Witchers of Nifelheim - Part 2

When you realized you were in free fall, you only had time to gasp and latch onto the nearest object in front of you, before the humvee was suddenly struck on its side and sent hurling forward.

With a deafening impact, the humvee came to a grinding halt, its nose smashing into something sturdy and flipped over 180 degrees, landing hard on its roof. Your wind was knocked out of you immediately.


Loudly coughing and trying to get your bearings, you sluggishly look left and right. Hanging upside down from the seat belt, didn't help your orientation one bit.
The windows of the humvee were completely covered in snow. The noise of a raging blizzard surrounded you on all sides.


Visibility was zero, the wind gusted by violently, hissing through every crack of the vehicle.


You heard Kaylee grunt and fall down, as she unbuckled her seat belt.


"Everyone alive?" you heard her muffled voice through the hard suit: "Any injuries?"

Kaylee Brown wrote:

WITCHERS OF NIFELHEIM

When you realized you were in free fall, you only had time to gasp and latch onto the nearest object in front of you, before the humvee was suddenly struck on its side and sent hurling forward.

With a deafening impact, the humvee came to a grinding halt, its nose smashing into something sturdy and flipped over 180 degrees, landing hard on its roof. Your wind was knocked out of you immediately.


Loudly coughing and trying to get your bearings, you sluggishly look left and right. Hanging upside down from the seat belt, didn't help your orientation one bit.
The windows of the humvee were completely covered in snow. The noise of a raging blizzard surrounded you on all sides.


Visibility was zero, the wind gusted by violently, hissing through every crack of the vehicle.


You heard Kaylee grunt and fall down, as she unbuckled her seat belt.


"Everyone alive?" you heard her muffled voice through the hard suit: "Any injuries?"

"Only our mechanic's heart" Rogue jokes, unbuckling his own seatbelt and joining Kaylee on the roof of the vehicle, "So much for transport, do you think we can all push this crate over?"

Pulling up his infrared heat sight, he peers out of the window, trying to get a picture of what might be out there in the snow.

"A-Ok!" Rain says crashing into the top of the humvee with a loud thunk, her flashlight aimed at the window, "Jesus... look at it out there... are we sure we weren't just transported to Veria?" She chuckles pulling on the door handle and giving the door a heavy kick.

After the landing, Twilight was couging loudly. She gave a hit to her midriff, causing her to cough up the pill she had in her mouth. She was then catching her breath, finally realizing the situation.

"Just... Lost my breathing..." I'm fine." She unbuckles herself and drops down. "So, I suppose we've made it. That's good."

A Sinner wrote:"A-Ok!" Rain says crashing into the top of the humvee with a loud thunk, her flashlight aimed at the window, "Jesus... look at it out there... are we sure we weren't just transported to Veria?" She chuckles pulling on the door handle and giving the door a heavy kick.

"Oh no, it can't be Verria, storm isn't bad enough" Rogue joins in, "What's the atmosphere outside like by the way, breathable?"

With the darkness having no effect on him Radiance listens to figure out what is around him. He releases him self and walks over to Rouge and Kaylee

"After being turned into a human christmas tree and being shot with air to surface helicopter missiles this felt tame in comparison" Radiance gives them a thumbs up

Mist chuckled and undid her seatbelt, dropping to the ‘roof’ of the veichle with a thud. She quickly rolled her arms back to check that neither had been damaged before forcing a small smile.

“Well, I’m alright. Sure we aren’t somewhere beyond the Crystal Empire? It’s freezing there, and just about as stormy.” She attempted to look out of a window, squinting a little as she got her eyes to focus correctly.

“Or we’re in hell. I can never really tell when Moon is lying about her beyond death experiences or not.”

Radiance wrote:With the darkness having no effect on him Radiance listens to figure out what is around him. He releases him self and walks over to Rouge and Kaylee

"After being turned into a human christmas tree and being shot with air to surface helicopter missiles this felt tame in comparison" Radiance gives them a thumbs up

"Just wait 'till the natives spot us, then it will be like old times" Rogue laughs.

Silent Mist/Moon Dusts wrote:Mist chuckled and undid her seatbelt, dropping to the ‘roof’ of the veichle with a thud. She quickly rolled her arms back to check that neither had been damaged before forcing a small smile.

“Well, I’m alright. Sure we aren’t somewhere beyond the Crystal Empire? It’s freezing there, and just about as stormy.” She attempted to look out of a window, squinting a little as she got her eyes to focus correctly.

“Or we’re in hell. I can never really tell when Moon is lying about her beyond death experiences or not.”

"Well, Hell has sure let itself go then if that's the case" Rogue shrugs "I mean, they had this whole volcano asthetic going for them, and look what's happened..."

"Hell being hot is a myth." Came as a response. "Pretty sure this is more of a hell for some."

