Talion emerges wearing, flip flops (in November) safari shorts, a travel vest, a floppy hat complete with alligator teeth, and a bug net. Grey emerged wearing the same outfit.

 "Well, everyone ready to go paradox spirit hunting?"

The cartoon dragon walked onto the screen in the kitchen and took a picture with a digital cellphone in his claw. "David Attenborough lives again. Just remember to mount the best one in the den."

 Talion quirked an eyebrow. "Who's that? Besides, this is strictly catch and release."

Nefertiti didn't return back to meet up with Talion and the others, for she did spend the rest of the night at Sal's side and watching all the Kindreds as they drank the red color drink that was part of her.

Looking around when they finally returned back to the island and wondered how did everyone night went.

Mistral did not drink in the evening, as there were no proper wines being served, according to her own discerning tastes.  After returning to the island she retired to the kaleidoscopic, non-Euclidian, multi-spatial domain she referred to as le Prisme.  In the fractal space she studied, scried, conversed with a cartoon dragon, trained Eskrima katas, bathed and slept, sharing the activities between multiple instances of herself.

Come the next morning Mistral convened with the others in her distinctive hooded jacket, but also wearing a fleece beanie hat with a big white pom-pom.  She answered Talion’s question drily, “Another of Noah’s ancient references.  Attenborough was a popular English natural historian and environmentalist from more than a century ago.  One wonders what he would make of New York’s latest ‘catastrophe naturelle.’”  She grabbed some sort of muffin from the kitchen, turned to the cartoon dragon and asked, “You spared not a wink for sleep, non?  The backup system is completed, however.”

Mistral went to Grey and knelt down to give the elfin godling a hug.  She admired the safari equipment, then remarked, “I see you come prepared, ma fille.  Is that a glass-walker net?”

Fate wasn't one for drinking to begin with, but after the run in with the mages she certainly didn't drink. She needed to stay alert. The rest of the night went smooth, however, and she eventually retired for the evening with a small amount of comfort knowing nothing else had happened to cause trouble. She set her hat carefully on a nightstand next to the bed and went off to sleep. When morning came Fate arose restless as she often did. She had spent too much time disregarding her instinct to hunt and was eager to return to it. When she joined the others and heard Talion's words she knew a different type of hunt was upon them.

The cartoon gave Mistral a thumbs up, "Still haven't, we will be going live here in a few moments. The graphic representation is very beautiful if you've never seen it." He walked over to the side of the screen and pulled up a dark window with dark blue dots representing the network. "Gonna need Tal to log-on so we don't run into any moron hacker firewalls."

He struck a pose as his bear claw slippers squeaked on the screen. "We still have the physical backup. Kinda want set up a blockchain back up but eh..."

He pulled up a text document. "While I am thinking about it, do we need to set up a group to do list? I'd kinda like to get all the side quests done before we go teach the earthbound what is on its face..." He smiled "Its pain, its always pain on their face."

 Grey grinned. "It's a nano-net. I made it! Father asked for clothes for an outing so I made them too!"

 She was beaming ear to ear and Talion, for his part, had not reacted at all to the safari gear they were both wearing, acting as though it were to most natural thing in the world to be wearing flip flops and shorts in near-freezing temperatures. He merely nodded in acknowledgement of Mistral's explanation of Attenborough's identity.

 He likewise nodded to Noah in agreement. "Agreed. The rebuilding of the city will take a bit of time. I suggest we get everything that has been put on hold done while we wait for our leads to bear fruit... for I fear anything we do not get done now may need to be put on hold indefinitely. Also, you'll find Pestillence more than a match for any firewalls."

The cartoon nodded, "I've got the reflector dish way up. We selected the most robust server units to benchmark the patch." The cartoon pulled out a giant remote control. "Grey, do you want to hit the big red button to start the patch?"

 Grey grinned from ear to ear and hit the big red button. Nothing happened for a moment but then Scar began to sing.

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

Cartoon Noah pointed at the dark map showing a thin white glowing line streaking up from the map of the world. A camera view from his own headset popped on showing the horizon from a height reserved for weather balloons and stealth fighters. He was holding on to a server and a large relay dish. From there the signal and connection branched out, and out, and out until the number of units it connected to could ID the cities on the dark map.

Real Noah came through the camera feed. "Sorry Scar, You've got the hardware but it's a whole system update." The camera nodded once. "It's a metronome process to get all their memories synced up. They are all going to sing like that here in a few moments."

Sal was amused by Mistral's comment about Noah's "ancient" references. He vaguely recalled Raymond financing a famous historian's documentary at one point, though he couldn't recall if it was Attenborough. He had something more important on his mind, and said, "A powerful kindred I owe a favor to is being blamed for the wolf-head creatures we fought, though he most certainly couldn't have had anything to do with it. I's appreciate it if we could clean up that mess and ensure that his name is cleared."
This message was last edited by the player at 01:09, Sat 17 Apr 2021.

 Talion quirked an eyebrow. "Wolf head creatures?"

 After receiving an explanation, Talion wrinkled his mouth. "Varguilles. It's highly doubtful anyone from this world would possess the understanding required to create them. The Husk's ability to do so has some disturbing implications I hadn't considered before."

 He rubbed his chin for a moment before heading back into the house and coming back with a block of scrap wood. He pricked his finger on a needle and began drawing a symbol on the block in his blood before handing it to Sal.

