Of Monsters and Men

Veceslav had already seen him coming. The bloke came running in and he figured it was for the girl he had just fished out of the water. The vibrations of his medallion hadn't stopped and only seemed to get worse. He didn't regard the man with an aweful lot of suspiscion but he remained guarded. The man had called the person in front of him Michael, which struck Veceslav as odd seeing the person in front of him was clearly female. The man then thanked him for saving her. "I am not about to let someone drown or freeze to death for that matter." He said, then he noticed something play across the man's face. He merely watched with curiosity as the man positioned himself between the old crow and the girl. "While I understand that you are rather protective of your friend, there's no need to rush. I just fished her out of the ice cold waters of the Pontar, let her warm up for a bit." He said taking note of the names he mentioned, there was something fishy going on here and it had nothing to do with him just fishing the lass out of the water.

 

​

As they headed down the alley, Zephyr could feel occasional pains in his chest due to Willow's attacks on Byakko. Though her attacks wouldn't be enough to bring the tiger down, it certainly hindered it until he arrived. At which point he granted the tiger a little bit of magic energy to heal the wounds and bring it back to full strength. Now for the other issue at hand. There was an assassin in front of them and some creepy necromancer behind him.

"No can do, I did say that I can handle myself when needed." Assisting him his point, Byakko swiftly appeared at his side and let out a mighty roar towards Solomon. The lightning from Terra's magic had struck down some of the skeletons that had formed around them, but not all of them (Least that was what we're going with). That was where Byakko's own lightning came in and struck down any skeletons that hadn't be ended by Terra's magic. Electricty continued to surge through Byakko fur as it ready for another attack when needed.

 

Ethan's pov:



He kept on fighting the Endrega worker. He wondered if this sort of thing happened everyday. This place might be better if they had some kind of defense. He attacked with the sword and flames sparked. He watched as the Endrega worker's leg fell off. He wondered where Wilfred Hoover was. He hoped that the dwarf was ok. Wilfred could probably take care of himself. What kind of dwarf could not fight? Whatever the case he should end this soon the fight was going on for much longer then it should. It was time to end this. He became light on his feet moving every which way. He attacked the Endrega worker with his sword and flame came out again. This time was different as he set the Endrega worker on fire. Then with one swift motion he killed the Endrega worker. With the Endrega worker dead he began to look for Wilfred Hoover. "Wilfred are you ok?" Maybe the dwarf's long beard go caught in his boot or something like that. He would never understand why a dwarf would let a beard get that long, but to eat his own he guessed.


Olivia's pov:



She attacked the wolf with one motion killing that the thing. There was still more. It was like a endless wave in some sort of video game. She became rather tired of fighting all of these wolves. She hoped that it would not be much longer. At this point in the fight she was using two swords one each hand. At least this would be faster she thought. She continued to fight, but the wolves kept on coming. She attacked two more then three. The wolves just kept on coming. At one point she lost how many she killed. She wondered what had made the wolves so angry. Then at some point she killed the last wolf. She quickly cleaned the blades and put them away. She then found her horse. She got on it to continue her trip to Oxenfurt. After some time she was begging to think that it might be a good idea to rest for the night. The trip to Oxenfurt was a long one. This also would give Derrick time to catch up. She decide that she would ride a bit longer then she might stop or she might continue to make her way to Oxenfurt.

 

​

It was a chaotic scene but Willow had one objective in mind. Both the mages were paying attention to the necromancer. TIme to strike. Moving with agility Willow leaped, knives raised, and stabbed Terra in the back viciously. once, twice, three times. Blood splattered over Willow as she carved great gashes into her victim. Quickly she bound backwards and returned to a poised position. Her knives her dripping blood...
"Funny thing about dead people, there are just so many of them!" Solomon exclaimed as his undead were struck down, but more rose to replace them. His supply was not inexhaustible though. No matter. "ooh, what an impressive roar! Mind if I try?" Beside Solomon two apparitions of himself crawled out of the ground. Together the three of them echoed the roar, a deafening and dark sound, its low bass slightly shaking the cobbles of the alley. The sound was dragged out, but became higher and shifted into an eerie melody. Solomon and the illusions danced and twirled around each other, making it difficult to tell which was which, as skeletons shuffled towards the enemies and the odd music echoed around the alley. Shadowy apparitions crawled across the walls, grotesque images flickered, enough to induce fear in even the most strong-willed.

