Witchers of Nifelheim - Part 7

The Witcher is left with his mouth agape in realization and eyes wide, as you mention the monster fish battle at sea, and he's left staring in shock as you leave, with his jug falling out of his fingers and clanking over the ground.

As you lead Bastila a good 150 meters away from the caravan, into the snowy forest, the caravan all but fades out of view, behind the trees and massive snowstorm, the snowflakes in the wind so numerous, they nearly conceal the giant campfire from view.

Bastila quietly listens to you with a heavy expression then frowns at the campsite:

"...He's either a Doppler, or something worse." she winced.


"Zlobec agent.

A Sinner cultist from that church we stumbled into.

Some other Rogue Witcher.

Or a Parasite. They can dim their eye glow by choice, and if the corpse is fresh, it won't show obvious signs of rot. Cover yourself up with enough winter clothing and add this horrible weather, it can reduce visibility just enough to pass for a human.

I don't see many other options." She scowled at the camp: "One thing's for sure. He's not a normal human. And if he is, he's not alone. He has a Witcher buddy skulking in the storm, somewhere near by, someone who gave him the shield."


She loosened her shirts collar, under the massive plate armor that covered her head to toe:
"I don't know what. But something is up.
The better question is, what's his objective? He's been traveling with these people, but didn't hurt them and didn't reveal his abilities or intentions. Even now, he's trying to pass for a gray mouse, no one special."

Bastila winced "This is a bad situation. There's a lot of civilians nearby. If we confront him and he turns out to be hostile, there will be a lot of collateral damage. He'll be in a position to hurt or kill a lot of innocent people, before we'll be able to contain him.

We have to approach this situation very carefully."

She looked left and right: "...we need to notify our team mates. Somehow. Without drawing attention. They need to know they're sitting on a powder keg."

"I'm being wary here." Twilight replies to Alyx in her thoughts. "You're correct on the need to rest, but I need to know who Ursala took after in terms of falling in love. Given the amount of pathetic suitors throwing themselves at my kids just for their looks, status and power level, they've learned to deal with those. But not those that could worm their way into their hearts."

Still keeping watch, her thoughts became solemn. "Maybe I fear that... Because I don't really know them. Ms. Haim raised Ryu and Viki, she knows these details. I've seen them in battle, so I know they can hold out. But all these emotional cues, the subtle social interactions, and more... I never seen those. I don't know how they will act in this situation. Or, other casual situations... Or..." At that thought, she froze. Her mouth moved, no sound came out out, but she said.

"I don't know my own childeren... At all..."

She sits there for a moment, before slipping away quietly.

"Worm their way into their hearts." Alyx repeated, with a small snicker "You mean establish a stable relationship, based on mutual respect and understanding?
For all the time they've traveled together, they don't know each other either. They're just talking Twilight, trying to understand each other, figure out who's in front of them. No reason you can't do the same."


He deeply sighed, watching the sky through your eyes "Ms. Haim had a head-start of 18 years on you. She knows them better, sure, but its not your fault. The children were spirited away, by events you had no control over. It just happened, as bad things do sometimes. A parent's knee-jerk reaction is to blame themselves, but you didn't cause this.

They're alive, they're healthy, what more is there?" Alyx said in thought, then paused for a long moment:


"...if you believe you don't know them, there's an easy fix for that. Talk to them.
Steal small moments whenever you can. And after this mess is over, you'll have all the time in the world. But we need to make sure they survive for that long. That's our job now-" Alyx unexpectedly cut himself off, paused for a moment, then audibly smiled:

"I said, our job... the fuck is wrong with me."



Back at the campsite, a large dance party started unfolding between the locals, that eventually dragged Kaylee, Sasha and Viki into the mix. Viki being the most awkward in her dance moves as she took heavy precautions to maintain her scarf from falling off of her face.

You don't see Bastila or Rain anywhere and after a moment, the young merchant drew your attention:


"Two of your friends have wandered off somewhere, quite far from the campsite." he said, his voice pleasant and a tiny bit concerned, as he looked at Twilight and Rogue "Is everything alright?" he asked, slightly tilting his head.

