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Project Prometheus (Original Setting Superhero Quest)

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So looking at the character sheets, I notice that Menagerie Witch's Autonomous Creature Creation is highlighted like Black Swan's Fundamental Force Manipulation and Handyman's Autobiokinesis are. Is that meant to signify what the major "focus" of her powers are, since we didn't give her the powers?
 
ReaperofInterest said:
So looking at the character sheets, I notice that Menagerie Witch's Autonomous Creature Creation is highlighted like Black Swan's Fundamental Force Manipulation and Handyman's Autobiokinesis are. Is that meant to signify what the major "focus" of her powers are, since we didn't give her the powers?
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No, it's a synergistic power she has naturally. Heaven Astrologian would have Fundemental Force Manipulation for example.
 
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Bitterman said:
No, it's a synergistic power she has naturally. Heaven Astrologian would have Fundemental Force Manipulation for example.
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I hoe we can get a dna kf her if shes dead. Its only fitting for noelle to take on both he rmothers power and Name

Also qm I know we can raise someones tolerance without limits. But can we raise a candidates tolerance past 10 or is that the hard limit of someones tolerance?
 
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Snippets Of Life Next To The Leviathan - MrKermie
  • Apocrypha
    • Snippets Of Life Next To The Leviathan
    By MrKermie    ​

    Horizon, City of Leviathan's Rest – The Worker's Mitt– December 6, 2067

    You take a breath of relief, as you finish dusting off the old painting. Looks like even through the Movement, your stuff stayed secure.

    You are Shelley Marie. The woman who knows everybody in the Worker's Mitt, and also probably in like, the top 10 richest in the Worker's Mitt. Which doesn't mean much, considering where you are right now, but hey. Turns out rich people by the Foot pay a lot for a good piano and trumpet teacher.

    Well, or they used to, before the Movement happened. Since the Movement, you've been coordinating efforts to get medical supplies to all the workers who were injured by all the shadow birds. The shadow birds that disappeared when…

    Well. Turns out Mona was secretly a hero the whole time. Or for at least 3 years. Maybe you should check up on how the news and forums are treating her. Just for a second.

    But before you can start checking for any account activity on Hero For Hire, you hear a loud knock at the door. "Coming!"

    The small apartment that you're in is almost definitely living below your means, but you still like it. You dodge some letters and pencils that you accidentally let fall on the floor, before opening the door.

    The woman at the door looks like you, but while you're in an outfit that's whatever shirt and shorts were on the top of your drawer (you don't need one of your suits, city hall was a while ago) she's in a bomber jacket with slick pants and sunglasses. She takes off her glasses, and offers you a high-five, which you gladly return. Besides, it's your twin sister, Fran Marie!

    Fran walks into your apartment, and takes a look around. "So this is your new place, Shelley? Seems nice."

    You jokingly punch her on the shoulder. "Oh please, anything seems nice compared to the dump that is your room."

    "I'll have you know, Ms. Socialite, that while my room may not look nice, my dojo is one of the cleanest locations in the whole Mitt. Besides, you've just got that old painting smack dab in the middle of your room! You aren't much cleaner."

    You turn towards the painting, and push it and its easel a bit closer to the edge of the room. "Well, I personally think that it lends a bit of panache to this dreary apartment. And besides, I think it looks nice! What do you think?"

    Fran takes off her jacket and throws it on one of your spare chairs. She walks closer to the painting and squints. "That was… something you did while you were trying out all those clubs in high school senior year, right? Around when we got to Horizon. It looks nice, but it doesn't really look like a self-portrait like I think your teacher wanted."

    The painting itself is accurate to Fran's assessment of it. While it includes you, you're not really the center of it. Just a detailed splotch of red in a bustling gray crowd. The real bulk of the painting is the background that surrounds you.

    Neon skyscrapers and a seemingly incessant rain surround you, the only person without an umbrella. Holographic advertisements shine down on you, showing some of the faces and visages of the heroes you were admiring at the time (and still do admire). Valiant Silver, Adamant, Red Huntress…

    But the rest is still familiar. The street signs are the same as the ones from your now well traveled daily commute, and in the background, the white dome of the Apiary still shines bright. It's the "Worker's Mitt of the future" you pictured so long ago.

    "It's very avant-garde. Probably not something I'll be doing again, though." you comment. "…do you think it's in bad taste now, considering the Movement?"

