After a quick trip by Mistral to acquire fuel for Sal (which was far less expensive than she would have thought) and some water (the facility with the plants purified water for drinking within the facility), they set out on the boat for one of the most infamous areas in the ocean, the Bermuda Triangle. It would take three days to get there so the group had some time to kill.

OOC: time to spend XP


 However, finally they arrived. However, unusually, the navigational instruments did not go haywire as they normally did. Fog began rolling in and Argentus found that Niri had vanished. She'd seemed squirrelly on the whole trip.

Sal takes the time to set himself up a small business, using his newfound knowledge of metalworking, and his artistic skills to create knick-knacks to sell online. If the ship doesn't have a forge, he asks Noah about adding one to the Faboratory. If he can, on the first night, he contacts whoever he got new identities from in the past, to get one that will stand up to scrutiny by the IRS.

"Just sit right back, And you'll hear a tale, A tale of a fateful trip." Noah was booming around the ship as he got out on deck with a large stone slab that was large even for his form. "That started from this tropic port, Aboard this tiny ship, The mate was a mighty sailing man" It was covered in a number of runes that had various meanings. "The skipper brave and sure, Five passengers set sail that day, For a 3 hour tour, a 3 hour tour" He set it down and cut a small wedge before kicking the slab over the side of the ship.

He clapped his hands. "Right, So... who has a pixi handy or do we need to start summoning things?"

"Grey, merge the Kiju system with the boat, we have to take it all with us less the archmages try to mess with you and you end up being forced to defend yourself."
This message was last edited by the player at 03:10, Mon 17 Feb 2020.

 Grey grinned. "Kay!"

 The ship rocked, groaned, and grew as it moved, expanding back to its full mile long size, complete with massive galleon styled sails, portholes and cannons.... hundreds of cannons.

When the wall of fog arose on the horizon Mistral was on the prow of the S.S. Grey, dressed down to athletic wear and drilling Eskrima katas with feverish intensity.  The meteoric iron blade she called ‘Défaiseur’ sang with every lightning-quick slash, thrust and parry against invisible opponents.  At last she concluded her training and stared off into the fog as she daubed away the sweat with a cloth, then left the top deck.

Mistral found the others near the supply cache they’d collected for the journey, and said, “We are near now to the crossing into Pan’s realm, dans l'heure.  Within the hour.  Is all in order?  All that we mean to bring is here?”  She circled the bundled collection of supplies, including rations of water, food, synthetic blood and other necessities, and ensured she had the sympathetic items for Doctor Lennis on hand, as well as the full arsenal of cold iron weaponry provided by Vulcan.  Satisfied, she said, “I will shower and change, then will be ready to depart.  Now all that we require is the pixie dust.  Niri... où est-elle?”

Seeing that Argentus’s little companion was nowhere to be found, Mistral cast her senses about the ship and surrounding waters, but came up short.

Argentus reached out to Niri through their court bond, investing her with the ability to communicate with him from a distance.  He let his concern for her well-being and curiosity as to where she had gotten off to flow through the connection.

PM

Noah nodded as he offered the portion of his oversized crossroads stone to Mistral for portation orientation should the worse happen. "So far as I know. Once we are ready we will be taking the whole ship. This is how this crossroads works, they take ships, planes, moving objects that hold people effectively."

"We should have two masses of supplies, one secreted away and I have worked with Grey to make a saddle I can hunker aroud." He smiled at the mention of a premission shower but left it at that.

Witnessing the ship transform, Prometheus wonders out loud, "One hopes we don't aggravate anyone we don't want too. The Fae realm is large and there is possible more sapient life there then on earth."

However this doesn't sound like an objection, rather an observation. Grey is a force of nature and does largely whats fun for her...getting the ship design to change would be an exercise in futility.

"Huh.  Niri's hiding and doesn't want to be found.  Give me a moment.  "  Argentus concentrated on the small fairy.  Niri, I don't want to compel you to come help us - what's going on?

While he waited for a response he activated his Spirit sight and looked around for other fairies on both sides of the Gauntlet, then for anything else that might be scaring Niri off.

PM

A look of understanding crossed Argentus's face.  Niri, if you'll help me understand the dust, I'm sure I can either make you be able to painlessly shoot fairy it from your hands or manufacture some myself.  Either way, I'm not going to let anyone hurt you to get it.

 It takes several minutes of coaxing but Niri finally makes herself visible, albeit at a distance where she can easily flee. "They're my wing scales and they help me fly. We only shed fairy dust once a year but lots of summoners bind and harvest us for our scales."

Noah sat down listening to the conversation with the mana spirit and her buddy. "You know... if the whole group gets in on it we could do a coven ritual. It would let the whole ship follow you through the crossroads and you'd be no worse off than you are now for it." He nodded once, "It will take an hour or so but if everyone is down for it, "

He thought for a moment, "Argent would anchor it, Mist would have to pilot the ritual. The rest of us would either gas it up or provided support casting." It was their time to shine afterall.

After her own searching failed to find the elusive pixie, Mistral vanished below decks while the others discussed.  She returned exactly seventeen minutes later garbed in the ‘tactical catsuit’ with her shower-damp white-and-blue hair tied back with a particular ribbon.  By the time she’d returned Argentus was negotiating with Niri, who informed that the harvesting of pixie scales was not a pleasant process.  This fact wasn’t a deal-breaker to Mistral, but she elected not to voice that thought since it was evident that Argentus cared a great deal for the welfare of his spirit companions.  She instead spoke up to inquire, “Have we an estimation of the quantité of pixie dust required for the crossing?  Perhaps it would be a... tolerable amount.”

Mistral received the large crossroads stone from Noah and gave it a quick study, then nodded.  “Merci, mon dragon.  It would be a dire situation in which we’d require this to return, but better to plan for such contingencies.”  Mistral was uncomfortable in general with cabal rituals, as she didn’t like ceding control over her will-working with Paradox at stake, but she was aware that sometimes it was the only way to gather sufficient power for certain larger-scale spells.  This would be one such case, and so she quelled that discomfort and said with assurance, “We shall need to discuss les détails of how it would be done, but in theory?  Oui, with proper anchoring and sufficient énergie I could navigate such a ritual.”

Noah smiled and trundled his way down to the pantry to come back with a bottle of "Girl and Dragon" wine to act as one of the sacramentals of a rather involved casting. "I can tap enough power to move the whole ship once but I will need a nap shortly there after." It to a moment for him to remember he needed to explain. "Grey is the ship. She is a lot more easy to transport than a random ship as she can help with the whole thing."

 Grey piped up, looking out at the fog. "Well, we're not building a tunnel, we're just opening a door, yes? The tunnel already carries boats, so maybe it's better to use Spirit Magic to pick the lock?"

Prometheus looks at Noah, Mistral and Argentus in quick succession, "I am not sure about Argent's knowledge of Space Magic, but for a moment I am going to assume he knows a little, just like Mistral knows a little Spirit..."

So turning his attention back to Noah he said, "Have you given any thought to what will happen if something goes wrong? This spell you are planning to fuel is, as far as I am aware, using two Arcana you are completely unfamiliar with. Should ANYTHING go wrong, you will have no safe way to disperse the Magic."

Frankly Prometheus had no idea exactly what would happen. Noah wasn't exactly a normal Mage anymore, and details about unsyncronized riturals were never really given in detail during training anyway, other then 'don't' and 'bad stuff will happen.'

But when it came to Space.... Well spells going wrong could mean your body being scattered over a 90 mile radius. Space was easy to predict what happened when it really went wrong. And it was almost universally not survivable.

OOC: Alright... if we're doing this:

 One person make Gnosis + Prime, one person make Gnosis + Spirit, one make Gnosis + Space, and the last one make Gnosis + Highest Arcanum (to act as a stabilizer for the spell).

 You each need to get 10 successes total without botching to tear open the crossroads of the Bermuda Triangle (which is massive, by the way). If anyone botches, then you can stop.

Argentus looked at Promethius with one eyebrow raised.  "You do know what they say about assuming things, right?  I have little need for the Space Arcana - I can travel quickly to and within the Spirit realm, and I can cast spells at any range on any being in my court."

He considered the project at hand.  "I will not be part of a plan that - if somehow all goes well and it works it works - rips open the Bermuda Triangle.  There has to be another way."

He used spirit sight and prime sight to examine the area they stood, and to look for any way to artificially trigger the doorway with Spirit magic directly.

Noah squinted a bit and sighed. "Have to cut teeth another way then." He set the bottle of Girl and Dragon wine down and clapped. "Young lady, I am willing to trade you one memory from my collection, a copy. And access to both my normal customers and one hour use of my market license."

"That should net you a coin you can otherwise spend as you see fit. I would just offer you a coin but they raised my vault. All for you to see us there and back."

 Niri shys backwards. "Nu uh! My wing scales are what let me fly... also, you stuck me in a battery and blew me up!"

Argentus rounded on the Dragon, fury on his face.  "You can sit your scaley butt down and wait just a coin-flipping minute before interjecting again.  Even if you hadn't imprisoned and exploded one of my vassals, *I'm* the Spirit mage here, and this is my wheelhouse.  Let me handle this."

He stepped forward and poked the scaled giant in the chest with his finger.  "I don't throw lightning bolts at the tech you're working on.  You don't need to resolve your frustration at not getting to end the world as a solution to a small problem by offering to pay something to let you torture it.  Not everything is for sale.  Ever."

Noah got quiet as his eyes zeroed in on Argentus. His neck craned down, down, down until he was level with Argentus. "Theft of the Kiju system without notification, theft of gold without asking. You do throw lightening in my work, its just covered in fur." He reached down and tapped the flask of death with a claw. "When you think to say such again, reconsider that I go out of my way to lift you up."

"Do not assume I would torture anything. I need just a single scale to print more of them as we need them. One scale, if she sneezes its good enough. I was offering to pay for it."

"Think before you try to put that evil on me. I cannot expect everything I ever run into to be your vassal at some point."
This message was last edited by the player at 02:21, Fri 21 Feb 2020.

"My appologises Argent. I was assuming that Noah would only risk himself or me in this, rather then those who don't actually work for him." He glared slightly at Noah.

As the two start to argue, Prometheus is silent for a moment, although its clear he is getting annoyed at Noah feeling hard done by after admitting that this fae wasn't lying, "Noah, most people don't think that trapping and exploding sapient life is acceptable.... The fact Niri became Argent's friend afterwards is irrelevant."

Turning to Argent he said, "Do you have Prime? Prime, Matter and Spirit together would be able to create Pixie Dust... but Prime and Spirit alone should be able to simulate its magical effects. You maybe able to force it with Spirit alone like Grey said though."

Mistral glanced at the bottle of Girl and Dragon wine and shook her head as an enigmatic smirk touched her lips.  She weighed in, "This ritual would indeed have conséquences périlleuses if done poorly, but with Grey's aid we will mitigate the worst of the risk.  Success would provide leverage against Seigneur Pan."  Mistral shrugged and remarked with dispassionate calculation, "The utilization of pixie dust would be far less risky.  It is an unsavory solution, but one must weigh this against the stakes.  There are other pixies besides Niri."

A crease formed in Mistral's brow as an altercation erupted between Noah and Argentus, and she crossed her arms to observe with interest.  She commented drily, "This does not benefit our mission."

Mistral then gazed thoughtfully toward the distant wall of fog and suggested idly, "Consider that rather than enter by force, we might enter by invitation.  Our path must cross Seigneur Pan à la fin, no matter our approach.  Parley could be a more direct means to our desired end."

Argentus rolled his eyes as more people stood up to interfere with his work, and let his frustration carry him away.  "No!  In the name of any of the thousands of gods!  Let Me Work.  We're not torturing any pixies, Niri or otherwise.  And we are still not doing a conjunctional spell that could rip a hole in the world.  And trying to get a Supernal fey to come down here to squelch on his own secret deal?  Not likely."

He started to cut Promethius off, but physically bit his tongue for long enough to hear the other man's full schpeal.  "Yeah.  I know, Prom.  Now let me work.  You are all overcomplicating things."  Argentus tried to pretend he already knew what the Thyrsus suggested, but anyone with a half-trained eye would see through his facade.   (1 success at lying)

He pulled out a sheet of paper and began scratching some notes down.  Over his private bond, he reached out to his own Sprite.  "Niri, please fill me in on all the details of molting.  Is it painless and safe?  Is it determined by season for all Sprites and Pixies, or is it an individual schedule?"

 When the group looked up from their argument, they found that Grey was gone and instead there were two pixies near the door, one silver and one gold. Niri seemed a little freaked out by the sudden appearance of a second pixie. "Wha-? What are you doing?"

 The little silver pixie looked down at its tiny hands and flittered its wings to test them. The voice that came out was Grey's. "This is weird. Anyway, you came back from your battle to save my brothers and sisters all banged up and you rested and cooked here... so I have samples from when you rested. I thought I could make pixie dust if I turned into a pixie... but mine aren't magic."

 She frowned, deep in thought as she flexed her tiny wings slowly.

 Niri backed away from Grey slowly. "Riiight… anyway, we pixies have a yearly molting in the spring where our scales fall off. It's generally not a fun time for us as our wings are really itchy. The dust usually gets gathered up rather quickly after the molting and used for whatever other creatures use it for."

Noticing that she had interjected yet again, Argentus turned on Grey next.  "Et tu, Grey?  Sit back and let me handle this one!"

Noah slapped the deck of the ship with his tail. "The hell man?" He moved to impose himself between Grey and Argentus. Holding out a claw to support her pixie self. "Sorry Grey, he isnt himself."

He walked with Grey to sit by Mistral. "If you want to be 'The Spirit Mage' and fix it solo, then fix it. If you want to be Argentus who is a member of a group, then do it. But do not yell at Grey. She just wants to help and is doing a good job of it."

Argentus flatly ignored the dragon, tail-thump and all, and stared out to sea.

 As the group continued to fight, the fog gathered more densely around the ship. Though Grey's instruments never failed, it quickly became clear that they were not where they should be. A sudden impact on the front of the ship got their attention. Grey had hit a wrecked ship (though she plowed strait through it seemingly without damage).

 There was crunching and grinding as the massive ship hit thing after underwater thing, unfazed by the collisions unlike the hundreds of ships that had come before. Lights flashed in the depths, mostly hidden by fog and shaped passed by beneath the waves, barely distinguishable.

"There.  Welcome to Faerie."  He gestured around at the fog.

He turned back toward the group, looking truly sad.  "And I'm sorry, all of you.  The safest way through the portal was for one of us to give in to our basest self.  Somewhat ironically, pushing you to let me open the gate - if done as an utter jerk - could itself open the gate.  I didn't want anyone else to be hurt, risked, or risking have to do that with whatever their basest drives are, so I did it myself without consulting you.  Please forgive me."

The argument grew strangely heated from mild-mannered Argentus, but then the fog rolled in and there was a subtle shift in atmosphere, followed by less subtle collisions.  Mistral went to the ship’s rail and looked overboard at the lights in the deep, and then Argentus explained.  Her slow clap echoed through the mists, and she remarked, “Assez ingénieux.  I liked the assertiveness, even if it was a pretense.  You might consider indulging your basest self more often, mon ami.”

Mistral went to the prow of the S.S. Grey and proceeded to conduct a number of supernal investigations to understand their present status and surroundings.  She then went to the collection of bundled ‘to-go’ provisions and spent a time scratching a circle of Atlantean runes into the deck of the ship, followed by an incantation of cryptic words of power.  Following this she picked up one of many cases of individual bottled waters and whispered a supernal incantation upon it.  The case appeared to refract and then fold inward upon itself until it vanished into a place-between-places.  Mistral repeated this process for each bundle of provisions until all were sequestered safely away.

Noah closed his hand over pixi Grey, "I'll ask you to not yell at Grey next time." His body temp had risen to the point one could cook an egg on his back and he had a look that he was directly considering throwing Argent overboard. That was his biggest trigger, attacking the people closest to him. "Even if the ritual had failed Grey can sail the abyss. There was no risk in an alternative."

"Dont apologise, make it right."

 Grey sat in tiny pixie form  on Noah's shoulder, pouting as the massive ship crunched into a new wreckage. Off in the distance, they could see a lockheed electra (a type of old plane) crashed into the shallow waters.

Noah closed one eye as he brooded. "Grey, would you mind collecting what you can? You should have a giant cargo now and there will likely be relics worth a fortune to buyers."

"With any luck there is an old military sub you could eat the core out of. Healthy chunk of power."

