Gaaahhh. What was that? The red magic, surrounding the woman's head. She wasn't a magic user, otherwise she would have an aura. No, this was different. Magic had been used on her. Evil magic... forbidden magic. Well Dylan had enough to go on for now, and he was finding it difficult to think. He rested against the side of the wagon, holding his head. Nothing like this had happened before. It was as if the magic wanted to remain hidden, and was actively fighting against his intrusion; giving him the kind of headache he usually only had on Sunday mornings. It felt like his brains had been taken out of his skull, slapped, and then carefully placed back in. He was glad he had his flask, and proceeded to take a quick swig from it. A guard looked at him askance, but Dylan didn't care. He was about to start walking away, but Mirabelle's ruse was going to take them to the crime scene. Valuable evidence could be found inside the ministry building, although Dylan already had a few ideas for where his investigation could lead to next. The Royal guardsman continued "Uh, there were two of them... Well either way they're here to make sure the suspect hasn't got any magical tricks up their sleeve, you see. Also I think they're gonna check for magic at the crime scene. You know, 'arcane' sorta stuff" he explained to Jebediah, speaking as if he knew what he was talking about.
Thorvald was slightly disappointed when the witcher decided to be co-operative, but didn't show it as he secured the manacles around the boy's wrists. "Aye, I suppose if yer intention was to get rid of the beast, at the cost of yer own life, ye've succeeded" the veteran pirate commented. Sometimes he forgot how selfless some people could be "But ye have now lost any chances of getting paid. I, on the other hand, have greatly increased my own by capturing ye" he explained, leading the young witcher down the ship. "See, somebody wants witchers dead. Shady guy, never gave his name. I figured it'd be a worthy challenge. It's been about a hundred years since I last came into conflict with one of yer kind"
Dylan continued to sit back as Mirabelle lead this part of the investigation. The Royal Guardsman seemed to completely believe her story, and quickly rushed off to fetch his superior officer. After a quick conversation with the commander, he returned, and lead the two investigators to a prison carriage. As they approached, Dylan began to notice definite traces of magic within the carriage. Firstly, there was clearly a magical arcane item within, as he saw a bluish outline which shimmered slightly. But there was something else, the occasional flicker of red. He had no idea what it meant, he'd need to get closer since the trace was so faint. The guardsman opened the back of the wagon... Lilian Harbrook Lilian was reassured by Jebediah's belief in her story, and relaxed slightly. At his second question, she cocked her head and considered it. "Not in particular, nobody who stood out, I don't think. Although there was that Hirokiri man who was with Lord Mortimer Gallahowe, when I met with him two days ago. One of Lord Gallahowe's many protege's, I assumed. He tends to employ the Hirokiri immigrants because his wife is one" she stated, calling back memories. Suddenly, the back of the wagon opened up. Dylan glanced into the carriage, and instantly two things caused him to stagger backwards in surprise. The first was the reappearance of the policeman from this morning, and the second was the sudden wave of negative energy he received from looking at the suspect. To Dylan's mind, her head was engulfed in a shroud of red magical energies, and just witnessing it was giving Dylan a headache. He quickly regained his composure and rushed around to the side of the wagon, to avoid being seen by the constable. "Excuse me sergeant, these are agents from The Tower, they want to have a look at the suspect. Also your interrogation time is up" the guardsman informed Jebediah, not noticing Dylan's strange reaction.
