The elves created secret passages everywhere

[magicalarchaeologist]

WHO: Istredd and anyone!
WHAT: Catch-all for September
WHERE: Thorne, Horizon, Nocwich
WHEN: Nebulous all over September stuff.
WARNINGS: Spoilers for The Witcher season 3! PTSD from details within the season.





Starters Below!

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Wanda

[magicalarchaeologist]

[ The first thing Wanda might have noticed before she met Istredd in his domain was that the outside of it has completely changed. It is now a lighthouse because for a few days his tower was visibly burning and he couldn't get it to stop. So, fresh start, yet again. Third time's the charm? The inside hasn't changed in the slightest. He likes that the new outside was something designed by him though, that will make it easier to maintain than mimicking something from his world. Plus the shining light at the top will make it easy for people to find it.

Istredd has been unwell the past week and trying his very best to get past it. This has become a very good distraction, in truth, focusing his energy on putting this meet-up together. Even if it ends up being brief and informational, he thinks it worth the effort. He's already cleared out his main hall to the library to make it larger with some input from Wanda, and he currently has his multiple blackboards out around them. One for the Summoned timeline, one for the pantheon of the gods, and one for his general topic notes. His past year of being a teacher has really led him to that Professor vibe.

Wanda can probably feel that he is fraying at the edges a little bit, very tired and strung out more than usual, with an underlining sadness held over him. He's trying to block out of respect, having bled into Lucifer's mind too much recently, but she doesn't need a telepathic connection to him to see he's not at his best. It doesn't matter. By the time he is ready for this event, he will temporarily be at his best.

Istredd is also generally nervous when planning for a social event. He's rehearsing for a reason.]

Do you think I'm missing anything important? There are some months on the timeline because they didn't seem very significant, like when those moth hares showed up.

[carmesi]

I really don't think the moth hares are important.

[wanda agrees with him, easily.

in the same way that she agreed to be here with him as he 'rehearsed' and left everything ready for the meeting taking place later in the week. she feels a little bad that she requested that he take over the speaking portion of things, but wanda genuinely does not do well with public speaking; the least she could do was be here during these times. sitting on one of the lavish lounge chairs, she's attentive as he goes through his notes and speech.

even if she's had to hear this multiple times over now, or istredd choosing to rephrase a specific point several times over—she's been attentive through it all.]

Everything you've said is relevant as to what's been happening. It's more than what you or I got when we first got here, anyway. [it's a bit of a service, isn't it? to the newly summoned. in any case, istredd's been standing up there on his little podium for a while.

wanda reaches to pat down the chair beside her.] Come sit.

[it's quite clear that he's got a lot on his mind. the reshaping of his horizon is an easy way to take note of a person's mental state, after all.]

[magicalarchaeologist]

[ Istredd is getting used to public speaking from sheer necessity, and he knew going into this that Wanda wasn't going to be the talker. Doing the mingles with Rhy every other month made him deeply wish it could be as easy for him as it was for Rhy, but he's a court-trained royal. Of course that's all easy. Istredd isn't used to rehearsing with someone else actually giving input, since he often had to do it alone for the Brotherhood. ]

That's true. It took me a while to piece all of this together. Longer still to make it clear and not rambling.

[ Istredd will probably be editing it up until the second he shows it to people though. But this is a much better draft than his initial, which was approximately twenty pages and couldn't fit on a blackboard unless it was the size of an entire wall. So he's done a good job whittling it down!

He hmms to her patting on the seat but knows he's full of nervous energy at the moment, so he follows her instruction. Istredd has been on the move for weeks and even in his Horizon sitting down feels strange. He knows though that this is more than making him pause. It's Wanda. She can tell something is wrong. The outside of the domain makes it obvious, but she would be able to tell on her own. ]

We have new memories.

[ Istredd gets to the point but he leans over his knees, putting his elbows on them, hunched over. ]

Yenna and I experienced the destruction of our home and the death of most of our order.

[ She might get flashes of fire and blood from the attack at Thanedd, his grief still hanging over him. ]

[carmesi]

[wanda knows that they sit on the verge of something that is about to spill—in this case, words from istredd, to explain why he is feeling this particular way. as he leans over his knees, wanda does not follow; instead, she reaches foward with a hand, rests it over his back.

feels his emotions, his entirety—forces back onto him the warmth of their friendship, too.]

It seems that these memories we acquire through dreams of our future are never quite the bearers of good news.

[there is grief, certainly. her curiosity is piqued, though.]

You both did, at the same time?

[magicalarchaeologist]

No, I've never heard of anyone getting good memories.

