Argentus scanned the "Talion" with Spirit and Forces to determine what he could.  "Spirits of his magnitude are capable of a lot."  Argentus commented.  He still was unsure of what the core nature of Talion was - Spirit or mage.  But to have the degree of Spirit mastery to assume the rank of an Emperor he'd have to be an Oracle.

Argentus's mind chewed on that for a moment, and things began to fall into place.  If Talion were an Oracle, he'd have to be one with strong affinity to Aether and to at least the Spirit element of the wilds.  And an Oracle had created a soul-forging that established just that kind of tradition... which Argentus followed.  Could he be...?  Did Argentus really introduce himself to the Oracle of his own tower by announcing that he was a follower of that same Oracle?  Did he really disguise his name just by adding two letters?

As he moved into the new auditorium, he pulled out his phone and texted Noah:  Do you know if tAlION is who I think he might be?

Noah smiled at the Merlin, "If I recall I had the dragon title long before you all saw my tail. I've always been a bit estranged from you all but have you ever known me not to plan things years in advance? To not have rather massive webs of calculations?"

"This is the best alternative to what is going to happen soon. We will need a dragon if we aim to control Atlantis. Its not far off."

He pulled out his slate and responded to Argy: I can confirm, from first-hand account, that Talion is not Aion. I know where he is from and will be giving Mistral the star charts once I have them printed out.

 The Merlin raised an eyebrow at Noah. "What makes you think you'll be finding Atlantis? It's been lost for thousands of years."

Noah smiled a big toothy smile, "Asks the mage of the dragon..." He clapped his hands. "It's how the current equation ends and the next starts. It's literally the only integer in the equation."

"A tower lies in shambles. You have three people who have been to the supernal realms physically in this building now. There is a world changing being there not five feet from you. And we have an earth bound demon who has the entire mage world dancing to strings."

"All this is just to tie you all up rather than let the mages handle things. With the supernal realms being dragged over and the abyss sealing up the entire weight of hell will try to swarm in to prevent it from happening."

"Given all that and a few thousand other minor integers, the conclusion is there. Then it branches back out. Like a wave form."

Sal's lips turn up in a small smile, and he replies to Noah, "My pleasure. I may not understand half of what you mages are saying, but I understand all too well when violence doesn't serve any of its participants. And I know better still, when even being in the vicinity of a fight would be hazardous to my health, or I wouldn't have survived this long."

Mistral continued to remain inconspicuous near the rear of this new audience chamber.  She didn’t speak, but she watched, listened and analyzed.  She kept an eye on the portal destination, keeping vigilant in case her nemesis came to interfere again.

---

Don’t have anything to contribute to this discussion at the moment, but still here :P

 After some time, the mage named Helios came out of the interrogation rooms, red with fury, stomping his way over to Talion. "You Fucker! You destroyed our only chance to learn more about our attackers!"

 Talion took a deep breath but didn't open his eyes His voice had returned to a more normal tone. "Those men knew nothing. They were mooks, cannon fodder, never meant to survive this encounter."

 Helios, incensed, grabbed Talion by the collar and lifted him up out of his chair. Talion didn't resist. "And what makes you so sure? There's no telling what they may have seen!"

 Talion raised a finger and touched his chest, causing him to vanish without a trace. Talion straitened his clothing. "He'll be fine. He'll return in an hour, just as angry as ever, without even realizing time has passed. In case you haven't figured it out, I can manipulate time. I scanned their minds when you first arrived in the eternity between instants. They knew nothing. I figured an hour with some of the most powerful mages in the world would have revealed that."

 He seemed annoyed and a bit disappointed. He took his place next to the group and pulled up his chair before turning to Argentus. When he spoke, he neither raised his voice nor lowered it. It seemed that what he had to say was meant for Argentus but he didn't care at all who heard him. "Argentus. Through your hard work, you have met all of the requirements needed to undertake the Ritual of Apotheosis. Once my name is cleared, Emily is returned, and the Adoni Institute is restored, you may begin your Archmastery."