Dylan rolled his eyes at Kara's retort, he highly doubted she would go through with the threat. Nevertheless he said nothing as she strode through the crowd to intercept a constable, hopefully she'd learn something useful. He was interrupted from watching her and Zephyr as Mira seemed to have a plan. He didn't appreciate her ordering him around, but did not object since her plan sounded like it could be effective. The Tower, the Eredan authority on magic, were often called on for magical investigations, but were incredibly aloof and rarely seen. This worked in Mira and Dylan's favour, this way nobody could definitively claim that they weren't who they said they were. Mirabelle easily fell into the role of an impatient noblewoman, and was quite adept at deception. Her modern, functional suit, coupled with the elegant cane, was the perfect representation of a wealthy professional. Dylan's own clothing was much less convincing, but his bizarre hair colour marked him as a New Havenite, which usually signified a connection to magical authorities. Either way, the guardsman looked surprised. "Er... we didn't call for the Tower how did you... Oh right, magic" he said, nodding his head knowingly, which just made him look like a moron. "Uh, we have the suspect in custody. Do you want to have a look at her first? Check for magical stuff on her? She didn't have anything that we could see, but we obviously don't have training" Lilian Harbrook Lilian looked up into Jebediah's reassuring face, regaining her composure "I... no. I can't hear it now. Only then. It came from... below I think? But nobody else could hear it. It was a man... I didn't recognise the voice, but he had an accent. He sounded Hirokiri I think?" she stammered, trying to answer Jebediah's questions. Zephyr's Eavesdropping Trying to remain hidden, you skirt the edges of the plaza. nobody pays much attention to you, but you don't hear anything all that important. Until, a Royal guardsman mentions something about the "escape tunnels".
"I've no idea what she said as she surrendered, ma'am" Constable Johnson replied to Mirabelle "Only the royal guard were there. But a moment ago, while she was being dragged out, she mentioned something about 'not having control'" as Johnson explained, Dylan's eyes narrowed. Although Kara and Zephyr were speaking quietly, Dylan was paying attention to their musings. What if someone gave her some sort of ability to kill those guards? Magic. Such a nuisance. Great to have, terrible to be up against. No distinct magical presence was making itself known to the detective's supernatural eyes, only the occasional flicker of the natural magic that suffused the world itself, the kind of the thing Dylan had learned to ignore lest he go mad. He needed to get closer. "I need to get into the ministry. Or to Miss Harbrook. Where are they keeping her?" he asked abruptly "Uh... in that wagon. She's being interrogated at the moment... you probably shouldn't interrupt" Johnson replied warily "I'll try not to" Dylan ignored the constables concerns and turned to his proteges "Royal guard are annoying. I - We - , need to get past them. Unfortunately, I've never been very good at dealing with people who annoy me. Kara, you're good at sweet talking, Mira you're a noblewoman, Zephyr... I'm not entirely sure what it is you do. Can any of you three get any more information from the Royal Guard or, better yet, let them allow me - us - into that wagon or the ministry building?" Lynda parted ways with Ulrich as they rushed into the HQ. Taking the first set of stairs she could find and rushing up them, two at a time, she hurried to the Lord-Marshall's office. She finally arrived, caught her breath briefly, and knocked on the door. There was a pause from within. "Who is it?" came the voice of Lord Marshall Harvey Hogfeld "Officer Lynda Rochester Sir" she answered dutifully. Another pause. "Oh. You may enter". With that Lynda opened the door and stepped inside. The Lord Marshall was sitting at his desk, staring out the large window, which gave an impressive view across the local district. Savior Spire could be seen from that window, a stark shape against the backdrop of the sky, a monument to the progress and industriousness of the city. Lynda strode up to the desk. The Lord Marshall seemed to have a thoughtful expression on his face, as far as she could tell. "My Lord. I have come to request access to the ministry building to aid our investi-" "No." the Lord Marshall interrupted. The word caught Lynda by surprise and she stammered. After another pause, she looked at him with and inquisitive expression "Well... Why ever not, my lord" "Why do you need to? This is an open-and-shut case as far as I can tell. Lilian Harbrook is guilty, she was caught literally red-handed" "But My lord, I feel like there's more we're missi-" "I can't for a second imagine what alternative solutions there are to this case, Miss Rochester. Woman found, weapon in hand, surrounded by dead bodies. Locked room. No mages. It's foolish to even be considering a meticulous analysis, and it will only hamper the Ministry and the Royal Guard. Are you aware of how much bureacracy and paperwork we would have to sort through to even permit an investigation? It's not worth our time, especially when the streets are filled with crime that actually needs solving" The Lord Marshall stared her in the eyes with a deadpan expression, and she was unable to get a word in edgeways. "You're not listening to me,-" Lynda objected indignantly "And you're not listening to me. Let it go. The Royal Guard have it sorted" He stated, putting the proverbial foot down. Lynda held back a retort about how the Royal Guard were about as useful in an investigation as a group of monkeys with machine guns. "Very well, my lord" Lynda spoke through gritted teeth. The Lord Marshall was being unusually stubborn on this point. She turned abruptly and left, seething with frustration below the surface. Lilian Harbrook Lilian panicked at the sight of the steel blade, eyes wide with fear. With Lucian's continued threats she grew ever more agitated "You can't kill me! That's illegal!" she protested. She turned to Jebediah in hysterics "I told you I didn't want to do it! I'm not working for anyone! I barely remember what happened! Please you have to believe me! You have to help me! The voice! The voice told me to do it! Ididn'twanttodoanythinghetoldmetodoeverythingand Icouldn'tstopmyselfohgods..." Lilian's voice trailed off into incomprehensible sobs. Ulrich Your search through old case files takes a while. After a few minutes you still haven't found anything fruitful. You haven't learned anything yet, you're just looking around.
