aefenglom | text; un: feal (forward-dated to the 17th)

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text; un: feal (forward-dated to the 17th)

[Ferran has had some thoughts about the fallout of the Circle's experiments, and how he wouldn't have been able to do much to help that night even if he hadn't been occupied with something else. He's lucky that neither of his bonds were hurt in any lasting way, but... what about the next time danger shows up? Is he just supposed to cower at home and wait because fairies are a fragile species, especially against the Cwyld? It doesn't feel right to him.]

I'm looking for some suggestions on learning to fight. Long-range, if at all possible. I can't use magic, and none of the powers I have access to can be used offensively.

[He'll get some ideas on that later, but it's not really a weapon, per se.]

I was thinking about archery, but I don't know how easy it would be to pull a bow out in an emergency or anything. Do they have collapsible bows here? [Better not ramble too much on his thoughts, though.]

I'm basically a beginner with any kind of weapon, but I'm willing to put in the work. If anyone has ideas or can point me to somewhere I can learn, I'd appreciate it.

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It was getting quite cramped with three in the cottage. Perhaps we do, we’re also now in one of the larger houses. [ Large is an understatement. It’s a mansion. But, for her at least, it’s a little more of what she’d grown accustomed to in her adventures after Court.

As for everything else? Well, she’s glad he hasn’t had to face any more undue hardship. Even if she can’t say the same for her life. ]

Good, I’m glad. I’ll connect with you in the coming weeks to set up a time. Once I’m sure we’re ready to have guests.

[ And once she’s sure Jaskier can handle a little bit of sparring. Either way, Yennefer is eager to wrap up the conversation before it turns to dangerous territory, never one to truly be open about much. ]

It did seem pretty small for three people, so I don't blame you.

[Even if he didn't go for the largest of the available housing, he still picked something way too big for one person alone to use, so he wouldn't really question it. It'll give them plenty of room to spread out and have their own space! He can appreciate that.

He can see a deflection from personal topics from a mile away given how often he employs similar techniques himself, but he has no intention of pressing the issue right now anyway—especially not over the network. That's the kind of thing he'd want to ask about in person. Instead, he has something else to bring up.]

Thank you. By the way, you mentioned back then about someone who could help with teaching swordsmanship, right? I won't be using one, but I know someone who wants to. Do you think they'd be willing to teach him?

[He links her to his conversation with the person in question.]

[Yeesh, she feels bad for asking because maybe she made him uncomfortable somehow.]

My apologies if my questions have made you uncomfortable in any way.

[Even if Ferran has certain trepidations about the topic, it's not something he has any personal traumas over. Ultimately, it's just a big hypothetical for him, and hypotheticals are just about the easiest thing for him to discuss.]

Oh, no worries! I don't mind answering. It's probably better to talk about these things before I make a decision anyway, so I can sort out my thoughts.

No, not particularly. It's just good, thick leather and fabric, treated with a bit of oil to repel liquids. I suppose the biggest "key" to it would be that I wear multiple layers. There's a bit of a balance to be struck with the layers of fabric so it is not too stiff to stifle your movement, but still provides extra protection.

I put enchantments upon some of the pieces later, but it wasn't for protection from Cwyld.

Edited 2021-03-03 14:26 (UTC)

It’s perfect, thank you.

[And, considering the circumstances, probably a better choice than chocolate or baked goods, as much as she loves both of those things. Indulging in her sweet tooth won’t exactly aid in giving her strength to recover.

Though she knows Ferran knows his way around well enough to find it himself by now, she leads him through to the living room and helps herself to a seat on the sofa, gesturing for him to take his pick of seats and do the same. His offering gets set on the coffee table for now, and though she’s been putting on a good face, she does wince a bit as she settles in— most of her is still sore, which she can’t say comes as a surprise.]

Huh. I wonder if something like that could be made here... it sounds interesting.

[Puzzles, huh. She’s had some experience with those. ~~You know, in her own video game.~~]

So it’s like a movie where you direct the fight scenes?

I see. It sounds easy enough to experiment with as far as layers go.

[One can always practice range of movement in the safety of one's home. Especially if you happen to have a large one.]

What kinds of enchantments were those? There's plenty to contend with in the Wilde even aside from the Cwyld, right?

[He could take a few educated guesses, but he hasn't had to fend for himself out in the wilderness before. All of the danger he'd faced had been in the middle of civilization.]

[Ferran can definitely supply a few sweets later, once she's closer to a hundred percent. The fruits should be a good medium between that and what she needs physically, though. For now, he follows her in and sits on the other side of the couch, sharing the space comfortably but without being overly familiar—and giving his own wings the space to rest against the arm, by sitting sideways and tucking his leg under the other. He sees that wince, but it's not like there's much he can do about it for the moment.]

That's a good way of describing it. Fight scenes, chase scenes, gathering information... and then the game will show you story scenes where you just watch. Sometimes you can tell the characters what to say, though.

