Eisenzahn

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I guess this is a good time to ask if we'll ever see a Roman Black Scorpian, Scirocco, or Mako.

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Or Lord Recluse, for that matter, since Romulus is a proto-Requiem. If the Mission Architect lets me at least change the ambient lighting in existing tilesets, I've got some ideas for using some of the less common cave configurations colored all extra gloomy for some underworld adventures vs. a prior Incarnate of Tartarus.

Interestingly enough, it's reasonable to assume that a Scirocco exists during the time period without even having to resort to cyclical time tricks. Except he'd be a Heroic one, probably teamed up with the very same genie Serafina who's in the the modern setting. If the Mission Architect gives us some Cimerora tilesets (indoors and out), I may just pretend the architectural differences aren't present and use them to make some time-travelling Middle East adventures to deal with that idea too.

More Villain-exclusive content where I'm not just tagging along with the Heroes pretending that saving the world is something I'm interested in doing? Hooray! I'm sure I'll shuffle over to Blue-side and visit Daedalus too, eventually.

Hopefully, these two contacts with two arcs a piece aren't everything new story-wise, though... Villains still need more Strike Forces, and Heroes still need more regular arcs that aren't full of gratuitous street sweeps, FedExes, zone hopping and Azuria filing the Spear of Longinus in the Lost and Found bin...

Enjoying the heck out of Zombie Invasions. Crazy slow, but not nearly so bad for me as Rikti Invasions for some reason (I'm assuming it's because none of the zombies buff each other like the Rikti do).

Interesting stuff that "slipped past" the extremely short test period...

- Ghosts spawn incredibly rarely, even on full sized teams. I have a character who completed every other ToT badge, including the costume badges, before seeing a single ghost. That could probably stand to be looked at.

- Massive simultaneous invasions? Yeah. It seems it doesn't rain but it pours, as far as Zombies are concerned. No invasions for an hour or more redside, then one in six of the seven villain zones (well, ten villain zones on Virtue, what with the triple-instances of GV) all starting and ending within a two minute span. I saw the same thing happen several other times, mostly blue side, but with more zones overall it spreads out a little better there.

- Drop rate for Costume Salvage is really extremely low now. Intentional? Anticipate prices on those things skyrocketing after this event.

- Couple places in GV where clicking on one door will make enemies pop out of another door on the same building. I mostly noticed this in houses near Westin Phipps.

- Trick to Treat ratio is really skewed a lot this time around. I counted over seventy Tricks in a row on one stretch. About 15:1 most of the rest of the time.

- I've been noticing a lot of Boss Rank enemies with the same color costume and name as their Lt. Rank counterparts. Most noticable with Coven... haven't seen any Crones, but spotted several Boss Rank Sorceresses.

Since the origins of all the other Arachnos Patrons have come up, I'm gonna throw Black Scorpion some love. I'm sure the writers could come up with something that would rival the Death of Ghost Widow, Corruption of Scirocco or Taming of Captain Mako.

Also, another vote for the Mu/Oranbega conflict. And for truly over the top high-powered stuff, take a few steps even further back... the Tielekku & Co. vs. the Not-Banished-Yet Pantheon!

I also kind of want to fight against Nemesis in the U.S. Civil War, but I fear that most of the players have had more than enough of Nemesis by now...

I'm up to nine attempts at the TF now between Test and Live. All failed. Some of those teams were self-evidently crappy from the start, but several were well enough balanced and coordinated to breeze through the entire TF without a death. None could even dent Romulus and crew.

I guess this is the place to post this.

The greater portion of proliferated powersets seem to be all right. Some are fantastic, others are merely adequate, but only one is outright disappointing.

Based on the current state of the Stalker Archetype, I do not feel Electric Armor should have gone live. But it did, and that's been a strong indication in the past that we won't be seeing any more major changes to the powerset, if any, no matter how poorly the players find it to perform.

What, if anything, can you tell us about possible upcoming changes to the Stalker AT overall that may help make your decision to let Electric Armor go live make more sense? I'm really having a hard time "catching the vision" right now, but I want to give you guys some more time to let Stalker players know what's up before I officially join with the "Devs Hate Stalkers" crowd.

