Khellendrosiic

Begin recording…

Date: Eleventh day, Sixth month, Two thousand eight years since First Riktification.

This being the continued recorded thoughts and mind of Cher’tak, second-generation of Creche North Seventy Five and proud Warmaster of the Honorable and Dedicated Lineage of War.

I can tell already that constantly glyphing the above will wear on me sooner rather than later, but I’ll be exiled and cut-off before I abandon that formality. It’s hard enough figuring out what to write down as it is and this is only my second entry! Hah, I can imagine the pencil-pushers back in the Lineage of Science crowing with astounded outrage as their pet project fails because it was put in my hands. Pencil-pusher happens to be a human phrase, one of the more amusing anecdotes that I have learned through my interactions with the android hero Solid Shot.

Ah, excellent, a topic leaps off the plate at me. Let me talk a little about the heroes of this world…

First of all, I should remark that they are the most dangerous beings that this world has given birth too. But despite their awesome power, they do not turn its use to their own ends but instead to help the whole, which is a very Rikti outlook. Of course not every hero is equal to the rest and indeed they are a loosely united band of the most disparate individuals that I have ever seen or fought. And yes, for all their unity and singularity of purpose, they are yet their own selves as I have seen first hand. No doubt this will disturb your average workman or woman as they read this in their comfortable Semi-Creche, but that is what comes with an alien world; alien thoughts and ideas.

Excuse me for waxing long on the strength of these heroes, but I am still a soldier in heart and mind. I have seen humans in brightly colored ‘spandex’ hurl Gravtanks through makeshift barricades, humans with nothing but the clothes on their backs wielding nothing but swords and their own wits and standing victorious over a mound of dead and wounded, and humans spewing flames from their hands and mouths as they refuse to give a single inch of ground. It is to my great shame that I also witnessed, and participated, in the deaths of such heroes; be it the other two Gravtanks overwhelming the spandexed hero with their combined main guns, the mentalists who rendered the sword wielding human into a gibbering husk, or the blade that I personally planted between the shoulder blades of the firey hero.

It may not mean much but after the Traditionalists made our peace and were welcomed by Vanguard I requested a certain amount of information from Paragon City’s databanks. I have glyphed letters to the remaining families of Captain Unstoppable, the Victorious Claymore, and the Inhuman Torch, among others. One day I hope that I will be able to send them.

Apologies, I find I must cut this recording short. Warmaster Cher’tak, Lineage of War, end recording.


OOC: I made those names up at random, hopefully the actual owners of said names won't get pissed at me for using them.

Editor's Note: Seeing as how Cher'tak wasn't writing in English and that the translators are more than a little overburdened, I've tried to fix as much spelling and grammar as I can. Any mistakes can be laid at my feet and I'd be particularly glad if any further corrections could be sent to the Vanguard Public Relations office. Just title it 'Corrections' or some such and it'll get where it needs to go.

Begin recording...

Date: Tenth day, Sixth month, Two thousand eight years since First Riktification.

This being the recorded thoughts and mind of Cher’tak, second-generation of Creche North Seventy Five and proud Warmaster of the Honorable and Dedicated Lineage of War.

The Honorable and Dedicated Lineage of War… More soon should we be titled the Blinkered and Dogmatic Lineage of Revenge with what our Most High and Infallible Lord of War has done to us. Ah, but I lead into accusations against my fellow Rikti too easily, something that would have been next to unthinkable before we were stranded and forced to learn the customs of this highly unusual planet, Earth.

As one of the last operational Warmasters on the so-called ‘Primal’ Earth, it has been decided that I should put thought to glyph metal and record my observations, self-thoughts, and desires for the ‘posterity of future generations.’ Far be it for this humble soldier to deny anything to those who shall come after him and the humans who will undoubtedly get their hands on this ‘journal’ as well. What a human concept, the journal, a place where one writes down his innermost thoughts and desires to render them upon paper, visible to all, and lend them greater weight than if one simply kept these thoughts in one’s own head. Needless to say, we Rikti generally find little use in scribing thought to glyph metal unless it is for military redundancy or simple rules that one would do best not to forget or ignore, such as “Do not enter the cargo tunnel.”

Ha ha… That was an attempt at a more human brand of humor, a version that is much less thought provoking than standard attempts but nonetheless possessing an effective, if crude, mirth. Ah how I doubt readers of this journal will find much of value in its sheets and the musings of an old soldier with an aberrant thought-self due to his training. But if something good shall come of it, then I shall put thoughts down and worry not. After all, does not the Lineage of War exist to safeguard the future generations? And if I may assist simply by writing, then I shall be glad.

Hm, there goes the alarm broadcast. I really should find the technician responsible for the upkeep of the forewarning systems and inform him that the wavelength the alarms are set too is most grating. That shall have to keep as I must go and safeguard the future from my own people once again.

Warmaster Cher’tak, Lineage of War, end recording.

What Devious said. A damn good run, Grey.

[ QUOTE ]
Frankly, Sam, I'm glad to see you writing again. You've got some wonderful things cooking in that cranium of yours.

Having said that, this is a crazy piece of literature. I can't wait to see Part 2.

[/ QUOTE ]

What he said.

OOC: *glowers at Soviet posting too quickly*

BIC: Small Toy rolled to one side, neatly avoiding the bullets that Curtis didn't have enough time to aim properly. The sniper quickly re-stabilized its position and tried to get another bead on Curtis, but it would likely be too late.

Meanwhile, Block Bot was still dashing at Essex and now Curtis. Reaching over its back, the protector bot spawned a pair of seeker drones and hurled one of them like a discus as he closed. The buzzsaw drone whirred through the air like a deadly frisbee, aiming to scythe through the gunslinger's gut.

At the same time Large Toy had scrambled to its feet and dashed forward as well, managing to grab Essex's foot as he crashed into Curtis.

---------------------------------------

Cher'tak cleaved a drone in half with a powerful swing from his bladerifle and then booted another drone in the head as he started to withdraw. Slamming a fist into the torso of an assault bot and blasting yet another drone with his bladerifle, the Rikti engaged in a fighting retreat back to where Cory and Ryatt were.

Toy Dispenser and Solid were doing about the same thing, the security droid blasting and punching his way through while Toy simply swept the mindless robots away with force bolt after force bolt. CT, Mini Bot, and Toy Bot formed a phalanx around Toy as they retreated, dealing with things behind and anything that managed to get in front with alacricity.

OOC: Archlich/Balsk post in a bit.

Ghoul barreled down various corridors, skidding through turns and leaving shoulder sized indents in walls in his haste to get to the fight. The big brute was grinning broadly to himself in anticipation as he ran through a slight widening of the corridor, not even noticing Shinji and Ry as he dashed past.

"Priority change," Toy Dispenser muttered to himself as he slammed a drone with a force bolt, sending the small robot flying through the air.

Combat Toy blocked a trio of plasma beams with its shield and responded with a ripple barrage of missiles. Unsheathing his wrist blade, the assault bot pivoted on one foot and neatly bisected a drone that had been pumping lasers into his rear armor. Toy Bot assisted CT's missile barrage by rapid firing balls of plasma into the same group while Mini Bot jumped on top of another battle drone, ripping and tearing with both hands and tendrils, swiftly eviscerating its head.