    Fran plops down on the old couch, which you nabbed for practically pennies at a garage sale. "I've seen artists post the porn Valiant Silver commissioned of Uiara posthumously. It's not. Honestly, if I was you, I'd be wondering about making a sequel."

    "With Mona in it? Personally, I'm unsure. Besides, how long do you think she's really had those powers?"

    Fran sits up a bit. "Pardon?"

    "I think a lot of people who were watching her fight the shadow birds definitely noticed that she lost a finger or two when she shot off a few attacks. If she really had those powers for so long…"

    "Then how did she not blow off an arm a few years ago?" Fran finishes. "Honestly, I don't know. If there's one person who would, it's Lady Leizhi, the hatchet-woman."

    She stands up one more time, to admire the painting again with you. You two stand in silence for a bit. Eventually, Fran decides to ask you another question. "…you thinking of looking for Justice Unlimited? If you are, I don't think I need to tell you how dumb that one is."

    It doesn't really feel like she's looking at the painting right now, or you. It's more like she's looking through you, looking politely in your general direction. You take a deep breath, and close your eyes.

    Horizon, City of Leviathan's Rest – Old Industrial District—August 8, 2058

    9 Years Ago.

    It was a long time ago. You and your family had just immigrated from America, after the successor to Thrule and his cronies had been trying to take away your rights. And your autonomy. And Fran's budding job prospects. You all just didn't want to be the next unlucky idiots caught up in the second Liberty Tower, whenever that would happen…

    (Which had taken your old brother-in-law Ren ten years ago in 2048, bless his soul.)

    Oh, and you wouldn't have been surprised if he was going to take away your soul. "Not judging people by the color of their skin" wasn't really something that the current president seemed to have been paying attention to in social studies.

    You were about 18, and you had been having a bad day. It was ridiculously hot in Horizon compared to where you were living in America, and while you didn't hate your family's house in the Worker's Mitt, it just felt… unfamiliar.

    It was an afterschool day. You had just done PE, and you didn't feel energized enough to be going home just yet. So you were loitering around and sitting on some Old Industrial sidewalk, just down in the dumps. Everything was so unfamiliar, and your assignments were so much harder than back in your school in America.

    You were about to fall asleep, when you heard a voice coming from above you. "Hey, are you ok?"

    You look up, and oh, ew. You might have fallen asleep already.

    "...Are you a Silver Behemoth or a metahuman? I'm too sleepy to tell the difference." you say.

    The woman(?) laughed. She was tall, taller than your father or any of your uncles. Her mouth was split into mandibles, and her red eyes were covered by the compound pieces of a fly's eyes. "That's actually one of the friendlier things I've heard today. I'm Apiary, part of NuGen, New Dawn's new team. You ok?"

    You blink the grogginess out of your eyes. "I'm fine, don't worry. Don't you have anything better to do?"

    "No, not really. What's got you loitering around?"

    It was the first time in a while that someone had asked you that question. So you spilled it all out. Your feelings, everything.

    When you were done, you finally were able to look up into the eyes of the woman who stopped for you, and you recoiled back in shock. "Hey, you're bleeding from your face and cheeks! Uh, should I call 911? Do they have 911 here? W-why did you talk to me, shouldn't you be with your team?"

    Apiary smiles again, before shrugging. "Don't worry kid, I can replicate myself. I'm on my way to my teammates right now. As for your question… I don't know. I was just feeling like being kind for the sake of being kind."

    Huh. Being kind for the sake of being kind…

    That was the first time you met Apiary, or Rosemary.

    It would also be the last, as she died one year later.

    When you heard that news, it was like something broke inside your heart. Why?

    So you started investigating. You learned about hero culture for fun. You got those teaching credentials, and started helping out all the kids in your community. Big Sis Shelley, they called you.

    And even if Apiary herself hadn't put much thought into her words, you could never stop yourself from doing so. Because they were the exact and only words that could have pulled you out of the darkness into the light.

    Being kind for the sake of being kind. That's what you think about when you see the Apiary, when you saw Justice Unlimited.

    "What would it be like, to be someone saying those kinds of things?" you wondered.

    Horizon, City of Leviathan's Rest – The Worker's Mitt– December 6, 2067

    With that in mind, you take another look at your painting. Through the neon-drenched skyscrapers of the future Mitt, there's a metallic statue, noticeable with just a glance, on the left side of the painting. Right in front of the white dome of the Apiary, you've drawn an almost perfect replica of a statue of a woman with insectoid features, but an undeniably friendly face.