As I recall, Blue Steel is tied to the Clockwork King's backstory. When the Clockwork first appeared, they were mostly just an amusing nuisance being directed by a young scruffy looking guy, until a police officer was killed trying to interfere with them. Blue Steel tracked the Clockwork King down after that and lost control, beating the Clockwork King so badly that Blue Steel was sure he'd killed the poor delusional kid. At some point in between Blue Steel reporting the incidence and backup arriving, some of the Clockworks apparently dragged their King's body off and fixed him up as the current Brain in a Jar on a Robot Chassis model he is today.

So when Back Alley Brawler was moved to Galaxy City, as far as I know that's the bit of game lore they raided for Blue Steel. I'm pretty sure he's an Ex-Cop now (possibly due to disciplinary action after he nearly killed the Clockwork King?), but still works closley with the PPD. He was also definitely a member of the Regulators with Back Alley Brawler. I'm not sure, but I think the two of them may be the only heroes from that team to survive the Rikti War? That would explain why BAB signed up with the Freedom Phalanx and Blue Steel is operating solo these days (as a Vindicators reservist by the look of it, since he pops up in Villain lore to save Aurora Borealis from Arachnos prisons in half the story arcs in Nerva).

Also, note that War Witch, Ravenstorm and Castle have the distinction of being Hero Zone Trainers without having Praetorian Dopplegangers, or appearing as enemy NPCs in any Villain content.

NICE! This means that on Day One of this being available, I'll have 9 more spots on Virtue!

The sad thing is, I know what 8 of those 9 slots will be used for. If you guys would stop the oncoming train wreck that Electric Stalkers are going to be (dump Chain Induction and Lightning Clap for Thunderstrike and Shocking Grasp, and dump Conserve Power for a Dull Pain or Reconstruction Clone), I'll know what my 9th is as well.

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It's all cool... /Storm seems like an odd one for Masterminds, mostly because there is no matching primary.

I'm a little disappointed that controllers didn't get /ice and that there was no El/ELA for the the Blue side. I'm still happy though, I've got a few character ideas to work with.

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Sure there are. Uh. Sort of.

Necro/Storm = See "Panethon, Banished"

Ninja/Storm = See "Sorcerer, Tsoo"

Mercs/Storm = STORM TROOPERS, GET IT?! HA HA!

Bots/Storm = See "Device, Weather Control"

Thugs/Storm = ... uh. Ok. Ya got me.

Ok, ok, ok. I've talked myself into being happy with this. Right. Whatever expectations I may have had, I still got Storms and Electricity across the board for Villains, and my my love of weather-themed characters is already generating ideas.

I choose to believe that Future PP additions and All New Powersets will contain one or more of the following: Electricity Control for Controllers (for Elec/Storm) and Dominators (for a complete Elec/Elec), Ice for Stalkers, Elec for Tankers, Ice and/or Elec for Scrappers, some kind of elemental or weather Primary for MMs, and something else nice for Brutes (because I love them so very much, but can't talk myself into a 3rd 50 Elec/Elec).

Yeah. Awesome. I'll also never ever set foot in a PvP zone unless I'm working on badges for Villain Accolades or farming temp powers at 4am on an otherwise deserted server... but that really wouldn't change anything even if PvP were a magnificently balanced masterpiece of game design.

I'm pretty disappointed with this initial offering for Villains. Maybe there are better things planned for the next round of power set swaps. Maybe there were some fantastic obvious reasons based on data available only to the devs that make all of this totally make sense. All kinds of maybes rolling around in my head...

... but... right now...

... right now I'm pretty disappointed with this initial offering for Villains.

http://pc.gamezone.com/news/03_28_08_10_41AM.htm

The follow up is on Gamezone now too. I surrender my last hope that this was an absurd prank.

On the subject of Electric Stalkers (I think easily the biggest WTF?! of the list), I'm slowly talking myself into being excited. Or at least cautiously optimistic. I'd bet the decision behind this has to do with making Scirocco fit in better as a patron concept. With Brutes having the only powers with matching themes and effects, picking Scirocco caused some fairly obvious style clash with a lot of concepts. Now with MMs and Corrs getting /Storm, Doms getting /Elec, Corrs getting Electric Blast and Stalkers geting Elec/Elec, Scirocco's a lot less of an odd duck. Not that he was ever as out there concept-wise as Mako and his Magical Throwing Sharks or Black Scorpion's maces-you-can't-hit-people-with-that-shoot-poisoned-lightning...

