@ everyone

[theidlemaiden]

𝘏𝘪 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘸𝘦 — 𝘈𝘭𝘵𝘢ï𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 — 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘴!

[A combination of deep exasperation and resignation doesn't show in Altaïr's 'handwriting', but if it could, it absolutely would.]

We discovered a pair of mated lizards in the woods of Solvunn some time ago. One appears entirely normal, the other is half-mechanical, with gears in its midsection. It should clearly be dead regardless of where those gears came from, and yet it both lives and has fathered eggs.

[Unspoken: 'That's fucked up, right?'

Hilda's handwriting interjects, clearly addressing Altaïr. ]

𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘐 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺 “𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥” - 𝘝𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘪 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘭𝘦! 

[He feels as though he should be too dignified and composed for internal bickering in front of others but he absolutely is not.]

Miracle implies the presence of divinity. This is clearly something else. I would like to know what, and to know whether any other Summoned have encountered anything similar.

[ Somewhere Hilda is rolling her eyes and mimicking him but thankfully everyone else is spared the theatrics. ]

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘪 𝘪𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘝𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘪 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮. 𝘏𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘈𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘹𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 – 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘶𝘴.

 

𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬, 𝘸𝘦’𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘢𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘕𝘰𝘤𝘸𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩, 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘱. 𝘞𝘦 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦!

( ooc: visit the lizards here! and you may get replies from either one of the new parents or both! don't worry about posting order, thread jacking is encouraged ) 

Comments

[takeatrip]

Might be better to try bright and cooler, just in case he is solar powered.

[As long as it's not too cold it shouldn't hurt the little creature, but if he is solar powered and in the dark for too long, who knows what might happen.

But as far as Hilda's question goes--]

Could've been. If I had to guess I'd think this was an experiment for some sorta' purpose instead of just boredom, but you can't rule that out.

[People do some weird shit out of boredom, after all. But he also has the same thought Hilda did.]

He could've also been a pet or somethin' and this was done for a medical reason, but you'd think he'd still be with that person if that's the case.

[If someone loved this lizard enough to go to such lengths to save its life, where are they now?]

[aquilus]

Not without extreme caution.

[But he doesn't know much about what it would take to investigate without further releasing toxins, so. Basically what Geralt said.]

Wanda might be able to learn more in Solvunn. That's as close as any of us can currently get to its source.

[aquilus]

I suppose it depends whether we want to see whether he perks up or slows down.

[So maybe they need to test dark, light, cold and warm places. Just to be sure. So many factors to consider.]

If he's a pet, he has a very poor owner.

[Given that he'd been hanging out in the wild.]

[aquilus]

[Hilda, what.]

There is nothing wrong with reading. I'm not against speaking with a historian, but we're capable of looking for ourselves.

[He knows his way around the library.]

[monomachy]

Wise words. But let's not dream too big.

[theidlemaiden]

[ She'll be giving Viktor a look right back. Listen, Hilda likes reading as much as the next person but this also sounds a little bit like work. And if there's one thing Hilda will always try to avoid, it's doing that work herself. ]

But wouldn't it make more sense to have someone point us in the general direction first? That way we don't have to rummage through piles of dusty books. What if my dust allergies flare up? What if Altaïr turns out to have one that he never knew about? I'm just looking out for us here.

[ All of that is to say - ]

An archeologist connection would be super helpful. And if they know a historian, that would be super helpful too!

[theidlemaiden]

𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵, 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘔𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘋𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘢. 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘮.

𝘞𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘺𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦.

[ All of this is written of course like Altair can't also see what's being broadcast right to him as well. Hilda is nothing if not relentlessly shameless when she finds a kindred soul in roasting someone. ]

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[carmesi]

He's very talented. I always go see him when we are allowed into Nocwich. It's surprising we haven't run into each other there yet.

Who are you talking about, then?

[monomachy]

[diana has had a year to learn that gently teasing your friends is actually normal, so she's happy to go along with this.]

Absolutely. Perhaps we should periodically wear hoods as well. As a show of support.

[theidlemaiden]

[ She's read one too many cautionary tales; opening up doors that shouldn't be opened is exactly how that starts. It's undeniably frustrating though to hear that what could possibly be a thread to explore isn't a viable one. ]

We'll just have to tell her to be careful too. [ Her eyes flit to Geralt. ] You wouldn't happen to have a map of that area, would you?

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[theidlemaiden]

𝘍𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘦𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘴. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘨𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸! 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘫𝘦𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘳𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸.

