abraxaslogs | The Festival of Enlightenment

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The Festival of Enlightenment - The Free Cities

Enlightenment - The Free Cities

In the Free Cities, Enlightenment has come once more.

In each major hub, lanterns and lights of every kind are being hung everywhere. On every storefront, every sidewalk, every home and every fence. From elaborate custom made lanterns with color changing lights to simple hand carved candle lanterns and everything in between. By the time Enlightenment proper rolls around, the three major cities are bedecked in lights..

Lanterns and elaborate candle holders and artfully carved candles are going on sale everywhere. Flyers are being plastered on walls announcing The Annual Circus of The Sciences! The latest and most impressive inventions from every corner of the Free Cities! Hosted by Prime Minister Reiner herself!

This is a time to celebrate technology. Free from a dependency on magic, The Free Cities thrive in this time of literal and metaphorical darkness. The phrase ‘lights for Enlightenment!’ is on every citizen’s lips. In the evenings, night markets pop up in the streets. Vendors offering little mechanical toys and decorations set up, as well as the latest street cuisines, and light up jewelry to celebrate the holiday. Pendants, earrings, headpieces, bracelets... some of them glow due to naturally occurring substances, some have chemical reactions activated with the press of a button that make them light up and twinkle.

Circus of the Sciences

In Cadens the focus is on inventions and the latest technological advancements, the buzz about this year’s Circus of The Sciences spreading through the city. On Enlightenment Day, in front of Portham Hall, the greatest inventors from all over the Free Cities gather to show off their greatest inventions, each vying to win the coveted prize of government funding. All inventions are on display to the public - there’s a great deal of talk about an engine powered entirely by steam! - and judged by a team of Ministry officials.

Yet none judge quite as harshly as the infamous Head Judge, Aleksander G. Klingel. Known not only for his own contributions to Cadens innovations and technological milestones, but for his biting commentary during the competition itself. Some of the less technologically minded have even made it a point to attend just to see what the winning insult will be this year...

"I wouldn't trust you running a bath let alone a hydroplane."

"Are you a stuffed puppet? Because your head must be filled with felt to come up with something this inane."

"This is really a tough decision... because you're all crap."

And even the summoned have a role to play, if they so choose. Aleksander is more than happy to compensate any of the Summoned for their time... if they’d just participate in a teeny little holiday experiment. All they need to do is hold a metal rod for a few minutes. Aleksander promises it’s not dangerous, that little tingle is perfectly normal...

Mind over Magic

In Libertas and Aquila, new plays and performances are debuting - and all seem to have a common theme: the power and superiority of technology over magic. Even overheard conversations may espouse the same ideals - how strange that the other kingdoms still rely on magic, it’s just irrational! The theme of technology and light are found even in the newest fashion collections, unveiled for the season, utilizing reflective fabric and metals.

Should anyone ask a local how long, exactly, this holiday is celebrated for, they’ll be told that in honor of the light of technology triumphing over the dim, the festivities last all day and all night. Come the day, the street markets open in the morning and stay open until the next morning. There’s singing and drinking in the streets, everyone trying to stay up until dawn to show that the spirit of the Free Cities will never go dark. Starting with The Circus of The Sciences, kicked off by a speech from Prime Minister Marlo.

Standing on the steps of Portham Hall, wearing her formal military garb, is Prime Minister Marlo Reiner. She holds up her hands for silence from the crowds.

"Welcome, once again, to another celebration of the Enlightenment! We’re gathered together to celebrate and illuminate all the hard work that each and every one of you do, every day, to make our Free Cities what they are! We’ve cut ties with relying on magic to do everything for us and we thrive! Even now, in the darkest part of the year when the rest of the world struggles, we thrive! Because we rely on ourselves! Your minds are more powerful than magic and nothing can dim your light!

"So let’s have a good time! Starting with the Circus of The Sciences! Enjoy the best of what the human mind has accomplished, and if you see something you really like, I don’t think a single one of our inventors would refuse a donation. Judges will be making the rounds soon.

"Here’s to another year of changing the world!"

With a thunderous roar of applause, The Day of Enlightenment officially begins!