--------------------------------

"Affirmitive," Small Toy said quietly as it shifted in place slightly, bringing its scope in line with Curtis.

Aiming for the piece of equipment that allowed the Gunslinger to teleport, Small Toy fired.

---------------------------

Large Toy's left arm was completely ripped from its body under the focused fire from the assault bot. The drone tumbled to the ground and rolled away to get closer to Essex. Block Bot also took this oppertunity to sprint from cover, zig zagging its way toward the unconscious reploid.

Once again, it looked as though their enemies were going to use Essex as a hostage. Toy was tired of having that happen, though.

---------------------------------------

"So I'm currently crackling with enough energy to blow the crap out of the Empire State Building," Solid Shot remarked as he jumped through the air, kicking off from the face of one assault bot as he jumped again.

"And I've been wondering to myself: Just how does one make a bunch of robots absorb energy without exploding?" Solid continued as the assault bot he had jumped off of slowly toppled over, every single system in it's head shorted out and melted down.

"I figured a sudden surge of unprecedented size would work quite well, actually," he went on as he landed and jumped off another couple of assault bots, melting their heads as well.

"Of course, all this takes a tremendous strain on my own systems, but I figured what the hell, at the very least I'm showing up the Skittles Bot," Solid went on as he landed amidst a small pack of battle drones. The drones were shattered within seconds as Solid hit them with a powered up jumping doublefisted hammer strike of epic proportions.

"So as I was saying, can we finish this up before I burn out?" asked Solid of the rest of the team as he dashed into another assault bot, uppercutting it's head into the sky.

A door along the hallway that the seven invisible figures were creeping was suddenly blown out across the hallway, crashing into the opposite wall and falling atop the hapless Longbow soldier who had done the damage.

"Why're you runnin'?" shouted a gruff voice from inside the room the Longbow had come from. "We just got started!"

Stalking out of the room came a relative giant of a man, his dead grey skin clad in nothing but tattered pants, boots, and a fairly large and solid looking shoulder guard, leaving his chest bare to reveal the rib-like tattoo he had on his chest. The Longbow officer groaned as the big man stomped hard on the door, pressing the wounded woman into the floor.

"Stupid candycanes," grunted the brute as he reached under the door and yanked the officer out by her cape. He dangled her in the air for a few seconds before spitting on her helmet, the red armor sizzling slightly as the spittle burned away at it.

Irritably chucking the officer down the hall, coincidentally directly towards the cloaked drones, the brute brought a hand up to his ear and pressed a finger to the little communicator tucked behind it.

"Hold yer horses, Nataan," grunted Brutish Ghoul. "Just finished up with the last o' the guards upstairs. Keep yer [censored] alive and I'll be down in a minute."

"Lay down and die!" Solid shouted as he shoved the barrel of his gun right up to the assault bot's visor and pumped a load of buckshot into it.

Yanking his rifle back, Solid then punched his hand into the newly opened hole, grabbed a handful of stuff, and pulled it out. Now using the trashed bot as a shield from the fire of most of the others, Solid decided to use thier own trick against them.

"You guys like sucking stuff up, huh?" Solid asked rhetorically as he snapped a shot off at a battle drone, knocking it to the ground for the moment. "Well how about I give you a taste of your own medicine!"

Solid's arms started glowing a bright blue as things not originally imagined by his creators started happening under their flat grey armor. Every enemy robot within ten feet of Solid would find their power levels dropping dramatically as the android somehow drained them. Anyone capable of seeing into the electromagnetic spectrum would now see Solid as surrounded by a literal whirlpool of electricity, every single bit of it being sucked into his forearms, which started to glow brighter and brighter...

Combat Toy brought both hands together in a clapping motion, crushing the head of a battle drone like a ripe melon. Grabbing the body and hurling it one handed into the same group that Randall threw his robot, CT forged through the robots around him, lasers sloughing off his armor like a heavy rain.

Mini Bot and Toy Bot were not far behind, the bright green drone lobbing bolts of Rikti plasma as fast as it could fire while Mini Bot slashed, kicked, and tore with every appendage as its disposal. The two were further bolstered by Small Toy blowing the occasional robotic brains out with its particle rifle.

"NO ONE TOUCHES THE BOSS!!!" CT roared as it finally closed in on Toy Dispenser, who had managed to keep himself safe by trapping a battle drone in a detention field and moving the field about like a point defense shield.

"Glad to see you made it," Toy remarked as he propped himself up on one arm. "I was almost starting to worry."

CT responded by grabbing the detentioned drone and hurling it like a bowling ball into another grouping of drones, scattering them like tenpins.

Large Toy and Block Bot had fallen back to take cover, their only weapons being completely useless against the robots. They could, however, help Acid with Curtis and Large Toy rushed forward to grab Essex and get her out of harm's way while Block Bot shielded the alien.

---------------------------------------------

"%!*#^!*(@)!#(!" bellowed the crystalline golem as it jerked to a halt, it's legs immobilized by Thermoplast's efforts.

Twisting about, the golem slammed the ground with it's arms, seemingly incapable of reaching far enough to attack any of the party members. Archlich laughed to himself as he watched Balsk scurry back from each of the blows, the draconian unable to get close enough to land a hit without getting hit himself.

Then Rosie launched herself at the golem and the construct seemed to snap toward her with a speed not evidenced in it's previous actions.

"#^#Y!)&#!@(#(!*!^(!" shouted the golem as one hand flung out, fingers crossed in an odd gesture.

As Rosie ran forward, a white nimbus of energy slowly enveloped her form and she started moving slower and slower, almost as thought she was running through water. Both the were-human and Archlich seemed to recognize what was happening and both of them cursed at about the same time, though Rosie was still halfway through her first word when she suddenly froze.

"Damnable time magic!" Archlich growled as he waved a hand at the golem, a wave of energy rippling forth a blowing a chunk of stone out of the thing's shoulder. "Destroy the golem and she should be freed, you fools!"

"Easier said than done, bone bag," Balsk muttered as he dodged another blow and then took an experimental chop at the limb. To his surprise, his sword sunk a good foot into the arm and the golem bellowed once more in pain. Balsk was barely able to pull his blade out in time as the golem jerked its limb back, but at least he knew he could hurt the thing now.

"Distract it so I can fly up and get it in the face!" Balsk shouted at Thermoplast and Archlich as he pulled back and leapt into the air.

Toy Dispenser watched the artillery shells come in. It had been fairly hard to not notice them, seeing as how most of the processes normally dedicated to operating the majority of Toy's body had nothing to do at the moment. It was a relatively easy thing to track all their trajectories, notice that none of them would land on himself or Acid, and then order Combat Toy to pump one 'shell' full of plasma.

This resulted in Combat Toy suddenly making a running leap, twisting his torso about in midair, and firing both plasma cannons. The recoil made CT hit the ground a bit hard, but the big assault bot was easily able to make up for his loss of momentum.

The 'shell' that was hit, however, had bigger problems. The plasma cannons burned through metal and ceramic on one side of the shell, blasting enough mass off it to alter it's trajectory just enough to miss the tower and plunge down into the opaque mists below.

"Desecrators!" Cher'tak shouted as the shells landed and split open, spilling their deadly cargo onto the ground and revealing the modified battle drones with Rikti bladerifle arms.

