These are two extremely beautiful women, and also two extremely powerful women.
One of them was dressed formally, with her black hair tied into a classic bun, wearing a plain skirt, and had a cold face. However, she had curves that were so beautiful that they could not be hidden by the dress. The plain dress actually enhanced her charm through contrast, making her arrogant, cold, and making people unable to look directly at her.
Tissaia de Vris, a high-ranking sorceress, a member of the Coven, and now a sorcerer standing at the top of the world.
The other one was dressed like a court sorcerer, gorgeously dressed but without the conservativeness of noble ladies and ladies. The top was sleeveless, low-cut, hollowed out, and the skirt was tulle, semi-transparent, and lace. These designs did everything they could to show the beauty of her body. She wore a lot of black agate jewelry, paired with pleasing black long hair and delicate makeup, and was as attractive as Tissaya beside her.
Philippa Eilhart, the magic advisor of the Redanian royal family, a member of the Supreme Council of Warlocks, and a senior female sorceress. Although she looks only thirty years old, it is rumored that she is over three hundred years old.
In addition to the two ladies, there were three other male warlocks in the house.
This is a truly secret location somewhere within the Northern Kingdom, where high-ranking warlocks gather to hold truly secret meetings.
Viggofortz, wearing leather armor, sat at the head of the group. He was the initiator of this meeting. After leading the warlocks to victory in the Battle of Sodden Mountain, he had gained great prestige among the warlocks of the Northern Kingdom. When it came to the war against Nilfgaard, everyone was willing to listen to his opinions first.
"First of all, thank you all for coming," Vigfortz said modestly. "I'm also very sorry that this meeting invited all ten members of the Wizards' Council and the Supreme Council of Warlocks, but only half of them showed up."
"We have lost a lot of friends during this time," Vigfortz said sadly.
There were ten members in the Wizards' Coven and the Supreme Council of Warlocks combined, but only three men and two women were present at the secret meeting.
"Heng Gedimidis is not feeling well, and Francesca has other things to attend to," one of the men said. "Don't make it sound like everyone died on Sodden Mountain. They won't be happy to hear that."
"Okay, okay." Vigfortz reluctantly accepted the correction. "Thank you for your reminder, Alto."
The warlock who didn't give face was called Alto Terranova, a member of the Wizarding Society. He was short and fat, and one of the few male warlocks who was not good-looking.
"Let's get to the point, Vigfortz," said the last warlock in the room. "I used three portals from Temeria to get here, not to listen to those endless clichés."
The sorcerer who spoke this time was called Fekart, and like Triss he was one of the three royal advisors of Temeria. He survived the Battle of Sodden Mountain, was praised for his bravery in battle, and is now the youngest member of the Supreme Council of Warlocks.
"Okay, okay," Viggofortz said, "We have a lot of topics to discuss today, and I believe everyone has their own preparations. But before that, please allow me to show my hospitality first. After all, everyone has come from afar, and now it's bad weather everywhere."
Vigfortz smiled gently, turned his head and whispered behind him, "Lydia, can you please come in for a moment? I would like to use the best ingredients and Sidaris's aged red wine to entertain my guests."
Lydia van Bredewater, Vigfortz's assistant and personal secretary, walked out from behind the curtain like a phantom, looking at the warlocks present with a smile in her eyes.
The warlocks also knew this famous female assistant and nodded to her.
Lydia clapped her hands, and two maids came running around, their dresses rustling as they set the table.
Finally, Lydia gracefully conjured a flame with her thumb and index finger and lit the candle on the candlestick. Tissaia saw traces of paint on her hands. She kept this in mind and planned to ask the young sorceress to appreciate her latest work after dinner. She knew that Lydia was a talented painter.
The dinner was conducted in silence. The short and fat Alto was not polite. Before the host could speak, he shamelessly took the glass bottle of red wine and reached for food at the same time - and he did it frequently.
Tissaia ate in small bites, focusing most of her energy on arranging the dishes, knives, forks, and napkins symmetrically - in her opinion, those things were still not placed neatly enough, which undermined her sense of organization and aesthetics.
Philippa drank very moderately, Vigfortz ate and drank even more moderately, and as for Lydia, she did not even touch the food or the wine.
The red and gold candles flickered, and raindrops tinkled on the stained glass.
"The weather has been getting worse recently." Philippa suddenly said, "The strong winds and heavy rains appeared without any warning. Otherwise, Cintra, with the support of Skellige, would not have been defeated so badly that we were unable to react."
Viggofortz nodded and said regretfully, "If you really say so, that storm was really one of the turning points in the North. That's why the current situation is so unfavorable to us."
