Year of the RPG: Checking in with The Witcher

I know. It’s a surprise to everyone that Year of the RPG is still going on! Frankly, I’m a bit surprised myself. I took some time off due to some health reasons, and unfortunately I know that’s put me a tad behind on my schedule… But we will not cry over spoiled health potions, but continue on and check in to see what Geralt has been doing recently.

***

A knock on the door stirs Athena from her writing. She answers and finds a grouchy-looking messenger. He grunts something at her and thrusts some papers into her hand and leaves without another word. She unfolds the sheets and sees messy writing, as if the author was in a hurry and couldn’t be bothered with what he was writing.

“My journey has taken me far from my home. Still, the dreams haunt me, seeing Ciri training in Khair Velen before being snatched away. The Wild Hunt is after her, and I feel no closer to finding her than I did days and weeks ago. It is one search after another. This one needs money, this one had a run in with criminals, this one has gone missing. Each one dangling information like a carrot. It’s getting old.

It started with a dream – a very lifelike dream. Yen was there. Ciri was young, and then… all hell broke loose. I started on my quest to save her – I only dream about her when she’s in trouble. There’s not much to tell. I need information, I find the people who have it, and they send me on errands, dangling secrets in front of me like a carrot.

First, I had to track down Yennifer. As it turns out, she found me. Brought me to have an audience with the emperor. Easy enough. Learn to bow, get some different clothes, answer a few questions about my past. More annoying than anything, but I got some of what I needed, at any rate. Wild Hunt is coming for Ciri, and Yen – trying to help the emperor find his daughter – made it worse by using her magic. I’ll have to do this the old-fashioned way, it seems. And that means that Yen and I have to split up again.

What do I even say from there? I’ve been wandering for weeks, sometimes looking for work, sometimes following leads. Met with the Bloody Baron in Velen. Had domestic troubles, said I’d find his wife and daughter for him. Had to fight his dead infant, and stumbled across his wife without even knowing it. She was watching some orphans in the woods. I tried to help them, but three hags tried to kill his wife in return. I managed to lift the curse long enough for her to say goodbye to her daughter and husband, but the Baron had too much guilt. Killed himself after. Damn shame.

It’s hard to tell the impact your actions will have sometimes. Hard to imagine, even when you’re doing what’s right in the moment.

All in all, things have been par for the course. Killed a griffin that was practically nailed to the ground, freed a druid from a cursed tree, befriended a pellar, and have taken various contracts to keep my blades in good condition.

Oh, I met up with Keira again. That was a wild adventure, part to help me, and part to help her. It was nice having another fighter with me, even if she is deathly afraid of rats. It wasn’t long before she had me clearing a cursed tower and collecting supplies for her. We… met afterward.

I haven’t included images about what happened after this. Anyway.

Now I’m in Novigrad. Ran in to Triss Merigold. Almost forgot about her.

…that was a joke.

After some more errand-running, and chasing people down, and trying to solve mysteries for the local crime bosses, Triss and I went to find out where Ciri’s friend Dandelion had wound up. It… was hard. They tortured her, and badly.

But we got the information we needed. I couldn’t blame her when she killed the man who had ordered her torture, even though it complicates my journey further.

She told me to go visit her, but I’ve been busy so far. I’ll have to drop by soon. There can’t be many more of these loose ends to chase

And now I’m here, sitting in a brothel, writing to you. I can’t even begin to fathom why. But I guess, on this winding journey, it makes sense there should be another task to complete that I can’t fathom the consequences for.

It feels like I’m getting closer to the end of at least one part of my journey. My main goal now is to get to Skellige. More answers must lie there, but there are still some things I have to complete here, first.

I’ll write again, if I have the time.

Geralt

“He’s not one for mincing words, is he?” Athena thought, folding the paper up and putting it on her desk. But he is a Witcher, for Maker’s sake. How could he make such an exciting life seem so padded out and boring? She supposed he’d be happier once he was able to get on with his true objective. With a shrug, she sat down and pulled out a blank sheet of paper, dipped her quill, and began to write.

“Dear Geralt…”

Geralt might have a point. It might all be part of the job, or it might be such a winding story that he’s become numb to it. Have you played The Witcher III? What was your experience with it? Let me know in the comments!

Thanks for stopping by, and I’ll see you soon!
~Athena

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