#vergen

[cait-sith]

Been playing the Witcher games. I like the elf man.

[aces-to-apples]

I wanna wrap Vernon Roche in a towel burrito and carry him around with me to safely and properly socialize him

[elegantnutsoul]

[stillness138]

despite it's numbering, it does little to continue, let alone conclude, the story set by the previous two games. the end of tw2 presents a juicy political situation where most of the northern monarchs are dead, temeria's - the key kingdom's - heir is a little girl, nilfgaard has just invaded again, mages (who won the north a war once already) are forced to flee radovid's wrath, all the while scoia'tael get entangled with a power shift in aedirn and a literal dragon leads a rebellion. so what does tw3 do with this?

wipes the slate clean. it doesn't matter that meve and possibly henselt are alive, that anais la valette exists, that there's a dragon who united dwarves and elves from around the pontar under her rule and took over a chunk of aedirn, apparently eeeveryone got invaded and radko is the only guy that matters. there's a continent-spanning war but tw3 is not interested in talking about...the rest of the continent at war.

and because sapko left one other of ciri's demons alive, including her in this game is a good enough reason for bringing the wild hunt in. as the main baddies the game will be named after. doesn't matter that they have nothing to do with the rest of the set up storyline, you're told how evil and mysterious and dangerous they are through a few cutscenes of terrorizing villagers, but never are you really told why they're around in the first place and why do the characters care on a personal level. for a game that tries so hard to be about this one family and broadly focuses on character-driven drama, it never bothers to take time to talk about the fact that ciri, and for that matter also geralt, were personally enslaved by the aen elle.

and like i'm not against the hunt's inclusion necessarily, it creates further turmoil and stakes for the setting, it has been sort of teased in tw1 and it's cathartic to off eredin, but ciri should have been the one to do it (or at the very goddamn least let her and geralt tag team him) after a writer sat down and actually explored the trauma she's supposed to have. she spends the entire game dealing with different abusers including her own and never meaningfully comments on that fact (don't get me started on avallac'h's [last minute] re-characterization).

but here's the hot take; emhyr should have been killable too. i will never stop lamenting the utter binning of the political situation because it simply makes tw3 an unsatisfying conclusion to 1 and 2. reason of state's writing by itself is just the cherry on top, of course no one wants roche dead, but oh shit we kinda didn't develop the war at all, quick let's write a nonsensical, insulting this or that scenario where both outcomes have a country swallowed by another, who needs nuance, or like, characters from the previous game. anais la who?

they bit more than they could chew. created a hard to conclude plotline then chucked a whole another problem to deal with into the mix and even after scrapping a lot of content [and it was content that wouldn't have helped a whole lot anyway] had to rush what remained of the storyline into completion. but fixing the last act alone - people nowadays are at least willing to admit that part is underwritten - still doesn't fix all of the game's problems because those are present all across its structure. yes eredin/the hunt are underdeveloped. because everything is. everything in the background of these human personal stories - the praise for which being what turned this game into a cultural phenomenon - is cracked, undercooked, and so so very frustrating.

i hate the witcher 3

[sage-basil]

bright Vergen sun

there's a lot in this one honestly, and it was a delight to draw. his longer hair is inspired by this drawing by @/abi-kamikakushi which i adore. his clothing and tone of the drawing is inspired by the w2 fics by Filigranka et al. And partly on my own ideas on what could have happened in Vergen inbetween w2 and w3. i don't know what matters of conscience is

art blog -> @sage-basil-art

[chamotea]

Vergen wip

A bit 🐿⚜️

Ugh… I will change some things that I think are not good in the future.

I sketch out the ideas that come to me and then change them when I come up with new ideas.

[iorvussy]

can’t get over that lil idle animation of Iorveth scratching his balls when you run past him in Vergen. i mean really king? in front of my witcher salad?😔

[minne-cerbinna]

I think quite often of the optional little dialogue tree that one can get about Yaevinn in TW2 with an imported save if one sides with Iorveth, and particularly of just how Iorveth describes Yaevinn

The dialogue prompt "I once knew another Scoia'tael - Yaevinn." will lead to the following exchange:

GERALT: I once met another Scoia'tael leader.

IORVETH: Yaevinn. I knew him. He had beautiful dreams and desperately wanted me to share them. Asked the same of you, I heard.

GERALT: You know a lot about me.

IORVETH: I try to know as much as I can - about everyone.

They'll elaborate a little further in this dialogue about how they both agree with Yaevinn's reasons and the fact that Yaevinn "saw combat and killing as poetry" which Iorveth deems unrealistic because "war is prose, with no place for beauty" (how poetic).

But the interesting part to me is the statement that Yaevinn had "beautiful dreams" and how he was this grand idealist, because this seems to be in contradiction with Yaevinn's characterisation. In his novel appearance, he argues against Toruviel's idealism as he proposes shooting the unarmed messenger. In TW1, Geralt refers to him in his journal as being "disillusioned", as well as being "a cynic and a pragmatist", neither of which seem to hold with Iorveth's account. While this can be credited to the fact that it's possible that Iorveth's past-tense statement of "I knew him" means that he hasn't seen Yaevinn in some time rather than, or at least in addition to, the implied death. He has perhaps not seen him since the Second Northern War, where they were both in the Vrihedd brigade, and Yaevinn could have grown more cynical since the Scoia'tael were betrayed by Dol Blathanna, his earliest characterisation is that of the novel canon, and he does not present a particular idealism that would reflect the notion that he is a dreamer.

