#vizima

[tigerlyla-of-metinna]

Royal Palace of Vizima Murals

Amazing details of these paintings in the palace ceiling. Thanks to ning for going up there to take pics! Enhancements in PS by me (to make them more visible).

[fantasyoftales]

Vizima

[urallidjits]

Why tf was he so close bro?

[cha-mij]

The Foltest episode was the first time I realised I wouldn't like the TV series. If they could change absolutely everything about Foltest they could do it to any other character, and I was right.

Foltest WIP

[msburgundy]

the witcher 3 is really just a gritty remake of finding nemo

[volfoss]

Made it to act 2 of the Witcher btw I'm HOOKED. The plot is so good and they have so many references to the book and augh it's so cool

[demilypyro]

Playing Witcher 3. Met this chamberlain character in Vizima. The way he pronounced the word "possible" jumpscared me. I immediately recognized it as a Dutch native speaking English as a second language. "Poh-si-bol" instead of "pah-si-ble." Unmistakable.

Started googling around. No info on who the voice actor is, but I did find a reddit thread with people theorizing the exact same thing.

[inexplicifics]

Any info you can drop about the upcoming Progress fics? I think you called them Raindrops and Tide? Can you say the setting? Or who we hear the POV(s) of?

Raindrops the Children of Rain is not terribly plotty; it's set in Kaer Morhen and Vizima.

The Tide Is Turning is set mostly in Wolvenburg, and I fully anticipate Much Screaming when it is published.

[ladysunbite]

@fallesto

"A temporary blindness is a perfect cure for the dullness of a heart. Oh, it sharpens the senses so. And it is an experience we can gladly organize for you, master." the voice, low and purring, floated through the chamber. It span one's head and clouded the mind alike the strong herbs that fed the air. The woman it belonged to clearly enjoyed all the eyes being upon her and the threads of the conversation being cut in her favour.

Before the sun-eyed could utter a word of greeting, the newcomer's hands were around her in a hug and her head rested the crook of the other's neck, sniffing. There was something overpowering, shameless in her manner, as if she was a predator, a beast of a field, and cared not what Olgierd von Everec saw or suspected. "Why, my dear maiden, you are exhausted," Orianna glanced towards the charming ataman pointedly, yet the words were not given time to slip from her mouth as the madame spoke again. "Now, now I have never believed the rumours about you turning into a practical saint. Giving shelter to penniless artists and home to poor, sweet, lonely orphans. Your appearance fits the role perfectly, such attention to the details is - oh, the freckles, the signs of age! You can allow yourself whatever dress you like. Not like us, wretched working girls here." a wink towards Olgierd. The woman, if anything, looked younger than Orianna, and not a wrinkle to the smoothness of her naked arms or calves, or a lush curves of her body, or hazelnut hair that glittered golden in the candlelight. Yet there was a certain air both shared. Silent or bold, dignified or wanton, both emanated a certain uncanny feeling, the same once had when the realization dawns that it was not a dog, yet a wolf crossing one's path. "Come, no your flowery Toussaint preludes and tiptoeing around. What is that you wish of me?" Madame cocked her head at one side and cupped the sun-eyed's head betwix her hands. "Any treat for you and your pet here, sweeting."

The sun-eyed drew back forcefully, and the other woman chuckled good-naturally. "A blushing maiden is not how I remember you. Do not tell me you took a vow of chastity amidst all your goodly deeds. That would trump even our Regis' zealotry of saving the weak and the trodden. Do you at least still enjoy a drink?"

"Indeed, I do. I live in the duchy of love and wine, not at a temple of Melitele." Orianna's voice was petulant for all her imperious and calm posture. "...yet what I and master von Everec require is a vessel. A healthy, strong vessel. And a private place."

"Any particulars?" the uncharacteristically curt question was aimed at Olgierd. "For our hostess here denied all the decorum, and we missed a proper introduction, you can call her the Queen of the Night". Orianna's kin turned towards the charming ataman and smiled, without opening her mouth. Now her hair shone the colour of dry blood.

He has lived long enough to know that this land was finished, humans where the greatest threat to all living things and looking around, well it was more than quite clear who has won the war against monsters, magic and anything that did not fit within the line of what a human was meant to be, everything that does not fit, has been burned away.

“Comfort out here, I lack such magic, you need a sorceress.” For such a thing as strong as his magic was, it was for making curses, forming deals and summoning creatures into the land, it was not for comfort, for tents, for illusions that become real, he was powerful indeed, but he was not that powerful to make the impossible, possible with a snap of his fingers.

