Witcher 1 & 2 Story Recap - Introduction To Witcher 3 World

I try my best to shrink 60 hours of Witcher 1, 2 lore and gameplay into a single guide while preserving main details and characters so that it feels like you are immersing in it. Hope it helps you catch the plot for the Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.

This guide is a summary of stories in the previous Witcher games, together with extra knowledge from books!
Approximately 80 minutes reading with finest visuals and Witcher games' ambient soundtracks🎵

There are multiple story choices in the previous games but the story here focuses on a particular path for better connection, unimportant options and side stories that have little relevance to Witcher 3 are ignored.
⚠️CONTAINING WITCHER 1, WITCHER 2 GAMES AND BOOKS SPOILERS!!!⚠️

If the previous game stories do not interest you, read Introduction then skip to Witcher 3 contents for general information before playing.
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(Approx. 6 minutes reading)

Before you read the Introduction, it is recommended to play this soundtrack while reading:
Adam Skorupa - Shaent Blathanna 🎵
https://youtu.be/mYZG9zzdYdY
The Conjunction of the Spheres

The cataclysm commonly known as the Conjunction of the Spheres, happened 1,500 years ago, was a cosmic collision of several parallel universes. Rifts were created by the collision of many different realms, filling the world with hundreds of creatures of all shapes and sizes, as well as a mystical force that came to be known as "chaos" or "magic".

Before the Conjunction, the Continent was a vastly different (and much less dangerous) place. Originally, the planet was home to only gnomes and dwarves, it wasn't the original home of elves, but they did arrive before the Conjunction. All three races were called the Elder races.
Of these three, gnomes were the oldest sentient race with the dwarves following. Despite elves also trying to claim they were one of the original races in the known world, they in fact came from different realities to the Continent.
Humans also arrived in this world during the Conjunction. This occurred soon after they managed to destroy their own world. The elves claimed that it was during the Conjunction that humans learned to use magic.

The exact cause of the Conjunction was unknown, when the Conjunction ended, many different creatures found themselves trapped in the Continent. Monsters, humans, and everything in between had to adapt and figure out how to survive in their unfamiliar new home, there was no going back.

The Continent map (open image in new tab to zoom)

Most Known Races

Gnome
Gnome is an old and noble race, one of the Elder Races, which came to be the first to populate the northern part of the Continent. They are related to dwarves with whom they peacefully coexist.
Gnomes, though shorter than dwarves and not as strong, are equally resistant to hardship and much more agile.

They are easily distinguished from dwarves and halflings by their more slender shape of a body, exceptionally long noses, which are twice as long as those of other races, and pointed teeth.
They are gifted alchemists, jewelers, smiths, and metallurgists known for making swords of the highest quality. Many gnomes live in Mahakam along with the dwarves, although others inhabit the Tir Tochair mountain range.

Dwarf
Dwarves are one of the humanoid races. Together with gnomes and elves, they are called the Elder Races, and one of the oldest sentient races on the Continent.
They arrived on the Continent between 3,000-4,000 years before the arrival of humans.

Dwarves are short and stocky, generally around the height of a human male's chest but tougher and more muscular. Male dwarves grow long beards. They are usually uncouth, gruff, grumpy but can be merry, jolly, cheerful, and are renowned for their stubbornness.
Dwarves are often excellent craftsmen, warriors, artisans, bankers and businessmen. The motherland of dwarves is Mahakam.

Elf
Elves were previously not the residents of the Continent, they traveled here on their White Ships approximately 2,000-2,500 years before the arrival of humans, most likely from another world. For a thousand years, the elves colonized much of the Continent, mostly through peaceful means, though they did clash with several races.

They live much longer than humans, up to hundreds of years, and are usually very attractive with their pointed ears, sharp features.
The elven culture places an emphasis on naturalism and living in harmony with the land, rather than bending it to one's will. Most elves speak Elder Speech alongside Common Speech of the Northern Kingdom.

Human
Humans first appeared in this world after the Conjunction of the Spheres.
Around 500 years ago, when humans first arrived on the already-populated Continent, they started to colonize and expand, quickly conquer the lands that were already inhabited by Elder Races, pushing the elves back towards the east, taking over and creating many small temporary kingdoms, since then forming the majority of inhabitants in both the Northern Kingdoms and the Nilfgaardian Empire.
The humans thus established themselves as the dominant race and so elves, dwarves, gnomes... are now generally referred to as nonhumans.


Dragon
Dragons are 4-legged reptiles with bat-like wings, forked tongues, and narrow triangular heads on long slender necks, which are said to represent the forces of Chaos.

They are rare, sentient and the only known creatures to absorb magical energy.
"True" dragons (or, rather, the ones known to science) are the black, the green, the red and the white, while the other types are considered mythical or nearly extinct.

Their close relatives are known as draconids.


Higher Vampire
Higher Vampires are creatures with fangs and long claws, they often resemble humans.
True Higher Vampires are extremely rare and can look exactly like a human. They are incredibly intelligent, such vampires exhibit supernatural powers, invulnerability to sunlight, strong regenerative capabilities and complete mastery of camouflage.

Unlike their lesser cousins, which are nothing more than overgrown bats, true higher vampires do not need to drink blood to survive; however, the consumption of blood offers an experience just like the consumption of alcohol for humans.

Ithlinne's Prophecy

The end of the World:
"The Wolf's Blizzard approaches, the time of the sword and axe. The Time of the White Frost and White Light, the Time of Madness and Disdain, Tedd Deireadh, the Final Age. The world will perish amidst ice and be reborn with the new sun. Reborn of the Elder Blood, of Hen Ichaer, of a planted seed. A seed that will not sprout but burst into flames!"

Ithlinne, the legendary elven healer, astrologist, had a gift for divination and prophecies, is famous for her foretelling. According to her prophecy, the world will be destroyed by an ice age and all humans will die. The only survivors will be elves, saved by an offspring of the Elder Blood, known also as the Swallow.

Sorcerer, Sorceress and the Witcher

It is recommended to play this soundtrack while reading:
The Witcher 2 OST - Flotsam At Sunrise 🎵
https://youtu.be/A4yYinq2g2U
A Sorcerer (male) or Sorceress (female) or Mage, in general, is a person educated in the use of magic. Only rare individuals have the skills and potential to become mages and many of those with this potential are doomed to madness. That is why schools of wizardry were created, where talented children study for many years, acquiring knowledge and mastering magical skills. As a rule, apprentices are forced to be sterile, it is believed that no one is born a wizard, and no one should be born one.

Because of their powers, they age more slowly than ordinary people. Sorcerers and Sorceresses are skilled in certain specialities of magic, they can harness the power of chaos by drawing magical sources from the four energy elements: earth, air, wind, fire; teleport themselves long distances, and heal, as well as kill, in the blink of an eye... They have extensive scientific and political knowledge; in the latter respect, many mages are the equals of rulers.

Witcher:
A witcher (Elder speech: vatt'ghern), is someone who has undergone extensive training, ruthless mental and physical conditioning, and mysterious rituals (which take place at "Witcher schools") in preparation for becoming an itinerant monster slayer for hire.

As humans settled in the northern part of the Continent, they had to deal with immeasurable monsters that inhabited the land, which humans were poorly equipped to deal with. To fix this, the Northern rulers tasked their mages to create magic-wielding warriors to deal with the monsters for them.
Taken in as children, witchers-to-be are subjected to intense alchemical processes, consumption of mutagenic compounds, and relentless physical and magical training to make them dangerous and highly versatile against their vast array of opponents, many of which possess strength and/or other deadly powers. These procedures ultimately mean that each fully-trained witcher is a mutant built specifically to hunt and kill inhuman prey. Due to going through heavily mutated transformations, witchers are partly stripped off of their emotions as well as can't make babies of their own.

Witchers are usually equipped with 2 iconic swords on the back. A steel blade is used for human and mundane beings and a silver blade for monsters, beasts of the supernatural. In addition to their swordsmanship, witchers can also extract and use magical energy but to a small extent and call it witcher signs. They are also frequent mixers and users of powerful potions, having developed an advanced tolerance to their inherent toxicity, but still limited to a few at a time (even one of their weaker brews would be fatal to an ordinary human). Witchers are trained to utilize bombs and coat their weapons with poisons and oils, many of them were designed to harm specific monsters.

Geralt of Rivia
Geralt was the son of the sorceress Visenna and, presumably, the warrior Korin. When he was born, Visenna left him at the School of the Wolf at Kaer Morhen in the realm of Kaedwen. He survived many blistering mutations (Trial of the Grasses) required to grant witchers their abilities and exhibited unusual tolerance for the standard mutagens.

Accordingly, Geralt was subjected to further mutagenic experimentation, granting him considerably greater strength, speed, endurance, resilience, healing, senses, complete immunity to diseases and conventional poisons, and extreme resistance to pain. His stark white hair was a side effect of these additional, dreadful mutations.

Many children who did not pass the Trial of the Grasses died in agony, at most, 4 out of 10 would survive and become witchers. Of all witchers, only Geralt had white hair, hence the term White Wolf ('Gwynbleidd' in Elder speech).

Afterward, Geralt was trained to be a witcher under the hands of Vesemir, the oldest and most experienced witcher at Kaer Morhen at the time. Geralt of Rivia - the White Wolf became a legendary, famed witcher of the School of the Wolf, remaining active throughout the 13th century.
https://youtu.be/53CtWEryAUY

(Approx. 32 minutes reading)

⚠️Only read these contents if you're not interested spending time playing Witcher 1 game!⚠️

Animated Story
https://youtu.be/_UFT49qWopg Read below for more details...

Prologue

It is recommended to play this soundtrack while reading:
The Witcher 1 Soundtrack - Dusk of a Northern Kingdom 🎵
https://youtu.be/OuhhithTvMI
The year is 1270, after being found unconscious in the woods outside Kaer Morhen, Geralt is taken back to Kaer Morhen fortress by Vesemir and Eskel and gets nursed back to health. The witcher remembers nothing, he is just beginning to get his bearings when the fortress is attacked by bloodthirsty thugs led by at least one Mage and a notorious outlaw known only as the "Professor"
Geralt of Rivia learns (or re-learns) to use a sword, fight, brew potions... All this as he and his fellow witchers try to fend off the attack on Kaer Morhen. One of the first things he learns is that there are very few witchers of the Wolf school left, but not all of them are here. Notably one is absent, Berengar!

On Vesemir's orders, Leo (apprentice witcher), Triss Merigold (Geralt's friend, a young sorceress who calls Vesemir grandfather) and Geralt run to the Keep to protect the Laboratorium holding the secret witcher mutagen formulas that have been guarded for centuries; meanwhile, Vesemir, Eskel and Lambert will deal with the mage leading bandits into the upper courtyard.
For Leo, this is not his first fight but he has never killed a man in his life. Triss goes ahead to confront the thieves. Geralt can not remember how to cast any witcher sign, so Leo proposes he goes to the circle of elements to learn the basic magic signs, again.

Later, Leo and Geralt catch up to an injured Triss at the lab entrance who warns them that the Professor and another powerful mage are in the lab. Moments ago, the nameless mage created a magic barrier and had already escaped through a magic portal with the witchers' secrets, leaving the Professor behind to "clean up".
Geralt sets out to kill the Professor, but so does Leo, and less expertly so. While Leo is attracted, The Professor takes his opportunity and puts an end to Leo's life with a single shot from his crossbow. He then makes his own exit through the magic portal, leaving Geralt to tend to the dying young man.