The Warmaster jumped through the air in a powerful leap, landing atop one such drone and crushing its neck with his weight. As soon as he landed, the Rikti set about him with the axe-edge of his bladerifle, dismembering the dozen or so battle drones around him in a fury.

"Now the party really gets started!" Solid shouted as he fired a grenade at a pair of assault drones, knocking them both back and throwing off their targeting so he could dodge the resulting eye beams.

"They've got lasers, too! You should really look into those, Toy!" Solid added as he blasted a heavy slug into the same drone he hit with the grenade, followed by a light burst and a shotgun blast as he closed the distance.

"Copycats!" Mini Bot shouted angrily as it dove into the nearest formation of battle drones, hacking away at them with wrist lasers and tendril buzzsaws as he weaved among them.

Small Toy hung back and took cover behind a large chunk of rubble blown away during the fight with the Maltan titan. Its participation would be limited to occasionally blowing the heads off battle drones that threatened either Toy or the two protector bots.

"Stun them and blitz them," Large Toy said as it and Block Bot both spawned a quartet of seeker drones that buzzed into groups of drones before exploding and overloading their sensors. The proc bots followed up with a volley of photon grenades and laser fire at the same pair of assault drones that Solid was targeting.

Combat Toy just ripple fired every single missile he could while waiting for Randall to charge in. The assault bot wanted to smash [censored] up with his fists, but knew he'd survive better with an actual tank around to absorb most of the fire.

It's my goal to make an arc even harder than the LRSF.

*sage nod*

Can't let WoW get all the press about people suiciding!

Note to self: Make a badge mission for Toy.

*blink*

I approve of this idea.

And hey, Dogma, what's your global name? I'm inviting your butt to Boarderline Insanity.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
1) An Ouroborous mission of the wedding, complete with "TEH MAD XP AND BLING.".

[/ QUOTE ]

No, even better: an Oroborous version of the wedding, only its a strike-force and you get autoexemped down to level 1, like villains do for that @%!$ "redo your breakout from the Zig" mission.

And no expees. This is a sacred and solemn occasion, not to be marred by the consideration of vulgar personal gain.

[/ QUOTE ]

And you have to take on all eight members of the Freedom Phalanx and all eight Vindicators at the same time!

Also: Longbow Ambushes.

[/ QUOTE ]

I approve of this and would be fine with getting ganked repeatedly as long as I could see the bloody wedding cinematic.

No chance in hell that I can download things fast enough to get ON the Test server by 6, let alone in the wedding zone.

Nice. I'm assuming all the various lines in the last paragraph, the son, the father, the soldier, all refer to the hero who was the whirlwind?

In any case, I like it.

Story arc one, complete.

--------------------------------

Toy Dispenser

Eccentric Mercenary

Toy Dispenser is a mercenary of the highest caliber. Co-founder of the Legion of Mismatched or Otherwise Unorthodox but Still Very Evil Villains villain group, or LMOUSVEV for short, Toy is frequently hired by governments and organizations around the world to solve problems and resolve disputes. Recently the android has started delegating some of his work, stating the need to free up personal time and the desire to help support other villains by giving them work that wouldn’t have gotten done in the first place.

As to his history, not much is known about why Toy Dispenser became who he is today. Working closely with Scirocco during Operation: DESTINY, Toy gained the ability to generate mystic bolts of lightning that emanate from somewhere within his own soul. Considering the fact that a robot shouldn’t have a soul and really shouldn’t be able to work magic either, most have chosen to discount these rumors.

In any case, you’ve been staring at Toy for quite a while now. Better say something before he thinks you’re crazy.

Initial Contact:

Yo. Toy Dispenser is my name and telling people what to do is currently my game. It’s kind of interesting expanding my masterminding to actual metahumans rather than just my bots. Anywho, I can tell you’re just a wee bit inexperienced to deal with what I might want you to do. Don’t ask how I know, just known that I do. Hell, it’s what I do and what I was made to do. Getting off topic. Show me you know how to deal with some of the more esoteric foes of the Isles. Namely those crazy electric demon things down in Cap and the floating mask thingies in the graveyard in Sharkhead. Oh, you better have some experience in fighting the Council, too.

(Requires the Electrician, Banished, and Silver Bullet or Slayer badges.)

Completed Requirements:

The prodigal son returns, eh? Or maybe not, I can’t tell you metahumans apart sometimes. In any respect, I see you’re more than capable of handling what I do on a daily basis. Well, except today since you’re going to be doing it for me. Fun times.

[u]Souls Are For Chumps[u] (45-50)

[u]1) Infiltrate Croatoa[u]

Alright, down to business. So I’ve gotten hired to investigate some magic stuff. Standard run-of-the-mill smash and grab plus some delivery. Excited? Me neither. But you gotta start with the boring jobs before the nice ones start finding you. You’re probably gonna run into some major trouble on this run, so feel free to hire on help if you feel like it. I’ll even pay them without cutting much into your profit. Kinda.

[u]Might as well get it over with.[u]

Mission Acceptance:

That’s the ticket! Well, not really, but who cares as long as it gets done. Ok, you ever hear of Croatoa or Salamanca? If you haven’t, no biggie. It’s an area near Paragon City that’s been overrun by a bunch of different groups of magical critters for years now. I’ve even heard rumors about it starting to fall into the spiritual world lock, stock, and townhouse. One of said rumors was imparted to me by our benefactor and involves the fact that said Salamanca collapsing into the spiritual world is going to happen.

This would be bad. You have any idea how hard it would be to work magic with such a sudden influx of pure life energy flooding Paragon’s ley lines and contaminating the magical fabric of reality for hundreds of miles around? I certainly don’t, but my friend Archlich tells me it’ll suck.

Anyway, take this doohickey and get me some samples from each magical group in Croatoa. Now go. Hunt. Kill ghosts.

Heh, sorry, always wanted to say that.

Clue: Spiritual Sampler

This ‘doohickey’ looks like someone took a toaster and cross-bred it with a giant syringe while high. Well, at least the trigger is obvious and the end for sticking people is clearly labeled ‘Insert into ghost thingie here.’

1) Infiltrate Croatoa.
a) Defeat all bosses. (Croatoa outdoor)
i) Defeat War Witch’s Ghost
ii) Defeat Snaptooth
iii) Defeat Avatar of Eochai
iv) Defeat Big Bres.
v) Defeat Katie Hannon.

Notable NPC’s:

War Witch’s Ghost (Fire Assault/Ice Assault Controller) <Ghosts> Elite Boss/Hero
Snaptooth <Red Caps> Elite Boss
Avatar of Eochai <Fir Bolg> Boss
Big Bres <Tuatha de Dannon> Boss
Katie Hannon <The Cabal> Elite Boss

Clue: Odd Colored Vials

Every time you defeated a faction leader and triggered the sampler, some weird fluid filled up a vial inside the toaster part of the machine and then ejected it. It was surprising at first, but all of them are intact and full to the brim. Guess Toy will know what these mean.

Notes:

Avatar of Eochai and Big Bres will always spawn fighting one another. All the others will spawn on their own and be accompanied by appropriate minions for their faction. Croatoa Ghosts will make up the rest of the map’s spawns.

Quotes:

War Witch’s Ghost: “I feel really, really weird…”
(on aggro)
War Witch’s Ghost: “Oh great, a villain. And here I was thinking being dead meant I could get a break.”
(defeated)
War Witch’s Ghost: “Ugh… Discorporation feels nasty.”

