Witchers of Nifelheim - Part 7

The drunken man barely managed to climb inside a closed wagon with Rogue's help, before crashing onto the floor and immediately falling asleep.

"Well. That takes care of that, I guess." Rolo said in the depths of your soul "Unless you wish to adopt him of course."




"We weren't drinking or smoking swamp weed at the time!" The scholar exclaimed "We only started partying After we realized the magnitude of our discovery!"
He wearily turned to Rain "I heard a voice in the wind, but could not see a speaker! It spoke of a toll that was not paid, and then the roots attacked us!" He visibly shuddered, hugging himself "If we were any slower, I fear the roots would have drags us under the ground, where we would suffocate, while still alive!!!"


"Oh brother" Bastila loudly sighed, covering her eyes.

"Yes Bestia." Ryu faintly smirked, as Bastila shook her fist at him.


"That's all very fascinating but we're on a schedule." Bastila finally said, placing her hands on her hips. "We really should focus on reaching Lieselotte." Her expressioned changed "Zoy needs us."


Kaylee looked down, taking hold of her elbow.

Circi hums, "I still couldn't imagine what the toll could be for a mythical tree, but i'll keep trying." She shrugs, "Bastilas right though. Given what just happened I personally think we should press on." She hums, "What do you think Ada-..." she pauses, "Wheres my son?" She looks to their carrage and peeks inside, ensuring Rose isn't eating her son, or worse.

Rain frowns slightly, closing her eyes in thought a moment, "I agree. We should keep moving. I just have a couple more questions." She leans forward on her log seat. "Can you describe the roots to me?" She asks streightly.

Some Sinner wrote:Circi hums, "I still couldn't imagine what the toll could be for a mythical tree, but i'll keep trying."

"Maybe it wishes to be watered in blood?" Rogue suggests, "Like a conscious hangman's tree?"

Adam seems to be where you last saw him, peacefully resting and fastened to his stretcher inside a closed wagon. This didn't stop him from subtly cooking a Rib-Whip, which he now held close to his chest, ready to shoot at potential trouble makers.

"...you know, the whole reason why you have to keep laying still," Johan sighed, sitting next to him "is to avoid raising your blood pressure. What do you think shooting a giant bone whip out of your fist will do?"

"I must be ready. I will feel useless otherwise." Adam calmly replied "I also feel fine."

"That's because you haven't exerted yourself for a week and your artery is still healing. Start going crazy however-..." Johan shook his head, then looked at Circi for support.



Looking around you spot Rose in a tree, about three meters high, sitting cross legged and aiming her spectral bow into the blizzard.



The scholar looked at Rain and visibly shuddered "The roots were the size of my forearm! Big and scary! With patches of dead bugs, mud and old moss sticking to them!!!..... just like regular roots actually... ehehe..." he absentmindedly kicked a small rock.


Ursula looked at Rogue and pondered "Blood, huh. Hey, Viki, what was that song you sang, the first time you ran into us?"

"Ugh." Bastila audibly cringed, off to the side.


"Blood, blood, blood
All it wants is blood,
Give the Guillotine
A blood off-ering
Blood - to - quench - its - thiiiiiiirst

So the blood that's for
The Guilotine's thirst is never queeeenched,
Only thing it wants -
Blood
Blood
Bloooooooood" Viktoria sang, with a delightfully calm smile on her lips.


The scholar went pale and slightly moved back.

Twilight shook her head. "I disagree with going as soon as possible."

"We haven't had a solid night of rest in far too long, which is not helping our judgement. The hadedashi are pushing their limit as well. Pushing on will let us reach Lieselotte faster, but in what condition do we remain?"

She folds her arms. "In our world, there's a sports event based on a historical event. Back when communication was in person or through paper, an important battle was won. A messenger was send to deliver the good news to the king, as fast as possible. So, the man ran, and ran... He reached his destination, said they were victorious, then collapsed. Often it's said he died, but whatever version, he was no longer functioning."