Mistral went to pixie-Grey on dragon-Noah’s shoulder and touched her tiny winged back with a finger in what she hoped would be taken as comforting.  She said quietly, “Do not take it to heart, ma fille.  This realm is built upon strange capriciosité, and we may be made to play by such rules to survive.  We all understand that you only seek to help.”  She noted the heat radiating off the dragon and gave Noah a supportive nod, though she herself kept somewhere between him and Argentus to discourage any violent impulses.  By her own cold calculus Argentus’s feigned outburst was entirely justified by its success and unworthy of taking offense over, but she also much appreciated Noah’s steadfast defense of those he cared for.

With a sigh Mistral reported, “My sight is constrained in this realm... I cannot scry much further than my own eyes can see.  I sense that this place is far less... constant than our own world.”  Out across the waters Mistral caught sight of the wreckage of a distinctive aircraft design that seemed oddly familiar.  She pointed to the wreck and said, “That.  I would see it more closely, if we can maneuver in that direction.  I believe I may recognize that craft.”

 Grey seemed a bit sullen but nonetheless turned the ship ever-so-slightly in the direction of the plane. It was a wreck... but was in better condition than most crashed planes, considering its age an that it had been soaking in salt water for a very long time.

Sal said, "What's done is done. If one of us had to give into our inner darkness to get here, we should all be glad the worst he did was yell at Grey. I'm sure he feels terrible about it. A guilty conscience is punishment enough." Sal's own conscience may be a threadbare ruin of what it was when he was alive, yet still it stained everything he did.

Mistral was a firm foundation and if she didn't want a fight, Noah wasnt going to fight.

Noah clapped his claws and started a working. If all low tier magic could allow a mage to take in various forms of perception, emitting it was the same effort. He created a small ball that was made up of every school of magic. He blew a falme into its core to give it the light needed to cut the crossroads hidden nature.

A magical spotlight that would allow mages to ignore the fog for their other senses. He offered the ball to Mistral, she being the only one who has seen Noah use the tail scale to handle magic, lending to her using her nails to handle it rather than other methods that take more work.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:06, Sat 22 Feb 2020.

PM

Mistral looked over the rail to the wreckage and then requested of Grey, “Mademoiselle Grey, would you take this aircraft into the hold?  Keep the wreck as intact as possible, s’il vous plaît.  Do you wish to aid me in its analysis?   I believe it to be of importance historique.”

Mistral received the glowing sphere from Noah with an inclination of her head.  She looked out into the thick fog surrounding them, then removed from a jacket pocket a dog-eared paperback book, The Demon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan.  Mistral then started toward the ship’s bridge, saying as she went, “Now, the purpose for which we came.  I will attempt to descry the Doctor.”  Mistral arrived in the bridge and arrayed on a table before her a round brass mirror, the spotlight sphere, and the book.  She then stood overlooking these, closed her eyes and breathed in.  Then, she began a ritual of flowing gestures and words of supernal power to cast her sight afar to wherever Doctor Lennis may be.

 Grey smiled energetically at Mistral, though she still seemed a bit dejected, and turned the ship to the plane, lowering a hatch to swallow it in one gulp, ripping through the reef it was sitting on in the process with a grinding crunch, leaving a large chunk missing out of the reef, the ship unharmed, and the wreckage safely in the hold.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:47, Sun 23 Feb 2020.

Noah smiled finally.

Noah clapped his claws once again. "Sal, may I beg of you to loan me your sword a moment. I'll set up a similar hidden omni working that should trigger on your own senses. It will help if they veil our senses."

He nodded at Prom, "Have you considered upgrading one of your cables to nanotech?"

Mistral was momentarily alarmed by the way that the S.S. Grey ate the wreckage of the Lockheed Electra, for lack of a better word.  It turned out, however, that removing the ship as well as the reef it laid upon was a good way to avoid damaging it.  Mistral turned the elfin godling an approving eye and even a slight smile, and said, “Very clever work, ma fille.  Merci.”  A quick glance to Noah, and a knowing nod. 

Mistral returned her awareness to local space with a hiss and a grimace.  After a time with head bowed and eyes shut she said, “I can not locate Emily yet, but I did discover why I cannot see beyond the fog.  It is because there is nothing, save for the howling void.  We have not yet arrived in Arcadia, but we do sail toward it upon a slender, Fae-woven thread of sea and reef suspended in the Abyss.”  Mistral looked up at the others and said, “We have further to sail yet.  Grey, can you perhaps consume the wrecks in our path?  It would be a smoother journey.”

Since there was time yet to sail, Mistral invited Grey and any others who wished to come down to the hold to investigate the wrecked aircraft they’d taken in, along with the reef it had rested upon.  She looked upon the derelict craft and made a slow circle of it.  She said, “This is a Lockheed Electra, Model Ten.  A heroine of mine, a pioneering pilot by the name of Amelia Earhart famously disappeared while flying an aircraft just like this, in the year 1937.  Neither she nor her plane were ever found... until now, perhaps.”  Mistral climbed up the reef and began to carefully examine the craft, peering inside.  To Grey she asked, “What can you tell me of it, ma fille?”

 To Mistral's request that she could eat the wreckages, Grey grinned. "Kay!"

 Grey walked up to the glass of the craft, where it looked like an impact had occurred. "The pilot hit a fairy."

 She pointed at the crack in the glass. "Fairy dust, see?"


 As they examined the ship, their passing was marked by notable crashes, crunches, and grinding noises, marking Grey's lumbering, destructive sailing path through the reefs and wreckages. None of the impacts seem to be causing damage to the ship though... if anything, the ship seems to be gradually increasing in size.

Prometheus lost focus very briefly as they transitioned to the fog bank, although he does seem to Shiver before his attention returned to Argent. Smiling softly, he said, "Apology accepted. Finding a way that didn't use Mana or Magic is always the best course of action."

As Noah turned to Prom, Prometheus considered what Noah had said, "Its already Synth-tech so I am not entirely sure how big an upgrade that would be. Regular cyberware can't mesh with a brain like this... as you said when you did this to me. The cables, the anteeners, and the like are just for show. There is not wires in these cables, despite how it appears, its all already optic fibre.

PM
This message was last edited by the player at 02:14, Mon 24 Feb 2020.

Mistral actually approved of his methods, was shocking.  Prometheus had forgiven him.  Noah's reaction was actually less severe than he had anticipated, and it was good to understand some of the man dragon's frustrations.  It was time to start working on things.  He mentally summoned Jitters.  "Sir Jitters, your hijinx regarding things that belong to Noah must end.  Grey is a free-willed being and you may use her things as she allows, but you must ask Noah's permission to use his - whether it is for the bean or anything else other than immediately saving his life."

He next turned to Grey, who hadn't seemed to notice his apology at all.  "Grey, I'm sorry for yelling at you.  It was the safest way I could think of to get us here without you having to find a way to blind yourself, and I really didn't want that.  Let me know if there's anything I can do to make it up to you.  Up to and including you as a partner when I finally get to rebuild my coffee shop."

Noah shook his head. "We are family, another road is to be used to make it right. His rank up has defeated his health. Instead of being chased for gold he will spend his monday mornings in training with me. He is a terror to humans, it is time he learns to be a terror to beasts so much more powerful."

"Do you have issue with this?"

"As to mending yelling at Grey, bravo. She is family and letting her help will make it right. Your efforts to fix it show your true colors. A banner worth holding." He exhaled dragon fire and caught it in another spell.

"Hand me your casting tool. Omni magic with dragon fire will destroy anything less than a mages tool or the will of someone who knows how to handle Dragon fire." The closer to Tír na nÓg they got the more weight it had on him.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:16, Mon 24 Feb 2020.

 Grey pouted still. It was the first time anyone had ever seen her be anything other than an enthusiastic young child. "You yelled at me. No one's ever done that before. I don't like it."

 However, roughly at that moment, before anyone could speak, the mist finally pulled back, revealing bright sunshine, perhaps brighter than what they'd left, even though they'd arrived at the triangle around noon.

 As the mist parted, Noah underwent a stunning transformation, scales and claws thickening and elongating into sharp plates and terrible claws, far more fearsome than before. The scales were golden (rather than mother of pearl) and had the texture of sandpaper.

 Meanwhile, Grey dropped to her knees, immediately assuming her child form. "I don't feel so BLARG!"

 She went into a vomiting fit, regurgitating the liquid metal that composed her form all over the deck of the ship in a far larger quantity than her form would indicate.
This message was last edited by the player at 10:28, Mon 24 Feb 2020.

When Noah asked for Sal's sword, he happily obliged. He smiled in admiration of how Grey ate the ships in the way, though when she began retching all over the deck, he said, "Are you okay, Grey? I hope we didn't push you too hard." He wondered if that were even possible, but kept that to himself.

Argentus nodded to Noah and conveyed to Jitters.  "The restitution has been requested of you.  Unless granted leave by Noah, you are to appear to train with him every Monday - the Day of Double-shots."


He held up the brazier end of the Strophados.  "Will it interact with already active spells?  This tool is also the anchor for the spell establishing my spirit court.  I've got a tool here that's not doing anything if that would be a wiser choice."


When Grey started to have issues, he considered what he knew of the realm they were entering.  "Grey, I'm just spit-balling, but this might be because you ate what the realm thinks is its - poetic justice and all.  Can you return some of what you've taken and see if it lessens?"

He looked over her with Spirit and Prime sight, seeing if there was anything else he could see or do to aid her.

 The rotound squirrel spirit acquiesced to Noah's restitution without complaint as Grey continued to get sicker. She lay in a puddle of her own liquid metal retching violently. She seemed to be wasting away physically with each bout. "There's something hurgh wrong with this BLARG… place. I don't like it!"
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:15, Tue 25 Feb 2020.

Noah crushed the orb into Sals sheath. "This will boost your already keen senses. When you want to use it, draw your sword and point the empty space of the sheath like a flashlight. This one is tuned to you, but be aware it wont last forever."

Argentus' tool had the omni orb in it like an ember. "Its an augmented focus effect. Think of it like putting a red glass in front of a light. It wont tarnish the light, only change its color past itself. It's a divination enhancer to counter fea tricks."

Noah took his change like he had a cramp. Twisting back on himself like a wounded snake. He had assumed comet dragons to be morphic as they travel to strange realms, but the fair folk had been a strange land indeed.

When he was done he walked like the world was made of thin ice. "Time to hide little one, daughter of the thorn." He blinked as if he was speaking normal english and his tongue was twisting the words. "The realm says to never grow old, never do, never pass. You are the daughter of progress. Time to hide little one."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:18, Tue 25 Feb 2020.

Mistral was inspecting the cockpit interior when Gray piped up with an explanation of the spiderwebbing impact in the windshield.  She went to have a look at the damage from the interior, closely inspecting where the elfin godling indicated.  Mistral remarked evenly, "Intrigante...  Unfortunate, for both the fairy and l'aviatrice.  This craft is identique to Earhart's in make, model and year.  Too near a match for coïncidence."  Finding the damage to the aircraft to be less than catastrophic and lacking any evidence of remains, Mistral remarked, "This crash was peut-être survivant."  She continued the search the interior closely, with more senses than just the physical.


There was a shift in the atmosphere that signaled a dimensional transition, and so Mistral abandoned her investigation for now and returned to the top deck.  There she found Noah mid-transformation and Grey retching up liquid metal under bright sunshine.  By instinct she looked out to whatever horizon might be visible to assess any immediate threats, then went to Grey to put a hand on her heaving back, "I will move you from here into my spatial interstice if it would help, ma fille."  She turned a questioning glance to Noah, silently posing the question of how to resolve the matter.  Mistral looked over his transformation to a sharper, golden-scaled version of himself and asked him, "Are you well, mon dragon?  Was this métamorphose intentional, or adaptatif?"

Noah nodded once, "The sands of WonderLand move seven directions. The child who stands as a shield to kill Nidhogg can dance in all but one. A single seed of a dandy hates to sit still." Noah blinked as if he had spoken german in reverse. He sighed a moment,  He shook his head.

Sal said, "Noah's words don't seem to be matching his thoughts, now. I'll take them down, in case they are important, nonetheless." Sal made a note in his slate.

With the ways the realm was affecting the more magical of the beings among them, Argentus grew concerned for his spirits.  He called to each and enquired after them: Jitters, Niri, Harry, and Polt in order.

 Grey heaved and retched, unable to answer Mistral, and, when she put her hand on her, found that her form was melting away. Moments later, she collapsed into a puddle of liquid metal on the ship, leaving behind only a latticework heart, made from ectoplasm and glowing softly with prime.

 The ship itself shut off as Grey collapsed but the ship itself showed no signs of destabilizing. That said, it had powered down completely.

 Jitters, Niri, Harry, and Polt all seemed fine, though Argentus found Jitters to be particularly distraught over Grey.

Noah had a sad look as his wings slowly spread around the group to prevent the wind from afflicting her heart. "Sweet child of progress and change, sleep now and dream good dreams." He looked at Mistral as he started producing ectoplasm. It was unwise to touch that much raw prime by hand and only ectoplasm could touch her soul.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:27, Wed 26 Feb 2020.

As Noah talks to Grey, a voice comes from Prometheus' direction. Stupid, stupid Dragon....Arcadia isn't against Time, isn't against Death. Death is here...it can just happen before, after, above or sideways of that same individual's birth. As for words and actions...doing....fate is fickle...both, neither, words and blood are the same. You can even drown in them both."

Despite this, Prometheus lips aren't moving, and his face looks utterly confused, Finally he said, "I....Can hear her now?"

"Wait, wait, wait....he can hear me now? Is it because my blood still stands on the Tower... a part of me is here...but...wait...HELLO PROMETHEUS...damn you are deaf. Read my damn book and never say thank you at all, and ignore my words... unreasonable. Thats what you are, unreasonable, and then you tried to burn it. Seriously, I mean yes it was following you, but thats hardly my fault. There is a reason new recruits to the Mysterium were given the Grimoires to sort...." The voice has a slight echo to it, but it is definitely there.

Prometheus at this point has realized that everyone else can hear this voice as well, "Ummm, Lola was it..."

"...Don't interupt while I am ranting at you. I may never get to do this again. Seriously, you read someones diary...yes it was a diary, no you can't remember it all, and yes thats a good thing or you would be as insane as me....hmmm, or at least thats what the Guardians say...I still object to them killing me over a few simple pets, most unreasonable, most unreasonable. I wasn't even doing anything evil at that point. I had quit evil. Kinda. Can you quit evil? Is their paperwork I missed? Go to your local Guardian Office and fill in the 'I am not helping people commit evil things anymore, I decided I like living' paperwork? It would explain a lot....."

"Seriously....Lola...." Prometheus looks to Mistral and Sal seeking help, and then at Noah with an expression that only can be covered with, 'I can explain, I swear.'

"...Again with the interrupting. This is why I dated a Vampire, can't have kids if you are dead. Well you can, but its far more bloody....also I think it counts as theft. Or Kidnapping at the very least. Why are humans not considered theft? Is it not the same thing as stealing someones dog? Surely living things should all be kidnapping and all objects should be theft, how are humans something special. Anyway, no kids, means no rudeness... much better to go with Spirits, regardless of form....

"Lola... you've sidetracked again," Sal said, helpfully.

"...Sal's don't interrupt me as I am rep...reman...ding...." Lola trails off, slowly coming to the logical conclusion.

"Sal....did you touch my stuff...." she sounded nervous.

Prometheus, quite patiently said, "No Lola, you are smarter then that. We are in Arcadia now....what are the rules..."

There was a long moment of silence, before you all heard the whisper, "Prometheus....do you think Noah can eat my as a disembodied voice? Is that a thing Dragons can do?"

Noah was recording what was going on but he was focused on Grey's soul and Mistral more than anything else. However when there was a voice from thin air Noah's tail, now massively longer and flat like a pangolins, started shaking and curled causing it to rattle like a massive rattle snake.

Before departing the wrecked aircraft in the hold, Mistral collected what physical evidence she could find.

Mistral’s eyes widened with distress as Grey’s elfin form melted away into silvery puddles on the deck.  The magess went to her knees and could only stare at the glowing latticework vestige as the S.S. Grey went dark, the vast neon-green hulk groaning as it settled into inertness.  Mistral turned to Noah with a stricken expression as he spoke utter nonsense, but she seemed to listen past his words.  She said nothing, but performed a quick gesticulation and unraveled from nothingness a glass tube with a small hunk of silvery stone within it.  Mistral carefully opened the lid, and held the open tube out toward Grey’s heart and Noah as well.  She whispered, and from her outstretched hand flowed a pale vapor that swirled in twin winding trails, one seeping into the tube to swirl in a tiny vortex about the stone, while the second curled about Grey’s heart, beckoning it.  Mistral laid a hand upon Noah’s rough-scaled shoulder as she waited for something to happen, and a tear fell unnoticed down her cheek.

