Regenerating armor!

Stormcrow is taking a beating here – and a fair amount of it is protecting innocents. But that is her nature of course. Saving those two with the stalled truck trying to escape the observatory and trying to spare some of the native greenery is one thing, but saving those too dumb to get out of the way has to be frustrating. Especially having to save a news crew; that’s as bad as saving a convention of lawyers.

Quite the pulse-pounding ‘retreat’ as she draws the salamander along with her. She and Cray have the right of it, I think. Lead the fire beast to the sea.

Renee: Wow, those pictures are riveting, and haunting, considering they were the last things that person saw.

January's armor keeps getting holes and the like shot in it. So it made sense for her next upgrade to be something that would repair itself, so poor Gadget would not have to constantly patch it up between every fight.

I am not a fan of heights either. Well, actually it is falling that bothers me. I do love the view from high up. January, OTOH, loves both. Flying, falling through the air, that is bliss to her. So falling backward into nothingness with her eyes closed, that is pure joy to her.

It will be a couple weeks before we reach the sea. January has a long, difficult fight in front of her.


WellTemperedClavier: Public school might be the most difficult trial January ever faces. It certainly was the most unhappy and grueling time of my life. I think it is designed to torture everyone there and pass down generational trauma. Then I took some classes at my local community college. I could not believe the difference! I think it changes everything when the people around you are there because they want to be, not to mention because they are paying for it, and have a real stake in the entire process.

The salamander is actually less powerful than the firewing that we saw at Jobbie Nooner. It took an entire team of half a dozen to defeat it. But January is alone here (at least so far), and I wanted to show that it was still a dangerous opponent. Its greatest strengths are also the exact same ones that January possesses, which presents a unique challenge to her. It is almost like having to face a mirror image to herself. As you noted, she will not defeat it through sheer force of arms. She will have to think her way through this.


Acadian: Buckle up, because January is going to continue to be beaten, bruised, and burned for this entire book. Thankfully being a Defender is in her nature. Taking a hit is a what she is best at. Sort of like how Rocky Balboa softens up an opponent by letting them punch his face in for half-a-dozen rounds. Only she is better at it than Rocky.

There was an anime from a while back called Claymore. The heroines of the story were these human/monster hybrids called... Claymores, after the swords they also carried. They all had some basic powers, and the greater ones developed special abilities beyond that. Basically super powers. But they could be divided up into two camps, Attackers and Defenders. Each had definite advantages in abilities that favored one or the other. Attackers were better at offensive powers. Defenders were better at things like regenerating wounds and even restoring lost limbs, etc... Which one you were all came down to why you became a Claymore in the first place. Was it to strike back and kill the monsters? Or was it to defend people from the monsters?

January is a Defender through and through. So her Endurance and Invulnerability are her highest stats. I always make her a tank in all the games I play her in.







Two Steps From Hell - Sariel


The Plymouth Battlefield


Plymouth Pics
Aerial View

Buried Buildings

Round Building

The Pier


Fire Lord Zuko


Book 9.12 - Ashes

She led it through the abandoned neighborhood. She closed her eyes, and stretched out with her astral senses. The elemental was a literal bonfire of heat and color in the magical realm. The trees and grass were a soft glow of life, while the empty buildings left but a faded impression in astral space. The three tourists she had left behind were soft lights glowing monotone up the hill behind her. Thankfully she sensed no others like them nearby.

She lowered her magical senses and opened her eyes once more. It was just in time to block a claw aimed at her face. She retorted with a palm-strike to the elemental's jaw. The salamander's head rocked back under the impact. But she had not even scratched the volcanic stone of its hide.

Then January was on the run once more. The elemental stomped along in hot pursuit. It was faster than she would have imagined, quick as a forest fire. January followed a street down toward the sea, and the remains of the great pyroclastic flow that had once drained into it. This stretch of land was nearly empty of homes, and instead was filled with trees and brush. She stayed away from the edges of the greenery to spare it the following elemental's ministrations, and stayed on the road instead.

Soon a parallel street curved in to join the one she was on. January continued on the single road. Now there were more houses again. But not complete ones. These were rooftops peeking up from hardened mud and mounds of ash. Some had no roofs at all, and were simply bare walls that rose up from the sea of hardened tephra.

"You're in the old capital of Plymouth now," Cray intoned. "You are all clear. But that helicopter is still hovering in the distance. It looks like its looping around to the sea."

The greenery vanished abruptly, and she entered a world of dead ash and stones. The elemental was on her again. They traded blows in the lee of a rounded building that still rose up a few stories from the river of dust. Other, rectangular buildings clustered nearby. January wondered if they had been part of some resort in the past. Or perhaps they had been a museum, or government buildings? They looked too large to be homes. There was no way to tell what their purpose had been from the bones of the dead city.

They hammered back and forth at one another - January with fists and feet, the elemental with claws and teeth. It whirled around to use that tail once more. This time January was ready for it however. She did the splits, and dropped down to the earth while the deadly appendage sailed past overhead. It connected with the wall behind her. Concrete disintegrated under the blow, and the entire wall came tumbling down behind it. A giant cloud of dust kicked up after it, momentarily obscuring the elemental from January's view, and choking her throat.

She closed her eyes, and stretched out with her astral senses. There it was! The salamander was right on top of her. She rolled back and brought her feet in even as the beast leaped upon her. She planted the soles of her boots into the pit of its stomach and kicked out, even as she continued her roll. The salamander went flying, only to crash down to earth within another deserted building nearby.

January sprang to her feet and followed the elemental into the wreckage. The firefoot was in the process of rolling onto its feet when she caught it. That gave her the opportunity to deliver a roundhouse kick to its exposed side. The creature was once more rocketed away by the force of the blow, and hurtled out into the street.

January pursued, and soon enough she felt smooth tephra under her feet again. She opened her eyes to find herself in the clear plain of the pyroclastic flow. She dropped her astral sight, and instead used her mundane eyes to follow the flowing currents etched into the surface of the hardened ash and rock. The sound of crashing waves came to her ears, and the smell of the water impregnated her nostrils. She crossed that same road she had followed to get here, and a glance showed that it led directly to a pier thrust out into the ocean.

"That dock might be ideal," January said. She sprinted down the road toward it. The elemental now pursued her. She could feel the oven of its breath upon the nape of her neck, and she took care to zig and zag to avoid its occasional swipes at her.

"You can get it out over the water there, and maybe drop it in," Cray agreed.

"Or just smash the entire thing once we are on it," January thought aloud.

"Wait, don't do that," Cray warned. The sound of a plastic keys clacking was faint in January's earpiece. "I think it's still being used for barges. It looks like they might mine the volcanic sand. We don't want to ruin the livelihoods of the people who decided to stick it out here."

"Right," January agreed. No damaging the docks. It must have been so much easier to go through life as someone like Frostbite, who did not care about what happened to anyone else. She could certainly see the appeal to that sort of selfishness. No, not appeal, she realized, but rather the simplicity of it. The world must be an easy place to live in when everyone else was just an object, rather than a person.

"Heads up," Cray intoned a lower, more intent voice moment later. "You've got an aircraft inbound. It doesn't have wings, but it's not a helicopter either, its..."

"It's backup!" his voice picked up noticeably. "Stormcrow, you are about to meet Viuda, or Widow. She spends most of her time in Puerto Rico, but she gets around all over the Caribbean."

"I don't suppose she has any water or frost powers?" January hoped.

"She does not," a feminine voice replied in slightly accented English. "But nevertheless, she does persist."

January spared a quick glance up. Several hundred feet directly above was that aircraft Cray had alluded to. He was right, it was not a plane or a helicopter. It was generally oval in shape, and divided into two distinct segments, like a spider. The largest section was the body of the spider, taking up the center and rear fuselage. A smaller area that looked like a cockpit jutted out in front of that like a head. Two giant bubble canopies projected from the blunted nose of this head, flanked by more portals above, beside, and below them. Several other windows protruded from the body as well. Between those jutted numerous cylinders that looked almost like legs, or jet engines mounted vertically. Four on each side of the fuselage, these engines glowed with blue light, and must have been what propelled the odd, spider-looking craft.

An open ramp built into the rear of the vehicle steadily rose up to shut itself flush against the hull of the craft. Falling from it was a figure wearing a black exoskeleton that was definitely feminine in its curves. The form-fitting plates of the armor were accented by a red hourglass emblazoned on the stomach, and similar red flair decorated the shoulders and arms. Her helmet was shaped like a hoodie, whose hem was again lined in red. The face was completely obscured by a featureless mask, and was dominated by a pair of oversized- bulging white eye pieces that reminded January of the bubble canopies on the craft overhead.

Viuda came down right atop the back of the salamander. January expected it to be with a great crash of force. But instead she landed as gently as a feather, or a ballooning spider. The armored woman extended both of her arms, and shiny metal cables shot from her wrists. Their ends snaked around each of the elemental's forelegs, and brought the creature to an abrupt halt.

