( closed; quest ) the long and winding road

[sorser]

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 ))

Comments

[funbreaker]

[ With all of them here, safe, the device set up, and food out for them to eat, it does feel as if Thancred can ease up just a bit. He is well aware that their campfire and the smell of food, even if it's dried meat and nothing fresh, could attract creatures to them. Yet he's quite used to keeping an eye and an ear open for such things, and they've already sorted out sleeping in shifts when they have to camp.

It's comforting to have a routine, if nothing else.

He takes some rags and cloths from his pack and sets them to the side of him, then opens up the cylinder on the gunblade. He begins to drag one of the small cloths through each of the chambers, making sure that it's cleaned out and well-lubricated. ]

It would be good if we could find some time to explore Hayle a bit more. [ He's quietly amused at the little tease that goes back and forth between Yennefer and Stephen, but is kind enough to not gang up on him this time around. ] This may be one of our only chances to visit, unless we can leverage doing Ambrose this favor into earning more options for traveling within Thorne.

[ It would be nice to return when they're not on such a schedule. ]

And Stephen, I will concede your magick has been quite helpful with making camp. [ He glances up from his work to eye him across the fire. ] There's another request I might make of you, regarding that.

[sorser]

[He laughs a little, barely there, but notable in that it's graduated itself up from a scoff. It's proof of the ease that's settled around them during nights like these; the three of them around the campfire, their work done for the day -- and dawn far enough away that they needn't worry about what needs to be done in the morning just yet.]

I did say camping and not horseback riding. How long before I'm supposed to get acclimated to that, anyway?

[It's half a rhetorical question because, regardless of the answer, he has a feeling he won't quite get used to it within the stretch of their journey. Well, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, he thinks; at least he'll be prepared for any future treks where horses are required, knowing the sort of dull aches he can expect.

Stephen draws his legs in, sitting cross-legged. It's a comfortable, familiar position. If he weren't humoring company with Thancred and Yennefer, he'd only be a few steps away from a stint of meditation. But the mention of a request has him curious, raising a brow at Thancred.]

And what request would that be?

[vixening]

[ yennefer's eyes do roll at stephen's rhetorical question, choosing not to answer that at all, though she does almost feel herself join him in laughing. it's thancred's mention of ambrose, though, that catches her attention - as any mention of that man usually does. ]

I doubt they're going to want to send more out into the country any time soon. Ambrose hasn't let most Summoned away from the castle. We're too valuable. But who knows- we come back victorious enough, he might not be able to tell us no.

[ it is an interesting concept - one that she would enjoy having at her disposal, if at all possible. the limits placed on travel, even within the same kingdom, have always felt restricting. more so, now that her magic is...the way it is. access to more regular portals that allow them across the kingdom as a whole...

she doesn't really let herself get too hopeful with it, and instead she feels herself settle a bit more comfortably in place. pulls her coat more tightly around her. she expects this routine of theirs to continue - for stephen to meditate or pull out a book, for thancred to finish cleaning his weapon.

the question he asks, though, cuts through what she'd been expecting - effectively drawing her attention, even if the question is directed to stephen. ]

[funbreaker]

It depends on how determined you are. The soreness will become something like a difficult friend, eventually.

[ It's not that Thancred doesn't also get sore after days of riding, but his muscles are certainly more accustomed to it and so it doesn't slow him down overly much. Yennefer is much the same.

While Thancred may not know Ambrose as well as his two companions, he won't count out the possibility of greater freedom just yet. ] I think we should at least attempt to bargain with him. They've let us out once, what's the harm in doing so again? [ Yes, there's plenty of harm, Thancred's fully aware of that, but they can certainly try to spin their argument a different way.

For now, back to his request. He nods down to his gunblade, lifting up one of the cartridges that fits into the chamber so that Stephen can take a look. ]

While I haven't had cause to put this into action yet, I'll have you know that these can do quite a bit of damage. They'll be even more effective if they're imbued with aether, however. [ He pauses then, remembering that different stars have different terms for such things. ] With your... magical energy, if that makes sense. It's not something I can do myself, and until now I had companions who would do it for me. [ He can't stop his gaze from flicking over to Yennefer in that moment. He'd already admitted his lack of ability to her, and while it's hardly a secret, he does take care with who he tells. Now Stephen will know. ]