She looked at the remains of the fire. "I understand the desire and necessity of going to Lieselotte as fast as possible, but what's just as important is that we deliver the information we have gathered. Arriving there with sleep deprivation, hunger and exhaustion, can you deliver what we learned in all places perfectly composed and with full clarity? Even worse, we have two wounded who have very fragile wounds. Those two already out of commission, do you want to risk adding more to that as we get cut because our reflexes have dulled?"

Twilight looks at Bastilla. "You're correct, Zoy needs us. However, she needs all of us. Our knowledge, our presence, our minds and our power. When we arrive at Lieselotte, we need to be at our best, so we can go to work immediately and not waste any time recovering from this journey."

She looked down, her brow furrowed. "But how fast is he? Any ideas?"

Circi smiles slightly and nods, "We're safe for now. It was just some human or parasite rat. There doesn't seem to be anybody watching us in the storm. Things seem to be mostly clear. Relax my boy." She smiles slightly, "I do appreciate the thought, but Its not worth bleeding out over."

Rain looks to Rogue with a shine of horrified wonder at the sacrifice he just mentioned, "Blood for the blood tree!" She slams her fist into her armored thighs, "We will all become its roots in time!" She laughs before her eyes flick back to the scholar, "Anything else we should know?" She looks around the party, "And does anyone else have any questions he could possibly answer?"

She looks to Twilight, "Pretty fekkin fast now that im thinking about it. He must have booked it as soon as he was out of sight because he B-lined right for the forest to cover his tracks."

You continued a vigilant watch of the camp, as a deep darkness settled over the forest, but nothing disturbed the night. The strange man was never seen or heard from again, the storm leaving no trace of him ever being here. By the time the dawn came, the snowfall had died down and as the storm clouds parted, a golden sun lit up the snowdrifts around the camp, making each snowflake shine like a diamond.

Well rested and full of new strength, you finally part ways with the convoy, its occupants, weary of your stories of Rakshata, continue their journey up north, but many of them expressed a deep concern for the recent siege there. You ultimately got the feeling they may just depart Rakshata, shortly after they reach it and restock of food and supplies.


While your journey took you further south-west, to the capital of humankind on this planet. It was another weeks travel, through the deep winter forests and snow covered paths, before the trees parted abruptly and a beautiful valley came into view.









The Lieselotte Castle Town stood on the horizon, just beyond the Obelisk Ring. Even from here, some 10 kilometers away, under the bright rays of dawn, you could vividly see the city was shining with activity. Thousands upon thousands of street-lights glowed with a faint blue magical light, street decorations woven from wood, flowers and vines, hung over the streets, over hundreds of thousands of people, as they all prepared for the Peer Gynt Festival, a massive festivity hosted across all Nifelheim cities, once a year.


The morning was still just beginning, it couldn't have been over 6 o'clock when your convoy came to a halt, some 10 kilometers away from the city, at Roses behest.

The parasite looked a little unnerved, the closer you came to the city, visibly fidgeting, until she finally brought the entire convoy to a grinding halt, by standing in front of it and raising her palm.

Mistaking the sudden stop for the end of the journey, Adam finally dared to slowly raise from his bed and pop his head out of the roofed wagon:

"Have we arrived at the city of lights?"

"Soon." Rose sighed, still holding her palm firmly raised in front of the lead Hadedashi. The blue fox fixed her with a disapproving stare and tried to nib at her fingers. Rose pulled her hand away and stuck out her tongue:
"...I wish to know your intentions about me, now that we've nearly arrived at the castle." she finally said, looking at you "I cannot go further, the Obelisk suppression field around the city, won't let me wander inside."


She shifted her weight, crossing her arms "Shall I await you here, on the outskirts, should some phantom threat emerge and require my assistance on the edge of the city?"

"I don't see many other options for you." Bastila shrugged, from her seat on a fox.

"You could find me a host." Rose meaningfully looked at you "Seeing as that's my only escape from this planet... rather not get left behind with a horde of insane, hungry parasite savages who cannibalize their own kind."

