Witchers of Nifelheim - Part 5

Ana gives Rogue a thumbs up.

Circi nods, "Im glad we're in agreement. I do have a question though. I dont want to start an argument. Just a conversation if you will." She gestures to Twilight, "It would appear me and Twilight were at a disagreement, Twilight, if this is untrue I will pry no further. I feel the fact my lack of mortality played a role in your disagreement. Now while that may not have been the main reason or intention, I feel it played one none the less. I would hope that it didn't and our dissagreements happen naturally. I feel this is the case, as i tried to deliver my reasoning to you, and while I dont expect you to change your mind, it felt as though my words went on deaf ears."

"If you think my disagreement is because you're a sinner, it's not." Twilight says, clearly annoyed. "I just happen to know what happens if you try to ignore and avoid the mob. Now let's go through the secret passage already, before the democratic vote is rendered moot by someone in that group finally noticing 30 people behind them talking what to do about all this."

// Twilight, wacha studied during teh 2 weeks of travel?

Rain wrote:Rain raises her brow, "So you're admiting to being somewhat of a dictator to your city?" She nods slowly, "Admireable. We're used to eliminating dictators. Not convincing them their thought process is wrong." She frowns, "I suspect Victoria to be very stubborn

"You must understand" Ryu sighed "Nifelheim isn't ruled by democracy. Its ruled by a 'Military Junta'.

Our leaders aren't elected. They're chosen in combat. Each year, those who wish to be kings, compete against each other in a series of tournaments. The strongest, or the most cunning among them, earn a place in the royal chain of succession. And when a king dies, the chain moves up, ensuring that the best soldier among us, will always lead our people.

It was an arrangement of necessity. The human race faced extinction from day one on this planet, and only a strong military ensured our survival. We are ruled by soldiers, because we live in a constant state of war.

Don't be quick to judge us, if you haven't lived a life here" Ryu quietly said:



"Viktoria is simply doing her job, the best way she can.
After our father was murdered by Kaznachey's ruse, Viktoria changed. She began suspecting a scheme behind everything, jumping at shadows. She believed that ruling the civilian population, the same way she ruled a military, was the best option to keep her people alive. But civilians aren't the same as soldiers, and when she pushed for strict discipline, they pushed back.

But its also true that most civilians aren't knowledgeable about warfare, and they may not understand that the orders and laws we place on them, are there to keep them alive. So Viktoria keeps pushing forward, ruling her castle with an iron fist.

Don't judge her too harshly, everything she's done, was to keep her people alive" Ryuuken sighed.




Enclosing you and Ryu inside a circle, the White Lotus guards began subtly leading you through the city, toward the more secluded part of town. This district was filled with short, two story houses and most of them looked empty, or at least everyone was quiet inside. Not many people were seen on the streets and soon, you saw another statue of a young man, being carried out from one of the houses.

Ryu winced, as you made a turn into an adjacent back alley. Opening a door to an abandoned looking house, the guards began walking inside. Lifting the carpet, they revealed a hidden door in the floorboards that led to a staircase underground.

There was no lights down there, and the White Lotus used their weapons as sources of light. When you descended some 5 floors underground, you came up against a massive stone door, with a keyhole right in the middle.


Making his way through the crowd, Ryu pulled a very intricate looking key from a hidden pocket on the inside of his jacket and placed it inside the keyhole. When he turned the key, a dull, metallic sound echoed from somewhere underground, akin to chains moving, and the door slowly parted, right in the middle, revealing a very long, underground tunnel.

It had a short ceiling and felt very cramped. No more than two people could walk through it, side by side. You must have walked for a good 15 minutes through it, when the tunnel finally ended with another locked door, made of stone.


On the other side of it, was a circular staircase, that went up for a good 30 floors. By the time you finally reached the top, out of breath, Ryu unlocked one last, massive door and came face to face with a half dozen Witchers, armed to the teeth.

More White Lotus honor guard, by the looks of it. It seems they were purposefully tasked with guarding this entrance and visibly tensed up when the door opened.
When it was you and Ryu who had walked out, they sighed in relief and dissipated their weapons.

Standing on both sides of the door at attention, they saluted, letting you pass.




You ended up in the middle of an incredibly wide corridor, with a tall ceiling that led to dozens and dozens of rooms. The walls were filled with intricate paintings and decorative columns, highly detailed chandeliers hung from the ceiling.

