Basilisk

((OOC: Business is looking a bit slow . So, to do my part, yet another of my endless stream of alts is dropping by. BTW, welcome back, Sibling!))

The door creaked open, inviting into the restaurant a chill breeze which fluttered the green curtains of the alcove. The door opened fully, then closed, seemingly of its own volition. A light giggle filled the entryway, and suddenly, a woman was standing there, playing with the green curtains.

She was roughly 5 and-a-half feet tall, with black hair, but that was where any semblance of normalcy ended. Her skin was a dusty red, which contrasted oddly with her glowing yellow eyes. Her torso was covered with a red chitinous armor which seemed to blend into her skin, and her legs were plated with black steel greaves. She wore a wide smile that gave her face a childlike innocence, but the teeth that showed seemed more suitable for a shark than a humanoid. She ran her hands through the fabric of the curtains, burbling happily to herself.

Turning her attention from the curtains, she seemingly spotted Martin for the first time. Her head cocked curiously to the side and her brow furrowed in confusion.

"A peanut butter and watercress sandwich and a glass of milk would have been sufficient enough, Alfred."

The voice that issued from her mouth was an eerily accurate imitation of Adam West's, but oddly enough, the words and the movement of her mouth were completely out of sync. She looked about to say more, when she seemed to notice something in the restaurant. Within a heartbeat, she simply dissapeared, reappearing by the dais at the centre of the restaurant.

Jumping up and down excitedly, she squealed in delight at the potted plants sitting on the platform. She bent over the dais, and began whispering conspiratorially to the plants, occasionally pausing as if listening to a silent reply.

((OOC: Rose doesn't mean to offend Martin, she just hasn't got a very firm grip on the English language yet.))

I made this up for a friend who wanted to get into an Ice tank, and figured I would post it here, too. Just in case.

Basilisk's Quick Guide to Ice Armor

A quick guide to the Ice Armor tanker primary:

So, you’ve chosen to make an Ice tanker? Be warned, of the four tanker primaries, Ice is probably the toughest to run. It’s a good set if you’re looking for a bit of a challenge, while still feeling “super.” The lack of any proper resistance will likely cause you to be one-shotted on more than one occasion, and enemies with defense debuffs or accuracy buffs can be a pain in the neck. On the other hand, you will be able to stand in a group of dozens of enemies and still be able to click a glowie without having to worry about being interrupted. The set is also one of the strongest in terms of herding capability. WARNING: All 3 of the armours accept +resistance enhancements. Don’t be fooled! All that adding +resistance to these armours will do is to boost your resist to cold (and fire in Frozen Armor). Because cold is an underused damage type, it is unlikely that you will need any kind of resistance to it. Instead, go for solid defense enhancements, and get the most out of your buck.

The Powers:

From what I have seen, there are pretty much 2 ways to run an Ice tank. The first is the Wet Ice/EA tanker. This variant has gone very much out of style since the Ice armours were allowed to stack. With the I4 changes to Energy Absorption, this variant may be impractical now. Basically, this type of ice tank runs only Wet Ice, and supplements with Perma-EA when herding. I have seen it work, and it’s less of an endurance drainer, but I find that this type of build is weaker simply because of its lower defense.

The second variant runs all 3 armours (not necessarily at the same time), and is a massive drain on endurance. The advantage with this variant is that EA can be socketed more for defense than recharge, and can be used more as a panic button than something you need to use every battle. Regardless of which build you choose to try, before respecifying, you will likely be building both exactly the same way, because a tank cannot survive the 26 levels to EA on Wet Ice alone. Because I have no experience with the first type of build, I will write the power evaluations based on the second variant.

Frozen Armor:

This is your base armour, and will save you a lot of grief in the early game. Later it shines again against the Freakshow, but does gradually lose its usefulness in the later game. This is not to say that in the later levels, FA is useless, just not quite as good as when you’re only fighting things with smashing and lethal damage.

How I would slot it: 6 slot this ASAP. It’s a large part of your early game defence, and is solid even in the later game. Go for 6 Defense buff enhancements, or if you’re really concerned about endurance, 5 defense, 1 Endurance reduction.


