Sable Shadow
Tabitha Curtis (a.k.a. Sable Shadow)
Physical Description
General Physical Condition
Athletic build
Special abilities
Hidden mutant ability of darkness
Apparel & Accessories
Always stylish and naturally draws eyes to her
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Miss Tabitha Curtis, daughter of Emil and Grace Curtis. Emil and Grace were moderately wealthy and took their young daughter with them on travels to Europe, Asia, South America, Australia, and all the exotic parts of the world once she was old enough to appreciate it. Since she was young, they always made time to visit museums and other cultural and landmark institutions. As she grew older and entered the teen angst years, they left her home with a nanny since she had nothing but attitude to contribute to the trip, but they continued to travel without her.
Feeling like she had been abandoned, she becomes even more angsty and by turns morose and angry at being abandoned. She begins sneaking out and trying more and more dangerous things. She tries to do some shoplifting and she discovers an amazing ability - she can cast a cloud of darkness and hide within it!! She was grabbing some stuff from a store and then she saw the manager of the store staring at her and she knew she was caught. In her panic, somehow, there was suddenly a cloud of darkness and she could see the manager, but he started stumbling around as if he couldn’t see. Feeling excited and happy for the first time in a long time, she leaves the store and heads home. Since she is not sure how the cloud arrived, she isn’t sure how to make it go away. She tries words, chants, songs, movements, deep thoughts, but nothing works. She is so focused on herself and trying to control the cloud that she is only halfway paying attention to where she is - until she hears the squeal of brakes. She looks up in time to see a young child has been hit by the car - all inside her dark cloud. She turns and runs home.
She refuses to try drugs, but from her travels she considers alcohol of any type to be just another drink. With her money and connections, she is able to get into all sorts of bars and private high-class events which in turn have her photo plastered all over the society pages. She is hell bent on destroying her life after what happened to that child and goes to every major extreme she can find. Her parents finally see some of the news about this and call her. She is unrepentant so they decide to cut their current trip short and head home immediately. Sadly, their plane crashes and they never make it home. Though they had time to call and talk to the family lawyer, Phineas Barkdale, first as she was to find out later.
She is devastated.
To try and earn forgiveness for their deaths and the child that has been permanently scarred by her actions, she begins to do charity work. All of the money her parents had left to her is in a trust being managed by a family lawyer who is firm and intent on following the wishes of her parents. This was done in an effort to save her from herself they had decided to force her to realize what she is doing to her life before it is too late. This includes the fact that she must prove herself to be an adult by holding down a job, living on a budget, paying her bills on time, and continuing to be an active member of society for a set amount of time – specifically twelve years. Any time that she has to get money from her trust, she must make her case with the family lawyer and then he will determine how much time is added to the twelve years for needing to pull money from her trust early. This could be as little as three months to as much as three years depending on the purpose and amount.
Ms. Tabitha then embarks upon a slew of jobs attempting to find a life purpose. She discovers in herself the ability to talk to people from all walks of life and an eagerness to learn about their lives, their skills, their cultures, and their pasts. She also begins to discover in herself a keen desire to live life as her childhood heroine, Nancy Drew. She really wants to help others with their small problems. Maybe by helping them with their small problems, she can find a way to redeem her past mistakes.
As time passes, she learns to control the darkness and use it for good instead of evil. Eventually she is able to tie her two desires together and becomes a travel consultant where she takes special groups on a private tour to see whatever they want to see; Revolutionary battle grounds, Miss Universe Pageant dress makers, pressed penny arcade machines along the Rhine - whatever and wherever. Often the people in this group have small mysteries that she is able to use her dark cloud to solve (in secret!) and she starts to feel that she is making the world a better place.
Every month she sends to Mr. Barkdale a monthly report of where and what she has been doing along with her updated budget. He is very determined that she will make her parents proud before he hands her the millions. Two years down and ten to go - unless she needs a loan.
Personality Characteristics
Motivation
Responsibility of Power
Social
Contacts & Relations
Lawyer: Phineas Barkdale
Freelance travel consultant who solves mysteries to help those around here.
View Character Profile
Species
Age
23
Date of Birth
June 23rd
Children
Current Residence
Small apartment
Gender
Female
Eyes
Blue
Hair
Black
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Tanned
Height
5' 10"
Weight
135
Related Plots
Contraptions Galore!
