Kallisti

I my be a bit later but I've just found her under Magic - I'm trying to find Mercedes Sheldon and can't find her anywhere...

For a more explicit reference check out Montague's backstory here: https://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Montague_Castanella_(Praetorian) "Under his leadership the Midnighters survived Cole's witch hunts and stole themselves away into the shadowy psuedo-dimension between the worlds of the living and the dead"

Thats an interesting idea, my zone* could have become home to the refugee Praetorians. There is a big building complex in the NE of KW so perhaps that would have been their starting point. I really would like to know more about the background to that zone and what their plans were for it. *Kallisti Gold (my original character) insists Kallisti Wharf was named after her!

That agrees with my assessment of the story. What is confusing is of course the Mr G and Prevost Marchand arcs in red and blueside happen in your mid levels (30s), but chronologically take place AFTER Praetoria has fallen and after the incarnate trials which you do once reaching 50. The first mission in each of these arcs is to visit a devastated imperial city and either rescue Mr G or Praetor White depending on your alignment. Marchands arc deal a lot with the refugee crisis after the fall of Praetoria. Then you have Number Six's arc in RWZ which takes you back to Praetoria to help defend the final outpost from Hamidon etc, so this is the final part of the plot arc as far as I can see. There are various hints dropped at times about Battalion but that never came to anything coz of the shutdown.

Looks like Ian Anderson from Jethro Tull to me 🙂

Kallisti Green Another member of the 'Kallistiverse', Green comes from a timeline where at some point in the past Earth was visited by aliens who manipulated the DNA of her ancestors, giver her skin the green hue and enhancing the abilities of this hybrid. Kallisti is not very verbally communicative and holds herself aloof from the rest somewhat. From what has been dawn out of her, it seems she is part of a group who call themselves the Guardians of the Herd. The herd in question seems to be the 'pale skins', ie normal humans. She explains she is part of the trusted elite who are responsible to The Masters for the safety of the herd. The use of the term 'herd' has implications that the other Kallistis find rather disturbing so she hasn't been entirely accepted in the group and remains a bit of an outsider. In game terms she is an Archery/Ninjitsu Sentinel.

Someone's day is going to get worse... Its behind you!