Snaptooth: “Our plans are almost at a head! We shall rule this land yet!”
(on aggro)
Snaptooth: “Gah! MORE of you? Tell that stinky dog-girl to go bark up another tree!”
(defeated)
Snaptooth: “You think this would get easier with repetition.”

Avatar of Eochai: “You shall die this day, mongrel!”
Big Bres: “Today belongs to the Tuatha, pumpkin-head!”
Soldier: “That’s all he could come up with?”
(on aggro)
Big Bres: “Not again! Let us band together to kill this annoyance!”
Avatar of Eochai: “Eochai calls out for vengeance, ally of the slayers!”

[Katie Hannon would get dev-given dialogue. Partially because I have no clue who she is, really.]

Debriefing:

Ah good, it worked fine! Uh… Not that the sampler wouldn’t have worked fine, its just that it’s always good to know that your invention worked as it should. Yeah. Anyway, I’ll send these samples back to the base for analyzing. But while that’s going on, I’ve got another job for you.

[u]2) Defeat Numina and Friends[u]

Briefing:

Archlich is still working on those samples you got, so we’re left with filler material until he’s done. This one’ll be quicker than that jaunt to Croatoa, a simple smash rather than a smash and grab.

Oh right, and here’s my comm. frequency. Call me.

[u]I’m all for quick.[u]

Mission Acceptance:

Awesome. You know Numina, right? Well guess what, you get to go beat the crud out of her and anyone else she’s hanging with. I suspect that some heroes are investigating this Croatoa business on their own and I know they’d be likely to consult with Numina on the matter. When you want to know about spirits, go to someone who is one. She’s in a Longbow base just off the coast of Paragon, so a quick sub ride will get you there soon enough to catch her and whoever else she’s with.

I’d bring some help along, if I were you. Oh right, take these bombs with you. Might as well make them think you’re there to destroy the base. Have fun!

Clue: Bombs

About the size of your fist, these bombs look a bit too small to do much damage. But considering that the Longbow base is underwater it won’t take much of an explosion to flood the place.

2)Defeat Numina and Friends
a. Trash some heroes (Longbow Base indoor)
i. Three bombs to set
ii. Defeat Numina and crew
iii. Defeat Rosie (ambush)
iv. Recover information

Notable NPC’s:

Numina <Freedom Phalanx> Elite Boss/Hero
Balsk (Dual Blades/Willpower Scrapper) <Soul Police Chapter> Elite Boss
Rosie (Claws/Regeneration Scrapper) <Soul Police Chapter> Elite Boss/Hero

Notes:

Balsk and Numina spawn together with a standard bunch of Longbow. Rosie ambushes the player after Balsk is defeated, spawning from the mission entry and running all the way down with a standard squad of Longbow in support. There should also be a desk object in the room where Balsk and Numina are for the player to click on.

Quotes:

Balsk: “Sorry to bother you and all that.”
Numina: “Oh no, it’s quite alright. I was concerned myself, actually.”
Balsk: “Yeah, we heroes sure do seem to be on top of things.”
(on aggro)
Balsk: “Ah hell! We got villains in the base!”
Numina: “Don’t worry, I’ve handled things like this before.”
(defeated)
Balsk: “Getting sloppy…”
Numina: “You haven’t won anything with this.”

(Balsk defeated)
Rosie: “Damn it, Balsk! You were supposed to wait for me before you did anything!”
(50% health)
Rosie: “Ooooo I am SO going to tear your throat out for that one!”
(defeated)
Rosie: “Erk… Let’s try this again…”
(defeated 2nd time)
Rosie: “Ok…You win... Ow...”

Clues: Some important looking files

These files look like they’re about life energy and souls. A lot of it is written in some squiggly language you can’t read. Better take this along, it could help.

Debriefing:

Say what? Rosie was there? Ah good, my prediction was right. Expect to run into her and others of her Soul Police Chapter in the future. And thanks for these files; by the way, they’ll help a lot. Always good to know more than what the guy paying you wants you to know.

[u]3) Protect LMOUSVEV[u]

Briefing:

Got some bad news: Sometime while you were trashing Numina and the other capes Archlich was doing a ritual thing to find out more information on the samples you brought back. Well, guess what happened? All hell broke loose, that’s what. This next job will involve kicking some miscreants out of MY base.

[u]Fine here.[u]

Mission Acceptance:

Good, good. First of all, I have no freaking idea what’s going on up there. Archlich managed to contact me and tell me that the base was being invaded but not by what or who. A lack of information is always bad, [Playername], but this could be disastrous. I’d bring as much help along as you can finagle and expect the worst. If anyone’s still alive up there tell them I sent you and they’ll give you a hand. Go kick some [censored] for me, I’ve got something else I need to do.

3) Protect LMOUSVEV!
a. Defeat all enemies (Modified indoor high-tech lab)
i. Defeat the invader’s leader
ii. 5 samples to recover
iii. Escape to mission door
iv. Rescue LMOUSVEV members (Optional)

Notable NPCs:

Archlich (Energy Blast/Cold corruptor) <LMOUSVEV> Boss
Brutish Ghoul (Dark Melee/Invulnerability brute) <LMOUSVEV> Boss
CptCommie (Assasult Rifle/Dark Miasma mastermind) <LMOUSVEV> Boss
Envoy of Shadows <Circle of Thorns> Elite Boss/Arch-villain
Baphomet <Circle of Thorns> Elite Boss/Arch-villain
Caleb <Circle of Thorns> Elite Boss/Arch-villain
Portal <Circle of Thorns> Elite Boss

Notes:

The map will be filled with spawns of Nerva Spectral Daemons and Behemoths of all kinds. All three CoT bosses and the portal will spawn in the same room, one of the larger rooms modified to hold a large amount of arcane base items to represent Archlich’s lab. The portal will spawn small numbers of Behemoths and Nerva Daemons every minute once the bosses are aggroed. The map will be modified with the fiery footprints from the ARCH-A mission and banners/holo-projectors with the LMOUSVEV emblem will be scattered about. There will also be a small amount of random friendly spawns taken from any villain group other than the Circle of Thorns. Ex: A pair of friendly Snakes could spawn in combat with a single Nerva Daemon while elsewhere a single Bane Spider is being mobbed by a pair of Behemoths. Finally, once all the bosses are defeated and the map is clear, ambushes shall start continuously spawning until the villains escape back through the entrance door.

Quotes:

Behemoth: “Your arrogance shall be your undoing, mage!”
Archlich: “It will take more than your pathetic might to kill one such as me!”
Behemoth Lord: “Enough with this nonsense, kill him now!”
(on aggro)
Behemoth: “Our brothers must have missed one!”
Archlich: “Assist me, [Playername]! I shall lend you my power!”
Behemoth Lord: “More to the slaughter!”
(rescued)
Archlich: “Excellent. I brought these demons here and I shall assist in expelling them once more.”
(lost)
Archlich: “Where did you go, [Playername]?”
(found)
Archlich: “I do not appreciate these games. Let us continue.”