Hoarfrost:

Yes, I can hear the little kiddies giggling in the backseats already (for those of you who don’t know what hoarfrost is, you can find a picture here. ) Hoarfrost is another solid power, which both heals you and adds to your max HP. Many people use this to permanently keep up their HP. I personally prefer to use it more like the Freaks do: as a panic heal. Later in the game, it’s a better heal than a medium green inspiration, plus it has the HP buff.

How I would slot it: 4 recharge will make this perma with hasten, otherwise, 5 recharge. I suppose if you want to use it as a heal, you could go for 4 recharge, 2 heal, but I don’t recommend it.


Chilling Embrace:

One of my fave powers in the set, Chilling Embrace is both a defense and a herding tool. The slow is unfortunately unenhanceable, but it still reduces the number of incoming attacks significantly. The taunt is very strong and I believe it is the strongest of all the taunt auras. It can sometimes be tricky to herd with slowed mobs, but when you get used to it, you should have no troubles. CE also has one benefit that not everyone thinks of: It interrupts. If a Raider Engineer is going to put down a forcefield generator, just walk next to him, and he stops. Be careful when using travel powers with this on, as it will activate suppression.

How I would slot it: CE can be a bit taxing on your end with all the armours on. You might consider adding in end reduction. I currently have it 2 slotted with taunt, though, and it seems not to be too much of a problem.


Wet Ice:

The defining armour of the Ice set, Wet Ice provides defense to everything except psionic, plus resistance to status. You will likely be running this armour at all times. Its defense boost isn’t huge, but you can’t go wrong with defense to everything (except psi).

How I would slot it: Again, 6 slot ASAP. All defense or 5 def, 1 endredux.


Permafrost:

Wow- the set has been so very strong up to this point, then they throw this garbage power into the mix. It adds resistance to cold and fire damage. Whoop-dee-freakin’-do. With the cold resistance already built in to the 3 armours, cold resist here is superfluous. Fire damage isn’t common enough to be a real problem, plus you DO get defense against it from Wet Ice and EA. Unless you’re going for concept, or are paranoid about fire, permafrost just isn’t worth it.

How I would slot it: I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t have taken the power in the first place. If you have, then put one resist in the default slot, and wait for the respec.


Icicles:

Icicles is another fairly weak power. It doesn’t do as much damage as any other of the damage auras, and is ludicrously expensive to boot. Plus, it does lethal damage, which is resisted by many enemies. That being said, I use it frequently. With Ice’s capacity to herd, it’s not uncommon to have herds of 50-100 following you, and if you don’t have any particularly strong PBAoEs, like in stone melee, this can help take care of the enemies when soloing.

How I would slot it: Accuracy is something that should be added here. Optimally, I would probably go 1 acc, 2 endredux, 3 dam, but if you don’t have that many slots to put towards it, 1acc, 2 end redux, 1 dam should do fine. Otherwise, skip the power.


Glacial Armor:

The final armour of the Ice set, GA is probably also the least useful. Energy and negative damage are relatively uncommon. It certainly will not be very useful at level 18, when you can first pick it up. If you get it later, around 30, it should be more useful. Nonetheless, Wet Ice and EA can take up the slack should you choose to skip GA.

How I would slot it: I would probably recommend 6 slotting it, 6 def or 5 def, 1 endredux. If you can’t do that, you should still try for about 4 def enhances in it.


Energy Absorption (EA):

This is the defining power of Ice Armor. This will change you from a Scrapper with no damage to a Tanker. It adds defense to everything except Psionic, plus adds resistance to slow- something that you don’t see much of. Unfortunately, as of now, the slow resistance doesn’t seem to be scaling properly, and you will likely still find yourself slowed to a crawl if you come across a horde of Earth Thorn Casters or the like. The power has been toned down considerably, and now caps off at 5 enemies affected. This is generally enough, but you will still be feeling the lack of defense if you get caught with a defense debuff. The power will also drain endurance from enemies, but with only 5 affected, this will not make a significant impact on the gameplay.