Looking outside through the nearest window, you briefly caught a sense of vertigo. It seems you were inside the castle, on a floor extremely high over the ground. You could overlook the entire city from here, including the perimeter walls and the Obelisks in the distance. A good vantage point, to oversee a critical situation, should one ever arise.

Down below, on the steps of the castle, you could still see the protesting townsfolk. They looked so small from up here, you couldn't even distinguish their faces. It seems the situation down there hasn't changed. They're still blocking the castle's main entrance and shouting at it, waving their signs.


Ryu quietly dismissed his bodyguards with a wave of his palm, and the White Lotus dispersed and drifted off somewhere, into the depths of the castle. Judging by the doors they were disappearing behind, they were either going to the mess hall, the barracks, or the castle towers overlooking the city.


"The throne room is this way" Ryu quietly called and waved you to follow. Stepping lightly over the floor that was polished to a reflective shine, your footsteps still echoed over the corridor. After several more minutes and several more flights of stairs that led up, you began hearing raised voices from further ahead.

Only now you realized how much this castle was silent, how all its inhabitants seemed to have left, or kept so quiet, that you could easily have believed that the entire castle was empty. In this silence, the raised voices ahead sounded especially out of place.


Ryu winced slightly, as he heard them and pushed ahead.

Soon, you arrived by a towering, double door, that reached 5 meters in height, almost all the way to the ceiling. It was clearly placed in the center of the corridor and the raised voices were coming from inside.
Judging by how thick this door looked, it seemed especially impressive that you heard any sound come from the other side to begin with, and only imagined how loud it must have sounded inside.


After a moment, you began understanding the fragments of the conversation:


"Your grace... no, all kings, are charged with bringing safety to Nifelheim. You must be a leader to your people. An example of compassion. The embodiment of an ideal, we can all rally behind" an unfamiliar, male voice spoke "My lady, I... propose marriage to you, as one of the ranking generals of Rakshata."


"Rakshata is no playhouse, a moments diversion may amuse an audience, but it changes nothing." Viki's voice clearly cut through the silence.


"Even so, the actors must play their parts" the male voice replied.

"My answer is no, Valention." Viktoria firmly replied, it sounded like she turned on her heels.

"Perhaps, if you showed the people your gentler side, showed them, that you are capable of loving someone, they would finally see you as one of them. You could finally-"

"NO MEANS NO, DON'T YOU GET IT!" Viktoria roared so loud, your hair stood up.

The voices behind the door grew quiet for a moment, as the two quietly spoke in hushed voices, then the door suddenly slammed wide open and a Witcher in formal, decorative uniform burst outside, fuming in anger and gritting his teeth, he stormed passed you without even giving you a glance and marched away, down the corridor.


The door was left open, revealing a massive throne room inside. The ceiling could have easily been 20 meters in height and the room wide enough to house a massive ball. In front of an enormous dance floor, stood a single throne, not so much decorative, as it was functional. Just a large, high chair with some carvings of Hadedashi, that stood at the head of the room, overlooking it and the windows on the other side of the wall.


The throne room was completely empty, of other furniture and people, save for one person.

Viktoria wasn't so much sitting in her throne, as she was laying in it, almost looking like she was a step away from leaking out of the chair.
Her expression was that of complete apathy and exhaustion. When you unintentionally made some noise, by shuffling in the doorway, she moved her eyes, without even moving her head, then sighed and stared ahead into space somewhere.


"...you guys know.. there's a warrant out for your arrest, right? And you're just strolling willy-nilly around the castle" she rubbed her face slightly
"I'd try to apprehend you or something, if I wasn't so tired, so... if you just leave now, I'll pretend I haven't seen you..." she sighed and began staring off into space again, in complete apathy.

Kaylee Brown wrote:Viktoria wasn't so much sitting in her throne, as she was laying in it, almost looking like she was a step away from leaking out of the chair.
Her expression was that of complete apathy and exhaustion. When you unintentionally made some noise, but shuffling in the doorway, she moved her eyes, without even moving her head, then sighed and stared ahead into space somewhere.

"...you guys know.. there's a warrant out for your arrest, right? And you're just strolling willy-nilly around the castle" she rubbed her face slightly
"I'd try to apprehend your or something, if I wasn't so tired, so... if you just leave now, I'll pretend I haven't seen you..." she sighed and began staring off into space again, in complete apathy.