When the dust settles, Vesemir thinks that they're no ordinary bandits, witchers found pins adorned with Salamanders on the dead. As for Triss, ironically, she can not heal herself so Geralt must look after her. Nothing else can be done for Leo, Vesemir tells Geralt to rest. Later on, the group meets at Leo's funeral pyre and decides to split up to search for the men behind the attacks. Eskel travels to Redania, Lambert searches Kaedwen, Geralt goes south to Temeria looking for clues of the mysterious Salamandra organization, the White Wolf's journey begins...

Witcher 1 - Temeria map (open image in new tab to zoom)

Area:
Chapter I: Outskirts / Chapter II: Temple Quarter & Swamp / Chapter III: Trade Quarter / Chapter IV: Black Tern Island & Lakeside & Fields / Chapter V: Old Vizima & Swamp Cemetery & Old Manor

Chapter I

A woman (Caroline) accompanied by a child (Alvin) walks through the forest outside the Outskirts of Vizima in the dark. They seem hurried and Alvin is tired, but Caroline will not relent - they must reach their destination. Ravenous wild dogs are gathering near them...
She soon realizes that these are no ordinary dogs, and orders Alvin to run as fast as his feet will carry him and don't look back - the Country Inn is near. Alvin barely reaches the palisade surrounding the inn, but his foster mom is not so lucky - the guards close the gate, leaving her to the barghests.

Geralt has just witnessed Alvin's dramatic entrance and the barghest attack. He quickly dispatches the hounds inside the gate, but the disturbances are not over yet...

Just when things seem to be calming down, Alvin's body glows, levitates and delivers the Ithlinne's Prophecy in an otherworldly growl.

Geralt is then having a talk with the healer Shani, as she's trying to get into the city in order to help treat victims of the Catriona at St. Lebioda's Hospital but she decides to tend to the victims of the barghests first. She is surprised to see Geralt, because, as she tells him, "I heard you died".
Geralt is gathering clues of Salamandra. Shani briefly mentions the Reverend to him. She looks after Alvin for the time being in the Inn, hoping to find a local woman who'll take the orphan boy in.

The Reverend is a paranoid man who is the Eternal Fire religious leader of the people that live in the Outskirts of Vizima. Despite his religious designation, he seems to run the Outskirts and possibly has the information Geralt is looking for.

Geralt then seeks out Abigail, the local witch. He finds that she has taken in young Alvin under her wing. With her knowledge, Abigail notices the boy is a strong Source and a diviner. What he knows is beyond their understanding. (A Source is an individual born with innate magical abilities which are rather difficult to control once they have bloomed. Unlike ordinary mages, Sources act more like a transmitter of extreme magical energy, rather than wielders of it, among Sources, the descendants of Lara Dorren are regarded as even more powerful and special.)

While investigating the Outskirt, Geralt got a small clue of Salamandra's activity inside Vizima. After dealing with the locals and the Reverend's business. He manages to get a pass into the Temple Quarter and returns to Shani, who is waiting for his escort.

End of chapter I extra knowledge

Lara Dorren aep Shiadhal was an exceptional elven sorceress, called Aen Saevherne, a Knowing One. She carried Hen Ichaer, Elder Blood. As fate would have it, Lara fell in love with a human sorcerer, Cregenan of Lod. Other humans could not bear it and began persecuting them. No pleas would soften the stone hearts of the cruel and merciless dh'oine (humans). When Lara, begging for her unborn child, grabbed the door of the royal carriage, a man-at-arms lashed out with his cutlass, chopping her fingers off. When the nighttime frosts came, Lara languished on a forested hill. She gave birth to a daughter whom she protected with what warmth remained in her waning body. Even though the winter and blizzard raged that night, springtime suddenly came to the hill and feainnewedd (sun-child) flowers bloomed. To this day those flowers are found in only two places: the valley of Dol Blathanna and on the hill where Lara Dorren aep Shiadhal breathed her last.


It is impossible to accurately trace the genes of Lara Dorren. The fates of entire generations are lost to time, their picture further distorted by unclear lineages, bastard children, intentional historical falsification and a simple lack of records. In many cases, Elder Blood is too thin and has lost its power. Moreover, not every Source attributes their magical skills to the presence of Lara's genes. A few, in whom the mutation has occurred, are marked by extraordinary abilities. They are able to travel through time and space and possess certain magical abilities. These talents are, however, wild and uncontrolled, manifesting themselves in times of stress or strong emotions, surprising even their possessors.

Chapter II

As soon as Geralt reaches Vizima, the guards notice the pass is not issued to him, he has unceremoniously been thrown in a dungeon. There are no obvious charges and things look pretty bleak, until Vincent Meis, captain of the guard, announces that there is a way to win passage out of prison by defeating a cockatrice that is currently roaming, unchecked, in the sewers. The witcher volunteered.

Receiving a silver sword from the jail guard, he jumps right into the sewer through a grate.
There Geralt meets Siegfried of Denesle, a knight of the Order of the Flaming Rose. He ventures out in search of a cockatrice, insists it is a knight's deed to kill monsters and help people of sorts, pretty much the same purpose of witchers. Both slay the cockatrice with ease. Siegfried suggests his friend, a detective, Raymond Maarloeve might help Geralt find clues of the Salamandra leader. They part on good terms.

Ascending to street level, Geralt identifies the door to Raymond Maarloeve's residence, he asks for some hints about Salamandra, just so happens, Raymond has been working on that case and knows a thing or two about their leader... Azar Javed, a Zerrikanian sorcerer.
The detective has a theory that some people are working for Salamandra and requests Geralt to find some more information about the matter. Meanwhile he has to hide and invade their search as he's getting close to reveal their identity.

Geralt seeks out Kalkstein, an alchemist who has a lab nearby, he seems not interested in Salamandra but there's one thing that excites him the most: opening the mysterious Mage's tower in the swamp near Vizima. He hires the witcher to look into it.
Roaming the swamp, Geralt encounters a Scoia'tael elf named Yaevinn, he reminds the witcher that he is a mutant and sooner or later, humans or nonhumans, he has to choose an ally to fight for.

While Geralt pokes around the Temple Quarter for evidence and examines the people, he meets with Shani, she rents a house near the hospital and also invites him to a party when she's off work. Dandelion, a talented poet, minstrel, bard, and close friend of Geralt; alongside Zoltan, a dwarf, one of his old pals, are introduced at the party whom Geralt barely remembers. As the party ends, Shani provides some important information about Geralt's suspects.

It appears that these suspects are not guilty and don't have any connection to Salamandra, in fact, they've been against Salamandra. The witcher recalls, Raymond has been involved in fisstech (cocaine) lately and whenever he's near Raymond, his Wolf Medallion, which can detect magic as well as monsters, vibrates like crazy. Further investigation, Geralt finds out about the real detective corpse, Azar Javed must have killed him to cover his tracks and played Geralt for a fool. The witcher now knows for sure that he is not dealing with Raymond, but an illusion, created by none other than the Salamandra's leader.

But to reveal Raymond's identity without his notice, Geralt must lure him into a trap, to a place where he can stand against Javed's power: the Mage's tower.
The witcher manages to find all the magical stones needed to open the tower, he meets Raymond and tells him that Kalkstein was the culprit, they must stop these secrets inside the tower from falling into the wrong hands.
As Geralt opens the door, Raymond is trying to backstab him but gets backfired. Acknowledging his ability is restricted and no longer an illusion but appeared as Javed, he summons the Professor to deal with the White Wolf. Not being able to kill him, they retreat and teleport back to their base at Trade Quarter and leave the witcher knocked out by a bomb.

End of chapter II extra knowledge

A Guide to Vizima
Like most human cities, Vizima was built on the foundations of an elven city. The seat of the Temerian kings grew over the centuries and today consists of three large districts, a port and sprawling outskirts. In the Temple Quarter, the visitor's attention is drawn to the monumental Cloister of the Order of the Flaming Rose. St Lebioda's Hospital, famous for the many miraculous recoveries that have occurred there, is also hard to miss. While admiring these edifices, avoid wandering into the nonhuman district, which has become a den of poverty and the lair of social outcasts. Most nonhumans have been relocated to Old Vizima, which has become a ghetto inaccessible to visitors. Currently, the Trade Quarter is developing rapidly. This is hardly surprising as it is home to wealthy merchants as well as trade and political officials. The city's leading bank and the town hall can also be found here. While in Vizima's Trade Quarter be sure to visit the famous marketplace, where traders offer goods from around the world.


Scoia'tael
The Scoia'tael are groups of elven rebels fighting against the discrimination of nonhumans. Predominantly elves, their ranks also include halflings and dwarves, They are divided into commando groups or independent squads. Their protest against racism quickly turned to violence. Scoia'tael rob merchant caravans, plunder, burn villages and kill. Instead of finding a peaceful solution, humans send troops to fight them. Scoia'tael means 'Squirrel' in elven and the name probably comes from the rebels' habit of attaching squirrel puffs to their clothing.

Chapter III

It is recommended to play this soundtrack while reading:
The Witcher 1 Soundtrack - Peaceful Moment 🎵
https://youtu.be/OHBwS1frPak
Geralt wakes up in Triss Merigold's bed, at her home in the Trade Quarter. The last thing he can remember is having fought Azar Javed in the swamp. She explains that she found him unconscious in the swamp and brought him back to her place to recover.
Geralt wants to know more about his amnesia, but there's nothing Triss could do at the moment. She suggests that Geralt should form a new personality instead of digging into the past.

There's news outside that Salamandra has kidnapped Alvin, the witcher interrupts and saves him just in time, it leaves Geralt wondering what do Azar Javed and his thugs want from a boy, this particular one? Geralt then asks Dandelion to take Alvin to Triss for better protection.
While exploring, Geralt stumbles upon The Queen of the Night, a higher vampiress who owns a brothel and was once the lover of the vampire Regis. She pokes Geralt's memory about his vampire friend who perished after helping him fight a powerful foe, the vampiress is glad that at his death Regis has a true friend by his side.

That evening, the witcher presents himself at the banquet which is being held in the facilities on the second story of the city inn New Narakort. There he is met by Triss. She tells him not to look so morose and ushers him into the main area where they are greeted by the host Leuvaarden.
She introduces the witcher to Velerad the burgomeister of Vizima; Thaler the chief of Temerian Intelligence Service; along with Roderick de Wett, Nilfgaardian Count, a knight of the Order; and Princess Adda...

Princess Adda was named after her mother who died during the birth, she is the result of the Temeria King Foltest's relationship with his sister, Adda died due to a miscarriage but was cursed and rose up as a Striga (a female monster filled with hatred towards all living beings) from the day she was born by Ostrit, a local magnate who was in love with the king's sister. The curse then got removed by Geralt at Foltest's behest.

The city is under a state of emergency while Foltest is absent. Thaler notices something unusual, there is only the seal with no signature on the royal edicts but de Wett rejects that it's inauthentic, it seems like he's trying to conceal something and the witcher must know why.

Leuvaarden later explains to Geralt that he and his secret society need the services of a witcher to pin down exactly where Salamandra is operating in Vizima and what they are up to. Geralt is provided with locations and information that Salamanders are dealing with fisstech. Without hesitation, he wipes Salamanders out of their fisstech factory and storage with the help of city guards and moves on to a new lead: their base is in a restricted area of Trade Quarter.

As the witcher sneaks upon them, he overhears their conversation with a vague figure in the magical mirror powered by a magic stone, they are asking for Salamandra's finance support now that they've failed their fisstech operation.

Geralt gives them a brawl and gets their magic stone, but the witcher is trapped outside. Out of nowhere, a werewolf tears those Salamanders into pieces and then faces Geralt, surprisingly he can talk, confess that he is Vincent Meis the captain of the guards, come to aid the witcher, he decides not to kill the werewolf and let him run away, after all, not every monster is evil.