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Eh, I dunno ...

It seems like quite a few power sets on that list are real head-scratchers. And there's no real verification about where that list came from. I think I'll wait until gamezone puts up their version of what's to come; at least we know that they're getting info from the source.

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Did you read the link that was posted with the list? From: http://www.totalvideogames.com/artic...e_12_12989.htm

It's definitely the same stuff, Dr. Brainstorm revealing the powers in story format.

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So they copied and pasted yesterdays article from Gamezone. That doesn't tell us anything. Until I see Redname Confirmation, I'm assuming this "TVG Exclusive" is a hoax.

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so you're assuming the UK City of Heroes site is propagating a hoax then? because the TVG article is linked there.

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Linked by whom? A Redname? If so, please provide a link.

Edit: Found it on the UK frontpage... fair enough.

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Eh, I dunno ...

It seems like quite a few power sets on that list are real head-scratchers. And there's no real verification about where that list came from. I think I'll wait until gamezone puts up their version of what's to come; at least we know that they're getting info from the source.

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Did you read the link that was posted with the list? From: http://www.totalvideogames.com/artic...e_12_12989.htm

It's definitely the same stuff, Dr. Brainstorm revealing the powers in story format.

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So they copied and pasted yesterdays article from Gamezone. That doesn't tell us anything. Until I see Redname Confirmation, I'm assuming this "TVG Exclusive" is a hoax.

...

Why is this information being posted on a different website than the initial stuff? Gamezone still doesn't have a follow up article. Are Gamezone and TVG the same people? Additionally, there's nothing in the Announcement forum up about this yet.

I seriously distrust this info.

Thank you! Finally!

Been freaking out over here, refreshing the forums every few minutes and scouring Google for the possibility that the info had already been posted elsewhere. Now to actually see what it says and stop popping antacids like halloween candy...

Edit: "Come back tomorrow"?

COME BACK TOMORROW?!

I WILL SHAKE MY FIST IN A STERN FASHION AND WRITE IN ALL CAPS BECAUSE OF THIS! I WILL DO MY SAM KINISON IMPERSONATION!! AHHH!! AAAHHHHH!!! AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!

...

Ugh... my ulcers... time to go lie down for a while...

Congrats on the upgrades to Rednames, Blue Steel and Mynx!

This morning, my Electric Brute was making Positron cry and I thought to myself "We need more actual people tied to these characters for me to slap around in effigy". So go yell at the programmers until they get Blue Steel actually into the game as a combatable EB/Hero, dangit!

Err. Nothing peronal, I've just got Power Fantasy issues...

I usually log off for Double XP Weekends. I hate missing story content, and usually wind up debt farming to slow leveling down at key points so I don't skip anything.

Ouroboros helps a lot, but population density on Virtue will probably make it too crazy for my weak old computer to keep up with... we'll see.

IC INFO:

They say that it responds to need: a door of black-stained splintered oak, with hinges and doorknob of rust-pitted iron that somehow still turn silently and without effort. Above the door, an inscription in a tongue so ancient even the people of Mu thought it legend only: to those who remember, it is called "the Fortuitous Sanctuary".

The door is always the same, always appearing in answer to some dire distress. Merlin knew of it, and some say he'll return through it when his King calls him back. Ceasar discovered it, but refused its gifts and trusted his own destiny. Da Vinci, it is rumored, passed beyond its threshhold in his youth. Hitler sought it, but whether lack of worthiness or lack of necessity kept it from him, none can say. The Door keeps to its own rules, and has not always served the need of good men exclusively.

Jason Schwarz found it on the very same day the cultists of the Circle of Thorns came to murder him, the very same day the entity known as the Sturmlanzer made itself manifest through his body. At the edge of collapse, hopelessly lost in Paragon City's vast and labyrinthine sewer system with his pursuers not far behind, he discovered the Door where it shouldn't have been, and he risked an uncertain future rather than accept a very certain one.

