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  • Locked thread
Robodog
Oct 22, 2004

...how does that work?

It's been about an hour since the last girl has had her private meeting with Ms Frost. Some went straight to their house, others explored the ground. The Home for Wayward Girls sits on a massive square mile plot of lushly forested and expertly manicured land. Surrounded by an elegant and strong twelve foot tall spiked wrought iron fence, the campus gives the impression on a well off college campus. One moderately sized brownstone building occupies the centre of campus, directly behind a minimalist white marble fountain. From your orientation packet, this is the building that your classes will be taking place in. It's currently locked, but anyone looking in the first floor windows can see small cozy rooms that look more like lounges than class rooms. Twelve plush leather chairs are clumped in loose semi circles, surrounding a heavy, well polished desk. Each chair has a small end table next to it. Behind the desk on the wood panelled wall is fifty inch OLED television, which one can only assume to be used in lessons.

Scattered around the main building are the six student houses. Nobody is inside yes, except for the other students poking around. The House Mothers must being in the auditorium getting ready for the Welcome Speech. Entering your house, which the helpfully coloured door tells you is the Blue house, your gaze is drawn to the well appointed living room. Bookshelves crammed with an array of literature line the far wall. A small stereo system rests inside a glowing, zebra-wood cabinet. Above the stone fireplace rests a rather large gold framed mirror, reflecting the entire room. It's seeing the mirror that reminds you of what you don't see. A television.

Moving back out of the living room to the main foyer, you walk straight past a small bathroom under the stair way and into the kitchen. It's modern, if small, a mix of stainless steel and marble. The cabinets, a strange swirled wood that resembles the brown and black marble counter tops, are empty. Looking through the orientation manual you see that all meals are taken in the school's cafeteria. So the kitchen must really just be for after-hour snacking. There's a locked door off of the short hallway leading from the kitchen, which you guess is probably the House Mother's room. Curious as to what your room must look like, you head up stairs only to be met with disappointed. The rooms are well appointed and tastefully decorated. But they are rather small. You couldn't call it a cell, but a twin sized bed, closet, desk (one not nearly as nice as Ms Frost's or the ones you saw in the classrooms) and a window doesn't really seem that great when compared with everything else. And still no television! At least, you think as you open the door leading your own private bathroom, they did install a full sized bathtub.

Finally it's time for the Welcoming Ceremony. You make your way towards the auditorium, a nicely sized building a bit further away from the main building than the dorms. Walking down the cobble stone paths, admiring the decorative shrubbery and the mass of trees in the distance, you can see the gymnasium to one side of the auditorium. The brochure says that inside are tennis courts, a weights room, a swimming pool, a basketball court and even some climbing walls. To the other side is a building that must be the movie theatre. With no TVs, you think that building is probably going to see a lot of action. Falling in step with the other girls, some talking and laughing, others clearly nervous and keeping to themselves, you can't help but feel a little awed. There's about dozens of other girls here, thirty five in all after a quick head count, all filing into the empty seats in the auditorium. All mutants. Some are weird colours or shapes, a couple even have wings! But they're all like you, mutants who got caught up (and caught) in something they maybe shouldn't have. It's comforting, strange and scary all at the same time. And maybe, if you're being honest, a little depressing. After all, you're not that special anymore. Not that unique. Or maybe that's comforting too.

You take a seat, noting that there are a lot more seats than there are students. Looking down onto the stage you see six women, plus the Headmisstress. Ms. Frost, clad in a white pant suit that's just a little too low cut for propriety, is already standing, tapping an impeccably manicured nail on the podium. She says nothing, thinks nothing, but within seconds the assembled girls quiet down. A girl with blue skin near the front lets out a burst of nervous laughter and clamps her hands over her mouth, her skin turning purple in embarrassment.

Oddly, Ms Frost doesn't chastise her, instead gives her a warm smile for the briefest of moments before snapping back into her icy demeanour. “Welcome to the Home for Wayward Girls. I am very glad to see that you have all arrived on time. In our quest to mould you into…” Maybe, just maybe, you detect the slightest hint of sarcasm in this next bit, “…fine upstanding members of society, you will be held to the strictest of schedules. We are not cruel, you will have free time after your classes. But from eight am until seven pm, you will be treated similar to the prisoners you almost were.”

She pauses, her penetrating blue eyes scanning the audience as she lets it sink in that they are still prisoners.

“As such, no one is allowed off the grounds. Several of you have travel powers. If you use them to attempt to leave the campus, you will forfeit your sentence here. Instead, I will personally place a call to Hank Pym and have you shrunk down so that he may place inside one of those ant farms he uses as 'super-prisons'. I am sure that none of you are daft enough to believe that I am, in anyway, joking.” Her tone suggests that anyone who is thinking that may be getting shipped off to the ant farm immediately.

Again, there is a slight warming of her face, her lips twitch in a rare smile. “Now that you know the bad, let me tell you about the good. Myself and the House Mothers will be teaching you not just mundane scholastic subjects, but about yourselves, your powers, and human and mutant society. While you do not have many privileges right now, you will have the chance to earn special rights. Because life, especially for mutants, is a struggle for survival. For acceptance. And only by banding together can we accomplish our goals, whatever they may be.” That sounds ominous.

“You have been grouped into Houses. Your house is your family, your... team, if you prefer the 'superhero' parlance. You will earn points for your house by performing well in your school work, any extra-curricular activities you join; and we will post a schedule for these next week once you have all had time to settle in, as well as your poise and demeanour. Xavier's school may not care if young mutants act like uncultured brats, but I will be holding all of you to a higher standard. So conduct yourselves with dignity, treat your teachers and fellow students with respect and you may well be rewarded for it.”

She pauses, a half smile spreads across her lips and stays there for maybe an entire second this time. “The first prize will be a television set. Accumulate one hundred points for your house and you will earn one. Any house which has not earned the points by next week will lose the opportunity forever, even when they finally pass the one hundred mark. Goals have time tables. It's not enough to want or even know how to gain something, but you must be able to do so in realistic amount of time. You will do well to remember about teamwork. An individual can accomplish much, especially a talented one. But a team of talented individuals, working as a single unit with a single goal, can accomplish much more in much less time.”

Frost relaxes a bit, it's not that she was nervous, you can't even imagine what would make this woman nervous. It's more like she's entered into a more... casual, if the word can be applied to her, state.

“Not only myself, but all of our House Mothers were once like you.” She chuckles. “I'd actually venture a guess that we were 'better' than you as all of us have led a successful career as a 'super-villain'. But we have all come to the side of angels. It was a long, hard road, filled with obstacles that, even now, we have not fully overcome. Fighting side by side with people we once placed in absurdly intricate death-traps or violated in one fashion or another. Let us just say that some of our new allies do not entirely trust us. This is what we are hoping to help you girls avoid. The lack of trust. From your friends, your families, and society at large. If you decide that you want to use your mutant powers to fight for others, then at least we can ensure that you do not face the same distrust and, sometimes, hatred that we have.”

With a slight clearing of her throat, Frost is all business again. “Now. Let me introduce the House Mothers.“

“Leading Blue House is Tabitha 'Slider' Caida.” The woman who stands up is a petite blond with a rumpled, punky hair cut. She looks almost as if she could be a student. She smiles, it looks very natural on her face, and gives a big wave with both hands to the assembled girls. “I'm really happy to have this chance! Go Blue House!” You wonder if your House Mother was a cheerleader at one point.

Ms. Frost shoots Tabitha a very un-genuine smile and continues, “Leading Green House is Zoe 'Crystalina' Ycasiano.”

What you could be forgiven for thinking was an immaculately carved statue of ruby stands. Her voice is beautiful, a harmonic medley of chimes, high and low, that blend together and echo forth into the room. “Green house will perform well, or else I will be very disappointed.”

As she sits back down, Ms. Frost announces the next woman. “The leader of Gold House is Jennifer 'Badger Badger' Lang.”

If Tabitha Caida was petite, Jennifer is minuscule. She has pure white hair cut short against her head and sparkling green eyes. At maybe four foot eight, she hops out of her chair with an unconscious grace. Though even standing she was still shorter than the other sitting House Mothers. “We have a hard time ahead of us Gold House, but I know that if we work together we can do anything!”

“Leading Orange House is Dominga 'Night Serpent' Lopez,” Frost continues after Jennifer Lang hops back into her seat. “I expect Orange House to work hard and come out on top of these challenges.” Dominga is tall with jet back black hair tied loosely behind her, stretching down towards the centre of her back. She caries herself with the relaxed ease of someone who not only knows they can take down everyone around them, but has absolutely no need to prove it.

Dominga settles back into her chair, crossing her legs. “Purple House will be lead by Heather 'Blunt Trauma' Sanders.”

Heather is standing before Frost even finished speaking. She's amazonian in stature, almost eight feet tall, but proportioned like a teenage boy's dream. Something that is clear for all to see in her tight blue and purple 'outfit'. It looks like something almost skimpier than the Headmistress would feel comfortable wearing. But it does show off how well muscled, yet still feminine, her limbs are. “I'm going to do everything I can to make sure you kids follow the rules and don't screw up.” Her voice is not friendly. You're pretty sure you dodged a bullet by not being placed in Purple House.

“Finally, Red House will be lead by Valerie 'Professor Gloom' Gloom,” Ms Frost says after Heather finishes glaring at the crowd and sits down.

Valerie almost seems obscured, looking closely you can see that thin tendrils of shadow are constantly radiating off her body in random patterns. She has black hair and pale skin that is far too thin, she looks like she spends more time in a laboratory than outside. Almost distractedly she rattles off, “Um, Red House! Yes, we will... hmmm. We will be the... be the champions! But don't stomp the bleachers. You'll lose points.”

Ms. Frost just has her eyes shut, almost as if she's praying for Valerie to just disappear. Once the self styled 'Professor' sits back down, after Tabitha gently pulls her back after about a minute of her standing there, silent, blankly staring at nothing in particular, Ms Frost says, with a heavy sigh, “Remember. Teamwork. Respect each other. Work hard. Accomplish your goals. The House Mothers and I have a bit of work to do. We are trusting you to return to your houses. Take this time to get to know each other. Remember, you are now family.”

With that, Frost claps her hands briskly. It's time to go.