Kaylee Brown wrote:Rose sighed, still holding her palm firmly raised in front of the lead Hadedashi. The blue fox fixed her with a disapproving stare and tried to nib at her fingers. Rose pulled her hand away and stuck out her tongue:
"...I wish to know your intentions about me, now that we've nearly arrived at the castle." she finally said, looking at you "I cannot go further, the Obelisk suppression field around the city, won't let me wander inside."

She shifted her weight, crossing her arms "Shall I await you here, on the outskirts, should some phantom threat emerge and require my assistance on the edge of the city?"

"I don't see many other options for you." Bastila shrugged, from her seat on a fox.

"You could find me a host." Rose meaningfully looked at you "Seeing as that's my only escape from this planet... rather not get left behind with a horde of insane, hungry parasite savages who cannibalize their own kind."

"Will there be any sort of Witcher school here, they might have candidates?" Rogue asks.

"NO!" Circi immidately objects, "Absolutely not, no way!" She looks to Rogue, "If theres a witcher school its for those in need. For those who are infected and having their souls devoured!" Her face twists into a disgusted, grimmice, "you arent actually going to concider this right?"

Rain squints at Circi, "You said she couldn't leave, what do you suggest we do then smarty?" She crosses her arms.

Circi grits her teeth, "She stood around with Kaz, why cant she stand around some more?"

Rain glares back at her, "You know. I'm beginning to think you just want to bring her along so you can berate her and make her feel like shit at every turn. YOU may not like the parasites, but I believe theres some redeeming factors in her. If we can find a human whos striving to be a witcher, who wants to protect his home and his species, we have his answer."

Circi scowls, "This is rediculous! The fact you are even concidering this makes me wonder why im here in the first place!"

"I suppose Circi isn't willing to help you here." Twilight says dryly, before turning to Rose.

"I suppose giving you a host, making that person a witcher, is your best bet. Especially if you choose to coexist, it's safer for the future witcher as well."

She then rubbed her chin. "However, this will reset your powers, right? Or does this push that human to your health, mana and skill levels?"

She then looks to the city. "And what human would come along with a bunch of witchers to meet a parasite?"

Twilight wrote:does this push that human to your health, mana and skill levels?"

"And there's the kicker." Rose sighed, her expression becoming gloomy.


"...there's a reason why Witcher initiates only try bonding with newly born parasites." Viktoria grimly continued Rose's thought "A young parasite has a weak immune system. It didn't have time to develop. So its much easier to establish a Glasgow Synergy with them.

However... a parasite who lived for several years and acquired some Stat power, their immune system is stronger. Proportionate to their power level.


In theory, if a human establishes a Glasgow Synergy with a veteran parasite, that human's stats will be immediately boosted to the parasites skill level. However... the stronger the parasite, the more difficult the task. And the difficulty grows exponentially.



"...establishing a Glasgow Synergy with Kaznachey, will make you a god among men, for example." Rose grimly continued "But with his power level, that task is impossible. That's why, the moment he infects someone, that human's will is broken in milliseconds... and their soul is devoured by Kaznachey."


"Rose could theoretically establish a new Glasgow Synergy." Bastila grumbled "However her power level is that of a 20 year veteran. Finding a human who can survive contact with her... will be... difficult... to put it mildly. She might end up killing her host by accident, without meaning to. Her overpowered immune system might kill him... But if he survives, he'll be at Roses level."


"Pretty much." Rose gloomily shrugged.




"Lieselotte is home to the Witcher Academy," Ursula nodded to Rogue "The largest and most prestigious Witcher school on the planet. Those who can make the journey, travel to it from all corners of the world, even I did." She placed a hand on her armored chest plate and smiled "There won't be a shortage of volunteers, eager to go through the joining."

She looked at Circi "I actually wasn't infected by chance. I made my journey to Lieselotte Academy as a human. After I studied there for several months, preparing for the Joining, one of the teachers used Mitosis to create a new parasite for me, once he believed I was ready. Most of us become Witcher's like that, though its not unheard of to meet a human who was infected by chance and help him through the Joining."

