BlueBattler

It was a year later that I met Lord Recluse face to face for the first time in my life.

Father had no intention of having his operations subsumed by Arachnos, but he was fully aware that he would have to pay proper deference lest he were to suffer the wrath of its capricious master. So it is not surprising to me that he announced that he would be attending a concert that Lord Recluse had invited him to. What did surprise me was that he told me that I would be accompanying him.

“There will be many powerful men and women there, Belladonna. I wish you to meet them, and learn what you can of them. The time will come when this knowledge might prove of use to me.”

Notice that he said “to me.”

“This concert, Father. Why does it interest Lord Recluse?”

“The pianist—a girl—is said to be a special favorite of his chief operative. You’ve heard of her; the woman called Red Widow.”

“She’s not his daughter, is she?”

“The girl? I hardly think so. Recluse does not seem to have very many human passions. The only lust he’s ever been known to display is for power.” There was something in my father’s eyes when he said that: a sort of admiration, perhaps.

I had been to several formal occasions before, but this was the first I had ever attended as a young adult rather than a child. I dressed myself and prepared my own makeup. I felt a strange sense of excitement—Father was sure to meet Lord Recluse, but I doubted the master of the Rogue Isles would pay the slightest attention to me. I was just a girl … a beautiful girl, but surely a man as long-lived as Recluse had seen many like me …

Father’s appraisal of my finery was but one word: “Adequate.”

We did not mingle with the crowd before the performance. Father was taken to a private booth and told that we would be introduced to Lord Recluse afterwards. For the first time in my life, Father seemed nervous. “Keep watch,” he told his bodyguards. “Make sure that no one enters this booth without me knowing it.”

“This isn’t a trap,” I replied without thinking. “A man like Recluse wouldn’t kill an enemy like this. He would do it in the open to prove his power.”

“And what makes you such an expert?” Father asked me, his eyes as cold and as empty as black glass.

“I’m sorry, Father.” I lowered my eyes but clenched my fists where he could not see them. “I spoke out of turn.”

Father reached over and grabbed my wrist. He squeezed it. Hard. “I will not be lectured by children!”

I could kill him, I realized suddenly.

A single blow in just the right place, and he would be dead. One quick motion …

And then the music began to play.

So began my quiet rebellion against my father.

I was fourteen, so perhaps it is not unusual that I would begin to think of defying Father. The difference between most children and myself, however, is that I knew one sign of open resistance to my father’s plans would result in my death. Tolerance for disobedience was not numbered among Father’s virtues.

Jezebel helped me get started, but I knew that I could not count on her for much. She was not my mother—though I have to admit that in my childish dreams I called her such—and I knew that she was quite capable of selling me out to Father if her own well-being should be threatened. No, if I were going to be free, I would have to take my fate into my own hands.

From Jezebel’s girls I discovered how to command a man with a look, to ensnare him with a toss of my head or the promise of a smile.

I discovered how to sound like a giggling schoolgirl, empty headed and innocent from studying the girls I attended classes with.

I learned how to use firearms and rudimentary streetfighting from my father’s bodyguards. I could have learned more from them, but I dared not let reveal too much of my plans to anyone in his pay. No, I took what I could from them—what Father would not be displeased that I learned—and moved on.

Jezebel introduced me to a promising young demon fighter in St. Martial who taught me a lot about using bladed weapons and hand to hand combat against the creatures of the supernatural.

From the demon hunter I wrangled an invitation to meet an old Tsoo Sorcerer whose skill with potions and poisons was legendary. I managed to persuade him to have me tutored by one of their finest warriors in the use of the clawed weapons favored by the Night Widows.

I was always busy, always learning. It seemed like every moment that I had was consumed in discovering a new skill, developing a new talent. There were so many things I needed to know!

Each day I grew wiser, stronger, faster. Better.

From the moment of my birth I had been shaped to be my father’s tool. Now … now I was doing something for myself, making my own destiny.

