Sal stood in shock when Mistral said Times Square was obliterated, but was slightly relieved when Mistral suggested it might not be quite that bad. He whispered,"Times Square... the lives lost... the history..." Sal was quiet for another moment. "If Talion is capable of such destruction, we should do what we can to keep powerful groups from further provoking him. The crossfire could be-- as Mistral said-- the world's ending."

 A few more hours passed as the group spoke and finally Noah returned. He was three times larger than the entire ship at this point, swimming up from below the vessel like a giant leviathan before being spat out of the liquid form and the rest of the mass melted back into the ocean.

Prometheus gave a brief cynical laugh, "You are thinking like a Mage. You need to think like a politician, and like a person.

Every other America Hierarch will call the New York one within 6 hours, demanding to know how he let this slip past. And they will blame him, unless he has a damn good explaination.

Every Hierarch on earth will do so within 24 hours demanding an explanation to why the Abyss got bigger and why the next decade will have twice as many Banishers.

If he is lucky he has a week before someone challenges him as Heirarch of New York, although more likely Cabals are already withdrawing their approval of his leadership. If he is exceedingly lucky, he won't be called before a Convocations to explain his failings."

Taking a step towards Mistral he whispered, "Mages have had their souls obliterated for events less catastrophic then what you are describing. Heads will roll for this."

Turning and beginning to walk away, he said, "The only, ONLY question on my mind right now... is does the Hierarch think to protect his political power or his soul first."

---

Prometheus doesn't reappear immediately when Noah returns, despite the fact his return rocks the ship.

PM
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:46, Sun 15 Dec 2019.

Argentus continued helping with the children, visiting with the awake and watching over the resting.  He eventually moved up to the deck to be with his thoughts... until Noah made his entrance.  "What?  What in the finite world was that?  And are you okay?"  He asked.

Mistral again listened to Prometheus’s concerns regarding the Hierarch of New York, looking decidedly unperturbed.  At the end she said, “You worry yourself overmuch, mon ami.  I do not doubt the local Hierarch has a troubled time ahead, as do we.  His troubles are not my troubles until he makes them so, and I see no cause to think that he should come for our heads.  If he does, we will face it then.”  She gave an enigmatic smile and added, “‘We are more often frightened than hurt, and we suffer more in imagination than in reality.’  So wrote Seneca the Younger, and I am inclined to agree.  We have sufficient present disaster to waste our worry over possible future disaster.”

Later, there came a great roar of displaced seas that sent Mistral rushing up to the deck.  She arrived just in time to see the immense leviathan loom up from the storm-tossed deeps to spit out something toward the ship.  The deck shuddered with the impact of Noah’s draconic form, and the great mass melted away into the sea.  Mistral ran out into the lashing rains and went to the dragon, looking into his face.  After quickly running hands across his scales to check for wounds she said, “You might reconsider your means of travel, mon dragon.  You tend to return in worse condition.  Bienvenue à la maison.”

Noah smiled as he lifted his wings like giant umbrellas for Arg6 and Mist. "That was the system Jitters had been using when in the hands of its owner. I couldn't manage the storming enough to save the covens without it."

"They all chose to fight. Right now all but one coven and nearly all supernatural now owe us."

"I'll be fine after spending quality time with the lovely lady and nap."

He smiled at Mistral, "Just a few bullets to pull from scales, no worse than last time." He offered her a box containing a box of chocolates local to Belgium, a bottle of red wine, and a deep red rose. All labeled 'project pick up'. "You're right, I do need to rethink flying a storm next time."

"Glad to see you didn't forget how to make an entrance, Noah," Sal said, casually.

Noah nodded, "It is the whole, making an exit, thing that I need to work on. How are the kids doing? Last I saw everyone was backsides and elbows. Any sign they have a tracker or something?"
This message was last edited by the player at 20:25, Sun 15 Dec 2019.

"Promethius examined the kids. They're doing okay. He didn't mention one," Sal answered.

Mistral was glad to see that dragon-Noah was well apart from a few bullets on the scales, and she’d wager it was more than just a few, in truth.  She received the proffered box uncertainly, wondering if he’d returned with some dangerous artifact recovered from the hands of the enemy, but then she looked at the contents and their labels.  Mistral looked back at the dragon with pale eyes narrowed suspiciously and lips pursed, though there might be a hint of a smile concealed underneath.  She said, “Nine of our ten children ought to be awakening again soon, but they did not appear physically injured.  Let’s get out of the weather, now.”

As they made their way back to the interior of the S.S. Grey Mistral asked, “When will it be safe to bring the synths back online?”  She carried the box under an arm.

Noah, however, did not hide a smile and rather enjoyed her reaction to the box.

Noah kept his wings up to block the rain for everyone. "Right now there is a global red aurora. When that passes the synths should be ok if spotty at best. That reminds me, we need to keep an eye on them when we are casting. Scar is wholesale taking a beating for seeing our magic. I have set up a system that will fix this problem for him but I won't be able to do it if we start getting more than four or five synthetics running around here."