𝘈𝘭𝘵𝘢ï𝘳.

[theidlemaiden]

[ A frown immediately crosses her features at the thought of someone doing this for the sake of killing boredom. ]

If we ever find his owner I'm going to give them a piece of my mind! Unless they lost Veliki accidentally in which case I guess it's fine.

[ That possibility seems unlikely to her though considering how well behaved both of the lizards were. A thought then crosses her mind. ]

Did anyone ever do anything like this to animals in your world, Jayden?

i think we can wrap? 💕

[theidlemaiden]

[ Her shoulders slump slightly and she lets out a sigh. It isn't like there's any reason to think that Crane was lying to her, but at least she has one side of the story which really just leaves asking Blake about it. ]

𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘴𝘬. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘋𝘳. 𝘊𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘦.

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[carmesi]

You make jewelry? Could— I'm meeting Claude for lunch in Nocwich this weekend. You're coming too, right? Maybe you could bring some? I like them, but I'm not one to make them. But it makes sense, you made all those animals from paper a while back.

[wanda still has them]

Oh, so — hoods for their heads, right?

[techmaturgy]

[HILDA READ A BOOK]

The Free Cities is unnecessarily bureaucratic. Often it's more expedient to take the initiative.

[That said he will absolutely rummage through piles of dusty books. Viktor is less read up on the history of this place as he should be, given his focus on the sciences.]

I can ask around. In the meantime, however, we should look for the answers ourselves.

[takeatrip]

I guess somethin' could've happened whoever it was.

[This hypothetical owner. But it's just guesswork, and so he moves on to Hilda's question.]

Not exactly. There's prosthetics for animals, so if they lose a leg or somethin' and really need a new one, there's options; most animals do just fine without them, though. There's nothin' that could replace half their body, though.

[That's the really strange part of this, aside from the mystery of a possible power source, but then again this world has magic. Maybe those are actually very simple problems here.]

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[theidlemaiden]

[ Hilda's reply to Wanda comes a beat later than might be considered normal. Good thing this is just text. ]

𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘣𝘣𝘺, 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵. 𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘨 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨? 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘮.

𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦! 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦.

[theidlemaiden]

𝘖𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢! 𝘈𝘭𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘳, 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴? 𝘞𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥?

[aquilus]

[This look but in real life.]

No.

[supersoldier]

Possibly so. More complicated creatures, or... as I said. People. That's often the end goal, in my experience.

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[carmesi]

I'm bringing Matt along, so he and Claude can just occupy themselves with boy talk or whatever. Don't leave me alone with them. Please?

What feature? I have no idea what you're talking about.

[surprise intact. you got this, bestie.]

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[theidlemaiden]

[ There's a moment when Hilda almost repeats it, thinking that her little surprise had been blown - and maybe it is! But she'll just save the grand reveal until they meet in person.

As for Wanda's other question... ]

𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩! 𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘭𝘭 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘕𝘰𝘤𝘸𝘪𝘤𝘩.

[ Which is to say yes, she'll come and support her through boy talk. ]

𝘓𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘫𝘦𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘳𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦, 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺? 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘐'𝘮 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘰.

[gynvael]

[ Geralt seems to consider. ] Reptiles rarely migrate. If you found its nest, it's unlikely to have strayed from far from there.

[ He normally hunts much larger reptiles, but the principles remain the same. He assumes. As for maps:

He shakes his head. The one he provided of the mountains is as far as his map-making capabilities go. ] Roughly northeast. About 500 miles out from the city. For you two...might be a fortnight there, a fortnight to return. Lots of things with teeth, though.

[ Massive worms. The usual. He imagines if they're persistent, they might find a way to counteract the toxins. Nadine has got a sample of Sam's blood, though the components have probably broken down by now after so long. Still, in this world, it's difficult to rule anything out entirely.

Geralt points at the hand. ] Jayce or Viktor may want another look in light of your...new friends.

[ But if not, he'll be taking the hand back. ]

[aquilus]

It sounds as though you come from a world of plenty, if even animals can be fit with such things. In my homeland, people who lose a limb generally have to live with it.

[Which he knows from uncomfortable, guilty secondhand experience. So to speak.]

I think it's safe to say that this is an unusual case, regardless.

[aquilus]

I agree.

[Altaïr hasn't dealt with bureaucracy enough to gauge how it functions in the Free Cities, but he trusts Viktor's assessment, and in any case he has always preferred direct action.]

I'll make time to search for more information. Inside or outside of the library.