When the group returned to the boat, they found that Scar had returned the children to their home and Talion was in the hold, sitting in the chairs they had used, and any mage could see that he was reading resonance of some kind. He didn't seem to see you when you came back.

It was fairly safe to assume that Mistral had managed to get everyone back. This meant that Noah had buckled down on the deck to wait until his eyes stopped rolling around randomly in his head as his vertigo ripped his tail off and beat his sense of direction with it. In spite of the fact he was sick to his stomach, he was still smiling. "Well done, one and all. And sorry for being mouthy... I lost my temper." He looked up at Mistral, "And sorry to have endangered your hidden nature. Though I was right, you look great in a suit."

Sal said with wry smile, "Noah may be obligated to say that, but as one who has gone clothes shopping with you, I feel I've earned the right to say-- as a friend, mind you, my sex drive died before women were allowed to wear suits-- he's not wrong. As for you, Noah, now that you are a dragon, it would behoove you to control your temper better, at least when you're not using a proxy. Most people would expect an angry dragon to eat them, or cook them alive, and might react accordingly."

By a circuitous route that shunted the cabal across vast distances in the space of a few dozen strides, Mistral brought them back to the S.S. Grey with reasonable confidence they’d not been followed.

Mistral couldn’t help but agree, “That could have gone far worse, pour certainement.  We left expecting our souls to be scoured from existence, yet we returned with honors, however begrudgingly given.”  To the compliments from both Noah and Sal of how she looked in her pantsuit she gave a mock curtsey and said, “Merci beaucoup.  I do favor this outfit far more than the absurd gown I was given to wear to our last disastrous formal event.  You all looked rather sharp yourselves.  Particularly when correcting the arrogant misapprehensions of the most esteemed mages this world has to offer.”  To Noah’s apology she reassured him with a light touch to his scaled neck, “Au contraire, mon dragon.  I could not have asked for a more compelling distraction of all attentions.  I had worried I might be called to give testimony, but none could look past the dragon de quatre cents kilogrammes.  I regret I had naught to contribute to this area far outside my expertise.  You did not require my aid, anyhow.”

Noah smiled at her touch and the memory of her in the first date dress. "More than happy to be a distraction for you or away from you. Being strange is my strong point."

"Before I forget for the fifth time." He pulled a tube out of the wall that had been brought up from the Fabratory. The tube was then presented to Mistral. "I had forgotten to give you the star charts covering all points from earth to Grey's entry point into our space. You're about the only one who knows space magic well enough to make any use of her progress."

He set his chin back down and tilted his head side to side at Sal. "Eh, One on one yea. But in groups, it means they are less likely to be the one who goes first on a dragon. But you are right. Still, if we didn't step up and if I didn't out myself they would have all been dead in new york. Only demons would have remained as any organized supernatural force. They can be scared and act like Imma eat them. I'd rather than mad and alive than dead and sad."

He also made sure that Talion was presented with one of Noah's memory back up units. More for his inspection than anything else.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:27, Sun 26 Jan 2020.

Argentus came back from the conclave fairly elated.  One of the best ways to be able to rally support to a project or cut through foolishness was to have rank.  And this afternoon - largely thanks to Noah and Talion, he'd put them all years to decades (or in Sal's case likely centuries) ahead on that.

When he saw Talion, he asked for some brief instruction in the theory behind Shadow Magic, and then, "You said you had a hopeful lead on Emily.  What is it, and how can we help?"

 Talion snapped out of his reverie when Argentus spoke to him and, in response to his questioning, Talion handed him a handwritten leather-bound book of about a hundred pages, filled with equations in Atlantean runes as well as handwritten descriptions of the hidden fundamental nature of the tapestry and magic in general (though less of a "how to" and more of an informational guide) and how Shadow Magic functions.

 A quick flip through the handwritten manual seemed to indicate that Shadow Magic required a metaphysical "trigger", similar to the material foci of normal magic but different in that it required ephemeral concepts rather than concrete items (for example, working shadow spirit magic required a formal, nonmagical pact with a spirit and the pact itself serves as the basis for a shadow spirit spell). The working of such a spell eases the transition of a spell into reality (and is apparently required to work with this form of magic)

 The next several pages involve the math behind spell inversion and the altering of consensus of reality itself. Trying to digest the information made your head ache. The information in this manual would take weeks to digest properly.


