Mithril_Zeta

Cold Heart watched as Force Tech Guardian came out of the fusion room. The technocrat disappeared again into an outer chamber, and then returned with a green scaled mammal, a goblin, and a small furred feline creature. They headed towards the slave pit and pet containment unit.

“Was that an Atlantean?” Cold Heart turned and asked the other Lacerta. “I thought they were a myth.”

He watched curiously as the Atlantean prince and the cat-woman came out with a bedraggled slave, followed by Force Tech and the goblin. The four exited.

“This place is full of surprises,” Cold Heart said as he turned back to his brethren. “Any other myths come to life here? Perhaps the Tendril of Mu? Or the Knife of Yellow.” His single eye brightened with fanaticism. “I would love to test myself against a foe of that stature.”

He realized he had been talking too much. “My apologies, brothers. I speak out of turn. Please, tour me through our new home.”

((ooc: Please take a look at the Whitmoore – Two Six update. Click on the link in my footer. It also has a PDF of the Lost Two Six posts. I know I am missing characters and descriptions. Please pm or email to let me know information to improve it as a resource for our writing. Thanks a lot.. – Zeta))

[ QUOTE ]
“You put it on four of our nine speed dials. I keep trying to ring my mum and end up ordering shrimp pizza. I simply cannot seem to resist shrimp pizza.”

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“I was wondering where all that leftover pizza came from.” Newton made a face. “Shrimp pizza doesn’t re-heat all that well.”

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Alfred looked around the room. “Right then. Perhaps a full night of sleep would do us all some good. We can get started on the recon in the morning. ”

With that, Alfred took the tray and the empty cups of tea, and placed them on the counter next to the sink. He then did every single dish, in full costume, humming to himself. He couldn’t stand dirty dishes on the counter. He contemplated a long bath, then some meditation and sleep before his first day in the Rogue Isles.

[/ QUOTE ]

Newton waited at the desk, continuing eating. His coloring was better, and once his four pizzas got there, he ate steadily. He did save Mystic Inferno a few pieces of the shrimp pizza, though.

Finally satiated, Newton walked heavily upstairs, collapsed onto his bed, and snored loudly.

His dreams were filled with dark portals, reptilian men, and Arachnos spider walkers.

[ QUOTE ]
It was as Fusion, a technocracy Lacerta with goggles and a high tech piece of chest armor, was leading Cold Heart to the next room that Sword of Mu and Shield of Mu entered. “Another arrival?”

“The temple is just off of the main sewage system of the, oh, yes. Greetings, fellow enthusiasts of the Dark God. I was just showing Cold Heart of Mu about.”

[/ QUOTE ]

“Hail Mu!” Cold Heart said as he saluted his brother priests.

[ QUOTE ]
Fusion placed his clawed fingers together and winced slightly from the pain of his nearly healed wound.

Sword took this as an opportunity. “Why don’t you go to the medical chamber and allow us to continue the tour. I heard that there was recently an engagement against some mammals. Did you take part in that?”

“If you mean, ‘was I bait’, yes. Other than that, I’m sure my presence was barely taken note of.” Fusion looked up as Force Tech Guardian barged through the room and into the reactor room.

“I am capable of relieving you of your charge, brother. Besides, the newly honored Cold Heart of Mu, would likely rather see this world through a fellow priest’s eyes.” Sword nodded to Cold Heart and waited for his reaction.

[/ QUOTE ]

“I thank you for your time and the tour, Friend Fusion, but you should take care of your wound. You will do the dark lord no good if you are wounded. I will go with my brother priests here. I sure there are some things that I as a priest should know that a technocrat cannot tell me. No offense meant, Friend Fusion.”

Cold Heart frowned a little. “Have the mammals already found us here? Or does that sort of thing happen often?”

[ QUOTE ]
Sting looked up at Mystic, then at Smurd, then back to Mystic. “Um, so what about Bermuda? Something you want to let us all in on?”

[/ QUOTE ]

“The way they said it, we may be better off not knowing,” Newton said. He took another swig of Mountain Dew. “Chances are, they went into Bermuda with a full team of eight, and they are the only two survivors. The rest of their crew’s heads are hanging in some Voodoo shop in Bermuda.”