"Jolly decent of you to offer, but that would defeat the point of our visit somewhat" Rogue replies, "We're here to help, and since we're on the same side, forcing you to hunt us down would be a waste of resources, no?"

Viktoria mumbled something incoherent in reply. She looks like she's done with life and slowly leaking out of her chair.

Kaylee Brown wrote:Viktoria mumbled something incoherent in reply. She looks like she's done with life and slowly leaking out of her chair.

"Why yes, Your Highness, I'd love to take a seat and listen to your problems, thanks for asking" Rogue says, sitting down cross-legged on the floor and indicating to the others to join him.

Circi quitely joins Rogue cross legged, "Well hello there King Victoria." She stares at her a moment, "Looking young and spry as usual I see." She jokes.

Rain raises her brow, "Yeah the warrent doesn't mean much once you have an authority on your side." She shrugs, "I suppose I should be greatful seeing how we can actually sit down and take a moment to talk without some sort of protocol." She moves to one ofthe support columns, looking over its intricacies, "Needless to say, you have the best crack team on all of Nifelhime and Earth put together in the palm of your hands. Lets hear your woes and we'll work some magic." She falls into a sitting position on the floor, resting her back one of the support beams, "We're all ears."

Twilight looked at the man, rubbing her chin.

"Yeah, no fit for her." She went inside, slowly. Seeing her daughter, she kept walking at a normal speed. But she seemed almost restrained about it.

King Victoria, it's an honor and a pleasure to see you again." She says smiling. "Forgive us for the sudden intrusion, but we merely wish to lend a hand in this dire situation. I suppose we did come at a rather bad time, so if you need a moment of respite before dealing with this, we understand."

She takes a professional stance, as she was trained in. But her body language made it clear she wanted to rush up there.

Ana walks in and doesn't sit but instead starts talking like she's upselling the most fantastic item in the world

"Consider us the underground solution to your problems and not a fake publicity stunt like Salty Romeo who tried to propose to you. We can provide that out of the box thinking and dedication to non hostile confrontation to not only deal with the angry protestors outside the castle but assist with that mysterious statue sickness"

she makes a gesture with her arm sweeping both it and her cloak in a form of pointing towards her companions "Everyone of my companions wants to help save this world and has refused to give up despite being labeled as criminals and accused of brainwashing. So let us prove not only to you but this entire city that we are on the side of good by saving this place from it's slow burn internal self destruction"

she finally takes a seat beside Rogue "Any by extension prove the same to the other Kings"

Rogue wrote:"Why yes, Your Highness, I'd love to take a seat and listen to your problems, thanks for asking" Rogue says, sitting down cross-legged on the floor and indicating to the others to join him.

"Ugh..." Viktoria silently groaned and picked herself off the throne with visible effort. As she took a few steps toward you, you noticed her eyes were blood shot and accented by black circles. The way she walked, she looked like she was about to pass out at any moment.

Stopping about 2 meters away, Viktoria simply sat on the floor in front of you, crossing her legs and sighed:

"Ooohh, let me see..." she started bending fingers, one by one:


"We have, the parasite horde breaching our defense lines in the north, faster than we can establish them.

We have, indications that our parasite suppression Obelisks around our Castle towns may have a vulnerability, that the parasites plan to exploit at the moment of Migration.

We have an alien plague, rampaging through my city for a month now, with a 100% fatality rate, no prior symptoms, no information about the way its transmitted, and a death toll that's been steadily climbing in a linear curve.

Yesterday, 60 people have died. So today, I suspect we will find 62. The numbers always climb by plus 2, exactly plus 2.

Each morning, more people are found petrified in their beds, or in the city streets. And all of them felt perfectly fine the day before. We found no signs of break in, into peoples homes, some had their doors and windows still locked from inside.

We weren't able to identify or apprehend any suspects. So if this thing is just mass murder by someone, we don't know how they're doing it.

The victims range from perfectly healthy, to those who suffer from severe prior illnesses. The age varies from 17 to 160+. Every other variable, varies completely, whatever you can think of.

The only thing we managed to firmly establish, is that this plague only affects men."




Viktoria heavily sighed "...if something isn't done soon, by the time Migration hits, there will be no men left in Rakshata.

