The Wardens ep08-13 : DC Heroes

2015-2016
The Wardens
Last Post

Mayfair Games' DC Heroes

I've decided to make this the last post in relation to this game, despite having a few more episodes worth that I could have summarized.  Simply put, the heroes faced off against a massive villain whose telepathic powers seemed to have taken control over the world, as well as other planets in different systems.

The truth however is later revealed that they were all merely locally mentally usurped and made to think the reach was far more widespread.  Starborn was imprisoned in a prison which was outside the planet, and one character's journey ended up giving the villain a chance to leap back and reach down with his psychic influence.

The stories later progress further, with the world's main bad guy attempting to lay claim to the alien presence that announces its arrival on Earth (in a bid to reconnect with a lost member of their clan) and the hints of the repercussions of what can only be described as the usual trope of Nazi experimentation on superhuman people.  There were revelations about the big heroes and big villains of the world as well, and the price of the growing popularity of the young hero group.

The game was to eventually explore the rise of Magic on the world as one of the characters take the burden of representing Magic in the world and the discovery that the absence of super heroes in the future was because the heroes in the present had to leave the planet and deal with a desperate villain whose roots are traced back to one of their own number.

The game was also going to explore the hijinks of non-human characters attempting to fit in with human kids, the price of a super villain heritage on a young hero, the idea that despite being born in different worlds we can all still be considered the same, and the tragic death of a non-playing character which the group's healer could only heal by willingly giving up his immortality.

It was a wonderful story arc composed of multiple story arcs which the players had created, and I was really hoping to see it come to light.   But that's that.  Real life steps in and things take a turn in different ways.  So yeah, this is the final post for this game session transcription.  The book is closed and despite all the recordings I have of the sessions, I've come to a point in accepting it is pointless to hold on to the past.

It is time to move on.  Time to delete this chapter from my computer and stop hoping things will still be repaired.  It is time to close the book and accept it as all done and over with.

It is for the best.

The Wardens ep07 : DC Heroes

11/24/2015
The Wardens
Episode Seven
"Starborn - 1st Act"

Mayfair Games' DC Heroes

Hadrian is staring at Fangirl's dog, her retriever named Armageddon.  The dog whines occasionally. Hadrian recalls Apollo's story of Fangirl doing what she can to save the dog outside the burning building.   He receives a message from Diego asking for help.  Triggering their communicator, Hadrian can hear Diego having a conversation with Tara's mother.  She seems to be desperate to find her daughter given she has been missing for almost four days.  Eleanor had baited muggers to attack her until one of the Wardens showed up to save her - just to ask them about her daughter.    Eleanor is just terrified if her daughter is okay. She asks if Tara is in danger, and Diego suspects she might be.

The dog whines and stares at the telephone.  Hadrian hands it to the dog, but it doesn't do anything.  Conrad shares that his son, Dermont, had been asking him about Tara.  Hadrian learns Dermont is Tara's schoolmate, and that she had been missing for the last few days.  As they talk, Fangirl's dog runs past him and leave the room.  They run after the dog and find it in front of the door.  Hadrian asks Conrad to deal with the dog while he "sees to business." Conrad pulls out a leash from his pocket.  They head off to Diego's location.  Conrad and Hadrian talk about immortality and growing up.  Hadrian tries to "read" Armageddon but animal body language just seems to different.

Apollo had recalculated the initial data that supposedly suggests Trace had been abducted into outer space.  But his bigger concern is the fact the information he had received seemed to have come from ArmsCorp.   Pouring through all the data he had stolen from ArmsCorp, he is finding a lot of data gathered that are marked, "Takenoko."  They turn out to be plans and schematics for various vehicles including stuff that have yet to be developed for this era, as well as experimental battle dresses, subdermal communicators and the like.  He even finds something for Obscuring Face Putty or Pseudoderm, which acts as both an armor for the face, and a survival mechanism.  Though still mostly untested, they are still frighteningly advanced for someone of this era.  "Theoretical Concepts for the ArmsTeam."  Apollo is fascinated to discover Armstrong is hoping to create his own superhero team, it seems.  There is mention of seven candidates for the group.  As he continues digging, he finds video diary recordings of a young man named Mason, addressing his thoughts and confessions to a "Ben."  They confirm that Mason had been around twenty years in the past before Ben actually arrives.  Mason is fascinated that there are heroes in the world, though none of them live on in their own timeline.  He even mentions being interested in meeting the daughter of the "female knight" hero. More interesting, a lot of the bluepints he has written were penned with the help of Armstrong himself with one being a space vessel using Hard Light sails to propel the ship foardi

Lucita and Buzz have a date.  Lucita is complaining that Buzz is not paying attention.  He keeps imagining stuff related to the fight.  Buzz wonders aloud how one would rescue someone stuck in space.  Lucita is frusted he's still focused on that, but eventually they do talk about her brother and his super hero antics, Buzz' grandparents having legacy powers, and their trip to some dimension..."But I can't have you not be here when I finally have you here."  Lucita does however mention that if she as lost in space, the bigger question is how much time would have passed since she left.  "Everything is constantly moving and given the vast movements, you might hope to try to rescue me but it has been years since you found me."  She also talks about the distortion of time and gravity and how hours may become years in some systems.  Buzz starts to imagine Trace as an old woman, and so he explains Trace is in space and needs to be rescued.  Lucita realized Buzz is "listening in" the whole time, with his communicator on.  He stresses he only does it during emergencies.  She complains he was the one who asked for this date, and yet he's the one who isn't "present" in it.

Hadrian arrives and is told that there's a young girl in the hospital who claims to be part of the team.  The group is a bit confused - which is not surprising given it was Trace who rushed her here to save her.  Hadrian opts to try to heal the child's internal injuries and shattered bones with his powers.  

