[SEMI-OPEN] and all you see

[coerthantorment]

WHO: Estinien Wyrmblood and others
WHAT: Local man extremely mad and other tales. Also, farming.
WHERE: Solvunn's Primary Settlement and potentially the Horizon
WHEN: Mid to Late September
NOTES: This is a September catch-all for stuff that goes beyond the intro to Solvunn. Currently just a very general open prompt and specific closed prompts but if you'd like something with Estinien please hit me up on the discord or quixocalypse.

As it turns out, Estinien settles into Solvunn easily, like a comfortable pair of old boots. Despite his tendency towards aggression and grouchiness, farm life seems to agree with him, and after coming together with a local sheep raising family, he'll be putting the month of his time there into working on the farm and gradually building up his strength after losing so much weight in prison.

Things you may find Estinien doing in September:
- Trimming sheep hooves, cleaning animal shelters, repairing fences, tracking down lost sheep.
- Lifting weights, doing miscellaneous cardio, combat training in a field using a pitchfork instead of a spear.
- Spending time taking care of his domain and exploring the Horizon.
- Quietly drinking alone at a tavern.

Hit me up if you want a specific starter based on these concepts, or alternatively, throw a wildcard starter at this post.

Comments

LOCAL MAN EXTREMELY MAD (close to himeka)

[coerthantorment]

When Estinien wakes from meditation, it's with fury already churning in his gut. He's sitting in the hay pile, his fingers grasping at his knees - which is where it becomes more obvious that he has claws again. He can feel their needle-like tips stabbing into his own legs. His unclenches his hands, staring down at them as horror settles alongside his other raised emotions.

No... Not again!

He stumbles to his feet - or rather, his claws - feeling the weight of a tail behind him, and the horns coming from his head. Did this happen while he'd been meditating? Did it somehow react to what he was doing in the Horizon?

He'd left in a state of complete frustration, and that feeling has lingered, but now it has to fight for dominance with the reflexive fear and disgust he feels at the sight of his own body. He stomps around in the loft, clutching at his head, the worry that his anger is only making it worse spiraling into deeper and deeper despair. He wants to smash something. Burn something.

Kill something.

Instead, he holds himself rigidly, bracing himself against the lone cupboard up there in the loft. He holds it, but forbids himself from clenching, from marring it with his claws. No. He can control this. He did it for so long.

What's changed?

[aquaveiled]

It was surprising how quickly a routine could develop, but Himeka has found that her days have been following a pattern. The mornings are spent at the farm with the twins and with Estinien before Himeka either ventures into town or into the neighboring plots to offer her assistance wherever it is needed. That she make a good impression is important, of course, but that she form connections and garner supplies is even better.

Having spent most of this particular day out in the Secondary Settlement, it is already growing dark by the time she finally returns. She hums lightly to herself as she closes the wooden gate behind her, making her way directly towards the barn to go through the days spoils. Then she hopes to make something quick to eat if Maeve doesn't mind letting Himeka use her pot.

She offers a customary greeting to the cow--their roommate of sorts, though she has clearly already started settling down for the night as well. If that isn't enough, the sound of her pulling down the ladder to the loft hails her presence as she makes no attempt to be quiet, even humming a cheerful goodnight to the cow as she ascends.

With the good mood she's in, she does not expect to see Estinien gripping the cupboard so strangely...especially with some accessories that, while she finds to be quite pleasing, do not herald a good mood in turn. She frowns, pausing through the little opening.

"Estinien?"

This...isn't like it was in the dungeons, is it? She tosses her bag onto the landing before pulling herself up completelly.

[coerthantorment]

His fangs are clenched, and he doesn't realize how hard until Himeka arrives and he suddenly has the need to speak. Nothing comes out for the first few moments, with him too busy battling inside his own head. Since leaving the dungeons, he feels like these flashes of anger have only become worse, as if made starker by the contrast.

Having Nidhogg's essence return has shaken him more than he wants to admit. He doesn't want Himeka to see this. Especially when it's over something so foolish.

Though it takes him several seconds, he finally manages to pry himself away from his position, turning a desperate eye in her direction. He wants to explain what happened, but thinking about Geralt's reaction, about his smug dismissals... it just makes the fury flare up all over again. He hates it. He looks away from her just as quickly, unable to hold eye contact.

"Forgive me," he murmurs, forcing the feeling down. "I... was in the Horizon, and when I returned... my body was like this."

[aquaveiled]

She does wait several beats, just watching him freeze in place. Waiting to see his back rise and fall with his breath. Feeling the air around them, waiting to see if there's an aether spike she should be concerned about it.

