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[knightedgales]

This is a placeholder + theme-testing blog.

Go to @blacknighted.

[knightedgales]

Henry's relationship with the Devil's Pack is glowing for the most part. Some of its members, however, he's far more closer to than others.

1. Jan Zizka: The Jan Zizka, though Henry had known him before his legend in the Hussite Wars. Having been ambushed by Zizka's men 1403, sufficr to say, their initial meeting was...tense at best. But even then, having proven his prowess and beating Zizka in a 1v1 duel (honorable as knights, something Henry insisted upon and goaded Zizka for when Zizka had originally intended to rid of him and take Hans with numbers on his side), Zizka had taken a quick shining to Henry — as far as assets can be favored at any rate. Time goes on, however, and fate brings them together to become allies united to oust the traitor Sigismund's forces from Wenceslas' Bohemia. They aren't necessarily mates close enough to spill their hearts out to one another, but Henry and Zizka will happily and comfortably swap stories and share in casual talk together when they can afford some quiet. Both men admire efficiency and gumption, and they both of them find a tremendous deal of both in each other. After the events of KCD2, Zizka had expressed interest in keeping Henry on in his party which Henry turns down to keep to Hans' side. However, life turns in peculiar ways, and when Jan Hus is executed and martyred and Bohemia sinks closer into the heat of the Hussite Wars, in 1419, Zizka calls for Henry again who, this time, obliges.

2. Hynek "Dry Devil" Jevisovsky: Tense. Tense but with long stretches of 'we're amiable enough.' Hynek, already famous for his legend for being a hellish fighter, a knight who has bled his enemies dry (hence the moniker), was always known as a particularly violent and frightening force. To Henry, however, he's less scared of him, less intimidated, and more careful, to be honest, clocking the man's harsher mindset and loose-canon mentality. Hynek isn't above a little 'ends justify the means', and that had led to their most precarious moment when on the edges of Maleshov's borders. There, Hynek had argued for torching the village with its folk still in it to draw out Von Bergow's forces to ensure that their own men face fewer problems assaulting Von Bergow's castle. Henry, being an orphan, a young man who had lost his family and home himself to such brazen war tactics, refuses, and the two duel leading to Henry's victory. It led to begrudging respect on Hynek's side, but a careful wariness on Henry's. Now, they get along well enough with Henry having more than enough proven his mettle, but Hynek's nonplussed approach to war has left Henry cautious as a baseline.

3. Katherine: They are close, but their relationship has a good dose of trauma bonding hard-baked into it. Katherine, for her part, is fond of Henry, but being who she is, shows it in a way very reminiscent of a particularly ruffled hen. She isn't thrilled of Henry's willingness to time and time again run into danger be it for his beliefs or for someone else's skin, worried each and every time that that may be the last she'll see him. But it never, ever is. Henry is a stubborn sort, but sweet on being doted on if not a little fussed over, and for that, rakes quickly to Katherine. They don't talk much about what their hurts eat at them so badly (they both had lost their families and their ways of life to war, with Katherine in particular having a husband and child she's grieving over), but there is that heavy weight of wanting comfort and desiring a spark of understanding. They ultimately find that in one another, and though their closeness doesn't go beyond care and worry, Henry believes few know him better than she would. They ultimately meet again when Zizka calls for Henry in 1419; Katherine had remained by Zizka's side and, as far as Henry could tell, the pair had become romantically involved.

4. Kubyenka: A lousy drunk, sure, but somehow still the most sensible — when one forgets Zizka or Katherine, of course (forgetting, too, that no one else in this party can have their thoughts rubbed together to spark a single thing wise). Kubyenka and Henry aren't overly close, their relationship largely bound by their goals coming together, but there nonetheless remains respect between the two of them. Henry impresses the old dog, and if Kubyenka needs anything done or followed up on, he knows what stubborn, foolhardy bull to reach out to. Kubyenka, while Hans was still held captive, helped Henry to learn how to better handle a crossbow as well as well, lessons Henry more than made up for lugging the old goat back to his cot when he was too soused to stand. They may or may not have shared in the world's most questionably and potentially moonshine more than once — for science.