A Closing Ceremony

(Coming soon! The events of December 21st and beyond will depend on player actions...)

OOC: Event #5: The Dimming

LOG: Thorne | The Free Cities | Solvunn

PvP: The Mission to the Singularity

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

And horses does not, thank you.

[Which leaves him implying that the association of horses somehow cancels out the vampire part. So... if they can't go out in the sun, they. They definitely drink blood, don't they?

(What came first? The vampire or the horse?)]

Ciri's met a vampire? I... I suppose that shouldn't surprise me. [He grimaces a little. There's so much he doesn't know about her still. She's probably hunted a vampire before, hasn't she? Well. Maybe not. They're quite rare. The only reason Geralt went for the vampiress was she was eating her subjects, so.

Feels pretty fair.]

But you like it? [He smiles.] I craft the flavor around its intended recipient, if that tells you anything. [Yes, Alucard, you got your own personal vintage from Chateau Jaskier.]

If you want vampire horses, we'll need more twilight.

[Or no horses! That's the ruless, Alucard can't change nature. Even in the Horizon.]

I did not ask how she knew specifics. She may just be well versed in lore? I assume your Witchers are like other monster hunters I've met and have an extremely detailed library. [That Alucard is thankfully not in charge of and likely does not hold extremely good ways to commit dhampir-specific homicide.]

I do, yes. The terroir of it is interesting, since in theory this place has both any and none at the same time. It's a fascina-- [Oh.

Alucard's actually going to turn red this time, which on his pale skin looks more as if he's turned the color of a rosé. Well done, Jaskier. You are winning in making the dhampir feel every feeling department tonight.] Thank you for not calling it grave rose then.

You're not wrong. [If Ciri has been to Kaer Morhen, trained by Witchers, of course she's been let in on their knowledge, whatever tomes they might have rotting around in that stinky keep. Certainly he'd seen more than a few when he'd walked through the image of it in Geralt's domain... and knowing him, it's a one-to-one recreation.

Jaskier turns to him with a smile. It's convenient that, at that moment, the sun begins to accelerate its descent. The sky shifts towards twilight, and the red of the sky only leaves the color on Alucard's cheeks looking darker.]

Please! I have more imagination than that. Which is why I didn't go for the first name; you've yet to kiss me, so I have no experience to base the taste off. [He's teasing, and he makes it show with the grin that follows. The moon begins to rise, replacing where the sun once shone. It is a testament to his curiousity that he's shifted from daylight; a feat which has never occurred in his domain to date.] Now, you must show me these beasties at their full size. I imagine they would not be terribly helpful at the size of a hand.

Behind every monster hunter is a far too extensive library. [It is said with a sigh, but some truths aren't terrible. Trevor knew his lore as well, but in a different way from Sypha.

No matter. As day speeds into night, Alucard downs the rest of his wine glass. It is just enough time for the sky to shift to what he knows to be safe for the horses. He's all set to start summoning them up but--

--low hanging fruit comes first.] You'd give it the wrong name anyway. Alucard is what the people of Wallachia call me. My parents named me Adrian.

[With that, horses. Alucard doesn't linger to drink in Jaskier's reaction either. He instead focuses on creation, because it has been some time since he's seen the beasts that his father held in the stables.

Two. They start as dark shapes, vaguely horse like. Red eyes are filled in first. Then their ears that twist into horns. Teeth that are too sharp for horses come next, the shape of the bodies refined as Alucard conjures them from memory. The coats are not pitch black night, they are deep twilight purples. It is the saddles that are black, accented with sharp silver because sometimes, to be contrary to lore is satisfying.

There.]

Radu is on the left, Dănești is on the right.

[His eyes go wide. Of course he's put together the whole Alucard/Dracula thing, but there's plenty of men with egos large enough to name their sons after them. Now it's Jaskier's turn to have flushed cheeks, but it's pleased surprise when he calls out after him.] Adrian! Surely you have been absolutely sitting on this little tidbit! Adrian. What a lovely name.

