Veceslav couldn't surpress a smile, this girl's innocence was a beautiful thing in a way. Her mind unsoiled of dogma and false beliefs. "In the eyes of the common man I am an emotionless killer, a means to an end. They're more likely to accept you as one of their own than me. I am aware of our unpopular image and there isn't a thing I can do to change such beliefs, I won't waste words but let my actions speak for me. And no, they don't get happy endings. There isn't a witcher that has died in a bed. Whether stabbed to death by a peasant with a pitchfork or torn apart by a fiend, I see no difference. It won't be a happy ending atleast not for me, but you still got a chance at one, I hope you'll make it." The man said kindly, the life of a Witcher was tough sometimes, no family, generally alone, people hating you for being a freak, but seeing the gratitude on the faces of the few who didn't abhor his kind made it worth it. She thanked him for his help and she went on a way. "Be safe out there." He whispered softly as he watched her go. He turned back to what remained of his encampment, Hawk was nibbling on some grass. He himself was rather hungry as well. He scattered the ashes of what remained of his campfire and looked around, he ought to get into the city to see if his lost children were there. He mounted Hawk and rode towards the city, passing the building closest to where he had made camp there he noticed a rather familiar face in different clothing but still he knew the person "Couldn't stay away, now could you." Veceslav dismounted, he didn't draw his weapons. "Well seeing our mutual friend ain't here, you are going to tell me the truth. All of it." Veceslav said, he wouldn't use Axii just yet, giving him one final chance to redeem himself. Milosh and his compatriots followed Bryce inside, glancing from left to right to see if they hadn't been seen. Milosh could only be described as a mountain of meat, his head was bald, not by natural cause which was rather obvious from the burnt skin. A frightening man even if he hadn't been a witch hunter. He approached the cages as Bryce explained what the special deal was with them. The first one had knowledge of a necromancer eh? The foulest kind of mages that existed.And the other one knew a powerful creature? Well regardless of what they knew they were going to be put to the torch. He looked at Ana with disgust, then turned back to Bryce who offered him a piece of paper with the price, he himself believing they were worth the upcharge. "Dragan, Adalwulf prepare both of them for transport." Milosh said looking Bryce straight into the eyes about the upcharge. "You're getting an upcharge, but not that much." Milosh said handing over the gold, with only 400 crowns more than usual, yielding him the keys to the shackles and cages throwing the respective sets to his two accomplices. Adalwulf, an older man with thining silver hair entered the cage of Zephyr and went about his way to fasten a set of Dimeritium shackles to the mages hands tying them behind his back. Attached to these shackles was a thick rope functioning as a leash. Afterwards he unlocked the shackle that kept Zephyr in the cage, he 'helped' the mage out of the cage and waited just outside of it. Meanwhile Dragan, the youngest of the company with only 18 summers to his name, opened up the cage with Ana inside, this was the first time the young lad was in the field. His final test before he could finally call himself a witch hunter. The thin young man knelt down beside Ana, his long black hair framing his face. He had been taught the procedure and repeated it several times. However he made a mistake, instead of fastening the shackles he unlocked the one keeping her in the cage. Milosh didn't exactly catch what happened next for it happened so fast. A bright flash, a heat just like that day. A door slamming.... Silence... He quickly looked around, Dragan lay dead next to the mage, even before ordering anything else, Milosh quickly strided into the cage and grabbed her by the arm, yanking her to her feet, the insides of his gauntlets had been lined with small amounts of dimeritium, at his own request. Hatred burned in his eyes and he slammed his fist into her gut and then grabbed the fallen shackles expertly fastening them around Ana's wrists. In the confusion the other mage had slipped away. "Adalwulf, Bernard, after him!" He barked. The two witch hunters immediatly left in pursuit of Zephyr who already had a small lead. They could pass themselves off as ordinairy soldiers or Mercenaries, very few people knew what exactly the insignia they wore meant and only those who had reason to fear them knew. "You really shouldn't have done that, I was going to ask you nicely about your friend, but seeing what you did I will skip that part." He growled angrily. Dragan shouldn't have died, he was just a kid. Damn it. He shoved Ana out of the cage hard and then looked to Bryce. "I think we are done here." Jaroslav had picked up Dragan's body and slung it over his shoulder, they wouldn't leave him behind. They wouldn't leave the city the way they came, as part of the agreement with Bryce they could use some of the less obvious routes out of the city.
