abraxaslogs | [ CLOSED ] into an ocean

[ When the frost melts - a marker of time after what's spent here, though one he knows from research of places where the ground freezes consistently that time can vary a bit. It's still long enough in Geralt's world judging by the state of the outdoors where everything is covered in snow, and Claude imagines there's a good deal of ice around, too.

Absently he taps a finger or two against his ale, contemplating that and what doing the same for so many years would feel like. It's impossible to not think of home while he's at it - a place he hasn't seen in years when he'd left it behind as a boy and would return as a man. Had been planning to before arriving here, in fact, though that's been delayed.

But there are still ways to share what he remembers, particularly here where Geralt is choosing to do the same. ]

Where I grew up was more temperate in terms of winter and we didn't see snow there that was anywhere close to this. The weather was closer to that in Cadens, though home has plenty of mountain ranges with snowfall including the one bordering Fodlan. Mostly I viewed them from wyvernback, [ with a slight grin sent Geralt's direction before he continues, ] much like today. Flying's always been one of my favorite escapes to clear my head.

[ Mm. Claude has mentioned that once or twice. That the desert was not unfamiliar to him. Geralt supposes these days, it isn't unfamiliar to him, either. He can traverse it well enough, and the Badlands are not quite as treacherous as the Korath wastelands are rumoured to be. Nearly, though. ]

Flying has its charms. [ That is to say, he enjoyed it more than he let on. He wouldn't decline another invitation to take to the skies. Though one day, he may extend an offer of his own, if Claude is ever inclined to climb atop a machine. Something that goes much faster than any horse or wyvern.

Eventually, he sits back. ] What did you come to discuss?

[ Last they spoke, it was about the state of the Free Cities. The world at large. If Claude brings some news, it'll be something he's not caught wind of. As far as he's aware, the Cities have been...quiet. A single execution aside, but. That isn't much of a disturbance. If anything, it's settled things further. For now, in any case. ]

[ Truthfully - and as though he has anything to do with the actual act of flying - he's going to take what Geralt says as a compliment. The smile he (somewhat) hides by taking another drink might say as much, too, and it's tempting to go on about that some more.

Or would be, if it wasn't for any number of thoughts rattling around his mind. A default state in needing to contemplate this or that at any given moment and one Claude's learned to refine, but being here in a place Geralt calls home clarifies a few of them into something more coherent than fragments.

It still takes him a second to contemplate what to say in a different way of clearing his head and something which might not sound as circular as some thoughts he's voiced before when this time it's not his aim. ]

I've been thinking a lot about our conversation in the Nether, the one about making plans. Of which I haven't made any, [ just to add that in there quickly since the clarification probably can't hurt, ] though I've been thinking about the ones I had. Where I grew up wasn't Fodlan but a country which shared a border and plenty of strife between both to go with it. I realized the other day that if you count time spent here, it's been something like a decade since I've been home. It was close enough to that in Fodlan, too.

[ His drink temporarily set aside, Claude offers a brief and vague wave of one hand then adds, ] But I've also started to think that considering here home wouldn't be inaccurate or undesired, even at the cost of what was left behind by being brought here.

[ Mm. So that's what's on Claude's mind. His gaze drops briefly to the ground before they return to Claude. ]

I made that decision some time ago. [ He realizes for others, it has taken them longer to reach the same conclusion. Abandoning the only world you've ever known is not easy. Perhaps it's simpler for him because he has so few attachments. The Continent never served him. He doesn't owe it shit. His people are dying out, one by one, and who knows how much of it is burning now under Nilfgaard.

Everything that's important, he has here. ]

Does it change what you're searching for?

[ In this sphere, he means. He knows his aims, his goals, shifted the moment he decided he wasn't leaving. That this was their new home. It's why they have the things they do. A house. Pets. There's a permanence to his existence he once avoided. ]

[ It fits with what Geralt's told him before that he's made the choice to stay and that it was a while ago. It's the sort of thing he's learned - or would like to think he has - about the witcher, that decisions are made deliberately and for reasons behind them long thought over. The same way Claude's arrived at this particular one himself, in some ways.