"Well, Viggofortz," Altor seemed to have finally had enough wine and food, and spoke, but at the same time he was looking for the right amount of fat and lean meat on the plate with his fork, "What do you think of the kings' behavior? We want to know everyone your point of view. Tissaia and I are also interested. The Wizarding Society hopes that all members will stand on the same side on this matter. If action is taken, we also hope that will act in unison."
Viggo Fortz nodded and said, "Since I am the organizer, I should start the conversation first: I believe everyone has heard about the public talks that the Northern Kingdom is going to hold recently?"
Naturally, all the sorcerers knew this.
Philippa said jokingly: "The kings decided to open the talks and would not let us participate or help. They would rather spend months on the road than use our portal."
Viggofortz nodded and said, "Yes, this is not good news. The kings have begun to think independently. They have begun to make plans on their own without the advice of their advisors. In a short period of time, their thinking level has risen from tactics to strategy? Not long ago in Soden, they could only ride their horses and shout "attack", and they didn't even think of looking back to see if their troops were left behind or if they were running in the wrong direction."
"No king has ever asked for our permission, and no king will ask for it again," he said regretfully. "The kings don't trust us anymore."
Fekater frowned and said, "We were the first to see the threat from Nilfgaard, and we sent a large number of warlocks to fight against Nilfgaard. Thirteen of us died! If it weren't for us, Nilfgaard would have been rampaging in the North long ago."
"We have no choice, Fecate." Philippa said coldly, "It is precisely because we played such an important role that the kings were frightened by us. It just so happens that we have lost a large number of members now, so the kings have taken the opportunity to take back the rights that should have belonged to us."
"Very good." Viggofortz nodded. "Thank you Philippa for your summary. This is exactly what I wanted to point out. So today we have to think of a way to reverse this situation. Excuse me--"
He looked around, taking in the warlocks' reactions, and said slowly, "Is the Brotherhood worried about how to deal with the kings' plans? There is no need to worry. Just ignore their plans."
"Sorry, what did you say?" Alto's left hand holding the wine glass and his right hand holding the wine bottle stopped in mid-air, "Did I hear you right? You want us to do nothing? Just let..."
"It is already like this," Viggofortz interrupted him. "No king has asked for our permission, and no one will ask for it again. I repeat, we should pretend to know nothing. It is the only reasonable thing to do."
"You mean," said the short and fat Alto, frowning, "that we cooperate with them and continue this dance?"
"Yes, Alto." Viggofortz looked at him with a gleam in his eyes. "You have to dance to their beat, or you have to leave the dance floor. Because the orchestra's podium is too high, you can't climb up to tell the musicians to change the song. You have to remember this. If you think there is another solution, you are wrong. You mistook the reflection on the lake for the stars in the night sky."
Everyone bowed their heads and pondered Vigfortz's suggestion. Although the warlocks participated in politics, they only had the right to make suggestions to the kings. Asking them to directly rebel against the kings? This was not the way for warlocks to act.
"So we just do nothing and wait for the king to marginalize us, and for Nilfgaard to invade when we're weak?"
"No, no, we are not doing nothing." Viggofortz said, "First, we have to replenish the staff of the Wizards' Council and the Supreme Council of Warlocks. If even these two institutions are not fully staffed, how can we manage the Brotherhood of Warlocks?"
No one had any doubts about this suggestion. After all, facing such a serious situation, the Warlock Management Agency that can only operate at half of its efficiency is indeed a bit stretched.
Only Tissaia, the headmistress of the magic academy, added as she adjusted her lace sleeves: "But we would rather have nothing than something inferior. These two institutions represent the pinnacle of warlocks."
When Tissaia adjusted her sleeves, her focused and elegant look attracted the attention of people around her, especially the short and fat Alto and the young Fecate.
"Of course, Tissaia, your advice is very helpful." Viggofortz smiled, "But I believe you will not object to the next choice: I want to recommend someone to become a member of the Warlock Supreme Council: Yennefer of Vengerberg!"
When Vigfortz said this, there was a different light in his eyes. The warlocks who didn't know him well might not notice it, but the perceptive Tissaia caught it.
Tissaia thought: He is planning something.
Long ago, Tissaia noticed that something was wrong with Vilgefortz. The young wizard's power grew day by day, his brilliance eclipsed the others, and his achievements and strength forced other warlocks to be subservient to him.
In fact, Tissaya felt that the wizard was becoming more and more like a chess player when dealing with the affairs of the North. What worried the headmistress was that they knew nothing about the rules of the chess game.
But what Viggofortz had done so far was beneficial to the North and the warlocks, so she could not find any reason not to cooperate with him.
The young Fekater had no idea of Vigfortz's abnormality, and he quite agreed with Vigfortz's proposal: "Yennefer fought bravely in the Battle of Sodden Mountain, and almost lost her eyes permanently. Her strength and qualifications are enough."
