Of Monsters and Men

Evander fidgeted as he waited for everyone to hurry up and go on through the portal. As soon as the last person went through, he figured he would close the portal and go about his business here in Novigrad. The first business being to get blind drunk once again. He fancied blacking out for the next few days, he'd used more magic today than he had in the past few months total.
His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the light, cool fingers of a woman on his cheek, and before he knew what was happening Tatiana had kissed him on his forehead.
He mumbled something incoherent in response to her offer of companionship, and looked down at the ground confused. I wasn't looking for anyone to give a fuck about me, goddammit, he told himself. Evander stared after the three as they went through the portal, and hesitated, unsure of what he should do. He was more than of half mind to simply shut the portal down right away as he had initially planned, but he couldn't for some reason. Tatiana had piqued a wary curiosity in him, and something like warmth inside. It was a strange feeling, not something he could remember feeling in a long while.

With a reluctant sigh, Evander stepped through the portal, finding himself inside Kaer Morhen's library. He hadn't exactly planned to land right within the chambers that contains the Witchers most valuable secrets, and it probably would have been much better that he hadn't considering his past encounters with them... but it was too late for that now.
He looked around at the shelves warily. “I don't suppose there's some drinks around here?” he asked gruffly.

 

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"Yes, perhaps outside would be better" Vyle responded as he strode out into the darkness "You should learn to better control your dog... mongrels deserve a leash" Vyle muttered "But back to the business at hand, you should have let me kill that necromancer, and I'm sure you realise your mercy was a mistake now. That man is insane and a danger to anyone he meets. He needs to die" Glancing sideways at the woman he added "Or be brought to justice, whatever is decided. He went through a portal to Kaer Morhen, somehow. Now normally I would try to pursue him but, as you can guess, I am not welcome among witchers. Would you..." Vyle was struggling to bring himself to say it, what he wanted to ask went against his very nature "...would you help me? I cannot do this alone but I can't let that necromancer live"

As the woman appeared at the door Willow smiled with relief. The woman was just as expected, kind old widow. She must have been a mage, nobody that old looked that youthful. She kept quiet, keeping the desperate young girl facade, quietly muttering a "thanks" now and then. As Willow washed her hands in the basin provided Terra confirmed she was who Willow was after, then asked for her name. "Sarah" Willow mumbled. It was a plain name, one Willow had used before. "I... I don't know what happened... I saw the orphanage sign and thought I'd be safe" Willow quietly mumbled, putting on a show of holding back tears, she began to follow Terra to dinner, keeping quiet again and holding her head down. She was wearing what were effectively rags, but they were large and loose fitting, and most importantly they covered up her dagger. She kept one handy on her in case of danger but left the shortswords and the bow back in a stash in Sanctuary. Hopefully she wouldn't need them and the knife would do, she had to be careful to keep it hidden though.

 

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Veera hooked her ankle around the leg of a chair and pulled it out, helping Tatiana to sit down before rolling her shoulder, stretching out the muscle as she looked around. Definitely the library. And probably the last place they should have landed, but bygones. She peered around the room, finding it empty. Well...one thing to do then. She strode towards the doors, pulled them open, and shouted down the hall.

"OY! CROW! YOUR ASSISTANCE IS NEEDED IN THE LIBRARY!"

It was reasonable to assume he was here. He always wintered in Kaer Morhen. She hoped no one else would come running before he did, but it couldn't be helped. She didn't want the outsiders to see more without an okay from the older man, and she definitely didn't want to be wasting time facing questions from Veceslav when they could be planning a strategy instead.

"I'M WAITING!" She finished, before slamming the doors shut with a sigh. It occurred to her that he might be drawn simply by the fact that she had appeared suddenly in the old fortress, without using the usual courtesy of doors or windows. Ah well. She would see. She nodded curtly to Kruez and Evander, as they stepped through. "Don't touch the books. I'll probably lose a hand for this anyway. Would rather like to keep the whole arm." she grumbled, trying not to second guess herself.

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Ana bit her lip to hold back the retort to Vyle's rude comment as she grabbed a nearby glass and dumped the poultice into it, tossing in a little goat's milk and honey to sweeten it. She turned to Zach and pressed the glass into his hands, drawing his attention back to her. "Drink it." she murmured to him, hoping the intensity of her voice brought about the point that it was very important. "All of it." she added, before taking a breath to steady herself, and stepping outside, into the darkness.