Viuda pulled back on the cables like a rider reining in a horse. But the salamander did not budge another inch. She dug her heels into the elemental's back. Basaltic hide crunched under the armored woman's feet, but otherwise did not give. A searing hiss rose up from the creature's hide, and it began to glow. First the black flesh turned orange, then red, then white in intensity, and a haze of heat wreathed the superheroine.

January saw her opening and took it. She leaped forward, and rose slightly above the salamander. She came down and dropped her elbow directly upon its head. This was the move that had decapitated the oniare at Gull Island, and had felled so many other opponents of hers. It was the biggest gun in her armory.

For an instant the world turned white. Then came the shockwave from the titanic blow. It deafened January, and kicked up a wave of volcanic dust all around. For a moment the earth shook under the impact. It momentarily turned liquid under the force, and a great ripple spread out through the hardened lava in all directions. Then January went flying backward, rebounding off of the salamander's basaltic hide like a rubber ball against a brick wall.

The next thing she knew, she was picking herself up off the ground. Looming over her was the salamander, utterly unfazed by the blow. Worse, she noted the glow rising up its neck, and the bulge in its skin that presaged its breath attack. January leaped skyward, and thrust her legs out to either side of her in the splits. The following torrent of lava and fire gushed by just inches underneath her. Its passage filled her body with a new wave of heat. But that was nothing compared to actually being struck by the molten rock. The last thing she needed right now was more of that.

Before January could recover, the salamander abruptly bucked its body forward, and elevated its hindquarters in the process. Viuda was thrown off balance by the sudden move, and went sailing straight ahead. January had no time to pull up or dodge out of the way. The Puerto Rican heroine smacked right into the center of her chest. January idly noted that the spider-woman's powered armor had a lot more mass than she would have imagined, given how light on her feet the other woman was.

Out of the corner of her eye January saw Viuda's cables snap off from the salamander's forelegs. Then the two heroines both cartwheeled backward through the air, arms and legs a jumble. January tried to pull in her limbs out of reflex, and go with the momentum rather than fight against it. But unfortunately there was another woman splayed against her, arms and legs entwined with her own. That turned her attempt at grace into an ungainly tumble down to the volcanic rock and dust below. They hit the ground like a meteor, and kicked up a cloud of detritus in their wake.

January found herself splayed on her back in the sandy tephra. The sound of waves beating against the shore was a low roar in her ears. So she surmised that the sea must be nearby. Viuda popped up on her feet beside her, and leaned down to offer her a hand up. January gladly took it, and turned back to look the way they had come.

The air was filled with a rain of light brown particles of volcanic sand and dust. A line gouged through the tephra to reveal their path. It led straight back to the salamander. The land between them was free of ruins or obstructions. Only the road that cut from left to right broke up the smooth contours of the long-cooled and hardened lava river upon which they stood.

The fire elemental stared at them across the distance. Its eyes glowed like bonfires, which they were after all. But it did not move forward to meet them. Instead it waited, and eyed them cautiously. January spared a glance back over her shoulder. The endless blue carpet of the Caribbean Sea stretched out to the horizon. It was not that far away, less than a football field in the distance. Compared to the miles she had come from the science station, it was practically a hop, skip, and a jump away.

"I wasn't expecting to run into you." Viuda spoke without taking her eyes from the elemental. "But it's nice to meet you anyway Stormcrow."

"Believe me, the pleasure is all mine," January murmured. She was still not sure how this all worked. The superhero small talk that is. But she did not want to seem cold or unfriendly. "I was just in the neighborhood, and thought I'd drop in."

"You came to see Blackwood, didn't you?" Viuda laughed. "Yeah, I can always tell. I bet we get more metas just passing through down here than any other part of the world."

"Well it is a nice place to pass through," January said quite honestly. "Or at least it was until hot stuff here turned up."

January began to edge in closer to the salamander. She needed to keep its attention. The last thing she wanted was for it to head back inland, toward where people might be.

"So do you have any idea what this thing is?" the other woman asked. "It looks like Fire Lord Zuko's pet retriever."

"It's a fire elemental," January smiled at the anime reference. "Well, one type at least. They come in a lot of different shapes and sizes. I think this one is actually half earth elemental as well. I guess you might call it a magmamental."

"So how do we beat it?" Viuda asked.

"As I'm sure you just noticed, physical attacks do nothing, except make it salty." January explained. "We need to get it to the water. But it doesn't look like he's in the mood to cooperate."

Another appropriately epic 2SfH song!

Jan is certainly dishing out as much punishment as her foe, but neither is really winning as they dance down toward the sea.

Ahhh, the constraints of collateral damage considerations – don’t smash the dock. Her ruminations on the matter confirm she knows the price and willingly pays it. That is her nature.

And help arrives from the air. I had thought perhaps Lighthammer would blast onto the scene but here we have yet another superheroine with her own interesting appearance and tools.

The midair collision between the two women was a unique way to meet, but it also gave them enough distance from the enemy to share at least a few words.

The good news is that old firebreath isn’t charging them. The bad news is that it seems smart enough to be leery of the ocean. So much for simply leading it into suicide by sea. Looks like they’ll need a new plan to introduce their foe to the water.


Nit: ”She's spends most of her time in Puerto Rico, but she gets around all over the Caribbean."
- - Not sure if you meant 'She spends most…' or 'She’s spent most…'.

Let's see if she can't lure this burning inferno into the sea. Jeez the thing's still going. The part when it says she kicked its stomach, that's so weird to think it actually has a tummy!

Cray provides the role of a conservationist (sort of) as he tells Jan not to smash the thing near those barges. Don't want to ruin their livelihoods.



Ha! This is true. Frostbite even frosted up Blackwood's estate without a care!

... Oh cool. There's another metahero on the scene. Gosh, her world must be full of them, all over the globe. Again, we really need somebody to keep us Baltimorons in check. What does Viuda mean? ... Oh duh. Google says Widow. I wonder how she got that name?

One thing which strikes is I get the feeling Stormcrow is winging it, to some extent. She's sort of guessing how to get rid of this thing, you know? Her signature move doesn't work. And then Viuda shows up, and maybe Viuda has more experience with fire elementals, being from that area of the world. But it sounds like she's experimenting too!

"Superhero small talk!"

Yeah, the elemental is like "whoa wait" when it realizes it's been lured toward the sea. How are they going to get rid of this monster?!?!

--------------------------------

Yes, you said it (about heights). I am afraid of them, but also fascinated. The idea of being on top of a skyscraper or precipice ... I at least want to try to see the view. Fascinated by that. But moving up toward the edge? Nuh-uh. No way.

Videogames have actually helped in this regard. Like when playing the first Tomb Raider, I remember getting really frightened, goosebumps and all, whenever Lara would need to make some flip or whatever from way up high. But after playing all these Elder Scrolls games heights don't bother me as much. Overcoming fears in videogames!

Today's picture-link: I'd like to go to Dre's Chill Out Spot. 🍍 The Plymouth pics are spooky.

Enter Viuda!

I quite enjoyed the description of the character. The cables coming out of her arms are suitably spider-like while being distinct from Spiderman's portfolio.

I'm wondering if maybe Viuda can try again with the cables and somehow steer the elemental into the water? Perhaps Stormcrow can provide enough interference to keep the elemental occupied so that Viuda can more-or-less ride the thing.

Again, it's good to see that they take property damage seriously. People need that dock, and probably wouldn't be able to easily replace it.

Acadian: Since January and the salamander share a lot of abilities, I wanted it to be clear that they were evenly matched. So lots of fighting with no real resolution, yet.

I was looking forward to introducing some new supers in this chapter, from some place far from home. I did love the idea of "running into" one in the most literal sense. Blood Raven did she she ought to get out and meet people.

Viuda was a neat idea I had for a spider-man like character, but one that is technology based, and uses spider silk as both a material to make her powered armor from, but also as extra prehensile limbs. She would be a fun character to play in a table top RPG.

Thanks for the nit. That was supposed to be "She spends most of her time..."


Renee: Viuda's named after black widow spiders. She is all in black, with red trim, and spider-themed... I did not want to call her Black Widow, because, well, that's going to get people thinking of another character...

There are supers all over the world. When I decided to do a book set in a new place, I wanted to include some new supers from the area. That led me down some neat paths to create both Viuda and another character we are going to meet today.

January is definitely guessing, and figuring this all out as she goes. She had no idea she was going to be fighting a salamander this day. So she's making it all up as she goes along.

I had not noticed Dre's Chill Out Spot. It looks like it is some kind of bar or food stand? I saw some people leave some bad reviews for it. What were they expecting from a place in the ruins of an abandoned city, which is also in an exclusion zone (as in no one is allowed there to begin with?).


WellTemperedClavier: As I noted above, I think Viuda would be a fun character to play in a TTRPG. I went with the mechanical cable idea specifically to avoid the webbing we all know so well from Spider-Man. Plus it allowed me to take some extra steps with it, and make them fully prehensile, so she can do a lot more with them. In the end they are more like Doctor Octopus' arms than Spidey's webs.

