The only thing that met Argentus's question was the humming of wings and laughter.

 However, as the group finally made its appearance in its entirety, the swarm descended an Mistral nearly went magically deaf as each individual fairy triggered her ward's alarm.

 At least a hundred (maybe more) fairies descended on the group now that they were gathering, all laughing maliciously.

 Scar dashed in front, laying down a spray of fire, using up his last bit of ammunition to allow the group one last chance to act before the swarm was on them, stabbing like a swarm of angry bees.

Once Noah was on the other side he promptly fell over as his eyes rolled around without any means of locking onto something. However, his tail came up and started making a very clear motion as if he was casting to anyone who saw him work after he got his scales.

Matter 2: Control liquid, spending a mana to lock it for the day like any other spell. Not doing anything with the water yet until I get 2 more.

Mistral winced as the cacophony of intrusion alarms blared in her mind.  She would have to account for numbers in future ward formulations, but that was neither here nor there now.

Reacting quickly, she began to stride toward the synths while performing an intricate series of gestures interlaced with cryptic words of power.  At the culmination of the casting Mistral swept her arms outward to project a ripple through space in all directions.  Putting herself between the oncoming fairy swarm and the pair of synth women with baby Alex, she cried out, "To me!"  The ripple coalesced into a warded sphere extending four paces from her in every direction, and hopefully capable of repelling these tiny monstrosities!

Argentus considered the fairies.  He knew it would take time to deal with them all, but perhaps he could at least reduce their fervor.  Rather than targetting them, he targetted the area around the group.  He sought to sap it of the spiritual energy and excitement.  The group wasn't fun, or novel, or responsive.  It was boring, pointless, and every-day common.  Just like the trees or the sand, there was certainly no reason to poke at it.

He asked Jitters if he could try to do the same.  "Jitters, these guys look like they've had too much of the black bean.  Could you try removing that energy from them?  Help them slip into a state where they might feel the need for a drink of black water?"

18:04, Today: Argentus rolled 2 successes using 10d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 7,2,2,9,2,3,9,7,4,6.  Gnosis/Spirit/High Speech.

 Jitters raised his furry armored paws in defiance, raising his fuzzy head still adorned with his tiny tricorne  and began his attempt to make the fairies feel tired... and it worked to some extent.

 Likewise, Argentus could see a few pixies turn to leave as many more crashed against Mistral's new and smaller ward. Unfortunately, Amy was too stunned by the display and Sabrina too absorbed in her own inner turmoil to even notice.

 Which turned out to be fortunate as the pixies began to slip through her ban. In her haste, she had not made a barrier strong enough to hold back all of them and many resisted the effects of boredom and fatigue, descending upon the group to the sound of laughter and fluttering wings.

 They surrounded the group, weapons stinging at them like a swarm of angry bees. Their weapons tore at not only fabric and at flesh, but also at the very soul.

 Amy and Sabrina screamed in agony as the swarm stung at them and Sabrina clutched at baby Alex as numerous pixies tried to snatch him from her mother's arms. The pixies stabbed at Sabrina's synthetic fingers and hands and she began to lose her grip as Scar, covered head to toe in tiny stabbing monsters tackled them both, laying atop the baby and clutching him underneath his body as he was stabbed repeatedly about the neck.

 He stopped responding as a blade finally made it to his shut off button but, as a last act of defiance, he locked his body in a rigid position, shielding Baby Alex from abduction by the pixies. Baby Alex could be heard crying from under Scar's rigid body.

Noah mas mostly fine right where he was as he continued making tail gestures. He wanted to help scar out but up was an issue as much as forward.


2 of 3 control liquid. Blowing another mana on it. Made both rolls but had to blow willpower
This message was last edited by the player at 13:25, Thu 07 May 2020.

pm

pm

 As the party writhed in conflict with the pixies, water came rushing over the side of the S.S. Grey, dousing the group and catching a few pixies inside. The rest backed off, readying for another assault... but you have a moment of respite for now.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:46, Thu 07 May 2020.

PM

PM

Mistral cried out in frustration as the malevolent fairy horde pushed past her repulsion field and swarmed on the attack.  Seeing Scar fight to his very last to protect baby Alex stirred a number of powerful emotions that Mistral was ill-equipped to express or make sense of.  Out of those feelings the ones she understood best just now were rage and fear.

Through gritted teeth and with her placid mask replaced by focused distress Mistral hissed, "I am minded to leave, now.  Objections?"  By now they were all well aware what she meant by 'leave.'  Unless given excellent alternative options, Mistral would re-open the portal through which they'd arrived and would do all in her power to help get the synths through it.  If that portal was too far and the way through the swarm too difficult, she'd resort to arranging a more expedient escape...

PM

Well one of Noahs eyes lulled forward. One half of his brain took over the current water and separated a ball of the pixies before converting it to a frozen sold. The other half took a portion of his controlled water and gave Scar a fire hose push so he would fall, hopefully, into the portal before that mass covered Mistrals way out so any fairie that went in couldn't fly after.

The other half of his mind took charge of the nanites under him so he would sink into the ship. Mistral knew Noah wouldn't leave Grey alone with a bunch of fairies. But also that he wasn't dumb enough to present himself as a helpless target. "It will be wise to be sure Alex didnt get any water in his mouth."
This message was last edited by the player at 04:40, Fri 08 May 2020.