Nerva Spectral Daemon: “Thisss one is ssstrong…”
Brutish Ghoul: “Hold still so I c’n smash yer head in!”
Behemoth Lord: “He is weakened, let us finish him.”
(on aggro)
Nerva Spectral Daemon: “Ware! The mortalsss bring alliesss!”
Brutish Ghoul: “About damn time! Gimme some help here!”
Behemoth Lord: “All shall fall!”
(rescued)
Brutish Ghoul: “Tha’ was fun. Let’s find some more.”
(lost)
Brutish Ghoul: “Uhhhh… Where’d ya go?”
(found)
Brutish Ghoul: “There ya are! Clobberin’ time again!”

Behemoth: “Finish this mortal and let us be on our way…”
CptCommie: “You killed my men you bastards!”
Nerva Spectral Daemon Lord: “There is sssomething odd about thisss one…”
(on aggro)
Behemoth: “More meat!”
CptCommie: “Finally! Some damn support!”
Nerva Spectral Daemon Lord: “Hisss sssoul can wait. Yoursss ssshall not!”
(rescued)
CptCommie: “Eh, I was kind of lying about the men. I can always get more cannon fodder. Need another gun?”
(lost)
CptCommie: “…where’s Seminov when you need him?”
(found)
CptCommie: “Ah, good, let’s get going.”

(The following is a cut scene triggered when the player nears the boss room.)
Envoy of Shadows: “We have all been summoned here… This is no mere accident…”
Baphomet: “Who cares!?! I’m finally going to lay waste to this place!”
Envoy of Shadows: “What are you babbling about?”
Caleb: “He is merely overjoyed to bring death to the home of ssso many known asss demonssslayersss…”
Baphomet: “Damn right! They shall learn to fear my name once again!”
Envoy of Shadows: “Cease your prattling, fools! They come to banish us once more!”
Caleb: “Let them try, I ssshall enjoy sssupping upon their sssoulsss.”
Portal: (off screen) “Just try not to get yourselves killed. I have need for you yet.”
(cut scene ends)
(on aggro)
Envoy of Shadows: “Taste my wrath, mortals!”
Baphomet: “REVENGE IS MINE!”
Caleb: “All to shadows once more!”
(at 50%)
Envoy of Shadows: “No, never again!”
Baphomet: “RAAAAAAAAAWRRRRRR!!!!!”
Caleb: “Do you not know how to die!?!”
(at 25%)
Envoy of Shadows: “My wrath shall know no bounds!”
Baphomet: “DIEEEEEEEEE!!!”
Caleb: “A curssse upon you all! Now die!”
Portal: “Excuse me, Lord.”
Portal: “Shut up!”
(defeated)
Envoy of Shadows: “My time… Shall yet come…”
Baphomet: “NOOOOOOOOOoooooo…..”
Caleb: “The massster will be very dissspleasssed…”
Portal: “…damn i-!”

Clues: Multi-colored Samples

Well, you got the samples back. They even seem to be in one piece. Toy’s going to owe you for this later.

Mysterious Voice

While you were fighting the trio of demonic baddies, you managed to overhear someone’s voice coming out of the portal that the demons kept coming from. The voice was mostly complaining about how horrible demon mercenaries were and how he’s going to kill some husks later for screwing the job up. Some other voice also called the first one a lord. Maybe Toy will know what that was about.

Archlich’s report

Just before you escaped the LMOUSVEV base a tightly rolled scroll appeared in your hand with a sticky note attached to it reading, “Give to Toy.” Try as you might, you can’t unroll the scroll. Magic can be so annoying some times.

Debriefing:

Huh? Oh sorry, I forgot that since the base is in its own pocket dimension you couldn’t teleport out. Hope that didn’t cause too much trouble; now you got anything to report?

Lord something-or-other, eh? Husks, eh? A scroll from Archlich, eh? Give me a bit to digest all this and come back later. I think you could use a little break as well.

[u]4) Foil some meddlesome heroes[u]

Briefing:

Alright, I’m pretty sure I know who we’re dealing with now. The question is why. To that extent, I’m sending you on another smash-and-grab. You’ll be up against the Soul Police again, so I’d bring some buddies along. The Dread Trio does NOT approve of invaders on their turf.

[u]Like they’ll have a choice.[u]

Mission Acceptance:

Exactly. Alright, here’s what’s going on. While you were off saving my butt, I was off gathering more information on my own. No offense, but I really needed to do that myself. So I learned a few interesting things, one of which is that Rosie and her hang of do-gooders have also found out who’s trying to screw over Croatoa and are intending to stop him.

Why is this bad, you say? Aren’t we trying to do the same thing, you ask? Not really. We’re the bad guys, after all. The capes want to stop Croatoa from EVER falling into the spirit world, our employer just wants to delay it until later. In any case, take a sub to Paragon and lay waste to the Soul Police HQ. Remember mayhem missions? Consider this the same thing.

I don’t want to see one lock, stock, or barrel left intact by the time you’re done.

4) Foil some meddlesome heroes
a. Trash the neighborhood (Steel Canyon mayhem)
i. Defeat 30 PPD.
ii. Defeat Balsk.
iii. Defeat Thermoplast.
iv. Destroy 50 objects.
v. Defeat Longbow ambush
b. Wreck Soul Police HQ (Indoor office map)
i. Recover data (2 computers)
ii. Destroy portal
iii. Defeat the Dread Trio
iv. Defeat Vindicator ambush (optional)
v. Escape

Notable NPCs:

Balsk (Dual Blade/Willpower scrapper) <Soul Police Chapter> Elite Boss/Hero
Thermoplast (Assault Rifle/Fire Manipulation blaster) <Soul Police Chapter> Elite Boss/Hero
Rosie (Claws/Regen scrapper) <Soul Police Chapter> Hero
Berserker Rosalind (Super Strength/Invulnerability brute, Warwolf model) <Soul Police Chapter> Hero
Pherelith (Willpower/Martial Arts tanker) <Soul Police Chapter> Hero
Emry (Gravity Control/Radiation controller) <Soul Police Chapter> Hero
Longbow Ballista <Longbow> Elite Boss
Ms. Liberty <Vindicators> Elite Boss/Hero
Infernal <Vindicators> Elite Boss/Hero
Luminary <Vindicators> Elite Boss/Hero

Notes: Two part mission, yay! Balsk and Thermoplast will always spawn together on the outdoor map while the Dread Trio will always spawn together on the indoor map. The Ballista with a spawn of Longbow will ambush the player once Balsk or Thermoplast go down. The Vindicator group will ambush the player once two of the Dread Trio hit the dust. To escape the player must exit the indoor map and flee back to the entrance area. Also, the indoor map will only be available once all the outdoor objectives have been completed.

Addendum: When Rosie is brought down to 25% hp, she'll transform into Berserker Rosalind with full health. When Rosie transforms it counts as her being defeated for both exp awardal purposes and for the two Dread Trio defeated trigger.

Quotes:

Balsk: “Hey Thermoplast, what’s up?”
Thermoplast: “Nothing much. Looking forward to this attack, though.”
(on aggro)
Balsk: “Ha ha! You again! This you’re MINE, pal!”
Thermoplast: “Perfect timing! Now then, time for justice to prevail!”
Balsk: "...what?"
Thermoplast: "What?"
(at 50%)
Balsk: “As good as you were last time! Too bad I got better as well!”
Thermoplast: “Come on already! WE'RE supposed to be winning!”
(at 25%)
Balsk: “Damn it! Just lay down and die already!”
Thermoplast: “Note to self: The real world has a problem with justice prevailing.”
(defeated)
Balsk: “Mother…fu…er…”
Thermoplast: “Next time!”