Armstrong and Apollo finally meet and have a long discussion.  There are six chairs in a circle in the room, with each chair having a brown envelope.  Apollo notes there are only six envelopes instead of seven, to which Mason muses he figured Apollo had been prying into his files.  Mason asks if Apollo is Ben Wilder, but Apollo still dodges the question.   Mason reveals a broken artifact from the museum the day he and Ben traveled into the past.  He talks about the woman who was trying to warn them of something that very moment, but he never understood what was happening until it was too late.  Mason only wanted to see what the past was.   When Apollo asks what he really wants, Armstrong admits he is looking for a man named Benjamin Wilder - someone he hoped to finally find.   Armstrong invites Apollo to become part of a team he wishes to fund.  He is even offering them access to technology such as uniforms and rings that have been enabled to have telepathic radio communication, flight, and an emergency cocoon of hard light if user is injured.    Apollo has concerns with both his intentions and the technology he is creating.  Mason shares he's met with Oni and Tsunami, foreign heroes mistaken as villains often due to the government not trusting them.  He wants to create a team that is more welcomed and more recognized as heroes, is funded by a known group and stands with the government.   He talks of children across the coast calling themselves Wardens.  Clubs have formed online inducting members.  Will the Wardens work within the law, or leave these children to start their own vigilante groups?  Apollo does remind Mason he was the one who named them, and Mason admits he only said that cause it reminded him of a prisoner outfit worn back in his time.   Apollo proposes to study working together for a time being, perhaps using the project Odysseus, which has a space vessel.  Mason agrees to introduce him to the project manager.  Mason does muse how Apollo reminds him of an old friend who never trusted him before, "But its probably because he never believed in me."

Elsewhere, Tara White finds herself looking out the balcony of The Beginning Of Everything.  The place is supposedly Starborn's planet, and what she sees appears to be an urbanized world of order and celebration.    A variety of alien races are present, cheering her on.  Tara tries to ask people questions, but no one seems to properly give any answers.   After a brief moment talking to an alien who can speak terran, Tara realizes everyone around her are now suddenly speaking in terran as well!  When she tries to ask another alien where Starborn is, a bald man with perfect teeth, a huge chiseled form and a cape addresses her by name and reveals he is the very man.  He calls the planet a "grand design to his liking."  When Tara asks if everyone were welcome, he counters the place would not be as peaceful.  He asks Tara to stay for a limited amount of time, and determine if she would like to stay.  If not, he promises to return her home.   Tara goes about hearing about the aliens who have all taken refuge in this place, and finds not a single one who leaves or comes and goes.  She even finds one who met another terran before, a woman dressed in a carapace of silver.  The terran, "Consy" inspired their term for Protector.  She learns the M'thrysn are seen as bogeymen of the universe!  

Back at Earth, Apollo sees Ren who tries to pretend they just met for the first time.  Mason tells Ren Apollo is interested in Project Odysseus and the Blitz Ship.  When Ren asks what for, Apollo realizes neither Ren nor Mason were the ones who sent him the coordinates of where Tara's abductors had gone.  He discovers it may have come from someone else... perhaps... Fangirl?

"How's my dog?" a message comes onto his communication system from somewhere in the room.  Fangirl asks about Leona wondering if she made it.  Apollo admits he assumed Fangirl was Leona, but learns she was just representing her.  When he asks where she is transmitting from, she tells her to look to the left.  Apollo's eyes scan the left and finds an old suit that students from the moon during his time would wear.  He stares and realizes the flickering light on it means Fangirl is actually the artificial intelligence in the space suit that Ben wore when he slipped into the past.  "I kept trying to find you," Fangirl admits and that she could only find Mason.  "But I remembered how much you didn't trust him, so I kept waiting and kept watching."  Mason notices Apollo seeing the old suit and explains its an old relic from the past.  He even jokes it looks like Apollo's costume.  The AI was searching for Ben for years, and Leona was the person who helped her contact Apollo as Fangirl.

While Hadrian tries to help Cassie Wilder recover from her intense injuries further, Buzz arrives to check on the rest.  Both El Teniente and Reliquary however feel he is lying when Buzz tells them he is late because he was saving lives.  El Teniente confronts him about his promise to stop having a serious relationship with his sister.  "But it was still a date, just a bad date," Diego snarls when Buzz tries to explain it wasn't a date since he was focused on them the whole time.  Medea arrives, with a more modern look, and apologizes for also being late.  She learns about the need for code names to hide their identities.  Hadrian asks Medea about Gervain, and learns the name is of one of the great ones during their day.  He was known as "The Alchemist" who discovers the Philosopher's stone.  They were a group were warriors, each representing the Spheres and the Patterns of the Great Tree.  The Shining Knights represent the areas of the tree.  They are reunited when so great a threat appears that none else may face it.  In the last battle against a Fallen Star, the Alchemist sacrificed himself to save the others, transmuting himself into an element which destroyed the fallen star.  Legend has it the Alchemist will return when its essences are reunited across the stars.   Hadrian and Medea combine their efforts to try to heal the child faster.   Buzz hurries back to ArmsCorp.

Back at the ArmsCorp, Buzz overhears Apollo talking to his brother talking about how he feels that Buzz never had to do anything to get the powers he has.  He didn't earn it.   Apollo opts not to get involved in the argument between the two brothers.  When Buzz throws something while annoyed, it launches a plasma blast that nearly harms Apollo had he not used his nanites to create a Hard Light barrier around himself.  Buzz however insists that Ren should realize that despite not having powers, he's accomplished so many things and build so many awesome devices.  Ren however stresses that its not Mason he wants to be with in these misadventures.  The group starts discussing possible plans if they do head to space to try to find where Trace had been abducted to.

