CONFLUENCE 25

[metamods]

 

CONFLUENCE.

A Confluence, capitalized, is the converging of one or more supernatural forces.

Whoever you are, whatever you had been getting up to - it doesn't matter, because suddenly you're falling. The sky opens up, and out comes you. You tumble towards the ground above the city of Little Love.

Something ancient and alien hums underneath the Earth. The spells in place Summoner vines that snap up to catch you catch you just before impact, carefully binding your limbs before easing you carefully down to the ground in front of a sign that proudly proclaims this to be Little Love,Kansas. Welcome to the world of Metaheroes.

ALIEN ACTIVITY

Little Love is the kind of sleepy little town where nothing is really meant to happen. It’s the kind of town where people go if they want to start over. With space faring possible again, the population is notably… nervous.

Old technology appears to be coming to life. The moment the new arrivals touch down, they will hear the hitch-pitched hum of something dangerous coming alive beneath the Earth. Something golden glows dimly in the middle distance, and suddenly a fist is punching up and through the Earth.

A massive terraforming machine in the shape of an enormous scorpion has come back online. And it is intent on making this alien world more habitable for its long gone owner. The machine sets eyes upon the new arrivals and any who have come to greet them, throwing its arms out wide. The magic that set them down onto the Earth oh so gently turns in on itself, vines becoming thorny and lashing out at all present. The machine itself attempts to scan and douse any creatures that get too close with a mysterious chemical compound.

The machine might be attempting to destroy the crops and all life-forms, but that fluid has a shelf-life that is well past… mostly. Getting splashed with it has an immediate strengthening effect rather than a weakening one.

Fight to bring the machine down, and then get whisked off to the wonder of Arcadia.

The strengthening effect from that chemical soon fades… however, it isn’t without side-effects.

While the effects aren’t immediate for those doused, there are some… after effects. Throughout the next two weeks, you will find yourself surprisingly sensitive to different minerals. Some augment your strength and some weaken it. ARCADIA, WASHINGTON

Upon arrival, all newcomers will eventually be directed to Arcadia, which is located near Excelsior. This community has an unusual history for some of the Starfallen, but for the wider world, it's simply an AI-generated, AI-run community put together to offer metahumans a place to call home. Unconditionally (for the most part). There are two ways to get to Arcadia: through a building designated as a transport/teleporting point in Excelsior, or through the front door off the outskirts of the city proper. Either way is acceptable.

All newcomers will be greeted by an AI named Virgil. Friendly and welcoming, Virgil will do everything they can to help someone adjust and feel comfortable. Their goal is to help metahumans and Starfallen alike have a place to stay, and their housing complex acts as that for many. Always adjusting and always changing, Arcadia is an important resource, and it's helped along by funding from Winters Industries.

Virgil will provide everyone the rundown they might need, as well as their new living quarters. These quarters are fully adaptable to the needs of its occupants — aesthetically and otherwise. If someone needs special conditions to live, Virgil will work alongside the AIs that directly run Arcadia to help someone find what they need.

Arcadia offers additional resources to its' Starfallen occupants. If anyone's eager to brush up on their knowledge of this world, they can sit through a bunch of (only a little boring) informational videos. For anyone unused to powers, Virgil has designated training centers. However, all training centers are unavailable to metas who aren't affiliated with a Guild. All newcomers are recommended to join a Guild as soon as possible to receive additional support beyond what Virgil themselves is able to offer.

After settling in, all Arcadia occupants receive a credit card to manage their expenses (this card is typically intended to help someone buy food, clothing, and other necessities). It's very apparent that these stipends are provided by Winters Industries and not Virgil.

MISSIONS

The headquarters of the Guardian Alliance are easy to find. It’s located in one of the taller and more ornate skyscrapers of Central City

The first floor is something of a public space. There’s a small museum dedicated to the Alliance’s most famous exploits, standees of famous heroes for tourists to snap selfies with, and even a little gift shop! For metas, though, the real business starts upstairs. You’ll have to check in with a receptionist, who will unlock the elevator to HQ proper. There’s not a lot of visible security beyond that, but you still get the feeling that any kind of trouble here wouldn’t end well for the troublemakers.