(ambush triggers)
Ballista: “Longbow assemble! Attack!”
(defeated)
Ballista: “That’s what I get for reading too many comics…”

Emry: “Well, they’re coming.”
Rosie: “I am SO looking forward to some revenge! WOO!”
Pherelith: “Just try not to get yourself killed, kiddo. It’s kind of annoying.”
(on aggro)
Emry: “And they’re here. A little late, though.”
Rosie: “AWOOOOOOOOOOO!”
Pherelith: “[censored] kicking time is go!”
Berserker Rosalind: "YOU'RE MINE NOW! AWOOOOO!!!"
(at 50%)
Emry: “Tch, this is a little troubling.”
Rosie: “Come on come on come on come on!”
Pherelith: “Damn! There goes an arm! Get back here, you!”
Berserker Rosalind: "RAAAAAAWRRR!!!"
(at 25%)
Emry: “Come on, Trio! At them! We can’t lose!”
Rosie: “That's it! I'm pulling out ALL the stops now!”
Pherelith: “I need some stronger staples.”
Berserker Rosalind: "Just... DIE!"
(defeated, Emry uses teleport death)
Emry: “Looks like I have to back out.”
Pherelith: “Oh, there’s goes my head. This is always so annoying.”
Berserker Rosalind: "*whimper* Emry..."

(ambush triggered)
Ms. Liberty: “We got the call! Hold on!”

(Other than that, the Vindicators would get their dev-given dialogue.)

Clues: Soul Police HQ coordinates

Looks like the Soul Police make their home in Steel Canyon. But while it would be enjoyable to take them out right away, best to trash the surrounding area first. Sometimes pleasure DOES come before work.

Stolen information

You stole this information from some computers in the Soul Police HQ. Along with the beginnings of a portal that they seemed to have constructed, this information should allow Toy to determine exactly where they were planning to go.

Rosie’s last words

Just before her medi-porter whisked the mortally wounded were-human away to the hospital, she spat out a few words to you.

“Tell Toy he better get his priorities straight… If he’s really gonna just hand the world over to Diov then he isn’t the bot Essex knows. Tell em that…”

Debriefing:

It’s done? Good. I didn’t like ordering that, the Soul Police are good people but this time they were in my way. People don’t stay in my way for long. Thanks for the info, though. And about what Rosie said… I’ll explain it in a sec. Just give me a minute to scan what you found and we’ll finish this whole sordid ordeal.

[u]5) End Diov’s interference[u]

Briefing:

Alright [Playername], this is the end game. This whole plat has been orchestrated by an extra-dimensional metahuman known as Lord Diov. He and I have had some run ins in the past and he’s a tough cookie. With the coordinates and information stolen from the SPC in our grasp, we can lead the fight directly to the [censored].

Bring some friends, this is gonna be a doozy. Heh, and I thought the last couple of missions were easy.

[u]I’m ready.[u]

Mission Acceptance:

Alright. Diov owns an extra-dimensional company known as the Husk Corporation from which he bases all his projects and plans. You’ll be leading an assault on his base of operations. Archlich has cooked up an enchantment to keep you safe from Diov’s reality altering powers so you only have to worry about his endless army of clones and powers over darkness. This will be tough, but you’ll have some help. Some members of LMOUSVEV wanted in on this too and they’ve already gone through. Get to them and they will help you as much as they can.

Good luck.

5) End Diov’s interference
a. Defeat Diov and crew (Indoor Rikti base)
i. Defeat Lord Diov
ii. Rescue LMOUSVEV members (2)
iii. Destroy cloning machines (4)
iv. Defeat Eochai Husk and Jack-in-Irons Husk
v. Escape
vi. Defeat Lord Diov again

Notable NPCs:

Lord Diov (Dark Blast/Dark Miasma mastermind) <Husk Corporation> Arch-villain
Lord Nomed (Bruiser) <Husk Corporation> Arch-villain
Lord Poe (Arsonist) <Husk Corporation> Arch-villain
Lord White (Enforcer) <Husk Corporation> Arch-villain
Two other thugs and an Enforcer I can’t remember
Eochai Clone <Husk Corporation> Arch-villain
Jack-in-Irons Clone <Husk Corporation> Arch-villain
Mr. Poe (Arsonist) <Husk Corporation> Elite Boss/Arch-villain
Mr. Nomed (Bruiser) <Husk Corporation> Elite Boss/Arch-villain
Mr. White (Enforcer) <Husk Corporation> Elite Boss/Arch-villain
The Malevolith (Fire Melee/Energy Aura brute) <LMOUSVEV> Boss
Outlaw Jack (Assault Rifle/Traps mastermind) <LMOUSEVEV> Boss

Notes:

Lord Diov will always spawn with Lord Nomed, Lord Poe, and Lord White. As the team size increases so will the number of thugs around him. In addition, Lord Diov will respawn on his own from a surviving cloning machine on the map if he is defeated. The same thing happens with the Eochai and Jack-in-Irons Husk. Another Lord Diov complete with another gang of thugs will ambush the player after every other objective is complete.

Unique faction: Husks
Thug Husk – Minion
Fir Bolg Husk (Fir Bolg Soldier) - Minion
Enforcer Husk – Lieutenant
Tuatha Husk (Tuatha de Dannon Champion) - Lieutenant
Bruiser Husk – Boss
Sorceress Husk (The Cabal) – Boss

Quotes:

Fir Bolg Husk: “I feel…”
Thug Husk: “You don’t. You get used to it.”
(on aggro)
Fir Bolg Husk: “…anger?”
Thug Husk: “You have no idea what you’ve walked into.”

Thug Husk: “Wow, this guy’s nuts.”
The Malevolith: “I am so totally gonna tear out your guts and strew them up like Christmas ornaments!”
Bruiser Husk: “Get some reinforcements! I need a hand here!”
(on aggro)
Thug Husk: “Oh crud.”
The Malevolith: “Ha ha! You’re going down now you cheap knock-off!”
Bruiser Husk: “Oh great, more of them.”
(rescued)
The Malevolith: “Awwwwwwwwwwww yeah!”
(lost)
The Malevolith: “Hey! Hey! Get back here!”
(found)
The Malevolith: “Hey! You listened! Awesome!”

Thug Husk: “Wow dude, you’re getting beat up by a girl.”
Outlaw Jack: “Oh shut up and step backwards a couple of feet.”
Sorceress Husk: “…girl? Wife…?”
(on aggro)
Thug Husk: “Oh bugger.”
Outlaw Jack: “Hi there, about time you showed up.”
Sorceress Husk: “…”
(rescued)
Outlaw Jack: “They always go for the soldiers first, damn husks.”
(lost)
Outlaw Jack: “Take your time, I can hold here.”
(found)
Outlaw Jack: “Ready to go again?”

Lord Diov: “So, intruders huh? Someone explain to me why they aren’t dead already.”
Lord White: “They seem to be protected, Lord. It appears to be Archlich’s work.”
Lord Diov: “Oh great, him again. This means Toy got hired.”
(on aggro)
Lord Diov: “What? He didn’t come himself? I’m insulted!”
Lord Poe: “Time to burn them all! Mwahaha!”
Lord Nomed: “Let us end them and their interference.”
(at 50%)
Lord Diov: “Do you have any idea how annoying this is?”
(at 25%)
Lord Diov: “No really: Annoying is all you can and ever shall be.”
(defeated)
Lord Diov: “Be right back.”