Great. Nothing like speaking to a vampire in the dark. She called a small flame to her hands, holding it next to her like a lamp, illuminating both their aces. At the mention of the necromancer, she found herself shivering uncontrollably. Not yet, Teliana told herself, trying to calm down. "I understand your position a bit better." She managed to say, leaning against the door to keep her knees from giving way under her resurfacing fear. "But I think it is unwise of you to ask for my help after you insult my friend." However, he was right. They couldn't let that man roam around free.

"I suppose we can come to some sort of agreement." She glanced up at the sky, sighing. She should still have a little time. "In fact, I think we both would be better served if we discussed this later. But I will help you. As best as I can." She agreed cautiously.

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Tessa tore around corners, ducked under wagons (that one she was quite proud of), and jumped over dogs in order to make it to the bathhouse first. She was panting by the time she skidded to a stop, and people glanced at her curiously. Recognizing the danger of being perceived as a criminal running from a crime, she ducked into a side alley, leaning against the wall in shadow to catch her breath. Looking around, she tried to spot Callum. Had he made it here first?

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Bryce steepled his fingers and braced his elbows on his legs, thinking deeply. "You're sure of this?" He asked the hooded figure softly, who nodded. "I mean absolutely sure." The figure nodded once more, and when Bryce offered coin, pushed his hand away before turning and vanishing into the evening shadows. Bryce sat on the doorstep of his home, one knee bouncing in anxiety as he thought, his brow furrowed. "I'm getting too old for this." He muttered, rubbing his face with his hands before beckoning with the left. "What have you got?" A second figure, cloaked in grey, stepped up to whisper in his ear. He listened with the crow's feet deepening next to his eyes and the frown slowly growing.

It was true what they said; no news was good news.

 

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Zephyr waited patiently at the door, thinking about how he would go about offering to help around. If he started off with the fact that he was hungry and hadn't eaten for a couple days, then he ran the risk of sounding like a mere begger. Sure they might work, but that was something that Zephyr hoped to avoid happening if he could help it. Guilt tripping someone into helping him was not on his list of things to do today.

The door was then opened and standing before Zephyr was a woman. A woman that he could only assume was the one in charge of the Orphanage. She had asked what he wanted. Plain and simple. "Is there anything that you could use help with around here, if so I'd be willing to help." Zephyr said calmly, ignoring the small pangs of hunger occurring within his stomach. He just needed to hold out a little longer.

"Quite the library we have here." Kruez said, looking around at all the books that were around them. Kruez wasted no time looking around at the vast collection of books that surrounded them. If only he could grab one and see what was inside. There had to have been something worth reading in these books. When he saw Veera place Tatiana into a chair, he grabbed one for himself and sat in it. She never said that they couldn't sit down. "I really doubt anyone would really believe it if all of the blame was to be pinned on you." She certainly didn't look like a trouble maker for starters, which would likely cause the blame shifting attempt to fall apart almost instantly. Kruez didn't know why exactly Veera would get in trouble for this. He saw nothing wrong with bringing people to a library. Then again, it could have something to do with gathering witchers and the threat she mentioned before.

 

Veceslav Furst, Kaer Morhen Laboratory

Veceslav was busy mixing one part Vitriol, one part Rebis and two parts of Hydragenium, with the intent of making some White Raffard's decoction. It was then that the young lad walked in and said he had been asked to come see him. Where that notion had come from was beyond him,but now that he was here. "As Derrick undoubtebly told you, you do not have to do the gauntlet runs anymore, the prick used Axii on me to cause some confusion. However that you hid behind the excuse of not knowing is unacceptable, therefor I will still test you on the rules." Veceslav said as he had finished the intended potion. He filled a few flasks with it and put the flasks into the small pockets on his bandolier. It was then he heard shouting from upstairs. "You'll have to excuse me....someone's calling for me, you may join me if you wish." Veceslav said turning around and taking the spiral staircase to the first floor. He heard talking in the library again a few unfamiliar voices and one familiar one. Then he heard a door slam shut, just after hearing Veera had been shouting at him to hurry up. He heard through the door that she was addressing the other people, he silently opened the door and spoke up. "Last I checked Ladies didn't slam doors shut...or yell for that matter..." Veceslav said in a rare display of a joke. "Nice to see you again, Veera. Now what the hell is it with people just barging in here toda-...." He cut himself off as he looked Evander in the eyes "You got a lot of nerve showing your face here..." This man had been present on that fateful day, he had assisted in the murder of his collegues and the apprentices. He looked at Kruez, the wounded Tatiana, then back to Veera. Mages weren't exactly a problem in the Kaer, but generally only if they were acquainted to atleast one of the Witchers, a wounded civilian however, why was she even here, this wasn't a hospital. "Care to explain why you brought this circus here?"