 After giving Argentus time to flip through the manual, he finally spoke. "I've just received news from the Goblin Market. It took a while to track her down, but my informant came across some the transaction records of a Fey mentioning Emily's name. I've tracked his home to the Fey Realm accessible from the Bermuda Triangle by sprinkling yourself with Pixie Dust inside the fog."

 He turned his gaze slightly to Niri, who immediately hid behind Argentus, before turning to the group. "I need to make sure she is found before I make my appearance in the Fey Realm. My nature was muted in the Aetherial Realm because of the raw energies of creation surrounding us. That won't be the case when I enter Arcadia Proper... and I need to make sure the ones that have her don't see me coming until I can pinpoint her location."

 He handed each of them a bracelet, a simple plastic affair that looked almost like a nonfunctional child's watch. "These will protect you from the temporal dilations of the Fey Realm and ensure you don't get spit out in the future again. It'll also notify me the moment any of you come into sensory range of Emily. All I need if for you to see her or hear her voice. I suppose any of the other senses will do... though I'm sure to have questions for you if the sensory perception of her I get form any of you is 'taste'."

"Don't look at me, I know better," says Sal.

Noah picked his head up and sat up before curling his chin on Mistral. "Jade tower." in spite of his normal meaningful mental brick walls to prevent himself from doing silly things Noah scooped Mistral up and twisted around. Tails and wings, claws and sparks all a dance before he smoothy moved to his big chair in the room with her. "A long way traveled with yet longer to go. Still, a victory."

He looked at Talion. "You're a mad man for letting me have it. I deal with the insane limits of magic and I cannot be impartial. Yet it's too late to go back on such a choice. It's going to be a season before people are caught up enough not to mind wipe a synth by accident."

 Talion smiled wearily. "I know, but I know you can handle the challenge. I do apologize for dumping it on you without consulting you first... but the Concilium was the best place to unveil my plans. Of course, that's not the only thing I need help with. I need to found three more Orders, one to oversee the integration of synthetic parts into organics, one to close the rifts that open as I repair the tapestry, and one to oversee the draining of the Abyss.

 My synthetics did not mingle evenly with the population, so there will be holes in the plan. I need competent people to train mages in the restoration effort. I was hoping I could ask each of you three to head an Order and train new mages."

 Then he turned to Sal. "And I was hoping to speak with you as well. I understand you are currently ronin. Would you care to serve me? I've already sired two vampires, though more as punishment than anything else, so I have status among the vampiric community."

Argentus mulled over what he had read while Talion spoke.  A thought came to him, and naturally, it issued from his mouth.  "Since you mentioned it.  Do you need our sensing of her to be immediate?  Does the sense of her within the Fey realm allow you to track her, or would it be us you home in on?  I ask because after seeing the hedge and the Goblin Market, it seems conceivable that we could trade for a recent sense of her.    Is that enough, or will it need to be us personally experiencing it originally?"

He contemplated Arcadia.  He had little power to deal with anything there, so he'd have to be extremely careful.  He saw only one main way he could make arcane use of the trip.  "Polt, does Pluto have any contact with Ceres through the hedge and goblin markets?  And if so, are their relations good?"

 "I've had no luck finding finding any trace of her, even with my current offering to the Goblin Market. Her name on a contract has been the only thing I could find these past three months... but, if you could find a sense of her, or even a wisp of resonance from her, I could track her anywhere."

 Polt shrugged. "I don't know. I've never heard anything about it but I'd imagine any such communications would be done in secret if they were done through the Goblin Markets, given the risk... and, naturally, she'd be wary of any contact from another god of the underworld, considering what happened with her daughter."

 Talion quirked an eyebrow. "Ceres? Do you think she may know something?"

Argentus nodded to Talion's request about heading an order as he tapped the book.  "Once I wrap my head around this and ensure that I don't need to have something purge me from existence for corrupting myself with it, I'd be happy to head an order and train people in it."

"Fair enough, Polt.  Thanks." He responded to the death spirit's explanation.

Argentus shrugged at Talion's question.  "She's a goddess of the realm, so she might.  Besides that, she might be willing to lend support toward the restoration of the ladder, in order to be better able to exercise her domain on earth again.  Even if she doesn't have direct knowledge to aid us, treating with her might give us some opportunity to explore the area with less pressure from its denizens than might otherwise be the case."