 

Will's pov:



Evander said 'Well I always heard that they never got on too well' "You sound like you know them rather well." Evander then said something about the Stonemason. "I do not think so, the Stonemason was more of a traveler from what I gather." Evander then said 'As for the council, perhaps it can be reformed in time, but that will be long after I and probably even you are dead.' "What better way then to start rebuilding now. Not every mage is right for the council of mages." Evander then said 'M-Melvin' He was getting rather angry now but he would not show it. It sounded that he came up with that on the spot there was a stutter too. He did not know how this man was but it was not Melvin. "Your name is not Melvin. There is no Melvin that was apart of the Council of mages. So are you going to continue to waste my time? I have been truthful to you I do not see why you can not do the same thing back to me." Evander then asked him 'Anyway, what was this you wanted to show me? I'll assume it's something interesting' "It is nothing, it is not worth it." There was sadness in his voice. "I thought you might be different then the other mages. That you would care enough to want the mages to continue living." He may have been frozen for some time, but he knew enough that the mages would die out if this continued. "Is every mage out there just in it for them self? If this continues the mages will not be around any longer. There will be no mages left. Is that what you want? You are no different then any other mage I have met. You are no different then Yana." Annabelle had a different way, she was trapped in that she had no way to join. “Every mage I have come across has been about power or gain. There seems to no mages that care left.” There was also the fact that Annabelle was to young to join. "When I saw you I thought that I could see something different in you. I all see now is..." his voce tailed off a sad old drunk man. "I guess I was wrong about you. I guess I see the best in people even you. I thought you would want to help. You may have given up, I don't know, but I haven't. I will continue to fight for the children. I will fight for people who can not fight them self and I will continue to do so. I may have been frozen, but that is not going to stop me from helping people. I came across a young mage trapped by Yana, a fire mage. I do not want that on anyone. I will continue to fight." With that he saw that he was not going to get help from this man. "I wish I could help you." It was not worth continuing this conversation anymore. If Evander wanted to change that he would have to do that. There was nothing he could do to change the man’s mind. “For what it worth I am sorry what happened to you.” Whatever this something was he could not say but something had happened in the man’s past. With that he opened a portal and walked up to it and gave one sad look to Evander. If only he could be helped. There was Sadness his eyes and voice. He was just sorry for the man the use to be Evander. He stood at the portal ready to go.

OOC: I feel so guilty about this post. sorry peter :(

 

That could have gone better. Or worse really, he supposed. Wilfred groaned, pushing the body of the insectoid off him. It didn't help much that there was an axe stuck in it, which made it a bit heavier than it already would have been. Turns out, carapace could be kinda heavy. Howevr, the Dwarf was a smith and he was able to shove the thing away with a bit of grunting and elbow grease applied. The dead Endrega Worker slid off him and on to the ground and Wilfred stood up. He spat on it and pulled his axe of out the body. Well, he tried. It was a little stuck. He put a foot against the body and pulled again. This time, Shin****er came free with a sickening crunching noise.
"****, smells bad." He commented as he looked at the ichor stuck to the axehead. He saw the kid approaching. He looked fine, but apparently he was blind because he hadn't yet noticed him. The smith put one hand on his hip and the other he placed on his axehead, resting the hilt against the ground. "Ah'm doon 'ere. Are ye blind lad?" Wilfred felt something warm running down his left cheek and put his hand to his face. His face stung as he put his hand to it and he looked. It was covered in blood. His blood.
"Aww ****!" Wilfred cursed. Then he moaned because moving his mouth too much made the wound hurt. "Gonna need ta get thes patched up a' some point."





Back to Novigrad again? They had just come from there. Honestly, she couldn't stand the place. Besides, there wasn't much hope that they'd find the sorts of things that he wanted from there. At least, not in such a way that she would have liked. It was possible that the King was no fan of Witchers and might be able to supply some assistance, however she didn't fancy chancing with a King. There was a university at Oxenfurt. They had a better chance of being able to find the sorts of things they were looking for there. They might have figured out something that reacted badly with explosives there, or so she reckoned. Either way, she was not going back to Novigrad if she could avoid it. The city was frankly a shithole. Alanna formed up the portal, this time placing it on the docks of Oxenfurt, a place that she knew and quite liked.
"Alright, portal is ready Adolin. Come on through." She spoke. The Doppler looked at her with that intense glare that he always had on and walked through. She thought it amusing that the Witcher medallion on his chest was vibrating, bouncing around on his chest a little and spoiling the effect just a little. She smiled slightly. If an actual Witcher noticed, they might find that slightly suspicious. She thought to herself that if they did, maybe they'd kill him and she'd be free. After that, where would she go? The sorceress ignored that question and followed after him into the portal. It wouldn't matter for a while yet.