5. Janosh: Their relationship is friendly and amiable. To Henry, Janosh is the most receptive and welcoming of the bunch, a little odd, always attached to Adder's side (which often led to a drunken fugue for all three of them), and more sentimental than the rest of the men combined. Henry, being a bit of a softy himself, is most concerned with Janosh after Adder's fall and his deep mourning in Suchdol. He had made sure to check up on him on occasion, though never enough as to make him feel henned over like a lost boy. Henry would say he's the kindest opinion of Janosh over the rest of the lot (minus Katherine), but similarly hopes life never forces them to see one another again.

6. Adder: Of all the Devil's Pack, it was Adder that Henry felt closest to as though a normal friend. And to be fair, Adder was. Henry had saved Adder's life after Adder was strung up, accosted by a man and his friends for trying to make moves on said man's wife, and since then, Adder has been all too willing to shoot the shit with Henry. They have a bit of a mighty language barrier (a tremendous one, actually; Adder only speaks Polish, and it's all gibberish to Hal), but it's the energy of it all, isn't it? They had drank often together, and Henry was always happy to talk on girls and all else young men are eager to jabber on about together. On more than one occasion, they had raised hell in the baths together, leading the giggling wenches in tizzying fits of laughter over their harebrained antics. Of a party of older, slightly grizzlier men, Adder was the most aligned to Henry as a peer, and so, the foolishness came easier.

[knightedgales]

Henry's relationship with the Devil's Pack is glowing for the most part. Some of its members, however, he's far more closer to than others.

1. Jan Zizka: The Jan Zizka, though Henry had known him before his legend in the Hussite Wars. Having been ambushed by Zizka's men 1403, sufficr to say, their initial meeting was...tense at best. But even then, having proven his prowess and beating Zizka in a 1v1 duel (honorable as knights, something Henry insisted upon and goaded Zizka for when Zizka had originally intended to rid of him and take Hans with numbers on his side), Zizka had taken a quick shining to Henry — as far as assets can be favored at any rate. Time goes on, however, and fate brings them together to become allies united to oust the traitor Sigismund's forces from Wenceslas' Bohemia. They aren't necessarily mates close enough to spill their hearts out to one another, but Henry and Zizka will happily and comfortably swap stories and share in casual talk together when they can afford some quiet. Both men admire efficiency and gumption, and they both of them find a tremendous deal of both in each other. After the events of KCD2, Zizka had expressed interest in keeping Henry on in his party which Henry turns down to keep to Hans' side. However, life turns in peculiar ways, and when Jan Hus is executed and martyred and Bohemia sinks closer into the heat of the Hussite Wars, in 1419, Zizka calls for Henry again who, this time, obliges.

2. Hynek "Dry Devil" Jevisovsky: Tense. Tense but with long stretches of 'we're amiable enough.' Hynek, already famous for his legend for being a hellish fighter, a knight who has bled his enemies dry (hence the moniker), was always known as a particularly violent and frightening force. To Henry, however, he's less scared of him, less intimidated, and more careful, to be honest, clocking the man's harsher mindset and loose-canon mentality. Hynek isn't above a little 'ends justify the means', and that had led to their most precarious moment when on the edges of Maleshov's borders. There, Hynek had argued for torching the village with its folk still in it to draw out Von Bergow's forces to ensure that their own men face fewer problems assaulting Von Bergow's castle. Henry, being an orphan, a young man who had lost his family and home himself to such brazen war tactics, refuses, and the two duel leading to Henry's victory. It led to begrudging respect on Hynek's side, but a careful wariness on Henry's. Now, they get along well enough with Henry having more than enough proven his mettle, but Hynek's nonplussed approach to war has left Henry cautious as a baseline.

3. Katherine: They are close, but their relationship has a good dose of trauma bonding hard-baked into it. Katherine, for her part, is fond of Henry, but being who she is, shows it in a way very reminiscent of a particularly ruffled hen. She isn't thrilled of Henry's willingness to time and time again run into danger be it for his beliefs or for someone else's skin, worried each and every time that that may be the last she'll see him. But it never, ever is. Henry is a stubborn sort, but sweet on being doted on if not a little fussed over, and for that, rakes quickly to Katherine. They don't talk much about what their hurts eat at them so badly (they both had lost their families and their ways of life to war, with Katherine in particular having a husband and child she's grieving over), but there is that heavy weight of wanting comfort and desiring a spark of understanding. They ultimately find that in one another, and though their closeness doesn't go beyond care and worry, Henry believes few know him better than she would. They ultimately meet again when Zizka calls for Henry in 1419; Katherine had remained by Zizka's side and, as far as Henry could tell, the pair had become romantically involved.

