IC Inbox

[vrdantwind]

"Hey, this is Claude! Pretty sure I'm doing this correctly. You can leave me a message here, and I'll get to it as soon as I can. Talk to you soon~."

Comments

[nastyboy]

...Have we not simply ended up in another realm? Like the Professor?

[...Did any of them ever tell Claude about that and how that's why Byleth has green hair now - ]

[vrdantwind]

[If Dimitri expects Claude to stop him, much less to complain, he's going to be disappointed. Claude instead makes a breathless, eager little sound against Dimitri's mouth as the kiss between them only grows more intense; even with his active encouragement, he'd never have believed his first time getting to kiss Dimitri would go quite so well or progress so fast as this. He should be flattered, but he's got nothing to spare for that; the warmth spreading from Dimitri's lips against his is quickly escalating to a heat that burns all conscious thought out of him. He could probably think if he tried, if he put real effort into it, but...nothing feels remotely as important as giving himself over completely to this, and enjoying every second of it.

When he does finally break the kiss, it's because he's overwhelmed enough that Dimitri's arms around him are practically needed for support, and Claude feels like he needs to get his bearings in some way. He blinks dazedly at Dimitri, skin flushed and lips parted.] For someone who doesn't know how...you're a fast learner.

[vrdantwind]

I mean, that's definitely the likeliest possibility the way I look at it. [Whether or not anyone ever bothered to inform Claude of their own accord, he definitely pried and asked questions and investigated until someone in the Blue Lions gave him the details. Or perhaps he got the details directly from Byleth. Trust him to have found out some way or another, though - it isn't a secret that anyone was really going to be able to keep, assuming anyone tried to keep it secret at all.] But the fact is, can I prove that's the case? Can anyone? There's a lot against your "we're all dead" theory, and I still don't believe it can be the right answer. I'm just saying that even I'm only guessing at a lot of things. I'm no authority, Dimitri. All I'm doing is looking at logic and probability and making my best guesses, the same as anyone else here.

The only thing my theories have over yours is that there are fewer logical arguments against them. Neither of us have definitive proof who's right or wrong. And the truth is...I never knew for sure, even when I was arguing with you, that you were wrong. I just knew I didn't believe it could be true, and that it'd feel wrong to let you believe something I didn't think could be right. Although I think part of it might also have been that...I hated the thought of you believing something so bleak. Being so miserable. I wonder if I might've argued against you believing it even if I did think logic was on your side, just because I would have wanted you to have hope.

[nastyboy]

[Dimitri is just as dazed as Claude, although he seems to be doing a much better job at keeping himself upright on his own two feet. He's slightly transfixed on the way Claude's lips are parted.]

Ah... You are a good teacher. I - apologize. This is a lot...

[vrdantwind]

What are you apologizing for? [Claude licks his lips, smiling at him.] That was incredible. I think if you weren't holding me up, I'd melt.

[nastyboy]

[Hope...]

..You are a good person, Claude. Thank you for caring, even despite how I was.

[nastyboy]

[If Claude is trying to break some world record with how red he's making Dimitri's face, well, he's definitely going to get that trophy.]

I am still only a novice at kissing. And - Nevermind.

idk sometime after the Fight Club Incident

[lovelybottom]

I've been told that you know the most about your realm's wyvern and pegasi. I have questions.

[Great opener, Geralt.]

[vrdantwind]

Oh? I don't know if I'd claim to be an expert on pegasi, but I've grown up around wyverns, so I can definitely speak to those from experience. What did you want to know?

[Claude's pleased Geralt is actually willing to talk to him. He's also not planning on bringing up any mentioning of Geralt's presence at fight club to Jaskier. He's sure Geralt heard about it one way or another, but if his name wasn't attached, he doesn't want to piss the man off. And it's not like he knew Geralt was keeping his presence a secret from Jaskier, so he doesn't think he deserves to get resented for letting that cat out of the bag...]

[vrdantwind]

No, tell me what you were going to say. [Claude's eyes gleam with curiosity.] I have to know now that you started.

[vrdantwind]

I couldn't stop caring about you if I tried, Dimitri. And I never tried at all until we were here, and I started caring about you more than seemed appropriate if you were interested in someone else. And even then, I was just trying to cut back, not stop. [He smiles.] But you should be trying to sleep, shouldn't you?

[nastyboy]

[Ugh. He really did sign himself up for this kind of embarrassment. Dimitri tilts his chin down slightly.]

I feel I might have been... leaning in the direction of going too far and too fast.

[nastyboy]

...Will you continue to speak, even as I close my eye?

[lovelybottom]

[He's almost disappointed that Claude isn't as familiar with the pegasi. For purely practical reasons, of course-- Geralt knows about wyvern, but pegasi are a new species.]

Physical characteristics, first. I'm under the assumption that the basic structure is the same, bipedal winged draconid, correct me if that is not the case. Otherwise: size, flight capability, venom potency. Species variations. Behaviors.

[Be thorough, Claude, he's taking notes.]

backdated February 3rd

[bestswordmaster]

you knew
didn’t you.

