mason2004

Professor IQ turned quickly as he saw Pure run out the door, he too had a sense of something not quite right occuring, after all, he was a man with extraordinary mental powers! Nevertheless Pure was on the case and as fast as lightning retrieved the woman who was falling and brought her back to the relative safety of this warehouse.

IQ looked her over as Pure set her down easy, he spoke in the most gentle of tones, "Are you all right miss?" He asked in a worried tone, "I may be only minor healer at best when an enemy is around, but I still know a thing or two about basic medicinal practices." He quickly grabbed the folded handkerchief from his inside pocket and was able to get it a wet a bit from a nearby old leaky pipe. He dabbed at her forehead and continued speaking in his gentle tone, "I am Professor IQ, and this dashing young man who rescued you is named 'Pure', and she, " IQ pointed to the woman in the corner, "Well, we haven't been properly introduced but I assume that may not stay that way. What can we do to assist you and were you perchance trying to escape from this 'miasma' that has plagued all of Paragon?"

"Well my super powered friend, we need more information before we can make any inductions or deductions." IQ said with a smile returning to his face. "We are in desperate need of finding others who survived, and more importantly, heroes who have a bit more ability to take and deal punishment than I. What is it all the younger heroes called it of someone of my power? A 'Troller' I believe. Yes, that is it. 'Troller'. So I surmise we need a 'Tank'? A very apt decription of those tough and powerful frontline heroes eh?" IQ smiled again as he began to study the warehouse to see what advantages it might hold...

Professor took off his glasses again and rubbed his eyes again; he stared hard at the table and finally looked up at Pure and the woman and said, "Look, the last reports I heard over the police and hero scanner was that this 'miasma' may have originated from Dark Astoria. I also heard that it seemed as almost sentient in nature. I seemed to be able to grow and recede at will. The last transmission I heard was that it had engulfed the Hollows except for the farthest southern quarter...." He put his glasses back on and continued, "It pursued me for the last few miles until I came across you. It didn't pursue me farther than where the old watertower stood out there, thank the Supreme Architect for that, but as I said before, we need information. I'd say, we should make this building not only a gathering place but also a place to gather information about this 'miasma'. We need to start thinking about doing some recon..." Professor IQ looked to Pure and the woman for rebuttal...

Professor IQ raised his eyebrow in true "Spock" fashion and said to the woman, "The Miasma eh? What else might you know about this miss? Any and all information would be of great help. I agree with Pure here, we must gather what strength is left and here is as a good as any place to begin. Knowledge is power and the key to success. Please miss, tell us what you know." Professor's voice was soft and kind and he hoped she could garner them something they could use to fight back against this "Miasma"....

The Professor tipped his hat and bowed to the woman in a most gentlemanly of fashion, introduced himself, he then followed Pure to the nearby table, took off his hat and placed it beside him. He smoothed his hair, removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes and spoke again, "Do we have any idea what this.. this.. miasma is? We cannot defeat what we have no information about. Where are the most powerful of Paragon's heroes now? Statesman? Brawler? Posi?... I cannot even contact the leader of the coalition I belong to.. I feel so.. powerless..." The Professor just shook his head and stared out into the air. "All these abilities and all these gifts given to us, and now what? We must find a way to gather all the surviving heroes to a single point and work from there; yet we still do not know what we face or how much power we have left in the number of heroes that are still alive. I fear our current propositions are weak at best. We must gather our wits here... must gather our wits..." IQ's voice faded off, he was tired and even abit frightened as to what might lie ahead...

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"Hey you! Over there!"

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Professor IQ heard the voice shouting to him from the abandoned building and quickly changed his course. He reached the door and quickly got in, helping close the door quickly behind him. He grasped his knees and panted for air; after a few moments he looked back at the stranger and said, "Whatever that darkness is, whatever its design and purpose and plans, it is the most vile and most fearful thing I have encountered on all my journeys. I cannot possibly fathom its power nor even reason for existence, but I do understand its modus operendi: The destruction of all things good and just and true. I only hope that others, including many of my companions and teammates may yet survive." He paused in his words and looked at the stranger who had led him to safety, outstretched his hand and said, "I am sorry to blather on like that. My name is Professor IQ, it is a pleasure to meet you."