Adolin hated portals. He hated them with a passion. He stepped out, feeling slightly nauseous. He stumbled forwards a bit and opened his eyes. He never went through these things with his eyes open, although he always shut them at the last minute so that Alanna wouldn't notice. She was always taking shots at him, so he didn't need to give her any more ammunition. As far as people he forced into working with him, she was remarkably difficult to control. Adolin stretched his muscles and looked around. The portal closed as Alanna stepped on to the docks, and there they were. They had arrived in No-
"This is not Novigrad." Adolin stated, the Witcher's gruff voice making it seem a growl. The sorceress smiled at him sweetly.
"Yes Adolin dear. This is not Novigrad. This is Oxenfurt. Somewhere with class. Makes me wonder why I brought you here." The Doppler bristled and stepped forwards and started to raise his hand. He couldn't afford to make a scene. There were people here. He stopped and sighed deeply.
"Care to explain why exactly we are here?" He demanded.
"Simple. It's nicer than Novigrad, I'm tired of that city. And there's an academy here, quite a famous one. I assume you've heard of it?" He nodded, unwilling to make a scene by responding to her implications. "Well, we might be able to find some things along the lines of what you're looking for there, rather than making do with lamp oil or whatever you were planning to do before. It makes nice fires, but I think you're looking for a little more than a fire." As much as he hated to admit it, Alanna did have a point.
"Fine, I suppose you have a point." He sighed. Then he stood up taller and folded his arms, trying to take control of the situation a little. "Very well! Lead the way Alanna!"

Alanna rolled her eyes, but smiled. Whenever he took that tone she knew that she had won and he was trying to make it look like it was all his idea.
"It's nighttime Adolin. It won't be open for random visitors." She pointed out. She giggled at the ferocious glare the Witcher's cat eyes were giving him. "I'll find us a room somewhere." Now, where to go? She also considered just wandering about the city while the crowds weren't around. She wanted to get familiar with the place again. Even the docks looked like they had changed a little since she was last here. ​

 

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Veera used her time outside to come up with a plan. She had called whatever witchers wanted to come. Now she had met exactly who she needed to kill. Her gut told her it was him. She would need more support, if she was to have any chance to get close to him in the coming battle. He wouldn't have proposed such a course of action if he wouldn't have been prepared. What distracted her, no, distressed, her the most, was that he carried a silver sword. A witcher sword. There was only two ways to get one. Be a witcher, or kill a witcher.

For a moment, she felt true fear. Witchers could be killed, of course they had been. The life was never a long one, with an ending that most could die in their beds. No, it was a short and violent life. But to see a mere doppler with one of their weapons, to suspect what he was capable of...it was frightening.

Aaron. He needs to know. And she would keep him as far from the man as possible.

It had occured to her this could have been the doppler who hurt Tatiana, but she shrugged the thought away. He didn't have the same feel. He was bad, worse, perhaps, but it wasn't the same.

With that, she started walking back to the hut.

​

"S-s-s-s-Seth..." Tessa tried to speak between the chattering of her teeth, her hands shaking so violently she could have been mistaking for being the victim of seizures. "H-h.....s-s-saved..." She stopped trying after nearly biting her tongue off, and hoped he would get the message. It had been such a stupid idea, jumping into a river in the middle of winter. But she would gladly take her fate now, over that if she had stayed on that far bank.

"t-t-thank." She whispered to the man, pressing her frozen face against her knees. It was only a small amount of relief, but it was something.

 

The master witcher kept a careful eye on the man that had just arrived. The girl seemed to know him, naming him Seth. The girl tried to explain that he had dragged her out of the water, but stopped halfway, she was shivering rather badly and figured she nearly might have caught her tongue between her teeth. "Easy, easy warm up a bit more before trying to speak. Wouldn't want you to hurt yourself, now would we?" the old Crow said, throwing some additional wood on the fire, which after only moments was noticable in the heat it produced. She thanked him for fishing her out of the water "It was nothing and you're not out of the water yet so to speak. Here, drink this it'll warm you up." He once more offered the girl the warm water with the berries as he had been doing before Seth had arrived. Seth seemed rather eager to get away from him. "So, Seth, if that is your name, got any idea as to how your friend over here ended up in the ice-cold river at this hour, clinging for her life to a piece of driftwood? And an even better question why would this Bryce have your head for it?" He had heard the name being mentioned by Seth and he seemed rather panicked about the man's reaction.