 Talion nodded. "Fair enough. As with everything ese, there is no rush... but here."

 Talion extended a hand and, inside, was something that looked like a cross between a small melon and a coconut, roughly the size the fit perfectly in the average adult's cupped hands. It smelled faintly of freshly cooked bread.

 "Take this as a gift to her from me. It's something that I've developed and I'm certain it would be of interest to her."

Sal thought about Talion's offer, before responding, "That is a serious proposition for one of my bloodline. I am not ready to vow my loyalty to anyone just yet. However, I already agreed to help rescue your wife, and will likely be amenable to work for you toward other goals in the future. In time, perhaps."

 Talion smiled a weary smile. "We're not married yet but..."

 He pulls a ring out of an inner pocket. He holds it for a moment without saying anything and then puts it back. "Again, I am not in any particular hurry but I wanted to extend the offer nonetheless."

Mistral took the tube and clicked the button on the side, which projected a holographic star chart into the air.  She circled the projection slowly, adjusting the virtual orientation of the solar system with swipes of a finger and tracing the gleaming path highlighted within it.  At length Mistral mused thoughtfully, “A ballistic vector, yet unmoored from gravitation...  Intrigante.  What progress is it that this data represents?”


Mistral was preoccupied with the star chart, but was also listening fully to the conversation.  She caught the bracelet from the air and coiled it about her wrist, then attached Noah’s to save him a troublesome task for claws, all without taking her eyes from the three-dimensional cloud of celestial bodies.  She asked Talion, “Merci.  Who is this Fae that has drawn the Doctor into its dealings?  What is the nature of the contract?”


Mistral let out a huff as she found herself gathered up by a dragon and brought with him to a dragon-sized seat.  She glowered at Noah and said evenly, “Excusez-moi.  I was studying.”  She extended a hand, which faded into a small swirl of mist before emerging from a matching vortex on the other side of the room, then snatched the star chart tube and drew it back through.  She leaned casually back against dragon-Noah as she resumed her study of the star chart.  Mistral scratched the scaly crest extending from the edge of his draconic jaw and asked, “Order of the Jade Tower, hm?  Or shall it be neon jade?  What will be the mission and tenets of this order?”

To Talion’s offer for each of the mages present to found a new order she replied skeptically, “You have upset much already, Monsieur Talion.  Alienating and invalidating la société des sorciers may not be the most politique means to enlist their aid.  The extant Orders may well be willing to take up these tasks, if given the chance.  The Guardians and the Arrow have closed fissures dimensionnelles for millennia, and have many archmagi among them more capable of this than I.”

Prometheus came back to the boat with a killer headache and after thanking Mistral for the portal, moved quickly to get some pain medicine, trying to end the quickly growing headache.

Taking both a pill of Ibuprofen and Paracetamol with water, he waited a few seconds as the placebo effect to kick in. The actual medication would help latter, but his brain thinking its better would be enough for the moment.

Looking up in the mirror he tilted his head slightly...something didn't seem right. Not really.


Blinking twice he splashed some water in his face and the feeling was gone. Then he put the pills away and returned to meet the others.


With that he returned to the deck, just as Mistral mentioned the new Orders that Talion suggested. As he heard Mistral's objections, he had to add his own, "There is also the fact that using the term Order implies a fractured club like structure that I suspect the tasks you desire can't afford. There is no one Mage in charge of the Guardians of the Veil, or Silver Ladder, and if you call it an Order, not only will you insult and fight with existing Orders, for members, you will quickly find most members don't want a leader.

If you are going to do this, make it separate from Concilliums, and Orders. You want something like a Ministry, or Bureau, or something. Organized, structured, with a set goal and a finish date. But most importantly you can be a member of this group and still maintain your Order Membership.

I don't think Noah desires to leave the Free Council, or Argent leave the Silver Ladder. And once these tasks are done, your Orders will be no longer required...The Pentacle is eternal."

Argentus looked to Talion.  "Promethius raises a good point.  Is there an ongoing need for something like an eighth of all mages to perpetually be involved on these jobs, or will the need be reduced once the initial work is done?  It seems like what he suggested, or even legacies, might be the way to go.  Less resistance from the Pentacle mages - who would have to change their names - and beyond possibly causing a war, even with our demonstrations, Octacle Mages just doesn't sound great."

