WELCOME TO THE FREE CITIES!

[abraxasmods]

WELCOME TO THE FREE CITIES!

Welcome to The Free Cities! The portal exits outside the capital city of Cadens. The first impression of the city is its sheer size. It sprawls out across the landscape like a great hulking beast at rest. The wall that encircles it barely contains it, the buildings of Cadens practically bulging against its restraint.

The air here seems thicker somehow, tinged with a scent that’s acrid and smoky. Smog hangs high over the city, belched out by smokestacks that tower over the industrial district. The desert stretches out behind it, dotted with towers and dust clouds that disappear into the horizon. Multiple gates lead inside and each is staffed by soldiers in unfamiliar uniforms that wave a steady stream of people through without appearing to pay much attention. People are coming and going almost all of the time, to and from the outposts and areas of activity around the city proper. It’s difficult to tell just what’s out there beyond the impression of tall metal structures and a great deal of labor. Wagons carrying travelers to Libertas and Aquila roll out from the Travel Post outside the city wall.

Anyone who can sense magic will notice a much lower concentration here. No one will be stopped or questioned at the gate, even if the soldiers seem to take note of the fugitives from Thorne.

The activity and sheer number of citizens can be overwhelming. It’s crowded and loud and feels constantly in motion with everyone talking and yelling over each other. It’s easy to get swept up in the ever-moving throng or find oneself ducking into the mouth of a narrow alley just to breathe.

Anyone who’s willing to make their way to the northern part of the city and Portham Hall will find Prime Minister Marlo Reiner available to receive them.

Comments

[gynvael]

[ Ciri lights up so quickly, it startles even Geralt. He blinks at her. Admittedly, between the dungeons and the fact that not one of them remembers meeting her, of having her in their lives, Geralt isn't surprised that his first impression of the girl had been serious, quiet. Something that hadn't struck him as odd at the time, given her history, given that she seemed closest to him and Yen both. He's realizing now that isn't the case at all.

A fondness unfurls inside his chest.

So she's been looking, too. As if it's what she's used to. He remembers Ciri saying I'm not a sorceress. That despite the power she holds, she has no interest in it. In some ways, he understands. The appeal of a simple blade and a monster to kill, when so much else is fucking chaos.

Mm. The alchemist. He thinks he knows the one. Excitable, balding little man. ] Stood on his toes to see over his jars?

[ Well. That resolves that. Never thought he'd be considering taking the princess of Cintra on a contract, and yet. Here they are. ]

[wiedzminka]

That's the one!

[ Ciri snickers at the memory, and puts on her best imitation of the man in a nasally, warbling tone. ]

"I'm fresh out, y'see, miss! Terrible shame! Think of my very important experiments!"

[ She may be. paraphrasing. ]

Anyway, I'll be asking around about these creatures and see if I can find something in the library to give us a better idea how to approach. Never heard of such a beast before, but that's to be expected.

[ Us, she says. Already assuming they're going out together. ]

[gynvael]

[ It isn't a laugh that escapes him, but it's close. Closer than most ever get out of him. The situation is still complicated, he still hasn't got a damn clue what the fuck he's doing with Cirilla, with Thorne, with all of this. But here in this moment, he finds himself less burdened. For a few minutes.

Us. He wonders how long she hunted alongside him. ] You sound like Vesemir.

[ Has she met him? Geralt realizes he doesn't know. He only knows his intention was to take her to Kaer Morhen, but who's to say what he found there? If they even made it? He's been trying not to think about it. Cirilla holding his future in her knowledge is a fact that leaves him uneasy. There's a reason he's asked as little as possible. It feels like getting a glimpse into a forbidden tome. ]

[wiedzminka]

[ Ciri snorts. ]

What? Is he the only person you know who'll read a book?

[ In fairness, it was Vesemir who taught here to do the proper research before rushing into a fight she can't handle, as many beasts have particular weaknesses and, conversely, things they are better prepared to fend off. But it doesn't mean he was wrong. (Even if she does prefer the fighting over the reading most of the time.)

New place, completely unfamiliar creatures to fight... it's exciting in its own way, and learning more about them sounds like a great place to start. ]

[gynvael]

He was the only person who could make me.

[ As a child, anyway. He's learned better since in his age, but like all boys, reading was not near as interesting as picking up a sword. Given all they'd been through as it was, some part of him remembers feeling...almost angry. That while the corpses remained strewn outside in the snow, Vesemir would still insist that being studious was an important skill.

