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Sal beamed with pride at his Cabal's accomplishment, and at his own part in it, though he was less optimistic than Noah about how other Kindred would respond. Other Kindred... could he really count himself as one of them, anymore? If he wasn't already, he felt he would soon be as far beyond the most powerful kindred as Talion was beyond the Concilium's elite. He would certainly show that Carmilla the error in challenging him on his own turf. He struggled to remember something else about the party... "Talion!" he suddenly said, perhaps a little too loudly, "a word please. What does the name Sariel mean to you?"

Nefertiti's head turned quickly to Sal when he mentioned the name Sariel.

 Talion smiled and removed a small knife, pricking his finger on the edge. "Then I hereby seal these Omens and open the Gate to the Abyss!"

 The blood hit the lantern and flared purple. The four lanterns combined gave off a brilliant radiance that was not reflected within the full length mirror that he had set up. Instead it had turned black as pitch.

 Talion looked at the mirror and then at Mistral. "Step through and hold fast the Imago of your Noumenon. Your soul will form the bridge and, in so doing, you will be changed. Your soul will be inexorably drawn to the supernal realm from which your power flows most strongly. Once the connection is made, your transformation will be complete. When you finish, create a place for yourself to rest and create a sub-soul for your return. Doing so will be as natural to you as breathing. Do not try to physically return to this world after you ascend. Much needs to be done before that happens."


---------------------------------------------------------------

---Once Mistral Enters the Mirror---

 Talion nodded. "Yes, I know Sariel quite well. He was my friend many millennia ago. He was the only god who's presence didn't infuriate me. He was the one who killed the Caretaker. Why?"

Mistral stood fast as the lanterns flared and Talion announced the opening to the Abyss.  This would be the true test of this ordeal, and the one she dreaded most: not only crossing the Abyss itself, but then the harrowing realm of Pandemonium to which she'd hoped never to return.  For a moment Mistral considered turning back, but no.  She could not, would not.

Without taking her eyes from the mirror she answered Talion's instruction simply, "Je comprends."  A long pause, then she turned to Talion to say with some difficulty, "Merci, for all you have done on our behalf."  She picked up Grey, the silvery elfin godling and hugged her, then said, "I may be changed when I return, but I will remain ta mère.  That will not change.  À bientôt, ma fille."  Turning to the others she said, "I hope to see you all again soon.  Au revoir."

With that, she turned on her heel to face the black mirror, then paused to steel herself and fixed the Imago of her Noumenon in her mind.  A deep and final breath, then the Mistress of the Ebon Tower strode through the portal and set forth into the Abyss.

Noah embraced Mistral and gave her every ounce of his focus while she was there. "You can no doubt take care of yourself on this, but count I'll come after you before too long." When she was gone he just curled up in his base form. He was just gathering power quietly, brooding and waiting.

He thought about doing a lot of things, a lot of things and some not so smart. But he let her do what she needed to do.

 Grey hugged Mistral tightly. "Good luck, Mommy! You can do it!"

 As she was put down, she went and curled up with Noah. Jitters likewise stood by, sword raised in a salute as she passed by.

 She touched the mirror and the darkness within faded. Mistral's body collapsed to the ground lifeless. Talion seemed unfazed as he collected her body. "Her soul has entered the mirror. This body will no longer be of use to her..."

 He paused for a long moment, as if to try and figure out how to phrase what he was going to say. "Mistral will be drained when she finishes. Her body will need to be prepared for that... you should all remain here."
This message was last edited by the player at 03:43, Sat 03 July 2021.

Noah curled around Grey but he watched Talion with the trained thousand-yard glare that any necromancer could pull off. "It is very unkind not to warn a lover that their better half will fall over dead..."

"be glad I keep omni sight up and not death sight, and that I trust you more than New Yorks Merlin." He was overtly angry but he was still a necromancer and a prime mage so he understood what was going on. That did not mean he wasn't Dangerously brooding over it.

He just kept gathering power, quietly and broodingly.

 Talion handled Mistral's body with care and he sighed. "You're right. I apologize. This is the first time I've Ascended another person and my body was already long destroyed when I Ascended. Mistral will now be able to create bodies for herself once she finishes her Ascension. She can no longer use this one... at least, not for that purpose."

 He took a deep breath. "I will return when she does."

Noah settled as he just gathered and gathered. "Nothing I can do about it Talion. Just please be kind with her." He could only wonder what would happen with him, He was a brain in a bucket. Not much of a corpse.

He sighed. "Dont let me make a Tulpa of Mist until she is back. We just gotta have faith in her. We may need to get her plane we got from never never land moved into the house for her. It would be a nice surprise for when she ets back."
This message was last edited by the player at 04:34, Sat 03 July 2021.

 Talion nodded. "I'm sure she would like that."

 After that, he made his way to the ship, leaving the group to their own devices.

Michael watched the proceedings and was concerned when Mistral’s body collapsed. He tried to understand what was going on, but he was concerned. “So how long until she gets back? What do we do in the meantime?”

Noah rumbled but didnt move. "We wont know till she comes back." He did not, could not, and would not say IF she came back.

"We need to lay low for the remainder of the day. Everyone and their master are currently looking for us. We just slammed the table and claimed ourselves a world power."

"Once the day is up we can start handling our side jobs. Did you have any doing that needs doing?"