January would not hesitate to smash one of Jeff Bezos's limos to smithereens to defeat a monster. He's not even going to notice its gone. But wrecking the 30 year old Geo Metro of someone barely making ends meet is another story. They need that car to live. So she would do anything to save that. The same with that dock. Unlike Frostbite, January's entire reason for being is to make things better for people, not worse. It is what makes her a hero, rather than a thug.

Put a pin in that idea of yours to drag the salamander to the water, we will eventually be getting back there...








Two Steps From Hell - Myth


Calypso inspiration

Calypso again

Taino Symbols - Spiral



Book 9.13 - Ashes

As if spurred by January's words, the elemental backed away from the heroines, and the sea behind them. January raised a hand to the sky, and her will tore it asunder. A jagged bolt of lightning spilled forth, and slammed down into the tephra behind the salamander. It flashed with blinding light and a deafening clap of thunder. January felt the sound waves from the burst punch into her body, even from a hundred feet away.

It did not harm the salamander of course, or even hit it. But the thunderbolt right behind him did get his interest. Those two flaming eyes set upon January, as if it could tell that she had directed the lightning. It charged forward, and January instantly circled to her left, away from Viuda. She gave ground before the angry elemental, giving the other heroine plenty of room to move around behind the monster.

Once she was in position, January stopped and held her ground. She put up her fists in a fighting stance, and simply waited as it charged upon her. She called up her power from within. Her elemental mantra ran through her head, and she used it to focus her energy into a clear, sharp purpose. She was Earth. She was the mountain. She was adamant.

The firefoot hammered into her like a bullet train. As when January had used her patented Stormcrow elbow drop upon it, the shockwave of the collision was deafening. The pressure wave hammered through the air like an explosion. It likewise surged through the volcanic earth below like a ripple through water, and for a moment sent the ground flowing in all directions as if it was a liquid. Even Viuda had to brace herself against the impact, which nearly threw the Caribbean heroine from her feet.

But just as her earlier attack had not harmed the elemental, the salamander's assault did not even scratch January. She literally did not feel a thing as the titan hammered into her. She was pure adamant; nothing in the world could so much as scratch her now.

However, the ground that she stood upon was another story entirely. The tephra immediately surrounding her feet remained just as inviolate as her body. But the volcanic sand and stone farther away - beyond the influence of her magic - disintegrated under the impact. January found herself and the soil at her feet being literally torn up out of the earth and tossed backward through the air. She felt like one of the gaming miniatures that Kell and Ryo loved to paint so much, with a little base under her feet and all.

Once her connection to the earth was severed, that base of tephra vanished however. It scattered away into the fine grains of sand that it was comprised of under normal circumstances. January flowed with the momentum, and changed from Earth to Water in an instant. She tucked into a backwards somersault and pin wheeled through the sky. Then she was Air. She came out of it with her wings unfolded, and with one quick flap of her feathers she halted her airborne tumble and shot straight up into the firmament.

She saw that Viuda had regained her footing. The other heroine took advantage of the opportunity she had been given by January's baiting of the salamander. She deployed those cables from her wrists once more. This time they were joined by a second pair of tentacles that sprouted from her back. All four of these limbs now snaked their way around not only the elemental's forelegs, but its rear limbs as well. They pinned them close against its body like a net, and in moments it collapsed onto its belly like a car with no wheels.

Viuda once more dug her heels in and pulled back on her wires. But the creature did not budge. Not an inch. January nosed down and pulled in her wings. She dropped to the tephra beside the spider-themed heroine, and added her hands to the cables. The two of them strained. But January found that the volcanic rock and sand under her own feet gave way, rather than the earth beneath the salamander.

"Sprock! I know what it's doing," January shook her head and let go of the spider silk cables. "It is part earth elemental. It's doing what I do, but even better. A lot better. It's becoming part of the Earth. Nothing in this world can harm it or move it while it's set like that."

Then January saw that telltale glow of fire run up along the creature's neck. Its basaltic jaws bulged, and a moment later a torrent of burning lava gushed forth. There was no time to move. She wrapped her wings around Viuda and held the other woman close. She had no idea how strong her powered armor was, or how much heat it could take. So she did her best to completely envelop her.

January's back was on fire a moment later. Her wings burned with heat. She felt like a steak on the grill, and she thought she smelled burning meat. She had to clamp down hard with her teeth to keep from screaming. But in spite of her best efforts, she found her body arching and shaking with the agony that ripped through her frame.

Either the salamander was growing more powerful, or it was wearing down her natural invulnerably. Either way, the gamer in her head warned her that she could not take many more attacks like that. She was going to have to put more of her dice into dodging in the future...

She felt the two of them spring up into the air. They were not flying however, for she could feel gravity's inexorable tug just a moment later. But they did come down beside the water, which had been at least a hundred feet away. So apparently Viuda was a jumping spider as well as a ballooning one.

"Are you ok?" the concern in the other woman's voice was plain. "Don't do that again, okey. I'm not made out of porcelain."

"Next time, he's all yours honey," January said through gritted teeth. She felt the other woman brush lava off of her back and shoulders. But it still felt like her body was on fire. She glanced down, and saw that Blackwood's new suit was indeed still intact. The titanium arm guard and meta-fabric that had been torn open earlier by the salamander's bite had even sewn themselves shut. But the metal glowed with heat, and the paint was completely gone once more.

She stepped forward into the water. The surf crashed across her ankles, and brought welcome relief. She fell to her knees, and bent down to let the waves wash completely over her. She instantly tasted the salt in the water on her lips. It was so glaringly different from the great freshwater lakes that surrounded her home in Michigan. But right now, salty or not, the water was a blessing.

"How are you doing Stormcrow?" Cray's voice came in her ear.

"Like a hot dog on the Fourth of July." January heard herself reply.

"Uh oh, it's starting to head back inland again." Viuda said from beside her. "We need a plan. Maybe I can bring Charlotte over and fill the hold with water, then dump it on Maggie over there?"

"Charlotte?" January wondered. She rose to her feet, and turned to see that the elemental had indeed turned its back on them. It was headed back north, toward the empty mansions of Richmond Hill, and the green land beyond.

"She's my flyer," Viuda nodded to the strange aircraft floating in the sky above. "Isn't she a belleza?"

"She is a beauty," January murmured. Thanks to her high school Spanish she could at least understand that much. "I've got a friend who would love to hear how she flies, and how you built her."

"But not right now, eh chica?" Viuda turned her gaze back to land, and the salamander beyond. "We need to either get this hombre to the water, or bring the water to it."

"Leave that me!"

January and Viuda turned as one to see a massive wave roll in to the shore. Unlike a normal wave, this did not stretch out in a long wall in either direction. Instead it rose up in a single peak above the normal water level. Standing atop the crest of this pillar of water was a woman clad in green and brown armor, with a staff gripped in one hand.

Her skin was a soft shade of green, streaked with irregular, flowing patterns of dark gray and blue. Her fingers were webbed, as were the toes of her bare feet. She had no hair, but her head was crested with spiny fin rays, that created a delicate pink halo around her heart-shaped face. If it were not for that fact that she had two legs, January would have thought she was a classic mermaid. Clearly, she was indeed some form of mer-folk, just not the kind from a children's movie.

As she neared, January saw that her armor consisted of a base layer of crisscrossed brown leather strips that covered most of her torso and hips. Over that she wore a "V" shaped chest piece of green coral that was cut into intricate swirling designs. More pieces of the coral armor graced her shoulders, forearms, and shins. Finally a headpiece of the same carved green material framed her face by covering her forehead and cheeks, but left the rest of her features and the back of her head bare.

The staff in her hand called to January. Crowning its peak was a symbol that January first thought was a spiral. Until she realized that it was not a single line curling down into itself. Rather it was two such curving patterns, swirling about one another like a whirlpool. As January watched, she could swear that they actually turned in a never-ending vortex.

The stave itself was clearly not constructed of wood or metal. Rather it appeared to be a long rod of glass or perhaps crystal. In fact, it reminded January of nothing so much as smoothly-polished ice, though that would be quite unlikely given the tropical climate. Yet still, she could not shake the feeling that it was made of water, somehow given solid form.

The weapon whispered to her secrets of tides and grottos, white beaches, coral reefs, and the endless abyssal plain far below. It told her of the sea, the dark mother that created all life, only to take it back to her bosom. Bagua - the name was whispered in her ear - Mother of the Waves.

January did not have to shift her senses into the astral to know that it was magical. The staff was literally telling her that. She idly wondered if the reverse was true as well. Did being near to January bring the sound of crows croaking and lightning cracking to the mer-woman's ears? From what Blood Raven had intimated in their training sessions, she imagined that it did.

"Calypso!" Cray exulted. "Good thing too, she is exactly what we need right now."