El Teniente stops away, and he ends up at his abuela's room.  There, the two finally talk more about the myth and stories behind the armor they share.  They talk also a lot about Lucita, about her being strong-willed and about her still seeing the boy, Buzz.   Abuela admits she just wanted Lucita to end up with someone normal.   They also discuss the challenges between Magic and Steel and how Buzz succeeded in a challenge.  Abuela gets distresses when she realizes Lucita was seeing "the swarm" and not the boy of gold whom she investigated on and learned is rich.   She even shares knowing him back when Savior was still young and Diva was still a man.  She asks Diego to promise to her one thing: Never to reach for the stars.  Not knowing what she means, he admits the Lady claims he was fated to fight Starborn.  Abuela admits it was against Starborn that she lost his grandfather, and the boots of the armor.  But the artifacts seek each other out.  When the time comes and he finds himself before the Starborn, he is to always remember that Starborn is everything, and everything is a lie.  He should never give up the artifacts and let him take them back.  This Starborn was the first chosen of the Lady.

Tara has learned more and more at how happy and satisfied and content everyone seems to be in Starborn's world.  No one works, no one struggles or pays for things, everything is freely provided.  Even with her remote sight stretched as far as she could, everyone seems happy in this paradise which is a single city the size of a planet.  24 hours later, Tara finally meets with Starborn again and discusses how much of her people are missing out on, and how she desires to go back to Earth.  She feels there are many things she still needs to do there.  Starborn warns her it will take generations of reeducating them all to make those planets better, especially her own world - while her brother still stands on the throne. When she wonders if her father can make a difference back at her planet, Starborn peers at the distance and seems to see and claims there's no way for him to make any difference.  Starborn touches her head and makes her "SEE" across the distance between galaxies, nearly causing her to vomit from motion sickness as she "flies" through interstellar space and her gaze halts at a hospital room where a blonde girl is crying while hugging her father.  At the side, Tara can see her mother, exhausted and still in her hospital gear.  Metal bloody rods are on the table nearby.  And Reliquary lies on a nearby chair, tremendously tired.  Starborn warns her that if Tara returns to Mthrsyn, they will never allow her to leave again.  But she counters that if she goes to Earth, those from Mthrsyn will come for her to Earth to take her back by force.  He offers to help, and when she asks how, he tells her it is up to her.  He can make her mother forget, so she moves on in life and does not remember having a daughter.  But despite Starborn's suggestions, Tara feel they would not help solve things.   She is returned to Mthrsyn and her brother, the Grand V'ktor, is incensed, wondering who would have taken her without his permission.  She asks about Starborn and the mere mention of his name brings fear to V'ktor's visage.  He calls for the city for time to commence and for all to revel and make noise.  He presses against Tara and asks in fear if Starborn watches.  He claims the last system that caught his attention did not survive his curiosity.  When Tara admits he is curious of her, V'ktor's response is fear of her having lead the Starborn to them.    He begins to call her the Herald, and agrees to make the changes that the Starborn desires.  She insists she came of her own free will.  She finds it disturbing that Mythrsyn is known as the "monsters under the bed in the galaxy", and she wants this to change.   When Trace mentions she wishes she can go home, Starborn suddenly simply sends her back without effort.  Trace finds herself back at the hospital, overwhelmed by the immense power this Starborn holds.

The former commissioner, Cassie's father, thanks Reliquary for helping his daughter.   The man asks Reliquary to take a video message to ask his daughter to stop trying to act like a hero.  Reliquary insists that the websites and forums of fans calling for kids to join the Wardens have been shut down.  Tara's mother suggests they let the child have a chance to talk to Reliquary instead and discuss things.

El Teniente feels there was a presence in one of the hospital rooms.  He peers in but finds it empty.  He uses his communicator to check on the others and tells them there's a familiar feeling he's sensing... and that's when Tara teleports into the room to say hello.   When she hears about Apollo with the others, she teleports to check on them as well and ask for a communicator.  The others are briefly shocked by her alien appearance, however, which freaks them out.  Buzz reaches forward with his omni-arm to snag the thing, but Tara easily teleports out of the way.  Buzz mutters its a teleporter and the others wonder if it is actually Trace!  She starts speaking out telling them who she is which thankfully calms everyone down.  Reliquary tells El Teniente to head for the broom closet at the fourth floor and have Trace pick her up.  Medea however asks why not just tell her mother she's back.  Trace's mother grabs El Teniente's head and speaks to it, asking what is going on.  Buzz informs El Teniente to let her know her daughter is back.   Tara finally meets Medea, and the others have a wonderful reunion. As they start sharing stories and throwing snippets at each other of what they have gone through, Buzz asks if he heard correctly that Tara muttered something about a whole planet coming for the Earth in the future?  Tara shares how the Question was the one who kidnapped her in the past, and how there were warships up in the sky that wanted to bring her home.  She even talks about meeting her brother, and their desire to crown her and take over the Earth.  And that's when she finally mentions Starborn. Apollo shares he read a similar name somewhere.  El Teniente knows of a Starborn as the first of the Knights.  Buzz mutters if he's a Fallen Star.  Even the term confuses Reliquary as it seems to remind him of his past.  Tara shares the utopia Starborn offers, and the arguments she had with her brother about going to war with other planets.    Tara's mother thinks they should not be the only ones to handle this.   Hadrian grabs the phone and tries calling Doctor Keller, Saviour's other-half.  Buzz nudges Apollo to try calling his "boss," Mason.   Hadrian's call connects but to his horror, in response to the supposed threat, he tells Hadrian, "Starborn is all."

Apollo's call to Mason also has him reply, "Starborn is all."  Even Ren's call to check on his grandparents has her reply, "Starborn is all."   And El Teniente's petition to the Lady for guidance has her warning him that he has heard his challenge, and now El Teniente must defeat Starborn or else, Starborn shall be all.

Starborn is all.

