#rissberg

[dukeofdogs]

Gwent: The Witcher Card Game | The cards that could’ve been 45/?

Grandmaster Ortolan (Maxin Kozlov), Sorel Dagerlund (Ewa Trawińska)

Biruta Icarti (Iruna Yurova), Alzur (Marina Karakatsani aka Snook-8)

[thirstyforred]

so im still thinking about Roderick and Albrecht and the whole thing in general z and I guess the main thing that puts them at each other's throats (and connects them, unfortunately) is ofc JdA. no brainer that one. but what I mean is that while for funny/torturing/even thematic to a degree reasons Rod never had sex with JdA (tho they were intimate in "weird fucking ways" that aren't exactly about sex 😌), Albrecht did fuck.

and you may ask, but thirsty, didn't you say that Albrecht is straight and doesn't believe in bisexuality as well? i did, and that's still true, and I'll say that his same-sex experiences we're just more about power (extorted on him by JdA, or power struggle against Rod), it's just way different than his experiences with women (even older ones that technically also involved some sorts of power plays)

JdA/Alvin/Jack (JdA is like a spoiler for what's coming, wrong in so many ways, Alvin is too personal, besides it's a secret for Rod but not Albrecht, Jack is fun, is playful, is a transitional lie, perfect for this purpose) approached Albrecht he was still in Ban Ard, years before the Order, before the Nilf Wars. In some tavern in the city, slightly older than young students, but not that old, interesting, but spewing nonsense. I imagine Jack would just drop the bomb of Source, time magic, maybe even a hint or two about White Frost, the Spiral, in some dark corner over shared drinks, enough to start the fire of curiosity. Sex is just a spice - imagine being young and brilliant, predisposed to look for approval for others, suddenly getting mysteries of the universe and prostate orgasm? Hooked.

but Jack actually doesn't want a Ban Ard mage, later Salamandra is likely full of those, what he needs is someone understanding theory and applying it somewhere else. Priests hate the thought, but really what's the difference between a miracle and powerful spell? And so, Albrecht's role is to join the Church. He doesn't get it at first, reasons why, why take your time with meticulously planning in the first place, so Jack has to give him hands on presentation. Albrecht has this big burn scar on his arm, shoulder and side, it happened while at Ban Ard, not at Ban Ard, and there was no more Ban Ard for him after that. Something something, sometimes devotion can be born from the least like places. Like cruelty. (But in some way it fits with evolution of Fire in the Church, the return of mage hunters)

(i have another thought about Albrecht's family, Kovir and mage hunting, but there would be tiny spoilers for my ttrpg campaign ig, so i shan't)

anyway, aside from annoying Rod with all of it (the amount of time, the sex, the scar that wasn't healed away), I feel like there's a need to sort Alvin x Hubert situation as well, like was Alvin cheating? bc the timelines are fluid for one of them, and anyway I like to think that they were together since Alvin's twenties, when he was in Rissberg. There is some sort of agreement - Alvin thinks of Hubert as his soul mate but understands and he deals with something that's no human (no matter how good he wears that suit). I can see however Hubert being annoyed and frustrated about the thing with Roderick, it's weird, it's too intimate, just fuck him and be done, or better let me just eat him... But he straight up doesn't consider Albrecht. Ig they would know each other, both involved in the Church, but Hubert has no opinions on him. (While in turn Albrecht is curious, bc he can see there's something deeply running between JdA and the good doctor (but funnily, unlike Rod, he's unaware that Rejk isn't human))

[arse-blathanna]

for "I follow the heart I believe in, 'cause one of us must know": numbers 60 and 61

60. In I follow the heart I believe in, what inspired the idea for the plot?

What inspired the idea for the plot of that fic? Here's a short list. Some of these may or may not actually appear in the final product, some of these are about Feelings more than anything else:

Unicorns vs Aen Elle conflict

Yen and Geralt's general on again/off again relationship, with specific focus on A Shard of Ice more than anything else. Though The Last Wish definitely did some work here.

Houtborg Triplets, Falka and Riannon backstory

What if there was only one bed?

Basically all of Season of Storms' background plot elements have contributed at one point or another, whether that makes it into the story or not. Specifically Rissberg.

Thanedd

Witcher 1 Salamandra

Big Yenralt Feelings

Background elements regarding Ciri's bloodline from the books

Pavetta and Duny

Dandelion the spy

Yen and Geralt's mutual desires to love and be loved and how that ties into wanting a family.

61. In I follow the heart I believe in, what’s your favorite scene that you wrote?

The invisible bathing scene back in chapter 21, I thought that one came together really well.

[444namesplus]

locales from the Witcher franchise

Acorn Aedd Aldersberg Amarillo An Anchor Ard Armeria Aspra Assengard Attre Baldhorn Ban Barefield Bay Beauclair Belhaven Blaviken Bodrog Bremervoord Brenna Breza Bridge Brugge Burdorff Caelf Canell Caravista Carcano Carraigh Carreras Castel castle Cidaris Cintra Claremont Craag Creigiau Creyden Crinfrid Daevon Darn Dillingen Dorian Dorndal Drakenborg Druigh Dudno Dun Duén Dyffra Dâre Ellander Est Exeter Eysenlaan Fano Fen Foam Forge Forgeham Fox Ghelibol Glevitzingen Gleán Glyswen Gors Grim Gulet Gwendeith Gynvael Haemlet Hagge Hengfors Hochebuz Hollow Houtborg Jealousy Kaczan Kaer Kagen Kerack Kernow Klucz Knotgrass Lan Leyda Little Loc Lower Lyria Maecht Malhoun Malleore Maribor Marsh Mayena Meadow Metinna Mirt Montecalvo Montsalvat Morhen Muinne Murivel Nastrog Neunreuth New Nilfgaard Novigrad Ortagor Oxenfurt Palace Pont Porog Port Posada Rakverelin Ravello Razwan Red Rhys-Rhun Riedbrune Rinde Rissberg Rivia Rocayne Roggeveen Rowan Rozrog Ruach Sarda Scala Schwemmland Shaerrawedd Spalla Stygga Tegamo Thurn Tigg Tretogor Tridam Trolde Tyffi Unicorn Upper Vanis Vartburg Vattweir Vedette Velen Vengerberg Vidort Vizima Vole White Winneburg Zavada Zurbarran

[stillness138]

For the character ask meme: Idarran and Alzur

ehehe nice

Alzur:

First impression - long before cdpr did anything with him, in my head he was this mysterious, legendary, cool figure. I knew of the guy and of his accomplishments - from the double cross mentioned in Road With No Return through the zap card in gwent to the little there was on wiki/in educated videos about the creation of witchers. I remember thinking he wouldn't test the mutations on girls before i learned about the first batch of kids brought to Rissberg. Oh how naive i was :D.

Impression now - scrunkly motherfucker. I enjoy him thoroughly. The journey story is imo one of the absolute top pieces of lore writing to come out of gwent. They could've gone with the shallow notion i myself had of Alzur before really thinking critically (or to be honest, cynically, given the nature of this universe), but instead they presented two clashing points of view, both valid given their context, that helped paint the man at the center as the very much imperfect person he is. For once, genuinely decent picture of this genre of character. Also,

Favourite moment - when i unleashed the "Alzur really was a bug fucker huh" discord message onto tumblr in one of the shitpost collections and then our resident spy saw it and had it canonized in Rogue Mage 😌. Ok conspiracies aside, i think the circumstances of his death are just too fucking funny.

Idea for a story - [REDACTED] xd. Actually, i guess i can type out a peek to the level of derangement i reach sometimes: So i'm quite a fan of the album Mezzanine by Massive Attack, right. Teardrop, probably the most famous song from it, is one of those that i believe have rearranged my soul. So one day i'm listening to it, staring at the album cover, and it hits me; the bug on it looks like Viy's gwent portrait. So then my brain makes a few lightning fast connections, and the result is the idea of a short album in the style of Mezzanine, from the point of view of Galanthea as a sort of "return" into music without the Snowdrop pseudonym, with a few songs dealing with the things she learns about Alzur from Madoc, the rampage of Maribor, and Madoc's subsequent death. I consider myself musically illiterate, in that i just don't understand music theory, how songs are made, any of that stuff, but it's one of those things that i keep returning to like "it's extremely cool...to me." I guess i can always write a fic about it, but we know how """good""" i am with finishing those, too xd. Brain, why you gotta be like that.

Unpopular opinion - I love Lorenzo to bits but i think the key art for Alzur's journey is a little bit goofy 🙈. On the other hand, the atmosphere is kinda neat, so i dunno. I feel like we can all agree that Lily deserved better and that Rogue Mage is underdeveloped. I guess here's a tinfoil hat thing, i think the ice dragon might be a future tie-in for the lynx game. Smth about dragons and far north and unexplored areas and so on. But i should probably not dwell on basic imagery so much.

Favourite relationship - I think it's kinda fucked up to say that how he affected Madoc's life and caused him immense trauma is my favourite bit, because more so, like i said, i just find the entire dynamic between Alzur, Madoc and Galanthea compelling to read. Ship wise though, it's [redacted], of course. The thing is just that i wouldn't want to impose Alzur on anyone xd.

Favourite headcanon - that the Golden Nekker was like his little buddy. I kinda got that from the scrapped Rogue Mage art (because i decided to take it literally, because i have brainrot, because i need help) and i thought it was silly in an endearing way.

Idarran of Ulivo:

First impression - because i haven't read Season of Storms yet, my first exposure to Idarran was, i'm pretty sure, when his card came out. I might've heard Ortolan's monologue in a video before, but because my memory is shit, it largely escaped me. When i saw his card and read the flavor text and sort of pieced most of it together, Idarran seemed like this weird kid who's weird mostly because of the circumstances. Whose interests wouldn't be a little fucked up if they grew up in the sewers.

Impression now - that's still more or less the case. He's smart, capable, and off-putting. But i find the way of it - no pathos, not even much of edginess or self-absorption - actually quite endearing, too, he seems to me like someone who just wants to be left alone. Relatable. Granted, the accounts - at least those that i'm familiar with so far (is there something significant about his personality in any of the trpg books?) - are limited.

Favourite moment - how old fuck Malaspina did only the bare minimum on witcher mutation research and Alzur and Idarran are responsible for most of it. Though I feel like Idarran also peaced out of it quite early on, which seems to be supported by Rogue Mage and also by the fact he really just looks like he's way more into his fucked up monsters than anything else.