Hendrik had understood that Brianne was far from pleased to go back to the Institute and taking Roxanne with her, but there was no way he could be the one in charge. The Clave had sent him here for a grave error or so they liked to call it. He couldn't take her place even if he wanted to and it was convenient that he didn't have to deal with Roxanne. The other bloke turned out to be named Reth and he was eager to get going. "No problem at all. I think we'll get along just fine." Hendrik said she then said she hoped to be able to join them in the hunt, it'd be good to fight with another Nephilim, while it wasn't a parabatai it was better than nothing. "Good luck with the Clave" He replied and then walked towards a ladder leading to the roof, he paused and turned to Reth "You coming?" The Nephilim didn't wait for an answer and climbed up to the roof if there was any sort of trail left then this would be the place to start looking for it.
Conrad listened to what the girl had to say. "Yeah, I am not particularly enjoying myself either. This is all a little bit absurd to be perfectly honest. As for Vance forgetting about you, I am sorry to say that but it's hardly surprising." He took note of how she didn't call him father as she used to, this really had been getting to her and he couldn't honestly blame her. Then she went on to describe what had happened with Damian and honestly the way he saw it it was an accident. He also could understand how the girl would feel after all he had been looking after his own sisters for years. "It's okay, Thea, the man didn't mean to drop you, I know that for certain, he just underestimated the difficulty of the task. It was an accident. I'm sure of it. Are you still hurt?" The nobleman asked her, she didn't show it but it was always worth asking. He listened closely to the frightened girl in front of him telling how she didn't know what to do anymore. "It's okay to be scared, Thea. We all are at times, I am willing to try and help you but I can't guarantee I have all the answers." Then Vance butted into a conversation that didn't at all concern him in the slightest, atleast he admitted he was doing an absolute shite job at being a parent. He looked the man straight in the eyes for a single moment. With only a measure of contempt visible in his eyes. "I won't leave until Thea wishes me to leave." He said and then turned to the little girl "Do you want me to leave you alone with, Vance?" The way she had clung to him not knowing who to trust told him she probably didn't want him to leave her, especialy given the fact she had spoken about Vance in an angry manner.
Veceslav only listened to what the young girl was saying he could understand it. She had been in a cage for so long and while it provided safety it also impeded movement to see the world. "He'll try to convince you I'm lying, I'm used to that fact by now. I am a no good, emotionless killing machine after all. Just don't be careless or you'll end up dead very quickly." the old Crow replied watching her wipe away the tears. She had been abandoned by everyone she had left. "I know you'll be reluctant to take me up on this, but if you ever feel a situation is spiraling out of control and beyond your capability to deal with. There are several people you can contact to enlist my help if you so desire." He heard her mutter she was done, he figured it was about her old life and she fell asleep. He sat there for another half an hour watching over her before deciding to start meditating. He wondered if Veera had heard him and this lead to acurious train of thought about how she would have handled this situation. The sands of time slipped away and the hours flew by. Above them in the nightsky the stars wheeled away and in the east the sun had started to rise. Tessa had gotten up already and as she put the cloak next to him he looked at her "Thank you for returning it" He said in a kind voice. He took the cloak and walked to the riverside putting it down there. He took off his armour and washed himself with water from the river, then proceeding with drying himself off and putting the armour back on. His scarred torso once more hidden. He put the cloak on and stood beside Tessa looking at the city of Oxenfurt. "There has been something I have been meaning to give you." He took a small flask with a magenta coloured liquid in it. "If you are ever hurt badly, drink this. It's a natural healing potion. I know you are sick of being safe, but this world is an extremely dangerous place. Monsters lurk around every corner some just more obvious than others it is better to be safe than sorry." They had been travelling all night to Oxenfurt, whenever their contact had told them he had something for them it had been worth their while every single time and the leader of this small band, Milosh had done quite the business with the man. "Goodmorning." Milosh said grufly, he wasn't really one for niceties. "While you and I have had quite the business, you know I am not giving you a single copper until I have seen the wares you are offering. And you should really know by now that we take all we can find. As for your so called urgent business, that can obviously wait. I'm sure that all the coin you can make here is more important than this other urgent business." The Witchhunter hardly had any patience for this and wanted to see whom he would get to bring to justice this time. Those damn mages were running free, causing untold damage and this he could not allow, he would make all of them spill their secrets and then put them to the fire.