Pocket D was heaving! New Years Eve and it seemed that most of Paragon City and Etoile Islands had decamped to dance the new decade in, ignoring the pedants who insisted the new decade didn't start until next year! The Kallisti Girls were, of course, making a night of it. Wolf and her pack was hanging out in the Winter Chalet with several other animal trainers, lions, wolves and dogs chasing each other all over the ski slopes. Fae was flying above the crowd looping the loop and dancing with a 'frolick' of faeries buzzing over everyone's heads and raining fairy dust over the collected throng. Gold, Friar, Red, Scarlett and several others were dancing on the raised podium the packed core of the club. Fae zoomed around and hovered over Gold and Friar. "OmgomgIjusthadawonderfuldrinkofthisstuffitwasamazingsogoodanditmademewanttoflyandsinganddanceandIloveyouallsomuchandmostofallmylovelyspoon!" "Oh no, who gave her caffeine! We're never going to get her to slow down!" Gold shouted over the noise. "We just need to make sure someone catches her when she crashes!" Friar leaped upside down and span on one hand in a dance move she'd adapted from her quarterstaff training. Her specially adapted mini-skirt stuck to her and preserved her modesty as she span around. Even still a number of men dancing close by stumbled in their own dance, with some of them receiving a slap from their partners for watching too closely! The music changed and Gold grabbed Friar "I need a drink!" she yelled in Friar's ear. "Feeble blaster!" Friar laughed and grabbed hold of her hand and led her across the crowded dance floor, brute strength forging a path through the dancers. They made their way to the upper level redside where the bar wasn't quite so crowded. Pushing aside a couple of Arachnos soldiers who glared at the cute blonde girl in the low cut mini-dress who was obviously a lot stronger than she looked. Friar simply raised an eyebrow and they gave her space at the bar. Getting served was no problem using the sparking smile she'd learned from Gold, the barman came over to her, bypassing several others who waved their cash angrily. Taking the two bottle of chilled water, she pushed her way back out to find her Angel - a gang of catgirls rushed past squealing and laughing as they chased each other through the crowd, eliciting shouts and curses as they jostled their way through. Gold was standing by a table, next to Mercedes Sheldon their friend from the Midnighter Club. She and Gold had been friends for a long time, both of their fathers knew each other, Mercedes' father being an antique specialist and Gold's father being a historian. "Friar darling, lovely to see you!" Mercedes hugged her as Friar handed the water bottle to Gold. "I was just telling Kallisti that you had been on my mind recently - can you come and see me at the Club sometime soon? I've been hearing a lot about you and your demon killing staff and I wanted to see you in action!" "I'll come and see you tomorrow - unless you are on holiday?" Friar held the cold water bottle to her forehead to cool down. "No holidays fighting evil is there?" Mercedes grinned, waving her wine glass toward a coterie of Arachnos Widows gathered at an adjacent table. This was obviously not her first or even second glass of wine! "Oh god, there is Percy - hide me darling, he'll try to chat me up again!" The two Kallistis flanked Mercedes and edged toward the bar as Percy Winkly fought his way through the crowd, heading towards the entrance to the Winter chalet. "You're safe now" laughed Gold. "I remember when I had to save him in Croatoa, he was constantly trying to chat me up afterwards, I regretted wearing the metallic swimsuit for that mission" The other girls laughed. "Hey its almost time!" Friar grabbed Gold's hand and waved at Mercedes with her other hand, trying not to spill the water. "See you later!" Pushing their way to the edge of the balcony Gold grabbed Friar around the waist and activated her hover power. Jumping out over the rail they floated across to the other Kallistis, attracting a flock of fairies as they flew. Kallisti Fae flew in ever faster circles around them her singing so high pitched they could only just hear it! "If she goes supersonic I'm not paying for the sonic boom damage!" Gold lowered them to the dance floor near Red and Scarlett. Bronze was nearby dancing with a half-bull half-man and Sapphire had folded her wings away but her glowing eyes were easy to spot in the semi-darkness. The DJ lowered the music volume. "Okay folks it that time... counting down to a new year and decade! FIVE..." They all took up the chant: "FOUR... THREE... TWO... ONE... HAPPY NEW YEAR!" Fireworks and explosions went off all over the club. Gold held Friar close and kissed her. "Happy New Year! This has been the BEST but the next will be BETTER!" Friar held her tightly and closed her eyes, revelling in the moment. This was the first time she had ever celebrated the New Year, in fact it was the first time she had been aware of the new year, it was not something that anyone cared about on her world. She was enjoying the new traditions she was learning about in what she now considered her home. * * * The road from Statesman Plaza to Christie Apartments was quiet at this time in the morning, well except for the gang of Kallistis walking home after the New Year party. Friar walked beside Gold, carrying a sleeping Fae in her arms. Fae was curled up, hugging her spoon close to her chest, snuggled up comfortably against Friar. Occasionally she would murmur and a burst of fairy dust would surround them. Friar looked down at her affectionately, memories long buried of holding her baby in her arms surfaced and she felt her eyes filling. She looked at Gold, still skipping along and singing to herself, Red and Scarlett holding hands and Bronze and Sapphire laughing as they shared a joke. Flame was missing from the group though, last seen snogging some hero type, both surrounded by flames - hopefully the fire department would be able to cope with whatever happened where they ended up! She could handle the memories now, even the most heartbreaking ones - she had a new family now who she loved and was loved in return. Gold came to her side and looked down at Fae. "She's so cute when she's asleep and quiet" she put her arm around Friar. Friar rested her head against Gold's. "What a year its been, I can't believe how much has changed." she said quietly. "Well we've got a new year to enjoy now and a lot of badges to collect!" Gold pirouetted and held her arms out to encompass the world. Friar smiled, but a nagging doubt was in her mind - what was it Mercedes wanted to see her about?

I'd love to know why they decided to call it Kallisti Wharf, my main character Kallisti Gold is adamant they named it after her, but then again she is a fame-obsessed tart 🙂

Got my 1502 this evening!

Found an interesting location hidden in the tunnels beneath Granville... the developer office from hell!

Alternatively there is this:

The firework emote would have looked great in that costume change 🙂 I went for a more casual outfit for Kallisti the Friar this week, I think the bow-tie really sets it off! Of course as soon as she went out on the town with her girls, some thug had so cause some trouble and meet the business end of her quarterstaff!