Eochai Husk: “So… Diminished… Where… Where am…?”
Mr. Nomed: “Oh shut up. We didn’t need your intelligence anyway.”
(on aggro)
Eochai Husk: “Memories… Anger…? Destroy…”
Mr. Nomed: “Hope we siphoned enough energy for his power level to work.”
(defeated)
Mr. Nomed: “I’ll be back.”
Eochai Husk: “Free… Thank… you…”

Jack-in-Irons Husk: “Why am I here? Where are the… The…?”
Mr. Poe: “Ah shut up and get ready to smash some stuff.”
(on aggro)
Jack-in-Irons Husk: “Enemies… ENEMIES!”
Mr. Poe: “What an idiot.”
(defeated)
Jack-in-Irons Husk: “…huh?”
Mr. Poe: “Ah damn it. Re-downloading self…”

(Lord Diov, Eochai Husk, and Jack-in-Irons Husk retain the same dialogue when they respawn and can indeed respawn at the same machine.)

(ambush triggered)
Lord Diov: “You will not get away alive!”
Lord Poe: “You’ve still got flesh that needs burning!”
(at 50%)
Lord Diov: “Damn it! The soul transference didn’t complete!”
(at 25%)
Lord Diov: “Gah… I hate it when a plan falls apart.”
(defeated)
Lord Diov: “I have something to tell you…”

Clues: Archlich’s enchantment

The instant you stepped through the portal a series of blue runes lit up around you. Presumably this means its working. Hopefully it should work as advertised and keep Lord Diov from turning you inside-out at a whim.

Lord Diov’s last words

“Annoying, aren’t you? But I’ll play my part at the ending. I mean, if you beat me than you’ve earned your right to know. Just tell Toy I’ll reveal his secret if he doesn’t clue you in. Ciao.”

Diov vanished again after that. Odd. It should be interesting to see what Toy will say to this, though.

Debriefing:

Alive, are we? Good job. Mal and Jack gave me some glowing reports about what happened in there. A job very well done, you’ve certainly earned your pay this time.

What’s that? Secret? Ha! Diov knows exactly what to say, doesn’t he? Alright, I’ll explain things to you. And if you’ve figured it out already, listen anyway.

Croatoa is going to sink into the spirit realm at some point or another, this is assured. The heroes keep trying to keep it from doing so, though, so Salamanca will probably continue to be saved. Now, the thing with the life energy is that it’s perfect for creating soulless clones such as what Diov uses in his armies. It’s a bit interesting that the energy took the form of what was fighting over it, though. Anyway, Diov was draining the life energy away to an extra-dimensional location and the lack of energy would have unbalanced Earth itself. Lord Recluse didn’t want that, so he hired me to stop it and I hired you.

Honest enough for you? Good, good. I expect to see you back here, [Playername].

Souvenir: Odd blue stone

This is all that remains of the enchantment the mage known as Archlich cast on you in order to allow you to attack an alternate dimension known as Husk Corporation in a mission you like to think as:

Souls are for Chumps

It all started when you talked with an eccentric android named Toy Dispenser about some mercenary work that needed doing. He made no quibble about what he was hiring you to do and he immediately sent you off to attack an area of Paragon City called Croatoa. Apparently the place was going to fall into the Spirit World pretty soon and Toy needed you to gather some samples in order to learn what was up. After defeating a representative of each of Croatoa’s various warring factions, you delivered the samples to Toy Dispenser who had them sent off to another member of his mercenary firm and sent you on another fact finding mission.

Your second mission saw you fighting a member of the Freedom Phalanx, Numina, and another couple of heroes from an organization known as the Soul Police Division, so named for its duty to keep an eye on Paragon’s supernatural denizens. But not even with the support of the ghostly hero could the Soul Police stop you from destroying the underwater Longbow base they were meeting in and snagging from valuable information.

But then something bad happened, with someone managing to infiltrate the LMOUSVEV base with a portal and flood the group’s headquarters with an assortment of demons including three of the most powerful demons you’ve ever encountered. With help from various mercenaries fighting for their home, you managed to take down all the demons and save the samples. You also heard some interesting information that led Toy to send you on your next mission.

Complete and total destruction was the goal of assaulting the Soul Police HQ. Take down their heroes, wreck their base, total the neighborhood, and stop their investigation. It was a plus that the Vindicators showed up as well, though they were a bit tough to bring down. The Dread Trio, leaders of the Soul Police, also fell at your hand, though not before one of their number let you know just who you were dealing with.

Lord Diov, owner of the Husk Corporation, a powerful extra-dimensional entity that had complete control over his own pocket dimension. Apparently he was the one accelerating the demise of Croatoa in order to harness the resulting life energy to expand his army of cloned husks. With the assistance of several more LMOUSVEV members you attacked Husk Corporation head on and shut down Lord Diov’s operation. It’s still a bit unclear as to why Toy Dispenser was hired to stop this, but apparently Lord Recluse took offense to some other villain messing up the world.

In any case, it sure was an interesting run working with the guy. Maybe it’d be worth it to hit him up for another job.

EDIT: Edited to correct errors and adjust things somewhat.

"Ah [censored]," Toy said as Curtis pulled out the grenade. "I thought Longbow liked EMP grenades."

As Curtis hit the button, Toy jerked himself around, trying to flail one arm into the grenade and knock it away.

"A l-l-little help-lp-lp-lp overrrrr here!?!" Toy shouted on the team frequency.

-------------------------------------------

"Well that was fun," remarked Solid as he hopped off Combat Toy's shoulders. "One of these days we'll have to use that on a Kronos Titan or something just to see what'll happen when every single shot hits one thing."

As Solid finished talking, every single one of Toy's bots suddenly stiffened and bolted for the exit back to where the dropship had crashed.

"Whoa!" said Solid as he jerked himself to one side, just barely dodging Combat Toy as it rushed past him. "Where's the f-?"

""A l-l-little help-lp-lp-lp overrrrr here!?!"

"Oh god damnit, that's where that Gunslinger went. I hate AV class villains," sighed Solid as he hit his thrusters and hovered into the air.

"You and Ryatt want to hold the fort till we get back?" asked Solid of Cory. "Though honestly I think we could use all the firepower we've got to take this mother out."

"Which is why you need to move over and let me at Small Toy," ordered Block Bot as it pulled itself up off the ground.

Solid Shot just stared at the protector bot, wondering where the hell the gaping holes in its head had gone, and saw several liquid streams of metal flowing from the ground up into Block Bot's head where they filled in the damage.

"Less staring more rescuing," Block Bot snapped at Solid as it trundled past him to Small Toy. "You capes are supposed to be good at that, right?"

"Right..." Solid said eventually before he tossed a wave at Cory and Ryatt before blasting off after the rest of the bots.

One of Toy's wrists flared white the instant he felt the barrel of the gun pressed against his head. Thanks to the feed he got from his bots, the mastermind figured he knew exactly who it was.

"Ever wonder how much of a hand one can lose from a misfiring pistol?" Toy asked as he tilted his head a bit to look up at Curtis. "Feel free to find out."