"Mmm." Rain hums in agreement, "Thats why I informed you first. I need your help to pick out our party members and warn them that something is up." She presses her tongue to her cheek a moment in thought, shivering slightly at the biting cold away from the camp, "We need to pass this down to a pair of other party members, and have them pass it down to the next. Calling a team meeting would bring unwanted ears on us, so try to stay casual." She looks back to the camp "If anyone not with us asks. I had to piss, I brought you to ensure I didn't get snatched away in the blizzard. Yeh? My next step is going to be to speak to him directly, ask some questions, and hold a conversation. Pass down the information i just gave you while I have his attention."

Circi looks off into the distance, still sat around the camp fire, "Who knows what goes through that womans mind." She shrugs looking to the merchant, "She might've drank too much."

"Odd, it almost sounds you have grown so attached you will stay when I give you freedom." is send back to Alyx in a slightly teasing manner.

Her thoughts stay solemn still. "It won't be the same though, I missed everything. The growing along with them is a mayor part of it all. But I was given two adults, instead of two babies. I wanted to raise them, see them smile, struggle and grow, and doing those things alongside them. I won't ever get those back."

She looks at Viki. "Guess she inherited dancing talent from me. I'll try to talk to them, but even during the trip they were silent. Hopefully she will reply now..."

She tried making her way over to Viki, but slows when the merchant got in the way. She tries to sound polite to him.

"Yes, just not used to so many people after trekking so long. If you excuse me." She says as she passes him.

She softly tapped Viki's shoulder. "Want to sit with me for a moment to rest up?"

"I see." The young merchant nodded, then jolted slightly "Oh, which reminds me, it seems that nature calls to me as well. I will be back shortly." He calmly stood up and tipped a non-existent hat, before walking off into the blizzard somewhere, heading south, in the opposite direction of where Rain and Bastila vanished to.


As the two return to the camp, Bastila began subtly making her way to Rogue, when she suddenly froze and frowned, looking across the camp:
"Hey... where the hell did that merchant go?" she whispered, baring her teeth. "...damn it."

Twilight wrote:She softly tapped Viki's shoulder. "Want to sit with me for a moment to rest up?"

"Yeah... sure," Viktoria replied, seeming distracted. Her eyes are drawn to Bastila and her frowny face.  Bastila briefly made eye contact with her and made some sort of hand gesture you've never seen before. Viktoria's expression turned into an expressionless mask almost immediately and her knees slightly bent, legs took a more stable stance. She looks like she's preparing to enter a combat stance any second, surveying the campsite with an emotionless stare.

But the young merchant had faded from sight.

Twilight wrote:"Odd, it almost sounds you have grown so attached you will stay when I give you freedom." is send back to Alyx in a slightly teasing manner.

"Yeah, yeah." Alyx replied with an audible smile "I'm not sure that's physically possible, we're linked for life, remember?"


He paused for a moment, before continuing "I know this isn't ideal, but people start over, all the time. As long as all three of you want to form a connection, a connection will form. You will have time, later, to get to know them as people. For now, lets make sure they complete the Migration."

Rain slowly makes her way back to camp, seemingly a bit more relaxed. She eyes the fire. 'Now where'd he go...' she lets out a slightly exasperated puff out of her nose before her eyes land on Johan, "Johan" she says his name in Nyx before approaching him, "We're in danger. That man who just left isn't as he seems. Heavily shielded with little relation to this bunch." She says out loud in the batpony tongue, "Keep an eye out. Throw a snowball at me when he comes back."

Circi looks back at the two, her face contorting into confusion when Rain releases a series of clicks and squeeks from her mouth that seemed like some kind of throat filled language, "How did you make that sound? How does that even translate to anything?"

Rain raises a brow at the sinner, "I can talk to bats." She replys with a sly smile.

Circi sighs, "That doesn't answer my question though on how you made that sound."

"So much practice Circi. So much that I lost my voice many a time learning." Rain nods getting back up, "Take my word for it... bat language is made for bats." She looks to Kaylee, and motions for her to come closer.