“So, when are we planning to go scout out these Rogue Islands? How much prep time and intel do we need? You see, I have a number of projects I need to check on.” He laughed. “Okay, not really, but I really do need to get some shut eye and rebuild my energy reserves.” He patted his flattened stomach. “In other words, I need to eat almost constantly from now until we decide to leave. Does anyone know the number for Paragon Pizza off the top of their heads?” The green haired mutant picked up the phone.

Outside on Temple

Cold Heart walked towards the glowing black stone ring. Gatemaster-Guardian stood at the portal in two feet of snow. “Hail Mu!” the Technocrat said.

“Hail Mu!” Cold Heart responded ceremonially.

“Are you ready for transport, Cold Heart?” Gatemaster asked, dropping the formality.

“I am, Gatemaster. I have a great desire to see the world of our ancestors.” The one-eyed priest shook his head. “It was not an honor I ever expected. I am ready to spread the word of the Dark God to the unbelievers, and to destroy those who will not believe.”

“It’s good to have a hobby,” the technocrat said blandly in what passed as his sense of humor. It had gotten him in trouble a couple times with the priesthood. Cold Heart knew Gatemaster well enough to ignore the humor attempt.

Cold Heart basked for his last few moments in the cold sun of his home planet. The wind whipped around him and snow flurried up around him. “I’m ready.”

“Then step through the portal.”

Cold Heart walked to the circle portal. He could feel heat coming from it as he approached. Without hesitating, he walked through it.

Intense heat struck him and the Lacerta priest nearly passed out. Images stretched across his consciousness. Great darkness, great pain, great cold.

He struck water. It seemed to scald him, but he refused to scream. He had screamed when he had stuck the red hot poker in his own eye. He was not about to scream now.

Cold Heart floundered in the water, trying to get his breath. The heat was oppressive, and every gasp seemed to burn.

“Adjust your temperature, Temple Native,” a technocrat said as he approached him. “The temperature here is at least 100 degrees warmer. We have the opposite trouble with those who come from Refuge. The world seems too cold for them.”

Cold Heart stood gasping and nodded. He slowed his heartbeat and evened out his breathing.

As his system started re-regulate itself, he looked around the home of his ancestors.

Cold Heart of Mu on Temple

The acolyte led the Cold Heart of Mu out of the cathedral towards the portal. Down the long hallway, the one-eyed Lacerta man could see the massive doors leading outside.

To the left, the hibernation chambers of the Infiltrators were silent. Each had a score of tomb-like ice chambers where a Lacerta was sleeping. They were a sect completely loyal to the Priesthood of Mu. Their job was to infiltrate the alien cultures, and eliminate the leadership as needed.

To the right, the Technocracy’s chambers were humming with the sound of their machines. The icy walls were lined with circuitry. One of the Technocracy had once tried to explain the workings of the machinery that maintained the icy walls while heating the room, but Cold Heart had gotten confused after the third sentence. He had decided not to worry about the ancient technologies that were the birthright of the Lacerta. He had turned his attention another direction.

He did not understand the magics of the priesthood, but he found he could connect to the power easily. He was able to summon the intense colds of Temple wherever he was and was able to manipulate that cold to match his desires, whether it was an ice cage, an intensely cold wind, an ice slick, or a frozen sword.

He stood before the door to the frozen outside. He braced himself as the Templewarden of Mu pulled on the huge metal ring. The winter wind sliced through into the temple hallway. The Acolyte and Templewarden shied away from the cold, but Cold Heart stood in the biting wind.

In fact, he rather liked it. The thousands of pins and needles made his single eye glaze with euphoria. The hood fell back as he laughed, revealing the white eyepatch.

Fighting the wind, Cold Heart stepped through the doorway and heard the Temple doors slam shut after him.

[ QUOTE ]
“Rogue Isles, eh? Sounds like my kinda place.” He looked at Smurd. “So your plan is to just ‘pop’ into the stronghold of this Recluse yahoo and kick [censored]? Hopefully this guy is a hermit because if he has a zillion minions we might be in for a little shock. Boss, you sure we have this planned out?”

The golem, accepting the tea, watched how Mystic drank it. The cup and saucer looked tiny in his huge hands but he managed to carefully lift the cup – pinky pointing out – and take a sip. The scene was almost comical as the giant stone and clay golem gingerly sipped tea from a seemingly miniature cup into his metallic skull.