Wednesday, January 6th, 2010
We set up the camera to watch over the throne area to check for activity. We have it sending live feeds to Makeshift's phone so we can watch to see what happens. While we are waiting, he mentions that he had been talking to a guy in a local diner. I perk up at the mention of food and use that to motivate him to go and get some time to refresh. It has been an afternoon. This is the Mex Carroll Diner - Mexican American food so I have a hot Philly cheesesteak with fries. Food is good and we both just listen to the conversation going on around us. Close by are some city engineers talking about an issue with the stop lights at the corner north of us. We are just about to have to either buy dessert or leave when sparkles re-appear and all of the people around us react to them! I wonder if it has to do with the time of day - maybe the sun's refraction has to be at a certain angle for them to be seen by most people? Some people think it is the fault of AIM. Others mention that they have been appearing for a few months now - well since the middle of August when a Watchmen event in the harbor seemed to start it all. The city investigated as do Star Labs, but no answers have been shared and it does appear that no one actually has an answer. One person even mentions that he didn't understand until now why his union provided a clause for pay due to super villain activity.
One thing is clear it is only the harbor district that is being impacted and that no one has any answers. Star Labs did say to call them if the sparkles become more frequent, but most people seem to take it in stride or ignore it. It is even possible to place bets with bookies as to when the sparkles will stop! I lean over to ask why no one follows the sparkles to see where they go and they look at me like I am crazy. After all, the sparkles go through walls and into the ground! A few more questions and the fact that no sparkles are seen over the water or coming from the direction of the harbor. Makeshift and I decide to head west and check out the harbor to see whether or not sparkles appear at all or if no one is seeing them. We get there and look around. He thinks the best place to start is under the pier. UNDER the pier where it is wet and cold. I stay on top to keep a lookout while he goes below. After several minutes, he comes back up and tells me that he found a hollow support beam with a room.
This room has two chairs - which we both agree we will NOT sit in - and technology from pre-WWI. We teleport in as there is no other way to get there without letting the water in. Inside are two workstations. One has what appears to be a seismograph, tracking, and communication equipment. Also some sealed MREs and what looks like an emergency oxygen supply which I will not be checking to see if it still works as this equipment is older and even if the oxygen tanks are still there, who knows if they are full. Makeshift uses what he calls X-Ray vision and looks closely at the other station. It appears that there are some modifications that are either collecting or using the sparkles. It is also based upon concentric rings with something in the center that is either based on or created to look like part of the floor design in the throne room. While he is using his supersuit, I look around the box to glean what information I can.
During the 1910's or 20"s there was a masked man of history known as "The Black Eagle" who disappeared during WWI. He was thought to have come from a wealthy NE family which explains the use of what was experimental and cutting edge technology of the time inside this box. I would also say that this structure was built during the same time as the Brooklyn Bridge as it would have taken the same equipment and these piers support the traffic that would have been needed once the bridge was active. The "Black Eagle" lived on a private estate on Long Island which would also seem to point to this being either a secret lair or an information gathering location. Likely there were two people per shift working in tandem to watch for danger and that makes it very likely a ladder is set into wall to hide and puling it out might open some hatch so I decide that looking for a ladder now would not be a great idea. It aslo appears that the support pillar does not actually support the pier but is just for this contraption and it has air flow going through the pillar. I do think there should be a periscope to make sure the coast is clear and then a freighter could dock above to cover shift changes. I would bet that a submarine would dock below to handle equipment replacements using that same technique to keep out water as I have seen during my pearl dive expeditions. This was probably abandoned when he died as none of the technology has been updated since - well except for what Makeshift is finding in the other workstation.
We theorized that there would be other structures in an even circle at the same distance from the throne room. As we started a clockwise circle, we found that the distance was not even, but it was close. The installations were inside maintenance sheds, outbuildings, or even a storefront that had enough of a presence to hide the true purpose. As we are approaching one of the buildings, we see three others entering the building that we are investigating next. They are staring at us so we stare back!
The borrower
Wednesday, January 6th, 2010
We are unable to really discover who or what has been using this area, nor have we been able to decipher any of the written materials or the computer console. We decide the best plan is to create a device to let us know when people arrive via the thrones and/or use the door to this place. I agree to run over to the nearby Port Authority to grab a few things that Makeshift needs to create the device for the thrones. I go over the nearby fence and head straight to the dock's restricted personnel section to get the equipment. I do pass by some guy ripping up paper for some reason. I leave him alone as I don't have the moral high ground and continue on. I enter the office and attempt to charm the lady at the desk in order to get the items. I pull the 'don't anger the boss man' routine and she goes to get what I need. Now I just have to find a form to copy while she is away from her desk so she is satisfied with her efforts - and mine.
I walk away with some type of doohickey and charging cable, a box of tack, and a couple of radios. She completes the form and I walk out. I head back towards the shed and notice that it is getting a bit drafty out. I see there is a clean-up crew handling that guy who was destroying paper. I get back the shed and Makeshift tells me that he had visitors - a cleaning crew apparently that left everything as it was, but dusted. He quicky takes what I borrowed and creates the devices to track anyone coming or going, but he really wants a camera. We head towards a nearby pawnshop to get the camera.
