The wards over Talion's complex remained so they were forced to head to the outside of the area before they could get in. From the outside, they could see that the walls had been covered with graffiti and littered with garbage.

 … but, more than that, the countryside surrounding the complex was overgrown... and not in a normal way. There were vines everywhere. Most of them measured at least three feet long and corresponded to no known indigenous plant life.

 People were still recovering from the storm and so yards were likewise covered in the vines... yards and even roofs that had not been properly cleaned. It was as though nature had completely retaken the land that humans had inhabited only three days ago.

 Talion had given you card keys to gain entry to the complex. A synthetic named Vulcan was supposed to still be there, ready to teach any who would come the art of metalworking.

“L'Institut Adoni has seen better days.  I see that the gardeners have been derelict in their duties.” Mistral remarked drily as the cabal observed the overgrown tangles of vines blanketing everything.  She lowered herself and gently lifted a vine with gloved fingers to get a closer look at it, trying to deduce its nature.  As she examined it she remarked to Prometheus, who had never been here to her knowledge, “Within this complex the walls between this world and the realms Supernal are thinner than anyplace else.  It is... une expérience.”  Toward Sal she said, “How it might affect you I cannot say, Monsieur Sal.  Perhaps not at all.  Nonetheless, préparez-vous.”

As she examined the resonance surrounding the place, Mistral seemed to fade into the periphery even to those looking directly her way.  It became easy to forget she was even there.

Argentus examined the plants as they moved along toward the institute.  He was hopeful that while they were aggressive in growing, they wouldn't be aggressive against animal life.  "Jitters, could you be ready to clear us a path if this stuff starts getting actively unruly?"  He asked the recently emancipated squirrel.

He thumbed his keycard and looked around at the exterior of the Adoni institute in the daylight for the first time, wondering what it must have looked like a few months ago.

OOC: just an FYI, the vines are outside the institute too, in yards, on houses, everywhere, blanketing the wilderness like kudzu.

 Jitters nodded and drew his sword. "It will be done!"

 The gate itself was inside a small guardhouse and, inside lay a destroyed synthetic. The gate mechanism clanked for a moment as the card reader returned power to the structure.

 Once the group was inside, the door automatically closed and the power turned off once more.

 Inside, the institute was covered in the same tangle of vines but was in far less disarray. Within the main wall, there were several smaller, gated communities that served as dormitories for the people working and learning there.

 To the right is the sprawling college building of the institute that was the group's destination and, to the left is another walled off section. Mistral and Noah were the only ones to have seen what was behind those walls (ie. the bringing of the supernal realms together. it's also where Talion's house and all his magic stuff is)

Mistral arose, letting the vine fall, and said, “In case it was not obvious, this overgrowth n'est pas naturel.  The wards upon the complex remain potent and unbroken, but I suspect something has taken residence for which the wards do not account.  Perhaps some experimental work of l'Institut run wild in the absence of its caretakers.  Our will-working is excepted from these defenses, par bonheur.”

Inside the complex, Mistral faded into the vine-shrouded surroundings as she quickly assessed the space for danger.  Her voice came like a whisper out of shadow to say, “Our objective is to the right, on le campus universitaire.  That is where we will find notre ami Vulcan.”  She moved in that direction, unseen to all but the most keen of observers.

Noah was lingering behind as he was keeping low to the ground and moving more like a giant snake rather than clambering around. This was far enough away from people that he was getting around fine but this was Talion tech. So his paranoia was cranked up to the max as he was expecting nano death beam lasers like a daft punk disco. Or phantom pains that give backhanded compliments. Perhaps even a flock of Mondays.

Noah followed along keeping his eye out for a solar beam cannon or something expecting the absolute worst of the worst.

 The closest to the group was the gated community nearest the group. There were a series of houses, all identical, lined up in neat rows around a cul de sac fenced in neatly with a white picket fence.

 Before the storm, it likely would have looked like something you'd see in an 80s TV show of middle class America.


 This looked to be housing where people lived who worked on-campus. The doors were locked and, though everything was overgrown, nothing seemed to be particularly damaged.

OOC: this is a quick rundown of the gated neighborhood. It's a place where teachers live... you'd have to break in somewhere if you wanted to look further.