The Fortuitous Sanctuary. The Door is always the same, but they say it's different inside every time, that it responds to the need that calls it. It's always a safe place to hide, but often much more. Jason Schwarz found a library, with many books that helped him understand who and what he had become, and the nature of his enemies. Others who he's brought since then have found similar boons.

They say it gives people what they need to cast aside their bitter fate and forge their hopes into realities. The price? One who rests within the Fortuitous Sanctuary finds his slumber extremely restful, but empty of Dreams. If he recieves visions in the night, they are uncannily accurate prophecies or instructions, although they often make little sense until an external context becomes apparent. It seems the cost of making your dreams Real is that they can't live inside of you any more, and even the hazy nonsense-dreams of ordinary slumber somehow become fuel for rewriting destiny. Once, Jason Schwarz dreampt of a world where ordinary people don't need to be afraid of capricious monsters and heartless titans, where the strong offer their strength to promote the benefit of the weak. Now, he does more than dream...


OOC INFO:
[u]Name[u]: The Dreamless Knights

[u]Currently Recruiting[u]: Currently recruiting new members, and looking for existing RP groups to coalition with.

[u]RP Level[u]: Moderately RP-ish... or something. Supergroup channel should be primarily IC, but so long as OOC is clearly marked as such, it's quite all right. Coalition channel will probably be the same, depending on who we wind up getting coalitions with, and what pre-existing rules they may have. Depending on player interest, I may be creating a secondary all-OOC chat channel for the group.

[u]Theme/Concept[u]: For RP fluff and base construction, DC-Vertigo's amazing Sandman comics will be providing a lot of inspiration, because the exploits of Morpheus and dark supernatural flavor of those stories are good fodder for suitably mysterious ambiance. But that's only the loosest guideline. By all means, bring your high-tech wizkid or bespandexed mutant or whatever, even if there's absolutely nothing vaguely occult about them. If nothing else, the Fortuitous Sanctuary is known to spontaneously generate a pretty good cup of coffee at around 2AM.

The main intention here is to construct a group for players who occupy off-peak hours, especially those of us playing after most of the server has gone to bed. It can be frustrating to join an RP group, and then never ever see any of its members because your play schedule is a little out of synch.

[u]Activity[u]: Currently, there's just me (as Sturmlanzer) with a couple alts. I don't anticipate this group getting too terribly huge, so membership is open to alts... provided that they're seeing some play. 20 days inactivity without prior notice (and saying "I'm gonna shelf this guy for a bit to play someone else" counts as prior notice) will see your character removed from the group. Activity, as noted, will be chiefly during off-peak hours, late nights and early mornings on weekdays. This group is for all the lonely ghosts who log in when everyone else is going to bed, and haunt the server until morning maintenance.

[u]Requirements for Membership[u]: Be some kind of RPer, with a character who's a city-registered Hero, and survive an IC interview with Sturmlanzer.

Please, no characters with ties to existing non-CoX fictional properties. Your D&D drow, World of Darkness vampires, highlanders, illegitimate offspring of Magneto and Xena Warrior Princess, etc... there are other, better places for them to find friends. Also, while most late-night players are probably adults, a more PG-13 playstyle is a lot more generally friendly. Excessive foul language, graphic sexual content, crude and offensive humor, etc. should probably be held in reserve... at least until we get a solid player base and figure out just what the bulk of our late-night population is comfortable with.

[u]Leadership[u]: Sturmlanzer, soon to be a few more. Promotions will be frequent, and largely based on an informal observation of organizational and conflict-resolution abilities. I want lietenants who can keep the peace, so that this group doesn't explode into the dreaded venomous OOC Drama.

[u]In-Game Contact(s)[u]: @Eisenzahn

[u]Out-of-Game Contact(s)[u]: Eisenzahn (forum handle), Euroclydon23@aol.com (e-mail).

[u]URL[u]: Currently in development! If I'm lucky, someone will join up who has stronger Web-fu than me and help out. If not, expect something pretty basic after Christmas.

[u]Coalition(s)[u]: None, but looking! Other RP preferred, of any sort.

[u]Other Details[u]: A strong encouragement to use Super-group mode until 25 probably goes without saying. TFs, Trials, and other large group content will be as frequent as we can arrange it... a big part of the idea here is to make that sort of group content available to players who are used to seeing the game alone.

