Interlude: The Time Gem

Benni, Cap, EnergyStar, MantaMan, Pulsar, and PowerSurge appear in what seems to be a plush office. High walls, wood panelling, a marble bust on a pedestal. There may have been a fire in here recently, as the smell of sulfur and brimstone is still acrid on the air. A voice from behind the heroes speaks.

"Well, this is certainly a surprise."

A chill runs down your spine as you hear the voice. None of you, save Cap and EnergyStar, recognize the voice, but it has an other-worldly, almost sinister, quality to it.

"We generally don't allow guests in the club without previous arrangements, but I am willing to make an exception in this case. I'm hoping this might have something to do with the disappearance of my wife?"

Turning around, you see a red-haired man dressed in a formal white suit sitting at a large oaken desk. His eyebrows turn up slightly at their outside edges and it appears his ears are pointed. He stands up from behind the desk, and smiles a most unsettling smile...

Walking over towards you from behind the desk, you get the distinct impression you are looking at the devil himself in human form.

Of course, that would be ridiculous, right?

He walks over to your group and takes EnergyStar's hand, planting a kiss on it in a 17th-centry-noble style gesture. He then turns to the Captain and shakes his hand. Turning to look at the rest of you, he makes momentary eye contact with each of you which almost seems to produce a burning, uneasy sensation.

"So", the man says, turning back to EnergyStar and Captain, "tell me who you have brought with you", he says flashing that uneasy smile.

"Okay, Energystar, please call me Benni." It takes a couple of tries before Benni actually puts her full strength behind her punch into Energystar. "Can you tell how strong a person is by how hard they hit???" Benni quizzes speculatively and then answers her own question, "but of course you can. If you have been in enough fights and hit by enough different people, a person can easy create an internal measurement that is generally accurate."

Benni tries to relax as EnergyStar reads the scroll, not knowing what to expect and half way expecting some kind of discomfort when the spell goes off and teleports us somewhere. Benni blinks and looks around and immediately turns around to face face the speaker as she hears a voice behind her.

Benni feels the little hairs on the back of her head rising up as she meets the strange mans gaze, finding herself wanting to test her new found strength against him but also feeling the fear of meeting something much more powerful then yourself, she keeps her hands at her sides trying to not clench them into fists. Benni tries to stay in the background keeping Energystar and Cap between her and the devilish man, letting them deal with him.

"Good to see you again Damian. You are always so charming."

She turns to the others with her. "Mantaman and Pulsar are other members of the Avengers. Benni and Powersurge are helping us with our current mission.

Our mission is why we have arrived so unexpectantly. We are wondering whether you could use your abilities to help us. There is a spell on this scroll that will help use complete our quest. Would you please help us?"

"A pleasure to meet you", he smiles and offers a handshake to each of the others. "Damian Hellstrom", he offers as his name. The handshake is firm, but the touch is cold.

"Let me take a look...", he says, putting out his hand and accepting the scroll from EnergyStar with his left hand.


Opening and perusing the scroll, Damian Hellstrom mumbles to himself "Hm. Sumerian grammar is incorrect. The Phoenician characters look more like Babylonian. And the context is wrong in the Egyptian section. Huh. Amateur."

Turning to address the heroes, he continues "The scroll contains a series of rituals, the first being a ritual of finding. I assume whoever gave this to you has made you aware of exactly what is is you are seeking? Where did you obtain this from anyway?"

PCs besides EnergyStar, give me an Intuition FEAT - no Karma.

dice roll

"Stephen Strange."

"Oh. Of course." Damian rolls his eyes.

Opening the scroll and reading its alien script aloud, Damian draws a circle in the air with his finger, leaving a firey arc behind.

In the arc, an underwater scene appears. Ribbons of sea plants and coral formations come into view as small schools of fish dart about in unison. A rock formation comes into view ahead, revealing a large cave mouth in its side.

"Any of you capable of breathing underwater?", Damian asks.
As only two of you respond in the afirmative, Damain mutters to himself "Nice prep work, Stephen."

The view inside the fiery portal moves into the cave mouth which seems to be clearer than the view outside. Bioluminescent organisms light the area inside. At the back of the cave is a stone pedestal upon which lies...something...a large, three-dimensional rectangular object, maybe 2 feet by 8 feet by a foot. The light in the area should be able to help discern more detail, but for some reason, the image remains fuzzy and indistinct...

"What you seek is in this cave. Somewhere north of the arctic circle...

...I think that's a coffin..."

"Nice to meet you Mr Daiman." Benni smiles nervously at the man as she shakes his hand and then steps back to watch what is going on. She relaxes a little bit as Energystar greets the man nicely, indicating that she knows who he is.

Benni's eyes grow wide as Daiman reads from the scroll and casts the spell, a portal opening up and into the depths of an ocean.

Benni turns to Mantaman, "I hope we have some way to get there. For some reason I don't think commercial flights go that far north." Benni jokes hoping that they aren't supposed to step through the portal.

"Before you go, allow me to cast a few preparatory incantations that will assist in your mission..."

With a few gestures and several deep, gutteral growls, Damian casts several spells on your team within the office.

Anyone injured has now recieved Amazing healing. You are also now temporarily Environmentally Independant, so that arctic cold, undersea pressure, water breathing will not be an issue for those of you that would have difficulty in those areas.

Glancing back at the scroll, Damian continues "according to this ritual, once I send you there, I will no longer be able to observe you, so you will be on your own. Once you retrieve the item you are looking for, however, you will all be transported back here."

"Is everyone ready?"

Benni shrugs as she tries to feel the spells on her, wondering if she should be able to notice them and what would happen if she tried to disbelieve the spells, but considers that is probably better under the circumstances that she doesn't. "Ummm.. as ready as I can be without really knowing what is going on." Benni replies to Daiman.