Kaylee Brown wrote:"I see." The young merchant nodded, then jolted slightly "Oh, which reminds me, it seems that nature calls to me as well. I will be back shortly." He calmly stood up and tipped a non-existent hat, before walking off into the blizzard somewhere, heading south, in the opposite direction of where Rain and Bastila vanished to.

As the two return to the camp, Bastila began subtly making her way to Rogue, when she suddenly froze and frowned, looking across the camp:
"Hey... where the hell did that merchant go?" she whispered, baring her teeth. "...damn it."

"He asked where you two went, then said he needed to spend a penny, and left in the opposite direction to you?" Rogue replies, indicating the direction the young merchant went in, "Why, do you need him for something?"

Kaylee Brown wrote:"Yeah... sure," Viktoria replied, seeming distracted. Her eyes are drawn to Bastila and her frowny face.  Bastila briefly made eye contact with her and made some sort of hand gesture you've never seen before. Viktoria's expression turned into an expressionless mask almost immediately and her knees slightly bent, legs took a more stable stance. She looks like she's preparing to enter a combat stance any second, surveying the campsite with an emotionless stare.

Twilight took note of the shift in stance, though not much else at the moment. She tried to look stoic, but the hurt was visible on her face.

"Nevermind, you seem preoccupied at the moment. I'll try another time."

With that, she went off to sit alone.

"Copy." Johan shortly replied to Rain in Nyx, before looking around the camp. The merchant was nowhere in sight.

Slightly intrigued, Kaylee approached with a confused smile "...whacha guys up to?"

Rogue wrote:"Why, do you need him for something?"

"He has a Level 3+ Shield Sphere around him. But he looks human." Bastila quietly whispered to Rogue, slightly covering her mouth. "Something's off."

Twilight wrote:"Nevermind, you seem preoccupied at the moment. I'll try another time."

With that, she went off to sit alone.

Viktoria briefly stopped surveying the camp and ran after you, quickly patting you on the shoulder and hunching her head very close to your ear "Trouble. Prepare for combat." her voice barely a whisper in Soren, before she pretended to laugh at an unspoken joke and began marching on toward Rose.

With a slight tilt of her head, Viki nodded toward Ryu and Ursula. Rose nodded in turn and walked off toward the two.


A minute or two passed and you began to notice how the young merchants tracks began to fade in the snow, rapidly concealed by the fierce snowstorm that still hammered the area.

Bastila turned around, with her back to the south and subtly drew a sign for Heightened Senses, the yellow glow around her fingers mostly left obscured by the storm. She looked in the direction where the merchant had vanished to and swore:

"Fuck! He's out of range! I can't sense him at all!"


"If he's under a shield, you won't be able to." Viki quietly called.

"I know, but I'd sense a spherical void in the area." Bastila scowled.


"Is he even hostile?" Johan asked "There's plenty of reasons why a person would wander around with a Shield Sphere."

"He looks human." Bastila said "And nobody in this camp could have cast it. Something is up."

"What do we do?" Johan asked.

Rain bites her lip, looking to Kaylee a moment, "I was remaining low, but if he's running he's caught onto me." She throws her original coyness out, "We'll track him. We cant just keep letting our potential stalkers and insergents wander about. Rogue, Circi, Bastila. You guys want to help me track this guy?" She looks across the party, "Some of you need to stay in case he comes back, but I want our toughest bunch in case we get caught by suprise. I want answers as to why he's out here and I intend to get them, and if it means dragging him back here kicking and screaming so be it." She nods before her eyes fall on Twilight, "Stay here or come with. Both are good options."

Rain is charging scan.

"Start charging spells to break that shield when we find him. We dont want to kill him though, bare in mind. We're also extremely likely to come across whoever cast that spell. Lets go prepared."

Circi cracks her back, then her knuckles, "It wouldn't be the first time I've tracked a mark through a blizzard."

Circi is charging Tendons Grasp.

Your comrades start charging spells of various levels and status effects, it didn't take long for the civilian folk of the caravan to catch on that something real bad was about to go down and in a few seconds, all sings of the party faded.

