Paladiene

One item here which I noticed last night. To whit, I have a lvl 18 Fire/Dark Brute, with 3 slotted defenses in the Dark Embrace power with even level DOs. Before last night, I could solo single oranges or multiple yellows without much trouble. However, after the I8 release, I was on a Snake Killing mission, and the lt. snakes (Mamba Blades I think) were orange to me, and just cut me to pieces. With the power on they were doing about 60 a pop per strike plus about 6/tick on their poison dots, and with the power off it was about 33% higher (like 90 and 9). So the math works out. But I'm wondering if either-
a) I haven't fought LT snakes at Orange and they're just extremely tough.
b) They got buffed inadvertently in the release.


Anyone run into something similar?

Thanks.

Chaug, Virtue Server, 18 F/D Brute.

I stand corrected

and very pleased to be so.

OOC- Only on Freedom?

Gravotus regretfully closes the newspaper noting he has an appointment with a contact during that time....

Guess it's just you and I Sly..

Just wondering, does anyone else try to tie your backstory into whatever CoH mission/storyline you happen to be pursuing? For example, Gravotus has ties to the 5th column back from when some of their supporters relocated to South Africa during the Apartheid area and....

I find doing this with other players familiar with my backstory vastly improves my RP experience in CoH so that I'm not whacking another group of Skulls or somesuch just cuz my contact said so (not a game criticism incidentally, I get jaded easily ).

Comments please.

-Gravotus, aka Stefan Gravotus

Kudos to all for all the material submitted here. I find myself spending far too much time sifting through this topic and reading the stories, comments, anecdotes, etc.

I was also thinking it's too bad that the nature of the board is such that new posts by default sort of bury the older ones, and if you don't know to specifically look for something, you might miss a jewel or two.

So, what am I blathering about exactly?

One of two things-

A specifically fiction-type thread so that origin stories and episodic accounts (eg, your basic comic book, issue to issue style) could be gathered more or less in one place for everyone's reading pleasure,

OR

We all cross post those elsewhere too.

I know there are other RP boards out there (not as familiar with them).

What do y'all think?

-Grav

Thank you!

Part II is out, Part III should be out in a day or two... Wish we could link these together somehow...oh well.

Gravotus (aka Stefan Gravot), 11th Tanker
Paladiene (aka Michael Paladiene), 2nd Defender

Both on Virtue

Excellent Idea!

What place? What server(s)? Someone name it and I'll be there, and free chicken for everyone!

Grav's gotta do somethin' with all that cash he's rakin' in takin' down bad guys...

Amen to that. It's weird, a whole world of completely silent costume clad heroes (excepting present company of course).

I just shut my broadcast and request channels off completely, too annoying to bother with.

I would be happy to "chat local" with anyone here in this forum.

-Gravotus/Paladiene on Virtue

PART II - Torment

He shifted position uncomfortably, felt the sweat dried and sticky on his skin. There was a chafing sensation as well, something irritating his skin. He slowly opened crusted lids and squinted at the bright sunlight streaming through the corrugated tin roof. His nostrils smarted at the acrid smells of burning tires and urine.

He tried to get up before he realized he could not. Strong cords bound his hands and feet, attached to posts driven deeply into the dirt floor of the crude hut he was occupying. Somewhere in the distance he could hear shouts, but also singing. The bright sunlight seemed to pierce his brain, and his head was pounding in time to the beat of singing somewhere outside.

He gave a great heave, but to no avail. The cords seem to be made of some kind of plastic, and gave slightly at his efforts, then stopped. He tried to call out, and realized he was parched, his throat felt dry and caked with dirt. After coughing from the effort, he laid back on the floor of hut, exhausted.

He closed his eyes and dozed again, only to be awoken when the sun was lower in the sky- a dark wrinkled face framed with spectacles and many freckles looking down at him. Somewhere behind the face loomed other figures silhouetted in the uncertain light inside the metal shanty.

"Cahn you understand mee?" The Afrikaner dialect sounded strange when spoken by this man and Stefan could barely make out the words. "Eeye ahm Dr. Mbecki. You ahv been restrained for yah own safe-tee."

Gradually, Stefan became accustomed to the accent, and the words became clearer.

Dr. Mbecki began to say something else, when another voice, much harsher, interrupted him. Stefan didn't understand the words at all. He guessed it was the language the others spoke, what his father call Gutter Talk.

The voice sounded enraged- that much Stefan understood. And with sudden fear, he saw a crude knife in the man's hand.

Stefan began to struggle again, and the bindings on his right arm snapped. Shouts rang out in the shanty, and clouds of dust billowed as the other occupants fled. When it settled, Stefan saw only Dr. Mbecki had remained.

