An Impromptu Witcher Lets Play - now with the Witcher 2!

[Bara_no_Hime]

A question about the setting.

I've been doing a little online research on the world of the Witcher, but I've had some difficulties. Specifically, I'm trying to look up info on the various religious orders. I can find info on these three:

The Cult of Melitele
The Cult of the Eternal Fire
The Cult of the Lionhead Spider

Melitele is, obviously, a standard pagan triple goddess.

The Eternal Fire appears to be... faux Christian?

And the Lionhead Spider varies between Abigale the friendly Witch to crazy cultists. In the book (the Last Wish) it is given a "positive, but dangerous/vengeful" spin.

And that's it. Those are the only three I can find info on.

However, others have been mentioned in the book and game - particularly in the game. "Mother Creatrix" is mentioned by one of the characters in game while the group flees from the wraiths (I think that's where it was - somewhere in the end of chapter 1 - beginning of chapter 2 chaos anyway). However, I can find no info on a goddess of that name.

People swear by other gods, and there's a mention of "elven and dwarven gods" but again, I can't find any info on the Witcher Wiki about this.

So... does anyone here have additional info on the various religions of the Witcher universe?

 

[DementedSheep]

Yet, did Roche have any reason to know that the Scoia'tael weren't on Letho's side?

I think if you talk to Roche after giving Iorveth his sword back in the the timed decision he explains that he was planning on waiting but some of Loredo's men attacked without his permission...and he pretty pissed at you for obvious reasons.

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

Update: Chapter 2 Questing

This is really two updates in one. For various reasons, I didn't actually update yesterday, so now there's quite a backlog of gameplay to talk about.

So, the town. First things first, I took some time to run around the town, exploring, looting houses and checking out the shops. A mysterious merchant has some very nice looking swords and armor - stuff that makes my current equipment look like crap. I'm tempted... but then, I'm also a miser and don't want to spend money unless I have to.

One thing I kinda liked about the previous game - the upgrades were usually pretty obvious, and pretty clearly superior to the other options available. This game, on the other hand, just loves handing out all sorts of different equipment. Thus, I am unsure if I should spend money on upgrading or not.

While I'm exploring, I stumble upon some dice players. So I play dice. I win one, but the next guy is insanely lucky - one time I have two pair at the midpoint, and he pulls a full house out of NOTHING. After four attempts, I give up.

I continue exploring the town, looting whatever I can. Eventually I end up in a castle thing and accidentally stumble on the plot. Oopsie. I thought the plot was deeper in the Inn. Ah well.

So, there's a council meeting going on. Military talk. Ivo Elfnik gets volunteered to be archers to defend the walled city. Awesome.

And then someone poisons Jeanne! No! Quick, give her one of my mongoose potions - they resist poison 200000%!

But no, using something practical like that won't help. Apparently we need a really complicated spell to do this. We need Immortals, Rose of Remembrance, Royal Blood, and a Magical Artifact. To get the Rose, we need to find Triss. Sounds good to me.

Also, there's talk of lifting the curse. I need some objects of Hatred to do so (I can't remember if I learned this now or later, so sorry if this is out of sequence).

The game spits me out outside Philipa's house, and she has guards who won't let me in. Since Triss's quest (and the magical Artifact quest) requires talking to her, I go with the Immortals instead. I don't pursue Royal blood yet because, well, we have a prince in the building and I figure he'll do.

First off, I need to talk to Zoltan. So I head to the inn, pausing to do a quick fist-fighting championship. I beat the current champ, and then some noble comes over and wants to beat me, so I kick his ass. He threatens vengeance, and I get a quest about it. Neat?

I talk to Zoltan, and he tells me about the dwarven mines. Which are closed due to monsters infestation. After getting the mines opened up, we head in to the mines. The unlit mines. I'm accompanied by Zoltan and two of his friends. Which... well, cluster fuck is the word that leaps to mind. One NPC ally is helpful, because they serve as an additional target and help me flank enemies. Three NPCs just get in my way and make it hard to target enemies when I'm blocked by a wall of Dwarf.

Anyway, we head in and encounter Rot Fiends. Who fucking EXPLODE when you kill them. Bleck. Also, there's a meter filling up below my HP. At this point, having only just taken the ability that gave me adrenaline, I didn't know what it was and thought it was a poison meter. ^^;; So I got rather panicked when I kept getting poisoned after fighting the Rot fiends... not realizing that I was actually building up to a limit break.

Of course, now I know that. But at the time I was very alarmed.

Anyway, I light lanterns and fight rotfiends. Yes, I could have used a cat potion, but then I'd have had to look through my dwarven companions, and that just wasn't appealing.

I find a locked room and can't get in. I also use bombs I created last chapter to blow up more undead tunnels.

This leads eventually to the room with the final undead tunnel, the immortals, and big-ass undead guy. Holy crap. This proved to be a close battle as he hit like a fucking freight train and his minions kept blind-siding me. Eventually I took them out first so I could concentrate on the big guy. As always, my dwarven companions were no help.

Anyway, having killed and looted the big guy, I then picked an Immortal. Quest Updated. ... I then picked another dozen Immortals for crafting purposes. And blew up the tunnel. Also, I found a key on the last dead dwarf.

Back to the locked room for loot!

Outside, I collect my reward for the rotfiend quest and then head back to Phillipa to turn in the Immortals.

