MARREND'S PROFILE

I've always used transfer data from Episode 2, even if the bonuses that I can recall are pretty minimal. However, for the sake of this LP, I did a comparison of what I could immediately observe at the start of the game. However, as far as I can tell, there's no bonus experience, skill points, or money granted by using transferred data. It's literally just Shion's Vector outfit. Which is slightly better than her initial armor the game gives, but, I was really really hoping there would be something more substantial here. At least Xenosaga Episode 2 gives some extra skill points, even if that particular variable is largely irrelevant to me.

Data transfer and basic game settings aside, selecting New Game brings up, you guessed it, an FMV! How can these games start any other way? The text at the bottom of the screen indicates that we're on Planet Michtam, in the year 4747. This is about 20 or so years after the events of Xenosaga Episode 1. Thank you, in-game database, for that information! A light rises from a ruined cityscape. The camera pans down, and shows some Gnosis prowling about. It then cuts to a pair of individuals walking. We only see their feet at first, but, we eventually see a woman leaning over a child, as if to protect him from the vision of ruin and death about them. The somehow make it past the Gnosis into what appears to be an escape pod, with the woman and child sharing one final embrace before the woman hands him her necklace, and closes the hatch.

The boy rams his hands fruitlessly against the hatch doors, as the woman's already sad demenor turns to near tears before her Gnosification begins in earnest. The boy recoils in terror, just as pod's engines activates, this scene ending shortly thereafter.

The scene shifts to a place somewhat familiar. The cross where we found KOS-MOS hanging from during the delve into her subconscious domain way the hell back in Episode 1 is in the background. In the foreground is the Red Testament, standing before an opened tomb, radiating light. The Blue Testament then warps in with the Black and White Testaments. The Blue and Red Testaments have an exchange here, but, nothing they say will make any amount of sense until later, if that.

The scene shifts to the Dinah, being chased by enemy mechs, doing evasive maneuvers in the process. Shion isn't exactly happy with her copilot, Miyuki, who was supposed to check enemy positioning beforehand. They get assistance from another craft, piloted by a new character, Doctus, as well as Canaan. The craft destroys the enemies immediately on Dinah's tail, then moves off to other targets before the Dinah makes a landing. Miyuki is in awe of Canaan's skills, but, Shion is all business here. Without Allen present, it falls to Miyuki to be the punching bag, expressed by her saying, "Why is everybody picking on me?"

Now we can get a bit of context as to what the hell is going on, where this is, and why we're here. The second of these questions is answered first. We're at Vector's S-Line Division, and we're here concerning top-secret data. Why, exactly, Shion wants this data, or what she thinks it consists of might be one of those "later" things. For now, the game reintroduces us to the in-game database. It was sorely missed in Episode 2. For full disclosure, one of the things I was looking at was the number of entries in the database if you transfer data, or not, and the number stays the same in either scenario.

After that mini-tutorial, the gameplay begins in earnest, and the music for this dungeon...



...would feel right at home in Xenosaga Episode 2. Then comes some short tutorials about destroying objects, just in case you're new to the series. In short order, we come across Segement Address 8. I've been mostly, if not totally, ignoring these in the last two games, but, this game might actually see more than a few doors open.

It's beginning to occur to me that I haven't shown you the menu yet. It's not a huge deal, as far as the available commands are concerned...



...as most of them are pretty self-explanatory? Call me weird if you want, but it makes me more happy than it probably should to see that money has returned to the series.

Back to the dungeon-delving, there's more objects to destroy, plus a puzzle before getting into an area with encounters. Regular character battles runs...



...this song, and perhaps one of the reasons I love this game's combat. Shion's still using her own take of the multi weapons system from Episode 2, but, Miyuki is here with her original design that was introduced in Episode 1. Canaan, meanwhile, wields a knife. Let's do an aside, and talk a bit on character combat.