THE CAPTAIN MAKO APPRECIATION SOCIETY AND SCRAPBOOKING CLUB!!!

Do you like Scrapbooking? Of course you do! Scrapbooking is fun, relaxing, and a great way to preserve your memories! Who wouldn't enjoy collecting newspaper articles, photographs, mementos and stuff and putting them together in an aesthetically pleasing layout? I sure know I can't get enough of it!

Do you like Captain Mako? Of course you do! Not only is he by far the COOLEST of the Arachnos Patrons, with his tough attitude and awesome combat skills, but he's the Rogue Island's HOTTEST SEX SYMBOL too! I could just gobble him up! If he doesn't do it to me first, ha ha!

The CMASSC would like to invite YOU to our all-new totally awesome meeting house! We've turned my Grandma's basement into a HUGE WICKED COOL MAKO-MUSEUM! A great place to hang out, meet people, work on your scrapbooks and talk about how much you LOVE CAPTAIN MAKO!

Sign up now and get a free disposable camera, scrapbooking binder, and poncho (because of all the blood...).

Coming soon: Captain Mako Dashboard Bobble-heads! TOTALLY HOT!

Jill "Lunaticia" Tanaka, Club President and #1 CAPTAIN MAKO FAN 4EVER!

...

[So, the joke goes... no matter how horrifying and disgusting a slimy violent Cthulhoid devil-monster, if you spend enough time at Anime and Sci-fi conventions you will inevitably meet a way-too-perky asian girl who wants to be its Girlfriend. I don't know why... that's just how the world is. When you meet her, I don't care how enthusiastically she endorses the Overfiend series, YOU DO NOT WANT TO WATCH!

So, the CMASSC is mainly a big goofy joke, and membership restrictions are pretty light... but it IS a Roleplaying group, and given that it's largely evolved from commentary on Anime Tentacle Monster Fandom, there's a lot of pretty off-the-wall Mature Themes being tossed around. Not for kids, or the fainthearted.

My only real membership restriction to speak of? If your character is drawn from some other RPG setting (D&D, World of Darkness, Shadowrun, etc.), I really don't care for it in my City of Heroes/Villains. Sorry, all you Vampires and Drow and whatnot... but it's not like you'll really miss out much not getting to play with me :-P

Contact @Eisenzahn, or either of the club-founder's more prominent personalities (Lunaticia & Pandemonica) for more info!]

((The following is meant to be a sort of expanded bio that I can link people to, as well as a way of announcing myself to the roleplaying community. There are two (maybe three) characters involved here, based on interactions of Roman and Celtic Myths and cultures, both of whom will be showing up in one fashion or another soon on Virtue server. I hear tell that's the unofficial RP server, yeah? Right. Good.))

...

"Much has been made recently in our Order by the appearance of the so-called 'Lion of Caledonia' in America. I've made a detailed inquiry, and it appears that he is, in fact, of the same order of being that our predecessors encountered accompanying Tiberius' expedition. How this man has come to full expression of powers sealed for more than a millenium, and has broken the assorted taboos against leaving the land consecrated to him is quite beyond me... but his power does flow from Scotland. I'm certain of that much... the native energies of the American continent have shown no sign of accepting their European conquerers yet, and probably never will, and even the native mystics have never worked with this sort of very recognizable enchantment.

"Hmm... some explaination is in order, I see. A failing of mine, I apologise... I forget that my own research into the subject likely constitutes the bulk of the Order's knowledge of it. Well then... where to begin... ahem...

"When the Picts migrated here from the continent, they left their Old Gods behind... but found the Gods of their new home to be mad, alien beings. The Dread Fomorians were long since driven to the bottoms of the sea by the Tuatha de Danaan, and thanks be to them for that much... for of the old races of Faerie, the Fomorians were by far the cruelest and least like men in their dealings. The Tuatha yet remained, and were of a more glorious and noble aspect than their fallen state today... but they were still lofty and incomprehensible, and delighted in trickery. The Fir Bolg, likewise, were of a more terrible and noble countenance, but still lurked in the wild places and made war against any and all who were not of their tribe. Diverse races of spirits and beasts were found in every place one cared to look, and the land itself was strange and ever changing... for these are the days when the High King and Queen of Faerie still kept court on the Earth.