“A body is a body, and a king is a king, as mad as he is, the last place he will look for someone who knows magic, is in the very place he has settled within.” Everyone feared this little king and he could not fault them, he was good at what he did and what he did was win, all he was doing was winning.

As he would move forward then into the capital with them, following them through the gates, through the falling rain, through the mud, filled with the piss, shit and blood of this city, as he had no concern nor any care within the world at all, this was all rather nothing more than amusing to him to see all of this with his eyes and to move through the parts of the city to reach the canals and the small shops, a time long ago, he would have walked a place like this and forced the people here, to offer him protection money from any thugs and brutes from causing them harm, simple days, better days, and in the end, it was days he missed the most.

For all that he had now, he could never have days like that again.

As he would pace back and forth and while he was not concerned, with the army here, the scum as well, the thugs and the witch hunters all added into the mix, he could not be killed, but he knows the witch hunters can become very creative especially when there king was breathing down there necks, made all the more worse as well mind you, that he has brought a monster into this city, so add that to the list of issues he has to deal with.

“Far from the regal castle you are used to having.” As he would click his heels into the mare to slow it down, if he could make one blood offering, it would be to get himself a better mount and sell this thing for glue.

“You do not order me.” As he would correct her. “But I will try.” Not to wonder away from her.

As his eyes narrowed and he would see the thing come from the darkness itself, but if she thought he would become fearful of such sights like that, well .. he has made a deal with the devil himself and he has pulled creatures from other worlds into this one as well, this was just another night for him and nothing more than that.

“I am not tempted so easily, when everything is so black and white for me these days.”

He had no idea she had connections here.

That she knew of this place nor the fact that the witch hunters and the kings greatest knights and well, mainly his greatest killers have not found this place, gutted it and killed everyone within it for being an enemy of the king, which was to say once more, everyone was an enemy of the king these days it seemed, as he followed her.

Standing within the room as he looked around before sitting himself down on the chair as well and allowing nothing more than a soft and light sigh to escape him as he stared right at the vampire.

“My deal is open to many things, to live each day as if it was my last, a heart of stone was given to me.” With that to become immortal. “I have not tested it truly out.” How far it went, but he made the wish as he was, whole and perfect, within his prime, at his best, he has had his head cut from him, stabbed, gutted and hacked, and he always pulled himself back together, and say an arm was cut and stolen, he knew the deal had to remain, it would come back, grow back, crawl back, one way or another.

“Let’s not see what happens, I kind of need my eyes to see everything around me and know it really, does nothing to excite me.”

[fr00tb0wl]

Eleonara, the Mud Witch of Elgin

Lore under the cut vvv

*This universe uses a mixture of book, show and game canon!*

A graduate of Aretuza, Eleonara focused on her abilities as a healer, an herbalist and a skilled Geomancer. And after a failed stint in politics, the sorceress cut herself off from trivial court life and focused her attention on wandering the Continent, offering her services to small villages. Anything from healing, protection, and, perhaps most infamously: Stealing away women, children and the unfortunate in the night, guiding those in need to sanctuary.

Born to a Brickmaker and a local healer, Eleonara hailed from the tiny village of Elgin. Her home consisted of others also working with mud and clay, potters and sculptors, brickmakers and builders, and was hidden in the swamps of Temeria surrounding Lake Vizima.

El was a middle child with two older siblings and two younger, it was a poor family but a loving one. And the girl often spent time barefoot in the mud, tossing rocks further across the lake than her siblings and often excelling in Hide and Seek. In fact, it was actually quite easy for the child to make herself disappear. Whenever her siblings became cross with her, she’d vanish into the mist. Foot races led to opponents getting their feet stuck in mud turned hard like cement, and even bumps and scrapes on a little brother’s knee could be healed with a loving kiss at the cost of a nosebleed or a need for a long nap. Little did she know, this was the result of hidden powers coming to blossom from within.

Unfortunately, tragedy struck when bandits raided the village due to a rumor that gold had been found while mining the clay. Eleonara’s father was crippled from a devastating injury and, tragically, Eleonara’s mother and siblings were lost in the ensuing struggle. From a family of seven to a family of two, the wounds and eventual scarring ran deep. Eleonara’s father was never the same and carried around an everlasting sadness that his one remaining daughter could not heal. Not with all of the love and herbs in the world. The rift between them grew as time passed, only for their connection to be completely severed with the arrival of a teacher from Aretuza.