She went to join the rest of the group. Looking around as far as possible, she tried to find something.

"We're stuck here for now. Let's get back inside, wait until the wind dies down a little."

Kaylee slowly opened the door and crawled outside on all fours, then straightened up. She froze for a moment, staring into the distance:

"...oh my god" she quietly whispered.



You were standing in the middle of a massive stone ruin. Broken, shattered walls, no taller than 10 meters, peppered the area. Most looked like the foundation of structures. Broken columns and archways stood over what once could've been streets.

Ruin and debris was everywhere you looked, stretching on and on into the horizon, eventually fading from view, under the snowfall and the cover of night.


"...hard suit sensors say, there's 20% oxygen in the atmosphere" Johan called, looking around and slowly stepping out of the humvee:
"Sensors also detect presence of unidentified molecules... we should probably keep our suits on-..." he suddenly froze, looking over the broken landscape:

"...my god... what happened here..." he slowly approached one of the shattered walls. It was covered by a fine layer of snow. Its surface was dark, some moth seen just below the snow layer.



Listening to your surroundings, you could only hear the raging winds of the blizzard. But somewhere, on the edge of your hearing, you thought you heard the music of a flute, somewhere in the distance. It was hard to tell, if the wind was playing tricks on you, or if the music was real.

“There’s...... music....” Mist frowned and looked around frantically, getting out of the veichle and walking up to one of the ruins, with the intent to poke it.

“Pretty sure she said something about music in Hell..... or was that in resurrections? I wasn’t exactly listening. Or I’m going insane.” She didn’t seem to phased by the whole thing. Dangerous situations were pretty much her life. This one was just confusing.

"Equestrian shells i presume." Rain sighs as she crawls out of the vehicle, "Rained down hell." She shakes her head, "Fuckin admiral." She takes a deep breath and starts moving through the snow twards the sounds of the flute, drawing her bow she keeps it cautious.

Twilight frowned at the statement. "Are we certain it was that? We need to find the proof for that first."

She looks around, trying to find anything that looks like the pillar they went in.

Kaylee slowly took a step back: "...I served long enough in the navy to recognize shell damage...
We... did this... we shelled this place..." she took hold of her head:

"This... could've been a city... and we-" you heard her gasping for air through the mask, before she suddenly fell to her knees and started digging through the snow. Haphazardly, desperately. Each move of her hands were accompanies by a raspy breath.



"Kaylee, what are you doing? S-stop!" Johan called, falling down on his knees next to her.

"I have to know!" Kaylee screamed out: "I have to see it!" She kept digging further and further into the snow layer.




Looking around, you noticed the pillar behind you. It wasn't transparent here, it seemed fully solid. Instead, the lightning storm over it seemed transparent and barely existent at all. It stood there, peaceful and quiet, in the middle of what looked like a square or a big open space.

It seems as if it was architecturally designed to be the center of the ruins around you, judging by how the streets circled it.



"...no" Kaylee's muffled voice echoed through and she stopped digging: "NO!!"


In the hole that she dug in the snow, you could see charred human skeletons.

"What have I done?!" Kaylee collapsed onto her knees, covering her face with her hands: "How many people died here?!" she began hyperventilating, rocking back and forth on the ground.


"K-Kaylee!" Johan called, trying to take a hold of her shoulder.

"This could've been a civilian city! How many innocent people were butchered here?!" Kaylee screamed out in panic and horror, covering her face with both hands.





Moving through the snow, you thought you saw the light of a fire, somewhere in the distance, placed behind one of the ruins that still had a roof. The sound of the flute seems to be coming from there.

“But..... this must have been done months, if not years ago. It doesn’t add up....” Mist shook her head slowly, staring at the damage. “Corpses get preserved in snow, so this must have been a while ago...”

Turning, she noticed what seemed to be fire. Instantly, she gently tapped Kaylee on the shoulder. “I don’t think we’re alone. Cry later, find out what’s going on first.”

Rain grabs kaylee by the back of her suit pulling her up, "KAYLEE!" she yells spinning her so she faced Rain, "You had nothing to do with this, you. Were'nt. There." She looks into the helmet, "That admiral of equestria did this dispite us telling him over and over to cease fire." She shakes her head, "Its not. Your. Fault."

Rains head turns to the sound of the flute, "We need to go kaylee..." she takes her hand leading her away.

Twilight looks around.

"Does that mean they have similiar weapons to us in this world? Or that we struck this place before all this happened? It's strange..."

She looked at the place where the music came from. "... Is it safe to go there?"

"Time is relative, so traveling through the pillar might take a very long time for those going through, which means our journey could have taken years, but for us it was just minutes" Rogue suggests "That would explain the decor, but it does also mean that all your kids might be a bit older too..."

"Rain, Moon... I'm scared" Kaylee quietly whispered, weakly following along: "...what if I... what if I had a hand in this... this horror..."


