( OPEN ) february catch-all

[gynvael]

Who: Geralt + Jaskier; Yennefer; You
When: February // Feoveuer
Where: Aefenglom
What: A rescue. Not quite from who you'd expect. + other things as they come.
Warnings: Violence, CW related to the current event.

[ starters in comments. plot with me at discontinued! ]

OPEN: post-kidnapping

CLOSED: Jaskier | Yennefer | Jaskier pt. ii | yennefer + myr

Comments

[gynvael]

[ A story doesn't get him paid nor does it take his mind off of things. In fact, it does the opposite. The man across from him seems friendly enough -- but most people do. At the start.

Geralt sets his mug down, though his fingers remain resting on the lip. Claws curve where nails should be. ]

What? Not even a name first?

[ Not that a name would change his willingness to divulge. But he finds he's curious about who exactly he's talking to. A name's a start, especially to an unfamiliar face. Rare for him these days, given how long he's been in the city now. The man's dress suggests he's not one of the locals. If he's a Mirrorbound, he must be new. New enough Geralt hasn't seen him out and about yet. ]

[notbert]

[It's true this fellow might have been missed. Heard about or noted? Certainly. A fellow by his name is been helping with escorts or patrols- though the latter are primarily in the Western Residential District. And he's spoken up on the network a time or two if Geralt is the type to pay attention to that sort of thing. Ah yes, this requires the name in question, doesn't it? A name is given willingly.]

Ardbert.

[His own mug is set down, hands set on the table. There seems to be no rush to take another drink. In all honesty, he'd prefer not to. The stuff really is shite and is firmly placed in the 'Not Good' column. But Elidibus will if he must, all for the act if nothing else. He offers a few more words, this time with an impression of humor.]

Though I begin to suspect even that is still not enough to pay the price for your tale. What else would satisfy you? A bit of coin, perhaps?

[gynvael]

[ Mm. No last name, then, though he's noticed more than a handful in the city who place little emphasis on that. It isn't familiar to him, the name: his attention to the network is sparse at best.

Geralt tilts his head. Really? Paying him? Hard to say if the man is serious. Ardbert must be fucking bored either way. ] If you want a storyteller, I suggest readings at the local theater.

[ Maybe. He's not entirely sure what the theaters here are up to these days. When his mug empties, he doesn't hesitate to refill it. There's a distinct buzz he's after and he'd rather not have it go away. Still, there's a sharpness in his yellow eyes that alcohol hasn't dulled: if he's been drinking awhile (he has), it obviously takes more than the average amount to get him drunk. ]

Why do you care? Not seeking a muse, I hope. I've enough of that.

[notbert]

[He's at least half-serious. But he most certainly isn't doing this out of boredom. As Geralt suggests he take to the local theater, the stranger shakes his head. ]

The last thing I want are truths which have been varnished with embellishments and tales which leave the facts behind because they are inconveniently ugly.

[He takes a drink from the mug, judging it is time to do so. Elidibus does watch the man across from him. Sees that it will take no little drink to expect a 'loosening of the tongue', as it is called. A touch bit more of the truth then. A slight frown mars his features and some of the cheerfulness abates.]

Those seeking a muse? [His dismissive tone suggests it is far from what he speaks. Though his words about the theater may well have already indicated such.] Would that be part of what brings you here, I wonder?

[But then Elidibus shakes his head firmly.]

No. I search for tales linked to recent events. The Evergreen Circle and the impact it has had. Kidnappings. The Cwyltid and Cwyld infected. I have been part of this star for less than two moons. Yet I know a bare year ago there was another chain of kidnappings. Within the year, an entire city is suddenly revealed to have been manipulated with mental magicks. And now an unchecked organization has done naught but combine the two and brought rampant infection and terror.

[The man leans back in his chair, having for a moment leaned forward in the earnest expression of his statement.]

I for one, will not sit idly by and let the past simply happen once again. So would you willingly, and if it may apply, be willing to part with your tale? Else I will finish my drink and be on my way.

[Elidibus may want the information for his own ends and preparations. But it was no act that he is sincere in his desire not to repeat past mistakes.]

[gynvael]

[ His eyes narrow at mention of the Evergreen Circle. That's a long-winded way of getting information, and he's never had much patience for the long-winded. Couldn't have said what he was really after from the start? ]

A lot of words, to ask a question. [ If there's doubt in his voice, it's less to do with Ardbert himself than the ideals he seems to have taken on: about the state of the world, about doing good. Noble.

Geralt entertained similar thoughts once, a long time ago, of a world that might have at least needed him, even if it didn't want him. He learned quickly it does not. ]

Since Dorchacht's thrown off its chains, they've removed tongues from Witches in the name of not sitting idly by. Trust me, you'll find nothing good on that path. [ It's not a judgment; he knows why they are how they are. But that's the point. He can already see a future where the dam bursts once more in that city, and it might not be the mages this time the world labels cruel for their actions. There is a road to keeping perceived evils at bay, and it's only ever flowing with blood.