[Alucard -- Adrian -- is doing this on purpose, he suspects. Dropping a nugget of knowledge and then immediately distracting him with... possibly the most terrifying horses he's ever seen in his life. Compared to Roach, for sure.

Terrifying, and beautiful, with the combination being equivalent to a candle flame to Jaskier's moth. Judging by the teeth, they definitely are not gentle grass grazers. Yet he trusts Alucard fully, so he approaches a horse -- Radu -- and offers a hand under its nose.] The effect is slightly different when they are, ah, closer to twenty hands than one hand high, I admit. [He allows the horse to snuffle around his hand, up his arm. It seems particularly interested in the magic scar there.] Julian is the one my parents gave me. Rather fun, isn't it? We're only a syllable off.

No one's questioned it. [There's a shrug, but there's also a note of amusement in his voice. Yes, that was absolutely worth it, although he's not going to dig into the particulars of Alucard. Certaintly not The Alucard, he is beyond relieved no one has tried that since arriving through that damn well.

Radu is the smarter horse to pick anyway. Radu Bey is the thing's namesake, because something about naming the horse after a ruler whose moniker was the handsome seemed like it would appeal to the bard.

Alucard allows for some space though, letting Radu sniff at Jaskier carefully. He didn't invent their natures, sometimes things need to figure out their own way.]

Is that a name I ought to play close to my chest? [It is a genuine question. Jaskier's got a career, after all.]

It sounds like a name! [He exclaims, with a little laugh. If Alucard's going to find amusement in this, how could he not? It comes off as a name, not a title, so at least he's safe from "The Alucard"-ing from Jaskier.

The horse, finding him sufficient, gives a huff. Jaskier takes it as acceptance, petting down his nose with slow, even movements.

He's learned, in the years with Roach, what spooks a horse. Even a horse calmed with Axii.]

No. It's only a name. Come to think of it, when we first met, I don't think I ever properly introduced myself. [Which was only fair, because he barely knew who he was. He gives Radu some space, turning to Adrian so he could, quite properly, give him a bow.] Julian Alfred Pankratz, Viscount of Lettenhove, at your eternal service. Adrian. [Ah, Alucard's the first to get the full title, too. In a funny turn of events, he's somehow gotten used to not being known, when he'd never had to introduce himself before.] I should ask the same of yours.

[Radu considers Jaskier for a moment, mostly because pets are always good, weird human and not undead or otherwise. But there is an attempt to nose at Jaskier's hand.

What follows is a soft hiss from the dhampir, translating as not for drinking in vampire horse speech. Radu ceases, letting out a low snort before his red eyes wander elsewhere.

Dănești is a far more cynical looking thing as Alucard approaches, but there's no resistence. Alucard just hops right on up, because a) these are his imaginary horses and b) he knows how to deal with vampire things.

Immediately though, at Jaskier's own little revelation, he leans forward, eyebrows raised.] Viscount? [This explains a few passing comments, but mostly why joking about bard life choices hit such a nerve. Noted, and then letting it pass.] I think that it'll just confuse everyone else. Sypha's the only other person who knows my full name, and even she calls me Alucard.

[It's not the first time he's been questioned about it. Somehow, that's the part that's surprising. Jaskier nods.] What? I failed to mention?

[Okay, he did. It wasn't important here, considering there was no Lettenhove here. He was viscount of approximately nothing, unless one counted the small apartment he now shared with... a lot of people.

Jaskier glances between the vampire and the vampire horse, translating the hiss. Ah.] Very well. It's what I'm quite used to, anyway. [He gives Radu another pat, a little more wary this time, but follows suit in swinging up onto the saddle with ease. A bit harder to bite him from back here, he imagines.] Is she from your sphere, then?

You did. Am I right in thinking you put little stock in the title?

[If he cared, he'd have dropped that far earlier. Jaskier is one of the least subtle people that Alucard has ever, ever met, and given that both he and his father were subtle like a freight train, that is saying something.]

He won't bite. [A gaze to the horse. Or else.

Radu just stays quiet, waiting to be urged on.]

My father's stables. Vampires can move in an instant, but sometimes, a different entrance is required.