Michael sat there deep in thought for a long moment before answering. “Honestly not really. In this past week, my whole world has been turned upside down. I have forsaken my old life for a more enlightened one. My old friends, my former allies, and my family were gone the moment I decided to stray from my Conspiracy. My duty to protect the people of New York and Haven has been expanded to a more wholistic view and physical occupation of Haven has been taken from me by the Hunters. I suppose I should spend some time to rediscover myself in prayer for despite everything that has happened my faith is still strong. It is the bedrock of my existence that my new self must be built upon. I have no ambition to obtain power for powers sake. I don’t care for wealth for wealths sake. I am a Hunter who has been made the Hunted. What do I hunt now? What is my purpose? I thought I knew once, but not anymore.”

The priest absentmindedly fiddled with the powerful rosary that hung from his neck as he contemplated his purpose in the world. His sword shines in the sunlight and hums slightly with power. He looks down and stares at his reflection in the sliver. “A power has been unlocked in the past few days. It is growing the more I learn and fight the creatures of this world. Anti-magic I believe it is. I want to hone it and perfect it. I will never master magic like you great Mages, but I would like to be able to keep those who would wield magic for evil at bay. Maybe it’s because I cannot wield magic that it has chosen to make itself known to me. What is this feeling tickling the back of my mind?”

"Trust me, it is lazy to lose faith in the unmoved mover, the eternal creator. He is out there and he has sent his son to forge a path. If you ever lose doubt, I'll take you to go see his throne."

"The master of magic just walked through the mirror. I'm just a dragon, a swiss army knife to her sniper rifle." He thought for a moment. "I am assuming you're talking about when you cut the magic of that tracking device."

"I have most everything that goes on around us on cameras. It's managed to thwart a few groups of assassins so far."

"You may benefit from a technique called Slipping. Magic is like a fabric, if your sword is your focus for this non-magic you may be able to pull it off. Like your ward. I can clasp my claws together and push through the threads of your wards without breaking down the ward. If you can pull that off you can bypass many effects and not alert the original caster."

"I guess I'll go and study then. Hopefully she comes back soon." Fate finally broke her silence and tried to comfort Noah with her words and a hand on his shoulder. "I have a new spell in mind that I'd like to try, but I may need some help. Plus it might be a good distraction until she gets back."

Noah wanted to curl up more but he knew it wouldn't be good for him. However, when Fate touched him the amount of mana he was holding on to tried to fill her tank if there was any missing mana there. It was never easy to hold on to that much mana. "What spell did you have on your mind? Do remember that I normally cast improvised magic other than my Anti Talion spells."

 Wraith walked into the circle that had been used for Mistral's Ascension and sauntered up to the mirror where her body had been left behind. He turned around and sat, regarding each person gathered with disapproval. "MAOW!"

 Jitters turned to Wraith. "How rude! Can't you see we're all worried about the mistress?"

 Wraith glared at Jitters. "MAOW!"

 Jitters placed a paw on his sword. "You knave! Take that back or I'll make you!"

 Wraith stretched and yawned, showing off his abnormally large (for a housecat) teeth. "MAOW!"

 Jitters paused and took his hand from his sword. He then looked up at Noah. "Wraith says that we will get no rest worrying like this and we would be better served taking action. We were to lay low in this realm but we have many tasks to take care of in Stygia, do we not?"

Noah leaned back, "We could go, swing by the eternal throne real fast so Michael can start his divine reorientation as well. We can also take the ship so we have time to work on spells for a few hours on our way."

"Does anyone have a supernal realm they want to visit." He looked directly at Nef. "Stygia is the realm I've seen the personal resting places of the gods. We can ask about while there, I've got letters to deliver to the house of Baulder."

Nefertiti turned to Noah when speaking to her "I was planning on going there with Mistral but if your heading there.  I guess it wouldn't hurt to see what we can do while she is regaining her strength. she smiled "It may be a dangerous path but after the last few weeks with you people it may be something you would find enjoyable.

Nodding her head in agreeing to join them

"Temporal duplication, or a spell which would allow me to grab a version of myself from a few seconds in the future and bring them here so that when we go on missions I can send her in my place. I'd hope it would work like an extra layer of protection in keeping my body safe, but depending on how the spell works I may need gear to go with her. Not quite sure yet. That's where I'll need your help. I've never attempted magic there isn't already information on. Surely there must be somewhere. Perhaps I skipped over it? I really don't know, but the sooner we can do this the better."

Sal looks worriedly at Mistral's body for a moment, but after Noah speaks, more confident. "Mistral is one of the most resourceful people I've ever met. Tough as nails, and sharp as that sword she's so fond of. It's like she's got the whole of creation hidden up her sleeve. After she makes it back, I'd bet that will be more literally true."

After Fate mentions the spell she wants to research, he says, "Ironic. I also seek a duplicate of myself. A synthetic one, however. To take care of day to day business operations in my stead. The less I'm seen in the daylight, the better."

Noah pulled out a black card with ARK in the shape of a shield on it. "Talion didn't invent the doppelganger tech. I did. Take that to Ally and she will put in your synth order to the fabratory. There are two levels, the look-alike and the true dopple. Let the girls know which you want and you should have something by tomorrow. If you want stranger upgrades, that could take longer. "

He nodded to Fate, "We can get some work done on the way, it is a few hours back to the crossroads shed. We can combine spheres and see about getting your magic out in a prime tome."

"Or maybe we can just add it to the book Talion gave me? I'd rather not be carrying an entire library with me when I send myself out." Fate stopped for a moment still getting used to the idea of having a duplicate of any sort. "If there's a way to seal a library in a space that I can always get to then that may be worth looking into as an option to carrying a library with me." Fate pondered. She was starting to get more ideas, but she didn't know if she could do them. "Best of luck with your synth Sal. I hope it comes out the way you want it to."

Sal takes the card and smiles at Fate, "It won't, but I know I won't be disappointed. Its Noah's craftmanship, after all!" He gives Noah a devilish grin.