( OPEN ) may catch-all

[gynvael]

🧙 WHO: Geralt + You
⚔️️ WHAT: Quests, getting harassed by crabs, rocks thrown??
🕒 WHEN: May
🗺️ WHERE: Camelot
⚠️ WARNINGS: N/A for now


OPEN:
+ No Buccaing Out + A Stone's Throw from Revenge
+ Party Rock


[ starters in comments. plot with me at discontinued! ]

Comments

♞ open to all

[gynvael]

I. UNDERWATER DIVE

[ A few weeks in, the dulling of his senses hasn't gotten any easier to deal with. As in, he fucking hates it. Makes him feel constantly paranoid when he can't hear things sneaking up behind him.

At least his leg has largely healed. Enough, anyway, that he finds himself searching for work. Man eating water monsters? Sounds like the right kind of distraction from all this shit. 

Getting underwater is simple. The potion works as promised; the villagers don't look at him with suspicion like he's been used to. Not that he's here to linger; he plans on finishing the job well before sunrise. But when a voice comes at him from down by his ankle, he can't help but pause. Is that—?

He crouches down. It is. It's a crab that's speaking to him. Geralt hesitates. In theory, they're meant to be allies. He's yet to sort the magic part of things in any sustainable way, though. ]

Are you friendly? [ He gives it an experimental prod—and one thick claw clamps around his finger. Ow. He shakes it off, leaving him with two small punctures in his hand and a crab that somehow manages to look affronted, as if he'd insulted it. Maybe he had. What, is he supposed to ask the thing about that? ] Shit.

II. STONE'S THROW

[ As peaceful as all the greenery in the city is, it seems he can't find a moment of it, no matter how he tries. He can't tell if it's the abundance of magic, the chaos of lost souls landing in lakes at an unfortunate frequency, or what, but he's been here a total of two damn weeks and there's something going on, all the time. His only reprieve is that at least he didn't have a doppler of his own showing up.

This morning, it's a giant rock that comes crashing through his window, startling both him and his wolf. Look, he's hardly one to complain about beauty sleep, but that doesn't mean he likes having what little rest he's been granted these days interrupted. By glass spraying the ground. The fuck.

He picks the boulder up and peers outside through the jagged edges of what remains of his window. Any unfortunate passerby underneath his window gets fixed with a frown. He's obviously been just stirred out of bed, hair falling in an untamed mess over his shoulders. ]

This yours?

III. WILDCARD

[ Geralt can be found in or out of the city, so feel free to toss anything his way! You may or may not be able to catch him talking to his new wolf friend. ]

ii.

[thepattern]

[ The energy on the streets of Camelot right now is a little chaotic. And Corwin knows Chaos well. He'd only come into town for a few supplies, when all of a sudden a minotaur showed up hurling rocks and boulders around. He's trying to usher some scared townspeople to safety when he hears a familiar voice call out to him from overhead. ]

Ah, no. I have better ways of calling in my favor.

[ Yes, hello, Geralt. Lovely to see you again. ]

If you're looking to return that to sender, you'll have to look a little farther out.

[ And he'll gesture towards the rampaging minotaur on the edge of town. ]

[gynvael]

[ Mm. The teleporter. Recognition crosses his face before Geralt turns in the direction of the noise. He seems to stare for a few seconds before he sighs. ]

Could've waited until sunrise.

[ He pushes the window open, sweeping the glass out of the way. Whether he slept in his clothes and boots for exactly this reason or because he was too damn tired to get out of them is hard to say. Either way, the only thing he needs to grab is his sword before he hops out the window, dropping down to the ground not far below. ]

What pissed it off? [ Or rather, who pissed it off? He suspects a creature like this didn't decide to throw stones at the city out of nowhere. Otherwise there'd be signs of frequent rampaging. ]

III! At her inn

[bostonhowler]

[ Brigid is a hardworking girl. She doesn't mind putting in hours, as long as people respect her off hours. The innkeeper and her husband seem to do that, so Brigid doesn't mind working. They also respect that she can bake better than the baker down the street and she's not one to shrink from making sweets and treats. Her few weeks here in Camelot has brought them increased business, because Brigid is actually good at her job.

Hearing her barrowhound make a noise, she looks around the main dining room. She spies the wolf and the man its with. She sighs. Cuna doesn't like other canines. She knows that. So, she walks over with a small loaf of bread, and some sweets - mostly cinnamon rolls that are fresh out of the oven. ]

Wolf by the fire, please. We don't mind them in here, but we need them out from under foot.

[ She sets down the basket in front of the man with white hair. ]

What can I get you? Special tonight is lamb stew.

[gynvael]

[ Inns and taverns are easy places to be; Geralt is certain no matter how unfamiliar the city, there'll at least be a simple beer on hand he can sit with in there. Alone, preferably.