Now January remembered the newcomer. She had seen her on MeTube, in videos she had made National Geographic and the Discovery Channel, not to mention her own privately created content. As a science communicator, she was practically an ambassador for the oceans. But she never used her superpowers in her videos. Well, aside from her Deep One form, which she needed to live and work underwater. They were not about her showing off after all, but the sea itself.

"I wasn't expecting to see you here!" Viuda shouted to the newcomer. "I thought you were in the middle of the Atlantic with your boyfriend?"

"I was, that is why it took me so long to arrive!" Calypso proclaimed. January could not decide if her accent was English, French, some form of Creole, or all of them combined. But her voice was definitely rich and melodious, a sound that was a soothing balm to the ears. "And the Technocrat is not my boyfriend."

"But I see that you have been making friends Viuda!" the mer-woman continued. Her ichthyian eyes went from January to the salamander farther inland. "Some more welcome than others."

Cool, I like the sound of Viuda's outfit. Seems appropriate. As I know you detest spiders, I congratulate you for facing your fears as well, perhaps.

Yeah... let's leave bad reviews for a place whose charm lies not perhaps with quick service, or quality dining. People, I tell ya. This isn't Miami or New York, it's a place with active volcanic activity. It's like they show up to Dre's fully prepared to compare it to their favorite 4-star venue.

At first I thought Calypso already appeared in this tale. But I'm getting confused with the Xena TV show, which had a goddess named Calypso if I recall correct.

BAM she gets hit by the firefoot again! My gosh, the poor gal. She's going to be a mess after this is all over. I wonder how cold that shower's gonna be (the one she'll no-doubt take back at Blackwood's, or maybe she'll go to Dre's Chill-Out spot). Hell, what am I thinking? Maybe she'll just dive into the ocean.

Wow, that's very true. The thing comes from the earth, therefore it can also become the earth.

The 'gamer in her head'... Cool, we'll learn what this new meta is all about next week. Each new one is pretty fascinating. They're all very different. Right away, it's obvious Calypso is not the arrogant b1tch Frostbite is.

Yes. Dive into that salty sea-water.

This post has been edited by Renee: Jul 9 2022, 01:53 PM

That was quite a head on direct hit Jan took from the firefoot – with no ill effects. But that lava vomit was another story. Yikes! A quick dip in the ocean to recenter herself. Nice to see her armor is holding up and even self-regenerating.

I suspect Viuda’s aircraft dropping water, even paired up with a Stormcrow thunderstorm on top of the beast might not be enough. And in the nick of time, in surfs a Neried! Calypso seems like just what they need about now.

Quite the elemental clash here, with January using all her powers to adapt to the changing situation. One thing I always enjoy about these stories is how her gamer-thinking still bleeds through. It's such a humanizing element, and a relatable one, too. I often find myself reaching for gamer terminology in non-gaming situations and, you know, sometimes it's still pretty helpful.

Calypso seems like she's just what the team needs right now. Her powers are definitely water-related, and that'll have a strong effect on the salamander. So you described as being like an ambassador from the oceanic world. Is there like an Atlantis-type state here? Or is she more of a free agent who helps the undersea world without being beholden to any surface world polities? Or maybe this will all be answered in upcoming chapters.

Renee: Viuda's outfit was easy. I just imagined a powered armor spider-man, but modern and for a woman. Hence the hoodie part of it. Now Viuda's sidekick (who we shall not meet for a few more episodes), is another matter entirely.

Calypso was also the name of Jacques Cousteau's ship. She was also a nymph in Greek mythology, which is probably what inspired the Xena character. Plus it is also dance, and there was a character in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies named after her. The name's got legs.

The salamander shares some of the same elemental powers that January does. That is what makes it such a difficult opponent for her.

Calypso is definitely nothing like Frostbite. She is one of the good guys gals after all.


Acadian: January can take a hit. As you have noted, she shares Rocky Balboa's fighting style of allowing her enemy to tire themselves out by punching her face in for a while. As you noted though, the heat from the lava is starting to take its toll. It would be boring if she was totally invulnerable to everything. There would be nothing to endanger her, and she would never be truly at risk. So her hit points are dropping.

Great call on the Neried! That very accurately sums up Calpyso. She is exactly what the team needs. Though as we shall see, even she cannot deal with this beastie on her own. It will be a tough nut to crack.


WellTemperedClavier: One of the fun parts of writing January is that she is a total nerd. So she thinks like I do, of making dice rolls, leveling up, etc... Plus the nerd pop culture references. All of her swear words are nerd-inspired.

We will learn more of Calypso in coming episodes, when there is some time for a breather. She's not anything as exotic as you were thinking however. She's just a human who can turn herself into an ichthyian, Deep One form. And she has some other powers, such as her magic staff that can control water. She is an oceanic ambassador in the same way that Jacques Cousteau could be said to have been one. She is an explorer, promoter, and presenter of ocean life and environments. That will get referenced in the near future, along with the other things in her background.

This world does not have most of the really exotic things that comics worlds tend to, like aliens and lost races. Except for magic and the multiverse, I have made an effort to keep it as low-fantasy, ordinary reality as possible. It is just humans with powers. I think the magic makes it weird enough. Especially given that January is so deeply immersed in it, being a magical super.





O Fortuna


Book 9.14 - Ashes

"We need to get some..." January began, but her words trailed off as the aquatic heroine roared right past on her towering wave of water. She and Viuda found themselves literally leaping after her to catch up. Leaping too slowly, for the newcomer moved like the tidal wave she had created, albeit in miniature form.

Before they could say a word to stop Calypso, she charged straight at the elemental. At the last moment she leaped off the crest of the wave, and stood back as it crashed down upon the salamander. A tremendous cloud of steam gushed skyward as the water met the molten stone of the salamander's body. It was so thick that it looked like gray-white smoke, and completely obscured the elemental from view.

January could hear the creature thrash about upon the volcanic sand and stone ground however. She closed her eyes and shifted her senses to the astral. The elemental's form was writ large there, impossible to miss. The steam that obscured it in the physical world was barely distinguishable here, nothing but fine gossamer threads blown in the astral wind. She could see the elemental whirl about frantically. Its tail blindly struck the remnants of a nearby building, and sent cinderblocks flying everywhere.

But January was back into range by then. She came down in front of Calypso and threw out her wings. Her feathers caught the worst of the broken chunks of concrete. Those they did not were batted aside by the web-like cables that leaped from Viuda's wrists and back. Those spider silk filaments seemed to almost have a life of their own, as they waved and darted back and forth in the air.

"I wonder if she has those tied into her nervous system," Cray wondered quietly. "She seems to control them like they were her very own limbs."

The mer-woman's tidal wave was gone by now. It had vanished in the haze of vapor that concealed the salamander. That was all that remained to mark its passing, aside from the mud that now squished underfoot. That mud rapidly dried and cracked with the heat that radiated from the elemental.

"I was about to say, that the last time we fought one of these, it took Lake Saint Clair to stop it." January was finally able to say. "We need to get it back to the ocean. Oh, and how are you with fire and lava?"

"It is not exactly part of my skincare routine," Calypso noted wryly.

"Well then, you'll want to move, because it's about to get hotter." January gave the other woman a gentle nudge. A moment later the reason why became apparent. Bursting from the wall of steam came a gout of molten lava. Thanks to her astral awareness, it had been easier than ever for January to sense the elemental readying the attack. This time, all three were safely out of the way before the fiery assault could strike any of them.

"Okay, so we have to move her, but we can't let her get set either, because she'll stick to the ground," Viuda thought out loud.

"She?" If Calypso had eyebrows in her Deep One form, surely one of them would have been cocked in Spockian incredulity.

"She named her Maggie," January noted. "You know as in-"

"Magma," Calypso finished her sentence. "Sometimes I wonder if you are a father Viuda, given all the dad jokes."

"Just wait until I ask you to pull my finger..." the armored heroine replied. One of her spider silk cables waved about in the air suggestively. A mask obscured the other woman's face, but January could easily imagine the grin she must have been wearing under it.

"Remember when Hercules fought Atlas?" Cray's voice was in January's ear. She tapped a button on Sága's interface, so the other women could hear him over the speaker. "Atlas drew his strength from the earth. So Herc wrestled with him and picked him up off the ground."

"I really need to work more on my Greco-Roman wrestling," January mused as she stared back at the salamander. The elemental now strode out from the depths of the fountain of steam. A haze of heat clung to its fiery hide, and its eyes glowed with rancor.

"My Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is not going to help much then," Viuda mused. "It's all about ground work."

"Leave it to me," January declared with a certainty that she did not entirely possess. "Be ready with those cables, and Charlotte."

"My spider silk?" the other woman nodded. "I think I know where you are going with this chica."

The spider-themed heroine murmured something too quiet for January to pick up. But she followed the other woman's motion when she turned her head skyward. She saw her aircraft zoom silently overhead, and begin to move down toward them.