Gone is the "zone" system, which, I think could have been better implemented in Xenosaga Episode 2, but, I can't say I will miss it either. Tech attacks are possible again, but, unlike Episode 1, you can't just spend a few Tech Points to be able to spam/abuse them. Since there isn't an AP or Stock system for characters in this game, Tech Attacks have to cost something, and that "something" this time around is boost. As a general rule, a character's initial Tech Attack costs 2 boost to activate. Their second Tech Attack typically also costs 2, but, there's a few out there that cost 3. I don't quite recall the boost cost for the third Tech Attacks that characters get, but, my gut is telling me that they tend to cost 3? I guess we'll see when we get there!

Also of note is that they got rid of the round bonus slot indicator. So, there's no "bonus EXP" round, or "critical bonus" round, or what-have-you. However, you can earn bonus rewards for slaying enemies with Tech Attacks. This is called a "Finish Strike", and some abilities care about accumulating Finish Strikes on specific types of enemies. Shion's Break Bash Tech Attack is not among such abilities, but, regardless, I consider it a method by which the game incentivizes players to use Tech Attacks.

The other thing I want to touch upon is that the break status still exists here, but, the way it's inflicted is a bit different than in Xenosaga Episode 2. Characters and enemies have a break bar that fills as damage is inflicted upon them. Some skills various characters acquire specifically deal break damage. Shion's aforementioned Break Bash is an example of this, as it's description includes the text, "heavy break attack". As before, being in a broken state means the character cannot act, nor can they be boosted for about three turn cycles. You likely won't use, or see, the break state in fights, unless it's against a boss, or perhaps when characters are faced with AGWS units. Which is certainly a step in the right direction from what Xenosaga Episode 2 was doing, but, I've blatted long enough.

The dungeon continues in a relatively straight-forward manner. At some point, they reintroduce traps. In the previous games in this series, they were preset in their location. In Episode 1, their placements were more tactically placed versus where enemies were placed, so activating them wherever you saw them was usually a good idea. Episode 2 sorta threw the concept out the window, where traps were either nowhere near where the enemies were, or , if there were, the enemies would likely spot you, and run into you at stupidly fast speeds, long before you could get into range to activate the trap. In this game...



...they are a consumable item, the game allowing players to set their location. You can only hold up to 10 traps at any given time, but, it's exceptionally liberating to set traps when and where you want, even if their effect has been standardized to bonus boost, and first strike. From this point forward, there is a visual display of how many traps you have left, which is definitely a plus.

After scrapping more security bots, the party has to hack into the mainframe to get the data they want. The party is tasked to disengage the security protocols before doing that, which, I'm not exactly sure counts as a puzzle? There's four consoles in this room. You access the ones on the sides first, then the one in front, then the one in the back to get teleported into the main server, and can access yet another console, which presumably has the data we want.

The following cutscene relays a bit of info of what the UMN is. This explanation probably would've been more useful in the previous games, but, I won't knock this game for attempting to explain these things to new players, even if the target market for this game is clearly those who've played either/both of the previous games. However, to summarize through a quote-block...

Shion: Miyuki, do you understand what this UMN really is?
Miyuki: Uh, it's a wide-area network system or something, right?
Canaan: A wide-area information network system with non-local connections. It's characteristics enable warp travel and light speed communications.

...there it is. The scene continues, with Canaan typing away, and Miyuki observing a screen. Her screen goes red, with the word "WARNING" across it, and all she can make of it is that there's something weird going on. Shion would like a bit more specification than this. Miyuki goes on to say that it looks like a fractal pattern, and makes a conclusion that it might be caused by someone, or something, trying to interfere with them. Except, according to Canaan there has been no physical contact with the macrophages (enemies?), and there's no sign that their jamming of the surveillance network has been broken. He feels this means that someone is watching/studying them, but, it's anybody's guess as to who, or why. However, a more immediate concern appears before them in the form of...



...a boss. There's a mini-tutorial here concerning the break meter, and the break state, but, I've already covered that mechanic earlier. I have Canaan uses Heat to direct attacks to him, then uses Jackal or a regular attack. Miyuki spams Lighting Blast for break damage, and switches to regular attacks when the thing gets broken. I have Shion either use regular attack, Lunar Blade I, or Break Bash (now level 2) when I have the boost for it. With this strategy, the boss is broken three times over the course of the fight before it goes down, with a Final Strike from Shion.