People were hastily packing their things, throwing piles of snow onto the massive campfire in an effort to put it out and going to hide inside their roofed wagons. For someone who were well into their fifth bottles, everyone worked pretty quickly and efficiently. You got a feeling they've trained to do this before.

The drunk Witcher spit on the ground and stood in the middle of camp. Putting his hands together, he started drawing a complex series of hieroglyphs in the air. A pentagram lit up under the snow where he stood, melting a geometrical shape and burning bright red, as the Witcher started muttering incantations.

The mother of all spells was being charged, right in front of your eyes. The legendary, all mighty, rarely seen before incantation, that could bring even the meanest parasites to their knees, begging for mercy.

The all mighty, Level 2 Fireball.



Your team mates established a quick, circular perimeter around the camp and began frowning into the darkness, trying to make out any shapes through the blizzard, as they cooked their spells, but you see nothing.

Only the tracks of the young merchant, all but completely fading away.

"How far do you want to pursue him?" Bastila called over the blizzard, as massive snowflakes peppered her face "Running after a single target is a good way to run into an ambush"

Upon hearing the warning, Twilight's emotions seem to be flattened. Her body, however, didn't seem to do anything to prepare for battle. She just continued going to a more secluded spot, scowling instead of looking dejected.

As the people began storing their equipment and went into hiding, her lack of action only became more clear. Looking around annoyed, once everyone had gotten in place, she was just looking around. Eventually, her gaze set upon a certain direction into the woods. Thinking that was the general direction two of the group had gone to, she let out a sigh.

When Rain ordered her, she looked at the pegasus with loathing and dissapointment. "Neither.", she spat back in her mother tongue, before heading to the two youngsters.

She spoke in the same language again. "I'll warn our missing members first, tell them what happened."

Rain looks at Twilight confused a moment, "I-...I dont know equestrian." She sighs rubbing the back of her head, "I must ensure everyone remains safe though."

She looks back to bastile and the party, "We'll follow out to about 300 meters if the tracks are out that far. If he's well and truly gone we'll come back and sleep in shifts to ensure these guys sleep safe."

Circi begins pushing forward into the bizzard, following the fading tracks step by step.

Kaylee Brown wrote:

Rogue wrote:"Why, do you need him for something?"

"He has a Level 3+ Shield Sphere around him. But he looks human." Bastila quietly whispered to Rogue, slightly covering her mouth. "Something's off."

"Damn, I forgot to cast Heightened Senses" Rogue curses himself under his breath, before immediately casting it on himself.

Some Sinner wrote:Rain bites her lip, looking to Kaylee a moment, "I was remaining low, but if he's running he's caught onto me." She throws her original coyness out, "We'll track him. We cant just keep letting our potential stalkers and insergents wander about. Rogue, Circi, Bastila. You guys want to help me track this guy?" She looks across the party, "Some of you need to stay in case he comes back, but I want our toughest bunch in case we get caught by suprise. I want answers as to why he's out here and I intend to get them, and if it means dragging him back here kicking and screaming so be it." She nods before her eyes fall on Twilight, "Stay here or come with. Both are good options."

"Fine by me, I should have picked him up when I first scouted the camp" Rogue nods.

Some Sinner wrote:Rain looks at Twilight confused a moment, "I-...I dont know equestrian." She sighs rubbing the back of her head, "I must ensure everyone remains safe though."

"She said she's going to warn Ryu and Ursula about the situation" Rogue translates for Rain, "They wandered off somewhere together, so they probably don't know about the merchant yet."

As Twilight made her way to the spot where she last saw the kids, their sillhoettes began to materialize in the blizzard. Their body language wasn't as awkward as its been before and Ursula even adapted a very casual stance, holding her elbow behind her back and tilting her head as she listened to Ryu:

"...-face completely white with flour, chocolate powder all over her hair, innocently smiles and says 'I just wanted to bake some cookies for your trip, dad.'" Ryu mimicked somebodies voice and burst out laughing.


