Ah, just so you guys know, I'm not ignoring your characters or anything, but until someone intervenes with what's happening on the dock, things are just going to progress as if your characters weren't there since, well, there's no logical reason for them to react to you at the moment.<br/><br/><br/><span style="color: #FFFF00">Artifacts:</span>Artifacts are oddities in today's world- questions that refuse to be answered. Much of what is 'known' about them is speculation and guesswork.<br/><br/>Detection: Artifacts defy direct detection by both scientific and magical means. As far as typical detection methods are concerned, they are completely invisible This does not mean that their location cannot be approximated, however. A little known fact is that Artifacts warp ley lines, creating eddies of power. With the correct spells, one can usually tell when one or more Artifacts are near. Some mages theorize that the intensity of the eddies that an Artifact creates corresponds to its power, but since it is very difficult to quantify the power of an Artifact this theory has little evidence to go on.<br/><br/>Dating: As far as anyone knows, it is impossible to tell how old an Artifact is. No samples can be removed for carbon dating, and spells simply come up blank, as if the Artifact isn't even there. This means that, besides anecdotal evidence from Origin mages, the age of the Artifacts is usually met with a shrug.<br/><br/><span style="color: #FFFF00">Nanobots:</span>Nanobots are not exactly a new technology- rudimentary examples were in testing as far back as 2000 and the idea itself was proposed even earlier, making the idea over a thousand years old. What is new, however, is their functionality. Functional nanobots- that is, nanobots built with a specific purpose and the means to fulfill that purpose (as opposed to nanobots created simply to test if the technology is feasible), are relatively new, the earliest examples occurring eighty years ago when they were first in the manufacturing of electronics.<br/><br/>Medical nanobots are even newer, having only entered human testing fifteen years ago. Currently, medical nanobots are programmed for a specific job and administered in single-use cocktails; Once injected, the nanobots fulfill their purpose and are then deactivated and purged from the patient. These single use cocktails are an important part of modern medical science, as they are what enables the genetic manipulation of fully grown multi-celled organisms.<br/><br/>Due to several scandals, testing in permanent medical nanobots (nanobots programmed with enough intelligence and medical know-how to diagnose problems and administer treatment without human input) was declared illegal thirteen years ago, though this law is currently pending review.<br/><br/><div style="text-align: center;">------------------</div><br/><br/><span style="color: #FFFF00">Hikari:</span><br/>Johnathan mutters under his breath, the single word too quiet to make out. He swallows hard, then speaks softly to himself, his eyes locked onto the face of Nathaniel "... back in the spotlight, hmm? where did you disappear to those six years ago?"<br/><br/><div style="text-align: center;">------------------</div><br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">Kindle:</span><br/>As Kindle began her mad dash she could feel Aine's blind gaze on her back. The oracle child called out to her;  “Kindle... you should remember... that you are not the only one who lost their family in that war.” As she fell silent, Kindle came up against the stern of the ship; only a few hundred feet of ocean, as well as two other passengers  stood between her and her target. The two passengers are looking through some kind of magnification spell, and through it one could see the events on the shore as clear as if they were standing only a few feet away<br/><br/><div style="text-align: center;">------------------</div><br/><br/>All:<br/>George speaks from his place upon the podium, his voice still amplified by spells. “Nathaniel? What are you doing here?”<br/><br/>Nathaniel Azreal Woolfegange, the hero of the last war, the silver falcon, turns towards him. The red glow of his skin dims slowly as he stands, keeping his hand firmly clamped on Kaiden's shoulder. Reaching into a pocket he retrieves a sheaf of paper, the white parchment browning slightly around his fingers, and throws it into the air. A tendril of grey flame whips out from Nathaniel, carrying the papers into George's hands. “Delivering your missing passenger.”<br/><br/>Meanwhile, Aithne stretches out her limbs, her eyes having found and locked onto the silently seething Templars. Without missing a beat in her stretches, she very slowly fastens her flak vest.<br/><br/>“We found this<span style="font-style: italic">urchin</span>sprawled upon a pile of unconscious Templars, with orders to deliver him here in the squad leader's pocket.”<br/><br/>George scans the document quickly, then motions for the amplifying magic to be cut before calling over the head of security and beginning a fervent discussion with him.