 Unfortunately, nothing seems to happen as Mistral tries to revive Grey. The latticework heart remains on the deck, pulsing with prime as though beating.

 Suddenly, the group is faced with another problem a BOOM out in the distance and a CRASH of an impact to the side of the boat. Out in the distance, a small boat (absolutely tiny compared to the SS Grey approaches, flying the black skull and crossbones.

 Pirates...

Noah flicked his wrist like he was popping it as the ship was attacked, the shot not even registering. On the tip of his claw was a line of Greys material comming out from behind his claw. "She and I are we. So long as my flame burns, she will never sputter and die."

He pressed the little blob of nanite to the heart before covering it with the ectoplasm. "The child weighs more than the sun to magic. But just as the dead like dirt, she likes her element. She clings to it like a seed on the wind."

He suspended the heart and ectoplasm with the chunk of deactivated Grey stone in the tube Mistral manifested. "Into the space between spaces where you rule Lady of the Mist. Come hell or the grim rider the little one must be spirited away first."

He looked at Argent through the corner of his eye. "A silver sail has no need of a shield from threats unarcane as nothing save the loss of its soul can prevent it from healing. A ship's soul now slumbers and a boat is now made of paper."

He draped his wings around Mistral.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:46, Thu 27 Feb 2020.

With Grey's latticed heart now suspended in ectoplasm within the small tube, Mistral sealed the lid.  She nodded solemnly to Noah and then closed her eyes.  The tube's aspect shifted, seeming for a moment like a huge thing seen in the distance, then rolled into a shrinking polychoron before imploding into the place-between.  Draconic wings folded about her, although the sandpaper scales and proliferation of spikes made the hug somewhat less comfortable than usual.  Mistral tried not to show her discomfort, but she did have to extricate herself from the hug with some haste.

After this Mistral simply watched with bemused interest as Lola the possessing ghost rambled on a mad tirade, as she was known to do.  Before she had the chance to weigh in on Lola's sudden ability to communicate, there came a distant explosion followed by something striking the ship.  Mistral went to the rail, caught sight of the peculiar little ship, then took cover against a nearby wall.  She remarked drily, "Pirates.  I expected to encounter the unexpected in this realm, but this is quite peculiar.  A curious anachronism of un royaume intemporel, perhaps."  Her eyelids fluttered as she cast her sight down closer to the approaching vessel to better see what approached.

Prometheus looks at Noah's tail and then Lola said, "I'll be quiet. Promise."

Prometheus then turned his attention to Noah, "Should you wish it Noah, I should be able to cast a spell that will help....kinda. Your words are twisted but your emotions should remain true, thus the same way I can commune with animals, feelings, instict, vague messages and understanding MIGHT work. "

Lola, for her part, managed to remain quiet till the Pirates arrived, "Pirates... I didn't get to pirate ship when I Awakened. How is this even remotely fair."

Prometheus sighed, "For some reason I doubt they are going to gift us anything Lola..."

He remebers the cannons from earlier, "Noah, wait,  no, Mistral, do you know if those will work if Gray is disabled?"

 As Mistral ran to the side, she saw that the cannonball had hit the side of the ship and, unlike everything else that had impacted it up until now, this had done damage. There was a gigantic hole in the side of the ship far larger than what a cannonball should have been able to do.

 More shots rang out, each hitting the leviathan of a ship and carving out huge holes.

As her eyelids fluttered Mistral answered distractedly, “I would doubt it, but la technologie is yours and Noah’s expertise, not mine.”  She opened her eyes nearer to the approaching pirate ship, her expression growing more grave by the moment.  She blinked and returned to her local senses and cursed.  “Merde...  An experienced crew of sixty sailors bearing cold iron blades and flintlock pistolets.  The ship’s name is Le Jolly Roger and the captain is an imposing fellow with a waxed moustache, a peg leg and a hook in place of a hand...”  Mistral looked out to the crescent isle that now looked rather familiar, pinched the bridge of her nose and groaned, “Messieurs, I hardly believe what I must now say... but I am afraid that we may have sailed ourselves to Neverland.”

Mistral looked toward Noah and suggested, “Their cannons wound the ship more than they ought to.  I find this unacceptable.  Perhaps a touch of dragonfire would prove a deterrent?”  Meanwhile, she went to the rail and observed the ship’s course and located the rough locations of its cannons, then withdrew her brass mirror focus and began to weave circular patterns in the air before her.  A faint vortex of pale mist began to coalesce in the air on the pirate ship’s path, widening and growing more distinct by the second...

 Mistral sees three men get dumped suddenly into the ocean as the Jolly Roger closes in. The cannon fire stops, however it would only be another minute or so before the pirate ship had closed in.

 In response to Promethius's question, Noah found that he indeed could not access any of Grey's offensive or defensive capabilities.

 There was also the issue of Amy, Sabrina, and Alex below deck... simply protalling away would not be an easy feat... and bringing them with would entail dangers all their own. Bringing them with had seemed the safest option at the time with Grey as their protector...

but now...
This message was last edited by the GM at 10:34, Fri 28 Feb 2020.

"Lets see how they like modern weaponry," Sal readied his rifle, and looking through his scope, tried to determine the best target. If he saw the man Mistral had described as the captain, he would take a shot, putting everything he could into it.

Noah was still for a long moment as was attempting to submit a string of code to Grey through that link Mistral had set up. I'd it didnt work he had another idea but it would take a ritual.

Once, using a mix of mind and space, he had at least attempted to send Grey a reboot code, he then moved to address the other issues.

To prom he shrugged. "The tongue dances as if at the goblin market. If arcane wonders can splash upon dragon scale and the rhythm of elven song, consent is given."

He pressed his lips into a thin line when Mistral mentioned us ohhhh ng dragons fire. "So early to paint the sky with star fire. Yet if Hook resides there the dead he has slain will surely rise to fight."

He started breathing in as his chest expanded. He did not want to tip his hand as his breath weapon was not something he wanted to use often. But this was Hook. The Hook. Trained at Oxford, Son of nobility, master swordsman, and the only man Long John feared.

And that's when it stuck him. Hook had one weakness.

Noah turned his head aside the Jolly Roger and let out that beam of heat into the ocean. He arked over and up to make a crescent. Drawing the beam across Hooks top most and main sails. It wouldn't founder the ship but with boiled sea water, a fire, and a wounded main sale... adding in the wtf factor.

And the sniper fire, and the vortex, and whatever else. There was a hope Hook would see the cost of open attack to be of no value. That would give them time to set up a dial up connection to Greys core.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:44, Fri 28 Feb 2020.

Prometheus frowns in thought, trying to figure out what, EXACTLY Noah was saying.

The Dead he had slain was probably useful, but this is Arcadia, and their is no guarantee bringing forth a second Set of Pirates would be any more friendly then the first.

However, "Everyone, lets not waste the rounds or Magic....if Mistral is right we don't need to destroy the ship, contact the dead nor do we need to find Pan or any other Fae. Fear is Hook's weakness."

Lola however interrupted him, "Tick, tick, tick, tockity, ticky tock. You're gonna be eaten by a Croc. See this is why I am glad I came home. Arcadia is AMAZING! Except for the Fae... trixie, trixie people."

Prometheus sighed, "It should be a simple Forces spell, and we can then save the ammo for the rescue."
This message was last edited by the player at 18:01, Fri 28 Feb 2020.

 Even as trained a marksman as Sal was, his excellent shot seemed almost anticipated by the legendary swordsman. He raised his hook and jerked back at the last moment, turning what would normally have been a fatal blow into a slight scratch and a destroyed hook, still, he withdrew from his station at the head, shouting orders.

 Noah then opened his mouth and launched a ball (not enough successes for a beam) of raw plasma into the ocean, creating a steam explosion and chaos aboard the ship.

Argentus looked at Noah, and heard Marlin's voice when first meeting Dory: It's like he's trying to communicate!

When Sal took his gun out and started firing, Argentus also pulled his out.  Argentus doubted he had the skill to hit Hook - or any other sailor for that matter - at this range.  Instead, he took aim at the largest and softest target he could find.  The center of the mainsail, with an attempt at hitting the mast through it.  He pulled the trigger, and hoped that the lightning rage spirit contained in his gun still survived.

When Promethius spoke, Argentus responded, "I've not the Forces mastery to make that, nor does my gun use ammunition."  He pulled the trigger at the mainsail again, or if he had already made it unusable, at another sail.

Sal said, "Roger. Can someone take out their powder stores, though?
 Surely, they have more than three men trained to work the cannons."

Noah did a small clap for Sal, making one hell of a shot. He tilted his head side to side, "Turn lost prince, turn the hell away." Noah leaned forward and started a galop before diving off the front of the SS grey.

Noahs plan was to get to the bottom of hooks ship and start using the razor sharp fey claws the realm stuck him with to start poking holes in the chinking of the underbelly of the ship. He would have to dig through the barnacles but pangolin lookin dragon gonna dig.

 Argentus fires his weapon but there isn't nearly enough charge remaining in the lightning gun to clear the distance between the two ships. Harry and Niri begin trying to work on something to let Argentus cross the gap.


 There was a small pause as the ocean erupted into steam around them... but the bombardment began once more... this time in earnest. It was no longer single cannonballs but rather the sky was now filled with small balls of lead.

20:41, Today: Manofdusk rolled 1 success using 5d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 10(+1),5,1,4,3.  damage to Promethius.

20:41, Today: Manofdusk rolled 1 success using 5d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 4,5,1,8,5.  damage to Mistral.

20:41, Today: Manofdusk failed (no successes) using 5d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 4,1,3,2,7.  damage to Sal.

20:41, Today: Manofdusk rolled 2 successes using 5d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 10(+7),2,9,4,3.  damage to Argentus.


 The sky darkened as the leaden fury filled the sky, striking in an avalanche of concussive force, sending debris flying in all directions and ripping chunks out of the now fragile ship

PM
This message was last edited by the player at 02:54, Sat 29 Feb 2020.

In reply to Argentus (msg # 83):

PM

PM
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:04, Sat 29 Feb 2020.

"Take cover! Let Noah do his thing!" Sal said, before taking cover himself.

Mistral was annoyed to see only three hapless crewmen tumbling through her misty vortex into the distant sea.  She’d hoped for more, but at least the cannons were silenced, albeit briefly.  Then came the full fusillade of grapeshot raining down upon the S.S. Grey, peppering them with burning shrapnel, which she managed to narrowly avoid.  Unacceptable.

Driven by a cold fury that these scoundrels dared to fire upon her people and her ship (which was also a very important one of her people), Mistral focused her spatial weaving across a broader expanse to leave no escape for the cannon crews.  Swirling mists coalesced into an immense horizontal vortex wider than the pirate ship it intersected.  This time, she fully intended to empty all sailors on the Jolly Roger’s gun deck into the sea.

Dragon wings are little more than arms with giant fingers that are webbed. And there was one thing that webbed fingers did very well. He was doing a galloping fly through the water to cover as much 'ground' as he could as fast as he could. His target was the bilges for the ship, if he could hamper their ability to deal with water and poke a few holes in the ship, with all else that was going on, the ship would hopefully turn.

If not that he was going to teach a crocodile to fly.

 While he was no Olympian swimmer, he plunged into the water only to realize just how difficult it would be to swim with pangolin scales. Still, he managed a weird wing flapping doggy paddle through the water, though he was nowhere near as fast as the ship without Grey propelling him.

 Mistral's sweeping portal saw another 6 men falling into the ocean far away, prompting 2 rescue boats to be deployed to go get them. The Jolly Roger was getting very close now. It wouldn't be long before the crew would be upon them.

 Another volley of shrapnel rang out, this time much more accurate than before.

17:47, Today: Manofdusk rolled 4 successes using 10d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 8,4,6,5,9,7,8,6,10(+2),6.  Damage to Argentus.

17:47, Today: Manofdusk rolled 1 success using 10d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 6,4,4,6,7,4,10(+1),5,5,6.  Damage to Promethius.

17:47, Today: Manofdusk rolled 5 successes using 10d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 1,9,9,1,9,8,8,5,5,3.  damage to Mistral.

17:47, Today: Manofdusk rolled 3 successes using 5d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 2,7,5,3,10(+10,8).  Damage for Sal w/ "Take Cover".

Sal takes fire, but soaks some and heals the rest, then seeing Noah struggling in the water, and the ship getting closer, decided he needed to return fire, in case Noah failed to stop the Jolly Roger in time. He takes aim at the cannon crew. If he can hit somebody carrying an open flame, he'll do that, or he'll try to get the loader while he's holding the load, but before he puts it in the cannon.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:14, Mon 02 Mar 2020.

Noah poked his head out of the water like a submarine before realizing he was not making good time. So, he used the same trick that he used when he had stolen the EMP back at Talions yacht. He took control of the water around him to move through the ocean at high speed. If it allowed him to attach to the bottom of Hooks ship he would do his best to shove that mass into the first hole he would make.

He had a ship to semi sink.

Prometheus curses, taking cover as the bullets spray the ship. He had really hoped that either Argent or Noah could do it...

But Argent said he could not, and it looked like Noah was Noah.

"Admittedly if I was a giant fire breathing Dragon, of course replicating the noise an Alarm clock makes would seem like the boring option. Tick tock, tick tock may work, but you have to admit fire has WAY more style and flair."

It was in this exact moment that Prometheus realised EXACTLY what it meant to have someone who could hear what he was thinking able to be heard by everyone else.

He didn't like it... not one bit.

"People with bodies don't get to complain. Now are you going to try and summon the croc or not."

"I will be glad when we leave Arcadia," Prometheus said as he cast the spell.

"NOOOOOOOOO that's not how this is supposed to work. I want to see my Brother. I want to trace my name on the Watchtower, I want to see if my sister escaped to here or if she lies still in the Endless darkness, drowning for my folly."


OOC: 11:36, Today: Promethius rolled 2 successes using 7d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 5,4,3,8,2,4,8.  Spirit + Gnosis + WP.

 Noah began to motor along at a slightly better speed now, using matter magic to propel himself through the water as Promethius cast his spell... so Noah was the first to see the result.


 Meanwhile, Niri sits back, exhausted from her endeavor. "There! All Done!"


 Trying to anyone in the gun deck was hard because it was essentially trying to fire through a moving window at an independently moving target. Sal managed to hit the open window but miss his intended target.

 Meanwhile, the ship was getting closer... you could see the details of them now. It wouldn't be long before they would be able to board.

Noah did not even have to think to react. His little bubble car went straight up and launched him into the air. "NOPE! Not dieing to a crocodile today." He pointed his wings up and his head down, letting out a dragon blast for a boost and he started climbing.

He was just going up. Screw Hook, screw that crocodile, screw the cannons. He was just going up and away.

Argentus, body peppered with small lacerations after the grapeshot pressed through his shield, stood in defiance of the pirates, prepared with what his allies, magic, and spirit friends had come together to provide for him.

"Mist, can you give me a window to aim at the rear of their ship for a moment, or drop me there if necessary?  Niri and Harry charged this thing up, and I'd like to make a shot from behind through their rudder control lines and captain's quarters up into their mainmast and see what happens."

He waited for her to give him the opportunity if she could, then pulled the trigger.

Lazors!
00:42, Today: Argentus rolled 7 successes using 20d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 1,1,7,5,8,2,6,5,7,1, 8,9,8,9,5,9,7,5,5,8.  Ball Lightning with the Power of Teamwork... and a point of wp.

Soaks! - net 2 dmg to "Argie" after armor
17:02, Today: Argentus rolled 1 success using 5d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 10(+1),5,2,1,7.  Soak (Def 2+ Spirit Armor 5) v 2 dmg.
17:02, Today: Argentus rolled 2 successes using 5d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 9,4,3,5,9.  2 extra dice - rolled 2 instead of 5 (v 1 remaining dmg on first attack).  (Not counting b/c def doesn't apply for me)
17:03, Today: Argentus rolled 3 successes using 5d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 5,10(+10,4),6,9,6.  Just Armor (I doubt I get defense now that I think about it :-P ) v 4 dmg.

