Mid-Range Game 24: Baleful Eye

[King Cole he/him]

Oh, I haven't seen him at all. Sorry

[Elithanathile he/him]

So as someone who's not as involved in the Reckoner's RP section of the site, could I get a rundown on Balelight? Including powers and how to defeat her? Also possible emotional weaknesses to exploit?

[Seonid he/him]

45 minutes ago, Elithanathile said:

So as someone who's not as involved in the Reckoner's RP section of the site, could I get a rundown on Balelight? Including powers and how to defeat her? Also possible emotional weaknesses to exploit?

All of the epics shown here,  with the exception of Nighthound,  are created new for this game. 

[Elithanathile he/him]

Drat. I was hoping for some more info. I'll just have to make do, I suppose. Thanks for the heads-up though!

Also I vote for hoping that Tachyon comes back and saves us all.

Weighted eyelids flickered open to the sight of a cold metal floor, a rivet sticking up out of the metal not an inch from his eyes. Well eye now, Falchion mentally rescinded, the sensation of hot fluid cascading down his face and a sudden hollow feeling still all too fresh in his memory. Slowly his arms worked their way up before pressing palms flat against the floor and he started to climb to his feet.

Then his right arm twitched violently, a spasm that almost bent the limb the wrong way as his body crashed down onto the injured arm, his clothing roughly grating the still oh so sensitive skin. He screamed, a sound that rasped past his raw vocal cords and ended in a heaving cough.

He stayed there for a time, thinking it might be better to just stay down, wait for the pain to fade. Then he gritted his teeth and wrenched himself to his feet using his one good arm, fighting against the burning pain that still lingered. He wavered on his feet, but managed to stay standing. His left hand gripped his right arm, holding it tight through the occasional spasm or twitch, after-effects of being hit by sparking lightning.

Oh look, a pun.

Falchion half-shuffled, half-walked through a small kitchen and past a fake plastic throne complete with skeleton, his right leg still numb, but at least able to move properly. Inside a room dedicated to shelves and cupboards filled with everything from spare silverware to duct tape, he slumped down on a rolling desk and used his good arm to yank open a drawer, searching inside for a small brown bottle of pills.

On the outside of the bottle was a hand-written label. "Do nut, eat. Dnger. Taek too for deth."

Falchion considered for a moment, then downed 5 of the small brown pills. Almost immediately the burning ache in his arm began to fade and his leg seemed to recover slightly. It was only a stop-gap method, keeping his body running through almost anything for a few hours. Hopefully that would be enough. No more Mr. Nice Epic.

Falchion strode more confidently to glass cabinet across the room and threw open the door, pulling out a item of black leather. "I knew this would come in handy," he mumbled to himself as he tightened the eye-patch securely around his head. "Take that you paranoid megalomaniac." Then he opened a portal and was gone.

Sorry Paranoid King, but I kinda killed of your Reckoners RP character for Falchion's backstory. But hey, you've got a throne now.

[Ecthelion III he/him]

Suddenly, time lurched backwards, like putting a tape on rewind, back to the point when Aaliyah drew her arm back to throw the knife. Amidst the chaos and disorientation, Sol's voice rang hollowly. "Oh, I forgot to introduce myself," a voice said. It sounded familiar for some reason. "The name's Sol, but for all intents and purposes... Call me Tachyon."

With the same abruptness as before, time jolted back to normal. Aaliyah's arm moved in real time once again, preparing to throw the knife... but something was different this time. A shaft of sunlight descended from the heavens carrying a figure. Judging by the fire in her eyes and the way she held herself, it was obvious: this was Balelight.

“Now, would anyone care to tell me what, exactly, is going on here?” she asked commandingly.

We're sparked, Robin thought. Where's Deus Ex Sol when we need him? Robin turned to face Balelight. "I'll tell you what's going on here, Malevolight. We're leaving. And there's nothing you can do to stop us." The words were more confident than he felt. "You saw how your lackeys fared. Just because you're an Epic doesn't make you invincible, and I'm going to--"

Robin saw a flash out of the corner of his eye. Could it be...?

No. A portal.

He grabbed Scotty's arm and launched into full speed away from the Epics. "RUN!"

-

@Elithanathile @BrightnessRadiant @Seonid if you want to be Balelight

[Eternum he/him]

Sol's still there, guys. Hasn't left yet. And he doesn't exactly intend to get into a fight with Balelight because it would just result in a stalemate (If I have this right and Balelight's powers are airbending and shooting lasers out of her eyes)

OK, now for some actual analysis.

