abraxaslogs | january catch-all

[ He hums and closes his eyes, fending off an oncoming headache as he parses her words, the ganal or the egg question. ]

That's a question only the mystics can answer - which is to say, I'm not drunk enough to right now. [ He sighs, leaning back as she does. ] The moment I find something besides dirt, though - I'll consider the task finished.

[ Whenever that comes.

She beams at him and he grins again. Aside from one brief incident at the bonfires, he did have a good first 'Christmas'. Her advice had been deeply appreciated. ]

Speaking of alcohol... [ He concentrates for a moment, two clay mugs appearing in his hands. He offers one to her. ] This is from my world. We call it fathi. It's supposed to be used for ceremonies and it's strong enough to loosen your tongue, but here it won't have that effect.

[ If she accepts it, she'll find a warm, deeply golden colored liquid. If she tries some, it tastes like honeyed wine, sweet but not too sweet, and flavored with floral spices. ]

Edited 2023-01-12 09:52 (UTC)

[ Growing up as he did, secluded in a monastery with only men, women were a mystery to him. The Payshmura had no place of power for women, they were meant to be mothers and wives, to bear strong children for the worthy. Only the nuns existed within the hierarchy of the priesthood, and they were only allowed within Umbhra'ibaye, their task to create and guard the oracles.

A nun cut the flesh from his sister. His opinion of them has always been cold.

He takes her words and after a moment lifts her gaze, finding her expression almost wry. He dips his head in acknowledgement with a small smile of his own, and after a moment begins pulling himself out of the hole, unable to focus on the task right now. With his legs hanging off the edge he conjures some tea, the lightly floral daru'sira of his home, and offers one cup to her.

He has some questions he will venture, about witches and her world, but first - ]

What do you think we should focus on?

[ She chuckles. Sounds like he's setting himself up for failure. And also like he doesn't know what should be in the ground besides pure dirt.

When she takes the mug from him, she immediately takes a sip to get the taste. It's good, and her eyebrows lift appreciatively. Whether or not it's strong is sort of besides the point -- Julie hasn't been fully sober since sometime around Thanksgiving. If she doesn't drink to dim the noise in her head, it quickly begins to overwhelm her. While she looks fine in the Horizon, the noise has begun to visibly affect her in the real world. She's lost weight, become pale. She can never quite hide the dark circles under her eyes. ]

It's good. What kind of ceremonies do you use it for? Most religions I know of only get wine for theirs.

[ He smile again when she seems to enjoy the drink. It should probably be sacrilegious to share it with someone outside of the religion, only there's no one left but to chastise him. ]

Ah - it depends. Certain ordainings and things like that. [ He scoffs. ] Mostly, though, some of the elder priests would drink it when the rest of us were supposed to be sleeping. [ Another grin, and he takes a drink. ]

The mystics often drank it too. They were like... mages, I guess. [ He waves his hand. ] You're not getting it here, but some people like the way it makes them feel. Like a deep, deep tranquility. No earthly matters could touch you.

[ He cocks his head slightly at the hole and shrugs. ] I never liked drinking it around others.

[ Here, he doesn't have to worry about the side effects. ]

[ Since his semi-rebuilding of Kaer Morhen—or what lies beneath it—Geralt's been drawn a bit more inside the Horizon. Perhaps because there now lies some work to do. Small touches to add, that he's not finished adding. It occupies his time, at least.

He's examining a wall of stained glass—white wolf beside him for company—when a light rumble makes him pause.

That's. Hm. He frowns. Touches his palm to the wall. Then: stone and glass crumble, shattering. Geralt takes several steps back, startled. A hole yawns at him where the wall once stood. An unlit candle flies at him. He catches it on instinct; the rest are strewn upon the ground.

Through the opening, a familiar face looks back. What. ]

The fuck.