Mistral let out a cry as the section of the S.S. Grey she’d taken cover behind was shredded by grapeshot, casting her bloodied to the ground.  She scrambled to put her back against a different wall, wincing and glaring in the general direction of the Jolly Roger.  Blood leaked down the side of her face from somewhere under her hair, and she limped a little when she regained her feet.

Argentus asked for a shot and Mistral glared toward the galleon with cold fury.  She called out to Argentus and everyone, “I will halt le galion for a short time, and they will be unable to return fire.  Use this opportunity to sink it, s'il vous plaît.  On my mark...”  Mistral went to one knee and began to chant cryptic syllables while performing a strange series of gestures toward the Jolly Roger that evoked binding and shackling.  She concluded the demonstration with a plucking motion, and announced, “Mark.”  There was a strange sensation of lengthening of space surrounding the entirety of the Jolly Roger as it became suspended in a warp of infinite space.  Its advance halted completely, despite the wind still billowing its sails and a long wake still fanning out behind it.  Also, quite notably, all projectiles launched from the ship now hung in the air a few feet beyond the hull, slowly revolving before falling into the sea like dropped stones.

Mistral let out a groan and took cover with her back against the wall again and tried not to look as pained as she was.

---

Soak 1, take 4 damage:

• 02:40, Today: Mistral rolled 1 success using 1d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s.  Armor soak.

The Jolly Roger is now Suspended for 3 rounds!  It can’t move and nothing can escape from it, whether object or person.  Things can be sent into the field, however.  Please use this opportunity to do terrible things to them ;P

Sal will take the opportunity to shoot at whichever target seems easiest. If he can do any real damage to the ship by shooting it, he will do so, otherwise he will target any pirate who stands in the open, preferring ones who are not already wounded.

 The ship halted suddenly though it still seemed to continue moving as Argentus let loose with a blast of spiritual ball lightning, burning through the sails and rigging as Noah took to the sky. He didn't seem to be poised for an attack so much as fleeing from something as, rather than turn around to attack, he just kept flying upward in a panic.

Sal said, "these pirates may not be human. Or adults." He struggled with the thought of shooting teenagers, but then, they shot first, so he shot to wound another.

Waiting for more fellow PC posts before doing another round of action, but here's some chit-chat in the meantime...

To Sal's statement Mistral replied drily, "Les pirates fired upon us and upon the S.S. Grey.  Whatever they were, they are soon to be nothing at all."  She winced and put a hand to her waist, then looked up to the dragon rapidly climbing into the sky, squinting against the glare of the fae sun.  The hand came away from her waist red.

Noah looked at mistral and his eyes had been dilated, as in looking for something that is a predator to dragons level of dilated.

Mistral still ranked higher than anything on the dragons list of things to do. So Noah took a few moments to choke out the dragon that was in his head.

He was almost to hooks ship before he went rocket man so given he was now up Noah made best time for Hooks crows nest.

(2 successes) Noah yelled at hook as if his whole head had become a megaphone through a touch of forces magic. "There is a gigantic crocodile in the water, stop this so we can deal with it or I will teach that bastard how to fly."

 Off in the distance, the rescue ship that had been sent out for those that had been portalled out to sea vanished in a splash of water.


 The ship was held helpless in Suspension, the milling crew an easy target. Sal fired another shot, taking one of the crew members off his feet and onto the deck as they struggled to keep the burning rigging from setting the entire ship ablaze.

Round 1 of Suspension.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:41, Wed 04 Mar 2020.

"I'll see about getting the lady of mists to let your ship free. Remember Hook, no quarrel do we seek, we hunt the Pan, lore will be extracted, and we will be gone."

"In port we will meet."

He started flapping his say back.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:53, Wed 04 Mar 2020.

Argentus held off on firing anymore until he heard from Noah, who apparently went to and departed from the Jolly Roger in peace.

Mistral paused and peeked over the rail at the galleon that sailed without motion, ensnared such that all things were beyond its reach.  She heard Noah’s words, but wanted to see the truth of them in the actions of the sailors.  She called out across the water in an icy tone, “Whoever now captains le Jolly Roger, state your vessel’s intent.  Answer carefully, for your ship is at my mercy and I am inclined to serve le crocodile monstrueux a helpless galion.”

---

What are the crew on deck doing now?  Do they seem to still be preparing to board?

 The crew seem quite busy putting out the fires that Argentus's lightning gun has wrought upon them. Though they shouted back at you, the words did not carry beyond the suspension barrier. Some were breaking out the rowing equipment.

 As Mistral watched them scurry, she heard a rhythmic sound echoing from within the halls of the S.S. Grey. First her, then the rest of the assembled group.

 TICK... TOCK rhythmic and heavy, growing louder with each iteration.

 TICK... TOCK approaching ever steadily, a massive shadow beneath the waves.

 TICK... TOCK this was not like any crocodile you had ever seen in a picture, zoo, or movie. This was a primordial leviathan the likes of which the world had not seen during the age of man.

 TICK... TOCK the creature approaches, drawn by the dinner bell Promethius had rung...

In reply to Mistral (msg # 106):

Seeing that the crew of the Jolly Roger was in a state of proper panic and their captain had set out in a jolly-boat for some reason, Mistral said, "Très bien."  She allowed the spatial suspension of the galleon to run its course, though she'd happily let their crew believe she could have maintained the effect for longer.  The galleon resumed its previous course and things were no longer prevented from leaving its vicinity.

The deep tick-tocking and the titanic leviathan it heralded were certainly a source of concern.  Mistral said carefully, "Quiet and still, mes amis...  Let le léviathan turn its attention elsewhere..."

---

A round is only 3 seconds, right?  In that case we only have to wait a couple seconds for the Suspension to end :)

 As the spatial prison runs its course, the ship finds itself now dead in the water from the damage to its sails and rigging. The crew break out the oars and begin to row while others try to put out fires. The important thing is that they were now rowing away from the group.

TICK... TOCK the massive shadow did not change course.

TICK... TOCK a thud and the sound of tearing metal came from beneath the ship.

TICK... TOCK the shadow vanished but the ticking remained.

TICK... TOCK

Tick... Tock

Tick...Tock

 The sound faded as the boat struggled to row away...

Noah made it onto the deck but rather than explain anything he started scrambling to get under the deck and to the location, the croc struck Grey.  They had to close the bulkheads to the exposed areas or Grey would sink. and that was not acceptable.

First you seal the flooding sections, then you patch the hole, then you repair her back to normal. But you seal first, then he could write code for Grey.

 As Noah began to scramble downwards, he met Scar with Sabrina, Alex, Amy, and Meep in tow. They were all soaked in seawater. Everyone except Sabrina and Scar were panicking. Sabrina remained more or less lifeless while Scar tried to keep the rest of the synths calm and get them to higher ground.

 As they passed, Noah could see that one of Scar's elbow blades had been torn off and that his arm was broken. He shared a very serious look with Noah as he made his way upstairs.

Now there was an idea, he could send codes to the synths as he was connected overall to them. Code: "Good job kicking ass buddy. I'll get the hatches locked down so we don't sink and then we can get everything sorted again."

Close the hatches, Close the hatches, Close the hatches, Close the hatches, Close the hatches.

There was an ominous metallic crash against the underside of the S.S. Grey, and the deck groaned alarmingly and began slowly to list.  The monstrous leviathan seemed to be departing for some reason, but it was a small comfort under the circumstances.  Mistral shared wary looks with her companions and gave a final survey of the surrounding seas before chasing Noah below decks.  She passed Scar ferrying the worried synths above decks, and though their distress and his wounds were concerning, keeping the ship from sinking seemed the priority at the moment.  Mistral herself didn’t look much better after the blast of shrapnel that nearly killed her.  As they passed she assured Scar, “If it comes to it, I will see us all off the vessel.  Keep them safe, type.”

Mistral carried on after Noah and realized she hardly knew what actually needed to be done to seal off the leaking parts of the ship.  She called after the dragon, “I will find the damage and guide you to it, mon dragon.  I trust you know what needs doing.”  Mistral’s eyelids fluttered and then opened again and seemed unfocused, though it was more that she was focused in many places at once.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:20, Sat 07 Mar 2020.

Sal shouted after Noah, following as he ran, "if there's anything I can do to help stop Grey from sinking, let me know! I can't drown, but I can't say the same for the rest of you."

Noah nodded, he would dote over Mistral an embarrassing amount once they settled the sinking issue.  He bounced about in their mental conversation.

Noah spoke to Sal through the ship speakers, he was still filled with his own nanite core after all. "Mind the water, the sea may be safe but there are mermaids, sirens, and other such in the land of never. It would be a God send if you knew how to make the sails of this ship bend to your will. If we can get into the bay we will be far far further from harm and woe."

 It didn't take long for Mistral to find the massive gouge in the bottom of the ship where the massive crocodile had rent a hole in the bottom of the ship. Then there were the cannon holes, and the vast number of much smaller (though still fist sized) holes that the grapeshot had punched into the ship.

 All in all, the middle of the ship looked more like a piece of swiss cheese than a proper ship.

 Noah managed to seal the biggest holes with furniture melted via matter magic and, after an hour or so, had the ship patched... sort of. It would at least hold until they got somewhere safe... assuming they could get the ship to move.

 The group had never really noticed an engine room on the ship and had never really heard an engine run... but there were sails. Grey had made absolutely certain that there were lots and lots of sails.
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:54, Sat 07 Mar 2020.

Sal responded, "No such luck, I'm afraid. Perhaps you can create enough wind by flapping your wings?"

Argentus looked around.  "I could have the spirits start rigging up the sails."

He banged his foot on the deck.  "And I could awaken the spirit of the ship for a few hours and give it a chance to save itself, if we're up for dealing with that.  With it and Noah towing, along with the sails, we might be able to get this thing to actually move."  He was definitely thinking of a temporary awakening for the ship - it would just be too weird to have Grey come back to find part of herself awakened.

The speaker answered Argentus as Noah was double-checking everything being that he was paranoid a drunk mermaid would poke more holes. "The silver child does eat spirits and as she slumbers. I would advise caution as she is the spirit of the ship and any such infused may be dinner."

"Try singing your song to her first, see what comes?"

After doing what she could to help stabilize the wounded S.S. Grey, Mistral sunk into a seat on the bridge as the next issues arose.  She said flatly, “We must have une destination before opening the sails, or else we sail to anywhere and nowhere.  I will attempt again to descry Doctor Lennis so that we may chart our course.”

Mistral again laid out her brass mirror and the objects providing sympathetic connection to Doctor Emily, then knelt before them.  She closed her eyes and moved her hands in a graceful circular gesture as she began the first ritual of location.

Once Noah had doubled double double checked the patched he stopped off at the fabratory before making his way to the bridge. He came close to Mistral to give her a proper inspection but he knew better than to interrupt her scrying. He looked at one of the walls and sent another speaker call. "Doctor, when you are ready a number of the group have suffered cannon fire wounds and need your attention."

He coiled around until he could hunker down next to mistral and he started typing out the code to get the ship to start repairing.

It was going to take allllll day....

Sal will drink the synthetic blood he had sent Mistral for before, restoring six vitae.

 As Mistral scried, Meep had Scar fetch furniture from below deck so that others could lay on it and some bandages and tools from the med bay. Most had been soaked with salt water but it was all he had, so they were boiled and cleaned of salt.

 It would be hours before all the shrapnel was removed from wounds and the wounds themselves tended and it would still be days before the wounds themselves would be healed... but, at least the injuries wouldn't be fatal.

Mistral’s awareness returned from places afar to the bridge of the S.S. Grey, where she muttered a lyrical string of French curses.  She snatched up the mirror and tucked it into a pouch, secreted away the Doctor’s personal effects into her place-between places, then stalked to the window bay with a slight limp and glared across the sea to the island in the distance, toward which the Jolly Roger struggled.  She said with quiet somberness, “She is lost.  My ritual formulation was flawless, and I should know Doctor Emily’s location even if light-years separated us, but non.  Not a trace.  Either she is not in this realm or is concealed by means unknown to me.”

She nodded toward the island and reported with a sigh, “Cette île is the only place we may park Grey.  The shores are rocky and treacherous all around, excepting the sandy beach on the inside crescent.  There is also a constructed dock of a shanty village on the outer crescent, in shallow waters.”  Mistral pointed out the locations as best could be seen from this distance, but of the boat dock she warned, “Le Jolly Roger is bound for the dock.  I would surmise that to be their port d'attache.  As much as I would loathe to meet that crew again, I fear we must consult des locaux if we are to find Pan.”  Mistral’s eyes squinted in a moment of sudden realization, after which she wondered aloud, “Pan... or could it be Peter Pan?  Perhaps we have come to the correct place after all.”

Mistral took a seat next to Noah on a waterlogged loveseat brought in by Scar.  She stayed the ever-dependable synth and urged, “Scar... slow down a moment, d’accord?  We must see to that arm.  Noah, can you repair this?  Prometheus?”
This message was last edited by the player at 09:06, Sun 08 Mar 2020.

 Scar looked at Mistral and smiled. "Thank you for your concern but my head was not damaged in the battle with... whatever ripped a hole in the ship. My arm will self repair on its own in a few hours time and I have turned off my pain receptors during the interim."

 Scar held out his injured arm and Mistral could see that the elbow had been wrenched into an awkward position, tearing flesh away from bone, but Scar had already set the injury and ligaments were already beginning to reattach themselves. "I'm afraid my right elbow blade broke off though so my combat ability will be somewhat limited going forward."

Noah peeked out from his pangolin ball. He nodded, "His blade I can replace with chilled iron. A moment."

Noah uncurled and set the slate he was working on next to Mistral so the code could bake. He went downstairs and collected one of the cannon balls before moving to the top deck. Noah was speaking slowly so he could get around the chatter of the goblin market mark. "Argentus, Grey is the spirit of the island ship. Lady luck may give more fortune if the spirit of air and water are called to pilot the ship as so directed by lady Mist." He looked at sal and pointed to the rigging on either side of either sail. "A boon to any wind spirit can be granted by using the rope and rigging of the sales. The child Grey may be brilliant, but still, a child makes things easy so they can do things in a hurry."

"You can get us there, I know it."

He sent Prom a text asking if he was in a mood to heal people, before heading down to worry over Mistral a moment.  Sitting back down he started whittling the cannonball with a thumb claw, a thin line of silver on the claws edge. "Shorter than normal, but a blade made without fire is lethal to our current foes. We shall see about a propper blade once home."

He thought for a long time as he shaved down the cannon ball. "A thought dances through me. The fair folk spirit away many children every year. Fetches remain. You saw the camera photos with sight of fate and the fetches showed up of the orphans. Could a fetch take over the connections the good doctor once had?"

"More so, was the slavery contract Talion spoke to of purchase or sale? Pan's is a child thief, kidnapper, and family snatcher."

"Roger. I'll check it out," Sal said, as he took a look at the rigging, to see if he could figure out how it worked.

Mistral was pleased to see Scar hadn’t suffered any lasting damage, despite how it looked.  She said, “I must remind myself that synths are quite hard to destroy, and you most of all, type.”  After some further consideration she added, “Bien joué in bringing out the others.  You do far more than you are given credit for.  Merci.”  Strange how she had less difficulty expressing such things to Scar than to others.  Perhaps it was that she identified more with synths than with humans, in many ways.

When Noah got to fussing over her wounds Mistral tried to shoo him off, insisting, “J’irai bien.  I will survive.  We have greater concerns.”  The dragon’s relentless concern began to wear her down after a while, however, and she sighed with a faint smile, “Oh, very well.  I will have them cleaned and dressed, at least.”  She wasn’t about to chase down Prometheus or any of the medically-trained synths, but no doubt Noah would do so on her behalf.

Soon enough she had a bandage around her left thigh and looked awkward while holding up her shirt partway as shrapnel was picked from her right hip and up to her waist.  She was glad enough to discuss the problem of the missing Doctor, and answered, “C'est possible that the Doctor’s sympathy was tampered with in her transport to the Fae.  If her soul has been divided into other beings, all the more so...”  Mistral suppressed a wince as a shred of neon green shrapnel was picked from her hip, then said, “Talion did not share the details of the slave-pact, but we do know that Doctor Emily was lured away by children.  Lost Boys, perhaps.  I think we may now need to find their refuge on l'île and ask the contract-holder himself.”

Argentus, thinking he might have finally figured out what Noah was talking about, put his hand out on the deck and tried to reach out to the ship's original spirit: Grey, to see if she would be able to exert some indirect control by spirit magic - whether just restraining her body from eating spirits or to actually control the ship somewhat.