"The reason we don't have that much paradox is that they are fighting it off for us. Grey is different as she piggybacks off me, but Ally, bia, and cyber mom don't have systems yet."

"What's up with kid ten?"

Mistral nodded in acknowledgment of the problem of the red aurora for the synths, and she looked pensively away toward the entrance to the ship’s interior as they approached it.  She confirmed, “I noticed the increased Paradox in Scar’s absence, during the mission.  I hadn’t appreciated how much he stabilized our Arcanum, without complaint.  He will have earned the upgrade.”

As they descended below decks, Mistral said, “Our tenth was unaffected by the gas because le connard sorcier dragged her to the roof at the point of un pistolet à pâtisserie.  I extracted her from under his nose via Porte, and now she is well.  Her name is Jenny.”  She set the box down on a table in the lounge area and withdrew the box of Belgian chocolates, peeling away the outer wrapper and popping open the lid.  She selected a white chocolate coated piece and popped it into her mouth, smiling a little at the taste.  She picked one out for Noah and popped it into his dragon-mouth, then offered the box to the rest of the men to take a piece if they wished.  Sal would likely not find them appealing, unfortunately.  Once the men had taken theirs, she brought the box to the infirmary and offered a piece to each of the children resting there.  As the children had their chocolates Mistral gave the rose a sniff, with a glance toward the dragon.

At this moment, Prometheus made it to the deck, looking tired. Utterly drained in fact.

Walking up to them he first spoke to Mistral, "My apologises... I was wrong and it turns out I was concerned about the wrong thing."

He then turns to Noah, "I must also congratulate you. Due to your stupidity you have proven you cannot be erased due to Disbelief. I am curious however... at what point did you think turning into a Godzilla sized creature wasn't going to be recorded?"

Addressing the group as a whole he said, "We have been summoned by the Concillium. Based on the phrasing of the message I got, we won't be meeting just the Councilors but put before the entire Concillium. Our attendance is mandatory."

Turning his attention back to Mistral, he said, "Just curious... how long would it take to trace us through your wards, based on a photo of Noah's Dragon form. I just want to know how pissed they are that they managed it, and had near unanimous agreement between the highest ranked members of all the 5 Orders in New York, in 3 hours, in this storm."

 Noah had learned from the tears of Talion. The chocolate replicated the taste and feel of the users favorite chocolate and gave them back a mana.

He was still working on their full substance.

"Bless you through and through, the little one will be all kinds of grumpy when the gas wears off."

And now Prom was talking about summons. "I saved their lives. The storm was systematically killing all covens because they attacked the storm. If I did nothing we would have us, and the Merlins coven."

"If they are going to bitch about a nanotech suit then they can suck my tail. If they police my tech then no werewolf or vampire could ever team with a mage for fear of regency."

"Four people saw the real me and they all went into enrapturement. Everything else is tech."

Mistral let out a long sigh at the news of a summons from the Concilium.  She bowed her head, pinching the bridge of her nose as she answered wearily, “I would call it near to impossible without my knowing, but with the entire Concilium behind the effort there would be little that could be hidden from their sight.  With their resources they might trace us in any number of ways.”  She looked up again and said, “They will wish to see us immédiatement, non?  Where?”  Mistral very much disliked being summoned for judgement from legalistic busybodies with scarce understanding of what was truly required to keep this world in order.  No doubt some fault would be found in the manner in which they’d saved the world.

She considered, then asked Prometheus evenly, “Why is it they’ve contacted only you for this summons, mon ami?”

OOC: I know you corrected me, but I am fairly sure the fact Argent is actually Silver Ladder hasn't come up in game yet. So said mistake is Prometheus' not my own.

Prometheus opened his mouth at Noah's responce...

Then closed it.

He opened his mouth again, and held up his finger...

Then closed it and sighed. He clearly didn't even know where to begin with that response.


Mistral however he could answer, "We have a little time. We have until the Storm ends before the meeting. Its good because it gives us time to prepare...its bad because that's one of the two reasons I think we are going before the ENTIRE Concillium. The Councilors and the Heirarch don't want this done in private...otherwise we wouldn't wait.

No....they want to make a show of this. Prove to the neighboring Conilliums that they are still capable and calm the anger and fear of the Cabals of the city. Its politics, not justice."

Her second question was harder to answer though, "Honestly... I don't know. Skipping Noah I can see, due to how close he is to the crime, and you Mistral, as jurisdiction for you is complex. But, I would have picked Argent as the point of contact next. Free Council is higher on the totem pole then Apostate."

Still, he did have to make an attempt to make sure Noah didn't piss everyone off more. Taking a breath he made one final attempt to speak, "Just so we are clear, your defense for breaking the most important Mage rule, is 'I didn't do it as bad as you think,' 'I am stronger then you all so I had to do it,' and 'If you punish me the beings most Mages see as symptoms of the lie and inferior will refuse to work with them.'