It can be taken as a choice of characterisation, because for all that Yaevinn is disillusioned, he does have his hopes and desires for the future and his plans at Vizima, just as Iorveth has his hopes for Saskia and Vergen. He has these dreams, even if he tenders them close to his chest and puts the practical aspects first before he allows himself to have this hope. And I think that is a really interesting interpretation, to have this juxtaposition, that he can be both disillusioned and a dreamer, and that he chose a scant few, Iorveth, and then Geralt, to share in those precious dreams.

The notion of Yaevinn having these "beautiful dreams" is also very pertinent to his TW1 characterisation, I think, because there are optional dialogues in which Yaevinn tells the accounts of how he once lived among humans and believed in assimilation, that the humans would accept the elves if given enough time, only to be persecuted and harassed at length until he finally accepted that there was no place for him there, that there could be no assimilation, only annihilation. And even though he knows it is a hopeless fight, he still proceeds onward. He knows his people are dying, and he knows that if they do not act quickly, they will be well and truly doomed to extinction, but he is still trying to fight. That is, in and of itself, an expression of a dream for a better future, even if he thinks it hopeless, or, as Iorveth criticises, unrealistic.

Serious character analysis aside, I think that the absolute funniest interpretation of this dialogue is that it is not to be taken literally about Yaevinn's idealism or lack thereof, but rather as a euphemism -- taking "beautiful dreams" as a euphemism for queer romantic interest; hence "he had beautiful dreams and desperately wanted me to share them" is something like "he likes men and asked me to be his lover", "I hear he asked the same of you" thenceforth meaning something like "were you also his lover/do you also like men" (and the response "you know a lot about me" therefore indicating that he is correct in his judgement). There's like a whole rebellion going on but Iorveth is just checking out his options, y'know.

[veralevina15]

Эта ночь непоправима, А у вас ещё светло. У ворот Ерусалима Солнце чёрное взошло.

(Осип Мандельштам)

Philippe Antoine de Ogier (OC but not mine) - chevalier, sorcerer and healer from Ellander. Together with my OC Yustianna (King Henselt's daughter, Kaedweni princess and herbalist) he worked at the Lebioda hospital in Vergen. Филипп Антуан де Ожье ( не мой OC) - шевалье, чародей и целитель, элландерец до мозга костей. Вместе с Юстианной (моей OCой, дочерью короля Хенсельта, каэдвенской принцессой и травницей) Антуан некоторое время работал в лечебнице Лебеды (по долгу принцессы Юстианна взяла под крыло дела милосердия в Вергене).

[esmaelnourukbayev]

Да, Дала дикинск дук вакса войл. ☺️👏👏

Atabeq, Allah sana uzun omür vergen.. ☺️👏👏

[deadcuntry]

I make all my Gerveth work inspired by an idea I had rationalizing why Our Boy ™️ was missing from TW3:

I imagine Vergen does become a wonderful place where humans and non-humans live in relative peace and safety. If Nilfgaard succeeds in taking the majority of the North, I see a Free Pontar Valley being assured under one stipulation: The living commanders of the Vrihedd Brigade must accept exile or death. I don’t imagine Saskia is pleased with this deal, however Iorveth agrees to the sacrifice— because of course he does. So he wanders about, sending elves to their hard-earned sanctuary without the comfort of getting to enjoy it himself— until Geralt finds out 😈

This is my basis for uniting Geralt, Iorveth, and Yennefer as God’s Favorite Throuple :)

[wiltking]

Pairing: Geralt/Iorveth Media: The Witcher 2 Word Count: 7,166 Rating: Explicit

In the crumbing hot springs above Vergen, Geralt and Iorveth come to a few understandings. Stories are laid true, truths are exchanged, and a temporary solace is wrought within an unexpected embrace.

- here's something that i wrote in a frenzied daze across 3 days when i realized no one has written a trans geralt / iorveth fic before. its melancholy, its raw, it haunted by lost memories tinted by lost sorceresses and wounds that cant heal. its also very, very horny.

[aces-to-apples]

Not to mention

Trolls are #Allies!

I have a deep and abiding fondness for the trolls in Witcher 2. They're so great, I love them.

[nerureika]

💙💚

Seems like someone has a very good time in Vergen tavern 😏

[limerental]

ficletvember 2024 - day 15

geralt/iorveth, saskia/iorveth

While Saskia's true nature is far from what Geralt expected, it's Iorveth who ends up blind-sided by the truth she reveals to him.

It was past midnight when Geralt stumbled on the elf, the dwarves having kept him downing drinks longer than he looked forward to in the morning. 