I get there and a cut scene starts. Geralt walks in on Philipa getting a massage from her apprentice. Apparently the apprentice is "leashed" to her - she can tap Phillipa's magic to practice with.

... this is the lesbian character you guys mentioned before, isn't it? I'm disappointed - I was hoping for Saskia (and yes, I will call her by her name from now on, the Jeanne joke is over. Still gonna refer to Iorveth by other names though, as calling him Ivo, Igor, and Odin still amuses me).

Anywho, I can now talk to Phillipa about Triss and Magical Artifacts. And several other things, including warning her about some of the stuff I learned last chapter.

That done, I head out to find Triss, since obviously that should be my first priority. Not only does she have the Rose, but she's my love interest and I don't want to make sure she's okay.

After learning about Triss's encounter with a Troll, I head out of the city. On my way, I find a shop and an elf woman. Apparently she's one of the three elf women I rescued at the end of the previous chapter. And she wants sex. Well, how can I say no to that?

Afterwards, she gives me a key. Which I use on the door next to her house and it takes me to a field near another door that I can't open. Okay. It also brings me out near where Triss is supposed to be. I mistake the route and end up fighting a ton of harpies and hitting a dead end (and a chest I can't open, and some weird glowing rocks). I backtrack and talk to a man who wants harpy feathers. Okay - I sell them to him. Now he wants MORE feathers. I up the rate, but he wants 60 of the damn things.

Speaking of harpies, killing the ones earlier allowed me to "research" the harpy job, and I'm supposed to make harpy traps. Later, when I went to do this, I saw that it requires silver. WTF?! Silver is rare and expensive (at this point in the game). I've killed hundreds of harpies (not yet, but later) do I really need to waste money on traps when I've killed literally hundreds of harpies?!

Anyway, back to Triss. I take the other route and this way is more agreeable. I find the troll. The troll... is sad. His wife left him. Since he saved Triss's life, I don't kill him, and offer to help him. So now I need to save his wife to get Triss's scarf for Phillipa's spell.

I head off up the new path, killing harpies on the way for more feathers, and eventually come across some mercs killing a she-troll. I tell them to stop, they refuse, so it's time for Steel Sword Action.

An ass-kicking ensues, but they surrender before I kill anyone. Aww... I wanted to loot them. I convince them to turn themselves in to my people and they piss off. Then I convince the She-troll to return to her husband. Back at the Troll lair, the troll thanks me and the she-troll gives me Triss's scarf. Finally!

Okay, back to Phillipa. I save in town and sell some random crap and then save again before heading in to see Philipa. I give her Triss's scarf and - suddenly - the peasants revolt.

And one of my quests is marked as Failed. WTF?!

I pause the game and learn after a google search that the Triss quest moves the plot forward, and several quests will be instantly failed if not finished. Well fuck. ... okay fine.

I reload my game and DON'T go talk to Philipa. **sigh** Instead, I switch to a murder investigation. Because I REALLY want to be solving random crimes and NOT rescuing my lover. Grr.

To be Continued, in Part 2.

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

Update continued:

Anyway, I go to a smoldering crater with a well and then the quest directs me elsewhere. After getting killed by the mists, twice, I look for an alternative route and find one through town. I head north, get ambushed by dwarves who want to cash Geralt in for his bounty, and then proceed north. And HOLY SHIT that's a lot of nekkers. I'm very glad I got Whirl, because it lets me cut through them like a lawn-mower. Nice. After looting them, I head onward, fighting some army dudes from the other side.

Finally, I reach the Dwarven Catacomb and head inside. Wraiths attack, so I kill them and get some Death dust. The quest says to look at corpses, so I unwrap one, but nothing interesting is learned. Also, the quest icon is pointing to a different room, so maybe I should go look there?

I head through the dungeon, blowing up walls and killing wraiths as I go. I blow up one wall and a wraith gets all chatty with me. There's a dialog option about being from some sort of banner - ah, one of the curse lifting thingys. I don't know the answers, so after a wrong guess, it's bossfight time. After I kill the wraith, I loot the banner and a nifty new sword. Yay!

I finish exploring and find the correct body. It's been ravaged, and Geralt thinks it was a succubus. There's a piece of metal in one of the wounds, but Geralt says he would need surgical supplies to remove it. Um... shit. I saw some in a shop, but they were expensive so I didn't buy them.

Well, it doesn't matter (yet) because the quest says I need to get Dandelion to sing to the succubus. Groovy. I head back to town and convince him to do so. He's actually pretty excited about it. I head out to the burnt town and rest until midnight and then meet Dandelion there so he can sing. And then I'm controlling Dandelion. I screw up the song a couple times because the dialog options are timed, but eventually I sing something that the succubus likes. She calls to Dandelion... and I have him run to Geralt so that he doesn't get his ass killed.

As Geralt, I approach and head inside to chat with the succubus. She's quite pleasant and informs me that she didn't kill them - her lover did, the guy near the inn who gave me the quest. Bastard! I go confront him, and he sort of admits it, so I head to Igor... but he needs proof.

SIGH. I go back to the shop, buy surgical tools for 100 gold, then head back to the crypt, killing neckers and wraiths along the way, go back to the corpse, and use the tools to remove the metal shard, then head back to Odin and deliver the metal fragment. Okay, there we go.

