Canon Fodder/2009-10-30

Do any of the Freedom Phalanx drive cars?

Synapse and Positron both have cars and enjoy driving them for the different experience. Manticore has an extensive collection of fine automobiles that he has been known to drive on occasion, when he can let his mane down. Statesman was given a Shelby 427 Cobra in 1965 as a gift for saving the life of Carroll Shelby. He has rarely driven the car (painted in a manner to match his crime-fighting outfit), and it currently resides in Justin Sinclair’s garage.

In the CoV disc case it depicts a battle between heros and villians, and it has all the major vills fighting too. In the very back it shows someone who looks to be in a leader position, and it ISNT Recluse. He stands on two thin mechanical legs, most of his body is covered in armor, his pale bald head barely protrudes out of the armor, and he has 6 mechanical spider legs above his head. Who is this?

That image shows Weaver-1 circa 2005 during a Freedom Phalanx attack on an Arachnos base. Weaver-1 is very rarely seen even by his own people and is known to be constantly improving and upgrading his “shell”. Despite intelligence gathering efforts by Indigo and other covert operatives, what he looks like at the present time is unknown.

When Lady Grey stole some of Honeree's essence during that last big battle in the comic, she said something like "May I have some of your years."

That made me wonder, is that what Council vamps and dark melee characters do?

In that instance, Lady Grey was using her signature power called Aging Touch. It allows her to siphon some of the life energy from her opponent, quite literally shortening their life. This specific power is theoretically unique to her. However, drawing upon the power of Shadow Earth for Dark Melee and other shadow powers can have various effects and it is possible that some other heroes and villains might have similar effects. We leave it to the fertile imagination of our players to describe exactly how *their* character’s powers work within the framework we provide in our descriptions.

If you kill a CoT member, presumably only the body dies and the Oranbegan spirit is once again rendered incorporeal until it can find a new body, correct?

In general that is correct unless other precautions are taken or special equipment is used.

Can the Oranbegan spirits actually be killed off permanently? If you kill a spectral, does it actually die? Or are you just weakening it so it needs to recover its strength before it can manifest again?

They can definitely be killed permanently. Again it would require a ritual or mystic weapon of some kind but as the Midnight Squad has been proving for generations, no magic is so powerful it can’t be bound with enough preparation and perspiration…and perhaps a little exsanguination.

According to CoX lore, the Freedom Phalanx carried on their normal duties during the events of the Might For Right Act. Does this mean the Freedom Phalanx agreed with the mandatory service required (or "draft") on this or did they just not know about the abuses going on?

The Freedom Phalanx initially supported the Might for Right Act but when it became apparent that abuses were occurring they joined many other heroes in taking a stand to support those being victimized and lobby for the Act to be overturned by the Supreme Court.

What’s the story behind Lord Recluses' sidearm?

The pistol that Lord Recluse carries was a gift to him from Statesman back in the days when they were adventuring together. Marcus gave the weapon to Stefan right before leaving to walk the earth and “unlock the power of his inner will”, without giving his friend any clue where he was going or why. Stefan keeps the gun to remind himself that although Marcus was always quick to give him gifts, his old friend was also always self-absorbed and looked at Stefan as an inferior…or so Stefan believes.

Psionics seem to hurt Recluse according to the comic book version of "Trading Places", why hasn't Recluse covered such a massive hole in his defense? Is Statesman just as susceptible?

Recluse does have items that reduce his vulnerabilities but no object, no matter how powerful is completely unassailable. Both Statesman and Lord Recluse are incredibly powerful beings, among the toughest on the planet, but neither of them is unbeatable.

There were impurities inside the samples that Stephan brought back from the Well of the Furies according to "Web of Arachnos", these obviously had some part of Project Fury, but where did that wonderful pot of water in MAGI come from?

The most concerning thought raised by this question is that the Well of the Furies is still out there. Granted it was completely sealed off at last report, but in a world of phasing, teleportation, and so many other amazing abilities one has to wonder if anyone else has found access.

To answer your specific question, MAGI’s sample was a personal gift from the Furies to Azuria in return for a favor she did for them. It seems even incredibly powerful mythical beings sometimes need multiple references when applying for a business license.

We know that it's the origin of both Scirocco's and Ice Mistral's powers. It's also the origin of Borea's and Levantera's powers.

Are these the only four mantles? If not, is there a mantle for each of the significant Mediterranean winds? Or is just for the winds for the 4 Cardinal and 4 Ordinal directions? And if this is the case how did Borea end up in there? The Bora wind, while significant isn't a Cardinal or Ordinal wind.

These are not the only four Mantles. The Monks of the Four Winds are constantly searching for candidates to represent all the winds of the world. The Four Winds refers to the Cardinal Winds. There are definitely Mantles associated with the Ordinal Winds as well. Borea has the Mantle of Boreas, the wind of the North, making her a powerful force in the Order. Why she was chosen for such an important role is a constant source of frustration for her sister. Borea herself is quite worried that her namesake was known as the “Bringer of Winter” and has sworn that she will die before using her power to any ill purpose.

What are Ghost Falcons' powers and back story?

Ghost Falcon is the Analog of Invisible Falcon from Praetorian Earth. At one point in his past he attacked the Crey facilities of that world, and was captured. Crey scientists there severed the mental link he had to the rest of his team and deprogrammed him as part of their 'Project: Redemption'. Ghost Falcon has come to Primal Earth after a portal was recently opened between the two universes. His motives here are still unknown.

What’s up with Ms. Liberty?

There have been many questions about Ms. Liberty’s methods and practices. In general she strongly believes in fighting fire with fire (quite literally in the case of the controversial flamethrowers). When villains, even thugs, gain access to super-powers she believes that the methods used to fight them require some amping up. As far as she’s concerned, her people are not breaking the Geneva Convention. Of course anyone in power is subject to question, as it should be. There are definitely politicians and law enforcement officials, even other heroes, who question if she has gone over the edge. Some say she is more like her grandfather than she would ever like to admit in terms of her absolute belief that she is doing the right thing. The same headstrong approach that causes her to accept anyone in need of a second chance into the Vindicators, even former criminals, sometimes drives her to overly aggressive response to villainous activity. Her teammate Swan seems to be the only one who can make any headway with Ms. Liberty on these topics and even she is concerned that her friend may be headed down a dark path that will require intervention.