My people are understandably horrified. Some have outright fled the city, while those who are unable or unwilling to leave, have laid the blame at me feet, for my incompetence and inability to make any headway in the investigation of this plague.

After a month, we still have no idea what's causing it, or how to stop it." Viktoria heavily sighed, looking into space and shaking her head "So if you have any fresh ideas, I'm all ears, cos I've reached my limit."

Circi wrote:"Well hello there King Victoria." She stares at her a moment, "Looking young and spry as usual I see." She jokes.

"Ah ha haa, we're funny today" Viktoria pretended to laugh and sourly grimaced.

Rain wrote:"Yeah the warrent doesn't mean much once you have an authority on your side." She shrugs

"Eh?" Viki raised an eyebrow, then finally noticed Ryu in the crowd. Her brother simply approached and hugged her. Viki briefly rested her head on his shoulder, before he let go and returned to sit beside you in the crowd.

"I'm so glad you're safe" Viki smiled, tearing up and wiping her eyes "Those solo infiltration missions of yours really make my heart curl"


"I'm fine. Sorry for the wait" Ryu nodded "The mission was a success. These people are no harm to us. You can trust them with your life."

"...I'll take your word for it" Viktoria said, eyeing Lighting, who was looking around the throne room like she was looking to nick something.

Twilight wrote:Seeing her daughter, she kept walking at a normal speed. But she seemed almost restrained about it.

King Victoria, it's an honor and a pleasure to see you again." She says smiling. "Forgive us for the sudden intrusion, but we merely wish to lend a hand in this dire situation.

"Oh god, stop" Viktoria visibly cringed "Formal speech makes my skin crawl."

"Eeeh.. I thought you'd be all royal and dignified" Lighting wryly smiled "No military discipline or anything? Here you are, sitting down on the floor with us peasants."

"We're not in the field, and not in the middle of a military operation." Viktoria sighed with a slight frown "Keeping things informal with my men, helps promote camaraderie and raise morale. I'm only strict when I need to be."
She leaned back slightly "...Besides... I didn't dedicate my life and fought to become King, just to frolic around in pompous dresses and have pretentious conversations with nobles.

Victory in war and survival of mankind is all I care about. Everything else is white noise." she simply replied.

"..that said... I'm glad you're alive.." her expression softened up a bit, as she looked at Twilight "...I'll take help if you offer it."

She shifted her gaze to everyone seated in front of her "...everyone, I'm sorry about the unpleasantries we were forced to exchange in the swamp and the Machina Portal. My job dictated I operate in the best interests of Nifelheim, with the information given to me at the time."

Ana wrote:"Consider us the underground solution to your problems and not a fake publicity stunt like Salty Romeo who tried to propose to you.

Viktoria cringed, leaning back a little "...please stop, you sound like you're trying to sell me a used carriage.

And please don't bring General Valention into this. My private life is off limits."


"Ew" Lighting stuck her tongue out "The geezer looked 20 years older than you are."

"I said my private life is none of your business" Viktoria said, calmly and quietly, but her eyes flashed "...if you keep pressing the subject, you'll be intimately re-acquainted with, what my Berserking Parasite looks like!"

Kaylee Brown wrote:

Ana wrote:"Consider us the underground solution to your problems and not a fake publicity stunt like Salty Romeo who tried to propose to you.

Viktoria cringed, leaning back a little "...please stop, you sound like you're trying to sell me a used carriage.

And please don't bring General Valention into this. My private life is off limits."

"Ew" Lighting stuck her tongue out "The geezer looked 20 years older than you are."

"I said my private life is none of your business" Viktoria said, calmly and quietly, but her eyes flashed "...if you keep pressing the subject, you'll be intimately re-acquainted with, what my Berserking Parasite looks like!"

"Well then I reckon we'd better let that sleeping dog lie, if only to spare the decor" Rogue  says.

Kaylee Brown wrote:

Rogue wrote:"Why yes, Your Highness, I'd love to take a seat and listen to your problems, thanks for asking" Rogue says, sitting down cross-legged on the floor and indicating to the others to join him.

My people are understandably horrified. Some have outright fled the city, while those who are unable or unwilling to leave, have laid the blame at me feet, for my incompetence and inability to make any headway in the investigation of this plague.