"Object? Far from it. Discretion, valor, you know the drill. These mosquitoes are trying my patience!" Sal's tone suggested his friends should read between the lines, particularly given his nature and personality.

 As Noah sunk into the deck of the ship, a wave of water washed scar and Alex into the portal Mistral had opened, allowing the others to dash after. Soon, everyone was back in the little shantytown, drenched with salt water with their clothes torn to shreds and tiny papercuts all over their bodies which stung mightily.

 Alex was still screaming bloody murder amid coughs beneath Scar's rigid form. Sabrina rolled Scar off Alex and he tipped over rigidly like a statue in his protective position. Sabrina scooped up the baby and began trying to comfort him.

 Amy was in shock. "What were those things?!"

"Vicious little monsters. Also known as faeries. I hope Noah is okay..." Sal said.
This message was lightly edited by the GM at 03:22, Tue 12 May 2020.

Mistral chased the synths washing through the portal and ushered the others in ahead, staying behind last herself.  She turned back to see Noah sinking into the deck and froze, wide-eyed with sopping white-and-blue hair across half her face.  She called back to the dragon as he sank away, "Return and l'Porte will reopen!  Je t'interdis de mourir!"  She backed through and zipped the portal back closed with a pained expression.  Mistral knew the synths needed her help and thought Noah would be safe with his arcanum and control over Grey's form, but she couldn't help but feel as if she'd abandoned him to die.

She went to the synths and checked for damage looking first with concern to the bawling baby Alex, then to Scar, frozen in a final act of guardianship.  Mistral's eyes stung, but surely that must just be the seawater.  She asked the synth women, "Bébé Alex... can he heal?  Yourselves?  Would énergie help?"  Mistral put a hand over Scar's mouth of gritted teeth and spoke a few mystic syllables, then pulled her hand away.  Then she repeated a very similar incantation to cause three small pink balls of pink candy to expand out of nothingness into her palm, which she extended to the synth women to take.

After ensuring that all were secure, Mistral sat cross-legged in the sand and swirled a finger across her brass hand-mirror, eyelids fluttering...

 Amy at against the side of a shack and wrapped her arms around her knees. Just because she was in a synth body now does not mean she wasn't recently a sleeper and the strain on her was evident. "This is surreal. I don't know if I can heal anymore. This is all weird."

 Sabrina paid little attention beyond rubbing one of the injuries occasionally and smearing synthetic blood on herself in the process. It wasn't much as synths do not bleed like humans, but it doesn't take much to make a mess.

 Alex continued to bawl but he didn't seem to be in any particular danger. However, Sabrina wouldn't let him take the candy until she'd chewed it for him first.

 Scar, though light, was completely locked down, the shutdown button stabbed repeatedly until the flesh was an unrecognizable mass. His teeth were clenched and locked in place, making it impossible to put anything in his mouth.

 The three synths, other than Scar, ate their candies with a little prompting, though they displayed little outward appearance of immediate healing.

Sal tries to cheer Amy up, "It gets easier, Amy. Once you get over the learning curve, you can now see the true wonders the world has to offer."

 Amy sat on the hammock, holding her hands together to try and stop the shaking. "It's a pretty steep learning curve, I guess."

 Despite recovering from the pixie attack, Amy smiled at Sal, taking comfort in his words.


 However, there wasn't much time to waste. Hook's crew was waiting for them to help capture Pan.

It seemed that the other synths apart from Scar were in no immediate danger, albeit shaken from their ordeal.  Mistral attempted to scry further into events unfolding back at the ship.  Speaking distractedly, she reported aloud to the others, “Noah has conjured a fog to hamper the fairies, but I can see little more...”  Her eyes continued to shift beneath her lids as she searched, lips moving as she whispered further incantations.

"When you get a chance, Mistral, there's something I need to discuss with you in private. It'll only take a minute," said Sal.

Mistral continued to sit cross-legged in the sand with eyes shifting beneath her lids, senses projected elsewhere.  She answered Sal distractedly, "Bien sûr.  A moment."  Mistral suddenly rocked back with a look of mild surprise, but quickly regained her usual placid demeanor.  She blinked and returned her senses to local space, then stood up and reported, "Noah has wiped out the fairies, so far as can be told.  I will re-open la Porte in a few moments to recover him and Meep.  Whoever would join, are welcome."

Mistral nodded to Sal and took him aside, out of the hearing of the others.  Guessing at the reasons for this talk and hoping to spare Sal the indignity of having to ask, she said straight away, "How much of your supply shall I retrieve?  I will bring more to keep with you, if you wish."  With a few mystical words and a gesture, bulbs of synthetic blood unraveled from nothingness into Mistral's palm in whatever numbers Sal requested.  She offered them to him and then asked with a faint smile, "Now, what else is on your mind, mon ami?"

After the discussion with Sal, Mistral returned to the others and proceeded to unzip the same portal they'd fled through minutes earlier, and promptly strode through it.  The swirling, mist-limned portal remained behind just long enough to transport any who wished to follow, then it closed again.

"Three should suffice. One for now and two to keep with me. Thank you. The blades the faeries used don't harm my body-- they sap my vitae directly, and ravage my self-control. Hopefully we can rescue Dr. Lennis soon. I don't want to find out what faerie blood does if I drink it." After feeding, he goes back through the portal with Mistral.