While Eleonara doesn’t blame her father for doing so, the man was far too uneducated to realize what was happening, the sorceress from Aretuza had been pointed in their direction after a complaint was filed regarding Eleonara’s magical stunts. The man, convinced that he was doing the right thing and that his daughter would be in safer hands, allowed her to be sold and taken to Aretuza. This would be the last time they would see each other.

Given that Eleonara was from a poorer family, she, like many of the other girls from poorer families, had to work twice as hard from within their prison at Aretuza. Providing sometimes dangerous and often grueling manual labor to support the school and its functions. All while not being allowed to leave nor while having any contact with the outside world.

The girl was *not* fond of Aretuza, growing to despise their teaching tactics and means of pitting girls one against the other as a means of achieving power and greatness. But regardless, she applied herself to her studies. She faced some ridicule for showing an interest in Geomancy, a stubborn branch of an especially stubborn and draining element. This ended up being something she ended up studying extensively and excelling in alongside healing and herbal tinctures. She graduated with average marks and was released into the court of an up and on the rise Baron. A Baron who, with his party of fellow men, had gathered and unified large swathes of villages and land together. It seemed a promising start, and with the right hand it could blossom into something more.

It would be Eleonara’s first, and last, dive into politics.

Eleonara was met with hostility, suspicion and dislike from the people. The Baron and his supporters treated her like a lap decoration more than a guide or advisor, and much of El’s advice and attempts to help were met with stubborn and narrow minded means of thinking. It soon became clear to her that these men were simply interested in power and conquest. Disheartened, Eleonara befriended the Baron’s wife, a village chieftain’s daughter taken and forced into a marriage she hadn’t asked for. They bonded over their shared hatred of the self appointed Baron and his men. And when fighting broke out between the men, Eleonara took it upon herself to take the Baron’s wife and her children and guide them back to her home village, there they could escape the country with an old lover.

Eleonara, feeling a sense of duty to Aretuza, remained. Even as the Baron was slaughtered and the power vacuum began, the sorceress staid with each leader until angry and abused subjects burned down the fortress. El simply let her image die with them, and left the ashes behind along with a vow to never work for higher powers again. In helping her friend escape, Eleonara had found her calling: She’d always been good at hiding things. Now she could help others do the same thing.

So she walks the continent, spending long periods of time out in the wilderness and among the earth. She hones her Geomancy and Geokinesis and seeks out the few masters of the element of Earth. However, she often peddles herbs and healing services to small villages and towns. And, occasionally, finding an orphaned child, a battered girl or an outcast, befriending them, and coming for them in the night to take them to a different place to begin anew. Daughters ripped from their families returned, children brought to sanctuary or loving arms of new parents, men left for dead sent to places of healing. It is how Eleonara heals her heart and makes her difference in the world she knows.

However, this has not been without incident. Those who recognize her mud stained clothes call her ‘The Mud Witch’. Handfuls of scorned husbands or hired thugs or witch hunters have been sent after her often. Most of which usually end up encased in thick and hardened clay. Many are under the impression that she whisks people away to be killed and used as sacrifices. And eerie clay figures often find their way into the homes of those who are ‘chosen’. Circles of clay figures can often be found in the woods, acting as a barrier to hide huts filled with supplies and provide temporary shelter for those who wish to journey to their new destination alone. Eleonara herself is a mysterious figure, one who doesn’t speak of herself often but remains level headed and calm in almost all situations. She defends her charges ferociously from monsters and men alike, and is not beneath trying to stand up to a Witcher or two in order to accomplish her tasks.

It is unknown how long she intends to keep doing this for. Perhaps it’s how she feels she can make the most use of her abilities. Or perhaps she’s simply looking for somewhere to belong herself. Regardless, befriending the Mud Witch of Elgin brings with it a deep bond and unwavering loyalty. One that is sure to last lifetimes.

[kuwdora]

Witcher Recs - Villains & Bad Guys Edition, part 1

Please enjoy these 23 fic recs featuring Emhyr, Dijkstra, Radovid, Vilgefortz, and the Wild Hunt. I tried to indicate what witcher canon is predominant but sometimes people blend the canons. I'm a voracious reader when my brain lets me read, and I read so many different things. I have many tastes! I haven't done a witcher recs post since 2022 and I have 18 billion more recs in the pipeline that I had collected since like 2021.