 

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Veera offered a half smile at Kruez, she couldn't tell if his comment to Tatiana was in jest or not, but it lightened her mood slightly. "No one believes you're at fault." She told Tatiana, crossing her arms over her chest. "I'm not supposed to bring outsiders so the fact that-"
"Last I checked ladies didn't slam doors, or yell for that matter..." She turned towards Veceslav with a smile, one that was strained. "Good to see you as well." She returned to greeting before gripping the insides of her arms tightly with her hands as he inspected their rag tag group. Apparently Evander was acquainted with the Crow, and not in the best of ways. She wasn't quite prepared for that, but it was too late now. Squaring her shoulders, she stepped forward to regain the Crow's attention, putting herself between her and her....friends? She knew no other term to call them by.

"This is Tatiana, Evander, and....." The second mage had yet to introduce himself. "And a new friend." She finished lamely. "I brought them here. Evander was kind enough to create a portal, from which we came from Novigrad. Tatiana was assaulted by a monster, and in my haste to save her, I allowed her to drink Swallow. She is my responsibility now." For better or worse, she thought to herself.

"The mages are here to help us. We...I want to make a plan to eradicate the dopplers." The last part was said in somewhat hushed tones. "I've seen the damage just a single one of the creatures can do, and if they all turn to that....humanity would be doomed." She finished, resisting the urge to bite her lip. She had to remain confident, and strong. She knew she was right. It was just a matter if Veceslav agreed.

 

Evander glared at Veceslav in response to the other man's accusations, but remained silent. He wasn't particularly interested in explaining how he actually hadn't killed anyone that day, and besides, if the old man hadn't figured that out himself then Evander didn't think it mattered what he said. Veera then explained why they were here, and then Tatiana told the man that it was her fault they were here. Evander muttered something along the lines of 'don't be silly', but his attention was taken by the appearance of a young Witcher, who was, it soon became apparent, Tatiana's brother.
He soon turned his mind to what Veera had said, however. The extermination of the doppler race. What a joke. “What makes you think that every doppler is going to turn bad, huh?” he challenged her. “D'you think they're all just sitting there plotting which human they're going to murder next, eh? No, the vast majority of them are hiding in what shelter they can find, trying to figure out how the hell they're going to survive when the next Witcher comes by.” He stood there fuming for a few mintues, glaring at Veera. He had decided that he really didn't like the homicidal bitch.

He glanced over at Veceslav and Aaron. The old man would probably be more than willing to go along with what Veera said, but perhaps the younger Witcher would be more pliable.
“Young man, Aaron,” Evander called to him, stepping a little closer. “Perhaps you will listen to reason, and answer a few questions of mine honestly. There is some hope that the Witcher code hasn't completely overshadowed your humanity. Tell me, do you believe that all dopplers should die? And I mean all of them, Veera seems to have made it very clear that is who she wants to target. So the killers and rapists among them, but also the farmers and physicians who have integrated peacefully with society. The young and fit, the men, the women, the children, the old and sick and dying. Do you feel that it is right to kill every single last one of them? And if you don't, could you still lift your sword against them, and burn their homes to the ground?”
Evander suddenly realized that his voice had been steadily climbing to almost a yell, and took a deep breath. “Before you answer that though, you could also ask your sister what she thinks.”
He left it at that. Before any of the killing started, perhaps he could at the very least weaken the Witcher ranks, sow dissent between the old established and narrow-minded Witchers, and their newer less indoctrinated subordinates. With any luck, all of this would end in a few words, or at the worst a schism within Kaer Morhen.
Evander knew though that this was likely far from the case.