In others it'd taken longer: the realization of what would be lost if he was to somehow leave and return home without any knowledge of having been here, or what would happen if those he cared for and dared to label loved even with some of those needing be voiced aloud were the ones to vanish. Something that's happened before with Petra, Marianne, Felix, and that was nearly a year ago. Any loss now, he knows, would be multiplied tenfold.

Though he knows his answer to Geralt's question, Claude stays silent for another moment to test it back and forth to himself before speaking. ]

In some ways, certainly. But in others? Not so much. [ Though he was toying with his ale once more, Claude sets it down now. ] The most important of all being that should it come down to protecting what's meaningful to us, I wouldn't hesitate to join to keep it safe.

[ For himself, for others, for what they hold dear - for as Geralt said before, in that if there was a war which started over this, Claude would find himself on the same side as something immediately moving any other plans down to further outcomes to hope for in the process. ]

[ A simple statement to make. Deep down, though, Geralt has to ask what that would look like for many. Because Viktor, too, believes he would be protecting what is meaningful for all of them. The attachments they've made here, the lives they've fought for—he can't blame anyone for not seeing clearly. ]

I don't doubt anyone's desire to protect what's theirs. [ He pauses. ] I do worry some fail to understand that there is no victory in paying for it with their soul.

[ Perhaps that's something he's weighed himself. There are risks he took when it came to Ciri. Decisions he could have made to protect her and did not—because the price was the life of another young girl.

He wants his family safe. But he wants to be able to live with himself, too. And though his hands are hardly clean, he's drawn his lines. He knows where he stands. There are those he trusts to know the same. But that isn't true for everyone. Some days, he's more wary of the other Summoned than the kingdoms who've stolen them. ]

Or harming the rest of us in the process along with that, if I'm following that train of thought correctly.

[ It feels like that's implied in what Geralt hasn't said - yet - and like a fair leap to make to another tangent equally important. If nothing else, it's something which worries the corners of his own mind. That even while meaning to do something right, that doesn't mean it can't draw forth plenty of unintended consequences. Like ending one war only to find an even more dire one waiting on the other side of it.

That rather specific set of circumstances is unlikely to happen here, or so Claude reminds himself, since a war between the Free Cities and Thorne might still begin at any second but perhaps the world ending situation won't happen after so long as the Singularity isn't involved. Too many variables waiting to be placed like chess pieces yet to be moved, and the itch to move them himself goes more than it comes these days. ]

The question... well, one of the questions then becomes whether it's possible to keep anyone from doing so or what it is it'd entail. Or possibly more importantly, what it is they're bargaining for and what the consequences would be from there.

[ Implied, yes. Though it's not so straightforward in Geralt's mind; he's no saviour of the world, and he does not seek to stop the machinations of war or desperate ambitions. But he wants his people safe. He won't pretend the two things aren't intertwined. He can't. Whatever he needs to do to protect his daughter, wherever it takes him—whether that is to the Singularity or towards the Queen's doorstep—so be it. ]

Strategy isn't my expertise.

[ He pauses, weighing his words. He thinks of Vesemir and the choices he made after Eskel passed. Yennefer. His mother. The elves, and their crusade of vengeance. If—when—this world collapses into war, the pain many are carrying will only grow. ]

I've watched fear and grief consume too many. I've reached for my sword to stop them before, and I will again. But I'd prefer to find another way.

[ Through someone who is far better versed in these matters than he is. He spoke to Claude in the first place because he recognizes Claude is not like him, that the man is willing to play the games Geralt is not—but that Claude also possesses a rare integrity in men of that nature. Or so he believes. He doesn't think he's wrong. Claude carries shades of a politician who has not forgotten he was a soldier. A trait too often missing in others. ]

So you've mentioned before, but I'm not so sure I agree.

