abraxaslogs | ( closed; quest ) the long and winding road

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( closed; quest ) the long and winding road

WHO: Stephen, Thancred, & Yennefer
WHAT: Three individuals go on a quest to help perpetuate better magical monitoring of the Singularity!
WHERE: ALL OVER THORNE
WHEN: End of March into mid-April.
WARNINGS: Some eventual monster-related violence and injury! But nothing else for now; will add as needed.

(( quest info here ))

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[There's a blessed moment when he thinks it will go smoothly. When Yennefer comes over to him next to the horses to wait, and after Thancred's planted the device down and it starts to quietly rotate, he thinks to himself, Good. We're close to being done.

He should know better, of course. Stephen spots a contour rising from the water, something that looks like a wave until it draws concerningly near enough to be recognized as not quite that, and he knows that can't be anything but good. He curses under his breath, begins to push himself off of his mare's saddle when Yennefer shoves all of the horses' reins in his hands-]

Wait!

[Dammit. She's already darted off, as impatient as he is, brandishing a plain sword in her hands, and when the creature rises from the sand of the shore, tentacle-like limbs writhing, Stephen can't abide by simply standing here and watching it all unfold.

Thankfully, whatever it is seems to have more interest in the thaumametor than Thancred, latching onto the device with its long, sticky limb and uprooting it from the sand, lifting it in a slow swing in the air. It begins to sink back down and he knows that isn't good; one missing thaumametor at the hands of a sea creature still counts as a failed mission, and the fact that they are seconds away from wasting so much time catapults him into action.

He releases the reins. They will have to deal with spooked horses darting off this way and that later, because Stephen needs both hands for this. He casts with sharp and hurried gestures, his spiking adrenaline a balm for his aching middle, and lengthy crimson bands of magic burst forward and coil around the monster's thieving limb, wrapping around and tightening like a whip. Stephen holds onto his end with both hands, pulling. The magic does most of the heavy lifting, and he doesn't have to do much more than dig his feet into the sand and be stubborn about letting go. But he's tired, and still recovering from a fresh wound, and even his create-a-plan-off-the-cuff way of thinking hasn't really evolved past "keep it bound and don't let it run off with their thaumametor". This will still be a trial.

Seemingly surprised by its bound limb, the monster thrashes its other towards Thancred, the closest.]

Edited 2022-04-14 13:46 (UTC)

[ Thancred! The water!

It isn't often that Thancred has heard Yennefer yell out quite like that, save for the monster attack from only a few days past. He knows better than to ignore the urgency in her voice, head snapping up just in time to see the wave drawing toward him, almost ominous somehow.

He springs to his feet and is only barely able to leap backward as the "wave" crashes down and a tentacle rises up out of the sand, the beast half-emerging in order to claim its prize. Why the thing wants the device in the first place he could not guess, but it has certainly grabbed its attention. Maybe the thaumametor lets off some sort of magical signal that this creature can sense?

It doesn't matter, at least not in the moment. They need to retrieve the device, hopefully without one of them being injured this time. Thancred glances back for only a brief moment as he draws his gunblade from his back. Yennefer's running toward him, blade in hand, while Stephen winds up for yet another one of his magical feats.

Soon after, Stephen's sparking magick lashes out, seizing the sand-monster by one of its limbs to hold it in place. That grants them an opportunity to take the device back from it, and while Thancred attempts to lunge forward and do just that, another limb comes swiping toward him, forcing him to skid to a halt to avoid being grabbed by it. Trying to be agile while standing in sand is not so easy, however, and the tentacle smacks him in the side, its sticky surface clinging to his coat. ]

This is brand new, you know! [ Granted, it's now been weeks of travel, but that's beside the point. He tsks under his breath and then gestures with his free hand to the tentacle still gripping the thaumametor. ] Yennefer, there! Slice that limb off, if you can!

[ there is at last some part of her that does recognize the fact stephen says wait at some point during their handoff. she's not entirely sure what for, or why he would bother, but she does hear it. that does not stop her from running off across the sand - does not stop the way her focus is entirely on the creature and its proximity to thancred, rather than anything else.

but stephen acts quickly enough, as does thancred - it wasn't all that long ago that they'd all been caught off by a similar attack (though there isn't much similar about it, other than the fact it is another creature drawn to the device, another creature willing to act to get in the way). the crimson of stephen's magic move faster than yennefer does, reaching the creature in time to keep it from retreating back into the sand, though its movements seem to at least be slower than they had been. she's fully aware that, with stephen's injuries, his magic won't hold. they need to figure this out quickly.