 Now... to Talion's place (and the place with the stable supernal realms) or to the Institute?

"Thanks, Jitters."  Argentus replied to his most loyal vassal.

Suspecting that he's the only actual metalworker in the group, and frankly not wanting to trespass or pry into things he shouldn't, he kept on track toward the Institute and Vulcan.  He wondered briefly how different working with cold iron would be from forging precious metals, but deep down he knew it would be a very, very great deal different.

Sal followed quietly, wondering about the vines.

Mistral quietly checked for names of the residents, whether on mailboxes or any other sort of directory.  As she searched she said, “Doctor Lennis may hold residence here.  Items of strong sympathy to the Doctor would be of use to me in tracing her, when the time comes.”

---

Wits + Investigation to search for names on the residences, looking primarily for the Doctor’s, but any other interesting names will be duly noted:

• 10:08, Today: Mistral rolled 2 successes using 6d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 1,9,7,9,2,4.  Wits + Investigation.

Noah snaked along staying just about in the middle of the road, poking his head up to look at each place. "Each house has an itty bitty team of nanite clusters present. From the looks of it, they eat leaves and sticks that get blown onto the house to help with upkeep. They would need help to keep the house looking new but it is going to be a long time before any kind of rot sets in."

He set his chin back down and continued sneaking around. "May need to search the primary estate, they had been dating. If the worst-case should happen I did see where she signed her name on the tower, it would give you access to her true name."

 Mistral and Noah

 Mistral did indeed find Emily's house in the Cul de sac though it looked to have been lived in recently and only recently vacated. There were plenty of sympathetic links left behind.


 Argentus (and Sal?)

 Argentus headed out toward the actual Institute and found it to be a sprawling megaplex, with entire buildings dedicated to a single craft or profession. Leatherworking, textiles, robotics, mechanics, electricians, and more. This was the place to go if you wanted to learn to make something or do a job. One thing it seemed to lack were classes related to art, language, or history. It seemed far more focused on marketable skills than educational value.

 It took some time before he found the smithy. Inside, he saw a shop dedicated to all forms of metalworking (an anvil, a forge, metal casting and all manner of tools). In the corner was a deeply tanned and muscular looking synthetic with a leather apron, deactivated and sleeping upright.

Argentus approached the synth he assumed was Vulcan and looked for how to reactivate him.  He had been around a number of them, especially lately, but he'd never had need to learn about activating them.

Mistral found Doctor Lennis’s residence, and quickly gained entry by reaching a hand through a small, swirling portal to unlock the front door from the inside.  Within the darkened residence she spotted a number of personal effects left behind.  She remarked, “The Doctor still lived here up until the day of her disparition.  She had not committed to living with Talion.”

Doctor Lennis’s Adoni Institute professor identification badge lay in a bowl near the entrance, complete with a terrible-quality picture of the woman printed on it.  Mistral tucked this into a jacket pocket and moved on.  She found the main bathroom and began idly searching the countertops.  As she went she wondered aloud, “One wonders if she shares Monsieur Talion’s devotion.  Did he show you the ring?”  She found an old hairbrush on the bathroom countertop and held it up to the light, finding a number of sandy-blonde hairs caught in it.  Into the same pocket it went, and she went to the study next.

Mistral slowly walked along the bookshelves, examining the spines.  She stopped and pulled a book from the shelf, a well-worn and dog-eared paperback copy of Carl Sagan’s ‘The Demon-Haunted World’, with Emily’s name hand-written on the inside cover.  Mistral remarked, “A fine read for un scientifique, and a fitting title for present circumstance, non?  She must have read this dozens of times.  I like her.”  Mistral tucked this book into the same pocket, which one might expect to be bulging by now, though it didn’t in the least.  She turned for the door, running a hand gently along Noah’s scaled flank and saying as she passed, “I have what I need from here.  Onward to l'Institut, mon dragon.”

Later, Mistral found Argentus in the smithy as he examined the musclebound synth blacksmith, who appeared to be inert.  She turned to Noah and asked, “Run diagnostiques?”  She took a moment to supernally-survey Vulcan’s mind to judge its state before moving on to browse the materials on hand.  If Vulcan could make cold iron, she couldn’t help but wonder what other interesting substances he might work in.