Robodog fucked around with this message at 08:13 on Nov 18, 2015

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Robodog
Oct 22, 2004

...how does that work?
TEACHERS

Ms. Emma Frost
- Headmistress
- X-Man
- Psychic & diamond body powers
- Taking special care with Cece
- Away from the school more often than not now
- Not afraid of leveraging her X-Men connections
- Tracking down the people responsible for experimenting on Elly

Ms. Tabitha Caida
- Blue House Mother
- Society tutor
- Friction control
- Nice and eager to help
- Cheerleader
- Had a run in with Hulk, Iron Man; ended up in the Raft
- Hablo Español
- Hurt in an auto accident but seems okay
- Drinks

Ms. Zoe Ycasiano
- Green House Mother
- Maths tutor
- Crystal body powers
- Sing song chime voice
- Wants to help out Crystal
- Ignored by Crystal
- Worked with Magneto in Genosha, tried to help establish and preserve a safe homeland for mutants
- Hablo Español

Ms. Dominga Lopez
- Orange House Mother
- Science tutor
- Actual sciences not crazy super science nonsense
- Grounded and rational
- Vertically split green eyes, other powers maybe?
- Former member of the Brotherhood
- Mutant supremacist
- Hablo Español

Ms. Heather Sanders
- Purple House Mother
- Gym teacher
- Super strength and endurance powers, geomancy
- Former member of the Brotherhood
- Was on Genosha at some point in the past
- Stern, mean, shouty
- Not always mean and shouty?
- Need glasses to read

Ms. Jennifer Lang
- Gold House Mother
- Literature tutor
- Nimble and agile
- Buddhist
- Happy-go-lucky
- Loves the theatrics
- Very protective of her girls
- You don't want to see her when she's actually angry

Professor Valerie Gloom
- Red House Mother
- Powers tutor
- Rules the GloomDome with an iron fist
- Rules the GloomBots with an iron fist
- Gloom powers?
- Robot fetish
- Is crazy?
- Is crazy
- Not as crazy as you think?

SpiderBot / Gail
- Is actually in charge of the GloomDome and school computer / robotics systems
- Not on staff, attaché to Professor Gloom?
- Size of a largeish dog, eight spindly legs
- No face on body
- Is a person?
- Cares about the kids, keeps an eye on Blues


STUDENTS

RED HOUSE

Jean Cooper
- Bird girl
- Head of the house
- Regular fly-dates with Anna

Bo Zhou
- Speedster
- Motormouth and energetic

Alice Maine
- Creates blue objects
- Seems anti-social
- Actually hardly engages with other people at all

Seren Devlin
- Shapeshifter
- Sister to Alyssa
- Loves playing with cats
- Loves being a cat

Samantha Washington
- Lava lamp skin
- Bald
- Healed scars down arms
- Feel comfortable around Anna
- <3 Lenore <3

Gabrielle Rozzo
- Fire controller and hovering on fire clouds
- Goth
- Doesn't give a gently caress

GREEN HOUSE

Adara Abelli
- Light powers
- Head of house
- Does not like Rickie
- Stuck all the way up

Laqueta Freeman
- Sound powers
- Bossy and bitchy
- Has an understanding with Anna

Ana Ruçi
- Perfect physical abilities
- Chatty and nice
- Missing left leg at the knee

Taylor Hafner
- Appraisal powers
- Stares a lot
- Not a talker

Angela Schuttmann
- Won't tell what her powers are. Mutant?
- Totally hot
- Totally does not give a gently caress
- Piercings on her face :rock:
- Like green hair chalk
- Jewish
- Gets on with Rickie

Alyssa Devlin
- Luck powers
- Kinda dismissive
- Sister of Seren

GOLD HOUSE

Tara Spijker
- Metal body and razor sharp hair
- Head of house
- Friendly and eager to help
- Doesn't need food anymore, body isn't affected like a normal body would be
- Loves to cook
- Cooking pals with Crystal

Kirsten Haber
- Beautiful blue skin, purple hair, red eyes, fangs
- Purple hair is a dye job
- A bit scared of herself
- Jewish
- Chatty

Kristin Bachman
- Stretchy powers, malleable body
- Bit of an artist
- Hates her powers
- Jewish
- Has body image issues

Abbie Cruz
- Local reality altering powers (way more complicated than it seems)
- Shy but nice when it comes down to it
- Math ace

Michelle Cardona
- Sees the future powers? Knows stuff powers?? Maybe???
- Space case
- Killed her best friend
- Likes Rickie
- Knows a lot more than she appears to
- Was doppelgänger'd with a robot

Rosa Flores
- Ghost powers
- Insecure and farouche
- Illegal immigrant
- Injured and scarred from incident with RoboMichelle
- Still recovering mentally from falling through to the GloomDome

ORANGE HOUSE

Quadriyyah Nejem
- Power to grow into a tree monster
- Head of house
- Green tint to black hair - due to moss
- Quite smart, especially about literature
- Suspiciously nice!
- Pretty fit, looks like a runner

Kimmy Banerjee
- Force reflection powers
- Pretty upbeat
- Of Indian extraction
- Pretty fit, looks like a swimmer

Willie Maier
- Energy transformation
- Mild chance of nuking the school every time she uses her power
- Red hair and an almost permanent smile
- Energetic and excitable, full of beans
- Bad at maths
- Pretty fit, short and built for gymnastics

Maddy O'Clery
- Orange haired werewolf creature thing powers
- Mischievous eyes
- Bad at maths
- Less inhibited with powers on
- Does not like Lenore
- Does not like Regina
- Pretty fit, wiry muscles like a martial artist

Kaitlyn Kilduff
- 10 wriggly tentacle fingers
- Bit of an artist
- Pretty fit, looks like a runner

Jacquita Benetti
- Super fast and super strong powers
- Likes old fashion men's fashion
- Pretty fit, built for wrestling

PURPLE HOUSE

Jessica Acker
- You don't want to see what her powers are
- Head of house
- Alpha bitch, sociopath
- Seriously does not care about what happens to you
- Cool, calm, collected
- Seems pretty smart
- Don't ask me how she hasn't had her head taken off by Blunt Trauma already

Tess Beauchene
- Lightning powers
- Quick to get her zap on
- Angry in general
- Bitch
- But easy to get on with if you save her from ghosts
- Easy to get a rise from, easy to get on with if there's no problem

Maria Alvarado
- Hair floats when she uses her powers. Hair powers???
- Knows Morse code
- Can detect secrets and hidden things, information control
- Nervous e: VERY nervous
- Scared of other Purples
- Likes art
- Likes Elly!

Aisha White
- Shapeshift and malleable body powers
- Snarky and insulting
- Monroe piercing

Sherri Miejer AKA Princess Explodo-Nut
- Creates spheres of boom
- And is not afraid to use them
- Meanie
- Good at maths
- Likes to hang out with the Oranges
- HATES Sarah, will go out of her way to smash her stupid face in

Jaqueline Hill
- Forcefield powers
- Pretty uninterested in what is going on
- Killed and maimed on the outside, not bothered by it
- Seems to be on Maria's side
- Is anti-getting blown up or set on fire
- Especially if Rickie has anything to do with it


PETS

BLUE HOUSE

Lenore
- Fine feline
- Positive purrer
- Kind kitten
- Roborat romance?
- Roborat revenge!!
- Red House boarder
pre:
HOUSE	POINTS
Blue	| 760
Red	| 450
Gold	| 465
Green	| 425
Purple	| 545
Orange	| 620
TIMETABLE













Robodog fucked around with this message at 02:50 on Dec 24, 2015

Frgrbrgr
Jan 20, 2009
Cecilia Preston



Ms. Frost claps her hand, and the sound resounds within Cecilia as a final period to her life.

Teams. Challenges. Prisons. It was over a year since this whole ordeal had begun, but still it's too much to get used to. On second thought, maybe it's something you just never get used to. Cecilia looks around the room, at girls of various shapes, sizes, colors, and demeanors. One of the girls next to her seemed to be made completely out of crystals. How do you ever get used to that?

Cecilia takes a deep breath, realizing the truth of it. And I killed dozens of people fifteen months ago. She raises her feet onto the chair, wraps her arms around her legs and hugs them close to her chest.

Some of the students around her have already stood up to leave, while others eagerly chat with each other. One girl is talking about why she is in the Home. For stealing some money. She can walk through walls, why the hell shouldn't she have some fun with it, she says aloud. Proud of her powers, ignorant of the harm she could have caused. Cecilia shudders, wondering who else here caused horrors like her. Or maybe, was she the only murderer in the room?

Cecilia lowers her head into her knees, choosing to stare at her shoelaces rather than anywhere else.

pre:

Name: Cecilia
Real Name: Cecilia Preston
Age: 16
Height: 5' 8"
Weight: 116 lbs.
Hair: Black and Frizzy
Eyes: Grey

PL 7
Power Points: 105/110

Abilities:                           20 points
STR 0			 0 points
STA 0			 0 points
AGL 0			 0 points
DEX 0			 0 points
FGT 0			 0 points
INT 5			10 points
AWE 3			 6 points
PRE 2			 4 points

Offense:                                     
Type              Range      Bonus     Damage
Unarmed	          Close       +0        +0   


Defense:                              8 points
Toughness      0 = (0) + [mods]
Fortitude      4 = (2) + 2
Dodge          4 = (2) + 2
Parry          4 = (2) + 2
Will           7 = (5) + 2

Initiative: 0 = AGL + [mods]

Skills:                              34 points
Name                 Total   Abil.  Ranks   PP
Deception             10       2      8      4
Expertise (Writing)   15       5     10      5
Expertise (Internet)  15       5     10      5 
Insight               11       3      8      4 
Intimidation           2       2      0      0
Investigation         13       5      8      4
Perception            11       3      8      4
Persuasion            10       2      8      4
Technology            11       5      6      3
Treatment              7       5      2      1

Advantages:                          13 points
Assessment
Attractive 2
Eidetic Memory
Inspire 5
Leadership
Seize Initiative
Teamwork
Trance

Powers:                              30 points

Write the Future (Affliction 7) - 28+2pp
Total Cost: 4/Rank          Base Cost: 1/Rank
Action: Standard            Resistance: Will
Range: Perception           Duration: Instant
Extras: Cumulative, Range 2          
Flaws: -
Flat Extras: AP Read You like a Book, 
AP Reading the Future
Flat Flaws: No clue it exists (-0pp)
Effects: Save vs dazed/compelled/controlled
Descriptors: Mutant, Mental, Time
Flavor: Cecilia has the power to reach into 
other people's minds and force them down a 
pathway through their actions.