How I would slot it: Energy Absorption is one of the most flexible powers in terms of slotting. The power is great right out of the box, but adding defense really helps. If you want to make it perma, 2 recharge reductions with hasten or 3 without. In PvP, you can use the End drain on this power to your advantage, and if you’re focused on that, you might consider adding an end drain, but this won’t really help in PvE. I would suggest 3 defense and 3 recharge if you’re concerned about perma and don’t have hasten, 3 defense, 2 recharge, 1 endredux with hasten. If you’re totally unconcerned about the recharge and only plan on using this occasionally, 4 defense and 2 endredux.


Hibernate:

Well, we’ve made it to the ultimate power of the Ice Armor set, and it’s really a bit of a disappointment. It has been improved some, but anything that will take your tank out of the battle and cause you to lose aggro is generally a bad thing. I can see Hibernate being more useful for a soloer, but at level 32, it’s getting harder and harder for a tank to keep up the experience while soloing. It’s not a bad power, but it is situational. If you plan on teaming a lot, I would put this power off until you have nothing else better to take.

How I would slot it: Hibernate is an end waster in and of itself, so you should put one endredux in it. Other than that it should be good, unless you want it to cycle faster, in which case you could throw a recharge into it.


What type of wine should I serve with the Ice Armor?

No powerset is an island. I would be remiss in this guide if I didn’t mention a few powers that go well in an Ice Armor build.

Fighting>Tough: The first and foremost power to talk about is tough. Out of the box, it gives 20% resistance to smashing and lethal damage, increasing to 44% with 6 resist SO’s. This is a godsend to the poor ice tanker with high defense and no useful resistance. On the other hand, it does add more burden on an already heavy end drain. It’s not necessary, but it does help a lot.

Fighting>Weave: Weave is personal preference. It adds 12.5% defense to everything, including the omni-absent psionic defense. If you’re going up against a lot of psi enemies, you might want to take weave. On the other hand, it’s even more end drain for a modest 12.5% defense boost. As I said, personal preference.

Medicine>Aid Self: With high defense, you’re not being hit often, and that means that the interrupt on Aid Self becomes a non-issue. In theory. In practice, Murphy’s law will come into play, and you’ll probably be getting hit right when using it. If you feel like making this gamble, then a self heal is a huge boon in Ice Armor. Otherwise, stick with Hoarfrost. On the plus side, the path to Aid Self goes right through Aid Other, which can turn you into a very team friendly character indeed.

Fitness>Stamina: I shouldn’t even have to mention this. Ice Armor is such an end heavy set that stamina is (almost) 100% necessary. 6 slot it, and you’ll be good to go.

Fitness>Health: In most cases, Health is really just a stepping stone on the way to stamina. In Ice Armor, you’re being hit less frequently, and health can have a practical use. It’s a good way to reduce downtime outside of battle and increases your survivability in battle. I would say that it would not be out of line to add maybe one or two sockets to increase the healing rate.

Speed>Hasten: It had to come up eventually. I personally dislike Hasten, but even I admit that it has considerable use in an Ice build. Just be very careful, because this can lead to you to burn through your endurance like gasoline-soaked Kleenex.

Presence>Provoke: I mention this because it used to be a major part of any tanker build. With the changes to taunt, taunt is now superior because it auto-hits whereas provoke makes a check. If you want to go old-school, you can still use provoke, but I wouldn’t recommend it.

Concealment>Stealth/Invisibility: If you’ve just not got enough defense, stealth will add 7.5% and invisibility adds 10%. Invisibility won’t let you attack while it’s active, so not such a great combat power.

APP Energy Mastery>Conserve Power: Anything that reduces the amount of endurance that you use with a set like this is a good thing. If you have a chance, grab this.

Combat Jumping/Hover: The defense that these powers give is useful in the early game, but later you’re probably better off respeccing into Jump Kick/Air Superiority if you go for flight or super jump.

Travel Power: The nice thing about Ice armor is that it has no demands on which travel power you choose. Any of them will work.

So long, and thanks for all the fish.

The ice tank has long been considered "gimped." If more people played one, I believe that they would soon find that the Ice tank is a strong powerset with some challenges along the way. Don't expect your Ice tank to be at par with a Inv Tank. It's not going to happen. But put a good ice tank in any team, and you'll see that they more than hold their own.

((OOC: Sorry to hear, Sibling. I really hope that your problems get resolved so Gal can get back in business. Take care.