He flees, so I head to see the succubus, and - surprise surprise - he's waiting for me. I kill the murder and then talk to the succubus. Geralt gets sexxed up and then gets free armor. NICE armor. I equip it.

Okay... so Geralt was loyal to Triss all through the prologue and chapter 1. In chapter 2, while Triss is in mortal danger, Gearlt has fucked not one but two other women. That's... interesting. What, is he afraid to sleep around when Triss is there in case she punishes him?

Whatever.

I consider heading back to Philipa now, but another quest was mentioned in the "do this before turning in Triss's scarf" on that web search earlier, so now I'm paranoid. So instead I turn my attention to the Magic artifact thingy. I talk to Cedric and then head north again and, after much navigation difficulty, figure out a way to that tower. There are more harpies, and I get my 60 feathers - and a funny magical crystal. Neat.

I take that to Philipa (careful not to mention Triss's scarf) but apparently that one isn't good enough - I need a better one. Grr. Fine. So now - harpies.

I talk to Cedric again and, after a bit of blackmail, he gives me the key to that door I couldn't open earlier. So back to the harpy area. I stop off first and turn in my 60 feathers, which is quite profitable. The guy needs 8 more. Kay.

I kill four more harpies, then backtrack to talk to him. He takes the last 8 feathers and says that's it, he doesn't need anymore. Geralt is annoyed, but I'm pleased because I can use them for potions now. The quest isn't over though....

Onward!

I kill more harpies on my way down into the valley. Once there, I head into the lair. And more harpies - including upgraded harpies who hit hard and have a ton of HP. I work my way slowly through the dungeon, killing and looting. And picking up dream crystals. Finally, I see one harpy load a crystal into a funny stone, and then I see Letho's dream. Weird.

I take Letho's crystal, and a whole SWARM of upgraded Harpies attacks - including the Harpy Queen. Group style, don't fail me now!

A very intense battle follows as I carve my way through the minions, only to be left with the Queen harpy as the last survivor. We fight, and she blocks a lot, but Igni helps. Eventually, though, I take her down. I loot the queen first and get a harpy sword! Which... isn't as good as the sword from the crypt. Ah well. +12% vs Harpies would have been useful before the battle, but no so much after it.

I loot the rest, then use the crystal viewer to look at the other four stones. I find a dragon dream, a dwarf's dream, a human peasant dreaming of group sex with Saskia (I assume this is an actual dream, not a memory the way the others seem to be), and Ivo's dream of a feast. Aww.

Gearlt decides that the dragon's dream is the best one. Also, the dwarf's dream activates a new quest. I meditate and level, and then head out.

Outsides, the harpies have respawned, so I get to fight my way back out of the valley. At the top, I check on the guy who wanted the feathers... and he has made himself a Harpy costume. I... talk about the weather. And it is fucking hilarious. I offer him some more feathers, but he's good - his costume is complete.

Anyway, I head back to town and let Cedric know I killed the Harpy queen. And, next to his house, I bump into the house from that dwarf's dream. I talk to the guy at the anvil nearby and he gives me the key to the dwarf's house. I check it out, blow up a wall, and get a treasure map. Lovely.

Outside, the dwarf from the anvil wants to know what I found. I lie and say nothing.

The first clue is a well. The only well I know is in the burnt village. I head there - and save. The next clue is a river (which is north of here according to the map) and a gate. There are two gates - one leads to instant wrath death and the other towards the troll and harpy parts of the forest. Since the next line is "you will be safe" I try wraithy death first - and die. Okay, not that way.

I head the other way next. It says the "middle" path, so I head back to the harpy area. And they've respawned AGAIN. So I kill my way through them again, heading down into the valley. I thought those weird glowing magic boulders might have something to do with it, but apparently not.

Ah, but the chest does! I open the chest and find... a key. Weird.

The quest updates and says that "go right" is the next clue. I check the poem and it does say go right. It also mentions a drowned man. Okay.

I can't figure out how to go right, though - the chest is in a corner. Going right would take me back to the center area near the rocks. I try that. Then I try running to the right, in circles, around the rock. Nothing.

Then I open my map. And... there's a ship! It isn't really to the "right" of anything, but there is a ship nearby. Of course, nearby is a rather sticky term. It looks like it's on the troll path. Did I miss a branch? I head back up to the crossroad and take the path towards the trolls.

I explore around, killing more harpies, and find another path. It leads - to a ship! I search the ship and find a chest. Okay this should be -

- the wrong quest. This has something to do with that letter I mailed last chapter. And, as soon as I get the quest, the game says Quest Complete. Okay?

I look around the area and... see some vines. I poke them and there's a door behind them, so I unlock it and head inside. Success! And loot! I loot stuff until that Dwarf shows up with his two friends and says he's gonna kill me for solving the case. So I kill him and his buddies right back. I do a better job of it.

I loot their corpses, then finish looting the building, and THEN I head back to Cedric to turn that quest in. He rewards me with a sword. Awesome.

I have a LOT of new loot, so I re-equip myself with the best weapons and armor, and then go sell off the stuff I don't need. I stop by Philipa's and turn in everything except Triss's scarf.

