Night enveloped Novigrad, the sky alive with bright stars and a moon half full. It was the most dangerous time to be caught unsuspecting, but Felix wasn't exactly the type to keep his wits about him. He was rather more the kind to simply walk with his head up, one foot in front of the other, and never dare to imagine the worst. Novigrad's busy streets were a far cry from Oxenfurt's, but still, it took more than the smell of the city to dampen his spirits.
This street, however, was calm at this time of night, much like the ones he was used to. There was only the figure of one person walking quite a way ahead of him, minding their own business he imagined. But as he took another step and felt the crunch of metal underfoot, he looked down to realise he had stumbled upon a coin purse. It must be the stranger's! He picked it up, tightening its string, and took off after them. "Hello!" He called, hailing their attention.
his plan was simple, find a inn that will take him for the night. it should preferably be a cheapest inn since he was running out of coin, and tomorrow he'll see what contracts he can take because being a witcher without coin won't be helpful to him in the slightest. axsel was so focused on going to the inn that he didn't notice his coin purse falling, didn't even hear it- not until he heard someone and turned around.
"yes?" axsel asked, he was tired truth to be told and had little patience for whatever it was this stranger wanted to- expect that wasn't a stranger, he has gone to the workshop plenty a time to get his swords sharpened. he waited to see what it was felix wanted when he noticed the pouch. "when the fuck?" he looked down and sure enough, the coin purse wasn't where it usually was. "good eye, thanks. working this late at night?"
Apollo had been granted a break between skits after the play. His eyes had scanned through the audience until there was a face he recognized. Quickly, the actor got off stage. Would the witcher even remember who Apollo was? It was years ago, when Apollo was still a young soldier deserting Nilfgaard. "Axsel!" He called out to the witcher, hoping he heard before he left.
He stopped on a dime when Axel turned. "You probably do not remember me" What a stupid way to start a sentence, Apollo thought to himself. "You rescued me, a few years back. I looked a little different then." Was there a way the actor could better explain himself? "From a drowner, you know?" The actor hunched over and did his best to imitate the monster.
Apollo was well aware of how foolish he looked in the moment, but he was better at getting a point across with a little drama.
"i know what a drowner looks like" axsel raised an eyebrow and chuckled, he has saved countless of people over the years, he's sure more people died than lived- since he's usually called when there's a loss of life. he tried to run through his memories of the people he has saved from drowners and his mind simply can't recall. "worth it then." he shrugged his shoulders. "do not take offense that i can't recall, long life of a witcher and all."
he took another look around, from getting in trouble with drowners to giving performances. "enjoying your life after the drowner then? sorry, your name was?" axsel asked out of curiosity. he was glad that at his this person got to enjoy their days after an encounter with such a monster.
Usually Yair would not dignify that particular form of address with anything less than a broken fucking nose, but the familiar, unexpected voice that pricks his ears is enough to give him pause, and when he wheels around to see the upstart young Griffin from Larvik, he groans. "Fuck me," But there's no real bite in his words and, in spite of his complaint, it isn't such a terrible thing to see Axsel on this side of the Great Sea - not that he'd ever tell him that, of course, "They've finally kicked you off of Skellige, have they? What happened, they run out of drowners for you to wave your sword at? Thought you'd come and play with the big boys for a change?"
He sits heavily in the offered chair and makes himself right at home, looking over the ruins of the finished gwent game with a critical eye. As a rule, Yair tries not to commit himself to cards at the start of an evening, simply because it's proven an extremely efficient way to get himself thrown out of the tavern before he's had the chance to even get halfway drunk, but... he's never not risen to meet a challenge, which Axsel knows as well as anybody.