    Holding out a helping hand to a girl who needs it.

    You go to wash your hands of any grime or dirt, before stepping past Fran and getting to the door. "Alright, now that you're here, could you make sure nobody gets in the house? I'm going to be making some inquiries with Justice Unlimited. They might not be at the Apiary, but they're still alive, and I think I might have a hunch about where."

    You've made some trips to the Foot, after all. Considering that POWERS is on a recruiting spree, this might be your last chance to find them around the Ladder.

    Fran scoffs, but there's clearly some worry beneath it. "I mean, I was just here to grab some ingredients from your pantry, but sure. Just wanna let you know, though, at least nine different things at a time will be out to kill you if you want to be a hero. Trust me. I know better than anyone else in our family, even mom, that the world's way too unkind. It would chew up and spit someone like you right out." she says.

    But as she says that, she seems to stop looking through you, and actually into your eyes. And as different as she is from you, she's still your twin. She knows.

    You nod. "Well, that's too bad for the world. I'm perfectly fine with being kind anyways."

    And you step out the door, going on your way to find a certain Mona Merola-Morales.

    (Ok, now that you're thinking about it, maybe you should go and find her mom. You know Marisa better anyways.)

    Horizon, City of Leviathan's Rest – The Worker's Mitt– December 7, 2067

    The agenda is overcrowded, and your head hurts from everything that's been going on. The Movement, the state of the Foot… any chance of planning this week out is gone.

    You are Rei Maruki. Girlfailure extraordinaire. Or at least, that's how you're feeling right now.

    Your extremely well paying job at the Foot Of The Ladder? Gone. You're staying at a friend's apartment in your old home, the Mitt.

    Your coworkers (and best friends aside from Mona and Akemi), Arata and Mai? Dead in a riot. Along with the anime store that you had such a cushy job at. You take a deep breath in to calm yourself down, like Akemi said you should.

    It doesn't work. Actually, you feel more sick to your stomach. Ok then, time to try something more effective. You open up your phone, and start doomscrolling Hero For Hire.

    Hey, it's more effective, not more healthy for you. A lot of HFH is exactly as you saw it when you last left: so much Movement doomposting. New Dawn's good, most of Global Justice is dead…

    Hey, at least Justice Unlimited is good. Everybody saw Mona at town hall a few weeks ago, and while that might not be common knowledge yet, the shadow birds are gone. Good riddance, now you can go back to taking that shortcut by Third North that you used to always use. Doesn't take away the fact that your friend is now putting herself in mortal danger on a daily basis now, but she'll be fine!

    At the very least, you got ten likes and one hug on your post. That's nice.

    Eventually, however, your phone starts ringing. You pick up the call without looking at the number.

    "Rei Maruki here. If you're trying to scam me, go and try again in a few more months."

    The voice on the other end is peppy and cheerful. "Rei, it's me, Mona!"

    You snap to attention instantly, back straightening up in seconds. "Mona! How's it been? You're a superhero now, what's that like?"

    Mona giggles a bit. "Oh, it's awesome. I fought Earthern Owl, met a talking beetle named Valiant Kabuto, and made a new friend! Say hi, Maddie."

    A timid and young voice answers the phone this time. "Um… hi."

    "Hi there. I'm Rei." As you say that, you consider what Mona said. You heard about Earthern Owl already, but a talking beetle…

    Ah. Dr. Mammoth Ibis. Of course.

    As you hear the phone be passed back, you continue. "I can't believe that you're in the Apiary and with Justice Unlimited. Man, did they give you your merch for free? Is that how you got that collection?"

    You can hear Mona nodding excitedly on the other end of the phone. "No, that's all either from the cooking competitions and what I bought from the Apiary shops. And I'm not in the Apiary right now, I'm in… um, give me a second."

    You hear some inaudible chatter in the background, so you tap your fingers to calm your nerves and pass the time. As you wait, you also hear…

    Wait. You know that voice actress. Is Mona seriously watching ♥️Moe Moe Kyun Magical Girl-Maid Monica♥️ right now?!

    As you hear Mona get back on the phone, you immediately start speaking. "Mona. Really? Magical Girl-Maid Monica?!"

    Mona clearly holds back a laugh on the other end of the phone. "Hey! I wanted to introduce Maddie to it. And besides, it's great!"