The Guardian’s Club is the central hub of the headquarters. It’s an open and sunny lounge area with shining white walls and floors. The furniture is modern, in bright primary colors, and there’s a high ceiling that allows for people of any size, or those who just want to fly around for fun. Off to one side is a large games area - the main attraction is the large pool table, but there’s also some board games, co-op video games, a snack bar, and even a DDR machine. Bonding with your fellow heroes is a great thing!

Outside of this area is where you’ll find the mission board. It’s a modern touchscreen display, on which Alliance members can tap their member ID, input mission preferences, how many they intend to take out with them, and receive a mission.

Where the Guardian Alliance’s headquarters gleams, The Society’s headquarters is much darker. The two buildings are actually quite close to each other. Entering here, you’ll find a similar reception desk where your credentials must be verified before going into the headquarters proper. Security here is far more visible, with clear cameras on the walls and buff guards, often with visible powers such as rocky skin or hands that crackle with lightning, posted nearby. You have to imagine, though, that the real safeguards here are the ones you can’t see.

Inside the Society Lounge, the furnishings are classy in a far more toned-down sense. The furnishings are dark wood, with chairs and long couches upholstered primarily in reds and violets. Here, there’s a full bar! According to the sign posted above it, however, any disorderly conduct within the Lounge will be swiftly dealt with.

The mission board is a sleek electronic display posted on the back wall of the lounge. It’s quite high-tech, updating itself regularly. You can use the touchscreen to request a job. After inputting one's member ID and the amount of people they intend to take along with them, it will assign out tasks based off of what it thinks they will be able to handle. But be careful; who gets assigned what is all public information, and it sure would be a shame to fail.

Please fill out the form and post it below our MISSION REQUESTS header.

CHARACTERS INVOLVED:

GUILD: What guilds are the characters affiliated with?

REQUESTED DIFFICULTY: Easy/Medium/Hard

REWARD REQUEST: Is your character after money, or a specific item?

LIMITATIONS: What do you not want your character to get assigned? Please note we are happy to offer new missions if our initial offer doesn't work!

<b>CHARACTERS INVOLVED:</b> <b>GUILD:</b> What guilds are the characters in? <b>REQUESTED DIFFICULTY:</b> Easy/Medium/Hard <b>REWARD REQUEST:</b> Is your character after money, or a specific item? <b>LIMITATIONS:</b> What do you <b>not</b> want your character to get assigned? Please note we are happy to offer new missions if our initial offer doesn't work!

CLIFF NOTES.

➢ New arrivals land in Little Love, where a terraforming machine comes to life and begins to terrorize the town. It douses anyone it can in a terraforming fluid which enhances their strength for a total of two hours, before leaving them with some strange sensitivities to earth's minerals. Line the colors of your favorite precious stones up with Kyrptonite for some fun effects.

➢ All Starfallen will be granted a place at Arcadia, though no one is required to take that spot. Everyone who decides to live there will be provided with a stipend, as well as fully customizable living quarters.

➢ Guild members are expected to participate in missions at least once monthly. However, this does not have to be the missions offered on this post and can be handwaved. PCs are also welcome to switch missions between themselves for one that better suits, if their monthly assigned one won't work for them.

WILDCARD.

Metaheroes takes inspiration from all walks of comics. Take a look at the CITIES to get an idea as to what day to day life is like in the other cities. Perhaps you've encountered a supervillain (or hero) who needs to be thwarted, or a metahuman with unusual powers creating bizarre effects.

Comments

QUESTIONS & ENGAGEMENT.

[metamods]

[purplexing]

Should I throw another thinger on the NPC engagements for Donnie getting Katherine his wish list or can that be handwaved? :3

[metamods]

Up to you! We can handwave this or thread this out.

[purplexing]

I'm good with handwaving! I'm sure his list consists of a mix of practical things from studying whatever spacefaring achievements have been made on Earth, and stuff he's picked up from sci-fi, sprinkled in with things he'd think would be super cool and useful if they existed and he had the means to slap together.

[robintohood]

Jason would like to investigate into the new drugs that are coming into Central. Is that something that can be done as an assigned mission or elsewhere? Either way, thank you for this!

[metamods]

Jason can claim this as a mission from the Society, as the Society seems keen to know who is behind this new supply as well. Let us know what methods he would like to use!