He strolls down the block, searching for something that's least likely to give him shit: not too fancy, sparsely populated but not empty. Not that he's reason to be concerned. No one's yet to bother him here. Old habits still die hard.

The place he finds looks unassuming enough. He's barely opened the door when the wolf slips around him and inside, spurred by the smell of cooked meat.

Damn it. Geralt grabs her before she can make a run for the kitchens and sits her by the fireplace. ] Hey. Behave.

[ Bread and pastries land before him. He lifts an eyebrow. Generous. It's clear he's not expecting the offering as his gaze travels up to find a woman with strawberry hair. In the firelight, his yellow eyes catch a flickering shine. ]

Lamb will do. [ Picky, he is not. ] And an ale.

ii

[sparkstrikes]

[Between the general disarray that the city's found itself in again and the Minotaur showing up unannounced, Lightning being out here is not a rare sight at all. She's been working with others to keep the townsfolk safe, all while trying to hunt down the damn beast to take it down for good, but even she needs a brief respite from the chaos. Or... what she'd hoped would be one.

Even Lightning is startled by the sound of shattering glass on her way back to her room, and she shields herself with arms over her head, lowering them only when she hears a familiar voice over her head, and finding a very disheveled Geralt peering down at her.]

Yeah. I wanted to say good morning.

[Her sarcasm is clear as the skies today, because why in the world would she throw a rock at someone's window??? Beside her, Mogsby waves.]

Did it work?

[gynvael]

[ Oh. It's her. Geralt peers at the flying creature. When it waves to him, he only stares back. In the distance, the a roar shakes the earth. He's too fucking tired for this.

He grunts down at her. ] You okay?

[ She looks fine, but apparently there are rocks being catapulted into the city now. Because that's the kind of shit everyone needs around here. In the distance, he can see the townsfolk and knights rushing to take care of the beast, so frankly, he's not willing to get involved on that end if no one's 1) paying him and 2) willing to get out of his way. Too many swords and arrows flying is only asking for chaos.

He sighs, reaching for his sword, anyway. Maybe he should take a look. ]

i.

[firesinthesky]

[ Blaze is likewise here because of the quest listing, opting to first take a look around the shore before heading into the water. Her combat skills will serve her better on land, after all, and it’s better she has a suitable place to lure the creatures to.

She’s not alone, it seems, though this fellow is much more occupied with the crab scuttling about his feet than he is with her. When the crab suddenly turns on him, Blaze can’t help but laugh. Sorry. ]

Goodness, what did you do to offend it so?

[gynvael]

[ There's a short pause when a laugh comes behind him. When he turns around, his gaze goes up in a way it rarely does. He watches the crab scurry about, as if it's taunting him. ]

I'm about to throw it into a damn pot.

[ He stands up, eyeing the woman. The matching gold of her eyes to his makes him tip his head, curious. Is she half-giant? She's certainly half-something. Must be here for the job, too—and though he's normally disinclined to work with anyone, the loss of his usual...well, fucking everything has him more cautious. ]

You going down?

i

[whirlwindthrust]

[ It is a similar sentiment that Xiao carries. He has spent a great deal of time defending Liyue and the people that live there from mutations, monsters, and gods alike. This place is not Liyue, but Xiao finds that some habits do not readily leave him. He is, by nature, a guardian Yaksha. Duty and responsibility still carry over.

That is why he finds himself swimming around hunting down these creatures. Spear in hand, Xiao moves through the water to look for his target. Only then does he see... A man getting clipped by a crab? ]

I would ignore it and simply move on.

[gynvael]

[ He's giving the crab a nudge with his foot to send it on its way when a voice comes behind him.

Geralt turns around. He eyes the spear in the man's hand. He's met a handful of hunters around here. Normally, he works alone—but he's accepted there's going to be people in his way in these parts. Can't be helped. Doesn't mean he's fond of the idea.

He watches the crab scuttle away. ]

That's too bad. We were growing close.

ii

[theleadingman]

[It really is rare that the city ever sees a day that could rightly be called 'ordinary,' Balthier has come to believe. It's not quite a complaint, not yet— for all his fuss about what a bother it is, he rather does prefer excitement and the unpredictable, but lately it feels as if there is scarcely time to breathe between happenings.

The current assault had been especially ill-timed, having resulted in sending a large rock right into the street cart he'd been intending to buy his breakfast from and sending all of the merchandise flying. Nobody had been hurt, but there was only so long that could last. He's just begun to start in the direction of the attack with the intent to investigate when he hears someone call to him from overhead, causing him to look upwards and raising an arm to shield his eyes from the sun, giving a light snort in reply as he pauses to the sound of broken glass crunching underfoot.]

Do I really seem the sort to be throwing rocks at windows? I assure you, if I wanted your attention, I would find a far better way to get it.