   Mind Reading (Mind Reading 7) - (28pp)
   Total Cost: 4/Rank          Base Cost: 1/Rank
   Action: Standard            Resistance: Will 
   Range: Perception           Duration: Sustained
   Extras: Cumulative, Sensory Link     
   Flaws: -
   Flat Extras: -
   Flat Flaws: No clue it exists (-0pp)
   Effects: Perceive thoughts and memories 
   of the target
   Descriptors: Mutant, Mental, Time
   Flavor: Cecilia's visions can be focused 
   on a single mind, drawing out thoughts 
   and memories


   Read the Future (Senses 1) - (2pp)
   Total Cost: 2/Rank          Base Cost: 1/Rank
   Action: None                Resistance: - 
   Range: Personal             Duration: Permanent
   Extras: -          
   Flaws: Limited (Trance), Limited (Written)
   Flat Extras: -
   Flat Flaws: Reluctant to use (-0pp)
   Thinks she is Death note (-0pp)
   Effects: Visions that see into possible 
   futures
   Descriptors: Mutant, Mental, Time
   Flavor: Cecilia's visions come to her 
   as she is inspired to write, and her hand 
   writes down possible futures

Equipment:                  0 equipment points

Complications:                                

Reluctant to Use Her Powers: Cecilia's use
of her power up to this point has been accidental
and has seemingly resulted in the deaths of many
people. As such, she is extremely reluctant to
make use of them.

Unknown Powers: Due to her reluctance to 
use  her powers, she has several abilities that 
are unknown to her.

Zero Connections: Cecilia's parents and
friends have completely abandoned her as her 
crimes have become known to them. Now at the
school, her shy nature will give her problems in
making new friends.

Crime History: Her face and name have been
splashed on news headlines across the nation as
a girl who murdered dozens. In addition to her
reputation, most criminal databases will list her
as extremely dangerous.


Hero Points: 0

Frgrbrgr fucked around with this message at 00:00 on Mar 20, 2013

Platonicsolid
Nov 17, 2008

Crystal Robinson

God drat reform school. Crystal's half expected to see an ax killer or guys on a panty raid. Perhaps both. It's got that vibe. Five hours in to her stay, Crystal finally see a ray of hope, as she's herded along with the other girls towards the auditorium. Girls of all kinds. Girls with wings. Girls with blue skins. Girls who might have been girls but are now formless blobs.

Crystal's almost thankful, entering the auditorium. She's not the biggest freak here. Is that a thin ray of hope shining through? No. Probably not. Probably some kind of death laser, Crystal decides as she takes a seat. She grumbles through the long, droning talks of the people up on stage, taking glances at the people to her sides. She catches one of them, who looks normal eyeing her. Crystal glares back.

Definitely a death laser.




pre:
Name		Crystal Robinson				
PL		7				
Available	105				
Used		105				
Left		0				
					
Abilities	18				
Abilities	Total	Value	Bonus	Cost	
STR		6	1	5	2	
STA		1	1	0	2	
AGL		1	1	0	2	
DEX		2	2	0	4	
FGT		2	2	0	4	
INT		1	1	0	2	
AWE		0	0	0	0	
PRE		1	1	0	2	
					
Defenses	9				
		Base	Bonuses	Total	Cost	
Dodge		1	0	4	3	
Fortitude	1	0	3	2	
Parry		1	0	3	2	
Toughness	1	5	6	0	
Will		0	0	2	2	
					
					
		Agility	Advantages	Power Mods	Total	
Initiative	1	0		0		1	
					
					
Skills	23				
Skill		Ability	Mod	Ranks	Total	Cost
Acrobatis	AGL	1	5	6	2.5
Athletics	STR	6	2	8	1
Close Combat					
 Unarmed	FGT	2	5	7	2.5
Deception	PRE	1	8	9	4
Expertise					
 Civics		INT	1	2	3	1
 Current Events	INT	1	1	2	0.5
Investigation	INT	1	5	6	2.5
Perception	AWE	0	6	6	3
Persuasion	PRE	1	7	8	3.5
Ranged Combat					
 Light Powers	DEX	2	5	7	2.5
					
Advantages	4				
Advantage	Value	Description			
Daze		1	+2 to Toughness as active defense			
Fascinate	1	Use Persuasion to entrance others			
Power Attack	1	Trade attack bonus for effect bonus			
Precise Shot	1	Ignore cover and fire into melee penalties			
					
Powers	52				
					
Laser Emission					
Damage		7		Total Cost	20		
Cost/Rank	2		Base Cost	1		
Action		Standard	Range		Perception		
Duration	Instant				
Extras		AP: Brightest Day (+1)				
		AP: Broad-Spectrum Beam (+1)				
		AP: E/M Bending (+1)				
		AP: Energy Redirection (+1)				
		AP: Homemade Holograms (+1)				
		AP: Visual Chaff (+1)				
		Increased Range (+2/rank)				
Flaws		Limited: Requires light source (-1/rank)				
Descriptor	Mutation				
					
	Brightest Day				
	Environment	4		Total Cost	12	
	Cost/Rank	3		Base Cost	4	
	Action		Standard	Range		250ft	
	Duration	Sustained			
	Extras		Intense Heat (2/rank)			
			Light (2/rank)			
	Flaws		Limited: Requires light source (-1/rank)			
	Descriptor	Mutation			
	Notes		Can create extreme heat, light up to that of daylight. 
			Can counter darkness effects with a power check
					
	Broad-Spectrum Beam				
	Weaken		7		Total Cost	14	
	Cost/Rank	2		Base Cost	1	
	Action		Standard	Range		Ranged	
	Duration	Instant			
	Extras		Affects Objects (+1/rank)			
			Increased Range (+1/rank)			
	Flaws		Limited: Requires light source (-1/rank)			
	Descriptor	Mutation			
	Notes		Weakens vs. Toughness			
					
	E/M Bending				
	Concealment	4		Total Cost	16	
	Cost/Rank	4		Base Cost	2	
	Action		Free		Range	Personal	
	Duration	Sustained			
	Extras		Affects Others (+1/rank)			
			Area (+1/rank)			
			Selective (+1/rank)			
	Flaws		Limited: Requires light source (-1/rank)			
	Descriptor	Mutation			
	Notes		Concealment from all visual senses			
					
	Energy Redirection				
	Deflect		7		Total Cost	14	
	Cost/Rank	2		Base Cost	1	
	Action		Standard	Range		Ranged	
	Duration	Instant			
	Extras		Reflect (+1/rank)			
			Redirect (+1/rank)			
	Flaws		Limited (Only EM Radiation; -1/rank)			
	Descriptor	Mutation			
	Notes		Concealment from all visual senses			
					
	Homemade Holograms				
	Illusion	7		Total Cost	14	
	Cost/Rank	2		Base Cost	2	
	Action		Standard	Range		Ranged	
	Duration	Instant			
	Extras		Independent (+1/rank)			
	Flaws		Limited: Requires light source (-1/rank)			
	Descriptor	Mutation			
	Notes		Affects all visual senses. Just like mom used to make.			
					
	Visual Chaff				
	Affliction	7		Total Cost	14	
	Cost/Rank	2		Base Cost	1		
	Action		Standard	Range		Ranged	
	Duration	Instant			
	Extras		Cumulative (+1/rank)			
			Ranged (+1/rank)			
	Flaws		Limited: Requires light source (-1/rank)			
	Descriptor	Mutation			
	Notes		Dazed/Stunned/Unaware			
					
Immunity	10	Total Cost	10		
Cost/Rank	1	Base Cost	1		
Action		None	Range		Personal		
Duration	Permanent				
Descriptor	Mutation				
Effects		Life Support – Crystal doesn't need to eat, breathe, and is immune to poisons and diseases
					
					
Crystaline Form					
Protection	5	Total Cost	5		
Total Cost	1	Base Cost	1		
Action		React	Range		Personal		
Duration	Permenant				
Descriptor	Mutation				
					
E/M Senses					
Senses	7		Total Cost	7		
Total Cost	1	Base Cost	1		
Action		None	Range		Personal		
Duration	Permanent
Descriptor	Mutation
Notes		Counters Concealment (vs. Darkness; 2 ranks; visual)				
		Darkvision (2 ranks)				
		Infravision (1 rank)				
		Radio (1 rank)				
		Ultravision (1 rank)				
					
Super-Strength					
Enhanced Trait	5		Total Cost	10		
Total Cost	2		Base Cost	2		
Action		Reaction	Range		Personal		
Duration	Permanent						
Descriptor	Mutation								
Complications

Well-Known Mutant
Okay, fine, everybody at the school's a mutant, big whoop. Even those who can't pass as human enjoy a certain level of anonymity. Anna could probably get confused for Angel, for instance. Crystal? Daughter of a well-known, successful politician, instant viral video star? No, people know her. She's literally become the poster girl for many anti-mutant activists.

Trust Issues
So you're a good, dutiful daughter to your father's career, standing with mom and dad for photo ops and smiling and being good. Then you turn into a mutant, find out dad is banging a mutant, and that mom knows and lets him. That'll gently caress anybody up some! Crystal takes it coming and going. She's taken standard issue teen rebellion and amped it up to 11, lashing out at all kind of authority figures, particularly anybody who might be in loco parentis.

Any Port In a Storm
Crystal's been pushed out by her family and detached from her home and friends. It's made her desperate for some kind of stability in her life. Even while she's lashing out at her betrayers (ie: adults), she's desperate for acceptance to create a surrogate family, replacing the one she lost.

Power Loss: Darkness
The structure of her body acts as and amplifier, not an actual emitter, requiring Crystal to have some source of light to be able to use her light powers.+

Platonicsolid fucked around with this message at 02:24 on Aug 3, 2012

Bieeanshee
Aug 21, 2000

Not keen on keening.