Thorvald watched as the young witcher clambered on his ship, arms folded and glaring with intent. The witcher was finally captured. How under-whelmingly easy it had been. He sighed "Did ya really think it was such a great idea to go out in a boat, when a fucking sea monster was rampaging around the docks?" he scowled, shaking his head slowly. This one must have only recently been initiated. He did seem to have a lot of friends though, he thought as he looked back to the docks. He had counted two other witchers, a sorcerer, a werewolf, at the very least. Strange to find so many interesting people in such close proximity. He gazed back at the city of Novigrad one last time as the ship raised sail once more and began to drift further out to sea, the mist cloaking the skelligan vessel in its escape. Thorvald took out a pair of manacles and held them out to the witcher "I trust I don't have to force these onto ya".
Dylan listened to his proteges theorise with a nod "Good points. All good points. But the easiest way to find out what's going on is to ask someone who knows" Dylan said, as he strode over to a constable standing by the side of the square. The man was quite young, with black hair and facial hair, and he was currently trying to calm down some civilians "Hey Chris" Dylan said to him. The constable looked around and recognised Dylan, he frowned slightly. "It's Constable Johnson while I'm on duty" he responded irately. "Whatever. So what's going on here?" The detective asked casually, looking over at the grandiose ministry building. Constable Johnson apologised to the civilians, and took Dylan and the others a few metres away. "It's bad. You know the minister of Foreign Affairs? Lilian Harbrook? She went mental and killed five people. Two of them were Royal Guards, the other three were ministers. The Grand Minister was unharmed, but seems very shaken. The weird thing? Minister Harbrook is a 32 year old woman with no combat experience, and after the event she surrendered peacefully" He explained, with a worrisome expression. Dylan looked out over the scene, cigarette hanging out of his mouth, and contemplated this.
Lilian Harbrook As the strangers entered her temporary prison, Lilian scrambled back against the wall and stared up at them with fear. The red-haired policeman was especially frightening, and although the sergeant appeared to be trying to be nicer, he was not reassuring. "I... I don't..." she stammered in a croaky voice "I mean... I don't know why. It just... happened. I didn't want anyone to die! Please you have to believe me!" The minister begged.
Watching suspiciously as the boy seemingly acquiesced to his instructions. His galley came up alongside the witcher's rowboat, the side of his ship was fairly easy to climb. "Don't worry boy, we're not going to kill you" he reassured. This had all been relatively easy, but before completing his mission he wanted to re-evaluate a few things. Thorvald gestured for the witcher to climb up, while keeping a wary gaze on him.
