frp

Date: November 21, 2014
Characters in attendance: Hex, 99, Quantum, Shimmer, Lady Paladin
Experience awarded: 0

As the heroes return from their encounter with the Heap, they learn more about the disaster that befell Seattle. An area approximately 1 mile in diameter, from the north part of the financial district to the Space Needle, from I-5 to Pike's Place Market and Puget Sound has disappeared, replaced by what appears to be a 30-ft tall stone wall surrounding medieval structures and a castle in the middle. The news is confusing, and nobody has any real information.

Back at the base, Olivia is ready to brief everyone on the situation (after having everyone clean up after their encounter with the sentient trash heap).

The information she has: * The area is close to circular, centered on 6th and Bell in Seattle, and is about 1.6 km in diameter. It does not bisect any buildings, but other structures such as roads, train tracks, the monorail, etc. are bisected. * All above ground and underground pipes, wires and tunnels were cut. There were several fires caused by cut gas mains and power lines, and approximately half a dozen deaths due to fires and other accidents. * The entire area is surrounded by a stone wall 30 feet high, with no doors or access ways. * There is a haze hanging over the area, so that nobody can clearly see into the area. * Anything that flies over the walled area less than several hundred feet is immediately shot by arrows. Big arrows. The first helicopter over the area was shot down by an arrow the size of a tree trunk, going impossibly fast and accurate, no known survivors. Other planes, helicopters, drones, flying superheroes have been fired upon. * There has been no contact with anybody that was known to be in the area at the time. * The President of the United States is being briefed and is due to make a public statement. National Guard and military forces have been mobilized, and have started taking positions around the area, but are doing nothing as yet. * All of the regional and national superhero teams have been called to come to Seattle, and the Rose City Five has been invited. * There is a plane at PDX ready to take the team to Seattle.

Olivia informs the group that Sister Catherine Donohue, the new Mother Superior of the Catholic order down at Marylhurst, wishes to speak with them. On the phone. The speaker phone on, she speaks to them. * The Mother Superior tells them that their assumptions are correct. The center of the transported area is the location of another Nexus of Power, this one controlled by the Sacred Heart Parish of Seattle. The location of the Nexus was undergoing renovation into a new school; the parish had moved to a location adjacent to the Space Needle in 1927. The parish was in the area, and everyone there has disappeared. * The nuns don't know who did it, but know that it took immense power, and involved agents working together in both worlds. * The Rose City Five have powers and experience that will help solve this situation and rescue the missing people, the Mother Superior has foreseen some of it. * Other heroes might have some ideas of the Nexuses of Power, and the team can admit to it's knowledge, but she would prefer that the team not be public about their and other Catholic orders' role in defending the Nexuses. * She wishes them the best of luck.

Head to the airport, jump on a Horizon plane to Boeing Field, Olivia and Stan bringing several larges cases of equipment. On the plane, Olivia continues the briefing.

The point man organizing the superheroes is Supersonic, a long-time Seattle superhero. He has convinced the military to not immediately go in, and to let the heroes investigate the matter first.

The teams coming out to help are: * Freedom Force (in a military jet with all of their handlers) * The Five * The Heartlanders, a midwest team * The Johnny Rebs, a southern team * The Metros, a northeast/city team * Several local and regional independent heroes. * The Cabalist is rumored to be there as well. Superheroes know him as the most powerful magician in the U.S., if not the world, but normals don't know of him. * Two members of the new Daniel Dunlap-sponsored team, the Seattle Six (Super Star and Ford), were in the affected area and are missing.

The group lands at Boeing Field, and a National Guard vehicle takes the group to a staging area on the east side of the area. The group finally sees the wall surrounding the area.

The group is greeted by the members of The Five as they come in, and they see more superheroes in one place than they have ever seen before. Freedom Force is away from the main group of heroes, surrounded by their handlers, but everyone else is talking together. Supersonic, an older, imposing hero addresses the assembled teams.