the creature lashes out with a tentacle, and yennefer is about to yell something to thancred about avoiding whatever pad it might have when she sees it catch onto his coat. she's never seen anything like this before, but that's hardly new - the creatures of this sphere are unlike any she's studied back home - but the logic of them should be the same. they will have their own motivations - kill them, before they kill you.

she grits her teeth a bit at thancred's words - this is brand new - of course it is, but also, that isn't helping. but before she really has the time to, she catches sight of the tentacle around the device just as thancred points towards it, and with a dodge and a side step, she's able to move out of the way of another of the creature's tentacle to drive her sword down across the tentacle that had wrapped itself around the device, sending it tumbling to the ground. ]

The back! [ she calls back to thancred, gesturing towards the back end of the creature, where there seems to be a part of it that glows with a dull light. she's assuming it's some kind of brain, or heart - something that is keeping it going.

if they're going to put an end to this thing (which she plans on doing), that's going to be their best bet. another of its tentacles goes for her, having recognize her as a thread alongside thancred, and she bats it away with her sword - unable to get a good angle to slice through it. they don't have much time. ]

[Stephen exhales sharply as Yennefer slices the monster's thamaumetor-grasping tentacle clean off, releasing his magic only to cast a smaller, swifter version of it. A thin band of magic releases and wraps around the fallen device, and he yanks it towards him and away from the shore. Inertia sends it tumbling in his direction, hopefully out of the way of any further thieving limbs.

Of course, that still leaves them with the creature, and their only option is fairly clear: they're going to have to dispatch it one way or another. They can't let it go free now that they've gotten its figurative hackles up. This has turned dangerous, rather than just a poorly-timed brush with the local wildlife, and Stephen has no intent of letting his companions rail against its presence on their own.

He casts again, releasing his magical hold on the nearby device in favor of a larger band of crimson rushing out and wrapping around the monster's middle. He pulls, and again the spell does most of the work, turning the creature at an angle to face Stephen and hopefully making access to its back--as Yennefer's pointed out--easier for the both of them.

The monster fights against it, of course. Twists and tries to sink back into the sand, its form cumbersome when exposed, but no less stubborn. Stephen grunts, his weakened state doing him no favors, and he's pulled forward, landing almost face-first into the sand -- except he keeps his chin up, his arms out and holding onto his magic, the one anchor that he's nearly certain will keep this monster above ground as long as he can hold on.]

Sooner rather than later, please!

[-he barks out, maybe helpfully, maybe not.]

[ It might simply be the fact that the three of them have been together nonstop for the past few weeks, or maybe it's that they're all competent and experienced in their own ways, but they do work well together. None of them are wont to hesitate in a situation like this, acting decisively in order to get the job done. Their last monster encounter had not gone as planned, but Thancred will do it all it takes to ensure there's no repeat of that mess.

Yennefer and Stephen happen to make that a simple task. Yennefer frees the device, which Stephen is able to grab with his magick and bring back toward him and far from the creature's grasping limbs. They can't simply let this thing disappear back beneath the sand, not when they still need to set up the device successfully, and so they all know what has to be done. Not that Thancred has much compunction when it comes to slaying monsters. This sort of thing is business as usual where he's from.

The glowing sphere at its back is exposed by Stephen forcing the creature forward and holding it in place, and Thancred knows a cue when he sees one. His struggling hasn't been able to free him from the tentacle that's stuck to his coat, and so he relents and shrugs out of his garment, letting it fall to the ground and take the tentacle with it. Losing the coat is not the worst tragedy despite the comment he made just a few moments before.

Freed now, he maneuvers his way around to the back of the creature and readies his gunblade. He's been conserving his ammunition as much as he can, but in this case he isn't going to take any chances. He thrusts forward and squeezes the trigger, the cartridge exploding from the barrel and right into what they assume to be the creature's weak spot. The glowing purple light flickers and stutters in response, and the creature makes a horrible noise, all of its tentacles flailing about in pain. Thancred jerks to one side, not interested in being trapped again, and yells to Yennefer: ]

Finish it off! Now!