16:05, Today: Argentus rolled 3 successes using 8d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 6,9,1,2,7,2,8,10(+5).  Gnosis/Spirit.

PM

Noah frowned when green was pulled out of her. He pressed a hand to her side and pulled back leaving behind a spiderweb of silver lines. Cannon bits are always hard to get out but Grey bits could be handled in an entirely different way. He turned Grey's solid matter to its liquid state and started drawing her out as he pulled on the webbing. "If the old stories are true the lost boys are not so much people anymore. In the old story, Pan would shape them so they could fit into the trees. Some times shaving them down with a knife, or just killing them when they got too old."

"Hook had a way to find him but the books never elaborated. It wasn't until the film with Robin Williams that they even really showed it. That leaves the natives of the island, and the captured of the Fea such as the mermaids."

He leaned in close to her delightful mid for solid inspection to ensure she was free of metals. And also to ensure that the NuSkin sealed well enough.

Argentus fell unconscious against the deck.  A few moments later he scrabbled up to a scrambled sort of consciousness.  The proportional negative-feedback fo the magic made him think of Talion's paper... and made him glad he had tried for communication first, rather than a full awakening ritual.  As he stood, he commented to the group, "Awakening the ship probably won't work.  Let's leave it at that."

He asked Jitters and Niri to help him work on getting the sails set up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2V82TIkX9t4

 Jitters began investigating the rigging before returning. He began pointing and shouting orders. Polt and Niri obeyed, though, in the end, he needed Sal's and Argentus's larger bodies to handle the tasks that required more leverage and... after a couple of hours of work, the ship began to sail... slowly.

 Jitters returned from his "captain's perch" to Argentus. "We still need a heading."

Sal ignored how strange it was to take orders from a talking squirrel. Jitters seemed to know what he was doing, and had proven reliable in the past, so he said, "Aye, aye, Captain!" and did whatever Jitters said was necessary to get the ship moving.

Mistral winced as the cannon shrapnel was extricated from her hip, though thankfully the Grey bits were easy to remove.  Watching Noah work, she remarked drily, “I think you enjoy this procedure far too much, mon dragon...”

Listening to Noah’s thoughts on the problem of finding Peter Pan and his Lost Boys who would probably prefer to remain lost, Mistral considered.  She concurred, “I would not expect these creatures to resemble their Disney portrayals in the least.  We have our cold iron, should we need it.  First we must locate them.  I would rather speak with the mermaids than with Hook, just now.”  Soon enough the shrapnel was out and her wounds sealed, and they felt quite a bit better.  Mistral gave Noah a pet along the curve of his draconic fey echidna scales and said with an enigmatic smile, “This is much improved.  Merci beaucoup.”

Out on the rigging, significant progress had been made to set the sails, thanks to Sir Captain Jitters’s expertise.  Mistral glanced up at the squirrel knight and then pointed in the direction of the crescent isle, “That is our heading, Chevalier..  I would set anchor at the sandy beach on the inner crescent.  There is also a dock near a village, but we are sure to meet Hook and the crew of le Jolly Roger there.”  She looked to the others and asked, “Objections to the beach landing?”

He smiled at her, "Mmmhmmm, it's half a stunning woman and half being able to take care of you." He smiled allll the way. "For once."

He tilted his head side to side. "They just may, I expect Disney got the ideas from someplace rather than just aking the ideas whole hog. Though I think they will be a far cry a worse foe than Hook. Hook has fear, which means he can learn and still has a soul. The lost boys? They stay with an immortal that often does the worst of the worst."

"Though you have the mark. Mermaids may be the way to go, takes singing under the moonlight but it could be most useful so long as they take gems in trade." When she ran her hand along his scales he made a snerking sound like the scales had become ticklish before they rattled a little bit.

He followed along but stopped when he saw Jitters. He scooped up a bracket and crushed it before tossing the small mass to Jitters. A small silver Captain's Tricorn hat and a tiny sword that could hang on his hip rather than his old, now ill-fitting armor.

 Jitters took his silver tricorne hat and placed it deftly upon his head before scurrying to the rigging and making adjustments. Slowly, the ship began to turn in the desired direction. After an hour or so of slow movement, the group found itself anchored just off the sandy beach of the crescent isle.

 Thick jungle obscured the island as soon as the beach ended, covering the entire inside of the island save for the lone mountain jutting out from the northern central part of the island.

"Right, so we are looking at either finding the natives of the island or going for the mermaids. Unless someone else knows more about this place. We are in arcadia so this is well outside of my wheelhouse." He sat down and sat up so he could use his hands. "If we go mermaids I can look around for them but I would be in their element. They should come to shore in the moonlight if the stories amount to anything."
This message was last edited by the player at 02:56, Fri 13 Mar 2020.

Upon landing the wounded neon-green hulk of the S.S. Greyin the soft sands of the Mermaid’s Lagoon, Mistral looked across the deck to the forbidding wall of thick jungle that hemmed the beach.  She said, “I will place defenses upon the ship before we disembark, so that if any touch it I will know.”

As Mistral prepared a warding ritual she asked the others with a touch of amusement, “Who will volunteer to sing to summon the mermaids, then?”
This message was last edited by the player at 23:17, Fri 13 Mar 2020.

Argentus put a finger to the tip of his nose.  "Not it.  Sooo not it.  Braving supernal realms: sure.  Staring down grapeshot in a ship-to-ship fight: why not?  Singing in public?  Rather not.  If no one else is capable of singing and it's actually what we need to do, I guess.  But otherwise?  Full pass."

Sal says, "I can sing. After I was adopted, my father immersed me in Japanese culture. As part of my studies in the arts, I learned a few folk songs. Hopefully the mermaids don't care if the singing is in Japanese."

Noah reached down and took up the bottle of Girl and Dragon wine he had brought up before. It was the sacramental wine of the coven after all. "Moonlight is best but from what I can understand it is not a requirement." He nodded once. "When you're ready we can start. Everyone needs to get in on it. Omni magic is hard to cast so the more hands the better."

"Once ready we will make a circle. If Mist gives her blessing as the acting queen, I'll start my work and Argent will be able to help guide as the acting warden." Working within the framework of Arcadia would give it some push. "You'll want to keep ideas of parlay and safe meeting in your thoughts."

Mistral inclined her head to Sal when he volunteered to sing and said, “I should like to hear that.  The language of the song is no matter in this case, only the résonance émotionnelle of the music, both to singer and listener.”  Noah began to plan the ritual, and when he suggested she serve as acting queen she gave him a dour look and said, “Madame Lola would make the better queen than I, but entrusting our casting to her would perhaps be... inadvisible.  D’accord.  Acting queen.”

Mistral descended to the beach and sought out a good place upon the sands with a view out into the lagoon in which the mermaids were said to make their undersea haven.  She gathered driftwood and clumps of kelp washed ashore, and worked with the others to form from these a ritual circle of sufficient size.  At the four points of the compass Mistral placed stones, and into each of these she chiseled a different Atlantean rune.  As she prepared these she asked, “You will lead the ritual, Noah?  Is the wine to be a component, or were you simply thirsty?”

---

Not sure what to roll for the summoning itself, but here’s a Wits + Occult to work with the others to make the ritual circle:

• 14:01, Today: Mistral rolled 2 successes using 6d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 3,7,3,4,6,10(+9).  Wits + Occult.

Noah chuckled as he plopped down onto the sand. "With Omni magic I will start it, you lead it, Argent will control the flow, and Sal will conduct it." He tapped the bottle. "All high-end magic needs a sacramental. Wine is common for omni magic but it's better than incense this time around because we are aiming at water." He clapped as he was getting a little excited to work on magic that everyone could be a part of.

"Right, what this is going to do is effectively send your song out through the water. in folk tails you attract near by mermaids which is why it only works in their bays and coves. This will send it out as a wave they and only they will hear. Which is why Argent has to control the flow as its fairly in line with spirit magic."

"Once that wave is sent out, we need only wait for them to investigate. At which time we can likely trade with them. Info, trinkets, and such."

OOC: Make the following rolls please (using whatever modifiers and bonuses you'd like)

 Noah: Gnosis + (the lower of Forces and Fate)

 Mistral: Gnosis + Space

 Argentus: Gnosis + Spirit

 Sal: Presence + Expression

Argentus opened his Strophados and poured the two sets of marbles from it into his hand.  He held them up to Noah, Mistral, and Sal: "If we use the Thrice-Great ritual format, we should be better able to cast this magic together - as if we'd been practicing the like for years.  I can help each of you can select a token representative of your part here.  I will be taking the Jupiter stone - as the rule of law, it is natural that Jupiter's mystical alignment would correspond to my part as the warden.  For Noah, I recommend the Solar - the origin seat of magical power.  For Mistral, I recommend either Venus - as the origin of softer emotions, including friendship-love, or the Moon for its association with both magic and water.  The other should be placed in the center of the circle.  And lastly, for Sal: the Mercury stone - associated with exploration, travel, and messages - to serve as the local focus for our magic."

Once everyone had their stones, Argentus placed a corresponding set of marbles into the Strophados and placed the remaining pairs in his pocket.  He took a drink of the wine, then waited for Noah to begin the ritual, at which point he joined in, spinning the brass ball around himself and chanting in high speech to contain the energies they were invoking.

Using five Thrice Great symbols in a casting gives us:
*+1 die to our rolls as if we were a full Symbolic Cabal
 (Can be comibined with high speech to give a total of +3 dice to anyone using it)
*Cancels the -2 die penalty for throwing two spells combined if we're doing that
*Cancels another 2 dice of other penalties from any other source
*Cancels 2 paradox dice (probably not relevant here)


23:07, Today: Argentus rolled 1 success using 11d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 1,1,7,2,1,2,5,8,2,5, 1.  Gnosis/Spirit/High Speech/3G Team Work.

Noah took the suggested icon as per ARgentus. He then exhaled and caught a flicker of dragon fire as he used it to create the circles used in prime magic before he offered the flame to Mistral. She was about the only one he had spoken to about or had worked dragon fire. "My star, my light. A magical tool to hold the fire and you're dancing with magic." He was still considering a special to let her hold dragon fire all her own.

With the tip of his tail he was etching runes into the circle as he paced around. He was so damn happy the group was casting all as one.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:37, Mon 16 Mar 2020.

Sal took the stone with a nod. He said, "I will begin on your signal, Noah."

Noah smiled and pointed at Mist, "She is the one in charge of this, I am just acting like a battery and circuit board. She is the Harbormaster to Argent's captain. She says when it starts and stops, he sails, and I am the sea. You are the wind Sal."

Mistral listened closely to Argentus’s explanation of the symbolic roles in the ritual casting as represented by stones, which he offered to each of them.  She considered her options as the others took their marbles, then selected for herself the gray marble swirled with pale blue: the Moon.  Noah exhaled a flicker of dragonflame and gathered it into a self-contained mote in offering to her as a supernal focus.  With the marble in one hand and with the flame hovering above the other, she bowed her head to the man and the dragon and said, “Merci.  Take your places, Monsieurs, and we shall begin.”  Mistral took her place on the northern compass point of the ritual circle on the Arcadian shore, furthest from the surf lapping into the cove.  Sal would take the south to direct his song out over the sea, Noah the east and Argentus the west.

A sea breeze stirred up as Mistral extended her arms to either side and began to intone supernal syllables.  She touched the dragonflame to the sphere of Moon, which ignited into a brilliant glow of focused moonlight.  Bright vapors boiled out of her glowing eyes as she offered up the glowing sphere, which hovered up over the center of the circle where it linked with Venus and awaited connection with the marbles empowered by the others.  Her ritualistic gestures flowed into a dance that bade the wind to grow stronger to blow across their circle and over the sea, as well as through its depths.  The gale now awaited the song it would carry to ears of the mermaids that dwelt in the deeps...

---

Gnosis + Space + 3 from the stone and words of power:

• 18:17, Today: Mistral rolled 6 successes using 9d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 1,8,2,4,10(+10,10,6),9,2,10(+7),4.  Gnosis + Space + 3.

Sal began to sing, poring everything he had left of his emotional core into a cheerful tune that clearly had a deep, personal meaning to him.

"Hikaru kumo wo tsukinuke
Fly Away
Karadajuu ni hirogaru panorama
Kao wo kerareta chikyuu ga
Okotte
Kazan wo bakuhatsu saseru

Toketa koori no naka ni
Kyouryuu ga itara tamanori shiko mitai ne

CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA
Nani ga okite mo kibun wa he no he no kappa
CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA mune ga
Pachipachi suru hodo sawagu
Genkidama

CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA
Atama karappo no hou ga yume tsumekomeru
CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA
Egao urutora zetto de
Kyou mo ai yaiyaiyaiyai......
Sparking!"
This message was last edited by the player at 12:30, Tue 17 Mar 2020.

Noah couldn't be more happy to have Sal included on a casting. This was what he wanted most of all, everyone acting as a group. Not out of survival in a fight but as an act of will. This was a brilliant moment that he would cherish.

He pulled out a small robe and popped it into his mouth. The scent of the wine, a swig he had stolen from the bottle, filled the cent of his fire. That great chest expanded and he exhaled a twist of star sust that coiled the circle. It was an extension of him as he glowed with mana from under his scales.

He was the energy source and there was plenty to go around. He had his seat and the orb in a claw like an eastern dragon. His wings spread around the group drawing it in to make it ready for the team.

As Sal sang, the group could see faint shimmers in the water, lights in the deep moving toward the group. Out in the ocean, they could see a beautiful woman rise from the water and begin to sing. It was a heart-wrenchingly beautiful melody in a language long since lost to mortal ears.

 Argentus, Noah, and even Sal could feel the melody tug at their heartstrings, compelling them to go out and meet the beautiful creature in the water.

The males of the group need 3 successes on a Wits+ Composure roll to avoid going out swimming with the mermaid

PM
This message was last edited by the player at 06:36, Wed 18 Mar 2020.

Argentus briefly considered doing as the mermaid beckoned with her song.  Then he remembered the results of sailors doing so in stories.  Never Good.  Ever.

"I think I understand Odysseus a little better now," He commented as he turned his back, and plugged his ears.  He asked Jitters and Niri to keep track of the conversation and relay it to him.


11:14, Today: Argentus rolled 3 successes using 5d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s ((7,10(+9),6,9,3)).

There was a thud as Noah's tail hit the sand. He then started floating in the direction of the singing like a cartoon floating on the scent of a pie. His tail dragging on the ground behind him leaving a line in the sand...

gotta love levitation

 Argentus managed to snap out of the allure of the beautiful melody by plugging his ears and turning away and Sal was taking off his coat and shirt as his legs carried him forward. Noah had been wholly taken over, floating forward out toward the ocean, leaving only Mistral free to do anything.

The ritual was successful, and a siren straight out of mythology answered the call of Sal's song into the deeps.  The song was otherworldly in its beauty, and Mistral was momentarily transfixed by its alluring melody.  The effect on her gentleman companions was quite different, however.  She called after Noah and Sal, "Arrêt!  Do not follow... merde."  She trailed off into a curse as she realized they could probably hear nothing other than the siren's song, and so Mistral took matters into her own hands.

With a quick series of gestures and exactly three syllables of supernal binding she ensnared both Noah and Sal in individual pockets of looped space.  The space between each of them and their immediate surroundings expanded to infinity, and attempts to move in any direction would bring them nowhere.  Mistral called out across the sea, "Cease your song, Dame de la mer!  We have summoned you to bargain for your knowledge."  Even as she called out, Mistral hurriedly laid a mental shield upon each of the men as protection from further beguilement.

---

Mist casts Suspension to hold Noah and Sal on the beach for two rounds!  4 successes required on a reflexive Composure + Gnosis or Blood Potency to resist the ensnarement.

After that she's applying a Mental Shield to each of you in turn: Noah first, then Sal, then Argie.

 Despite Mistral's efforts, Noah and Sal remained dreamily following the siren's call inside of looped space.

 The shield on Argentus, however, settled around him, protecting him from further bewitchment from the siren's song.

 From out in the distance, Mistral could see several more lights in the depths as more sirens peeked their heads above water. Many of them continued to sing their hauntingly beautiful melody as one swam closer to shore.

 Now somewhat closer, Mistral could see that the lights were actually bioluminescent spots on the creature's body. Her voice was sultry and, even through the mental shield, Argentus felt the urge to swim out to her... though this one was easily subdued. "And what is it you have to offer?"

 Her gaze kept shifting back to Argentus.