[ Why this has been going on for over a week, he can't say. Stubbornness, probably. Some of it he's cheated by digging deeper in with his strength of will rather than his shovel, though he inevitably returns to the physical labor. Rousma has been happy with all the little rocks and bones they found, helping him dig in her dog skin. But he was intent on finding something of more substance. How this turned into an actual tunnel is, well - it should've realistically collapsed on itself many, many yards ago, but Horizon doesn't seem to care for physics in that way.

And so, with one more thrust of his shovel, he hits something hard. A large rock, he thinks at first. Behind him Rousma is nosing through the dirt, pulling out a worm. She swallows it and squeals in disgust.

He gives another hard thrust at the wall of dirt, at which point, the whole tunnel starts to shake. There's a breath moment of panic where he thinks the whole damn thing is finally going to collapse, and the air splits to his side - ready to toss Rousma through first.

Instead, he finds himself staring at an opening into somewhere else - where Geralt stands with a candle in his hand, and a wolf at his side. ]

Hello! [ Rousma greets him for them, her mouth wide in a dog-grin. ]

Hello. [ Kahlil echoes, a perturbed and then slightly embarrassed expression on his face as he surveys what looks to be damage... caused by his digging... ] This is, ah, awkward...

Edited 2023-01-15 22:58 (UTC)

( For the first time in a while, this isn't something Kyle has to drag Jack out for. In fact, he's gone before Kyle is in the morning, set off to the beach bright and early to help. He's having some turtle-related emotions lately, is all — which are only amplified as he brushes by this big boy and gets another turtle-related flash of vision.

You might say he's particularly motivated about helping this massive lad back to the sea.

So he wanders over Kyle's direction once he spots the guy doing a terrible job netting birds, and offers out a mild, )

Need a hand?

[ Geralt's brows are furrowed the deepest they've been in a while. He's simply. Baffled. Fucking mystified. He expects chaotic bullshit in the Horizon, but something about this having a tangible cause—he can see, crystal clear, that Kyle has dug through—elevates it to a brand new level of absurdity.

The wolf looks at the talking dog with an impassive curiosity. A familiar expression Kyle might have seen once on Geralt's face.

The rubble is granted little attention. Instead, Geralt peers around Kyle. Through the tunnel. It stretches, far enough that he can't tell where it began.

Did Kyle...? No. (Did he?) One: who the fuck would even do that. For two: why.

Additionally. ]

How is this possible?

[ Geralt peers and Kahlil steps aside a bit to let him see through the opening. It really makes no sense how a single man could've dug a tunnel this size on his own, but look, it's Horizon.

The blond dog tilts her head, and then play bows at the wolf, her tail wagging furiously.

Kahlil glances at the wolf, getting deja vu for a second before flicking his gaze to Geralt, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. ]

Well, it wouldn't be the first time... ? [ Which actually gives him a grim thought that causes him to frown suddenly. This isn't a sign that the heralds are about to make a reappearance, is it? He grimaces. ]

I didn't mean to come here, anyway. I just thought... I might find something.

[ By digging a massive hole. ]

Mephista-what?

[ What's a pogo stick? ]

[ He's not so much surprised to find Jack gone in the morning as he is to actually find Jack on the beach. It shows on his face, a flicker of confusion cut between death glares at the squawking bird caught in the net. ]

Do you have more bait?

[ To maybe distract it from trying to peck his hand off. ]

[ If Julie has learned anything, it's that the rules of religion don't seem to matter all that much -- gods just do whatever they please in the end. Not that she would have called herself a good Christian, but nothing in the Bible ever lined up with what she'd gone through or seen at the end.

Kyle's further explanation makes her nod, like she understands. ] My religion didn't do it, but there were others where people would take stuff to try and like, separate their mind from their body. Said it got 'em closer to their gods, made it easier to hear and understand.

[ But what he describes isn't exactly the same as those ceremonies, at least not how he's telling it. Those were about tripping balls, basically, hallucinations, and he describes something that sounds much more enjoyable. ]

Why? "Deep tranquility" sounds like a good way to feel around other folks.