The Professor stood about five foot, eleven inches. He wore a bright red, long trenchcoat over a black suit adorned with a gold tie. His pants were also bright red, his shoes were finely polished black and dressy. He wore white gloves and he even wore a beautiful, finely tailored red top hat. On his jacket he wore a pin: A horizontal scimitar with a five pointed star chained to it: The symbol of a Shriner, and on his left ring finger a beautiful onyx and gold Masonic ring. The glasses on his face were reflective, the rims a sterling silver color. He looked like a man of the world and man of learning to be sure...

The Mighty Templar, Bladewolf and Etherburn were devastating in their dismantling of the enemies until only one captain remained. Battered, burned and bruised the Captain barely could resist how he was about to be treated. The mountain of a man that was the Templar grabbed him by the collar and picked him up. The captain's feet wiggled and waggled about a foot and a half off the floor. The captain's eyes were full of fear as the Mighty Templar spoke to him in a menacing and deep voice, "Now captain, we shall discuss what the Council is doing here in Faultline..." The captain struggled but gasped out, "I wont.. tell you.. nothing... hero.."

Templar regripped his blood soaked sword with his left hand and brought the tip of the powerful blade right to the groin area of the captain as Templar's voice became more menacing, "Maybe you didn't hear me Captain. What are the Council doing here in Faultline?"

The captain's eyes and face showed absolute terror now as he replied, "You.. you can't do this! You can't torture me!! You're a Templar, you guys are supposed to be merciful!!!" Templar growled, "I am in NO MOOD to be merciful right now captain, I SUGGEST you start talking or else you wont ever be able to be with a woman, go to the bathroom or speak without a high squeak for as long as you live. UNDERSTAND??" The Templar pushed the sword closer to the target as the captain nearly passed out from fear....

((OOC: I hope all is ok with everyone))

The strength of any thought and debate comes from the person so thinking or debating. What thought process have they done to arrive at their conclusion? What life influences and other external or interal occurances added to or subtracted from the way they see the world?

When Emerson and Thoreau went to find themselves, they did so because they had felt the everyday stimuli of life around them was not enough. There had to be more. If you changed your surrounding and your stimuli, would you therefore change your perception? For them, it sure did, but it may not be so for someone else.. this is the beauty of the individual. What Socrates said about the inner Beauty of the human spirit cannot be measured it can only be seen when someone finds a piece of the Truth that makes sense to them, when a human being tries to reach for that ideal realized moment is when the true Beauty of the spirit is shown... existence is not what finding reality is all about, finding the Truth.. the very journey itself, is what Human beings need to rise to that ultimate state of humaness.. this is how I perceive things anyway...

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I agree with you, Masonic, on the profound changes which have been occurring in our world at a relatively breakneck pace (with all of history considered; indeed, sometimes so fast that it takes humanity as a whole a chaotic moment to process it), and that they have had a tremendous impact on our world, but that doesn't change my point. Each and every one of those moments has required some form of moment, some kind of inspiration, someone telling the masses that it was okay to stand up and fight for their equality... or for anything.

I'm not going to argue that racism and bigotry are still rampant. There's enough evidence and debate on that elsewhere, and it's an issue outside the scope of this thread at the moment. Here, it doesn't really have a place. We can't see one another's faces, and the most we can judge each other on are the few ideas we present to this forum.

However, I still stand firm that we need something to inspire us to make a new future for ourselves, and not just grind this planet into dust. Once, there was a time we could have turned to faith, but that has become so mired in politics that it only really works in local situations (and sometimes not even then). Perhaps in another generation or so we'll have an answer.

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I agree with you about how at times we human beings need prodding.. I think that is just part of our nature. And yes, I also agree with you about the faith issue.. it is more that humans are a complex species, far more complex than sometimes we realize we are. We want that paradox: Security and Pushing the Envelope at the same time.. in essense, we want our cake and eat it too.. nothing pariticularly wrong with that but it is something we have to take into account.

As for the racism issue, I am not trying to bring out that aspect whatsoever, I just used it as an example that highlighted my argument.