Triss helps Geralt trace the magic stone signal and marks the destination on his map, turns out it's from Radovid, who rules neighboring Redania after his father, King Vizimir II fell victim to an elven assassin a few years ago. The-now-Redania King does not fascinate doing business with Salamanders, the only reason he's in Vizima is because of the Temeria princess, Adda.

At the same time, Yaevinn is leading Scoia'tael, stealing money from the Vivaldi family bank to finance an uprising against humans, particularly the Order of the Flaming Rose. As much as he's trying to stay neutral and avoid conflicts, this time Geralt is dragged into politics as well as picking allies for the upcoming battle.

As soon as Triss locates the main base of Salamandra, Geralt comes with an ally of his, be Siegfried from the Order or Yaevinn of the Scoia'tael, they are ready and waiting. Triss casts a protective Alzur's Shield on Geralt just in case something goes wrong before she teleports them.

The Professor and Azar Javed are all there, this time Azar Javed uses one of the strong spells from his magic book, it nearly kills the witcher but thanks to the Shield, he's unconscious for a moment but still alive. Having no knowledge of counterspells, Azar flees through a portal, leaving the Professor to his own devices.

Finally, eye to eye with the Professor, the man who helped Azar make off with the witchers' secrets and Leo's killer, realize that he cannot kill Geralt, he tricks the witcher for the last time as both get teleported and fall into a Kikimore queen's lair, the Kikimore finishes off Professor in a blink of an eye, Geralt barely gets out alive as the lair collapses.

Geralt resurfaces and there comes a plot twist, princess Adda is waiting for him with her guards, as she is planning to stage a coup while her father Foltest is away, and an ally with Salamandra. She sentences the witcher to death at once, but this is Geralt's humorous last wish: one last kiss from the princess.
Triss is spying on him through her magical vision, triggered; she teleports him far away before he puts his lips on Adda's.

End of chapter III extra knowledge

Cults and Religions of the Nordlings
Among the numerous faiths of the Nordlings, the most widespread is the cult of Melitele, a goddess in three forms: young girl, mature woman and old hag. Melitele is a Mother Goddess, caring for her children. Primarily women pray to her, though men in need might also utter supplications. The religion is a vestige of the old matriarchy and testifies to the weakness of the Nordlings - people who worship female deities are soft-hearted and incapable of preparing their sons for war.
In recent years, the cult of Melitele has found a rival in the cult of the Eternal Fire. Having been founded in Novigrad, it became a religious cult that had many followers among humans of the Northern Kingdoms. Clerics of the Eternal Fire demonstrate fanaticism and almost complete devotion. The religion is hostile toward any form of otherness, including non-humans. The Order of the Flaming Rose is the cult's military arm.


An Invitation to Magic
The Power the sorcerers can command is commonly called magic. In the opinion of a certain sorceress I'm acquainted with, magic is chaos, an art, a science, a curse, a blessing and progress. However poetic it may sound, it is hard to find a better simile. Everything depends on the person that uses that Power, of course. Still, it is a fact that it can be used to achieve things not possible to normal humans. The witchers' Signs are also a form of magic, but sorcerers look at them with disdain, since they cannot be compared to the forces the sorcerers themselves command. Without magic, our world would certainly be less interesting, and many beautiful things would be forgotten.

Chapter IV

Geralt is teleported far from Vizima, landing on the lakeside near an island. It seems like there's no trace of Salamandra here. Quite a peaceful place!

In the middle of the lake on Black Tern island, from a corner of Geralt's eye, a supernatural being known as the Lady of the Lake appears, she has long emerald green hair and almost nothing else on her body. The Lady spends most of her time in a shallow inlet on the Island. She probably is a nymph or a vila, nearby villages and some of the fish-people of the lake worship her as their goddess.

There have been many knights who served the Lady and protected the values of good deeds, most if not all of them are dead. There is one mysterious Hermit that tends to the barrows of the knights who died in the service of the Lady of the Lake. He loves reading books and lives alone in his hut in the Fields near the village of Murky Waters.

It has become a disturbing place recently, the Lady notifies Geralt of Fate that brought him back into this world, Death has been following him since and he must fulfill his destiny, she wishes to help him on the Path, in turn, Geralt agrees to try and bring peace to her land by resolving a conflict between the human inhabitants of Murky Waters village and the Vodyanoi, fish-people who live in the Underwater City.

After a long walk, Geralt finally meets Berengar outside the village of Murky Waters, a witcher who had left Kaer Morhen before his arrival.
They both have serious conversations with each other. He tells Geralt that he hates the witchers and is miserable as a mutant who is resented by humans. Turns out it was Berengar that collaborated with Salamandra, betrayed witchers of the Wolf school and showed them secret passages into Kaer Morhen because he saw no difference between their methods and those of the witchers. In the end, he admits that he was a coward, and decides to pursue Azar Javed to redeem himself.

On the other hand, Alvin appears out of nowhere and seems to have been adopted, again, by a villager. He's glad to see the witcher, while Geralt is out there resolving peaceful matters as he had promised the Lady, Alvin follows, he learns about Geralt's traits as well as what he is told about witchers. He wishes to become a knight when he gets older but hopefully, he can be a witcher like Geralt as well.
Meanwhile, Dandelion is sent by Triss to tell Geralt to give Alvin her Dimeritium amulet, it will restrict Alvin's uncontrolled magic power and keep his nightmares at bay, he agrees to wear it all the time. Little does Triss know, his talent is greater than what Dimeritium can do.

Far from the Lady of the Lake expectation, not only does Geralt manage to bring peace to her land, but he also frees the souls of the village chief's daughter and her sister from hatred and vengeance.
He has demonstrated courage and goodness, the Lady admires him, she pulls from the lake a silver sword - Aerondight as a gift from the goddess and moves closer to him. By divine power, she hereby knights Geralt, a knight that faces enemies without fear and safeguards the helpless. The sword, once belonging to a great warrior, lies in the lake's depth for ages, will aid Geralt on the Path. The Lady hopes Geralt may fulfill his Destiny and vanishes into thin air.

Peace does not remain long, a brigade of Scoia'tael led by an elf Toruviel is preparing to fight groups of the Order of the Flaming Rose knights led by White Rayla, a mercenary. Geralt rushes to the village to save Alvin, but the Scoia'tael holds him hostage, after hard reasoning, they release Alvin.
Despite wearing Dimeritium amulet, Alvin disappears in a time and space portal born of his untamed magical abilities and his fear. Geralt couldn't stop him and now he has lost track of him. He doubts he'll ever find Alvin again. Getting away from Scoia'tael and Order clashes, Dandelion and Geralt head to the Lakeside and take a boat back to Vizima.

End of chapter IV extra knowledge

The Kingdom of Temeria
Temeria, the jewel of the North, has silver lilies on a black background as its emblem. The kingdom, always powerful, has gained even more prominence in recent years under the wise rule of the good King Foltest. Redania lies to the north, across the Pontar river, while mountain ranges can be found to the south and east. One of them is Mahakam, a stronghold of dwarves and gnomes, past which the lands of Lyria and Aedirn lie. The capital of Temeria is Vizima, located on the shores of Lake Vizima. Maribor is the realm's second-largest city.


The Flower and the Flame
It was at the time when the Order of the White Rose was falling into decay and declining in power.
Masters and knights were equally corrupt, lacking in faith; they preferred a warm bed to fighting, street girls to prayer. Rudolf Valaris ceded the title of Grand Master to Jacques de Aldersberg, a man of great piety and righteousness. It is said that during the conclave, a white rose in his hand burst into flames and pious fear seized those present. Jacques had a clear vision of necessary reforms and did not hesitate to put them into effect. He changed the name of the order, which is now known as the Order of the Flaming Rose.
Above all, he set the knights a new goal - to promote the belief in the Eternal Fire as well as to serve and protect humans from creatures of darkness and monsters, a category he expanded to include those known as the Scoia'tael.

Chapter V

It is recommended to play this soundtrack while reading:
The Witcher 1 Soundtrack - Vizima Castle 🎵
https://youtu.be/G4lAdX-W__U
As Dandelion and Geralt approach the harbor, a sign of chaos arises; towers, houses... have been set on fire, the whole Vizima is now engulfed in flames. On the street, the Order is fighting Scoia'tael at every corner, Zoltan is waiting for both of them to convey a message from Shani that the situation here is getting worse, Geralt must hurry and head to Old Vizima, where he will continue the search of Salamandra's leader.

At the same time, King Foltest of Temeria is back home, not through the back door but straight into the battlefield, he wants to see the situation of the capital with his own eyes. He inspires both fear and respect in his subjects. Foltest rules with an iron fist, he is decisive and hot-headed.
For the moment, Scoia'tael units are lurking in the corners ready with their bows and swords. The King and his troop are cornered straight away, luckily, the Grand Master of the Order of the Flaming Rose comes to the rescue, it seems like he's a kind of sorcerer working for his majesty in the knight armor suit. Geralt out of nowhere bumps into the King's crew, Foltest wants him to come with them quickly, as they are heading back to the Royal Castle together.
The reason he summons the witcher is... to remove the curse of his daughter, again. This time he's consulting information straight from the royal characters that are close to Adda, with Triss in tow. It seems like someone recurses her, turns her into a Striga once more for a reason unknown. The King doesn't trust the Order that much as they're hungry for power. That's the two biggest things concerning Foltest at the time being, furthermore, he needs to restore order in Vizima.

On his way to Shani's field hospital, blood and guts are all over the street, ghouls are everywhere as it's the biggest feast for them in years. Upon reaching the hospital, Geralt tries his best to fend her off from vengeful Scoia'tael and Order soldiers, both accusing Shani of treating the enemy's injured. At last, the storm is over, Shani is fine for now, after what happened, she still does not regret almost losing her life treating the injured no matter what races they are as it's the right thing to do.

After leading Shani to the druid's cave for some medicines, Geralt searches for Striga's lair in the Cementery as he's due to lifting the curse. Velerad stands in front of a crypt, he is waiting for the witcher as he confirms Adda, on a more accurate term, the Striga is in there.

As soon as he enters, Velerad locks him in the crypt. Lifting curses was Geralt's hobby back then, but now his amnesia makes it impossible to remember the methods. At midnight, the beast crawls out of her sarcophagus, mauls everything nearby without hesitation. For a normal pleb, things would be dead silent now, but it's the White Wolf we're talking about, he does everything he can to fend the Striga off.

He has to use his witcher signs, elixirs and other means to take on the ferocious Striga this time. Time goes by, the beast is exhausted, Geralt takes the opportunity and strikes a blow to its heart with the silver sword. It's over before dawn, the witcher makes his way over to Striga's corpse and says his last goodbye as she's eventually free from the curse that tied her to this world.

Having dealt with her highness Striga, Velerad then tells Geralt that the King has a message for him, it's about Salamandra's headquarters. So, it's high time he is off to finally confront Azar Javed.

Upon entering Old Manor Island, Geralt meets de Wett and a handful of knights of the Order. The two speak and de Wett slips up when the witcher mentions having found a diary containing the curse method in the crypt. He stupidly refers to the diary as Ostrit's diary without Geralt mentioning who.
The Count, rather than back-pedaling, admits that he knew all about Adda's curse, that he tried to influence the princess to work with the Salamandra, another reason was to ruin her father's reputation by turning into a beast roaming in Vizima. So this is what he's been hiding when they first met. In a flask, they all perish under the sword of the witcher, he must tell the King about de Wett is the man behind the curse next time they meet.

