RPG: Parst City Super Hero Role Playing Game

[Paul]

Parst City Super Hero Role Playing Game

It has been a decade since the Great Earthquake of Parst. Rocking the the Richter scale, the quake exploded through the city, causing massive oil fires and for entire towers to fall, crushing the citizens below. Crime rates and poverty rates skyrocketed, the streets being filled with the sound of gunfire, while innocent citizens tried to hide themselves in the wreckage of the buildings. Without any form of communication, it was nigh impossible to make contact with the outside world.

Sometime during the chaos, though, strange events began to occur. People began to witness people with amazing abilities help around the city. Whether it be with stopping a crime, or rebuilding a tower, these people assisted with stabilizing Parst city.

These people got their origins during the Earthquake, when a great amount of an unknown gas was released from the crust. This gas affected people who were exposed to great amounts of it. Their powers varied from one person to the next, no person's power being the same.

After several years, with the help of these heroes, Parst city began to return to normal. The entire city was rebuilt, and the citizens began to return to their everyday lives, the heroes taking their places, assisting wherever they were needed.

Now, a decade later, Parst City is a thriving metropolis, the only sign of the earthquake being the giant fissure going down the center. People no longer fear being robbed, mugged, or murdered, and Superheroes are respected and loved.

Little do they know, a power worse they have ever imagined is on its way.

The start of this RPG is set in August 2014.


Many thanks to salemboy for creating this RPG scenario.

If you would like to join this RPG, please create a character through this link

[salemboy]

The thick, swarming mass of people. Each one moving about, trying to get to where they needed to be, each one thinking about how they were going to make life easier for themselves, each one fighting to jump ahead of the other. That's the way it always was in a city, no matter how peaceful. People were constantly competing for survival in this dog-eat-dog world, knowing perfectly well that slowing down for a second would result in their demise.

It was this class of animals which Raijin gazed upon, watching them with intense, golden eyes. Sitting atop a building, he looked down on the citizens of Parst City. His ears twitched as he observed them communicating with one other, whether it be speaking on a cell phone, or flipping eachother the bird. They were completely unaware, completely ignorant, of the danger in their midst.

It was that danger that Raijin was searching for. Somewhere hidden in the crowd was a blade, a blade that he could not alert for fear of fleeing. The sun bore down on the back of his neck, causing beads of sweat to begin to form, rolling down his back until it landed on the roof of the building. He swore, wondering why the man wouldn't appear.

Several screams drew his attention towards a crosswalk. People were fleeing from the corner, making a hole in the swarm. In the hole was a lone figure, garbed completely in black, standing over the body of a woman. Raijin swore. He had missed him, and the man had already taken another.

Standing up, Raijin ran along the roof towards the crosswalk. As he neared the edge of the building, Raijin turned and leaped off. Flying through the air, he seemed to be in suspended animation as he windmilled his arms forward. His shadow carried across the ground below him as he fell through the air. The ground began to become closer and closer as Raijin began descending farther and faster.

Reaching his hands downwards, between his legs, he jetted out a bolt of lightning downwards out of his hands. Only a few feet away from the ground, the bolt slammed into the pavement with a loud crack, pushing Raijin upwards. Pulling his legs backwards, he pushed himself upside down, with the hands still jetting out lightning. Continuing his leg swing, he stopped the lightning and landed on the pavement. He was only a few feet away from the killer, who was currently kneeling over the body of his victim.

The man leaned up to look at Raijin, his mask removed to show his pale face, which had blood smeared across his chin. His black eyes looked at Raijin as he licked the blood away from his lips. "Step away from the body and I won't harm you," Raijin commanded, already knowing that it wouldn't work. It hadn't worked in the past on this creature, this monster.

Without warning, the black-garbed man bolted off towards a crowd of people, his unnatural speed making him a blur to Raijin's eye. "No, not again!" he yelled as he dashed after the monster. Reaching his hand forward, Raijin charged electricity into it, making it glow a golden yellow color. "STOP!" he yelled. The man didn't.