Idea for a story - i am quite intrigued by the beef Maxii has with the entire Rissberg group and where it went. Now i just leaked that i've barely played Rogue Mage...

Unpopular opinion - you know how there are characters that do really good in side arcs in a story but wouldn't work as the main focus? I think that's Idarran in the bigger picture of the Rissberg group, witcher experiment and Maxii's shit list. So i feel like there should be more about him, but not too much, if that makes sense.

Favourite relationship - we took Alzur's (and eventually many others') bugfucking to a literal level but i actually find the idea of "Bug" being Idarran's nickname around Rissberg equally cursed-yet-enjoyable.

Favourite headcanon - that the bald spot in his hair is a result of an experiment gone sideways or being around something gross in the sewers. Again, favourite with these characters mostly means "it's awful but it particularly captivates me" :D.

[ficha-brianna-vassermiller]

Historia

EBBING

bridget a los 14 años ya sabía lo que quería en su vida, quería cambiar ebbing, acabar con la corrupción de clases que existía, quería aprender a cuidar de su pueblo, quería saber, qué debía de hacer para que su tierra fuera mejor.

así que decidió convertirse en aquel tipo de mujer que más sabiduría podía sostener en su existencia, quería ser hechicera.

a la temprana edad de 16 años, su abuelo, juan pablo, pagó la generosa matricula en la academia imperial de magia de loc grim para que su nieta se convirtiese en una hechicera digna, así pues, brianna renunció a la pesada carga de una corona.

LOC GRIM

recién cumplidos los 16 años, brianna descubrió en la academia imperial de magia de nilfgaard, que su elemento principal y dominante era el agua, en especifico el hielo. se especializó en historia, política y magias curativas ya que… ¿quién sabía lo que se podía necesitar en una corte?

tras comentarle a su, por aquel entonces, amante cual era su elemento y todo lo que quería hacer por ebbing, este le instó a aprender las prohibidas artes de la hemokinesis, que a pesar de conllevar riesgos altísimos podía llegar a ser una de las magias más raras y poderosas, así como goetia lo fué en rissberg, pero zeus, quien iba a ser algún día el gran khan de hakland, pensó que aquel tipo de poder controlado por alguien como brianna sería de gran utilidad en el campo de batalla.

diez años estuvo brianna en la academia, que fue lo que duró aquel tóxico romance. entre aquellos años brianna terminó conociendo a herna, una hechicera que en años venideros acabaría siendo su amiga.

en aquella temporada, brianna sufría grandes abusos por parte de zeus, su amante, desde violaciones a maltratos psicológicos, una de esas veces en las que, sintiendose sucia, brianna lloraba en su habitación, recordó que había encontrado un antiguo artefacto del que nadie sabía nada, al rozarlo llorando despertó lo que había en él, yrrhedes, el dios demonio, el cual fue un ídolo adorado por una secta que usaba el goetia, en algún imperio ya olvidado, estos sectistas con el poder de yrrhedes consiguieron convertir a humanoides para que siguieran su causa (orcos, duendes, gigantes, basiliscos, demonios), se creía que yrrhedes fue neutralizado por un grupo de paladicen magos de axen , pero años más tarde un grupo de mercenarios liderados por la sacerdotisa Delibe, se infiltraron en el antiguo templo del dios y consiguieron destruir un artefacto con el que yrrhedes obtenía su poder, lástima que un pedazo de aquel artefacto llamado "ojo de yrrhedes" acabase en manos de la estudiosa brianna.

el demonio transportó a brianna a su mundo de terror y ambos pactaron, brianna sería su heraldo y él la usaría para vengarse de aquellos que destruyeron su culto.

el romance de brianna y zeus terminó en traición. zeus decidió que era buena idea engañar a brianna con toda aquella mujer que se le pusiera por delante, sobre todo si estas eran allegadas de brianna, cuando brianna lo descubrió empleó sus poderes de hemokinesis para herir a zeus, pero no lo hizo de forma personal, hizo que parte del ejercito de hakland que estaba en ebbing terminase desangrado. tiñó un lago entero con la sangre de aquella gente. zeus, temiendo que le pasase lo mismo a él y a su nueva amante desapareció de ebbing y de nilfgaard, pero no sin antes hacer que brianna acabase en un coliseo de nilfgaard luchando por su propia vida. allí conoció a cervin.

años después, el propio imperio de nilfgaard usaría a brianna como arma gracias a su habilidad con la hemokinesis en una de las pequeñas guerras contra el norte. eso sería a la edad de 26 años cuando ya había sido graduada, que la hechicera había vuelto a ebbing para vivir allí una temporada de nuevo.

REGRESO A EBBING

cuando llegó a ebbing de nuevo, brianna se encontró con que su hermano mediano, wildson, había decidido también renunciar a la corona para convertirse en guardia imperial al servicio de la reina, pasando así la pesada carga de una corona a thessa la hermana menor de los vassermiller.

rosalind y joan louise habían decidido separar sus vidas en conjunto. por una parte rosalind había decidido volver a toussaint junto a los condes toricella, sus padres (françois y rosalina), productores de beauclair white, y además buscarse un nuevo novio, un hombre que trabajaba en un banco de toussaint.

por la otra parte, joan louise, se había quedado en ebbing para asegurar la educación tanto de wildson y thessa, así como procurar la seguridad de los dos hijos que con él vivían.

a los pocos meses, thessa, fue coronada como reina de ebbing a la temprana edad de 15 años, pues brianna había conseguido hacer creer a la corte que un niño tenía la inocencia necesaria para gobernar grandes reinos, pues reyes más jóvenes en la historia habían existido.

VIAJE POR EL CONTINENTE

<<lugares que ir, sitios que conocer…>> — brianna vassermiller

tras unos años dejando a cargo a joan louise y wildson de la educación de la joven reina thessa, brianna decidió ir a explorar el mundo, conocer gente, construir alianzas y buscar un marido decente para thessa, ya que una unión de reinos sería un buen cambio, además quería conocer costumbres nuevas, leyes, y demás para poder cambiar la corrupción que había en ebbing de forma en la que aquellos explotadores, chaperos, refinadores de drogas y demás gente alejada de la mano de pereplut, desaparecieran de ebbing.

en sus viaje terminó conociendo a una elfa llamada aëte aen blathan, que había sufrido debido a su raza, y que además tenía cierta facilidad para con el arte, era una pintora magnífica; una súcubo en nazair, que al principio fue un problema, ya que le robaba el sueño a hombres y mujeres; y junto al brujo llamado cervin el oso azul y a un vampiro llamado august van der ermius y crearían una pequeña hansa. una familia inseparable donde se preocupaban los unos por los otros

INTENTOS DE SUICIDIO

a lo largo del tiempo la hechicera habría intentado quitarse la vida más de una vez al perder a su marido años en adelante tras una guerra en el propio país de august.

La primera vez intentó hacer que unos monstruos la atacaran pero por suerte cervin estaba cerca y salvó a la hechicera.

La segunda vez intentó que la apresaran y condenaran a muerte pero por suerte sus familiares influyentes aún vivían y consiguieron rescatarla

La tercera y última vez la hechicera entró en un estado mental crítico, empleando su propio poder intentó desmaterializarse, por suerte la grigori runa pudo rastrear su esencia mágica y traerla de vuelta. Así paso dormida, regenerando su cuerpo gracias a runa y al poder que todavía había en su interior del demonio Yrrhedes

[ormakona]

Grandmaster Ortolan was a legendary mage who was in charge of the experiments done at Rissberg Castle.

[deacf-coffee-is-a-sin]

i just finished season of storms for the 1st time and im so confused as to wtf i just read. its just a fever dream of a novel that ends with a characters own fever dream

[bloededhoine]

world building cause twn doesn't part 11: witchers

we all love witchers, they're dramatic, they're sexy, and they're very important. some might say they are the namesake of the entire series. also, fair warning that it gets very geeky and into the bits of polish media that are hardly relevant for twn at all, so feel free to skip after the cut.

an asterisk means the bullet point is not from the saga, but has the same canon deal as the games– it could happen and would not affect the original canon, so do with that what you will

colour code cause i fucking love colour codes - already happened/introduced, probably s2, important background info, stuff that might be in the prequel, extras

series masterpost

history

witchers, also known as vatt'ghern in elder speech, have been around in some form for a really long time

when humans started populating on the continent in the late 700s, they encountered a lot of scary shit that they had no idea how to deal with

for around 200 years people just got eaten, until around 950 when the kings hired some slightly mad mages to create a magical knightly class to kick monster ass. they called this class the order of witchers, beginning the first age of witchers

the main mages and leaders of the order, cosimo malaspina and his student alzur, started with creating witchers from adults. this didn't work, so alzur kidnapped 38 children and brought them to rissberg castle in western temeria. yeah. these were not good dudes

alzur developed the first witcher trials, putting the children through first physical training and then alchemical processes designed to mutate them into witchers.

the physical training had a lot of climbing cliffs, running obstacle courses of death, and hitting each other with sticks. before alzur could even start mutating the kids, 4 had died

the alchemical processes started with giving the children shrooms and toxic tea, which this ended up killing a large amount of them. however, after a month, the first witcher was created. a week later, erland of larvik (hes important for later) finished the process. by the end, there were only 5 alive.

these 5 were continuously trained by the best hunters, trackers, mages, alchemists, and warriors on the continent. however, the whole point of making witchers was to have magically enhanced knights, and none of these five had exceptional magic powers, so the whole process was officially declared a failure

cosimo and alzur didn't agree, so they took the 5 witchers to the abandoned morgraig castle in the remote kaedweni kestrel mountains to continue training the existing witchers and create some new ones*

after the originals set out on the path, the mages kept creating more witchers. in the winter, they would all go back to morgraig castle to spend time together and mourn those who had died

after a while, the original leaders of the order had left and the witchers started in-fighting, tricking each other, and even threatening to kill each other just for a contract

this escalated until a witcher named arnaghad nearly killed another witcher named rhys. when the order told arnaghad that this was super against the rules, he summoned his crew and they battled the order. arnaghad's group lost, so they left the order and travelled south to the amell mountains in nazair and formed a new witcher school - the school of the bear*

the drama didn't end here, however. a group of bear school witchers decided they didn't like arnaghad and tried to kill him. these witchers then travelled to the far southeastern tir tochair mountains and founded the school of the viper*

these two schools became especially famous for their chronic backstabbing, and public opinion began to turn on witchers. the other witchers were obviously not pleased with this, so twenty of the others left the order and decided to try and help witchers regain respect.