Geralt moves toward the hill up to the old manor, he comes upon Azar Javed with White Rayla who was killed by the hand of a Scoia'tael, but it is no longer Rayla, she was subject to Witcher's secret mutagen formula and now Javed is controlling her while running away. Geralt puts her to rest for eternity and pursues the mage as he has fled into the manor.

Geralt then enters the manor and fights his way through the catacombs as many mutated assassins coming his way.
At the last stop, Javed's lab, he introduces Geralt to mutated knights called "Greater Brothers" but they stop short and fall under Geralt's sword. Time for the final confrontation as Javed cannot rely on anyone or anything.
Just before they clash, Berengar shows up with every intention of helping Geralt but he's no match for Javed. In the end, Geralt emerges victorious after a hard-fought battle.

While searching his remains, the Witchers' secrets he is looking for are not there. In the middle of the lab stands a magic mirror, Geralt reactivates it only to see the image of Jacques de Aldersberg communicating to Javed about his mutagen experiments.
It is the Grand Master who's behind Salamandra the whole time!

End of chapter V extra knowledge

Foreign Lands
The Nilfgaardian Empire is gigantic. It was once but a single realm that went on to conquer neighboring lands and assimilate their populations. Today all who hail from the south are called Nilfgaardians, though some take offense as they have sought to preserve their national identity.
Nilfgaard is ruled by a tyrannical emperor. He tolerates no opposition and knows no pity. Some call him the White Flame Dancing on His Enemies Barrows. His symbol (and the Empires) is a silver sun on a black background.


The Aftermath of the War
It should be stated clearly and plainly: the order created after the war with Nilfgaard is no order. It is a mess. Kings still tremble before the might of the Black Ones, Nilfgaard still threatens the North. Sorceresses and spies work from the shadows, pulling puppet strings. Monsters roam the roads, while soldiers do what they want and oppress simple folk. A mess, I say.


Redania's secret service
Redania's political situation was best grasped by Sigismund Dijkstra, who could accurately foresee the future and would have assessed present events level-headedly.
Dijkstra knew the kings of the North were weak and that actual power rested with the sorceresses. He assumed that a counterbalance for their magic could only be provided by a strong religious cult offering an ideology that would appeal to the masses and possessing real armed forces.
The chief of Redanian intelligence supported the newly-formed Order of the Flaming Rose, but disagreed with the concept of establishing its main commandery within Redanian territory. Dijkstra is reported to have said: "It's good to have fanatics and sorceress-scarers on one's side, but it's even better when they live beyond one's borders.
Fundamentalists always cause trouble, so it's best to transfer this trouble to somebody else. Like the Temerians, for instance. And if we need fanatics, if we need to unleash them against the sorceresses or Nilfgaard, we'll just whistle. They will not be far - just beyond the border." Time will tell how much truth there was in these words.

Epilogue

Geralt and Triss head back to Vizima street to inform the King. They meet with Dandelion, Foltest, and Radovid at the entrance. The King is trying to put an end to the chaos and punish the culprits. Among other things, Radovid's only purpose in Temeria is to marry Adda, which Foltest agreed to; but at the news of his daughter's death, Foltest is disappointed in the witcher but decides to let it go. Radovid is unhappy but there's nothing else he could do.

The King then orders Geralt to get rid of De Aldersberg with the price of 8000 Orens for the fanatic's head as he's the one responsible for this mess, aligning with what the witcher is after. He also instructs Radovid to subdue the Order of the Flaming Rose in Redania as well as the north border of Temeria. Time is short, the witcher has to move forward.

Geralt must find a safe path forward as fire rages in the streets. On the run, he encounters Siegfried and Yaevinn on both ends of the street as they are in charge of each side. White Rayla is dead and so is Toruviel, the cruelty of the battle makes one consider their moral options, there are no victors in wars, only countless lives lost. He parts away with them as he rushes to the Order's cloister. Through the main gate to the Grand Master chamber.

Aldersberg greets Geralt with his political lesson, as well as reminding him of Ithlinne's prophecy.
He can predict, or more accurately, see the future in his mind, he knows the North is weak against Nilfgaardian, sooner or later they will fall. Besides, the world will be covered by White Frost, every human will perish, there will be nothing, the Grand Master refuses to accept it.
The reason why he supports Salamandra is rather simple: he needs to build a professional army, an army without corruption, stripped of emotions; an army filled with heartless, merciless soldiers and knights... The Witcher's mutation is perfect for that cause.

The Grand Master wields powerful magic, though he still has trouble controlling it, his vision is more stable now. He has drawn the witcher into his mind, his vision of the Ice Plains. Aldersberg entrusts this to be the future that can't be avoided. Unlike Geralt, the Grand Master dares to challenge Destiny, bend Fate to his will. As he says: "the ends ever justify the means", which means to defeat the White Frost, he's willing to sacrifice all, will it be human or nonhumans.

Geralt is enraged, he must overcome Jacques de Aldersberg's vision, climb and reach the highest tower amidst the frozen Vizima, where he will find him. Along the way, Aldersberg tries to show the witcher that he is nothing to the White Frost, his allies, his friends, his acquaintances are all dead in the Grand Master vision, blaming their deaths on Geralt's acceptance of Fate.
Not stopping, he treads forward, he meets King of the Wild Hunt, it seems like the Wild Hunt King is born from Geralt's vision, the witcher cannot stop Death, Death is following him.

He confronts the Grand Master at the peak of the icy mountains, in the only tower that withstands the White Frost. Aldersberg convinces the witcher for the last time to stand by his side, that's the only way he can live, can survive The End. Refusing his "reasonable" offer, Geralt duels the Grand Master. For the time being, the King of the Wild Hunt is watching, he interrupts the duel, knocks the Grand Master down, they meet again, Wild Hunt King mocks Geralt he has fulfilled his Destiny.

Over the course of the game, the Wild Hunt has been on him since he was brought back to Kaer Morhen, everywhere he goes, death and bloodshed follow, starting from Outskirt locals, Salamanders to the Order and Scoia'tael. Even though he's not accountable for chaos, he cannot stop it. The Wild Hunt King gives Geralt a choice to surrender Aldersberg and let him claim his soul or fight him, the result will always be Death. He chooses the latter, they've been fighting for a while but moments later, the Wild Hunt King disappears, leaving the witcher with Aldersberg lying on the ground.

Geralt prepares to execute Aldersberg with his steel sword. Exhausted and desperate, Aldersberg musters his last magic blast to blow the weapon away from Geralt's hand. Naturally, the witcher pulls out his second sword, "silver blade is for monsters", which is also the Grand Master's last words.

Before leaving this world, Aldersberg's final gesture is to cling to a broken amulet. The story of Salamandra ends here, the witcher comes back to reality after a long sleep to see Dandelion, he was worried that his friend would have been gone, as for the Grand Master it is over. Geralt recovers the witchers' secrets together with a Dimeritium amulet. Out there, the Scoia'tael rebellions have been quelled, Yaevinn is nowhere to be found. Foltest has regained control of the city with assistance from the Order of Flaming Rose led by Siegfried now that he's no longer under the influence of Jacques de Aldersberg's command.

After all of this, our hero wants some quiet and peace but there's one thing that comes to his mind: Aldersberg's Dimeritium amulet is the same one he and Dandelion gave Alvin, except it's older and has been worn for years. Or maybe all magic wielders wear similar Dimeritium amulets? That's something we'll never know...

The ending of Witcher 1 🎬 (must watch)
https://youtu.be/WGreZWumCAQ

(Approx. 36 minutes reading)

⚠️Only read these contents if you're not interested spending time playing Witcher 2 game!⚠️

Animated Story
Assassination of King Demavend 🎬
https://youtu.be/WwCXw8m0PHI The Northern Realm and its Kings 🎬
https://youtu.be/NB_1hGDuG58 Read below for more details...

Witcher 2 map of the Northern Kingdom (open image in new tab to zoom)

Area:
Prologue: North of Temeria - La Valette / Chapter I: N.East of Temeria - Flotsam / Chapter II: Pontar Valley / Chapter III: Blue mountains - Loc Muinne

Temeria

👑King Foltest

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Redania

👑King Radovid

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Kaedwen

👑King Henselt

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Aedirn 　

👑King Demavend ♱

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Nilfgaard

👑Emperor Emhyr var Emreis

Prologue

It is recommended to play this soundtrack while reading:
The Witcher 2 Soundtrack - A Quiet Corner 🎵
https://youtu.be/0OKiptkxJUA
The year is 1271, Geralt wakes up and realizes he is being chained in a cell in the dungeons of
La Valette Castle.
The jailers beat him at the sight of his consciousness until a man orders them to stop, take the witcher down and put him in the interrogation room.
The interrogator introduces himself as Vernon Roche, joined by his assistant, a woman named Ves. He wishes to hear everything about the assault that day and tells Geralt to recount recent events as far as he could remember:

It had been one month since the unidentified assassin's attempt to murder Foltest - King of Temeria, Prince of Sodden, Sovereign of Pontar and Mahakam, and Senior Protector of Brugge, Angren, Riverdell and Ellander. The autopsy suggested that he was also a witcher, there seemed to be a scheme behind this but for now, that was the only thing Geralt learned.

Soon after, on the bank of Pontar River, Foltest's army was victorious once more, ending the civil strife in the country. The White Wolf had become King's savior along with Triss Merigold as the new King's advisor. Although Geralt was not eager to go into battle, it was unwise to deny a King. Geralt found himself in the lands of the La Valettes.
The La Valettes were barons who held extensive lands in the north of the Temeria kingdom with a castle of the same name, lying on the Pontar river on the border with Redania. The old baron La Valette married Maria Louisa La Valette with whom he had a son, Aryan La Valette. However, the Baroness later became the mistress of King Foltest years ago and even bore him two illegitimate children, Anaïs La Valette and Boussy La Valette.

Young Aryan could not get over the disgrace, he was a man of honor, and his mother worried more and more about the fate of the younger children. They soon found themselves dissatisfied with the rule of Foltest's nobles and stirred up rebellion among the barons, hoping to weaken the throne and obtain new privileges. Maria Louisa declared the independence of La Valette's lands from Temeria and placed Aryan La Valette in command of her subjects.

The King took the matter into his own hands, he had taken personal command of the royal armed forces and launched a siege on the La Valette castle and its rebels. Besides, Foltest needed an heir, as his only daughter Adda was slain by Geralt while trying to lift the Striga curse. Although the mistress' children were not the true Temeria heirs, they got his royal blood in their veins. The King had come to take the fruits of this affair back from the traitors.

After a hard-fought siege and having dealt with the La Valette commander, Aryan, with the help of the Witcher, Foltest reached the top of the castle tower. With the extra aid from Blue Stripes, the special force of the Temerian military led by Vernon Roche, the King pushed forward to get his children while the Baroness was locked away. They got a report of his daughter and son, Anaïs and Boussy were inside the monastery solar temple.

It was not a simple task, on their way to the courtyard, Triss spotted a Dragon, it was coming for them. Separated between the dragon's fire, Triss and Roche had to draw back, Foltest and Geralt miraculously crossed over. The witcher lost his silver sword Aerondight from the Lady of the Lake in the process of trying to repel the dragon. It suddenly flew away after the attack, for some unknown reasons. The two hastily ascended the solar. In front of them were Anaïs and Boussy, they were being supervised by a blind monk and reluctant to see the King but he told them to clean their faces and change their clothes, as one day they would run this country.