Raijin released the electricity stored in his hand, which bolted forward, cracking like a whip as it stung against the man's back. The black-garbed man fell to the ground in a crumpled heap. Desperately, it tried to crawl forward, but Raijin was standing above it before any progress could be made. A great, charred hole was in the creature's back, revealing blackened flesh and ribs. Smoke rose from the cauterized wound, the smell terrible, unlike anything Raijin had smelled before.

Turning the creature over, Raijin realized that it was still alive. Blood was running from its mouth as it looked at him, the hatred in its eyes seeming to pierce Raijin himself. Raijin was afraid to touch the thing, amazed that anything could survive the bolt he had pulsed out. The creature sensed his fear and smiled, revealing blood-stained fangs. It spoke, its voice as pleasant as nails on a chalkboard. "You fear me," it whispered. "You should. I am not like you." It closed its eyes momentarily before reopening them. "I am but the first of those who you will fear."

Bending down, Raijin grabbed the creature by the throat, and lifted it up. "What do you mean?" he demanded.

The creature smiled once more before replying, "You will see, you... will... see..." It's eyes rolled and jaw laxed as it breathed its last breath, and turned to dust in Raijin's hand, only leaving behind its black garb.

Raijin watched the blackened dust disperse away from him, feeling in his hands the tiny remnant that had clung to his skin. Silently, he thought to himself, "What is coming?"

[Ms. Elsewhere]

High above the city in her the highrise building that housed her law firm, Samantha Yin watched the ant like people move through the streets. The cars were gridlocked already, and even through the thick glass, the sound of the angry population honking their horns was audiable. At least, to her it was. Her senses had always been more hightened since the earthquakes.

Samantha turned around in her chair, and rested her arms on her large desk. She drummed her fingers once, twice, and then picked up the phone and started to dial.

"Where is he?" she asked impatiently. Her secretary complained on the other end. Samantha closed her eyes and rubbed her forhead. "Just find out how much longer. No wait... he's here. I can see him." she hung up and stood up, looking past her secretary who sat on the other side of the window to her office. An entarage of four men and two women flanked a shorter man in a pin striped brown suit. He was confident and important looking, and with good reason. Samantha walked around her desk and opened her office door.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Mayor." she smiled.

"Not really, " the man huffed. He did not waste his flashy smile and butt kissing on his lawyer. Samantha continued to grin.

"Please sit down and tell me all about it." she gestured to the very comfortable seats against the far wall for his, 'pose', and for the mayor himself, a leather chair directly in front of her desk. She gestured again for her secretary to bring in some refreshments. The mayor shuffled in his seat, and once his tea had been delivered, he took a deep drink and seemed to relax a little.

"Now, I am up to my eyeballs in law suits about the mess the quakes have caused, not only structually, but emotional, physcological and of course, the gas issue....."

"Yes sir. This firm has been handling these cases all these years. No one has a case against an act of God. This city was constructed soundly, and an earthquake of that magnitude would have obliterated any kind of structure." Samantha reminded him, a discussion they have had many times.

"I know!" the mayor growled, and took out his hankerchief to wipe his forhead. The air outside was terribly humid, and he was still perspiring from it. "My issue is what has immerged as a result. There is no gratitude for what has been done. The whole town is going ferel again. And just this morning, another murder involving one of... well one of your kind."

It was Samanthat's turn to shuffle in her seat. "Has one of .... my kind... been harmed?" she thought about the actual possiblility of this. Unlikely. All of the people affected would have such heightened senses, nothing could happen.. unless they got careless?

"No no.. But people are dying. And we cannot explain how. This morning we recovered a body of woman... mutilated. The coroner is still trying to determine cause of death. I was present for the viewing.. it is sickening... like something out of horror movie ..." The mayor's skin went shades whiter; he looked positively ill.

"Sir, please have another drink. " Samantha poured another tea. He took it, his hands shaking and drank again, looking past Samantha into the window. "So do the police have a suspect?"

"They saw someone flee the scene. But no identities. Yet." to this the mayor scowled.

"Alright. So we wait. In the mean time, the city cannot be held responsible for every action of it's citizens." Samantha paused and looked over at the group who had come in with them. One of them, a young woman, was far too pretty to be a body guard, and was looking uncomfortable, waiting for an introduciton.