 

Olivia's pov:



She stood there for a moment not sure what to do. At first she just continued to play with her hair. The first thing that happened was a portal opened and several people cam out. Was that Veera? She was one of the oldest Witchers around. She then proceeded to yell in the library. That was something that you should never do. She thought some people would be studying, the chance of that now was slim. That was when Veceslav returned. She watched the conversation. Apparently he knew the man that called himself Evander. That was when Veera introduced everyone apart from some stranger. Veera then said that the mages were here to help them. She wanted to kill all of the dopplers for some reason. Aaron then came back. She watched as he went up to his sister. 'I am sorry, I am so sorry that I couldn't be there to help you. To save you.' Aaron had said. She walked up to the two. "That is just silly. The true reason he was not there is because of me Tiana. I kept him from leaving." It was nice to see Aaron's sister. "Aaron has said so much about you. It is nice to put a face to a name." She turned to Evander. The man seemed angry bout dopplers. He seemed to think that all dopplers had a life to live. She could not say what she thought. The only thing she cared about was the monsters that cam out at night. They were the ones that left her without a home all those years ago. Evander went on about the young and fit, the men, the women, the children, the old and sick and dying dopplers. She wondered if the man ever had a run in with the dopplers. The way he talked it was like he knew them. She the turned to Veera. "So you are back." She had met the women some time ago. She had seen her around the city, but not for some time. It was interesting to see her back here. She guessed that a lot of Witchers called this place home still. She could not say she blamed them.

 

Placeholder banner because I'm kinda stumped as to how to make this one look good.
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In a small clearing within some nondescript woods, a peasant man in tattered clothes lay across an old tree-stump, his arms and legs tied down the roots. He struggled against the bonds desperately, and terror-induced sweat glistening on his brow. He made a few pitiful groans as he squirmed, and then looked up at the knight standing over him.
A huge sword, its point planted in the earth, stood inches away from the man's face. It rose to a height of about five feet, and it was held by the hilt by the gauntleted hand of a woman in shimmering steel armor. Her clear brown eyes stared down coldly at the man before her, and then she began to speak.

“You, Rowan Untin, farmer, husband, father of one, have been brought here to be judged for your actions.” Her voice rung out sweetly in the clearing, mingling with the rustle of leaves and the barely audible of a brook nearby, but there was a steeliness in her tone that made the man before her shudder.
He looked up at her desperately. “Yes, me name is Rowan, but I ain't done anything, me lady,” he pleaded to her. “I's just want to go home, de missus'll -”
“You are here today accused of wife-beating, rape, and murder,” she declared, interrupting him. “What say you?”
Towan swallowed hard. “I only hit her once, I was angry, righ', and I told her I was sorry and bought her a new broom to prove it an' all,” he swallowed hard again, seeing his explanation had seemingly no effect on the woman. “I'll never do it again, promise... please.”
“You freely admit to this crime, and try to make excuses for it,” the knight continued. “And yet it is only one of the charges brought against you.”
“I ain't ever killed no one,” Rowan declared vehemently, suddenly glaring up at her defensively.
She returned his gaze coolly. “Anna Karwa, fourteen, daughter of a nearby father. Found dead in a stream not too far from here. Raped and killed.” Her eyes blazed fiercely for a moment. “Not necessarily in that order.”
This sudden reveal of a crime Rowan had thought he had buried forever shook him to the core. How could this woman know? And a woman to boot. A fucking woman. How dare she confront him like this, Rowan, a proud, honest man who by his birthright had dominion over ALL women?
“Fuck you,” he spat out at her. “Anna was a whore, she offered to serve me and I was prepared to pay her double the rate so that I could do anything to her. She tried to back out at the last minute, but she couldn't, how could I let her? It would be bad for her business. So when she tried to run, I hit the bitch, tried to knock some sense into her. She still resisted, so what could I do? I had to hit her again, and then again, and again and again and again. It's not my fault the slut died. She should have let me have me way and taken her pay.” He glared up at the knight. “It was for her own good, you see?”