In a split moment, while Geralt walked off, the King was alone, a dagger's blade ran across the throat of Foltest, ruler of Temeria, cleanly slitting it, and his blood flowed out onto the floor. The blow was so unexpected that even the witcher failed to react in time. Thus died one of the most powerful kings of the North at the hands of an assassin in the garb of a monk.

The monk revealed to be another witcher, threw Foltest at Geralt, then jumped out a window into the river and vanished with the help of Scoia'tael waiting below in a boat, this was all planned. When the royal guards rushed in, Geralt was left with a dead King in his arms, he surrendered to the guards and got dumped into a dungeon...

Almost everyone thought the witcher had murdered the king. Luckily, Vernon Roche has his doubts. Having completed his grueling interrogation of Geralt, Roche hints that he might clear his name and get some information from Iorveth - a Scoia'tael commander if everything he said is true, and leaves the witcher to the guards, but not before leaving our witcher the key to his manacles and adding that he will await aboard his ship. All Geralt has to do is to escape from the dungeon on his own.

To find Foltest's murderer, they must follow Scoia'tael traces, which ultimately leads to Iorveth. A week ago, Roche's men spotted him in Flotsam, that's their only indication. They set sail for Flotsam. The hunt for the kingslayer begins...

Chapter I

It is recommended to play this soundtrack while reading:
The Witcher 2 Soundtrack - A Nearly Peaceful Place 🎵
https://youtu.be/BrCzp1-MKfs
Vernon Roche, Geralt and Triss sail east to Flotsam, a river port and trading post on the border between Temeria and Aedirn.
Looking no more, they are greeted by Iorveth as soon as they set foot in his forest; it seems like he's well-informed of their presence. Trying to capture him as they might, he runs away to the Scoia'tael ambush. They fall for the trap, Triss casts a spell to protect them from arrows, which makes her exhausted, Roche puts her on his back while Geralt gives cover. At last, they make it to the harbor, the elves withdraw with Letho, the kingslayer at Iorveth's back.

Geralt is surprised to see Dandelion and Zoltan Chivay again, even more so when they are being hanged at the main square, Dandelion is accused of debauchery and burning down one of Flotsam's buildings while the dwarf Zoltan is colluding with the Scoia'tael. The witcher comes to rescue his friends after reasoning with Bernard Loredo - the commandant of Flotsam harbor town.

Since they saw each other last, Dandelion got to Mahakam a week after the Grand Master died for Zoltan's wedding but the dwarf engagement to Eudora Breckenriggs has fallen through, as has his career in the mining industry. So he's settled for life as a "simple merchant", occasional jewelsmith for a certain sorceress; following this, Dandelion has been working with the Temerian intelligence service and giving information to Roche.

After Foltest died, nobles and lords convened but no new king was chosen, civil war is in the air once again. Among the names, Count Maravel, Baron Kimbolt, and John Natalis are the most prominent ones to become Temeria's ruler. For the time being, Natalis serves as a regent of Temeria, he is to keep the peace until a rightful monarch is chosen.

The White Wolf comes across Síle de Tansarville, the royal advisor to Queen Zulika of Kovir, on the riverbank while she's trying to terminate Kayran, a gigantic octopus-like riverbed monster that blocks the harbor trading route. This catches Triss by surprise as the sorceress travels this far South just to kill a monster? While intending to do this alone, the witcher offers a helping hand, she's cool about it but won't share any information.

Geralt has to ask Cedric, an old Aen Seidhe - elves of the same type as those in Scoia'tael, for some information about monster Kayran, he guards and warns people of the danger that lurks in the forest and doesn't interest in joining the rebel Squirrels. The old elves hope to restore their race to its previous glory before humans arrived, but not as aggressive as the young ones, who fight for survival, freedom and out of suicidal revenge. They cling to delusions to the very moment when a sword or a noose ends their life.

Having got all the information about the mutated monster, the witcher travels to its lair with Síle. As a result, the witcher does away with Kayran, the sorceress comes to collect its ingredients, for what no one knows. After coming back to town, Geralt is having some time with Triss, she confesses that Síle is one of the most powerful sorceresses, she can't be trusted and could be devious and manipulative. Additionally, her true intentions have always been hard to fathom even for a sorceress like Triss.

When they hear that a member of the Scoia'tael has been captured by Loredo's men, Geralt and Triss decide to pay him a visit to find more information about Iorveth and the Kingslayer. His name is Ciaran, Iorveth's right-hand elf, badly wounded, imprisoned and tortured on the prison barge at the pier. Ciaran says he was attacked by Letho, besides, Iorveth is no longer needed so he is a thorn in Letho's side. Staying loyal to Iorveth, 'an enemy of my enemy is my friend', Ciaran begs Geralt to warn Iorveth as he still hasn't realized Letho's motive, but for him, this is his last and final request.

Ciaran briefly mentioned roses of remembrance, they grew in Cáelmewedd, once a beautiful and glorious Aen Seidhe complex, now only known as elven ruins. Triss claims that she could recover the witcher's memory with a petal from those powerful flowers. The two venture out for the ruined elven gardens, they find the roses there, Geralt picks one for Triss, suddenly, they both fall in the elven bath below.
The two love birds are having some quiet and private time with each other until Vernon Roche abruptly interrupts. Geralt lets Roche know that he's going after Iorveth to catch Letho. Roche reluctantly concurs with Geralt to bring the kingslayer back by cooperating with the Scoia'tael.

The witcher asks Zoltan a favor and takes him to Iorveth's place in the forest. When they get there, the Scoia'tael has set a trap around the clearing, and Iorveth appears. Geralt uses Ciaran's words to warn Iorveth but he remains skeptical, then the elf leads him to their meeting at the ruin of Cáelmewedd and risks being tied as a hostage to verify his saying. In front of them is Letho, he recognizes Geralt as the White Wolf once saved his life, during a little chit-chat, Letho discloses that his work in Temeria is finished. His kingslayer fellows, Serrit and Auckes, witchers of the viper school, are heading to Aedirn border for another crowned head, but first, the Scoia'tael must be killed to cover their tracks, so is Geralt.

Turns out Vernon Roche is sending a group of Blue Stripes spying on Geralt on the news that he's working with Ioreveth from Ves, one of his archers is impatient and starts an all-out fight with the Scoia'tael. In the meantime, Geralt clashes swords with Foltest's killer as desired, hoping to punish him but he meets his match. Witchers duel, but this time Letho gets the better of him, instead of execution, he leaves Geralt be and makes off with Triss, forcing the sorceress to teleport him to Pontar Valley in Aedirn.

After the incident, Iorveth is shifting his goal from fighting for non-human freedom in Flotsam to hunting Letho to avenge Ciaran and protect other Scoia'tael and non-human in the Pontar Valley. Meanwhile, Vernon Roche, in the name of Temeria, deals with Flotsam commandant Loredo as he's been working with foreign spies against his country, then finds Letho and makes the kingslayer pay for his crime with or without the witcher's help.
Geralt is now at a crossroads, to get Triss he needs support from either Vernon Roche or Iorveth to reach the Pontar Valley. Scoia'tael forthright loathe Blue Stripes, the same goes both ways, therefore, staying neutral is no longer an option.

End of chapter I extra knowledge

Elves, or Aen Seidhe (Elder Speech: People of the Hills or Hill Folk), as they call themselves, were folks known for their beauty and longevity. Their sages, scholars and artists were at the fore of their fields, creating real, breathtaking masterpieces. The glory of this Elder Race was long gone, however. After a series of bloody conflicts with humans, their cities were ruined, and the elves themselves were forced to retreat to the east, into unapproachable mountains, or to recognize human domination and accept their lot. Years of wars, persecution and mutual enmity created a rift between our races. Many elves saw a chance of winning freedom in the last war against Nilfgaard, so they took up arms, creating the partisan groups of Scoia'tael. Though they managed to secure the creation of the partially independent realm of Dol Blathanna, some feel they were deceived and still wage war on humans.


The Aen Elle (Elder Speech: People of the Alders or Alder Folk), were elves who inhabit another world and were culturally distinct from Aen Seidhe. Their ancestral homeworld was at the brink of destruction so both left for new worlds long before the Conjunction of the Spheres. While the former arrived in a new world, the latter arrived on the Continent. Aen Elle elves had a similar appearance to Aen Seidhe, the only difference was that they were much taller.
Upon arriving in what would come to be known as the world of the Aen Elle, the Aen Elle encountered one sentient species already living there: the unicorns. They were constantly at war with the unicorns, likely because the Aen Elle sought to use the natural ability of the unicorns to travel through space and time, powers they possessed themselves before the Conjunction of the Spheres. They frequently plundered other worlds and kidnap humans to use as servants (later known as the Wild Hunt).

The Temerian Special Forces
The creation of these formations began when it turned out that shield bearers are as good at fighting the mobile Scoia'tael units as a knight's saddle on a pig. The first special forces were formed by king Demavend, and they were commanded by the infamous White Rayla. Their effectiveness goes hand in hand with cruelty and ruthlessness in their battles with the Squirrels, and their hatred to nonhumans usually extended, mildly speaking, beyond professional spheres. Elves from the units had equally strong enmity towards them, and the clashes between the partisans and the special forces were always extremely brutal and bloody. Besides fighting the Scoia'tael, the Temerian special forces carried out a variety of other dangerous tasks, justly earning their reputation as effective professionals.


The Pontar Valley
If you have but a morsel of geographical knowledge, one glance at a map is enough to know why the Pontar Valley is strategically important. It is here that the borders of Temeria, Redania, Kaedwen and Aedirn meet, it is the valley that physically marks these frontiers. They say that "He who controls the Pontar Valley, controls the North." So it is no wonder that the cited realms have clashed here more than once. Blood has often mingled with the waters of the Pontar, though the reasons for this have varied. Wars waged by nobles in pursuit of political interests and merchants seeking trade privileges have been intermingled with riots and massacres, elven uprisings, and the revolts of frontier barons. All these have been garnished with the occasional peasant rebellion, an event that forces often quarreling factions to unite and crush plebeian mobs drunk on blood and carnage. As the reader will soon learn, this time the region would again bear witness to events both important and bloody.

Chapter II

It is recommended to play this soundtrack while reading:
The Witcher 2 Soundtrack - Dwarven Stone upon Dwarven Stone 🎵
https://youtu.be/d_jizNCiInw
After King Demavend's demise, pretenders to the crown sprang up like mushrooms in Aedirn. Apart from one powerful noble family, first fiddle in this volatile orchestra belonged jointly to Stennis - Demavend's son, and Saskia - the Dragonslayer leading a peasant insurrection. It was no accident that both arrived in the town of Vergen at the same time. Despite wildly different aims, they share a goal: to repel King Henselt's invading army. This story begins with Aedirnian representations and the king of Kaedwen in negotiation about the fate of Pontar Valley, previously known as Upper Aedirn.

Not reaching a peace treaty, fights break out, Henselt duels Aedirnian delegation.


The King of Kaedwen prevails but unexpectedly, the opponent strikes him in the face, his blood spills. As the King's blood sinks into the ground, it awakes a terror lurking beneath. A deadly mist rises above the area, the sun disappears, blood calls for blood, dead soldiers rise from the ground, turning the site into a dangerous ghostly battleground. The two sides are separated by the impassable mist: Henselt's army camp and the dwarven town Vergen...

After this, read two paths for better understanding or read one path and skip the other till the end of chapter 3 for better narration then come back for the rest. The events from both paths take place in the same time frame, from top to bottom respectively, except for Geralt's involvement!

- Iorveth path

The situation looks exceptionally grim, Geralt and Iorveth, in aid of Saskia, appear on the cursed battlefield at the right instant. The sorceress Philippa Eilhart, in a snowy owl appearance, flies in and casts a protective aura around her, showing a safe path through the dangerous vapor. They follow her to a dwarven town Vergen.