Basilisk))

Rock-hopper

Eyes: Dark Brown

Skin: Brown

Hair: Black feathers

Height: 6' 1"

Weight: 312 lbs

Age: 44

Human: Yes (partially)

Strengths: Experienced fighter, trained with Australian Military for several years and recieved special ops training through Project Noah. Enhanced strength, capable of forming Ice Armor and stone weaponry. Natural leader.

Weaknesses: Vulnerable to fire and psychic attacks. His attacks are very draining on him, and he may suffer in prolonged battles.

Personality: Affable and good natured. He is extremely well versed in military tactics, literature, and law, but has only cursory training in the sciences. He speaks with a pronounced Australian accent. He has a strong sense of honour and duty, and tends to accept challenges with light-hearted humour.

Rock-hopper: "Hmm.. Think I'm gonna 'ave to go with blue, mate. 'S a simple colour, but I like it."

Dark Basilisk: "Favourite colour? Well, after wearing these damn glasses for almost 5 years, I'm gonna say anything that's not yellow." ((Dark Basilisk wears special reflective glasses to protect others from his powers. They're golden yellow.))

Fel Rose: *Turns head curiously to one side, frowning slightly* "If you want to know the colour, ask the colour."

John Remington: *sheepishly* "Er... I'm not quite sure, but I think that means that she doesn't know what a colour is. Hmmm... A colour is a phenomenon of light, or visual perception that allows you to differentiate otherwise identical objects." *points to his jeans* "Blue is a colour."

Fel Rose: *Sudden comprehension.* "Red alert! All hands to battle stations!"

John Remington: *Even more sheepishly* "Um... I guess that means red..."

Dark Basilisk accepted the phone number, and watched as Betty left. He sat back, relaxing for a moment, then fished a small silver pocketwatch out of his pocket. Suddenly realizing the time, he got up and hurried to the door, looking somewhat like the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland.

((OOC: Sorry about the late reply. I've been slightly distracted these past few days, and this sort of fell through the cracks.))

Great work Mr. & Miss Abyss.

I have been doing some searching and have found out the following:

[ QUOTE ]
MSNBC News Services
Updated: 8:21 p.m. ET March 9, 2001


After significant research, investigators at the University of Las Vegas have found surprising news regarding the origins of the bomp in the bomp be bomp be bomp.


"It really surprised us when we found out." says Professor David Drake, "To think that something in our musical history could have such negative connotations. It almost boggles the mind."


It seems that the "bomp" originated not in America, as was originally believed, but in Russia during the early years of the Second World War. Josef Stalin, seeking a way to bring the Americans into the fold of communism, placed the bomp in the bomp be bomp be bomp as a way of influencing young American minds.


However, before any such attack could take place, U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt initiated a defense plan, and put the ram in the ramalamadingdong, effectively thwarting Stalin's plan. Due to rising tensions in Germany, both parties agreed to remain silent about these events.


Much later, it seems that a Barry Mann discovered these events while reading through old newspapers and piecing together some incongruous events. When he first attempted to come forward with his evidence, the U.S. Supreme Court placed a gag order on any of his findings. Frustrated, he wrote a song implying these connections, cleverly dodging the censors by adding other meaningless phrases like boogity-boogity-shoop. Although rumours still circulate about Hitler having developed the dip in the dip da dip da dip, these rumors remain unconfirmed.


Prof. Drake is quick to dismiss these claims. "There is, of now, no conclusive evidence that Hitler was in any way involved in the placement of the dip in the dip da dip da dip. As far as I'm concerned, this is nothing more than gossip."

[/ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
It’d probably be best that I go after this drink though, gotta find a place to stash the, uh, spare parts before my roommate comes home, anyway.

[/ QUOTE ]

Basilisk nodded.

"One of the nice things about living alone. No questions asked. You're probably right, though. It's just about time to get back out there and earn my keep."

He withdrew from his pocket a small pad of paper and a pen, and scribbled down a phone number. He tore off the sheet and handed it to her.

"There. That's my cell phone number. If you find yourself in too deep, give me a ring and I'll try to help."

He finished off the last of the steak which he had been working on. Daubing his mouth with a napkin to remove any traces of sauce, he sat back, apparently content to stay there for a few more minutes, at least.