"And what shall I be doing during all of this?" Calypso asked. "I possess a store of water within my staff which I may use, but I cannot create oceans of it from nothing."

"Just be ready with another one of those tidal waves once we get it close enough to the sea," January reached into one of her belt pouches and withdrew a grenade. She took a moment to double check that she had the right one. This would be a bad time to accidentally pick one of the adhesive ones after all. Then she leaped toward the salamander.

"And keep it from breathing fire on Charlotte," Viuda added behind her. "She can convert some of the heat into electricity, but not that much."

January charged at the salamander a moment later. It did not hesitate as she approached, and leaped to meet her. Again, it bit at her face. January did not even try to dodge it. Instead she allowed those fiery teeth to clamp down around her neck and shoulders, and swallow her entire head within its long jaws. The viscous tongue of the creature was comprised of magma. She could feel the heat of it burning through her helmet, and sizzling upon the bare skin of her lower face.

It felt like she had dunked her head into a grease fire. It was all she could do to keep from trying to rip the monster free. But this was her plan after all. If it was busy biting her, it could not spit its lava at the others, or at Viuda's aircraft.

She lifted the grenade to her head, and stuffed it within the elemental's open jaws. She actually snagged the pin around one of its long, obsidian fangs, and used that to pull it free. The pin that was, not the tooth. She had read that trying to do that with human teeth would rip the tooth out. The elemental's dentition was far more resilient however. The spoon of the grenade popped off a moment later, and January braced herself for what came next.

It was not an explosion. Not of fire and force at least. Instead a cloud of fire-suppressant foam erupted all about her head. The flecks of creamy white fluff brought with them cool relief, and instantly dialed down the furnace of the elemental's maw. It did not become truly cold. There was just too much unrelenting heat for that. But it did abate the inferno for long moments.

The firefoot did not like that much. Either the taste or the temperature did not sit well with it. It tried to spit January's head out, and the foam with it. But this time she was having none of it. She was not about to let the elemental go. She clutched the salamander tightly, and no matter how it squirmed, it could not escape her grasp.

Thinking of Hercules and Atlas, she wrapped her arms around the elemental's lizard-like body. Her wings snapped out, and added their feathers to the suffocating embrace. Her fingers dug deep into the basalt scales of its hide, finding purchase in the red-hot gaps between them. Her fingers burned. But still, she persisted.

The firefoot then reversed course, and clamped down even more stridently. Apparently it had decided that if it could not escape, it would destroy her. Now its teeth and fire attempted to grind January's skull - and the offending fire-suppressant - into dust. It felt like being caught within a vise, or crushed beneath a car. But January would not give in to the pressure. She was Earth after all.

Earth give me strength, keep me grounded, protect me from harm.

The mantra ran through her head, and she focused her mana into it. She was stone. She was the mountain. She was adamant. She would prevail.

Distracted as it was by the fire-suppressant in its mouth, and its own assault upon January, the salamander did not root itself into the Earth as January did. It was attacking, not defending. That gave January the ability to lift its volcanic body from the tephra below. She felt it thrash against her. But it was too focused on grinding its obsidian teeth upon her helmet to seriously attempt to break free any more. At least not until it was too late.

January could not see anything of course, except for the furnace within the elemental's maw. The foam had vanished by now, incinerated within the oven of the firefoot's jaws. But she felt Viuda's spider silks wrap around both her and the salamander. They carefully slid off of her, and even wormed their way under her limbs. Once more January wondered if the Caribbean heroine could somehow feel through the cables, for they moved with the sensitivity of living fingers.

Then the spider silk clamped down tightly, and the elemental was yanked up hard into the air. That of course pulled January along with it, as she was still in its mouth. She felt something hit the salamander hard in the side of the head, down at the base of its jaws. Its mouth reflexively gaped open, and she felt blessedly cool water gush across her face.

January fell free. But before she could plop onto the volcanic sand below, strong hands caught her up. She opened her eyes to find herself being cradled in Calypso arms. The aquanaut's water staff hung in the air beside her, its butt stained with magma and basaltic dust. That answered the question of what had opened the creature's jaws.

January looked up to see the elemental rising quickly into the air overhead. Four of Viuda's spider-silk cables now entwined its frame. All of them led back up to Charlotte overhead. Somehow she must have detached them from her armor and connected them to the craft, unless it had more spider-tendrils of its own.

In any case, the spidercraft ceased its vertical motion, and shot toward the sea. Viuda hung from beneath the vessel, eyes ever upon the fire elemental captured in the cords.

"Charlotte's got her in her webs now!" the Puerto Rican heroine joyfully proclaimed.

January wanted to plant a palm into her face. Charlotte's Web. How had she not seen that? And she called herself a writer...

Some great teamwork once the exuberant water woman settled in to working with Viuda and Stormcrow.

"Okay, so we have to move her, but we can't let her get set either, because she'll stick to the ground," Viuda thought out loud.’
- - Like Stormcrow and Calypso, I too picked up on this instantly. Can Viuda sense the critter’s gender? Does the critter even have a gender?

I was actually a half step ahead of Stormcrow by also instantly picking up the Charlotte/Spider prosaic connection. Of course, I didn't have the distraction of a four-legged volcano trying to eat me either.

Stormcrow really doubled down on her Rocky Balboa tactics here – sticking her head in the fiery maw of the beast! That grenade turned out to be a great idea, as did a geyser from Calypso’s staff.

I’m nervous that something can go wrong but hopeful that Charlotte will be able to successfully discharge her cargo into the sea.

Love your new profile pic!

Yes, Jan is quite the nerd. I still am requesting an episode around the gaming table, with all her friends gaming out.

Nice job, Calypso. Yeah baby, steam that salamander. Wait no! The thing's biting Stormcrow again. Why is she letting it bite her? OH man, she put a grenade in its mouth. Shesus. But she is Earth. Yes, that's what I was thinking a couple episodes ago.

This episode's kinda fun. Even though they're battling a really dangerous monster, they're all sort of relaxed about it in a way. Their banter is sort of casual. Like cops on the job, perhaps.

Ha ha Charlotte's Web. I get it. But now what are they gonna do with Flamey Flame?

Seems as if they've wrapped things up.

A good conclusion to the battle! Viuda, Calypso, and January work well together. In particular, January seems quite versatile. She can adapt to situations on the fly, which is essential for a superhero. And as always, she's not afraid to go all the way. Sticking her head into the elemental's craw was a pretty bold move, but it's what needed to be done and she did it.

Acadian: Just like January, Calpyso had to learn the hard way that the salamander was not going to down with one punch. But once she settles in for the long haul, Calypso is a boon companion, as reliable as the tides.

I don't think the salamander has a gender. It is just human nature to anthropomorphize things, especially living ones. And once Viuda named the salamander Maggie, well it was a forgone conclusion that it was a she.

As usual, I spent a lot of time brainstorming for a name for Viuda's spidercraft. Charlotte just came out of nowhere, when I suddenly remembered Charlotte's Web. I read that as a child, and it was heartbreaking. It still remember it. It was one of those painful but important movements in life, when I really understood that death was real.

Jan is a little bit smarter than Rocky Balboa. A little. Hence her stacking the deck with that grenade. But she still has the same heart and gumption.


Renee: Thanks, it was time for a new profile pic, and now I have a bunch of new pics of January that I could comb through.

We will some gaming in the next book. I am not going into details, because I think that would be boring for most people. But gaming does feature prominently in a scene.

Even though January does not really know how to do the superhero banter, she manages pretty well naturally. It is just a group of confident people dealing with a problem. Maybe too confident. Or simply used to having to portray such an exterior to the outside world so as not to cause panic in others. As a super, you always have to think about the message you are sending. Not just in what you say precisely, but how you say it, how you act, etc... Panic is contagious, but so is hope. Jan and company are all about inspiring courage in others.


WellTemperedClavier: Ouch! That pun has me tied in knots...

Jan is definitely versatile, and always ready to adapt to any new situation in order to overcome it. That and her sheer guts are what really make her successful. Not to mention a little help from her friends.







Lava meets the sea


The Fyre Festival


Book 9.15 - Ashes

She made to follow, but Calypso held her tightly.

"Patience, a hurricane is not formed in a day." The other heroine cautioned. "Besides, you do not look so well. How do you feel?"

"Like barbecue," January admitted. She could hear hissing all about her. Then she realized that it was the metal of her helmet, which glowed white hot.

"Video camo is on," Cray said over Sága's speakerphone, which was still turned on. "You can take that off if you want to."

January lifted her hands to the headgear. She could not feel anything through her fingers. She was not sure if that was good or bad. Calypso moved to help her. Then she jerked her hands away violently, like someone touching a hot stove. January wanted to laugh at the thought. It was exactly like that after all. But at the same time she felt guilty. The aquanaut was clearly vulnerable to fire, just as she herself was to poison. The other woman's attempt to help had cost her dearly.

