to: everyone | forward dated to very very very early july 4

[ordinar]

[At some point, when he's exhausted down to his bones but knows he won't be able to sleep yet, it hits Wilhelm that the people who might normally take it upon themselves to make an announcement in this situation are, for the most part, sitting in jail or lying low in Nott. Then, tentatively, he arrives at the terrifying conclusion that he could actually qualify as a responsible adult.

So, here goes.]

Hey everyone.

Um.

Castle Thorne was bombed earlier tonight. Or, I don't know if they were bombs exactly, but there were huge flashes of light when they hit.

As far as I know, no Summoned were injured badly. A lot of soldiers were killed though. I think the wards around the castle protected it from the worst of the blast, but it did get damaged.

I don't know if anywhere else in Thorne was attacked. I haven't heard anything from Nott.

I saw one of the devices that was dropped, or what was left of it. It was metal and had an arcana sign engraved on it. I think we can assume it's from the Free Cities.

Anyway, that's...pretty much everything I know. If you have more info, go ahead and share it.

[Threadjacking encouraged, obviously. This message is sent a few hours after the attack.]

Comments

[techmaturgy]

The fact that they broke through the wards indicates they may have been magical in nature. The Free Cities couldn't have done this with technology alone, or even with New Magic.

enter member of the city guard, lord john; delayed response bc he was in the midst of All The Above

[iustise]

𝓘𝓽 𝓲𝓼 𝓭𝓲𝓯𝓯𝓲𝓬𝓾𝓵𝓽 𝓽𝓸 𝓼𝓪𝔂. 𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓪𝓽𝓽𝓪𝓬𝓴 𝓬𝓪𝓶𝓮 𝓯𝓻𝓸𝓶 𝓪𝓫𝓸𝓿𝓮, 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓶𝓾𝓬𝓱 𝓘 𝓴𝓷𝓸𝔀 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓬𝓮𝓻𝓽𝓪𝓲𝓷. 𝓓𝓮𝓿𝓲𝓬𝓮𝓼 𝓭𝓻𝓸𝓹𝓹𝓮𝓭 𝓯𝓻𝓸𝓶 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓼𝓴𝔂, 𝓭𝓸𝔀𝓷 𝓾𝓹𝓸𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝔀𝓪𝓻𝓭𝓲𝓷𝓰. 𝓘 𝓱𝓮𝓪𝓻𝓭 𝓸𝓷𝓮 𝓶𝓪𝓷 𝓼𝓪𝔂 𝓼𝓸𝓶𝓮𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓪𝓫𝓸𝓾𝓽 𝓫𝓲𝓻𝓭𝓼, 𝓽𝓱𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱 𝓘 𝓬𝓪𝓷𝓷𝓸𝓽 𝓭𝓮𝓯𝓮𝓷𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓿𝓪𝓵𝓲𝓭𝓲𝓽𝔂 𝓸𝓯 𝓼𝓾𝓬𝓱 𝓪 𝓼𝓽𝓪𝓽𝓮𝓶𝓮𝓷𝓽. 𝓘𝓽 𝔀𝓪𝓼 𝓭𝓪𝓻𝓴 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝔀𝓪𝓼 𝓻𝓪𝓲𝓷, 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓮𝔁𝓹𝓵𝓸𝓼𝓲𝓸𝓷𝓼 𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓹𝓮𝓷𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓫𝓮𝓯𝓸𝓻𝓮 𝓶𝓮 𝓺𝓾𝓲𝓬𝓴𝓵𝔂 𝓽𝓸𝓸𝓴 𝓹𝓻𝓮𝓬𝓮𝓭𝓮𝓷𝓬𝓮.

private.

[gynvael]

Before you?

private.

[iustise]

[Ah. He would have liked to have broken this news to Geralt in perhaps a gentler way, however he has been rather busy until now…]

𝓘 𝔀𝓪𝓼 𝓸𝓷 𝓭𝓾𝓽𝔂.

[gynvael]

Where are you now?

[iustise]

𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓪𝓽𝓽𝓪𝓬𝓴 𝓲𝓼 𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓻, 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝓲𝓼 𝓷𝓸𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓶𝓸𝓻𝓮 𝓽𝓸 𝓫𝓮 𝓭𝓸𝓷𝓮 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓽𝓱𝓸𝓼𝓮 𝔀𝓮 𝓱𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝓵𝓸𝓼𝓽. 𝓘 𝓱𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝓫𝓮𝓮𝓷 𝓭𝓲𝓼𝓶𝓲𝓼𝓼𝓮𝓭 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓷𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓼𝓮𝓷𝓽 𝓽𝓸 𝓬𝓵𝓮𝓪𝓷 𝓶𝔂𝓼𝓮𝓵𝓯 𝓾𝓹.

[Hence why he now has time to check in on the network.

Is this an answer? It’s half of one, but it’s notably less straightforward than John might’ve given on a good day. Because this certainly has not been a good day for him.]

[gynvael]

[ It's enough of one. Mostly, Geralt only wants some assurance John is not still out there or, worse, sent back on duty. ]

Come see me.
When you've time.

[iustise]

[John spent hours out there, but he knows how to follow orders. When to call it, when there is nothing more he can do. Nothing more that can be done.