The woman looked away from him, too sickened by his perverted excuses for his crime to look him in the eyes. After a few moments she turned back to him with a new fury in her eyes.
“You freely admit to all crimes brought against you. I, Ellyn of Greenwood, judge you as guilty, and pass upon you the sentence of death.”
“I TOLD YOU, IT WASN'T MY FAULT, SHE DIDN'T –”
“I enact this sentence with this holy sword, Soulblade,” Ellyn continued inexorably, “by what authority has been given unto me by higher powers. If my judgment be amiss, and I taken the blood of an innocent, may this sword take my own life. Any final words?”
“FUCK YOU WHORE, WHY DON'T YOU BEND OVER AND I'LL SHOW YOU –”
With a rapid motion, Ellyn swirled her sword into a downward arc, and with a clean, slicing blow severed Rowan Untin's head from his body. It rolled a few feet away and stopped to rest among some long grass.

Ellyn turned away and began striding out of the clearing. As she reached the tree-line however, she felt her legs quiver and then she was doubled over, retching.
Are you ok? a voice asked her.
Ellyn nodded weakly. “I still don't like blood, Lilly. I don't think I'll ever get used to it.”
That's a good thing, I would say. A warrior shouldn't ever become desensitized to ending another life, Lilly reassured her. It is a hard path to walk, but you are strong enough for it.
Ellyn nodded, and straightened up, forcing herself to calm down. She continued on, pushing into the woods beyond the clearing, and went up to a dark colored horse tied loosely to one of the trees.
“Lets go, Oak*,” she told him, jumping up into the saddle easily and quickly, tugging to the right gently at the reigns.
As Oak walked slowly through the trees back to the road they had come this way by, Ellyn once again consulted the spirit in the sword. “So, you said this village is a few hours ride away. Which way?”
East. Pontarsfork is east. You and Oak will be able to get some decent rest for once.
Ellyn smiled at that thought.




* Oak was called Willow in my app, but since Sam now has a character by that name, here's a name change :p

 

Tatiana was quite determined to be the one to take the blame if they should get in trouble, something that seemed to be more of a possibility now that Veera mentioned that she wasn't supposed to bringing visitors here. "While that may be true, Veera was the one who gave us the option of tagging along. We had the option of saying no and we didn't take it, so it wouldn't be right to just blame it all on you." In much normal situations Kruez likely wouldn't have said anything about ones desire to take the blame about something, but in thus instance it was different.

There were two kinds of people in this world that Kruez wanted little to do with, and they weren't Witchers, Dopplers or other mages (though he did have a small grudge against specific kinds of mages). Anyone that could be classified as either an idiot or a nuisance were the ones he wanted nothing to do with. People in general he always had an untrusting eye towards. Tatiana didn't fit in any of those categories. She was more of the innocent bystander that get caught up in whatever was going on around her whether they wanted to or not. It wouldn't feel right to treat her the same way he treated most other people.

Two people had arrived, one likely being the one Veera referred to as Crow. It soon appeared that Crow had appeared to have some kind of tension towards the old drunk. Hmm, now there was a number of things that Kruez could've thought of that could cause tension between two people, most of which being booze related. None of them were likely the reason behind the animosity though.

Next up was the other guy with her. He soon turned his attention towards Tatiana and together they had a heartfelt moment. Being brother and sister who haven't seen each other in some time, least this was what Kruez was assuming by what they were saying, it was only natural for something like this to happen. The moment had passed and he'd turned his attention toward him. "Kruez, Kruez Tepens." The mage answered, shaking Aaron's hand.

The quick handshake was followed up by a mini rant of sorts from Evander. I don't think he could've made it any clearer that he was opposed to the plan. "So in short you oppose the idea of killing every Doppler and would rather kill the ones who are actually causing issues." Kruez summarized, in a much more appropriate speaking volume than what Evander had used. "See? Was it so hard to just say that instead of going into a mini rant?" He didn't even wait for a response from Evander before continuing. "While I have no problems with killing Dopplers, I'd rather it be the ones who deserve it." Of course, that was much easier said than done.

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"Some shelter and something to eat would be fine. " Zephyr responded. From the looks of things it appeared that he just might get something to eat. Of course he still needed to wait and hear the answer that would be given to him before he truly gets his hopes up. The small chance of this working was still a small chance, and it could quickly become no chance in an instant.