“Tea is good.” He rumbled after a couple sips.

[/ QUOTE ]

Newton had seated himself by a supply of food and was eating voraciously. He looked at the golem with curiosity. “Here, big guy, try something sweet.” He pushed a couple chewy Chips Ahoy! over towards Dark Golem.

“The Rogue Isles,” Newton nodded slowly. “Right before we left for Orebangsalot, y’know, the place that nearly killed us, I heard some of the cops stationed in the court house whispering about the Rogue Isles. You remember that massive break-out a bit back. That’s where they said those super-villains ended up.” Newton looked seriously at the others. “We’d be walking into something very dangerous. It’d make Orenbugger look like a Sunday School picnic.” He took another cookie. “That being said, I’m game. When do we leave?” He broke out into a grin.

“Arise, Cold Heart of Mu. It is time,” a voice whispered in his head.

Slowly, Cold Heart opened his single eye. The sun shined dully through the ice of the hibernation chamber. “Is it spring yet, Master?” he asked. His voice was rough for not using it for several months.

The Arch-Deacon of Temple. “No, my son. Not for another three years.”

Cold Heart rose out of his hibernation chamber. The icy room was lit with flickering torches. The reptile man stretched, slowly loosening his muscles. The cold never bothered him much. An acolyte he did not recognize led him from the hibernation chamber deeper into the temple complex.

The room he entered had a sulfur scent to it, and the acolyte motioned to a steaming pool. Cold Heart winced a little as he looked at the warm water. The cold didn’t bother him, but heat he didn’t like, making him an oddity among his reptilian kind.

The water was warm, although it felt scalding to the near frozen reptile-man. He hissed, soaking up the warmth, purifying himself for the mission that the Arch-Deacon had awoken him for.

Cold Heart climbed out of the pool, dried off, and pulled on his priest’s robed. The last thing he put on was a white eyepatch over his gaping eyesocket. The acolyte led him to the main cathedral.

The vast cavern was lit by a combination of dim sunlight shining through layers of ice and dark braziers with flames. The altar itself was made of black volcanic rock. The Arch Deacon stood in front of the altar, waiting somberly.

Cold Heart knelt before the tall Arch-Deacon. Like a majority of the priests on planet Temple, the Arch-Deacon was a sage green. Cold Heart himself was a slightly darker green. “Why have I been awoken early, Master?”

“There is work to be done on Earth.”

Cold Heart’s heart leapt. His eye burned with fervor and desire. “I am to be sent to the great homeland?” he asked, his rough voice choking a little.

“Indeed you are,” the Arch-Deacon said. He looked down at the young Lacerta man. “Do not disappoint me, Cold Heart of Mu.”

“Never, Master,” Cold Heart said. “Hail Mu!”

“Once in the Great Homeland, you will report immediately to the Avatar.”

Cold Heart shuddered. “The Avatar himself?” he whispered, his eyes wide with awe.

The Arch-Deacon nodded.

“As you command, Master,” Cold Heart prostrated himself at the feet of the Arch-Deacon.

[ QUOTE ]
Sting cocked his head and looked at Newton. “Man, you look terrible.”

[/ QUOTE ]

“Those looks ain’t deceiving, my friend,” Newton said with a wan smile.

[ QUOTE ]
(Sting) sat down on the front steps of the 2-6 and re-told the story of passing through the gate into the dark, sealed area, then finding the golem and then returning to find the Longbow agents and disguised Circle of Thorns mage.

“So, um, since we were gone so long, and our record before that wasn’t what I’d call ‘stellar’, apparently some yo-yo’s downtown thought that we were not fulfilling our debt to society. Oh yeah, I’m in big trouble, but I think they have it out for you too, Newton.”

[/ QUOTE ]

“Great,” Newton muttered. “A quick note from Mystic should straighten that out. I hope. Unless he’s on the list too.”

[ QUOTE ]
Sting sighed. “Anyway, apparently this golem thing wants to find and beat on Circle of Thorns and find out more about his creators, the Cult of Mu, which is Mystic’s little pet project as well. So somehow this all ties in together – well except that you and I seem to be just along for the ride.”