And for the first time in my life, I was happy.

Father gave me a quite thorough education … as he saw it.

I learned to speak and read every language used in the Rogue Isles. I was taught to play musical instruments. I was instructed in all forms of dance favored by Lord Recluse’s court.

And I was taught how to bewitch men.

Beauty isn’t enough, you see. Men—especially young men—can be made foolish by a pretty face, but lust and desire are not enough. They must think they love you before they will truly be willing to risk themselves on your behalf.

And you must convince them you love them in return.

That was not an easy thing for me to learn, I must confess.

I was my father’s daughter. I learned much at his knee, but I did not learn kindness or compassion. He could feign good humor and generosity, but his eyes were like glass and no one believed for a moment there was anyone on earth that he cherished.

You cannot learn love from someone who does not know the meaning of the word.

I was given instructors, of course. Father hired courtesans, geishas, common ladies of the evening—all to teach me how to better make men do as I wished.

As he wished.

Perhaps the most famous—or infamous—of my tutors was Jezebel Jones herself.

I have to admit she wasn’t what I expected.

She was older than she looked—much older. “I age well,” she told me when I asked her about it. “Chalk it up to good genes.”

She taught me things that my father could not conceive of about being a woman. She showed me how to dress to my best advantage. She instructed me in the use of makeup to enhance my looks and to conceal any blemish that might occur. She showed me how to move and how to smile and how to tilt my head so that I looked interested in what a man was saying to me even when I was thinking of a thousand other things.

“You could be very good in my line of work, Bella,” she told me one day. “Except for one thing.”

“And what’s that?” I was not offended by her words. I had no desire to be a courtesan.

“You don’t have a heart.”

I stared at her in surprise.

“You don’t know how to love, Bella. You’re hollow. Empty.”

“I would think that would be an asset in your business, Jezebel.”

“Oh no,” Jezebel laughed. “Most of my girls do not love their … clients. But we know what love is. We know how to fake it. We can make a man believe it. You … you don’t know how to do that.”

“Can I learn?”

“Do you want to?”

“My father wants me to.”

“I didn’t ask that, Bella. I asked you what you wanted.” Jezebel Jones reached out and touched my cheek. “What do you want for yourself, Belladonna?”

“I want to be free.”

I surprised myself when I said that. Not that such was my desire. I had wanted to be free as long as I can remember. What shocked me was that I had been so willing to tell Jezebel about my desires.

She was very good at what she did.

“Very good, Bella. Very good.” She laughed.

“Can I go with you?”

“Oh no, Bella. You don’t belong in my world any more than you belong in your father’s. You are going to be something quite different.”

“Where do I belong, then?”

“Oh, there is a place here for you in the Rogue Isles, Bella. I will help you. I know people. People who will train you in the other things that you need to know.”

“The things I need to know?”

“Oh, yes. You have made a good start, but there is still much you need to learn. Tell me, Bella, have you ever heard of the Night Widows?”

I have two accounts.

Most of the time, when I dual box it's either to level a character that's gotten stuck or because I have a concept that would work well with matching toons.

About the only time I team with dual boxed toons is when I'm with friends who know that I'm dual boxing. A recent Baby New Year mission where someone asked to join me when I was dual boxing is the only time that I think I haven't volunteered I was dual boxing and even then I didn't make a secret of it.

However, I just got an inspiration several hours ago ...

Basically, the idea that I have is the concept of one mind running two bodies. Either the accident that gave him or her their powers split his body into two while not doing so for his mind or having one person's mind overwrite that of another person's in an accident.

I can see this character going either way in terms of being a hero or villain.

The hook for me, the thing that makes it intersting, is the idea that he's somewhat distracted because the human mind isn't meant to direct two bodies at once or process information from two bodies at the same time. He can put one of the bodies on autopilot, so to speak-- follow in game parlance-- but he's always dealing with the fact that he's seeing the world through two different sets of eyes.