Checking my quest journal, I have completed everything currently completable except for arm-wrestling (I beat Zoltan, barely, so apparently it is possible, just stupidly difficult), dice poker (haven't gone back to Dwarf-Cheats-Alot since exploring at the beginning of the chapter), and the wrestling guy who swore vengeance on me. I can't go after the Hatred symbol yet because apparently Saskia has it, and I can't get the royal blood because the Prince told me to fuck off when I asked him about it. Jerk. So... yeah, I think that's it. Time to advance the plot.

Am I forgetting anything?

Should I craft/buy something?

Any side quests I need to do before doing this? Anything I missed? Any reason not to go forward?

Post now or forever hold your piece.

....

And no one ever answered my question on the various religions on the world of the Witcher. I really want to know if there's more info.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Okay... so Geralt was loyal to Triss all through the prologue and chapter 1. In chapter 2, while Triss is in mortal danger, Gearlt has fucked not one but two other women. That's... interesting. What, is he afraid to sleep around when Triss is there in case she punishes him?

I always got the impression that Triss and Geralt are more fuck buddies and long time friends than "lovers" in the purest sense of that word. While I do think Geralt is worried about her, I don't think he's distressed enough that he can't satiate his ever yearning loins.

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

I always got the impression that Triss and Geralt are more fuck buddies and long time friends than "lovers" in the purest sense of that word. While I do think Geralt is worried about her, I don't think he's distressed enough that he can't satiate his ever yearning loins.

I could have believed that in the first game, but in this one, they're pretty clearly a couple. The Rose of Remembrance bit had Geralt saying that he loved her (and he said it quite a bit last game too). He seems to love her more than Yennifer, and Yennifer was the "love of his life" so... yeah.

 

[BathorysGraveland2]

Yeah, but Geralt can't even remember his love of Yennefer. His amnesia takes effect there. He currently only knows any kind of love with Triss.

 

[DementedSheep]

You could sleep with the prostitutes and flirt with Ves (which causes her to reply ?I need your sword not your dick? brilliant) in chap 1 and there really wasn't any one to sleep with or situation where that would have made sense in the prologue besides Triss so he was never being loyal to her. He wasn't exactly loyal to Yen either.

Radom Trivia time! The stuff Iorveth is saying in his dream actually does mean something. According the devs it means
?Oh, carrot, tasty carrot,
With even fat/lard on top,
And also chicken with parsley...?
So yeah...Iorveths dreaming about chilling (and possibly being high, what is in that pipe anyway?) in a house writing poetry about food lol. Although that actually makes sense since he would have been half starved and living in filth for god knows how long.

I think I remember there being a harpy hunting quest that requires harpy traps. You had to destroy their nests by putting down a harpy trap near them which they pick up and bring back to their nest (cause its shinny) where it explodes. Again it could just be my memory making shit up.

I can't help you with the religion thing because I have no idea.

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

Yeah, but Geralt can't even remember his love of Yennefer. His amnesia takes effect there. He currently only knows any kind of love with Triss.

True. But, at least in my game since I keep having Geralt take actions that show he loves Triss, the game certainly seems to imply that at least with his current memories (since reawakening, plus partial memories of the past) that he loves Triss quite a bit.

You could sleep with the prostitutes and flirt with Ves (which causes her to reply ?I need your sword not your dick? brilliant) in chap 1 and there really wasn't any one to sleep with or situation where that would have made sense in the prologue besides Triss so he was never being loyal to her. He wasn't exactly loyal to Yen either.

I don't have any problem with him (or Triss, or Yen for that matter) sleeping around. Triss even says in the first game that she knows him well enough to know that will happen from time to time, and that she's no saint herself. I was just ragging on the timing.

Remember, you're talking to a woman in an open marriage. I have no problem with sleeping around so long as it's part of the agreement. My main complaint was that the game punished me (failed quest) for trying to find Triss as soon as possible. If they wanted to pull a "come back later" and not move it along until I'd done other quests, then fine, but having it punish me for not side questing when not doing so was a Role Playing decision was a little annoying.

Kinda like how, in ME3, you have to ignore the "urgent" situations so you can screw around doing every little other quest, because the "urgent" quests are the plot ones you have to do last to avoid missing sidequests. I found that annoying to, because it broke immersion.

Radom Trivia time! The stuff Iorveth is saying in his dream actually does mean something. According the devs it means
?Oh, carrot, tasty carrot,
With even fat/lard on top,
And also chicken with parsley...?
So yeah...Iorveths dreaming about chilling (and possibly being high, what is in that pipe anyway?) in a house writing poetry about food lol. Although that actually makes sense since he would have been half starved and living in filth for god knows how long.

Wow. That is even better than I imagined. Thank you for the translation. ^^

I think I remember their being a harpy hunting quest that requires harpy traps. You had to destroy their nests by putting down a harpy trap near them which they pick up and bring back to their nest (cause its shinny) where it explodes. Again it could just be my memory making shit up.

That makes sense, I guess. But I don't want to waste Silver on a quest that's gonna pay 200 gold at best. Unless the XP is REALLY good. Any idea how much it's worth?

I can't help you with the religion thing because I have no idea.

Well, answer me this then - having played both games (and read some of the books?) do you remember any religions OTHER than the three I mentioned?

If these are the main three for the world, then that's fine. I just need to make sure there's not some other major religion out there that I should know about.