Noah closed his eyes and enjoyed the contact as limbs moved about. His wings curved on either side of the chair. "I dunno, a bright Jade seems to be a little fitting." Noah pointed at one spot on her star map bringing up an image of a humanoid lizard. "One of the races they ran into." He replaced his hand about her middle. "The Jade tower is to be part of synth care and production. I can only ponder on its charter but it must include treating each synth as a unique person and worthy of care."

"They are a submissive race so it's going to take people who care. Hell, even Scar let us poke holes in his memory without a word. I had to corner him to get the backup system running."

He looked up, "I encourage you all to take him up on his offer. It's not going to be splitting orders. More like 'knights of the round table' kinda deal. A house of a number of specialized mages. Not to mention there is likely a weight to it. If you say there is a mass of paradox that needs handled, or a rift about to open, they ask less questions and start working faster."

"When the Merlins people started trying to Frankenstein a synth as Merlin's helper was really useful I yelled at them. Due to the Ark, no one questioned it and I did not have to explain that the memories in an arm can afflict the memories in a leg. Combining they get unstable."

"A weight of authority so in the future, you can avoid delay when haste is a must."

 Talion drew a pentagon with a star inside. "Then I can simply call them Towers. Jade, Ebon, Ivory, and Diamond... and then the Cosmic tower. I'll have to head that one myself as it involves cultivating archmastery.

 The contract was a slave contract and the Fey in question is called 'Pan'. It's my understanding that he usually abducts children. One warning I received from the goblin in question was not to drink the water. It may be wise to bring your own."

Prometheus paused, considering what Talion had said, before he finally said, "It could be seen as presumptuous to say the least, to compare ourselves to the Oracles..."

A small smile graced his features and he continued, "Although worst case scenario we can just blame any accusation of Hubris and Ego on Noah. At this point, such comparison would seem par for the course. And no one would expect us to argue with a Fire Breathing Dragon.

Regardless, I like the continuance. Five Towers rose to begin to fight the Exarchs, and five more towers rise to finish the job. The Five towers were the constant enemy of the Seers and 5 new towers will destroy them. Ten towers, Ten Arcana, working together to close the Abyss."

Moving onto the rescue, Prometheus frowned, "I know little of the Fae, but eating the food and drinking the water is always a bad idea...as is going such a place without Cold Wrought Iron. I don't suppose we have a supply?"

As is trusting reality when the Fae decide to fuck with you, but they couldn't really prepare for that. He would just hope the stories were wrong.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:11, Tue 28 Jan 2020.

"Well, as the towers are post-Atlantean, and as they should somewhat fade from central importance once the Supernal has direction contact with the world again, it seems like that will probably be a better way to get this done without conflict with the other Orders."  Argentus commented.

He queried Talion and Noah.  "I've been working on a spell to enable me to have a Shadow Realm emissary to accomplish work for me when I can't be there, somewhat like Noah is able to do with his custom self-synth.  I can fabricate just about anything in the Shadow Realm, though obviously it can only function there - which suits my purposes, and I can imbue it with Spirit abilities to approximate my own.  However, I've got two major hitches: first, I can't copy my mind to it.  Second, while I can by virtue of my court cast on it and give it the ability to send messages back, I have no way to retrieve full information of its experiences from it, nor to gain any back if it is destroyed prior to transmitting.  Would one or both of you be able to help me out with it?"

"Will it be like the Underworld, where I suddenly find myself in need of food and water again?" Sal asked. "And does anyone even make cold wrought iron tools or weapons anymore? I imagine those might be hard to come by."

Mistral nodded, satisfied these names would be less likely to incite revolt from the entire mage community.  She cocked an eyebrow at Prometheus and remarked drily, "Presumptuous?  We are about to found the Ivory Tower.  Presumption ought to be expected."  Turning back to Talion she said, "I have already agreed to aid in the stabilization of anomalies spatiales resultant from your work on the Tapestry, prior to our unplanned banishment.  It remains my concern, and there is much work yet to be done."

She sighed, but said with resolution, "I do not feel I've attained sufficient mastery to lead such an endeavor and I am a poor éducatrice, but I will rise to the need.  I will be your Maîtresse de la Tour Ebon.  Mistress of the Ebon Tower.  It has a good sound."


"Pan...  We all know of the folkloric character, but I would guess the real being is something different.  Any resource found in the Fae should be considered suspect.  I will investigate a means to bring resources without overburdening ourselves."