(Storywise I can see really interesting ideas if he had bodies of differnt gender, but I don't know if I could play that really convincingly.)


Has anyone else ever done something like this? Would you be interested in teaming or interacting with someone who was using dual boxing as a RP hook?

I grew up with strange dreams.

I did not tell my father of those dreams. Early on, I learned that he had no tolerance for weakness—no matter how I injured myself, no matter how sick I became, no matter what nightmares came to me in the night—I did not tell him of them. As bad as those things might be, his reaction would have been worse.

Oh, do not misunderstand. My father was not cruel to me. He never raised a hand to me in anger or did violence to me that was not warranted….

He also never told me that he loved me.

So I did not tell him about the dreams that I had. I did not tell him of the white haired lady who spoke to me in a language that I did not know but nevertheless understood. Something about the way she looked frightened me …

And yet, her words—if not her tone—were kind.

And wise. Oh so very wise.

“Your father wishes you to study, my Bella, and that is a good thing. However, you must not reveal to him all that you have learned. You will be all that he expects, and more. Far more. If he knew this, then you know what he would do—“

I knew. Even as a child, I knew what my fate would have been if I had proven myself to be a failure.

“I understand. But why are you helping me?” I was a child, but I was not naïve enough to believe that anyone would help me out of altruism.

“You may say that in helping you, I am helping myself, my Bella. You will not remember these dreams until the time is right, but you will remember my advice. Grow. Study. Learn. Become strong, my Bella …”

And after a time, the dreams stopped. I forgot them.

In death, though … in death I remembered everything.

I did the LRSF once on my Brute. We were a brute heavy-team with a Rad Corruptor and a bots mm of some kind. We didn't manage to pull it off. Was kind of aggravating to get through everything else and get stuck at the end... but it took several tries for me to get through the Statesman TF when it first came out.

My name was Belladonna Vetrano.

I was a beautiful woman. It is not surprising; I was a beautiful infant and a beautiful child long before I became a beautiful woman.

And now I am an exquisitely beautiful ghost.

It is not vanity when I say that I was beautiful while I lived and even more so now that I am no longer mortal. I did not aspire to beauty. I did not seek it out. I did not ask to be beautiful. It was not my choice.

Nevertheless, it was intentional.

There is much those who were not born in the Rogue Islands do not understand about my home. My Lord Recluse has a saying: “The strong thrive. The weak perish. That is as it should be.”

My father was determined that he—that his family—should thrive.

He was a brilliant man, my father. What he lacked in physical strength or bravery he made up in intellect, subtly, and sheer audacity. His brothers never suspected he would betray them—not until it was too late.

A true master of deception … capable of surprising even me …

Another man in my father’s position would have longed for sons to carry on his name, to uphold the family traditions … but Father had not made his fortune by doing the expected …

Father wanted a daughter.

And not just any daughter, mind you. Father wanted a beautiful daughter—a beautiful, intelligent child who would rise far in the ranks of Arachnos; a daughter that could be the key to even greater power for himself.

My father was not a handsome man, but he could be very charming when he wished to be. He courted the most beautiful women in the Rogue Islands, searching for a woman that could give him the daughter he wished.

Eventually, he found one that suited him.

And when she refused him, he murdered her family, destroyed all who tried to stand by her, and imprisoned her until I was born.

And after I was born, he killed her.

Father did not want her to influence me, you see. He intended that he—and he alone—be the one to shape the course of my life.

My mother’s beauty made her a victim. Mine was to be my Father’s instrument in his pursuit of power.

There was just one thing that he forgot.

I was not—am not—my mother’s child.

I was his.

My name was Belladonna Vetrano. I was born from deceit, betrayal, and blood. I would live my life with them as my constant companions.

And eventually, deception and treachery would lead to my death.

But for me, death was only the beginning.

My name was Belladonna Vetrano.

You know me better as Ghost Widow.

And this is the story of my life, and what came after.