[ QUOTE ]
“Can I see? I mean, technically, since I don’t really see like normal people anymore, there’s a good chance I won’t be rooted to the spot, and if I do, just redial that last incoming call. That’s my shrink and let me tell you, it’ll be a real lark just watching him try and get me out of a catatonic state. Besides, if he’s calling it looks like I’m going to need a good excuse for being out late without checking in.”

[/ QUOTE ]

"Technically, it's not a catatonic state. It seems that my victim actually turns temporarily to stone. Don't ask how- I got an explanation once, and it was so full of technical mumbo-jumbo that I couldn't repeat it to you if I tried. I can restrain it, to a degree. But the eyes do seem to work against Clockwork fine, so I can more or less guarantee that this won't be comfortable. You sure you're up for this?"

He waited for her approval, then closed his eyes and began to slowly lower the glasses. When the glasses were off of his face, he opened the scaled eyelids, revealing a pair of golden-green, slitted eyes.

Basilisk only held her gaze for a moment, before placing the glasses back onto his face, but it was long enough for the preliminary effects of the petrification to set in. Not enough to be fully immobilized, just a feeling of stiffness in the joints and limbs. He smiled briefly at her discomfort.

"Like I said, not too comfortable. It's backfired on me a couple of times, so I know what it's like. Relax for a bit, and it should pass."

[ QUOTE ]
"Welllllll, none of that seems like it was any of your fault. Looks like you were just a victim of misrepresentation. I've never been one to trust any government agency or any big corporations for that matter, so I'm not too terribly shocked."

[/ QUOTE ]

Despite Betty's reassurances, Basilisk seemed unconvinced. He acknowledged her, but his mood did not seem to improve at all.

[ QUOTE ]
"Hey, can I ask you a sort of personal question? This might seem kinda strange, but I can't contain my curiosity, really... and you don't have to answer if you don't want, but," she lowered her voice down to a somber whisper, "when you... if you do, when you dream... do you look like, or feel like you used to be, or how you are now?"

[/ QUOTE ]

The question made Basilisk stop, as if frozen in his seat. He took a breath and answered slowly.

"Dream? I don't much remember my dreams. A bit here, a bit there, but for the most part, I don't know. I do know that in what few dreams I do remember I'm human- fully human, that is. In my nightmares..."

His voice trailed off. He took a moment and readjusted the golden lensed glasses on his face.

"You know why I wear the glasses? It's my eyes. Not that they're mutilated or anything like that. They're perfectly normal, green-yellow slitted eyes. Sort of like a crocodile's. But, when I changed, I got another little surprise. Just like the basilisk in the myth, I can petrify people with a glance. Just like that- Pop! then they can't move. It's a handy little trick when I'm out bustin' Skulls, but every minute of every day I'm stuck worrying if the glasses fall off, who will end up as a statue? In my dreams, things are good and fine and everyone has a happy ending. In my nightmares, I don't remember much, but the eyes are always there."

((Just thought I'd add in that Basilisk has died. If anybody wants to check it out...))

With a slight nod, Basilisk answered.

"I say they because I didn't actually perform the procedure on myself... But I guess I'm as much to blame as anyone. It's bit of a long story, but for me to tell it, you're gonna need a few background details.

First off, you know about the drug Superadine, right? Well, it came out in the early eighties. Seems that they found that prolonged exposure to the drug could grant people certain exceptional abilities- super strength, enhanced aggression, and such. You know, like the Trolls. Well, it seems that quite a few of the democratic countries- Britain, the U.S., Canada, and a bunch of others- didn't like the idea that certain factions could make their own superheros. The Soviets were on their way out at the time, but the general worry was 'if they can turn their entire military into supermen, we're toast.'

So, naturally, there was an arms race started, this one considerably quieter than the nuclear one. A process was developed by the 'free' countries to combine the DNA of two distinct creatures into one. So, as a preliminary test, 3000 of the best and brightest soldiers, police, and whatnot were assembled from these countries. We were taken to be combined with different animal species, to see how we could improve our perfomance with heightened abilities."

He paused for a moment, took a drink of Vodka, and continued.