Twilight wrote:"And what human would be mad enough to come along with a bunch of witchers to meet a parasite?"

"Well! Let me tell you about a Witcher named Zoy!" Viki excitedly said.

"Ugh." Bastila rolled her eyes.

"She actually sneaked out of the castle and wandered the woods on her own, as a 14 year old child, hoping to get infected, until she a met parasite who did." Viki finished "Trust me, there's more than enough patriots with that kind of mindset. The problem will be finding one with a strong enough will to survive contact with Rose."


"I don't know..." Kaylee uncomfortably said "Sounds kinda risky..."

"It is." Rose flatly said "Very."

Kaylee Brown wrote:
"Well! Let me tell you about a Witcher named Zoy!" Viki excitedly said.

"Ugh." Bastila rolled her eyes.

"She actually sneaked out of the castle and wandered the woods on her own, as a 14 year old child, hoping to get infected, until she a met parasite who did." Viki finished "Trust me, there's more than enough patriots with that kind of mindset. The problem will be finding one with a strong enough will to survive contact with Rose."

"Oh, right." She replies, like it had completely slipped her mind before. Her face becomes more neutral afterwards. "But, that's one person. Zoy was lucky to be powerful enough to resist it, while Johan, Kaylee, Moon, Radiance, Rain, Rogue and I were lucky we were hit by newborn parasites, as we didn't know what was happening."

She then looks at Rose again. "You call it an immune system, although..." She rubs her chin, her face betrays curiosity. "Is it automatic, or do you have some control over it? If it's the latter, you could hold back the power and set up the synergy." She looks up, almost if she was checking her memories. "During the initiation, some parasites were aggressive, while others were calmed down. This would have an infuence on the chances of synergy."

She looks at Rose. "Am I right or wrong in my hypothesis?"

"It's automatic, but I have limited control over it." Rose shifted her weight "Its like breathing, I guess.

The process is automatic, my brain does it reflexively.
I can try to resist this process by consciously holding my breath. But at some point, I'll reach my limit and my brain will force me to breathe again, whether I want to or not. Its an uncontrollable reflex. It can't be defied.


The same will happen in our Joining. I can try to temporarily subdue my bodies reflexes, but eventually they will break through. And since my power is pretty high, I'll have to 'hold my breath' for a pretty long time, before the Joining completes.

It will be difficult for me and difficult for the host."

Kaylee Brown wrote:"It's automatic, but I have limited control over it." Rose shifted her weight "Its like breathing, I guess.

The process is automatic, my brain does it reflexively.
I can try to resist this process by consciously holding my breath. But at some point, I'll reach my limit and my brain will force me to breathe again, whether I want to or not. Its an uncontrollable reflex. It can't be defied.

The same will happen in our Joining. I can try to temporarily subdue my bodies reflexes, but eventually they will break through. And since my power is pretty high, I'll have to 'hold my breath' for a pretty long time, before the Joining completes.

It will be difficult for me and difficult for the host."

"Is there any way of testing whether a candidate would be strong enough to survive?" Rogue asks, "There may be a lot of potential hosts, but I wouldn't want to burn through a bunch of them until we find one that sticks..."

"You must challenge them to a test of pure courage and will!" Rose theatrically said, epicly turning toward the rising sun over the city, her hair swinging behind her in the breeze "The one at the top of the dominance hierarchy, the one who will stand atop a free-for-all and prevail. Only the best, the strongest and most determined, will have the arrogance and will power, to SURVIIIIIVEEEEEE.


"Test of course and will..." Bastila repeated in a deadpan "...how would you propose we test that?"

"I dunno," Rose shrugged "Improvise something."

"Oh for gods sake." Bastila facepalmed.

Kaylee Brown wrote:"You must challenge them to a test of pure courage and will!" Rose theatrically said, epicly turning toward the rising sun over the city, her hair swinging behind her in the breeze "The one at the top of the dominance hierarchy, the one who will stand atop a free-for-all and prevail. Only the best, the strongest and most determined, will have the arrogance and will power, to SURVIIIIIVEEEEEE.