But he pulls himself together and she feels the tense line in her own shoulders lessen a few degrees.

Himeka shakes her head and offers him what she hopes is a reassuring smile, pulling herself up completely to come through the hatch and properly onto the landing.

"Not an enjoyable visit, I take it?" Not that she minds those changes, per se--she has told him before that she thinks it's a good look on him--but Himeka is also becoming aware that Nidhogg's remnants come forth at times of anger or distress, much as it had when their abilities suddenly returned and he was on an adrenaline run through fighting and to safety.

[coerthantorment]

He has to take another few moments before he dare try answering, realizing that he needs to explain the context of what actually transpired. He doesn't really want to, but he also feels that he owes it to her - he was trying to operate in a diplomatic capacity and failed miserably, so it's yet unclear if any of it will reflect onto her.

"...I was touring the Horizon, looking for those that had wound up in the Free Cities, hoping to exchange information. Instead, I ended up speaking to that idiot 'Witcher'."

'Idiot' isn't exactly the right term for the impression Geralt gave, but in his rush to think of a disparaging term, it'll have to do. He feels like Geralt must be thick in the head to ignore his warnings, to so brazenly deny all connection to inconvenient things.

"His lover was one of the people working for Thorne, you know - defending the High Mage with her own life. Knowing the inevitability of conflict between us, I had hoped to speak with him to get a better measure of her intentions... or to at least make him aware of what was at stake. He had spoken kindly enough before... I had thought he would be amenable to reason. That he would work towards a solution."

There's a flash of fang as he snarls to himself.

"The fool would hear none of it. He didn't consider the fate of his lover his business, apparently, and thinks the conflict of this realm beneath him... no matter the cost of his indolence."

[aquaveiled]

His plan sounds...well, sound, at least to her. Using Horizon as a means to stay in touch makes perfect sense and as far as they are lead to believe and understand, their potential adversaries do not have access. It makes sense to pull on allies and sources.

She hadn't heard anyone by the title of "Witcher" before, so she doesn't actually connect to who Estinien is talking about, but she listens all the same. Even if it wasn't an attempt to glean more information and make connections for their own betterment, she would still hear him out when he's so clearly upset. Estinien is a friend first and foremost.

Himeka let's the door fall shut and takes a few steps closer as he speaks, canting her head to the side. There's a lot to take in there and she needs a moment to parse the points of Estinien's discontent.

"That's...surprising. Are you sure this woman defending the High Mage was really this man's lover?"

[coerthantorment]

"As certain as I can be. They shared a kiss before he fled to the Free Cities."

He crosses his arms around himself, both a gesture of self-comfort and a means to hide his claws. To what degree she's important to him, Estinien doesn't know. Yet, he can't really imagine sharing a parting kiss with someone whom you were not invested in enough to attempt to avert their harm.

"He did not deny their connection when I provided that as the reason for my conclusion. He only said that it was between her and I... and when I explained that I could not allow Thorne to continue its advances, he reacted as if it were simply some vanity project of mine."

"'Whatever you want to tell yourself when you wash the blood from your blade' he said. All sides of the conflict are the same, in his eyes."

Estinien's disgust at the idea is obvious.

[aquaveiled]

She gives this all another moment. There are two issues here, she thinks--one being that this man may or may not care about the safety of a loved one and the other being that they seem to see all sides in this situation as equal.

The latter...hm.

"Mayhaps she thinks she can handle herself?" Himeka offers, holding her hands out, palms up as she comes to stand by his side. "Or he could be downplaying his feelings in an effort to make her less of a target?"

Either way, it's a minor note to the other issue.

"You went to this person because you thought they may be an ally in our cause," she says, trying to reason through it aloud.

A pause.

"Estinien...what is our cause here?"

It's so readily defined back on the Source, but here? Here they have fled the nation that was the root of their problems, but their end goal is only loosely 'get home'. How the singularity works, if it will aid or harm that ability--if it can end all worlds is still to be seen.

DRAGOON TRAINING

[stealsthetruth]

Solvunn is a far less natural fit for Kay, a teenager whose limited life experience has been spent almost entirely in a comfortable urban environment.
It's not that she's opposed to lending a hand here and there; on the contrary, she finds the whole spirit of cooperation thing kind of sweet, and she's able to vibe with that mindset easily enough. But she's a Great Thief of Truth, and an investigator at heart; it's hard to feel content about mucking out goat pens when there's a multiverse that potentially needs saving, and a world she's itching to get back to.

Long story short, she's constantly on the lookout for justifiable distractions from all the chores and farmwork. That's at least half her motivation for seeking out Estinien today; that, and the fact that she has a favor she wants to cash in on, whether Estinien remembers the deal they'd made or not.

