Chapter 55: The Underground Network
POV: Adam
The hidden network beneath Novigrad's surface operated like shadow government serving population that official authority refused to acknowledge existed, corridors connecting safe houses where people whose existence violated religious doctrine gathered to share resources and survival strategies.
Systematic oppression. This represents systematic religious oppression.
Each person Triss introduced carried stories that painted pictures of persecution conducted through methods that prioritized terror over efficiency, witch hunters creating atmosphere where any deviation from approved behavior could trigger investigation that ended in public execution.
Survived execution attempt. Sorceress who barely survived execution.
The woman's scars spoke of flames applied with deliberate intent to cause maximum suffering before death, torture techniques that served propaganda purposes rather than simple elimination of perceived threats.
Elf family fleeing pogrom. Non-humans targeted for racial characteristics.
Their hollow expressions revealed trauma that extended beyond individual violence toward systematic campaigns designed to eliminate entire ethnic groups through methods that made survival feel like temporary luck rather than guaranteed right.
Business seized. Dwarf whose legitimate enterprise was confiscated.
The economic persecution that accompanied religious violence created comprehensive system where anyone outside approved categories could lose livelihood as well as life, institutional theft justified through doctrinal interpretation that made property rights conditional on religious compliance.
Parallels to Nilfgaard. Ciri recognizing parallels to imperial conquest.
"Different methods," Ciri said, her voice carrying recognition that political understanding could transcend specific circumstances, "but same result. People suffering for characteristics they can't control."
Same result. Different ideology, identical suffering.
The underground clinic operated in basement chambers that had been converted into medical facility through necessity rather than planning, equipment scavenged from legitimate sources while treating injuries that official medicine couldn't address without reporting to authorities.
Can't seek legitimate care. Victims of persecution can't access normal medical treatment.
Triss's request for healing assistance carried weight that went beyond simple medical need—treating people whose injuries resulted from witch hunter activities, torture damage that conventional medicine couldn't address while supernatural healing remained illegal.
Horrifying work. Most horrifying medical cases I've encountered.
The parade of patients revealed humanity's capacity for systematic cruelty applied with religious justification, wounds inflicted through methods designed to extract confessions rather than gather information, torture techniques that prioritized suffering over practical results.
Torture damage. Healing wounds inflicted through deliberate torture.
Adam's waterbending worked to restore damage that had been inflicted through careful application of pain, healing arts applied to counteract suffering that had been created through methodical brutality rather than accident or combat.
Learning healing basics. Ciri learning through observation.
Her assistance proved invaluable for cases involving trauma that extended beyond physical injury, presence that provided comfort to people whose trust in human decency had been systematically destroyed through institutional violence.
Building alliance. Our service creating alliance with resistance network.
The gratitude that medical assistance generated translated into offers of future support, underground network recognizing value of people whose capabilities could address problems that conventional resources couldn't solve.
Obligations. Our abilities create obligations we can't ignore.
[Experience Gained: 200 XP]
[Reputation: +30 with Underground Network]
[Relationship: Triss +10 (now 50/100), Ciri +3]
The intelligence that network members provided painted picture of Wild Hunt activity that exceeded simple pursuit, systematic search operation that suggested capabilities extending beyond normal understanding of dimensional physics.
Multiple simultaneous manifestations. Hunt appearing in multiple locations simultaneously.
"Reports from across the Continent," Triss said as evening maps revealed pattern that spoke of coordination rather than random searching. "Spectral riders asking about girl with Elder Blood, always the same description."
Exists partially outside time. Hunt operates according to principles that transcend normal causality.
The theory that emerged from accumulated observations suggested enemies whose nature made conventional evasion impossible, hunters who could manifest across multiple locations while tracking prey through methods that geographical distance couldn't disrupt.
Traditional hiding impossible. Conventional concealment strategies won't work.
"They track across dimensions," Triss continued, her voice carrying academic fascination mixed with practical terror about implications for their survival. "Distance means nothing to beings who exist partially outside normal space-time."
Solution beyond evasion. Need solution that goes beyond merely hiding.
The recognition that their situation required confrontation rather than continued flight created strategic pressure that conventional planning couldn't address, understanding that some threats demanded solutions that hadn't been invented yet.
Closing net systematically. They're systematically closing the net.
Evening in the safe house brought study of maps marked with Hunt sightings that revealed pattern suggesting coordinated search operation, spectral manifestations drawing closer through method that spoke of intelligence rather than random hunting.
Tightening circle. The circle is tightening around us.
Above their concealment, church bells called faithful to evening prayers that included requests for divine assistance in identifying and eliminating heretical influences, religious authority seeking supernatural aid in their campaign against people exactly like those hiding in basement chambers.
Prayer and persecution. They pray for strength to persecute us.
The irony that sanctuary existed beneath institution whose surface activities provided cover for exactly the kind of persecution they were fleeing felt like commentary on human nature's capacity for compartmentalization.
Temporary safety. Even this safety is temporary.
Looking at Ciri's concentrated expression as she studied intelligence reports that revealed scope of forces arrayed against their continued existence, Adam understood that some situations required solutions that individual capability couldn't achieve.
Beyond our capabilities. This is beyond our current capabilities.
But alongside recognition of inadequacy came determination that love could motivate innovation, understanding that impossible problems sometimes yielded to creativity driven by desperation and commitment to protection.
Find a way. We'll find a way.
The maps spread between them carried weight of futures that might never be realized, while above them a city continued its evening routine unaware that basement chambers held people whose survival challenged everything official doctrine proclaimed about reality.
Together. Whatever solutions exist, we discover them together.
Some problems required weapons that hadn't been forged yet, allies whose loyalty couldn't be purchased with conventional currency.
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