Dylan listened, making mental notes of the responses of his employees. Kara was, as usual, being the most difficult. "I'm very good at picking up on lies, Kara. I'm a detective, and I'm certainly more experienced at it than you" He stated "And no liquor, I don't want you getting intoxicated on the job" Kara still hadn't answered the question. She might have thought she'd slipped away from that subject, but Dylan had made a note of it as an unanswered question. "No time for games I'm afraid, we're here" he said, as the carriage pulled up close to Dragoncrest Plaza. The plaza was teeming with Royal Guard, so many that trying to see what was going on would be difficult. Fortunately, Dylan didn't have to "Come along then" he said, hopping out of the carriage. Lynda listened to Ulrich theorise. She jolted when he mentioned "being controlled with magic abilities" "Wait. Forbidden Magic? We haven't seen that in Eredan for... well, not since before I was born" Lynda was suddenly apprehensive "That's worrying. But it would make sense. There's case files back at the HQ that we'll have to scour through" Ulrich then mentioned Lilian and Elizabeth's argument "Ah yes. They were arguing about immigration. Lilian wants to put stricter measures on immigrants coming in from Hirokir. The Grand Minister opposed it. I don't see how that's relevant, but I've been wrong before" Lynda pulled into the Constabulary HQ and parked the car next to the other two, before getting out "My understanding of magic is that most of it only works when you can see the target, and nobody mentioned seeing a mysterious mage. But I've heard of things that extend that range... we need to search the Ministry" Dragoncrest Plaza - Royal Guard The Royal Guard watched as the constables approached and asked him about the subject "She's just regaining consciousness. You have five minutes" He said. They'd placed Lilian Harbrook in the back of a wagon, which he then opened for the constables. The minister sat in a set of manacles, looking exhausted and terrified. Constabulary HQ - Lord Marshall Harvey Hogfeld stroked his short beard thoughtfully. While Iris was talking his head had begun to hurt, probably something to do with the stress from earlier "I will... think about your proposal Miss Hyden, and get back to you about it" He said politely "In the meantime, I'm still not feeling very well after what happened earlier, so I'm going to have to ask you to leave, I think I need a little rest"
Dylan put on a slightly defensive expression and raised his hands "By the gods, it's just a question" he protested, as if he'd done nothing wrong. He didn't react when Kara decided to use him as a footstool. He pulled out another cigarette from his jacket pocket, and lit it. He usually didn't smoke this much, but the money issues had him on edge. Back in New Haven he'd hardly smoked at all, but that was because New Haven didn't already smell like smoke and fumes, whereas in Eredan tobacco smoke was just one more scent to add to the pungent fragrance of dirty waterways, exhaust fumes, and the thick black fog that bellowed from the factories on the east side. Returning to the issue at hand he looked pointedly at Kara and Zephyr "Your responses make you so easy to read. Work on that" he turned his gaze to Mira briefly with a slightly suspicious look. She'd avoided the question pretty expertly, but Dylan was one to notice that sort of thing. She hadn't mentioned murder in her past, and she didn't seem like that kind of woman, but if that was the case why didn't she just say no? He made a mental note, then returned his attention to the cigarette and sat in silence for a moment "This is very much about what I mentioned in my office. The constabulary are big fans of locking people away, but sometimes a criminal just has to die. Sometimes prison just isn't effective. And if we're in that kind of situation, I want to know whether or not I can rely on you" he explained, looking at nobody in particular. Confident that Jebediah would fulfil his role dutifully, Lynda got into the car and started up the engine. The blue motorcar pulled out of the space, and began to trundle at a leisurely pace towards the HQ, but in contrast to this Lynda's mind was racing. She was glad when Ulrich opened up conversation. "It's just such an odd case Ulrich. Such a high-profile target would suggest a terrorist attack, but it's just one woman, and what kind of message would they even be trying to send? And Lucian, despite what we may think of him, was right, why not hurt the Grand Minister?" she rambled, trying to get her thoughts in order "And then there is the matter of Lilian. She's a diplomat, not a warrior, how was she able to take out two well-trained guards? And that outburst, when she said she had no control... some mental illness? Or something more sinister? Was she being blackmailed? Was some magic at play? She has nothing to gain from this, I simply don't believe she's to blame for any of this" she stated as she drove, eager to see if Ulrich could think of anything that she was missing. Constabulary HQ - Lord-Marshall Harvey Hogfeld The Lord-Marshall was interested by the technology that Iris had to offer and listened to her speak, carefully considering his options "Now, what you offer is certainly marvelous miss Hyden, and I will certainly come to you next time a constable needs prosthetics..." He said politely "But what you're suggesting is that I ask my officers to replace their limbs with these augmentations in the name of law enforcement. I'm not sure I'm willing to ask that kind of question. Now I know it's all very fashionable among the aristocracy to have the latest fancy bionics, but these men are just civilians. I'd assumed you were going to be selling me weapons or armour, which are what we are more in need of to be honest" He spoke, not quite rejecting the offer but voicing his concerns about it. He did not mention how the public were unlikely to rally behind a super-human constabulary, due to the large amount of prejudice against augmented individuals, it was clear Miss Hyden didn't spend much time around the lower classes.