[With that, Alucard nudges his own horse forward. Not that he knows where he's going. Or what else might lurk in the vineyard. All he knows is that movement is a wonderful thing, and that the horses have very little patience in them when saddled and ready.]

[He smiles, patting the horse's neck underneath him. Nice enough steed when he's not considering a little bite.] My noble standing isn't why I'm famous.

[It won't be terrible if he does. Maybe. Either way, the reassurance is good enough, and he gives the old boy a nudge to get him moving forward. At least the horse is not turning into one, singular, giant bat. So far. (It's probably best he doesn't know if they can or not.) Does one become a vampire horse through a bite? Are they born vampiric, sapping up the blood of their mothers?

Ooh. He feels a chill from the thought, not from the cooling air around them. Not necessarily in answer to Alucard's question but because that's how it worked with his caravan, a path that winds through the vineyard begins laying itself out before them. No potholes or rocks to hurt a horse's hooves on, and the brush of tree branches is just high enough to not smack one in the face.

He rumbles a soft laugh.] I meant Sypha, actually. You and the horse bear a striking resemblance, so I didn't think I need ask.

[A little tease in return. Mostly because he's still stuck with pierogi legs in the back of his head at all times.] They are beautiful, actually. I like the horns. Very... very poignant, somehow.

Merit's always more important. [And if there's a note of fondness or approval, so be it. Any time a noble isn't a massive dick is a cause to celebrate, quite frankly.

He can answer questions about vampire horses all day. For now though, Alucard will simply wander at a conversational pace, glad to only have had a single glass of wine, and absolutely enjoying the luxury of riding through such a space at night time. There's the scent of grapes on the breeze along with wild flowers and pine, and for all the world, Alucard is sure this scent could be sold as a perfume to the highest bidder.

At the mention of Sypha, Alucard demures, just slightly.] Yes, we are. We met under extenuating circumstances. [They'll get to that topic eventually. Maybe best to get it all out and done in one night.] And I expect you two got along immediately, given her people's oral history culture and your profession.

[Enough that one tradition often borrows from the other.]

I'm not sure most mortal men would be using that kind of language for these horses.

[It's not hard to catch on Alucard, not all this time. Yes, from the same world. And though he's apparently keen on telling Sypha all of Jaskier's lovely little accidents (or large ones, considering the size of the cactus), he does not seem particularly enthusiastic to discuss her. Or what extenuating circumstances could mean. Years upon years of Geralt, Jaskier is nothing if not an expert on the flow of conversation. What is meant to be said, and what should remain mostly unspoken.]

She's certainly fascinating. We met at the theatre; I assume you know her work there? I never considered the use of that sort of magic for theatre. [Whole thunderstorms, the sound of lightning, the pounding of rain. Rolling fog.

He leaves it there. Honestly, He's already pressed Alucard for enough today. He's only glad he could provide a backdrop for something far more relaxing.]

And this is the point where I say, I'm not like most mortal men? [He smiles. Okay, fair. Most men might not appreciate having horses that bite for a taste.] I have long found myself fond, or in awe even, of monstrous things. I feel it would be rather complicated to be Hector's lover without such a stupid attraction to such dangers otherwise.

Edited 2022-01-04 05:05 (UTC)

[He only mentioned the cactus! Nothing else!

The news of the other place Sypha's been working is, actually, a slight surprise to the dhampir. His eyes are on the path ahead, so a little huh! escapes from him instead, the information hardly anticipated.]

No, I didn't. I only saw her as a docent a the Hall of Relics. [Moreover--] I can see how one could adapt magic for such a purpose, although it is a little disconcerting, given that I've seen her slice a vampire in half with a wall of ice before.

[Have fun with that, Jaskier. It is the most metal thing Alucard's seen in his life.

Not all mortal men. Right. Finally, Alucard's eyes leave the road, and he offers Jaskier a deeply deadpan response:] I believe you've just explained yourself utterly on the topic of not only Hector but myself, probably Geralt, and hm, should I go on?