These scenes have mostly been talky ones, I just love dropping in on the girls gossiping 🙂 This essentially resolves the aftermath of the kidnapping story and brings Friar's rehabilitation back into the 'gang'. The next developments in her story are underway and hints have been dropped where things are heading next in the new year. Its interesting how Red has become Friar's confidante during these stories - I never thought of Red as being all that warm and fuzzy, but Friar seems to have brought it out in her. She puts on this tough front, but she cares deeply about her girls. I should try to bring in some of the others at some point to allow them to tell their stories a bit, but this thread is focussed on Friar's story.

Oh dear, I have discovered a problem with the figure now she's been standing on the shelf for a couple of weeks - the plastic of the legs isn't very strong and she's slowly sinking over to the side as the front leg is slowly deforming under the weight. Look like I might have to change the pose to distribute the weight more evenly 😞

Twas the night before Christmas in Kallisti Land... ============================================================ "Why does that bloody Christmas tree make so much sodding noise?" Kallisti the Friar drew her staff and threatened the glowing, humming, buzzing tree that occupied a corner of the lounge in their flat. She was wearing her green pyjamas with white highlights along the cuffs and pockets. "Its those arcane glowie things, I think they are semi-sentient and are talking to each other." Kallisti the Fae, the diminutive fairy Kallisti flew up to the upper levels of the tree and pointed at the green and red glowing balls. She had resisted their request to sit on top of the tree - she had called it insulting and had thrown tree decorations at the Kallistis who laughed. "Well it keeps waking me up and I'm getting fed up of it!" Friar stomped over to the kitchen to get a drink. "Oh so its the TREE that's keeping you wake is it, nothing to do with Gold eh?" Red was lounging on the sofa glugging from a bottle of beer. She wore a Christmas elf hat and had added white fur trim to her usual red leather biker jacket. Friar grinned at her with a glint in her eye. "Well we had a bit of catching up to do after I'd been away for so long." "Uh huh, yes we heard!" Red laughed. "So did they do Christmas on your world?" "No, we didn't have Jesus as the Christ figure in our theology, which is odd since Bronze reckons the Arcanium was derived from the Catholic church about 600 years ago. A lot of the rituals we undertook were based upon Catholic rituals but the belief was the saviour that would give us victory over the demons was yet to come." Friar sat on the couch opposite Red and opened her own bottle of beer she'd taken from the fridge. It was the evening of Christmas Eve and many of the Kallistis were out partying or chasing frostlings. There was a planned mass snowball fight under the Atlas Statue which many had gone to take part in. Kallisti the Janitor, now promoted to Kallisti the Facilities Manager was working in City Hall, organising the snow ploughs that were keeping the roads open. "So what has Santa brought her for Christmas?" Red gestured to the pile of presents under the noisy tree. "Well you'll see the one under the tree tomorrow... the other one none of you lot get to see!" Friar winked. Red laughed. "You two are so cute! You going to regrow your hair now you aren't an evil villain any more?" "Hey, I never was a villain... a bit villainous maybe..." Friar shrugged. "It had to be done and being all goody goody wouldn't have worked. To be honest I was never really cut out for the pure hero thing... there are some people who should be taken out permanently. Its a bit hypocritical of the heroic ideal when its okay to kill aliens and monsters but you're supposed to arrest the