[ His eyebrow quirks, amused, but he offers no further commentary. Sam can confirm Geralt barely listens to his speeches, and they've been friends from the beginning.
He does like to give Sam shit for them, though.
Sam is, in fact, part of the reason he's approached Claude. Geralt's been selective. The last thing he wants is a reputation for taking sides, even if he's no longer so hesitant to get involved. He fended off enough power-hungry mages and kingdoms to last three lifetimes back home, each vying for both a Witcher and his Child Surprise in their corner. What the world might want of him here may be something else, but the outcome remains the same. The natives are not the only ones with an agenda. He knows many of the Summoned have their own. ]
The winter before those talks, they recruited a handful of our numbers to battle at the Singularity. [ A voluntary affair. The fact that several chose to go says much. Most of those Summoned have since vanished; the landscape has changed. And yet, the instability of each Summoned's presence only adds to the uncertainty. ] Ask most, and they'll tell you they've no desire to join a war they didn't start. But I think we both know the reality is more complicated.
[ Few can say what they'll do until the final hour. And not everyone has the willingness—or obstinance, he supposes—to confront an empire head-on. Especially not when said empire can convince them they're doing the right thing. They managed once already that winter. Even here, what the Summoned have agreed to in the Nether—it feels like they're being nudged, inch by inch, towards a certain path. One laid by the sovereign states who claim them. ]
no subject
He does like to give Sam shit for them, though.
Sam is, in fact, part of the reason he's approached Claude. Geralt's been selective. The last thing he wants is a reputation for taking sides, even if he's no longer so hesitant to get involved. He fended off enough power-hungry mages and kingdoms to last three lifetimes back home, each vying for both a Witcher and his Child Surprise in their corner. What the world might want of him here may be something else, but the outcome remains the same. The natives are not the only ones with an agenda. He knows many of the Summoned have their own. ]
The winter before those talks, they recruited a handful of our numbers to battle at the Singularity. [ A voluntary affair. The fact that several chose to go says much. Most of those Summoned have since vanished; the landscape has changed. And yet, the instability of each Summoned's presence only adds to the uncertainty. ] Ask most, and they'll tell you they've no desire to join a war they didn't start. But I think we both know the reality is more complicated.
[ Few can say what they'll do until the final hour. And not everyone has the willingness—or obstinance, he supposes—to confront an empire head-on. Especially not when said empire can convince them they're doing the right thing. They managed once already that winter. Even here, what the Summoned have agreed to in the Nether—it feels like they're being nudged, inch by inch, towards a certain path. One laid by the sovereign states who claim them. ]