[ A smile flits over his face briefly to go with it considering that's a sincere observation. While it might not be the traditional sort of sitting at a table with maps, notes, or whatever else to advance something forward - to put down the basic steps for what might come is another form of strategy in Claude's mind. One he's employed plenty in anticipating what could happen with any choice and the potential fallout from it and any others. The sort of thing he recognizes Geralt's doing by reaching out with something he could have kept to himself.

It's the thought of staying quiet about what might be which has Claude staying quiet in contemplation after speaking as he idly turns his ale in place on the tabletop. So does the idea of fear and what all it can do if one lets it; it's this he has in mind when he finally straightens up again upon finding what else to say both about being here in Abraxas and from his own past. ]

Fear is a strong motivator for many and more so when it comes to the world changing. It kept where I grew up set in their ways, and upon arriving to Fodlan I found it was the same there. I wanted to change that but war shortened the timeline on my plans considerably. [ A beat, and then - ] My friends didn't know my further plans when the war began as it took me a long time to trust them enough to say them so plainly. It's hard for me to not picture that being the case here for what we may not know about yet in plans others might have. The longer that we're here, the more time that means for someone to decide to tip the balance we're in rather precariously if the world doesn't do it for us first.

[ Fair enough. Geralt tilts his head, conceding. Perhaps it's less a matter of expertise and more that he does not like it. He doesn't like moving people and kingdoms as if they are pieces on a board. He does want to be told where he fits and how. And he certainly does not want to be a part of anyone's schemes.

He can understand what Claude is saying. Claude has mentioned his plans before, his return to Fodlan and the war that started before its time. After a moment, he offers a rare glimpse into his own position in return. ]

Witchers are not bound by arbitrary borders. We don't answer to monarchs and emperors. For some, they found that concerning. But you're right. I've watched kingdoms rise and fall over months, years, decades. [ He pauses. Up until now, they've largely only spoken about the situation in the Free Cities. It's more than that. ] How well do you know the Summoned in Thorne?

[ Because that's where this started. Thancred, informing him he had designs to undermine the monarchy. Not that Geralt's against it in theory; Ellya can go fuck herself for all he cares, but if her head rolls, it leaves a little too much room for the Free Cities to take advantage. Or hell, even Solvunn. ]

[ Geralt's words ring a bell, a distant one where Claude feels like he remembers this being mentioned before about not being beholden to any one place, any one ruler. With what he remembers of their talks of the Witcher's sphere on top of that, Claude merely sees that as an advantage when it comes to having witnessed the steady turnover of kingdoms throughout what almost certainly had to be a series of intricate machinations - or war.

The question which follows is one he's not entirely expecting but should have given the topic. After a second he arches an eyebrow in consideration of an answer. ]

I know a handful of them rather well, but I can't say I know everyone there. Just that I do know they share a certain sentiment when it comes to living under rather intense scrutiny. Many keep a careful eye on what the monarchy might be doing on top of that.

[ It's Kyle he's thinking of mostly in terms of working in closer to those he's observing, what with that meeting with the king that'd allowed him some more freedoms in moving about the kingdom. Or Istredd who's watched the precarious balance and kept notes, and Thancred who Claude suspects shares more in common with him than either are willing to completely reveal just yet. Others too, which leads to his next consideration after taking a sip of ale. ]

The Summoned in Thorne would be who I'd think would be most likely to be planning something to make a move, if I had to guess. Their situation seems more immediately treacherous than, say, Solvunn's.

[ Or theirs in the Free Cities - though Claude certainly believes theirs is equally dubious beneath that transparent veneer of being honored and important in the government's attempt to gloss over it. ]

[ A certain sentiment is right. He hums. Thorne has changed since he left its cold stone walls. Where they were once filled with those dedicated to staying—for the Crown, for their own goals and ambitions—the steady disappearance of the initial Summoned means that of the ones who choose to stay, only Yennefer remains. And her motivations are not what concern him. (Not anymore.)

But a Thorne populated by unhappy Summoned feels no more stable to him. Just the flip side of the same coin.

Claude is right. He knows precisely who is making those plans. For Thancred's sake, he doesn't name names. Instead, he nods—confirming. ]

The Continent had a greater number of kingdoms. Several imposing in their own right. Here... [ He shifts his weight. ] It seems the balance of the world hangs in these three nations alone. If Thorne should collapse, chaos will sweep us all.