[He pulls his watch-slash-communicator out of his pocket—despite the watch he wears on his wrist, he uses the Coven-gifted tech as his chosen timepiece, since he hasn't had the heart to change the one he came in with. It's usually half-hidden under a glove, anyway, like it is now.]

If they've made things like these, I could see it being a possibility. The first games were pretty basic... moving one block at a time, or just picking from a list of commands. I kind of hate how small these screens are, though.

[There's a reason smartphones stopped getting smaller!!]

I never intended for that space to house three people.

[ Another peek behind the curtain into the mess that was her life, especially when she'd first arrived and had been so in denial that she hadn't even thought to plan for the future. As if she'd remain too far from Geralt after being forced to remain in the same city with him. Hard to keep him out of her mind when he wouldn't stay out of her sight.

Speaking of that particular Witcher-- ] Yes, one of my bonded. Geralt.

[ She takes a moment to read the conversation, already deciding she is not the correct person to teach a child. But, it was at least something Geralt had experience with. Not that the history of Witchers and the age they normally start at was something she was going to volunteer. ] I'll speak with him and let you know, but I'm sure he will be willing.

[ They might not always see eye to eye, but they were both extremely practical when it came to making sure someone was able to defend themselves. Especially after the mess with the Circle. ]

There is, but most of my enchantments are for counter-spell purposes. I have anti-sleep, and other anti-incapacitation spells, as well as anti-mind control. I also have fire resistance on my attire, since my elemental affinity for casting as a Witch has been fire, and I don't want to damage my clothes with it.

What can be thrown at you in the Wildes varies, and it's all but impossible to determine which it will be, and what to even prepare for, so anything else I do as I get to the field, though most of the time I simply elect to rely upon my agility to avoid whatever is thrown at me. What I can do is stop myself from being incapacitated... and stop myself from burning myself.

[ Erp. She had only mentioned her little new moon mishap to Alice, thus far, and only because Alice brought it up first. Tsutha would have been perfectly content to just keep the whole affair to herself, but... She's not about to lie to her friends when they ask her about it. ]

uhhhhhhhh yeah, I did.
I sort of set my mattress on fire by accident.

it's okay, though! I put it out before anything else could catch fire.

Ah, I see... that's unfortunate.

But maybe, if you learn new ways of fighting here, when you go back home you can use those AND your magic. Isn't that a good thing?

[Can anyone really think about long-term plans when they've just arrived in an unfamiliar world with a brand new set of rules? Ferran would be surprised if the majority of the Mirrorbound didn't at least consider a change in living accommodations after being here a while. Either way, it's nice to know that she has people close enough to choose to live with, whether they came later or not.]

I really appreciate it, thank you. Both of you.

[Geralt... Ferran commits the name to mind. Although he's sure Asriel will show his gratitude in his own way, maybe he'll consider how best to thank the stranger too.

... maybe, says the Fae part of his brain.]

I'm sure we'll all feel better knowing more of us are prepared for things like this in the future. [Maybe it's only a small comfort, but still worth noting.]

[It's concerning that she's worried enough about other Witches to set up those kinds of wards, but maybe she works in places that lean more sinister... and it's not like recent events haven't made the importance of such protections obvious.]

Right. It makes sense to take care of the things you already know are risks first, and then deal with the rest as they come... I guess there's only a limited amount you can prepare even in the best-case scenario.

[Ferran doesn't believe in such things as preparing too much, but he knows there are limits to what's possible, even in a magical world.]

I feel like the more I ask, the more questions I have... but I don't want to keep bothering you just for the sake of curiosity. You've given me a lot of helpful advice, so thank you.

You too, then. [Cryptic.] That is, I saw a few witches around town were having trouble controlling their magic around that time, and I was wondering if it had to do with the moons. Our bond is supposed to stabilize your magic, though...

[It's concerning, for more than one reason. After all, if it's not doing what it's supposed to for her, what does that say for his end of things?]

Maybe we should spend more time together around then next month? I think I read that it's supposed to be stronger if we're closer, though I'm not sure if that means physically or emotionally.

[Bonds weren't something he'd looked into yet as far as research, thanks to how secure he felt about his.]

[He feels like a great many things about him coming here have been unfortunate...]

Sure. I won't argue that knowing how to defend myself is a benefit, even if I hadn't had much reason to look into it before.

[Her suggestion that he might know about it when he returns home, though... that's a more complicated topic.]

I don't know if it would help that much back home, but it couldn't hurt.

[ Sometimes a quick adaptation to the new surroundings can be a matter of life and death sometimes. But, choosing housing often isn’t always as dire. That can change, especially when distracted by everything else going on and her rush to get rid of the Wish before she possibly died from her refusal to bond.

If Ferran knew how much they had to go through just to hit a point of being able to comfortably share a space, it’d be quite a momentous occasion. ]

Of course.