 

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"Very well" Prince Vyle stated "Before I go, may I ask your name? you already know mine"

Sam suddenly realised he had nothing else to say in this post. welp. But he had to make it a post longer than two sentences or Magick would kill him. This is probably long enough now.

 

Veceslav Furst, Kaer Morhen, Library

Veceslav merely listened until everyone had had their say, Evander clearly seemed like he still needed to take out the loss of his precious mages council out on anyone and everyone. He first turned to Veera "You are aware of the risks involving the use of Swallow, but there's another potion you could have prepared given you had the proper ingredients, it's a natural healing potion that isn't toxic, I tend to keep atleast one flask on me at all times, eventhough I already shared the recipe with you or atleast I think I did, if you want I'll share it once more later." He got rather annoyed with Evander ranting and trying to sow discord within their ranks. "Funny that exactly you should be the one to bring that up don't you think. Did you ask yourself those very same questions 67 years ago? 'Well the Cat school witchers are just assasins for hire, all witchers must die' did it occur to you that we're not all the narrow-minded freaks, that have no humanity? And don't give me the whole I didn't kill anyone argument, you were there and when you tore down that wall you made yourself just as guilty as the ones that struck the blow. I will not let you insult me in my own home." Veceslav stated his voice unusually calm for the words he spoke only growing louder with the last sentence he spoke. The other mage seemed an aweful lot more reasonable, taking note of the name Kruez. He turned back to Veera. "Dopplers generally have very generous and timid spirits, which make them avoid shedding a single drop of blood. The one you ran into was rare example of a Doppler going against their nature. A rotten apple so to speak, but look at what is happening around us. The lands are ravaged, is this the fault of Dopplers? No, it's the fault of similarly bad humans, if you were to fell such a judgement upon the Dopplers you ought to do the same to mankind, just because a few rotten apples spoiled the bunch. Therefore I disagree with your plan. Furthermore, the reputation of Witchers isn't what it used to, we cannot just kill what looks like a human in the Northern cities, it would only mar our name further and before you know it there's another angry mob at the gates. We do not have the right to judge an entire species ill, all we can do, is pick off those who do harm to innocents, like the one you described. Sure it complicates it all, but we cannot just blindly murder all dopplers. You'd probably would have wanted to hear me just agree with your plan, but we just can't do that. I am fully aware of the damage that Dopplers can do, but without a good reason we cannot act. Now if it was the Wild Hunt you wanted to eliminate, that'd be an entirely different discussion."

 

Callum was much quicker than Tessa. The moment he'd started running, he had decided to make things more interesting. Using a couple of windows as handholds, the Witcher climbed up on top of one of the nearby buildings quickly. While she was taking the twisting and turning alleyways route, he would go above. And he did. He kept up with her the entire way, actually going a little slower than usual due to him not being used to having to be so agile on top of rooftops. He continued this movement, leaping from rooftop to rooftop, and then he leaped off of the last building and went towards the ground. He could see the bathhouse up ahead, all he had to do was stick the landing.

Unfortunately, Callum Crux was not Ezio Auditore and he screwed up the little roll assassins do when they land. You know, the break fall roll...thing. Yeah, he screwed that up. As he laid on the ground clutching his arm, his thought process began picking up pace as he began to panic. Crap, I screwed that up, and then Crap, she just overtook me as Tessa passed him and he could only sit there attempting to recover. He snapped his dislocated arm back into place and got up, before he ran towards the bathhouse. He got there in moments, only to see Tessa had indeed beaten me and one last thought popped into mind before he came to a halt.

****, this means I have to talk to people.


While her apprentice had fallen asleep, Yana was very much awake. She would have been slaughtering people and burning houses all over the place, but she'd actually decided that, surprisingly, it may have been a good idea to keep her apprentice in a good mood, or at least as good of a mood as Yana was willing to allow. She had gone into a town of which the name will remain unspecified as hopefully it will not affect anything, and began shopping for clothing. She'd already found a dress, a pair of jeans, and a shirt that had a picture of a smiling yellow creature with one eye, and it read "#1 minion", all that looked to be around in her size. She slapped a pouch of money on the counter, handing it to the pale faced shopkeeper, and then left. There was one more place she had to go to get more clothing before she returned.