villains behind them, it just doesn't make sense." "Phut, that's civilisation for you, we're both from worlds where it was all about survival and no room for namby pamby moralistic angst. So how come our are out here and not being all golden?" "She's sleeping, worn out, she is a blaster after all and doesn't have the stamina" Friar grinned wickedly. Red offered her bottle and they toasted each other, clinking the bottles together. There was the sound of the front door opening down the other end of the hall and Kallisti Flame came in, steam rising from her coat as her body heat melted then evaporated the snow. "Gave up on the snowball fight, even with insulating gloves on, I was mostly throwing soggy slushballs!" she hung the coat on the rack which continued to steam. "At least I could keep the mulled wine warm." "Now you know how I feel in the summer 'Can you cool my drink?' Then again the ice cream is handy." Red clicked her fingers together and an ice cream cone appeared from nowhere. Bronze had so far never been able to explain this minor extra power possessed by Red that on the surface was entirely trivial, but when it came to practicality, made Red a very popular person during the summer. "Someone down in the lobby was talking about a Winter Lord sighting just up the road. Apparently the Crey guards are fighting it and making a right mess" Flame slipped on an insulated glove and took a cold beer from the fridge. "Should we give them a hand?" "Nah, they'd just try to sue us for damages again probably, let them do something useful for a change. I also heard that there was another Rikti Mothership raid on the cards - do those things ever achieve anything apart from lots of Rikti casualties? Its almost as if they had an infinite supply of splods fighting for them." Red drank from her bottle. "Was it Boy Band? His raids are usually fun as he takes a sound system and plays music while everyone is fighting, its quite bizarre but they sometime play this great song Ballroom Blitz by a band called Sweetie or something like that, its quite catchy!" Friar tapped her foot to the music in her head. "I prefer Murder on the Dance floor" "...and you accused me of being a villain! When did you go purple?" "I've always been purple... Red and blue... purple darling!" Red threw her hands in the air, narrowly avoiding spilling the beer. "Oh look at the time, its just gone midnight, Merry Christmas girls, especially for Friar's first Christmas!" "Merry Christmas! Wheeeeee!" Fae flew over them all scattering fairy dust. "I wish she wouldn't do that, I'm sure she's peeing on us or something, can't be healthy!" Flame brushed the dust away, incinerating it with a wave of her hand. "I know we are doing presents later, but I've got a special one for you Friar, since you were away from us for so long." Red rummaged around the back of the tree and came out with a flat, gift-wrapped package. "Here, you can open it now." she gave it to Friar who excitedly ripped open the package to reveal a picture frame with a photo of her and Gold from a while back when her hair was still long. In the photo, Friar is looking directly at the camera, saying something to the person taking the photo, but Gold is standing slightly behind her and to the side and is looking directly at Friar. The photo has caught a moment where her expression shows a look of such tenderness and love that Friar felt a lump grow in her throat and her eyes fill up. "I found it on my phone and thought it was a perfect way to show you the difference you've made since you came to us." Friar reached for a tissue then reached out to her sister who wasn't her sister and hugged her fiercely. "Underneath that foul-mouthed ruffty-tuffty exterior you are a softie at heart you big red-haired tart!" she whispered in her ear. "You betcha!" replied Red, hugging her in return, "Merry fucking Christmas!"