He leaned back on the stairs. “Oh and some yahoo with a big sword is here too…he must be the boss’s toady or something.” Sting said in his typical irreverent tone.

[/ QUOTE ]

“The boss’s toady?” Newton asked, a little light returning to his eyes. “I feel so left out. When do I get a toady?”

Newton looked around. “Do you have any idea how many days were we gone? Has there been any sign of any of the others?” Seeing the nugatory, he grinned a little. “At least the creepy little imp thingee is gone, then.”

Newton set the Mountain Dew can in midair and used his gravity powers to make it float. “So, what’s the story?” Newton said, opening the Snickers bar. He sagged a little and the Mountain Dew can dipped suddenly. He managed to grab it before it spilled. “Oye,” he murmured. His face was ashen. He shakily took a bite of the chocolate bar.

[ QUOTE ]
Mystic picked up his replacement com from his belt and turned back to the building. "Newton, delightful news. I was worried that you didn't make it out, or had chosen to follow other pursuits. We're outside, with a bit of a... well, rather a number of problems. Come join us."

[/ QUOTE ]

Newton smiled. He was worried that Mystic hadn’t made it out. It was only his own gravity field that kept him from being torn apart in transition. He forced himself up and hurried downstairs as quickly as he could. On the way past the massive desk, he grabbed another Mountain Dew and a Snickers bar.

He came to the outside door and leaned against the doorframe, exhausted again. He saw Mystic kneeling by a red and white garbed body. Poison and a man with a sword stood nearby. A massive statue stood over a crater with a robed Circle mage in the center of it.

[ QUOTE ]
The mage knelt by one of the agents. "And what exactly were they doing escorting a madness mage to our precinct?"

[/ QUOTE ]

“There are dead Longbow agents on our doorstep. That’s never a good thing,” He looked over at Sting. “Glad you two are still alive.” He took a swig of his Mountain Dew.

Newton sighed as he finished the Mountain Dew. He had gorged himself, he knew, but without the fat back up to draw energy from, he would have to be constantly eating anytime he for any time he used his power. He saw his reflection in the stainless steel door of his refrigerator. He had some color back, but he was still too thin.

“Heh, another four pounds off and I could look like one of those super-models,” he muttered to himself.

He rose, grabbing on to his pants. He sighed, turned and dug through one of his dresser drawers, found some black suspenders, and clipped them onto his pants. It looked a little silly, but he’s look even sillier with his trousers around his ankles.

Picking up a box of Fruit Loops, he started moving slowly towards the downstairs. He wasn’t sure if any of the others who had worked at the Two Six still had any of the communication devices that either Mystic or IonFlux had given them, but he keyed his anyways. “Newton’s Apple in the Two Six. Anyone on this channel, over?” Exhausted by his few steps, Newton sat down on the landing halfway between the first floor and the second floor. He munched a few Fruit Loops and waited for a response.

A blast of light. The sound of a body falling.

Newton painfully reached up and grabbed the side of the sink. He was in the Two-Six. He had made it. He was worried that he wouldn’t make it. The transition nearly pulled him apart. He couldn’t imagine making that trip without a gravity field. Sting may have made it, but Mystic Inferno…highly unlikely.

He pulled himself up and looked in the mirror above the sink, and then at his shaking hand. The hand looked almost emaciated. The face in the mirror was that of a stranger. His familiar chubby features were gone, replaced by a drawn, gray face with a lot of loose skin. His clothes hung on him like a tent.

That trip took more out of him than he thought.

He stumbled out of the bathroom and back towards his room. He had a stash of food there. He needed to get some sugar fast. He could the diabetic shock coming over him.

[ QUOTE ]
Alfred unrolled a nearby map after placing the book away in another dimension. “According to the diary, there should be another exit from where the Circle began their attack. If we can find that…”

“Hurry.”

[/ QUOTE ]

Newton silently followed the other two, glancing behind to check for pursuers. He saw no figures, but the various glowing auras of their hunters did not inspire confidence in their chances of survival. Mystic had better find the other exit before their copmany found the trio of heroes.