---

Int + Occult check to see if Mist knows anything true and useful about Pan, from mage knowledge rather than folklore:

• 13:42, Today: Mistral rolled 1 success using 6d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 2,10(+4),4,5,2,7.  Int + Occult.

This message was last edited by the player at 21:49, Tue 28 Jan 2020.

 Talion was silent for a time. "I feel I ought to be direct with you about this. The towers that exist will not be remaining for long. The Observatory was built using material from the Tower of the Leaden Coin. When I forged the initial path between the Fallen and the Supernal Realms, I needed an object of tremendous power to do so... but the bridge is incomplete. I will need the remaining four to complete a bridge that cannot be destroyed, opening a supernal gate strong enough to allow for supernal energy to flow properly.

 These five towers will be their metaphysical replacement and the Observatory will be the gate of their awakening."


 "The Adoni Institute taught all sort of crafts, including blacksmithing and the forging of cold iron. If the synthetic that taught it hasn't been destroyed, he could teach you how.

 As for your spiritual attendant, I'll see what I can do"

 Talion nodded with a smile as Mistral announced that she would take up the mantle. "Thank you. You honor me."

 To Sal, he responded. "Not so likely, but the Hedge responds to vampires differently than to mages. Their thorns will make you bleed and will twist paths to lead you to prey. Hunger Frenzy will be a very real danger for you. You should take a supply of artificial blood with you."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:10, Wed 29 Jan 2020.

"Good to know," said Sal. A hunger frenzy anywhere would be disastrous. In Faerie, it would be worse, still.

Remebering that some people present had not been there from the start Noah held up a hand, moving in such a way as to not distrub Mistral. It took a moment but he held in his claw a small portion of the Tower of Death and the Tower of Prime. "They are, indeed, made of fantastic substances." Thus far Prom only had their word to go on. Outside of the small portion of the sandstorm in the land of the dead, there was no unique evidence anyone had provided him, and that was a shame. He spirited the small stones away and produced a tiny box containing the scales Prom had requested.

"There is so much high-end planning going on... What kind of time table are you looking at? Do we have time to make course work? Do we need to find hidden away places for clandestine educational meetings?"

"Now I gotta design jackets and decoder rings."

 "Years, decades, centuries... repairing the Tapestry in full and maintaining it will require a long term effort. Establishing the towers and completing the Observatory lay the ground work. Shifting Consensus of Reality and 'depressurizing' the Abyss are more long term goals."

Argentus nodded.  "That being the case, I'll commit to running one of the towers as well."  If the old towers were being destroyed, there was no way to avoid needing new ones to replace them, regardless of who established them.

He offered, half-questioningly: "Unless we've got time to attempt making my attendant, once we've got water I'm ready to go."

Mistral inclined her head to Talion in acknowledgment of his thanks for volunteering to do her part in this project.  She listened to his brief explanation of how he intended to tear down and reconstruct the entire structure of Arcanum itself.  She stated evenly, “This plan is rather extraordinaire.  Without the towers, what will happen to the paths and Arcanums bound to them?  No Moros will have awakened after the destruction of the Tower of the Leaden Coin, par exemple, for it is the tower that calls to their souls.”

Mistral shifted the position in which she reclined upon Noah’s draconic form, crossing her legs and draping a hand over his claw about her waist.  Far from seeming diminutive by being cradled by a large dragon, she was poised and self-possessed as ever.  Mistral then asked Talion, “What form will the new towers take, then?  Are they but symboles et métaphore of their purpose in the reforging of the Tapestry, or are they to be actual structures to serve as foci for the work to be done?  If so, where and by what means are these towers to be erected?”

On the matter of supplies, Mistral said, “Let us gather what provisions we need and more, and bring with us as much as can be carried through.  Once there, I will enable us to bring it all without carrying it.”

Noah thought for a moment as he added a few things up. "The lead coin tower of death was shattered shortly after you showed up. Yet at the gathering today I saw new Moros mages, some in their first year as a mage. If the tower was destroyed there should be no mages."

"Then is the limit of the towers part of the lie for control? When the tower shattered so did my name on its surface." Noah pointed at the map Mistral had, he indicated the point of entry and the fact there was a beyond point. He then expanded his hand showing other such blobs of systems and their shells. Places of strange physics and likely even stranger magic.

