[open] july catchall

[techmaturgy]

Who: Viktor and special guests and you
When: throughout July & August
Where: Cadens, the Horizon, Nocwich
What: ah oh no we were indirectly responsible for bombing the castle
Warnings: war crimes

[open and closed starters in comments! If you want a custom starter or something specific, just hit me up. full horizon details are here for any and all wildcarding needs. For everything else, I’m on plurk at whitticus and on discord also at whitticus.]

Comments

[thoughts]

[ she's quiet again as she considers that, still staring at viktor's hands and the twisted piece of metal. ]

Do you think it's possible? We dreamt of a future where Thorne crumbled and it didn't look like this. But time is a fluid construct and there are fixed points in a function, things you can't fix or change.

[ war seems inevitable at this point. river keeps getting flashes of it, the moment the bombs fell - blue lightning and shattered glass, screaming and crying and a desperate scramble for safety while all the king's horses and all the king's men burned to a crisp outside the castle walls.

for a moment, she gets lost in it. normally subtle enough to go unnoticed, the veins in her hands start glowing faintly, blue lines of starlight that resemble the form she held in the emergent reality. it shimmers as her heart races toward fear and upset, and when river raises her head again, she is very much a scared teenaged girl looking to viktor as an authority figure, someone that may be able to do anything at all to influence their situation. ]

What if it's too late to stop anything? There's no putting it back together again. Maybe it was always going to happen and we're the variables.

[techmaturgy]

I think that in the imagined future, and in this one, Thorne is...how would you say it? In over their heads.

[He knows that the kingdom falls in the vision. Now, with the Free Cities able to break through their magic wards, a similar outcome seems inevitable. The Summoned are not immune--no, now his worry is that Cadens will try again, and his friends will be hurt this time.

River seems to be coming to the same conclusion. Viktor's eyes widen, slightly, when he sees her hands, though it's less surprising than it might have been some months ago. The Singularity is changing them all, it seems. He's not sure how to be comforting, not when he feels so helpless himself.]

I will have to stop it, somehow. I can't let them use a device like this again.

[thoughts]

[ she cracks the beginnings of a smile at that, a wry sort of humor that helps the glow fade from her skin. off with their heads, the queen of hearts said as her uncle drove a dagger through her heart.

if they're already going down the rabbit hole... river eyes viktor for a quiet moment, feeling that desperation to do something, and squeezes the strap of her bag anxiously again. ]

I want to help, if I can. If you can do anything to stop them...

[ then again... she frowns. ]

But I don't want you to end up in the dungeons too.

[ she's worried about him. she's worried for them all, but doubly so for anyone with proximity to the authorities in any territory. ]

[techmaturgy]

I need to try.

[He'll start by talking to them, though he knows it might put him in danger to even recognize his own work, in what they did to the castle. The one thing he does have going for him is that he's well known--if they try to disappear him, it will be noticed.

That's not something he finds comforting to voice, however. He does his best to sound reassuring, regardless. To sound more sure of himself than he actually is.]

I don't think they'll throw me in the dungeons. That would be a waste.

[thoughts]

[ she understands. she doesn't like it, but she understands; it's the same reason istredd stayed in the castle, why he doesn't seem to be worried now that he's in the dungeons. actually harming one of the summoned would probably do more damage to their authority than it might be worth.

still. she doesn't like it. she purses her lips and looks away, swearing under her breath a little. ]

Zìshēng zì miè.

[ for better or for worse. river's fear and anxiety are just as intense as when she entered the room, but at least she accomplished what she came for. it's in viktor's hands now, literally. she swallows her resolve and stands, ready to go find geralt or ciri or one of the many other people she fears for in the brewing storm. ]

I'll tell you, if I see anything else. And... shàngdì bǎoyòu wǒmen dàjiā, but be careful, please.

[techmaturgy]

[Viktor knows a curse when he hears one, even if it's in a different language. He can't say he disagrees. All he can do in the moments that follow is sit quietly with his own thoughts, staring down at his hands.]

I'll let you know what happens. And...thank you.

[thoughts]

[ she stands there for a moment, a child that can't hide her fear the way everyone around her seems to keep it tucked away in the corner of their hearts, and then rushes forward very abruptly to give viktor a quick hug.

river isn't generally one for physical affection like this, but after eight hundred years of turning into smoke anytime someone so much as reached toward her, she's gained a newfound appreciation for the simple comfort of having another living being nearby, warm and alive and right there next to you. she squeezes him tightly, trying to press some of that into him - it's not your fault and you're not alone and be careful -

and then she steps away without another word, flipping the hood of her cloak back up as she heads for the door. there's a brief pause as she stares at the door knob, not quite hesitation but steeling herself, perhaps, before she steps back out into the world - for better or for worse. ]