 "From your description of them, I can assume that they are borne of Abyssal corruption and demonic energy. This should glow when they are near. They'll be drawn to Abyssal manifestation sites to make their lairs... so, theoretically, this should allow us to 'kill two birds with one stone', so to speak."

Cartoon Noah marked down the to do while the real one was up in the beyondosphere directing the first few server units. Once they had the packet it was all automated. "Right, what else is on our to do list?"

Michael enjoyed some good whiskey that night as any good Catholic priest would. He still kept his wits about him just in case. Past revelries had taught him to pound back a liter of water and four ibuprofen before he went to bed that night. He awoke with only the slightest remains of a headache as he walked into where everyone was to meet. The priest poured himself some coffee as he looked over at a half gallon sized mug with the word Grey’s written on it. Honestly he wasn’t surprised. He looked up at the ceiling in thought as the others discussed what was going on. What does surprise me anymore? I guess I would be more surprised by something that couldn’t be done than what can be at this point. What was I thinking believing I could make a difference next to pillars of magic such as these? I suppose I do have a few gifts that could be the ace in the hole if needed.

Michael sipped his coffee. “Only thing I would add would be for cameras and other surveillance to be set up to monitor foreseeable Hunter activity in the area. I can describe some of their usual tactics if that would help.”

Note:

OOC: bear in mind that everyone is on an island miles out to sea and, parked next to the island is a battleship larger than the island itself :P It's called the S.S. Grey. It has galleon style sails on it because "it's a sailboat" and someone tried to tell Grey that it wasn't.

 Talion thought for a moment. "We could set up cameras on buoys to monitor any ship that may be coming or going. It might be a good idea to know the faces of anyone who might approach us.

… speaking of 'approaching'... Mistral, you are qualified to become an Archmage. If and when you feel you are ready to undergo the ritual, just let me know and I'll make the preparations."

Michael considered something. He then took a sip of coffee before inquiring of Talion. “Sir I was wondering how it was that you were able to completely wipe out magic in the entire stadium last night. Such an act doesn’t really hinder me and knowledge of such things might be able to help me be of more help to the group. The magic within my sword has awakened possessing anti-magic qualities. I wish to further these new abilities and skills. I may not be a mage capable of altering the universe, but if I can stop magic that can then I can bring our enemies down to my level.”

 Talion regarded Michael for a moment before pulling out a vial of silvery powder. "Iron filings... or iron powder in this case. It's fairly easy to come by in any place where metal is worked.

 Infuse it with mana and it wreaks havoc on spellcasting when cast into the air. It's like playing heavy metal at someone's piano recital. It shouldn't be a great feat to keep some vials on you.

 In my instance, I dispersed the pre-charged filings via fireworks to increase the area of effect."

Michael nodded at the understanding. He had heard legends about how cold iron affected faerie folk and their magic. He supposed there was at least some truth to every legend. “I could also fashion some arrowheads with iron powder tips that I can have the fire elemental in my lantern to charge. The arrow would then help to neutralize an enemy mate much like the ones last night. Some small propellant in the powder could help spread it over a larger area much like a firework. Thank you for the lesson.”

Mistral was unhappy to have failed to eradicate the abyssal wolf-headed monstrosities, so she was interested to hear that they had become a problem for vampires.  Talion's explanation for such an inexplicable threat was intriguing.  Mistral asked him, "You have encountered these Varguilles before, non?  If we are in risk of further abyssal infestations from other realms then I would like to know what to expect."


In response to Michael's suggestion, Mistral informed him and the others, "Voscal and his hunters already are under surveillance.  There has been quite a flurry of activity at the old cathedral.  They have taken my warning seriously, at least.  Now it remains to be seen what they do next."


Mistral turned Talion an unreadable look and was silent for a long span of moments.  At length she replied carefully, "Archmastery is attained, not bestowed.  Ma spécialisation is narrow, and I have much yet to learn before I would consider myself equal to such a title."

Fate stayed silent listening to the others. It did, however, catch her by surprise at Mistral's response to being offered the title arch mage. Fate had had her suspicions for quite some time now that Mistral had enough magical power to be considered one, but to hear her turn it down with such ease, that gave Fate something to think about. Fate wasn't remotely on the same level as Mistral or Noah and she knew it. That is why she would continue to learn from them as best as she could in between jobs that is.

The cartoon Noah kept writing to dos on the screened note pad. "So there is also going to put an end to Pan and his child nabbing. I think we still have a portion of his shadow. The wolf head issue seems much more pressing it seems though."
This message was last edited by the player at 15:24, Tue 20 Apr 2021.

Sal said, "yes, the Nosferatu are the only thing keeping these... Varguilles from making it to the surface, but they aren't sufficient to hunt and eradicate the threat. Clearing Milo's name is secondary, of course, though it is important to me."

 Talion nodded to Michael in acknowledgement before taking time to rub his chin. "Yes, I'm familiar enough with them. The underworlds of my homeland were teeming with them. Here, they're closer to manifest spirits, I would assume, laden with demonic energies.

 The fact that they spawned in the Husk's lair means that some piece of me remains imprinted upon them, that they could summon manifestations alien to this realm... that makes it even more imperative that any Husks be destroyed when encountered."

 When Mistral turned down Talion's offer, he just smiled. "I forget just how seriously the mages of this world take the crossing of that threshold. Very well. Still, the offer remains open."




--> To Paradox Safari
This message was last edited by the player at 23:10, Tue 20 Apr 2021.