these 20 took tons of alchemical and mutagenic knowledge and equipment with them, planning to improve the recipe used to make witchers. they travelled south to ebbing, where they eventually settled in stygga castle and formed the school of the cat

however, the cat school was all the way across the continent from morgraig castle, so the advancements they made didn't really help the order. the remaining original witchers were feeling a little bummed and useless, but they didn't want to cause some huge problems by leaving to form their own school.

fortunately, our friend erland of larvik was the diplomatic leader of this group. he explained to the remaining order members why he wanted to leave, and then peacefully took 13 of his bros to the far northern kingdom of kovir. they settled at the kaer seren fortress and called themselves the school of the griffin*

the last witchers of the order figured there was no reason to stay in the practically-abandoned morgraig castle, so they travelled to eastern kaedwen and formed the school of the wolf, headquartered at the kaer morhen fortress

these schools turned out to be a pretty good idea, since they were so spread out their respective witchers rarely encountered one another and were cold but civil when they did.

the establishment of these five schools ended the first age of witchers, but began the period where the schools flourished, known as the golden age

here are the general locations of the 5 schools

training and the trials

"the trials" is the collective term for the processes that young boys go through with the goal of becoming witchers. it was initially developed by alzur and contained physical/combat training followed by mutations, but was later expanded to include monster knowledge, use of potions, and magic

the trials begin with the choice, which is kinda what it sounds like; a voluntary decision to commit to a witcher's diet and training, both incredibly gruelling and frequently led to heart or liver failure, insanity, and/or death

a witcher's training can be divided into physical and mental. physical training includes swordplay, hand to hand combat, use of magic, obstacle courses, tracking, and hunting. mental training is about studying alchemy, monsters, and herbalism

the diet is really just a lot of shrooms. like, a lot of shrooms

the first big trial is the incredibly painful trial of the grasses. it gets its name from an alchemical mix known as the grasses: corn lily, nightshade, speargrass, wildrye and wolfsbane

the entire trial takes about a week, beginning with drinking a tea made from the grasses. the adepts would then be tied down and intravenously given herbs and elixirs, the most deadly step of the trial. those who survived would fall into a disturbed sleep characterized by glassy eyes, ragged breathing, and coughing, which would progress to vomiting and seizures after the elixirs were administered again. they would fight the herbs, elixirs, and viruses in their bodies until the seventh day, when they woke up with cat eyes. only 3 out of 10 survived, gaining heightened senses, slowed aging, faster reflexes and metabolism, and superior strength

the gwent card for the trial of the grasses paints a lovely picture

how slow is this aging? very. vesemir, the oldest witcher alive, is around 290 and looks like a middle aged man. unfortunately, this isn't a profession that allows for death from old age, but i'd assume witchers have the life spans of aen seidhe elves: 350 ish years

the fast metabolism is responsible for a lot of cool things that come with being a witcher, their bodies naturally run warmer and are therefore less susceptible to infections and better equipped for freezing cold winters, they heal incredibly quickly, toxic potions aren't really a big deal, and they're horny all the time. yeah, it's canon. you can hear geralt explain it to some school children here.

the next trial is the trial of the dreams, in which the witchers in training basically trip balls under the supervision of druids or mages. it enhances the abilities from the trial of the grasses and grants night vision, but also makes witchers sterile.

the last trial is the trial of the mountains, which is a test of physical strength, survival, and combat skills. there's no real standard process here since different schools have different environments, but it's usually a specific and dangerous course the adepts need to run.

after this trial, the adepts receive their medallions and officially become witchers

the trials are meant to not only train witchers but to prepare them for the dangers of life on the path, so by nature survival is rare and indicates high skill.

however, on the rare occasion that a master witcher does not believe that a student is ready, they can have the student go through an additional trial known as the trial of the sword. this is really just a kill or be killed combat where the adept must prove their skill.

the path

the path is really just the outside world where a witcher will do their witchering. most witchers go on the path for the first time in the spring after they finish the trials, and then return to their schools in the winter

it's obviously quite a dangerous life, witchers often don't know that their brothers have died until they just don't come back for the winter

especially since humans don't really like them, and it's hugely common that witchers get cheated out of their money or even tricked and killed by villagers

why don't humans like these wonderful monster killers? it really varies. witchers are quite secretive about their lives, so people tend to fill in the gaps. negatively, i might add

that's where we get the myth that witchers have no emotions, which is completely untrue. witchers do tend to be fairly low-affect, like they wouldn't really react to death or sickness or war in general, but it's probably more because they've seen it all before than that they don't care

many witchers have incredibly strong bonds with their brothers, horses, and mentors. of course, geralt and his family are a lot closer than most witchers would be to theirs, but the basic capacity for emotion stands

people also think that witchers will steal their children, which is sort of partly true? the vast majority of children who become witchers are child surprises of other witchers, but it's important to note that there just aren't that many witchers out there

more accurate is the belief that witchers will steal your girl. now many of our lads can and will be monogamous, but countless more just... won't.

a lot of human hatred for witchers is just plain racism. witchers aren't really considered nonhuman, witchering is more of a profession than a separate race, but they are called nonhuman as an insult both to them and actual nonhumans. it's complicated.

you may have heard geralt grumble something about the witcher's code, which, as cool as it sounds, isn't real. the order had a set of moral objectives they wanted to serve, but that died with them. geralt heard about this and knew that no one knows what the witcher's code is, so he would make it up whenever he didn't want to do something. i love that energy

the closest thing most witchers have to a code is their commitment to neutrality, which is basically just what it sounds like but a lot more complicated.

it doesn't mean that witchers can't play a force in politics, since there's a lot of perfectly normal witchering things that can be argued to change the political climate, especially in a time of war.

it does mean that witchers cannot commit to a political cause, like enlisting in the army or assassinating a king. geralt is famous for not giving a shit about this rule. literally. that's a big part of where his fame comes from. he was knighted while his poet gigolo boyfriend sat there and reported on it.

it's also important to note that neutrality is more of a school's commitment than an individual witcher's. for example, when nilfgaard tried to buy out the viper school, they straight up said no because that would be committing their entire school to a cause. however, when nilfgaard went to hire a few viper witchers as assassins, they agreed. yeah, this was frowned upon since it is certainly not neutral, but it's a lot more common than entire schools breaking the rule.

magic, alchemy, and equipment

witcher potions are very useful, but also highly toxic, and would definitely kill a normal person. even with mutations that make potions much safer, witchers have limits and can't use too many potions at once

signs are simple spells that don't take the years of training and genetic predisposition required for most magic. they can be cast easily with one hand and in the middle of combat, or just when you need a bit of spice in your day. we know of 8 signs, but it's entirely possible there are more

aard - a simple but powerful telekenetic super punch

axii - jedi mind tricks

hate reflecting sign - used almost exclusively by the wolf school to reflect a monster's bloodlust back on itself. especially helpful for a particularly angry monster like adda the white when she was in striga form.

heliotrope - a shield that absorbs a singular impact, needs to be timed well as it disappears in a few seconds. best for blocking single massive attacks, like when you wake up a hung over sorceress and she tries to turn you into kentucky friend witcher

igni - turn your hand into a magical flame thrower

quen - a shield that is active until broken, best for buying time under fire or waiting for an sneak attack

somne - puts someone to sleep

yrden - creates an area that monsters can't enter, if they do they are slowed down and forced into their corporeal form (if they don't already have one)

witchers are proficient with practically any weapon, but of course they're are known for their two swords, steel for humans and silver for monsters

they're both for monsters OoOooOoOO

some carry crossbows as well, but that's definitely rarer

all witchers also have a medallion in the shape of the animal of the school where they were trained, these medallions don't only distinguish different schools of witchers but can sense magic in the world

keep reading if you honestly have nothing better to do

the school of the bear*

the bear school was founded by the rebel arnaghad after he left the order with 13 other witchers. they knew they wouldn't exactly be popular, so they travelled south and built the haern caduch fortress in the amell mountains

the mountains are freezing cold and inaccessible, before the witchers they were only populated by gnomes and dwarves. the bears did establish decent relations with these two, but still mostly kept to themselves.

they're definitely the most solitary school, some would sail to skellige to avoid other witchers

there's no real sense of brotherhood between bear school witchers, they've been known to fight each other if they have a chance encounter on the path

the bears needed to adjust to their new much much colder environment, so they began using heavy armour and prioritizing defense over agile attacks. bears are also the only school other than the cat to widely use crossbows

this is reflected in their trial of the mountains, in which students had to run to the peak of mount gorgon and bring back a special runestone. most froze to death on the way and their bodies became trail markers for future generations

because they're so reclusive, we don't really know many bear school witchers or if there are even any left

the school declined after a chunk of them broke off to form the school of the viper, but the official breaking point was when some angry and war-weary villagers climbed all the way up to haern caduch and started rioting after the bears failed to deal with some vampires

the school itself didn't have a dramatic end, it was already rare that witchers would spend winters together and they just didn't care enough to defend their keep. the remaining bears took still contracts in surrounding areas and haern caduch still stands, although covered in snow, if any wished to visit again

the school of the viper*

why did a group of witchers led by a man called ivar evil-eye chose to leave the infamous kinslaying bears? because they weren't dramatic enough. this should tell you a lot about the viper's vibe

their main gripe was that the bear school frowned upon taking contracts on people. also known as being a hitman.

clearly they didn't want intruders, so they found an even more remote location than haern caduch, the tir tochair mountains.

these mountains have the last large settlement of gnomes, and are located between the nilfgaardian province of geso and the korath desert (aka the frying pan aka if you end up here you will be stuck here and die).

they built their keep literally into the mountains and named it gorthur gvaed, but it was sometimes called the blood gate keep. intimidating.

the founders also really wanted to take on the wild hunt, so they created a school to train witchers to help out. the libraries of gorthur gvaed arguably contain the most complete collection of information about the wild hunt on the continent

unfortunately for those of us who want to fight the wild hunt but fortunately for the hunt itself, the vipers were super super secretive about their knowledge and never shared it

viper teachers were notoriously cold and cruel to their students, but in different ways than other witcher teachers. the viper version of the trial of the mountain doesn't include a mountain at all, instead the adepts had to kill the pet they had been given at their arrival at gorthur gvaed.