Thorvald smirked slightly "Well that's much less fun now isn't it?" He said, glaring at the young witcher. Thorvald recognised the sign that the witcher tried to cast, and noticed several of his crew members begin to stumble and act confused and bewildered. He scowled at them, and took a spear from one of them "Your mind tricks won't work on me, boy. Those of you who still have brains, get him!" the mage barked, and several crewmembers began to turn the ship in to get closer to where Aaron stood defenseless. Several arrows came streaming towards them, but at such distance, and with the fog obscuring vision, none of them did any real damage. During the rainstorm Lysander had hidden under an overhang of a nearby building, but wasn't able to completely stop his hair from getting wet. Such a shame. The others were considering getting onto a boat and chasing down the raiders personally. Lysander knew when he was out of his depth, and he also didn't necessarily trust his capability for coherence when on a wooden boat with a fire mage. "I think I'll stay out of this one!" Lysander called out to them, huddled in his cloak and staying out of the rain "But I'll definitely write a song about this!" he said with a grin.
Dylan smirked and rolled his eyes at Kara in response to her remark and entered the carriage, sitting in the middle. The coachman urged the horses onwards and they began their way through the streets. The horse-drawn carriage moved at a leisurely pace, allowing its passengers a good view of the city as they travelled through it. At one point a motorcar screeched past at a significantly greater speed, Causing some alarm to the horses who the coachman had to calm down. As far as Dylan knew the vehicles were relatively new to Eredan, only gaining popularity within the last few years. New Haven didn't have any sort of motorcars, the structure of the city made it difficult. They had other methods of travel though. Dylan turned away from the window and back to his accomplices "Have any of you killed a person?" He asked abruptly Lynda turned to Ulrich as he approached "Ah yes, that's a good point Ulrich, give me just one moment" she turned back to Elizabeth Draycaster, who was eyeing Lucian as if he'd just offended her slightly. "Perhaps she was sending a message Lucian. Either way, this is a conversation that needs to happen between constables, no need to scare the Grand Minister" She explained with a respectful nod to Elizabeth "Is there anything else you can tell us?" "No. I... I think I need a lie-down" The Grand Minister said, massaging her temples. "Very well. I'll drive you back to the HQ Ulrich and start filing this witness report. Sergeant Crowne I want you to take control of this situation, keep up the police presence, and try to see if you can get the Royal Guard to let you question the suspect" she then leaned in slightly and spoke quieter "And keep an eye on Lucian, if you would" With that done, she turned and started to head back to the car with Ulrich.