Mistral’s efforts to dispel the enchantments upon the men fell short, but at least she managed to hold them back from the sea for now.  Her eyes followed the siren slinking her way ashore, and she couldn’t deny the raw, sensual magnetism of the creatures.  Perhaps it was only that women were not to their tastes that Mistral seemed to be immune to their enchantments.

Mistral called out an answer, “I can transport or cast sight to distant or otherwise inaccessible places within this realm, in an instant.  I can find things that are missing or do not wish to be found.  I have mana, l'énergie de la vie.  These are things I can offer in trade for the information we seek, but only on condition that these men be released from all enchantments.”  She paused, crossed her arms and added, “We seek audience with Pan.”

Argentus considered the fact that Mistral was left alone against an unknown number of mermaids who had an interest in taking the men.  If Hook's actions and Noah's stories of Pan were any guide, possession might make more than nine tenths of ownership in Neverland... even of people.

He began to speak in High Speech, again uttering the spell that would enhance Jitters.  He opened a channel and continued to pour energies into the squirrel knight, equally enhancing his finesse and resistance.


OOC: As long as Mistral keeps them talking, Jitters will be getting better at protecting.
11:17, Today: Argentus rolled 1 success using 10d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 1,6,2,1,2,3,3,10(+7),4,1.  Gnosis/Spirit/High Speech.
11:17, Today: Argentus rolled 4 successes using 10d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 3,9,9,5,7,4,9,8,4,2.  rd 2.

 The siren treaded the waters, smiling at Mistral. It was a playful, almost predatory smile. "An audience with Pan? Hmmm... we have business with him from time to time, but betraying his trust in business is not a thing we'd do lightly... and certainly not for any of the things you have offered."

 She almost purred as she cast her glance back to Argentus. "We want that one."

 She gestures toward Argentus. "From now until the time the sun next falls. In exchange, we will release the others, agree to arrange your audience, and promise that he will come to no harm while among us."

 She almost tears her eyes away from Argentus to return her gaze to Mistral.

Mistral didn’t like where this was going, but they had a doctor to rescue and needed help.  She said, “Surely the arrangement of a simple introduction needn’t be counted a betrayal.”  Mistral glanced to Argentus, and then back to the siren.  She said, “That must be his choice, made sans compulsion.  Je suis rassuré that he would come to no harm, but I must ask what will be done with him.”

Once that was answered, Mistral crossed her arms and nodded toward Argentus.  “Give him a reprieve, so that he may choose.”

 The siren looked back up at the massive ship decorated to the gills with weaponry and then back at you with a sly grin. "Of course you came here for a simple audience."

 Still, she began to sing a distinctively different melody to the one the other sirens were singing and the charming song faded, freeing both Sal and Noah from its grip. "We are descendants of the Nereids. Our kind do not produce male offspring so we must find human males for breeding purposes... and it is not often that we must barter for such a thing.

 I must admit, we were expecting more men on a ship so large... but I'm certain we can make it work."


 The sirens had surfaced, bobbing eagerly in the water, and now that she wasn't actively fighting their charms, could see that there were at least 16 of them.

As he felt the pull of the song drop off, Argentus unstopped his ears and turned around in time to hear from the lead mermaid what they were wanting the men for.  "Do you know why you do not produce any male offspring?  If you are the descendants of the nereids, you must be at least partly spirits still... So if it is not a curse, and if you permit me, I may be able to change you so that you can produce male offspring and your children will not suffer from the problem of having to steal mates from other races and you can become a great race of your own."

When Noah was allowed of charm and suspension he came down from his floating with a thud, turned around, and circled around Mistral once before he hunkered down on her right being broody. He had enough mind magic to know what hand happened and he was rather unhappy about it as he started stacking on layers to his mind.

Mistral had this well in hand, and it looked like Argentus was solving problems. So he let them resolve it with full trust they are the best for this job.

Sal returned to the shore, and began putting his clothes back on, without any comment or attempt at modesty.

 The siren looked at Argentus with a somewhat annoyed expression. "Change us? We would want that no more than you would want to be changed into a monkey. We are as we are as we are meant to be."

 She began to swim backwards, clearly having been offended by Argentus's suggestion. You would likely have only one more chance before the sirens left.

"I did not mean change you into anything else but more of what you are.  I meant change you to be able to conceive males of your own kind.  While I would have no desire to be turned into a monkey, if someone offered me an ability denied to me by fate but that almost other creature in the universe had, I would leap for it.  Besides, how fun is it to have males around only against their will and only once in a great while?  Rather than willingly and perpetually?  And able to be with you wherever you'd like to bring them?  If that offer offends you, I apologize."  He considered for a moment.  These "women" were truly monstrous, and he had hoped to help them out of that.

He tried another tack: "If you are not willing to exchange that, I will trade you a night of conversation, in which I will tell you about how and why helping us get to talk to Pan will result in you being able to see many, many more males in the near future, as well as things you might want to know when that happens."

Dice are evil.  Don't trust dice.
09:26, Today: Argentus failed (no successes) using 11d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 5,3,5,1,6,6,7,4,7,3, 4.  Manipulation + Persuasion [deals] + WP.

Noah lifted his head up and looked at Mistral, "Is that what I sound like when talking about things?"

He tilted his head to one side. "Argent, in this case, its a listen and not a fix-it thing. The ladies can handle it and often us all on their own. I encourage you to help them out as they instruct and be the envy of every sailor on the seas."

"But if you need to fix it, see what contracts you can earn while with them? There are stories about what benefits come from their kind. A nymph's kiss on the eyes can heal the blind and grant sight of the supernatural. A Dryads blessing will mean your cloak never gets caught again."

"This is fea land, not all of it is bad. But do make them promise three times."

 The siren's look had soured and she swam away, the other mermaids following suit and diving back into the ocean. The lights soon faded from sight, leaving them alone on the beach in the moonlight.

Mistral shared a look with Noah and answered his question with a noncommital shrug as she watched the mermaids depart back into the deeps.  She shook her head disbelievingly, then turned a sidelong glance toward Argentus and asked, "'A night of conversation?'  Was that a clever defense of your boundaries personnelles, or hapless misunderstanding that they sought te faire l'amour--to have sex with you--rather than to receive a lecture on their nature?"  If it was truly a matter of consent then she'd not fault Argentus in the least, but he did have a tendency to get lost in spiritual-philosophical navel-gazing and miss what was in front of him.

Either way, Mistral was ready to move on from this setback.  She said, "We have not gained the aid of les sirènes, but at least they've not lured you all to drowning, either.  Now we require a new plan.  I doubt that Pan will be found merely by searching, even with sight such as mine.  We must now visit the port village, unless one of you has une meilleure idée?"

Argentus nodded.  "It was just that, though I am sorry that I was not able to help you all follow-through on the amazing working you put together."

He hesitated for a moment before continuing somewhat remorsefully. "I was not going to debauch with them for a number of reasons, in part because it just seems wrong, and in part because I was not going to increase their numbers before we draw the realms closer.  The best I would give them was an entire evening during which they would get to pit their wiles against my will.  I am not certain I could have withstood it, but I could not in good conscience offer them any more than that."

 And so it was that the group set off along the sandy beach. The moonlight was so bright that it might as well have been day, offering a magnificent view of the crystalline waters as the soothing sound of the ocean accompanied them. The cool night air tasted and smelled of salt and occasional colorful shells littered the white sand by moonlight.

OOC: everyone make a wits + composure roll

Sal walks with the others, his rifle at the ready, a strap holding to his neck in case he should need to drop it quickly and draw a blade.

Argentus trudged through the sands with the others.  His feet and leg muscles joining some other parts of his body in kicking himself for not going along with the arrangement.  His will tamped them down as best he could and kept moving.


19:51, Today: Argentus rolled 1 success using 5d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s ((1,7,9,5,6)).

Noah was almost prancing as the group walked along. He was so pleased that the whole group was able to cast magic together. WITH SAL TOO! There was very little that could put him off his center at this point as lifting the group up was his first goal in all things and even though they didn't get what they wanted, he still was happy about it.

1 success.

 The group marched along to the sound of the ocean, unaware of the rustling in the jungle behind them... nor did they hear the sound of large fluffy claws in the sane behind them.

 It was only after Noah began screaming that anyone even knew something was amiss. Turning around, they saw a massive grey feline creature, sinking its multi-rowed shark-like maw into Noah's scales. It's green saliva hissing as it spattered to the ground.

After Noah had made a rather inhuman scream of surprise he looked over at what the hell had attached itself to his shoulder. "Oh fuck all the way off you poisonous cat attached to a bear trap."

The creature had nearly no neck, whereas Noah had a long neck so he tilted his head sideways and aimed fore nose up of the creature. He even leaned forward to make sure he could get the eyes. Last thing he needed was everyone else poisoned.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lT_GHXBdHhs

He took a breath in and spoke quickly before keeping the fire on it. "It's poisonous, Once it lets go we gotta go!"

 The creature recoiled from the blast of fire before swinging around with one of its massive claws, aiming or Noah's neck.

Even after he flame throwered it Noah ended up face down in the sand. He had a plan to encase them both in a blob of water but that would have to wait.

Unafraid of poison, as it required blood flow to spread around the body, Sal let his rifle swing around to his back as he drew his cold iron estoc. Moving to get a good angle, he thrust the weapon into the creature's hide.

Mistral was just beginning to enjoy the long walk on the beach when a monstrosity fell upon Noah and reminded her where they were.  She darted a few paces back, pale gray eyes wide with surprise at the horrific sight of the thing, and that worrisome acidic saliva.  Mistral quickly sketched a coiling motion with her hands as cryptic utterances passed her lips, culminating with a yank to draw wide the fabric of the monster's local space.

The others by now would recognize what was becoming a familiar trick for Mistral:  The monster became suspended in place, where it leaped, pounced and clawed to no avail, as all things became beyond its reach.  Falling back to her native tongue in the heat of the moment, she hissed, "Je l'ai!  Se dégager!"

---

3 successes required on a Composure roll or sharkitty suffers Suspension for 3 rounds!

OOC: going to post this since it's trapped and Argentus can post 2 actions

 Despite being cold iron and sizzling where it touched flesh, the creature's hide was tough and its muscles sinewy, causing what should have been a deep wound to barely draw blood. Sal's blade came back partially corroded (-1 to die rolls using it).

The creature was now no longer stepping on Noah's face as it flailed at empty air, razor claws bared and flinging green saliva in all directions, mostly unfazed by Sal's stabbing... but it was flailing fast, far faster than a living creature should... even its growling and hissing seemed sped up, as though it were being played in fast forward.

Action 1:

When the creature jumped Noah, Argentus reached out to the creature with a web of Spirit magic, attempting to slow it down, trying to determine if his magic would have any effect on it at all.


12:49, Today: Argentus rolled 2 successes using 8d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 10(+6),3,1,9,6,6,3,1.  Gnosis/Spirit.

When Noah got to Never Never his scales grew spiky and his talons grew long. To most, he would seem like a rather big predator. To Noah, he turned into a Sand Shrew pokemon. He uttered a single word and the big bear cat pushing on his head pushed it into the sand. Right before all of Noah's body treated the sand like wanter and shlooped under.

It was easy to tell where Noah was going as he was making a wake tremors style. But it was clear he was tunneling.

11:51, Today: Noah rolled 2 successes using 5d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 6,5,9,2,10(+4).  sand lash.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:26, Sun 29 Mar 2020.

OOC: not a turn passing, just reactions :P

 Reaction 1: Argentus found that his webs of Spirit Magic were cut through as easily as though they were strings before those massive curved claws before Mistral suspended the creature in a bubble of space... where it actually began to speed up.

 Noah was able to easily escape by burrowing through the sand, allowing him to put some distance between himself and the giant furry murder-blender.

Mistral's pale eyes widened with alarm as the raging, furry cyclone accelerated the decay of her suspension field, which to her knowledge was impossible!  She cried an urgent warning, "I cannot hold it!  Se dégager, dégager!"

Her face a mask of intense focus, Mistral swept her arms about in a wide circle, snapping supernal words through gritted teeth.  A vortex of pale fog began to expand just above the sand underneath the the suspended monstrosity's feet.  The vortex grew rapidly to a very wide radius, even passing under the feet of those nearest to the monster.  Mistral raced through a hasty series of arcane gesticulations and then pushed her arms out as if throwing doors wide!

Just as the monster broke free of its spatial confines, the portal opened.

Seeing the damage done to his sword, Sal withdrew, saying, "This thing's blood corrodes iron!"
This message was last edited by the player at 02:01, Mon 30 Mar 2020.

Argentus shrugged when the direct application of magic failed.  At least the creature had some kind of contact with spirit magic and didn't just ignore it.  Regardless, he resolved himself to work with the tried and true.  He turned to Jitters and with some words of High Speech, gave him a battlefield promotion.  "Sir Jitters, if it tries not to go into the portal, please bump him into the portal.  His blood ruins iron, so use a stick or your old sword if you use an implement."


22:30, Today: Argentus rolled 7 successes using 10d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s ((8,10(+10,10,6),9,5,4,2,5,7,8,8)).

2 make it last 12 hrs, 1 bumps him to rank 3, 4 pump finesse (moving to pump resistance if finesse is maxed at 9)

 The group scattered, shouting warnings to one another as Argentus bulked out Jitters for combat. Fortunately, the portal sent the beast off towards the horizon, plopping it firmly out into the water from high altitude.

 The creature was now too far away to need to worry about it... for now.

Noah surfaced from the sand and lifted his head up. "I have about six days to find an antidote before I have to leave. Without Grey I have no immune system to speak of, but any place that has the bear cat has to have some kind of treatment or they would barren the land of people."

His tail parascoped out of the sand before he shook sand out of his scales. "That and healing magic really wont work on me. So we have to hustle before the cat starts tracking back."

Mistral peered out to the horizon, where a tiny speck plummeted from the clouds toward the open ocean, miles away.  It took several seconds for it to fall from that height, but when it did Mistral withdrew her brass mirror and cast her sight afar.  As her eyelids fluttered she murmured, "It ought not to have survived such a fall..."  Soon enough she'd seen what she could and returned her senses to local space to report her findings to the others.

She went to Noah, but hesitated and looked warily at his wounds from a short distance.  Mistral's brow furrowed at the sight of necrosis already blackening the edges of the injuries.  She remarked grimly, "Six days is optimistic, mon dragon.  The Bandersnatch's venom devours ses victimes in two or three days, au plus."  She carefully laid a hand on the wounded dragon's scales somewhere none of the poison had touched, and shared a look with him.  Mistral then asked, "We had best waste no more time.  Can you walk, or fly?"

PM

"I don't know anything about poisons, but if Noah needs us to hurry, let's hurry."  Argentus said simply.  He was only moderately fit but he hoped his endurance would see him through some forced marching.

"I agree with Argentus," said Sal, with a worried glance at his dragon friend.

Noah gave Mistral his Noah^TM smile. "It's early so I am solid. Flying isn't easy without Grey to act as my compass but I can fly." He leaned his head to one side and sighed once. "We will get through this, come hell or high water. We will get through this." Noah was going to be the last person on earth to lose hope, but he still nuzzled Mistral a moment before he fully emerged from the sand and started alongside everyone.

 With Noah giving his "I'm okay to move" acknowledgement, Mistral began the process of opening a portal in her usual style and, after a short time, appeared on the outskirts of the village. It looked more or less like an ocean side shanty town... no small wonder considering that every single person you saw was either a young woman, a young girl, or a young boy.

 Seeing you all, they scattered, most of them hiding in houses or vanishing into alleyways at your appearance.

 You could see the Jolly Rodger docked not too far away at near what was likely the only well-built building in the town... and it looked like a bar.

Argentus was more than slightly concerned at the idea of pressing on into the town.  "Niri, could you see if there are any friendly fairies nearby?  I should have thought of that before!  And Mistral, do you want to take Jitters and head to talk with some of the natives about a cure?  I'd rather avoid further interaction with the Pirates, and I don't think the other natives would take well to the rest of us."

Feeling disinclined to scale cliffs or hack through jungle foliage, Mistral opted for her preferred means of rather direct travel.  The shantytown was apparently peopled by children, which aligned with the legends of Neverland.  The children scattered and hid at the sight of their strange party, which was understandable.  The others looked like hell after what they'd been through, and Mistral imagined she did not look much better.

Argentus nominated Mistral to be the spokesperson with the help of Sir Jitters, which made her wince.  Perhaps to a child's eye she appeared the least threatening of their cabal, though they'd be sorely mistaken.  She considered the possibility, then sighed and nodded.  She beckoned to Jitters and spoke to him quietly, "Come along, then, Chevalier Jitters.  This is a moment to employ chevalerie to put the children at ease, d'accord?"