[Also, that's one impressive rock.]

[gynvael]

[ He squints at the scene below him: crushed cart, fleeing merchant. Beast wailing in the distance. He wishes he'd never woken up. It's not his problem to deal with, except that now it sort of might be. ]

Yes. [ His reply is as dry as it's annoyed.

In the interests of not crushing anything else, Geralt puts the rock aside in his room. Maybe Jaskier can turn it into an axe. Who the fuck knows. Then he makes his way down.

Another boulder pelts a nearby fountain, cracking the stone and spraying water into the air. Oh, for— ]

What cave troll got woken up this time?

i

[friendsallover]

[Din can't say he likes being underwater all that much.

He can swim more or less, but the armour makes it difficult and he's reluctant to use his jetpack all that often. Maintenance is something he's going to have to look at after this. Never mind that his usual weapons are out and he's down to his spear and vibroknife. He feels a little incomplete.

But a job is a job, and he can just shove aside thoughts of mamacores, quarrans, and Trask in general to get it done. Though he is paused by the scene playing out in front of him.]

I'm guessing it's not?

[gynvael]

[ Is that a man in full armor underwater? Geralt blinks. That's a choice. He turns back to the crab, letting it scuttle away under a rock. ]

Work in progress.

[ He's armed with simply his sword and a small dagger tucked away. Frankly, he doesn't like the idea of hunting now that he's not...exactly himself. Physically speaking. But his instincts and training remain. It'll have to be enough. ]

I'm surprised you can float.

ii. this man sounds so done and i love it

[ferrytale]

[ ledo isn't exactly clued into what's going on here himself. something, something, minotaur. he assumes it refers to whatever's causing the commotion but can't begin to know what that entails. he's not even fully on his guard passing through here, not expecting anything threatening just yet considering he still has a little bit of distance to cover yet.

that's a mistake he won't repeat after today. he should know better than to let his guard down, but the way things usually were in town, it hadn't seemed necessary to go about constantly on edge. fortunately, his familiar is more in tune with things at the moment and grabs hold of him, pulling him back just as the rock goes crashing through and spares him being in the direct path of any larger debris. he's probably going to find bits of wood and grit in his hair later. ledo is far less happy about this development than he ought to be, trying to struggle free of the creature's tentacles and draw his weapon. it's likely the thing is juuuust vanishing to leave ledo trying to aim at thin air when geralt looks outside. the sound of an unexpected voice from above makes ledo turn and aim upward for a moment until he realises... it's just a man. ]

...What?

[ it seems to occur to him that this is probably not the typical way someone would react in this situation, especially compared to everyone flipping out in general who hasn't had a boulder come through the window. ]

Does this occur often?

he's having a time

[gynvael]

[ There sure as hell is a commotion. Geralt turns to stare in the distance at the noise, watching another rock sail through the air and smash into a tree hard enough to crack a branch. It splinters to the ground, sending up a flutter of birds around the boy beneath.

His head tilts, curious about the shade of hair that matches his own. It's not something he's used to seeing on anyone else. Between the tentacled snail wrestling its master and all the chaos, it takes Geralt a second before he replies. ]

You'd be surprised. [ Is that actually true? Hard to say; Geralt's expression doesn't change regardless. He does, however, pick up his sword, tucked under his bed. Sleep clearly isn't happening today. He's going to blame this on some halfwit disturbing a nest somewhere out there. Feels like a safe assumption. ] Wait there.

[ He doesn't wait to see if he's listened to or not, leaving to make his way down to where the boulders are flying. ]

ii. sooo late.

[verytired]

[ He's mostly just - lounging around. Not exclusively lounging and sleeping. Similar to home, he's made a habit of creating lists to manage his time. Although all he spends time doing is practicing his magic or sleeping. Which by his accounts is a lot of things.

He hadn't noticed where the rock came from, he's going to assume someone, somewhere, is having a bit of fun with magic, so when the accusation comes he just laughs a little. He has better ways to wake someone up than with a rock.

Not his style. ]

No, no that rock is far too subtle for my taste. I'm more of a drop an entire tree on you kind of guy.

[ Heh, heh. ]

There's no point in doing it if you're just going to do it halfway.

[ It's not that he even agrees with the sentiment. ]

[gynvael]

[ Geralt only stares back down at the...man. Of a kind. He's stopped trying to categorize everyone he meets here. All he can say is that he no longer stands out near as much as he did back home.

His reply is flat. ] Words to live by.

[ He's already looking towards the ruckus. A merchant flees as his cart explodes into splinters. The question is, is it worth doing something about? Because he might only have been here a few weeks, but it's long enough to understand this world is full of people jostling for glory and money. He's little doubt there's already a rush to slay whatever rock throwing beast has awoken.

If there's one thing Geralt prefers to steer clear of, it's a crowd of people hungry to get a piece of the kill.