Ignoring Kara's rude and unhelpful comments, Dylan took a drag of his cigarette and waited for her to get to the point. When she finally did, he considered it for a moment "Sounds like a fun time, why didn't you say earlier? You know what, nevermind" Dylan stated with a sigh "Don't worry, I'll get us in. Rule number 1 of Private Investigating: Laws are just the Government's way of holding us back" Dylan told his accomplices in the manner of a wise guru teaching his students. He then strolled out towards the bustling main street and waved for a taxi. Despite the busy afternoon traffic, it wasn't long before a horse-drawn carriage with the heraldry of Lanford Carriages came by and stopped where Dylan was standing. "Dragoncrest Plaza, Four passengers" Dylan said, handing over a couple of crowns, and waving for his employees to get into the carriage. Constabulary HQ - Lord-Marshall Harvey Hogfeld The Lord-Marshall considered the businesswoman's words and stroked his chin thoughtfully "You may be right Miss Hyden, for long we have been denied the tools that the military and Royal Guard have access to. But perhaps we should discuss this somewhere more comfortable, if you would please follow me to my office?" The Lord-Marshall said, turning and walking through the constabulary station. Harvey's office on the top floor was a large room, with rich blue carpet and mahogany furniture, including a massive elegant desk. A plush wooden chair sat on either side, and the Lord Marshall took a seat on his side of the desk. "Please, take a seat"
Thorvald barely noticed in time as the young witcher struck his serpent thrall with a sword of silver. He quickly commanded the serpent to move, but the beast was slow. The sword slashed across its face, not a mortal blow but certainly one that hurt. The serpent writhed and bellowed, but remained pushing the boat for the last few metres. Sailing through the air came a small bomb on an arrow. Thorvald took note of the archery skill of the witcher who fired it, before the bomb struck the serpent with an explosion of dimeterium. That accursed material, Thorvald narrowed his eyes and growled. Temporarily out of the control of the runed stone, the serpent stopped pushing the boat and thrashed around. The fire, the swords, the arrows, and the bloody werewolf on its back were becoming too much. It wanted easier prey, and so swam down deep into the water, and out towards the sea. The stubborn werewolf remained on its back, but Thorvald didn't care. The creature would almost certainly drown, and the serpent would bleed out from its injuries. None of it mattered, for he had suceeded. The young witcher stood alone in a tiny boat surrounded by skellige raiding ships. The rains slowed, and the mists grew thicker, as Thorvald strode to the edge of his ship and looked down at the witcher. Other raiders held spears and bows, all pointed at the boy. "There is no escape, boy" Thorvald bellowed "Let us take you aboard, or prepare to bleed"
Dragoncrest Plaza - Grand Minister Draycaster Elizabeth narrowed her eyes at the red-haired constable, unsure if he'd just insulted her intelligence. She didn't say anything about it though, and simply shrugged. As Ulrich approached and gave his run-down, she listened with a nod "I was... oh gods" She closed her and put her hand to her forehead "I was there. It was supposed to be a normal meeting. We were having a bit of an... argument. Me and Lilian Harbrook. Then she just... she just grabbed that gun off the guard. It all happened so fast. She was so fast. We barely had time to react before suddenly there were three people dead, and she was still shooting! Mr Hudson... oh gods Mr Hudson" The Grand Minister was shaking now, and looking at the blood that covered her suit. She snapped her head up to stare at where the Royal Guard were taking Lilian away, with fury in her eyes. Lynda allowed the Grand minister to speak for a while, letting her get it out of her system, but there were some pressing questions she needed to ask. Ulrich's information was useful, but made some things even more confusing. To her knowledge Lilian Harbrook was a classic example of a private schooled politician. How would she know how to use a gun with such skill? And more to the point, why would she? Lynda suddenly heard the sounds of running from behind her, and a mechanical sound that seemed like gears. If she had to guess she would assume... "Good of you to join us Sergeant Crowne" She stated without turning around. It was unlike Jebediah to miss such a situation like this. To the Grand Minister she continued "What did you do while this was happening? Did you run or hide?" "I ran of course! I wasn't about to stay in the room with that psychopathic woman!" Elizabeth stated indignantly "There are... emergency exit passages but I couldn't get the hatch open, so I ran out through the corridors until the Royal Guard arrived"
Dylan slowly turned to face Kara, who was standing in a rather awkward position with Mirabelle. He raised a single eyebrow and his mouth opened slightly as she spoke. The sudden eloquence was a shock, and Dylan had to run the sentence through his mind before fully understanding it. Master Dylan? Supplication? What did supplication even mean? Fortunately Mira was there to explain the anomalous sentence as she wrangled herself free of Kara. Dylan nodded "Perfect. Town square. Great place" Dylan grabbed his hat from the hat-stand and, after a brief moment of thought, also picked up a whiskey flask and a pack of cigarettes. Without another word, he stepped out of the drooping building and placed his hat on his head, at a slightly jaunty angle. He paused for a moment to light a cigarette, and inhaled deeply on it. The policeman had disappeared, which was wonderful. Clearly they weren't too devoted to the task, and hopefully they wouldn't be back. "Everyone ready for our little day trip? I can show you all the shittiest places in Eredan" He called back. He briefly wondered why Kara wanted to go to Dragoncrest Plaza. Hadn't she just been? She must have noticed something going on there and decided that it would be better to deal with as a group. Or maybe she was just tired of carrying around her stolen goods so wanted to drop them off first. he still didn't entirely understand Kara, but she too decided to ignore most social norms, and she already proved difficult to control in the week or so she'd been working with him. He liked that. It wouldn't do any good to be surrounded by yes-men. Besides, she was more sociable than him, and knew words like "supplication".
