2.02.2014

The Defenders, Vol. 2, Issue 5 - Oh, the Humanite-ity!

During their time after the Chalice Center incident, Henry had struck to the task of creating a wand of Scrying, so that they might be able to discern the location of Winslow Schott/Toyman or the White King, and thus - hopefully - the Reavers. During this time, the rest of the band lay low, meeting to discuss where next they would go or other strategy for after Henry finished his work.

As mentioned previously, Kurt had taken to doing research on the visions he had when he disappeared for multiple days when the Jester attacked the group in Korth. During this time, he read of a Conclave, held in Metrol, that was apparently a precursor to the talks at Thronehold, but very little details were available, other thanthe fact that a nobleman scientist named Hyrum ir'Wynarn was to give a presentation and that many of the most powerful Extranormals at that time were in attendance, many of whom were now missing or dead. No further information could be found on that topic, but Kurt also did more research into the timeframe of that Conclave and found that the greatest threat in the Last War at the time was a warlord from the south named Uxas, who hadn't lost an engagement and could possibly have conquered Khorvaire single-handedly if he hadn't disappeared around the time of the Day of Mourning and subsequent Treaty of Thronehold.

Kurt had finished his research and shared the information with his companions when they all met with Henry at the Cannith guildhouse upon his completion of the wand. The group decided they would first attempt to scry upon the Toyman, which they did successfully, seeing and hearing only Winslow toiling away at a workbench, with no-one else around. The second scrying, suggested by Isaiah, was for The Bat. This scrying seemingly worked, as well, but no sound or vision could be seen, only silent blackness.

The White King was tried next, and he was seen dining on a veranda with two other men, one identified as an Extranormal named Trevor Fitzroy, who is known to associate heavily with the Dragonmarked Houses and has some control over time/space, the other being someone Henry had never seen before, though he didn't think him an Extranormal. These three men were, at first, speaking of the weather and common topics of businessmen, but then changed the subject eventually to "Tinkerer's Great Work" and how rapidly it was progressing to completion and how it would bring about an exciting new era. A key piece of evidence was found, however, when Henry was able to identify some of the plants in the background as native to central and southern Q'barra.

After this, Winslow was scried upon one more time, but the results were more of the same. Communication was attempted this time, to no avail, and Henry tried to make out what he was working on, but couldn't piece it together.

During the discussion of the scryings, the building rocked violently and the heroes made for the door to look out into the open commons in the middle to see what was going on, since the chamber they were in had no windows. To their amazement, the building was seemingly being lifted into the air, wrenched from its foundations and rising slowly as armed and armored ape-like creatures flooded into the building, led by the Ultra-Humanite, a known enemy of the Super Man!

The two groups, our heroes and the Ultra-Humanite's 'sub-humanites', tussle. The Ultra-Humanite explains that he is not there to complicate the lives of the band and they should stand aside, because he is only there to retrieve an item, then he will be on his way. Bennet and his gathered force have none of it, and eventually prevail, seemingly killing the Ultra-Humanite, but it is a hollow loss, as Jean had lost a hand in the fight and the sub-humanites seem to retrieve the item they came for, and take it and their master's body out of the building as it begins to descend, popping out on portals that report like cannons when used. The building sets down not-so-gently, but only baseline casualties are counted.

We leave our heroes as they begin to help the House Cannith members trapped in the rubble and take stock of what, exactly, the Ultra-Humanite was after.

Cast of Characters
Jean Grey, Elan Psion (Kineticist) 5|Wilder 5  - Angela
Bennet du Paris [Exodus], Human Psion (Nomad) 5|Spellthief 5 -Taylor
Henry [Beast], Artificer 5|Anthropomorphic Ape 2/Monk 3 - Paul
Kurt Wagner [Nightcrawler], Rogue 3/Fighter 1|Totemist 2/Wizard 2 - David
Kitty Pryde [Shadowcat], Wizard 4|Ninja 4 - Sam
Dr. Isaiah Crane (Scarecrow), Sorceror 4|Cleric 4 - Jon

Bonus Feature: Company Conundrums
If it's not obvious, the PCs and NPCs in this campaign are really one-sided when it comes to the comics publisher they come from. Some of this is shaped by recognition. Marvel characters are the majority quite simply because they are more familiar thanks in large part to the recent proliferation of movies, and the excellent cartoons put out in the 90s and early 2000s.

This is further compounded by factors such as DC not having characters that really fit the roles I want and others, like Dark Horse, Image, and some of the other, smaller, companies not having decent directories or character bibles like Marvel and DC's "Encyclopedia of the X Universe".

I'm unsure if this trend will change, so apologies to those that are reading along if they were wanting to see someone crop up. I do, however, have a rule in place where if someone gives me a mini for someone they want to see in the game, I will include them, so who knows who will make an appearance.


As always, we look forward to any feedback, questions, or comments about the game!

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