---

Int + Mind + Investigation to assess the state of Vulcan’s consciousness:

• 22:45, Today: Mistral rolled 3 successes using 9d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 1,9,10(+5),2,5,6,8,4,2.  Int + Investigation + Mind.

Then Wits + Investigation to see what’s in the shop!:

• 22:45, Today: Mistral rolled 5 successes using 6d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 8,8,9,3,10(+5),10(+6).  Wits + Investigation.

 A quick look at the synth revealed little. However, putting hands on him revealed a small button on the back of his neck hidden under his skin. A quick press and he opened his eyes, waking to life with a bit of confusion. "Wha-? Students? Is it class time already?"

 His voice was enthusiastic and did not quite match his burly demeanor.

Sal said to the burly synth, "Do you know the date and time?"

Prometheus was not an investigator for the most part.... or at least not a searcher. Cyberspace he could do, but not a women's physical life. As such he had followed Sal and Argent into the Institute. He had to admit he was concerned by the knowledge the Supernal was closer here....

For by that same logic, so was the Abyss. Still they had a job to do.

As he followed Sal and Argent into the institute he quickly became distracted by the Vines and lagged behind the group. An experiment, Noah had called it... and maybe it was. But the ease that they brushed it off concerned him. 3 days wasn't very long and they had already consumed a small city block by the looks of things.

Catching up to the rest he said, "Noah.... I don't suppose you can fly up and see how far these Vines go once we go outside again? I really don't want to wake up in a week's time to find them covering all of Long Island."

While he did that, he looked around the room, trying to see if the Vines had entered the building. He would try to sense the Vines if he had to, but he had a feeling Sense Life targeting that plant would possible be a bad idea.

For that matter he wasn't entirely comfortable with the idea of casting Magic in here at all.

OOC:
Prometheus would have started this scene with Organic resilience and Force Sight active, rolls below.


04:33, Today: Promethius rolled 2 successes using 5d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 8,6,3,6,10(+6).  Perception (Wits + Composure).

4:30, Today: Promethius rolled 2 successes using 7d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 1,6,4,8,8,2,2. Force Sight

04:29, Today: Promethius rolled 3 successes using 8d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 4,3,2,7,8,10(+2),9,3.  Life Armor.

 The synthetic looked at Sal for a moment and blinked, as though he were looking at something internally. "It is October 23, 3:27. This is an odd time to have class. Most of my classes have ended by now and this shutdown was not part of my normal maintenance cycle. May I ask what is going on?"

 Strangely, there were no vines inside the institute.

"Talion and I are not close enough for him to have allowed me to see a ring. Given where he is from for all I know he could be a new king Solomon." He smiled at the book. "I half expected 'The Notebook" Novel by Nicholas Sparks. You can learn so much about a person by raiding their book shelves."

Noah took Mistral's contact as comfort and walked like a stalking cat more than a snake. When she came to the forge synth Noah shook his head. "He's in good condition. Looks like he has just been shut down for some time and without a network to lock into he can't get any news updates." Noah set his giant bag down that had been resting between his wings. "Standard model I take it, big guy?"

"Technician log in, the Dragon of Purgatory. Log in passphrase: It was you who broke my mason plate."

He tilted his head side to side as if humming a tune in his head. "The whole network went down and Alyssa is catatonic without a network and she is the closest hub."

"Effectively the whole world turned upside down, Lotta racism hit real fast. We are currently on the mend here on out until we get all syth tech back into full swing."

He nodded at the mention of getting a look around and pulled out one of his little bee drones, offering Prom a slate to control the tiny camera drone.

 The large synth nodded with a smile. "Yes, I am a repurposed labour unit, renamed Vulcan. It sounds as though some terrible things have happened while I was deactivated. I hope my students are okay.

 So, what brings you to the smithy today?"

The lack of Vines in the building relieves Prometheus a little of his concerns... a little. At least it meant the Building likely wouldn't be falling down on their heads.

Using the Camera Drone from Noah, Prometheus quickly flies around the complex, trying to ascertain just how many city blocks are covered in these Vines, and if their is an obvious center to the spread.

