forward at Warlock. "Alright, just like we practiced!" she shouts at Makhana. "Get around and pincer him!" At her words, Sheema leaps off her rhino and swipes at Warlock several times to disorient and trip up the villain as Makhana weaves around to crush Warlock with her giant silver hooves!

Spoiler: OOC

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Alright, Sheema will use Mark Prey and Galadhil against Warlock. Going to Power Attack +2/-2 here: [roll0] DC 25 Toughness + DC 20 Will vs Impaired/Vulnerable + Disabled/Defenseless

Afterward, Makhana will use Defensive Shockwave. She will All-Out Attack +3/-3: [roll1] DC 29 Toughness and DC 22 Fort vs Impaired/Disabled/Incapacitated on hit. Improved Critical 2, Evasion 2, and Concealment against all visual senses are active.

On seeing the terrifying rainbow phoenix, Eric was reminded why he had become interested in Gestalt's powers in the first place. While the summoner's rainbow bird had reminded him of the stories of some of the great planes of good somewhere out in the multiverse, the rainbow phoenix seemed more like an unholy mockery. What vile patron among the evil gods would create a creature meant to mock a symbol of beauty like the rainbow bird? This evil version of Leviath must have found favor with the corrupt aspects of the gods to summon such a thing. His juggernaut must be a similar abomination.

For now, though, Mandragora put aside those thoughts in order to concentrate on the battle at hand. Amazingly, Josh had already stolen away the staff from Warlock. Even though the mage now seemed able to chant his spells without using gestures, it would still help to take him down if he were thoroughly immobilized. Mandragora snaked his vines around for a trip, then slammed them in on Warlock.

Spoiler: Actions

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Standard: Attempt to trip Warlock. Accurate Attack at -2. [roll0]. On a hit, DC [roll1] Athletics to avoid being knocked prone.
Extra Effort Standard: Vine Lash on Warlock. If he is tripped by the previous attack, Power Attack at -2. [roll2]. On a hit, DC 26 Strength/Dodge versus grab.

It seemed that the future heroes were quite something else. The difference between Current Sheema and Future Sheema was, as much as he hated to criticize his friend, rather notable. Five years seemed to be enough to change quite a few things by the looks of it... which made him rather nervous regarding the lack of his OWN future self at the scene. Surely he'd have come along for something like THIS... unless something dreadful had happened to him in the future these copies hailed from.

It was not a pleasant though, and the terrakinetic felt himself growing rather anxious about the matter. Still, fighting first.

Trying his best to manifest familiar barrage of rock bullets from the ground at angles where they could not hit his allies, Summit sent a volley of rocky devastation at Warlock to keep him busy.

Spoiler: Actions

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Keeping Earth, My Armor active and shooting Warlock with Bombardment.

[roll0] (Bombardment)

"It never belonged to her."

Gestalt has poison in his voice. Only the thought that it'd be pointless stops him from trying to take it out of Tara's hands...

Also, survival trumps everything right now

They were seriously fighting a lot of mages these days...

Gestalt summons the Ice Witch by his side. Though if Warlock was one of the Master's minions he probably wouldn't be targeted

Spoiler

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Move and Standard: Summon Ice Witch

Round 2

Tara's lightning bolts were absorbed by Darryll's wards at a minor cost in energy, and Simon's kinetic strike was...mostly held off as well, but it took him a moment of focus to strengthen his wards against it. Blackish purple runes of smoky shadow appeared on his skin as his wards bled off energy, but they seemed to be fading quickly.

Spoiler: Expertise (Magic) DC 20

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He has some sort of ritual active to refresh his wards.

Spoiler: DC 25

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Fortunately, it's a rejuvenation ritual, not a regeneration one. It probably won't do anything about raw physical damage that actually gets through his wards. (That is to say, he regenerates Bruises only).

Spoiler: DC 30

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That being said, given Future Warlock's power and how advanced his wards are, it will also probably allow him to recover rapidly from other forms of maladies, as his wards rejuvenate the energy necessary to neutralize them. (The ritual will also speed his recovery of Weakens and some Afflictions).

But it was the only hint of vulnerability he showed. A flick of his wrist deflected Sheema's spear aside. A raised hand stopped Mandragora's lashing vines cold. And Summit's bombardment came to naught as he teleported away from the barrage of rocks.

Worse still, Gestalt went racing off back the way they came at top speed, and Makhana, rather than lunging for Warlock, slammed her hood down on Tara - or, well, Darryll as he bodily checked her out of the way. The shaman's skin briefly became as stone, and even so Makhana's powerful blow sent him reeling.

The Warlock followed up immediately, unleashing a flurry of bolts of arcane power. He'd always been pretty quick to cast those, but that had been nothing compared to today. He hurled his arcane bolts in a torrential barrage, blast after pulsing purple blast crashing down on all of the heroes (and, you know, the two villains who were working with them. And their little humanoid tidal wave too.)