[faceguy]

Before he dies Leo, on behalf of Donnie, is going to try to get in touch with Atomight to ask Elena D’Amico may want to kill him. If he has any ideas.

[metamods]

Atomight will be extremely worried to find that the D'Amico family has targeted one of their own, but not terribly surprised either given what a thorn in their site the Metahuman community has been.

Given that they're stuck operating within the confines of human law, as the D'Amico's are human, the best Atomight can offer is increased protection and Alliance installed security... or, witness protection. This would involve a temporary relocation to a new, non-meta city and a new identity to work under, while they open an investigation into the D'Amico family.

[faceguy]

Oh sorry, this is my fault for phrasing this badly (too many hims).

Leo learned that Elena Reach-D’Amico has a grudge against Atomight left over from her mom Halone Reach, and that’s what he’s asking about! Donnie is interested in the history behind what’s going on with the Reaches and Leo is asking for him.

For more context he’s following up on this

[batsymbol]

The chemical compound that the scorpion looking terraforming machine was dousing others in... is it possible to obtain some of that compound for personal use research purposes?

[metamods]

It very much is! Let us know how he would like to investigate it and we can let you know what he will find.

[batsymbol]

He'd test it to see if there's potential for it to become an enhancer of sorts or even dampen ones abilities in various forms. Liquid, pill, powder, gas, etc.

MISSION REQUESTS

[metamods]

[mostdangerousbird]

CHARACTERS INVOLVED: Tim Drake (I will post it as an open so I’m fine with it being a mission where he has to recruit someone)
GUILD: Alliance
REQUESTED DIFFICULTY: Hard
REWARD REQUEST: Any bizarre or interesting tech would be fine
LIMITATIONS: Ruling out the capture of Red Hood

[metamods]

Tim's previous adventure with saving animals captured by the D'Amicos comes back into play with the mission the Alliance gives him: there have been several incidents of exotic animals being sold and traded throughout the Midwest, and it seems like the D'Amico family is responsible for it. Given they're most known for trading drugs and weapons, branching out this far feels. . . . out of character. He is asked to go undercover as "Jim Amato", a far-off cousin of the D'Amico line who has moved to the States to find better opportunities for himself.

As Jim, he's expected to be bringing in a friend or two into the family - so recruiting a few people to assist him in his search for data on why they've decided to start trading in exotic animals is something that's an option to him. He'll also have the opportunity to get further intel on the family itself, which we'll tailor to how you want to build into the mission.

As a reward, NULLS is offering Tim the opportunity to dig through their stash of alien tech they've been collecting over the years. Most of it is newer, from after the meteors crashed down, but they also have a "vintage" collection from before space seemed to close itself off to the Earth.

[mostdangerousbird]

Is it okay if I hold on this until March? I ended up getting the character involved in quite a bit, and don't want to overload myself.

[honeybadgerer]

CHARACTERS INVOLVED: Gabby Kinney
GUILD: Alliance
REQUESTED DIFFICULTY: Hard
REWARD REQUEST: Something that ties her into other plots/things to do.
LIMITATIONS: Anything that involves her actively murdering someone. (framing for murder, murder-adjacent is fine though)

[metamods]

Since Gabby is friendly and generally amicable, she will be put in charge of helping the Atlantean delegates during the duration of their stay. They will be intending to return to their home sometime in mid-March.

This means she's also... going to be on a mild security detail. The most immediate threat would be the D'Amico crime family, so it may not be a bad idea to ask around to see what other Alliance members can tell her about their experiences.

[robintohood]

CHARACTERS INVOLVED: Jason Todd (DCAU Version)
GUILD: Society
REQUESTED DIFFICULTY: Medium to hard
REWARD REQUEST: Information about the new drugs coming in Central.
LIMITATIONS: Open season!

billy kaplan | marvel comics | open

[wiccant]

we--are we in kansas?