As he does so he replies to Noah, "Do you want me to get Alyssa back online? Even if I can't connect her to the company servers I could probably connect her to the Internet via a Satellite to prove the world still exists. She must be fairly concerned given how little warning anyone had." Or going insane... that was possible too. He couldn't imagine suddenly not being able to see or hear the world you normally could, with no one to guide you.

He paused for a moment and added, "Does anyone know if the Campus has some sort of Lake?"

Noah pointed to Argentus and Prom. "You'll want to talk to them about making stuff. I'm here for the lady and the technology. In that order." He smiled a bit. "Not sure the academy is directly part of the synthetic side of the company. For all I know this whole place was made to ready the way for the new towers."

"But do let me know if you need dragon fire or something. I tend to make my own stuff... Thinking of such, is there a synth factory here? I'm dead out of parts for repair or anything else."

He shook his head to Prom, "We need a few hundred synths online before we do anything with her. Right now she is a mother without her kids, all that happens is panic. We really need to go to the synth yards before too long, that would help her more."

OOC: the campus is ocean side... though it's still walled in.


 Vulcan smiled enthusiastically "Of course! What is it you need crafted? There is a Synthetic workshop here, but it's mostly for maintenance and repair."
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:18, Sat 08 Feb 2020.

Noah scratched the back of his head. "I kinda need parts for Alex's mother. And I likely need to upgrade it to be able to pull off the doppelganger system, Dream slash brain dance systems, and the new memory backup system." His tail thumped on the ground a bit. "May need to get you upgraded as well. But that can come in time. Anything I can do for you while I am at it? Not every day a tech drops by."

 Vulcan looked somewhat sad. "I'm sorry, but I'm not authorized to give away school property. You'll need to speak with the Administrator about that. I'm fine, however. All of my maintenance has been taken care of and I have been upgraded with a heat resistant coating to prevent damage... though I am somewhat hungry. If your request is not urgent, would you mind waiting until I return from the cafeteria?"

Noah nodded, "It has been three months hasnt it?" Noah went digging back into his bag, "Not knowing this place personally its not likely anything in the kitchen is still good. Not worry." Noah pulled a few meal bars out of his bag. He always had tons of them as he thought one of the best things ever had been meal bars.

"Ive got a few bottles of water too. Its going to be a bit before we can get everything back online."

 Vulcan tilted his head quizzically as he took the meal bar. "Is the cafeteria staff missing?"

Noah shrugged, "Just an assumption. New York is covered in vines and most synth tech is shut down without anything being turned back on yet. Is it all automated and able to keep fresh without refrigeration?"

 Vulcan thought for a moment and nodded. "And what of the humans? Does no one work here anymore?"

Noah shrugged again, "So far as we know we are the only humans here." He looked down and back up. "Well they are the only humans here. If you like I can try to splice into the security system or do you know if there was any kind of shelter lock down or something?"

Mistral stood by as Noah spoke with the understandably-disoriented synth-smith.  She cut in, "All operations of the Adoni Institute are suspended until further notice, Monsieur Vulcan.  We have been sent by l'Administrateur to seek your help with a new mission.  We must rescue Doctor Emily Lennis, who has been captured by enemies."

She looked the synth up and down appraisingly, then said, "Cold iron.  We will need weapons forged from this material.  Can you do this?"

"I would ask that you not perform any illegal activities while on campus, but, if you're looking for the shelter, there is a large underground warehouse on the north end of the complex that can be used to evacuate people in case of an emergency."


 However, as Mistral spoke, Vulcan's face became concerned. "Miss Emily has been captured? Oh no! I'll help any way I can... Cold Iron. That's something I haven't been asked to work before but I understand the theory behind it. It's iron worked at a very low temperature, just hot enough to make it malleable. The resulting item is far more brittle than other forms of iron."

 Vulcan went to a box and began to pull out iron rich rocks and lay them out on a metal table. He removed the bellows from the forge and replaced it with something smaller, making several alterations to the forge before he began.

Noah nodded once. "Seems like that is the place to go then. Up for a bit of an adventure once we get the iron? I know we need to get going to the realm but it may be a good idea to help people get going while we are gone."

Sal said, "No objections here. Though I do need to stock up on synthetic blood. Oh, Vulcan, can you possibly make cold iron bullets?"