"Oh, sorry dearest, come here." the mayor waved the girl over and she complied and walked over to Samantha. "This is Jessica Jui, the heiress to the Jui Corporation. Her father has asked me to organise for you two to meet. Miss Jui has some issues with the law she would like to discuss, and i told her father, if there's anyone who can handle high profile cases, it's Sam Yin. "

The girl bowed deeply. "So good to meet you." she said quietly. Samantha bowed back.

"And you, Miss Jui." Samantha looked back at the mayor and he stood up, waving to his people to follow him. All but the other woman got up and left with him. The woman, an older lady, slim but strong looking with black hair tied in a bun, watched them from the seats against the wall. Miss Jui took the mayors seat.

"Thank you for seeing me. I want your help with something ,but it's difficult to explain..."

"Try me. There isn't anything I haven't heard." Samantha smiled charmingly at her new client. What could be troubling this little miss? She did recognise the girl now, she was in ads for clothing from her dad's department store, in magazines and on bilboards. Sam even had the handbag from Jui department store.

"I want your help to stop someone from tormenting me. But.. I ... I dont' know who he is. We try to catch him, bugged my phone, tried to follow him, but he gets to me, no matter what, and we cant' get to him. He must be one of the... the ones that the mayor speaks of. I'm afraid. He gets in my room and I know he has been there..." MIss Jui was wringing her hands.

"I see. So you want our help to find your stalker. Piece of cake. We have the facilities to investigate this, and then when we find him, we'll nail him with charges and have him locked up. It's very easy to just skip the steps now. No restraining order. No chances. The laws have changed ,thanks to too many people getting away with too much. " Samantha smiled at this. She loved her job. The law was so strict now, it was always so easy to win.

"See to it that you do. We are at your full disposal. Whatever you need, and whatever expense." Miss Jui stood up and bowed again, and then extended her hand. Samantha moved to shake it, and the frame on her desk moved across the desk with her hand, as if her hand had a string attached and had snagged it. Miss Jui looked at Sam, then the picture and back again.

"Oh woops. That happens sometimes. No problem!" she pulled the picture back to it's original position, and then quickly took Miss Jui's extended hand and moved to help her walk out the door. "We will be at your house later to discuss what is required. "

[salemboy]

A dripping sound echoed across the sewers, the permeating odor being so putrid that Raijin thought he was going to throw up. Many people had taken a dump today, Raijin thought to himself. Climbing up a ladder, he lifted the manhole to his hideout, inside of an old warehouse.

The sound of barking drew Raijin's attention, and before he knew it, he was covered in slobber as Ammy began licking all over his face and barking playfully. "Woah, girl. Let me up before you start attacking me." The dog relented long enough for Raijin to get out of the manhole and pull on the cover. As soon as he did so, he found himself on his back with dog slobbering all over him. Laughing, Raijin let a small spark jolt onto the dog's tongue, to which it jumped off and began scraping its tongue with its paws.

Standing up, Raijin patted Ammy on the head, and told her, "Maybe next time, Ammy." Looking around, he observed his hideout. It was the same way it was when he had left it. The tv was still buzzing the news, while the couch still had a few beer bottles strewn about on it. Funny, he was a "Superhero" as some put it, and still drank underage. What was this world coming to?

The warehouse itself was formerly a storage house for a furniture store, but when the store had been destroyed during the earthquake, everybody had forgotten about the warehouse. Raijin had found it while trying to stay alive, and had decided to make it his home. The place had been a mess, but over the years, he had tidied it up, and made it usable. The plumming had been fixed, as had the electricity, by him.

Nobody had explored the place, and he remained relatively undisturbed, except for the occasional rat, which Ammy normally killed with ease. It was a nice, little way to escape from the world, and Raijin hoped it would stay that way.

[Ms. Elsewhere]

Samantha finished typing the requests necessary to set up a full surveillance on Jessica Jui. Not just on her home, but every aspect of her life. Sam had many contacts. All were reliable and trusted, but some were not top citizens. She kept her sources to herself mostly, and gathered them through indirect means.