You've seen what --

[A vampire --

With ice --

Why does Alucard do this?? He does this on purpose. Jaskier knows that now. Every word so carefully picked out to pique a man's interest, dropping little sentences behind him like bright flower petals. And then there's thorns. That he steps on. Look, the metaphor here is falling apart, but what's important is --

They must have been not a friend of Alucard's, since he sounds sort of. Chuffed. About it.

Gods, that's. Incredible. You know what? He's definitely going to ask her about that.

He gives Alucard's equally deadpan stare a cocked smile, knowing exactly what he's implied with it.] To be fair, if you all count as monsters, dangerous or otherwise, I find you better company than plenty of people.

Exactly what I said. Ask her about it, it isn't my power to tell tales of.

[Go bother her more, Jaskier. Alucard's sure that it is already going to happen, but it feels fair and correct to give the matter a gentle nudge. More because Sypha needs people, and Alucard already knows he won't always be the person to offer that to her.

This is....good. Banter is good. Not where the dhampir thought he'd be after that particular confessional, but that too is good.]

Technically speaking, I'd be the only one that actually counts as a monster through any sort of birth rite. Hector's skills are...Hector's skills, and I've never asked after Geralt's particulars.

[Phrasing, Alucard. Phrasing.]

Want to see how fast these horses can go?

[He waves a hand. Clearly they have not gone into this conversation deep enough with each other, Geralt and Alucard.] Semantics, to be sure, when one is turned into one young enough. But like you said, that is Geralt's story to tell. Not mine.

[And dare he look sullen for a moment, when he recalls it. That basement in Kaer Morhen, so sure he was that it should've been locked. The bloodied beds. The emptied needles. Bottles of parts, both familiar and unfamiliar, floating about in liquid. The small, child-sized beds.

Everyone knows Witchers are taken young. Plenty know that most of them die, too, in the process. It's --

He rubs his face to wipe away the expression, the memory. Jaskier has done his best to ignore it exists at all.]

How fast? Very well! I'll have you know, we practically made a sport of horse racing when I was young. [With rather conservatively bred horses, too. None of them had horns, regrettably. He thinks it's rather fair a horse have a way to defend itself outside a few well-placed kicks. Jaskier gives his horse a bit of a rub on the neck, stretching the path ahead of them long enough it disappears into the horizon.

Plenty of room. He gives the horse the signal, and they take off. Fast. Faster. And the speed only increases as Jaskier grips the saddle's horn, realizing that --

Oh. Fuck. They are not slowing down. At all. In fact, the background is beginning to blur, and Jaskier's stomach has plummeted into his ass. He gives a yell as his hands slip, legs unable to hold onto the saddle, and the yell might be Alucard's name because he is not sure that the horse will fucking stop if he tries to jerk it --

And it doesn't. It blows up dirt with all four hooves and jumps, which is the perfect moment for the bard's hands tp lose their grip. He flips through the air, all of the Horizon blurring around him, and as time slows down he thinks, at least he's pretty sure he can't die if he breaks his neck.]

--One I won't ask about.

[The words young and turned are never a good combination when said so close in the same sentence. No one turns young children into vampires for example. That way madness lies. A prolonged process in youth is not something the dhampir ever intends to ask about. Not when he's realized how touchy a subject family can be when Geralt's in the wrong sort of space for a conversation.

Fast then. Alucard offers Jaskier a look that isn't really a mischiveous grin, but comes close. It is serious, with the undercurrent of if you're sure embedded in raised eyebrows.]

Very well. [The dhampir nudges his own horse gently. He doesn't need to do much more than that.] Radu. Dănești. For the dead travel fast.

[The words aren't magic. Those are about making this experience even more of something for the bard, who Alucard knows will not anticipate exactly how fast these horses move. They're vampires. They have that supernatural speed, and the vineyard is soon a blur. They're out of Jaskier's Horizon now, and Alucard's not sure how far his own is. There's the thick walls around it and --

--oh fuck.

Jaskier's fall plays in slow motion. His hands fly up, there's so much air, and--

--and the dhampir is right there, none of the bard having touched the ground. The horses keep moving - they've too much momentum in this moment - but that's fine. The light drizzle and the mist around them that curls around late autumnal trees means they're in Alucard's domain, and the two horses will get back to them eventually.