Argentus sighed when Helios rushed out.  "Master Helios.  If you asked Mr. Talion (who did us a great service by showing up here and taking our abuse rather than just working remotely) for information on our common enemy I'm sure he would be willing to ..."  He trailed off as the mage grabbed Talion and subsequently disappeared.  "Well, that happened."

Argentus shook his head.  With all the resources Helios could have called on here, there's no way it should have needed more than an hour - just a Mastigos and Acanthus magister working in tandem should have been sufficient to resolve the issue.  The man had probably gotten no results, assumed there was more to gain and given up declaring the time-limit the problem.

Argentus looked to the chairman.  "Magister, in the... unforeseen... current absence of the head of security, would you be willing to name an honor guard for our guest?  A member of this body committed kidnapping and blackmail against Talion, and rather than taking it out on the whole body, he restricted his actions to those who had participated directly against him.  In so doing, he protected this conclave from further disruption by demonic forces.  Furthermore, he did not even retaliate against anyone who (perhaps understandably) attacked him when he removed the demonic mage, nor to Master Helios's physical assault - how many of us would have similar restraint?"  He glaringly did not mention Master Helios's indecorous appeal to the time-limit as the issue.  Nor did he point out the obvious fact that it was more The First Grand Conclave's honor that needed to be guarded, rather than the person of their guest.

When Talion spoke, Argentus turned to him in mild surprised.  He spoke at the same volume level - not in the public speaking voice that he addressed the Magisters with, but not the whispers he made to the cabal and his spirits.  "I look forward to it, but there are a few matters I want to be sure to clear up before taking that step.  My first priority is that the Adoni Institute's work should be slightly realigned, and I'm willing to make whatever payment is necessary to have you take that discussion seriously."  He tapped his chest, over the place where the stone was - to Talion it would be completely obvious that it was not a threat but a willingness to expend the owed favor if Argentus still had it after rescuing Emily.  "The other is concluding my visits to the planetary courts.  Though, perhaps, I could arrange for at least some of those by emissary or construct while our cabal goes to deal with the True Fae."

 Talion sat back down in his chair and yawned. "You may do as you wish. The ritual awaits at your leisure once I can move freely again."

 Those among the concilium who had heard that bit of conversation mumbled and the content of it rippled throughout the gathering in murmers. It took only a few minutes for the energy in the crowd to begin to swell. Some were excited, some were indignant, but all took notice.

 The Merlin banged a gavel to calm the gathering. "You are correct, Master Argentus. It seems our Helios's … zealousness has landed him in some trouble this time."

 He pointed at a man who seemed to be second in command. "Take over Helios's duties in his absence and assign a guard to our esteemed guest so that no others lay hands on him."

 The man bowed, left, and returned minutes later with a younger mage, now set to guard Talion's chair.


 The Merlin took a deep breath and sighed. "I suppose we should finally return to the Order of business we were on when we were interrupted. Noah is a skilled worker in a rare field of technology, only one of 12 people in the world able to do work on synthetics and the only one, other than their creator, that can rework the synthetic mind.

 That said, he has committed one of the gravest breaches of the Veil in known history. There are mitigating circumstances, to be sure, but the Concilium must vote on what must be done with him."

 And, despite everything, the votes went something along the lines of:

"Death!"
"Dissection!"
"Imprisonment!"
"Turn him back to normal!"

 To which, Talion spoke again, this time loud enough to address the assembly. "No. You will do no such thing. Noah's transformation will go a long way toward completing my own goals and, when I am done, the Lie will be weaker for it. Noah will be able to walk openly among sleepwalkers with no detriment whatsoever."

 There was muttering. The Merlin raised a hand and spoke. "And what plans are those?"

 "Someone dear to me was harmed by the Nephandi. I plan to announce Noah's transformation as a brain transplant into a synthetic body. With two such instances of success, I can use this to push the actual technology and cure a whole range of physical diseases."

Noah smiled at Argy and gave him a quiet clap. Someone had to cheer him on for his hard-won efforts. It was no small feat getting to the point that someone could become an archmage, so damnit, someone should have clapped.