"Test of course and will..." Bastila repeated in a deadpan "...how would you propose we test that?"

"I dunno," Rose shrugged "Improvise something."

"Oh for gods sake." Bastila facepalmed.

"Don't suppose there are any waterfalls nearby to dramatically meditate under?" Rogue jokes.

Circi looks across the party in some disbelief, "You're actually concidering this?! I am absolutely appauled."

Rain stares at Circi a long moment, "Yes. We are concidering this." And as Circi turns to object rain interupts, "Your really going to just let our trade from Kazinchky stand out here and freeze to death? Orrr get kidnapped? Or god knows what else?" She crosses her arms, "We havent even questioned her yet."

Circi bites her lip, drawing blood slightly as she loses her argument, "Why dont we just question her out here and release her?"

Rain meets her eye to eye, "Are we being watched Circi?"

The Sinner grimmaces before her hands go to her head and she nearly pulls out her hair, "UGHHHHHHH... FINNNEEE!" She roars into the wagons roof.

Rogue wrote:"Don't suppose there are any waterfalls nearby to dramatically meditate under?" Rogue jokes.

"There's actually 7 waterfalls inside the city, built around the south side of Lieselotte Castle." Ursula smiled "They're all artificial, but, very beautiful. The central one reached up to 80 meters in height."

Circi wrote:"You're actually concidering this?! I am absolutely appauled."

"I understand where you're coming from, I do," Viktoria said with a collected expression "But the truth is, human's have no defense against parasites. They are invisible to our eyes, we can't see them, let alone inflict damage on them."

She shook her head "We don't have Sinner blood. So the only way we can fight a parasite, is with another parasite. That's the unfortunate reality. We NEED parasites to survive."

Viktoria sighed "Establishing a good working relationship with a parasite is hard enough. But we are in tremendous luck. Not only did Rose already serve with a Witcher before, but she's actually willing to serve with another again. On top of things, she has a lot of power and combat experience. She will be a great boon and asset, to our efforts of saving humanity."


"Asset, huh..." Rose narrowed her eyes.

"You need this as much as we do." Bastila quietly said "Parasites can't walk past the Suppression Obelisks, so they can't take part in the Migration. Only those attached to a Witcher can. Those left behind will be eventually devoured by the crazed horde, which will wash over this planet like locust, until there's nothing left to eat and they'll all starve to death.
But those who'll have a connection with a human, will survive and Migrate. The Glasgow Synergy really is that, a Synergy, beneficial to both parties.
It's in our best interests to cooperate."

Twilight briefly turned and observed the theatrics of Circi, musing to herself. "So that's what it looks like... Now I get it... Seems fear does make you even dumber then anger. Better remember this scene."

She then looked back at the main discussion. "Perhaps asset was a poor choice of words. Since we all have a common cause, we're united under that cause, with everyone offering different knowledge and power to increase the chance of succes. To that end, we may be assets, but most of all we're allies." After saying the, she gave a chuckle. "That was a bit too cheesy, but the point remains."

She then looked around, for a good spot to rest. "It might be best for Rose to find a place to hang around for now, then once we have found a suitable and willing human to bond with, we come back for the ritual." She then frowned. "But what would be the best criteria to search for? I mean, the chance of a succesful union with a newlyborn parasite is already not high enough, and while our machine folks did survive, we nearly had one failure until we got a second chance." A hint of sadness came over her, as her mind briefly went over the humans that were killed in the ritual in the machine world, what seems like years ago now.

She shook her head a little and looked to the ground, her brow betraying some frustration. "Can't believe I could ask this..." She looked at the three young kings, with visible regret. "I'm sorry to ask, but are memory orbs of someone's joining ritual possible? If so, would..." She bit her lip, believing what she would say was insensitive, as usual.

"Would such a record of Zoy's joining ritual exist?"

