TO EVERYONE

[princessvegas]

[ In her domain, Julie sits in a booth, bent over the table with a stack of paper and pen. She bites the tip of her tongue in concentration, then starts writing invitations. She intends to leave them all over the Horizon, fliers more than proper addressed invites.

Soon, all of the off-worlders are able to see writing in their vision. This writing appears to simply be written on any nearby surface: a tabletop, on the page of a book in place of the text, in a pool of water. It sparkles to summon attention to itself, just enough of a twinkle to earn a glance. ]



[ It's signed at the bottom, Julie Lawry.

Soon, other thoughts may begin appearing in your vision, sparkling until they catch your eye. Your own thoughts can be broadcast too. If you put in a little effort, you can even send them directly to a specific person, or a group.

And most of you are welcome to the party. ]

Comments

[princessvegas]

[ It also cannot be emphasized enough that Julie comes from a world where more than 99% of humanity has died. Hot people are now a precious resource, as far as she's concerned. ]

I think so. I know he's kind of... I guess stoic is the right word? But he was one of the first people to talk to me when I got here. He explained a lot of stuff to me. And then once I got him talking at the party, I think we made some stuff make sense to each other.

Place like this, I figure we need to make friends where we can. We're all the odd ones out, and they want to use us to get at the Singularity. So we have to have each other's backs.

Except for the assholes. There are some real fucking assholes here. They can all go hang.

[wiedzminka]

[ Aww... That gives Ciri warm fuzzy feelings. Thanks, Julie. ]

He'll deny it, but he's got a good heart. Glad to know he's making friends.

[ Inasmuch as Geralt makes... friends. He'd probably make an amusing face at the accusation of having such a thing. ]

Better to have a Witcher as your ally than your enemy.

I'm Ciri. I saw your name on the invitation, Julie Lawry. Unusual way to make one's acquaintance, but we are in unusual times.

[princessvegas]

I knew he was okay from the jump. I told him that we don't have monsters for real back home, and he acted like it was the craziest thing he ever heard. He said he'd bring me a monster tooth to wear, haha. But yeah, I wouldn't want to go up against anyone who fights shit like that for a job.

Nice to meet you, Ciri. Don't worry, we would have met anyway. There's only about sixty of us can get into the Horizon. It's only a matter of time.

[wiedzminka]

[ A friend, and he promised to bring her gifts at that? Geralt... ]

Doesn't sound like the sort of place a Witcher could make much coin, then. Luckily, there are monsters here, or we'd both be out of work.

Where are you now, physically?

[princessvegas]

Maybe not killing monsters, but we got lots of other big stuff that people hunt and kill. Or we did, anyway. I don't know how much of it actually survived. Maybe stuff that lives far from all the people. Like polar bears.

I'm in Nott, there's a couple of us here. You're in the Free Cities with Geralt?

[wiedzminka]

I am with Geralt, yes.

[ If Geralt has seen fit to tell this Julie where he is, generally, then Ciri can agree to that much. She doesn't elaborate, of course. If asked without being told that Geralt had already given her an approximation, Ciri would have simply said the same thing. Let her ask Geralt for details if they really are close; Ciri isn't about to give anything actually sensitive away. ]

Were the beasts hunted to extinction?

[princessvegas]

Oh, no. In my world, there's not much of anything left. Most humans are dead. Same thing took out most of the animals, at least the mammals.

[wiedzminka]

What kind of "thing"?

[princessvegas]

It's called Captain Trips. It's a sickness that kills nearly everything that breathes. People swell up and choke until they suffocate to death on their own mucus. There's not even one percent of humans left alive.

[wiedzminka]

Some sort of plague? Sounds nasty.

[ Weird name for it, but she's not about to inquire after that in particular. It sounds like the world Julie's from is pretty awful. No wonder she's so keen on throwing a party and trying to celebrate being alive as much as they can given the situation. ]

Didn't mean to darken the mood of the conversation. I'll look forward to your Halloween festival.

I suppose I'll have to think of a costume.

And so will Geralt, I presume. That will be a feat.

[princessvegas]

Yeah, except we've had plagues before and none of them were that bad. Trips was made by scientists and the military. It did what they made it to do, they just didn't mean for it to get loose on its own.