Investigation Time
Wednesday, January 10 , 2010
Ice. Cold. Empty.
This is not an inviting place to be. I wonder around trying to determine where we are, how we got there, and how to get back. We are in a playground obviously, but there are some very odd things and it has obviously been abandoned for a while. That could be because it is winter, but since it has what looks like a school, I am guessing it has been abandoned for a different reason. That could be due to the metal content here. I say that because most of the metal here has either been replaced or it has actually rotted - metal rot! I turn my attention to the device that would probably be our best bet for getting home. I find my companion also checking out the device and he wants to run some experiments. He feels that investigating the town or the ice wall would not be the best use of our time or energy. Since I am hoping he is my best option to not die, I agree. I do take a few minutes to look at the city. My intention is to see if anyone is interested, but I get distracted by the fact that while the city looks modern, but none of the boats do. They actually have sails - real live 1800 sails. No steam power is in evidence or metal hulls. Some beautiful and well loved fiberglass hulls, but no metal ones.
I drag my attention back to the experiment that my companion wants to do and I help by grabbing two rocks from the playground area. He leaves the playground and gets both dead and live branches. We then place one set of the materials into seat two and another set into seat four (or what we have decided to call two and four!). The device begins to spin and it is in constant motion - not fast, but steady - for eight full minutes. When it finally stops all momentum, the rocks and dead branches are still there, but the live evergreen branches are gone! From this first experiment, it appears that a successful transfer requires mass and living tissue. Makeshift heads out to the nearby forest area to see if he can find some animals to use for the next experiment. I do my best to keep watch and stay warm.
He comes back with a small squirrel - only one. We duct tape it into chair number two and give the device a spin. It spins and stops and nothing changes. This makes us think that we need living material in two of the chairs. He heads out to find another squirrel, but comes back with a dog - which is not a squirrel. We get the dog to sit in chair number four and give it a spin. There is a flash of light and poof - dog and squirrel are gone. We look at each other and shrug, then remove the rocks and branches and sit down. The device starts spinning as soon as we set foot on it and we barely get settled when there is a flash of light and we are no longer outside the city of Boston. Instead we appear to be in Toronto, but not a Toronto that I have visited. Instead it has walls around it and the city design makes it very obvious that it is a ROMAN city. Which conclusion is proven by the two centurions that turn around from petting a dog to look at us. Makeshift at I look at each other and quickly scramble back into the chairs we just vacated. Flash of light and we are back in - BROOKLYN?
We teleport outside to see if the statue garden is the same, but we pop out and there is a person just standing in front of us. He drops a smoke bomb and jumps twenty feet up into a tree. Once the smoke clears we can see him, but he does not talk. We check around the area and the statues are the same colors and in the same placement which leaves us confident that we are back to where we started. We share a few theories as to where we went and why those places in particular. How much impact does the chairs themselves have? Do those three cities form a pyramid? Does the elevation of the cities have any impact? What about those light swirls? Where they designed to lead us to be test subjects or are they a side effect of the device itself. I go back to the consoles to check them out, but I cannot read them at all. Makeshift thinks that perhaps it is related to a computer language so he pulls down some of the books and begins to see if he can come up with a translation program. I wander over to the pile of tools and discover that none of them have metal. I didn't take time in 'Toronto", but metal does not appear to be a good thing around these devices. The only exceptions I can see are the four towers in the corners. These have lightning arcing and metal rings around the outside.
I can deduce from the state of the tools and the workspace that there has been a person who has been working who does not care about his tools at all. Even if there was an urgency to what he was working on (and yes, I use that pronoun on purpose) or perhaps he is used to having someone to clean up after him. BUT, I am fairly confident that this is a normal size humanoid. It could be that they are from the Boston area as that could not have metal and therefore the no metal tools would make sense, but perhaps that is just part of all of the worlds connected to these devices. I give up that line of inquiry and move towards the redish tower. As I get closer, I can feel the heat rise and I share that with Sahara to see if he can fix that first once he can translate the consoles. Then I get closer and notice that there is a lot of notations on the metal band. Based upon what I can deduce from the writing, it appears that a small group of people were working on some mathematical solution and each person was working on a different section.
So much going on and yet nothing that can be really known. Frustration!
Throne Travel
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
There is a collection of very eclectic statues behind the house as I continue to follow the sparkles. While there are a few others around, they don't seem to really notice the sparkles - either because they are involved in their own lives. I step into the art garden and try to see if the sparkles might be a part of the art in the garden. It is interesting enough that it might be possible. I see the sparkles turn between the buildings and I follow into the bushes, so I head that way also. As I am trying to move quietly, I turn slightly to get past a bush that really needs to be trimmed and see a man wearing a professional jacket with a logo. He is south of me by a fair piece and I must have rustled too loudly as he turns and sees me.