    And then she start singing the first few lines of the theme song. Leviathan's Blood. "Girl, I'd throw a pillow at you if I wasn't in the Mitt right now!" You yell.

    Mona seems to be ready to laugh her way into a heart attack at this rate, but bravely (annoyingly) holds it back. "It's still peak magical girl, and you like 💙Doki Doki Magical Girl-Motorcyclist Makoto💙! Don't judge me!"

    "Makoto is way cooler, more mature, and is also more independent than Monica, and I will die on that hill." You assert, trying to hold back your laughter as well.

    "Oh yeah, and before I forget. I was just talking with LL." Mona offhandedly mentions, "she says I can't tell you about where we are."

    LL? Wait…

    "Girl, you can't tell me that you talked with Lady Leizhi and then leave it there! Where even are you right now!?"

    "Well, we're actually going to get the Apiary back in a few days. We're training up Rhys right now…"

    You stand up, and look out the window. Yup. Floating Venom Morpheme is still there. Shit. "Mona, answer me. How many teammates do you have?"

    "…three? We've got Rhys training his powers right now."

    Four metahumans. Four metahumans, one of whom you're pretty sure just made her debut less than a month ago, and one who is literally in training right now.

    Four metahumans against a Named Behemoth. You do not like those odds. Not at all.

    Wait, and how long has Mona even been using her powers? She's at best a mediocre liar, and she definitely would have been the type of girl to fly instead of walking. And what did she say again?

    Mona said:
    "See! I can shoot lasers and stuff! And I'm a black hole? Technically, maybe?"
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    Mona is a nerd for superheroes. She should have known her own powers better.

    "-ei? Rei?"

    "It's nothing," you answer. "I just feel like you should probably have more help with this. Be careful out there, ok? Stay safe, Mona."

    You put down the phone, and begin to walk out of the apartment. It looks like if you want your peaceful life back, you're going to have to get some things done yourself.

    Author's Note:
    I took some time off the corkboard to write about my candidates. Then it got a bit out of hand.

    I hope that this encourages you all to vote for my candidates if we roll them. Rei's already canonically shown up in the quest, so I wanted to give Shelley some love.

    (And speaking of Shelley, if you liked her here and/or like HSR, read Space Oddity! We're right in the finale of Belobog! Read now, or be cursed to have to catch up on Xianzhou!)

    Thank you all for reading.
     
  • Apocrypha
    • Unrelated, but I there is an upcoming back issue that touches on themes of gender identity and dysphoria. I have no first hand experience with these feelings, and I've tried to do a lot of research to make sure I represent it respectfully. Is there anyone who's qualified on such topics who'd be willing to double check my concept to make sure I'm not inadvertently doing something offensive? It would involve spoilers and there might be a vote or two I would ask you to not participate in.
     
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    MrKermie said:
    Let me guess— timeline discrepancies, US Gov inaccuracies, and Apiary? That's fair. I might come back later to update it once we select that Fill-In issue with her in it.

    Thanks! I'd like it to be put towards saving Hiver.
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    Apiary's characterization is off (not your fault, she hasn't appeared yet), Rhys isn't know to the public yet as a hero, Maddie is keeping her identity secret, and a few things to do with Thule and the Liberty Tower.

    I'll DM when a roll comes up you can change, or you can apply it to any vote-roll!
     
    Bitterman said:
    You guys are gonna like these new DNA samples assuming FVM doesn't kill you all.
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    I cant wait for when we have s stable supply of ambrosia. I love the Hero building phase of this quest so much.

    Also QM for our 2 global actions next turn can we do this:
    A spoonful of Sugar (John Henry)
    Project Prometheus (John Henry)

    Basically boost Johns Tolerance to 6 before givimg him powers.
     
    Wing101r said:
    I cant wait for when we have s stable supply of ambrosia. I love the Hero building phase of this quest so much.

    Also QM for our 2 global actions next turn can we do this:
    A spoonful of Sugar (John Henry)
    Project Prometheus (John Henry)

    Basically boost Johns Tolerance to 6 before givimg him powers.
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    Yes, but you may want to do other things once you see how events shake out.
     
    Oh cool might still go for T6 since I want to do Johns questline with Demon Flamez and hopefully get an Operations 10 like how rhys got boosted to 9 from specialized powers that worked with his skillset.
    Still id be interesting to see what new actions weve unlock. Atleast we dont have to speedrun the PR manager questline to not waste global actions.
     
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