After a month, we still have no idea what's causing it, or how to stop it." Viktoria heavily sighed, looking into space and shaking her head "So if you have any fresh ideas, I'm all ears, cos I've reached my limit."

"Now that IS strange, that doesn't sound like a plague at all..." Rogue strokes his chin, "It's almost like a targetted campaign of guerilla androcide, like someone's trying to reduce the male population in the city for some reason? Are there any jobs here that only men do, or are at least male-dominated?"

"Male-dominated?" Viktoria briefly fell into thought "...construction, blacksmiths, carpentry, everything else that involves hard physical labor.
Women are also present in these fields, but, as you said, mostly men."


She bit her lower lip "...if its a plague, its a strange one, I agree. I've never heard of a sickness working within such strict mathematical boundaries.

But guerilla androcide is also difficult to fit in. How can one man get away with 60 murders in one night, without leaving a single shred of evidence? Entering people's homes and leaving, when the doors and windows are all locked from inside.

Even if its a group of people, its hard to believe. If this pattern holds, soon, they'll have to conduct more and more murders each night. Eventually, it will become logistically impossible.

She shook her head in defeat "In short, I don't know what's going on. Your guess is as good as mine"

Kaylee Brown wrote:"Male-dominated?" Viktoria briefly fell into thought "...construction, blacksmiths, carpentry, everything else that involves hard physical labor.
Women are also present in these fields, but, as you said, mostly men."

She bit her lower lip "...if its a plague, its a strange one, I agree. I've never heard of a sickness working within such strict mathematical boundaries.

But guerilla androcide is also difficult to fit in. How can one man get away with 60 murders in one night, without leaving a single shred of evidence? Entering people's homes and leaving, when the doors and windows are all locked from inside.

Even if its a group of people, its hard to believe. If this pattern holds, soon, they'll have to conduct more and more murders each night. Eventually, it will become logistically impossible.

She shook her head in defeat "In short, I don't know what's going on. Your guess is as good as mine"

"Tricky" Rogue nods in thought, "It could always be a timed effect, like the men are tapped during the day, and it only starts working at night? Then they wouldn't have to actually visit any of the houses personally? Are there any social areas where predominantly men gather?"

"I'll do my best to be informal then." Twilight says. "But I still keep some, before I go way too far."

She then begins to ponder. "Something that only targets men, hmmm... It petrifies them, without a trace..."

Her brow furrows more. "I have a very wild guess, but it won't hold water unless it can be done in some way."

She looks around. "The petrification just happens, nothing that can indicate it. It only targets men, and every day, whatever this is causes the same amount of victims as the day before, plus 2..."

She moves her hand, as if tapping into a calculator. "Victims that day is equal to 2 times days active.... Total victims is 2,6,12,20,30,42,56... V= 2* (D*(D-1)), in which V stand for stand for the total amount of victims and D for the day since the start..."

She stops moving her hand. "Simple, functional, devastating... Yeah, this sounds perfect... For the effects of a curse."

Her brow furrows again. "But what could be strong enough to cast one in the first place? Witchers will never gather enough mana on their own, and Glysteria have trouble getting here. Unless a group of witchers can pool their mana together for that, it remains a mystery."

She looks at the two kings. "I'm gonna make a disgusting and disrespectful request, but can I have some of the bodies of the vctims? Preferrably of different days. Maybe an autopsy can tell us more."

Rogue wrote:"It could always be a timed effect, like the men are tapped during the day, and it only starts working at night? Then they wouldn't have to actually visit any of the houses personally? Are there any social areas where predominantly men gather?"

"Construction sites.. smithies.. etc..." Viktoria tiredly shrugged "A brothel? I don't know"

"You have a brothel in Rakshata?" Johan uneasily asked with a grimace.

"Its not my brothel alright!" Viki angrily waved "Prostitution is illegal on Nifelheim. But they still keep popping up. Zlobec illegaly runs one in Rakshata. We've been trying to shut them down for years, but they have a snitch in our ranks, who keeps tipping them off!

By the time we arrive to bust them red handed, they already moved to a different location and the investigation begins from scratch!
We can't even identify the key members, because they keep shapeshifting like a bunch of CHEAP HACKS!" Viktoria waved her fist in frustration.


"...wait... the women who work in there are all Dopplers?" Light raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, just like all Zlobec" Viki's eye twitched "Apparently there's a big market for this sort of thing... I'm sorry can we talk about something else before I vomit?"