Stefan stopped struggling when he realized the man that had threatened him was gone.

"How old are you, boy? What's your name?" the doctor asked.

Stefan set his chin stubbornly and did not answer.

Dr. Mbecki looked sadly for a moment at the boy, and then walked out of the hut, to the sounds of an argument.

Stefan heard more shouting and what sounded like soothing words in reply from the doctor. It sounded like a full-fledged row. This went on for some time, until finally the voices subsided.

As the sun moved slowly across the sky, Stefan began to understand what real thirst was. His tongue felt swollen and dry in his mouth like a piece of leather.

He realized he was hardly sweating at all. He craned his neck and could see by the shadows outside the hut there was someone there, or so his fevered brain thought.

"Please, I'm thirsty," he croaked. He repeated this, over and over.

The figure ignored his entreaties for some time until suddenly he rose to his feet and came into the hut. Stefan squirmed with fear, but the figure just stood there looming over him. Stefan realized he could see a face, dark and demonic. Great fangs with spiky hair and elongate nails like talons sprouted from its hands. Eyes, dark red like coals burned there in dusky light of the hut.

Stefan struggled frantically, trying to break free again, but he realized he had no strength left in him. He screamed.

Time passed…

He awoke with a start feeling a touch at his brow. It was a woman. Stefan realized both of his arms were bound again, and the cords had been reinforced.

The woman, brown skinned and wearing a simple shift, was patiently dabbing at his lips with a damp cloth. She started for a moment when his eyes fluttered open, but then continued. The moistness felt like tonic on his skin.

"Water, please, I'm so thirsty." Stefan was not even sure the words actually came out of his mouth. However, the woman must have understood because she reached over to a earthenware picture and poured some water into a small shallow bowl. She held the bowl at his lips, and he drank greedily. He nearly choked at first, but then quickly drained the rest.

"More, please."

The woman looked at him for a moment, her coffee-colored features and dark eyes unfathomable for a moment. Then, as though coming to a decision, she stood up and took the pitcher with her.

Stefan slumped down. Still, his head felt somewhat better although it still pounded. He also realized he was stiff from being in one position for so long.

He tried to stretch to get the kinks out of his muscles, but the cords were tight and left little slack. Stefan began to wonder how long he would be here, and whether or not his parents were looking for him, then he remembered the car and the riot and he began to sob.

After a while, he cried himself out. He realized he was alone and afraid. But then he remembered his father's words to him about fear.

"Fear is for weaklings, Stefan. Fear is for those who do not know what comes tomorrow. Fear is for those who are not part of our glorious Reich. We do not fear. Others fear us."

Thus heartened, Stefan relaxed himself, and that is how Dr. Mbecki found him- calm and composed despite three days of no water in the sweltering room of the hut.

—---

Coming soon, Part III - Adversaries

Really excellent. Thoroughly enjoyed reading this (I am up to part III so far). Just wanted you to know your hard work is appreciated.

Yeah, I know. I expect to get some flack for that, par for the course. I almost put a disclaimer in, views expressed in this story are not those of the author, etc., so hopefully everyone will read this with a grain of salt- starting a controversy is not what I intended.

Thanks for the positive feedback, appreciate it.

-G

PART I

Born August 1st, 1980, in Apartheid-South Africa to transplanted German ex-patriots, Stefan Gravöt was an only child, raised in a wealthy household in the whites-only zone of Cape Town.

From an early age, he was taught that he should never mix with non-whites, and he was superior to "all those animals out in the streets". His parents never failed to tell him he would play an important role in the fight to keep the races separate and preserve white purity. They believed this because their son had tested "superior" right after his birth. The exam showed certain anomalies coded into his genetic structure that predisposed him to great size and strength and near invulnerability to physical harm. There were other, unidentified markers as well.

However, it wasn't until a five-year old Stefan was playing in the recently turned garden, that the full extent of his abilities manifested. The very earth itself flowed around his hands, and his feet seemed to merge directly with the ground. Herodus, his father, was very pleased indeed. He praised his son for his new-found talents, and declared Stefan would be a great soldier in the struggle ahead.

For all his parents' attempts to invoke zeal or even anger in their child, however, Stefan was a placid, sedate boy for the most part. He rarely lost his temper or threw tantrums. In fact, the only times he seemed to become unhappy was when he was not near earth or stone in some form. His mother and father quickly learned to use this as a lever to motivate their son.

They were also careful to keep Stefan separated from other children, not wanting anything to endanger their control over their future benefactor. Instead they surrounded him with tutors, maids, and "councilors" [in reality propagandists for the old Reich].

As he got older, he became a self-contained young man- controlled, proper and respectful. He always followed his parent's orders and those of his instructors at home. He was not allowed to leave the grounds unescorted, there was always a tutor or maid or protector nearby.