Grimey Drawer
Anna Lee

At the back of the auditorium, Anna tries to squeeze herself into a seat without folding her feathers like origami. Resisting an urge to sit on the back of the seat, to... perch there and stick out like a bruise-blackened thumb, she manages to spread them out along the rear surfaces of nearby backrests. It's not very comfortable, but that discomfort makes her concentrate on the House Mistresses' presentation as if she could make it go by quicker. Points? Jeez, it's like a video game. Achievement unlocked: Television! (20 Gamer Points)'

The schedule is really what catches her hard, though. Eight until seven? Eleven god drat hours? That's crazy! Ms Frost continues, and clarifies. Crazy, maybe; still prison, definitely. Just one where she's treated more like a person than the ones she's seen on TV. This isn't Oz, though she's seen a few girls of different colors.



pre:
Code Name: 
Real Name: Anna Lee
Age: 16
Height: 5'6"
Weight: 110
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Black (feathers)
Skin: Pale white

Power Level: 8
Power Points: 125 


Abilities:			10 points
STR -1		(-1)		-2 points
CON 0		(+0)		points
AGL 0		(+0)		points
DEX 0		(+0)		points
FGT 0		(+0)		points
INT 2		(+2)		4 points
AWE 1		(+1)		2 points
PRE 3		(+3)		6 points

Saves:				27 points
Toughness     	8 = (con) + 0 + Protection
Fortitude	8 = (con) + 8		8 points
Dodge		8 = (agl) + 8		8 points
Will		8 = (awe) + 7		7 points
Parry		4 = (fgt) + 4		4 points

Combat:				0 points
Attack: 			0 points
Reflect +6

Grapple: 
Oh god, no.

Initiative:  
+4


Powers:				52 points	

Probability Control 8		36 points
Total Cost: 4/Rank		Base Cost: 3/Rank
Action:	Reaction (pasv.)	Save: None
Range: Personal			Duration: Instant
Extras: Affects Others (+1/rank)
Power Feats: AP: Blast, AP: Deflection, AP: Move Object, AP: Snare
Effects: Each round, any one of Anna's die rolls has a minimum
result of 7. This effect cannot be used in any turn that an alt
power is used. The effect can be used on a friendly target, by touch.
The... engine of Anna's peculiar powers are strong, but her
understanding of its workings, and her fine control, Sometimes she
perceives 'strings', but has difficulty articulating how they connect.

Catastrophe 8		* points
Total Cost: 3/Rank		Base Cost: 3/Rank
Action:	Standard		Save: Toughness
Range: Perception		Duration: Instant
Extras:	Indirect 4 (+4), Subtle 2 (+2), Variable Descriptor
(Accidents) (+1)
Effects:
Anna twists the threads of causality tightly around a target, 
bringing freak accidents down upon their heads. Only sometimes they trip
over the carpet instead. Fate is funny that way.
(Effect is proportional to the damage inflicted; Dodge vs. DC 18 halves
the damage effect.)

Deflect 8			* points
Total Cost: 2/Rank		Base Cost: 1/Rank
Action: Standard		Save: None
Range: Ranged			Duration: Instant
Extras:	Reflect (+1/rank), Subtle 2 (+2), Accurate +4 (+4)
Effects: Defend others against Dodge and Parry-targeted attacks.
Minimum die roll is 10 (plus 8) on the defense check. Modifiers are standard
for range. Does NOT work on area or Perception-range attacks.
As a free action, can reflect attacks back at the attacker on a successful
Deflect, attacking at +8 and dealing damage as per the attacker's power.
Like Anna's other powers, this one seems to be a subtle manipulation of
luck. It's hard to say though whose luck she's pushing: the person narrowly
missed, or the foe facing an attack that's blown up in their hands.


Move Object 7		* points
Total Cost: 4/Rank		Base Cost: 2/Rank
Action:	Standard		Save: None
Range: Perception		Duration: Sustained
Extras:	Subtle (+1/rank), Precise (+1)
Effects: 35 STR for purposes of moving an object.
Garden-variety psychokinesis, unusual for the fact that Anna exhibits no
other psionic abilities. It may be that her powers all derive from it, but that
her subtler and more profound abilities are channeled reflexively, rather than
controlled consciously.

Snare 8			* points
Total Cost: 4/Rank		Base Cost: 1/Rank
Action:	Standard		Save: None
Range: Perception		Duration: Sustained
Extras:	Perception range (+2/rank), Cumulative Affliction (+1/rank),
Extra Condition (+1/rank), Resisted by Dodge (+0), Limited Degree (-1/rank)
Effects: Restrain a target with sheer foul luck. Dodge vs DC; one degree of
failure leaves target hindered and vulnerable, two leaves target defenseless
and immobilized.
Effect can be broken via Damage or Sleight of Hand-- basically grabbing on and
yanking oneself free of the area.
One of Anna's most spectacular looking powers, this effect is a direct attack
on causality in a limited area. Footing becomes treacherous as friction becomes
spotty, and both sound and light in the area become an eerie murk of Dopplering
flickers, murmurs and shouts as sound and light filter through in globs and
dribbles that show glimpses of fitfully shifting probability strands.

Precognition			2 points
Total Cost: 0.5/Rank		Base Cost: 1/Rank
Action:	None			Save: None
Range: Perception		Duration: Permanent
Extras:	Uncontrolled (-1/rank)
Effects: Limited capacity for perceiving potential futures, triggered by GM fiat.
May require Perception check with DC 15-30 or more, for specific information.
Divination is like particle physics: the act of observing can affect the
ultimate outcome. A successful precognitive episode is something like a Magic Eye
puzzle with a side of synaesthesia, looking without looking, echoes of potential
events filtering through five senses that weren't designed for that kind of
input. That's Anna's take; time will tell if she develops a proper sense and
degree of control over this talent.

Vision (Counters Illusion)	2 points
Total Cost: 1/Rank		Base Cost: 1/Rank
Action:	None			Save: None
Range: Perception		Duration: Permanent
Effects: Automatically succeed on resistance checks vs. visual illusions.
Illusory constructs lack a certain... complexity, or weight, compared to
real entities, according to Anna's deepening awareness of probability. Their
passage isn't fringed with the quantum butterfly's wing effect that physical
or self-willed actors have.

Near Miss 8			8 points
Total Cost: 1/Rank		Base Cost: 1/Rank
Effects: Protection 7.
Anna's powers grant her a charmed life-- charmed, by the standards of people
who engage in superhuman combat on a harrowingly regular basis. Blows tend to
glance, when she doesn't slip and fall under the swing at the last moment, even
when she's immobile and unaware.

Flight 2			4 points
Total Cost: 2/Rank		Base Cost: 2/Rank
Action:	Move			Save: None
Range: Personal			Duration: Sustained
Effects: Fly at up to 25mph on feathered wings.
	
Feats:				4 points
Fascinate (Singing)
Uncanny Dodge
Improved Initiative
Sidekick (Lenore) (kitty) (:3)

Skills:		SKILL	MATH	32 points
Athletics		1	STR + 2		1
Deception		11	PRE + 8		4
Expertise
 - Arcane Lore		4	INT + 2		1
 - Pop Culture		6	INT + 4		2
 - Art			6	INT + 4		2
 - Theo. & Phil.	4	INT + 2		1
Insight			9	AWE + 8		4
Investigation		7	INT + 6		3
Perform
 - Singing		11	PRE + 8		4
Perception		9	AWE + 8		4
Persuasion		15	PRE + 12	6


Drawbacks:			points

Totals:
Attributes: 10
Combat: 0
Saves: 27
Powers: 52
Feats: 4
Skills: 32
Total: 128?
Unspent: 12

Lenore:
STR -4	STA -2	AGL 2	DEX 0	INT -4	AWE 0	PRE 0
Fort: -2	Will: 0		Dodge: 6	Tough: -2	
Advantages:
Evasion 2
Powers:
Low-light vision, Acute Smell, Safe Fall, Shrinking 8 (permanent)
- Size rank -4, -2 STR (included), -1 Speed rank, +4 active defenses, +8 stealth
Skills:
Acrobatics +2 (+4), Persuasion +2

Complications
Obvious Mutant in America
While not a cause for real concern on school grounds Anna's wings, and to a lesser extent her claws and the occasional feather growing through her hair, mark her as something well outside the human norm. If they were white, she might have been able to pass herself off as an angel. No such luck.
Developmental Difficulties
Anna's powers have only recently manifested, and with them have come striking changes in her body. The wings are most obvious, but small feathers have sprouted on her scalp, and her feet are reshaping into something like those of a bird of prey. Being a girl with bird bits is cool --she can fly, after all-- but what if the changes don't stop there?
Something Wyrd
More than one mythology describes women with the ability to control fate by means of 'weaving' and otherwise manipulating strands of the stuff. Two of the pantheons containing such women are known to be very real. Is Anna somehow related to them? It's vastly more likely that her mutant power is just that, a mutation that lets her observe and pluck at the webwork of causality, but likelihoods have a way of skewing around her...

Hero Points: 4

Bieeanshee fucked around with this message at 01:10 on Oct 29, 2015

I Am Fowl
Mar 8, 2008

nononononono
Tara Anancillo

1...2...3...And she sticks the landing! The dragonfly hovering outside must be impressed. Or hungry. Or filled with ennui. So difficult to tell with those eyes.

She came to Frost's with little more than what she's wearing, her simple button-up blouse and jeans and a few extra sets of clothing she was given during her months of therapy leading since being released from the detention facility. Tara stares off into the distance, her mind very much elsewhere. Right now her mind, or, strictly speaking, a portion of the mass of her left earlobe is currently invested in building a spiderweb high up in the hall, near a window where it will catch the light. A simple, naturalistic spiral design, no "Some Pig"s yet, she needs time to build up to that.

She sighs as her spider lays down another mooring line. She knows she really should be paying more attention. Something about points and a TV? She never really watched TV--her parents pretty much locked it up when there wasn't a gymnastics tournament she needed to see, or the evening news. Wait, what was that about Blue House?

Suddenly, everyone is going around and grouping up. Are they getting into Houses or something? Oh poo poo poo poo poo poo! Tara jumps out of her seat. Alright, calm down. You just spaced out for a bit. Did Ms. Frost say anything about where to meet your housemates or who they were? Ugh...Her stomach feels like its trying to crawl up out of her throat. Which isn't entirely unlikely. She's not really made of human bit anymore, mostly just spiderstuff, so when she gets butterflies in her stomach, they're probably tarantulas. Oh, yeah, definitely tarantulas. She's beginning to sweat little spiders as she looks around.