He looked about at each person as they made their votes. He was memorizing their faces as they would all come across him again, and anyone who had worked with Noah knew he had a powerful memory. It was how he had gotten so far as he never had to rolladex the code he was working with.

He laced foreclaws over his stomach. "My power is defined by my opposition, a world-altering earthbound demon from a time predating Atlantis. and my power obeys the strategy of people wiser than I." The first liturgy of the Arrows. "I could go on, as to how I have ever called myself a dragon, I have purified my body and I continue the fight of mind body and soul."

He gestured to The Council of Dragons from the adamantine arrow, the tacticians who emulated the dragons of Atlantis. "Wiser minds go not as far but if able would do less?"

He pointed to the Guardians of the Veil. "Sins for a just end grant wisdom to the Awakened. There is an age of wisdom coming, and we need to be ready for it. Wisdom cannot be allowed to fall into the hands of the enemy."

The Mysterium, "Knowledge is power, knowledge must be protected, Knowledge must have a price. I have paid a great price..." He thought about Mistral, he would work around it at some point but there was a price well paid. "How many dragons are there? How many artifacts do you know of that require an inhuman operator? You have an envoy that could gain much from this. Your Archaeomancers' so much more so."

"I could go on and on. I have sought forgiveness but what I have done is the best outcome. There are people who are alive because I could only do as I did because of this. Every order has instances of this happening. Is this not true? Or will you call on The Orphans of Proteus next?"

He tapped on the table with a long claw. "I will fight to protect the people who are around me and that includes each and every single one of you. Even from paradox. I have always been unorthodox, such has been useful fighting an outsider, fighting the earthbound, surviving the realm of the dead, and more." Other things he couldn't talk about. "Forgive me but the benefit outweighs the cost. I cannot deny who I am, and that photograph would have been taken even if I was not a dragon as a base."

He was losing his temper. "There are mages in this room who would be dead if I did not expose myself and risk my life. And I would do it again a thousand times over. You are the light of the world. All of you. If your light is snuffed out we will be left in darkness that will not end."

"I will not abide that. Enough fighting."

After Noah had made his big speech, Mistral spoke up from the back of the hall into the silence that followed.  Her voice was not loud and her tone was placid as ever, but her words carried nonetheless.  “Noah has worked tirelessly and has even altered his very form to accomplish what was needed to save lives and battle the enemies of this Conclave, and of this world.  Those who would cast judgement, first consider whether you would have done as much in his place.  Consider whether such measures would even have been necessary if it had been more than a single cabal against every existential threat imaginable.”  She left it unspoken, but the implied question for the Concilium was clear: ‘What were you doing while we were saving the world?’

She concluded, “Consider that this Conclave’s time might be better spent organizing against its enemies, rather than prosecuting a hero.”
This message was last edited by the player at 07:10, Tue 21 Jan 2020.

 There was a long, uncomfortable pause by the Concilium before one of them spoke. "Even so, we cannot allow a walking breach of the veil to walk about freely. Even if he has somehow managed to avoid losing his form to Paradox, there is no way this is not widening the Abyss!"

 There were murmurs of agreement before Talion slammed his fist on the table. ENOUGH!

 Talion stood and the electric lights flickered. He had adopted the tone of Apocalypse... or perhaps Apocalypse was peeking through. "You speak of paradox. You keep saying things like 'no way' and 'impossible'. You sound like sleepers.

 This is why I went to the other supernatural communities first. At least THEY understand how their own powers work. Look at yourselves! how many Millenia has it been since your beloved Atlantis fell? What have you done since then? Fight over the scraps that remain and hoard what little you find such that even the most basic things need to be rediscovered! You are neophytes pretending to be gods.

 You speak of Paradox. What do YOU know of Paradox?"

 Despite their being no transformation, Talion seemed to tower over even the mage in the tallest seat. "Every single law of nature you believe to be immutable is simply a variable. It is the most fundamental concept of what your archmages refer to as Imperial Magic... and even Paradox is a variable. "

 As he spoke, he picked up a pencil and began drawing on a piece of paper. When he finished his speech and his drawing, he held it up before anyone else could speak. His voice had returned to normal. "If you doubt me, then put it to the test. I've inscribed variable operators onto this paper.