She finds him on his farm, working on repairing one of the fences. Kay rests her arms on the closest stable portion of the structure, greeting him with her typical broad, goofy grin.

"Hey Esti. Howsit goin'?"

(He has long since earned a goofy nickname by now. One that Kay keeps on using, even if he has his protests about it.)

[coerthantorment]

Estinien hasn't fought against the nickname besides giving her some fairly incredulous eyebrow raises - there's nothing offensive about it, really, even if it seems odd to him. At least it's just a part of his name instead of picking something unrelated and silly. If she can't bring herself to use the 'nien' part, then so be it, he guesses.

Repairing fences is actually the part of this work he has the least natural instinct for, given that he never really learned to fix objects or build things. He's saved by the fact that most of it is just physical labour and persistence, but right now he's dealing with a crooked post that he isn't completely sure what to do with.

He casts her a look, frowning to himself.

"Passably," he says, pushing the post without much success. Is he going to have to dig this up? He thinks he's going to have to dig this up. He ruminates on the post for a few more moments before considering he should follow that up with something.

"What do you want?"

[stealsthetruth]

Kay straightens up, backing off the fence to put a hand to her chest as she adopts an expression of theatrical offense.

"Why would you assume I want something? Sheesh, can't a girl just drop by to say hello to a friend?"

She saves him the trouble of having to dignify her shenanigans with a response, quickly dropping the act (and her hand) and resuming her same goofy grinning from before.

"Just kidding. I guess you know me too well by now, huh? How long's it been since we first met, anyway...?"

[coerthantorment]

While Kay's interactions haven't always come with some kind of agenda, he's noticed she has a certain way of approaching when she has some kind of scheme in mind. There's a sort of theatrical confidence to it. It's something he recognizes well from a few acquaintances back home. He's not irritated by it, at least not yet - he'd just rather get whatever it is over with.

He hums to himself, thinking about dates as he works. Probably at least a dozen weeks at this point, and so...

"A few months?" he suggests.

[stealsthetruth]

"Ding ding ding! Correct!" Kay praises, because apparently this is some kind of pop-quiz game show now. "Alright then, question number two!" She holds two fingers up for emphasis. "Do you remember the deal we made, that first day we talked out in the prison yard?"

[coerthantorment]

Something about her presentation has him increasingly on edge, like she really thinks she has some kind of nefarious card up her sleeve. He pauses, going still halfway through picking up the shovel, staring at her like a wild animal that has just noticed a human is present.

He wracks his thoughts. In the pressure of the moment, nothing comes to mind. What deal? What did he offer? He can remember meeting her, but what on earth would he have said at the time?

"Uh..." is all he manages, regarding her warily, until suddenly, something clicks.

"Oh Halone."

[stealsthetruth]

"Heheheheheh," Kay chuckles, looking quite pleased with herself. Smug, even. "I'll take that as a yes. So..."

She's shifts back to leaning on the fence again, casually propping her chin up on one hand. Grinning like the cat that ate the canary. "You're gonna keep your word, right? And teach me some awesome dragon jumps?"

YOUR BOOK IS OVERDUE BITCH

[antichristsplusone]

Martin's typically willing to give people the benefit of the doubt over a lot of things, but working in and adjacent to a library for literally his entire adult life has left him more than a little bit petty in certain regards.

(Well, specific ways that aren't the parts of himself that are always biting his tongue.)

But it's been a bit over a week now, and while a library would typically give two, they're not exactly in typical circumstances and Martin's feeling very inclined to perform as close to the rules as possible right now. Plus, the kids ripped a page of their home copy that he was taking notes on.

It doesn't take him long to find Estinien, strictly speaking; it's easy to find someone that tall, especially when the novelty of the foreigners, apparently, still lingers - the stable he's tending when Martin finds him is just a bit more out of the way than he expected. He's a little out of breath, cheeks pink from exertion, but he offers a polite smile and a light wave.

"Hullo, Estinien? I was wondering where you got to."

OH GOD

[coerthantorment]

Estinien is actually fairly surprised to see Martin all the way out here, given that the farm is on the edge of the Primary Settlement. He pauses in what he's doing because he's not totally sure how to react - did Martin come to seek him out specifically, or is this a chance meeting?

He drops the bail of hay he's holding into the stable, looking somewhat quizzical.

"We've settled on this farm for the time being," he says. "There's much to keep myself busy with."

His raised brow seems to ask: can I help you?

[antichristsplusone]

"Oh! Good, that-- that's good."

He's aware that Estinien doesn't particularly like him - though he's pretty sure he's not special there, he doesn't seem to like much of anyone.