Why? I'm doing research for the possibility of coming up with a Witcher D&D game. I've already found a Witcher class for Pathfinder and a list of Witcher potions, so I've got a good start. However, something any D&D game needs are gods for the clerics to choose from. If these three are it, I need to know. If there are others, I need to get as much info as possible.

Yes, I'm talking to all of you.

And that goes for everyone - if you remember other religions than the three I mentioned, please let me know. Even if you don't have details, just knowing that there are others - a name, a vague description, or anything at all would be helpful. You don't need to be an expert or quote wiki articles, just whatever you remember from your experience with the games and/or books is helpful.

 

[BathorysGraveland2]

True. But, at least in my game since I keep having Geralt take actions that show he loves Triss, the game certainly seems to imply that at least with his current memories (since reawakening, plus partial memories of the past) that he loves Triss quite a bit.

Depends how you play him, I guess. My version of Geralt loves Triss, but is hesitant about having a settled life with her.

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

Depends how you play him, I guess. My version of Geralt loves Triss, but is hesitant about having a settled life with her.

Well, there's settled and there's committed. (And, as noted, committed does not necessarily mean exclusive.)

Although I had my Geralt go for both in the first game, one does not necessitate the other. As the second game demonstrates, having a Sorceress back up a Witcher is actually a pretty good idea. So long as they don't split the party to make kidnappings convenient. Actually, if Geralt was doing actual Witcher work rather than being stuck in a political mess, it wouldn't be a problem at all - Geralt normally refuses to hunt intelligent monsters who could use Triss against him.

 

[DementedSheep]

I don't have any problem with him (or Triss, or Yen for that matter) sleeping around. Triss even says in the first game that she knows him well enough to know that will happen from time to time, and that she's no saint herself. I was just ragging on the timing.

Remember, you're talking to a woman in an open marriage. I have no problem with sleeping around so long as it's part of the agreement. My main complaint was that the game punished me (failed quest) for trying to find Triss as soon as possible. If they wanted to pull a "come back later" and not move it along until I'd done other quests, then fine, but having it punish me for not side questing when not doing so was a Role Playing decision was a little annoying.

Kinda like how, in ME3, you have to ignore the "urgent" situations so you can screw around doing every little other quest, because the "urgent" quests are the plot ones you have to do last to avoid missing sidequests. I found that annoying to, because it broke immersion.

Neither do I. I'm just saying it he wasn't not sleeping around in chapter 1 due to Triss being there.

Wow. That is even better than I imagined. Thank you for the translation. ^^

When the game first came out a lot of people assumed he was talking about his love for Saskia. Ha! no just his love of food.

That makes sense, I guess. But I don't want to waste Silver on a quest that's gonna pay 200 gold at best. Unless the XP is REALLY good. Any idea how much it's worth?

Na, something insignificant. I did because I was a completionist and wasn't using the silver anyway.

Well, answer me this then - having played both games (and read some of the books?) do you remember any religions OTHER than the three I mentioned?

If these are the main three for the world, then that's fine. I just need to make sure there's not some other major religion out there that I should know about.

Why? I'm doing research for the possibility of coming up with a Witcher D&D game. I've already found a Witcher class for Pathfinder and a list of Witcher potions, so I've got a good start. However, something any D&D game needs are gods for the clerics to choose from. If these three are it, I need to know. If there are others, I need to get as much info as possible.

Well Melitele is the mainstream one who most seem to worship. You get pockets of people worshiping regional supernatural beings (usually spirits) but not wide spread like those 3. I've not read all the books since most aren't in english, though there are fan translations. I think it was implied at some point that worship of Melitele might predate humans who only arrived in that world very recently (like 1000 or so years recently) but religion seems to be glossed over in general. You get a lot of superstitious but not a lot about actual worship.

The elves seem to worship or at the very least have great respect for spirits of the land. At one point Geralt and Dandelion/Jaskar lives are saved from some elves by one.
The wiki has this quote
"Elves don't discuss their faith in the presence of humans, because they think the barbarians would be unable to grasp its philosophical and mystical subtleties. Most humans, on the other hand, don't care about elven beliefs. It is a fact that some elves believe in Dana Méadbh, the mother goddess, who seems to be an embodiment of the Goddess Melitele."

They believe in whats-her-names prophecy. The one bought up in the first game about humans dying in an ice age and the elves being saved by a child of elder blood called swallow but being that prophecy is a very real thing in the witcher-verse I don't know that's really a religious thing.

I have no idea what the gnomes and dwarves worship, if anything.
Edit: I fail at quotes

 

[Norrdicus]

And then someone poisons Jeanne! No! Quick, give her one of my mongoose potions - they resist poison 200000%!

But no, using something practical like that won't help.

Of course, you know, the potion could kill her. Half the point of Witchers becoming mutants is that they can drink potions without dying to the toxins.

Anyway, I light lanterns and fight rotfiends. Yes, I could have used a cat potion, but then I'd have had to look through my dwarven companions, and that just wasn't appealing.

You will look at every single insanely detailed finger of a dwarf and LIKE IT, missy!

At the top, I check on the guy who wanted the feathers... and he has made himself a Harpy costume. I... talk about the weather. And it is fucking hilarious. I offer him some more feathers, but he's good - his costume is complete.