"But there is a problem." Vigfortz said regretfully, "We can't find her. She disappeared after the battle."
The short and fat Alto sneered, "Letting such an irresponsible person join our organization? Don't forget that Yennefer even abandoned her title of advisor to Vengerberg and her duties!"
Young Fekat retorted, "But this time she was trying to save Triss, the one we mistakenly thought was sacrificed!"
As royal advisers of Temeria, it is obvious that Fekart values Triss very much, and he also has a good impression of Yennefer who rescued Triss.
"That's right." Viggofortz said happily, "So why can't we trust Yennefer like this? Fekat, did Triss tell you where Yennefer went after she came back?"
Young Fekat shook his head. "It seems to be Kaer Morhen, one of the witcher's bases. They are also with Princess Cirilla of Cintra. I remember that Yennefer was rumored to be very close to a witcher. Now it seems that the rumor is true."
Alto laughed without grace. "I also heard that she was very close to a witcher for a period of time. If I remember correctly, his name was Geralt. It seems that they were not a one-night stand, and Yennefer was quite attracted to him... A witcher, ha, a witcher!"
Viggoforts smiled and said, "This is Yennefer's private matter and has nothing to do with us. But her disappearance on her own is indeed quite distressing. She also took the princess of Cintra with her... Cirilla, is that her name?"
As Viggofortz spoke, Tissaia watched secretly.
Here it comes, that feeling, like manipulating a chessboard. Tissaia wondered in her heart, what did Fekart say that caused Vigfortz to change? Was it Kaer Morhen, or the demon hunter, or Cirilla of Cintra?
"Speaking of Cintra," Tissaia took the initiative to speak, "there is a new demon hunter there recently, the one who is rumored to have died a long time ago, Lann Lannister Rhaanron, does anyone remember him?"
The short and fat Alto was very supportive of Tissaia: "Of course, Cintra had previously secretly promoted him as the best of the younger generation in the North, but he suddenly died. I didn't expect him to suddenly jump out now and become... a demon hunter, haha."
Artaud laughed again with contempt.
But Tissaia ignored Alto, she was focused on Vigfortz's changes. He had the same feeling and reacted to the name "Lane". Is there any necessary connection between these reactions?
Tissaia ignored Alto, but some warlocks expressed disgust at his reaction.
Philippa suddenly spoke up: "It was this 'demon hunter' who fought his way from the capital of Cintra to Brokilon, and also defeated Fringilla Viego and her so-called Nilfgaardian warlock army."
The sorceress, who had been silent before, said, "I think this is an opportunity. Lannister is one of the heirs to the royal family, Princess Cirilla is still young, and he has prestige. I heard that his attitude towards sorcerers is not bad. Cintra is in ruins and we can support him."
"Huh? Supporting a demon hunter?" The short and fat Alto shouted exaggeratedly, "When did we fall to this point?"
Philippa said expressionlessly: "The kings in the north have lost their trust in us, but this demon hunter has gained the actual ruling power of a country. In a sense, he is one of our kind, isn't he? I think this is an inspiration for our future path."
The short and fat Alto pinched the large piece of skin exposed by Philippa with his eyes and shouted even louder: "What are you kidding, Philippa? Saying that the witcher is the same as us? And he just gathered a group of refugees! How can he rule the country?"
Facing the warlock's shouting, Philippa mercilessly exposed him. She mocked expressionlessly: "If you look down on demon hunters so much, why did you covet the magic library of Kael Sirens? Are you just jealous and fearful, or has Lannister's record of repelling Vigo made you feel a sense of crisis?"
Alto slammed the table, stood up, and began to argue with Philippa.
Of course, it was not so much a quarrel as it was Alto's one-sided quarrel, and Philippa just watched coldly. After a long while, he said he was tired, and then everyone continued to discuss the matter.
Unlike Alto, the young Fekaert had a good impression of Lann: "The Lannisters' support for warlocks is obvious. He is the exact opposite of Calanthe. It was he who saved Triss, and I heard that he also discovered a very promising magic apprentice. Did he ask Triss to come and be your apprentice?"
When Fekart said this, he turned to Vigfortz and also turned all eyes to him.
"That's right, but the apprentice's qualifications are not as good as you think." Viggofortz nodded generously, "I plan to let him spend more than ten years consolidating his knowledge and getting familiar with experiments, and then slowly train him. Maybe he can become a royal advisor to Cintra in the future."
After answering this question, Vigfortz looked at Tissaia expectantly: "Tissaia, you are the one who knows Yennefer best among the people present. Can you locate her?"