He is, however, holding the bard like one of Sypha's fairy stories. No idea how that happened.

With all the graveness that exists within him, Aluard draws himself up just a little bit more.]

I think we've outdone the sport of your youth, Julian.

[It takes him several seconds, up to a full moment, to process that the world has ceased to spin and his body is still, hovering in the air, with his stomach still deciding whether it's worth emptying itself (which is mostly only wine, but.) He swallows heavily, pushing his stomach back where it belongs, his arms having grabbed onto --

Ah. Alucard's shirt. Surely it has wrinkled terribly under the death grip of his hands.

He rests his head on Alucard's chest so he doesn't do something dramatic, like pass out. It has been years upon years since he's fallen from a horse, and the last time he did it he ended up with a broken bone.

With his brain righting itself, he licks his lips and carefully unclaws his fingers from Alucard's finery.] I -- I'm fairly sure I agree. [Alucard really could have warned him. Though he estimates it was a great sport to watch him freewheel through the air like a fish that's flown off the hook.] I appreciate your surge of heroics. I'm quite sure that would've ended up with a broken neck and a feast for your horses.

[His shaking arms have ended up around Alucard's neck, a shift in his legs to indicate he should be. Fine. On his own two feet.] Gods, you're as fast as they are, aren't you?

[Somewhere, in the very far corner of Alucard's head, the part not concerned with Jaskier's safety or anything else, is a faint note of concern. Nothing good came out of the last time Alucard's hands brushed against another's, and that tiny part of his mind very much would like to drop the bard.

Rationality wins out though, and Alucard doesn't let Jaskier down until that shift in legs happens. The whole thing was probably comedic to watch from the outset, and it'll be a good enough laugh in a week's time. For now though, the dhampir is inclined to be delicate as he gets Jaskier standing again.]

I would've pulled them off, don't worry. [Jaskier can reflect on that implication in a moment. Alucard takes a scant moment to readjust his coat, and--

--ah.

There's a nod of his head.]

I am, yes. Faster if the need presents itself. [This is the part where Alucard has to explain what he can't do, isn't it?]

Perhaps this next part is better discussed over more wine, and inside? You'll find that we've changed Domains to mine.

[He actually snorts a laugh as his feet hit the ground, doubled over with a mixture of sort of vague horror, disbelief, and humor. He rises soon enough, patting himself. All four limbs in place. Not even bruised from the other end of it.

That was. Brilliant, really. And he would've been safe from the vampire horses.]

Faster, even. Yes, of course.

[Whew. He's fine, though, and he gives Alucard a charitable pat on his shoulder to prove it, even taking a few steps without wobbling or falling. This is going far, far better than his last accident with a horse.

He looks about, taking in. Oh. Certainly they have stepped far from his vineyard (which will be safe enough, with Moglad and the goldfinch there) into darkened forest and mist. It doesn't surprise him to hear Alucard claim it, either.

His heart pitter-patters. His first time here, too.] That would be quite lovely, thank you. Er. Do we need to gather the horses? I assume they're fine on their own. Not that I could catch one. I'd give a very good attempt.

[Alucard takes a little bit of pleasure in that of course. If his abilities are predictable to some degree, that means the ones he needs as a last resort aren't. It is important to have that element of surprise, especially around people he likes. He learned that lesson the hard way last time.

It is a perfectly wonderful November forest, thank you Jaskier. And hardly that dark. Bright leaves of gold and rust orange cling to the trees, swaying gently in the occassional wind that blows through.]

The path will wind them towards the house eventually. I'm not going to ask anyone to run after them once they've gotten started. [Himself included.] This way. Straying from the path will get you lost in here.

[Alucard designed his domain to urge others away. There's a single true path, and it takes dedicated wandering to find it - otherwise, one is apt to wander.

The true path presents itself with only a few steps though, and it takes very little time for the chimney of a house to rise out of the midst. But where one might anticipate a grand castle or even a manor house, Alucard has a hut. One with a small wooden front door with no decoration carved into it, one with only a few windows, one that can't be more than two rooms large. There's no cheer to it. Being uninviting is the thing's purpose.