( he falls, and it's significantly more of a surprise than it has any right to be. because billy is used to falling at this point, but he's not quite used to falling alone, nor is he used to random sentient plants trying to sweep him up before he can impact with the ground. the vines raise, and billy's already tangled up in his cape but thrashing arms out, sparks flying, as he tries to unentangle himself. it gets himself into more trouble than the effort's worth, because while it does gett the vines off, getting the vines off before being ready to fly himself out means he is colliding with the ground a little harder than intended. )

Ow. ( up on his hands and knees for a moment before he's rolling over to sit on the ground, and billy's moving a hand up to rub at the back of his neck. the ow is more offended than painful; aside from a few bruises, he's still in one piece. )

i tried to high-five a scorpion once

( attacked by a massive scorpion is not how he saw his day going, thanks. he'd been hoping for an uncomfortably quiet day inside a spaceship, where he could curl up by himself and sulk, not - running away from something that keeps throwing what he's hoping isn't poisonous goo at them. goo? liquid? mystery chemical compound that turns people into mecha scorpions? he doesn't know, and he's hoping he never has to find out. he's running, which is a really bad move especially because billy can fly and that's significantly faster but is he doing that? no. he's running, on his legs that are not made for running because he's spent most his superheroing time either flying or teleporting when he had to get somewhere fast.

the scorpio spews out more of it's liquid billy is intent on not finding out what it does out, except this time it's not going for him it's going for someone else and he's shooting out a hand in their direction, fingers sparking with blue energy moments before a shield blocks the path between the liquid and it's victim. and billy, focused on trying to keep them from getting splattered with it, misses that the scorpion's raising its stinger and swiping it at him at a speed there's no way he's going to be able to dodge in time.

half a point still counts as a win, right. )

wildcard

( hit me up at crowbars or throw something at me and i'll run with it! )

[mostdangerousbird]

[ Robotic chlorokinetic scorpion?

No, robotic chlorokinetic substance-spewing scorpion.

That important factoid was not in the briefing when the call went out, or Rook wouldn’t have been caught standing in front of the head with a pair of near-simultaneous jump scares of energy wall thisclose to him and the following splash of glowing (ugh) vomit.

(It's probably acidic "venom". Scorpion, and all that wonderful physiology to lean into when designing the robot.)

Scan forgotten, Rook's hightailing it out of the line of fire with one eye on the machine. The tail tenses in on itself, curling into a squished C like it's winding up for a strike. At Rook? No, further in the direction he's running - at the guy in the bright red cape with fading cerulean sparks around him. Like the shield.

Rook unhooks his grapple gun from the back of his belt. Red Cape is 150, 160 pounds. Manageable. He fires high at the tail - too close to the stinger for it to damage the line, but far enough down that the tail should hold weight. ]

Go limp.

[ He just has enough time to grab Red Cape around the waist before the grapple starts retracting. The machine must weigh tons, and the predictable yank on Rook's arm pulls both of them off the ground.

The stinger thrashes in a way that doesn't quite read as living - more like the hook damaged a joint, and Rook times the hook's release so they both drop onto the back of the scorpion. ]

[wiccant]

( at the very least, he hears go limp and immediately goes limp. there's no hesitation, not a moment wasted to see who was throwing orders his way, because he figures at this point it's get smacked around by the scorpion or hopefully get yanked out of the way. arms wrap around him and - see, clearly listening was the best way of going about this, because he is no longer getting his ass kicked and is no longer at risk of getting whacked by the tail. instead, they're getting propelled around by this guy's line attached to the tail, which really doesn't seem all that much better at the moment. getting hit around is one thing, getting pulled around mid-air in multiple directions by a tail's thrashing sounds worse. he's not prone to motion sickness unless he's going at speedster speeds, but for all he knows this could be a close second, and puking all over the guy who's trying to save him would be a very, very bad first impression. very bad.

except the line releases, and they're dropping onto the scorpion, and--he's not sure if this is better or worse. his coordination isn't usually the worst but keeping hold of this very, very intent on killing all of them machine sounds about as fun as holding onto a mechanical bull and while he's never tried it before he knows without trying that he'd be terrible at it.

it's fine. he's got this. they're not going to die today. billy is not going to fall on his face. )

Thanks. ( breathy, because he'd finally released the breath he'd been holding from the moment he heard go limp. hands press down against the mechbest below him, fingers digging into joints, and he--half turns his head back enough to look over to the guy who saved him. offers a small smile. ) Can you uh, hold on for a sec? Promise I'm probably not going to get us killed. Hopefully?