Just as the vampire and Teliana began speaking, Zach began feeling a tingling sensation. At first he thought that one of his feet had gone to sleep after sitting strangely as he had, but then he realized it wasn't just his foot that felt strange, but his entire body. He began feeling exceptionally warm, as though his temperature was rising drastically, and his body itched all over. He was going through The Change. "Teliana, run!" he yelled. Quickly, he scrambled over and began chugging the potion. He only got about halfway through it before his hands were no longer human but were furry brown paws, with razor sharp claws instead of fingers and the potion dropped out of his hands, shattering on the ground.

He dove to the ground and began trying to lick the mixture off of the ground, but in seconds he had all but lost control. He had stopped shaking, and rather than focusing on the potion on the ground he simply sniffed at it with his wolf nose. It didn't smell particularly nice, why the hell would he want that? There was another scent in the air though, two of them to be exact. One of them was humanish, it reminded him of them but had something that made the scent a little different, and the other...

Vampire.

The moment he caught the whiff of the vampire, the werewolf let out a very loud howl and charged straight through the wooden door, causing it to slam open and fly off the hinges, shattering on impact. Not stopping, Zach barreled towards the Vampire, letting out a growl as he dove forward and leaped forward, wolven claws extended with intent to kill.​

 

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Veera nodded to acknowledge Olivia, then crossed her arms over her chest, growing more irritated with Veceslav's every word. Hadn't he understood where she was coming from? Wasn't he of all people supposed to agree with her? But he didn't. Even after berating the mage, Evander, he seemed to take the man's side. She wanted to scream and yell and punch someone like a petulant child. Overcasting all of these wants was the desire to throw the troublesome mage off the balcony.

But civilized people didn't do that. Witchers didn't do that. Instead, she clenched her hands, pinching the skin on insides of her arms until her nails broke through. "I understand." She said through clenched teeth, before shouldering past the Crow and storming off. She needed to hit something, and hard. Or she might just kill one of them. With Kruez, Evander, Veceslav, and the rest of the silent party seemingly against her, it was too much.

She made her way to the practice dummies, and rolled up her sleeves to her shoulders, ignoring the twinge from her self inflicted injuries as she clenched her fists, then punched. The bare knuckles against the wood cracked, and she drew back the other arm before hitting, the dummy swaying from the force of the blow. She kept going until her knuckles bled before switching to her steel blade, whirling through the positions and transitions of sword play. The exercise calmed her mind and soothed the tension in her body, helping her to formulate a plan. She smiled, the facial expression more of a grimace as she landed one last blow on the dummy, sheathing her sword and wiping the sweat from her brow, leaving a bloody smear.

She knew what she had to do.

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"Teriana." she replied to Vyle, just as she heard her own name being called. She turned back towards the hut, the hair on the back of her neck rising as a large, and rather hairy form burst from the door. "Son of a bitch." she swore, just as the brown wolf leapt towards them. Well, more towards the vampire. Her mind corrected her. The scene seemed to play out in slow motion. Zach can't take on a High Vampire, he'll be killed. She thought frantically, just as her body started to wave her arms, hoping the movement would attract his attention. "Zach, no!" She screamed just as he leaped into the air. Part of her wanted to step in front, not to save Vyle, but to protect Zach from his own instincts. But if she did that, there was a good chance that the force of Zach's leap would damage her physical form beyond repair.

"Zach, it's Ana! Stop!" She cried again, taking a step forward.

​

Tessa crossed her arms in a fashion of mock haughtiness, a grin on her face. I beat a witcher. "So I guess I get to name three people." She smiled sweetly at Callum. Despite her exterior, inside she was freaking out. She didn't want anyone killed. She only wanted to get out and see the world. Why couldn't he just have helped her get out of the city? Why did he have to kill people? Was this how all witchers were? Had her parents just been named uttered because of a debt?

That line of thought was too disturbing, and so she tucked it away to keep her exterior calm and sweet. "But first, you need a bath." She pointed at the door of the bathhouse, wrinkling her nose. "I'll wait out here. Don't take your time, or I'll leave you here too." she probably wouldn't, but she didn't want to tell Callum that. Then he might keep her waiting for hours as a way to get back at her. It wasn't her fault he couldn't land a jump he shouldn't have tried. Wasn't her fault at all.