the viper fighting style was the direct opposite of that of the bears, they would wield two weapons and use unpredictable and rapid attacks to overwhelm their opponent. armour was light and flexible, allowing for as much movement as possible. vipers also loved using their alchemical knowledge to coat their blades in poison

when the usurper was collecting power in nilfgaard, he heard of some super killers with shady morals and wanted to recruit them. the vipers refused due to their neutrality and the usurper destroyed gorthur gvaed and the school with it. oops?

apparently, the refusal to work for the nilfgaardians was not a sentiment shared by future generations of vipers. in the 1270s a small group of vipers were hired by emperor emhyr var emreis to kill the northern kings and create chaos in the north. he called them the kingslayers, which isn't very creative but quite accurate and intimidating.

this did break the vow of neutrality, but only on behalf of the kingslayers and not the whole school. however, it definitely gave all vipers a reputation as assassins

the most prolific kingslayer, letho of gulet, enjoyed this line of work so much that he started looking for employers outside of nilfgaard.

philippa eilhart and sheala de tancarville hired him to kill king demavend of aedirn, which gave letho enough of a reputation to be hired by the scoia'tael to kill king foltest of temeria

two other kingslayers, serrit and auckes, were tasked to kill king henselt of kaedwen but failed and died in the process.

we don't meet any vipers other than the kingslayers, but letho mentions that there are at least two still alive

the school of the cat

the cat school is my personal favourite because they are so fucking interesting. they're absolutely awesome.

the school started with around 20 witchers in the order who were getting a bit irritated with the order's lack of well, order. they really wanted to improve the witcher recipe, so they took a huge amount of alchemical and mutagenic ingredients, tools, and formulas when they left

they travelled south to the famous stygga castle, which has been occupied by numerous politically shady organizations over the years due to its seclusion. it's very rare that anyone not associated with the current owners know where the castle even is, and if they did they would probably be hunted down

cat witchers broke the vow of neutrality that previous schools took, like... a lot. as in they encouraged their students to work as spies and assassins for the local rulers to help make the school more popular.

luckily for them, it worked! the cat witchers didn't just deal with monsters, but bandits and warlords too, and were very well liked by the locals

unfortunately, the success was pretty short lived. remember those formulas the cats took with them to improve the witcher recipe? yeah, they worked. really well. as in the first batches had almost no emotions at all, they didn't even seem human.

but in the spirit of progress, the cats wanted to make their witchers even better. but, they didn't have any test subjects that weren't monster killing zombies. the solution? make some witchers with extremely enhanced and unpredictable emotions, throw them in cages, and run tests on them! yikes

one of these literal lab rats, a young witcher named gezras, managed to free the other survivors and escape stygga. they ended up with a group of aen seidhe guerrillas, who helped hide them in exchange for their fighting skills. this definitely saved gezras and his friends' lives, but was yet another hit to the school's reputation*

as a reaction, some of the local nobility (who didn't even know the school had split), began to plan an attack on stygga castle. right before the forces arrived, however, gezras and his allies snuck into the castle, killed the mages and witchers who had tortured them, and snuck out without warning the other witchers about the incoming attack. everyone still inside when the soldiers arrived ended up dead in three days*

without any leaders or home base, gezras took the surviving witchers north. along the way, they picked up mercenaries, other disillusioned witchers, and nonhumans, forming the dyn marv caravan, the new nomadic headquarters of the cat school*

a big part of the caravan was that they rejected mages, but were also big into trying to improve the witcher recipe. this led to some seriously terrible variations on the trials (ie human experimentation) that earned them a solidly awful reputation that was made worse when the caravan supported aelireen in her rebellion against humans*

eventually, the caravan settled like right next to kaer morhen, the headquarters of the school of the wolf. most of the witchers actually got on quite well, but a small group of cats led by this idiot named treyse wanted to be special. they made a deal with the kaedweni king radowit's mage astrogarus that in exchange for killing the wolves, they would be the leaders of a new special kaedweni witcher order*

the older members of the school, like the then-leader guxart, knew this was a terrible idea, but were arrested by the kaedwenis so they couldn't interfere*

surprise surprise, this was indeed a terrible idea. after the cats attacked the wolves, radowit told his men to kill all the surviving witchers from both schools, including treyse. turns out the king didn't like all the witchers in the area and wanted them dealt with. the few cats who survived were permanently banned from taking shelter in any other schools*

eventually, guxart got out of prison on the condition that he would keep his witchers far away from king radowit*

the school declined significantly after this, but officially ended when soldiers took control of the caravan, killing most of the witchers. all hopes of revival were dashed when one of the few survivors killed the others to obtain some armour diagrams*

yeah, the story of the cat school is very dramatic. i wouldn't expect much less from them.

the school had a reputation for being extremely emotional and unpredictable, they had no issue with taking contracts on humans or even other witchers. the cat school is also the only one to train women and nonhumans, and they were publicly sympathetic towards elves, even fighting on their side against the northern realms.

their fighting style is similar to that of the vipers, relying on speed, agility, and accuracy. cat weapons aren't very powerful, but lightweight and precise and designed for deadly hits, like a crossbow. armour is also incredibly flexible and lightweight, made to be easily repaired on the road.

one of the cat trials is walking a tightrope blindfolded, they would practice this throughout their training on increasing heights that eventually became deadly if failed.

some cat witchers we meet are brehen of iello, aiden, jad karadin, kiyan, and gaetan.

the school of the griffin

they're literally the opposite of the cats. erland of larvik and 13 of his friends left the order amicably and travelled west to one of alzur's old fortresses, kaer seren in kovir. apparently it was haunted, but they're witchers so it wasn't a problem

the school was strictly neutral and placed high value on knightly virtues, training was focused on magic, preparedness, and etiquette. the older griffins were mentors and parents, not just teachers, for the younger ones. erland made his school sort of like a family, kaer seren even had a graveyard to bury griffins who had died.

griffins were definitely the most respected by the north, their masters would even be summoned to give advice to kings, especially on matters related to magic.

their fighting style emphasized powerful signs and taking on multiple opponents at once, cause that's just awesome. griffin armour was medium weight, light enough to offer good movement but heavy enough for the freezing temperatures at kaer seren.

griffins were expected to be polite and kind to everyone, and had no issue killing dragons. those are unrelated though. you can be an ass who lets dragons live.

the library at kaer seren had a huge collection of magical information, but it was all destroyed when some local angry villagers caused an avalanche that killed multiple witchers and made the fortress pretty much unusable

fortunately, the surviving witchers were well liked enough that other schools offered them shelter in the winter. that's why coën got to hang out with the wolf witchers, and the griffin attitude is definitely why he was the most comfortable with ciri

other than coën and erland, the only moderately important griffin witcher is keldar, an expert on monsters and mentor to coën, who still guards the ruined kaer seren*

the school of the wolf

definitely the one you are most familiar with, the school of the wolf was the last school founded when the few remaining witchers in the order decided to join the new age of witchers

they chose the recently abandoned kaer morhen fortress in kaedwen as their headquarters, and quickly earned a reputation as a professional and reliable institution. they even helped hide count esteril thyssen and his wife agnes from the angry king videmont.

unfortunately, in around 1170 some angry mages and priests led a mob that attacked kaer morhen and killed every witcher inside. the school recovered somewhat, but a few years later the massacre from the school of the cat happened and nearly all witchers from before the attacks had died

the last children trained in kaer morhen were trained in the 1230s, but by then the only pre-pogrom witcher alive was vesemir, a fencing teacher with little knowledge of how to carry out the trials, so the school couldn't make any new witchers.

however, vesemir kept spending winters in the keep with a few of his younger witchers, geralt, eskel, lambert, and later, the griffin witcher coën. kaer morhen also housed geralt's child surprise, ciri, and eskel's, deidre, for a while, and was open to witchers from all schools except the cat and viper.

wolf fighting was similar to that of the griffin, they used mixed attacks and medium-weight armour and valued relationships with each other, but did not place as high a value on magic

other than vesemir, eskel, geralt, and lambert, the witchers leo and berengar were also from the school of the wolf

future

by the 1250s, all the schools were functionally extinct, although a few witchers still travelled the continent doing the same work as always

alzur never shared his process for creating witchers except to his students, who then shared it to their students and so on. however, enough massacres and pogroms happened that gaps in knowledge grew and it's impossible and impractical even to try to make more witchers

[dukeofdogs]

Rissberg degenerates my beloveds.

[traitreespiegle]

oh to speak of the aches and pains, @lilacdulcis

Motherhood. . . How was it something that women craved? And with such intense desperation? Why would someone sign themselves up for such a role, desire to be the world of something so pure and delicate? Put themselves in such a violate position? It was nothing more than an aspect of life that the Sorceress of Gors Velen had purposely fled from, remaining tenaciously out of reach to any and all situations that could, even in the slightest, led the pale-skinned woman into a position that saw her caring for a child, existing as a mother-figure to an innocent soul that could so easily be broken, disappointed. And such desperate avoidance, such a distasteful outlook was carved from a childhood that had been painful, horrific and lonely, spent trapped beneath a cruel caretaker in a dilapidated orphanage. Perhaps, Amara was selfish. Perhaps, Amara was weak. Perhaps, Amara still held scars, thus, was scared, frightened. And such scars had not healed, forever reopening beneath invisible strain as toxic ignorance was paid towards mental and physical wounds that had refused to leave, to ease when the victim denied facing them. Simply, to be a mother was a role she loathed the thought of, actively avoided in every sense of the word. She had been walking, existing across this Continent for over three centuries and had yet to truly keep herself together, to act in a manner that was safe and wholeheartedly mature instead of chasing a youthful, careless lifestyle that had seen her split from her loved ones, captured in moments that gifted her scars that would never fade even with the aide of magic. Pregnancy was nothing more than a fragment of life that the Sorceress had been wholeheartedly uninterested in as the belief of being a terrible, uncaring mother whispered in the back of her mind and frightening off any thoughts that dared to arise.