"That's it." I'm better than this. Months of therapy and she should at least be able to handle a little orientation. She explodes into thousands upon thousands of little spiders; body, clothes, and all, erupting into the air. They quickly make their way up to the backs of chairs, and they call out in their little keening voices. "Blue House! We're Tara. Meet me at the back of the auditorium." The eerie black mass hops from chair to chair and crawls across the floor, making its way towards the back.

OH GOD SPIDERS



pre:
Name: Tara Anancillo
Code Name: Spiders-Girl
Age: 16
Description: Dark brown hair and eyes, light olive complexion. Delicate features.

Hero Points: 4

PL8
PP: 2/130
XP: 24

Abilities: [24 pp]
		Value		Cost
STR		0
STA		+1		2
AGL		+3		6
DEX		+3		6
FGT		+1		2
INT		+2		4
AWE		+2		4
PRE		0

Defenses:
		Base		Bonus		Total
Dodge		+3		+3		+6
Fortitude	+1
Parry		+1
Toughness	+1		+3		+4
Will		+2

Offense:
Melee			+1
	Unarmed		+3
Ranged			+3
	Throwing	+7

Initiative: +3

Skills: [23 pp]
			Ability		Bonus		Ranks		Total		Cost
Acrobatics		AGL		+3		7		+10		3.5
Athletics		STR		+0		6		+6		3
Close Combat: UA	FGT		+1		3		+4		1.5
Insight			AWE		+2		2		+4		1
Intimidation		PRE		+0		10		+10		5
Perception		AWE		+2		2		+4		1
Ranged Combat:
	Throwing	DEX		+3		5		+8		2.5
Sleight of Hand		DEX		+3		2		+5		1
Stealth			AGL		+3		7		+10		3.5

Advantages: [10pp]
1pp – Agile Feint
1pp – Daze: Intimidate
1pp – Evasion: +2 to avoid area effects
1pp – Fearless
1pp – Hide in Plain Sight
1pp – Improved Trip
1pp - Languages: Spanish
3pp – Throwing Mastery +3

Powers: [69 pp]
2pp – Comprehend: Animals (Rank 2)
	Flaw: Type – Insects Only
7pp – Weave (Create 3)
	Extras: Precise (Flat +1), Permanent (+0)
3pp – Spider Defenses (Enhanced Dodge 3)
1pp – Antidote (Feature (Rank 1)): With a touch, Tara can administer the antidote 
	to any of her poisons. You’ll just feel a little pinch...
1pp – Venom from the Rare Howsers’ Tarantula (Healing 1)
	Flaw: Limited to Others
1pp – Immunity (Rank 1): Poison
12pp – Alt Form: Tara disintegrates into a swarm of arachnids
	Flaw: Move Action
	Insubstantial: Gaseous (Rank 2): Tara can disintegrate into a swarm of arachnids
		Extra: Precise – Can affect only portions of her body if she wants to
	Concealment (Visual, Normal Sight, Rank 2)
		Flaw: Blending
4pp – Movement (Rank 2): Wall Crawling (Full Speed)
3pp – Arachnid Armor (Protection 3): When ready, her spidermass can act as an ablative armor
5pp – Regeneration (Rank 5): Since Tara is mostly made of spiders now; it’s pretty easy to heal.
	Heals one -1 Toughness penalty every other round
4pp – Remote Sensing: Sight & Sound (Rank 4): Range of 500 feet
	Flaw: Medium – Spiders
2pp – Senses (Rank 2): Darkvision
25pp – Weaken (Fort, Rank 7): Tara, being made of spiders, is rich in a wide variety of poisons
	[3pp/rank]
	Extra: Broad (Abilities) – Can choose what ability she wishes to debilitate
	Extra: Ranged – She can chuck a spider at her victim
	Extra: Incurable – Must recover naturally, unless Tara administers her Antidote
	Alt Power: Summon Spiders (Affliction, Rank 7, Will Resist): Dazed/Stunned/Paralyzed
		Extra: Perception
		Tara summons a horde of spiders to terrify her target
	Alt Power: Venom (Blast 8): She throws a spider bearing a straightforward, 
	debilitative venom, designed to knock out her victim.
	AP: Bite of the Elusive Sri Lankan Sleeping Bag Spider (Affliction 8)
		Fatigued/Exhausted/Asleep, Fortitude Resist, Close Range
		Extras: Cumulative

Complications:

“My Hand Fell Off and Turned Into Spiders” – The emergence of Tara’s powers was 
particularly traumatic and has since left her scarred. She makes weekly—at the very 
least—visits to the school therapist and even though she is no longer catatonic or 
hiding out in abandoned playhouses, she’s far from her best.

Motivation: “L'art pour l'art” – Her real motivation is to try and get things under 
control enough so that she can go to a real art school—any badguys bashed along the 
way are just a bonus. I wonder if there are any scholarships for superheroing...

I Am Fowl fucked around with this message at 20:10 on May 17, 2014

Robodog
Oct 22, 2004

...how does that work?
What's the best way to send 30 odd girls into hysterics? By covering the floor in thousands upon thousands upon thousands of tiny little spiders, it turns out. Some girls had found their houses already and were out of the auditorium, but more than a few were still inside. And upon seeing the black wave of spiders crawl across auditorium, from front to back at an inexorable crawl, most of those who hadn't left already proceed to do so at some pace. And with much screaming. A few stay in the building still though, perhaps hearing the tiny trill of the bugs and being more perplexed than anything as the mass makes its way to the back of the hall.

I Am Fowl
Mar 8, 2008

nononononono
Tara

Gradually, Tara reforms into a dark, humanoid mass with a pair of black widows for eyes. She looks at the chaos and can do nothing but cross her arms and sigh. "BLUE! HOUSE!" She calls out again as she begins to realize her error. It all comes down to math. If you have just a little fear of creepy crawlies, and you multiply that times the weight of a sixteen-year old gymnast in spiders, disperse those across and auditorium, things get hairy. Clothes reappear as the spidermass condenses into healthy human flesh and she returns to her normal form. She doesn't ask how they do it. She's afraid that if she does, she'll come back naked next time she disintegrates. She flushes red with embarrassment. Great, you've turned a little anxiety into a fullblown incident, good job.

At least you haven't poisoned anyone. Yet.

Frgrbrgr
Jan 20, 2009
Cecilia

After a few moments of regaining her composure, Cecilia lifts her head...

... only to be met with the piercing gaze of the crystalline figure next to her. She quickly diverts her gaze back to her shoelaces. You've really done it now. Already made an enemy.

A scream disrupts her brooding, and she again looks up, this time to a much worse sight. Thousands of spiders are crawling across the floor, and girls are jumping up onto chairs to get out of their way. As one crawls under her seat, it shouts up at Cecilia about heading to the back if she was in Blue House.

Cecilia pulls her orientation packet, dreading the color of her house. Blue text stared back up at her, and she folds back up the packet. Well, at least the spiders are friendly...

With her neighbor still staring daggers into her, Cecilia hustles out into the aisle and heads toward the morphing spider-girl in the back corner. Cecilia reaches up and pats down her hair a bit as she approaches, though it makes no visible difference to the frizzy mess. "Uh... hi," she adds sheepishly.

Bieeanshee
Aug 21, 2000

Not keen on keening.


Grimey Drawer
Anna

Grumble. Mutter. Half a day in classes! Probably won't let her fly. Going to have to ask, she admits to herself. Maybe they'll have something goofy set up in the gym. While she considers these things, and debates going straight to the house and waiting or trying to find her other housemates. That's about when all Hell breaks loose.

Anna stays right where she is. It was her fault, the last time chaos ensued in an auditorium she was in, so she doesn't want to give anyone the idea that it's her doing it this time. Not that Ms. Frost couldn't verify the truth with a glance, but rumors are something else. Rumors don't give a gently caress for truth. Besides, getting a wing tangled up in people running past would be bad.

With most of the other students dispersing post-haste, Anna gets a good look at the creeping carpet as it climbs up and down the sides of chairs. It makes her think of waves at the beach coming in, only with black edges instead of whitecaps. A fringe of black rises on the back of the seat in front of her, like weirdly waving lint, and tells her that they're someone named Tara. Tara, from Blue House.

Great. The panic isn't her fault, but she's still going to be complicit.

When the spiders have passed (she wouldn't want to step on any of them, that's just clumsy and cruel), and things have subsided to an echo of a roar, the goth detangles herself from the chairs and makes the short trip even further back to the back of the auditorium.

"And I thought I had 'spookiest girl in the school' in the bag," Anna says as she joins Tara and Cecilia. She offers a brief, wry smile. "I'm Anna. Bloo house."

Dareon
Apr 6, 2009

by vyelkin
Patricia Asher

After a thorough exploration of the grounds, Rickie felt okay only paying half attention to Ms. Frost's introductory spiel. Can't leave, got it. Work together, got it. Ten points for Gryffindor, got it. Wait, did she say supervillains? Oh boy, Fox is going to have a field day with this. Well, that's a reason to work for that TV. Slider, Slider... I should know that name. Something to do with the Hulk? And we're Blue House, so it's more like we're Hufflepuffs. Or was it Ravenclaw? I can never keep those two straight.

As Emma wraps up and the girls start to filter out, Rickie remains spacing out until a spider pops up next to her and proclaims itself to be Tara. And in her house. Momentarily stunned, the artist simply follows it as it joins a whole HELL of a lot more spiders to turn into a girl.

"That..." She pauses just long enough for Tara to get nervous, with theater-perfect timing, "Is SO COOL!"

"Blue House! Blue House? Blue House." She points at each of the girls in turn, then holds up a hand for a high-five. Five hands, in fact, each except for her normal hand a different bright color.

"I'm Patricia. Call me Rickie."