Raymond was rather surprised at how sudden Veera was leaving, she had mentioned an enemy of theirs. He felt sorry for the poor fellow that was their enemy, Witcher swordsmanship was legendary and he would pity any poor soul on the receiving end of it, if they were human that was. Aaron had gotten rather nervous about her leaving, Veera returned rather quickly to be perfectly honest and there was definitely something going on, but it was far from his place to ask about it instead he merely told Veera "Welcome back" and then turned to Aaron who asked the woman if she was alright, well she just had a breather why wouldn't she? He decided to ask him about an aforementioned sister "I am sorry, but I heard you had a sister that you are far away from, you made it sound she was very sick. It must be hard to live like that. I hope she is in good hands and will get better soon." The farmer was truthful about that, despite not knowing the person at all she still had his sympathies, hell if the sister had been with them he'd offer to look after her, eventhough he didn't have much he saw it as repaying the debt his family owed the witchers and as his civil duty to look after the sick.

 

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Evander looked at Will with blank eyes, emotionless as the other mage carried on his rant. When he had finally finished, and expressed his patronizing sympathy with his apparent insight into Evander's well being, the earth mage finally responded.
“Shut the fuck up, kid,” Evander sighed, and launched into a long, monotone monologue. “You really do not know shit about who I am, or why I do what I do. I have absolutely no reason or inclination to help you in anything. I could be rebuilding the Council this very moment, and I would still lie through my teeth, because I don't know you, and I don't trust you, and frankly I have no desire to either. Your vain ignorance and your juvenile display or arrogance disgust me, and as far as I am concerned you are not worth the effort of arguing with.”
“As for your helping me,” Evander continued, anger suddenly flashing forth, “how could a fucking twerp like you who has been frozen these last one hundred and fifty years possibly have any inkling of what other people suffer? You are a child, William, and you have only the knowledge and experience of one." His anger mounted and his fist clenched savagely, the ground around his feet began to shudder slightly, and hairline cracks spread through the wall beside him. "You can't help anyone."
Suddenly he swept around, his robes twirling dramatically, and be stomped down the alleyway away from Will, cutting off all further converstation. The earth pulsed beneath each footstep, but the tangible pressure in the atmosphere eased as Evander forced himself to calm down. “Go to hell kid,” he called out in parting.
Fucking prick.

​

The barracks to the west. Ellyn pursed her lips thoughtfully. It couldn't be too far away seeing as the soldiers made their way to and from regularly, and as such Ellyn was sure that she could find Matilda before anything bad happened. She hoped so anyway. Getting into the camp, and convincing the occupants to cooperate would be the difficult part, but she couldn't let something as trivial as that stop her. She'd faced worse dangers than a camp full of underpaid soldiers.
Gordon interrupted her thoughts, and she looked down at him with a reassuring smile. “Yes Gordon, I will find her, and bring her back safely to you and your family.” A thought occurred to her. While it would probably be simple enough to find a track to the camp, and the young girl inside it, perhaps bringing a guide would make things easier. She eyed Gordon with an appraising look, and found him acceptable.
“Gordon, would you like to come with me? It would be much handier if someone could identify Matilda for me,” Ellyn explained, and added with a humorous tone, “I wouldn't want to bring back the wrong Matilda now, would I?”

 

Ethan's pov:



He continued to look for Wilfred Hoover and found him by a dead Endrega worker. Wilfred was calling him over. He was no doctor, but Wilfred looked worse for wear. He was saw the blood on the man's face. If Wilfred Hoover spent less time drinking and more time training then it was possible that the man would not be hurt or if he was it would be less of effect. He guessed that he would have to save this man's life. Times like this he wished he had picked up healing magic. He reached in his bag looking for something to help the dwarf. He knew he had a first aid kit. Most of the things in the first aid kit was met for a child, but he would have to make do. He found the first aid bag and pulled it out and opened it. The first things he found was a needle and thread. He could reconstruct the dwarf's face. It was not like he could make the man any uglier. Dwarves were ugly by themselves anything he did to the man's face would be an improvement. He push that idea aside for now. Even though he knew that the man would thank him for such a improvement. The once ugly dwarf would now be getting all the ladies. He found a gaws cotton pad and gave it to Wilfred along with a wet wipe. "Keep presser on your face with that." He probably did not have to tell this man what to do, but it did not hurt. With that done he held out his hand to help the man up.