Unless you're Alucard. Then it is a cozy place to hole up and enjoy the sound of rain against the roof, for just as soon as the two reach the front door, the weather picks up.]

Any wine pairings you'd like to suggest?

[The question comes as Alucard passes through the threshold, revealing a kitchen that shouldn't fit in the space that the hut seems to take up. It is a gloriously modern thing, perfectly arranged copper and cast iron pots, an oven and working stove, a table in the center to eat at and work on. Tile flooring, a fireplace to one end for heat rather than cooking. In the corner is a vestibule with two doors, both open. A bathroom, and a small bedroom with little more than a wood burning stove, a bed, and a night table stacked with books.]

[Look, Jaskier is a summer sort of man. This is dark and dreary for him, but... it's perfectly suitable for Alucard, too.

He blinks, staring down the path. For some reason, he can't help but imagine the horses are just going to keep running until they've arrived back here. Is there a joy in going that fast? A horse must enjoy it. Certainly those ones needn't suffer from being prey.

Jaskier turns back to his friend, moving to his side perhaps a little closer than normal. Nothing against him, but he would very much like to not get lost in vampire woods. It doesn't surprise him that Alucard has specifically designed this place to keep himself alone, yet his heart is heavier for him all the same.]

Cozy, isn't it? [Is his comment as they come upon the hut. And the very opposite of a moving castle, a difference so obvious it can be nothing but deliberate. To Alucard's credit, the inside is quite cozy, the kitchen a clear focus. He stares at it all, at least half of it unfamiliar.

It's quaint. A vampire with a penchant for cooking. Perhaps Jaskier is really still throttling through the air, his head shaken. It feels like it.] Ah. I do adore brie. Do you have something with a note of fruit? Cherries, perhaps?

[Certainly it's all expensive and rare, but that's the glory of this place. He could provide his own food, his own wine, but he's far more curious what Alucard will choose given the chance.]

[Alucard knows the woods wouldn't allow the bard to get that lost. Still, the path they are on widens slightly, a wander path being cleared among the leaves with little more than a gentle wind.

Once they're both inside, Alucard goes right to a bread box that sits on the counter. A small box of salt sits on the dining table. Hospitality. Bread and salt. Always and without fail.]

I don't need much more. [It is dry, he can cook, and there's a bit more space than the cactus. Inside, the rain patters against the roof in a gentle staccato. The dhampair grabs a cutting board that lives behind the bread box, and soon enough, there's a thick, crusty rye loaf brought over to the table. A serrated knife is balanced carefully on the board.]

I'm not familiar with that type, but I might have something. Feel free to start slicing though.

[Alucard moves to the refrigerator, something that's rudimentary but functional. A small rectangle that cools itself through circulated water and a little bit of magic. One of his father's favorite inventions, and one that does indeed have cheese within.]

I've a goat cheese crusted with hazel nuts and a medium sheep's cheese that might work. Do you have a preference?

[This is it, then. A cottage with a kitchen, a bedroom (which he peeks into, unable himself) and books. It's an artist's getaway, to be sure, if it wasn't for the rainstorm. Though... Alucard has set it up so the rain pitter-pattering on the roof is gentle, not annoying.

Jaskier, curious, watches him move about his own space. Certainly it's nothing like the discomfort he saw tensing Alucard in the babble of the museum. He plucks up the knife and begins cutting them both a sizable slice of bread, still vaguely warm to the touch.]

They both sound excellent. The hazelnuts, I think. [Anything for a bite of the rarer things in life, when he so often spent time on the road. And though he could summon up a brie, naturally, he likes the aspects of the Horizon that feel all the more... real. Thus, the vineyard.

He does summon a few grapes, though. Not out of nothing, but simply a relocator spell. They'll go well with the goat cheese.] I imagine you don't have company here much, do you?

[Not with the single bedroom. The single bed. He leans against the counter, plucking at grapes. However this day was meant to go, he didn't expect he'd wind up here.] Thank you for inviting me in, Alucard.

[He might not only be speaking of his cottage, or his domain.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The Festival of Enlightenment - The Free Cities

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