"Right. I ramble. Apologies. If more of you would read my book, you'd know all of this already... hrmm...

"The Picts feared that they would be destroyed lest they find some way to deal with the Host on its own terms. The cleverest of their Druids knew that the Shining Host drew its power from the Land itself. If the power of the Land could be subverted, they reasoned, they could weaken the Host and raise their own champion simultaneously. With cunning stoneworks and subtle geomancies, they redirected the Ley Lines and drained away the Wild Magics into carefully constructed places of power. With tattoos of woad shaped in the Runes of the Old Country, they consecrated the body of the cleverest and most courageous of their number, that they might be receptacles for a portion of that redirected power. There were several of these guardians made, and the land they drew power from curiously mirrored the regional cultural divisions that would later arise... almost as if by sectioning off the magic of the Land, they sectioned off the people who would live there. The first Lion was one of these... the focal point of the magics gleaned from what would become Scotland. His arts took the aspect of the Land they came from, and he strode the island like a God of Storms, striking low the marauding Faeries where he found them. It is peculiar, is it not, that the totem-beast of this Weather Warrior should become the emblem of Scotland's flag...

"Hmm... yes. Though they were weakened greatly by the subversion of the Land to Human will, the Host found ways to cope. They had often before sampled from the dreams and nightmares of their mortal neighbors, but now they were forced to feed exclusively from them. Some made themselves useful to the Humans, and earned their willing worship as Gods great and small. Most just took what they wanted, and cared little for the broken minds they left behind. The extremely limited Druidic record indicates that the first Lion fought for a time, then died... but at the time of his passing, his oldest son found the rune-mark tattoos growing on his skin and the Magics flowing into him. The other guardians tied to other portions of the isles passed their gifts on to their children likewise.

"For many generations, the Lions and their allies held the Host in stalemate. Though the Picts were conquered, and then their conquerers conquered, and so on... the bloodlines of the Guardians of the Isles carried on. The purest remnant of the Pictish line was always most concentrated in the northern quarter of the islands. When the men of that region tamed Iron, that baneful metal that is anathema to all magic, the Host went into hiding... and when the Christians came some time after our own arrival, with a new God to worship and Demons to fear more than the worst Bogies and Redcaps, the Host retreated entirely from the mortal world, starved for dreams and cut off from the land. It is then that the practise of the Tithe to Hell is thought to have begun, in which the Host swore fealty to the Devil in order to secure a new homeland... but let's not get off track there. If I get going about the intricacies of the Tithe, we'll be all night, eh lads? Heh. Getting all out of order anyway... backtrack two hundred years or so. Right.

"Though, as noted, the Christians would eventually chase the Host away for good, Iron had already driven them to hiding. The guardians of the isles, lacking any outside force to battle, they fought amongst each other as did the tribes in their territories. It was thus that, weakened by internal struggle, they were unable to resist the Romans. The guardians, and the Druidic order that had created them, and indeed the Celts themselves, were powerful but extremely fractuous. The Legions, however, were quite the opposite... and those sages of the Mercurian Mysteries who went with them were far more advanced in abstract metamagical theory than their adversaries. The Druids were accustomed to working against Faerie magic, an unpredictable and largely intuitive passtime. The Mercurians, sorcerous arm of the Empire, were skilled in fighting other human Wizards. The results... well... I do hope you all know that much of history.

"Where was I... right. Though the Romans conquered much of the rest of the isles, they never completely subjugated the last remnants of the Picts (or the Hibernians, over in Eire, for that matter). It took everything the Lion of the time had to stop their advance into his territory though... and even then, his Mercurian opponents were able to seal away his magics, even as he put up the last barriers that still make the Highlands a dangerous place for our arts. Most of the other heirs were likewise sealed, although only in Hibernia was there any similar counterstroke beforehand. In Britannia, much as the Druids had done before them, the Romans subverted the will of the Land in their service... not through blood rituals and the erection of obelisks, but through treaties, maps, taxes and legislature. Even after Rome fell, Britannia never forgot the feeling of being part of an Empire. It liked the notion so much, in fact, that it went and founded its own... ah... I'm drifting into a tangent again, so sorry.