Will's pov:



He ignored Evander for the most part. There was nothing the man could say that he did not hear before. 'I could be rebuilding the Council this very moment' He knew that this was not true he was just there not long ago and he saw that what the man said was not true. With one last thing he lifted his hand and a water pipe broke. The water was going everywhere. The wind began to move every which way. That was when Will froze the water into a image that only Evander would recognize. It was a perfect model of the Council of mages building. It was perfect down to the last detail. Only some one that was alive a hundred and fifty years ago could get the details this perfect. As far as Will knew paintings of the Council of mages building if there was any did not go into this much detail. With that he walked through the portal shutting it behind him.

 

Darick's pov: he walked back to were his school for teaching was. He found a few (not important npc mages) people in there with nothing else to do, he waited around, maybe something else interesting would happen.

(My other characters will be doing nothing for now until i can think of what to do with them)

 

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Ah, Oxenfurt. An absolute shithole. The moon glowed overhead, the air was filled with chimney smoke and the stench of sewage and waste. And somewhere amongst this filth was Solomon. "Be right back, grabbing a snack" he quipped to Teliana, before going invisible and fluttering off into the night. He was hungry. Thirsty. There was only one thing that could sate this hunger. There was a prison nearby, Vyle had visited several times before. Fluttering into the darkness Vyle crept into the prison and arrived at the first cell. "I am terribly sorry" he apologised politely to the man in the cell, before going for the jugular. The man didn't even cry out, he was dead before he could act. The red liquid sprayed out over the walls as the man's neck was pierced. The blood was sweet, it had been far too long since he'd fed. Dropping the body he felt refreshed, and exited the cell. Halfway on his way back to Teliana he stopped. She could not see him like this. Gazing at his reflection in a window he sighed, he was disgusting. His elegant clothes covered in blood, his face and mouth showing a dark reminder of his activities. He could not let her see him like this, his only choice was to wash in the river of filth. Sigh. Being a vampire sucks. No pun intended.

 

The Witcher and his companion rode into Oxenfurt under the cover of night. She seemed to be sleeping soundly still. That was just as well, he had no idea what he was going to do yet and it wouldn't be terribly interesting for her. At least, for the moment. Olivia was bound to be here somewhere, he just needed to find her. The best place for that would of course be a tavern. But, he couldn't leave Tatiana. Not alone, not here. It wasn't as large as Novigrad, but bad things happened to young women tied to horses wherever one went. He was going to have to wake her up, because there wasn't going to be a safe way of going about ths. He didn't have any hideouts here. He just had to hope that something useful cropped up. Derrick navigated his way through the city to one of the bigger establishments. He tied his horse to a decent looking rail and untied Tatiana. He held her in place and shook her awake, cancelling the Sign's effect.
"Tatiana, wake up. We're in Oxenfurt. We're heading inside. There's someone I need to find, and then we'll get you a bed somewhere." Derrick spoke, helping her off the horse.





"Ach, stings like a ***** tha'." The dwarf spoke as the wet cloth stung his face. There must have been some kind of ointment on it that made it hurt that way. Then, for some reason, he was holding out his hand to him. "Ah knoo it's a little hard ta see me up there, but Ah am standin'. Ah'm headed back ta the forge, ye coming?" Wilfred pressed the strange cloth to his face and walked back to his forge, just as he said he was doing, resting his axe on his right shoulder as he walked.
"Actually, do me a favour will ya? Pick up tha' wee beastie an' bring it back. Call it payment fer me examinin' yer sword." The smith requested as they walked back, gesturing towards the Endrega Worker he had killed.

"C-Co-Come? With ye? I'm just a farm boy. I don't know anything about knightering or rescuing..." Gordon replied nervously. He took a couple of deep breaths and closed his eyes and thought about things. He could go back to helping dad and leave it to the nice knight lady to deal with things. Or, he could go with her and help find Matilda. She didn't know where she was going, and he had played around here and been with Bowen enough before that he kinda knew where things were. She made a little joke, and he smiled. His mind was made up. "Aye, I'll come with ye if ye want me. And I think that Matilda will definitely listen if I'm there too!" He gave a firm nod.
"So err... What do I do?" He looked up expectantly.