Unlike Ciri, Geralt has less excitement about new creatures. It's a bother, actually. He's rarely had to open a book in decades; his knowledge has been long baked into his memory. But he can read the keen interest in her voice, so he says nothing of it. ]

The academies nearby might let you in. [ Likely not him, but Ciri could pass for a student more easily. There is a museum, though. ]

[wiedzminka]

Hah. Of course. Don't worry, though -- you did make sure he gave me the same treatment. Boring books galore.

[ Or maybe he will...? Too complicated to think about. They're having a nice time; she doesn't want to get bogged down in existential dread all over again.

As the days pass by and they can actually spend time together without the tension of being in a dungeon surrounded by enemies constantly getting in the way, it's gotten easier to accept. To re-form that kinship, bit by bit. It's different, and yet not so different to her all the same. The truth is, though she hasn't told Geralt very much about the details of his future and her past (and she's grateful he has the sense not to ask), Ciri really hasn't been able to just spend time with him in a very long while.

It's one thing that she doesn't regret about being stuck here. ]

Sounds like a plan. Get us some gear, and I'll do the studying.

[gynvael]

[ The same thought crosses Geralt's mind when he opens his mouth to reply. It makes the words die on his tongue.

Too damn complicated. He isn't thinking about it, either. He's here, with her, and he's made the decision in that dungeon that whatever the case, whatever complication arises from the world or between them or both, he's what she has now. In this place. He won't abandon her again. ]

Easy enough. [ The Singularity, her powers, all of it. It can wait. It'll have to wait to be sorted. He will get the swords, the horses. They'll start there.

There and one more thing. Something he's not had the chance to bring up with all that's gone on. His head tilts, like he's listening to something nearby—and then he's turning into a quieter alleyway just up ahead. Private enough. ]

I need to know. [ He leans back against the brick wall. ] The other prisoners. Did they tell you about the Horizon?

[wiedzminka]

[ Something about Geralt's stance changes; he looks on alert, checking their surroundings. Ciri falls silent, her own ears pricked for any noises that seem out of the ordinary, even though she knows that Geralt's Witcher senses have her beat. It's why she thinks he's noticed something she hasn't, when she follows him into a narrow, unoccupied alley.

But it's a question instead. She frowns slightly, thinking. ]

What horizon?

[gynvael]

[ He waits for a woman carrying an armful of bread to pass by before he continues. ]

Thorne brought guests and prisoners alike directly to the Singularity. It forced us inside. Into another plane. Since then there's been... [ He searches for the right word. ] A connection. All those summoned can enter. We can speak to each other.

[ You can speak to Yennefer. There are several catches, several concerns—namely, the one thing he can't confirm by taking the deer inside is how Ciri's specific power might interact with the Horizon. It's connected, after all, to the Singularity.

He knows she'll consider it worth the risk. And he doesn't understand enough either way to warn her against entering or not. At this stage, he thinks it might be worth it, too. It's the one place he's certain can't be accessed by those native to this world. ]

[wiedzminka]

You were pulled inside it.

[ This part sounds familiar, but no less surprising even now that she's learned more about this sphere (though not much more about the Singularity itself, not yet). Ciri didn't know that it was called the Horizon, but someone did speak of this phenomenon with her. ]

There was another prisoner who spoke of something like that. An elf.

He told me that inside the Singularity was some sort of spiritual plane, and that upon entering it, one's body is as though frozen in time. While inside, he mentioned that even fatal blows were not so permanent.

But--

[ She frowns at Geralt, trying to understand. All this had seemed important to know for visiting the Singularity, but the way Geralt is bringing it up now as though it's an option to be able to speak to each other has her confused. ]

I thought one had to go to the Singularity in order to... enter, as you say. Isn't the Singularity itself the portal?

[gynvael]

[ His head cocks to the side, momentarily distracted by placing the elf. Only one elf in the dungeons. He thinks he knows who she's referring to, but it isn't important at the moment. He puts it aside. ]

It is. Those who've entered become a conduit. Of a sort. [ A proxy. How, he doesn't know. He only knows that it works, that he can take someone else in solely through physical contact, and that once inside they will lose their memories as they all have. ]

As far as I'm aware, the connection can't be broken once made. And I can't tell you what it'll mean, should it be severed. Or the Singularity itself destroyed.