[ the monster is soft enough, yennefer finds, as her blade slices clean through the tentacle. it doesn't occur to her until she watches the device start falling that it may have been a poor decision - that perhaps she would have taken grasp of it before cutting through, but thankfully stephen is there (or, well, stephen's magic) wrapping around the device and pulling it out of harm's way.

it takes one factor out of the mix, which does simplify things, as her attention returns fully to the creature who does not seem entirely pleased with the reaction - lashing out to both her and thancred, the only things within reach. she yells, and thancred slips out of his cloak, making his way to the back and...what? firing whatever his complicated weapon is meant to be? yennefer hadn't really gotten the explanation on what it does, or if thancred had tried to explain, she hadn't been paying much attention. either way - stephen is pulled from his feet into the sand, doing his best to hold the creature in place, and she hears the loud sound of what she assumes to be thancred firing. the creature shudders and makes that terrible noise, caught a bit off-guard by the assaults on each front, and yennefer wastes no time in lunging forward and driving her own blade between the crease of what she assumes is its face, perhaps even its eye. it's surrounded by that same sticky substance as the tentacles, and yennefer does her best to avoid as much of it as she can, but her focus is on the blade, and on her pushing it as deep into the creature as she can.

her arms are shaking slightly, not entirely used to the sheer force she needs to drive in the blade, but with a kind of frustrated yell she rips the sword downwards, along that front slip, trying to take as much matter, tissue, and whatever else this thing is made of with her.

for a moment, everything is still, as they wait to see if that's done it. ]

[The creature’s flesh is soft and malleable, and cannot withstand such an assault — from the explosive firing of Thancred’s unconventional weapon, to the keen edge of Yennefer’s follow-up slice with a blade. Stephen lets go when he sees the latter shear through its glowing weak spot, watches as round-shaped objects (pearls?) fall from the wound and land in the sand with a wet splat. His hands ache, but not as much as his middle, but it appears that he has very little reason to keep his magic going — in the next few seconds, the monster succumbs to its wounds, deflating like a balloon and coiling into a useless, still-twitching pile.

But the time Stephen stands, pushing himself up to his feet with a great effort while grasping the fallen thaumametor in one hand on the way, the thing’s stilled completely.

He steps forward, wincing, assessing the damage.]

Everyone all right? And what the hell was that?

[ Yennefer does not hold back, putting her all into that final slice down the monster's front. It collapses into a mound of flesh and soon goes still, even as some pearl-like objects spill out of the glowing orb that Thancred had focused his attack on. He's cut down enough monsters that none of this phases him much, but sea creatures like this do tend to reek that much more than any land animals. He lifts a hand to rub beneath his nose and pulls a face, then steps around the corpse to snatch up his coat where he'd let it fall to begin wiping the mucous from it.

Lovely.

Even as Yennefer catches her breath, Thancred sends her a look as he quietly murmurs: ] Remind me never to make you angry. [ That scream she'd let out as she'd carried out that death blow had certainly been something.

As Stephen approaches, Thancred nods to him, relieved to see that he's none worse for the wear himself. ] It seems my coat was the only real casualty. [ Well, other than the monster itself. But they'd done what had to be done. As for Stephen's second question: ] I have no idea. [ He'd seen no mention of such a creature in any of the books he'd scoured in Thorne's libraries. ] We need only hope there are not any more where that came from...

[ He scans both the surface of the water and the nearby shoreline for any sign of something amiss, but this first attack had been entirely unexpected. There's no real way of knowing — they're just going to have to set up the device again and hope for the best. ]

[ she is still breathing a bit heavily as the realization that this was over sets in. thancred starts moving first, stepping around the corpse of the creature and picking up whatever ruined fabric remains of his coat. yennefer watches the body of it a few more moments as if half expecting it to startle back to life, before she goes to try and wipe away any and all of the remains of it that litter the front of her coat, her arms, her hands. her face scrunches up at the realization of just how much this is all going to smell here in a few hours, tossing any excess gunk into the wet sand at her feet.

thancred murmurs something about remind me never to make you angry and yennefer actually lets out a kind of laugh, which is probably much softer and more honest a sound than most of how yennefer has held herself this trip. exhaustion and the quick loss of adrenaline letting the sound escape before she realizes it. ]

You haven't seen me angry. [ which is a bit of a juxtaposition from the smile she's wearing, the near-youthfullness in his expression. it's over - none of them got hurt, the creature is dead, and the device should still be safe. she glances over to stephen just in time to see him wince, and that easy way about her edges back into something closer to worry as she starts towards him. ]

We're fine. [ she says, quickly, but her focus is on stephen. she'd seen the way he hit the ground, the way he'd strained against the monster to hold it steady for them. and she is also very familiar with the injuries he sustained last time. with very little ceremony, she sticks the sword in the sand and wipes her hands on the cleanest parts of her coat before reaching forward and pulling away at stephen's tunic, coat, and bandages. the magic cloak lifts a bit away from her as if to help.

her sandpiper, too, returns from where it had stayed back with stephen - hopping from stephen's shoulder to yennefer's, now that she was no longer in direct danger with the creature. it seemed to check on her, a bit anxious, a bit worried, but yennefer doesn't pay it much mind as her focus remains on her hands, on stephen's middle. no, she doesn't really ask stephen first before she starts checking the wounds, doesn't ask permission before she's ducked close and starts pulling away at his clothes, but he should be pretty used to it by now. her bedside manner leaves something to be desired, but she does know what she's doing. ]