Will you be their as a Synth when you do this, thus appearing to disobey the Concillium, or will you be their as a Dragon, thus revealing the fact your mere existence breaches the Veil."

He holds up a finger, to stop any rebuttal, "They are Mages...their Vice is Pride and their Sin is Hubris, they are angry, and scared and looking for someone to blame. This is EXACTLY how they would take your words. Please, PLEASE after I have predicted the political reaction to this event exactly, give me a tiny bit of credit.

Cause that Free Council aid you expected....isn't coming."

"I have no denfense other than what they filmed wasnt magic. I would and will do it again if it comes down to saving them all or just letting the mage population of New York be butchered."

"If the doctor was operational I'd be going to visit them coven by coven right now. I am not going to worry about it, I am going to plan for it. Stressing over if they will try and kill me just gets me killed. Setting plans in motion will help me."

"There is a tomorrow and a next week. If some background projects plan out they will have no grounds to be angry save their pride. And if I am killed for their pride, there was nothing I could have done save let them die that would save me."

"And I wont let them die."

"Safe to assume you're the only one contacted because we are dead. They likely think Prom raised my vault and is running around with thr kiaju system."
This message was last edited by the player at 18:46, Mon 16 Dec 2019.

OOC: I'm pretty sure Mistral knows I'm either Ladder or Free Council from my being concerned about her auditing my books at the coffee shop.  No reason for Promethius to know IC.

Argentus considered what everyone was saying as he called his allied spirits to himself.

"Silver Ladder."  Argentus commented.  "Not Free Council.  I'm Silver Ladder, though perhaps a bit of an odd bird for it.  You are not the only one who doesn't fit the mold for his Tower.  I awakened as one of The Mighty - receiving a divine call to repair the Celestial Powers and thus the Ladder.  I find most of my brethren - both Obrimos and Ladder - to be foolish and filled with hubris.  So, I don't bring them up much.  But that doesn't mean that they don't know who I am."

He seemed to think for a moment.  "We only intervened when it was clear that the attempt was going to cause mass destruction and basically saved the world as the storm wouldn't have abated after the first blast if we hadn't done what we had, so I'm not overly worried about that.  You are the only one the wide-world recognizes as alive, so it makes sense that they'd contact you.  I will see about contacting some people as soon as I can, now that we're public."

Argentus peered across the gauntlet, evaluating conditions over there, and trying to decide whether to send the spirits out through the Shadow Realm, to go with them there, or whether to ask Mistral for help getting around via portal.

"I assume they have not requested me," said Sal. "Still, If my presence is permitted, and you think my testimony would help, I will come along."

PM

PM

Mistral didn’t like the possibility of being used as a scapegoat or otherwise for some Concilium political game.  She preferred to remain outside the notice of those in power as she had done with relative success for a number of years.  Yet, their recent endeavors were unavoidably higher-profile, thanks to strange circumstances and what needed doing to accomplish what they needed to.  Mistral said, “There is no evading a summons from the Concilium, and we do not know its specific purpose.  If they wanted us dead they would not give us such notice and time to prepare.  Therefore, I will not fret over what is not within my control.”

She leaned against a wall and laid it out in simple terms, “I approach this summons with no expectation.  We will hear what the Concilium has to say, and if they require explanation then we will provide.  They may not be fully aware of the looming démoniaque threat, and if they have sense they will help rather than hinder us.  If they are without sense or motivated by other factors to oppose us then we will deal with that as it comes.  Qui vivra verra.”

PM

"Noah, just stop... You were larger then a skyscraper. Even if you cast no spells, Synth tech still counts as Magic and only its usefulness with Paradox, and the fact that NORMALLY it doesn't break the Veil prevented its outright banning."

He sighed, "In the end, you are literally a being of magic, in a robot construct made with magic parts, doing something that no normal human could do. That you didn't cast a spell is irrelevant. You tore a hole through the Veil. You likely widened the Abyss. You likely inspired Banishers and Hunters."

He shook his head and gave up, already knowing that Noah wasn't going to listen.

Still, he did have other things to address, "My Apologies Argent, although by the sounds of it I am not the first to make this mistake. It won't happen again."

As for Sal's question, Prometheus shrugged, "Honestly I don't know the Heirarch so I don't know how your presence would be met. Still, no names were listed, just that the Cabal's attendance is mandatory."

He sent a copy of the messages through to everyone. The first was simply the words, "We need to Talk" and a picture of a titanic metal dragon fully three times the size of the sears tower flying through the hurricane.

The Second simply contained a Map and the words, "We will be holding a meeting in three days, at noon, once the storm has passed. Your cabal's attendance is mandatory."

However he wasn't sure what to make of Mistral's response. Finally he said, "What we need is a Fate Mage....or someone who knows the Councilors very well. Without those, you probably have the right idea."