  Yennefer of Vengerberg was her first love and had been an important, unwavering presence in the Temerian’s life from the moment that their paths crossed in the Courts of Aedirn and that soaring, passionate bond was created, forged by the likes of destiny and was unbreaking beneath the pressure of time and a whirlwind romance that was as chaotic as an untamed stallion galloping through lush fields. It was truly nothing for the women to be together one moment and apart the next, days, weeks, months or even years spent together. Now, this did not mean in any way, shape or form that their love was untrue or impure as a couple that spent their lives together, remaining attached at the hip. It simply meant that their love, however chaotic and unpredictable, was passionate, burning and unable to be mellowed, the women brought back together repeatedly by the unusual workings of fate. Violate they could be, loving in the first moment, thoroughly frustrated in the second and dripping with lust in the last. It was that very sequence that had led the Sorceress of Gors Velen into this . . . undesired situation, the very situation that she had never expected, envisioned herself to be in. She and Yennefer had parted ways but not without a night of passion that had left her ever so pleasurably bruised and unable to walk without limping after the Sorceress of Vengerberg experimented with a new spell that had seen her equipped with a very real, very responsive phallus.

  Unforeseen, the Scholar of Rissberg had brusquely awoken one morning with the unyielding desire to empty the contents of her stomach as the organ rocked, trembled viciously, riotously and promptly lost the previous night’s meal in a bucket that had been hastily received. She hadn’t expected to have the light of life to be growing, forming within her stomach in an act of chance that was truly magical, a blessing. And why would such a thought arise? Akin to all Aretuza Sorceresses, Yennefer’s ascension had come at a painful cost that had seen her purposely left sterile and unable to have children in an act that the Brotherhood of Sorcerers had hoped pledge loyalty. Who could possibly have thought that playing around with a crude spell could create a loophole? One that ended in pregnancy, the gift of life? It had not ever been heard of, unspoken and hidden if such a discovery had been founded previously by another couple. No. Pregnancy had not been the thought that had entered Amara’s mind, in fact, the pale-skinned Temerian had simply believed that she had fallen ill. Sorceresses, after all, could still fall sick as they were wholeheartedly immune to the ways of life and had treated herself as such, believing after that of a truly agonising week of morning sickness that it was an unusual case of hay fever and was responding painfully to a new crop that her community was using, waving it off as an allergy of sorts. In fact, even the increase in the Sorceress’s eating habits had been simply shouldered off as her body trying to naturally heal itself and required the nutrition to fight the effects of the ailment that acted out upon her body.

  Outrageously, the Sorceress of Gors Velen had been painfully unaware of the situation she had unknowingly found herself in as days turned into weeks and edged onto the first few months. You see, her appetite had always been that of a healthy one and ate, for the majority, to her pleasure. It wasn’t until the desire for a spontaneous bath had seen her uncovered and unprotected, argenteous orbs uncovering the startling discovery of a previously undetected bump that had seemed to have formed without her knowledge. And suddenly, the last few weeks and all those strange, unusual variations had all come crashing down upon her in unrelenting waves of emotions, finally making sense in a daunting discovery that was frightening and life-altering all in the very same second, provoking a strangled sob to tear forth from her lips as the woman fell to the ground as pale hands grasped and not at her stomach, as one would think, but the floor. One could not discover a response that could truly describe the situation the Sorceress had found herself in, the emotions and conflict which lashed out at her body. It was frightening to think of just how much was being unpacked in her mind. On one hand, she was pregnant and that was a feat she had never foreseen and she was pregnant with Yennefer’s child and that was a feat that should have been impossible given Yennefer’s inability to have children. Without a doubt, it was Yennefer’s. Amara only enjoyed the company of the same-sex and such devious acts of using chaos to conjure a magical cock on her lover’s body had only ever been done with Yennefer.

  Gods. . . It opened a whole new pot of worms. Could she tell Yennefer? Should she tell Yennefer? Could or should she keep this life that was living inside of her? Given the violent response of both her body and mind, Amara was aware there and then that she was unable to purposely rid herself of the gift that had been created out of the love that shimmered and burned between herself and the woman she loved in a feat that was, without a doubt, a true creation of fate. And yet, she was unable to bring herself to informing Yennefer of this discovery, of the fact that the Sorceress of Gors Velen was pregnant with their child in an unbelievable outcome. Surely, the pale-skinned woman would sound insane, had finally lost the last screw as so many joked with such an admittance and had imagined an array of Yennefer’s responses that , of such that she did not want to battle with and their last communication had read that Yennefer was content, happy in her current life with Geralt, the Infamous Witcher and their child surprise, Ciri. Who was she to play god in their relationships by dropping such an emotional bomb? If Yennefer believed her that is. She had only ever wanted Yennefer to be happy in her life, to find that meaning the Aedirnian wanted and such was found as the mother to Geralt’s child surprise. Perhaps, her choice of keeping their child secret was ever so wrong, one that would see the women damaged, hurt and confused. Amara Isolda was someone who often, in the opinion of those that surrounded her, chose the wrong choice, even if it was chosen for the right reason and for the health of those she cared for. Was another wrong choice truly going to be so bad? When she had so many already trailing behind her? It was one that she regretted with each passing day, with each letter received from Yennefer and had forced herself to live with.

  Amara had, surprisingly, eased into the aspect of having a child ever so swiftly, with such effortlessness that had left her debating on her previous beliefs of her ability in the world of motherhood and was truly loving, attentive to the unborn child that grew in her stomach, showering it in constant acts of affection and love throughout the day, ensuring that she only ever digested the best quality of foods and ensured that it was family with her voice, talking, singing and reading to the bundle of joy as the days passed on and her belly grew larger, signalling that her child was healthy and nurtured, blossoming beneath her love. In fact, the Sorceress had even departed from her birth town of Gors Velen, leaving behind a life that she had loved living for one far slower and settled down in a tasteful Manor discovered not far from the smaller settlement of Oxenfurt, a piece of the continent that was quieter, without conflict and was absent of the hustle and bustle that came with the likes of an overpopulated city that was brimming with factions, businesses and opportunities.

  When the birth came, it was a challenge as any childbirth was but after hours of intense labour guided by a close friend and confidant, the Continent was made brighter, better by the birth of a beautiful baby girl. And a beauty she was, blessed with skin that was as delicate as porcelain and a gentle button nose, generous little eyebrows and tresses as dark as the night, chaotic and wild as Yennefer’s and features that paired Amara and Yennefer together tastefully but most important of all, little orbs which danced vividly with an array of amethyst shades that was identical to her mother. And such an emotional discovery that was, a stream of tears staining alabaster cheeks as the woman she loved more than life itself was so very present in the gift they had created. Yennefer was, without a single doubt, lovingly present in their daughter as her demanding yet gentle natured personality was more akin to her Mother’s rather than Amara’s. And just as the Sorceress of Gors Velen had been whilst their baby grew, blossomed in her stomach, Amara was ever so loving and affectionate towards her bundle of joy, passionately proud and ardently protective of the gift fate had given her.

  It was a simple day, her beloved daughter just a few days shy of turning two months and was currently cradled in a linen cloth against Amara’s chest, fast asleep in the world of dreams and ever so content snuggled up against her mother’s ample breasts as the Emissary worked silently, dutifully in one of her gardens, knees pressed into the damp, fertile soil as pale flesh vanished within brown particles, returning stained by the soil as small holes were made for the series of vegetables that would be soon planted and a stream of low hums would rumble away in the depths of her chest as she worked with gentle devotion. If only Amara had the slightest of inklings, a warning of the whirlwind that would soon fall upon her doorstep bestow a life-altering swirl of emotions for herself, her child and her unexpected visitor. The Rissberg Sorceress was ever so painfully unaware of Yennefer’s discovery, of the tale that the troublesome bard, Dandelion, had told to Geralt in ear shot of the Sorceress of Vengerberg in regards of seeing the pale-skinned woman heavily pregnant at the Oxenfurt markets on more than one occasion and carried forth with gossip in regards to whom the father could be. How painfully unaware of the situation that would soon be unfolding she was, of the life-changing visit that was going to rain down upon her.

[thirstyforred]

2022 summary

i don't think i remember that much of this year, I feel like only 5 things happened but lets see

i did my first big bang and wrote The Devourer of Suns, which honestly i think may be one of my better works lol

i started a new job which at first was boring, then enabled by insanity, and got very stressful, and as of this week I also lost it (I mean I'm gonna still work there for the next months, but I also have to start '23 with looking for a new job)

i got the turtle egg in Guilt Wars 2 on the first try of the event - it doesn't sound like much, but it turned to be such a major problem that the event got nerfed so I'm counting it as an achievement

i began developing solo ttrpg/card game "Escape from Rissberg" and then it went fucking nowhere, so that's another project for next year

i decided to finally read that manga where the protagonist shows his hole, and yeah, Golden Kamuy definitely changed my brain chemistry. for worse ❤️

as one of the symptoms of that insanity i wrote a bunch of drabbles about the flaming rose lads, and also acquired one new oc

there was a brief moment when i genuinely thought that someone involved in Gwent was reading my blog, but thankfully it turned out we just have a really shitty heater that's poisoning us with carbon dioxide

i started dming the witcher ttrgp game for @tcustodis, @pissedoctahedron and @eeriehowl, and it slaps

i was for the first time in warsaw with @pissedoctahedron it sure is a city in Poland 😛

i did sorta give up on Sublime, but it's still living in my head rent-free 👌‍

i did try to clean up my verse about which I plan to write, wip name Saint's Bleed Gold and I wanted to write like a legit short story, but instead I pivoted into 'trash webnovel' genre and I'm having a lot of fun. you can catch Ascendant from Saov on Tapas, Wattpad, Webnovel or Neovel, yes I'm posting it on all these sites, I'm ok i swear

overall i wrote and posted something like 50k words, which nice, I will add that to my CV that I'm gonna send tomorrow to cdpr

[bamf-jaskier]

Here and Queer: The Witcher

Hi, I’m Aaliyah, and this is Here and Queer, Canon Queerness in The Witcher books. 

I already started this series by talking about Ciri here. Her relationship required a fair amount of analysis because it began nonconsensually but continued for months after the fact and spanned three books so there was quite a bit to cover. 

However, while she is the main character there are other characters who are also queer in the books including Triss Merigold, Philippa Eilhart and Geralt himself!

Let’s jump right in by talking about our first queer character: Triss. 

She is explicitly confirmed as Queer in Blood of Elves during this internal monologue: 

As far as her erotic life was concerned, Triss Merigold had the right to consider herself a typical enchantress. It had began with the sour taste of forbidden fruit, made all the more exciting by the strict rules of the academy and the prohibitions of the mistress under whom she practised. Then came her independence, freedom and a crazy promiscuity which ended, as it usually does, in bitterness, disillusionment and resignation. 