We need to get the device set up and see. [ yennefer says while her eyes are still on stephen, on the wounds, on checking to see what other damage might have been done. she tsks, apparently not entirely happy with the state of things, but aware enough to know she's not cleaning any wounds when she, herself, is covered in shit. she looks up at stephen first, then over to thancred. ] If they're drawn to whatever chaos the device is giving off... [ well. she's not entirely sure what they'll do. they can't set up a protective ward without it affecting the readings. yennefer's eyes turn back to the corpse of the thing, trying to remember if she'd read anything herself about something even slightly similar, before her eyes catch on something glittering in the sand where thancred had been. ]

Thancred, what are those?

Edited 2022-04-26 17:32 (UTC)

[There’s no escaping Yennefer’s fussing once he’s in her crosshairs. In the days since his initial injury, he’s taken this as truth, and though he still has the tendency to try to wave her off—]

I’m fine. Nothing’s reopened.

[—Stephen’s equally accepted that doing so is a futile effort, because she might as well already have plunged her fingers beneath his clothing, seeking out the state of his wrappings. (Even the Cloak of Levitation seems keen on helping her, holding up the front of his shirt so she can better see. Traitor, he thinks.) He sighs, though, quickly letting go of any resistance, dropping his arms to his side with a heaving sigh.

Yennefer will find that some of the bandages have come undone from the sudden strain against them during their little monster fight, but Stephen’s initial assessment is correct: there are no deep, crimson stains to suggest a reopening of the wound.

The little sandpiper hops from his shoulder to hers. He watches it idly, having forgotten about the little creature in the heat of the moment.]

Smells great. [That’s sarcasm. The carcass of that sea monster… thing is already wafting in his direction, catching in his nostrils.] We could probably take some of the meat back. Might be a delicacy to some.

[As though he has room to judge, given some of the wiggly, slimy things tucked away in one of the Sanctum’s fridges back home. Anyway, he raises the thaumametor, still clutched in one hand.]

Since we’ve dealt with our wanted guest, I can set this up again if someone else goes and rounds up the horses.

[The latter task sounds far too exhausting to him.]

I have no doubt.

[ Thancred would rather he never have to see Yennefer angry. He knows her well enough now to understand that if such a time does come, it will not be good. Which is why his statement still stands. Whether her temper burns hot or cold, he would not want to be on the receiving end of it. Thankfully, in this case all of her frustration had been focused on the creature that ambushed them, and it is not lost on Thancred that she'd rushed to his aid with no hesitation.

Yennefer moves to inspect Stephen's wounds and check him over. While she handles that (and if anything has been reopened, that will be a problem they'll need to address sooner rather than later), Thancred focuses his attention on the carcass. Whether or not Stephen is serious in his suggestion that they take some of the meat back, Thancred shrugs in a sort of quiet agreement. ] I could butcher it, but I think we're too far out from Borrel. The meat will have spoiled by the time that we return. [ If it had not been a creature from the sea, he might have had more hope that they could earn something for it, but that isn't to say that there isn't something of use here.

He steps through the sand around to the back of the felled beast once more, where the sparkling spheres that look very much pearls have sunken partially into the sand. ] Well, they appear to be pearls of some sort. These certainly seem worth taking back with us. [ A small wave crashes in and water laps up against his boots and the remains of the monster. Thancred flings his coat up to hang over his shoulder for a moment so that he can crouch down and scoop the pearls out of the sand before they're taken away by the tide.

Stephen wants to take his try at setting up the device, which is fine. Thancred will stay close at hand unless something else happens. He glances up and nods to Yennefer. ] Would you mind fetching the horses? My hands are a bit full at the moment. [ As another wave comes in, he bends down to submerge his hands in the water, holding them clasped together so that the sand can be washed away while the pearls remain. Then he looks to Stephen, giving a small jerk of his head to indicate that he can come forward to calibrate the device; Thancred will have his back, willing to sacrifice the pearls if he has to protect against another attack. ]

[ yennefer all but completely ignores stephen's i'm fine as she finishes her search. thankfully, stephen has realized it's a bit futile to try and fight her on these matters, so she doesn't meet much actual resistence as she tugs at the bandages they had just set this morning, looks for any signs of new blood, or bruising. and yes, the cloak does help her, but she also has this innate ability to win over just about everyone - so it's nice to know that extends to ancient objects as well.