Tissaia shook her head: "Yennefer wears an amulet made of gems, metals, and crystals, which is enough to block any spiritual intrusion. As long as Yennefer doesn't want anyone to know where she is, no one can find her."
Here it comes again, this feeling, although he concealed it very well, but he was very disappointed that he couldn't find Yennefer, it was more than the usual level of disappointment. Tissaya felt it, but she didn't know the reason.
"If we can't find Yennefer," the young Fekaert suggested, "I think Triss is also good. She fought bravely in the Battle of Sodden Mountain..."
Viggofortz refused and said, "Triss is still too young. Let her serve as Cintra's supporter. Isn't that what you all want? And I think she will enjoy it too."
At this time, everyone had basically finished their meal, and Viggofortz's assistant Lydia came with the maid to clean up the mess and add more wine for everyone.
"Thank you, Lydia." Tishaya said softly, and sighed as she looked at Lydia who never spoke.
Lydia is a beautiful sorceress and a superb painter. In the Hall of Glory of Aretuza Academy of Magic hangs a landscape painting by Lydia, which depicts the meeting between Cragnane of Lord and Laura Doron.
Unfortunately, such a beauty, a painter, once participated in an experiment to study ancient tomb artifacts at the recommendation of Vigfortz. Those artifacts were cursed, so Lydia paid the price of severe burns, a broken jaw, and a mutation in the throat.
There were five warlocks participating in the experiment. Except Lydia, three of them died on the spot, and the fourth lost his eyes and hands and went crazy.
Afterwards, Lydia had been resisting the regeneration spell to regenerate her skin and flesh, and only used illusions to maintain her normal appearance. She lost the ability to speak and only used telepathy as her only way of communication. It was also from that time that she truly became the shadow of Vigfortz.
A male apprentice whom Tissaya had never seen before followed the maids in and helped to clean up the dishes.
Because it was a strange face and his temperament was too incompatible with those servants, Tissaia couldn't help but take a few more glances at him until the apprentice was taken away by Lydia.
It's very strange, many places have become strange. Tissaia began to adjust the lace at her cuffs again. She tried hard to think, but she couldn't figure out what was strange.
…
Night, Redania Palace.
The portal opened in mid-air, and Philippa Ehrhart's figure emerged from it.
It was already late at night, but she was not in a hurry to rest. Instead, she walked to the magic communicator made of crystals and gems, muttering something.
Invisible magical waves rippled, and a figure gradually became solid from illusory, projected in front of Philippa.
The girl with the unique short hair, proud and stubborn eyes, and dressed like a court sorceress, turned out to be Fringilla Viego.
One of the highest-ranking figures among the Northern Warlocks actually has a connection with the Nilfgaardian sorceress. If other people knew about this, they would probably be shocked.
"What do you think? Am I right?" As soon as she saw Philippa, Fringilla Vigo couldn't wait to say, "There must be something wrong with Vigfortz!"
Philippa said calmly: "His biggest problem is that he is very close to you, although I am the same now."
After finishing speaking, before Fringilla could mock her, Philippa continued, "But Vigfortz did hide a lot of things. His reaction to Princess Cirilla and Lannister was abnormal. He had more demands, but he hid them from us."
Philippa deduced: "Either his request would hurt us, so he concealed it; or, he could gain a huge benefit from it, so he didn't want us to know and share in the profits."
Philippa thought quietly for a while, then raised her head and drank the wine in the glass.
She asked Fringilla, "Is Lan really as powerful as you say?"
The short-haired sorceress said with certainty: "He used fire magic. Or his sigils are more powerful than fire magic - then this is a bigger problem."
Philippa nodded and said, "In that case, I will contact him when the time is right."
Fringilla asked curiously, "What do you want to do?"
Philippa finally smiled at this time. It was a beautiful smile, a confident smile, and a smile that all ambitious people could identify with.
"Whether it's the North, Nilfgaard, or the Witcher, none of this matters. I contacted you because we have similar ideals."
She walked over to the table and poured a glass of Toussaint wine, then walked around her workbench, which was littered with retorts, crucibles, test tubes, crystals, and many magical instruments, and slowly walked towards her bookshelf.
"We all agree that magic is above all else, but I also believe that warlocks who master magic should get more than they have now."
Philippa looked at the bookshelf for a moment and took out two large books.
"If your description is correct, then this Lann of Cintra may really be superior to the demon hunter, or even superior to the average warlock..."
Philippa said firmly: "We will need him."
The moonlight shone down, faintly illuminating the covers of the two old tomes in her hands, revealing the names written in ancient language - "The Blood of the Ancients (Aen Hen Ichaer)" and "The Prophecy of Ithlinne (Aen Ithlinnespeath)".
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