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Some among humanity feel we have a destiny. Most can't see past their next paycheck. Many still can't see their next meal.

We can't even come to equilibrium with ourselves. We never have. Even with the knowledge at our fingertips, many still refuse to even look at or utilize it.

For instance, Evolution is considered the antithesis to Creationism rather than the process of it, by both practitioners of Science and Judeo-Christian faiths. This is a non-issue (in that, whether right or wrong, it doesn't really change ANYTHING in any practical way) that was long-before resolved by Nature and God (if such a thing, in any concept or use of the word, exists), and yet this is a major point of contention long after it was even conceived. Nobody looks outside their respective texts for inspiration or even to humor the possibility that they may be wrong.

In any case, I think mankind is waiting for a major catalytic (or perhaps cataclysmic) event to spur them on a better (or worse) path. Otherwise, we seem content to stay locked in the same cycle we've always locked ourselves in.

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Its the ebb and flow of our Being Mr. Grey, and although it sometimes seems like we get caught making the same mistakes over and over (which we do at times) Truth be told that we have had (and continue to have) those "moments of pure glory" where our essense shows itself off in the best of ways. I'll give you an example: Decades and decades had passed in this country (USA) where the abolisment of slavery didnt make the Black man and woman any more accepted. Racism was rampant. Then a woman in Montgomery, Alabama was too tired and decided she was not going to go sit at the back of that bus.. and it fueled a fire and movement that remains full flegded to this day.
In California, a fed up field worker told his fellow workers to sit and strike until they got treated fairly, and now, Hispanics and Latinos in the USA are becoming the most powerful minority movement since the days of Rosa Parks and Dr. King.
These things have consequences and affects. We sometimes cant see them in those short moments of day to day life.. sometimes they arent even seen for felt for generations.. but they have an effect.

As an Old History teacher and activist in the political realm, I can tell you from what I have observed and witnessed up to this point in my life, that indeed, those parts that are played by us as humans (yes Im waxing Shakespearian here) can be something of incredibly powerful and profound moments.
It is up to us, I believe, to learn and grow from those moments and keep pushing that envelope on where we go from here as a species and people.

Hey Im just giving you grief Devious.. good to see your thoughts (as well as everyone elses)

The Mighty Templar stood at the farthest end of the catwalk that he could; he then looked at the height of the ceiling and the distance needed for his jump. He did some quick calculations, drew his sword quietly and then took his "leap of faith". The leap was well done, his mental caculations nearly right on, his landing just about right where he wanted it to go: nearly right behind one of the two captains there (he had made sure to land at the man's side rather than at his back, after all he wanted to maintain his honor) and took a mighty swing. The beautiful and deadly sword nearly took off the Captain's arm and right shoulder. The Council captain shrieked with pain then was silenced as Templar's sword had buried itself deep within the body, and Templar simply pulled the sword straight through dismembering the hapless captain.
The Council members around him were totally caught off guard and quite stunned by the bold attack. It was exactly what Templar wanted, he wanted to open the door for his comrades to do their parts... he knew at that moment that they had the advantage.

Hey deviousme, interesting blurb but no hijacking of threads now.. Monody nmay have to hurt you for that hehe...

Franklin sat at his desk. He constantly looked up out his window as he tried to finish off writing his letters. He smoked a cigarette on long filter, adjusted his glasses once more, then went back to his writing. The correspondence was just as important to him as the situation brewing in his world. He furrowed his brow further and kept on writing, determined to finish.

A man of average stature wearing round glasses and a suit that looked like it belonged to a regular type businessman than that of a man of his (at least) former stature would imply walked into the study. "Franklin," he said with in a very straightforward manner, "We need to go. I expect all the Brethren to be there tonight since this meeting may be one of the most important we have held in some time."

Franklin looked away from his writing for a moment and replied in a light, jovial fashion, "Ah Harry, very prompt as usual." Franklin took the cigarette out of his mouth and set it on a nearby ashtray. "You worry far too much my old friend. We will be to the lodge on time I assure you." Franklin smiled again and signed his last letter. "There," he said with his usual bright tone in his voice, "Now I feel much better about getting that done. So many folks to communicate with, especially now." Harry nooded in agreement and adjusted his glasses. Soon the two left together and headed for the Lodge.