In the split second before Curtis had fully materialized, said his piece, and started to pull the trigger, Toy had placed a miniature forcefield with the same density as a detention field inside the barrel of the Gunslinger's gun. Firing it would most likely result in an interesting misfire that would deal more damage to Curtis than to Toy.

And just to make sure he had everything covered, Toy's other wrist flared and placed an identical field inside Curtis' other gun. It was a damn good thing Curtis had gotten close enough to let Toy do this.

Archlich

Species: Undead human
Age: Over 2000
Height: 5' 4"
Occupation: Mage
Likes: Magic, taking over the world, people who respect him, magic
Dislikes: Heroes, technology
Favorite food: Can't remember any more

Have I ever mentioned that I like cliches? Well I do, a lot, and that's how Archlich was born. Of course, like many of my characters, my brother actually came up with the initial idea of a lich character and left me to fill in everything else. He also designed the costume, but I had some input in that as well, leading to Archlich's distinctive runic armor and random little crown.

I suppose one of these days I'll have to explain the crown.

So anyway, Archlich was made to be the cliche kind of villain that always wants to take over the world but can never manage it. He'd also have a love/hate relationship with technology like many other old wizards, dispising tech because it's new and different but also willing to work with it in order to reach his goals. Amusingly enough, I consider Archlich to be equivilent of an end boss from a Final Fantasy game. Imagine Archie with one wing and laugh with me.

But of course I couldn't leave Archlich as just a cliche as that would annoy me, so I started fleshing out his character starting with his past. Having decided earlier that Archlich was a holdover from old Mu, I needed to nail down just why he had done so. It needed to be something simple but poignant, so I chose the age-old fear that everyone on Earth feels every now and then. Archlich was growing old and he didn't want to die. To that extent he made an agreement with an Oranbegan death mage and proceeded to sell out his people in order to become the first lich in all creation. He considers all the others come afterward to be pale imitations of his perfection.

Anyway, so I also decided that Archlich couldn't remember much from his old life, allowing me to neatly sidestep any problems with conflicting in-game accounts of the Mu/Oranbegan era. He's also tried to take over the world five times now, losing each attempt but covering each one up completely in the process.

Let's see, I'm losing steam again, so let's hit on Archie's personality before I go. Arrogant, full of himself, condecending, prideful, all the kind of things you'd imagine a centuries old mage being. I mean, he's apparently unlocked the primal secrets of magic and wields the essence of magic itself as a weapon with out need for translating its power through spells. If Archlich was in some other universe were metahumans were a bit less prolific, like Marvel, he'd give Dr. Doom a run for his money, I expect. If not through sheer power than through the size of their egos.

Archlich's one redeeming quality, as much as he has one, might be his odd code of honor. I haven't completely worked it out yet, but aspects of it involve standing firmly by ones allies until they prove themselves unworthy and a kind of chilvaric outlook on duels. Not that he'd admit to such a similarity, of course.

I only wish corruptors were more fun to play so that I could be Archlich more often.

Next up: Lord Netharak or Brutish Ghoul! Vote now or wait for me to make up my mind!

Buy an undigestable closet.

It occurs to me that you should include souvenir text, Devious.

And I'm working on Toy's. Kinda hard figuring out who I want to include or even remembering all you people. >_>

Curiosity hasn't killed this human yet!

It hasn't killed Toy yet, either, though god knows he's testing it.

So... Why don't ya try shoving a closet in front of the door? Though I have to admit I'd miss the random fun things you come up with.

But if you aren't supposed to open it, how do they get out?

Yay! More stuff!

If only fun things never ended... T_T

So where've you been getting the inspiration for these kinds of threads, eh Devious?

*steals Schwarzherz's style*

Toy Dispenser/Solid Shot

Species: Android
Age: 4/10(?)
Height: Exactly 7 ft.
Occupation: Mercenary, sometimes hero/Hero, former security droid
Likes: Information, knowing things, friends, beating the crap out of thing/Friends, jokes, porn, his photo gallery
Dislikes: People in general, High muckety muck metahumans/Boring stuff, The higher ups, villains
Favorite food: "...why the hell are you asking me that?"/"Dude, you're an idiot."

Why write about these two at the same time? Easy, they both come from the same inspiration: Me.

My writing teachers always told me that people write best about themselves or what they've done so I decided that my main hero and villain would effectively be different aspects of myself translated into CoX and given awesome super powers. But let's talk about Solid first, since he was first, though not completely.

My first hero was actually a fire/fire tanker named Khellendros IIc; but it wasn't much fun to play him and a friend of mine suggested blasters, so off I went to make Solid Shot. The inspiration for his name actually came from a weapon in BattleTech, the autocannon, which could fire either solid ammunition or cluster rounds. Since I liked the idea of shooting people in a game where people get 'arrested', the name Solid Shot just seemed to fit. It also helped that my first couple of names had already been taken. >_>

Solid was a hell of a lot more fun than Khell and I got him to 20 something before I really started deciding how to make him me. I came up with a background for him that I found amusing, but his personality never really evolved much until I had created Toy Dispenser and leveled that [censored] up to 40.

Toy Dispenser started out in the CoV Beta as the Toy Box and looked exactly the same as he does now. His personality at that point wasn't really anything either, as I was too busy trying to actually play the game to think of such things. But once the Beta ended and I cooked up Toy for real (Now Dispenser because someone else got Box. <_< For which I'll thank her, actually.) I started thinking about who he should be.

I decided to divy myself up between the two of my main robots. Solid would be the more extroverted me, the one who would much rather have a damn good time or beat up some bad guys than sit around talking about emotions or some such. Not that he wasn't capable, it's just he didn't really enjoy it. That's also when I came up with more complications to Solid's programming in order to make him as justifiably erratic as I could. Solid also got my teenage obsession with porn, which made him a bit creepy, really.

Solid likes rock music and anything with a damn good beat.

Toy got all my more cerebral attributes. A love for knowing things (specifically about people), my fascination with robots, and of course he got to do all the things I wish I could do except for this little thing called a conscience. Over time he's evolved a bit as I liked his concept so much that I decided to really flesh him out, but as his core he's remained as much as me as I am.

Toy likes operas and music without words.

Hmmm.... And at this point my thoughts on this topic collide in a rather large and interesting jumble or words and concepts. I could go on about why I made their backgrounds as I did or why I made them robots instead of real people; but then I'd have to go on about what a real person really is and I don't actually have the time for that.

One more thing I'll add that made making these two guys interesting and effective: My constant analyzing of everything I do. It's annoying, but it lets me parse things out quite effectively.

Oh right, and they both share one big thing in common. The desire (and capability) to [intercourse] someone's [poop] up if they [intercourse] with my friends. >=3

Next time: Archlich!

...................o_O

.................O_o

..................AWESOME.

I highly approve of this and am now thinking of what Toy would have people do as a contact... I also read it all in one sitting. My brain is tougher than yours, ha ha!

I really liked the dialogue you came up with for the PCs. I also really like Cher'tak's defeat message. Then again Cher'tak is my guy, so eh.

I am only sad that there was no Toy or LMOUSVEV crew around. But hey, I can fix that!

...once I get back from class, that is. One hour is not long enough to come up with an entire arc. Or two.