( he should sound more sure of himself. he's done this before. but today is not a great day, and billy's not giving him much space to respond because he's instead curling fingers in, leaning in to murmur close to metal: )

Iwanttobreakit,Iwanttobreakit,Iwantto--

( it'd be better to be more specific, wouldn't it. but billy uses his words to focus his intent, and his intent is clear enough to him: gears start crushing together, breaking within the scorpion while it starts thrashing, as if all that flailing will keep it's limbs in one piece while billy's willing it to pieces.

granted, will only works so far when he's also trying to focus on not falling off. )

[mostdangerousbird]

[ Cape doesn't automatically mean willing to listen to Rook, so it's a relief when they're on the back of the scorpion without anyone suffering whiplash or worse.

Tim's feet catch a bump on the thing's back (thank you, commitment to the theme in imitating the carapace) that's a solid foothold. It lets him spare a second to put the gun back on his belt and still keep a grip on the other guy.

Costume or not, he's not going to assume anyone has his sense of balance.

At the question, he smirks and dramatically stretches to find a matching handhold with his now free right hand. Before he can add in the happy? that this situation calls for, there's a follow up is rather alarming, and Tim is about to ask about that hopefully when Red Cape starts chanting.

(Like pick-your-Zatara chanting. The kind of tone that makes the hair on the back of his neck stand up.) ]

What are you -

[ And now the robot's going ballistic, post hoc, ergo propter hoc. He lets go of the guy for just long enough to take hold of him by the arm, hard. He'll apologize for the bruise later, but right now? The best and worse place to be is on the scorpion's back and pray it drops straight down. ]

Can you break it gently?

High Fives Are Acceptable

[helpdesk_hero]

[ Sometimes the world punishes you for trying to do good deeds. Prodigy was pretty sure that was a traditional part of living, at least it was for him. He'd come to Little Love to try and investigate what was going on, and of course a Confluence had to hit, and of course what he was coming to deal with decided to manifest in giant robot scorpions that turn people into things.

Why not, right?

What he wasn't expecting as he saw one starting to target him, prepared to throw up a defense, was that particular shade of blue energy between him and danger. For a second his heart skips a beat, but then he has to calm down because coincidences can happen. They happen all the time here. So he doesn't think much of it beyond being grateful and trying to look to see who might have caused it.

And damn if he didn't know that outfit.

He'd of course jump to the rescue of just about anyone here. That's what super heroes do. But when it's Billy he acts faster. Throws himself out from behind the shield, combat rolls closer to Billy as the stringer is lashing out, and throws his hands out toward the witch. With the gesture a glowing wall of golden-yellow light raises up, curling like the shield Billy had just given him, but over a smaller area. There's only so much Prodigy can manage after all, and he needs a thicker wall to compensate for force, so it's not the largest coverage.

He watches the stinger strike into the wall, piercing partway through, but not all the way. Which is a relief. Good thing he's been training with Sephiroth. Guy packed quite a punch. Defense offered Prodigy curls his hands, the shield curling in on the stinger, and slams them toward the ground, the shield going with it to try and stick the stinger harmlessly out of the way.

Which is when he calls out to Billy.]

Maybe consider staying airborne, Wiccan. You're pretty effective at overwatch.

[And here's the thing. That's probably weird to hear, right? Because in this moment Prodigy doesn't look anything like David Alleyne in any manifestation Billy's known, not even in multiversal travel. No, he values his privacy here, so his costume is quite different, the markings on it a Krakoan X that Billy wouldn't be far enough on his timeline to know, every inch of his skin is covered, and then there's the helmet. A big black and gold biker helmet that he's adjusted and definitely is putting out a synthesized voice.

You know, just a fun little mystery.]

[wiccant]

( not a familiar outfit, but whoever it is under the voice synthesizer knows who billy is. whether or not that's a good thing is something else entirely - but the advice isn't bad. billy doesn't float up so much as he takes a few steps up into the air until he's high enough to be out of the scorpion's range before he extends out a hand towards mister guy-who-knows-him and -

wraps him up in another shield as the scorpion comes back around. he's played enough video games to know what overwatch means. if he thinks billy's more suited to play airborne support, he's probably right, especially considering billy's still trying to figure out what they're fighting up against. mech scorpions? terrifying on its own, but the liquid it's spraying out is an unknown that billy can at least keep contained from this angle by blocking every attempt at spewing some elsewhere. )