This guy pays a stupidly small amount for Harpy feathers, probably half what they're actually worth, but the "punchline" of the quest is worth it. People say this quest is a parody of all the monster part collection quests in Witcher 1 and I believe them

Am I forgetting anything?

As far as quests go, no, I believe you have them all covered.

And no one ever answered my question on the various religions on the world of the Witcher. I really want to know if there's more info.

Sorry, I don't know much about the Witcher universe stuff that's not in the games. There was a local religion in Lobinden about Veyopatis, of which there are in-game books, and a quest, but you didn't trigger the chain of events leading to it in the prologue

Oh wait, there is one other rather new religion that you only encounter during Roche's path!

I could have believed that in the first game, but in this one, they're pretty clearly a couple. The Rose of Remembrance bit had Geralt saying that he loved her (and he said it quite a bit last game too). He seems to love her more than Yennifer, and Yennifer was the "love of his life" so... yeah.

For sure, you have the option to make Geralt say he loves her during that quest, but you can keep from doing that in 2 ways at least.

1) Do not bring her to the Elven Baths at all. Yeah, that's an option
2) When Triss says all that sappy stuff about the Rose of Remembrance, love and whatnot, you can make Geralt say "Umm, yeah, about that..." after which Triss will say "Oh, just give me the rose before you break it!"

If you want to make your Geralt see Triss as a life-partner and a lover, that's valid, but so is the other path, you just chose not to pick it. Just like with Roche vs Iorveth.

 

[Norrdicus]

Edited to new post to avoid having spoiler tags quoted by LPer:

Actually, now that I've brought up the whole plot divergence thing, I want to give you a bit of a teaser of what questions you'll never get an answer to because you chose to go with Iorveth.

These Act 1 related questions are rather insignificant so I'll post them without spoiler tags:

What really happened to that missing elf woman?

Who was that merchant guy in the room with Loredo during the conversation? What were those miscellaneous spy letters about?

The questions that would have been cleared in Act 2 are semi-spoilers since you're still going through it, but they're on the level of "Why did Iorveth go to Vergen after you left Flotsam?" and well, the answer is rather obvious to you since you're playing Iorveth's path

Just thought you'd like to know a few of the story differences between the 2 routes. Up to you whether you want to take a tiny peek at the questions raised that will be left unanswered

Spoiler

Letho and Iorveth mentioned 2 other kingslayers. Where the heck are they?

What is Roche doing the whole of Act 2? Twiddling his thumbs?

What exactly triggered the mist? The appearance was kinda "lol because magic"

What is going on in Temeria?

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

The elves seem to worship or at the very least have great respect for spirits of the land. At one point Geralt and Dandelion/Jaskar lives are saved from some elves by one.
The wiki has this quote
"Elves don't discuss their faith in the presence of humans, because they think the barbarians would be unable to grasp its philosophical and mystical subtleties. Most humans, on the other hand, don't care about elven beliefs. It is a fact that some elves believe in Dana Méadbh, the mother goddess, who seems to be an embodiment of the Goddess Melitele."

**copies quote about elves into Religion document**

Thanks! And having the name Dana Méadbh is quite helpful.

They believe in whats-her-names prophecy. The one bought up in the first game about humans dying in an ice age and the elves being saved by a child of elder blood called swallow but being that prophecy is a very real thing in the witcher-verse I don't know that's really a religious thing.

Right, Witcher Jesus. What was her name again?

Sorry, I don't know much about the Witcher universe stuff that's not in the games. There was a local religion in Lobinden about Veyopatis, of which there are in-game books, and a quest, but you didn't trigger the chain of events leading to it in the prologue

**googles Veyopatis**

OH! So that's what that thing in the woods was. I tried interacting with it, but nothing ever happened.

And thanks! Just the name Veyopatis allows me to google additional info on the god.

Oh wait, there is one other rather new religion that you only encounter during Roche's path!

Name please? If I have a name, google does the rest.

Anyway, see - you don't have to have all of the stuff memorized to help me. A vague recollection of a name can be helpful, since the Wiki has a lot of info, but has no "religion" page to centralize said info. On the wiki, if you don't know the name, you can't find it.

Oh, speaking of which, I just remembered two more minor deities:

The Lady of the Lake
Dagon

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

Quick Update:

So, time to move the plot along. I hand over Triss's scarf and the then: the Peasants are Revolving!

They probably need to bathe.

**rimshot**

Anyway, Geralt is called in to mediate. Lovely. The Prince is accused of poisoning Saskia on the evidence that the servant who gave her the poisoned drink... says so.

Why isn't he a suspect? Because he "loves Saskia like a sister and mother both". Um... okay? How very lacking of evidence. Still, I'm supposed to go talk with him.

First, though, I talk with the Prince. I ask him for his blood again, and he refuses. Again. Jerk. He also tries to bribe me. Yeah, because that went so well for the last guy who tried it.

That finished, I head off to see the servant. He claims that a priest messed with the cup. And... that has what to do with the Prince? No idea. But there might be some evidence in the Priest's house. I ask Cedric about that, and head down there. Turns out the Priest had plans for a cup. A poison cup?

I head back up, and things are getting restless. Some dwarves out front ask to talk to me, so I say hello, and it turns out that I'm talking to the guy who made the cup she was supposed to be using. I ask him if someone could have copied his work, and he says that some guy might have tried, but that he sucks.