As Circi now pouts on the seat of the wagon, Rain steps out, "Where are we leaving Rose?" She cocks her head slightly, "There wouldn't happen to be a building outside of the city walls she could hide out in would there?" She glances at Rose then shrugs, "Is there a way to the sewers from out here?"

Twilight wrote:"Perhaps asset was a poor choice of words. Since we all have a common cause, we're united under that cause, with everyone offering different knowledge and power to increase the chance of succes. To that end, we may be assets, but most of all we're allies." After saying the, she gave a chuckle. "That was a bit too cheesy, but the point remains."

"O-of course... I didn't mean-" Viktoria slightly shriveled up and looked at Rose "I'm sorry."

"Tsk. Whatever." Rose crossed her arms and looked away.

Twilight wrote: looked around, for a good spot to rest.

You spot a small rock formation that almost formed a half-cave, sitting amidst a collection of pine trees. Theoretically, one could remain there, hidden from direct view of the road and the city.
Apart from that, all you see are snowdrifts and pine trees, as far as the eye could see.

A river peacefully ran further ahead and a few alien fish with too many eyes periodically jumped out of the water. You felt a subconscious urge not to make eye contact with them.

Twilight wrote:"Can't believe I could ask this..." She looked at the three young kings, with visible regret. "I'm sorry to ask, but are memory orbs of someone's joining ritual possible? If so, would..." She bit her lip, believing what she would say was insensitive, as usual.

"Would such a record of Zoy's joining ritual exist?"

"Oooooofffff...." Bastila slowly shook her head, her expression hardening "That would be a baaaad move, Twilight. A Witcher can produce a Memory Orb of her own Joining, but I wouldn't ask that of Zoy. Not if you want to get on her good side.

Her Joining was messy, and horrible and very traumatic for her. I'm sure she wouldn't want anyone to see it, not only to preserve her own honor, but also because it was extremely private for her. If someone saw what happened there, I'm sure she would be deeply embarrassed.

I wouldn't ask her of this, it would only exacerbate her already shaky perception of you guys."


"We really should get going." Ryu uncomfortably shuffled in place "If my calculations are correct, Kaznachey threatened to have Zoy assassinated today, during the Peer Gynt Festival."

Rain wrote:"There wouldn't happen to be a building outside of the city walls she could hide out in would there?" She glances at Rose then shrugs, "Is there a way to the sewers from out here?"

"There's probably a sewer exit here somewhere," Ryu looked around, twisting his head "I don't remember where though. Zoy would know for sure."

"...I'd... prefer to find a snowdrift and bury myself in it," Rose said while contorting, visibly suppressing a gagging reflex.

Rain looks down at Rose with a brow raised, "We'll take a look around first to make sure there aren't any other hiding places." She crosses her arms, "Unless you think your instinct is more trustworthy."

It hadn't occured to Rain that moon had completely gone missing from their party, and when Twilight had moments ago mentioned it, she seems to stare off into space a moment, "Where on earth did she go..." she glances at the jumping fish and shivers, "...I dont want to think about it."

Kaylee Brown wrote:"We really should get going." Ryu uncomfortably shuffled in place "If my calculations are correct, Kaznachey threatened to have Zoy assassinated today, during the Peer Gynt Festival."

"Tell us honestly, how likely is she to believe us?" Rogue ask, "Would she be more cooperative if you guys talk to her alone, without us tagging along?"

"We're her family, she knows us practically since our birth." Ryu confidently said "If we approach the castle together with you and vouch for you, she'll at least hear you out."


Rose nodded to Rain "We're close to a wild forest, I'm sure I'll find something."

Ursula sat closer to Lightning inside the wagon and huger her. Even after two weeks, the girl hasn't spoken a word. She never reacted to anything that's been happening around her and kept staring off into space, with a completely blank and empty expression.

"We should get her help soon..." Ursula quietly said "I'm worried that if we don't change something soon, she may never go back to being herself.."

Ursula looked up at you from the wagon, still holding Light in a hug "We should move out to the castle, if we're all set."