Finally January pulled her helmet from her head. Numerous holes gaped in its surface, where the salamander's teeth had torn through the titanium. One of the decorative wings had been snapped in half, and the other was flattened against the side of the helmet's dome. But even as she stared at the ruin of her headgear, she could see that the holes were shrinking, as the metal steadily grew back together. Even the battered wings were slowly but surely straightening and returning to their original shapes.

She ran one hand through her hair, which was now soaked in sweat and matted down against her scalp. But it was not her golden tresses that really interested her. It was her skull. She gingerly felt her way along its length, afraid her fingers were about to poke though rent bone and stick into the squishy parts underneath. She breathed a sigh of relief when she discovered no such holes or cracks in her cranium. As she had known for some time now, her body was much, much stronger than mere titanium.

Her old helmet had snaps that could connect its nape to the hem of her tunic. Mr. Blackwood's new and improved version did not have anything so crude. Instead the helmet bonded itself to her suit. Yet at the same time it moved freely in every direction. The material somehow stretched and contracted as it needed to. She knew that it could even completely detach if she desired. Back at Blackwood's she had put it on separately from the rest of the suit after all. Where was Ryo to read the owner's manual for her to see how to do that?

For now she simply let it hang upside down off the back of her neck, like a pot of cracked and sizzling metal. The air felt good on her face. Even better was the cool wash of water that poured down when Calypso held the whirlpool headpiece of her staff over her head once more. She breathed an audible sigh of relief at the water's kiss. She felt like she had been in an oven all day.

"You look bad," Calypso observed with a serious face. At least January imagined that is what her expression meant. It was hard to tell, given the ichthyian nature of her Deep One form.

"You know just what a woman wants to hear," January heard herself quip.

"I see you have Viuda's sense of humor." Calypso shook her head. She lifted her eyes to the sky, and the news helicopter hovering in the distance. "They are probably too far to get a good picture of you, but it is good you have the video countermeasures anyhow. This life can be... tricky."

"No kidding," January breathed. She had buried her brother just the week before, after finding out that he had been her arch nemesis. Well, one of them at least. Then her super girlfriend had left her.

That sent an icy dagger through her heart. Hannah. She had somehow forgotten her. Ever since she had seen the salamander on the news, Hannah had not even been a blip on her radar. That was all it took to forget about her: a rampaging magical super beast. She remembered the other woman's smell, that lavender and hyssop body wash that she used. She remembered those soft brown eyes that she could drown in. The soft roses of her lips...

Now gone forever.

What in Niflheim had happened?

January shook her head. She was not going to do that right now. She had to fight. She reached back and grabbed her helmet. It had cooled off now, thanks to the shower provided by Calypso's staff Bagua. She settled her helm down over her features, and set her eyes upon the Charlotte and her owner, who now flew down the beach.

The elemental was getting frisky. It jerked violently in the restraints, and threatened to drag the spidercraft down with it. Viuda dropped down onto its back, and clutched one of her spider-silk cables to steady herself. She snapped down yet another cable from her free hand, and struck the elemental in the head.

"How quick can you move on land?" January asked Calypso.

"Without a wave to ride, not very," the aquanaut answered. "Why did you-"

January scooped her up in her arms and leaped into the sky before the other woman could finish. Her wings snapped out, and caught the air by instinct. As always, her heart soared when she was in the sky. Maybe her brother was dead, her mother grieving, and her first love (was it really the "L" word?) was in the rear view mirror. But all that fell away once she was in the air. All of those were earth problems. Up here, she was free.

Her giant crow's wings ate the distance in no time at all. It was a good thing too, for the salamander had managed to twist around enough to turn its head toward the Charlotte's hull. January did not need astral senses to feel the flow the creature's magic to know what was coming next. That much was obvious by now.

Apparently Calypso knew well enough by now as well. She held out her staff, and magic called from it. The ocean answered with a great wave. Like the upsurge of water she had rode in upon, this was too tall, too narrow, and too quick to be normal. It was a hammer of water lifted from the surface of the sea, and it crashed upon the salamander even as the light of its inner fire began to work its way up through its throat.

The gout of magma was drowned before the elemental could spit it forth. But as before, the water itself was also vaporized in moments. It transformed into a nearly impenetrable cloud of gray steam that wreathed the salamander and Viuda alike. But the Charlotte kept her course, and winged them out from the miasma a moment later.

January noted that the elemental was quieter now. It struggled less in the spider silk bonds, and twisted back down, head away from the Charlotte. Apparently three doses of water had indeed taken some of the fire from its belly, in the most literal sense.

Then they were over the ocean, and the spider lines all snapped free at once. The elemental plummeted like a stone. At the same time the spidercraft shot up with the sudden loss of weight. Her owner held tight to one of the spider-silk cables, and waved gleefully to the falling elemental below.

"Adiós Maggie!" she crowed.

The salamander crashed into the water with a great splash of impact. Then the waters rose up and engulfed it in an even greater eruption of steam. It looked like the ocean had caught fire, and smoke gushed forth from the blaze. The water roiled around it in a miniature storm. Gallons of the liquid vaporized every second, but far more rushed in to replace it.

At Gull Island the surrounding lake had simply been too much for even a creature of living fire to stand against. Here it was the same, if not even quicker in fact. For this time it was an entire ocean smothering the elemental being. The salamander was an inferno, but even that could not continue to burn underneath the entire Atlantic Ocean.

The Charlotte turned in a lazy circle around the site of impact. January banked slightly to intercept its course, and feathered back with her wings to slow her forward motion. She came up to the small forest of cables that now hung like spaghetti from the aircraft's underside. She grabbed hold of one with a free hand, and waited for Calypso to do likewise. Only then did she allow her wings to rest, and fold up against her back. That left the three of them hanging suspended in the air beneath the futuristic spidercraft.

"It sure is nice to just hang out with friends..." Viuda breathed. She twisted upside down, and clamped the soles of her feet down upon the thread from which she hung. So attached, she let go with her hands, and suspended herself upside down like the spiders that she clearly took inspiration from.

January shook her head. She heard Calypso groan beside her. Now that was a dad joke. She turned her eyes down to the sea below. She could just barely make out the light of the elemental under the torrent now. It had first glowed white hot, then faded to red, and orange, and now was a dim yellow. Soon it went out entirely, and the waves began to settle back to normal.

"I sense it is not yet dead," Calypso intoned in her mellifluous voice.

"Nay, it is but defeated," January observed. "We need to move quickly. We can place it in a state of torpor and send it back home before it recovers."

"Send it back home?" Now Viuda's voice turned from amused to incredulous. "You do know that it was about to burn down what is left of this island, don't you?"

"Stormcrow is correct," Calypso nodded along with January. "This is a being of elemental power. It is a natural expression of our living world. To kill it, is to kill part of our planet."

The Puerto Rican sighed. "So what do we do with it then? Send it to the Fyre Festival?"

"That would have been an improvement, from what I've heard," January murmured. Then she spoke more authoritatively. "We'll take it back to the fissure or vent it came from. Then we drop it in, and weave a hibernation spell about it, so it does not awaken any time soon. When it finally does, it will have sunk deep into the fiery veins of the Earth's crust, where it belongs."

Calypso turned her head inland, to the glowing path the elemental had burned through the hills. "It should not be too difficult to retrace its steps," she observed. "Let us move with purpose then. Viuda, lower us down, and I shall assist in wrapping up your friend Maggie. Stormcrow, I suggest you go up inside, and take a moment to regain your strength."

Yikes, her helmet's all bashed up. She's lucky to be still with them. It was a good idea to turn to Earth as the elemental bit over her.

ichthyian -- today's new word for Renee. Sounds derived from Latin somehow.

She buried her brother a week before??? So much has happened. I can't remember how long ago the Jobbie Nooner occurred. I'm assuming it was two weeks ago, maybe three. What a busy life. So this must mean Jobbie Nooner, then the rescue of that giant cat, then she met up with those folks in the special bar, who sent her off to the islands where she is now. Phew.



She's super-busy, that's why. Being really busy can be a great cure to get over somebody, in fact. Well I have a feeling we haven't seen the last of her. Or her ghost father.

Whoa, there it goes, falling into the sea.

I'd like to hang out with the spiderwoman. Who wouldn't want to get caught up with her?

------------------------------

Nah, it won't be boring to any of us if there's a gaming-table scene. Because it's all about their personalities. Jan and her friends are a pretty distinct group, all with their own sets of humor (or not) from what I recall. Maybe some action junkie might find this dull, but not any of us!

Today's video... WHOA, those boats are just sitting right there as that huge flow of lava pours right near them! What the heck? I hope they abandoned ship!

Ah, you know about Fyre Festival too. That's another pit I fell into a few months ago, the whole story of Billy McFarland, his silly Magnisis club with its fake credit cards, and finally the Fyre Festival itself. As much as the actual festival sucked, it was rather neat that people nowadays are able to document how much it sucked, as they showed up to the grounds and found FEMA tents waiting. They recorded it all. And what they recorded comprised much of the content we see in those Netflix and Hulu specials.