The girl had come back to the fire, good meant she was atleast somewhat sensible. She hadn't replied to his question then again it had been rethorical anyways. "I'm sorry for doing that which I did. Your friend, he attacked a girl in Novigrad, she ended up at the Kaer with one of my fellow witchers. This witcher and one of the younge scions left the Kaer running away with the intent of killing all Dopplers. I opposed it, this bloke was the drop that made the bucket spill. I oppose it as I already said, I will only hunt those who harm humans and prevent the spilling of blood of the innocent." Veceslav said staring into the fire, he hoped Veera was alright, she was the closest thing he had to a daughter, trained her, prepared her for the Trials. The worry was visible on his face. "It's funny how you seem unable to see, what is plain as day. Something that has always been there inside of you. A saving grace. It's up to you and the path you choose whether you are led to the block or live your life in peace and quiet. You have chose that life of pece and quiet. I am quite certain that my students are here in Oxenfurt. I advise you to stay away from the city until this is resolved. You do not deserve to be hurt." The older witcher looked up at the girl with an apologetic look in his eyes, she had been angry at him and had been protected for all her life, she was innocent in all this.
The girl shrugged out of his grasp, it wasn't that unexpected to be perfectly honest. She had been glad to see the man he had just chased out come. He stuck close but didn't say a word giving her an opportunity to say something, he noticed a little change in her and knew what was to come. And while he was fast enough to be able to block or evade it, he didn't the punch connected to his face and he just shrugged off the blow, that's when she prepared to hit him again. He would take it once, but no more than that, he had been at fault atleast in her eyes and that had warranted some sort of punishment. His hand quickly gripped the wrist of the hand that was once more coming to his face. He gripped tightly, but not tightly enough to hurt her. "I am willing to do that when you calm down. I know I just drove your friend away, though he ain't as friendly as he seems, say how long do you know him, huh? A week? Less?" Veceslav said calmly looking the girl straight into the eyes. He let go of her hand again and turned, walking back to the fire sitting down again. The girl could do what she wanted to do, he knew full well she still had his cloak, it didn't matter too much he'd get it back before she could get far and then she'd probably die from hypothermia. The girl may have been catching on something was up. Adolin luckily was close enough to finish it all off once. Alanna gave the girl a hand and smiled. "The pleasure was all mine." she said. "And I'll enjoy my stay, I hope you do too." With this remark she grinned for behind the girl stood Adolin who simply hit her on the back of the head, knocking the girl out cold and caught her in his arms. "Subtle as ever." Alanna said mockingly. "When you're doing mocking my every action, do you think you could open up a portal so we can get away from here, we have undoubtebly been seen." Alanna didn't reply but merely got to work on the portal, opening up a portal to where they had met Bryce and went through, Alanna first, Adolin carrying Teliana following closely. The portal winking out of existance as quickly as it had come.
With the permission of Al himself I may try and forge something that resembles a post. "No, no, you misunderstand." Alanna chuckled, she gave a very subtle gesture to Adolin for him to move closer to their target. Adolin had noticed and began moving, slowly but surely. Now it was up to her to make sure he wasn't noticed and went on with the conversation hoping to distract the girl "You see, this house was given to me. I spent my younger years in this city, living and learning with my teacher. She taught me an aweful lot and for that I'm grateful, though all good things come to an end as they say. My teacher left for Kovir, but before doing so she left the house to me so it wouldn't go to waste." She said, not really elaborating on what was or the fact she was a sorceress. She had taken note of the curious oddities about this friend the girl mentioned and the smile she gave when she said she obliged to help her friend out, she understood that more than she let on. "This friend of yours sounds like an interesting person, would you mind telling me some more about him? What is he like? And hey your friend might not need sleep but you look pretty tired yourself are you sure you don't want to stay if only for a little while longer?"