Saskia calls a council to discuss the impending battle with the Kaedwenis across the cursed mist, she directs Geralt and Philippa to get rid of the anomaly, while others prepare and defend Vergen from king Henselt's troops, the dragonslayer also introduces Iorveth joining their ranks among Aedirn humans, dwarves, nobles and soldiers. At the end of the council, Saskia drinks a toast to everyone and to the victory of Vergen and Pontar Valley, suddenly she falls down and becomes unconscious, someone poisoned her tankard.

Philippa will take care of her, and the Scoia'tael will act as her bodyguards until she wakes up. The poison happens to be Thaumador, a self-perpetuation substance, each poisoned cell that is removed is replaced by ten new poisoned cells and eventually leads to death. The sorceress puts spells to keep Saskia alive, she can heal her but needs some incredible ingredients for an antidote as fast as possible. Geralt runs some errands and gets most of what she needs but the last one is a petal from roses of remembrance, which means he has to travel back to Flotsam, or get it from Triss.

Since Triss was forced to teleport near Vergen, he believes it's easier to get one petal from her. With that decision, the witcher demands Philippa to use her magic to scan for Triss' whereabouts. She needs some time to locate Triss with her megascopes, a device used for many magical operations including communication and teleportation. She's curious why the kingslayer forced her to travel here while there are easier ways. Geralt has no real answer.

As for King Radovid's advisor and court sorceress, Philippa supports Saskia and the rebellion in Vergen because the northern political situation is getting unstable, if Kaedweni were to occupy the Pontar Valley, Redania and Temeria would also want a piece of the pie amidst the chaos in the region. Thus its unity will be gone, and it would be a golden opportunity for Nilfgaardians to conquer the whole Northern Kingdoms. That dark scenario is nevertheless avoidable, provided Saskia is successful and wins the Valley's independence, starting with Vergen.

For the time being, she gives Geralt some details about the blood curse, it is one of the most powerful curses forbidden among mages, they have confirmed 6 cases of this curse being inflicted, and 1 case was lifted by a team of mages led by an elven sorceress Francesca Findabair. Sabrina Glevissig, the previous advisor to King Henselt, was in the team and thought to have recast this cursed spell on the battlefield. After conferring with Philippa Eilhart, Geralt ascertained that he will need objects symbolizing the connection of the dead to this world to break the curse.

Philippa finally catches Triss' aura somewhere on the other side of the cursed mist, she and Geralt cross the dangerous ghost battlefield again. After going through the mist, Geralt loots a mysterious Nilfgaardian statuette from a corpse of a dead man nearby and puts it in his pocket. Vernon Roche approaches out of the blue, he's still searching for Letho with King Henselt's help, how did he wind up here is another story. Roche confirms Triss is nowhere to be seen in this area, but he indicates she might be in Nilfgaadian camp not far away.

The witcher seeks a way to sneak into their camp, where he gets arrested and faces Shilard Fitz-Oesterlen, ambassador of the Nilfgaardian Emperor to the North, only to find a compressed Triss figurine inside the Nilfgaardian statuette, on his person moments ago. The ambassador takes the figurine away and sails to Loc Muinne for the Northern Kingdoms' summit, leaving him to be executed by Vanhemar, personal sorcerer to Shilard. Vernon Roche and Ves intervene at the right time to rescue Geralt, again. The White Wolf puts an end to Vanhemar and learns that Triss is under the effect of a complicated artefact compression spell.

Not having retrieved the rose of remembrance, Geralt tells everything he sees and hears to Philippa, as both return from the mist. She eventually realizes that Cynthia, her apprentice, a Nilfgaardian spy and also an apprentice to Vanhemar, has learned of Triss from her. Cynthia is nowhere to be seen, she might have been involved in the artefact compression but left the rose gotten from Triss in Philippa's room. With all the ingredients, the antidote is ready, Saskia is cured and being healed by Philippa.

About the blood curse, Geralt manages to retrieve some items just like the sorceress instructed, he then has to join the eternal battle between Aedirnian and Kaedweni soldiers to change the course of it, therefore, break the curse the witcher's way. As the mist cleared, Henselt's army is about to storm into Pontar Valley. The witcher is ready to join the rebels fighting for their freedom. Zoltan is leading the dwarves, they join forces and succeed in repelling the first wave of Kaedweni.

While the Kaedweni soldiers regroup their troops beyond the front gate, Saskia comes with Geralt to secure a secret passage which would be fatal if the enemies sneaked in and attacked from two sides. They run into Dethmold, Henselt's sorcerer advisor, leading a mercenary troop into Vergen through the mine tunnels, and fights break out. For a moment, Geralt is hit in the back by Dethmold's spell, Saskia has no choice, she must turn into a dragon to save his life, consequently, Dethmold teleports away but doing so she reveals her greatest secret.

Saskia admits that she is a daughter of a Golden Dragon, who was in the form of a knight. Golden dragons are skilled at Polymorphism, a rare ability that lets them assume many creatures' forms, including humans.
She was also the dragon that stopped him and Foltest from entering La Valette castle in support of Aryan as he fought tyranny and its transgression.
With the form of a dragon, she could sweep Henselt's army in a blink of an eye but chooses not to, the problem would arise after the battle, who will ever let a dragon rule their land?

Dethmold comes to aid King Henselt at the front. Seems like Vergen's defense will not hold for any longer, Iorveth arrives just in time with his reinforcements, Scoia'tael elven archers emerge and turn the tide of the battle at the last moment. Having cut off the army escape, the King has no choice but to surrender, he will relinquish Aedirnian borders and recognize Saskia's reign in the realm of Pontar Valley. According to the term by Philippa Eilhart and stated by Saskia, Dethmold has to be executed for war crimes without trial and Henselt is free to leave.

Iorveth notices something's strange as Saskia would never be vengeful like that. They come to investigate Philippa's house but she and Saskia have teleported to Loc Muinne, inside they found a book containing the antidote formula for Thaumador, it doesn't require the petal from a rose of remembrance, Philippa must have subjugated Saskia's mind by adding it, she now has an obedient dragon at her command. Her voice would be very influential at the summit between rulers and Kings, no matter how noble they are, mages are not to be entirely trusted. With that, Geralt and Iorveth leave the dwarven town behind their backs and head to Loc Muinne.

- Vernon Roche path

It is recommended to play this soundtrack while reading:
The Witcher 2 Soundtrack - An Army Lying in Wait 🎵
https://youtu.be/sVI-DRMZW_8
Geralt and Vernon Roche arrive at Henselt's army camp in search of information about Letho, as they are told their King is out for negotiation. It feels like there's something bad coming as the witcher sees a dark mist rising. They rush to the negotiation site to save Henselt just in time. He is now accompanied by Dethmold, Henselt's advisor, and Síle de Tansarville. The sorcerer casts a protective aura and leads them back to the camp.

Even though Geralt is accused of murdering King Foltest, the fact that he saved Henselt is considered otherwise thus he has gained the trust of Kaedweni King. On the way to the King tent, Geralt meets Shilard Fitz-Oesterlen, a Nilfgaardian ambassador, he is looking for Triss to confirm her involvement in a secret organization among mages, funding Kaedweni for the upcoming war with Aedirnians and also spying on Geralt as the Emperor has been interested in him for a while.

Back to the King, there are some problems that Henselt wants the witcher to resolve in an unofficial audience before he could aid him in searching for the kingslayer. First is the curse of his former sorceress advisor Sabrina Glevissig that could have killed him had it not been for Geralt; second, he wants to get rid of the magic mist so his army could advance on Vergen.

The curse started 3 years ago when Henselt fought Demavend for Lormark, which was previously a part of Kaedwen but restored to Aedirn according to the Peace of Cintra. On that day, war raged until evening, when Sabrina decided to take political matters into her own hands, fireballs rained down on the battlefield, the fire consumed Kaedwenis and Aedirnians alike. War is for the honorable, therefore, Henselt sentenced Sabrina to death. While she was executed at the stake, she mustered her last power to cast a blood curse on the King, whenever his blood spills, the Lormark war and its soldiers come back to haunt him.

As long as the blood curse remains active, those wraiths will come back to life one after another. The White Wolf's priority now is to lift the curse then deal with dead soldiers, to lift the curse, he needs to recreate Sabrina's execution but Henselt must be the one to put a spear into her spirited heart before she finishes the curse. As instructed, the King does what he says and is finally free from Sabrina's will.
Henselt invites Geralt to a drink at midnight, but it does not go well that night. Two assassins come for Henselt's head, just like the last time with Foltest, Geralt has defeated them and saved another King of the North.

The White Wolf cuts down and kills one of them, Henselt agrees to Dethmold's way of gaining information from the corpse by performing necromancy while Síle strongly disagrees. But to do so, Dethmold needs Geralt's help with his mutated witcher body and mind. During the Hanmarvyn's Blue Dream ritual, the subject is granted a glimpse into recent memories of the deceased, he can see, feel and taste what the killer experienced in his life:

The story of the witchers of Viper school, Auckes and Serrit, started in a ravine near Henselt's camp as the two of them were on the way to meet Letho in a cave. Turned out Síle ordered them to get rid of King Demavend, she even aided Letho during his assault on Demavend's boat. As much as they were worried about Geralt, it's against Witcher's Code to kill another witcher. Even though Síle and Letho wanted to kill Kings, their motives were different as the three viper witchers also intended to kill Síle when they finished their job.
For Auckes and Serrit, their mission was to assassinate Henselt in his camp, and for Letho, he would head to Loc Muinne for the finale as the Redania King would be there too. Both of them sneaked into the camp at night, unfortunately, Geralt was there to stop it. As known, Auckes was slain, Serrit managed to flee and the memory ended...

Having remembered their hideouts, Geralt makes his way there just to see Serrit is dying, not because of him but someone else, he mumbles a few words before he breathes his last: "It's Síle... she wants to hide... evidence of her association with... Letho". Geralt puts his fellow witcher to rest, he will, in due course, catch Letho and interrogate Síle but to the matter at hand, he needs to find some artifacts belonging to the dead to be able to join the eternal battle and break the mist that's been holding Henselt at bay. After a long time searching, he has all of the artifacts and is ready to change the course of the eternal battle that tied soldiers' ghosts to this world.


He wakes up in a brothel, in front of him is his friend Dandelion, it's been 3 days after he found Geralt unconscious in the fields, the witcher lifted the curse and the deadly mist disappeared. On the other side, Henselt and his army are capturing Vergen and the Pontar Valley. Meanwhile, Vernon Roche plots a conspiracy theory among Kaedweni soldiers against Dethmold and Henselt as they've been doing business with Nilfgaardians, commonly known as the Black Ones. With Temeria and the North in mind, he will try to prevent any Kaedwen alliance with Nilfgaard.

But the situation was out of control, Dethmold and Henselt were informed, the King invited Blue Stripes to a feast but only to hang them as a punishment for Vernon Roche's intention. As a hot-headed, action-first-think-later type, he seeks out revenge, he wants blood. Geralt leads Roche to a secret passage to Vergen to confront the King, but they only come across Dethmold and his mercenary troop, Dethmold gets away, leaving the troop to Geralt's sword. They move forward and emerge from Vergen's secret backdoor and meet Zoltan, he and his dwarves fellows are resisting Kaedweni soldiers, he has seen Síle for a brief second and shows them the way to the headquarters. A few seconds short, she has teleported away, to Loc Muinne, to a summit hosted by mages with Kings invited to revive the Council and Conclave.