His hands fidget awkwardly in front of him, under the pressure of that raised eyebrow.

"So, um. I- I just wanted to ask, actually, uh. You don't, uh-- y-you don't still happen to that book you borrowed, do you, the- the Heroism and Folly? Only it's about o-overdue, and I'd rather like to collect it...

[coerthantorment]

Estinien stares at him as he awkwardly responds, having no idea why he's fidgeting so. In Estinien's mind, he really has no problem with Martin at all. Is there something else he's nervous about?

Then he asks about the book and Estinien squints like he doesn't totally get that either. He tilts his head slightly.

"Overdue?" he asks, like it's genuinely a surprising concept for him. "I thought you said to 'take my time' with it."

He's never actually used a library before, only occasionally been inside of one - and those were usually privately owned.

[antichristsplusone]

"O-- oh, um. Well, uh, yes, but. Um." God he's not had to explain this to someone in a while. "W-well, other people would want to read the book as well, you see, a-and, um. Well, there's something like a limit for how long you're a-allowed to borrow it, as a kind of- of social grace, kind of."

He feels stupid stammering so much over this; so he takes a deep breath and starts over, putting on his 'professional librarian' voice. "You're welcome to come back and borrow it again, but it would really look a lot better if I could, well- get the book now so it's returned, keep you in the locals' good graces, as it were? They might think you're a thief, otherwise."

[coerthantorment]

A week doesn't seem like enough time for him to take his time with anything, let alone a book. Who reads that much, so quickly? Certainly not him. He read the first story and ended up falling asleep halfway through the second. Not because it was boring, but when it comes time to read something he's generally already been working for about twelve hours, either around the farm or on his personal fitness.

"A thief?" he repeats, almost like he feels it would take some audacity to make that accusation. He stares at Martin for a moment longer, then turns to grab his pitchfork... to start dispersing the hay he brought over, of course.

"Well, 'twill have to wait until my work is done here. There are more pressing concerns, I think."

Estinien has never been one for 'social graces' as it turns out.

[antichristsplusone]

Martin does a very unsubtle double-take at the very tall man picking up a very pointy pitchfork, and tries to be subtle about how he takes a light half-step back.

"I-I'm not saying-- not immediately, it's just-- in- in really small villages like this, rumours spread quickly, so- s-so bad manners and, and missed social cues, they all- it's all gently forgiven, at first, b-but it's never forgotten, and rumours start, and--"

He rubs his neck awkwardly as he takes a breath. "Look, I know how these small communities work, is all. It's better to- to try and keep our heads until we know what they might want from us, is all. If I could just get that book, I'll be out of your hair right away."

[unnecessaryflourishes]

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Emet-Selch does not seem to have much taken to the farming life. Not that he isn't at least passingly familiar with how it's done, mind. But neither is it something he cares to bother with if there's another perfectly acceptable option available - and if Estinien has cared enough to pay attention to what Emet-Selch has been doing, he'll have noticed that Emet has instead been donating his time in the library rather than anything to with farming.

(Which may be just as well, since it at least largely keeps him somewhere Estinien isn't.)

That said, Estinien is still on his radar, and so it is that one day Estinien will find that his training has an audience.

"Making sure all your skills remain sharp, I see."

[coerthantorment]

Estinien has occasionally noted whether or not Emet-Selch was still present in the area, but has otherwise been leaving Himeka as his keeper. She's the one with the connection, after all, and she has experience dealing with the man. Now that he knows more context as to their interactions, he can't help but feel that him getting involved would be the opposite of constructive.

Yet, here the man is. Estinien twirls his pitchfork around, staking it in the earth, using it as leverage to spin himself around a deliver a kick upwards to the sky. Once he's finished that particular rep, he pauses long enough to speak.

"If that was meant to be an insult, you'll have to be more direct."

He's certainly not putting the brainpower into figuring out whether or not he's attempting to provoke him.

[unnecessaryflourishes]

He is not often given to being particularly helpful, it's true.  He is certainly not incapable of it - case in point, the fact that he has managed to offer enough of use to remain in the settlement - but even given that he stills retains much of his tendencies from when he'd been accompanying Himeka on the First.  Which is to say, he is unhelpful and smug by turns, and not often inclined to stir himself enough to offer any of the many things he could still rightfully offer.  (Although he is, at least, also making no direct attempt to destabilize the world they have found themselves in, or at least, not yet.)

Instead, he simply watches, though even that much might well come off as being faintly critical.

"Whyever should it have been?   It's quite clear that you are dedicated to your craft."

And that, at least, he can acknowledge, even if lancework is a far cry from his own native spellcraft.