Conrad listened to Shyra's words and she seemed to hesitate to tell them they had done a good job. Laurentinus came over to apologise for leaving him out in the open, on his own without support, the man wasn't at fault. He couldn't reasonably expect him to stick with him and his desire to help out Kara was also logical. "It's fine you did nothing wrong, Kara needed help, I was just under the assumption the others would support me, turns out I was sorely mistaken. However we are all still alive and that's what matters." He said giving his comrade a pat on the shoulder. Then Shyra called for them to get back into the carriage and Conrad got in the remainder of the journey was rather quiet. They arrived at the Inn and Shyra immediatly decided to lay down the law and Conrad didn't even bother to pay too much attention to it. Apparantly they were going to have to double up and he just knew what was going to happen. He kept his thoughts to himself. He decided to not say too much about it and sat down with Laurentinus, his brother in arms. They had been off to a bad start alright, but he wasn't a bad bloke and while there still was the thing that was bugging him, but it was too soon to bring that up. He might bring it up eventually, for now he was the closest thing there was to one of his old comrades and deep down Conrad missed all his brothers in arms. Shyra had asked if there were any objections to doubling up and Conrad had none, it was again merely something that needed to be done. He checked the gold in his pocket and went over to the innkeeper, the soup Shyra was paying for didn't sound bad but he was actually looking for something more substantial. "Excuse me, sir, I heard you mentioned a meat pie and I would like to know how much it costs for a single portion." He asked politely "And what sort of refreshments do you have?" Water wasn't too bad, but it never hurt to see what else there was. Baldomeister: Baldomar had been following along with the others and during the boat and carriage trips in a classic display of Baldomar behaviour had been sleeping the entire way, because he could sleep practicly everywhere. So when they arrived at the Inn good old Baldy had been well rested from his long journey from Greenbeard's village to Varewyn. The Innkeeper seemed to know his mate, Kellan as well and from the tone it wasn't on good terms. Something about money, then again Baldomar wasn't terribly great with money either and didn't have too much on him. He found a place to sit down and could just about restrain himself from putting his feet on the table. Aston asked them if they wanted to chip in to get something better. "Nah, mate, I'll take that broth and bread. Ain't got much gold on me anyways." He then turned to Kevin who asked Aston a question, Baldy being baldy decided to answer to the best of his ability eventhough the question hadn't been directed at him. "Well what do you think? We'll be staying here for the night and then simply continue our journey. Really not much more to it, chappy. Ain't that right, Aston?"
Conrad had walked on with the other people the girl was very talkative and he only half listened to what was said. Thea was still hiding behind him, he'd let it happen for now. He stuck close to her with the intention of making her feel a bit safer in the dark. Thinking that might be the reason she was hiding behind him as well aside from Vance doing a terrific job at being a parent. They had arrived at a city with the lights going out, Zephyros functioning as a torch for the group the girl then mentioned some puzzle and showed them a sheet of paper. Conrad looked at it, it was incomplete, but it seemed decipherable. "Instructions...for Egris?" He started reading the first line out loud filling in blanks as he did. "This official document.......in strict security for a period of ... years... The preparations have been made for the inhabitants of the city... Instructions as follows?" Conrad went on unable to figure out the words between document and in strict. He looked at the instructions listed below. Some made more sense than others did "Explore? Exploration? River by the pipeworks? Lina is there a river there?" He asked the girl then reading onwards to the second instruction "Find a stone with E by river edge." He couldn't quite figure out the third instruction, but the fourth seemed to make sense again. "backs to the water.. Once there? Backs to the water. You will find door of bomb bunker? The hell is a bomb bunker? Keys located behind small steel panel to the right of the door? Remember key, open door." Then onwards to the fifth instruction "You'll find a boat, fully stocked with the necessary equipment." The remainder didn't make much sense The sixth instruction was also a difficult one "Using the ropes? Lower into the water? Head downstream? Use pa? And assist over rapids..." Man he felt on a roll the last instruction seemed fairly simple "After approx 3 hours. Disembark safely? Follow the path?" He left the remainder of the scraps to be figured out by the others there was something else that required his attention and without a word moved a bit away from others, if Thea still acted the way she had been since the bridge then she'd probably follow. Then out of earshot of the others he turned to the young noble. "Thea, is there something bothering you?" He already knew the answer to the question but figured it was the best way to open up the conversation.