"But the idea of all the men being tagged during the day in social areas, makes perfect sense" Ryu interjected "It doesn't even have to be a social area for men. You can just walk around a market place and tag anyone you find. Infect them with something.

And when the night comes, it kills them."


"Yeah..." Viki nodded, looking down "That's a worrying thought... we could try investigating the most crowded areas in town, try looking for anyone suspicious, but who says we won't get tagged ourselves? Will we even know it happened?
The victims never reported there being anything wrong, until they died."


"We should probably at least visit one of the victims houses, to look for clues." Ryu said "60 flawless murders in one night, its hard to believe there wasn't any hints left behind, as to what happened."

Twilight wrote:She moves her hand, as if tapping into a calculator. "Victims that day is equal to 2 times days active.... Total victims is 2,6,12,20,30,42,56... V= 2* (D*(D-1)), in which V stand for stand for the total amount of victims and D for the day since the start..."

She stops moving her hand. "Simple, functional, devastating... Yeah, this sounds perfect... For the effects of a curse."

The room went deathly silent for several moments, as you watched all color drain from Viktoria's face.
She eventually rose her hand and rubbed her face, trying to keep her voice from shaking:

"...you're saying... someone was cursed in Rakshata?"



"A group of Witchers can never pool their mana together for that. The curse rules demand it to be cast by a single entity." Ryu quietly said
"Only Parasites can cast curses. Ancient ones.

It takes several centuries to amass enough mana, but its possible. Those kind of parasites are rare and we know most of them by name.

Parasites like Kaznachey
Parasites like Utopshyi Zmey - that giant whale you killed on the ship to the mainland."



"Someone must have been cursed outside of Rakshata" Viktoria called "Then came into the castle, bringing the effects of the curse with him."


"Mmm... if we can identify who was cursed, it would be a big help in containing this thing" Ryuuken nodded.


"...unless the curse was tied directly to Rakshata... in which case, it doesn't matter where the cursed person goes..." Viki covered her face in exhaustion
"...your request to conduct an autopsy isn't disgusting or disrespectful in any way... its perfectly logical and necessary at this stage...

The bodies are kept in the morgue, under the Rakshata hospital... I can take you there if you wish"

Twilight nods. "Thanks, I hope it helps to see just what we can find in those bodies."

She then goes back to pondering. "If it's a person, then it might be tracable... Though the way of contact adds a randomness to it, which might not mesh well with the strict numbers. Or the people that are bedridden before petrification."

"Unless..." Her eyes widen. "Before we go to to morgue, what has happened here 4-5 weeks ago? Since this epidemic started then, it stands for reason that what happened before could be tied to it."

"And Viki, if I can call you that." She smiles softly. "It's good to see you again. I missed you."

"Looks like we already have a couple of avenues of investigation to look into" Rogue nods, "Some of us can check out the morgue, the rest can investigate the scene of the crime. I dibs the victim's house, I have the accent."

"We need to split the team tactically," she taps her upper lip with a finger "I believe that splitting into three teams would be best. We can cover more ground and learn more this way on top of not drawing unwanted attention to ourselves by lessening the people in each group.

One team to look at the bodies and gather information from that. I'd suggest those of us who have a higher focus on magic and science.

A second team to check out the crime scenes and interview family members and friends of the victims.

And the third to mingle with the large groups around town and see if anything stands out. This team should only be female for obvious reasons."

Circi hums, "I can take to the morgue. Public isn't the best spot for me to be in, and the dead dont scare me. Plus our researchers can do their job in peace." She points to Adam, "You're coming along. Your observations can be stunningly useful."

Rain yawns, "We should take a look at that running brothel. They might have some pertinent information. If we prove ourselfs enough of a threat to buisness we could extort them for information. Its not like we're guards, witcher honor and morality holds a decent portion of our attention yes but I believe we're able to get down and do some dirty work under the law while we're still wanted." She shrugs, "Strike the iron while its hot."