4. Kubyenka: A lousy drunk, sure, but somehow still the most sensible — when one forgets Zizka or Katherine, of course (forgetting, too, that no one else in this party can have their thoughts rubbed together to spark a single thing wise). Kubyenka and Henry aren't overly close, their relationship largely bound by their goals coming together, but there nonetheless remains respect between the two of them. Henry impresses the old dog, and if Kubyenka needs anything done or followed up on, he knows what stubborn, foolhardy bull to reach out to. Kubyenka, while Hans was still held captive, helped Henry to learn how to better handle a crossbow as well as well, lessons Henry more than made up for lugging the old goat back to his cot when he was too soused to stand. They may or may not have shared in the world's most questionably and potentially moonshine more than once — for science.

5. Janosh: Their relationship is friendly and amiable. To Henry, Janosh is the most receptive and welcoming of the bunch, a little odd, always attached to Adder's side (which often led to a drunken fugue for all three of them), and more sentimental than the rest of the men combined. Henry, being a bit of a softy himself, is most concerned with Janosh after Adder's fall and his deep mourning in Suchdol. He had made sure to check up on him on occasion, though never enough as to make him feel henned over like a lost boy. Henry would say he's the kindest opinion of Janosh over the rest of the lot (minus Katherine), but similarly hopes life never forces them to see one another again.

6. Adder: Of all the Devil's Pack, it was Adder that Henry felt closest to as though a normal friend. And to be fair, Adder was. Henry had saved Adder's life after Adder was strung up, accosted by a man and his friends for trying to make moves on said man's wife, and since then, Adder has been all too willing to shoot the shit with Henry. They have a bit of a mighty language barrier (a tremendous one, actually; Adder only speaks Polish, and it's all gibberish to Hal), but it's the energy of it all, isn't it? They had drank often together, and Henry was always happy to talk on girls and all else young men are eager to jabber on about together. On more than one occasion, they had raised hell in the baths together, leading the giggling wenches in tizzying fits of laughter over their harebrained antics. Of a party of older, slightly grizzlier men, Adder was the most aligned to Henry as a peer, and so, the foolishness came easier.

[knightedgales]

"I'm noticing you're not saying much about the damage I'm doing to them ears. Getting soft on me?" Fool!

Henry knows better, fortunately, than to ask Geralt if loitering in his mind is truly that bad. It's sure to sink it like a shipwreck, this impossibly quaint reprieve that they've managed in the thicket. He thinks on what would wade there, looming in his conscience besieged and pocked, and so he envisions both chompers and incisors wet with dinner. Drooling. And at its feet, the great festering puddles of regret and blood. Goodness, he's a face that speaks of them what with the bruises on his body and those lines about his eyes. He's even scars that birth a fondness, an insatiable need for some peace alone, for some peace and quiet, but tonight with Henry there by his side -- camaraderie. Henry huffs before shrugging.

"That's what everyone tells me. The priests, too. Such was the Lord's plan, they go on murmuring, the whole lot of them, and how it's not my place to go wondering why." It's funny. Geralt's loathed, he knows that, with whispers suggesting far more to his cruelty than ever his heart. Yet, he's shared already perhaps about twice as much frankness with a geniality about him that could fluster a saint. Surely, the more pious would spurn him for repeating such wisdom they've offered before, but working, Henry with his gash can only marvel. He wants to trust it, but -- well, loss is still loss. "If Witchering falls out of favor for you," he picks up quietly, "maybe you can think about being a Father touting that worldly wisdom. Loads of the blasphemous sort from what I've gathered, too. I'm thinking you'll fit in fine, but I reckon you're not far from the truth." He frowns. "I've people to look out for. What happened at Skalitz..." Bleeding, bleeding heart. (So unafraid to feel. To hemorrhage it out. Even his cut open palm, slit by some felled bandit along the way-- Dabbing it gently, it is something.) "I'm not running away again. And I'm not. Heard about some manner of devil in the near town picking folk off left and right. Someone who can fight should do something about it, shouldn't they? Their mighty lord in his mighty tower didn't."