Samantha decided she needed a run. She changed into some shorts and a t-shirt and put on her running shoes and a baseball cap. She clipped her earpiece in which doubled as her phone and a music player, and as she exited her office she briefly said her plans to her secreatary before pushing the door open to the stairs.

She took them floor by floor, jumping over each railing with ease. Her landings were soft, she was able to control the rate of her fall by literally pulling back on her own gravity. At the same time she flicked a can of coke off the stair she was about to land on with a wave of her hand. It bounced off the wall and crushed itself.

Sam opened the exit door and walked into the carpark, her heart was going at a healthy rate. She started to jog, and then left the carpark via the main entrance. The day was reasonable for jogging. Sam touched her earpeace and selected Rock to jog to. She increased her pace, and started to run on the slope. She followed her usual path, but then was compelled to go a new direction. She turned up an industrial passage, and started to run past some abandoned warehouses. Sam noticed it was nice and peaceful, dispite her roaring rock tunes, because there was no one around. No one that is, except for that guy.

Sam slowed down as the man in the distance appeared over the hill. He was walking a dog. Was there any need to be alarmed. Sam reached up and stopped her music, and instead tuned in her keen senses. Just as she did, the man, who's silouette was seemingly involved in looking at what the dog was doing, paused, and then stood up straight and looked her way. Samantha continued to jog towards him. And he, continued to walk toward her.

As she got closer she was pleased with what she saw. He was nicely built, and had a good looking face. It seemed like he cared very much for his dog, who was devoted to his master and very playful. Then she noticed his hair. It was unnaturally yellow! She hmmed to herself. They were about to cross paths, and as they did, the man looked directly in her eyes. She paused, and so did he. His eyes were as yellow as his hair.

"I... I'm sorry." Samantha stumbled, still completely blown away by his eyes. She disconnected, and then tried walk away, cursing herself. You're sorry? Really smooth. Yet there was something about him. She turned back fast to observe him again, and he was still observing her.

[salemboy]

Over time, Raijin had learned to detect the electricity around him. He always knew where a good source of electricity was, and how far away it was. This detection of electricity had extended to humans for the past two years, where he could sense their body's electricity. It was almost always the same, with very little variation, and was rather dull to him. But every once in a while, he would come across a person who's elecricity was different. A higher amount. These were those who had been affected by the gas.

He didn't come across Gas-Mutants very often. Despite the size of the quake all those years ago, but a few Gas-Mutants had appeared, so whenever he saw one, staring was second-nature. The woman was staring back at him. He guessed he'd at least start up a conversation. Staring, and then walking away was even ruder than simply staring. "Do you want to pet her?" Raijin motioned towards Ammy.

[Ms. Elsewhere]

Samantha looked down as the man crouched beside his dog and put his hand on it's head. She moved towards them, and the dog seemed to like her; it was panting happily. Sam crouched down too, and started to stroke the back of the dogs neck. She scratched it behind it's ears and then brought both of her hands up and scratched behind both of it's ears. The dog adored this attention. Samantha smiled.

"You are very cute. Yes you are!" she said, looking into the solid brown eyes. Then she noticed her hands, and brought them up off the dog. The dogs hair stood on end, as if static was attached to her hands. But when she pulled away, the hair layed flat again.

"I... wow I don't know why that happens. I think I must attract a lot of static electricity." Samantha was always hesitant about revealing her gift to just anyone. Some people behaved very cruelly when they found out, and she was in a strange place, alone. With a strange man. Who was looking at her again, this time time like he was reading a book. Samantha was about to ask what he was thinking, when something interupted them.

Samantha fell to the ground in agony a something exploded across her shoulder. She rolled onto her good side to see her attacker stepping out of an alley behind them, a gun in his hand. His malace had not been premeditated; she could usually sense danger coming. This one seemed to think killing was nothing more than, well.. walking your dog.

Samantha dragged herself behind a parked car and grabbed at her shoulder. She held her hand away from her chest and pointed all her fingers toward her body like a claw. Something small and copper coloured dislodged and she caught it in her hand. She threw it on the ground and put her hand to her wound again. Ouch.

Another shot fired. Samantha wiggled over to the other side of the car and took in her surroundings. She peered around to get a look at the shooter. She found him, another shot fired when he saw her head come around. He was standing near a window.