(Twilight)

(Completed 3 out of 4 weeks towards Nifel Language Level 4)
(She can speak Nifel really well, with a slight accent)




(Rogue)

Magic Category: 2
(completed 2 of 5 weeks towards Magic Category 3)


Martial Arts: 2nd Kyu




(Circi)

Magic Category: 3

Martial Arts: 1st Dan
(completed 7 of 10 weeks towards 2nd Dan)




(Rain)

Magic Category: 3
(completed 3 of 10 weeks towards Category 4)


Martial Arts: 1st Kyu  




(Ana)

Martial Art: 1st Dan
(completed 2 of 10 weeks towards 2nd Dan)







(Adam)

Martial Arts: 2nd Dan
(completed 5 of 20 weeks towards 3rd Dan)



(Johan)

Martial Arts: 1st Dan



(Kaylee)

Martial Arts: 1st Dan




(Lighting)

Magic Category: 4
(Completed 5 of 20 weeks towards Magic Category 5)




(Ryu)

Magic Category: 4
(Completed 5 of 20 weeks towards Magic Category 5)




(Ursula)

Martial Arts: 1st Dan
(completed 2 of 10 weeks towards 2nd Dan)

Circi begins casting a level 3 chitin armor, "Ready to move to the morgue when you are."

Twilight wrote:"Before we go to to morgue, what has happened here 4-5 weeks ago? Since this epidemic started then, it stands for reason that what happened before could be tied to it."

"And Viki, if I can call you that." She smiles softly. "It's good to see you again. I missed you."

"...thanks" Viktoria shyly smiled "Its good to see you too... and yes, you can call me Viki."

She continued to smile for a moment, before returning to her serious expression and falling in thought:

"What happened 4-5 weeks ago? Nothing too out of the ordinary.." Viktoria fell into thought "...actually.." her eyes narrowed:
"...there's this lake, a few kilometers outside of the Obelisks range... there's a flooded tunnel inside, just below the water... the architectural style suggests its Precursor made... we knew about it for a while.

So a couple of weeks back, we got a strange report of lights, dancing under the lakes surface, where the tunnel entrance should be. And our scouts in the area, reported seeing strange figures in robes, chanting, as they moved through the beach, their eyes shining in the dark,

We suspected some sort of cultist activity, so I led a White Lotus strike team to recon the tunnel.
The thing turned out to be an underground maze, some sort of ancient, Precursor sewer system, where a group of Rogue Witcher's made home.


We managed to map most of the tunnels, before we ran into the enemy. The Rogue Witchers were openly collaborating with parasites, they were living together in the same camp, in those sewers.
A battle ensued and the tunnels structural integrity became compromised.

A cave-in started, we were forced to retreat the same way we came in, through the lake.

But we believe these tunnels had at least one more exit, somewhere in the direction of the Soma Farm Lands.


By the time we emerged out of the lake and doubled back to the farms, the enemy was gone. We only found scattered footprints of humans and parasites, around the farms vicinity, but they hid their trail well and we never managed to find where they went, or where the other sewer exit was.

We combed the whole area but found nothing. Things have calmed down, these rogue elements never reappeared and the case was dropped. We thought we'd at least driven them away from Rakshata's vicinity and counted it as a partial win. Not to mention, they took heavy losses...

Now that I think about this, this happened some 4 or 5 weeks ago... somewhere before the plague started" Viktoria frowned at the floor.



After a moment of silence, Ryu spoke up "...where there any camp fires in those tunnels?"

"Of course there were" Viki looked up "They were living there."

"Did you scan all the parasites present?" Ryu continued.

"No" Viki shook her head "We ran into them by accident and the battle was chaotic."

"So there could've been an Ancient Parasite among them" Ryu narrowed his eyes "...did you see any writing-"

"No! I would've noticed!" Viktoria cut him off in frustration, but it doesn't mean it wasn't there! There was shit on the walls - paintings, old carpets, shields, wardrobes, the Curses words could've been written behind any of them! When the battle started, we didn't have time to investigate! And the cave-in forced us to retreat."


"...if a Curse was written, those words are still there, burned into the wall" Ryu heavily frowned: "If we can find the words of the Curse and read them, we'll at least know what we're dealing with. Maybe start taking steps towards breaking it."


"Oh god" Viktoria heavily exhaled, covering her eyes.


"Viktoria there's a high chance your strike team got Cursed in those tunnels" Ryu sighed "Almost all the conditions were met, or could be met." he crossed his arms:
"...we need to find the second entrance to those tunnels... it might be a high-risk operation, if some of those Rogue Witchers are still hiding down there.
I suggest we tackle that operation, after we wrap up all other leads in Rakshata and take our whole team to the sewers."