This post has been edited by Renee: Jul 25 2022, 01:03 PM

This reminds me of a place in the zone known as Stonefalls in Elder Scrolls Online. To the east of the city of Ebonheart (not the same Ebonheart as in TESIII: Morrowind), there is a giant lava flow that goes into the Inner Sea, which is the body of water between Vvardenfell and the southern part of mainland Morrowind.

The salamander sounds similar to the ones in ESO too.

"As she had known for some time now, her body was much, much stronger than mere titanium." Looks like January has one-upped Sia.

Sick wave, bro.

Sounds like Blue Oyster Cult should be playing in the background. I'm burning, I'm burning, I'm burning for youuuuuuuu.

We had talked about Calypso being nereid-like. Here’s one from ESO.

*

With Charlotte ferrying the trussed up Maggie toward the ocean, it was a great time for Stormcrow and Calypso to pause and assess the situation – and each other. Calypso has a kind heart but doesn’t play well with fire. Awesome how Stormcrow’s self-regenerating Blackwood helm is already healing itself. The cooling shower from Calypso’s staff must have felt wonderful indeed. Looks like Stormcrow’s still got all her important bits - whew! Glad she shook herself free from thoughts of Hannah. Oh well, let’s see how Charlotte’s external load is doing.

I chuckled when Stormcrow grabbed up her new Waterwoman pal and leaped into the air. The wings on her back are perfect to keep her arms free for exactly things like this. And Calypso quickly earns here fare by calling up a water hammer to douse Maggie’s pending belch of lava.

"Adiós Maggie!" she crowed.’
- - That’s gonna make for quite the show of steam, hissing and clouds I imagine! And your description of the firebeast’s impact did not disappoint.

Hanging out with friends under Charlotte! Viuda has a neat sense of humor which we soon see again with her Fyre Festival comment.

Helping Blood Raven defeat and return the firewing to the earth really pays off here as Stormcrow quickly formulates a plan, sells it to her allies and has the hibernation spell mojo to pull it off. Blood Raven would be proud. And Calypso is wise to urge Stormcrow to rest, center herself and recover her magic prior to the task.

This post has been edited by Acadian: Jul 23 2022, 08:36 PM

I'm not surprised that January's still struggling under the weight of recent events. Yet sometimes throwing oneself into the task at hand is the best way to deal with it, which is what she's doing here.

It's very fitting that January's more interested in containing/returning the creature than killing it. Being kin, in a way, to the elemental world, she understands that big monsters still play a valuable role. Since the immediate danger seems to be over, and the elemental's not malicious, there's no reason to be cruel.








This post has been edited by WellTemperedClavier: Jul 28 2022, 02:29 AM

Renee: Ichthyian is word I often avoid, because it is always a nightmare to spell! Technically it is not even a word. It isn't in the dictionaries I use. They want you to use Ichthyoid instead. But like the "ian" suffix better.

January's timeline is very tight. Some of these stories are just days apart. The dates are there, so you can refer back to them. Since I have a timeline written out to help me keep track of it all, here it is so far:

2019

March 24 = The Summoner summons an Abyssal (a goblin) during the Nain Rouge Parade. It is not anchored, and easily banished
May 4 and 5 (Saturday and Sunday) = Stormcrow Rising
May 5 = The Summoner summons an Abyssal (flying head) during Cinco De Mayo, using elemental symbols to anchor it, making it immune from banishment
May 14 and 15 (Tuesday and Wednesday) = Stormcrow Recycled
May 24 = January's Mom files for divorce
May 25 and 26 (Saturday and Sunday) = Stormcrow Burning
May 25 = The Summoner summons an Abyssal (buggane) during Technofest, anchoring it with an animal sacrifice
May 25 = The Flying Dutchman fire.
May 26 = Blood Raven reveals her identity as 'Aunt Branwen' to January
May 27 - June 1 (Monday -Saturday) = Stormcrow Pride [Ferndale Pride on Saturday]
June 1 = The Summoner summons an Abyssal (djieien) during Ferndale Pride, anchoring it with a human sacrifice
June 1 - 9 = Crystal Death [Motor City Pride]
June 1 = Chad overdoes on Crystal Death at Leland City Club.
June 3 = first Crow Tales, featuring Frankenstein
June 8 = second Crow Tales, featuring This Spell For Hire. January stops the Death Dealer. Blood Raven humiliates Nazis at Motor City Pride
June 9 = Nazis on Crystal Death attack Motor City Pride
June 10 - 14 = Eloise
June 11 = January records interview with WNN.
June 13 = January quits working at the dojo, starts working on Artemis Argent with Rus
June 14 = January's interview is aired in its entirety, as well as in print and on WNN's website. It generates massive waves of both support and backlash against her. The same night she faces off against Gola at Eloise.
June 16 - 24 = Hammer Down
June 16 = January does first aborted taping of Crow Tales Podcast
June 17 = January does second attempt at Crow Tales Podcast
June 17 = Lighthammer ambushed at Cedar Point
June 18 = January's mom moves out.
June 20 = January meets Michigan AG.
June 21 = January meets with Ohio state AG, DEA, and Lighthammer to make a deal.
June 22 = Fourth Crow Tales, featuring Winter Tide, by Ruthanna Emrys.
June 22-23 = January and Blood Raven patrol downtown, while the Detroit River Days festival takes place. Nothing happens.
June 24 = January does her first book signing at the library.
June 25 = (afternoon) January joins Lighthammer in a joint police raid on a ship in the Cleveland port.
June 25 - July 5 = Blood Ties
June 25 = (evening) Ryo gets his armor and sword at the Witch House
June 26 = January encounters Hannah and her father at Lakeside Mall
June 28 = The Summoner ambushes January and Blood Raven at Gull Island during Jobbie Nooner, summoning another Abyssal (oniare).
June 29 = fifth Crow Tales, featuring Nemesis, by April Daniels
July 3 = Funeral of the Summoner.
July 5 = Entire team trains on Green Island. Hannah melts down.
July 6-7 = Ashes


You are right, we have not seen the last of Hannah, or of her dad Hungry Ghost. They both have a role to play in (near) future events.

If you listen closely, the narrator in that video does mention that people are looking to win an Darwin Award by standing too close to the lava.

I remember hearing about the Fyre Festival when it happened. It always gave me some schadenfreude, given that the rich and pampered were suddenly being force to rough it like the rest of us have to do our entire lives. Not that I am condoning the grifters that put the whole thing on. But if a con artist is going to fleece someone, I prefer it to be a bunch of snobs.


RaderOfTheLostArk: I built the salamander around a picture I found of one (the mythical salamander that is). It was originally going to just be a fire elemental. But after looking at that picture, I realized I wanted it to be a Lava Elemental: essentially a hybrid of an Fire and Earth Elemental. That made it a much more dangerous foe.

I was actually watching a oceans documentary just last night where they had a surfer, and as I watched him on the waves, I realized that Calypso would not be a surfer herself. It would just be too easy for her!


Acadian: That is neat to hear that ESO has nerieds. I have always like them and nymphs.

I was glad to be able to show the reason for January's Blackwood upgrade in the same book she got it. Self-Repairing armor is definitely a plus in her line of work.

This was a fun book to write, as the synergy between January, Viuda, and Calypso really worked out better than I could have hoped for. They all really came together perfectly for this.

Viuda's dad jokes were one of those things I had not planned for ahead of time. They just came out as I was writing her.

This whole central antagonist in this book was built around showcasing what January had learned from Blood Raven in the last book. Just as it was about cleaning up an unintended mess left behind by the Summoner, it was also about January learning and growing as a magician. She's leveled up in her Sorcerer class.


WellTemperedClavier: Getting over a broken relationship is no fun. It can really feel overwhelming, and just blot out everything else in the world. Finding a way to not think about it is a blessing, whatever way possible.

I try to avoid being preachy in my writing, but Climate Change is as much a thing in January's world as it is in ours. January's feelings about the elemental are directly tied to that. The last thing she wants to do is harm the world even more than it already is, and killing an elemental would do just that. OTOH, she will also have some insights concerning that coming up, which will influence environmental issues in the future.

I am glad to see another vote for Viuda's sense of humor. She is a cheerful companion to have. She'd be fun to hang out with.









My inspiration for Viuda

Pantoscopic oval glasses



Book 9.16 - Ashes

January did not argue. She and Viuda ascended to the Charlotte's rear hatch. January did so by flying up and around. Viuda simply walked along the bottom of the craft's hull, as if she were out for a Sunday stroll. Then she took hold of the lip of ramp that had folded down from the stern of the craft. She swung herself out into space a moment later, and gracefully vaulted up and over its edge and onto the floor of the open ramp.

January could see that the entrance was wide enough to allow vehicles to drive directly in or out, albeit small ones. Most of the fuselage within was an open storage bay, like she imagined the interior of a cargo plane might look. The bare metal floor was studded with fittings that straps or cables might be hooked into to tie down freight. The walls and ceiling were left unfinished, revealing the bare metal frames and stringers that ran the length and height of the vessel.