"You guys are so silly." Ursula happily giggled, slightly covering her mouth "Ahh, sometimes I wish I grew up in Lieselotte Castle with you guys, you seemed to have so many happy memories together."


"Maybe we can ask Zoy to show our old rooms at the castle, mom got soooo mad when she found out we doodled across all the walls one day." Ryu giggled, then turned in your direction as the snow crunched under your boots. He couldn't see your expression in the blizzard from so far away, but he did recognize your silhouette and slightly nodded to you, his and Ursulas bodylanguage stiffening up almost immrdiately.

"Hey." Ryu said, returning his voice to very business-like "Whats up? Everything okay at the camp?"






Back at the camp, casting Heightened Senses both improved and hampered your perception of the surroundings. The enhanced hearing actually became painful, as the wind loudly howled and the cold more biting, as the snowflakes stuck to your face and clothes.

Walking together with Bastila, Rogue and Circi managed to pick up the visual trail, the merchants footprints in the snow, all but covered up by the blizzard. You couldn't pick up any smell however, the sub zero temperatures and snowflakes that kept sticking to your nose by the wind, have all but shut down your sense.

Everything smelled like snow and pinetrees.



You began following the trail, carefully stepping through the snow, Bastila's cooking spell faintly reflecting off your faces, but you saw no one, and the further you went, the harder the trail was to follow.


The merchant first headed south, down the royal road, then slightly deviated into the forest, somewhere south-west and you completely lost his trail, some 350 meters away from camp.
The mercant drifted into the forest on purpose, there were too many rocks on the ground there, too many roots, it was easy to step on them, to avoid leaving deep tracks and with the constant snowfall, his tracks had vanished into oblivion. The general direction he was headed, was South.


"Tshh." Bastila huffed "...I thought he said he was heading to Rakshata. But the first sign of trouble and he makes a 180 and runs in the opposite direction?"

She crossed her arms, the spell still cooking "...what was that about? Some... Zlobec drug mule? Saw we were suspicious of him and bailed?" She thought for a moment, then waved to go back to camp:
"What gave us away? You were so careful..." she squinted into space "...Unless, he had Heightened Senses on too, and he heard you questioning the Witcher... damn."


She threw one more glance at the forest "He was taking a risk, wondering around like that, if someone so much as threw a snowball at him, his shield would be exposed. Same if he got hit by a scan. Until then, his shield would remain completely invisible...

Who was that? And what was his purpose?"

Kaylee Brown wrote:She threw one more glance at the forest "He was taking a risk, wondering around like that, if someone so much as threw a snowball at him, his shield would be exposed. Same if he got hit by a scan. Until then, his shield would remain completely invisible...

Who was that? And what was his purpose?"

"Not even like he really needed a shield up" Rogue agrees, "By the sound of it, none of his travelling companions suspected a thing, so it was just a waste of mana that ended up giving him away.

How much of a headstart do you reckon he has? He's only on foot, and we do have pegasi with us, so even without a clear idea where he went, we could cover a wide area pretty quickly?"

When Twilight came into view, her face had settled on something that looked fitting for deals, but leaking frustration. She spoke clearly and deliberately.

"Someone got paranoid and started jumping at shadows, ruining the party. It's over now, the bottles are empty, the music died, the fire is out, and all the civilians are in their wagons. Except for one guy, who everyone thinks is a danger to us for some reason. Sorry to inform, but this little meeting is over, it's back to work already." She let out a sigh and started muttering to herself, just loud enough to be somewhat audiable. "I swear, if this is false alarm..."

Rain huffs, "Its likely everything he told the camp members was a lie. There might be bits and pieces of the truth there though. I still want to gather what little information might be left over from when he bailed. We spooked the camp, It'd be best to let them know their safe to continue on. They are under the kings watch after all." She chuckles slightly, "I feel like a goddamn guard dog." She laughs slighly louder before shooting the scan spell at her feet in aoe to make 100% certain nothing is nearby, "S-Shit! Cold!" She yipes as it rolls over her.

Circi Flinches at the cold drenching, "GODDamnit Rain. I swear, the stronger you grow, the colder your scan gets. Its terrible, I hate it." She hisses slightly, shaking the numbness from her fingers.