We know of 3 separate factions: Epic Cabal, Malcontents and Reckoners. (4 if we include Neutrals.) Malcontents and Reckoners both sound like they want to kill Epics. Since they usually killed low-end Epics in the books, I'd take a gamble and say they're after the Neutrals. Now, the Malcontents. Just from the name, I'd say they're not happy with how the city is ruled n stuff. They probably want to kill the Epic Cabal, because I suspect the Cabal is sided with Balelight, not against her. See: Stormwarden was a Cabalist, and was under Balelight's command. (In the writeup)

Now, I think that at least the Reckoners and Cabal have a faction kill. Crimsn was killed by an epic (Cabal obv(Also I'd like to mention that the GMs seem to be using jokes from the beginning of the game, because it seemed like Crimsn was killed by Lavalake )) and the previous attempt to kill them was a sniper attack, which screams Reckoner to me.

There is probably a vanilla village faction too, judging from Len saying they have no role and action.

I can't offer any analysis on the players because I have no idea who's who at this point.

Edited August 26, 2017 by Eternum

[Sami she/her]

Sandra froze at the familiar sound of Balelight's voice. A familiar rage welled up inside her, but with an effort she kept her head. The mist shimmered and formed an image of air, shielding her from sight. Sol just stood there, and a portal heralding the arrival of another epic appeared.

Since when did this become a superpowered get-together?! Just-just epic! She thought in annoyance. The forcefield epic's companion started dragging her away in a panic.

Oh no, you're not. With a flick of her wrist she snapped a mist-block around them.

Edited August 26, 2017 by Sami

[Eternum he/him]

(I'm sad that nobody gets why Sol's Epic name is Tachyon )

Sol looked up at Balelight as she arrived, sighing. "Yeah, as expected.. Did you come here to join the party too? From the looks of it, it's gonna become one heckuva free-for-all." He said, addressing Balelight. 

He was surprised, though, when a portal opened and another Epic, Falchion, walked out, Didn't he get struck by lightning like... Minutes ago? Sparking determined, that guy.

Edited August 26, 2017 by Eternum

[BrightnessRadiant she/her]

"Run!" Robin yelled and grabbed Scotty by the arm, turning to run. A wall of mist began to enclose around them, cutting off every exit. I don't think so! Scotty formed a large force field as quickly as she could, stopping the mist from closing completely on the side opposite all the commotion. She struggled to keep it in place as the mist began to harden and push against her field.

Each moment she used her powers brought her closer to a complete breakdown of her emotions. She could feel herself slipping, sinking into the darkness. It was ready to claim her. It would be so easy to just give in. Why not join Balelight? The darkness seemed to whisper. Why hide this glorious power you've been given? You're a god in this world of mortals. Why not show it? ....No! She screamed inwardly and pushed against the darkness, searching desperately for happy memories, good times gone by. She had to hold on....for....Robin. 

Grimacing, she pushed with all her might, causing the mist wall to shatter. "Hurry!" She continued to run at top speed, hoping to make it somewhere far away from this madness.

[DrakeMarshall he/him]

Balelight spoke. "Now, would anyone care to tell me what, exactly, is going on here?"

Aaliyah suddenly became composed. This would require... Delicacy.

"Balelight? It is an absolute pleasure to be of your acquaintance. I've been hoping to meet you for some time now.

See, I really just wanted to say.

You SPARKING SLONTZE!!! If we meet again, I'm going to sparking murder you, savvy?"

She grinned broadly.

"Anyway, nice talking to you!!"

"Why you--" Balelight started, conjuring up a beam of pure destruction.

Then Aaliyah dove forwards, towards the portal that she knew was about to materialize there. Sure enough, she landed in an unfamiliar room.

Outside, Balelight stood with a look of bemused surprise, in front of a brand new smoking crater. Aaliyah waved goodbye, lobbing her knife back out at Balelight for good measure.

[Elbereth she/her]

3 hours ago, Elithanathile said:

So as someone who's not as involved in the Reckoner's RP section of the site, could I get a rundown on Balelight? Including powers and how to defeat her? Also possible emotional weaknesses to exploit?

Eternum isn't quite correct. She has air manipulation and can shoot lasers out of her eyes, yes. She is also a High Epic in charge of the city. What else she can do is as yet undiscovered.  

58 minutes ago, Ecthelion III said:

@Seonid if you want to be Balelight

If Seonid doesn't, I very well might tomorrow morning. It seems I have been given cause to, certainly.  

[Sami she/her]

If Scotty gives into her Epic powers she doesn't necessarily have to join Balelight - she could join the rest of us in trying to murder her  

 

Sandra's mist-wall shattered. Oh, great. Time to get out of here. Her illusion shielding her from sight, she shot past Tachyon and disappeared into the maze of dark alleyways.