[This somewhat ominous message is accompanied by a close up photo of the ring Sylvain bought, which is clearly being worn on a hand, although the photo does its best to crop most of the hand out.]

Re: backdated February 3rd

[vrdantwind]

Congratulations!

And what can I say? I guess I'm just a natural-born ring consultant.

[bestswordmaster]

ha.
maybe it's time for a new career.
anyway
I'd say I'm in your debt
but I don't think you would accept that.
you would make some sappy speech at me.
so I'll just say
thank you claude.

[vrdantwind]

I probably would, too. But since you showed such wisdom, I'll leave it at "you're more than welcome".

So? Who proposed first? And I'm guessing Sylvain liked his ring?

[bestswordmaster]

he did.
like the ring I mean.
he said it was perfect.
I asked first but before that
inda and varley got their hands on the rings.
or paws.
whatever.
we came back to the room and caught them red-
pawed?
but
when we got them back from the pokemon
we both had the wrong one.
it was absurd.
and embarrassing.
but it worked I guess.

[vrdantwind]

And how is that? [There's a smile on Claude's lips; he looks the furthest thing from bothered by this idea.]

[vrdantwind]

Absolutely. I did already offer to read to you out of my book, if you want...although if you'd like me to talk about other things, I can do that, too. Whatever you need.

[vrdantwind]

No, that's correct. They...definitely don't have venom in my world, though. You've got winged draconids that need venom in your world? You'd think the fangs and claws and wings would be enough...

As for size, they can be anywhere from about 25 to 30 feet from snout to tail tip. Wingspan about the same. Flight capability is pretty good, though ground takeoffs can be a little rough; they're less speedy and maneuverable than pegasi, but much tougher defensively. All wyverns seem to belong to just one species, but you get some distinct regional variants at times - most wyverns bred in captivity are pretty interchangeable with each other, though. You mostly only se the variants in the wild populations. They're not domesticated, but they're not too hard to tame when they're raised from eggs. In some countries, selective breeding for certain rare colors of wyvern happens, which is probably the biggest variation you'll see among tame wyverns.

In terms of behaviors, they're surprisingly laid-back when raised from eggs. Much more so than pegasi, which can be...'high-strung' is an understatement. It's a mistake to think of pegasi as horses with wings - they're more like horse-sized geese with hooves. Which should tell you everything anyone would ever want to know about them, honestly. But anyway...wyverns in the wild behave a bit like hawks, or owls. They fly around, spot prey from above, then drop on it, ideally before their prey even realizes they're there. They don't tend to hunt things much smaller than gazelles. They're pretty patient in their approaches; they know how to exploit things like blind spots and the position of the sun to make them harder to see. They're probably more intelligent than you'd expect from a big lizard, maybe comparable to a horse.

You mostly find them in warmer regions of the world, at least the wild ones. Tame wyverns have spread even to colder countries, but you don't find much in the way of wild populations there; without human care and shelter, it's hard for them to stay warm enough to stay active enough to support themselves.

Supposedly wyverns used to hunt humans, but it's been ages since then. They're weak to magic, and their wings are pretty vulnerable to arrows, so once humans developed those enough to defend ourselves, we stopped being prey they really wanted to risk themselves against. Humans are probably the biggest threat to wyverns, as far as that goes...pegasi mob them sometimes, but they have a hard time doing any real damage to wyverns. It's usually just territorial behavior.

[vrdantwind]

That's genuinely incredible. So I guess they decided you'd both put it off too long and decided to speed up the process?

[bestswordmaster]

worse.
they were GOSSIPING.
and didn't expect us to come back so early.
inda thought she was in trouble and cried?
seteth grabbed the other ring and ran under a table.
it was a disaster.
but
it turned out to be a good disaster.

[Felix is glad he sent a text rather than calling on video, because he knows he's grinning like a fool at his Gear right now and that's something Claude does not need to see. Felix would never live it down.]

[lovelybottom]

Wyvern have venom glands in their mouths and barbed stingers on their tails. Usually fatal for humans, painful for witchers.

[Maybe wyvern don't really need venom when they have perfectly serviceable claws and teeth, but it's certainly useful for them. And nature doesn't really take fairness into account when deciding what creatures are best fit to survive, anyway.]

[Geralt takes meticulous notes of everything that Claude offers, and surprise! He's found the one topic that actually gets Geralt talking. Or texting, anyway, in this case.]

They have no such range limitations, to my knowledge. Draconids can be found as far north as Kaedwen, and survive the winter by going into dormancy. Wild behaviors otherwise seem comparable. Attacks directly on humans are rare, but the bolder ones will take livestock or harass caravans. Hunter will occasionally stumble on a nest. That's usually when I get a contract.

[If humans didn't encroach on wyvern territory and hunt the forests out of all their large prey, of course, there wouldn't be these kinds of encounters. Wyvern would generally be content to avoid human settlements entirely, unless driven to them by need. But no one is interested in hearing about nature conservation from a witcher.]

Are wyvern kept in groups or do they become territorial in close quarters? Are they primarily in use as war mounts?