 If any of you believe I am wrong, then test me. Affect this paper with a spell."


 As Talion reverted away from his more intimidating form of speech, the members of the concilium relaxed once more.
 "And what is this supposed to prove?"

 "That Paradox is an imbalance caused by normal spellcasting... that not a single one of you knows what the safeguards are to casting a spell without shunting Paradox in between the realms, and that that is the reason that the Abyss has increased to the state it is currently in. If you want to talk to me about Paradox, then talk to me after you've affected this paper with magic."

Argentus took that moment to keep quiet.  He silently examined the paper under each of his mage sights, and tried to correlate the runes with anything he had ever seen before.

OOC: Prime, Death, Spirit, Forces sights

2 rounds scrutiny for the 5 successes to normally unveil an object's true nature.  2 successes per round (for 3 rounds) after that to try to figure anything out about the runes or what would happen if someone tried to cast on the paper.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:30, Wed 22 Jan 2020.

PM

"Well, that was fortunately gentle... Or is the response of the paper proportional to the magic used toward it?" He half-commented, half asked.


And mundane scrutiny of the runes?

Noah had opened his fat maw enough, Talion had the last word when it came to his fate and for that, he was happy to at least be moderately useful. The others had been Talions fingers when it came to it but Noah had no real commitment beyond how useful he was. He leaned over to take a photo of the rune with his oversized clear plane slate for later review. He then looked up at each of the people who called for his death, "Well? Earn your pound of my flesh."

He let his mind drift as one side of his mind pondered that rune and the other on just what Mistral stressed when she spoke up. It was her nature to be quiet so as calm tone as she had, to Noah, she was screaming.

 Talion nodded slightly. "Correct. Every action has an equal but opposite reaction."


 There was some hesitation but Noah's goading had a few mages take the bait. Force mages, trying to light the paper on fire, only to burn themselves. Their hands showed the burns of paradox.


 When no one else came forward, Talion continued. "All of you, each and every one, have been judging your magic based on the visible effect it produces... but every spell displaces an amount of energy equal to its effect, whether or not it produces Paradox.

 The reason the Abyss seeks out mages so fervently is because they are the source of the imbalance. Banishers come in through weak spirits, like a release valve on an over pressured pipeline. As it stands, until this imbalance is rectified, the Abyss will never fully disperse and Consensus of reality will always need to be accounted for.

 However, I can show you a way to ease the effects of Paradox from Vulgar spells. My people referred to it as 'Tenebremancy', or 'Shadow Magic'."

 He picked the piece of paper up and began to fold it. "While I wouldn't normally advocate its widespread use, in this instance, Tenebremancy would 'release the pressure' of Paradox back into the Tapestry of Reality and help close the Abyss naturally over time.

 Despite its name, it doesn't manipulate actual shadows, but rather the 'Shadow of Magic', so to speak. That's what Paradox is, in a nutshell anyway."

 When he opened his hands, there was an Oragami Crane. He lifted it into the air and it took flight. "So, yes, what I am offering to teach here would more accurately be referred to as Paradox Magic."

 The origami crane landed on the podium as the magisters gasp in shock and horror at the concept of intentionally invoking paradox. The muttering held a great deal of anger and resentment.

Noah's tail slapped the ground hard enough to be felt as mutterings and resentment started circulating. "The time for clutching pearls has passed. You're being offered a chance to give a blow to the enemy so vast that they will never recover from. A means to reclaim your power so well stolen you never felt its loss."

"You are all the most powerful body in this world. No other gathering can compair."

"Its time to wake up to your true selves."

He sent a private text to Argentus, "No time like the present to do your ladder thing. You could lock down exclusive envoy rights to Talion and ensure they have to send students through New York. The whole place is hungry as their minds are racing to gather info across the scope of their experience."
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 05:47, Thu 23 Jan 2020.