[ Relena seemed to believe there'd be dire circumstances—enough that she's taken to entering at regular intervals, to make sure it remains intact. Whether that's true is another matter. He and Jaskier have both been connected against their will. Ciri has a choice. He'll let her make it, but it all leaves him uneasy. The idea of her stepping into something neither of them fully understand.

Some part of him wonders if maybe she understands more than he does, though. With all that she's learned of her powers and the Continent in the ten years since. ]

[wiedzminka]

[ Unfortunately, Ciri doesn't actually know any more than he does -- and perhaps even less, in fact. She frowns thoughtfully, brows furrowed as she considers what Geralt is saying, what he is offering. A choice.

From her understanding and the brief conversation with her fellow prisoner, Ciri has gathered the others were brought to the Singularity -- likely as some sort of experiment thanks to Thorne's mages -- and putting together what Geralt says now, it seems that connection had been established for them. Now, Geralt is offering to connect her to this same space, whatever it is, that is part of the Singularity. A place they can go, where they can theoretically meet with Yennefer regardless of the distance (that is, if Yennefer also finds her way there, but considering she is in Thorne, it seems quite likely).

She hesitates. Too much is unknown. ]

So you can... bring me into it? And it is a place only we can access?

[gynvael]

[ Geralt is watching her, trying to gauge what conclusions she might be drawing. It's a lot. It isn't a decision to be undertaken lightly. He doesn't like not knowing. Geralt is not a man who excessively prepares, but he does know, usually, what in the hell he's stepping into and how to deal with it. Everything here, since they've been pulled out of that well, has been unchartered territory.

He's growing tired of riding blind. Especially now that Ciri is looking to him for answers. There should be more he can offer her, more he can give—but there isn't. ]

Thorne claims venturing too close to the Singularity will tear them apart. I believe them. [ Their fear had been real; Relena's description of the man bursting when he couldn't contain her connection within himself—that's real, too. ] The first time you enter, you will not have your memories. I'll be with you, but... [ He hesitates, aware of the implications: that he'd also lost himself once, not too long ago. ] I don't suggest lingering.

[wiedzminka]

[ Ciri's uncertain look deepens. She blinks, taken aback by Geralt's warning, confused by it. ]

...no memories? [ Clearly, Geralt has experienced this, from what he's said and implied about his own venture into this Horizon. Ciri asks: ] I'm having trouble imagining -- what is it like?

[gynvael]

[ What is it like. The question is expected, but it leaves him both uncertain of how to answer and almost unwilling to. If he'd been a completely different person, it might've been easier. He hadn't. He'd simply—

Wanted. The things that were not his to want, because he remembered nothing that would tell him otherwise. ]

You are without your past.

[ What will that mean in particular for her? He intends to stay with her, to make sure she doesn't lose herself for as long as the rest of them had. They'd been in there for two weeks or more. And somehow, it'd felt as though he lived an entire lifetime. ]

[wiedzminka]

[ That doesn't... really answer her question. But at the same time, it seems that's as much answer as Geralt is able to give. It seems the sort of thing that's as difficult to explain as it is to imagine.

Ciri swallows, hesitating a moment, before she finally nods. She trusts Geralt. If he's bringing it up, offering the option, after taking it himself-- it is probably worth it. To be able to access something the native people (especially Thorne) cannot. To be able to, potentially, speak with Yennefer. ]

How do I enter?

[gynvael]

[ While she considers, he waits. Is he hoping she turns him down? Might be. It'd make things simpler. She would still have the option should she change her mind later.

He senses she'll want it, though. He's right. His expression is heavy, but he nods. They'll go. ]

When I brought another in, only physical contact was required after I entered. To return, you'll need undisturbed concentration.

[ Which, if he's taught her, she should know how to do. He tips his head for her to follow him back out of the alley they've tucked into. If they'll be doing this, he wants to return to the inn, where the doors can be locked. He leads through the overflowing streets, answers what questions she has remaining. Despite having tried this with another already, it's still too much like toying with a power neither of them understand. But it is a tool, too. One they can use. He might not be keen to fuck with what he can't fully grasp, but he gets the value of a calculated risk.

He takes them upstairs when they return to their room and shuts the door. Seats himself on the floor. He looks at Ciri. ] I'll be right alongside you.

(( narrator: he was not right alongside her at all. ))