The Wardens ep06 : DC Heroes

9/6/2015
The Wardens
Episode Six
"Victorious - Part III of The Quest"

Mayfair Games' DC Heroes


The city is in chaos.  The private jet that Conrad has acquired brings the team closer to New York.  Smoke pillars towards the sky. Fire and destruction are spread out, the aftermath of the fallen debris from the Spire.  Fangirl reports to the team that a second volley of debris is still on its way.  Emergency services are taxed out.  The Wardens have to help in any way they can.  With the help of Apollo, Conrad successfully lands the plane down one of the highways given Logan International Airport is shut down from the devastation.   As the group considers their options, somewhere else in the city, Buzz already moves to help those he can after having run all the way from Port City.

The destruction of the Spire was the aftermath, however, of another ongoing story: Trace reuniting with members of her alien race.  She finds herself among bounty hunters who are anxious to bring her to meet her brother, whom they claim rules the universe.  They travel across the galaxies to bring her home to a dark planet which is ruled by V'ktor qi Mthkhala, her brother, who supposedly controls day and night itself.  She witnesses a planet bowing to his every desire, and is told that she is to be new ruler, given the death of their father.

Back on Earth, rescue attempts are made to save people caught in the cataclysmic events.  While Medea, Buzz, Apollo and El Teniente do what they can to help the people around them, Reliquary finds himself in an odd position when he learns that Savior himself is unable to help.  Some form of trauma hinders Nathan Keller and this insecurity is what has caused Savior to appear as fragile and old and weak.  Reliquary learns Savior recognizes him from the prison camps, a memory he did not want to recover, and using his empathetic abilities, guides Nathan and Savior's emotions to work together to empower him once more.  Savior, it seems, is a emotion-fueled construct that Nathan Keller manifests!  Diva enlists Reliquary to remain at the medical camps, not to heal the injured people as there are far too many of them coming in, but to emotionally-boost the rescue teams and emergency services volunteers who are most likely feeling emotionally drained by the horrific aftermath.

When Apollo and Buzz learn of a falling commercial airplane, however, they find themselves forming an unlikely team-up with Mason Armstrong himself, who uses an experimental hover platform to help them evacuate the plane's passengers to safety.  During this, El Teniente finds himself drawn to a battle against a living mountain that calls itself Vicious.  The giant, it turns out, is one of the Quests the Lady of the Water demands El Teniente best.  

Trace wants nothing to do with her family legacy, and when she returns to the bounty hunters learns that they can bring her to Starborn, a being of immense power, whom they claim was born before the birth of the Universe.  Helmsman D'narr and J'son act as her guides as they travel to meet Starborn himself.  Trace even learns that J'son once had a human lover, a woman named Consy.  She was a woman dressed in armor and lost against the Starborn.

During the plane rescue, Fangirl's communications to Apollo begin to take an odder direction.  She talks about hoping Apollo can save the plane and that once done he is to head to her coordinates to try and save whoever is left in her area.   Buzz uses tiny versions of himself to plug the broken wing temporarily while Apollo interfaces with the airplane itself to stabilize its flight.  Mason risks his own life, piloting the platform, to ferry the passengers and crew to safety.  Once done, Apollo rushes to the location Fangirl was transmitting only to find a burning building, and at the top, a dead woman who had strapped herself against the outer railings, still clutching a whimpering dog in her arms.  He rescues the dog and laments on the loss of Fangirl.

El Teniente fights a valiant fight against Vicious, one that was imperiled when he discovers the monstrosity is armed with the Gauntlets that are meant to be part of his armor.  When he wrests control of them, however, the tide quickly turns and Vicious is beaten into submission.  El Teniente reclaims the Gauntlets, fulfilling his Quest, and learns that the items "call" to each other.   He still feels uncertain about serving the Lady, however, ever since he learned she is actually imprisoned. The Quest is over but deep down, El Teniente feels today is but the beginning of him demanding to know more about this Legacy he upholds.

As the group eventually gathers, the topic becomes their missing teammate, Trace.  Savior and Diva confirm that her last known whereabouts were with The Question at the Spire.  Information suddenly is given to them by Fangirl, who informs them of coordinates, trajectory projections and theoretical star maps on where the alien vessel housing Trace was last seen headed.  Shocked by this given his knowledge of Fangirl's demise, Apollo counter-hacks to track the signal back and download what he can.  He discovers the source of the transmission is ArmsCorp itself!

The Wardens ep05 : DC Heroes

8/9/2015
The Wardens
Episode Five
"The Challenge - Part II of The Quest"

Mayfair Games' DC Heroes

Apollo, El Teniente, Reliquary and Buzz are at Axis Mundi.   The group struggles to avoid accepting any gifts, fearing that this place might permanently imprison them - like those legends of the wee folk - but to their surprise, the inhabitants of the place are both generous and welcoming.  They learn that the arriving group was indeed merely a welcoming committee, using Worsmiths to implant the language of their people to others.  Even Minotaur, whose imposing visage looked villainous to them, was just a herald.  They are told of the challenge of Magic and Steel, which happens once ever 1000 years, to determine whether the world will remain a world dominated by science  or magic.  They meet Myrddin, who represents the side of Magic, and his two daughters, Medea and Karadjeri.  And to their surprise, they learn that the last challenge was won by Conception Gonzales, El Teniente's abuela.  Various "houses" are chosen to give the heroes a place to recuperate and eat.    Buzz ends up at the Diwrnach household with the single chef that feeds the whole town.  The man somehow manages to prepare an entire feast all by his lonesome, but only when alone.  Reliquary stays with the Pious household, learning of their tomes and love of books.  He is even given a book on Rites and Rituals to keep.  El Teniente stays with the Brigid house, and the man there is not happy with Merea and seems distant towards the sisters.  Apollo, however, ends up in Valorum house, and finds a bronze-sinned man who asks him if he knows of "Benjamin Wilder."