With any luck and squeeful motivation I'll share more villain recs in the future.

These recs feature mostly rarepairs. I'm still experimenting with formatting these recs on tumblr, let me know what y'all think on that front. Hope you enjoy the fic!

This got pretty long so I'm putting it under a cut.

Emhyr

Prickly Urchin by @seventfics. Game canon. Dijkstra/Emhyr. 2200w. Pre-relationship and tagged ‘Shady Rich Parties with Questionable Ends.’ Based the prompt ‘cursed’ and Dijkstra meets a prickly Duny. Few people still alive can say they've met the emperor before his ascension to the Nilfgaardian throne. A young Count Sigismund Dijkstra is one of them. It's just that neither of them knew.

A great little AU/missing scene, tackles the premise of these two meeting shortly after the Law of Surprise in a great way.

the sweetest flower by @witch-and-her-witcher. Ambigious canon. Emhyr/Yennefer. 700w. Explicit. Oral sex, cunnilingus, power dynamics. Satisfaction comes when Emhyr relinquishes power.

The way Cee opened up my brain with this ficlet made me gorge myself on everything in the Emhyr/Yen tag after I first read this. The possibilities of this pairing, whew. This ficlet sdlfjasldfkjasldfkjasl.

Quills by @bittydragon. Game canon. Emhyr/Geralt. 7500w. Teen. PTSD, Flashbacks, nonsexual touch. Emhyr can feel the quills and claws growing from underneath his skin again. It’s only a matter of time before they burst out—so it’s lucky that a witcher has ended up in his rooms.

There’s so much great Emhyr/Geralt fic out there, and I’m such a fan of this one because of Geralt managing to soothe Emhyr during an anxiety attack.

Animal Symbiosis by @seventfics. Game canon. Emhyr/Dandelion. 3400w. Teen. Soul bond, Fake/pretend relationship. An emperor and a bard accidentally tie their souls together.

I can’t get enough of where sevent’s ideas take me. This pairing sounds wild on the surface and it is but I am so fucking compelled by the dynamic, esp when it’s been an accidental bonding.

Wild Hunt

Schneeweißblind by jo_writes_fic. Game canon. Emhyr/Eredin. 2200w. Explicit. Temperature play, political sex, unsafe sex. Pre-TW3. Eredin’s been coming to Emhyr’s temporary court in Vizima for several months now, about once a fortnight. At first it was to weasel information out of Emhyr, to try and find Cirilla, but the elf quickly learned that Emhyr knew less than the king of the wild hunt himself about his daughter’s whereabouts. And once he realized that, their meetings turned into the pretence of a tentative political alliance to cover up the carnal truth of what really happens when Eredin deigns to visit. Ice magic and masochist Emhyr.

My brain whited out from how brilliant this fic is and I think it changed my brain for the hornier.

Plaything by @eatingcroutons. Game canon. Geralt/Wild Hunt. 100 words. Explicit. Rape. Voyeurism. Eredin and his Riders enjoy making use of Geralt in their down time.

😈😈😈

Outplayed by zemyr. Game canon. Geralt/Wild Hunt. 100 words. Explicit. Rape, size difference. Remix of crou’s Plaything.

🔥🔥🔥 This drabble lives rent free in my brain.

Commander’s Discretion by @witch-and-her-witcher. Game canon. Eredin/Geralt. 100 words. Explicit. Anal fingering. Eredin has a soft spot for pretty, lethal things under his possession.

😳 Cee still making me go wild with this drabble.

Radovid

Spymasters and secrets by @dancingwiththefae. Show canon. Radovid. Radovid/Dijkstra. 3400w. Explicit. BDSM, daddy kink, impact play. Radovid always pushed and pushed Dijkstra. Sometimes he needed to be put in his place.

Faye serving up a heaping mess of with this messy messy Radovid with Dijkstra. I could have put this in the Dijkstra section but ahhhh I wanted it here with the Radovid fic. 🔥

Villains Aren’t Born, They’re Made by ALJordan. Game canon. Radovid/OC, Radovid & Philippa. Mother/son relationship. A storm counts omens as Radovid hunts Philippa Eilhart to stand trial for treason.

The worldbuilding with the OC and vibes and characterizations in this fic are outstanding.