"Do you have ANY idea who I am?" she screamed, and she brought her hands up, forcing the window behind the man to shatter and fly forward into him. The assailant fell to the ground. Samantha got up, turned around, put her hands out again, in spite of her sore shoulder, and flipped the car up and over her head so that it landed upright again behind her. She stomped over to the man now lying on the ground. He was bleeding badly. But Samantha was in no mood to call an ambulance. She crouched down and grabbed him by the hair. His face was a mess, but she recognised him.

"I'm a little more scary outside the courtroom." she scoffed, and dropped his face on the ground. She sighed and stood up. Adjusting her ear piece she made a phone call. "Hi. Ya, I need you to come clean something up for me. Yep. Ya, another one. Hadn't happened in a while so I got a little taken off guard. That's what you get for defending some people, hey? Ok. Ya you have the GPS? Good. Bye." she touched her ear piece to hang up. Hands on her hips, she realised that she had no idea what had happened to the man and his dog. She paniced, thinking he had been shot. Where did he go?

[salemboy]

A man fell onto the concrete from behind Samantha with a sickening crunch. Looking up, she saw Raijin standing atop of a warehouse, dismantling a rifle. "People seem to really like you," he called down as he dropped the dismantled rifle to the concrete below. Grabbing onto a drainage pipe, he slid down to the sidewalk as Ammy came around the corner of the warehouse, her tail tucked between her legs. "Ammy's really just a coward," he told the woman. Then he saw the wound in the woman's shoulder. "Do you need that checked out?"

[Ms. Elsewhere]

"How did you..." she said breathlessly, looking up where the man had just come from. "And didn't I......" she started to say, waving her hand at the distruction she just caused. She stumbled slightly, and noticed that her tshirt was soaked with blood where her shoulder was weeping out. She brought her other hand up and pressed. She smiled weakly.

"We're a long way from anywhere. I have people on their way, to sort him out. And I guess... him too. Oh wow what a mess." she shook her head. "Yes, I'm really popular. That's what you get for defending scum... and losing." she sighed and leaned against a light pole. "My name is Samantha Yin by the way. I thought you should know who's life you saved."

[salemboy]

Samantha Yin. "Never heard of ya," Raijin said nonchalantly. He never really paid attention to politics or legal issues. "I've got a place nearby where I can fix that cut up." He jabbed his thumb over towards his hideout. "It's only a two or three minute walk." This woman had strange powers... Apparently, she could move objects with her mind. A handy gift... Real dangerous, too. He'd seen what she'd done to that one guy.

[FortisUmbra]

As William walked along the sewer he was careful to stay near the wall. He was tapping around in front of him with his walking stick so that he was sure he didn’t trip over anything the rats had missed. Right in front of him was about five rats walking together as if they were leading him somewhere. William was grateful that the rats had known where to look even if they had no idea what he was looking for. Rats were always great guides because they knew where anything in the city was and they were easy to control.

He had been blind from the day of his birth. He had come to terms with it long ago, back in the orphanage where he had grown up with his brother. He had never seen anything in his entire life until the day his brother died…

But that was not important right now. The rats were very frightened of where they were going, if William lost his concentration and started reminiscing for one second they would scurry off and he would need to find more of them to get anywhere. He was looking ahead using what the rats saw to guide him. Suddenly he came to a ladder and gripped it with the hand not holding the walking stick.

He concentrated and, realizing that there was no one up there, began to climb the latter. As he did this he let the rats scurry away and he was once more completely blind. He lifted the manhole and listened. All was quiet. He tapped around at his feet until the stick hit something he recognized to be a couch. He put his hand down on it and felt around until his hand hit a nearby beer bottle. He moved it out of the way and sat down to wait.

“Why am I here?” he thought to himself. “Because,” He answered “you saw what he did to that man. You saw what the crow saw as he fried the murderer of that poor women who’s thoughts had screamed of agony in your mind the moment she died. You’re here because you have been cursed to hear every cry of pain every shriek of agony the last thoughts of every person to die in the entire city and you have been to frightened to do anything. Now you have found someone who does something about it.” “Yes but why am I here? What do I hope to gain from talking to him?”