He smiled, holding a thought that Mistral of the whole group had the highest potential for power. She could, in time, pop out of the local hyper cluster, find a cluster that had liquid diamond, and come back using it as a means to fuel other unique concepts.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:40, Fri 31 Jan 2020.

 "Have any of you ever wondered why some sleepers awaken while others become sleepwalkers, aware of magic but unable to harness it? Have you ever wondered why you awoken but no one else? Who built the towers and why?

 If the towers were built to fight back the Seers, then how did mages awaken before then? Noah is correct. It was the Seers that built the towers. What better way to limit the powers of the Awakened than by disguising said limiter as the source of their power? How better to control all mages than to have access to their True Names?

 No normal mage would dare destroy one for fear of shutting off their own power... but one IS destroyed... and the Moros will continue to grow exponentially in number as the supernal energies of Stygia reinvigorate the tapestry. That said, I'll need to destroy the tower of the Beastlands next to prevent oversaturation.

 Ultimately, the Observatory will serve as the main entry point for the flow of supernal energies to reinvigorate the Tapestry... and the new Towers... your towers will be the metaphysical representations of what those towers should have been."

Mistral studied the star chart and marveled, "These points lie beyond our cosmique event-horizon.  Far beyond it.  Our galaxy will have burnt away into a cold and inert void a trillion years past before light from these places arrives.  Très extraordinaire."  She pored through observations of anomalous physics and life-forms so alien as to be scarcely recognizable as life.  Mistral leaned back against Noah, glanced up at him and asked, "This data could be the source of vast discovery, but it also begs an infinitude of questions.  What do you seek to glean from it, mon dragon?"

---

As Talion spoke Mistral arose from her draconic seat to pace the room, listening intently with brow furrowed in concentration.  His words contested the very foundations of the Awakened understanding of reality, and that was no small matter.  To the question of whether they'd wondered why she of all people awakened Mistral answered succinctly, "Every day."


As soon as Talion had finished Mistral spoke up, trying to make sense of it, "The Watchtowers were built by the Oracles after the sundering of l'échelle d'argent to rejoin the supernal realms to the fallen world.  Awakenings were possible prior to the Towers because there was not yet an Abyss severing access to the supernal.  Is this not so?  If the Towers never served as beacons, how did the supernal cross the void of the Abyss before your Observatory?"

She paced further and went on to ask, "Do you claim that the Seers erected the towers in the beginning, or only corrupted and overtook them?  If they own the towers and all True-Names, then why do they not dominate reality itself?  There would be nothing to stop them.  They could utterly annihilate any of us with but a thought."
This message was last edited by the player at 01:00, Sat 01 Feb 2020.

Noah thought for a long moment and smiled at a mental image he sent her.  He tilted his head side to side as he enjoyed the moment.

He rubbed the back of his head at Talion. "Going to have to step up my game and sign all the towers before you put them to the hammer." He started grinding on the numbers of what Mistral was saying. She had a point. Then again so did Talion. In either case Noah wasn't present when the towers had been built. The towers had been built as anchor points for the silver ladder he thought.

 "What do you think they've been doing? They could very well exercise such power, but their hold over the world was complete before my arrival. The Lie was understood, but it had infected every aspect of a mage's life and not a single soul I saw even knew they were imprisoned.

 From what data I've been able to gather from Atlas, the towers were built by the architects of Atlantis... not the Oracles, but beings far older. They were merely corrupted by the Seers. I have my suspicions regarding how but no proof.

 Also, there has always been an Abyss... though it did not always take the form you saw in the Observatory. It is infected now, a festering sore, but it once served the purpose of keeping the Supernal Realms and Fallen World close but separate. The swelling has widened the gap but a collision would be worse.

 The jagged wound left by the fall of the Silver Ladder allowed for energies to bleed into the space in between, where it came into contact with Hell's Prison, a contaminating agent that turned the Abyss into the festering mass you know now."

Noah tilted his head side to side. "That is why you allowed me to make the wish as if I had been born a dragon. You need a dragon to work some of the things you are running into and this was a wish of convenience for you..."

 Talion just chuckled. "I would have granted that wish either way. It's your wish to use as you see fit... though I won't deny that it solves several of my own problems as well."

Argentus smiled, hearing how the two took advantage of the opportunities one another presented.  Both tended to plan and dream bigger than he did.  He had been planning to use his wish to negotiate with Talion for a long-term plan that would spread power and responsibility out, and could survive Talion's demise or incapacitation.  That had already been dealt with, though.