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"This Grand Lodge of Greater Dystopia is now open for the regular dispatch of business." Franklin smacked the gavel upon his podium and the Brothers became seated. "Brother Senior Warden what is the latest reports from the borderlands?"

Harry stood up and replied, "Grand Master, more occurances of strange phenomenon continue to occur throughout the lands as a whole, and although that in itself is nothing new, some of these new occurances are of concern. First the entity we call "Existence" seems to be on the move again; its motives unknown as always, its purpose even less understood, but there is no doubt it is on the move again.
Secondly this new "Pit" as it has been referred to continues to intrigue and befuddle some of our greatest researchers. I recommend that we should call an investigative commitee to take a closer and more indepth look into this newest situation."

The entire Lodge, filled to capacity (and then some) became a place of much murmurings, crosstalk and discussion. Franklin struck the gavel again bringing order to the room once more, "My Bretheren, I know these things concern us all, and Senior Warden Truman is correct in his plan of action I feel. We must have a concerted position and response as the Grand Lodge, not just for the public consumption and the belaying of possible fears, but also for our own continuance of being the leaders of free-thought, civil discourse and philisophic debate. It is our Masonic duty to do so and our responsibility to maintain our status in the land and have our voices heard."

The men of the Lodge could soon be heard discussing amongst themselves until another sharp rap of the gavel could be heard, "Bretheren, let us not delay in our response, do I hear a motion for going forward with Brother Truman's proposal?"

The Junior Warden stood up from his position and said, "I make the motion to convene a commitee of fifteen brethren, including myself, to go and investigate this phenomenon at the borderlands." Quickly another Brother in the seats seconded the motion. "Any discussion?" Franklin inquired and soon a multitude of Brethren discussed and debated the pros and cons of the committee for the better part of two hours. The gavel sounded once more and Franklin gave his order to vote on the matter. It passed by a large margin. He then said, "Me, Brother Senior Warden Truman and Brother Junior Warden Blum will head this committee. Brother Blum, you are in charge of gathering the rest of Brethren to fill out this committee and we can get this started. I suggest we investigate this phenomenon within three to five days." Soon dates were looked at and rejected or discussed until a final date became set. "Very well," replied Franklin, "It appears to me the we are set and will soon see what all this is about. May it bear the information we need. So Mote It Be!"

As the night drew in the die had been cast, there would be response by the freethinkers of the Grand Lodge after all, and the repercussions would be soon to follow...

The warmth of Etherurn's incredible powers filled Templar but what may have come as a small shock to her, she may have actually felt instead of just healing the him, she may in fact felt his very existence! He was not ordinary by any means, intriguing in fact. Still the job was ahead. They all could see the computer consoles they had to get to, but Templar was suspicious. He whispered, "Where is everyone? Shouldn't there be somebody at those consoles?" He tensed up sensing perhaps a trap. Carefully he moved forward to the end of the catwalk looking all over for any sign of the enemy until he saw a small gathering of Council near another set of computers near the north side of the room. He pointed them out. Using his senses and his almagam of centuries of combat knowledge and tactics he then huddled with his two companions and whispered again, "I can sense those Council members are quite powerful; this will not be easy, but if we take them quickly, we may be able to make this section our own little temporary headquarters. There appears to be only two exits to this room, we will have to monitor them closely and be prepared to seal them off quickly. Bladewolf stay tight with me in melee, Ether, cover us from above and keep giving us status reports from your better position. So Mote It Be!"

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" Don't worry about me keeping up, but don't leave my sights or I can't heal you," she replies, looking pointedly at Bladewolf.

" Ok. You guys ready to ruin the Center's night?" she smiles playfully.

