Raven's eyes snapped open, she was laying in a field, she could tell that from the blades of grass appearing just at the edge of her vision. She frowned, slowly sitting up and avoiding the slight tug at her back, she glanced over her shoulder to see the handle of a sword, it was heavy, something she wasn't used to. Then, she noticed the armour she wore, it wasn't light, but not heavy either. A voice rang in the back of her head, her brain already filling in the gaps, basic Kaer Morhen armour, consisting of the chest plate, gloves, boots and the trousers. She didn't know why, but her brain also decided to tell her that it was made of cured leather, linen and Iron Ore.
"What the hell." She mumbled as she stood up, she thought she was dreaming, she had been dreaming, going to sleep after a long day at work, and now, she was here. She knew it wasn't a dream, that whatever had happened, was real. She lifted her fingers and tried to pinch her skin, though she forgot for a moment about the gloves that adorned her slender hands, mission failed successfully. With the cold chill in the air, she decided not to bother taking them off and just roll with it.
Raven sighed heavily and tucked her short brown hair behind her ear, she didn't know which way to go, and the sun was rising, she supposed she'd just walked straight forward until she saw something. After a few minutes Raven heard the sound of running water and looked around some, spotting a river slightly to her left, she walked over to it and crouched by it for a moment. "Lead me to civilisation." Raven muttered under her breath, already starting to tire out from the armour, the extra weight not something she was accustomed to.
Raven spent a while walking, keeping close to the river's edge not wanting to get lost and not wanting to draw attention, she sighed slightly, entering what looked like a forest, overgrown trees surrounding her now. She smiled though, for up ahead there was a bridge, sure it was shoddily built and didn't look like it would last very long, but at least she could cross it. She stopped at a signpost half hammered into the ground and read the written on words.
"Bridge"
Raven rolled her eyes and couldn't help a small chuckle, though she wasn't feeling very happy. "No shit." She sighed. She began to walk across it, sighing as she reached the other side and for a moment looked back, she hadn't seen a bridge like that in years, not still standing anyways. She shrugged it off and headed north, soon, the world seemed to simply appear before her, houses rising against the distance. A town of some sort, hopefully somewhere she could rest her feet. Raven trudged forward, her feet dragging slightly behind her and decided to worry about how pathetic she looked later, and later she would also worry about what the hell was going on.
As Raven got closer to the town, she noticed the buildings, the dirty roads winding through the village, but what interested her most, were the orchard trees that were bursting with white flowers. Raven pouted and she leaned back, cracking her back before walking forwards again. She paused near a small fence bordering the town and read the signpost.
"White Orchard"
Raven nodded quietly, a small hum collecting in the back of her throat, it seemed whatever world she was in took the naming of things quite literally. Through her small walk through the village, she'd learned that the River she'd followed to the village, located in Temeria, was called the Ismena River, though, if that information helped her right now, she wasn't entirely sure.
A couple minutes walk down the path, and her feet screaming at her, she crossed a signpost saying tavern and walked up to the building, she hesitated to walk inside but seeing as she had no other option at the moment, she stepped in. It was fairly quiet and so she stepped up to the bar, sitting down on one of the wooden stools and rest her elbows on the counter. "What can I get you?" A woman's cheery voice rang out to her. Raven looked up, hazel eyes meeting the body of a thin fragile woman with brown hair, lined with bits of gray and brown eyes similar to her own. "Oh...um...anything." Raven replied with a shrug, she wasn't sure what they called drinks here or what they sold.
The brunette inkeeper narrowed her eyes slightly, but seeing the Witcher armour, she decided to stay friendly, not wanting to upset her. "I'm Elsa." She introduced to the mutant and feigned a small smile as she pushed a tankard of ale towards Raven. "You look lost." She stated before she could control her mouth. Raven looked up, grabbing the handle of the tankard and nodded. "I am I suppose..." She trailed off, every one of her senses were going off and it was like she'd forgotten how to communicate with humans. Elsa nodded slightly. "I understand that feeling, the last time I felt it was when I gave birth to my boy, the umbilical cord had wrapped around his neck, choking him, thankfully a woman came across and saved me, Annie was her name." Elsa decided to just blurt out.
Raven wasn't sure if the woman was too trusting, bored or just more comfortable conversing with the tavern being quiet, but one thing she was sure of, was she didn't have any damn idea how to respond. "Hm." She replied. She lifted the tankard, pressing the wood to her lips and drank, she pressed her lips together tightly and put the tankard back down after a moment, forcing the alcohol down her throat, it was an awful taste but she was thirsty. "Tell ya what, my idiot cousin Bram is out somewhere, you can have his room for the night, free of charge, it'll help you get back on your feet I'm sure." Elsa offered. Raven looked up surprised but nodded. "Yes, thank you." She said. She decided on not being drunk right now and stood up, pushing the ale away and just as she was about to head up the stairs she spotted nearby, her wrist was grabbed. She spun around quickly, hand flying to the hilt of her sword by instinct but seeing the fear in Elsa's eyes she quickly dropped the hand.
"Sorry, just wanted to give you a little welcome present I guess, we don't get many folk coming through to White Orchard anymore with the threats, and it doesn't take a seer to see you're completely lost." Elsa said and reached behind her to grab a pack of something and passed it to Raven. Raven simply nodded, not trusting herself to speak and took the package, it was thin and light, but she didn't argue it question. She took the thin package tied with string and headed upstairs until she saw Bram's room. Once inside she fiddled with the armour straps, only once actually managing to take it off once the gloves were off. Thankful of the relief of no longer being weighed down she threw herself onto the bed, her back against the headboard and began to pull at the strings of her gift.
Raven sighed quietly, letting her eyes scan over the items and raised an eyebrow, she'd been given some sort of playing cards as a gift. She scanned through them quickly, they were thin, but made of fine material, official cards. The first one she scanned seemed to belong to a certain deck called the Northern Realms. She saw a man with a frown sat on a throne, glass windows behind him, a crown on his head and dressed in some sort of bulky Royal attire.
'Foltest'
'Lord Commander of the North'
"Sod advisors and their schemes. I place my trust in my soldiers' blades.'
Raven knew it was a card based on someone real, and that someone seemed like a right prick. She looked closer seeing text, it seemed that this card had a special ability.
Clear any weather effects ,resulting from Biting Frost, Torrential Rain or Impenetrable Fog cards, in play.
Raven slid the card behind to the bottom of the pile and quickly glanced through the other cards she'd acquired. Blue stripes commando, catapult, Crinfrid Reavers Dragon Hunter and a decoy card. She placed the cards on the bedside table and shuffled down to lay down properly on the bed, she could worry about all this and start living properly after a few hours of sleep.
She tucked one arm under her head and closed her eyes, though she couldn't help the feeling of something pulling at her thoughts. She let her mind relax and her thoughts wander before she saw a flash of light and her eyes opened once again. Floating above her, she saw some sort of advanced tablet hologram, black text appearing on it as she read.
[Welcome to your Witcher System]
[User:Raven ?]
[Race: Witcher]
[Level:1]
[Vitality: 10]
[Strength:10]
[Agility:10]
[Endurance:10]
[Toxicity:0]
[Knowledge:5]
[Collections:5]
[Weapons:1]
Fuck.