Argentus watched Vulcan carefully and pitched in where he could.  He asked questions like how tell when right temperature had been reached, and how to hot was too hot for it to remain cold iron.  "While getting the iron is the primary goal, I would like to know how to work it - in case the need should arise while we are away."  He explained.

Sal also wishes to learn what he can about the process, and takes notes, either on his slate, or on a notepad if one is available.

Prometheus blinked, and Noah would have felt him loose control of the Drone for a second before catching it.

"We have a problem." He swallowed, "I can't see the end of the Vines. I can see New York and the buildings are STILL covered in vines. As in literally climbing up the sides of the Empire State building covered.

Also....they seem to be gathering near water....both regular and Salt....so its quite possible they have crossed off Long Island. And given that New York was fine 3 days ago, there is some serious question how far they will spread if we leave them, say... another week. Growth, after all, is exponential."

 Vulcan paid no mind to Promethius's explanation about the vines. He seemed only to care for what he was doing, explaining that cold iron was basically raw iron ore beaten into a desired shape over a relatively low flame, impurities mostly intact within the metal. Slag sparked off what he worked as he made his explanation, working the raw iron into a more easy to work with shape.

 "Bullets will be difficult. I'm not a chemist or a machinist, those are two buildings over. I can make the heads but the machining of a bullet and the creation of gunpowder are very different things. I can make most simple tools out of it though. What would you like to make?"

 When the basic prep work was done, he let Argentus and Sal work on the actual forging (assuming they don't stop to attend to Promethius's proclamation that everything as far as the drone could see was covered in vines), leaving Sal glad that his ring subdues a vampire's natural fear of fire.

OOC: Argentus and Sal can now buy a specialization in craft (blacksmith) for 1/2 XP even if they wouldn't normally qualify

Noah moved up and over Mistral for a moment as his wings came down like a big cloak over her momentarily to establish the connection. "Ill be back. Going to patch their repair station." His plan was to give the schematics for the recall and dream systems to it so as they go in for basic repairs over time they get updated.

That or one of the synths tell their buddies about their dreams and they all go in.

Sal says, "That depends on whether said weapons need to be hidden, or even can be. I imagine none of the inhabitants of Faerie take kindly to brandishing weapons designed solely for killing them."

 Vulcan spoke up. "If concealability is a concern, then might I suggest a knife?"

Sal replied, "That's the question. Is concealability a concern? Can you even conceal iron from a faery? Or should we just have Mistral stick everything in, say... a pocket dimension to summon when needed?"

The lack of concern by everyone else about plants able to move miles in days concerned Prometheus...but then again, it was perhaps hard to grasp how big a deal that was, and how much it shattered the Veil.

However it seemed unless he proved they were a threat, or showed their danger in other ways, they would focus on the main task.

Okay....I saw Noah Channel spells through these Drones, through nanobots...and this is the same thing right. I am linked to my Syth tech, and my Syth tech is linked to it. Its eyes are mine, and its will is mine. So, this should work. Maybe."

Closing his eyes he focused on seeing through the Camera, seeing through the eyes of the Drone once more. To slide out of his body for a moment, up the datalink, and into the drone as much as actually possible.

And then, he cast a spell to trace the movement of energy through the vines he saw. Photosythesis didn't produce enough energy for this kind of growth, so it had to be coming from somewhere and flowing through the plant.

If he was lucky it was just feeding on a generator. More realistically it could have taken over a Hallow and was eatting all the Tass to grow. What was terrifying was this was possibly something from the Primal Wilds.



<b>OOC:
04:02, Today: Promethius rolled 2 successes using 4d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 3,2,8,8.  Life + Gnosis (Rest of Dice).

04:02, Today: Promethius rolled 1 success using 1d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 9.  Life + Gnosis (One Mana Spent).</b>
This message was last edited by the player at 17:05, Mon 10 Feb 2020.

Mistral went very still at hearing this news.  She said, "That is... a concern.  The vines are not natural, évidemment."  She considered and then let out a sigh.  "The Tower of the Leaden Coin is no more, as is its dampening effect upon the Primal Wilds.  Monsieur Talion mentioned a possibility of 'over-saturation' from that realm, and I believe we now see it.  I will... make une enquête."  Mistral took a seat at the edge of the blacksmithy and withdrew a small brass mirror, and her eyelids fluttered as she cast her sight afar.