Following the direction of the music, you stumble through the layers of snow. The visibility was poor, snow kept falling around you, on and on. The ruins seemed deserted, abandoned. There was to sign of life, save for the single lit fire in the distance.

After several moments, you found yourself before a small, half broken structure. Two of its walls have collapsed, but half the roof still remained.
Under it, sat a single figure, covered in warm winter clothes, in front of a timid camp fire. Somewhat shielded from the raging winds and the snow, the figure played a peaceful tune on a metal flute, not much different in design than the ones on earth.


Approaching closer, you note that the figure looked human. A man in his late 60s or 70s, by the looks of it. His eyes were closed as he played, he seems to be entranced by the music.

“Moon isn’t here Kaylee.... she’s at home.” Mist frowned before pausing. “I think I may have ended up in a romantic involvement with her....” Mist suddenly shook her head, she had no time to think about that sort of thing. She had a daughter to fund.

Swing the figure, she decided it would be wiser to let someone else talk. Mist sucked at talking, she found herself resorting to violence far too quickly.

"Sir!" Rain calls slowly approaching raising her hand a bit, she looks around and sighs, "Where... might we be?" She slowly crouches down.

"I'm sorry Mist" Kaylee quietly replied: "I.. got confused.." she was unsteadily walking after you, her head hanging low.


The elderly man heard your call and lowered his flute. He opened his eyes and pleasantly smiled, studying your suits with curiosity.
After a moment, he said something in an unfamiliar language. Then paused and spoke again:


"...Ah.. is this language better?" he asked in Soren: "Its been a long time since the machine folk were seen around these parts. You are very far from home" he kindly smiled. His Soren was pretty fluent, with only a slight hint of accent.

"Come.. please, sit by the fire.. the storm will be here a while" he said, setting his flute aside, on a blanket and gesturing towards his camp fire:


"But please.. walk lightly.. for we stand in the graveyard, of the great city of Ashra"

"Gladly, if it isn't too much trouble joining you? It's good to meet a friendly face, we were worried we'd be greeted with hostility" Rogue says as he sits down by the fire opposite the man "Afraid we're not these machine people you speak of, these are just protective environmental suits we're wearing to protect us from the cold, we're just regular humans like you and the... Ashrans, Ashrish?

We've travelled some way and our ride got wrecked, so you'll forgive us if we seem a bit lost and unfamiliar with the local customs and geography, where did you say we were, Ashra? Where exactly is that, and what happened here, was there a battle? Oh, but where are our manners? My name's Fire, Rogue Fire, and you would be? Your Sorenese is very good, where did you learn?

"Why thank you" the man pleasantly smiled: "My job demanded it, you see. I learned from fellow travelers, such as yourselves. It took some years but, I'm glad it payed off in the end"

The man looks at you with clear, brown eyes:


"I am called Kaznachey. I am... a collector of sorts.
I travel the world, collecting stories, so I can tell them to others. I am unsure if there is a word in your language, for such occupation"


"Mmm.." Johan though for a moment, subconsciously taking hold of his chin:
"A... journalist, perhaps?"



"Perhaps" Kaznachey nodded with a smile: "I am unfamiliar with that word. Perhaps, that is what I am"
He looked at the small flames of the camp fire and slightly moved the wood with a dry stick. The flames began burning a little brighter:

"...its rare to meet travelers on the road.. I'm glad for the company" Kaznachey said, looking peacefully at the fire:

"Oh, forgive me. Machine folk, is what we call the people who come from the Machine World. Your... attire kind of gave you away. I meant no offense, of course" he looked up and smiled:


"To answer your previous questions, you could say, we are located on a massive island, with Ashra more or less at its center.
Ashra, was once a beautiful city, the peak of local culture and architectural marvel.
But, a great tragedy had befallen the city, many years ago.


The Witcher's sought to open a portal, to the Machine World. But, the moment they did, a storm of fire rained down upon them.
Over 10,000 souls were extinguished, over night. The fire rained down from the pillar, in a continuous stream of death and destruction, killing all in its path, women, children, the elderly. The entire city, reduced to nothing but rubble. A ghost, of its former self"



Kaznachey sighed, slowly shaking his head: "Such... senseless... loss of life" he looked down, at the flames of the fire:


"...the Witcher kings and commanders of Ashra, stood closest to the pillar, thus, they were spared from the fires above, that flew right over them.
They watched, as their families and loved ones, burned, before their very eyes. Everything they held dear, was extinguished in seconds.

And as their final act of justice and vengeance, they stepped through the pillar and unleashed the most devastating spell, known to man.

A suicide spell, meant to burn the users soul as fuel and unleash hellfire upon their enemies. And they did... unleash hellfire...
Before they perished... they are said to have slain, those who destroyed their city...


Or, at least... that's how the story goes..." Kaznachey quietly sighed.