Henselt men have captured Vergen, he comes to take over the Vergen headquarters but unpredictably, Geralt and Vernon Roche are waiting for him. Geralt is facing a dilemma, to let Vernon Roche kill Henselt and avenge his units or stop him from aiding the kingslayers' agenda. No matter the choice, they put it aside and set sail to Loc Muinne in pursuit of Síle de Tansarville and Letho.

End of chapter II extra knowledge

About Dragons
Dragons were once commonplace, their rule over the continent absolute. Dragon fire was the bane of cities, and dragon appetites were a constant threat to the first colonizers. Mages stood against these creatures, witchers were created to fight them. Today dragons are nearly extinct. There are occasional sightings of forktails and slyzards, but these creatures are to dragons as stray cats are to tigers. Dragons were brought to the brink of extinction by professional hunters like the famed Crinfrid Reavers. Alchemy ingredients from the dragon's body are among the most expensive and highly sought after by mages. The beast's roasted tail is considered a true delicacy.


The White Flame
Emhyr var Emreis – among all the rulers of that time, one cannot omit the Nilfgaardian Emperor, known as Deithwen Addan yn Carn aep Morvudd, which means, in the Elder Speech, White Flame Dancing on the Barrows of His Enemies. Kings from the Buina to the Yaruga trembled at the sound of his name. His legions of steel-clad soldiers crushed countries under their heels and cast monarchs from their thrones. In his insatiable ambition, he had tried to conquer the north on several occasions, yet he had been forced to sign peace accords each time. Though he does not appear in our story personally, his long shadow often fell over the events I describe here.


The Thanedd Coup
Emperor Emhyr var Emreis, having suffered a humiliating loss in the last battle at the Sodden Hill to the Northern mages, resolved to take care of the mages before another attempt at war with the North. For this, he employed Vilgefortz, a Conclave member of the Brotherhood of Sorcerers to help stage a coup.
The coup at Thanedd Island in 1267 was one of the most significant events in history. On that memorable day, during a sorcerers' summit, the magicians loyal to the Northern Kings led by Philippa Eilhart aggressively arrested those of the Conclave of mages that conspired with the Emperor with the help of Djikstra and his Redanian men.

Tissaia de Vries, the Arch-Mage, former principal and teacher of many sorceresses in Aretuza, despite not in favor of Nilfgaard, decided to stand against Philippa scheme to gain absolute power in the name of their Kings. Tissaia, with one spell, neutralized Dimeritium and instantly lifted the magic barriers in Garstang Palace previously the hard work of Nina Fioravanti, sorceress and master of the forces of the earth element, to prevent Brotherhood mages conflicts. The arch-mistress thought that would unleash other mages and return everything to normality, rarely did she know, she made a grave mistake.

The conspirators, on the other hand, got free from Dimeritium shackles and started a coup against their confreres. Francesca opened the cellars, a Nilfgaardian mage led the Scoia'tael into the palace chambers, chaos erupted, the air was filled with spells and arrows. Many members of both factions died in that bloody battle. Neutral mages also perished, among them was Hen Gedymdeith, the oldest wizard, who remembered the beginnings of human colonization. Upon seeing bodies lying around, Tissaia de Vries tried to redeem herself, tried to protect the sorceresses and calm Vilgefortz but it was for nothing, soon after, she committed suicide. In the end, the traitors had to flee for their lives. This event greatly reduced the mages' confidence and many fell out of favor of the kings they served until then.


Loc Muinne
Not much apart from memories of its former glory remains of Loc Muinne, an elven city situated along the upper reaches of the Pontar, amidst the peaks of the Blue Mountains. It must at one time have been a breathtaking sight, emerging from the morning mists... Today only white ruins mark where it once proudly stood. Centuries ago it was here that the sorcerer Geoffrey Monck brought with him the Sources, a group of human children with a gift for the Power, to hand them over to the elven Sages for training. He managed to overcome the distrust of this Elder Race, and it seemed that a path to coexistence and cooperation between humans and elves had been opened. Yet history took an altogether different course. A few years later Redanian armies massacred Loc Muinne's population, killing all the elves, regardless of gender or age. Thus began a war that ended with Aelirenn's uprising and the massacre at Shaerrawedd, after which most of the surviving elves retreated east into the inaccessible Blue Mountains.

Chapter III

It is recommended to play this soundtrack while reading:
The Witcher 2 OST - Blue Mountains 🎵
https://youtu.be/ny2TZwFTbSY
The Summit at Loc Muinne was a meeting of mages in 1271, including delegates from Temeria, Aedirn, Redania, and Kaedwen, with Nilfgaardian overseeing it at Henselt's bidding.
The meeting was assembled to reinstitute their Council and Conclave as well as set a new order of the Northern Kingdom after two out of four kings were assassinated.

Geralt and his companion scale the Blue mountain foothills, the first thing they see is the presence of the Flaming Rose knights guarding the city main entrance, since Foltest's death, they have been put under the command of Radovid and now serve Redania. There are multiple ways to get into Loc Muinne, after some time, Geralt reaches the main square with his companion.

Iorveth's path

Along with a guard and Triss figurine, Shilard Fitz-Oesterlen orders the Nilfgaardian sorceress Assire var Anahid to do the decompression, as soon as Triss wakes up and turns back to her form, he stabs Assire to death as she's been a member of a secret sorceress organization, such a thing is forbidden for Nilfgaardian mages. Triss then gets captured and jailed for interrogation about her role, other Northern sorceresses, and involvement in the organization.

King Radovid is then informed by Shilard that his court advisor, Philippa Eilhart is one of the founding members of a secret organization named The Lodge of Sorceresses and might plan to overthrow the Kings. Eilhart has come to Loc Muinne for the Council but is instantly arrested by Radovid's men as soon as she sets foot there. As the ambassador has punished and dealt with a Nilfgaardian member of the Lodge, he comes to encourage Radovid to do the same. Without hesitation, Radovid orders torturers to gouge her eyes out because she has been keeping secrets from the King and playing him for a fool. She lets out an ears-plitting scream but nothing can be done while she's handcuffed with Dimeritium shackles.

Iorveth has been looking for a cure to break Saskia off the spellbound so he comes to check on Philippa, he knows every secret path inside Loc Muinne as previously this was an elven city, plus it's unwise of a Scoia'tael elf to walk in the middle of soldiers and delegations so he operates alone and acts of his own accord. Whether he succeeds or not remains unclear, one thing for sure, Philippa has escaped Redanian prison without vision.

Vernon Roche's path

Dethmold had information from Nilfgaard spies about Foltest's heirs, Anaïs and Boussy. During the kidnap, Boussy perished through a series of unfortunate coincidences. Only Anaïs now has the Temeria royal blood and could possibly restore Temeria to its former glory. She's still a child and a trump card on the table, but eventually winds up in Dethmold's hands. He locks the bastard child in a building in Loc Muinne.

Vernon Roche comes to free Anaïs, acknowledging her potential, he proposes Radovid take care of the child instead of handing her to constable John Natalis so that Temeria becomes a protectorate of Redania and strengthens the North in the upcoming war against Nilfgaardians. Only then will his country withstand the invasion, he also comes to kill Dethmold and revenge for his Blue Stripes fellows.

Geralt

Staying away from others' business, Geralt makes up his mind and rescues Triss from Nilfgaardians delegation jail, it's the ultimate reason why he comes here. Triss has been harshly tortured but she's still alive. She's surprised to see Geralt again, he wonders whether Triss has been in the Lodge of Sorceresses after all that time, Triss is silent for a while but she eventually confesses everything. It's true that she's been a member of the Lodge with eight other sorceresses, but she holds little to no responsible for the Lodge's actions, in fact, Síle de Tansarville and Philippa Eilhart are the most dominant voices.

Turns out Triss has been discarded from the actions of the Lodge for fear of her close relationship with Geralt. The witcher could romance Triss and she would reveal the Lodge's secret, which might ruin Síle's plan to kill Kings. Afterward, the Lodge plans become secret to its members. As for Philippa, she presents a plan for creating a powerful state, controlled by sorceresses. But to control a powerful state, they need to create one or find a wealthy land with a suitable political arrangement. Síle and Philippa saw King Demavend as the weakest ruler, plus, he who controls the Pontar Valley, controls the North. That's the reason why they both presented in Henselt's camp and Vergen.

Triss scanned Síle's megascopes and learned that she had dealings with Letho back in Flotsam, hunting monsters is solely an excuse. While Triss was forced to teleport, landed near Vergen, Letho told her that Síle commissioned kingslayers to assassinate Demavend and also offered her help, Síle also suggested him working with the Scoia'tael to create a diversion. He told Triss because mages are not the targets in his plan and split up with her in a ravine close by. Subsequently, Triss sought Philippa in Vergen and wanted to have some words with her. Instead of Philippa, she met Cynthia at her house, before she could speak, Triss was overpowered by spells. It was indescribable pain as if all her bones were broken, then turned into a figurine, carried all the way to Loc Muinne until decompression.

With all the information he needed, Geralt heads to the amphitheater with his partner for the summit. Kings, rulers and northern mages all gather around to form a new peace order and reinstate the Council and the Conclave of mages. Carduin of Lan Exeter introduces a document with every member's signatures containing the lists of carefully chosen mages and its chief to act on the well-being and prosperity of the Northern Kingdoms. Síle de Tansarville is the last one to sign the document before Kings give their royal seals of approval.

Geralt and his partner interrupt the process and denounce her in front of Kings and rulers, Radovid calls on knights of Flaming Rose to arrest her. She doesn't flinch and raises her hands, up from above, a dragon comes in and thwarts the knights with its fiery breath as it grabs Síle, flies away and puts her in a tower nearby. Geralt chases her down but he's too late, she is ready to vanish in her magic megascopes. As for the rest of the other mages in Loc Muinne, time will tell what awaits them.

Síle wants to adjust a few things before leaving: The Lodge wanted Demavend to die because he was the weakest ruler, Aedirn would eventually choke to death. Letho was not a part of their plan and happened to be "at hand" plus they did not condemn Foltest to die. It is the Nilfgaard Letho's working for, destabilizing the Northern Kingdoms to make way for the Imperial army.
She finishes her sentence and is ready to teleport away, suddenly, one of the three magic diamonds in her megascopes is a flaw one, despite her treason, Síle could be dead if not for Geralt's help. She gives him a hint to go further south, where he will find the sorceress Yennefer of Vengerberg, and disappears in a flash.

Oh, and about the dragon: https://youtu.be/w00z-JBNMWc

End of chapter III extra knowledge

The Supreme Council of sorcerers
The Supreme Council of sorcerers consisted of talented mages, most of whom also were advisors to rulers of Northern kingdoms. Philippa Eilhart and Carduin of Lan Exeter were, among others, its members. Though only one member of the Council turned out to be a Nilfgaardian supporter during the Thanedd rebellion, a large part of its members were neutral mages, and that caused a split in the body. Though most of the Council's members survived these events, the loss of importance and the kings' support resulted in disbanding the association, and sorcerers lost most of their previous influence in the North.


Chapter of the Gift and the Art
The Chapter or Conclave was, next to the Supreme Council of sorcerers, one of the two main bodies ruling the magicians. The most powerful sorcerers of their times sat on it. One of its duties was regulating the standards and rules of using magic – the ban on necromancy was one of it's edicts. Before the Thanedd rebellion, a large part of the Conclave conspired with Nilfgaard. During those events, most of its members died, the only survivor being Francesca Findabair. After the coup, the Chapter was not reactivated, thus many mages do not respect the restrictions it had created.