Mistral approached the outskirts of the village empty-handed with Jitters waddling regally alongside, then paused.  She performed a bow, then called out, "Bonjour, friends!  We come in peace and in search of aid for one wounded by le Bandersnatch.  We will gladly repay any help.  May I address your leader?"

Noah put a talon on the shoulder of Argentus. "Keep the Pixie close to you. When I was under with the crocodile the kids who went overboard pulled bags from their hip to float above the water. They are likely skilled pixi catchers."

"I would keep her in a pocket if not on your shoulder. She is a product here." He otherwise kept his mouth shut and left this to his more able allies. He was a big scary winged lizard in a world with a big scary lizard.

 When Noah mentioned that the children were skilled pixie catchers, Niri hid in Argentus's backpack (or shirt if he wasn't wearing one) and refused to come out.

 Meanwhile, Jitters waddled regally beside Mistral, looking like a well-trained pet wearing his tricorne hat and tiny sabre about his waist.

 Mistral tried for several minutes to no avail to get the children to answer her, but all remained locked firmly in their houses. However, she could sense a small group approaching from the direction of the ocean.

Sal's demeanor shifts, appearing friendly and approachable.

Mistral returned to the group with Sir Jitters after failing to parley with the village, and remarked quietly, "At least they did not loose arrows à moi.   But yet, I think perhaps their warriors are away.  Perhaps their leaders as well."  Indeed, the inhabitants they'd spotted consisted entirely of young women or very young children, not a warrior among them.

Just as she considered this fact, she detected a small group approaching.  Indicating the direction to the others, she said, "Faire attention.  A new party approaches."  Mistral suppressed the instinct to disappear into the underbrush, which would likely not be regarded as a diplomatic gesture.  She stood near to the others and tried to merely look less conspicuous while awaiting these new visitors...

Noah sat down and looked about, he had considered roaring to get attention but Mistral would likely hand him his tail if he did that. Instead, he just smiled his bests smile. If this was hooks home the man had likely already used a spy glass and there was no missing the group. "This could prove to be rather interesting."

No matter what was going on Hook and the group had two common enemies. The crocodile, and Pan. If there was a hint of the doctor the mission was over. One step closer.

 The new group arrived by air, flying without wings, landing on a nearby rooftop. They were dressed in pirate clothing, including striped shirts and bandannas, identical to the opponents you had faced earlier. They wore cutlasses and flintlock pistols though they had yet to draw them. However, one odd fact about them (other than, like every other inhabitant in this shanty town, that they were somewhat inhuman, twisted into the form of a changeling) was that they were all young women in their mid to late teens... the oldest people (other than Hook) that you've yet met.

 One of them, apparently the leader, spoke up. "And what business have you here?"

Sal says, "We're looking for someone. A woman who is very important to a friend of ours. Her name is Dr. Lennis, and our friend misses her terribly. We believe the Lost Boys have taken her. More urgently, on our way here, our dragon was poisoned buy a huge cat with shark teeth."

 The lead young woman looks at him and furrows her brow. Her accent is unmistakably English. "A doctor, eh? Can't say that there was a doctor among any of the refugees."

 One of the other young girls stopped her and whispered in her ear. Then she nodded and smiled. "Well, how about that. It seems one of out refugees mentioned something about a doctor on the island... Jerry, was it?"

 She looked back at the other girl for confirmation and she nodded. "He's with the Capt'n at the tavern. It's where all refugees go till we can build 'em a home. Best you go there for your dragon friend too. The Capt'n has been here longer than any of us. If anyone knows anything about a poisonous shark cat, it'd be him.

 Besides, we all have lots of questions of our own to ask."

Sal says, "Thanks. Let's go, to the tavern then."

Mistral listened to the young lady speak, and was glad to find her to be reasonable and forthcoming with what knowledge she had.

"Merci, Mademoiselle.  Refugees from le Triangle de Bermudes, you mean.  You offer shelter to these?"  The suggestion to speak with 'the Captain' was not reassuring, though there may be no way around it.  Mistral clarified, "We believe that doctor Lennis came to this place not by accident, but that she was kidnappé.  Taken by, and bound to Pan."  She watched the children's reaction to the name, as it would surely prove instructive.

After Sal agreed to go to the tavern, Mistral raised her concerns about Captain Hook, "Our vessel came under attack from le Jolly Roger immediately upon our arrival in these waters.   We defended ourselves, and the Roger's crew were made to retreat with fewer crew and battling flames.  I suspect that a meeting with le Capitaine and his crew would not be a peaceful one.  Is he an ally of yours?"

 When Mistral mentioned the word Pan, you saw an instinctive shrinking of the group and heard a few windows close nearby. The young lady in the front took a deep breath but the nervous break in her voice was plain as day. "It'd serve you well not to mention that name here. He's nothing like the fairy tales say. Every person on this island other than the Capt'n has been his prisoner at some point. This is a refuge for the ones who escape.

 And yeah, I know who you are. I was there. Still, if you're not with him and not after the Capt'n, then I reckon we all should hear what you have to say."

 With that, they turn and motion for you to follow.

Noah tilted his head to one side. "He is a user and abuser. He does wicked things to people and has no value for human life." He huffed. "There was a book written on him that covers his real crimes. The followed 'the boy who never grew up'. All in all he is part of the Grim Fairytales in spirit at least." He was following the lead of the others on this but he was still a nerd of nerds and couldn't often keep his mouth shut.

Argentus was not surprised by the dark lore about Pan, but was still disappointed by the darkness being fact rather than just rumor.  He nodded.  "Let's go meet with Hook."

He followed with the others, ready for any more unpleasantness to crop up.

Mistral noted the wary reaction elicited by the mention of Pan's name, and raised an eyebrow fractionally to learn that the young woman was there for the sea battle.  In what capacity, she wondered?  Mistral answered coolly, "We will rescue the doctor all the same, no matter who may hold her captive."

She inclined her head and said to the young woman, "Lead on."  Mistral followed with the others toward this tavern, though her presence faded into the background as they drew near.

 The group of young ladies led the group through the shanty town. Shutters closed as you approached. For a place in Arcadia, tis place held an aura of hopelessness that felt so out of place amid the dazzling natural beauty and wonder of the island.

 The tavern was no exception. There was very little mirth. Instead, people were tending to their wounds. Hook sat at a table in the center, bandaging his shoulder. Through the bandages, you could see a spot of blue (as though the color had bled through the bandage).

 As with the city, the tavern seemed mostly populated with young women. The young woman that had been leading the group walked over to Hook. "Capt'n, this is the group we fought earlier. They suddenly appeared inside the town and their dragon seems to have been poisoned by a large shark toothed cat."

 Hook looked up from his bandaging, first to the young lady and then to the group. His moustache twitched ever so slightly. "I don't believe in dragons."

 He stared at Noah for a moment before standing up. Mistral could notice that, despite dressing and styling his moustache in a (decidedly ancient) French style, his accent was unmistakably English... proper Queen's English.

 "Still, there's only one creature around these parts that is reminiscent of a shark and a cat. The Bandersnatch! Quite a nasty thing, really."

 He raised his hook, which was currently a fork. "But, before I render assistance, a question. Who are you people? Who sent you?"

Sal tipped his head toward Hook, and said, with a smile, "Until today, I didn't believe in Captain Hook. I am Sal. These are my friends. They are peculiar about names, so I will leave their introductions to them. Speaking of names, I don't believe it would be wise to speak our employer's. We have a common, very powerful enemy, and it is our job to rescue someone in his custody."

 The man offered a bit of a smirk. "Touche. Still, I find that it's always a good idea to know the name of a potential ally's employer. After all, you showed up on a battleship of tremendous size. Where are the rest of your men? I find it hard to believe such a vessel was sent to rescue a single woman."

"I would say the S.S. Grey runs on fairy dust and wishes, but here, you might take that literally," says Sal. "She has no crew, nor does she, in her current state, function. You may have noticed that none of her guns fired on you. She worked on principles which I don't even begin to understand. She's so large because she was created for adults by someone the size of a child, who overcompensated. Don't even ask why she's bright green! As for the name of our employer, how can we be sure our enemy won't be tipped off if we speak it? The laws of magic seem to be different here, yet the power of names still holds, does it not?" He looks at Noah. "Is it safe to speak his name here?"

A nondescript figure hardly distinguishable from the tavern scenery spoke up in a French-accented woman’s voice, “Appelez-moi Mistral.”  Even those nearest might have forgotten she was present, but there she was.  Mistral answered Sal’s question, but directed the answer toward Captain Hook, “We ought not give a name, but he is known to the supernal realms as Apocalypse, the End of All Things.  I do not give this name as a threat, but as context for whom the doctor is important to.  We come in peace, and seek only Doctor Lennis and a cure to Bandersnatch venom.  We would welcome peaceable trade or terms in exchange.”

With that said, Mistral gave voice to a curiosity that was bothering her, in typically blunt fashion, “You are an Englishman, Capitaine, but yet you affect stylings of old French aristocratie.  I find this curious.”

Noah inclined his head to Mistral, "She has it. Titles not names. But if an animal fea asks about your name, don't even address the question." Noah was looking around at the various odds and inns as pirates had always been a pack of superstitions through and through. This was the realm of the Hook after all. "Grey is a good girl..." was all he would add to the comment of the ship.

Argentus smiled.  His first genuine one since his outburst on the ship.  He doubted that - given his hair - anyone could miss his lineage, so he wasn't exactly giving away any secrets when he put on his mother's family's accent to hazard his guess.  "Ach!" He declared, "I kinnae imagine if ah wahr tah be cahst as a villain by a reelm of fayit, dat I would do other than put on a redcoat meself!"

In his normal voice, he added, "If I were placed by fate into a role I did not naturally aspire to, I would very likely put on the garb of another to do it."

 Hook pondered for a moment. "So you're piloting green a magic ship created by a child, come here in service to the End of the World to rescue a doctor?"

 He blinked a few times and shrugged. "That's not even the strangest thing I have heard today and I don't judge any of you to be lying. As for the reason I dress in French attire, I am a pirate, m'lady. It is much easier to ambush a French vessel disguised as a Frenchman."

 He pulled a small, tarnished bell from his coat and rang it. A young boy came up and Hook patted him on the head. "Go fetch the red fruit, the white leafed plant, some rum from my still, and one of my full pixie shakers."

 The boy nodded and ran off as Hook sat back down. "If you've come here in service to such a powerful lord, then might you have a way to leave this island? As you can see, I currently find myself caring for a rather large group of children who want nothing more than to go home."

Mistral turned Argentus a quizzical glance at the sudden outburst of Scottish, but did not remark upon it.

When Captain Hook claimed to be in the care of children who wish to go home, Mistral looked over the many morose young waifs in the tavern.  Had all of them been kidnapped from the Fallen World to be stranded in this place?  The young woman had claimed that most here were former prisoners of Pan, which gave her cause to wonder how they came to be free.  She may have misjudged the Captain, though she still begrudged him the unprovoked attack on the S.S. Grey.

Mistral spoke plainly, "Oui.  We do have means to escape le île, to destinations near or far.  If you can offer significatif assistance to reclaim the doctor and find l'antidote to Bandersnatch venom, perhaps we may come to an accord."

 Hook nodded. "I am in the process of procuring the ingredients for the antidote as we speak. The real question is by what means can you escape? Naturally, I have tried to ferry the children from this island by boat, back when my crew were still men and the children here were few. Once we exited the fog, time stopped as though the world itself were a portrait that we could only view.

 The children tell me tales of who they think I am from their stories, a boogeyman to foil a heroic boy."

 His tone turned bitter. "So afraid are many that they flee from me back to their captor. I served queen and country on the high seas for a decade. Yes, I was a pirate, but it served to cut the supplies of our enemy during war. I found myself lost in the fog one day when I came to this island. It was there that I met the first of the children.

 He had been carved, stretched, and twisted, hunted down by those twinkling devil bugs to be dragged back... and I've been fighting that elfin devil ever since."

To the question of how the means of escape, Mistral answered succinctly, "Doors."  Seeing that the Captain didn't find this word sufficiently explanatory, she elaborated, "Doorways from where one is, to elsewhere.  Distance is no object, but some correspondency to la destination is needed."  She paused and calmly paced the room, then stopped near Noah and said, "Yet it seems that transport is not la difficulté primaire.  When you return to the world, you find it in stasis.  Or rather, perhaps, it is you who are in stasis?  Très intrigante."  She tapped her chin and considered, "Have you investigated the cause?  Is it a property of this realm, or a curse bestowed by your... adversaire?"

Captain Hook then bemoaned being misrepresented and misunderstood as a boogeyman, when it was in fact the 'heroic boy' who was more to be feared.  Mistral replied to this with typical placid demeanor and tone, "Legends may hold a thread of truth, but are never true in whole.  Speaking for moi, any initial animosity I held toward you was due to the cannonballs more than the tales."

 Hook raised an eyebrow and tilted his head. "It seems apologies for that are in order. I was perhaps rash in my conclusions, but it is often gut instinct that saves a pirate from the noose. Giant warships are not generally known to be rescue vessels.

 With regards to our predicament, I must confess that I have learned little. Our opponent has not been forthcoming about it. The mermaids made promises to my men and the young men who escaped captivity to return their time but none of us have seen them again. Smee was the last to agree to the mermaids' bargain, having hoped to learn their secret and return. However, he did not and none of us are any wiser for his loss. Now only girls and young boys remain.

 I dare not accept their offer, tempting though it may be. I have no reason to believe any who went with them remain alive."


 Soon, the young boy came back with the items Hook had requested, flowers, fruit, and a pixie trapped in what looked like a lantern repurposed into a salt shaker. He mixed the fruit and leaves into a paste and violently shook the pixie, sifting the dust into the mixture. He handed Mistral the paste and a cloth. "Put this into the bite wound and seal it with cloth. When the cloth begins to turn green and rot, replace it. The paste will draw the venom from the wound and the cloth will absorb it. He should be cleansed of poison in roughly three days."
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:46, Sat 18 Apr 2020.

When Mistral came near him Noah arched his head over hers and took a breath. He exhaled a bit of sand in a temporal working. He stuck his head into the little cloud of sand and started looking around as if he was Periscope into or out of something. "An Ark." He even looked over each of the group. "Grey isn't a Warship, she is an Ark. She was retrofitted to be a warship later."

Time sight, feeding the info to Mistral.

 Hook quirked an eyebrow at the Dragon before him. "Are you telling me that you are Noah now?"

 It seems he had meant it in jest because he didn't wait for an answer. "You can consider this medicine my apology for opening fire on you without provocation."

 He glanced back at Noah. "Still, an ark is most fitting for our situation."
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:19, Sat 18 Apr 2020.

As soon as Noah’s temporal sands wafted over Mistral, she reeled.  Her eyes began to twitch erratically and she swayed on her feet, staggering unwittingly against Argentus and grabbing his arm in a steadying grip.  She knew that her eyes ought to have opened to the inexorable flow of time were it not impossible in this timeless realm, akin to dividing by zero.

Teetering with eyes shut tight, Mistral gasped quietly, “End the spell, s’il vous plaît...”

Noah promptly fell over as he shut the flow of information off to Mistral. "Didn't expect that, sorry." Once he was down he exhaled another cloud to mix with the sand, a blue mist this time before it settled over his head like a divers bell. "I may need a mechanical clock, something with gears in it."

Now for prime:
11:44, Today: Noah rolled 1 success using 6d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s ((6,1,6,6,8,4)).

"The center of the effect is likely its source. Tie a clock to its source and you may end up with a way to make a hole in the middle of it. Time the clock to an atomic clock in the world back home and it should match up." He smiled in spite of the fact he was on the ground, living with teleportation vertigo meant he was used to the world spinning on him."You won't be cured, but with a drop of time from this place matched to time in the normal world it would be a bandage on a wound. You would have to keep winding the watch but even enough time to enjoy a glass of wine, a conversation, or to let a kid tell their parents they love them and will be back soon... Well, the worth of all the world in a drop of time."

"A bandage until a remedy is found if it works." He didn't look at mistrals and his eyes independently rolled about from the time vertigo. "It's gonna need a test. If I make the thread and hold it, think you could give it a rhythm? If the thread maintains resonance then we may be able to give them hope."

  Hook stared at Noah blankly for a minute. "I only understood half of that. What is an 'atomic clock'? Also I'm afraid there is only one mechanical clock on this island, that little brat destroyed all of the others."