"I was chosen from my unit in Calgary, I was given the choice and, of course, I accepted. For king and country and all that jazz, right? So they took me to some nice little lab, strapped me to a table, and pumped me full of drugs. When I woke up, I could move faster, had better hand-eye coordination, my muscle tone improved, and I was tougher than ever. They told me that I had been successfully fused with a 'basilisk' lizard. Something from South America. It seemed that the project had been a success, so they began training us.

Of course, nothing that good could possibly last for long. And, right on schedule, [censored] began to happen. The Berlin Wall fell. The project- they called it Project Noah- got its funding pulled. After all, the Soviet Union was collapsing, so the threat we were supposed to respond to didn't exist anymore. We were pretty much told 'See ya! Don't let the door hit you on the [censored] on your way out!'

Well, we mostly we our seperate ways, but more fun was on the way. Seems the company that the governments used to produce the Noah Treatment wasn't entirely reliable. Some stabilizing agent from the treatment began to break down, and the animal DNA began to assert. The soldiers began to mutate radically. Now, a human body can only take so much punishment. Some of these people ended up with hearts the size of a blue whale's- crushing their organs from the inside. Some ended up with their bone marrow producing cheetah blood- poisoning them. Some developed poisonous fangs- when they eventually bit themselves- their body didn't have the natural immunity to their own venom and they died. Most ended up simply becoming horribly disfigured monsters, and their body couldn't cope with the strain. Only about 1% of the soldiers survived.

Some who survived ended up coming out of it looking entirely normal, like my friends Rock-hopper or Corvus Corax. Some ended up looking like me- like some hybrid mix of the two. A few even mutated all the way, turning into animals. We all, however, developed abilities that no one has yet been able to explain."

Up until now, he spoke as if everything had happened to someone else, an that he was merely telling a story. Now, though, his expression darkened, and sheer rage began to emanate from him like waves of heat.

"A few years ago, I did some searching. I found out the company that created the serum. It was Crey. Thousands of people simply died because Crey Industries [censored] up. And the worst part of it all is that if Crey went down for this, then the Government's part in the whole shebang would be exposed to all. They don't want that, so they're doing everything that they can to keep Crey out of jail, and more importantly, out of the spotlight."

As quickly as it had come, Basilisk's anger seemed to pass, as though it had burned for too much time to flare up for very long. His demeanor seemed to suggest that there was more to the story than what he had told, but he appeared unwilling to speak any longer about the subject. He threw back the remainder of the vodka in his glass.

"Well, as long as I'm here, and you're offering, then I suppose I'll have some steak." He pushed away the empty glass. "Vodka's not something that should be had with steak, either."

He placed his order with Narshawn, following up with, "If you have any of that Grasshopper still here, I'll have that. Otherwise, whatever's on tap will work, too."

Basilisk looked thoughtful for a moment, then, as if the words came of their own accord, began to speak in his rich baritone.

"A grief without a pang, void, dark, and drear,
A stifled, drowsy, unimpassioned grief,
Which finds no natural outlet, no relief,
In word, or sigh, or tear."

He looked up and quirked his lip in a strange sort of half-smile.

"Samuel Taylor Coleridge. I imagine he was talking about opium addiction, the guy was usually baked on the stuff, but it seems to apply here too. Don't worry, I'm not one to judge. I used to be just as bad, but my vice was alcohol. I'd stay up most of the night, drink until my face hit the floor, then wake up, hea to work, and start again when I got home. Not much of a problem anymore. I can't absorb the stuff, so it just passes through." He chuckled softly, "I imagine they probably saved my life when they changed me, not that I'm thankful. Now I have more problems than ever, and can't even properly drown my sorrows."

((OOC: With everyone else jumping on the poetry bandwagon, seemed I should too. ))

[ QUOTE ]
"Well then, what shall I call you? Dave or just D.B.?"

[/ QUOTE ]

Basilisk paused for a moment before answering the woman.

"I suppose either would work. Most of my friends call me either Dark or Bas, so I suppose you could call me one of those, too."

[ QUOTE ]
"Clockwork's just my particular...uh... pet peeve. What about you? You hold a particular grudge toward any of these baddies or are you just out for all of 'em?"