And then the mob will no longer shut the fuck up and must be dealt with. I point out that, while the Priest is clearly guilty, the evidence against the Prince is still circumstantial. The Prince comes out and... sort of tries to be reasonable. I pointedly remind him (and everyone else) that he tried to bribe me. And he's still an ass. And, with no further indication, the game says: Decide - does he live or die.

Thanks game. I did your investigation (as much as you'd let me) and you didn't give me any solid evidence except against this priest.

On the other hand... I need royal blood. You refused to give it to me, Prince... so I'll get it another way. Off with his head!

... or beat him to death with sticks, whatever.

I collect my royal blood. Yay!

Also, I have a quest to investigate that fake cup making dwarf. It's the dwarf I already killed, so I head directly to his house and loot it. Doing so gives me evidence that... he made the cup for the priest. Thanks game. Thanks.

However, that moment of "no shit" earns me a full level worth of XP. Yay!

Actually, since handing the scarf to Phillipa, I've gone up 6 levels! Impressive!

I spend three opening up the first few ranks of Alchemy, spend two on swordsmanship, and one back in Training to deflect arrows. And, as I hoped, that one point earns me the right to spend another Mutagen! Madness Mutagen 2 for the Win.

Quick Question - do the top tier abilities of each branch always have mutagen slots?

Quick Question 2 - that Alchemist ability that increases the benefit of Mutagens by +15%. Is that retroactive? IE - will that affect older mutagens that I've already used?

Anyway, I saved at this point (having just leveled up) and then headed back to Phillipa's house. And...

Phillipa is whipping her naked (except for panties) apprentice. Yup - apparently Phillipa is the lesbian people were talking about earlier? I was still hoping it would end up being Saskia. Ah well.

Actually, Phillipa/Saskia would be pretty awesome.

Ahem. Anyway, the apprentice sort of covers herself and Phillipa starts to talk to me about crossing the Mist to find Triss - and just then I had to quit out of the game due to other obligations. Since I saved just outside, I'll get to see the lesbian S&M scene again, so yay for that.

And that's where I am now.

The Prince is dead. Long live... Saskia.

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

Update: Once again with lesbian S&M.

Anywho, off to the other side of the fog. Getting there is less than fun - more of the same "walk slowly beneath the owl, then fight a small handful of monsters, then walk slowly some more". But after only two stops, we're across.

On the other side, Geralt finds a corpse with a small statue. He picks it up... and puts it in his pocket.

At the time, I was like "that was odd". Looking back, I'm like FUCK!!!! But we'll get to that.

Roach shows up and, after bitching for a minute, agrees to be helpful. There are two ways into the camp - the brothel and the coast.

First things first, I explore the area, loot, and fight monsters - including a troll. I use the X button for a cool kill on the troll. Nifty!

I also loot everywhere I can. I meet a weird guy with candles, find a house with a basement with some candles that I (eventually) light in the proper order. And get... a paper. Lovely.

Finally, I decide to go along with the plot. I end up heading to the brothel and using their passageway. It leads to some caves with monsters that I kill. Also, there's a golem for some reason, guarding some really shitty weapons and a really good armor, which I equip.

I save, then head out - and get captured by MILF-guard.

They take me in to talk with that Map Guy from the video. He has them search me for a statue - that fucking statue mysterious statue - and he breaks it open and TRISS IS INSIDE. Miniaturized.

So I rescued Triss hours ago and didn't realize it. If Geralt had gone "Hm, weird statue that makes my amulet respond" **shakes** Something inside? **smash** Triss!" then I could have been over and done with this. But NO. Grr.

Also, apparently naked panty girl (with whom I had a lovely discussion about the Wild Hunt before coming here) is a traitor. Oh, and Geralt has a flashback to... tracking the Wild Hunt. Apparently they only target people between the ages of 10 and 20. Except Yennifer.

You know, I'm starting to get a little annoyed with the game for continually making the super powerful Sorceress characters into Damsels in Distress. Triss started this game being awesome, competent, and helpful. She was a useful NPC like Dandelion and Zoltan. And now... she's bait.

I was hoping I'd get to find her and have her rejoin the group, but now it seems the game is going to string me along with this hook for at LEAST another full chapter. Maybe the rest of the game.

I'm not Mario. I'm not Zelda. Stop with the Damsel bait game. Or, if you absolutely must use the Trope, having Triss with me and Yennifer with the Hunt was a wonderful compromise. Having Triss also seeking Yen broke up the sausage fest, but with them BOTH kidnapped, it only reinforces the negative stereotype.

Damn it, game, I thought you'd grown past this sort of crap. You were doing so well compared to the last game. **sigh**

Okay, rant over. For now.

ANYWAY... MILF-guard Leader orders MILF-guard Mage to kill me. And the Leader leaves with mini-Triss. Fucker.

Geralt gets taken out for execution. I tried to be badass and have Geralt say "I'm ready" before disarming people and breaking free, but instead Roach shows up to save Geralt. Um, okay. Geralt, being far less badass than I'd hoped, does manage to pick up his weapons. I check my inventory - yes, everything's in order - and then Boss Fight.

I take on the mage, who is a teleporting jerk who keeps using spells against me. I roll a lot and try to stay close and Fast Style him.