Conrad had flung the body of the spider at it's companion, but honestly hadn't expected it to work. The guilt seeping into him because of the crunching sound. They had been worthy opponents and normally that meant they would allow a retreat, the only exception to the rule were much hated foes or during offensive operations. But the desire for payback had overruled that sense. Normally the soldiers would keep each other in line to prevent such actions. He had to stay in control of his emotions more.The only good thing he supposed was that all their opponents died together and one wouldn't be left alive to either come back with a vengeance or live a miserable life, wait did giant spiders have emotions like that? He was so lost in thought he only half heard Kara's compliment and absent-mindedly mumbled a thanks. He put the greatsword back in it's sheath and turned to the others. "Is everyone alright?" He asked. Standing next to the carriage, everyone seemed unhurt, but appearances could be deceptive. When Kara asked what they would do now he thought and then said. "Well, I take it we move on. There's not much else we can do. Shyra, What do you think?" Then his eyes caught Tessa kneeling by the spiders, the two he had just killed, she was doing something, though he didn't exactly know what that was. Paying respects? Gathering Ingredients? Cursing their spirits? He couldn't say for sure, he looked around again scanning for anything that looked odd or out of place.
Instead of being reasonable and atleast answer the question the man just stammered and then of course he bolted. The bloke was clearly hiding something and sure to be fair a witcher with a sword drawn was quite the unnerving presence even for a human. Running away only damned him further. The bloke decided the river was his only option and jumped in. "WAIT!" He shouted with a commanding tone in his voice but he knew it was in vain. Tessa had said Seth was innocent and while he couldn't prove it definitely had been Seth that had been that particular doppler to have pulled that, him running away had damned him only further. He wasn't going after him, it would be irresponsible to leave someone, as sheltered as Tessa had been, alone. She had screamed out the man's name and knelt on the waterline. She still hadn't recovered from the previous adventure in the cold waters and this was a little bit worrying for the Crow. She was crying, the tears flowing down her cheeks. He put the silver sword back in it's sheath on his back. He watched her for a moment and while she wasn't exactly a child any more, maybe the lessons of taking care of all the children and training them would help here. He had been very hard on them sometimes, to push them further beyond their limits. But when they needed it he showed a softer side of himself. Aaron had been one of the last to have seen it in recent years. He walked over to the girl and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry about your friend..." He knelt next to her looking her right in the eyes. "You should sit down by the fire, you'll die if you stay like this..." He said, his voice had lost all the venom and sharpness it had held earlier when speaking with Seth instead being replaced with kindness. He gently put an arm around her, intent on guiding her back towards the fire after all he hadn't fished her out of the water if he had been intent on letting her die.
Conrad had succesfully managed to link up with the group again. The spider that had bitten Kara now lay by her feet. Dead. The others had used magic to heal him, if only they had supported him in the first place. Spells had flown past him as he retreated another spider went down and the third seemed to be scurrying away. He had no ranged weaponry and could not chase his quarry. He had an idea as to what he was gonna do. Alice had healed him and Lumen had covered him and he gave them a thumbs up as a thanks. Laurentinus had bashed a spider to the ground, covering him and he gave the nod. He turned to Tessa who had cast the vitality tulip and gave her a smile as thanks. Then he looked at what he could do now and saw the downed spider and moved over grabbing the spider, lifting it off the ground over his head and throwing it towards the retreating spider.
The Doppler seemed to have atleast a grain of honour in his being, not extremely surprising. However that did contradict what he had said before about wanting to help Tessa. He merely showed a small smile at this contradiction and his desire of not wanting to get caught in such a mess normally. If he really had no desire he would have avoided it at all costs and not ended up where he is. He then went on about how he had been to Vizima and how there wasn't too much there. Saying he had to keep on travelling. And that while he didn't travel far away from familiar lands because of not wanting to get caught unguarded in the open without food. "Understandable, though really one could always fish or hunt." Then Tessa yawned as if going to sleep and said something very interesting indeed. Wrapping a witcher 'round his finger? He looked at Seth his eyes had narrowed. Tessa had just damned this one. He gripped the hilt of his silver sword and stood up drawing the blade. The Viper school style blade glinted in the light of the fire. "So... you're the one responsible for my scions going astray..... Does she know what you did to that girl in Novigrad?" He asked Seth nodding towards Tessa. "Oh of course she doesn't...." His tone was sharp, it had to be the one that Veera had met in Novigrad. Maybe the girl had been running from him all along, his next victim. "What do you have to say for yourself?" He decided to hear the man out despite deep down knowing he really shouldn't and just get it over with.