[ Is Julie saying that her world was overmilitarized to the point that they turned an already deadly sickness into something much worse on purpose? Absolutely. She doesn't know how they ever expected to contain it even if it weren't released on accident. There was never going to be another outcome. ]

I already got him to say good enough that he'd come. You just gotta get him into a costume. Don't let him get away with just some shitty little eye mask. I want to see some effort!

[wiedzminka]

[ Ciri is, unfortunately, not entirely surprised by the idea of mages (scientists, but really, that's what her minds jumps to as science and magic are closely linked in her world) and the military working together to weaponize disease. Wiping out a majority of the world's population of humans. (Are there nonhumans? She doesn't ask.) Sounds pretty damn believable to her. And too fucked up to discuss at length right now.

She's had a rough time of it lately. If they're going to have a weird thoughts-to-words-on-random-objects conversation, she'd rather talk about the festival. It actually sounds kind of fun. She could really use some fun, dammit. ]

I'll make sure he keeps his word.

I thought it was a masquerade? What kind of costume is an acceptable level of effort? Please don't tell me the pun-centered aspect is required.

[princessvegas]

Haha no the pun part is optional! Okay, so like, really anything you can think of, you can dress up as! People go as animals, or characters from books and shows or movies, or like, jobs? Occupations, I guess, that would have a uniform.

Masquerades aren't super common where I'm from, but I think the point is specifically to hide your face, right? [ Julie has seen many period-piece movies. ] So Halloween, the mask is optional. Depends on your costume. But it isn't enough to JUST wear a mask, if that makes any sense.

[wiedzminka]

It does not.

[ Well, at least she's distracted from darker thoughts again. Now she's just... confused as fuck. ]

An occupation is not a costume.

Masquerades can have different themes, but generally, one wears formal wear and a mask, usually of an animal but sometimes of a mythological creature or a monster of some sort. Hair ornaments and accessories are also employed to achieve the desired thematic look.

As for characters from books or plays...

[ She considers this. From Sam, she has a vague idea of what movies are, so she doesn't even touch that. Books, poems, and theatrical performances (shows) she can understand, though. ]

Geralt himself is the subject of some poetry on the Continent. I imagine dressing as himself is not in the spirit of the festival, though, so don't tell him that's allowed.

[princessvegas]

An occupation can definitely be a costume. Like, the army where you're from, they all wear the same thing, right? So they know who's on each side? Uniform. You dress up in their clothes, it doesn't make you a soldier, but you're still dressed as one. Costume. My world has lots of jobs that have pretty universal look to them. I guess we kind of take one specific idea of a uniform and keep using it until that's just what people understand as that job.

Ugh, I wish I could show you a picture, it would help a lot.

[ She concentrates very hard on the visual of firefighter, but predictably, that does nothing, and she can sort of feel the difference in a thought that goes out versus one that doesn't. ]

People write poems about him? I know he's real old so he must have a reputation, but like, I only ever heard of poems being written for lovers. Women, usually, most of the real famous poets wrote about women. Are the poems about how beautiful he is? Hair like snow, eyes like... lemons. [ If a snicker can be translated into written thought, that's what's there. ]

[wiedzminka]

A soldier's uniform is not a costume, Julie. Unless one is a spy or a traitor. But I suppose I take your meaning.

[ This is only getting more convoluted. She's probably not helping.

But eyes like lemons is fucking hilarious. She'll have to give Jaskier that line. Perhaps Julie will hear a song about a lemon-eyed Witcher soon enough. ]

Don't worry. Poets write plenty about buxom women where I'm from too.

Why don't we meet in that other realm? You can show me what you mean, and we can consider what other citrus fruits a poet could compare Geralt to.

[princessvegas]

Yeah, on any other day but Halloween. It's the one day that anything is a costume.

[ There is one hundred percent going to be a slutty military uniform to use as an example. Is this really what spies and traitors wear, Ciri? ]

Yeah, I'm here all the time! I got work in a couple hours, but I can come back whenever you're free.

[wiedzminka]

[ The idea of slutty costumes on top of regular costumes hasn't even crossed her mind. Please show her the ways. ]

I don't blame you. It's been a tempting escape for me lately, as well.

Set the time, and I'll find you.

[princessvegas]

If you're not busy now, I got time! Otherwise, tomorrow?

[wiedzminka]

I'm not doing much right now. I'll be there soon.

[princessvegas]

Cool. It's easy to find me, just go towards the music.