I freeze and hope that he decides he didn't see anything which seems to be the case as he moves on when another guy joins him. They move to the wall and seem to be investigating something there - even had some fancy equipment. I move very slowly and quietly and eventually get closer to where the sparkles are going into the ground. They are entering from 360* within an very large area, but do seem to be avoiding anything man made. I look around to see if I can find maybe a shovel or something that would allow me to dig down a bit. The gardener's shed seems to be my best bet and for some reason it has four locks AND a stainless-steel rod system. Oh well, let's see what it will take to help myself to some tools. I take breaks from picking locks to check my surroundings.
I do one of my freeze and check my surroundings and there is a guy in armor just standing there! I pretend to check the lock like I am the owner and was just making sure that it was solid before I am leaving. I ask where he came from and he starts talking about the sparkles so he can see them too! I show him where they are going into the ground and ask if he thinks we should dig. Turns out he can look through the dirt! He tells me that there is a fairly large and very bright light below the surface. I again mention digging, and he says he can just pop into the shed and grab one for me. This guy has some amazing abilities. He then disappears. Time passes and he does not return. Assuming he is inside the shed, I walk over the knock on the door and then I hear the locks being opened. I pick the bicycle lock on the door and raise it as Makeshift unlocks the door from the other side. I enter and pull the door closed behind me so that no one will notice it has been entered - taking the chain and bicycle lock with me.
Inside is a mad scientist lair! There are tools, books, tables, a hopefully glass floor, and along one wall there are four official looking thrones. I start wandering around and looking at things. None of the tools are metal, but there are lots of various types made out of various substances. The one thing that keeps drawing my eye is the thrones on the other end. Makeshift is more interested in the books so I walk over to investigate them with him. He discovers that several are probably braille and checks to see if that is one of my many languages. Sadly, it is not. I then convince him to check out the thrones with me and I ask him to sit in one first - since he has armor. Nothing happens. I then sit in a different one and the grid disappears! We can hear a high-pitched chiming sound and I ask Makeshift to stand up to see what happens. The grid reappears. I can't let the experiment end there though.
I ask him to sit in the next seat and I pick in the last seat. Suddenly there is a hard wind pushing us back into our chairs and we can see a city inside the ball of energy that rises from the floor. Then we are outside the city of Boston - but not the Boston we know. This one has a huge ice wall around it extending into the harbor. We are still sitting in the thrones, but the thrones are now in a playground outside of the city. So many questions!
1. Is the wall to keep things out or things in?
2. If it is to keep things out - what type of things?
3. Where are the kids?
4. Why a playground?
5. Are we about to be arrested for disturbing a sacred site?
Sparkles
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
I have done several searches in library databases, police precincts, and city hall to discover all that I could about this building that my current tour group wants to see. I needed to discover as many facts (and rumors) before I brought them so I could answer their questions and they do have a lot of questions. I have done multiple searches trying to find buildings that meet their very specific criteria:
physical structures in the greater Hudson Bay area --
that predate Joseph von Fraunhofer's 1814 invention of the spectroscope --
which continue to stand in their original site --
and consist mostly or completely of the original materials.
Then they add an address in the 130 block of Degraw street in Brooklyn of all places. This building is maybe 1820's or 1830's which is later than their requirements. I decide that I need to actually look at this building. I arrive and scan it from the street. I see nothing special - except the For Sale sign. However, with a lawsuit in progress that was an expected aberration. I walk up to the front door and knock, but there is no answer and neither the front door, nor the side windows offer the ability to look inside.
I decide that I really need to see inside so I climb on top of the railing, brace myself, and get to the top of the porch roof. I peer into the 2nd story window and, while there are window blinds, there is a gap and I can see into the room. It is dim, but it looks like there are construction tools and a too tired to recycle recliner. I can see a glimpse of sunlight in the hallway, but no people. I start looking for a way to get over to another window. I see that at the other end of the porch is a window that has some anti-theft or maybe window guards to keep anyone from accidentally falling out. But that guarding is only on the bottom of the window and there is a lovely gap where a talented (and amateur!!) thief could jimmy open the lock, lower the top half of the window and enter the premises. I do so and then carefully close the window to minimize the chance of anyone noticing a change in the street view.
I take a moment to sense the environment. Ambient noises and the sounds of a foreign language I have heard in the past, but not often or recently. Cool inside and the light is bluish which makes it look like the windows might have some kind of treatment. There also seems to be what was a floating floor, but it has degraded since installation in the 90's. There is also a lot of evidence of multiple attempts at interior design, but nothing that was a good idea. I walk over to the hallway and I see another larger, longer stream of a cubic sparkle that seems to be going downward in a northly direction and once it leaves the building - the language abruptly stops!
I start following the sparkles
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