He thought for a moment, then asked Talion: "So, would Aion's plan of using the Planetary Court influences to reform the ladder still function to aid this plan for a new ladder?"

Mistral narrowed her eyes at the dragon bobbing his head happily to his own imaginings.  She shook her head and turned her attention back to the star chart. 

---

Talion’s response left Mistral thoughtful.  The claims were still extraordinary, but at least now plausible and not contradictory with things she knew to be true.  “Je comprends.  I have long suspected that the Watchtower of the Iron Gauntlet could be no work of human will.  It was... well, I would just say it was beyond the capacity of even the cruelest Nephandi’s imaginings.”

The idea of the Seers of the Throne owning the Watchtowers still bothered her greatly.  Mistral pressed, “Perhaps more to the point, who is it that wields the Watchtowers?  To speak of Seers in terms of shadowy anonymity grants them power, as I know well.  To know them robs them of that power.”

 Talion finally, at this point, broke into a full-on grin. "You've already met him. His soul is stuck in my Roomba. Killing him would have raised the next Seer in line to power. Until I figure out how they're artificially creating archmages to replace themselves, I can't have that.

 I've done my share of interrogations, but this "King" is worthy of his crown. He still hasn't spilled his secret. Pandemoneum's not that bad. I've been sealed away in worse places."

 To Argentus, he replied, "It certainly wouldn't hurt. Mind you, the Spirit Courts will only really bolster one Arcanum. The other Arcanum need to be restored equally. An imbalance of Arcanum could be ruinous to the restoration of the Tapestry if left unchecked for too long. Again, I'm speaking in decades, so there is no worry that it would create an immediate Arcanum imbalance."

Argentus let out a short laugh at the Seer being bound in the Roomba.  "Does it still miss spots?  I'd hope with a Seer inside, that particular failing would be fixed."  He quipped.

A moment later, Argentus frowned slightly in response to Talion's answer.  "I may have assumed and simplified too much when I said support of the Spirit Courts.  The particular courts I'm speaking of are the planetary courts.  These courts have access to the energies that millennia of Consensus has given over to their planets and corresponding elements... not that the Consensus has been adding much to that reservoir lately, but it's still deep and strong.  I get access to those energies by obtaining a name within the courts and I have gained the ability to wield them by shaping my soul to function as an adapter between them and my own magic.

   "It's not directly bound by Arcana or Supernal Realm, but by Consensus association.  Mercury is the closest related to a Supernal Realm - Pandemonium, though it also embodies the connection between places and Realms.  Saturn's energy is the easiest to approximate directly to Arcana - Death and Time.  The Sun isn't too hard to equate to Forces, but also touches on Life and a few others.  Venus roughly corresponds more to each realm's subtle arcanum, as Mars does to their gross.  The Moon and Jupiter correspond less to any one set of Arcana but more to magic itself and its rules, respectively.

   "If that's misinformed in terms of ladder construction, or not very helpful, I'd like to know sooner rather than later so I can begin shaping my soul toward a more practical use of the energies."

 Talion retained his smirk. "Unsurprisingly, my unwilling volunteer hasn't much cared to improve on the imperfections of its prison.

 You're not wrong in that the planetary courts will grant great sympathetic connections to other Arcanum, but I was referring to supernal energies themselves.

 Still, the problem with consensus of reality is that its power lies in its current form. As new beliefs rise, old ones fade from power and significance, retaining only sympathetic ties to its ancient power.

 Regardless, the answer doesn't change. Yes, restoring the planetary courts will help, providing that they can once more shift belief in their favor... though that would require people start believing in them as gods again. Otherwise, their powers will remain sympathetic at best.

 It won't take much to get the synthetics to acknowledge them. You might want to start there."

Argentus nodded at the wisdom of starting with the synthetics.  He considered how the change of plans regarding the ladder affected his plans with the courts.  Should he follow through on his plan to mold his soul in accordance with the Thrice Great tradition?  Or should he break off to a more practical end?  That would be a problem for another day.

"Well, anyone against gathering supplies and getting a move on?"  He asked.

Noah curled his toes as he smiled at Mistral.  He smiled and nodded once. "May want to double up. Full set of rations with Mistral and I will set up a saddle. It's the fea realm, good Lord knows that they will find a way to screw with something they are not supposed to mess with."