Back in Port City, Trace cannot find any way to get to her companions.  The dark thing in the sky seems forever beyond her reach.  She teleports the injured Cassie to the hospital, learns she has all these fake "superhero team ID cards" and tries to see what they can do to help out.  Eleanor White shows up, and claims to be the "go-to-medic" for the Wardens as she tries to do what she can to help.  But soon, she also finds herself meeting her estranged parents.  Trance is even confronted by the child's father, a military man, who questions them allowing their daughter to join the team.  She is challenged with the possibility that their presence in Port City has endangered some of the youth that seek to emulate them.  Cassie might never even walk again.   She makes contact Ren Takenoko, Buzz' brother, and with FanGirl's help, the two try to find a way to see where the others had gone.  They re-calibrate the telescope but find no sign of the others.  

Back at Axis Mundi, Apollo makes a discovery.  The bronze-skinned man turns out to be an agent of the Chronochart Securities.  He is there to investigate the disappearance of Benjamin Wilder whose history supposedly has already been charted and is marked to be "out of sync" with the Chronal Records.   When the group is gathered for the Challenges, Apollo opts to participate, despite the warnings of the Time Agent.   The various challenges are presented, with the team worrying over how to win them given Medea spent most of her years of her life preparing her senses for the challenge.  The other sister, Karadjeri, is able to glimpse the future, and she tells the team she already knows who will win.  The challenges are based on the virtues of Strength, Courage, Sight, Song, Spirit, Sacrifice and Cognition.  And while each member of the team contributes to try and succeed in the challenges, the final Challenge of Sacrifice becomes the remaining one to determine who will win in the end.  Buzz considers making a sacrifice.  El Teniente wonders what he can sacrifice too.  Reliquary considers giving up his Immortality.  But Apollo realizes he has the answer and steps forward.

Trace considers finding a way to speak to the Mystic but finds Diego's abuela frantically trying to place her hand on water in the hospital.  Her ramblings are about the Axis Mundi and the need to face the challenges.  Through her, she heads to a location where an assistant admits the Mystic is preoccupied.  The apprentice talks of the Cosmic Tree, the Axis Mundi, and how she is not able to help.  "The ways of Magic are not about doing what you desire, but about reading the signs and understanding how they affect us.  Your friends have been Chosen.  They are now undergoing a Quest. In their Quest lies whether or not they return.  And whether or not we remain."   Oddly, she does suggest that Trace might need to make a sacrifice as well. And how they are always as multi-faceted like a mirror ball.   Not finding the answers she needed, Trace ends up not knowing what else she can do.

Apollo announces to the crowd who he is, what time he is from and admits he would want to go home from this barbaric time.     He sacrifices his future, the timeline beyond his current life, to the Challenge.  The Chronochart Security Agent reveals himself and reassures them all that no one will cease to exist.  Medea hates how he's sacrificing something that hasn't happened yet.  "Don't you know, sometimes potential is more powerful than others," Reliquary admits.    Steel wins the Challenge.  El Teniente whispers to Buzz, however, and asks what did he plan to sacrifice.  Neither says anything more.

The Arms Grow Stronger.

The Question and the apprentice discuss with Trace that the alien contingent is demanding for her to be returned to the alien camp.  Given the warlike nature of the alien vessels, the Question asks her if she is willing to meet with them, despite this possibly meaning she will never see her family or friends again. When she agrees to, the Question teleports them both to the Spire, a high-tech structure in geosynchronous orbit around the planet.  Trace is surprised that this had happened, and he implies its an inherent power he has.   Interestingly, he has powers of darkness.  The EYE, which turns out to be a sentient computer system, addresses Trace as the woman "the Question has been watching the last few days."  He eventually admits to her that he is actually an Afrokator, and admits it was Trace whom he had spirited away from the Royal House of Mthkhala.  The Mthrsyn have come demanding the return of Trace whom they refer to as nobility.  The Question agrees to give her back to them, in exchange, they are never to return to earth.   Trace believed there was a war between Afrokator and the Mthrsyn, but learns from the Question that there was no war.  Instead, the Afrokators were being massacred by the Mthrsyn with ease.   When she agrees to go with them, however, the Mthrsyn betray their side of the agreement, however, and unleash their weapons upon the Spire.  Trace watches in horror as the Spire is destroyed and as the ship they are in jumps into a dark hole.    

El Teniente wishes to see the Lady, which Myrddin allows him to.  He learns the Lady was a being of Magic herself, but had believed in the power of Steel.  So she was imprisoned for the rebellion that she incited for mankind to have their own freedom.  As a prisoner beneath the waters, she then reaches out to her chosen Knight and guides them to the locations of Artifacts.  She guides him to the location of another Artifact and explains that events are now making another one within reach.

At the roots of the Cosmic Tree, with the waters all around him, Diego looks into the depths and sees her staring back at him.  She rises and seeing him upset, she admits she is a prisoner in the Axis Mundi.  And that the abuela used to be the previous Knight.   She did not have them prepare for the challenges, because she believes in Steel no matter what.  But now it is time for his Quest.

The signs will be clear.

It will start with the sun.
Thrice it will fly from the north, amidst the rain of steel.

A falling stars shall herald the darkness of the sky.

Amidst the pain and anguish shall the Imprisoned cry out, "Why?"

Of broken oath, the Mountain walks armed with tarnished steel,

In his hands lies your Quest, dear knight, in this turning of the Wheel.

The others, on the other hand, hear Medea in anguish for having wasted fourteen years of her life preparing for the Challenge.   They invite her to go back with them and when she complains about how doing so would be to place her in a world she despises daily among barbarians that don't realize the would could be better.  Apollo nods and admits that means she will experience the world like he does.  "There are a lot of problems in the world.   And I think someone with magic can help us fix what we can," Apollo confesses.  Karadjeri interrupts them, admitting Medea will agree to go.  And that Medea could always see through Apollo's mirror-ball helm and likes what she sees.  Medea blushes and agrees to go.