"Alright, fuck it, you'll buy me a drink - and then all my other drinks for the rest of the night, after I kick your sorry arse back to Hindarsfjall," he declares, yellow eyes glittering as he reaches inside his jerkin and produces his preferred deck: predictably, monsters, the cards battered and lightly flecked with both beer and blood from countless nights of gambling gone awry.
axsel openly laughed, there was no point in telling him the truth as to why he was really here- the death of his sister, the waiting for revenge, finding a way to get celeste out of here- so instead axsel said. "can't i visit old friends in novigrad? i know you missed me. besides, i have on good authority that skellige is in good hands." he's not the only witcher in the land anyway. both him and yair know that axsel would rather stay in skellige, he likes the land, the winter and the challenge that come from hunting down the unique monsters that you can only find there.
axsel called for a server to get them more drinks, if both of them are going to have a few round of gwent, they were going to get drunk while doing it. this is exactly what axsel needed to get his mind off of things, some friendly competition that will end with both of them drunk and probably laughing their asses off.
"all your drinks? how about you win your first game old man then we'll see." he collected his unsurprisingly skellige deck- a deck that takes damage to achieve victory- and shuffled. "are you sure you're able to kick anybody at this stage in your life? don't have little witchers to train so somebody else will do the hard work?" axsel teased.
"I did not!" Savya called back indignantly with a shake of her head. She kept her eyes on Axsel, smirking. She was always one who wanted to win, who didn't like winning after all? The makeshift racetrack wasn't very significant, it was mostly dirt roads and travelers and traders along the sides. But it also stretched over the terrain and was close to Novigrad.
Their bet included drinks, because why not? And she knew she'd win anyway. "Should we go again? Have I not tired you out?" she just grinned at her fellow Witcher. "Perhaps a game of gwent if you need something less exciting, something that won't hurt your back as much, old friend," she teased him.
axsel gave a chuckle. "i do not tire out so easily." his fellow witcher's antics were familiar as his horse got closer to hers. "perhaps you didn't cheat, maybe i just let you win." he grinned at her, either way the ride was an enjoyable evening- not matter who lost or won. it made him realize how he missed on the little things since they lost their school.
"come, you know i would've bought you that drinks either way." axsel got down from his horse and pet it, his companion for years and years. from skellige to here, he only wished his wolf could've come too. "but yes, a game of gwent sounds good. i will win there, though." walking to the tavern and getting some drinks wasn't a hardship, it's the question that he wanted to ask savya that was. "tell me," axsel started as he shuffled his deck "what do you think of the situation with the mages?"
The summer solstice was a celebration of life, and what spoke more to experience of being alive than sex. It seemed very little. The halls of Passiflora were certainly bursting with a vigorous sort of energy. Regulars and new blood alike were seeking out the pleasures of existence, and with the promise of summer trade and the budding harvests, it seemed that people were a little more willing to part with their hard-earned coin.
Olwen had come to work at Passiflora with one objective in mind. It was no secret that secrets were easily won form the inebriated, and even more so from the spent. All walks of life entered through the door, and information was quick to come by. They had already managed to influence a small number of the other Flowers to come to them with whispers, and Olwen had thus found their position to be advantageous.
There were, of course, less pleasant aspects to the job, and even Olwen themselves was surprised to find that they had not yet reached the limit of of how far they were willing to go for the cause. In the quieter moments, she wondered if there was one. But they would be remiss to say there were no gratifying moments.
With a decanter of wine and two glasses in hand, Olwen moved through the lively room until she reached a small table near the back. One of the other Flowers, Juno, was already perched upon Axsel's lap. "I could deliver the wine and go, if you'd rather." Olwen offered, setting the glasses down and pouring the cups. "We could get reacquainted another time."
ever since axsel has arrived in novigrad he has done everything in his power to try to escape from the feelings of anger and revenge, drinks at the various inn and beautiful people in passiflora were just enough to get him through the day, not by much, but it was truthfully better than having no distractions at all.
he has found himself coming to this place whenever he could, between taking contracts and drinking at the inn- passiflora has become a welcoming place, it helped that the flowers were as beautiful as the nickname they were given by the owner. it didn't quite surprise him to see olwen there, after all sylvi was a flower once. once seeing them in passiflora axsel wanted to get reacquainted, curious about where the road took the mage since they've last seen each other.
while waiting for olwen to get back, juno came to say hello to him. flirting and giggling, trying to invite axsel to go upstairs. the temptation to say yes was there but instead they talked, axsel whispered promises for maybe later until he heard olwen announce their presence. "no, no. juno was just saying hello." juno got off his lap and waved away, smiling but on the road to find another client.