Prometheus listened for a long time in silence, his mind going through what little he know, what little anyone knew of the days after the fall of Atlantis, "Stories tell us after the Fall that Awakenings did stop for a while....but their is other possible causes to that if the Watchtowers existed before that point. The appearance of the Abyss almost certainly effected all human souls after all. Likewise the idea that you could awaken to Paths different from the 5 current ones before the Fall could also by a myth..."

However one question came from this that concerned him, "The rise of the Watch Towers is the most famous story about the Oracles. Each order has their own myths and legends, about the Origin of their Oracle....and why they chose to take their place guiding Mages to Awakening.... If the Watchtowers have always been a tool of Exarchs, rather then one of the Pentacle, if they were built before The Fall, and since the Fall only ruled by the Exarchs...."

Prometheus looked at Argent, Noah and Mistral, wondering why they haven't realized the terrifying question, "Do the Oracles even exist? What proof do we have that 5 Archmages climbed the Celestial Ladder and decided to fight rather then rule? What story remains that they exist? Or has the legend been another tool to control and weaken us.... a tool to give us false hope and expect aid that will never come?"

 "They exist... maybe not as stories would write them, but there are archmages who are not Seers, archmages who have come back to help guide mages... but I've found that they often do so for their own goals rather than some 'greater good'.

 Necessity dictates that, to cast Imperial Magic, they must interfere with mortal affairs. It is only the creation of certain sympathetic circumstances that can serve as the focus for such magics... it's why I detest the use of such things.

 That said, they believed the same as you. When I began the destruction of the tower of the leaden coin, they showed up to stop me, fifty in total. If I am correct in my understanding of what they said, that is the full might of all non-Exarch archmages in existence.

It was that conflict that caused Grey to try and defend me."

 Grey looked down, knowing what he was referring to.

Noah leaned down and placed a claw on Grey's shoulder. "There is justice in defending one's creator. It is good in trying to do the right thing. It's the scale alone that was off. And that is something that can be taught. Trust that if you ever see Nidhogg again, you have my full permission to throw rocks at it till it goes away."

Mistral listened to the conversation between Talion and Argentus as well as Prometheus's concern.  At some point during the exchange she slowed her pacing and cocked an ivory eyebrow slightly.  At some point she spoke up, pale eyes fixed on Talion as she challenged him, "You speak of les Oracles with much familiarity, Monsieur Talion, and your fluency in the lost High Speech is rather remarkable, even considering all else remarkable about you."  She crossed her arms, tilted her head inquisitively and then asked, "If you do not mind my asking... were you there when Atlantis was swallowed by the seas, or had you already ascended l'échelle d'argent while it yet stood?"

 Talion shook his head. "Nothing quite so grand as that. I'm not sure if you'll remember, but about 5 years ago, I was paid a considerable sum to map the sea floor. Synthetics are able to easily survive in places that would kill men. In any event, within the Mariana Trench I located the ruins of a city. Despite its ruinous state, it still sat upon and harnessed a powerful artificial leyline nexus so I set Atlas to archiving its history and language.

 As you might have guessed, that city was once named Atlantis... though it was renamed to R'lyeh at sometime thereafter.

Prometheus fell silent. 50 Pentacle Arch Mages. That was it. It was a low number to say the least, especially given Talion had implied that there were more Seers, more Exarchs. Still they needed an exact number.

"50 Archmages of the Pentacle... and how many Exarchs are there? Should we follow your path and climb the ladder once more, what will we face?" He fell silent for a brief moment and then with a shudder said, "Actually....it needs to be asked... do Abyssal Arch Mages exist? Or Banisher Arch Mages? Such groups may unite with the Pentacle to prevent the destruction of a Watch Tower... for they need them too.

But other times they will work with the Exarchs."


As they continued to talk, Prometheus gave a smile to Noah and nodded his head in thanks for the scales. It wasn't much, but they both had other things to do for now.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:49, Tue 04 Feb 2020.

 "It seems that there 11 Exarchs in total, 10 that are still in play. There are most definitely Nephandi archmages… but they work differently than normal archmages and resemble demons more than mages. As for banisher archmages, not so much. The nature of the Abyss would literally sunder their soul in twain if they were to try and ascend."

Prometheus had questions, as 11 seemed like a strange number, but for now it was time to prepare...

Nodding, he moved to get supplies for this next rescue mission.