"So. We know the disposition of the four current heirs attached to the components of subjugated Britannia, all living quite ordinary lives... funny thing, three of the four live within a few kilometers of one another here in London. The fourth is a librarian in Manchester, and actually an Acolyte of our Order, although his seal seems to make him ineligible for further initiation. A pity. The bloodline tied to the Isle of Mann, so far as I can tell, was completely severed... which may account for the peculiar resurgence of wild magics there, without a vessel to capture them. The guardian of Cymru was never bound, and his heirs have been active... but strangely insular. I'm not sure how the Old Mercurians overlooked them... there's always been a more peculiar magic there than elsewhere... worth investigating... erm... right. Another time. The original guardian tied, not to the islands, but to the sea around them has apparently achieved some measure of supernatural longevity, and still persists in the blossom of youth... but she devotes her attentions entirely to the banished Fomorians, and I say God Bless her in her every effort to keep those awful monstrosities caged. And then, the heirs of Caledonia and Hibernia. We seem to have lost track of them during the 18th century. The Hibernian heir... your guess is as good as mine. That island is absolutely rotten with wild magic, and it's quite impossible to track down a specific strain.

"Our modern Lion of Caledonia is several generations removed from immigrants to the United States, living in Paragon City. Hmm? What's that... speak up? Oh. Right. Nathan McNabb. Twenty-three years old, I believe... a graduate student at Paragon University... Art History, or something... wants to be a Professor or work in a museum or something. Poor lad... seems a nice quiet profession like that isn't going to be likely. As I said, it's as peculiar that he can access his power outside of Scotland, much less on a different continent, as it is that he can access it at all. The seal is still whole... he just seems to have, I don't know, sidestepped it somehow. What? No... I'm not sure how. I've got a few theories... there're some very interesting artifacts in that University that his studies would have brought him in contact with... but, eh, nothing solid yet. Give me time. He's still very new, but he's followed the fashion of his environment and become a Costumed Hero... hah, right! With a mask and all bloody tights and everything! Lucky thing the lad's in good shape. Still, he's quite good at it, I hear. He's aware of the Order... I've met with the lad, and explained somewhat of our role in taking over for most of the guardians in holding back the Host here in the United Kingdom... but he's unaware of our animosity with past Lions.

"Frankly, I recommend that we fully disclose our history to him. What? No, I'm not drunk... hmmph. Our young Guardian is clever, insightful, brave... and honest to a fault. The sort to quickly forgive a stark admission of guilt, but also to hold a grudge forever if he catches us in a lie. His power is still in its infancy, but if the heirs of Cymru and the Sea are any indication, he'll become a force to be reckoned with before long. I prefer not to play games with people like him. The Order already has enough enemies, thank you very much. The re-emergence of the Host in Paragon City and the so-called Rogue Isles troubles me much more than the unexpected appearance of this New Lion... and he's much better suited to dealing with them than we've ever been. If, Heaven forbid, the enchantments are weakening and the sealed heirs are all going to start becoming active, I'd prefer to have amicable relations with as many of them as possible... especially if they're all going to be able to move about internationally now.

"Well, yes, think it over. That's what you're here for. I'm off to Paragon, though. Got to keep an eye on our young Lion. Hah... right. I'll be playing Merlin to his Arthur, I suppose. That... and I've got a sneaking suspicion that if I hunt around the resurgent Fair Folk, I'll find our errant Rose of Hibernia... and that one, that one we can not afford to leave unsupervised. Not after Ulster. Right. I thought you'd agree."


- Magister Scholae Melchior Gallows, Scion of the House and Line of Caradoc the Mad, Primus of the Black Sheep Cabal, and Wizard of the New Mercurian Order. Taken from the transcript of the annual Order-wide Tribunal, held in London in October of 2006.

Excellent guide. I just got my first Respec today, and went looking for something like this for advice. I'd been thinking about dropping Gambler's Cut, Flashing Steel, Smoke Bomb and Caltrops, to free up room for Teleport, Phase Shift, or the possibility of mucking about with a Patron Power (unlikely, the more I read about 'em...) Now, to figure out how best to slot my other pools to compliment Katana/Ninjitsu...