Then followed a long period of loneliness and the discovery that if she wanted to release her tension and stress then someone who wanted to consider himself her lord and master – as soon as he had turned on his back and wiped the sweat from his brow – was entirely superfluous. 

There were far less troublesome ways of calming her nerves – ones with the additional advantages of not staining her towels with blood, not passing wind under the quilt and not demanding breakfast. That was followed by a short-lived and entertaining fascination with the same sex, which ended in the conclusion that soiling towels, passing wind and greediness were by no means exclusively male attributes.

Finally, like all but a few magicians, Triss moved to affairs with other wizards, which proved sporadic and frustrating in their cold, technical and almost ritual course.

Sounds here like Triss enjoyed her relationships with women but the forced heteronormativity of society caught up with her. This actually hits quite a bit for me as Triss states that her relationships with men seemed lacking after she had relationships with women. 

Of course, there is also this scene in The Tower of Swallows: 

The brilliant beam of light, broken by the diamond, flashed on the surface of the mirror. Yennefer stretched out both hands and began chanting a spell. The blindingly bright light reflected and concentrated into a fog. Soon, a picture began to emerge. The image of a room whose walls were covered with colorful tapestries.

A movement at the window. And a troubled voice. “Who? Who's there?”

“I'm here, Triss.”

“Yennefer! That you? Gods! How did… Where are you?”

“It does not matter where I am. Do not block the image, because the picture varies. And take away that candle, it’s blinding.”

“Right. Of course.”

Although it was late at night, Triss Merigold was wearing neither lingerie nor her work clothes. She wore a dress for going out. As usual, high-collared and closed.

“Can we talk freely?”

“Of course.”

“You're alone?”

“Yes.”

“You're lying.”

“Yennefer…”

“You are deceiving me, brat. I know your face; I know you too well. It’s the same look you had when you started sleeping with Geralt behind my back. Back then, you put on the same sheepish, innocent mask that I see on your face now. And it means the same thing now that it meant back then!”

Triss was red. Philippa Eilhart appeared in the window next to her, dressed in a dark blue men’s jerkin. “Bravo,” she said. “As usual, quick. As usual, perceptive. As usual, hard to grasp and understand. I am glad to see you in health, Yennefer. I am happy that your crazy teleportation from Montecalvo did not end in tragedy.”

Gonna be very honest here, as someone who has had to hide their girlfriend when a friend or parents walks into your room, that is exactly how I read this scene. Yennefer saying Triss has the look on her face of someone who just got laid? Philippa coming out of hiding and calling Yennefer perceptive? The fact that when Yennefer first called Triss didn’t let her see what was going on and then appeared fully dressed after blocking the image? I don’t know about anyone else, but I read this as Yennefer catching Triss and Philippa together romantically. 

However, even if you don’t buy this scene as explicitly showing a relationship between the two of them, Triss is still queer as well as Philippa. 

From Time of Contempt:

“So it is!’ said Marti Södergren, leaning over and wrinkling her nose, after which she picked up a goblet and looked at the traces of crimson lipstick on it. ‘Ah, Philippa Eilhart. I should have known. Who else would have dared to do something so brazen? That revolting snake. Did you know she spies for Vizimir of Redania?’

‘And is a nymphomaniac?’ risked the Witcher. Marti and Keira snorted in unison.

‘Is that what you were counting on, fawning over her and flirting with her?’ asked the seductress. ‘If so, you ought to know someone’s played a mean trick on you. Philippa lost her taste for men some time ago.”

Another Philippa scene from The Tower of Swallows:

Philippa Eilhart was in a short nightgown with thin straps, and her face and neck had traces of lipstick. Assire, with a great effort of will, contained an expression of displeasure. Never, ever, will I understand this. And I do not want to understand.

“Can we speak freely?”

Philippa’s hand made a sweeping gesture. And she surrounded herself with a magic sphere of discretion.”

Answering a telecomm with lipstick all over ur neck is such a queer power move and honestly Philippa might be manipulative but damn the energy she exudes. 

As well as Philippa and Triss, there is the infamous bath scene with Geralt and Borch from Sword of Destiny: 

“Let’s make merry!’ Three Jackdaws leant across the table and slapped Téa on the backside. ‘Let’s make merry, Witcher. Hey, landlord! Over here!’

The innkeeper scuttled briskly over, wiping his hands on his apron.

‘Could you lay your hands on a tub? The kind you launder clothes in, sturdy and large?’

‘How large, sir?’

‘For four people.’

‘For… four…’ the innkeeper opened his mouth.

‘For four,’ Three Jackdaws confirmed, drawing a full purse from his pocket. ‘I could.’ The innkeeper licked his lips.

‘Splendid,’ Borch laughed. ‘Have it carried upstairs to my room and filled with hot water. With all speed, comrade. And have beer brought there too. Three pitchers.’

The Zerrikanians giggled and winked at the same time.

‘Which one do you prefer?’ Three Jackdaws asked. ‘Eh? Geralt?’

The Witcher scratched the back of his head.

‘I know it’s difficult to choose,’ said Three Jackdaws, understandingly. ‘I occasionally have difficulty myself. Never mind, we’ll give it some thought in the tub. Hey, girls. Help me up the stairs!”

Now, there’s a lot of people who read this scene and say: hey now, Geralt didn’t actually sleep with Borch. They just slept with two women. Together. In a bath. Now, I don’t know about any of you, but when four people are naked in a bath together all having sex it’s not a situation where you can say no-homo bro and call it a day. 

Also, you know, there is this line later on in Sword of Destiny: 

“Véa, already mounted beside Téa, waved.

‘Véa,’ the Witcher said, ‘you were right.’

‘Hm?’

‘He is the most beautiful.”

Of course, this is in reference to Borch’s dragon form but considering the last person to call Borch beautiful was Véa who slept with him...well. Geralt is at the very least open for a variety of sexual situations. 

Finally, there is Sorel Degerlund in Season of Storms who says this about Ortolan, the elderly mage of the town: 

“As you’ve doubtless observed,” continued Degerlund, “I have exceptional looks and women have been known to call me an ephebe. I’m fond of women, indeed, but in principle I didn’t and don’t have anything against homosexuality. Under one condition: if it is to be, it must help me to advance my career.

My physical intimacy with Ortolan didn’t demand excessive sacrifices. The old man had long passed both the age limit for capability and desire. But I did my best for people to think otherwise and believe he’d utterly fallen for me.

Believe there was nothing he would refuse his gorgeous lover. Believe that I knew his codes, that I had access to his secret books and notes. That he was giving me artefacts and talismans he hadn’t previously revealed to anyone. And that he was teaching me forbidden spells. 

Including goetia. And if previously the great men and women of Rissberg had disdained me, now they suddenly began to esteem me. I had grown in their eyes. They believed I was doing what they themselves dreamed of. And that I was achieving success.”

So this is a very minor character who only appears in one adventure but he is queer. Well, to clarify he is queer for...career advancement? Honestly I have no idea if asaps is trying to make a statement here or if he was writing this and thought to himself: what if the mage was queer but only in order to advance his career? Sounds fun, let’s do it. 

So overall, there are queer characters in The Witcher, from Ciri to Triss to Geralt to Philippa to guy who is gay to advance his career in Season of Storms. There are likely other minor characters I might have missed, so feel free to add them!

I hope to see these characters as queer in the show and it’s really nice to have this type of representation in fantasy, especially a series such as The Witcher. And yes, there are a number of problematic tropes and issues this writing can stumble into but it is still nice to see a variety of sexualities, especially in the main characters such as Ciri and Geralt.  

[seaswalllow]

“I have never,” Ira emphasizes, “heard such a stupid plan before.”

Chase smiles, the expression half feral on him. Ira has felt fear exactly twice- once during xeir training, and another on a day that shall not be named. But if xe made a habit of feeling it- well. Xe suspects that smile would’ve done something.

As it stands, xe arches a single perfect eyebrow at Jackie, who cocks his head.

“That's exactly why they won't be expecting it.”

Xe massages xeir temples, gently. Xe had chosen this. Xe had fought for xeir place in the Aphelion course. Xe knew that the witchers were unconventional at best. That did not mean that they were any less infuriating.

“Walk me through it again,” xe says instead. “You think a masquerade ball, when the Duchess of Rissberg has been heard plotting murder, is the ideal course of action.”

Now that xe has said it aloud, xe can see his line of thinking. Dangerous as it is, anonymity always emboldens conspirators.

Chase leans back in his chair, balancing on its back two legs, and Ira fights back the urge to tip it over entirely. Not now. Petty vengeance for xeir burgeoning headache can come after conspiring to catch an assassination in the act.

“You heard me. I was talking it over with Jackie, and Lacuna, earlier- we sponsor a masquerade ball, and put them in some high-ranking position. Make it appear like they’re trusted for… some goodwill bullshit or another, to explain why they’re not given proper oversight. Give them time to set their own trap- except once they try to trigger the trap, ours snaps shut.”

For a long moment, all that can be heard is Ira drumming xeir nails against the glossy wood of the table, mulling over his suggestion. It’s not a bad line of thinking, honestly, but— “They’re going to wonder why we suddenly hoisted this upon them,” xe says thoughtfully. “We’ll have to come up with an excuse, like— I’ll ask Robin if any notable anniversaries are approaching. And the rediscovery of the youngest Aphelion child has thrown the court into enough of a tizzy that we simply don’t have the time while we reorganize. It’ll appear to weaken us just enough for them to be bold, and explain our lax oversight, and the masks will prevent them from recognizing the new witchers amongst our delegation.”

Barking out a laugh, Chase rights his chair, amber eyes glittering. “And we will be sticking to the Aphelions like burrs. It’ll be easy enough to scent out anybody who’s smelling like fucking treason. Who knows- we might ferret out more than one conspiracy.”

Xe feels xeir own mouth curve into a sharp smile, flashing perfect teeth.

“We understand each other perfectly, then. Will any of your brothers arrive on short notice?”

Now it’s Chase’s turn to think, flipping a knife as he does so. Xe tracks the honed edges of the blade, almost idly.

“Syl might, on short notice. Henrik sent ahead notice that he’s already planning on joining us. James would without question.”

A Cat, a Bear, and a Griffin.

“Sylvain is too noticeable as her chosen brother,” xe dismisses, and Chase catches his knife, briefly putting a pause to its mesmerizing arcs.

“You’re already disguising our eyes through our masks. Can you do so for our voices?”