The streets of Oxenfurt were quiet at this time. Around some of the taverns, the laughter of drunken students and workers could be heard, and the clinking of the armour of the occasional Redanian soldier accompanied a patch of torchlight in the darkness on the streets. The night air was cool here. She felt right at home walking these streets. Adolin was following peaceably behind her. mercifully silent. It seemed that he had got the message that he was going to listen to her for once. That was at least, until she felt his hand fall heavily on her shoulder. She whipped her head around irritably, but then saw the look on his face.

"Hold on. Something is coming." Adolin gestured to the Medallion on his neck and Alanna nodded. She stepped quickly with a half turn behind him and prepared her magic for whatever came. He narrowed his eyes, and put his hand on one of the swords on his back, ready to pull it out at a moments notice. The person he was looking for soon emerged. A man with a silver sword, the man whom the Medallion was signalling to. He smiled. "Another of my own kind, taking up the task. I must admit, I am pleased to see it is so." He spoke of course, to Bryce, but he was not to know that. ​

 

​

Veera sighed and sat down on the empty chair. "We're meeting them in battle. Two days." She said to Aaron, her heart heavy. "We're going to need more allies. Tomorrow, we'll scout the city and see if anyone answered my call. I'm sure Veceslav will be here. I'd prefer not to meet with him, but..." She resisted the urge to bang her head against the door. "But we're going to need his help." She finished through gritted teeth. If he didn't execute her on sight for disobeying him.

Ah, let him try. She put her fate in the hands of the gods now. "I'm sorry to impose on you, Master Raymond.' She told the human. "It seems we may have brought trouble to your doorstep."

​

Teliana turned to yell at Vyle, but he was gone. Can't stop him from eating, I suppose. It is in his nature. That didn't stop her from hoping his victim died quickly, and without pain. Whoever they were. She brushed the hair from her face and sat down on the rim of a nearby fountain to wait, dragging her fingers through the cold water. It wasn't her favorite element, but she became fascinated by the way the water continually moved through the pipes, keeping it from freezing, even in the cold. We must have entered in the town center. She mused to herself, her breath coming out in small puffs of white clouds. Hopefully Vyle wouldn't be too much longer, or she would find somewhere warmer, and preferably next to a fire.

​

Tessa grabbed the offered drink from Veceslav and slowly sipped, her clenched hands cramping around the cup. She surreptitiously glanced at Seth, wondering how he would answer the man's questions. It had taken her this long to realize her rescuer was a witcher, a fact that made Seth very nervous. Did he know this one? Or had he heard of him? He couldn't be a bad man if he had saved her. Nevertheless, she would wait one more post before trying to speak again.

​

Zack wandered the streets, providing a filler post. He wished to find Bryce soon, or Tessa, but was having no luck. Luckily, the cold of the evening seemed to have driven most of the humans inside, leaving very little people to avoid outside. He would head towards the town center soon, and try to regroup his thoughts.

​

Bryce had turned to respond to the woman and man, and halted momentarily in his stride. The man disappeared, in front of his eyes. Bryce turned and quickened his step, mind whirling. Who could disappear but a mage? But why would a mage leave a girl like that? But the girl had been the first through the portal. So two mages? No, they wouldn't have needed to portal together. So a mage and....vampire? No, they didn't look so human. Unless, the mage was a friend, and had fashioned a glamour. A woman after his own heart, it seemed.

Someone spoke out to him, and Bryce lowered his hood, turning slightly to look at the man who called him out. He narrowed his eyes at the man, then the woman, trying to gauge who they were. More importantly, who they thought he was. "Indeed." was his only reply, though he walked closer. "You're a mage." He addressed the girl. He had seen enough of them, he could tell by the...scent, was probably the closest word. Or a sense, really. Some of them, the magic just rolled off. "And you.." at this, Bryce met the man's eyes, and grinned.

The gods are fortuitous indeed.
"It seems we have both been touched with luck and fortune." Bryce smiled. "Would it be too much of an assumption, upon meeting a brother such as yourself, to ask a favor?" He looked over his shoulder, and stepped slightly closer still, to avoid being heard. "I have a mage. Unfortunately, she is not my friend. Not even an acquaintance, really. But I have need of...well, I need her for information. And I need her quickly. Since you have such a devoted..." Bryce glanced at Alanna, "friend, I would be considered the luckiest man," here he smiled at the inside joke, "alive."