Prometheus followed the others through the Portal but for the most part remained silent, judging Talion as he acted and spoke. What he saw didn't impress him.

Talion cared nothing for the laws of men, nothing for justice, nothing for anyone elses plans. He saw his own vision and own goals, and thats all that mattered.

As he watched, he slowly came to a conclusion...slowly figured out what Talion was. His face went pale as he thought, A non-human being that can call upon the power of the Supernal. One who is clearly only equaled by an Archmage. Who can train Archmages.... He is no spirit. He is one of the Gods that the Exarchs kicked from the Supernal realm when they climbed the Ladder.

And if he is awake....so are the others. God help us all, if any decide mankind is to blame.


Still, he did feel one thing needed to be addressed, "Talion, if you are speaking of the Magic of Paradox, would that not risk corrupting....well everyone? While I only know of Scelesti in general terms, I am sure some of the Mysterium and Guardians present can list off dozens of people and organizations that have fallen to darkness when interacting with such things....

And directly touching the Abyss to move it, shift it, spread it out.... would we not hear it as well? To call the Abyss alive is a stretch....but its certainly aware, and does talk. We have all heard what happens when Paradox goes to far and the Abyss Manifests."

Honestly Prometheus was actually fairly sure most people here had experienced at least one Minor manifestation in their life from casting to much Vulgar Magic. But it wasn't polite to admit that.

OOC:
05:04, Today: Promethius rolled 2 successes using 4d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 10(+2),2,5,8.  Occult knowledge (Int+ Occult).

Argentus shared Promethius's concern.  While Argentus hadn't really invoked much paradox before... ever... he had been directly by a manifestation of the Abyss and lost his eye to it.  That made him plenty leery.  Nevertheless,  he was willing to hear Talion out on it - in part because of Noah's support of the idea.  Still, he wouldn't be trying it without getting some solid instruction on the theory behind it, first.

He was mildly surprised when Noah suggested he now re-attempt his attempt to leverage their relation with Talion for political clout in the Consilium.  However, it was one thing to do that when the man was not around... it was quite another to do so with the man in the room.  Before standing to say anything he tipped his phone toward Talion, and cocked an eyebrow, asking for permission.

  "The imbalance of magical energy is not inherently evil... but, once that energy reaches the Abyss, it is infected with the madness seeping from hell's prison. The voices of the Abyss are tainted whispers of Hell. It's partly why I've waited so long to suggest this. I needed time. Time and resources, to purify the Paradox energy that seeps back into the world, lest the restoration of the Tapestry turn this world into a hellscape."

 "That's where synthetics come in. To date, I have sold over 5 billion units. Synthetics match humans nearly 1 for 1 at this point... and, in places where synthetics outnumber humans, Consensus of Reality shifts in favor of mages.

 … but the main reason I created Synthetics was to serve as filters for Abyssal corruption. Their presence ensures that paradox cannot accumulate and that corruption cannot occur. The downside of this is that paradox degrades their memory... a problem I had not found a solution for."

 He turned to Noah and took a deep breath. "But you did... so, if you'll accept it, I am naming you my Successor for Synthos Inc. I'm giving you my company as well as the rights to produce whatever synthetics you like and distribute them however you wish.

 I would also found the Order of the Jade Tower and place you at its head, to teach other mages to do what you do, so that the restoration of the Tapestry can proceed smoothly."

 Talion waited to hear Noah's answer before continuing. "Naturally, Tenebremancy will require retraining and so will only be allowed to be attempted in the presence of the Novice's Curse."

 He reached out a finger and the origami crane returned. "And with the paper as the only target to prevent accidents."

 Talion eyed the text on Argentus's phone and smiled slightly, inclining his head in affirmation.

His concerns answered, Argentus addressed the Merlin.  "Magister, I request that with our guest's endorsement, and in light of this cabal's relationship with him, that we be named as the official liaisons of the Grand Conclave to him and that the New York Consilium be named its commission for pre-screening applicants."