Xeir lips thin, as they calculate the sheer amount of spells they’ll be upholding. “Protection and cloaking for that enchantment upon the Aphelion masks. Disguising the witchers in the delegations, as well as a mandatory detection enchantment for the Duchess’ mages. It wouldn’t be ideal, but I can manage it if you are set on having him there.”

“If not him, then Skye’s definitely going to push to be there, even if she has to bribe Lacuna to portal her. Having a Cat would be good for us; a Cat or Viper.”

Xey hum thoughtfully, and then nod curtly. “Ask Lacuna to have you speak to Skye and hers, then. I will leave you in charge of determining the witchers within the delegation.”

“I assume you’ll be handling the courtly side of affairs,” he murmurs lazily, and Ira scoffs lightly.

“Of course. What else? If nothing else, I want to see the expression on the dragon of Aedirn’s face when she learns of another hunt.”

“You are such a sap,” Chase says with not a small amount of glee, and cackles as he scoots out of reach of xeir swipe. “G’wan, then. Go be a menace, we have a trap to set.”

[rallamajoop]

The Witcher: The Games vs The Books

Coming to the fandom this late, I can only assume the relationship between the Witcher games and the original novels has been long since talked to death by others. But I'm far too fascinated by the whole glorious mess that is this canon not to want to get down some of my own thoughts about how it all fits together.

See, on the one hand, the games (Witcher 3 especially) are arguably only too dependent on the novels to stand alone. They do a wonderful job of picking up a number of unresolved plot points the books left hanging, and a woeful job of explaining so much a player coming in cold would really like to know – Ciri's history with Geralt, Yennefer, her powers and the Wild Hunt itself just to begin with. This is an issue that only increases as the games go along: cliche as Geralt's amnesia may be, it's used to good effect to introduce the world to the player in the first game. By the third, Geralt has all his old memories back and two extra games worth of new experience, and good lord is it all alienating to the newcomer.

On the other hand, so much about the games (again, the third especially) contradicts the novels in painfully irreconcilable ways. That wouldn't necessarily bother me – adaptations are allowed to rework and reinvent, stories can and should evolve in the retelling – except, well, see point one above. So you're bound to come out of the games with a lot of unanswered questions if you haven't read the books, and just as many if you have.

Spoilers to follow, of course, for both the books and the games.

Here's one of the big ones: just how did the world – Ciri included – discover that one of her long-presumed-dead parents was actually alive and well and now ruling the entire empire of Nilfgaard? Fucked if I know. Neither the games or the novels have any explanation. In the novels, in fact, the world at large believes Ciri is married to the emperor of Nilfgaard. Naturally, this 'Cirilla' is a fake, but the scandal were the full truth ever revealed would redefine Emhyr's reign. Yet somehow, in the games, everyone seems to know he's Ciri's father, and that whole awkward incest angle is never mentioned. Continuity has been tweaked pretty significantly, and it's left to the player to guess how. If that wasn’t bad enough, the games apparently still included a Gwent card of the fake!Cirilla (artwork above) just to ensure maximum confusion.

Before I get too sidetracked with all that stuff that doesn’t add up though, there really is a lot to be said for what does work about how the games expand on the plot of the novels. The Wild Hunt itself is the big one. The spectral cavalcade appears several times through the novels and hunts Ciri across multiple worlds in the final book before apparently losing her trail and vanishing to make way for the 'real' big bad, never to be mentioned again. While TW3 left me pretty underwhelmed by the revelation that the spectral Wild Hunt were just a bunch of dark elves in skull armor, the books had introduced the Hunt and let us spend some time on the dark elves' world before we get the reveal that the two may be one and the same. So for all the ranting I could do about missed opportunities regarding the Wild Hunt, they're the natural candidate for the games to pick up on as their new big-bads.

To my surprise, Geralt and Yennefer's "deaths" and subsequent recovery in pseudo-Avalon also comes straight from the novels. That everyone thinks Geralt dead at the start of the first game isn't, as I'd first assumed, a convenient excuse to have him reappear with amnesia, but simply how the novels end. Why Ciri leaves them and goes world-hopping isn't clear, but "because the Wild Hunt was after her again" is as good a theory as any. So, another point to the games there.

And there's so much more. The Catriona plague has only just appeared at the end of the novels, but we know it's posed for a major outbreak – one that’s in progress by the time of the games. The second game in particular does a terrific job of taking the ambitions of the expansionist Nilfgaardian Empire and the still-relatively-new Lodge of Sorceresses and building an entirely new conflict around them – even taking two of the least developed members of the Lodge (Sabrina Glevissig and Síle de Tansarville) and expanding them into major players. Dijkstra similarly ends the novels on the run from those in power, and having already taken the same assumed name 'Sigi Reuven' he's using in the games – while the books assure us that prince Radovid will grow up to pay back his father's assassins (ie. Phillipa) and become Radovid the Stern.

The twisted fairy tale origins of the novels are something the games actually seem to have gotten better at as they went on: the 'trail of treats' to the Crones is the great example, the monster-frog-prince and the land-of-a-thousand-fables of the expansions are two more, and many more are hidden in sidequests. And I'd be remiss not to mention that in again asking Geralt to pick a side in the conflict with the Scoia'tael, the first two games not only recreate a scenario Geralt repeatedly deals with in the books, but a major theme. It's interesting too how much the broad structure of the third game feels like an homage to the books, with Geralt searching for Ciri, interspersed with sections from her POV. You can nitpick the detail of any of these examples, but the intent is unmistakable, and a lot of credit is due for it in the execution too.

Some of the detail that's gone into translating the world of the Witcher books into the games is just insane – not just in the geography and history of the place, but right down to the names of the wine you can pick up. There's the fact the Cat potion makes Geralt see in black-and-white, or the fact the basilisk and cockatrice monsters are clearly based on the same model, but the basilisk is reptilian where as the cockatrice is more avian – which is exactly how Geralt describes the difference between them in The Lady of the Lake. There's a point where Book!Regis recounts a detailed list of all the lesser vampiric species, ending with the only two violent enough to tear apart their victims: almost all can be encountered in the games, and the last two (Fleders and Ekimma) are indeed the most animalistic. This kind of thing is everywhere.

My favourite examples tend to be those that blend into the background if you haven't read the books, but will get a grin from those who have, such as a peasant in Velen who will call out to Geralt (paraphrased from memory, alas) "Sir, sir! We be up to our ears in mamunes, imps, kobolds, hags, flying drakes... oh, and bats!" – which is a lovely little reference to a couple of conversations from Edge of the World wherein Geralt explains that most of the monsters the locals want him to take care of don't actually exist. Or all those soldiers chanting "Long live King Radovid!" – natural enough, but it takes on a whole new life if you've read the passage in Lady of the Lake where the young prince Radovid grumbles internally about having to sit and listen to the city chanting 'long live...' to every other notable figure present except him.

Really, it would be faster to list the things the games introduced that don't come from the original source material in any obvious form, because it's a struggle to come up with very many. The villainous Crones of Crookback Bog and Master Mirror of the Hearts of Stone expansion are the biggest ones that come to mind, along with a great deal of the vampire mythology from Blood and Wine. To the witchers themselves, they’ve added mostly game mechanics: the use of bombs and blade oils, the names of most of the potions, and three new witcher schools (all with their own specialised gear). There are a number of new creatures and monsters – Godlings, noon-and-night-wraiths, botchlings, shaelmaars and so on – and though trolls are mentioned in the books, the games take credit for giving them so much character. Obviously, there are new characters, like Thaller and Roche – but not technically Iorveth, because a Scoia'tael commander of that name is mentioned in the books, if only in passing. And already, short of just listing off every new character the games introduced, I’m running out of ideas. Credit where credit’s due on that front: most of the new characters and locations they’ve created feel authentic enough that Kalkstein or Thaller would be right at home in the novels’ world.

But for all their dedication to the detail, it's hard to feel like the games have really managed to capture the spirit of the books in their storytelling: the mundanely corrupt bureaucracy that does so much to bring the world to life, or their cheerfully cynical sense of humour, or the flamboyant wonder that is book!Dandelion, or their enthusiasm for putting women in positions of power, or the bigger themes about the differences between the story that gets sung by the bards and what really happened – or so much else from the novels that came as such a surprise to me when I started getting really sucked in.

And if we’re going to talk about all the little things they got right, it’s only fair to point out there are just as many little things they got wrong, and sometimes pretty glaringly at that. "I thought you bowed to no-one" says Emhyr to Geralt – almost as if book!Geralt doesn’t happily bow in most every situation where it would be polite or diplomatic to do so. "This would never have happened if the council was still around!" says Geralt upon finding a sorcerer's lab full of human experiments – as if none of his experiences with Vilgefortz or the wizards of Rissberg ever happened, back when the council was very much still around. In TW2, he mocks the idea of a woman like Saskia leading a rebellion – almost as if women like Falka and Aelirenn haven't led some of the most storied rebellions in history (and we can't even blame the amnesia, because Geralt himself mentions Aelirenn later – oh yeah, this one annoyed me particularly).

 Book!verse 'Lady of the Lake' is basically just Ciri being surprised while bathing

Yennefer's studious aethiesm and willingness to desecrate Freya's temple is entirely in character – but only if we forget that she had her own personal religious experience with the goddess Freya herself in Tower of the Swallow. And then there’s the fact the Lady of the Lake is now a literal lake nymph who distributes swords to the worthy, as if no-one writing for the games ever got past the title of that particular Witcher novel (let alone got the joke). And the list goes on. It's easy to get overly caught up in contradictions like this – it's hardly as if Sapkowski's novels don't contradict themselves in places, as almost any long-running series eventually will – but it's going to stick out to those who’ve read the novels nonetheless.

While we're talking about how the games pick up where the books left off though, the big contradiction that has to be touched on comes in bringing Geralt back at all, at least in any public capacity. There's plenty to suggest that Geralt survives the novels' end and even goes on to have further adventures, but it's also pretty explicit that the history books record his death in the Pogrom of Rivia as final. The last two novels by order of publication (Season of Storms and Lady of the Lake) go so far as to feature characters far in the future with an interest in Geralt's legacy, and they discuss the matter in some depth. As far as the world knows, Geralt is dead.