Sorcerers and Sorceresses
The Thanedd Coup marked the end of the Brotherhood of Sorcerers, the oldest magic organization in the Northern Kingdoms, and the advent of a new order.
After the revolt on Thanedd Island, some of the surviving sorceresses grew in prominence. Philippa Eilhart consolidated her position at Redania's court, while the elf Francesca Findabair, a supporter of Nilfgaard, appointed the queen of Dol Blathanna - their Valley of Flowers, expanded her involvement in human affairs. Triss Merigold, a younger sorceress, also joined in shaping the new order: the Lodge of Sorceresses.

The Lodge members had been envisioned as a successor to the Conclave and the Supreme Council of Sorcerers. Its sole interest, according to Philippa, is to prevent the disappearance of magic during the time of contempt. However, not many knew the organization even existed. Apart from the sorceresses belonging to it, of course.

Epilogue

Merely a conversation between Geralt and Letho, it's best to hear directly from them:
https://youtu.be/shKpCYXhGzE In the end, the Northern Kingdom was weakened due to the demise of King Foltest & Demavend, an assassin scheme backed by the Nilfgaardian Empire - Emhyr var Emreis, under the hand of Letho.
For Redania, the Nilfgaardian delegation in Loc Muinne had succeeded in causing chaos between the Lodge and King Radovid, further strengthening the hatred against mages, who had been contributing in a big way defending the North against Nilfgaard evasion in previous wars.
For Kaedwen, they offered financial support to King Henselt invading Aedirn, thus the unity of the Northern countries disintegrated.

The ending of Witcher 2 🎬
https://youtu.be/4adO9PMIJg4 Taking advantage of the turmoil, the Nilfgaard Imperial armies crossed Yaruga river, a large river acting as a borderline separating the Nordling and the Nilfgaardian, to invade Temeria & Aedirn. The fate of the Northern Realm is hanging by a thread, but that is no longer Geralt's concern, at least for now.

(Approx. 5 minutes reading)

Witcher 3 Cinematic Trailer - Killing Monsters 🎬
https://youtu.be/c0i88t0Kacs

Main characters development

⚠️CONTAIN SPOILERS FROM WITCHER BOOKS!⚠️

It is recommended to play this soundtrack while reading:
The Witcher 3 Extended Soundtrack - Bonnie At Morn (Instrumental)🎵
https://youtu.be/jHUPrtueJ6M
The Last Wish
Geralt first met madam Yennefer by sneaking in her bedroom in Rinde in search of a powerful mage who could heal his friend Dandelion from a magical illness caused by a Djinn - air elemental genie found in a sealed amphora on the shore where they were fishing for lunch. Dandelion released it and immediately made two wishes but he was not the master of the Djinn, which made it furious and caused harm to him. Unbeknownst to Geralt, whoever held the seal of the genie's amphora would become its master and it would fulfill three of their wishes, he had the seal in his pocket and wasted two of the wishes, the first one was to tell the Djinn to go away, the second one was to burst a jail guard.

Yennefer agreed helping Geralt's friend, she completely cured Dandelion but wanted stuff in return, naturally, and that was capturing the Djinn for herself as it would strengthen magical abilities and provide unlimited magic source. It turned out the Djinn was too strong for her to handle. Geralt fell head over heels for Yennefer at first sight and decided to risk his life saving her from the Djinn in spite of the fact that she influenced his mind and made a fool out of him earlier in the town and got him into trouble. The moment when Yennefer was about to be devoured by the Djinn as her strength waned, Geralt made his last wish:
His fate was to be bound with that of Yennefer...


The Child of Destiny
Geralt once helped Duny, Urcheon of Erlenwald, indirectly, lifting a curse that turned his face into a repulsive form of creature by day as soon as he got the approval of Calanthe, Queen of Cintra, to let him marry her daughter Pavetta. Duny appreciated the witcher's help in the process and wished to return the favor, as witchers gradually decreased in numbers, Geralt cited the Law of Surprise and wanted "what you find at home yet don't expect" from Duny, in six years he would return to see whether destiny smiled upon him. In most cases, that meant their children to be taken away to become new witchers. Shortly afterwards, Duny were surprised with the news that Pavetta was pregnant, and he was soon to be a father. When the child was born, they named her Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon or Ciri in short, she inherited her mother's genes as well as the immense and powerful Elder Blood.

Five years later, Geralt came across the young Ciri lost in the deep forest of Brokilon near a giant centipede. The witcher rescued the little mischievous princess and piggybacked her highness through the thickets on the way to see Eithné, queen of the Dryads. During the queen ceremony, young Ciri was abducted to become a Dryad by drinking the water of Brokilon but to no avail, Geralt drank the same thing, within its hallucination he saw the princess, the child of surprise he demanded from Duny, the child destined to him. Although the witcher was tied by the law of surprise, he defied superstition and parted ways with Ciri outside the forest... Since then many unfortunate events befell on Ciri during her childhood, there was rumor that Pavetta and Duny were drowned by a storm during their trip from Skellige, following the Nilfgaardian conquest of Cintra, Ciri also lost her grandmother. She was rescued and being taken care of by the Druids until Geralt found his destiny again. Surrounded by war, death and despair, Geralt finally took traumatized Ciri under his wing and trained her with Vesemir at Kaer Morhen...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lIgJpHxVeM

The Wild Hunt
When the Conjunction of the Spheres ended, apart from the race of Unicorns, the Aen Elle somehow lost their ability to travel between worlds, only few extraordinary individuals among them (sages, navigators...) still maintained the power but that alone wasn't strong enough for them to lead a whole Aen Elle army to occupy other realms. Around six hundred years ago, an elf named Lara Dorren aep Shiadhal, daughter of Auberon Muircetach - King of the Alders, was born with a unique gene known as the Elder Blood, which was the research of Aen Elle elves to create a child who one day can open Ard Gaeth - the Gate between worlds. She later became an exceptional elven sorceress, instead of passing that gene to her race, Lara Dorren fell in love with a human mage.

Since then, the elven gene has gone through generations of humans and actually become stronger. Avallac'h, a mysterious elven sage, decided it was the right time to capture Ciri, the last line of Elder Blood and took her to the elven world. There he pressed Ciri to bear a child for the old King, her genetic ancestor, so that their Wild Hunt cavalry could conquer different worlds using the child's potentiality. Having deep relationship with her guardians since childhood, Geralt and Yennefer, she was reluctant to obey and eventually sought help from the Unicorns to teleport her back to the human world. The Wild Hunt commander - Eredin was alerted and commenced the pursuit. While traveling with the Unicorns, Ciri discovered her gifted ability to travel through time and space but it was only a matter of time before the Wild Hunt caught up to her and took back what once belonged to them...

Geralt's memories of the Wild Hunt prior to his amnesia:
(Story transition from books to games, more info in video description!)
https://youtu.be/12n1BWe9kiU [...] He traded his soul for Yennefer, Geralt was part of the Wild Hunt until Ciri reappeared and helped him escape. He ran away and collapsed in the forests near Kaer Morhen, half-naked and with a case of amnesia ... [Story continues in Witcher 1, 2 and 3]

Something ends, something begins...

The Witcher 1 Soundtrack - Believe 🎵
https://youtu.be/AFz2CE8z4mw
The mysterious boy Alvin - the Grand Master of the Order of the Flaming Rose Jacques de Aldersberg and King of Wild Hunt encounter in Witcher 1 is somehow connected with Ithlinne's Prophecy: "A seed that will not sprout but burst into flames".
The Grand Master understood the prophecy well but does the seed truly mean his Order of the Flaming Rose?

Witchers were expected to stay neutral and away from politics, yet Geralt of Rivia was dragged into Kingslayers' business, The Lodge of Sorceresses, the Northern Kingdoms and Nilfgaardian Empire political matters in Witcher 2.
After the summit of Loc Muinne, the witcher stayed out of the upcoming War and came back to Kaer Morhen for the winter.

During that winter, Redania's forces crossed the Kestrel Mountains and conquered Kaedwen, King Henselt was killed on the front lines. Kaedweni were weakened and pleaded for aid against the Black Ones, Redania thus absorbed Kaedwen's military for a better chance to win the war. As the only northern King being alive, Radovid the Stern issued a witch-hunt throughout the northern region after the Lodge's incident at Loc Muinne. Triss Merigold had to hibernate and hide her identity in the free city of Novigrad.

The year is 1272, Geralt and Vesemir return to the witcher's Path during the spring and go south for monster contracts. On the other side of the war, Yennefer of Vengerberg, having recovered most of her memory, agrees to the serve Nilfgaard Emperor's interests in the hunt for his daughter Ciri. She is informed by Nilfgaardian spies that Geralt is still alive in the Northern Realm. For some reasons, Yennefer couldn't detect Ciri with her magical abilities so she has to contact the White Wolf through a letter delivered by her enchanted black kestrel.

Later on, Yennefer tries to cross the heated war between Temerian and Nilfgaardian armies to reach Willoughby village near Vizima, their rendezvous mentioned in the letter.
However, the village is destroyed, forcing her to flee.
When the dust has settled, Geralt and Vesemir search for Yennefer's trail along the way. Unfortunately, the land trail fades away so they rest beneath a big tree at the end of it and turn to the only clue they can rely on: the smell of lilac and gooseberries from the letter.
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　. . .

Now you catch up with what happened in the previous games and how things developed before Witcher 3 events, it's time to venture into the complex and breathtaking world of The Witcher 3.
If you're new or coming back for another playthrough, it's recommended to simulate a Witcher 2 save on your next New Game for better story continuation after reading this.
Geralt's fate (and probably more) is in your hands!

　　　　　　　　　　　
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Good luck on the Path

(Everyone is welcome to translate this guide into other languages as long as you link this guide as the source, if possible, add me as a contributor so I can pin your translated guide here for easy access)

Slovak – Czech translation:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2822553165

Witcher 1 Original Soundtracks🎵

Leo's Farewell
Tavern at the End of World
The Dike
River of Life
Silver Sword
Temerian Castle Theme
Returning to the Fortress
...

Witcher 2 Original Soundtracks🎵

Assassins of Kings
Regicide
A Watering Hole In The Harbor
A Tavern On The Riverbank
Sorceresses
For A Higher Cause
Ladybug
The End Is Never The Same
...

[prayas]

the guide was awesome everything was on point thanks for making this i am now considering reading the books for the very first time.

[HunchD]

This was really well written and segmented. Kudos to the author.

[★ FmNey ★]

If there's anything wrong with the guide, please notice me, it has been a long time.
I had the idea of writing about Witcher games since the start of Covid back in 2020, took me 10 months to compile, write, edit and complete it. I consider this work as my virtual son cause I put all my decication into it.
Used to have an issue with steam that all the images got deleted from cloud and I had to reinovate the guide, hopefully it won't happen again.

[Vandelgard]

That's some really great work !!

[dan.sherwin]

This is amazing and has really helped me understand thw world of the witcher. Thank you so much.

[★ FmNey ★]

Thank you @JediWithADragon, very nice!

[JediWithADragon]

Hi again, I finally finished translating your guide :D I gave you credit of course
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2822553165

[★ FmNey ★]

Thanks, I'm so glad that people enjoy reading this.

[Azgeda]

Thank you so much for this recap! Im gonna be honest, I've never really played any of The Witcher games before except for maybe a little of Witcher 2. I started playing Witcher 3 and I had NO idea what ANY of the names were or who in the world they were talking about lol. I suppose that comes from my lack of knowledge about the lore. I just wanna say thank you again for this! This has really helped me catch up so I know what everyone is talking about during the story lmfao.

[JediWithADragon]

@FmNey I will give you credit for sure, when I finish it I will send you the link