​

Zack groaned, the sound muffled against the soft pillow his face was pressed against. If someone wanted to kill him, they were welcome to it. His head felt like it was the head of a nail, with a hammer that never stopped pounding. He pressed one hand to his ear, tongue feeling thick and fuzzy. Way way way too much. He thought to himself as he sat up. His first thought was Bryce, before remembering dimly the walk through the sewers. His second thought was the witcher, who had clearly not yet killed him, and wasn't in the room. Relief, as well as a fresh wave of nausea, rolled through him as he stumbled to the chamber pot and promptly puked up everything in his stomach.

He didn't even recollect Seth or Tessa.

​

The agent Bryce had sent to check on Tessa was nowhere to be found. While he would have loved to do the job himself, he found that the list of agents with information to give went on and on. He hadn't even taken that long of an absence, but apparently it had been long enough for several days work to accumulate. He rubbed his face as yet another cloaked figure approached, writing something down in cipher as the figure, apparently missing a few teeth, whispered to him. Hopefully Tessa wouldn't be gone much longer. Bryce worried about the girl. He had forbidden her from becoming one of his spies, a popular trade amongst the dopplers that remained in Sanctuary. He hoped she wasn't getting in trouble. It appeared they had enough of it already.

 

​

As the door came flying off its hinges time seemed to slow for Vyle. The werewolf was let loose, obviously the potion didn't work. With a bestial growl the werewolf was leaping towards him. Teriana, foolishly, was stepping out trying to grab the werewolf's attention. Foolish woman, did she not understand? These half-beast half-human creatures had no self control in this form. He had to act, otherwise the beast would kill Teriana. Swiflty he intercepted the werewolf's leap and slashed at him. Coming back from behind he grabbed the werewolf and held a blade to his throat "If there is any sense left in that mind of yours you'll give up now, I will not let you harm Teriana" Vyle scowled

 

Derrick caught his breath after completing his first of twenty runs of The Gauntlet. He had to this another nineteen times. What a bother. He almost regretted using Axii on the Crow, if only to spare him the bother of running around this stupid bloody course. Still, he couldn't deny it's effectiveness for training. It was definitely a good workout for anyone. He ought to get the old man to run it, if only to see how he handled it. Wiping a lone bead of sweat off his brow, he put his shirt and armour back on. After all, he didn't say when it had to be done, just that it had to be done. Therefore, he did not per say have to do it now. He could do one run for the next few days, maybe two if he could be arsed. It was easy enough to sort out, that was the bottom line. As he walked back to the man compound through the training area, he saw Veera brutalising one of the poor training dummies. He raised an eyebrow, not having seen her trying to murder an inanimate object quite that much before. He whistled.
"I think you killed it." He joked as he approached. "So, what's pissed you off? I'm not one to be so frank to a girl but frankly you look like a ploughing psychopath off to murder someone. Horribly, if the poor dummy is anything to go by." He pointedly glanced at the battered training dummy for emphasis. He leaned against a nearby post with his arms folded, regarding her with a curious eye. Girl looked beat up enough already without smearing her own damn blood over her face with all the scars and shit.​

 

​

Veera blinked at the unexpected appearance of Derrick. She hadn't realized he was back too. "I believe the proper greeting one uses when seeing a comrade for the first time in months is; Hello. But I've been wrong before." She scowled, crossing her arms across her chest. "Maybe that should be your warning to stop asking what's making the angry girl angry." She continued. "If the dummy is anything to go by."

Derrick would never go along with her plan. She had known the man a long time. How could I have thought Veceslav would? She wondered bitterly. She was in this alone. "But I suppose." If anything, he deserved an explanation. He was one of the few that would probably understand, even without agreeing. "I wanted to come up with a plan to end the dopplers once and for all. I was sick of seeing the way they treated people, and having to try to find them, and bring them justice. They shouldn't exist. None of these monsters should. So why not get rid of them?" It had been a fool's dream, a simple notion that she should have kept to herself. But having a good dose of hindsight wouldn't change things now.

She went quiet for a few moments, mourning what she had lost, and what she would probably lose. But there was no helping for it. "I think I'm going to go back inside now. I desperately need a bath." She tried to joke, feeling the blood beginning to try at her forehead. She pulled down the sleeve of her shirt and began to vigorously wipe at it, mouth twisting with frustration.