I quite like the groove thang... Kallisti Gold of course!

The aftermath continues to unfold... ========================================================================= The entryphone buzzer sounded loudly in the for once, quiet flat. Kallisti Gold looked up from her tablet, taking her eyes off the fruit icons cascading down the screen for a second. "Door!" she shouted. Looking back at the screen, she swore and quit the game, her high score ruined. The buzzer sounded again. "Door!!" she yelled once more then realised that the flat wasn't just quiet it was silent. That was very unusual... dragging herself off the couch, Gold grumbled as she slouched to the hallway where the entryphone was located. She pressed the button that activated the video camera in the hall and could see a carton of strawberry cheescake ice-cream showing in the screen held by someone out of the camera view. "I brought ice cream" a voice came through the tinny speaker, the accent was unmistakable. "What the fuck do YOU want?" Gold replied angrily. "I brought ice cream... I thought we could share it." came the response. "Huh, I hope you brought another one" Gold pressed the button that unlocked the door. Kallisti the Friar stood in the hall, holding two cartons of ice cream. She was dressed in a green trouser suit with white embroidery down the leg. The jacket had tails at the back and more white embroidery. "You cut your bloody hair!" Gold exclaimed, taking the offered carton of ice cream. Friar shrugged and stepped over the doorway cautiously in case the door was slammed in her face. "The hair salons in Mercy Island aren't as good as Talos Island." "Well serves you fucking right! You shouldn't have been over in that dump." Gold turned her back and went to the kitchen for a spoon. Friar followed her, noting the unkempt hair, crumpled pyjamas (gold coloured silk of course) and the lack of makeup, something Gold had usually been contentious about. She was not even wearing her bunny ears!. In the kitchen Gold took a spoon from the drawer and ripped the carton top off. She scowled as she attacked the ice cream with the spoon. "Huh, you've even defrosted it a bit..." she looked up at Friar, realisation dawning. "You arranged all this - the rest of them buggering off, Flame defrosting the ice cream..." "Well..." "You are all bloody conspiring again me!" Gold tucked into the ice cream anyway, grumbling. "Because we all love you and... they wanted to help me say sorry." "Sorry? Sorry?" Gold gestured angrily with the spoon, drops of ice cream splattering over the kitchen counter. "You think 'Sorry' and a tub of ice cream will be enough?" "It got me into the flat without you slamming the door on me. That's a start." "Pah!" Gold helped herself to more ice cream. She glanced at Friar and opened the cutlery drawer again, pulled out a spoon and threw it at her. "Here!" Friar caught the spoon easily, suppressing a smile. She stood next to Gold and opened her carton of ice cream. Gold peered over at it. "Rum and raisin? When did you start eating rum and raisin? Is this your 'New' friends in Mercy Island?" she made the inverted comma sign with her fingers. "I just fancied a change. Want some?" "Oh so its short hair and rum and raisin is it?" Gold scooped some ice cream out of Friar's carton anyway, sniffed it and ate it. "Got a boyfriend as well now?" Friar put the ice cream on the counter and looked away so that Gold couldn't see the tears in her eyes. "No, there is only one person in this world for me..." she sniffed and turned back to face Gold. "I've missed you so much I thought I'd die... it horrible over there but I had to go... I had to do something, something you can't do here, something I couldn't do with you..." it all poured out of her suddenly. Gold carefully put the carton and spoon on the counter and turned to face Friar. Quick as a flash, her hand flashed out and slapped Friar. "You silly cow, don't you realise there is NOTHING on this earth I wouldn't do to help you?" Friar raised her hand to the stinging cheek. "If that meant slumming it in Mercy Island or Granville or where ever the fuck, we would do it TOGETHER!! If it meant sneaking into some rich wanker's mansion and putting him in a coma coz of what he did to you, we'd do it together!!" There were tears in Gold's eyes now. "Its you and me, ALWAYS you and me, I don't want to live without you, the world is empty without you..." she reached out to the cheek she'd slapped. "You've been alone too long, that ended when you came here. You aren't alone any more, you don't have to solve problems on your own any more. I am here... we all are here..." She grabbed Friar's collar and pulled her close. "Don't EVER do that again!" she kissed Friar fiercely and a crackle of uncontrolled electricity grounded through them both as they embraced. The circuit breakers cut in and the lights went out, the hum of the refrigerator died... * * * Sitting in the corner booth of the coffee shop across the road from Christie Apartments, Bronze, Flame, Red and Scarlett glanced up as the lights in the top floor apartment flickered and went out. "Well thank fuck for that, we can have Christmas without her being a misery-guts!" Red breathed a sigh of relief. Bronze closed the webcam screen as the connection dropped out due to the power surge. "I was impressed with that slap, Friar wasn't expecting that!" said Flame, lightly toasting one of the crumpets they had ordered with the fire from her fingers. "Yeah she was - I bleeding warned her Gold'd been practising on the cushions." Scarlett slid her chilled tea cup over to Flame who obligingly warmed it up for her. "Friar has been practising NOT dodging for days!" "How long do you think before its safe to go back in the flat?" Flame asked. "About a week I reckon, let them get it out of their system..." said Bronze "We can send Steel in first as she's got the best chance of survival!" Red high-fived Bronze.

More long hair styles for women - there is just Glam, all the others are not long enough! Sister Arilia's outfit from Cimeroria:

...and the story moves on... a couple of weeks later... ============================================================ The bedroom was quiet apart from the snoring of the middle-ages man in the bed. There was a faint light in upper one corner of the plush bedroom, indicating the security system was active as this particular man was sensitive about his own safety, particularly after the unpleasantness of a few month before. He slept peacefully though, knowing that his influence and contacts shielded him from the worst that could happen. The faint light in the corner of the room flickered briefly then faded to darkness. The man continued to snore. The girl on the other side of the bed jerked awake as a hand was placed over her mouth and strong arms held her still. "Shh, don't move, don't make a sound, you are safe, nobody will hurt you" came a quite whisper in her ear. The hand was removed from he mouth and she took a deep breath but before she could scream a warning, blackness descended and she fell unconscious. "Told you not to trussst her!" came a different, sibilant whisper. "Had to give her a choice!" the first whisperer replied. "Security are watching a loop, all the sensors have been intercepted and showing normal" said a male voice, quiet but not a whisper. "Okay lets wake the git." the first whisperer spoke, a female voice with an English accent. Kallisti the Friar removed the black hood that concealed her blonde hair and set up a lantern on the side of the bed. Her two companions also removed their hoods to reveal a shoert female with scales on her face, no hair and a forked tongue that flickered out, tasting the air and a man with cybernetic enhancement on his face and over his bald head. She nodded at them and with a good portion of her strength slapped the man in the bed across the face, causing his head to bounce into and then up from the pillow. "Wha!" he woke in surprise, hand automatically reaching out for the panic alarm at his bedside. A staff crashed down on the outstretched hand with a bone shattering crunch and the man screamed in pain. Kallisti glanced at Interference, her cybernetically enhanced electric corrupter colleague, who shook his head. "Surprise!" She smiled at the stunned man who's grey eyes widened as he realised who he was confronting. "GUARDS!!!!" he bellowed, nursing his broken hand and trying to crawl up the bed away from her. His free hand collided with the unconscious girl beside him and he glanced at her briefly before trying to push her aside. He was hampered by only having one hand and as he scrabbled at her his nails scratched her face, narrowly missing her eyes. Kallisti grabbed him by the front of his pyjamas and dragged him off the bed to the floor - she wasn't prepared to let the girl get hurt, enough girls had already been harmed by this man! "You can't do this, I'll have you thrown in jail until you rot!" he blustered, trying to get to his feet. Kallisti's staff swept his legs from under him and he crashed back to the floor, crying out in pain as his broken hand was caught between his bulky middle-age spread and the floor. "You can't threaten me, I've seen what you do and I'm going to make sure you never harm another soul - you've bought the courts, you've bought enough lawyers, but I'm here to dispense real justice!" she spat. "You can't - you are supposed to be hero, heroes don't kill!" he sneered. "I gave that up after meeting you - your corruption is so pervasive that I had to change. Thankfully that meant I could meet up with some new friends from Grandville!" she gestured to her two companions, who bowed and waved. "Anyway I'm not going to kill you..." "Hah, spoken like a coward, unwilling to kill - well when this is over I'll make sure you and all those other Kallisti whores suffer for this - you'll watch as I have each one of them tortured..." "Oh shut the hell up you disssgusting excussse for a man, we're not going to kill you what we will do to you isss ssso much worsse you can't comprehend..." hissed Kallisti's companion with the scaly face, the psychic who called herself Psython. She moved over to the man on the floor, her movements sinuous and hypnotic. "I'm going to do things in your mind that you can't imagine. You'll wish we'd killed you instead!" her eyes glowed and the man's face paled. His eyes widened as images started to appear in his mind, images taken from his own memories by the telepath and replayed in front of him but instead of him watching his victims in his memories, they were transformed so he became the victim. Horror overwhelmed him and his body lost control as he soiled himself. As the telepath manipulated his memories, she was shutting down control of his body and he slumped to the floor, locked into his own mind, unable to communicate, unable to move, all he could do was experience the horrific memories that overwhelmed him. Kallisti stood over the helpless man, her rage still unfulfilled. "Did you get where they are being held?" she asked the telepath. "Oh yesss and a lot more... there is a ssafe behind the toilet... sssome interessting things in there!" "Will anyone notice if they go missing?" Psython shook her head. "Only he knows itsss there!" Kallisti smiled, "Then this is your paydirt for helping me! I couldn't have done it without your both." Interference shrugged, "What the hell, you are paying me, its not like we are buddies. You wanted shit done, I did it for you. Sounds like this guy was a nasty piece of work, surprised Lord Recluse didn't take an interest." he spoke with a hint of a southern drawl. "There is villain evil and then there is just plain evil. This is plain evil, someone with no morality, too much money and some nasty perversions." "Darlin' I know loads of them... well apart from the money. Its no shit to me, so long as I get paid." * * * The Commander of the Longbow raid team came out of the concrete bunker, his face pale from what he'd seen inside. He looked to Kallisti the Friar dressed in her green and white combat armour, her blonde hair cut much shorter than when he had last seen her. During the raid, she had been kept waiting by the flyer that had brought the raid to this remote hillside in New York State so early in the morning. "How many?" she demanded angrily. She had not been allowed to take part in the raid, even though she had supplied the location of the hidden bunker, allowed along just as an observer. "Its hard to say but its more than enough." he replied grimly. "We've got three survivors and five people in custody. One TP'd away but we have a trace on the destination. You can follow that up if you like, it was Sharkhead Isle and you seem to be getting familiar with the territory over there." He narrowed his eyes at her. Kallisti found herself unable to hold his gaze and looked away. "We also have video evidence... he is easily identifiable on the video. He'd better be paying his lawyers a lot of money for what they will have to watch!" "This should do it, though, this should be enough to get him." he nodded. "Its handy you were able to get someone to crack the encryption on his messages..." he let the sentence trail off. Kallsiti raised her head and faced him down. She didn't understand the technological words but Interference had come up with a plausible explanation of the source of the information. "I had to pay a lot for it and Sharkhead Isle was the only place I could get that sort of help since I got little elsewhere." she said, throwing his accusation back at him, her face unreadable. "Boss!" the purple-skinned lieutenant arrived holding a phone up for her Commander, "Apparently they just found him in a coma!" "Damn!" he cursed, looking back to Kallisti. She frowned, her expression showing shock at the news. Inside however, she wondered why she did not feel content with the justice that had been served.