As the group returns to Earth, they find themselves staring at meteors streaking across the sky.    Reliquary reaches out using the communicator to reach Trace, but instead gets Fangirl who is all frantic about the news of the Spire having been destroyed and the rain of debris striking the other coast...  New York City.  They realize there is no time to waste, and they have to rush there to help as the meteorites are crashing down there.  El Tentiente turns to Buzz.  Buzz calls his brother and admits, "I need your help."  Reliquary calls Conrad to make arrangements for them all to have a ride there.

The Wardens ep04 : DC Heroes

7/19/2015
The Wardens
Episode Four
"Harbinger - Part I of The Quest"

Mayfair Games' DC Heroes

The Wardens attempt to return to their lives, with the breathing room they gain after bringing down Rey Princeton and Le Chateau d' Univers.  Tara White (Trace) focused on her school work and found herself spending time with Dermont, a classmate who happens to be the son of Conrad.   Hadrian Fauntleroy (Reliquary) takes the opportunity to meet with Conrad and introduce his son to the fact he will someday inherit the business. Shin Takenoko (Buzz) and his brother discuss their family's legacy and learn that their parents actually prepared some video message for them regarding the powers to be inherited.  Ben Frank (Apollo) attempts to reconnect with the people, hoping to find ways to help the less fortunate citizens of Port City.  Diego Franco (El Teniente) tries to talk to his mother about the team, and finds the discussion shifting instead towards his Abuela and his sister, Lucita.

Ben learns many have been evicted from their homes, a move which was initiated by some major corporation that seeks to develop the land into better housing.  His recollections of the future do confirm that such structures do eventually stand here.   When he opts to join them for a barbeque at some park , he finds his day crossing into Diego's (whom he recognizes since El Teniente unmasked himself [Editor's note: See the spectacular second issue, "Confessions").

Buzz receives a call from Lucita, asking him to join the barbeque.  His arrival does not come unnoticed by Diego, who still has a beef with his teammate seeing his sister.  The two trade verbal jabs, but its clear that Diego still does not believe Shin is worthy to be part of his family.

But when dark clouds gather, the team opts to send out an alert.  Hadrian learns Tara is with Conrad's son, and insists the boy be taken to safety.  Tara finds herself dealing with an eager Dermont who is amazed to realize he knows people with super powers.   While Hadrian tries to get to the park in time, the rest of the team gather to deal with what seem to be otherworldly enemies:  dark skinned humanoids with disturbing weapons, who speak a language that feels familiar yet strange.   Even worse, they seem to be hunting for "Abuela." The team mobilizes to move people to safety, with Tara teleporting any of those injured to the nearest hospitals, Buzz and El Teniente facing off against a gigantic troll of a warrior, and the suitless Apollo being forced to rely on the damaged Mirror helm once used by Princeton and his skills to fight.  Unexpectedly, a new "heroine" emerges to join the battle as a young girl dressed like a super hero leaps into the scene.  Calling herself Wilder, the girl bites of more than she can chew when her antics place her in danger and the sonic boom Buzz generates to try to bring the Troll Warrior down catches her and grievously injures her.   Apollo grabs a hold of one of the guns held by the goblin-like folk and discovers the thing somehow has an effect on the mental stamina of its targets.  The weapon, however, bears an odd name: Wordsmith.

As Hadrian arrives at the scene, he catches sight of a tall, majestic woman wreathed in dark flames directs the assault from a nearby rooftop.  Hadrian rushes past her, hoping to reach the team, but then stops upon hearing her mutter one word:  Gervaine.  The name of his Alchemist mentor back when he was still mortal!   When he tries to demand for answers, she wades through the resistance with ease and demands for The First Knight.

Seeing more people injured from the wordsmith guns, Trace opts to teleport everyone she can to safety while the rest of the team use their combined abilities to fight against the tall woman, who they learn is called the Minotaur.   Buzz and El Teniente strike true, with Reliquary keeping her off balanced with intense mental assaults.  But just when the group thought they were about to celebrate a victory, they are all swept away from the park through what appears to be a magical portal!   By the time Trace, who had just teleported from the hospital, returns, the rest of the Wardens are missing.  And though she sees the dark shape in the sky, even a series of repeated teleports that push her to the brink of exhaustion fails to bring her any closer to her friends.   Sadly, even Fangirl, whose intense abilities to tap into electronic networks seems unparalleled, is unable to find where they had gone.

The Wardens ep03 : DC Heroes

07/06/2015
The Wardens
Episode Three
"The Cookie Crumbles"

Mayfair Games' DC Heroes

The Wardens are contacted by Ren Takenoko of ArmsCorp when they discover that one of the children who died in the prison escape turns out to not actually be dead.  The young girl named Lisa turns out to be an artificial life form.  The group, nervous to be invited into the company's technical center, meets with the robot and learns of an unexpected story:  Lisa used to work in a place called Le Chateau d' Univers, an entertainment hub for children to explore virtual worlds.  She had encountered another child who seemed very different from the rest.  And the two found themselves connecting in a way neither ever knew.   The group recalls the young boy, Franklin, who had become Mister Peanut during the fight.  They realize the transformations have to do with the cookie buttons that they are wearing: a form of Futuretech which even Apollo is uncertain how to react to.  They are hard light transmitters which allow them to change and gain a whole new set of abilities.  When the question of what happens to a "robot" who clearly desires freedom is raised, they learn that Ren himself feels it would be better if no one was aware of the robot's existence.  Luckily, the security systems of the facility are down that night and while Apollo worries this may be a ploy of Mason Armstrong, none of them realize it is actually because Mason is actually meeting with people he would rather prefer were kept out of the public eye.

The group then reluctantly escorts Lisa to reunite her with Franklin, who had been placed in a home since the events of the prison escape.  They meet a terrible matron in charge of the place, who seems a tad too religious rather than sensible. Reliquary contacts  Conrad to drive over and bring some clothes for Lisa, as well as a massive wooden rosary ornament to gain the matron's favor.  The group decides to follow the trail to Le Chateau d' Univers  but realizing the two kids might have plans of their own, Buzz is assigned to stay and watch them.  Trace teleports the rest to the address of Le Chateau d' Univers.