[ That might have been nice although confusing. Istredd is still overwhelmed by what happened, and tired, and sad, and he's been in an unsteady situation because of Lucifer's instability. It's been a very bad time for the two of them but they're trying their best. ]

Yes, same night. Apparently Geralt did too.

[ He doesn't know if she knows Geralt or the others from their sphere. Istredd didn't ask about Jaskier or Ciri, but he assumes they probably did. Or they would, eventually, if the three of them had it happen. There seems to be a pattern of some kind, or maybe it's more of a wave. ]

He was there, but ... Thanedd, the Brotherhood, that's our people who died.

[ It's one of those times when he and Yennefer are a unit that other people can't actually touch, no matter who they are. Because they grew up in the same place, with the same people, and the same trauma. So they ran to each other as soon as they could and shared in the grief it all brought. ]

I was captured by the mage who betrayed all of us, he wants to use my knowledge for his own gain. Yenna thought I was dead.

[carmesi]

[slowly, her hand on his back moves in circular motions, knowing that it provides some amount of comfort. a lot of these words—places, people—are unfamiliar to her, unsurprisingly, but it doesn’t make the lived experience any less real.]

What happened during that time? When you were captured?

[was that a moment that brought torment to him?]

[magicalarchaeologist]

I don't know, I remember being captured. But ... Vilgefortz is a violent and dangerous person. I believe I only have pain and torture ahead of me, until I inevitably break.

[ Istredd would love to be someone who could never break under torture, what an ego boost it would be to pretend he could be, but he's too soft for that. He hopes that he'll at least attempt to fight back and refuse to give Vilgefortz the keys to the rest of the multiverse. Even if it means pain and agony for himself to hold out, it's better than to think himself so cowardly he gives in right away.

He pauses to consider where to start this story. It might as well be general.]

There was a book that held the secrets of traveling between spheres. I'd been searching for it, but my contact said that another mage had it. I went back to the Brotherhood looking for it, and our friend Triss told me someone had been kidnapping our trainees.

[ He gives her an image of Triss so she knows if he or Yennefer bring her up again, there's reference to it. The beauty of telepathy. ]

We traced it to Stregobor, my mentor, or so we thought. He was actually being set up by Vilgefortz, and we had him arrested. Then Vilgefortz set our enemies loose on the Brotherhood and massacred most of us.

[ It's still difficult and the unfortunate thing is that the outside of the building even goes more on fire right then. Istredd hates that he's bleeding his pain too much into it right now and tries to staunch himself, but there is fire and blood and sadness and there's not much he can do about that on their connection. It's just so fresh. ]

When the attack happened, I left Triss and ran to get the book, so Vilgefortz couldn't use it. But he was waiting for me. He set the trap on purpose, to get me and the book.

[carmesi]

[to be doomed to the uncertainty of the future is a form of torture in and of itself. to awaken again in abraxas having a vision of the world one belongs to, to know that it is no mere nightmare but the grim set of circumstances that will plague one's own life.

wanda draws her hand back, keeps it to herself, resting atop her lap.]

Knowing you can't do anything now to change it... You have to allow yourself some peace.

[because, in the end, while active and going through the motions here, it's like being on a standstill.]

—I talked to Yennefer recently. She seemed to be... alright?

[magicalarchaeologist]

I think I can get there, I just need to get myself more time to cope. Lucifer didn't handle that well, he doesn't understand taking the time to feel shitty, he's always tried to avoid that.

[ He loves him dearly, but Lucifer didn't know how to help him which made him feel helpless. He tried to force the emotion out of Istredd instead; they've had some bad days recently because of the bond being messed up by the beast they killed. He thought he was making it better, which is why Istredd just gently forced him. ]

He has a lot more sympathy toward humans these days, but it doesn't mean he understands us. The soul apparently makes a huge difference.

[ An archangel is a primordial force of nature, it can't get a human just as humans can't get them. Istredd understands Lucifer more than most could, but it doesn't mean their brains work the same way. They're still different species. Explaining he needs to feel the pain doesn't make sense. Istredd still doesn't entirely understand why the soul makes such a difference, but he believes Lucifer that it does.]

Yenna's very private, if she'd already had the memory update by then, she wouldn't have said so. Losing our organization was rough, but she lost the only mother she knew too. While my mentor was a real asshole who deserved what he got, Tissaia was ... more complicated.

[ Despite saying that about Stregobor, and meaning it, there is still a stab of pain in his heart. He's not separated from the love of a parental figure, or the lack thereof. ]