Well it seems that time of the year has come round again so:

That would be rather cool, I'd love to have figures of the other Kallistis, but their outfits are a bit more complicated than Gold's 🙂

Next bit... after a few weeks in the Rogue Isles... (I've toned it down a bit since its initial draft after CR's comments above. In the end it doesn't harm the story ================================================== The bedroom was quiet apart from the snoring of the middle-ages man in the bed. There was a faint light in upper one corner of the plush bedroom, indicating the security system was active as this particular man was sensitive about his own safety, particularly after the unpleasantness of a few month before. He slept peacefully though, knowing that his influence and contacts shielded him from the worst that could happen. The faint light in the corner of the room flickered briefly then faded to darkness. The man continued to snore. The girl on the other side of the bed jerked awake as a hand was placed over her mouth and strong arms held her still. "Shh, don't move, don't make a sound, you are safe, nobody will hurt you" came a quite whisper in her ear. The hand was removed from he mouth and she took a deep breath but before she could scream a warning, blackness descended and she fell unconscious. "Told you not to trussst her!" came a different, sibilant whisper. "Had to give her a choice!" the first whisperer replied. "Security are watching a loop, all the sensors have been intercepted and showing normal" said a male voice, quiet but not a whisper. "Okay lets wake the git." the first whisperer spoke, a female voice with an English accent. Kallisti the Friar removed the black hood that concealed her blonde hair and set up a lantern on the side of the bed. Her two companions also removed their hoods to reveal a shoert female with scales on her face, no hair and a forked tongue that flickered out, tasting the air and a man with cybernetic enhancement on his face and over his bald head. She nodded at them and with a good portion of her strength slapped the man in the bed across the face, causing his head to bounce into and then up from the pillow. "Wha!" he woke in surprise, hand automatically reaching out for the panic alarm at his bedside. A staff crashed down on the outstretched hand with a bone shattering crunch and the man screamed in pain. Kallisti glanced at Interference, her cybernetically enhanced electric corrupter colleague, who shook his head. "Surprise!" She smiled at the stunned man who's grey eyes widened as he realised who he was confronting. "GUARDS!!!!" he bellowed, nursing his broken hand and trying to crawl up the bed away from her. His free hand collided with the unconscious girl beside him and he glanced at her briefly before trying to push her aside. He was hampered by only having one hand and as he scrabbled at her his nails scratched her face, narrowly missing her eyes. Kallisti grabbed him by the front of his pyjamas and dragged him off the bed to the floor - she wasn't prepared to let the girl get hurt, enough girls had already been harmed by this man! "You can't do this, I'll have you thrown in jail until you rot!" he blustered, trying to get to his feet. Kallisti's staff swept his legs from under him and he crashed back to the floor, crying out in pain as his broken hand was caught between his bulky middle-age spread and the floor. "You can't threaten me, I've seen what you do and I'm going to make sure you never harm another soul - you've bought the courts, you've bought enough lawyers, but I'm here to dispense real justice!" she spat. "You can't - you are supposed to be hero, heroes don't kill!" he sneered. "I gave that up after meeting you - your corruption is so pervasive that I had to change. Thankfully that meant I could meet up with some new friends from Grandville!" she gestured to her two companions, who bowed and waved. "Anyway I'm not going to kill you..." "Hah, spoken like a coward, unwilling to kill - well when this is over I'll make sure you and all those other Kallisti whores suffer for this - you'll watch as I have each one of them tortured..." "Oh shut the hell up you disssgusting excussse for a man, we're not going to kill you what we will do to you isss ssso much worsse you can't comprehend..." hissed Kallisti's companion with the scaly face, the psychic who called herself Psython. She moved over to the man on the floor, her movements sinuous and hypnotic. "I'm going to do things in your mind that you can't imagine. You'll wish we'd