I'm on my way from misery to happiness today

[itookashot]

WHO: Jesper Fahey, Ciri, Claude von Riegan, and Gideon Nav
WHAT: It's Quest Time Baby
WHERE: Throughout the journey to Solvunn's Supply Run
WHEN: September
WARNINGS: Eventual violence!



With Solvunn providing aid, the leaders of Thorne and the Free Cities have asked some of their trusted Summoned to travel to an agreed-upon meeting point to retrieve the supplies, check them, and bring everything back safely. This will take two weeks out of Cadens to do. While portals will be utilized to cut down on travel time, they will still need to cover the remaining distance of some miles to reach their final destination each way.

The Free Cities will ask the Summoned to accompany some soldiers to help guard the supply transport. They will be taking the southern trail (shown by the dotted lines) across the desert, traveling west to the forest that sits between the Solvunn and Free Cities border. While a portal will take the transport team as close as possible, characters will still need to make the rest of the journey by horse, ensuring the wagons come through the portal safely. They will also need to watch for the usual beasts and bandits, as well as take into account weather, terrain, and other hazards. To complete the assignment, they must successfully bring the supplies back to the waiting portal and into Cadens.

Comments

[itookashot]

"Oh that might be your Horizon gift? Or sometimes the Singularity is just like bam here's a power you didn't know about and now you have to live with it sucker." Jesper is very obviously speaking from his own bitter experience about this. The super hearing did not turn out to be one he liked at all. He adores the super speed and may even use it on this trip if need be, but the hearing was a curse more than anything else. Geralt helped him and he's been trying, but he is still sour about it.

"It seems like it would be a shame to go to Solvunn and not see all the farmland and trees they go on about." Not that he misses greenery, thanks, Jesper likes cities a lot more. Although he could live without the desert. Saints he's so tired of the desert. Especially now.

[frontlinetitties]

"Mirror map's a good one," Gideon adds, as someone who has only recently learnt to navigate her way around by maps and the position of the stars. There'd been little need for either on the Ninth; the whole nasty place had unfortunately been committed to her memory, and as large and sprawling and labyrinthine as it had been, no map had ever been required. She's still learning, here. And an unexpected ability like this? Not bad.

"Not that I'm complaining. All mine have been pretty on-brand," fast healing, increased strength, a weird cross between anger and battle-fury that comes over her during a fight and graces her with a strange impenetrability that she doesn't quite know how to explain-- sweet. At any rate, Claude should now be in receipt of the confirmation he needs; he isn't alone in his strange experience.

"And I dunno if it'll really be a shame or not. I mean, we know the desert, right? Who even knows what's in a forest," she adds, as she attempts to roll some of the stiffness out of her shoulders, muscles held taught from her continued concern over riding a living beast. It's weird. Not bad exactly, just extremely fucking different to a construct.

"Although maybe it'll have some exciting new monsters who's asses require a kicking."

[godshattering]

There's relief in finding out that he isn't the only one who can now do something they weren't able to before, vaguely unsettling as it also is. But Claude's seen stranger than making a night sky appear by touching a mirror when it comes to the bigger picture, so it's easier to shrug off as something that just Is. "You've all received something yourselves, then? If received is the right word. Gifted could work better, depending. But it is nice to hear I'm not alone in that and that my guess about how it might've happened was pretty close.

"And I wouldn't mind running into some monsters out here to go with the change in scenery either, as Gideon said." Something he means quite sincerely, and it hadn't been until roaming the hunting grounds in Nocwich Claude realized he'd missed that. Simpler in some ways than the missions he used to go on, where he never knew if there'd be death or a once friendly face lurking at the other end of it. Monsters, fortunately, don't qualify for the latter and Claude's confident in their abilities to avoid the former. Though, that said -

"Somewhat along those lines, I've heard rumors of bandits from the merchants in Cadens, and I know at least one other Summoned who escorts wagons to help ward them off on their trips there and back. It wouldn't be too surprising to me if some of them try to get the grand idea of taking on our transport at some point during this." An event that would end as badly for the bandits as it would for the monsters, he's certain.

[wiedzminka]

Ciri's sort of tuned out of the conversation about receiving surprising powers from the Singularity. She isn't interested in discussing her own powers, from the Singularity or otherwise, with any of these people, and doesn't necessarily think they should be openly having this conversation around the soldiers either, even if they're up ahead from the main caravan. Her objections aren't great enough to bother saying anything, though, so she merely listens for a bit.

At Claude's mention of the bandits though, she can't help but give a snort. Nixie's ears flick.

"That would be precisely why they asked me to accompany this transport." She may even have gotten in trouble once for, uh, overenthusiastic bandit population control. Not that Ciri mentions this. "The bandits are more than rumors, and they've only gotten more active since the majority of the military's attention is on Libertas and preparations for war now."

[itookashot]

Jesper was about to say more or less what Ciri did, basically that the bandits are very real, because he had fully been planning on getting a team out to specifically hunt them down. If he's not allowed to kill monsters, apparently, what he can do is hunt people. Not for sport! For money. So much better. Still, Ciri gets there first, and he shrugs.

"I have no doubt that the four of us will kick the ass of anyone, man or monster, that comes out way." Jesper has an unwavering confidence and certainty in himself, so he just puts that out on top of his travel companions because why not.

"Besides, I have new armor to test out." He flashes them a bright smile. Listen, is he looking for trouble? No! Is he ready for trouble and maybe get something out of trouble? Absolutely. It explains why Jesper's wearing a particular looking torso armor made of different pieces of metal rather than a full plate. Kaz was not very happy about him testing it out in the field like this, but there's no better way.

[frontlinetitties]

Gideon only nods - silent - in response to the talk of bandits; she's met her fair share whilst out on jobs. Despatched them when necessary, though not with the kind of vigour and abandon that Ciri has evidently been engaging in. There's still something vaguely unpleasant about it, killing actual people. Monsters and bone constructs are one thing. When it comes to the slaughter of other humans - even out of necessity or self-defence - she's left with a strange, bad feeling that can sometimes linger for days.

She says nothing of this, though. Instead encouraging Midnight Hagette to move closer in toward the others, indicating Jesper's armour with a jerk of her chin.

"I assume the armour has some kind of explanation? Because it doesn't look like it'd offer much protection in a fight."

[itookashot]

Jesper grins at her. "It's deceptively made that way. I'll tell you later if we don't have a good reason to show it off." This is his first attempt at full corecloth for himself and then the metal pieces are for his special abilities. If this all turns out well, he'll start making his friends their own. Wink wink nudge nudge.

[godshattering]

The confirmation the bandits exist in numbers enough for both Ciri and Gideon to confirm as he takes both of their responses to mean so is yet another note filed away in Claude's mind for later. One more familiarity to home where tasks included taking out bandits threatening cities, forts, or transports, so to hear others have experience with the same is reassuring.

A glance at the armor in question, however, has him raising an eyebrow even with the explanation (of sorts) following. "I was about to ask the same thing as Gideon. Possibly because I'm used to full on -" one hand waved around him in an air sketch approximating heavy armor of the thick metal variety usually seen on the knights he knows - "armor as the most common kind where I'm from. Then again, I have no room to talk since my preferred set was about the same thickness as your deceptive one seems to be, Jesper."

Claude hasn't forgotten what he was shown before when it comes to metal and the man being addressed, but even then: it's all very curious. "I'd like to see in action, if I can put a vote in with the universe for that." He's kidding with that remark more to their whole group, kind of, but it really would make their travel a bit more exciting. "Mostly because we'll prevail over whatever it is, and we can show off some skills."