William was about to get up and leave, he had even started looking for some new rats, when his mind stumbled over two people, one of which was wounded, and a dog who were intending to enter the building. He didn’t have time to get more rats or to even open the manhole so he sat. And he didn’t wait very long.

[Ms. Elsewhere]

Samantha looked down where she came from and then back. She was intrigued to find out where this new 'friend' might be taking her. She didn't take him as a person who trusted just anyone. She was flattered, to say the least. But also, a little nervous. She had made up her mind.

"Let's go. This will get sorted in about 10 minutes. I'd rather not be here when they get here. " she turned to walk somewhere and then turned back. "Where are we going? And.... is it too much to ask for a name? I understand the secrecy. I have no such luxury."

[salemboy]

Raijin smiled. "Sorry, I did not mean to communicate an idea of secrecy." He held out his hand. "My name is Tod. Tod Marcher." As she shook his hand, he began walking towards the hide-out, with Ammy coming alongside. "It's not much, just a place to stay." They walked for a few minutes in silence.

Eventually, the found themselves in front of the forgotten warehouse. It was hidden amongst the other warehouses, making it almost completely unnoticeable. There was a small door on the side, leading to the very thin alleyway. Reaching the door, he slowly began to open it, feeling the hot air from inside press against his face.

[Ms. Elsewhere]

At Tod request, Sam moved to step into the warehouse. The heat within was a little humid, but she was dressed for it, and found it comforting. she continued to walk through the space as Tod organised some lights. She found a place to sit down. Leaning forward, she looked at her moved her shoulder to see what the damage was. The pain was intense. She put her hand in front of her shoulder and wiggled her fingers.

"Ah." she breathed. A bit of metal removed itself from her skin. She exhaled, and nearly passed out. Looking down at her palm, she observed teh bullet. "Wow, it didn't just skim me..." she thought out loud. Her shoulder was very warm, and she looked over at it. VEry dark red blood was actcually pouring out of the wound. She turned away, and wretched. When she opened her eyes, she noticed a stanger in the room. It was a man, thin with short hair. He sat on the far side of the room on the couch, facing her with a blank expression. She stood up fast. He did not respond. Her movement sent her into a dizzy spell, and she nearly passed out. She closed her eyes and tried to steady herself. When she opened them, the man had stood up. Sam was reminded of a ghost she thought she had seen once. This one today had eerie white eyes. She chose flight over fight, and turned to run. Unfortunately, she was loosing too much blood, and her body could not facilitate such fast movements. She collapsed to the floor with no control over her movements in spite of her gift, and fell unconscious.

[FortisUmbra]

William stood up as he felt the women, whose name he found was Shihai, slip into unconsciousness. He realized the man, whose name he found to be Raijin, was quickly moving over to Shihai. He had not seen William because William had made it so,he had neither the time nor energy to hide himself from Shihai. He walked over to Shihai taping his stick as he went. Raijin had a medical kit and was wondering what to do. He had started trying to wake her and William decided to help.

When he was standing behind Raijin William mentally told her to wake up, and naturally, she obeyed.

She began to stir. She was still bleeding but Raijin had started to rap a bandage around the wound. As she regained consciousness William looked through her mind, it was always easier when they were somewhere between consciousness and unconsciousness.

She finally opened her eyes, and seeing William, screamed again.

“What is it?” Raijin said. Following her eyes he looked straight at William but saw nothing.

“You can’t see him?” She asked.

William new that this scared her more than his presence, so he said “No Shihai he can’t. but don’t worry you are not going insane. I am special. Just like you. Don’t talk. I already know what you’re thinking. If you start talking to people who aren’t there then he will start to think you’re crazy too. All your questions will be answered soon enough. I am a telepath. This means I can read minds, control minds, and,” he nodded to Raijin, “I can make people see, or not see, what I want them to. Yes I know it seems like a powerful gift, but it takes a lot more concentration than it looks. And I can only control one mind at a time, which is why you can see me and he cannot. Oh and by the way yes I am blind.”

She didn’t really know how to respond to this. So she just stared.