Mistral agreed with Vulcan, "Knives, oui, s'il vous plaît.  Small and concealable, balanced to be thrown.  Such would be ideal for my use."  To Sal she nodded and said, "I can stow the weapons in this way and recall them when needed.  It would be wise, je pense, as it is my understanding that the fae can smell cold iron.  To carry them with us would prematurely signal a threat."


When Noah's wings lifted away they revealed Mistral looking at him with an impassive gaze that might be interpreted as a glare, though with her it could be hard to tell.  She inclined her head and said evenly, "À bientôt."

"That was my assumption when Talion had mentioned the possibility of over-saturation. I saw the vines the last time I went out for supplies-- before the Concilium. I assumed they were a side effect of the magical storm. Obviously the vines are a big problem, and probably a symptom of a bigger one, but surely they are problems that the local mages the MIB, or Talion himself will be motivated and equipped to deal with. Meanwhile, to my knowledge, no one else is trying to rescue this doctor, so I feel we should focus on the task at hand," said Sal in response to Mistral's reaction to the vines.

 Vulcan looked up with a furrowed brow. "Fae? Like changelings? I had a changeling student once. She seemed scared when she realized I could see her without whatever illusions she usually wears.

 Anyway, if we're looking for throwing knives, they'll be a different shape than standard cutting knives."

 Vulcan guided Sal and Argentus through the process of creating them (the XP cost for your next dot in Craft is now halved as well (round down if necessary)).

Argentus worked on the throwing knives with the mastercraftsman, slowly becoming more proficient with the heavier labors involved in smithing.  "I will take a few for myself as well - I'm not much in a fight, but I can at least throw things with some gestured in the direction of proficiency.  And if I'm throwing it, I'm less likely to hit myself on the back swing... hopefully."  He added the last part as a joke... mostly.

When the others mentioned oversaturation from the Primal Wild, Argentus opened his spirit sight to look around, then attempted to draw down energy from that Supernal realm as a test.  He directed the energies to begin his most recent attempt at an avatar, which would float mutely behind him in the spirit realm or in Twilight until he completed it.

01:40, Today: Argentus rolled 1 success using 7d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 1,5,9,5,7,6,1.  Scrutinizing Supernal Spirit Energy.
01:41, Today: Argentus rolled 4 successes using 7d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 2,10(+10,8),2,6,3,9,7.  Scrutinizing Supernal Spirit Energy (round 2).

PM

Mistral turned an enigmatic smirk toward Argentus at his self-deprecating joke, and offered, “I would be willing to provide instruction in l'art martial d'Eskrima, if you wish the blade in your hand to be more a danger to your foe than to yourself.”

The magess continued to sit on the sidelines as the others discussed and worked with Vulcan, eyelids alternately fluttering and gazing to far places.

---

Mist is basically done at the blacksmithy once we get the cold iron weapons, but she’ll hang out until y’all are done :)

Sal will make himself a longsword, then begin working on throwing knives. "Throwing knives are nice, but I want to have something to use when something inevitably gets close."

Argentus started out working on a few throwing knives.  Then, once he felt he was getting the hang of the metal, he pressed on to the weapon that was most likely to actually serve him well: a sword properly sized for Jitters.

 Vulcan nodded and aided Sal in his attempt. "May I suggest an Estoc then? It's a longsword variant with no cutting edge, just a point. Due to the forging process leaving many of the impurities in the metal, cold iron weapons are more brittle than most forms of worked iron, lending themselves to stabbing rather than cutting."

 Argentus eventually came out with a very nice blade for the diminutive squirrel spirit (+2 damage) while Vulcan churned out 10 throwing knives of similar quality.

 Sal, in the meantime, managed to craft a rather nice looking cold iron blade (+3 damage)

 Meanwhile, Noah went off to do his own thing.

Noah shrugged and walked up to the damaged containment unit by slowly snaking along the ground. He was not a plant kind of guy but he did know enough that if something was contained it should still be. He sealed up the unit the best he could with speed tape, often used to fix aircraft. Trimming back the plants from their source.

He did, however, stick a claw into one fruit to extract a seed for Mystral. After the ambrosia apples, it seemed she did like supernatural plants.