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Templar nodded in approval to Etherburn and said in low voice, "Nice work young maiden. Now listen close. I'll drop down first, Bladewolf, you cover my left shoulder flank, Etherburn, if you can hover, then do so just above us and cover us. I am a Templar, and I can eliminate my enemies as sure as any Saracen, Samurai or Paladin, but I do have my weaknesses. I am not what heroes call a "Tanker" I believe is the term but I can wield my blade as surely and deadly as the greatest knights whose spirits dwell in me. Therefore we must work as unit and know when we have to retreat if necessary." The Mighty Templar looked at each of his companions and for a moment a glow in the helmet where his eyes would have been could be seen. Perhaps this encounter with the Council would be the start up he would need on his journey to find himself.

The Mighty Templar then drew his beautiful, yet deadly hand and half Templar sword and jumped down into the vacant area below...

((I second Mr. Grey's idea))

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((My supposed displeasure should be none of your concern, Masonic.

Besides, considering your prior posts, someone such as you should be more than capable of researching and roleplaying whatever historical individual you wish with accuracy. Albeit, historical accuracy.

That's my major problem with roleplaying historical figures. Though we know what they eventually did, do we truly know the reasons why?

Considering the vagaries inherent in this setting, I'm afraid I'm going to need to see some of this played out before I consider presenting one of my characters (if I do intend to join this). If I can't produce a reasonable character, it would be a shame. It's good to finally see this concept get fleshed out after a couple false starts.))

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Well I appreciate your insight and consider your words to have weight, I respect what you say Mr. Grey, that is why I wanted to hear what you had to say... I also appreciate your kind words. Lets see what coolness we can make here....

((COOL, this could get interesting if Monody approves heh))

The Mighty Templar bowed deeply in respect to Etherburn. "You seem quite capable and it would be good to have you along; we know not what we might face but it is better to strike with a closed fist, therefore, let us face these enemies in a most united fashion." The Templar's voice was deep, steady and seemingly unmoved by the beauty and power that Etherburn displayed.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw movement, he spun to his left in time to see Bladewolf carve up the Penumbra guard with deadly efficiency. "He has great skill," Templar thought, "though he needs discipline and maturity, there is no doubting his power..." Templar walked over to the body and checked out everything about it. He said quietly, "Nothing on him. No keys, no identity cards, nothing. Perhaps it would be better to get into this building through that old air conditioning unit over there..." The Templar pointed to an huge unit in very bad shape on the south roof. "We must think in creative ways to take any advantage we have to enter here, after all, if this one was here at the door then we can assume there would be more down that hall or room the door leads too. What do you two feel about this?"

((WHEW, boy I thought I might be way off base.. cool, I'll get my character ready then.. I hope you dontmind Mr. Grey but I think I will take someone right out of history and do as much justice to that person as I can.. after all, this is fantasy.. I just want to see how folks react as they play along.. it should be cool, I hope.. if not.. well, like any other RP.. I'll do something different.. heh))

(OOC: As I stated earlier, I would assume that a character could even be pulled right out of history.. I still think that would be awesome, someone like an Aristotle or Socrates or Machiavelli etc would be perfect for this setting.. but perhaps other men and women of thought should be mentioned here not just Philosophers and thinkers..
Politicians, Leaders, Activists, Artists, Musicians, Preachers, Teachers, etc could also work well in this setting I would think.. of course I could be entirely off base here.. but it would be a really unique RP for sure..))

((OOC: Its pretty clear to me where Monody is going, but that's because I was one of those on participating on the Philosophical experiment thread. The world this takes place in is diffferent than any other rp world you have ever been a part of... this world and the entity that lords over it can only be effect (or affected) by a person's thoughts and will through Philosophy, Estorical thought, Theological thought, Rational thought, Gnostic thought, etc.. basically, your character would need to be (or even could be if you really know your stuff) a famous (or infamous) Thinker from history (or fiction or what have you or one of yor own creation based on very detailed, deepy thought out characterization) and is here to set the parameters of this world and either assist the entity here alter the world as he/she/it seems fit or rebel completely against it by trying to manipulate the world through high level thought.
This RP would be obviously open but with a caveat, that the player MUST be able to think and act in character in a very serious way. Your character must be someone able to think deeply, profoundly and in very esoteric terms. This would be a very high level RP game of thought vs. counterthought, philosphy vs. philosophy (or theology or rationalism, etc, etc)..
I am on target here Monody or not?

Still a great idea if this group wants to do it...