[ Which is not to say he's opposed for that reason. These days, he understands that sometimes, a card must fall. But this, it remains a new world to him, and a new way of considering. He doesn't know where they go from here. Perhaps Thorne's days are numbered, but then, where would that leave the Free Cities once it's allowed to grow unchecked? Solvunn?

Setting the continent also ablaze is a consequence he'd like to avoid. ]

It's not unlike Fodlan, right down to there being three nations plus a few outside of it with their own influences. A familiarity I would've rather left behind.

[ The temptation to sigh deeply is there, but he manages to restrain it. Barely. It's something he's told Geralt before in their talks and Claude doesn't necessarily mean to segue into that again. Fodlan's problems, as much as they'd occupied him once upon a time, are meaningless here in the face of greater ones they can't hope to entirely prevent between the Free Cities, Thorne, and whoever else steps into the fray.

It's the whoever else which he has in mind now, rather than Thorne specifically. He'd nodded to show agreement with that assessment of the peril they'd absolutely be in if that came to pass. But it occurs to Claude there's more to be mentioned - something that he'd been turning over and over in his mind for some months now. ]

When we were in the Feywilds a while back, did you speak with any of the leaders there? Or perhaps dance with someone mildly chatty about the state of things that happened long before we arrived, or what a future might be with us in it?

[ The best place to start is by asking, most likely, and whatever Geralt answers: his own responses to those questions tailored off his experience will follow. ]

[ The Feywilds. Geralt shakes his head. Not his purview, not his interest. He'd heard afterwards that some had chance encounters with one of the Fey at the ball—but if any came his way, they said nothing important.

Though Alucard had revealed details afterwards. Some talk of a new day. ]

What did you hear?

[ Truthfully, he's not granted as much thought to the Feywilds as much as he perhaps should. To him, they seemed reclusive at best, suspicious and more interested in protecting their interests. Has that changed? ]

They were quick to point out that the Abraxans in charge were the reason they lost their homes a long time ago, but that it was also the reason they united. I got the feeling they don't approve of the Free Cities' rejection of magic.

[ Not that he'd been exactly complementary of that himself; some of it had been a true enough assessment. Claude shrugs a shoulder as he moves to prop an elbow on the table in thought, the ale now forgotten. ]

It stood out to me because the way the talk went, even though it only lasted as long as a dance... it wasn't unlike how I used to put someone through a conversation when I wanted to know something. They wanted to know if I'd rather be where magic was of greater value, and that our presence symbolized new possibilities. I asked what they wished we'd know about them after leaving and the answer was as little as possible, specifically in those terms.

[ All very curious the longer he'd thought about it with a clear mind rather than in the moment of a bit too much wine, food, and having a good time. Even more so when it kept coming back to his mind over the months with any further communication still yet to come, if it ever will. But - there is one more important part to that. ]

As to who it was behind the mask, I haven't the slightest. It might've been a member of their court or simply someone attending, but I feel pretty certain it wasn't another Summoned.

[ Curious. Geralt had no such conversation, but frankly, he wasn't interested in conversation as a rule. He'd danced the requisite number of dances to not completely offend the Fey, then vanished into the maze where he'd spent the rest of the time with Yennefer before returning briefly to, mm.

Eat. A good amount. (It was decent food, oddities notwithstanding.)

In any case, his experience at the masquerade contained decidedly less political angling than Claude's and significantly more liquor. ]

They didn't make it a secret we were invited to be assessed. [ Between jumping through hoops for currency and the various trials to impress their hosts...the most uncharitable interpretation is that the Fey were fucking around, though he doesn't believe that's entirely accurate. It was more calculating than that. ] You think they were seeking to determine if we could be allies?

[ Against the kingdoms who invaded their lands? Who, to this day, remain a potential threat? It's a possibility. Nocwich has made similar manoeuvres. ]

No, they didn't, which is part of what made me take a closer look at everything from the start. If we were going to be watched, I wanted to watch back.