[/ QUOTE ]

His expression darkened at the question.

"I'll go after anyone who I'm asked to. Anytime I get to stick it to Crey though, I'll do it without a second thought. Bastards think they're above the law. Trouble is, they're mostly right. Every time I think I've finally gotten the evidence to put them away, some weasel-faced lawyer pops up with some technicality or loophole, and they get out of it. Sons of [censored] deserve to pay..."

Basilisk interrupted himself, seemingly noticing that he was ranting. As if nothing had happened, he diverted Betty's questioning.

"What 'bout you? What did the tin-toys do to earn your ire?"

Basilisk stopped in his tracks at the mention of a drink. His shoulders heaved in what could only have been a sigh, and turned to face the young woman seated at the bar. His face had softened, and for a moment, despite the scales, sunglasses, and hood, he looked like a very, very old man.

"No, ma'am. It was I who was rude, and I apologize. When you spend as much time as I do with the more unsavoury elements of society, courtesy is something you tend to lose."

His features hardened once more, and he smiled the bizarre small smile again.

"Of course, if you're still offering, I'm always up for a free drink." He resumed his seat at the bar, "I'm Dark Basilisk, but my name," he paused as if he were trying to remember, "is Dave." The last was spoken almost as an affirmation.

((OOC: Hey, nothing wrong with "issues." After all, heroes are a bunch of people who have to live with the knowledge that they're not only different, but in most cases better than the average citizen. Even the most balanced individual would get a few issues from that. And btw, you're doing fine. Don't be put off because Basilisk's an [censored]. He's got issues of his own.))

Basilisk lifted his empty glass to his forehead in a kind of mock salute.

"Fine, you like 'em kickin', that's your business. Just don't be too surprised if you're off fighting ol' jar-head and your own arm beats you."

Replacing the glass on the countertop, Dark Basilisk stood as if to leave.

"Time to take a suicide break, I'd say." He motioned to the area surrounded by forcefields, "I'll be over there if sparky here wants to play."

Dark Basilisk's face remained an impassive mask throughout Betty's monologue.

"You may want to hold off replacing that arm. Clockwork bits have a nasty habit of coming back on their own. Besides, Freaks and Crey have much nicer stuff. Theirs ain't alive, either. Besides, nothin's more fun than stripping one of those Crey tanks of their armour before sending them to be someone's bunk buddy at the Zig. All in public interest, of course." Basilisk smiled briefly at his own small joke. The movement seemed unnatural, as if he was out of practice.

Dark Basilisk watched the mechanical woman approach the bar out of the corner of his eye, focusing his interest on the metallic arm she had brought with her. Without turning to face her, he spoke.

"Clockwork, eh? From a knight or a cog by the size of it. 'Course, I've never been one for war trophies, but hey, to each his own." He took another sip of his drink and continued, "Seems to me that you might have more use for a trophy like that than most, though."

He paused again, looking down at his glass as if trying to decide whether or not to put the remaining liquid out of its misery. Seemingly deciding, he threw the drink back and let the hand holding the now empty glass fall heavily against the bar.

"Good vodka." Basilisk turned to face the newcomer, "So, your name's Betty Clocker, huh? Heard you introducing yourself out there." He focused his gaze on the arm now resting on the bar, "So, what's his story?"

"And if there were no heroes? If all it would take to get rid of crime was for heroes to disappear, I'd leave in a split second. Always did want to be an Architect. Somehow, though, I think it's more complicated than that."

He took a sip of the drink in front of him, savouring it for a moment before swallowing. He paused for a moment, thinking, then continued speaking.

"You know, some people believe in a god of some sort. Can't rightly say whether I do or not. All I can say is that he must be some sort of cruel son of a [censored]. Balance?" He snorted, as if the word held some sort of joke, "I don't think so. Just a crap-shoot, I think. Innocent people are out there on the street, dying because people like Requiem, Nemesis, or Countess Crey survive. No, if you want balance, then City Hall needs to untie our hands. Let us fight fire with fire, so to speak. I can't count the number of times I've found some kind of evidence to put Crey away for good, only to have it dismissed in court because some of her lackeys found the right people to pay."