"I would need her as quickly as possible, you see. I have a deadline for how much value she will have to me. And well....she has made friends with a powerful being. I can't tell you what the being is, exactly, but I would be wary. It is for this reason I need help. Are you willing?"

Just in case there was any doubt, he decided to sweeten the pot. "The gold I get for her information can be split between us. I'm not so foolish as to think any help comes for free."

 

​

Bramwell looked at the girl quizzically "Why would I hurt you?" he smiled in a friendly way, she was obviously used to much worse treatment. Travelling through several corridors he eventually arrived at the nursery "Sorry it's in such a bad state" he gestured in disdain at the dusty room "Erm... I guess you can stay here for a bit. Archon, I mean, King Dragoncrest, might pop over in a bit. I'll just go talk to him" With that, Bramwell left the room and walked briskly with his cane to the council chamber.

"You brought who into the palace?!" Archon exclaimed surprised
"Her name is Annabelle Fisher, my King. She is a child mage. I thought you might need her"
"Hmmm" It was true Archon had been seeking a child mage as an heir "I would have preferred a male... but nevertheless, she'll do. I will go to the nursery in a moment. Before I do, any other news?" he asked the assembled mages
Evelynn began to speak "Nothing much, My King but-"
"Witch Hunters" Violet, the heavily armoured female warrior who was one of the strongest mages in the Order, rudely interrupted
"Care to elaborate?" Archon asked, Violet was always difficult to talk to
"On the streets of Novigrad, they've been causing disturbances, burning mages. They appear to have a lot of support from the population"
"Of course they do. The common people hate and fear what they do not understand, what is different from them, what is better than them. This threat will have to be dealt with, in time. One thing we must avoid is making martyrs" A few more political and economical issues were brought up, but nothing important. On his way to the nursery he stopped by the dungeons. Descending into the dungeons he stopped by a door "Anaxagoras. How is the prisoner doing?" in the shadows one pure white eye glowed and glowered at Archon. The jailor was an enigmatic figure who was unlike the other mages. Anaxagoras preferred the darkness and was simply excellent at torture, although he was incredibly dangerous to be around. Archon deliberately looked away from the glowering eye, the last thing he wanted to do was threaten the creature.
"Zavarius?" Came the gruff rumbling voice from the shadows "He has been... disciplined"
"Good" for a moment he stood awkwardly "Very well. I will return in the near future"

Archon tried to look less intimidating as he stood at the door to the nursery. How was he supposed to treat children? "Greetings. Annabelle, correct?" he leaned down to face her "I would like you to tell me about yourself, about your life. Just out of curiosity"

 

Ethan's pov:



He was a little confused Wilfred, but what you going to do. That was when Wilfred asked him to move the Endrega Worker to back to the smith's shop. Who did this man think he was? He just helped out the town and this guy... This was sure a strange place. He put the things back in his bag and made his way to the Endrega Worker. How was he sopost to move this thing? He had one idea but he was not going to do that now. He guessed he would have to drag the thing over to the man's shop. What was he going to do with the Endrega Worker? He let out a sigh and began to drag the Endrega Worker over to the shop. He continued to move the Endrega Worker over to Wilfred's shop. This would be so much easier if he could use earth magic to move the Endrega Worker. He finally go the Endrega Worker to Wilfred's shop. "What are you going to do with this?" That was when he was reminded of what he asked Wilfred earlier, but he did not get an answer because the two Endrega Workers showed up. "You said something about King Archon. Where would I go to find him?" So far there was Novigrad and wherever this King Archon was. He looked back at the Endrega Worker. What ever Wilfred want with a giant Endrega Worker was beyond him.


Olivia's pov:



The rest of the way to Oxenfurt was not all that interesting. There was just nothing. She had hoped that the wolves that she fought had given Derrick time to check up with her. She arrived Oxenfurt at some point before Derrick. She guessed that she was something like one or two hours ahead of him. The first thing she decided to do was find a place to keep her horse. She spent a good hour looking for such a place. The owner of the stables was in debt to her so he was all to happy to take the horse for a few days. Before she left she described Derrick and told the man to let Derrick keep his horse here for free. She left the stables and went to the town library to see if she could find anything interesting. Derrick had told her not to hide, but the last place anyone would look for her would be a library. She had to keep a low profile for now.