Edited August 26, 2017 by Sami

[Ecthelion III he/him]

Robin and Scotty ran together away from the congregated Epics. Robin's metal legs gave him a longer and more powerful stride, and as he saw the Epics stir into motion behind him, he scooped Scotty into his arms and bounded away with all of his strength. Lightning crackled overhead. As he ran, mist solidified into barriers, which he dodged and leapt over with almost inhuman agility.

"Scotty! Is everything all right?"

[Hemalurgic Headshot he/him]

The ground rumbled, the tremors of another explosion. Outblack toasted a piece of bread and crunched into it. He had wandered his realm of night for a while now, but had encountered few opponents. Perhaps everyone was afraid of the dark?

He shuffled along the sidewalk, searching his mental map. He should be on Fifth Street at the moment, but the exact number of his steps eluded him. He finished his toast and wiped the crumbs on his coat. He hadn't had butter in ages, now that he thought about it. It would be the perfect complement to his bread. He would have to remind an orphan to fetch him some, because he only knew where the good bread was.

He felt along the wall and found an alleyway, which he snuck into. After deciding it was a suitable temporary residence, he withdrew his darkness, bringing it into the alley and no further. He relaxed, though was slightly bored. He pulled out another slice to toast.

[DrakeMarshall he/him]

I'd be down to PM, but I really don't have anything interesting to talk about 

[Eternum he/him]

xD same

well.. Ok not same

But still I don't have much interesting info. Mint, do you have 1 PM per turn?

[Elithanathile he/him]

I love the fact that Robin starts talking tough against Balelight, but splits once he catches a hint of Falchion coming. Smart guy.

[DrakeMarshall he/him]

"Sword-man," Aaliyah nodded in recognition. "Knew we'd meet again, ya slontze."

"Seeing as you just accidentally saved my life, I suppose I don't really want to kill you. So... Congratulations?"

[Eternum he/him]

Lmao true

Robin knows his priorities.

NPCs are harmless until you attack them

[Elithanathile he/him]

And just checking, would one of the GMs be willing to do the RP for Balelight in-thread, if they're not too busy? The alternative is waiting for the next writeup to see how they react, which could make RPing tricky. Still working on next RP section.

[Eternum he/him]

Well, there's no point in discussing it, Winter. As Alvron said, it's probably a Janitor-type role.

I would have liked to know her target, though, if she was telling the truth.

Edited August 26, 2017 by Eternum

[DrakeMarshall he/him]

2 minutes ago, winter devotion said:

Y'know I don't think we're talking about Crimsn's lack of alignment reveal. I'm really wondering what's that about and people are just ignoring it. 

I mean.

I am interested by the fact that there's a role that can obscure alignment flips.

But I don't think her alignment is really a mystery. Do we have much cause to doubt her role claim, before she died?

[Elithanathile he/him]

Not really, besides the "everyone is neutral now" thing, but really nothing to single her out. Everyone in-thread seemed to go along with it without any qualms.

[Frozen Mint she/her]

41 minutes ago, Eternum said:

xD same

well.. Ok not same

But still I don't have much interesting info. Mint, do you have 1 PM per turn?

 

39 minutes ago, winter devotion said:

Yeah, is it a role or an item, or?

PAFO?

 

6 minutes ago, winter devotion said:

Y'know I don't think we're talking about Crimsn's lack of alignment reveal. I'm really wondering what's that about and people are just ignoring it. 

I've been thinking about this, but I don't have much to say on it. I'm guessing that the person who killed Crimsn had an ability or an item that allowed them to obscure her role on death. Since she already role-claimed, the ability/item is either passive or the killer just had no other useful actions for last cycle. Or perhaps someone else in the Cabal obscured her role, and they didn't have any better action last cycle. But I'm leaning towards the passive ability angle.

[Alvron he/him]

7 minutes ago, Frozen Mint said:

I've been thinking about this, but I don't have much to say on it. I'm guessing that the person who killed Crimsn had an ability or an item that allowed them to obscure her role on death. Since she already role-claimed, the ability/item is either passive or the killer just had no other useful actions for last cycle. Or perhaps someone else in the Cabal obscured her role, and they didn't have any better action last cycle. But I'm leaning towards the passive ability angle.

Interesting.  Your use of "someone else in the Cabal" makes it fairly clear you think they had something to do with it. Why?  Why not the Reckoners or Malcontents?  Or maybe it was the Neutral they were hunting that found them first?