she goes about reattaching where some of the bandages have gotten lose, entirely undisturbed by just how close she presses to stephen in the process, and equally undisturbed by the smell that is starting to settle in. at stephen's comment, she snorts once. ]

Could be worse. [ and then, when all is said and done, she turns to watch as thancred crouches down to scoop up the pearls. she doesn't bother hiding her curiosity, trying to get a better look, and ends up blinking back to the conversation when thancred asks her about the horses, and stephen is moving to the device, and ah. yeah. they do still need to finish up here, don't they? ]

If there's any bit of that we could take with us, might as well, but I agree with Thancred. Last thing we want is to carry rancid meat with us back to Borrel. [ she doesn't really care either way, considering they will probably also smell rancid here when given enough time. she supposes she could, if she really wanted to, try and take some sort of bath in the waves of the water itself, but that won't clean their clothes.

it's a few minutes later that she does return to the two men, all three horses in hand. ]

Any more monsters we should worry about? [ it's only partially a joke, as she comes to a stop about ten feet from the carcass, which is definitely smelling worse by the second. ]

[No big loss on their part — the monster’s corpse is already starting to smell by the time Stephen comes close enough to start setting up the device (only once he’s free from Yennefer’s assessment, of course), which has only become more pungent by the time Yennefer returns minutes later. The thaumametor’s already spinning diligently by then, and he wrinkles his nose as the sea breeze wafts the smell in his direction.

Yeah, not appealing at all. He’s happy to leave its meat on the shoreline.]

Oh, I’m sure if there are, we’ll know about it sooner rather than later. [That seems to be their luck; are they a monster magnet? Better not linger and find out.

Stephen double-checks the readings on the watch, which appear to be steady. He stands, but not without scooping up a wayward pearl that had landed close to him, still shining with slime, and tosses it idly at Thancred. The man’s got a collection going, after all.]

Thaumametor’s all set to go, so let’s not wait around and see. Do you think one of those pearls is worth a round of drinks or two back at Borrel? A nice, warm bed?

[ While Yennefer rounds up the horses and Stephen takes another go at setting up the thaumametor, Thancred works on cleaning off the pearls, drying them, and then tucking them away somewhere safe in his pack. When Stephen tosses a stray pearl his way, he manages to catch it without fumbling and adds it to the pile after drawing it through the water.

He dips his soiled coat into the water as well and then wrings it out, hoping that he can still salvage the garment. He nods to Stephen, also hopeful that they might be able to have a nice night back in town despite their terrible luck.

As he passes Stephen, Thancred gives him a quick clap on the shoulder with his free hand — the one not gripping his damp coat. ]

We can only hope, my friend.

[ With that, he fastens his pack to his horse and drapes the coat over the mount's rump, making certain it's also secured in place. With any luck, it will have dried out by the time that they make it back to Borrel. After heaving himself up onto horseback, Thancred turns to his two companions, relieved that they're none worse for the wear after that unexpected attack. ]

Let us make haste, then. We should aim to return before nightfall if we can.

[ Or they risk attracting something else. ]

[ she snorts, once, at stephen’s sarcasm - the slowing adrenaline leaving her exhausted but satisfied. as stephen checks the readings on the watch and the device finishes getting settled, yennefer glances over to watch - only slightly curious, but not enough to ask. ]

You’d think our arrangements would have at least covered drink. [ she means ambrose, and all of the preset arrangements he’s made for them so far. she will admit, traveling from city to city via portal has been an enjoyable way to see thorne - and ambrose should have covered their room and drinks, too. then again - it’s pretty obvious by now that yennefer will blame just about anything on ambrose if she can, considering once they make it back to the castle she won’t be able to be as vocal about said opinions.

she hands off the reins to each of their horses, climbing up on her own’s back before she takes a single, deep breath, her face contorting at just how much she is starting to smell. ]

Agreed. [ to thancred’s comment about returning before nightfall. ] I need a bath and a bottle of wine, or you both will have to suffer for it. [ she turns her horse back in the direction they came and - with a final look to make sure both thancred and stephen are ready - starts off first at a trot until they make it out of the wet sand, which is when she pushes her horse just a bit faster.

they do manage to make good time, though she imagines it has a lot to do with the flat farmland they’re traversing across. their horses arrive up to the gates just after nightfall, and with a little bartering and discussion, they do find a decently sized inn, and acquire rooms and baths for all of them. yennefer has reached the point of smelling rancid herself, so thankfully the innkeeper is quick to show her to the baths and their rooms, and yennefer leaves the rest of the accommodations to stephen and thancred, making some comment about finding them both down in the tavern once she is done, and then she is gone. ]

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( closed; quest ) the long and winding road

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