  Book!Geralt fanart by Diana Novich

But it's hard to blame the games for ignoring this – true, thanks to Geralt's longevity, they could have set their conflict many more years after those future scenes – maybe even used Ciri's established time-travel powers to let you pop quietly in and out of the past (and, okay, now I've thought through all that, I'm kind of sad they didn't). But there comes a point where that kind of slavish devotion to preserving the source material really doesn't do a story any favours, and I'm not sure I could name any other successful adaptation that's bothered.

Besides bringing Geralt back at all, most of the bigger changes pertain to Ciri. In fact, as much as I'm about to get deep into the nitpicks below, you can make a surprisingly good case that the games have made only one really big change, and that's in simplifying the prophesies surrounding her. See, in the novels, all those world-saving prophesies aren't technically about Ciri, they're about her as-yet-unborn child. Who gets to impregnate her is the big driving force behind most of the villains of the books – one that all the main contenders seem to see as more of an awkward necessity rather than the inspiration for violent lust, but even so. To Emhyr, having to marry his own daughter is a bug, not a feature – but he's willing to do it to become the father of the savior of the world. But if Ciri is capable of fulfilling those prophesies herself, then Emhyr is already the father of the savoir of the world, and the revisions to his relationship with Ciri start to make a lot more sense.

Ciri's history with the Aen Elle elves seems to have been similarly revised – if not quite so cleanly. Avallac’h and Eredin are, naturally, both book characters – in fact, a lot of personality has been left behind in the books, since Avallac’h originally had a rather camp flair, and Eredin is less the power-hungry kingslayer you might imagine. When Geralt meets Avallac’h in the books – which happens briefly in Toussaint, for one of those "everything you're doing is going to make everything worse because prophesy" conversations – he's busy decorating a cave with fake prehistoric paintings in the hope of confusing future explorers. (Surprisingly, there does seem to be official art of this moment on one of the gwent cards – see above – though the Avallac’h who jokes about adding erect phalluses to the picture and admits his vanity won’t allow him to resist signing it hasn’t entirely survived the transition to the new medium).

We also meet the former Alder King, Auberon, whose death we see in flashback in the game. (Fun fact: Auberon is actually blowing bubbles through a straw in a bowl of soapy water when we first meet him in the books, hence the straw in the illustration below. The books just have more whimsy than any of the games would know what to do with.)

Ciri spends some time in the final book as a prisoner on the world of the elves, who are as keen as everyone else for their king to father her unborn child. Avallac’h eventually convinces her that this is all for the greater good: her child will be able to open gates to allow the people of her world to escape when the apocalyptic White Frost arrives. But their king, like most older elves, is impotent, leading to multiple nights where Ciri allows him to take her to bed (in some of the frankly more disturbing scenes of the series) to no result. Eredin, moreover, doesn't appear to have intended to poison the king: the vial that kills him was supposed to contain some sort of fantasy viagra, and even Eredin seems genuinely shocked to learn its actual effects.

Regardless, Ciri eventually discovers that Avallac’h and the Aen Elle have deceived her, and intend to user her child's powers to invade her world, not save it. Neither world is threatened by the White Frost for at least several millennia, it's just a pretext to make her cooperate. And so she flees, and Eredin (already leading his Red Riders aka The Wild Hunt long before he was crowned king) pursues her.

With the books as context, why Ciri would ever trust Avallac’h is very hard to understand. It's a little easier if that whole awful episode with her and the former king is subtracted out – Ciri's child is no longer necessary for Eredin's goals. So it's odd that the game still references the deadly vial Eredin gave to the king. Are we to suppose the vial genuinely contained poison in this version of continuity? I'd rather it didn't – Avallach's ruse is far more interesting if he underwhelms Eredin's support by revealing a half-truth – but the games aren't telling us.

And then we have to factor in that one last detail I'd forgotten when I originally started playing with this theory: TW3 does contain one last, dangling reference to the time the old king spent trying to impregnate Ciri, when Ge'els very reasonably asks why on earth Ciri would ever trust Avallac’h now. It's a damn good question, and the game offers no real answers. So in Avallac’h, we're left with a character who is vital to the final chapters of the games, who comes out of nowhere without the books as context, but whose role makes no sense with that backstory in mind. Frankly, the writers would have been much better off avoiding the whole mess altogether and inventing some new character to take Avallac’h's place.

The treatment of the White Frost is even more confusing. The books are ultimately fairly explicit about just what the White Frost is: a ice age, most likely caused by the same mundane climactic factors that produced the real ice ages of our history. The only escape is intergalactic emigration, as Ciri (or her children) might some day enable.

In the games, the White Frost has instead become some sort of nebulous, free-floating apocalypse which will eventually reach all worlds, which is basically fine – up to a point. We briefly visit a dead world that the Frost has decimated, and even the Aen Elle are now supposedly planning to invade Ciri's world because it threatens theirs as well (I mean, apparently – their motivations are so underdeveloped you could miss them by accidently skipping just one or two lines of dialogue). When the Wild Hunt appears, it's always in a haze of cold. Their mages can invoke its power still more dramatically through portals which can freeze you in your tracks. So obviously, the Frost has already reached their world, and time is running out, right?

Well, no – you visit their world too (again, briefly – to meet a character who has never been mentioned before and won't be again, for reasons which have also never been mentioned before if you haven't read the books) – and there's no Frost in sight, apocalyptic or otherwise.

So why does the White Frost follow the Hunt around? No idea. It's never explained.

At the very end of the game, a second "Conjunction of the Spheres" occurs (possibly because of the Wild Hunt's appearance?), and the Frost begins to invade (or possibly Avallac’h summons it, so Ciri can go into it and destroy it?) It's all painfully unclear. The game is too busy pulling a bait-and-switch over whether Avallac’h's betrayed you to tell you what's actually going on instead.

But if Ciri could destroy the Frost completely (at great personal risk, but still) why is this not more clearly set up? Why did the Aen Elle think that escaping to another world (which will ALSO eventually be destroyed by the Frost) was a better solution than sending Ciri to face the Frost directly? For which matter, why do the Aen Elle need Ciri at all if sending enough ships to carry an army is no problem? Why does Ciri spend so much of the game questioning Avallac’h's true intentions, if they were ultimately so noble? When did he tell her the truth? If Avallac’h did summon the Frost, why did he pick that particular moment? And if he didn't, and it all just happened spontaneously, we're back to questioning why invading that world ever seemed like a good solution to Eredin – it all collapses in on itself.

None of these questions couldn't have been answered with a little creativity, but then the game would've had to dedicate some real time to explaining its backstory and developing its core conflict – something it's bizarrely reluctant to do. And if you think I may be drifting from the point a bit in the name of getting all my gripes about the ending down in one place, you're not wrong, but I feel Avallac’h and everything surrounding him is pretty much the ur-example of what doesn't work about the way The Witcher 3 depends on the novels: the backstory the writers are building on doesn't actually exist in any format available to the rest of us.

There are plenty of ways TW3 could have incorporated its backstory into its own narrative (yes, even excluding the method "by expecting people to read many many more pages of text from in-game documents", because that's bullshit and always will be). There are times it does this brilliantly, such as in the quest ‘The Last Wish’: everything you really need to know is covered in Yennefer and Geralt's conversation in the boat, and without ever making the dialogue sound unnatural. In fact, TW3 has even more options here than many works with the same problem, because Geralt is famous and people already think they know his story. You could have bards singing Dandelion's ballads, you could have characters confronting him with misunderstandings about his past to force him to correct them. You could also have Geralt visiting people and places he knows Ciri remembers fondly because of the time they spent there together, or include playable flashbacks similar to the time you spend playing as Ciri. You could stick chunks of backstory in optional sidequests or scenes old-school fans can skip through quickly. So many of my questions (how did Ciri get so close to Yennefer if they were never at Kaer Morhen together? Why has no-one tried training Ciri in her powers before? What does the Wild Hunt even do while it's not hunting Ciri? Why is Ciri princess of Cintra if her father is Emperor of another country altogether?) could have been answered so easily.

Seriously, summarising the Witcher books is not that hard. Lots of things happen, but only a fraction of it is really relevant in retrospect, and you could hit all the major plot beats in a handful of paragraphs. (Heck, I’d do it here if this post wasn’t already ridiculously over long.)

But then, TW3 has a bizarre problem with leaving so much of its best material off screen, even from its own story. It's criminal that we never get to see any of Geralt's time (or Yennefer's) with the Wild Hunt, even in flashback or dream sequence. This is material that directly sets up the relationship between the main hero and the main villain, and the most we ever hear about it is a few vague allusions to it being like a strange nightmare. Really? That's it? What was it like? Was Geralt in a trance, unable to control his own actions – was he brainwashed into believing he belonged there, or was he merely unable to escape? What atrocities might Eredin have forced him to commit? Did he visit other worlds? Was he paraded among the Aen Elle as a captive? There is no way this isn’t a part of the story worth talking about!

We never see the moment Ciri rescues Geralt from the Wild Hunt. We never see how Avallac’h convinces her to trust him, we never see the moment he was cursed, or any of her efforts to save him – all these big, story-defining moments are left off-screen, to be vaguely recounted to you later in dialogue. Then there's the entire political situation in Nilfgaard – you hear about it second-hand, and it's all resolved off screen. And the list goes on. Yet you and Ciri still have time to run around Novigrad so she can thank a bunch of throwaway characters you've never even heard of before, nor will again. The priorities on display here are baffling.

The Witcher 3 was such a wildly successful game that it’s obvious these sorts of issues didn’t seriously hold it back, and it’s such a big game that I could have sat down and written just as many words focusing only on the parts that do work without much difficulty. It boasts stunning visuals, addictive gameplay and some truly wonderful characters, and so many parts of the story work brilliantly in isolation that it’s strange to come out of it feeling that it ultimately adds up to so much less than the sum of its parts.

I’m glad TW3 exists – if it hadn’t been such a runaway success I doubt I’d ever have discovered Sapkowski’s universe at all, but for myself, TW3 will probably always be remembered as a somewhat-overlong introduction to the really good stuff, in the expansions and the original novels it came from. I looked up the novels after finishing TW3 in large part because I’d been left with so many unanswered questions – and I’m glad I did, but I’m honestly surprised more people weren’t turned off by TW3′s scattershot approach to its own narrative. You’re allowed to change and rework in moving to a new medium, but I can’t imagine it would’ve hurt games’ success to tell a complete story in the process.

[inexplicifics]

Since Geralt rules Temeria now, would he deal with the mad mages of Rissberg? After all that's where the old mages had come from.

If they start making trouble!