[ QUOTE ]
“Sting, you should keep watch.” Mystic went to the nearest shelf of books and pulled a perfectly preserved text from it. He brushed aside some papers on the table in the middle of the room and opened the book. There was no dust on its pages, no cobwebs holding the shelves together. It was as if the book were just as it were when the Circle of Thorns mages scribed in it ages ago.

[/ QUOTE ]

Newton pulled out a Three Musketeers Bar and munched on it quietly. “So, anything in particular you want me to do? I’m pretty good a thumb twiddling.” Seeing the irritated glance Mystic tossed at him, Newton retreated and floated next to Sting. Newton was really beginning to get the feeling that Mystic would have been just as happy if he hadn’t tagged along.

“When we get back, remind me to spike Uncle Alfred’s tea with some vodka,” Newton murmured to Sting. “He has a little too much British reserve rammed into his spine.”

A glance from Sting silenced him as the insect man stared down the hallway. Sting didn’t need any chit-chat in an echo chamber like the hall was.

Newton quietly watched the mage scan the book.

[ QUOTE ]
Flame blasted down every corridor for a few feet and several Guides and Guardians went down without getting up. From that point, everything was a blur to Mystic, who was desperately trying to drink down his potion of enervating light in time to burn the energy from his foes and drain it back into himself. Were it not for Sting and Newton, he surely would have been overrun before he could complete the maneuver.

[/ QUOTE ]

“Just so many to keep track of,” Newton said as he tossed a gravity field one of the entrances. The guardians and archers slowed to a crawl as flames engulfed them.

Without his readily available pile of junk to throw at the Circle – his junk yard, after all was in a different dimension – Newton had to improvise. Sometimes he wasn’t quite sure what he had grabbed as he pulled it through his wormhole. He was just determined that it was heavy, so when a table laden with a full seven course meal appeared and slammed into the orange garbed mage, he was a little surprised.

“Food fight?” he called out as he set intense gravity on the death mage. The mage passed out from the weight of his own body.

[ QUOTE ]
“Yes, I saw, there’s a few of them. We’re going to have to defeat them quickly and quietly, before they call for re-enforcements. Since I’m not at all good with the quiet, I’m afraid we’ll just have to be incredibly fast.” Mystic took one more peek, then turned to the others. “It looks as if they don’t have any demons with them. Let’s hit them with all we’ve got, then concentrate on the bloke in the funny hat. Sound good?” Mystic tried to smile beneath his facecloth.

[/ QUOTE ]

“But they all have funny hats,” Newton said, grinning a bit. “No demons or ghosts? Good. Humans I can get. The behemoths get a little tricky.”

Newton’s eyes narrowed and his expression became serious. “Give the word, and I’ll be ready.”

[ QUOTE ]
Upon floating down the hallway a bit, he realized that his view was blocked, and there was another hall that the demons and mages were now walking down.

[/ QUOTE ]

“That was somewhat closer than I like it,” Newton said as he floated next to Mystic Inferno. The portly hero was sweating a little. “Those behemoths…did they look hungry to you?”

Newton realized he was talking a little nervously and much and clamped his mouth shut, and glanced behind them to make sure Sting had followed them in.

Heh. I thought I had posted this. oops.

CHARACTER NAME: Aqualos
APARTMENT NUMBER/LOCATION: Basement 2: Hot Tub Room
STORYTELLER: Mithril Zeta
THEME SONG:
SHORT DESCRIPTION: Aqualos claims to be the Prince of Atlantis. He tells of an underwater kingdom that was decimated by the Circle of Thorns raising a demon that had been sealed in beneath the city. His sister is Queen of Atlantis and she sent him to the surface world to find the CoT and ‘punish them to the point of extinction.’

There is no corroborating evidence that this Atlantis exists.

He was arrested for cannibalism and murder - although in his culture, it is a sign of awknowledging an honored foe. Surface dwelling law is so barbaric.

Aqualos has green scaly skin, indigo hair and soul patch, black shark-like eyes, a double row of jagged teeth. He always wears some golden chains which he calls his ‘chains of office.’ He usually speaks in a very soft tenor voice. When emotional, a second bass voice is superimposed on the tenor one - it has to do with his gill/lung construction.