---

pre:
Name: Patricia Asher (Feeling colorful)
Age: 16
Height: 4' 10"
Weight: 147 lbs.
Eyes: Hazel
Hair: Brown
Skin: Caucasian

PL 9
Power Points: 134/135
Abl 26 + Def 15 + Skl 38 + Adv 12 + Pwr 43 = 134

Abilities:			26 points
STR 1			2 points
STA 2			4 points
AGL 2			4 points
DEX 2			4 points
FGT 0			0 points
INT 2			4 points
AWE 1			2 points
PRE 3			6 points

Offence:
Initiative: +2
Melee +0
Ranged +3


Defence:				15 points
Toughness     	+9/2 = (sta) + 0 (+7 Defensive Roll)
Fortitude	+6 = (sta) + 4
Dodge		+7 = (agl) + 5
Parry		+0 = (fgt) + 0
Will		+7 = (awe) + 6




Skills:				38 points
Name				Total	Rnk	PP
Acrobatics			+6	4	2
Deception			+17	14	7
Expertise
	Art			+14	12	6
	Current Events		+6	4	2
	Pop Culture		+10	8	4
	Theater			+6	4	2
Insight				+7	6	3
Perception			+12	11	5½
Persuasion			+13	10	5
Ranged Combat (Splat!)		+5	3	1½


Advantages:				12 points
Daze (Deception)
Defensive Roll 7
Ranged Attack 2
Set-Up
Taunt


Powers:				43 points

Illusion (Visual) 9 Ranks		40 points
Color Control
Total Cost: 4/Rank+4		Base Cost: 2/Rank
Action:	Standard		Save: Will (DC 18)
Range: Perception		Duration: Concentration
Extras: Illusion Area (15-ft. diameter), Alt. Power 3, Independent
Effects: Patricia produces a crystalline pigment solution from
	her sweat glands.  She has complete mental control 
	over the crystalline structure, able to alter its 
	color and position freely. Keeping a tight telekinetic 
	hold on her pigment allows Rickie to spread it through the 
	air, forming very realistic scenes and creations that have 
	about the consistency of thick fog.

	Alt. Power: Affliction 9 Ranks
Splat!
Total Cost: 3/Rank+2		Base Cost: 2/Rank
Action:	Standard		Save: Fortitude (Staged) (DC 18)
Range: Ranged			Duration: Instant (Lasting)
Extras: Accurate, Increased Range, Homing 2
Flaws: Limited Degree
Effects: Dazed, Stunned
Effects: Patricia throws a blob of pigment with the force of
	a powerful water balloon.  If it misses, she has enough
	telekinetic control over it to make it loop back and
	try again twice before she loses her "grip".

	Alt. Power: Affliction 9 Ranks
Eyeshadow
Total Cost: 2/Rank+1		Base Cost: 2/Rank
Action:	Standard		Save: Dodge (Staged) (DC 18)
Range: Ranged			Duration: Instant (Lasting)
Extras: Increased Range, Alternate Resistance (Dodge), Reversible
Flaws: Limited Degree
Effects: Vision Impaired, Vision Disabled
Effects: Normally Patricia is careful enough to leave the eyes
	of anyone she paints uncovered, but covering them with
	opaque pigment can be useful on occasion.

	Alt. Power: Concealment (Normal Vision) 2 Ranks
Chameleon
Total Cost: 2/Rank+1		Base Cost: 2/Rank
Action:	Free			Save: None
Range: Personal/Touch		Duration: Sustained
Extras: Affects Others, Precise
Flaws: Blending
Effects: By coating herself or others in her pigment, Patricia
	can carefully paint them to match the background.  Works
	best if they stay near a wall so there aren't several
	people at different angles to deal with.  It's also not
	very comfortable.

	Alt. Power: Concealment (Normal Vision) 2 ranks
Blackout Curtain
Total Cost: 4/Rank		Base Cost: 2/Rank
Action:	Standard		Save: None/Dodge
Range:	Personal		Duration: Sustained
Extras: Burst Area 2, Attack
Flaws: Side Effect (Affects Self, -2)
Effects: Radius 60 ft
Effects: Rickie can simply create a dome of opaque pigment to
	block out all available light, painting over light sources
	within the area as well.  The downside is, she can't see
	in it any better than a normal person could.

EXPLOSIONS!
Damage 10		26 pp (actual cost: 1 pt)
Total cost: 3/rank-4	Base cost: 1/Rank
Action: Standard	Resistance: Toughness
Range: Ranged		Duration: Instant
Extras: Cloud area +2/rank, Range +1/rank
Flaws: Uncontrollable -1/rank
Flat Flaws: Diminished Range -3, Quirk (Needs strong outside heat-source to ignite it) -1
Effects: Dodge DC20 to half rank
Descriptions: 30ft cloud area inferno anywhere within 100ft

	Alt.Power: Damage 7 Ranks [Fire]
Napalm Overcoat
Total cost: 3/rank+3	Base cost: 1/Rank
Action: Standard	Resistance: Toughness (DC 22)
Range: Ranged		Duration: Instant
Extras: Triggered, Increased Range, Secondary Effect, Accurate 2.
Trigger: When someone is hit with a fire attack.
Effects: Rickie saturates the battlefield with enough pigment that use of lasers
	or fire may result in secondary ignitions on the targets.
	This may include herself.

Move Object 1 Rank			2 points
Total Cost: 2/Rank		Base Cost: 2/Rank
Action:	Standard		Save: None/Dodge
Range: Ranged			Duration: Concentration
Effects: 100 pounds capacity, attacks as with STR 1
Effects: By coating an object in pigment and then lifting the pigment,
	Rickie can, with difficulty, mimic telekinesis.  While the ability
	has the potential to become more powerful, Rickie needs more practice
	before she can handle anything heavier than a few pounds.


Complications:
Motivation: Acceptance
Prejudice: Teenage Mutant In America


PL 8: Illusion +1 rank +Independent (11) (APs boosted to PL8), STA +1 (2), Ranged Attack 1 (1), Move Object rank 1 (2)

PL 9: Illusion +1 rank (4) (APs boosted to PL9), STA +1 (2), Ranged Attack 1 (1), Insight +6 (3), Deception +2 (1), Persuasion +2 (1), added Precise to Chameleon, added Reversible to Eyeshadow, changed Environment (Vision) to Area Concealment and made it an AP of Illusion, slightly raised Move Object's RP weight limit, new power: Napalm Overcoat (1).

Dareon fucked around with this message at 05:19 on Jun 9, 2015

I Am Fowl
Mar 8, 2008

nononononono
Tara

"Yeah...I don't think you need to worry after that, Anna. Being made of spiders trumps 'bird' for spookiness," she says with a smile. "I'm Tara. Tara Anancillo. Sorry about all that, guess I kind of had a little freak out there." She plays a bit with a whorl of her hair and noticing a fat brown recluse, tries to flick it off, but it simply melts back into her hand. "Oh, guess that was probably one of mine..."

Tara's taken aback by Rickie's enthusiasm, but at least she isn't weirded out by the spider thing. Actually...she's a bit too enthusiastic. She awkwardly high fives her, "Um, thanks. Your color...hand...thing is cool too. What is it?"

I Am Fowl fucked around with this message at 20:16 on Aug 3, 2012

Dareon
Apr 6, 2009

by vyelkin
Rickie

"Technically? Sweat." She lets the hands melt as each girl makes contact or ignores them at their option, "I call it my pigment just to avoid grossing people out, but it comes from the same areas, it's icky, and it gives me B.O., so it's sweat." as she talks, she forms the pigment into a small bird that hops around on top of her hat. "There's some crystalline structure in it, and that's actually what I control. color, position, all that."

Frgrbrgr
Jan 20, 2009
Cecilia

Her greeting to the spider-girl (Tara?) is quickly forgotten as the more-impressive Anna and Rickie make their arrivals, gratefully overshadowing Cecilia. She awkwardly slaps the hand of Rickie, then backs up out of the circle and leans against the wall, watching the three of them interact.

They seem to be... happy about their powers. Happy, at least, to share with others who were strange like they were.

But they aren't like me. They wear their mutations proudly, for everyone to see. Powers that come with neat tricks and fun side effects. I look normal, but I'm probably the most dangerous out of all of them. If they knew what I could do, they would be horrified.

--

She's in a bad place.

Staggy
Mar 20, 2008

Said little bitch, you can't fuck with me if you wanted to
These expensive
These is red bottoms
These is bloody shoes


Sarah Simmons

Sarah had remained in her cell longer than she was sure was necessary. The old-fashioned, solid metal doors had meant that even her new powers were useless. Not to mention a bad idea - she'd pissed off Wall Street enough. Case in point: she was here. "School". Hell, even this Frost woman had had the decency to admit it was a prison. And as far as Sarah was concerned (although an objective observer would probably laugh pretty hard, and then disagree) she was a political prisoner.

The opening speech was certainly dull enough to count as punishment. On the off chance it would ever be important, a part of her was recording the whole thing to Me://Documents/Boring crap that I will never ever need/OpeningSpeech.mp3. She was more focused on a bit of Coldplay. She knew that hearing music in your head was a good sign of mental illness, but figured there was probably an exception for streaming it from the iPod in your pocket.

The end of the speech was certainly welcome - and luckily she stayed in her seat just long enough to avoid the frightened stampede. Talking spiders? Well, they were pretty friendly. And she was in blue house too, so... great?

Standing up and stretching out her arms, she follows the last trailing arachnids up to the back of the room, and joins the small circle of girls there. She hesitates a moment when she hears what the hands are made of, but then toughens up and shakes the one nearest to her.

"Hey", she says. "I'm Sarah."

She points at each of them in turn. "Rickie, Tara, Anna, Cecilia - right?" Her attempt at a smile turns into a frown. "Shouldn't there be one more person?"



pre:
Full Name: Sarah Simmons
Age: 18
Gender: Female duh 

PL: 8
PP: 122/141 (19 spare)

Abilities:			[16]
Strength                1	[ 2]
Agility 	        2	[ 4]
Fighting 	        0 			 	
Awareness 	        0 			 
Stamina 	        1	[ 2]
Dexterity 	        2	[ 4]
Intelligence 	        2	[ 4]
Presence 	        0 			 

Offense:                        
Grab                    0
Throw                   2 
Unarmed                 0

Defense:                        [ 11]
Dodge             +5 =  7       [ 5]
Parry             +3 =  3       [ 3]
Fortitude               1
Toughness               3/1     
+2 from Defensive Roll 2
Will              +3 =  3       [ 3]

Initiative:             2

Skills:		  	        [20]
Acrobatics        +5 =  7 	[ 2.5]
Athletics         +5 =  6 	[ 2.5]
Deception         +7 =  7 	[ 3.5]
Insight           +2 =  2 	[ 1]	 
Investigation     +3 =  5 	[ 1.5]
Perception        +7 =  7 	[ 3.5]
Persuasion        +7 =  7 	[ 3.5]
Ranged Combat           2 	        
Stealth           +2 =  4 	[ 1]
Technology        +2 =  14/4 	[ 1] 

Advantages: 		        [ 6]
Benefit, Ambidexterity
Benefit, Human USB
Sarah can store data in her memory, so that it can be transferred between machines.
Defensive Roll 2
Eidetic Memory
Inventor
Move by Action
Skill Mastery: Technology
Gained from Data Link.