"come, sit." axsel picked up his drink. "you must tell me what how you've been." any mage that managed to survive the hunts is lucky to be alive by axsel's point of view. "i can't even recall when was the last time we've seen one another."
there were three people who could be blamed for the death of their sister and celeste cycled through each of them depending on her mood and the time of day. the first: herself. she had been reckless. she had trusted the wrong people and brought the worst to their door. the second was the people who actually had done it. there was a raging fire in her heart for them. they would get their comeuppance. she was sure of that. the third was the only person she felt like she could trust in this world - axsel. he would have been able to protect sylvi ... if he had only been there.
she should have known that it would be only a matter of time before her brought sought her out. she had hoped she'd have a little while longer. " she would have been right. " celeste replied, simply. a stark contrast to the woman who had been flittering around the year previously. of the woman who used to love this celebration. but how could she love something which celebrated life when it felt like a part of her was gone now?
she watched as people moved around the city, as they prepared for the celebrations that were to come. so many of them felt like they could relax a little now. now it seemed like things might return back to how they were before the eternal fire took over the city. " it feels like some sort of trap. " she sighed. perhaps she was unable to feel joy anymore. perhaps she could no longer bring herself to enjoy something for just a little while. she seemingly had to look for the bad, the negative. sylvi would hate the person she had become in just two short months of her sister being gone.
there was no point in arguing her words, because axsel agreed with her. people preparing and celebrating while knowing that there's darkness in the city, monsters and mages alike being hunted and for what, knowing magic? using what they were born with and learned to have control over. it was all nonsensical, so of course it felt like a trap. sure, the people deserve celebration but things won't stay that way for long, axsel has been in enough fights to know.
he could leave, of course he could. go back to skellige and enjoy his life in the winter but he won't go for as long as celeste is stuck here. he has already lost one sister, he would be damned if he lost another. she can hate and blame him all she wanted for what happened to sylvi, maybe axsel deserves it but it won't change the fact that celeste may still survive novigrad.
"if i could cut off their heads, i would." axsel said quietly, just for her ears. if he could go into the past he would put himself in novigrad before anything bad happened to their family. "celeste." axsel said her name, waiting for her to look into his eyes. "we'll find a way for you to get out of here." it was a promise, one her was prepared to keep with his own blood.
The world seems a very big place, until you begin to traverse it. There are many who have become passingly familiar; like Axsel. He isn't a friend, as such; Aveline doesn't have friends. But she has enjoyed the occasional evening of amicable silence with him. The nice thing about people who live a similar life to her -- a life on the road, a life of violence -- - is that they understand an aversion to sharing too much. Aveline never likes to share her own tales, though she'll sit through other's road tales.
They both have been called upon to help haul some timber around for the bonfire, and have just now paused for breath, leaning against a wall and drinking from waterskins. Pushing her cropped hair back out of her face, Aveline looks down at herself, then to Axsel. "You look about as comfortable as a wolf in a flower crown." A rare moment of humour from her. She is aware that she looks equally at odds in this festive atmosphere. @st0rmeye (for axsel)
axsel didn't know how he got roped into helping with timber, one minute he was talking to someone and the next he was picking up logs, and it seemed like aveline was in the same boat as him. over the years and years he has been alive, axsel has met countless of people, some he forgot, others were still in memory, mostly they met more than once and aveline was in that category of people he didn't mind having a drink with.
while they take a break, axsel thinks of ways to get out of this situation when aveline speaks and he chuckles at her words. "you look about the same and i'll have you know that back home my wolf would love a flower crown." but she wasn't wrong, he would rather do anything else than this. "what if we flee, do you think they'll notice? i would rather slay a monster than do this."
their house have been gone for years, between the anti-witchers that destroyed their home and the jealous mages who wanted to know even more magic and were denied, it was only a matter of time before their house fell, at least he was still had somewhat of a connection with his fellow griffins, even if axsel isn't known to walk far from skellige, a home he returned to after the school fell.