The Shade of Your Eyes by @kuwdora. Game canon Radovid & Philippa. Post game, canon AU. Body horror, existentialism, magical theory as torture. He remembers the weight of the crown that used to sit upon his head but he doesn’t remember his own name. Anger and resentment curdles because he cannot recall his mother’s face or the last food he ate before he died but he knows the source his ire. It originates from the woman who chortles when she sits at the table. Her laugh stokes the rage in his disembodied soul.

Philippa tortures Radovid’s soul. Radovid POV. I couldn’t help but play around with the darkfic idea for Phil getting some revenge.

Don't worry I have a whole other stack of Philippa fic to rec later.

Dijkstra

You Seem To Enjoy The Feeling by galactic_roses. Game canon. Dijkstra/Gaunter. 2800w. Explicit. Dijkstra has made a deal with a merchant of sorts in exchange for something he values above all else: information. However, the price he has to pay is not quite what he was expecting, and now he has to face the consequences of his words. Sharing a body, smut, body horror, some more tags,

My favorite tag from the author: dijkstra is an adult he can enter into a sus contract with a sort of demon man if he wants to. This is like the most galaxy brained rare pair idea and can’t stop thinking about it when I consider rare pairs that changed my brain.

Diagram: Master’s Weapon Repair Kit by butt_muncher_seven. Game canon. Dijkstra/Geralt. D/s, PWP, 2500w. Djikstra knew men the way Geralt knew monsters; how to kill them, how to hunt them, what their motivations were, what they were going to do next. And in Geralt he saw a man about to do something incredibly rash and self-destructive. A normal man would've gone home, drunk himself stupid and got in a fist fight with the nearest person he could beat. Maybe he'd recover, maybe he'd burn his life down around him, because the chaos of such upheaval was worse than the certainty of reprisals, of consequences. It was the kind of thing a skilled spymaster knew how to counteract proactively. For a less valuable player he had less personal means of redress, but for Geralt… Geralt required a personal touch.

This Dijkstra fic is my everything and I fling the link to anyone I can because it’s so fucking good.

Hostages by @limerental. Isengrim/Dijkstra. Book canon. 26k. Mature. Rescue missions, fairy tale elements. When Isengrim Faoiltiarna's commando is taken captive by the Aen Elle, Sigismund Dijkstra must play unlikely hero in order to come to his rescue.

Lim’s written so much great Isengrim/Dijkstra that I want to rec it all but if you are a fan of some plot and amazing storytelling, hostages is a great gateway. Click to see Dijkstra’s feelings for Isengrim as he mounts a rescue for his old elven husband.

He Comes With Gifts by @bittylildragon. Game canon. Dijkstra/Geralt. 4800w. Explicit. Slice of Life, King Dijkstra, snarky Geralt, PTSD and more. A little slice of life with King Dijkstra and his sometimes-resident witcher boyfriend.

I live for bratty snarky Geralt and Dijkstra putting him in his place. It’s fucking delicious and hot.

Bath by GilliganGoodfellow. Dijkstra and Bart. 1200w. Mature. Fluff and humor, slice of life. Dijkstra gets a relatively good idea of how his evening is going to go when, while descending into the basement to check on his troll, he slips on the ladder.

I can’t help but love anything with Bart and Dijkstra and this is so cute and lovely.

Bloody little beast by @gleaming_silence. Game canon. 100 words. Gen. Domestic Gruff. Dijkstra with a kitten. Even after Geralt broke his other leg, daily life goes on for Sigi Reuven and Novigrad’s underworld never sleeps.

This fic was written for me so I love it. Cutest drabble for a Novigrad crime lord.

Degradation for degradation by @limerental. Book canon. 1700w. Explicit. Geralt/Dijkstra. Humiliation, facials. Over a decade later, Dijkstra finally has the opportunity to repay the humiliation Geralt subjected him to in the wake of the Thanned coup. He doesn't expect both of them to like it so much.

I can’t get enough of this Geralt and Dijkstra dynamic. Eating it up with a spoon and always wanting more.

Vilgefortz

The Need For Love, Revolting by ptork66. Show canon. Rience/Vilgefortz. 2200w. Explicit. Dubcon, posessive sex, choking, drugging, bdsm. Vilgefortz wants to consume Rience like Rience’s fire consumes the air.

🔥🔥🔥 Fucked up fic for a fucked up pairing. All the kuwdos from me.

the mirror man by seasofglass. Show canon. Rience/Vilgefortz, 12,000w. Mature. Canon divergence, d/s, manipulation. When a mysterious benefactor frees Rience from prison after the fall of Cintra, he decides to play along in his dangerous game and try to further gain Vilgefortz' favor. Little did he know that playing with fire was the fastest way to also get burned by it.