Lynda narrowed her eyes at Lucian as he insulted Aspire, but remained silent. Discrimination against clockwork golems was alive and well in the city, as much as she hated it. "Tin Can" wasn't the worst of the derogatory names that they were given. She'd heard them referred to as "pocket watches", "gearboxes", and even "washing machines". People with clockwork augments often received similar treatment, but many of them looked to threatening to warrant being publically insulted. She wondered what Ulrich would do if someone called him a "screwhead". Turning her attention back to Lucian she simply rolled her eyes "One of these days, Constable Thistle, my patience will snap, and we'll get to see how much you enjoy prison food" She warned, before turning back to Aspire quickly "Oh, of course Aspire. I assume you aren't particularly wealthy, so I recommend one of the mechanic's shops in the south-east district. I wouldn't trust the lodgings there though, so you'll probably want to acquire those in the North-Middle district. I hope to see you soon" she said with a smile, before turning and pacing towards where the Grand Minister was being attended to by several royal guards and servants. The guards looked at her nervously, but let her pass. The Grand Minister was a tall woman, middle aged, with brown hair that showed a few streaks of grey. In all her pictures she looked regal and authoritative, but right now her composure was shattered. She looked terrified, but was trying to cope with it with anger. "Greetings Mrs Draycaster" Lynda said with a respectful nod "We'd like to ask a few questions about what happened" The Grand Minister looked at her with frustration "Fine. Go ahead. But you're just delaying the inevitable conclusion that Lilian is insane"
Lysander calmed his breathing and slowly inhaled and exhaled. From his quick glances he could see that, for the most part, everybody was fine. The giant sea monster was going away, that was good. He closed his eyes, focusing on how he was going to re-tell this story. What was a good title? The mage, the witcher, and the Sea Serpent? No, there were multiple witchers... and a werewolf. This was far too packed to be believable, he needed to alter some facts. Maybe omit the drowning werewolf from the final version, but he definitely had to keep in when that woman had jumped into the water to rescue the fisherman, classic tale of human bravery and compassion. The mists roiled around the bay in an unnatural manner, as Thorvald turned away from the scene before him and faced his crew. He barked a few quick commands, and before long the ship began to move. A few other nearby ships took his lead and performed their pre-arranged maneuver, their ships sailing out and turning slightly. They now had a semi-circle of ships, which was beginning to close in to become a full circle as the serpent approached. Suddenly, without warning, Thorvald's ship was struck by a line of fire. The conflagration ripped through one of the sails and splashed down onto the deck, scorching several of his crew and starting a few fires. Fortunately the cold and the sodden deck mitigated a complete inferno, but this was still an issue. Thorvald eyed the fires, and let himself grow angry. He clenched his fists, that fire mage bitch had ruined his boat, he would deal with after he was done with this. The weather reacted to his anger, clouds becoming grey, droplets of water beginning to fall from the sky. The droplets became a mild rainfall, then a torrent, then a deluge, as a sudden unexpected rainstorm hit the city of Novigrad. The storm extinguished any residual flames, and would hopefully mitigate any further damage the fire mage could do. Meanwhile, the serpent drove itself forward, pushing the tiny boat into the circle of Skellige raiders. It was tiring and had taken much damage, but it only needed to hold on for a moment longer. It didn't have much choice in the matter.
#BlameRobotArms