"you cheated!" axsel laughed as he jumped off his horse, he and savya had decided to on a friendly competition, a horse race around the outskirts of novigrad and the winner will buy the other a drink during the festivities of the solstice. "i don't know if that gets you drink, dear savya." his grin was clearly teasing, she was gonna get that drink whatever axsel won or lost.
the thing about having to live for so many years means that memories are often forgotten or blended together, axsel could see someone and then years and years later they would be older and changed while he stayed the same, he has become used to that and there were plenty of fellow witchers and mages who are just the same, so the world for him doesn't change much, but still he cannot be expected to remember anybody.
as part of the celebrations, the butcher's yard have had it's own preparations and several shows and a friend has managed to convince axsel to go see one, and he the ever the fool accepted with booze by his side as he watched the show that seemed to be successful given the applause. after said show, his friend seemingly disappeared and as the crowed dwindled, axsel sighed and got up- time to back to whatever tavern will take him for the night. that was, until he heard his name being called and turned around. "yes?"
the more he's here in novigrad, the more axsel longs for his way back home. the heat in this place is nearly unbearable at this time but what is he to do? some things are more important than the weather. and despite all that he feels, patience is all he is forced to have, but that doesn't mean he will stay idle, no. if they call for his restraints, he will make his time in this town worth it, by drinking, laying gwent, taking contracts around and enjoying the brothels.
kingfisher inn is already packed full of people and the solstice hasn't even started yet. between patrons getting drinks and people dancing around trying to get others to spend more of their coin. "and i'll be taking this, thank you." axsel grinned from ear to ear as he won another game of gwent from a poor patron, when he saw in the corner of his eye yair.
"old man!" he called out, there was now a chair available now that the loser got up and left. "come, i'll buy you a drink." he gave the man a cocky grin. "game of gwent? i warn you though, i'll probably win."
to the outside world there was no rage, there was no need for blood to be shed in axsel's eyes. he still overslept when it suited him, he still drank fools under the table, still visited the brothels. and one would tell him that he was clearly uses all of that as a distraction, he would grin and say nothing. that's how he works, he cannot drown in his misery, axsel always found aways to move forward, even if he had to fake it to get there.
the irony of preparing for a solstice that celebrates life when there's so much death surrounding them. axsel knows that he will participation in the celebrations, only because doing nothing will drive him towards insanity. but there was one person it was hard to hide anything from because they felt the same way, just like the same blood that runs through their veins.
he approaches behind celeste, clearing his throat. "she would find it charming, although a waste of time." axsel shrugged his shoulder. he knew that celeste was blaming him for not being here, he blamed himself as well but no matter what she's feeling he's not going to lose another sister.
[ alexander dreymon, cisman, forty (one hundred and forty eight), he/him ] in novigrad, names have a way of reaching the wrong ears, and AXSEL OF LARVIK is one spoken more often than most. the WITCHER has lingered in the city for A MONTH, working as a WITCHER (SCHOOL OF THE GRIFFIN). depending on who you ask they’re either CONFIDENT or CARELESS. the eternal fire has yet to decide which. their presence is steeped in THE LONGING FOR THE WINTER BACK HOME, THE KNOWING SMIRK OF VICTORY WHEN DEALING WITH AN ENEMY and FIGHTING THE URGE OF MINDLESS REVENGE, the kind that draws attention… and not always the right kind. speak carefully. the pyres are always hungry.