This was not his business so with what patching he could do, he moved on to upgrade their repair station.

Prometheus said nothing but his face tightened, like he was beginning to suspect something...

PM

Once he finished the sword, Argentus thanked Vulcan for his time and aid, and gave the sword to Jitters.  He then moved out to see what the others had been up to.

Mistral took one of the first cold iron throwing knives ready from the forge and twirled it, then balanced it on a finger between the grip and the blade to check the weight distribution.  Satisfied, she flipped the knife into her hand and with a quick flick of the wrist threw it into the darkness in the far end of the smithy, away from everyone.  After flying a dozen feet the knife vanished into glowing white mist and then reappeared similarly on the opposite side of Mistral, hurtling toward her!  She snatched the projectile from the air with two fingers and looked at it appraisingly, then said, “This will serve well.  Merci beaucoup, Vulcan.”  With a gesture the throwing knife collapsed inward upon itself, folding into some dimension beyond the usual three, and then was gone.

Dex + Weaponry to do a cool space knife trick for funsies :)

• 23:34, Today: Mistral rolled 2 successes using 8d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 5,10(+2),4,4,4,5,9,3.  Dex + Weaponry.

Mistral spent the remainder of the smithing time quietly scrying to distant places, but when the work was completed she asked Vulcan, “Have you anyplace to stay, Vulcan, considering that l’Institut is closed?  Do you wish to visit Monsieur Talion?”  To the others she said, “The structure to which Noah has gone has vine growth emerging from it, unlike the others.  Since we had best reconvene in either case, I mean to go there to investigate.”

With that said, Mistral left the blacksmithy and went toward the warehouse and approached a broken window with vines sprouting from it, albeit not in sufficient volume to explain the full infestation.  She stopped outside and her eyelids fluttered as she cast her sight inside.

 Vulcan smiled kindly. "This is my home. There is power and food and my students will return. I'm sure of it, and I need to be here at the forge when they get back. Can't have class without a teacher."

 Jitters took the blade with the reverence due a knightly squirrel. "My deepest gratitude, Master Argentus."

Argentus gave a slight bow to the Caffeine Knight.  "An honorable vassal deserves nothing less than the full support of his liege, Sir Jitters."

As he waited for the others to complete any additional tasks they had at the Institute, Argentus continued to imbue spirit energy into his Avatar construction as he refined it.

PM

PM
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:47, Fri 14 Feb 2020.

Once Sal has made his sword and a half-dozen throwing knives (if that is reasonable, given the time,) he says, "I can't do much about these vines, but I need to make a... fuel run. Where should we meet up?"

After a time spent scrying, Mistral returned her awareness to the forge.  She stood and reported, “The vines cover a vast area of multiple of your American states.  This coverage corresponds closely to the area affected by la grande tempête.  The great storm.  The Northeastern seaboard of this country has been reclaimed by nature.”  She glanced to Prometheus and said, “This is a vast breach of the Lie, as you say, mon ami.  I am curious as to how the Sleepers interpret this...”

The white-and-blue-haired magess gave Sal a speculative look and asked, “Would you like assistance in your... acquisition?  If you intend to stockpile sang synthétique for our journey you must visit one of Prince Victor’s establishments.  Is this feasible, au présent?”

Later, Mistral came upon Noah slinking about the overgrown warehouse in a curious way for a dragon.  Her voice emerged from the dappled gloom of the viney interior to ask, “Did you find what you were looking for, mon dragon?”  She unmelded from the shadows and approached the hydroponic station Noah was presently taping up, and with a finger gently lifted one of the brown fruits dangling from a vine.  Looking at it, she remarked simply, “Intrigante.”  She then set to searching about any workstations of laboratory areas looking for any sort of documentation of the work being done in this place.

---

Wits + Investigation to look for clues about this hydroponic operation (6 successes, wowzers!):

• 14:50, Today: Mistral rolled 6 successes using 6d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 10(+10,5),10(+5),10(+10,10,1),5,1,1.  Wits + Investigation.