Hendrik watched the exit by himself when he caught some activity on the roof, he drew his stele and drew a rune of invisibility on his lower arm and then unslung his bow. He watched curiously as the person decided to hang something down the building. That something was a corpse, he quickly grabbed an arrow from his quiver, drew the string and let fly, hoping to hit the target. He couldn't quite catch if he had hit the intended target all he knew was that he had to move around a bit before wanting to fire again. Even with the invisibility of his rune a target could track to origin of the arrows and use it to track a location. He moved to a different spot and looked again. Gone. He slung his bow back around his shoulder and waited, Brianne would soon be here. As he saw his superior walk out the exit he decided to remove the run of invisibility again, there was no point in maintaining it. She came over to tell him their mark was gone "I know..." He said grimly. Then Roxanne came over and started to pick a fight with Brianne who didn't bite. She left him the choice of taking her place or following the trail. He didn't want to deal with the Clave, didn't have much sway with them anyways and really wasn't in the mood to deal with Roxanne, she could be quite bothersome at times. "I appreciate you giving me a choice, but we both know my place. You go back to the Institute." He said, while Brianne did know his place, he was uncertain if she knew how it had come to pass. Lesser Nephilim would have been exiled outright, only his track record saving him from that, they knew they couldn't miss him. A new person, Rhett, showed up Hendrik had taken note of what Brianne had said about enlisting Ash's help on this one. And this person was introduced as Ash's friend. Well then it would seem no more help would be needed. Brianne had already asked him if he had come to help them. Well let's just hope that this help would be useful and not just a burden.
Veceslav chuckled Seth had taken it personally "Clearly not a reader or thinker, I never said you were the one keeping the songbird in the cage. I had figured out it had been Bryce from what both of you had said. It was merely an observation, not an accusation. If you want to help her so much then why return to Bryce at all? He doesn't know where either of you are at the moment or atleast that's what I'm getting from what you are saying. So right now it is up to you and her of course." Veceslav said calmly He had listened to what the lad said. He was a wanderer, someone on the road no place to call home. He could understand how the man felt, after all the thing closest to a home was the Kaer and he only stuck around in winter, there hadn't been new scions in a long time otherwise he had been training them, teaching them all they needed to know to set out on the Path. "If I had wanted to kill you, your blood would be soaking the dirt this very moment and I would be on my way. Yes I kill monsters for pay. Drowners, Griffins, Foglets, Cockatrices, Alps, Bruxa, Basilisks, Ghouls, Chorts, Arachnamorphs, Endrega, Graveirs, Leshen, Kikimores, Devourers, Forktails, Wraiths, Hyms, the list goes on and on. However all the monsters I just mentioned have one thing in common. Do you know what that is?" Veceslav went on to explain, not really meaning it as a question "They're all dangerous to humans, no smarter than other animals. They behave like animals. They will be killed because of the danger they pose. You however are one of very few exceptions. Dopplers, Higher Vampires and Succubi. These are exceptions because they don't mean always harm and just try to live their lives, there are vampires who have renounced their drinking of human blood, for they do not have to feed. Dopplers just try to make a living of their own among the humans. Succubi are peaceful by nature, doesn't mean they don't pose any danger it's just that these things are making it impossible to look as black and white as one would at say a drowner. You have given me no reason to kill you, therefor I won't." Veceslav threw some more wood on the fire to get it going some more. "But enough about the ethics of monster slaying, like yourself I am a wanderer, travelled to many distant places, seen a lot of the world. Certainly not all of it, but I have been from Nilfgaard to Kovirand from Lyria to Skellige. One place I would like to see before I leave this world would be Ofir. What about yourself Seth? Any places you would want to see before dying? Been anywhere interesting recently? I'm asking this as a fellow wanderer, whom I am sharing my fire with." Veceslav asked the man. He kept the thought in the back of his mind that this might be the one that had set Veera off on genocidal campaign against dopplers, there was however one saving grace. The girl, she would most likely object to him killing this Seth and she was innocent atleast as far as he knew. Which as he said complicated this sort of thing, if this one turned out to be the one in question, then maybe a deal could be struck.