It is not a particularly good feeling. Not a particularly good end to a particularly terrible day. He wishes he could simply go to Geralt now. Take comfort in the solid presence of him. It is difficult to be alone, at a time such as this. But John does not voice such things. Instead he says:]

𝓘 𝓼𝓱𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝓶𝓪𝓴𝓮 𝓽𝓲𝓶𝓮. 𝓦𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮?

[Good god, he is so tired, it reads even here.]

[techmaturgy]

Birds. There's a Free Cities inventor on the Cadens city council that quite likes them. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised by the vehicle.

[iustise]

𝓘𝓯 𝓲𝓽 𝓲𝓼 𝓽𝓻𝓾𝓮, 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓪 𝓬𝓲𝓽𝔂 𝓬𝓸𝓾𝓷𝓬𝓲𝓵 𝓶𝓮𝓶𝓫𝓮𝓻 𝓱𝓪𝓼 𝓲𝓷𝓼𝓽𝓲𝓰𝓪𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓼𝓾𝓬𝓱 𝓿𝓲𝓸𝓵𝓮𝓷𝓽 𝓻𝓮𝓽𝓪𝓵𝓲𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷 𝓪𝓰𝓪𝓲𝓷𝓼𝓽 𝓒𝓪𝓼𝓽𝓵𝓮 𝓣𝓱𝓸𝓻𝓷𝓮, 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝔂 𝓱𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝓶𝓪𝓭𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓲𝓻 𝓼𝓽𝓪𝓽𝓮𝓶𝓮𝓷𝓽. 𝓜𝓮𝓶𝓫𝓮𝓻𝓼 𝓸𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓰𝓾𝓪𝓻𝓭 𝓪𝓻𝓮 𝓭𝓮𝓪𝓭, 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓱𝓸𝓻𝓼𝓮𝓼… 𝓣𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝔀𝓪𝓼 𝓫𝓻𝓾𝓽𝓪𝓵 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓼𝓽𝓻𝓪𝓽𝓮𝓰𝓲𝓬.

[techmaturgy]

He would not have given the order--only developed the technology with which to attack.

[itookashot]

Weren't there some bird things that helped us find the island?

[techmaturgy]

Yes. It was Klingel's design, but I improved their surveillance capabilities and linked them to my tracking system to improve the range. It's how I found the island.

[itookashot]

You'd know better than anyone else, maybe he just continued with the project. If they looked like birds, they might not have seemed suspicious right away.

[iustise]

𝓓𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓵𝓸𝓹𝓮𝓭 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓹𝓾𝓻𝓹𝓸𝓼𝓮? 𝓞𝓻 𝓪𝓻𝓮 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓼𝓪𝔂𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝔂 𝔀𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝓳𝓾𝓼𝓽 𝓪 𝓬𝓸𝓷𝓿𝓮𝓷𝓲𝓮𝓷𝓽 𝓶𝓮𝓪𝓷𝓼 𝓽𝓸 𝓪𝓷 𝓮𝓷𝓭 ?

[techmaturgy]

This was retaliation, clearly, but I imagine they would have unleashed this eventually.

[funbreaker]

Birds, you say?
There was a noticeably large flock of them spotted over Nott. It was hard to make out more than that before they passed over the lake, but it struck me as odd that they would travel despite the bad weather and visibility we currently have here.

[iustise]

𝓘 𝓬𝓪𝓷𝓷𝓸𝓽 𝓼𝓪𝔂 𝓘 𝓷𝓸𝓽𝓲𝓬𝓮𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓶 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓶𝔂𝓼𝓮𝓵𝓯, 𝓫𝓾𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓷 𝓘 𝔀𝓪𝓼 𝓷𝓸𝓽 𝓮𝔁𝓹𝓮𝓬𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓪𝓷 𝓪𝓼𝓼𝓪𝓾𝓵𝓽 𝓯𝓻𝓸𝓶 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓼𝓴𝔂. 𝓜𝔂 𝓯𝓮𝓵𝓵𝓸𝔀 𝓰𝓾𝓪𝓻𝓭𝓼𝓶𝓪𝓷 𝔀𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓸𝓷𝓮𝓼 𝓽𝓸 𝓬𝓸𝓶𝓶𝓮𝓷𝓽 𝓸𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓶, 𝓳𝓾𝓼𝓽 𝓫𝓮𝓯𝓸𝓻𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓮𝔁𝓹𝓵𝓸𝓼𝓲𝓸𝓷𝓼 𝓫𝓮𝓰𝓪𝓷. 𝓘 𝓬𝓪𝓷𝓷𝓸𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓴 𝓲𝓽 𝓲𝓼 𝓪 𝓬𝓸𝓲𝓷𝓬𝓲𝓭𝓮𝓷𝓬𝓮, 𝓰𝓲𝓿𝓮𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓽𝓲𝓶𝓲𝓷𝓰.

[ordinar]

I guess they must have invented something new then.

[techmaturgy]

I suppose they must have.

[ordinar]

Hope Thorne can figure out some stronger wards too.

[techmaturgy]

They'll have to do it quickly.

[ordinar]

And then the Free Cities will probably find a way to make more powerful bomb things.

This sucks.

[techmaturgy]

Yes. It does.

[ushiri]

The use of Arcana - this is new for them?