At Le Chateau d' Univers, Reliquary and Trace consider their options on how to sneak into the building.  Reliquary decides he will need to change clothes for a disguise, and the two teleport back to Reliquary's home.  While gone, El Teniente and Apollo realize they need to act.  El Teniente dismisses his armor, and tries to sneak inside as a customer, while Apollo stays in touch using the headset.  Inside, El Teniente however discovers how immersive the games actually get in Le Chateau d' Univers as he teams up with a few kids (as El Teniente, video game version) to fight against Evil Robot Cowboys.  Reliquary and Trace return to learn El Teniente is already inside and quickly try to sneak in as well.  Apollo and Trace sneaks around, eventually with Apollo staying at the Server room to see what he can do, while Trace investigates the main office.  There, she learns of Ray Princeton, a man who used to study under Mason Armstrong during his younger years.  Ray is the creator of the robot, Lisa, but never expected her to choose to run away.  The gun he had used to "shoot her" was actually meant to simply wipe out her memory banks and reset her.  No one expected her to impossibly still retain feelings for the boy.  Trace finds herself soon face to face with the Mirror-masked man, who she realizes is probably Ray Princeton, only to realize they are not alone in the room.  The Question is there.  And his actions against Princeton are with a brutality that makes the kids cringe.

Buzz and Conrad, Reliquary's right hand man, continue to watch over the orphanage only to notice a car which has repeatedly stopped, and then drive away from the building.  When Buzz opts to try to chase it and find out who is in it, they find a card with a warning instead left for him.  They realize the car isn't watching the kids nor the orphanage, but Buzz himself. And the people turn out to be The Eye.

While El Teniente and Trace fights against the solid light holograms, which they realize no longer have safety switches on, Princeton attempts to escape by leaping away on rainbow hard light trails which he skates on.  He does not anticipate Buzz leaping after him to take chase, and the Question landing on Buzz's yellow swarm to join the rush.  With Buzz' help, the Question is hurled forward and shatters Princeton's foot, forcing him to the ground.  Buzz returns with the unconscious crook, only to find Le Chateau  burning, and the rest of the team already helping out those who had to escape the building.    Lives have been saved and the crook is taken away by the paramedics.  The Wardens decide to call it a success.

They learn later on, however, that both Lisa and Franklin have run away.   Buzz sneaks a visit to Lucita and finds the Eye's car parked outside.  He overhears a conversation between Lucita's Abuela and a mystery man and realizes she is part of the Eye network.  And in the end, Mason Armstrong's legal team arrives to show documentation proving Ray Princeton's work was done using Armstrong's machines during his tenure under Mason's company... and thus they have the legal right to claim it all.

The Wardens ep02 : DC Heroes

06/29/2015
The Wardens
Episode Two
"Confessions"

Mayfair Games' DC Heroes

Tara White opts to purchase the team burner phones, hoping to help the group contact each other and not have to rely on Fan Girl alone to do so.  She learns that her family is planning a vacation trip out of town, however, and wonders how to manage her time with them with the super heroics she needs to do to help Port City.  Hadrian Fauntleroy decides to open up to Fan Girl about his identity and his wealth and the two soon opt to have the group gather and get to know each other a bit more.   Ben Frank is pouring through documents searching for any mentions of acenstral family members and ends up meeting Ren Takenoko, Shin Takenoko's brother, who shares he is working at ArmsCorp and recommends to Ben to try applying there. Ben realizes he misses an old show he used to watch, called MCIS.  But in this current date, it doesn't even exist yet.   Diego Franco learns that his youngest brother, Mateo, has gained a possibly unhealthy admiration for El Teniente and this has lead to school fights and moments of disobedience.  But this is nothing compared to the pressure he gets when Shin visits to ask his sister, Lucita, out on a date.

The Wardens soon learn that Hadrian has the financial means to support the team, an avenue of opportunities that Ben realizes can help finance the technology he hopes to empower the team with.   Ben had been researching as well the cookies he had retrieved from Mrs. Fields and Mr. Peanut and tracks the devices down to a place called Le Chateau d' Univers.   Ben suspects that's where the man with the Disco Ball head may be hiding.  Tara, however, suddenly gets a message from Fan Girl to hurry back home to the campsite where her parents have gone with her.  Before Tara could ask how she knows of her name, she teleports back in time just before her mother visits her tent.

The group begins to bicker about things, and overall there is that realization that many of them have yet to truly trust one another.  Hoping to show he has nothing to hide, Diego unmasks himself.  This, however, shocks Shin, who recognizes him to be the brother of the girl he likes.  When the arguments reach a fevered pitch, Fan Girl tries to silence them by addressing them by name.  And when called out for knowing about their secrets, she logs out in a panic, leaving the ipad mounted on a segwey that she used to interact with the team shut down.

Tara's woes, however, get worse when she discovers a group called SKIE has come to the camp, determined to ask questions.  They claim to be focused on alien threats and hope to learn about a recent alien crash site which her parents may or may not have witnessed.  The agents of SKIE, led by a unnamed woman who is accompanied by The Emissary, an alien contact who claims to be one of the Afrokaters.   Tara, however vague her childhood memories may be, knows the Afrokaters do not look the way he does, and this eventually leads to a fight.    The group rushes to the area to help out, with Tara pulling her mother out of the danger zone.   El Teniente and Buzz work in concert, moving into the danger zone, while protecting the parents from gun fire.  Apollo anticipates the need for a vehicle, only to find the Emissary teleporting to the jeep he was planning to commandeer.  They soon defeat the Emissary, named Sadin, and insist that the SKIE agent explain things in the future.  She gives them a card to contact her indirectly, citing the need for secrecy that she is bound to maintain.  The card gives them the name and contact details of her sister, who is a doctor at some nearby hospital.