While that's all well and good, I can kinda hear something similar to a warning horn blaring while Gnosis start warping in, because of course they do. Doctus and her AWMS appears to take out some of them, then lets Canaan get on board. This gives Shion an opportunity to summon Dinah, but, she isn't patient enough for Miyuki to board it properly before lifting off, and getting the hell out of there. As the mechs make a break for it, Shion notices a set of doors about to close in front of them. She goes for the weapons system, but a vision of a child, and the voice of everyone's favorite Elly-wannabe, Nephilim, stop her. The doors seem to be malfunctioning, and not closing? Still, Shion makes the call to disconnect from the virtual space, and the screen goes to static before tuning off entirely.

A bit later, a bright light appears as the cockpit of Dinah opens, and what lays before us looks like something of an island paradise. Shion then lands in front of us, donning in a pink-and-white bikini, then takes a few steps forward before the game cuts to a different angle, where she stretches out her arms, saying "That one was a little too close for comfort". Yeah, no kidding.

A call from Mikyuki comes in short order, and soon becomes something of a conference call with Canaan and Doctus. We've successfully acquired the data, and now it's up to Doctus to analyze it. It sounds like Shion is looking for something specific from what Doctus is saying...

Doctus: I'll let you know if I find anything, along with that other thing you asked.

...but what that could be is completely unknown at this juncture. Canaan and Doctus leave the call, leaving Muyuki, who gets saddled with a test for basic structure? Hey, don't look at me, I'm just trying to report what's going on, not why it's going on. Miyuki then voices her misgivings about what they are doing, and that it's illegal. Shion specifies that what they are doing would be illegal before the Gnosis Terrorism. That such might be linked to the UMN, and and if there is a connection, maybe they can find a way to stop it.

So, if you're a bit lost as to what "Gnosis Terrorism" is referring to, congratulations! Join the club! I mean, sure, there is a database entry for it, but, it seems to come out of nowhere. According to the databse, the term is a general reference to Gnosis attacks starting about a half-year ago. I dunno, on one hand, a half-year sounds like a little too recent to coincide with the start of Episode 1, but, on the other hand, the passage of time in RPGs is sometimes really really weird.

Regardless, the game eventually gives us control of Shion on Pedea Island. If you think she's supposed to be on vacation, given such surroundings, there have been a few points to suggest she's left Vector of her own accord. For one, Doctus calling her "former Vector chief engineer", or some-such. There was also the call we just had with Miyuki, where she notes that while Shion has left Vector, she still worries about KOS-MOS.

You can interact with a few of the palm trees here to have them drop their coconuts, and blast them. There's a bit of money and/or items to be had this way, but, nothing too major. There's also a door that we don't have access to now, but will eventually lead to the lab of the Dark Professor. For reference purposes, he was an NPC that was introduced in Episode 2, if I bothered with whatever GSC quest(s) that he was involved in.

I dunno, I sometimes wish that the Robot Academy side-quest and Segment Address side-quests in the first two games could've been more fleshed out. No, let me rephrase that. I sometimes wish that completing these activities, perhaps among others, actually mattered, at least to some degree, when it came to transferring data from one game to the next. I don't think starting with the Erde Kaiser summon/ether in this game would be a particularly smart move, since that's a very high-costing ability that deals equally high damage. You might not even be able to use/summon/cast it until later. However, I think what they could have done is, since they tend to put those abilities behind one (or more) of the Segment Address doors, you can start the game with the Segment Address(es) that lead to the ethers/summons?

That aside, we move to a hut, where a laptop is indicating the arrival of mail. We open it up, and it's a message from Allen, who, once again, finds himself in an awkard position. He's not tripping over himself in an feeble attempt to romance Shion, as he's wont to sometimes do. No, this message relays that there was a staff meeting among Vector, and their decision was to cancel the KOS-MOS project.