"Of course there is. I suppose that means one of us is going to have find a way past a rather large set of teeth in the near future."

Mistral steadied herself after Noah shut off the incomprehensible temporal sight, and took several deep breaths before opening her eyes again.  She ran a hand along Noah's scaled neck, giving him a small nod to confirm that there were no hard feelings for the mishap.


Mistral glanced to the men in her company and asked them, "Is that the offer les néréides made to you?  To return you to our world and time?"


The conversation turned to a potential remedy offered by Noah for the curse of timelessness.  Noah's methods were near-inexplicable at the best of times, and hearing his idea in goblin-market speech didn't help.  She answered the dragon's request quietly, "I cannot sing les résonances near so well as Grey, but I can try."

While Noah readied his experiment, Mistral turned to Captain Hook and asked, "How might one make contact with l'adversaire?  He is the one we must deal with in order to rescue the Doctor."

OOC: no offers were made to anyone but Argentus (since he resisted their song)

 Hook pointed up toward the mountain with his good hand. "There, at the base of the mountain on the innermost part of the island. Sadly, I have never made it quite so far myself, but that is where the children say they fled from. There are many traps in the forest protecting the place. Also..."

 He motions to the young boy who had brought the herbs. "This one told me a story of a doctor here on the island. Apparently, she sacrificed herself to help him escape."

 The little boy, who was far less "transformed" than the rest, lowered his head in shame. He seemed to be no more than eight. "She was a nice lady. She said her boyfriend would come and save us all."

 Hook ruffled the boy's hair. "Then you all came along, geared for war, piloting an ark, and apparently serving Apocalypse itself... which begs the question, Who is this Doctor?"

Noah did rumble at Mistral in a quiet apology as he worked. He had not intended to make her ill.

Noah tilted his head from his position on the floor and pinched something as he pulled out a thread from the little cloud that he had set up. A thread made of prime and sand that he pulled tight. "Found it." He held up the thread, what he considered up was more left and over.

"That is a sympathetic connection to time. Give it a pluck, I can touch it but I can't pluck it."

He tilted his head side to side, "The doctor is a delightful woman with a mind wise enough to mix tech and magic. She is a close personal friend of the end."

Argentus continued to be as confused as Hook as to what exactly Noah was up to, but he'd grown used to that feeling.  It usually turned out well.  When it was mentioned that the boy had been saved by Emily, his attention perked up.  "Don't feel bad about surviving, nor of being changed by the fight to do so."  He said to the boy.  "By letting us know about this you may have saved the doctor in turn now."

23:32, Today: Argentus rolled 1 success using 6d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 3,2,10(+1),1,7,1.  Int/Occ - would the boy be enough of a connection for Talion?

 The boy looked up at Argentus and a grin spread across his face as Hook sent him off to play. Hook still seemed a bit unsatisfied with the answer he'd gotten but said nothing more of it.

Mistral kept silent as the curative was prepared, but glanced sidelong at the others and wondered if they would object to such mistreatment of a pixie.  She was surprised when the young boy handed her the paste and a cloth and informed her how it was to be applied.  Others in their coven were surely better qualified to dress wounds, but she would give it a try for Noah nonetheless.  As the dragon examined his threads of Prime, Mistral set to work gently applying the paste to the wounds and then covering them in bandages.  Her ministrations were more successful than she'd expected.

OOC:  Sorry I missed this earlier, but here's a tiny retcon to add it in now!  Here's a Medicine roll to attempt to apply the cure:

• 18:59, Today: Mistral rolled 2 successes using 3d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 10(+9),7,1.  Int + Medicine 0.

Untrained doctor Mist :D

With a whisper Mistral opened her mystical sight to the bonds of sympathy connecting all things, and focused on the single gleaming thread Noah had pulled.  She gave the dragon an uncertain look, but then nodded and knelt next to the small cloud.  She poised her hands like a harpist, then carefully plucked at the glimmering cord to sound out a resonant note audible to those with hearing attuned to the supernal.  Mistral made some invisible adjustments and then tried again, plucking a new pair of notes in slightly different tones.  She then paused and took a breath, then began to delicately strum with both hands, combining the resonant arcane notes into a simple but sweet melody that sounded through the local supernal sphere.

 Unfortunately, despite Mistral's surety of hand, the note sounded sour and disconcordant. She was absolutely certain that this was the way the notes were meant to be played but also certain that they weren't supposed to sound like that.

Argentus winced as Mistral played the discordant note.  "Was that a mystical issue, or a Mistral's-not-a-harpist issue?"  He asked.

Mistral cut short the dissonant melody soon after starting, for she recognized that it sounded very wrong.  Plucking discordant notes on the strings of creation was inadvisable, to say the least.  She answered Argentus with a shake of the head, "I performed the melody correctly, certainement.  The string was out of tune, if you will."

Mistral rose to her feet and stated, "This malédiction temporelle is impervious to supernal manipulation.  A more direct solution will be required."  Perhaps breaking this timeless curse was in fact impossible, but to a mage an impossibility is merely a problem demanding greater cleverness, will, and work.


Mistral nodded once, then said, "Measures will be taken to make the journey less difficult, but any specific information would be of use.  Have you any object connected to l'adversaire?  Any thing with association to him, or to his lair?  It will help."


Mistral listened to the boy, then remarked simply, "Her boyfriend sent us."  Looking back to Hook then to the boy again, she asked, "Sacrificed herself in what sense?"

Noah a quiet and respectful patient to the workings of the good Doctor Mistral. He smiled at her the whole time she applied the medicine. "Thank you love." He smiled wide when she plucked the string. "You brilliant and drop-dead gorgeous woman." He looked at Hook, "You sure we are not directed connected to Wonderland?"

He took on the voice of the Cheshire cat. "Here in wonderland time moves in seven directions but everyone chooses forward forward forward." The more excited he got the less he focused on making sense. Insead he let Mistral in on his idea. There was a device used for people with shaking hands. It countered their motions to hold a fork or spoon steady. His idea was to set up a number of counterbalances so it stops a persons personal time. If they are held still long enough Their employer should be able to pluck them into the current timeline. Like snatching a fish out of a still pond and putting it in a river.

Counter the motions of the time thread until still, then attach an active working thread for realtime. He had no intention of fixing things, but setting a foundation for The End to work off of, the initial research so to speak.

 Hook listened intently, focusing on what he could understand of the conversation. "I'm not certain of the exact nature of what occurred, but I do know that she remained behind to let the boy escape.

 Honestly though, I never thought I'd hear the name Wonderland here, of all places. I suppose I should have, but the thought never crossed my mind."

At these remarks Mistral looked up from her ministrations to give Noah a narrow-eyed glare, albeit an unconvincing one.  She returned bandaging a few moments later with lips pursed, perhaps with annoyance or perhaps to hide a smirk.

Noah's spoken proposal for resyncing Neverlanders to the fallen world's temporal flow sounded like absolute nonsense, and his telepathic elucidation was a bit less so.  That was not to say the nonsensical approach wouldn't work, because for Noah it often did.  Mistral gave the dragon a nod and suggested, "Remember this after we've collected the doctor, when it is time to organiser le départ from this realm with our charges."

To her companions and to Hook, Mistral then said, "Merci au Capitaine for your aid and information.  You have proved yourself a man of honor, whatever les légendes may say.  We will require time to rest and prepare for an excursion to the mountain."

 Hook gave a bow, though instead of placing his hand in front of the stomach as per custom, he placed his hand over the bullet wound in his shoulder, likely to keep the wound from re-opening from the movement. "I'll have my crew take you to the guest quarters. It is where we lodge new escapees until homes can be made for them."

 Hook took his leave, returning to the tavern to take his "pain medication" while one of the ladies dressed as a pirate comes and takes you to one of the shanties. It was little more than 4 shoddily built walls with a sloping roof and hammocks, but it was something.

 With all the commotion finished, you guys began to feel the need to attend to your bodily functions, namely hunger and thirst.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:32, Fri 24 Apr 2020.

Mistral bid the Captain adieu, then followed the piratess to the shanty offered as lodging.  The moment they were inside and with as much privacy as could be hoped for, she set to work drawing wards over the shack.  She was less wary of Captain Hook after their meeting, but that didn't mean she trusted him or his crew enough not to take precautions.

Once that was finished, Mistral said evenly, "It has been a difficult day.  We must tend to ourselves, if we're to be prepared for what is to come."  With a combination of arcane gestures and words of power, she unfolded from nothingness several of the supplies that were previously stowed in her place-between-places.  Mistral passed out water and food rations, as well as packets of synthetic blood for Sal.

After taking food and drink, Mistral at last allowed herself to sink into one of the hammocks and rest for a little while.  As she lay she asked of the men, "We now have a lead on where we might find the doctor and her captor, but much yet remains incertaine.  Opinions on how to proceed?"

Sal had his fill, and gave Mistral back whatever he didn't use for safe-keeping. "Thanks, Mist," he said.

Noah shook like a dog once they managed to get inside the room causing a number of the small dragon stones he always handed out to clatter on the floor before he collected them. Once he had made mana for the day he turned a few times and hunkered down near to Mistral. "In the boy who never grew up, Pan often stuck to hit and run tactics. If we can do this near Hook's ship I can sit under the water until he starts flying about. If we can get the drop on him and take away his flying advantage, Hook could make short work."

"Do we have any magic that could counter pixi flight?"

"I could try commanding him not to fly." Sal said, sardonically.

OOC: going to go with "you took some of the fruits (from the Adoni Institute) to eat since they were deemed edible and are a source of mana"


 The fruits are spongy and taste like honey and bread, smelling like a bakery when bitten into. You can immediately feel the effects of the food, invigorating the body and easing fatigue (+1 to Stamina rolls for the scene). They also make the body feel warm and fuzzy.


OOC2: do you want to make plans for the meeting or rest? You will all get healed when you rest.

Noah's tail waved back and forth as he thought about it. "If you can make eye contact with him, that would be grand." Back and forth. "I could also tie a counterspell to some high pressure water. Like a dispell powerwash once you can get him to hold still."

When Noah curled next to Mistral's hammock, she rested an arm gently on his draconic shoulder and idly traced spiked scales with her fingers.  He enjoyed that, she was aware. 

When the question arose of a counter to pixie flight, Mistral remarked drily, "This afternoon I captured un galion in stasis.  To ensnare pixies should not be so much more difficult."  A pause to caress the edge of an upper wing, then she added, "The true question is whether we can detect them before they strike.  That is, unless we find Pan to be plus raisonnable than expected."

---

Mist will want to do a full scry-recon survey of the journey ahead in hopes of portaling past the worst of it, but that can wait for after the rest!

Sal cringes when Mistral once again says Pan's name. He hopes that Pan isn't listening. "For now, I'll remain vigilant as you rest." He palmed a throwing knife, and found a nearby place to lean outside, where he could watch the sky in the direction of Pan's lair.
This message was last edited by the player at 10:23, Thu 30 Apr 2020.

 The group found that their rest, while needed, was short lived. A sudden knock at their door revealed that Pan had left the island. One of the girls that crewed Le Jolly Rodger had come to get them. Hook planned to ambush him upon his return.

As he rested, Argentus tried to formulate plans to use against Pan... but he couldn't think of anything he could particularly do beyond his usual strengthening of Jitters.  He did have intentions for afterward though: he wanted to free whatever pixies and other fairies Pan had caught.

When they were awakened, Argentus put the spells he given Jitters the previous day back in place, then followed along quickly.  When he discovered that Hook planned to set a trap for Pan, he asked the man, "Do you know where or how he keeps his pixies?  If we can find them I can free and heal them.  They may not be willing to do anything against Pan, but we can at least deny him use of them."

 Hook was busy getting his ship ready to sail when Argentus found him. "I do not know if he 'keeps' them at all.. they seem to act on their own from what I have seen."

When the knock awakened Mistral she tried to leap to readiness, but there really was no deft nor graceful way to extricate oneself from a hammock.  She asked, "Where has l'adversaire gone?  Is this departure expected, or non?"  Perhaps the appearance of a gigantic neon-green warship beached in the bay might merit investigation from the Fae master of the isle?

Mistral traced a fingertip in circles around a handheld brass mirror and her eyelids fluttered as she cast her sight back to the S.S. Grey to search for any unexpected visitors.

 "Our enemy often leaves in order to bring back new children. We always try to catch him when he comes back and the Captain can usually tell where he'll return from... but this time we have you guys. This time we'll catch him for sure and make him release us!"

Mistral nodded once to the hopeful young crew-girl and answered simply, “Oui, mademoiselle.  We will not permit this to continue.  We will catch him.”

After a brief session of far-seeing Mistral blinked and returned her awareness to local space.  She pulled her companions aside and informed them, “We have un problème at the S.S. Grey.  A multitude of fairies have surrounded the ship, though they remain just outside my wards.  The fairies are unable to breach the warded space, so the ship and the crew should be in no danger immédiat.”  She paused, sighed, then added drily, “I think our companions are unaware of this, however.  Monsieur Scar presently defends the deck... with a flamethrower.  The fairies attempt to lure him outside the wards.”  Looking from one companion to the other, she offered, “I can return us there in but a moment, if desired.  Shall we intervene?”

---

Standing ready to open a portal to the S.S. Grey bridge, should that be our course!

By the time Mistral touched Noah, he was already off in dreamland. But by virtue of experience and shared dream time, it wasn't hard to us the connection.  That tail of his waved back and forth in a lazy pattern.

Argentus was not torn at all about what to do.  "I don't sure if the fairies here are Supernal spirits or ones taken from our world, and if they're out and about I don't know if they are serving our foe freely or by compulsion, but I would like to go and find out.  If possible and needed, I would like to free them from his sway but this is something I don't want to leave undone."

 With the general consensus being that they should go and help Scar, Mistral opened the portal and made their way back to the disabled S.S. Grey, (Bear in mind that the young crew woman is still present so it might behoove someone to say something)


 Back on bridge of the ship, they could see that dozens of fairies had descended on the synths left behind there, darting like angry fireflies as Scar tries to hold them at bay with a makeshift flamethrower made up of a lighter and a spray can.

 Alex cried inconsolably as he, Amy, and Sabrina were covered in tiny cut marks, no deeper than papercuts. Scar himself showed no signs of damage though his clothes were cut to ribbons, especially on his back, arms, and the back of his legs (especially at the knees).

 As you look, you see that each fairy is wielding what looks to be a large, jagged thorn. It also seems as though these creatures are of a different species to Niri.

Glad they had come, as apparently something let them get through Mistral's ward, Argentus examined the fairies with Spirit sight.  He hoped to determine whether or not they would likely be susceptible to Spirit magic, or if there was some effect on them that would be.

22:26, Today: Argentus rolled 2 successes using 7d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 5,8,2,2,3,8,6.  Int/Occ (Spriits) to scrutinize.

"Our ship is besieged by fairies. We must go, but we'll try to be back in time to aid Hook against Pan, if possible." Sal said to the young woman before stepping through the portal. Once through, he ran to Alex, Amy and Sabrina and prepared to throw a knife at the next fairy who came near.

OOC: they're not through the barrier. They're waiting outside of it. The synths sought refuge inside the ward.

 The young crew woman nodded solemnly and turned to go. "We'll hold as long as we can."

 As Sal reached baby Alex, he found that he wasn't particularly injured save for a few papercut sized slashes and some ripped clothes. Despite that, he wailed uncontrollably.

 Sal threw his knife but the nimble fairy dodged the projectile deftly. They stopped with their hovering, instead swirling in a pattern around the ward, making it much more difficult to target one (-3 to hit a fairy target or just half the dice pool to throw a weapon into the mass)

Any sign of them being controlled by Pan, or of a spirit-court link to him?

EDIT: But in the mean time:

Argentus called out to the fairies: "Why do you work for him?"
This message was last edited by the player at 05:23, Tue 05 May 2020.

Mistral strode through the vapor-swirling portal and onto the bridge of the S.S. Grey, where a miniature but still epic fairy battle was in progress.  She followed suit with Argentus and also opened her sight to the spiritual to assess the nature of these swarming pests.

As she studied the creatures Mistral extended a hand, and from a shift in the fabric of space a long, sheathed knife refracted into reality.  She withdrew the blade of blackened meteoric iron from its scabbard in a single graceful motion and stood ready to carve up some fairy fillet.

---

How many fairies are we looking at here?  Trying to gauge how practical it is to try to kill them individually, or if we need to think bigger :P

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.