Tucked between the longitudinal beams were several folding nautical bunks and jump seats. So too were other living amenities, such as a microwave, water cooler, refrigerator, even a small stove and oven. There was even a tiny bathroom and shower stall. Emergency gear such as life vests and parachutes were also neatly packed along the walls. Spaced among the gear and utilities were several small bubble canopies, that allowed one a view out the sides of the craft.

Beyond this lay the cockpit. It formed a small segment like a head that lay forward of the larger, abdominal section of the craft. It was elevated slightly from the cargo area, and had four seats. Two sat right up front and center, side by side. Each sat within one of the large, eye-like canopies in front of the ship. That would afford their occupants a full view in all directions but the rear. Two more seats were set a row back, and to either side. Control consoles rose up from the central space between the seats, and protruded from the walls and ceiling. Each was dotted with enough buttons, dials, knobs, and lights to make Gadget green with envy.

Viuda led January to one wall and folded a jump seat down from it. Once January sat down, she offered her a bottle of water. Then she climbed forward into the pilot's chair. The ship purred to life around her as if responding to her touch. A green heads up display glowed to life across the two main canopies, providing all manner of directional and environmental data.

January let the other women do her work, and took a moment to relax. Once again, she pulled the helmet from her head, and took a moment to enjoy the feeling of air upon her bare skin. Then she raised the bottle to her lips, and took a long, deep gulp, then another, and another. Before she knew it, half the bottle had disappeared. Yet she still felt thirsty, and she could not shake a growing sense of lethargy in her limbs. She was tired. Just plain tired, and wanted to lie down and sleep.

But she had promises to keep, and thousands of miles to go before she could sleep in her bed. She forced herself up to her feet, and paused at a small mirror tucked between two structural braces. She barely recognized the face that stared back at her. Her skin, which was typically so pale, was now red and cracked with what looked like a bad case of sunburn. No wonder Calypso had looked worried. She not only felt like a boiled lobster, she looked like one as well.

Her heart sank for a moment, and she wondered if her healing trance would be able to mend the injuries. Would she have these burns forever? Hannah had been the only woman in the world to ever find her attractive. Now even she would have recoiled in horror. Granted she had eventually done that anyway. No one was ever going to love her.

January tried to put that out of her mind. She had things to do, and worrying about her looks was not only vain, but pointless. She already had scars. She refused to be ashamed of them anymore. Each one was a story, something that made her who and what she was today. A few more scars, a few more stories, they were one in the same.

She climbed up into the cockpit and plopped down into the empty co-pilot's seat. She found that there were two foot rests for her to plant her feet against, with pedals built into them. She tried to avoid pushing them, or otherwise accidentally setting off any of the numerous controls around her. The last thing she wanted to do was crash the plane.

Viuda turned her head. The front face of her helmet turned transparent and revealed her features underneath. January was surprised to see how young she was. She was perhaps only in her mid-twenties, just a few years older than she was. She had imagined her to be at least as old as Lighthammer.

Her bronze skin was soft, and her long dark hair was straight as a ruler, and tied back from her head in a braid. She wore a pair of large, pantoscopic oval glasses, with transparent, burgundy-colored frames. Her lipstick was bright red, which lent her features a real pop of color. January idly wondered what shade it was, because it looked a lot like one of her own favorites.

"Feeling better?" Viuda grinned and gave her a thumbs up. "You look a lot better."

"Really?" January wondered. She did not feel much better.

"No, you look terrible," Viuda turned her head back to the surface of the ocean, which January saw was now just a few feet below her feet. Thanks to the bubble canopy, she really could look straight down between her feet and see where Calypso swam under the waves. The aquanaut wove a web of cables around the quiescent elemental. Then she finally looked back up and gave a thumbs up.

"You really need to learn to stop jumping in the way of danger," Viuda said. "You aren't indestructible you know. You're as mortal as the rest of us chica."

"If I don't, people die," January said. She took another long gulp of water. As refreshing as it was, it still did nothing to ease her thirst. "Don't tell me you are really any different?"

"You know, I've got some first aid back there." Viuda answered by not answering. "There's some burn cream. I can help you with it once we take care of Maggie here."

"Thanks," January said gratefully. "You know Blood Raven told me I should get out and meet people in the community. This wasn't how I imagined that going."

"Blood Raven told you that? Now I've heard everything." Viuda flipped a few buttons, and pulled back gently upon her control stick. The spidercraft responded by rising up into the air. In a moment it pulled the fire elemental free of the waves. It looked much less menacing now. With its flames apparently banked, it looked more like a wet cat than anything else.

"She's not who you think she is," January answered. She kept finding herself saying that to people, thanks to her mentor's often menacing and simply overwhelming presence. As ever, she made a note to herself to do things differently. "I'm probably not who you think I am either. None of us are, really. We are all multitudes."

"You sound just like her," Calypso's voice came from the back of the fuselage. She saw the aquatic heroine step off a pillar of water and onto the cargo ramp. She strode forward, and without even looking hit a button to shut the hatch behind her. "How is that old Raven? Still lurking from gothic steeples?"

"Well, we don't have too many of those in the D, but she makes the most of them." January smiled. "But you know Blood Raven too?"

"She is the one who bid me to come hither." The water-based heroine walked up through the cargo bay toward the cockpit. "Years ago, she helped a girl in Nassau learn to use her magical powers. She has been a good friend to me ever since."

"So are you a wizard too then Stormcrow?" Viuda's voice floated across the cockpit. "It always comes down to pirates, robots, wizards, or ninjas."

"She is a wizard, just as I." Calypso answered before January could speak. "In spite of the technological terrors she has constructed, Viuda is a pirate. She makes bold choices, is full of brash exuberance, and enjoys swinging on ropes."

"Hey, there is a precedent for that sort of thing in the Caribbean!" Viuda stuck her tongue out at her aquatic friend.

"Did you not have a girlfriend?" Calypso's turned back to January. "You two seemed quite inseparable on the recent videos. Will she be joining us? Her teleportation would have been most appreciated a few minutes ago."

"No, it turns out I didn't have one."

January looked away, and instead studied the ground as the spidercraft rapidly accelerated inland. The old, half-buried city of Plymouth stretched out beneath her feet. It was not damaged in the normal sense. Not like bombs had went off or anything. Instead it had just been buried, with only a few walls and rooftops rising from the plain of ash. It was strange how empty and quiet it all was, as empty and quiet as her love life.

"I am genuinely sorry to learn of this." Rather than taking one of the back seats, Calypso stood and held onto one of the bare structural beams overhead. She looked like she knew her way around the interior of the ship. Given their close proximity, and the easy nature between the two of them, she imagined that she and Viuda must work together quite a bit, just as January did with her team now. "Love is like the tides. She rises, and she falls."

"That's ok, we still have Toby here," Viuda's voice dropped into baby talk. January looked over to see a tarantula crawl along one of the heroine's shoulders. Now the entire helmet slid down from around the heroine's head. That allowed the dark brown arachnid to set the short, shiny hairs of its forelegs upon the woman's bare neck.

"He'll always be my little spider man, won't you Toby?"

January had to fight the urge to jump out of her skin.

She was back in Ferndale, wrapped up in spider silk. The djieien loomed over her, ready to suck the life from her flesh. January reached up to the sky, and stirred the power waiting there. The djieien loomed closer, its fangs bigger than swords. She stretched out for the lightning that could save her...

"Hey, are you ok?" Calypso's hand on her shoulder brought January back around. Thunder rolled ominously in the distance, and rain pattered the glass of the twin canopies. She glanced outside, and saw that the sky had gone black with clouds. It was as if an onyx blanket had been pulled across the firmament.

What had that been? Spiders usually did not give her the heebie jeebies. Not like they did some people. But her heart was racing, and suddenly she felt thirsty. She took another long drink of water to avoid having to answer, and finally forced herself to nod.

"Oh no, don't tell me you're an arachnophobe?" A look of genuine distress crossed Viuda's features. "I'm sorry, I forgot to ask. Events just kind of ran away there. Toby is my copilot. He's the bestest buddy in the whole world, aren't you Toby. But sometimes I forget that other people don't like spiders as much as I do. I can put him away in his terrarium if it will make you feel better."

"No," January insisted. "I'm not... I mean, I'm fine. He's fine. It just... reminded me of something is all."

Perhaps a good perspective Jan has on her scars. I’ll bet, between her and Blood Raven, she’ll be able to recover her slightly roasted complexion though.

A nice in-flight opportunity for the three amigas to get to know each other a bit better.

Pirates, robots, wizards or ninjas. Now that is an interesting take on supers, and I can pretty much see where each of the ones you have introduced us to fit.

I chuckled at Jan’s discomfort over meeting Toby. She does have a bit of baggage that the arachnid conjures. And I think I recall that you are no fan of the eight leggers. . . .