I'm sure that Miss Liberty and Ms. Liberty get Statesman some tacky Christmas sweater every year.

Manticore got Sister Psyche a nightie ... and the present she got him is to WEAR it.

Synapse got Positron the complete Statesman: The Animated Series on Blu Ray. Posi got Synapse a book on monagamy that'll go unread ...

Synapse got Mynx some catnip and a scratching post ...

Luminary tries to get Citadel a personality and he gets her some metal polish ...



Redside, I am sure that Recluse holes up by himself and drinks some wine and thinks about happier times ...

Ghost Widow glares at Mako and Black Scorpion and threatens them with a Soulstorm every time they open their mouths to tell Wretch there's no Santa Claus ...

And I think that Wretch gets a train set ... probably from Scirocco. (He may not be a Christian, but something tells me the Big Softie would get gifts for Wretch and Ghost Widow ...)



So what do you think the NPCs got each other?

So I was watching my DVD of Scrooge: The Musical, and I found myself thinking at first that Scrooge would have been a Dark/Dark Corruptor, and then I decided that given his reformation he would probably more appropriately fit a Nicuts turned Warshade ...

What other ATs do you think famous holiday characters could be?

I think Santa is obviously some kind of Stalker ...

Had the strangest thing on my level 16 SS/Invul Brute today.

Logged him on, made some costume and power color changes, went into the mission he had pending ... and there were No Mobs at all for him. He waltzed in, found the hostage just standing there by himself, and walked out with him.

Hopefully this is the right forum for this.

What are your "impossible" requests for customization? The things that you'd really like but don't see the Devs willing/able to implement in the game?


For me ....

1. Power point animation changes. I want to have the option of having my power come from a device instead of hands or mouth. I want a Sonic Blaster who uses a gun to blast out waves of sonic devastation. I want a Force Field Defender who uses a magic wand to cast wards of protection for her teammates, etc ...

2. Pool power customization. I want the option of using a magic wand in place of a tricorder for the medicine pool or some kind of surf board or magical carpet for flight, a motor cycle animation for SS, etc ... a pogo stick for super jump!

3. Pet customization Extreme. I want to be able to have Phantom Army and Phantasm be physical doubles of my Illusion Controllers. (Imagine how cool it'd be if a translucent version of your toon was blasting away at the bad guys alongside you!) I want to be able to make Thugs or Mercs look identical to my toons as well. My Necro MM Corpse Groom wants to be able to dress his zombies up as his "best men" ... I want the option of making Bots look different for my alien super genius as compared to the retro creations of my early 20th Century mad inventor ...

Some of these things are probably just flat out impossible for the Game Engine. Others are probably things the Devs just think there's not an audience who'd appreciate it, but that's my wish list ...

What's yours?

I thought about waiting for dual pistols, but that doesn't really fit his concept either.

Man, when are we going to get RAY guns?!

Hello again, folks.

My Cold/Ice Defender is now up to 37, and I am having a lot of fun playing her. (Still need to do some more TFs with her. Only got to do Posi so far.)

That being said, I have an idea for a Traps Defender kicking around in my head, but I'm not sure what secondary to set up with it.

Here's what I have worked out of the concept so far:

He's a pretty sharp guy who used to make weapons and equipment for a heroine that he was in love with. Unless I decide to dual box him, the idea is that he lost her-- either having her fall victim to crime or her love to another hero.

After that loss, he's decided he's done being Hero Support and wants to be a Hero in his own right. He doesn't have any super powers of his own, but he does make some eqiupment to fight crime ...

Now here's the thing:

Ideally, one of the following secondaries would fit his concept the most: AR or Archery.

Thing is, my very first 50 was an AR/Fire Blaster, and I have no desire to repeat that particular powerset. Archery ... well, I have an Archery Blaster at 25 and I wasn't too impressed with the set ... though I have thought about tweaking his origin somewhat and making him a Native American who uses a bow in irony.