Powers:			        [64]
Data Link		        [13]
Enhanced Tech (+10), Enhanced Skill Mastery (Tech)
Increased Range 2 (Perception), Subtle 1
Limited: Electronics
Data Search	                [16]
Mind Reading 5
Cumulative, Effortless, Sensory Link, Subtle 1
Feedback, Limited (Electronics)
Digital Mind                    [ 4]
Comprehend 2 (Electronics)
Digital Awareness               [ 3]
Sense 3 (Electronics 2, Extended 1)
 (-1 at 100 feet, etc.)
Radio Scanner	                [ 6]
Communication 1 (Radio), Senses 1 (Radio)
Area
Technological Mimicry		[12]
Variable 2
Limited (Electronics - Requires study)
Forced Shutdown	                [14]
Nullify 7 (Electronics)
Increased Range (Perception)

Complications
Motivation: Justice
Sarah has a well developed sense of what is "right", and what is "wrong". She has
 a strong devotion to The Cause - although what exactly constitutes "The Cause" is
 a rather fluid definition. Child labor, Free Tibet, the Occupy movement...
 Sarah's focus has shifted over time, but she always manages to keep a small part
 of each fight she's moved on from. The end result is a wide view towards how the
 world is, and how it should be - both on an individual and global scale. 
Weakness: Digital Attacks
Sarah is a machine - but still only a biological one. This offers a degree of
 protection to her - EMPs, for example, affect her no more than any other person.
 Even a hacker would have trouble against her, as their attacks are guided by a
 human, and therefore of biological conception. However, purely digital entities -
 such as computer viruses or AIs - are wholly alien to Sarah. With no "immune
 system" to fight them off, they have the potential to wreak havoc with her mind,
 memories and body if she isn't careful.
pre:
Currently Mimicking: None
PP: 0/10 (10 Remaining)
Effects:
- None
pre:
Current HP: 5
Current Status: None

Staggy fucked around with this message at 23:07 on Jul 11, 2015

Robodog
Oct 22, 2004

...how does that work?
Though not all the other girls had been chased out by spiders, it was made clear that they were looking for Blue House. And, not being in Blue House, they had decided to leave the hall to them anyway. This leaves the five girls at the back, and one girl still sitting in her seat closer to the stage. It might be a bit obvious to Sarah now who the sixth member of the house was.

Platonicsolid
Nov 17, 2008

Crystal

Holy poo poo, spiders! Crystal's not exactly a stranger to all that "nature" and "outdoors" stuff. Daddy had to own a range, practically a requirement for office, and spiders weren't really something to worry about. Snakes, stampedes, Dallas traffic, all legit things to worry about. Not spiders. Spider hordes? That gets even Crystal up out of her seat, turning around with her hinder on the seat back, her feet on the arms of the seat behind it, clear of any spiders that might come up under her.

"Blue house?" she asks, a faint twang in her voice. "I'm your last," she says. Crystal thumps her feet to the ground and tramps up to the back of the auditorium to join them.

Frgrbrgr
Jan 20, 2009
Cecilia

She looks up to greet the last two members of her House, then immediately looks back down at her feet. It's that shiny girl...

Staggy
Mar 20, 2008

Said little bitch, you can't fuck with me if you wanted to
These expensive
These is red bottoms
These is bloody shoes


Sarah

"Right, hi." So that made two of them who were... unconventional, in the looks departments. Plus Tara and Rickie with the flashy, obvious abilities - and potentially Cecilia. Unexpectedly, Sarah felt a tad boring, of all things.

"So... go Blue House?" She grins. "Was our 'Mother' enthusiastic or what?"

Dareon
Apr 6, 2009

by vyelkin
Rickie

"Yeah, not what I expected from a supervillain at all. You know, I heard she managed to beat up the Hulk?"

Bieeanshee
Aug 21, 2000

Not keen on keening.


Grimey Drawer
Anna

"I meant the 'goth' thing," Anna tells Tara, though her long flight feathers spread out like fingers. The goth thing, and being able to make accidents happen, but there isn't any point in comparing levels of hosed-upedness. They all hosed up, that's why they're here.

She'd ruminate more on the topic, but one of the other girls (Patricia) (Rickie!) just held up a whole bunch of high-fives, all but one hanging in midair like a handprint on glass. Anna reaches up and gently high-fives one (bright yellow), not wanting to look like an idiot if it's just an illusion, nor wanting to smash it if it's real. And finding out it's some kind of liquid crystal sweat makes her really glad she didn't touch it for too long.

"Blue House, Anna," she nods, and again, not wanting to think about Rickie's floating funk-- which doesn't really smell, and does look pretty cool-- and instead trying to get a handle on the other girls. Pretty disparate group: Cecilia looks like she wants to crawl under the carpet, and Tara seems nice... but the trick that emptied the auditorium? Girl's going to need some lessons in subtlety. And that's coming from a drammy! Sarah seems nice, and Crystal-- huh. She's never met somebody from that far south of the Mason-Dixon line.

"Ms. Slider? You just know she was on the cheer squad in-- the Hulk? Really?"

Staggy
Mar 20, 2008

Said little bitch, you can't fuck with me if you wanted to
These expensive
These is red bottoms
These is bloody shoes


Sarah

"The Hulk?" Sarah's jaw drops. "Bull. poo poo. What'd she do, cheer him into submission?"

Well if that was true, it certainly explained why the 'school' was so confident on gathering them all together. Anyone who could bring down the freaking Hulk would have no problem with the lot of them - speaking of which...

"So..." She paused, unsure of how to go on. "I guess you might as well know, I can talk to machines. Phones, computers, all that stuff. I mean, it's not as obvious as wings and spiders and stuff. They're cool, by the way."

Awkward.

"Anyway..." She nodded her head towards the door. "We gonna go? Probably nicer to talk over in the House."

I Am Fowl
Mar 8, 2008

nononononono
Tara

"Cool..." Her eyes glaze over as the others talk about powers, getting that thousand-yard stare. "My hand fell off and crawled away from me. When I caught up to it, it just melted away into the shadows..." Tara is gripping her right arm tightly, seeming to look at it but really she is very, very far away.

"Oh, sorry--You can talk to computers? Do they have much of a personality? I can chat with bugs but for the most part they aren't that interesting. And yeah, going to the House sounds good."

Platonicsolid
Nov 17, 2008

Crystal

The Texan stands in the group, hips slightly forward, hands shoved in her pockets. She's focused in on Sarah and Cecilia in particular, even as the others chatter about. "Might 's well head back," she says. "Not much for us here," she says, her voice getting twangier. Add some acoustic guitar....

That's neither here nor there. The crystalline slab in human form looks...tense, quite a neat trick for her. Shoulders hunched, hand still deep in her pockets. She presses her lips into a line and shakes her head faintly. "How'd I get stuck with y'all?" she whispers. At least nobody's recognized her yet.

Frgrbrgr
Jan 20, 2009
Cecilia

Cecilia watches silently as the others converse. Sarah, the only other normal-looking one, apparently can talk to computers or something. Everyone here is so strange, so different from the kids back home. Even Crystal... but she looks offput as well. Perhaps I've misjudged her. She looks just as awkward as I do. In fact...

They might look different, but they act the same. The outgoing ones, the shy ones, the scared ones. And me.


The other begin talking about heading back to the House. Cecilia pushes off the wall and pats down her hair. She clears her throat to voice her agreement on returning to the dorms, but the words get caught in her throat and she coughs instead, flushing red.

Bieeanshee
Aug 21, 2000

Not keen on keening.


Grimey Drawer
Anna

Talks to computers. Wait, do they talk back? The thought that they might take offense to being called 'you stupid thing' will give Anna pause the next time one throws an error while she's working on an essay. And Tara's hand fell off and crawled away? She's probably here because that scared somebody into a heart attack.

Cecilia and Crystal don't seem like they want to talk about why they're here, and Anna isn't going to pry. Guessing from their House Mistress's display on stage, they're going to have some 'round the room introduction stuff when they get to the house. That'll be a whole boatload of fun.

"Yeah, we might as well. Don't want--" Cecilia starts coughing, and Anna gives her a look of concern that peeks out from behind feigned annoyance. "You going to be okay, Wallflower?" she asks, ready to deliver a clap on the back if it looks like the other girl's swallowed her tongue or something.

Frgrbrgr
Jan 20, 2009
Cecilia

Cecilia's coughing fit luckily stops as Anna surges forward to help her. Cecilia shies away from the winged girl, half out of unease with a large-winged girl approaching her, and half just out of unease with human contact period. She avoids eye contact with Anna, mumbling out a timid, "No, I'm fine."

"Thanks," she adds, attempting to undo the likely harm her shying away has caused. I'm not scared of her, just... what have I gotten myself into?

Cecilia eyes the door, "We should head to the dorms."

Robodog
Oct 22, 2004

...how does that work?
With the resounding meep from Cecilia, the decision is reached to get back to the house and continue any further introductions there. Directly outside the auditorium there are a few scuff marks in the grass alongside the path. And a couple of scorch marks in the path itself. Possibly a result from the earlier stampede to escape the mass of spiders. But besides this there are no signs of the other houses outside, the other girls must have had the same idea to go investigate their houses. Or wanted to go check out the classrooms or facilities a little closer. Some voices can be heard echoing out across the courtyard, but Blue House reach Blue House without meeting another house.

The girls find that the house is still as empty as it was when they each popped their head in earlier, evidently the House Mothers are still meeting with Ms. Frost. The well appointed living room strikes the group once again as they enter, very much putting gilded in gilded cage. In the middle of the room is a large sofa and a couple of single seats, all looking very much in style with the rest of the living room and quite comfy. Those that check out the book shelf (Cecilia) find it filled with classical literature spanning every culture on earth that has produced books of some type or another. Though the zebrawood cabinet housing the stereo only serves to emphasise the lack of a television.