Not that it matters. It's not his job to stop men from making idiot decisions. Just to save them when they pay him after suffering the consequences of their idiot decisions. He peers at the beer inside his mug. He really needs something fucking stronger. What was he saying? Mm. ]

But as you seem like a stubborn bastard, I'd begin with their coffers. Alder can't restart his work without funds. For the amount of coin that went into that party, their protections were shit.

[ Lax. A sign of one with friends in high places and the wealth to retain them. (Ardbert might not have succeeded yet in getting a personal tale out of Geralt, but he's at least getting...something.) ]

[notbert]

I did ask for your story in the beginning. You wanted the reason why.

['Ardbert' seems amused to have to point that out and his expression is bemused. Ask a question and don't complain when you get an answer, maybe?

As to the motivation behind asking... well, it can work in Elidibus's favor if Geralt believes it to be for an altruistic dream of doing good. And it can prove beneficial should the Turnskin discover there's more than idealism in the Ascian's intentions.

The thing that will be noticed most, however, is that this stranger seems to be listening. Even as Geralt rattles off incidents and aftermaths of the past events mentioned and avoids his own tale, 'Ardbert' takes in the words, storing them away as information to be used later.

Though there's a moment where he closes his eyes. A touch of a smile on his lips and a shake of his head. When he opens them once again, he still has the bearing of a good-natured man, though his words may give reason to believe there's some experience in doing things other than taking a large axe and sticking it into something until it stops moving to solve a problem.]

Yes, one could attack one's finances. Send knives in the dark. Or utter a well-placed word to animate a puppet's strings. But machinations are not what I'm after.

[Ardbert leans forward, arms rested against the tabletop and hands clasped together casually.]

There are few matters more foolish than to move blindly forward to do some good without hearkening to what can be learned from the past.

[Witches and tongues, right?]

...Or as in the matter of your tale, the present.

[Nope, he's not giving up on that. Not one bit.]

[gynvael]

[ That's not untrue. Geralt looks vaguely annoyed that he's somehow trapped himself in a circular conversation. Or a conversation at all, really. ] And you quickly made me regret asking.

[ He'd definitely have rather been accosted to do a job. He misses that: when people would only bother him to pick a fight or demand his help while haggling down to a single coin. Now he has folks prying into his business while he's trying to get drunk. Giving speeches on machinations and doing good.

This is what he gets for engaging when he should know better. Because no, he's not going to sit here and detail what happened to Jaskier for one man's lofty vision of good. And the detached way Ardbert speaks of it—a tale, just a tale; it's not a tale, it's his friend's fucking life—only raises his hackles further. ]

I've said what I will. [ He refills his glass. Whatever goodwill Ardbert earned by buying him a pitcher has dried up, and Geralt doesn't care enough for social norms to hide it. Nor to stop drinking the free beer. ] You want your precious tale, you'll have to fuck off and bother someone else.

[notbert]

[A mild shrug seems to give concession to Geralt's point. The Turnskin's regret is as plain as if it were written on his forehead.

But doing good? It's a strange place to be doing good, no matter what this Ardbert fellow said. Also, never did he say 'just' a tale. The visage of the 'good-natured altruist' fades a little. Some might call it 'becoming serious'. Yet he had such an expression before, despite the friendly demeanor. Rather, a little of Elidibus' true manner is brought to bear.]

My intention was not to offend. If I have done so, then you have my apologies.

[He's not so crass as to request Geralt stop drinking said free beer, though it is not much of an apology in itself. The seat Elidibus claimed is pushed back slightly as the man rises. His own mug is left unfinished and mostly full, should Geralt happen to check later. It is clear he is preparing to leave. No attempts to cajole or further insist on the good he could do with what the Turnskin can tell him.

Though he seems to pause with a momentary thought.]

May I have your name?

[gynvael]

[ Uh-huh. There's enough liquor in him that Geralt's checked out of the conversation by now. The slip in demeanor brings nothing of note to him because men are men, and underneath whatever they propose drives their heart, they're all the same. He has little doubt much of the Circle thought they were doing something good with their experiments. Saving the world from the Cwyld with the knowledge they hoped to gain. A noble cause.

He doesn't want an apology. He's hardly slept and he wants to be left alone. Which doesn't seem to be happening, despite him telling the man to fuck off, seeing as he's now being asked his name. Does he need to be any clearer? Should he write it out?

Ardbert is met with a flat expression and an even flatter reply. ]

No.

This should not have taken this long to put up. My month has been scatterbrained. :(

[notbert]

[Too bad because an apology is given. Surely he deserves the right to for the pitcher of beer Geralt continues to enjoy. Especially since Elidibus doesn't get a name out of the man.]

Of course. I should have expected as much. I will bid you good day.

[It's not apologetic really. He speaks more as though he took another measure of the man before him. At least, in Geralt's current condition. Without another word Elidibus departs. Possibly to find some other troubled soul to accost.]