“Thank you all for coming on such short notice. I believe that everyone here has been briefed to the situation as known by the public, but there are additional details that only we know.

First of all, we don't know exactly what is inside the walled city. It appears to have some medieval architecture, but we can't see clearly, even with long- range vision or on different wavelengths. There is a supernatural haze blanketing the area.

Secondly, the hazy field does not prevent people from climbing over the wall, phasing or teleporting through it, or tunneling underneath. But any of our scouts that have attempted to do so have been attacked as soon as they clear the wall, attacked by unusual creatures that looked like creatures out of Lord of the Rings. The groups of monsters were strong and fast, and our scouts were barely able to get back to safety.

Third, this “incursion” into Seattle is of a mystical nature. To explain that, I would like to introduce the Cabalist.

Up steps a dignified man wearing a dark suit, and he speaks with a deep, booming voice.

“Yes, this is magic, very powerful magic. It appears to be centered on a location which had ancient mystical power, and till now had been well hidden. I cannot see into the area, and do not understand the basis of this power. If I could analyze it, I feel confident that I could figure out how to reverse the transformation, and bring our Seattle back. But it is going to take all of us to do it.

Supersonic starts speaking again. “So here is our plan. We need to get into the center of the walled city, to analyze the magic in it. The Cabalist has provided us with several devices that will allow him to remotely analyze the magic, as soon as it is brought close to the source. We believe that if all of us go in to the area simultaneously in groups, spaced evenly around the wall, their forces will be divided enough that at least one group should be able to make it to the center and allow the Cabalist to do his analysis. I strongly suggest that any individual heroes form temporary groups, since we have a limited number of devices to distribute. While the devices are being distributed, we will provide frequencies that your technicians and gadgeteers can tune to so that we can all stay in communication.”

Somebody is passing out items to the different groups. The team gets theirs, and it appears to be a block of maple approximately 4” on a side, with one side slightly concave. To the group, it has no other power, feature, or characteristic.

“In a few minutes, we will be transporting the teams to their staging areas around the wall, and the signal to enter the walled city will come shortly thereafter, at 18:00 hours. Do any last minute prep you need, and good luck to everyone.”

As everyone prepares, the team is approached by the Cabalist, who has a few words with them.

“I'm so glad that you were able to come; I know that you have had experience with something similar down in Portland, so I feel that you are well-equipped to help. And when you get back to Portland, tell the Mother Superior that I hope that she is doing well.” Lady Paladin plays it coy, saying that she doesn't know who he is talking about. He leaves, and Stan hands everyone back their transceivers, adjusted so that they can work on the common frequency (as well as being able to privately talk to their group), and Olivia hands out small backpacks containing some food, first aid supplies, and some extra equipment that they might need. She is a little teary-eyed as she tells them good luck, and the group is taken in another National Guard truck to their insertion point, the northwest side by where the Space Needle once was. A few minutes later, the signal goes out, and the team goes over/through the wall.

Almost immediately the team was besieged by terrifying, deadly creatures: undead ghouls, with a touch that could paralyze a person out of fear, and actual living stone gargoyles, which would disappear into the stonework the moment that they landed. The heroes fought them for a while, but when they thought they had the upper hand, two more creatures arrived: an immense stone giant, throwing boulders at them, and a dark elf fighter, firing poisonous crossbow bolts. The team was getting injured, and the dark elf was about to fire upon one of them when another dark elf appeared out of the shadows, and stabbed the first one in the back. It was obvious who it was; it was Thrall, the hero that the team had met in their previous foray to the fantasy realm of Port Landing (and the one who was the analog of 99). Together they defeated the rest of the villains, and Thrall told them that he and Shade had come to the city to investigate some powerful magical activity when it was suddenly transported into this world. Shade was elsewhere, doing his own investigations.

The greetings over, the team was startled to hear terrible roars coming from overhead, and look up to see several huge dragons. A green one notices them…