"It can easily turn into a wild goose chase!" Viktoria waved her hand in frustration "Do you know how many people came into Rakshata five weeks ago?! Hundreds of refugees from the north! Any one of them could've been cursed on the way here, in any number of places!

There's no possible way we can find the words of the Curse, if that is the case!


And if you're positive that my White Lotus team were the ones Cursed in the tunnels, it doesn't help either!
We don't know where the entrance is! We don't know how long it will take to find the Curse words, or if the Curse words are even there!
That part of the tunnels could have collapsed!

Its a giant waste of time! I don't know if we can afford that!"

Rogue wrote:"Some of us can check out the morgue, the rest can investigate the scene of the crime. I dibs the victim's house, I have the accent."

Ana wrote:One team to look at the bodies and gather information from that. I'd suggest those of us who have a higher focus on magic and science.

A second team to check out the crime scenes and interview family members and friends of the victims.

And the third to mingle with the large groups around town and see if anything stands out. This team should only be female for obvious reasons."

Circi wrote:Circi hums, "I can take to the morgue. Public isn't the best spot for me to be in, and the dead dont scare me. Plus our researchers can do their job in peace." She points to Adam, "You're coming along. Your observations can be stunningly useful.

"Okay, so we can structure the teams like this" Ryu thought:


Morgue - Twilight, Circi, Adam, Johan

Victims House - Rogue, Viki, Tim

Crowded Town Districts - Ana, Ursula





"Hey, hey, hey, why am I in the away team?!" Viktoria crossed her arms "I'm supposed to hold the fort in the castle!... and where are you in this, Ryu?"

"Iiiii... am switching places with you" Ryu pointed at her "I am now Viki and you are Ryu. Bring the hair dye"

"Excuse?..." Viki grimaced.

"...there's an angry mob standing outside your castle gates" Ryu heavily said "...you're a target... and frankly, I'm questioning your willingness to confront them, if they breach the gates... from where I'm sitting, it looks like you just might let them lynch you, as some sort of self inflicted punishment, for things you think are your fault."


"I!... you know that's not-!..." Viktoria tried to start a sentence and stopped several times.


"You're going on the away team!" Ryu firmly said "I will take your place in the castle, while you are gone. Rakshata needs to see that her King is still there and among the people, holding the fort with them. This image is probably the only thing holding this city together. Remove that, and its gone.

And should someone attack the castle, I'll make sure they regret it! Viktoria, I won't let you come to harm!"


"Tsk..." Viktoria frowned at the floor "...fine... whatever"

Rain wrote:"We should take a look at that running brothel. They might have some pertinent information.

"Well, good luck finding it, cos I sure as hell don't know where to look" Viki shrugged, seeming resigned "If you think you can do it, I believe in you"

"So we have a forth away team" Lighting chimed in:



Teh Brothel - Rain, Lighting, Kaylee



"...kill me" Kaylee said, just barely audible, her face distorting with cringe.


"Trust me, with ME on the team, there's no criminal underground we can't find" Lighting smugly pointed at herself "I am the most infamous Rogue Witcher this side of the continent, and a Doppler to boot. I can blend in and I know aaalll the ways of the underworld.
Not to mention, Iiii am the strongest Mage of All Nifelheim!"


"...remind me why we're not arresting her?" Viki quietly mumbled to Ryu.

"Because I'm too fabulous and you can't handle it" Lighting has the smuggest smirk you probably ever seen her make.

Viktoria is visibly trying hard not to face palm.



"...the Lighting Witch is a valuable asset..." Ryu mumbled, as his eye twitched "...having her on the forth team will increase the chances of success."


"Its settled then" Lighting beamed, clasping her hands
"Is everyone okay with the team placement?
We can move out if everyone's ready!"

Kaylee Brown wrote:"Its settled then" Lighting beamed, clasping her hands
"Is everyone okay with the team placement?
We can move out if everyone's ready!"

"All seems good to me" Rogue nods.

"Anaaa" Kaylee whimpered "Switch places with mee, I don't like my assignmeeent"

"Pffff, weakling" Lighting waved at her.

"Ana please!.. I'll give you a silver!" Kaylee is still whimpering.

"Ooo... that's a lot" Lighting giggled "I can buy a cookie with that"