[ In between the food and liquor, that is, considering he can't claim to have not done plenty of partaking in both himself. In retrospect, it was good luck that the dance happened before the rest of the night became a bit of a blur between everything they'd encountered and that indulging.

But the conversation hadn't left his mind, fortunately; the one other Summoned he'd spoken to about this didn't seem to have this particular kind of encounter either and so Claude was left to consider it alone. So it'd felt, anyway, until now. ]

And truthfully, I don't know. They made a point of mentioning I was strategic, [ with a bit of a wry smile, both because it's true and Claude certainly made no attempt to hide as much during the brief talk, ] in a way which sounded appreciative. It's not an inaccurate description considering I was trying to get as much information out of them as they were willing to give while they tried to do the same. When it's all added together it feels considerably like something else, though. More blatant than what we've been presented with so far, especially if it was someone in power truly looking for allies.

[ Mm. That's certainly interesting information. Geralt takes a moment to unravel the information. The Netherfolk, he thinks, were a little more straightforward, and in a way, so are the vampires and werewolves. He can grasp what they're after. Their desires are much more grounded: money, influence, protection.

But the Fey leave him wary. Still, he can admit they've not asked anything of the Summoned beyond their participation for the evening. It's a point in their favour compared to the territories who can't seem to stop making...requests. ]

Something else. [ He shifts his weight. ] In what way?

[ He can't help seeing the similarities between the Fey and the elves of the Continent. Thorne nearly decimated their kind, sent them underground, and only recently have they come to occupy a portion of land that was once theirs. The question is, do they want more? Are they seeking to reclaim what was taken from them? And if so, how much do they pin the blame on Thorne and Thorne alone, and how much do they consider it a fault of the humans altogether? ]

[ Claude doesn't respond right away while he considers the question. Puts it into perspective from what it would've once meant had he asked the same across a war table, or even the Roundtable while setting a trap for an unwitting lord to stumble into even if he knows well that's not what Geralt is doing here. It's just that there are so many possible ways it could go and not enough to know where it will - the state of things without end, it seems. ]

When I led the Alliance... if I approached someone in the same way, answering questions of them without really giving much away in return, I made sure to phrase it as curiosity. Genuinely wanting to get to know whoever it was. And it was a way of getting to know them since that was the magnanimous sort of lord I was supposed to be as the sovereign duke, though it was never just that. Patience played into a lot of my plans even if the war postponed most of them, and had things gone differently I wanted to know who I might be able to call upon when the time came.

[ Because that much he'd felt certain about by way of where that conversation was headed, and even more so now that there hasn't been any contact since. Nothing to do but wait on their end and to see if it may go somewhere and hope that they hear something before that happens. The shrug of one shoulder he offers Geralt isn't particularly comforting to either one of them, and he knows it. ]

As for what we do with that, I think the answer is also probably wait and see as much as I don't like it. Goes against the whole liking to have plans at the ready thing I've cultivated.

[ Far from his best attempt at humor, but - a little bit of it amidst everything else never hurts. ]

[ That's the conundrum, isn't it? Geralt has discovered that he cannot simply wait and see forever. He has done that, he's spent his life avoiding making the first move. He waits and he watches, and he is patient. It served him well on the Path when he walked alone. (Most of the time.) But it has also led him to places he won't go again, and it's put Ciri in harm's way.

Still. He knows full well the answer is not to turn rash. He just feels like there is more that he should be doing. Something he's missing.

He puts it aside. The Fey have been around for a long time. He can admit that were their borders more open, he'd be interested in what they know of this world. Things that human history has perhaps failed to record. ]

Worth keeping in mind. [ He straightens up and pats the wolf on the head. If nothing else, he can discuss it with Sam. Insight is valuable regardless.

In the meantime, Claude is free to enjoy the rustic and hole-filled charm that Kaer Morhen has to offer. Geralt, for his part, is rare to stay and chat for long. ] Stay as you wish. Don't spoil him.

[ CLOSED ] into an ocean

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