With the group now aware of Tara's alien nature, Tara speaks to her mother who admits she pretended she did not know Tara and Trace where the same person, just to keep her safe.  She also admits she was well aware her daughter was not human, and even kept this from her father.   The two form a stronger bond for the years to come.

The SKIE agent reports to her higher ups that the Emissary was lying, and that the Wardens can at least be counted on protecting the city.  She does, however, wonder what they will do with the alien ship currently in orbit.

The Wardens ep01 : DC Heroes

06/07/2015
The Wardens

Episode One
"Growing Interest"

Mayfair Games' DC Heroes

Five new superheroes have emerged and have taken the role of guardians of Port City.  Though clearly young and not as experienced, the people are starting to be thankful that there are wardens watching over them.

Apollo, Benjamin Wilder currently known as Ben Frank. (Played by Erich)
Originally from the Commonwealth of Sol, from the future, the young lad slipped into the past while investigating a tech-thief on Moonbase V when a former schoolmate named Mason Armstrong activated an illegal time machine.  Now in the present, Ben uses the remnants of his Apollo Suit, his Higgs-Boson Flight Ring, futuretech he has cobbled up to become Apollo, the time colonist of Port City.

Reliquary, Hadrian Fauntleroy. (Played by Mahar)

Perpetually locked at a physical age of sixteen, Hadrian is an immortal.  From what was hoped to be a cure for lung rot, Hadrian and his master used the fragments of a fallen meteor to create an alchemical concoction but upon ingesting it, the mixture worked only for the young lad.  In the modern day, Hadrian owns the Forever Foundation and uses the money there to finance the group as well as help children with scholarships and other means.

Trace, T'kara qi Mthkhala currently known as Tara White.  (Played by Rachel)

Originally from the planet Mthrsyn, T'kara was accidentally changed by the survival pod she was inside when she was shunted away from her war-torn world.  The Afrokator genes within her have given her strange remote-sensing and teleportation powers, and while her adoptive human parents seemingly do not know of her alien heritage, they are more unaware of her exploits as Trace.

Buzz, The Human Swarm, Shin Takenoko. (Played by Urim)
Hailing from a family of superheroes, Shin's father Makoto was the legendarily swift Tsunami and his mother, Yuuki, was the terrifyingly strong monster-mistress Kaiju.  But since their disappearance three years ago, Shin has taken the responsibility and role of Port City's yellow-blue hero - much to his older brother Ren's dismay.  

El Teniente, Diego Fraco. (Played by Rocky)
Led by visions of the Lady, a mysterious cosmic entity who has been inadvertently perpetuating the Arthurian proto-myth over the years, Diego has been selected to be her champion and knight of justice.   Using the artifacts he has gained through quests, he fights crime and defends the weak as the armored El Teniente.

The story opens with a bank robbery in progress.  The team, gathered by the mysterious Fangirl who once alerted all the heroes to a burning building nearby, arrive at the rooftop nearby to assess the situation.  They see the guards gathered outside the bank and plan their approach.   They learn of the 14 hostages inside, and with Trace's remote-sensing find an isolated room to quietly teleport inside.  Buzz swarms from the front, while the rest stealthily plan their targets.

Leading the robbery turns out to be a woman calling herself Mrs. Fields.  Armed with a strange gun that transmutes things it hits into cookie dough, Mrs. Fields and her Hunger Guns are no match for the group.

In the days that follow, Tara finds herself trying to sneak out of the house only to learn about an upcoming camping trip with her folks.  Hadrian explores the world of online dating and finds it an odd and strange place.  Shin struggles to find focus and study for an exam while his brother berates him for doing the "super hero thing" wrong.  Diego nearly forgets to pick up his younger brother from school, who as it turns out has gotten into trouble for idolizing El Teniente.  And Ben searches for any information on his ancestors online but in the process finds himself meeting a reporter who turns out to be dating Mason Armstrong himself.

The group gathers once again when news of an escape attempt at the prison reaches them.  The police have been forced outside of the precinct by armed men accompanying a bald man with a monocle and a suit.  While Buzz and El Teniente knock down the armed men, Trace and Reliquary pull back the injured police men to safety.  Apollo, flying overhead, attempts to tap into the prison's camera system to see what is going on inside.  The bald man has found Mrs. Fields, and the man, they learn, calls himself Mister Peanut.  After a kiss, he somehow transforms into a massive hulking form of muscle and anger and tears open the prison to help Mrs. Fields escape!

Buzz and El Teniente arrive in time to face off against the hulking form.  But his immense strength proves to be too dangerous.  When Mister Peanut tears through the roof to leap into the air, Trace is forced to teleport him away from everyone else in an attempt to gain control of the situation.  Apollo tries to follow Mrs. Fields and finds her headed towards a black car in an alleyway.  There, a man with a mirror-ball like head shoots Mrs. Fields in the chest and seemingly kills her.  Where the old woman stood, a young girl lies on the ground.  Trace pulls the giant back to the combat zone, and Hadrian uses his immense empathic powers to shut the giant down with happiness and calm.   While Buzz and El Teniente move to check if any other policemen are in need of help, Apollo tries to send a tracer after the stranger.  However, the stranger uses his own version of futuretech to trap Apollo to the ground by diverting the gravity around him and pinning him to the gravel.

In the police site, Mason Armstrong arrives with a host of emergency services personnel.  The injured policemen are quickly assisted and the media approaches Armstrong, asking if the threat is over.  He addresses the media, referring to the young group of heroes as the Wardens and thanks them for being the city's defenders.  They hold the body of the young dead girl in their arms and swear to find justice.   Apollo pockets the tiny "cookie" buttons and considers finding the time the study them further.  If anything, what bothers him the most is how the futuretech he has seen has an old insignia which reminds him of the mark his old schoolmate used to use back in the future.

He realizes Mason Armstrong is indeed his old school friend.  But what role he has in relation to these villains remains to be seen.