He turns his attention back to the man under the window, who's still standing in the open instead of heading for shelter. ]

Is getting cracked in half by a rock part of your philosophy, too?

Wild Card! We're goin' drinkin', lads!

[raven_sage]

"Ah, Geralt! There you are!"

A figure waves to Geralt in the street from a nearby bench, cloaked and hooded. It works surprisingly well to keep her unseen, and for the last week or two Eivor had found it paid to be as inconspicuous as possible; word had gotten around about her proposed, if aborted raid on Celliwig and while no one was overtly hostile, the vikingr found it paid to be a little inconspicuous, at least until things died down. People tended to have short memories about this sort of thing anyway.

But that unusual mop of shaggy white hair is distinctive enough to catch her attention as Geralt passes. Rising from the bench and throwing back the hood, Eivor approaches him, clapping him on the back. "It is good to see you!" Leg seems to have healed up nicely too. "Are you on pressing business?"

[gynvael]

In between everything that's going on, Geralt ends up searching the city for a simple marketplace. He finds quite a bit more: exotic fruits in abundance, a number of bakeries. When he passes the bench, he has a loaf of bread tucked into a bag alongside some carrots and onions.

He stops as a familiar voice calls for him. "Only if supper counts."

A white wolf lingers behind him as he approaches. He's gotten used to her coming and going, though she seems to be around more often than not. She's not bad company. Quiet. (Unlike some of other animals he's run into these days.)

"You? No plans to raid today?"

[raven_sage]

Eivor glances down at the food he's managed to acquire. "Ah, I should have run into you sooner." She says ruefully. "I was going to suggest we get a drink, save you the coin. Will you come? There's a place nearby does something akin to mead that's not terrible, and I hate to drink alone.

She whistles appreciatively at Geralt's animal companion. His familiar, she assumes. "Quite the magnificent beast you have there. I'm envious." A wolf would have been good, as opposed to...whatever Reisende was supposed to be. It only looked like a raven as far as Eivor was concerned, especially with how off-putting Sýnin found it.

She laughs at the rib, taking it in stride. "I would be, if anyone else here had the stomach for it." She admits. "But a lone raider is a dead raider, so no. Maybe if we dance an entertaining enough jig for this Fae Queen however, she might help." It had been irksome at first, having overestimated how many people would rally to her cause when she made the network post, but a good drink and a brawl once she was back in Camelot had put Eivor in a better mood. Now it was easier to shrug it off and get to work, however pointless she found it.

"It'll likely come to war anyway, so I can wait a few extra weeks." She shrugs, before gesturing down a side-street. "Now! That drink, yes?"

♞ open to all

[gynvael]

(( QUEST; party house ))
[ The first time he passes the house with music coming out of it, Geralt pays little attention. He's only out for an evening walk; being trapped in a single city is making him restless and sleep hasn't come easy.

The third time, he starts to take notice: people go in, but no one's coming out, even though it's getting late in the night. Instinct makes him pauses by a window to look in. At a glance, it seems innocent enough. Dancing, drinking. But there's a woman who reaches for a window, tugging on it before she's absorbed back into the crowd.

Hm. Not a good sign.

Geralt taps on the window. No one inside pays any attention. Almost like a trance. Eventually, he makes his way to the front. The doorknob, when he turns it, gives way under his hand. Not entirely sure if he wants to go in, though. He stands there for a few seconds on the front steps. ]

Hey. [ He calls for the nearest person to pass by. Everyone's got some kind of power here, don't they? Maybe it'll have some use. ] What's your magic?

[leitstern]

[Jasper looks up at the house. He seems reluctant to continue and remains outside on the street. Why involve himself in political affairs? Why involve himself in personal ones? The reward hardly seems like a good one; a small contribution to his rent and nothing more. He knows it's not his lack of confidence. His old life involved plentiful amounts of politics and parties. In truth, a dislike of both drives him to ruin tonight's soiree. The reward is simply a bonus.

He is considering his approach when another man talks. His senses stir and he focuses on the present. This man looks well suited for keeping himself safe, and that draws him to approach. That potential is useful, right?]

Darkness. Perfectly useful for keeping myself concealed, I dare say.

[Perhaps two, even?]

But if you are considering what I think you are, I recommend discretion. This place is bewitched.

[gynvael]

[ Darkness, is it. That does sound a shade more useful than his own ability to call on a flock of birds. ]

Mm-hmm. Tell me about it.

[ He's considering it, anyway. Which he shouldn't be: it's a terrible fucking idea, to deliberately enter where he knows he'll end up stuck. But he's also pretty damn sure whatever magic or totem is keeping this house sealed, it's somewhere inside there.

Being surrounded by mages is a pain in the ass. Monsters are so much simpler. ]

Has this happened before?