Basilisk nodded and accepted the drink. He took a sip, then finding the drink to be to his tastes, downed the remainder in one hard pull. Placing the empty glass on the counter, he spent a moment examining Narshawn from behind the golden glasses.

"'S the damnedest thing, isn't it. I could sit here and drink everything behind that bar without so much as a hiccup, but two cigs 'll put me flat on my back." He shook his head, chuckling softly to himself. "What a world we live in, eh? Folks tell us to go stop crime, but if you're not careful, some knob like Chris Jenkins will come along and try to sue you for all you're worth- And that's only if you're lucky. If you're not, then some punk-[censored] gang-banger will sneak up on you while you're fighting one of the big bads, put a bullet in your brain. And the best part in all of this is that even if you do arrest them and get them behind bars, 5 minutes later, they're out shaking down some lady for her purse. And the heroes take the blame for not doing enough. Where's the justice?"

With a light push, Dark Basilisk pushed open the main door to the building. He wasn't entirely sure why he had returned- he rarely ate out anymore, and tried not to return too often to the same place, as it made him too easy to follow. But, he found himself once more in the main reception area of Gal's Place, and could think of no other reason to be there but that he was welcome. Dark Basilisk readjusted the black hood covering his scaled head, pushed up his golden mirrored sunglasses, and entered the bar again. Making his way to the counter, he nodded at the woman tending bar to get her attention.

"Give me what you got to drink. Don't care what, so long as it's cold."

Taking a stool at the bar, he sat hunched over, in a posture suggesting he was an experienced drinker.

The fact is that every character needs to connect with the audience, and because tragedy generally invokes deeper, more significant feelings in the reader, it doesn't necessarily have to be well written to come off as poignant. A goofy, off the wall character risks being shallow and immature (and perhaps he/she is), if all he can do in a tragic situation is crack wise- even if that is in character. However, a dark, brooding character will rarely have to display any other emotion even in the happiest of times.

Personally, when I RP, I tend to place myself in my character's shoes, feel what he/she feels, and I find that this allows a more realistic character to be built. I'm not saying that this is the right way, just my own preferred method. In this way Rock-hopper, who is a large aussie man in a penguin suit, goes through an array of emotions, while generally remaining upbeat. Similarily, Dark Basilisk, who lost everything when he "changed", is a dark hero with a doom-and-gloom attitude and a cynical sense of humour. They're very different characters, and both react differently in the same situation, but they both have a certain depth. More than just "Look how wacky I can be!" or "I hope you die a long, painful death."

The noises of the kitchen staff closing shop touched Rock-hopper's ears. Checking the clock, he jumped to his feet.

"Crikey! Didn't think it was this late. Bloody 'ell! I've got to be up in a few hours, an 'ere I am raging on."

He waved to Dark Basilisk in the smoking section, who was sitting puffing on a nearly-done cigar.

"C'mon mate, bedtime!"

Basilisk took one deep draw from the cigar, then put it out in a nearby ashtray. He joined his two companions. The three settled their bill at the bar, leaving a considerable tip, and left for the night, promising to return.

((OOC: If by "we all do it" you mean forget to mention a name, that was entirely intentional. Dark Basilisk often runs with a somewhat shady crowd, where you don't volunteer your name unless you have to. He's just in that habit.

Also, Rock-hopper runs a law firm in Paragon, specializing in super-hero defense. Sort of the low-profile counterpoint to Chris Jenkins. He does run an ad in the paper (Jason Weather, aka Rock-hopper, defense attorney), but it's often overlooked. If you're looking for sponsors for your charity basketball tournament, he'll chip in for a good cause. Just in case you're looking for corporate sponsors . I'm sure he'd be just as happy to play... Super Jump can't hurt there If Rock's there, then so will be Corvus, but Basilisk would likely not.))

Basilisk carefully selected a cigar from the box, took a second to appreciate the scent of it, then held it out for Martin to clip the end. With the cigar properly readied, he headed off to enjoy the cigar in the smoking section, calling back to Martin, "Care to have one with me? It's not proper to take one of these without having someone to enjoy it with, and you look like the kind of man who appreciates a good smoke."

((OOC: Sorry about the distractions, Sibling, but you know how it is: you gotta post when you can. Grats on (almost) 36!))