Dwarven spirits were no joke, even for a Witcher's tolerance, and he'd chosen not to lie there sleepless while the walls of his borrowed room spun in nauseous circles and instead headed out on a loop around a sleeping Vergen. 

The city was an endless maze of tunnels and staircases and doorways and bridges, though navigating it was no trouble at all for him or for anyone else who lived here. The dwarves seemed to melt out of a new secret passage any time he went to meet with one. Even the elves, known for a preference for hiding in treetops rather than cave systems, had adapted seamlessly enough to the city's hidden places that Geralt almost never saw them unless they wanted to be seen.

So it was unusual to nearly trip over one's legs on a dimly-lit side street.

The elf groaned. It was Iorveth, his head lolling against his shoulder.

Alarmed, Geralt crouched low over his body to search for injury and smelled the strong spirits the elf had been drinking. For his part, he already felt close to sober, his body far too adept at filtering out toxins. The whole process got his blood up too much to hope for sleep tonight.

“Those dwarves get to you too, Iorveth?” Geralt asked. A hand rested lightly on the elf's bare neck, the inked tangle of vines seeming to shift like serpents in the low light. Iorveth smiled, eyes closed. 

“I can manage getting drunk on my own, Gwynbleidd,” he slurred.

“Well, can you manage being upright?”

Iorveth made some effort to lift his head and focus on Geralt's face, eyes slowly dropping to his mouth.

“Do you kiss as good as you fight?” he asked. 

Ah. 

Geralt had been hoping to hear him ask something like that since they first met. Iorveth was handsome and sharp and interesting, and Geralt had bedded many partners for less. But Iorveth had shown little interest, eyes clearly turned elsewhere, toward the mysterious rebel in Vergen he spoke so highly of.

“Gwynbleidd,” Iorveth said. “Geralt, would you–”

“Take you to bed? Yeah, to sleep.”

The sight of the fearsome Scoia'tael war criminal with lips down-turned in something approaching a pout was almost comically endearing.

He'd certainly be forgiven for indulging in the opportunity, given how few had likely seen Iorveth like this. 

“C'mere.”

 Even without armor, the elf was heavy, especially as dead weight, slumping into Geralt's side. His muttered repetitions of his name assured him that at least he wasn't imagining Geralt to be the true object of his affections.

Geralt wondered if he knew the whole truth of what Saskia was. Draconic love was different, possessive and calculating, hard to interpret. She could never return his affections, not in the usual ways.

For a long while after bonding with Villentretenmerth, Geralt had felt whispers of telepathic connection at times, reminders that no matter how far or seemingly forgotten, the old dragon counted him as part of his hoard. His new connection with Saesenthessis felt tentative and raw, passively probing the edges of his thoughts.

Turning his mind to it inspired the connection to wake, her mind brushing lightly against his like a dragon's flickering tongue. Though it unnerved him, he didn't protest the intrusion. She wouldn't hurt him, not without cause. He showed her an image of Iorveth, slumped and vulnerable.

In return, she shared a conversation from earlier that night, emotions rather than words pressed into his thoughts. Anxious trepidation, then fragile hope followed by dejection and hurt.

He misunderstands, the dragon's mind rumbled. But you do not.

If Geralt had known that rising to meet with Foltest months ago would in a roundabout way would have lead to playing relationship counselor for a dragon and an elf, he would have stayed in bed.

The Scoia'tael barracks weren't far, a crumbling building on the outskirts housing a dozen elves or more.

Sleeping bodies littered the main room, and Geralt stepped carefully, knowing accidentally treading on a hand could mean he lost his. The only open bedroll was farthest from the fire, and Geralt settled Iorveth there and hovered as the elf curled down around himself, uncertain what exactly Saskia intended him to do.

Mindful of those sleeping around them, the only comfort he could really offer was to lie down as well, arm resting over his waist.

Rest now, purred the dragon in his thoughts, and a heaviness settled over him, a quiet that would have eluded him otherwise. Geralt may not have known he was choosing this when he joined Iorveth in his flight from Flotsam, but a dragon’s lullaby was a hell of a perk. Not to mention the warm body in his arms, the scent of the forest in the elf’s hair.

Maybe their aborted conversation could be revisited. Maybe this wouldn’t all end bloody for elves who slept around him.

[sourfacedlemon]

"disaster in bloom" 🔒

Written for sassaffrassa (@sassaffrassa) for the Smut 4 Smut 2024 exchange!

The battle for Vergen was won, Saskia returned to her rightful place at their head, Loc Muinne and its sorrows left to moulder, and Nilfgard may be pushing for a Third Northern War but it hasn't arrived yet. None of that explains why he, the Woodland Fox of legend and nightmare, has to deal with this shit.

Fandom: Wiedźmin | The Witcher (Video Game)

Rating: Explicit

Category: M/M

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Relationships: Iorveth/Vernon Roche

Characters: Iorveth (The Witcher), Vernon Roche, Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Amnesia, Memory Loss, Dubious Consent Due To Identity Issues, Hand Jobs, Post-The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, Not Canon Compliant, A knife is held against a throat and not sexily

Words: 4415

Collections: Smut 4 Smut 2024