to all;

[righteously]

Okay, look. We need to talk.

What the hell is going on around here? That whole 'make the summoned run around like trained jackasses' thing? Not kosher.

Before I say anything else, I'll be the first to admit, I didn't let the bug loose. It was a bad call, somebody got hurt, and I'm sorry. I really am. If I could go back knowing what it did, I'd have let it out in a heartbeat.

But that's the thing, isn't it? I mean, seriously. Let's break this whole thing down.

Those douchebags running the Free Cities (or Thorne, or Solvunn) drag us in from wherever we were, without asking, against our will.

A highly reclusive nation decides to let us come hang out for a Disney vacation in their deeply secretive community as a gesture of good faith.

At a time when Summoned from all three factions coincidentally happen to be hanging out in the same reclusive ass place, something mysterious and terrible happens. I don't know about the rest of you, but I, for one, am shocked it didn't go as planned.

Instead of sending guards, the Free Cities sends us freaking couriers with the most useless note in the history of the goddamn planet telling us to release a device we know nothing about, without telling us what it does, just that we need to be real friggin sketchy about it.

When not everybody obeys without question like good little soldiers, one of our own gets hurt, and they shake the shame finger at us like it's our own fault? Are you kidding me?

First of all, if they can send couriers they can send their own friggin guards to handle crap like this. Or, hell, have the damn couriers release the things, they have hands, they could've prepped the packages their own damn selves instead of foisting it off onto the people who didn't even ask to be here in the first place.

Second of all, even if they COULDN'T, how about they slap in a goddamn paragraph or two on what the thing is? If everything's all hunky dory, and all that little bitch does is provide a protective shield, who CARES if a note that was gonna SELF-DESTRUCT ANYWAY gets read over somebody's shoulder?

This whole thing reeks of grooming us to start following orders without full intel. Surely nothing will come of that. Except, oh wait, Libertas just got friggin' bombed. The continent's going to war, and we're getting played.

And here's the other thing: I'm pretty sure Free Cities kids weren't the only ones running around doing sketchy crap during the happy fun werewolf party. Thorne, Solvunn, you two wanna weigh in here? Bueller? Anyone?

( threadjacking is highly encouraged, so long as whoever you're jumping in with is cool with it! hit me at paingravy if you need me! )

Comments

[sorser]

One of the queen’s favored assistant mages died in the attack. She’s furious about it, and she’s all but convinced that it’s the work of the Free Cities at play here.

Like I said, not exactly working with a rationale. She gave us front row seats to the destruction to drive that point home.

[industries]

> Jesus.
> Does she has evidence Marlo was behind the assassination or
> is this blitzkrieg on civilians even more paper-thin than it looks?

[sorser]

The only "evidence" is the device that was found on Yennefer. It was damaged, so no one could pinpoint exactly where it came from, but it was composed of some kind of crystal and metal. I don't have more details than that, though I want to see if I can get a closer look to examine it.

Still, that was enough to shift the blame over to Marlo and the Free Cities. She's pissed, and she needs a target.

[industries]

[ Who's Yennefer? Sounds familiar – someone high up in Thorne? Maybe. Either way, he's currently more concerned with the city getting firebombed, and the woman who did it– ]

> Yeah, sounds like the kind of gal who enjoys her wine with a side of medieval torture.
> Let me know about the device components. I can cross-reference them with the materials we have access to here in Cadens, figure out where they came from.
> In the meantime, we're going to get help to Libertas.
> Is Queen Nutjob planning more strikes, or taking a siesta after all the murder?

[sorser]

[Stephen doesn't even think that Tony might not recognize the name; his mind is pulled in a hundred directions at once, right now, thoughts trying to congeal into a solution that he can't quite grasp at.]

I'll let you know. I need to convince them there's a reason for me to examine it without implying that it wasn't the work of the Free Cities. Don't think that would go over too well.

I don't know what's in the cards in the immediate future. But she called it war, so we're well past the point of no return now. I doubt the military in Cadens is just going to roll over and take it.

[industries]

> Yeah, think we're in for a long haul of blood at this point, so
> would rather you weren't thrown to the lions, unless you also have "circus wrangler" on your very eclectic resume.
> You're the only guy over there I trust
>
> to give the straight facts, so
> try to stay alive this time.

[sorser]

[Trust to give straight facts, huh. No time to pick apart mental-text-verbiage, so the reply shimmers back just as quickfire.]

Circus wrangler is not on my resume, no. But it might as well be after all of this.

I'll be careful. Right now everyone's walking on eggshells in the castle, or anyone who thinks what the queen did is absolutely insane. But I've earned some trust by now; I plan on using that however I can.

What do you plan on doing? I read the military's the only one who can go in and out of Libertas.

[hextechhead]

[ Jayce is not doing well at all, but he sees this. ]

If you can update me with the type of crystal, I would appreciate it. There are New Magic crystals here, imbued with a specific type of magic.

[sorser]

[Everything's gone as pear-shaped as one can possibly imagine, that's for sure.]

Easily identifiable, I assume?

I'll let you know if I can figure out anything. Even asking for permission to examine it is going to be... tricky.

[hextechhead]

They are for people who have seen them, yes. If they let you see it, I can show you a version of it in the Horizon so you can compare and contrast.

Even if it is a Free Cities device, it could have been made and used by anyone. But I doubt she is interested in hearing that.

[sorser]

All right. I'll see what I can glean from it if I get a chance to look.

And probably not, but any hint will help. Right now, we have nothing.