However, on his thirteenth birthday, everything changed. In their eagerness to demonstrate the fine prospect they were grooming for party leadership for the future of the Reich, they brought young Stefan with them to a private retreat for the Apartheid Ruling elite. Many of those attending were either former Reichers or sympathizers.

All desired for the status quo to remain against ever more strident protests for equality by the rest of the non-white population. There was even some rumors the agitators wanted to free Nelson Mandela, the Freedom Criminal, from prison which would be a total disaster.

Somehow the word had leaked out that the gathering was taking place, and protesters started to swarm the grounds of the country club designated as the meeting place. Unfortunately for Stefan, his parents were late to arrive (they lived in a more remote area) and by then, the scene was one of chaos.

Angry protesters shouting slogans spotted the approaching limousine, and charged towards it. Their driver tried to outrun the mob, but he wasn't able to get inside the iron-wrought gates of the club grounds before their vehicle was cut off from the entrance. Soon many hands were rocking the car, battering the windows and trying to get into the vehicle. A cry of victory went up as the car was upended and rolled onto its side. Stefan heard his mother scream, and something feral awoke inside him. He roared, the sound deafening inside the car, drowning out his mother's screams. His hands suddenly became great mauls of stone, and he smashed through the heavy frame of the car. His skin took on a grayish cast, and seemed to harden in place. He leapt from the great rent he had created and roared at the crowd on top of the car. The mob was hitting him with clubs and stones but they just bounced off his granite skin. He swung wide and felt his fists connect with something yielding, and there was a distinct crack, and then a scream. The mob cleared a space around him as he continued to swing wildly in great looping strokes. They gave back before him, and he gave chase, his brain clouded with rage and the sound of his mother's hysterical cries.

Out into the ghettos beyond the manicured lane of the club he raced after the fleeing figures. At some point, exhaustion set in, and he realized he could not take another step, and his whole body ached with weariness. He sat down against a corrugated metal wall- it felt warm against his skin and he felt himself becoming drowsy. Faintly before consciousness fled, he thought he heard voices, but soon there was nothing but welcome darkness.

----
Part II coming soon...

Feedback welcome (corrections, comments, etc.)

Gravotus- Stone/Stone Mutant Tanker on Virtue

Believe it's under the main page link-
check here:

http://www.cityofheroes.com/features/fiction.html

Paragon city backstory.

May be other places too.

Ahh (thinks for about 2 seconds)

HELL YA! I'd pay 10 more if they did it right- what's one more channel of HBO after all.

Okay, maybe this is a little bit silly, but just curious, what theme would play when your hero makes his/her/its big entrance?

Anyone?

After reading the recent replies, I think both points of view have merit (hopefully this doesn't sound too much like fence-sitting) but I think the distinction here is between game play and role play perspectives.

From a game play aspect I see Gamble's point. We desire to discourage certain "anti-social" behaviors in our fellow players with the hope that everyone follows the commonly accepted rules of courtesy, fair play, etc. I'm sure everyone has multiple stories of "jerky" players (omitting stronger language here) who break the usual rules of custom and since there is no one else to enforce them (i.e. the system or Devs as it were) we take it upon ourselves as players to do so. I'm guessing that was what was happening here with Gamble (feel free to correct me).

From an RP standpoint, no decent, law abiding, and above all "good" hero would allow someone to die just to prove a point (Wraith's assertion I believe), and acting as such certainly could start one down that slippery slope...

So I suppose the question I would ask is: which dynamic do we follow- game play or role play?

I'm curious what others in the forum think.

I believe you did the right thing. Each of us should stand and fall on our own strengths (strength of character included in this list). Having been properly warned, the other team should have backed off, or if they desired to persist taken on the beast themselves (which is exactly what you facilitated there).

We all desire to improve the common good for the citizens of Paragon City, but we are also human (at least in the most general sense) and it is human to enjoy the recognition we receive that comes from doing good deeds in the free exercise our own powers.

A sharp lesson for that group, but a necessary one. Perhaps next time they will reconsider interfering, pain is an efficient teacher.

-Gravotus (unaffiliated at present)

Greetings fellow RPers, pleased to see so many posts here.

Currently I am playing on Virtue, which I gather has more RPers on it to date (someone correct me if I'm wrong).

My current character is-
Gravotus, Mutation Tanker, 5th Security level (stone powers)

I have two friends who also just joined,
Valkyura, 3rd Mutation Scrapper and
Montross, 3rd Science Controller (I think)

I will ask them to post individually here as well. My current character is lacking a backstory (was trying to coordinate with my friends and got impatient to play ) but likely the next incarnation of Gravotus will have a full back story.

Look forward to seeing y'all in game.