After much rolling and chipping, I finally kill him. I loot his armor (another upgrade! I put it on immediately) and then realize that Roach is still fighting one of the guards on the other side of the map. Maybe I ought to go help.

Once that's done, Roach escorts me out of camp, pretending I'm a prisoner. Smart thinking Roach. Since I already killed Prince Poisoner, I don't need to kill King Asshole for his blood, so I just head back to Phillipa.

And we get to slog BACK through the mist. Lovely. This time there are two big dudes per pause. Although, it seems like only one of them drops loot. That sucks.

Back in town, Phillipa finds that her apprentice has fled and that said apprentice HAD TRISS'S STUFF ALL ALONG. **hits head against wall**

So the Rose is dying. Fuck. But it's still good enough for the spell. Let's get Saskia fixed, shall we?

On to that. Phillipa kisses Saskia during the process, and one of the dwarves calls it "lesbomancy".

....

**duelist bows to the game**

Touche, game. That leaves us at one to one for the chapter. Care for a tie breaker?

Not yet, apparently. With Saskia healed, she hands over her sword so we can break that nasty curse. And, once again, Geralt gets to head into the mist.

... next time, because I'm out of time.

Well. That was some fairly major ups and downs.

The good bits are really good. The bad bits are... annoying. And this isn't even about genre or the original author - Dandelion gets into all sorts of trouble in the books, but aside from a near-hanging, it hasn't been much of an issue in this game. Why can't I spend a chapter or two saving Dandelion, while Triss sits around an Inn, huh?

But, no, I don't want to turn this into a sexism thread. As before, it's a minor annoyance in the larger game plot. And less annoying than the OOC Triss issue last game. Just... not as empowering as I was hoping. Triss was totally fucking awesome for the prologue and most of Chapter 1. And then - Damseled. Disempowered, quite literally objectified (she's a desk ornament), and turned into a quest goal. A McGuffin.

Why do you keep impressing me game, only to then do something so... common. Why?

On the other hand... I must find a way to use the word "lesbomancy" in polite conversation.

Say it with me now... lesbomancy. (and if you get that joke, one internet cookie for you)

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

An Aside:

Okay, so I've been reading the Witcher books. I recently finished the Last Wish and started on Blood of Elves. And, only 16 pages in, it has been stated that Triss Merigold DIED at the battle of Sodden Hill (as well as Lytta Neyd and one other sorceress).

Now, true, this is technically hearsay, but the person remembers Triss's name from a memorial to the dead.

Of course, it is obviously possible that the true events of Sodden Hill will be revealed during the course of this novel. Perhaps the monument is wrong.

It just threw me, is all, and I wanted to share with all of you.

Speaking of sharing, I was wondering - do you guys want little "book reviews" as well? Or should I just stick with the video games?

 

[DementedSheep]

An Aside:

Okay, so I've been reading the Witcher books. I recently finished the Last Wish and started on Blood of Elves. And, only 16 pages in, it has been stated that Triss Merigold DIED at the battle of Sodden Hill (as well as Lytta Neyd and one other sorceress).

Now, true, this is technically hearsay, but the person remembers Triss's name from a memorial to the dead.

Of course, it is obviously possible that the true events of Sodden Hill will be revealed during the course of this novel. Perhaps the monument is wrong.

It just threw me, is all, and I wanted to share with all of you.

Speaking of sharing, I was wondering - do you guys want little "book reviews" as well? Or should I just stick with the video games?

Sure, why not if you feel like doing that as well? It would interesting to see if your reactions to stuff that happens in the book is similar to mine.

 

[Norrdicus]

Tried to google a name for the new religion in Roche's path, but the whole religion is so plot relevant and has nothing existing outside it so even the smallest wiki article of it could proof spoiler-rific.

Anyway, Geralt is called in to mediate. Lovely. The Prince is accused of poisoning Saskia on the evidence that the servant who gave her the poisoned drink... says so.

Of course there's the motive that Stennis doesn't want Saskia to potentially give Upper Aedirn independence and effectively give him less power in the future. Though yes, "mobs gonna mob".

Thanks game. I did your investigation (as much as you'd let me) and you didn't give me any solid evidence except against this priest.

That's pretty much the point of that quest, yes. You have to make a judgement based on inconclusive evidence and your own judgement. Not the only quest in the game that requires you to do that, but definitely the more important of the two.

Quick Question - do the top tier abilities of each branch always have mutagen slots?

Usually, yes

Quick Question 2 - that Alchemist ability that increases the benefit of Mutagens by +15%. Is that retroactive? IE - will that affect older mutagens that I've already used?

Sadly, I don't think the effects are retroactive. Also, the effect of the skill is FAR bigger than the skill description lets on. Level 2 Impregnation skill says should give a 35% bonus to mutagens, but it commonly doubles mutagen strength.

I meet a weird guy with candles, find a house with a basement with some candles that I (eventually) light in the proper order. And get... a paper. Lovely.

Doesn't seem much now, but that paper of jibberish is pretty useful/important in Act 3

You know, I'm starting to get a little annoyed with the game for continually making the super powerful Sorceress characters into Damsels in Distress. Triss started this game being awesome, competent, and helpful. She was a useful NPC like Dandelion and Zoltan. And now... she's bait.

Of course for every Triss and Yennefer, there's Sabrina Glevissig, Síle de Tanserville, Philippa Eilhart and her scheming apprentice