[ She asks him why, and he glances thoughtfully into the cup of fathi as though the answer might be found there. ]

Maybe. [ He admits, though he sounds less than convinced. There's another pause and he frowns to himself. ] The fathi... it makes everyone feel like their you're friend, even if they're not. You might tell them things you wouldn't share with another soul. And - I had no one I trusted that much, to tell them my secrets.

[ He grimaces, and takes another drink. There was another use for fathi that the priests employed. Interrogations.

He'd make enough mistakes drinking too much taye blossom wine. ]

But what you described sounds like something worth trying, sometime. [ He raises his eyebrows and grins a little wickedly. ] At least once. They must have substances like that here.

[ There was the woman, Nadine, and her cannabis experiments. But Julie is talking about something stronger, he thinks. ]

[ Kyle is receiving the rare opportunity to observe Geralt truly taken aback. He steps a little into the tunnel, uncertain. It feels real enough. Even the air's a bit stale as he goes a few feet in.

He looks back out. ]

You've been digging through the Horizon?

[ That's. Hm. Admittedly, that is not something he'd have thought to do. His assumption is that, much like how this temple is currently beneath Kaer Morhen, it's constructed as if it were not. Sunlight streaming through the windows; warm weather the complete opposite to the winter above. He doesn't expect anything to be found down here except more blank vastness for their minds to fill in.

Sure as fuck didn't expect to be able to dig right into someone else's place. Is that even what happened? Or did Kyle subconsciously...? (They are both temples. Of a sort. Except this is new. No one knows it's here except Jaskier.) ]

Edited 2023-01-17 00:45 (UTC)

I - yeah.

[ Yes. Yes he has. Because apparently Horizon is not flat ~~but a series of tubes~~.

As Geralt steps closer to the tunnel Kahlil steps aside again and forward, finally taking a moment to look at his new surroundings: the play of warm and cold light, the fresh breeze and scent of flowers. And the statue - a woman, he thinks, but he's not entirely sure. He doesn't need to ask what this place is, though he stares curiously at the faceless woman. ]

Do you come here to pray? [ He turns to look at Geralt. It's a question that is oddly innocent in a way, coming from him. A little surprised, too. There are so few amongst the Summoned that have any faith. ]

[ She looks back into her cup with an incredulous blink. If that's a reliable effect of this stuff, it's insanely dangerous in the wrong hands. And Kyle's religion honestly sounds kind of cult-y to her, so "wrong hands" probably comprises most of them.

For a moment, she considers what he says. No, she doesn't think she had anyone back home she would have trusted enough. But she knows she does now. ] I hope you find someone to trust that much, some day. A few of 'em.

[ And then she takes another drink. She wouldn't in the real world, not with him. But she will here, where there's no danger. ]

Oh, they certainly do have substances like that here. [ Julie says it with a knowing smirk. ] I'm not a fan of their drugs. Nasty hangovers. Good for insomnia and pain, though.

[ Well.

The obvious question to follow is Why?, but Kyle asks first. Geralt looks down at the golden dog, then over his shoulder at the statue of Melitele.

He steps back out of the tunnel. ]

No. It's— [ A pause as he bends to gather the scattered candles. ] Witchers are sent to learn Signs. Magic. I lived here for a time. As a boy. Studied under a priestess.

[ He sets the candles down, arranging them again. He doesn't pray. Doesn't believe in their goddess. But for him, it isn't the point. He absorbed the lessons from Nenneke he needed to. The matter of faith doesn't factor. ]

[ This time he smiles at her warmly, and tips his cup in her direction. ]

I hope you have found the same.

[ They aren't close, but he has a growing fondness for Julie. He would like her to find happiness and peace in this world, at least some version of it in the midst of upheaval and uncertainty.

At nasty hangover he wrinkles his nose. No, that doesn't sound enticing. Insomnia and pain though - his eyebrows raise. ]

Do you mean like what that woman was offering the other day? Nadine? [ He frowns. ] Maybe I shouldn't get that oil after all...