Robodog fucked around with this message at 08:48 on Aug 22, 2012

Frgrbrgr
Jan 20, 2009
Cecilia

Cecilia spends the walk back to the dorms in silence. The cold night air feels refreshing, much different from the stuffy atmosphere of the various holding cells, interrogation rooms, and barred cages she has spent the last year in. Beyond the school, the forest rises to cover all the surrounding area, and Cecilia lustfully gazes at it, a small part of her wishing to run off and hide within the woods for the rest of her life.

But that would just be a prison too...

Cecilia holds back a bit, letting the other girls lead the way up to the dormitory. She studies them. A sudden urge strikes her, an intense drive to pull out a pen and paper and begin writing. Already, she can see the first words forming upon the page in her mind. The sweet release as the fountain tip touches virgin letterhead, delivering her thoughts into being. Her power.

And with it, the death of those I write about.

But Cecilia doesn't have anything to write on her. In fact, they haven't really given her much of anything, save clothing to get out of the prison jumpsuit. The urge to write passes almost as soon it had come, fading off into the night like a ghost. Cecilia is left feeling empty and unfinished, but relieved to have overcome her power.

This time, at least.

The girls ahead of her head into the House, and Cecilia follows suit. It would be home for the rest of her known future. And yet it feels like she is an invader, an outcast who doesn't belong. The new paint smell of the House comes as no surprise, but the sanitary feeling it suggests is sickening.

Cecilia heads to the living room, drawn by the bookshelves crammed with literature. Her heart leaps, as she recognizes titles here and there. Summer Reading Lists, New York Times Bestsellers, Classical masterpieces. And interspersed among them, tons of books she had never even heard of, some in languages she couldn't even recognize.

Her eyes are drawn to a worn book on top of a nearby bookcase, the dust on it's cover a testament to age beyond that of this building. She grabs it and heads to one of the large chairs in the room. As she pulls her legs up onto the cushion, she opens the book and finds it to be a diary, written with a scratchy hand and aged, uneven marks. Instinctively, she could tell that the writer had been using a charcoal pencil more often used in art, and flipping through the pages she found drawings here and there, flowers, animals, even people. Faces of happiness, of sadness, all beautiful in their own way. She flips to the last page, finding a single line written there.

"Owner: Jack P. Hammonds, born 1913"

She flips back to the front, and starts reading.

Spending a hero point to get a cool character-development-driving diary of an old mutant.

Platonicsolid
Nov 17, 2008

Crystal

"Gonna call you that from now on, Wallflower," Crystal says with a long, languid tone. Her hands get shoved back into her pockets and she shuffles along with the others back to their house. Whatever bonding activities the house mother may have, Crystal gives the slip to, hurrying upstairs. She's got unpacking to do, trying to make the cell feel more like home.

Room, not cell. Minor difference. No bars, at least none that she can see, not that they're needed with Perky the Destroyer sleeping under the same roof and one of the planet's most powerful telepaths a building away. Crystal unzips her suitcases. The big duffel contains clothes and shoes, all the things a teenage girl would need. Through some miracle of physics an entire closet got compressed into the bag on the logic that she might need it all, a transparently thing excuse in Crystal's view. The other bag, a harder sided case, contains more personal items. A few favored books, trophies from assorted school sporting events, photos friends. The girl lingers, holding one paper-wrapped item in her hands, finally deciding it doesn't deserve to join the others and returning it to its suitcase.

I Am Fowl
Mar 8, 2008

nononononono
Tara

It's sitting in the middle of her room, a big brown box that says "TARA" on the side, in black marker. Peeling back a flap opens up a sea of packaging peanuts, with medals and trophies poking their heads up, breaching the white foam. Good and bad memories coming to the surface. It was just before nationals when she had her...breakdown. Her parents had Olympic hopes for her, but she could have settled for just a scholarship to a nice arts school... She leaves the room, the box still packed.

Tara soon spots Cecilia by the bookshelves, engrossed in an old book. She comes up to her silently, not by intent, but by nature. Though Tara may seem distant at times, she hears more than you would think, and forgets little. "So...We're both the unlucky ones here then, huh?" She pauses, watching a spider dangle down from her hair and catching it in her hand. "I mean, all the others were pretty open about their powers. Bragging, even. I don't have much of a choice, mine just sort of...comes out." She laughs anxiously.

"But..." She bites her lip, uncertain if she should continue, or how. This is probably one of the longest conversations she's had with someone who wasn't her therapist in six months. "Did you...Did you hurt people too?" Shut up shut up shut up! She might just be quiet because her power is silly, not because she's a violent psychopath like you!

Frgrbrgr
Jan 20, 2009
Cecilia

Cecilia freezes as she hears Tara's voice, shattering her focus on the book. It was just getting, well, started at least. It reads like an autobiography, and the writer was telling about his childhood in New Hampshire. But then, words.

She looks up and sees Tara, recognizing her instantly for the spider dangling down her hair. Her question peaks Cecilia's interest, gets her mind racing. Cecilia responds cautiously, "Unlucky. Yeah, you could say that." She looks down at the now-closed diary in her lap, cheeks flushing with shame, "Yeah, I hurt a lot of people. Some things, you just can't take back."

The moment hangs between the two of them. Cecilia grimaces, then looks back up at Tara, "So... how does it work?" Cecilia nods towards one of the spiders.

I Am Fowl
Mar 8, 2008

nononononono
Tara

Tara nods. It must be something bad. "I'm made of spiders now. I don't how it works, really." She reaches into her forearm and pulls a big, hairy tarantula halfway out by its leg. "I don't even bleed anymore. Dead spiders just fall out. I don't even think I have real organs and stuff anymore." She lets go of the tarantula and it wriggles back in. "Sometimes...I'm kind of worried that if I think to hard about it, something will go even worse. Like, how when I break down into spiders, my clothes go with me. Best to just leave things like that alone." Tara smiles at her own little joke, then looks down at Cecilia's book. "Is it any good?"

Frgrbrgr
Jan 20, 2009
Cecilia

Cecilia nods, "Yeah, it's a diary written like an autobiography. Just simple stuff right now, childhood in the Northeast, but his style is really nice. Kinda like Hemingway."

Cecilia thinks for a bit, then giggles. "You know, you could probably weave some clothes, if that ever happened. Spiders have silk, right? It's probably pretty nice!"

I Am Fowl
Mar 8, 2008

nononononono
Tara

"I think I'd be too embarrassed to weave anything that quickly. I actually do weave a bit, but I've never been able to do anything like that. Mostly, I use it to make web art. Just between you and me, I was planning on practicing here at school, leaving web graffiti art around so I could get better. The problem with bigger stuff, I think, is coordination. I have enough spiders, just not the practice to get them all working on the same thing at the same time... Hey, so can I read that after you, then?"

Bieeanshee
Aug 21, 2000

Not keen on keening.


Grimey Drawer
Anna

It was air-conditioned in the auditorium, but cool, open air has a quality to it that the confined and refrigerated stuff just can't match. Anna picks up on the prevailing quiet as she meanders out with the others, keeping her thoughts to herself and loosening her wings just enough to let a soft breeze rustle her feathers. It's not flying-- nothing's like flying except, well, flying, but she's not going to press her luck by lifting off. Maybe there's spaces for that in the gym. She was wondering about that earlier, wasn't she? Bah.

Inside and... no House Mistress. Mother? Matron? Anyway. Probably at a staff meeting. Hopefully nothing to do with Tara's thing, if she is. Anna looks into the kitchen, and smirks at the thought of how her mother would react to the small space. Not really a homemaker, Mom, but she knew the value of a good workspace.

A couple of the other girls head upstairs to their rooms. It's tempting: Anna's stuff is still packed up, but the temptation to stay in there and just cocoon would be even stronger. Avoiding things... eh, she'd probably get interrupted by Ms. Caida just as soon as she settled. And while there isn't a TV down here (yet) ((hopefully)), there's books! A couple of the other girls have noticed that too, apparently. She sidles over, careful of her wings, and skims the titles. Most she doesn't recognize. There's a thick tome marked 'War and Peace' near to two similarly sized ones, collections of Shakespeare, though there are smaller, single-play folios as well. One of them catches her eye: The Tempest. She cracks a smile.

"O brave new world, that has such people in it," she quotes. "Oh yeah, someone chose that one on purpose."

Frgrbrgr
Jan 20, 2009
Cecilia

Cecilia nods as Tara enthusiastically details her web art. Using powers for art, for creation, for expression. I like that.

"That's really cool, Tara. Anytime I see a web, I'll look at it carefully and think of you! And of course you can read it after me, just no dog-earing the pages, 'kay?" Cecilia gives Tara a big smile. Probably her first one in a long time.

Cecilia notices Anna poking through some of the older volumes, and smiles at her remark, "I think all of them are here for one reason or another." A wide smile crosses her face, "We might not even need a TV!"

Bieeanshee
Aug 21, 2000

Not keen on keening.


Grimey Drawer
Anna

Anna turns her head toward Cecilia, and smiles. Maybe the other girl isn't as shy as she thought. Jeez, it's not like this wasn't a huge shakeup for like... everybody.

"You're probably right. I just spotted a copy of Little Women." She rolls her eyes dramatically.

But no TV? "I don't think I'd go that far... though I guess it depends on what channels we get." Anna gestures to the book in Cecilia's hands. "You read a lot?"

Frgrbrgr
Jan 20, 2009
Cecilia

Cecilia agrees, "TV can be okay... just no news..." Her tone turns a bit sour. Wouldn't want my face plastered all over the school. Again.

She lifts her head to Anna's followup questions, "Read, yeah, I write too." She catches herself a bit too late, and flushes with shame, "Well, I used to, at least."

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Bieeanshee
Aug 21, 2000

Not keen on keening.


Grimey Drawer
Anna

That tone isn't hard to catch. Anna just nods and tucks it away. A lot of the girls here probably got splashed up in the media-- she made the local paper, and heard the front page of the school newspaper was just a photo of her. Meh.

She brightens. "Cool! I read... some. I'm into drama, so lots of memorizing lines, you know." Anna nods quickly and shallowly. "I've tried writing a little... just some poetry, but it wasn't any good. You have that kind of trouble too?"

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