This is a messy intense look at Rience getting swept up in Vilgefortz’ plans. The shaving scene drives me up the wall in the best way. I love me posessive fuckedupness in this pairing.

Yours, lock and key by zemyr. Ambiguous canon. 100w. Explicit. Rience/Vilgefortz. Master/Servant, magical sex toys. prompt: possessiveness kink deluxe while fucking.

Zemyr’s fic melts my brain in the best way, and the drabbles are 100 words of hotness.

Staves by @sassaffrassa. Show canon. Geralt/Vilgefortz. 100w. Explicit. Object insertion. inappropriate use of vilgefortz's magical staff.

😈 This drabble gets me cackling.

Ouroboros by @kuwdora. Show/book canon blend. Geralt/Vilgefortz. 20,000w. Explicit. Show/book canon blending, fanon continental art history, illusions, sexual fantasy, dubcon, masturbation, d/s, body worship. Geralt turns Vilgefortz proposition down at Thanedd. Vilgefortz makes a Geralt painting and masturbates to it and it spirals into an elaborate sexual fantasy.

Okay this is the fic that ate my brain while writing it last summer. It has layers of book and show references, literary inversions and way too many metaphors.

You know that tumblr post "you're so obsessed with imagery and symbolism, you stupid homo"? That's this me with this fic, lmao.

So come for 20k of Vilgefortz wanking to the Geralt fantasy in his head. Warning that the fic seemed to have driven the 8 people who managed to read and finish it and sounded insane after reading so take it with a horny grain of salt.

Previously on Kuwdora's Witcher Recs:

Istredd Recs

❤️❤️❤️

[tigerlyla-of-metinna]

Royal Palace of Vizima: Throneroom

The Great Sun symbols all over serves as a reminder that Temeria is now under Nilfgaardian rule.

Photos shot by ning and my PS edits.

[fantasyoftales]

Emhyr Var Emreis

[thedemonofcat]

Ranking the Locations You Can Visit in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

7. Royal Palace in Vizima

You visit the Royal Palace fairly early in the game, and unless you're aiming for the Empress Ciri ending, that's likely the only time you'll be there. It serves as an important setting early on but doesn’t offer much reason for a return visit.

6. Kear Morhen

Kaer Morhen offers stunning visuals and plays a crucial role in the story. You'll need to return for a significant part of the main quest. However, once the Battle of Kaer Morhen is over, there's little reason to come back.

5. Velen

Velen is where much of the early game takes place, with numerous quests and activities to keep you occupied. You'll spend a lot of time here as you progress through the initial stages of the game.

4. White Orchard

White Orchard is the first area you explore, designed to help you get accustomed to the gameplay. Be careful not to miss any early quests here, as it can make leveling up difficult later. Otherwise, you might find yourself aimlessly searching for fights to gain enough experience to progress.

3. Novigrad

Novigrad, including Oxenfurt, is where you'll likely spend a significant portion of your time. With a plethora of quests, stores, and activities, returning to Novigrad is a frequent occurrence. It would have been interesting if your choices throughout the game had more of an impact on the city, especially after significant events like Radovid's death.

2. Skellige

Skellige is a standout in the main story, with breathtaking scenery and a rich cultural atmosphere. Exploring this region is a joy, though the boat sections can be frustrating.

1. Toussaint

Toussaint, available through the Blood and Wine DLC, is a must-visit location. Like Skellige, it feels like an entirely new world brimming with charm and wonder. The fairy tale motifs make it a delightful experience, and it’s one of the highlights of the game.

[endiness]

Several years later, Dandelion could have changed the contents of the ballad and written about what had really occurred. He did not. For the true story would not have moved anyone. Who would have wanted to hear that the Witcher and Little Eye parted and never, ever saw each other again? About how four years later Little Eye died of the smallpox during an epidemic raging in Vizima? About how he, Dandelion, had carried her out in his arms between corpses being cremated on funeral pyres and had buried her far from the city, in the forest, alone and peaceful, and, as she had asked, buried two things with her: her lute and her sky blue pearl. The pearl from which she never parted. No, Dandelion stuck with his first version. And he never sang it. Never. To no one.

it's thinking about this and sirens of the deep o'clock

[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.