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.