[ She leaves off the ‘don’t mention it’. But, it’s there. Partially. While she was fine with helping those who might not be able to help themselves, she had enough going on that she had no interest in making a habit of it right now. ]

As long as there are those willing to learn, there will be others willing to teach. [ And if they weren’t interested in learning how to defend themselves, then it wasn’t going to be her problem to try and save them when something inevitably goes wrong. ]

I’ll reach out next month once we’re ready to receive guests.

They can really do all that?

[He absolutely has her interest, and she looks thoughtful even as she reaches out to help herself to some of the fruit he had brought, nudging the basket a bit closer to him in offering so that they might share— if he’s comfortable with it. He trusts her enough to be here, and that makes her feel slightly less anxious about her situation, but she wouldn’t blame anyone who wanted to be overly cautious.

Even the level of exposure she’d suffered had been the stuff of nightmares. She can’t imagine how it would feel to be responsible for passing it on to someone else, or how those who had been worse off than her were likely still suffering.

She doesn’t let herself dwell on that for now, but instead smiles as he draws her attention to his communicator.]

Maybe you can be the one who invents it. I agree about the screen, though... for all we’re able to do on these devices, it does seem awfully small. I have to squint to read it sometimes— and Styx can’t even write on them properly.

It is, yes. And yet.

Sure. The more complex computers and things have gotten, the more they can put in. I think they were even working on some where you could put on a headset with a screen, and it's like you're walking around in the game world.

[Ferran accepts the offer, grabbing a couple of berries from the basket to snack on. There's plenty of them, so he doesn't feel too bad sharing, even if they were meant for her.

He's just about to assert how unsuited he'd be to the task—his sheepish expression says as much—but Karin brings up another party and he pauses for a moment to process that they know each other and why it might be that Styx has issue with them.]

His hands are pretty big, aren't they? [Kind of an understatement, given the rest of the guy.] You'd think a bigger size would be fairly simple... I'm no engineer, but that's the impression I've gotten from things back home. I guess I'm used to tech changing all the time, though.

yeah, my friend Alice said she had trouble that night, too.

[ Though Alice's magical mishap was a bit more complicated than Tsutha's. But, that's Alice's business and Tsutha isn't about to share that with anyone. ]

oh, is it?
we can definitely hang out more next new moon! maybe you can do that thing where you come to sleep over at my house? what's that thing called again? there's a word for it.

[ "Sleepover" is the word she's looking for. ]

A sleepover?

[Ferran is no stranger to them, although he can't say he's entirely comfortable with the idea... Hmm. If he takes the spare room to sleep, maybe he can lock the door and not worry about his glamor being noticed... even if that kind of goes against the idea of being close to each other. He might as well just head home if he does that. After all, there's not much to worry about when heading home in the dark if you can make yourself invisible.]

It's an idea, but I'll have to think more about it. We should definitely do something together around that time, though.

[And that's how Ferran later gets the idea to do a bonded meeting on the next new moons that was totally planned and not an incredibly convenient coincidence his player stumbled into.]

Like walking around in the game world...

[She can't help but echo him, that very concept so impressive that she takes a moment to express her awe over it. If there were games that weren't about combat, she thinks she might actually enjoy that herself— as good as she is at wielding a sword, she doesn't know if she would want to play a game that allowed to do the same. She got rather enough of that on a day-to-day basis.

She had mentioned Styx's name as though it were second nature, never for a moment stopping to consider that Ferran might not know him, until it becomes very clear that he does. She nods in eager agreement, pausing only to pop a berry into her own mouth.]

You know him, then. Yes— he gets frustrated sometimes. I feel like there must be a spell that could be used to enlarge them, but I'm no witch. I've helped him with some of his studies, but haven't come across anything like that just yet. Maybe there's someone we can talk to about making advancements in the next batch of watches, if technology changes so frequently elsewhere.

[~~time to regain minecraft and sims so karin can play a game~~]

Right... transmutation is a thing, surely? Maybe the magic that makes them work is delicate. I'd say it's worth a try, but I don't know how expensive these would be if we wanted an extra to tinker with. [WOULD BE NICE IF HE COULD EXPERIMENT WITH THESE THINGS HIMSELF, BUT. He sighs.]

It seems like most of the tech comes from the Coven around here—they must have some kind of research and development group. Maybe they're busy with other things, though...

[~~get right on that, Ferran~~]

You know, I never really considered how much they might cost?

[Naive, perhaps, but they do just hand them out when people get here. She doesn't know of anyone who's ever had to buy one, but it stands to reason that they must have to get a replacement somehow if one breaks.]

That actually sounds like a pretty fun project. [She grins; she can almost see the wheels in his head turning.] It would certainly benefit a lot of people, if someone found ways to improve upon the existing model. Sure, they do a lot of what we need already, and they're pretty impressive in their own right, but progress never stops.

[Ferran seems like exactly the kind of nerd who would enjoy working on such a project, she thinks.]

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