Rogue wrote:"Not even like he really needed a shield up" Rogue agrees, "By the sound of it, none of his travelling companions suspected a thing, so it was just a waste of mana that ended up giving him away.

Bastila snapped her fingers in realization "He needed the shield, because he didn't want to be Scanned!

A Scan, and Heightened Senses for that matter, reveal a persons true identity: Human, Witcher, Sinner, Parasite, etc. Whoever he was, his identity would be revealed.

He HAD to use a shield, to maintain his cover! Because even if his shield was struck by Scan or Heightened Senses, our spells would just bounce back, giving us no information about him. We'd know something is up, but we'd still have no information about him. He REALLY didn't want anyone to know who he is."

Rogue wrote:How much of a headstart do you reckon he has? He's only on foot, and we do have pegasi with us, so even without a clear idea where he went, we could cover a wide area pretty quickly?"

"We could, but the visibility is very poor and the storm will make it difficult to maneuver." Bastila said, looking up at the sky "The royal road to Lieselotte lies through a very dense forest. It will be easy for him to hide in a cave, under the brush or trees, or even inside a snowdrift and we wouldn't spot him from the air, especially in this blizzard.
We could try, but I'm not optimistic."

Rain wrote:There might be bits and pieces of the truth there though. I still want to gather what little information might be left over from when he bailed. We spooked the camp, It'd be best to let them know their safe to continue on.

"Mm." Bastila nodded "We could question the locals some more."

She jolted, just barely, as the Scan washed over the area. Apart from a pack of wild eyeless rabbits, hunkering down for the night in a snowdrift nearby, you don't pick up anything. Even the animals seemed spooked and tried to lie still and quiet, hoping the storm would blow over, afraid to emit a sound.

"...come on, lets head back." Bastila said, looking over the forest one last time.

Twilight wrote:"Someone got paranoid and started jumping at shadows, ruining the party. It's over now, the bottles are empty, the music died, the fire is out, and all the civilians are in their wagons. Except for one guy, who everyone thinks is a danger to us for some reason. Sorry to inform, but this little meeting is over, it's back to work already." She let out a sigh and started muttering to herself, just loud enough to be somewhat audiable. "I swear, if this is false alarm..."

"False alarms are not a bad thing." Ryu seriously said "It means the soldiers are vigilant and up on their toes. I prefer it when soldiers are overly vigilant and start jumping at shadows. It is much more preferable to the alternative - A real threat emerges and nobody notices.

Better raise a false alarm and see nothing happen. Everyone will live longer. We steal what little moments of respite we can and are grateful for every second. This is our way." He and Ursula began marching toward the camp, materializing their burning green weapons and immediately switching to a surveillance mode, peering into the blizzard and trying to glean anything that could be a threat.


"...tell me more about this suspicious man. Why didn't he take shelter in the wagons, like everyone else?" Ryu asked, his blade faintly crackling and burning, as you neared the wagons again.

Kaylee Brown wrote:

Rogue wrote:How much of a headstart do you reckon he has? He's only on foot, and we do have pegasi with us, so even without a clear idea where he went, we could cover a wide area pretty quickly?"

"We could, but the visibility is very poor and the storm will make it difficult to maneuver." Bastila said, looking up at the sky "The royal road to Lieselotte lies through a very dense forest. It will be easy for him to hide in a cave, under the brush or trees, or even inside a snowdrift and we wouldn't spot him from the air, especially in this blizzard.
We could try, but I'm not optimistic."

"Well I guess that's that, then" Rogue nods, "Guess all that's left is to find out all we can from the other travellers."

She went along and started to explain. "For what I noticed, I saw a man asking about something, hard to hear over the music. Then after I walked past him, he went out to the woods to empty his bladder. It was then that our group started to act like they heard a certain flute melody and charging spells as if it was the most critical moment of their life."

Her frown deepened. "I want to know why too, there better be a good reason and evidence for it... Hard evidence... Else this is a case of "Crying Wolf" and my trust in your judgement goes down."