Tara sniffed, pointing Arcanis' thrice-stolen staff and channeling another of her persistent rituals through it along with her Dreamer power, augmenting the effect even as she cast it. Half a dozen brilliant beams of green energy lanced towards Warlock, packed with disintegrating power. Simultaneously, the Spirit of the Pitiless Sea lashed out with a tendril of water like a firehose, only several orders of magnitude stronger, in an attempt to erode him away.

Darryll calmly chanted another summoning. A sixty-foot humanoid mass of solid stone suddenly appeared.

Spoiler

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Warlock:
Move: Dazed.
Standard: Eldritch Bolts. Everyone in a 60' cone (which I believe is basically everyone but Josh, and Gestalt if he's Compelled) is attacked. On a hit, Toughness DC 30+Multiattack vs. Damage. Evasion applies to your defense. This attack isn't Selective so even if Makhana is Compelled he attacks her too.
Tara: [roll0]. Toughness: [roll1]. Misses bad.
Darryll: [roll2]. Toughness: [roll3]. Hit. +2 Multiattack. INCAPACITATED! Interposed
Spirit of the Pitiless Sea: [roll4]. Toughness: [roll5]. Miss, not that it's relevant with Darryll down.
Mandragora: [roll6]. Hit
Gestalt (if not Compelled): [roll7]. Hit. +5 Multiattack. But this is an Energy attack so the DC ends up only 25.
Bruja (if she does end up summoned due to rerolls): [roll8]. ...Crit. +5 Multiattack. DC 40.
Simon: [roll9]. Hit due to Vulnerable and AoA.
Sheema: [roll10]. Hit
Makhana: [roll11]. Hit, even after penalties for Evasion and Concealment, but those prevent Multiattack
Summit: [roll12]. Hit. +5 Multiattack. DC 35.
End of Turn: Regenerates a Bruise.

Tara:
Move: Nah.
Free: Expertise (Magic): [roll13]. She'll inform you guys of what she figures out so you can open any spoilers she meets. ...Well yeah you can open the spoilers.
Free: Augmentation on self.

16 points to add Multiattack to Ritual of the Disintegrating Touch.
32 points to add Linked Damage 16 (Multiattack) to Ritual of the Disintegrating Touch.
2 points for...let's say Flight 1, whatever.

Standard: Ritual of the Disintegrating Touch at [roll14]. On a hit, Toughness ([roll15]) DC 30/24+Team Attack+Multiattack vs. Damage Linked Progressive Weaken Toughness. Miss
End of Turn: Secondary Effect triggers. Warlock gets Toughness ([roll16]) DC 29 vs. Damage. Bruised

Spirit of the Pitiless Sea:
Move: Whatever.
Standard: Team Attack with Tara using Erode, All Out Attack for 5, Accurate Attack for 2, +5 for Teamwork, at [roll17]. If the Spirit hits without Teamwork but Tara misses, the above roll is kept but the DC is two lower. Hit. Bruised and Dazed.

Darryll:
Free: Expertise (Magic): [roll18]. If he opens more spoilers than Tara you guys can open them too.
Move: Dazed.
Standard: Summon the Spirit of the Impassive Mountain.

All PCs are on turn.

When Tara called out the way Warlock's wards worked, Mandragora knew the heroes had to get past them fast. He was nearly overwhelmed by the torrent of arcane bolts, but saw that some of the others were having an even worse time. Daryll took the full force of the bolts and fell, but for now, Eric decided to focus on helping to take out Warlock - healing Daryll would have to wait for later. On the other hand, he had to pull himself up off the ruined street first.

However, Eric also recalled that Warlock was a Deionist. It may have seemed like he abandoned his faith in order to join the powerful summoner, but Eric still believed that a part of it must still be in there - still care. He decided to call out to the mage, and remind him of his faith. "Harold Brace! Why have you joined with the the summoner? In our time, he took your own daughter from you! Don't you remember what you learned about the Truth before now? The gods are still out there, calling out for you to put away your malice and fight for what is Right! You can do better than this, and fight for a future the gods can be proud of!"

Spoiler: Actions

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Standard: Recover from Staggered. +2 to active defenses until next turn.
Move: Spread out away from the others.

Non-action: Call out to Brace, praying to the gods for help. I'd like to use two successes from my "working with the church" downtime for the prayer, though I'm not certain of the exact effect this should have. Do you want to take care of what specifically happens based on how he feels now, Quellian, or should I be more specific here?

"Save your breath, Mandragora. He's sided with the same man who used Amanda as fuel for his power." Simon timed his next barrage to coincide with naming Brace's daughter. He couldn't be sure of what happened to the girl's soul on this side of the Disappearance and didn't have a particularly high opinion of Brace's humanity, but if anything was likely to draw a moment's hesitation from him that would be it.

Spoiler

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Move: Feint Warlock. We all know he has Uncanny Dodge, but might a well confirm it. Routine Deception 25. Should it succeed, benefits go to Simon, Aquila, Makhana.
Standard: Attack with Focused Assault. [roll0]. On hit, Toughness DC 23 + Multi vs Damage and Toughness DC 18 vs Weaken [Toughness]