Veceslav listened carefully to the words of Seth, the way the man spoke was odd, he made it seem as if she had ran away from Seth. Losing the charge he was supposed to keep failing miserably at that. "She is safe and sound as you can clearly see." He said in regards to Seth's remark being glad he had found Tessa. What the girl had said told him more than they knew. She was being watched over closely left no freedom as if she were only a child, maybe she was, maybe not. Seth seemed to be getting very nervous now, acting more like a cornered animal than a person. Only monsters were this nervous, that left out the option of him being a mage. And while it didn't exactly damn the girl as well he doubted she was any different seeing this man was supposed to watch over her. The girl's state seemed to be improving as she started to get more talkative, she had just wanted to prove herself, she clearly hadn't been allowed to do so. "You can keep a songbird in a golden cage, but it's in her nature to fly and you shouldn't be surprised that she flies away, when the door is left open. She wants to fly, no matter how well you treat her, it's in her nature. You can't deny them that freedom. Same goes for people, you may care for them, but keeping a tight leash on them to keep them safe isn't the answer. Life is about falling and getting back up, those who aren't taking risks aren't living right." Veceslav used her on purpose so he could still deny talking about Tessa if he so desired. He then turned to the young girl. "Proving you can take care of yourself isn't a bad thing, but always be careful. Had I not been here today you would have learned a harsh lesson. One you didn't deserve." He now turned back to Seth "You really seem to be itching to get away from me, I have been wondering why that is for I do not believe your reasoning of wanting to get her home. Sure it might be the reason for leaving, but I am getting the funny little feeling you're scared of me. Now why would that be? I have shown no ill-intent or caused any harm to you or your friend." He asked, carefully picking his words, moving his pieces around, he already had him, but he allowed the man the chance to come clean himself, if he didn't say anything he'd use his Axii sign, while not quite the Axii god that was Derrick, he had enough experience with the sign that he felt confident to get him to talk. He listened to the young girl reasoned with Seth that he had been nice to her not letting her drown. She even wondered if the man had met him. He might have met the master somewhere along the travels but if he did it wasn't memorable it was more likely he had heard of the ever growing legend of the Crow. "I had nearly forgotten, I know your name." He looked at Seth, then back to Tessa "He called you Michael, but I doubt that is your name, if I may ask I would like to know the name of the person I just saved, but before that I am Veceslav Furst, as you correctly figured, Witcher." He kept an eye on Seth's reaction to the mentioning of his name, simply gauging his response. Raymond Mercator: Raymond had kept rather quiet as the Witcher's spoke apparantly there was a war going on now. Witchers on one side, but who were on the other? Monsters? Weren't those like animals not building armies and societies to wage war upon mankind? Then she mentioned a certain Veceslav, no not a certain Veceslav there was only one. The Legendary Crow was coming here? He felt honoured if the man would even come to his home. Then Veera turned to him "I am no, Master, I am a mere peasant. If it hadn't been you bringing the trouble to my doorstep it would have been the monsters or the lords of these lands. There is no peasant's life without trouble." Raymond said with a sad undertone. "Now I atleast get a pick as to what trouble I bring to my doorstep. You mentioned a war? I wish my leg weren't so bad or I would gladly lend you my sword to fight alongside thee. But why would another master witcher wish to kill his fellows?" He asked curiously it seemed so out of place to say "I mean there ain't a lot of you left now are there? Why thin the herd yourselves when you already have so many enemies?"
Hendrik had been waiting outside of the exclusive area of the club, minding his own business which pretty much meant feeling miserable about his surroundings. What was it that drew Downworlders to clubs, he hated it all, why couldn't a meeting with a warlock be in some nice and quiet bar or a pub. He really didn't understand the appeal of these sort of places, he may just have been getting old. Then a shot rang out and panic spread like wildfire through the crowd. Moments later Brianne was next to him saying something about covering the exit to the right. Despite being her senior and more experienced she had authority over him. The Clave had willed it so and so it would happen, no matter how much he disliked it. Roxanne then showed up and he completely ignored her, why she had been left out of the institute was an even bigger mystery. He stalked off seeing Brianne hadn't left much of a choice for him, he had to watch an exit and he was going to do just that. He pushed himself through the crowd towards the aforementioned door. He would have objected but Brianne hadn't given him a chance to do so having walked away, hopefully Roxanne had some clear moment right now and watched Brianne's back. Instead of watching the door from the inside of the Pandemonium he went outside, he had had enough of the music or noise passed off as music and walked to the opposite end of the alley, positioning himself in the shadows while keeping a watchful eye on the door, twirling the Stele between his fingers. She had just said watch the door and he was watching it.