I suppose I could equip him with some kind of mouthpiece and use technobabble saying that it converts his speech into an offensive weapon ...

Or I could give him heavy gloves and say that he's using powered weapons ...

So, there's my dilemma, folks.

What secondary do you think would work best with Traps? I am interested in having a strong soloing Defender, but I am willing to bend things to work with my concept.

And what sort of AT do you think would work best with a Traps Defender?

The Clockwork King!


I'd stand in front of Penelope Yin in Faultline asking her out ... broadcasting pleas for various heroes to talk my case up for me...

Oh, imagine CK doing the Robot Dance in front of Penny ...


Or, as a challenge, I'd want to be Statesman to see if I could make him likable to the fanbase .... ;-)

Adding a stick to the PVP Zones to get people to fight won't work if the carrot of Shivans or nukes doesn't. If people run as soon as they're attacked when in the zone for those things they just won't come in at all if they HAVE to PVP to get their shiny.

I think another thing that might make PVP a bit more attractive would be to do away with the rez penalty. Let people pop up in the base at full health.

I am still thinking the idea that there's a chance of getting a shiny if you lose a PVP match might be a worthwhile addition too, but I'm not sure how you'd implement it in a way that wouldn't allow cheating ...

As an experiment, I just spent around half an hour to 45 minutes in Recluse's Victory trying to PVP on one of my Illusion/Kin Trollers.

I did not win any fights, but I did not expect to. I was there to see if I had a chance at all.

And honestly, I didn't.

I think one Corrupter took pity on me and let me get a few licks in ... and that was fun because it felt like I was actually having a shot at it. I still didn't win, but at least it felt like I MIGHT win.

And that's the big problem with trying to lure in PVErs to PVP.

The only way I'd have a shot at it would be if I were willing to spend a significant period of time and influence to make a PVP formidable build.

Since I don't wish to do these things, any attempt I make in trying to PVP is going to end in me getting my assets kicked by someone who DOES like it.

Most folks do not find constant losing to be fun.

About the only way you'd get me to consider PVPing on a regular basis would be to remove invisibility from the PVP zones ... and since that'd gut the Stalkers' powersets, I don't see that happening.

Or ... have even someone who LOSES get the chance to win some kind of special drop that's only available in PVP zones.

A friend and I have rolled a couple of new toons to dual together. He's running a blaster, and I decided to roll a tank.

I currently have a level 50 Invul/SS and a level 50 Stone/Stone.

The characters are actually the sisters of two other toons that we've played to 50. Originally, the concept for my Shield Tank was going to be she lacked the mutant powers of her brother (who's a Controller), so she picked up a sewer manhole cover to use as a shield and was going to get by on sheer moxie ... she was going to be a Natural Tank.

That sort of origin lended itself to SS, but I didn't really feel like playing another SS Tank as I remembered how unsatisfying the set had felt until I got Rage. I went with EM because it was a new set for me and changed her origin to make her a mutant like her brother.

Now I find myself wondering if the combo of Against All Odds and Rage might make Shield/SS worth playing after all ... might make it more fun than Shield/EM.

So restricting it to those two sets, which would you say is more fun to play? Which synergizes better with Shield?

And what am I going to find different about tanking as a Shield Tank?

Thanks, SR. Glad you liked it.

Cross-Server Teaming! Cross-Server Teaming!

Or Penelope Yin giving CK a freaking break and going on a date with him in Pocket D.

Thanks for the input, guys.

My Cold/Ice is almost 35 now, and I'm really enjoying the set. I'd have to say that it's actually neck and neck with my Rad/Rad in terms of my favorite defender. The Rad/Rad can solo much easier, but I love the fact that Cold gives me the ability to provide so much defense for my teammates and yet still have other things I can do. It keeps me busy, and I really like that. (I love the concept of my FF/Elec, but in actual practice she's not been a lot of fun to play. I've enjoyed her the most on the Respec mission. )