basics.
name: axsel of lavrik
age: forty (one hundred and forty eight)
gender & pronouns: cisman & he/him
sexuality: bisexual/biromantic
specie: witcher
occupation: witcher ( school of the griffin )
family.
parents: who cares :)
siblings: sylvi & celeste
pet: a wolf, though they're in skellige atm.
appearance.
faceclaim: alexander dreymon
hair: brown
eyes: brown
tattoos: a griffin on his shoulder
scars: too many to count
biography.
tw: bad parents, sibling death
larvik was a little town in skellige, the winter there was always rough but still, it was one of the few things that brought you back after everything. you'd think that the rest of it would be filled with memories that you didn't want to relive. like your parents spending time away from the kids that they're supposed to raise, that you resorted to stealing food at times just so you and your sisters will have something while your parents lived like you didn't exist.
then they made it so, didn't they? they sold their three children to a merchant. you didn't fight or scream as you were taken away, because anything would be better than staying here, no? that's what you hoped. you saw yourself being taken from the merchant someplace else and you would still need to take care of your sisters, a goal you never wanted but they are they only thing you have left.
the gods laugh as as the merchant separated you from your sisters. your sisters were sold to a mage school and only than you kicked and screamed, demanding to go with them. but sylvi told you it's okay, that she will take care of the little one and that the three of you will see each other again. still, you kicked and screamed until you were forcefully taken away and made the merchant's life a living hell until he wanted to punish you by selling you to a witcher school, a school that recognized the filth that was the merchant and saved you anyway. shame that the saving came with unbelievable pain.
becoming a witcher was the most painful thing you've ever experienced in your life, of course years later you would laugh, but still you would never wish that pain on another person. the school of the griffin felt like a place that made connections between the witchers and taught of the importance of brotherhood and sisterhood, with the knowledge of magic that came to you like breathing.
slaying monsters for coin has become the norm for you, you were made into a fighter, a thing you've been your entire life without pause, at least now you were at peace. still missing your sisters, but at peace nevertheless. but your family was if not, stubborn and after years of not seeing them sylvi has had enough and the reunion was full of happiness, the two of them becoming powerful mages in their own right. a family, finally reunited.
after the destruction of the school, you went back to skellige- not to lavrik, no, you had no business there unless it was for coin. you simply missed the winter. you were known as reliable when it mattered, but a bit rowdy in your down time because you allowed yourself to truly relax. after all, they were precious moments that didn't come often as a witcher.
when the hunt for the mages began, you heard at first that your sisters were okay but trouble was brewing in novigrad. you stayed, believing that if they needed you, they would call. eventually, they did but by the time you came, the promise you made to yourself ever since you were a child was broken and sylvi was dead. you should've been there at the first sign of trouble, you should've done so much more.
now? there's only the need for revenge in your heart. a need that is being held back by words and actions of the smart and careless. how long will you be able to stay still while the people that have taken away your sister still draw breath?
wanted connections.
axsel's younger sister ( a wc on the main )
sylvi's best friend: a mage & a member of the lodge, this person have known sylvi for a long long time as they probably went to the same magic school together. when sylvi died, this person while wanting revenge for what happened to their best friend as well, is smart enough to know that they need a proper plan and not go straight into battle because they would lose. so they've been basically one of the only reasons axsel has been holding his revenge back.
someone he saved: over the centuries axsel have done a lot for coin. one of those contracts could've been to save y/m or maybe he has stubbled upon them by accident, either way axsel saved them but that was probably years ago and he has been visiting novigrad very rarely. this is probably the first time they've seen him again. we can talk about the little details !
failed contract: while axsel is reliable, not every contract has a happy ending. this person probably paid axsel for something (probably the search of a family member ) and maybe it was too late, maybe this family member turned into a monster and axsel had no other choice but to end their lives. either way this didn't well.
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