[ The dog gives up trying to get the wolf to play with her, and sets about sniffing all the nooks and crannies on her own.

It's not disappointment, exactly - he would've been more surprised had it been true. He nods, still looking up at the statue for a moment longer before turning to watch Geralt meticulously replacing the candles. He's quick to join him, finding one that had rolled into a corner where Rousma is inspecting.

He walks over to Geralt and hands it to him. ] Was she a good teacher?

[ The wolf lacks any concept of playing, but it does follow the dog, padding behind while she explores as though it's looking after her.

Geralt accepts the candle. He could put it right in an instant, true. Just habit to do it by hand. ]

Yes. She was. [ A little more than a teacher to him. There's a wistfulness in his voice, and he's quiet before he moves to patch the tunnelled hole in the wall. It may or may not mean Kyle needs to make the walk back down again from the other end, if he means to keep exploring, but that's. Kyle's problem and not Geralt's. He wants his wall intact. (He just built this place hardly a week ago.)

Speaking of exploring. ]

What were you looking for?

[ He could have dug his hole without a shovel. Some things make more sense to do yourself, as you would in the real world.

He wonders about the wistfulness, but he lays his imposing questions aside to answer the one posed to him. ]

I don't know. Whatever there might be to find. [ It's the same as he admitted to the others who asked, only a little more sheepish since he didn't bust up their walls. He glances at Geralt, shaking his head. ]

When the heralds arrived, my temple began to hum and the ground beneath it shook. I spoke with others, and wondered what there might be to find beneath.

[ He's glad that Lucifer's suggestion didn't turn out to be true. ]

[ She doesn't say anything, but she has. She has found that, and she didn't really ever believe she would, at home. Hell, she hadn't even thought that trusting people that much was possible. She just takes another sip.

But when he brings up Nadine, she can't help a laugh, and she presses her fingertips to her mouth. ]

No no, Nadine's from my world. We've been together here since the second Summonin', when I got here. Her oil is fine, it's made from cannabis. Totally safe, you can't even OD on it. You should definitely try her stuff.

[ Okay, yes, Julie has a financial incentive to get people to give Nadine's products a shot, but also, she just really like weed. Everyone does. She shakes her head a little. ] The native stuff is what's a killer. It's not like pot, it's way stronger and more... mm, like psychedelic. Also a sedative. Someone who lived with us, who's gone now, he had some. We once used it to help a friend who got shot in the stomach. So she could sleep.

[ He seems a little relieved when she explains. And he'd agreed with Nadine to try to the mildest dose anyway, just to be safe because of his very specific allergy. But then Julie just casually drops that last part and his eyebrows shoot right back up. ]

Shot in the stomach?

Yeah. [ She sighs heavily and rolls her eyes. She sounds much more like she considers this to be a stupid event than a traumatic one. Which, to someone from a different world, probably would be traumatic, but Julie's world was far more dire than a gunshot wound. ] There were these other girls we brought along to Nott, they got into a fight and one of 'em wound up shooting the other. It was so fuckin' dumb, I swear.

[ Pausing, she takes a long sip, then raises her eyebrows. ] She was fine, though. Nadine and I saved her. You could see right through to her guts 'fore she healed, it was gnarly. The mayor or whatever of Nott threw the other girl outta the city. He's good people.

[ He feels a phantom twinge in his own abdomen as she describes what happened. He grimaces. ]

The healing magic here is much more powerful than I've ever seen. [ Some priests were proficient in rituals to assist healing, but nothing like what he's seen the mages do here. He shakes his head slowly. ] But it seems to take a lot out of the mages who do it. My friend wore himself out pretty badly after the fires.

[ Trying to take care of all the patients coming in. He'd been worried about Rhy overextending himself. The younger man's since recovered physically, but mentally... ]

The mayor - Lyle Vela? It sounds like he cares about his people. [ At least someone in Thorne does. But Kahlil has inherent misgivings about politicians and nobles - or lords, as they're styled in Nott. ]

january catch-all

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surprise.

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