killed you instead!" her eyes glowed and the man's face paled. His eyes widened as images started to appear in his mind, images taken from his own memories by the telepath and replayed in front of him but instead of him watching his victims in his memories, they were transformed so he became the victim. Horror overwhelmed him and his body lost control as he soiled himself. As the telepath manipulated his memories, she was shutting down control of his body and he slumped to the floor, locked into his own mind, unable to communicate, unable to move, all he could do was experience the horrific memories that overwhelmed him. Kallisti stood over the helpless man, her rage still unfulfilled. "Did you get where they are being held?" she asked the telepath. "Oh yesss and a lot more... there is a ssafe behind the toilet... sssome interessting things in there!" "Will anyone notice if they go missing?" Psython shook her head. "Only he knows itsss there!" Kallisti smiled, "Then this is your paydirt for helping me! I couldn't have done it without your both." Interference shrugged, "What the hell, you are paying me, its not like we are buddies. You wanted shit done, I did it for you. Sounds like this guy was a nasty piece of work, surprised Lord Recluse didn't take an interest." he spoke with a hint of a southern drawl. "There is villain evil and then there is just plain evil. This is plain evil, someone with no morality, too much money and some nasty perversions." "Darlin' I know loads of them... well apart from the money. Its no shit to me, so long as I get paid." * * * The Commander of the Longbow raid team came out of the concrete bunker, his face pale from what he'd seen inside. He looked to Kallisti the Friar dressed in her green and white combat armour, her blonde hair cut much shorter than when he had last seen her. During the raid, she had been kept waiting by the flyer that had brought the raid to this remote hillside in New York State so early in the morning. "How many?" she demanded angrily. She had not been allowed to take part in the raid, even though she had supplied the location of the hidden bunker, allowed along just as an observer. "Its hard to say but its more than enough." he replied grimly. "We've got three survivors and five people in custody. One TP'd away but we have a trace on the destination. You can follow that up if you like, it was Sharkhead Isle and you seem to be getting familiar with the territory over there." He narrowed his eyes at her. Kallisti found herself unable to hold his gaze and looked away. "We also have video evidence... he is easily identifiable on the video. He'd better be paying his lawyers a lot of money for what they will have to watch!" "This should do it, though, this should be enough to get him." he nodded. "Its handy you were able to get someone to crack the encryption on his messages..." he let the sentence trail off. Kallsiti raised her head and faced him down. She didn't understand the technological words but Interference had come up with a plausible explanation of the source of the information. "I had to pay a lot for it and Sharkhead Isle was the only place I could get that sort of help since I got little elsewhere." she said, throwing his accusation back at him, her face unreadable. "Boss!" the purple-skinned lieutenant arrived holding a phone up for her Commander, "Apparently they just found him in a coma!" "Damn!" he cursed, looking back to Kallisti. She frowned, her expression showing shock at the news. Inside however, she wondered why she did not feel content with the justice that had been served.

Fair point, I'll go through and see which bits need protection from delicate viewers 🙂 Edit: I think I've taken all the 'adult' themes into account now and used spoiler boxes. If there is anything that you think may still offend those with delicate sensibilities, please PM me and let me know.

She's a Staff/SR Brute, based upon a character I played in another MMO called Dark Age of Camelot in the early 2000s which had a class called The Friar that dressed in robes like a caster but was a melee/healer hybrid who use a quaterstaff. They were frequently attacked by stealther/assassing classes in PvP who thought they were a caster and an easy kill, but the robes were leather rather than cloth and acted as armour so they took little damage and could dish out high damage as the staff was classed as a two-handed weapon so got a damage bonus 🙂 Friar has a large number of costumes (she has the Fashion Victim badge), but this one is my favourite 🙂