Argentus was incredibly scrupulous with his use of magic, but as before, when in a negotiating situation, he let his Obrimos roots show.  "Further, lest we insult our guest..."  he paused for a half moment, omitting 'yet again', "by having our liasons be mere Novices and Famulus, I move that my proximity to archmastery and having traveled to two supernal realms be accepted in place of being a dual-master for the title of Magister, and that the rest of our cabal - including Sal and the Garou Ralph if he survived the storm - be recognized by the Conclave as Famulus if they do not already hold a higher rank.  If the local Consilium so moves, I would not be averse to being ranked Great Magister instead and thus minimize disruptions to the local Consilium, especially in light of recent deaths and damages."

If Atlantis were restored and the Veil with it, Argentus hoped an honorary mage rank would shelter Sal's life for as long as the man wished to keep it.  He added the last as a peace-offering to the Merlin... and because Argentus had no desire to run the local Consilium.  As with honorary Admiralship when one sea captain visited another's ship, being named Great Magister would at the same time keep him from threatening the Merlin's position and from being bogged down by the same body's politics.

 The Grand Conclave, so overwhelmed by what they were being told (but unable to truly do anything about it) conceded to Argentus's request and finally held the meeting adjourned. As the mages began to file out, Talion sighed. "I'm glad that's over. These kinds of meetings are always so tedious. I'm certain you have many questions, but I'll answer them back on the boat. There are things you want to ask, I'm sure... and I have news regarding Emily, a promising lead."

Talion demonstrated a wholly new arcanum that flouted ancient tradition and fears while simultaneously offering the long-sought solution to Paradox, and Mistral took it in with a hungering fascination.  It made perfect sense, and to her it seemed a clear and necessary evolution of the Awakened mastery of reality.  Yet the traditionalists were scared and mistrustful of risky innovation, as they so often were.  It was no matter.  Now that it had been put before the gathered Concilium there would be no stopping mages from plumbing its secrets.

The surprises didn’t stop coming, as Talion again shocked the gathering by announcing Noah as the heir to Synthos as well as the leader of an entirely new Order.  She looked to the dragon with brows raised in expectant curiosity as to his response to the extraordinary offer, though she thought she knew his answer.  Then Argentus claimed for himself a Grand title and secured recognition for their entire cabal, including Sal the wolf in sheep’s clothing.

At last the meeting was adjourned, and Mistral portaled them away, passing first through two intermediate destinations somewhere on the globe before at last arriving back in the chilled cave beneath the French Alps.  One more brief jaunt from there and they were back on the ship in Mistral’s cabin on the S.S. Grey.  Luckily for Noah, Grey had provided a number of seating arrangements and a bed that were of sufficient size to catch a fainting dragon.

OOC: Normally I would keep Lola's inner monologue to the GM only, as Prometheus doesn't hear it, and it only influences his thoughts... I am breaking those rules here as it amuses me.

Prometheus had many MANY doubts....this was a dangerous path to tred and if he was right about Talion he was a warning sign of further dangers to come.

....I was right, I was right, she can be save and I should have lived, I was right I was right I was right, the corruption can be pealed away and they can be saved, they must be saved.....

Still, he couldn't help but be happy that he was going to live after all. Charlotte was safer now then she had been before, but she still wasn't SAFE, and his own projects weren't done. While risky, this was a good outcome.

... Yes, yes, yes, yes it was totally worth it, I saved someone, I saved them and I will save her again. Lilth, I will not let the darkness have you, and before I go to dust I will pull the darkness out of you again. And the Guardians....I will find those who killed me and danced on their graves, for I was right, I was right, I was right and they can all be saved. La, la, la, la, I could save them all, I can save them all, I will save them all.... for the darkness is not nothing and the nothing is not evil. It is a cell, and thus they are the wardens, corrupted by those they guard.... but they can be freed. They can be cured. And thus I was right, I was right Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah.....

However, as he listened to Talion speak and the Concilium question him, Prometheus felt a SERIOUS headache coming on and was thankful when the meeting was adjourned and Mistral Portalled them away. Painkillers were definitely the call of the day.

....I was right, I was right, if I controlled this body I would dance right now. I was right, I was right, she will be saved and I was right....