@ 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

[aquilus]

[Altaïr expected that they might be taking lizard-visitors for several evenings, so he'd booked a room for the week, one of several ways he houses himself while never arranging a permanent address. He expects that Geralt will both notice the transient atmosphere and not care.

His eyes spark with curiosity when he sees the odd combination of metal and bone.]

Interesting. [Well, if you're into this kind of thing. He's not squeamish at all and picks up the hand, turning it which way and that to try and discern the metal's purpose.] Why did you keep it?

[theidlemaiden]

[ The sharp clang of metal clattering on the wood table makes her wince slightly but only because she hadn't been expecting it. Hilda has proven several times over that she isn't as squeamish as she makes herself out to be, but that doesn't stop her from being mildly weirded out by the way that the machinery is so elegantly - and effortlessly - worked into the bone.

An unfiltered part of her agrees with Altaïr's question - but she also wanted to know where he kept this kind of thing. Was it just on display in his living quarters? Probably not with the way he had just treated it. ]

Was there anything else out there that looked similar to it?

[gynvael]

[ At Altair's question—whose face he can at last put a name to—Geralt gestures at the metal lizard. For the same reason they kept the reptile. Curiosity, a sense that it may mean something they don't yet understand. ]

Yes. [ He'd retrieved the hand, but it was one of several pieces. ] Other similar limbs. Those bones—they resembled a mutation. When one of ours examined the metal, he claimed it possessed unknown properties.

[ For what purpose, he doesn't know. They must've been studying something illicit, something they did not want found.

Something that failed.

Unfortunately, Tony Stark is no longer here. So what comparisons he could have made between these two creations remain a mystery. ]

[aquilus]

[Happy nine months to naming.]

Something in common, then. Though there's no way to know whether both have the same unknown properties without consulting those with more expertise.

[Which he's open to doing, just not right now.]

Whatever the purpose of this one's enhancements, they weren't enough to keep its host alive. But not necessarily meant to.

[A man can lose an arm and live. Less so a circulatory system.]

[theidlemaiden]

[ It goes without saying that Hilda isn't an archeologist or someone who can tell at a glance how old bone is. But another thought, half forms in her mind. ]

Do you think that there was maybe a set of Summoned way before us? Or maybe it's some kind of ancient civilization that not even the locals know about yet? [ Her gaze flits up from the arm to look at Geralt. ] Was there a reason you were out in the wastelands in the first place?

[ She doesn't sound suspicious, if anything it's more curious in an attempt to understand why there would be an arm that has machinery that looks similar to Veliki's. ]

[gynvael]

Or they were disposed of.

[ There was a set of Summoned before them; Geralt knows that for a fact, though he suspects he's one of the few remaining who does. The man who compelled the truth from the High Mage vanished after their escape.

But where these strange experiments are concerned, he thinks the answer is less complex. ]

Had a contract. [ Pays better when he ventures places few can or find it worth the danger. ] They were found at an old mining site. Broken machinery, rubble. But it showed signs of tampering. Made to seem abandoned decades ago. I'd estimate it's been two, three years at most.

[ What that means for the lizard, he isn't sure. But instinct tells him it's a product of this world, of the people born here, and not too long ago at that. Buried secrets of a nation or a rogue sect. ]

[aquilus]

Quite the deception.

[He's not sure what those signs of tampering might have been — not his area of expertise — but he trusts Geralt's assessment.

Interesting. If someone (or someones) had taken the time to cover their tracks in that way, it must have been important to them. But why?]

If people think it abandoned long ago, they're less likely to investigate and follow leads that have probably long since dried up. Which implies there's something to investigate.

[theidlemaiden]

[ Despite Geralt's more ominous suggestion, Altaïr says what Hilda is thinking. Not that she's certain she wants to go that far to investigate something that may or may not be a lead, but she can't deny that she's undeniably curious.

It probably wouldn't be difficult to see where Hilda is going with her line of questions. Just because she's asking them doesn't mean that she's going to actually follow through with it. The wastelands isn't exactly close and travel out there doesn't seem like her idea of fun. ]

Two or three years ago isn't that long ago. Was there other things that weren't mining related like other machine parts or structures? If they weren't careful about their cover up then there must be something else there, right?

[gynvael]

A door, crushed under a rockfall. If they buried it, they mean to abandon it.

[ Finished, in other words. Not an active site. Truthfully, Geralt can't confirm the tampering, either. It was Sam who spotted that discrepancy, and Geralt trusts Sam enough to take the man at his word. ]

There's more. When we entered the cavern, it released a toxin into the air. Nearly took out one of us. In any case, breaking down that door isn't worth what it might unleash.

[ This is how entire villages become cursed with the plague. He nods at the lizard in the tank. ]

You might have better luck following that creature's trail. Something tells me the source of it is not as foreign as it appears.

[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.

[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?

[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]

That's a long way to go for the faint possibility of information.

[He's not against it if it comes down to that, but he's also not thrilled by the possibility. Besides, who knew what they might come back to. Who knew what two weeks straight in Hilda's presence would do to him.]

It would be worth it to know whether the metal is the same, at least.

[theidlemaiden]

[ If only Hilda could make the connection between the mountain map and Geralt because...yeah, she'd pass on the map too. ]

Let's see what else we can find first. If it's a mining site maybe one of the mining associations will know what else is out there too. Besides, two weeks in the desert with some creatures with lots of teeth isn't exactly my idea of a vacation.

[ Seems like they're already rubbing off on each other; neither of them want to spend that much time in the desert with the added bonus(?) of creatures but also say it to her face, Altaïr . ]

We'd really appreciate that! We can return it as soon as they've had a look. Thanks for bringing this by, Geralt.