 

So, it really was another Doppler. A smile appeared on the face of Carrak of Cintra, the man that he had chosen to impersonate. And it seemed that he had a favour to ask. He was inclined to do a favour for another one, particularly if there was money involved. That was valuable indeed. And it would rather nicely fund the plans that he had in mind. He was going to need material, and for material, he needed money.
"Something else. Even though we're splitting this, I'd like to be able to call in a favour from you as well. Favours between brothers." The Doppler stated. The job itself was an interesting one. What the other man said made Alanna snort. It must have been the devoted friend comment. Yes, she would laugh at that wouldn't she? And there was a powerful being involved. However, he was a Witcher. He felt confident that whatever he was facing, this body would have the ability to face it if necessary. Of course, depending on what it was, it wouldn't have to come to that. Yes, perhaps the fact that he was a Doppler would come in useful. Perhaps it would deter a conflict while Alanna got to work.
"Yes Adolin, I know what you're thinking and I'll do it. Whether I like it or not I've been stuck with you this far. I'm not leaving now that things are starting to get interesting." Adolin smiled, genuinely. It was probably the nicest thing that she had ever said, and most positive.
"Very well. Perceptive as always Alanna." He looked back at the other man. "Now then. Where will I find the one I am looking for? What is their name? And perhaps, what is yours?"​

 

​

Bryce smiled. "It's Bryce. Just Bryce. And the mage you're looking for.....I don't know her name. But she's wearing simple clothes, with long hair, and she's currently sitting in the town center, by the fountain. A hard woman to miss. But if you catch her, then we shall both get the pleasure of learning her name." Bryce bowed to both of them, trying to put a little grateful tone in the gesture. "I appreciate this greatly, and it won't be soon forgotten. Shall we meet back here say, before dawn? I have another that I must go find. They are valuable in a different way but...." here the grin widened. "Gold is gold."

 

"Very well Bryce. You likely caught my name. It is Adolin Bonhart, however you should call me Carrak of Cintra while I remain in this form." Adolin explained. He nodded at the man before turning to leave one they knew where they were going. "Good luck to you in your second hunt." With that, the pair prepared to set off. He turned to ask where they were going, but the sorceress pre-empted him and took the lead.
"Follow me." He did so dutifully. They moved through narrow streets and side alleys in a complex route. Despite her age, clearly she knew the city well.
"How do you know all of this place? I assume you lived here?" He asked.
"What's this now Adolin, taking an interest?" She said mockingly. A displeased expression crossed his face and he was about to make an irritated response when she continued speaking. "I had a mentor, Marla. She taught me my magic, and she lived in this city. For a good third of my life so far I spent my time wandering Oxenfurt with her, learning. You get to know the place after a while. I'd say I still have the key to the house that she left to me here, but you've got that. And everything else." Adolin listened as she spoke, and when the key was brought up, something compelled him to give it back to her. Recently, he felt secure that she wouldn't leave. He was willing to risk giving her this. Perhaps by doing so, it would cement her loyalty. The Doppler reached into one of the pouches along the Witcher's belt and retrieved a key from it and passed it into her hand from behind. She tucked it away quickly.
"I should thank you, I suppose." She said. "But why?" Adolin smirked with a light chuckle.
"I should thank you, I suppose." She actually laughed, and a genuine laugh not a mocking one. She was silent for the rest of the walk into the town centre, but eventually they arrived. Sure enough, one woman sat alone at the fountain, dipping her hands in. He looked around. He didn't detect a powerful presence nearby, at least, not yet. He'd have to keep an eye out.

"Look out for the presence Adolin. The rest, you leave to me." She instructed. The fake Witcher nodded and for once, did what he was told. He followed behind her, those cat eyes flicking from side to side. They were approaching from behind so she wouldn't notice. This wasn't going to be a conventional kidnapping. At least, not yet. First, she wanted to figure out what this powerful being he mentioned was. She sat down next to the other woman by the fountain. She was close, but not intrusive.
"Is this your first time in Oxenfurt?" Alanna asked, casually. She saw Adolin sit down as well, a greater distance from her. That was good. Enough for some privacy, but close enough to help. "A lot of people come here in their early visits. The fountain is hardly the most interesting part of the city though, pretty as it is." ​