"You have a point. I can't approach them while the sun is up. However it is not unusual for kindred to send servants or patsies to acquire synthetic vitae for us. If you are willing to go for me, simply say you need to pick up 'emergency supplies' for the 'Harker Urgent Care Clinic.' They will ask which doctor will sign for it, slip them this and say Doctor Suzuki." Sal hands her his dogtag. "They know me there. Tell them they shall be paid 'when the tide rises' so they know you didn't steal this. Hopefully my credit is still good there."
This message was last edited by the player at 23:47, Fri 14 Feb 2020.

Noahs head flipped over to look at Mistral as he hadn't seen her come in. "Just about." He said as he scurried up the side of the wall and pushed up one of the tials in the celing. He extented one claw and let a seed encased in glass come down on a silver thread. "Another supernatural seed for the collection. The seeds themselves are rather toxic, according to Grey with a quick scan. But the fruit is solid enough that it could be the primary staple of a synth diet. Not sure about human consumption but most of what they can eat, people can too. I have no idea how it works but Grey has good scanners."

He snaked up until only the end of his tail was hanging out from the celing. "After this the synths here should be upgraded for memory recall and dreams. It should half the time it takes them to acclimiate to people and hopefully to devlop their souls."

He poked his head out from the celing. "How did you guys make out? Lots of court bane metal for the trip? It makes me wonder if you make a magical focus out of it, would magic used with it work on Fea better?"

PM

Mistral caught the ‘seed’ and held it to a light to examine it.  She brought it over to a laboratory work area and set it down while she rifled through papers, charts and binders.  After a brief search she found a printed copy of a research and development study detailing the properties of the botanical work being done here, and she settled in to read.  Mistral flipped through page after page, looking fascinated.  As she read she remarked, “This is no seed, mon dragon.  The vines are sporiferous.”  She continued reading for another minute until she’d finished, then handed the study to Noah and said, “Très brilliant.  The vines process pollutants, refuse, heavy métaux and the like, and from this fuel produces edible fruit.  The pit is the processed waste, concentrated and sealed within a thin carbon coating, ready to be recycled.  The vines themselves are fragile, and will damage nothing they grow upon, nor be difficult to clear.”  Mistral looked at the pit again and remarked, “I daresay New York being overgrown with these vines is the best thing that has happened to it in centuries.”

As Noah rummaged about in the ceiling Mistral answered, “Oui, we shall be well-armed.  I would ask for the fabrication of une bandoulière to hold many throwing knives together, for swiftness of recovery when needed.”  On the question of whether magic cast through a cold iron focus might have greater effect upon the fae, she considered and then said evenly, “C'est possible, but that is no simple proposition to test.  Sympathy has many uses.”

Mistral called over the earpiece to gather everyone to depart when all was finished.  She informed the others about the true nature of the vine overgrowth, then summoned a portal to return to the S.S. Grey.

A light popped on in the dark celing as he had to look up one of the words. "That is going to be interesting for New York. The plants biomass will infuse the soil, give it a year or two we may be looking at serious forests starting up." He poked his head out as he finished the upgrade. "Honestly though, with a good sepration system the 'seeds' could be processed and reclaimed. Toxic fields turned into resources that could outdo just about mine."

He smiled, "Before we get too far, if we visit the mana reactor I have a shattered seridite teapot down there. Think some magic reflective throwing knives would do you good?"

 The fruit that Noah had extracted the pit from sat on the table near Mistral. From inside, Mistral noticed the smell of the fruit. It smelled of freshly baked bread.

Prometheus attention refocused on the group, "So I can't be 100% sure, given it is digesting dead animals and plants, as well as sunlight, like a Fungus would, AND because its easily growing fast enough to hunt....

But I couldn't see it hunting anywhere. It may just be a scavenger."

To Mistral's question, he blinked and said, "How they will deal with it? Its growing kms per day and digests anything organic...either they hit it with flame throwers or it becomes the only plant/fungus on the planet. And to be honest, given its rate of growth... I think it maybe a bit late for Flame throwers."

He paused, "Maybe bombs? I am not sure how big it is when you said multiple states. If it covers new England, its important to remember the majority of that growth occurred on day 3 of that storm. And by the end of today it will have grown more then it did on day 3.

And if they are really lucky, its not shedding Spores to grow elsewhere."

And with that he goes off to try and find the machinist. Ultimately, this is something only the Sleepers or an Archmage can fix, as any attempt by the party to do so would ultimately lead to more damage to the veil.