PHOTO (URL): http://castlezierath.org/coh/characters1.htm#aqualos
HERO CORPS RAP SHEET (URL):
KNOWN ASSOCIATES (VG): Destroyers of Freedom (Freedom Server)

"Just a second," Newton said as he stopped Mystic from going through the portal. He threw gravity bubbles up around the other two heroes. "Better to be safe than sorry," he grinned and threw a bubble around himself too. "We should be ready now."

The door opened magically, and the chubby hero jogged down the corridor. He was out of breath when he got to the end. "Sorry I'm late," Newton puffed. "Give me a moment and I'll be ready..."

Newton took a couple deep breaths and then nodded. "Okay. Ready to follow your lead, boss."

((sorry – was out of town and missed the post on the 13th)

Newton sat in the empty courtroom. The night court room was undergoing reconstruction – a large, violent criminal had broken out of his bonds and had decimated it three nights previous. The jury box was still in good shape. He had made himself a little stake out area there two days ago. It was now littered with his empty Mountain Dew cans, Ho-Ho wrappers, and Big Mac containers.

Newton had started his own little investigation into Judge Wonker. His friendly little singularity was hovering around in the judge’s chambers. So far, the judge had spent done nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing relating to the Family, however, had crossed Wonker’s desk, either, though.

He checked his watch and swore. If he hurried, he would still be able to meet Mystic in Talos Island. He hoped some of the others would show up there as well – he wasn’t relishing invading Orenbega as a duo.

Newton used his gravity control to pick up his litter, and he deposited it all in a near-by trash can. Sighing, he glanced out the window, picked a spot, and then threw himself through a wormhole and headed towards the tram.

- - - -
The phone on Judge Wonker’s desk rang. The older man’s eyes widened slightly when he saw which line it was coming across. “hello?” the judge said cautiously.

“It’s all right, Mortimer,” the deep voice at the other end of the phone said. “The hero’s wormhole is gone. We can speak freely again.”

Wonker smiled in relief. It was good that the Family had their own gravity controllers. “That Newton’s Apple is irritating me, Angelo. Let’s see if we can’t do something about him.”

- - - -
Newton appeared directly over Mystic and Sting. Mystic pushed the door open, and the pair walked through.

Newton floated down, and tried to push the door open. It wouldn’t budge. Newton frowned. He quickly keyed his comm unit. “Mystic, Sting, you got room for one more? The door won’t let me in.” He stopped for a moment. Maybe the door was trying to tell him something…

Verde Lobo walks up next to Dr. Venderion, stretching his arms. “This dang anti pirana suit sure is itchy.” His elbow accidentally hits the doctor’s red button on the jet pack.

Dr. Venderion rockets upward, colliding with a passing pigeon, killing the poor feathered creature.

“Oops,” Verde Lobo murmurs.

(is that the right idea, Dr?

there's a whole list of things that goes into making a good rp, mesmorizer.

Part of it is a clear idea of what the RP is about. For the Whitmoore, it is the daily lives of heroes living in the Whitmoore. For Paragon University, it's the lives of the students, staff, and faculty of the school.

Another part is the description and clear storylines thought through carefully by the storytellers. The storytellers respect each other's ideas and focuses. They work themselves into the other's story slowly and carefully, becoming a part of a community. And realizing their character doesn't always have to be the center of attention or the catalyst that leads every adventure.

You'll notice that the last number of people who have come into the Whitmoore, Paragon U, and the Blakmoore have all started with an introduction of themselves - giving a background, giving a reason for their existance - giving the audience a reason to care (or in the case of the Blakmoore, a reason to hate or distrust).

The focus of the Whitmoore is not the action – although that is important.

It is character and relationships. Just as all good stories are.

Suggestions: slow down. Read the last twenty pages of a roleplaying before you put your toe in. Get a feel for the characters, for the stories, and the other authors. Introduce yourself slowly. Don’t force a major event. Trust me: I did that in Paragon University, and only now do some of the other authors start to forgive me. (which, by the way, I’m still really embarrassed about).

So, slow down, look at the successful RPs – Whitmoore, Paragon, Gal’s, Blakmoore, Brass Monday, Where have all the heroes gone, Heroism is Good Business, The New Recruits, The Two Six, We are the destined ones. Figure out the style that you write in most comfortably and where that style fits in best, and work towards being accepted into the fellowship. Give it time.

Hope this helps, Mesmorizer. Good luck