Conrad had made a mistake in trusting these people, it had been a mistake, he was used to fighting alongside soldiers they would move up with him to hold them until those behind them had moved up for the main push. The others had all been so caught up in Kara's being wounded he had been left up front without support. The two spiders moved upon him he tried to parry the attacks the first spider's attacks slipped through his defences, and it hurt, badly the creature had bit him, but he was glad he hadn't been poisoned. Then the second spider was upon him but he managed to parry the attacks of this creature with his blade. He had been very lucky and while he wanted to curse his team mates, it wouldn't be of much use. He could hear Tessa call out his name. Shyra had done a number on one of the spiders and while he could probably take it, he didn't want to get himself killed, maybe the others had caught on now that there were more threats simultaneously and they couldn't just keep a tunnel vision on one of them while ignoring the others. Seeing he was the one seperated he figured it was best for him to fall back and regroup and was glad that he hadn't been cut off from them. He felt magic take hold of him as he fell back towards the others and took up a defensive position. -Moving back two spots (2 AP) -Moving right-down one spot (1 AP) -Defensive position (3 AP) Total AP used: 6 AP
Zahariel had already been on the retreat, he could feel the blood leaking out of the wounds, that Demi-god's blood would be spilled, Dies Irae would be the deliverer of his end. The accelerator of the end of the Demi-gods. He noticed Carrisa's knife and swiped it up as he went. Continuing his retreat towards the shuttle following Carissa, he couldn't go at his full speed, but still made a good break for the shuttle. He boarded the craft, and found it left a lot to be desired like some form of armament to cover those transported. The Demi-gods had embraced new technology, he himself was still holding on to the ancient way of the sword, that didn't mean he was completely unaware of the capabilities of the newer weaponry and maybe, just maybe he should be making a transition as well. He had surpressed the Demi-god and his ilk for a while with his fires and he was glad that he did not have to retreat on foot. Onboard he simply found a clear spot and sat down, the blood was probably starting to stain his robes now. And blood stains were an absolute ***** to wash out of them. The Prince had no words for what just happened and was left rather confused in the place where he had happened upon the strange construct and the girl again. He ha been speaking to the construct about tea and before he could really answer the construct had run off to who knows where. The girl had yelled something about I won't do it and run off as well, leaving him by himself once more. Was fate telling him that threads of these two were not meant to cross and intertwine? That they were not meant to meet? Varraki pondered the case, but was then rudely awoken by the erupting sounds of battle. He had to make a decision quickly and despite what fate had been trying to tell him and figuring the mechanical behemoth would be more than enough to defend the girl he cautiously moved in the direction of the sounds, watching the bizarre scene play out before his eyes as the guards of the airship tried to take out the construct. The girl seemed to be fighting unarmed and as she touched and dropped the man, presumably dead. His eyes had widened and he softly asked himself out loud "What on earth are you..." Fate had been right... they were not meant to meet and Varraki decided to leave this bizarre place and cautiously started to move away. Deep within he knew it wasn't right to abandon the fight but it wasn't his fight. He had no part in it and getting involved risked not only his own life but the lives of the Andaran people. With a heavy heart he set out again, weapons slung over his shoulder, had his rifle not been depeleted he might have had been more willing to intervene in the fight, but fate hade been clear. He was going back to his homeland now, his mission had been completed the blood price had been paid by the Hammers there was nothing left for him to do here.
Shyra was surprised that the spiders were on top of the carriage saying it was the oldest trick in the book and that they weren't gonna go down without a fight. What a surprise, despite their numerical advantage which would normally be a factor in scaring beasts away. The beasts reacted first, one of them getting Shyra caught in webbing, the next going for Kara, biting her with it's fangs he feared for the worst but silently prayed that he was wrong. Now wasn't the time to panic, others would take care of it, right now he was in the vanguard and their enemies were upon them and they needed to be disposed off first, despite the annoyance the girl had brought him she didn't have to die and poisoning was a bad way to go, though maybe just maybe she had been lucky. He hoped she'd be able to hang on until the spiders were disposed of and they could safely tend to her. He had heard Tessa called out to Kara, but he didn't dare look behind him, he had to trust that those behind him would watch his back and help on that issue. The last spider was upon him trying to slash at him, but he managed to parry the blow of the creature and it moved back as almost daring him to come attack it. And he did, he moved forward, holding onto his greatsword with a single hand, resting it's blade on his shoulder using his free hand to punch the creature. 'That one's for Shyra.' He thought as he then held the blade in front of him again in a defensive stance waiting for the creature to act. Action list: -Moving up (1 AP) -Unarmed strike at spider 2 (4 AP) -defensive stance (3 AP) Total AP used: 8