Well, to be more specific, Vector is handing over the project to the Federation military. Allen, and another co-worker, Togahsi, are also to be transferred as consultants, thanks to their familiarity and expertise with the system. Given the nature of KOS-MOS as a weapon against the Gnosis threat, and where it's being transferred to, perhaps this move was done by Vector as a way to cut costs? Vector is, ultimately, a business, and ever seeks to satisfy their bottom line.

When the message ends, Shion makes a quip about Allen's smoother style, but then moves to thoughts about her leaving the company six months ago. I had to double-check this with what I wrote before, and yeah, that's when the Gnosis Terrorism started, and apparently has nothing to do with the events of Episode 1, or even 2. All I can gather from the following flashback is that somebody named Grimoire is being tagged as the one responsible for the Gnosis Terrorism (regardless if he actually did, nor not), and that KOS-MOS will be sealed and placed under observation, and Shion is taking responsibility for whatever it was that lead to that decision.

The flashback goes further back in time, as a younger Shion speaks to Kevin. She's asking why he chose a female form. The exchange proceeds...

Kevin: Yes. Since ancient times, women always healed people's hearts, and granted them hope.
Shion: But there've been a lot of men who where healers too.
Kevin: Historical records have always been complied from a male point of view, and besides, men are creatures capable of nothing but destruction and conquest. It's important to choose a female form when it's going to be a creator, or protector.

...like so. There's a bit more here, but, it's mostly fluff in my book. Back to the present, and Shion has an interesting line here.

Shion: Everything is unfinished. I'm sure even KOS-MOS won't be satisfied.

Again, maybe I'm reading a little too much into this, but, this line could be speaking of this series being "unfinished" in the sense it was condensed from 6 games to 3. Regardless, Shion commits to seeing KOS-MOS again, which means going to Fifth Jerusalem.

A cut to the Dammerung, where Wilhem's in his office with the Red Testament, reviewing the leak from the S-Line division. Wilhem's opinion concerning that, like most things brought to his attention, is that it doesn't matter too much. The subject then goes to a location called Rennes-le-Chateau. The conversation moves in various directions, and it's kinda hard to keep track of what they are talking about. As these things go at times in this series. However, after it is all said and done, we get an end-of-chapter save opportunity, which I will gladly take. We haven't gotten back to the Elsa, and it's associated crew yet, nor the Durandal. It might be high time to have a scene with them. Or, maybe the game will continue to follow Shion for a bit longer? Find out next time, on the Xenosaga Episode 3 LP!

So, it's finally time to finish what we started. I'm talking about, of course, an LP for...


...Xenosaga Episode 3 - Also sprach Zarathustra. Or, as with the other games in this series, simply, Xenosaga Episode 3. If you played Xenosaga Episode 2, and did not like the direction that game took, and skipped out on this game, I get it. Hell, I was probably close to being among that number. Still, I was curious about how this series would continue, and, ultimately, end. Remember that this series was supposed to entail 6 games, and we only got 3. So, not only was there a need to compartmentalize, but, a desire to correct the mistakes that were made in Episode 2.

I can't really say what the overall expectation for Episode 3 was, but, to say that the previous entry did not take very well would be a vast understatement. It is a small miracle that this game even exists, from what I've learned of it's development. With a game like this, you gotta go out with a bang, and, in my humble opinion, this game does that in spades.

While the combat engine was revamped again, it brings back Tech Attacks for characters, and made Tech Attacks for ES based on filling Anima Gauge(s), rather than stick with the Stock command. Characters no longer have access to button inputs for their attacks, though the ES retain that mechanic, adding an additional layer with a Fuel system. This mechanic might be a callback to it's spiritual predecessor to some degree? I'll talk more about this when I get to the game, proper.

If there is one nitpick I have, it's that loading clear game data from Episode 2 to Episode 3 is probably as useful as loading clear game data from Episode 1 into Episode 2. Which is to say, nothing really useful can be gained there. Off the top of my head, I think it's Shion's Vector outfit, maybe KOS-MOS' original outfit, and maybe some other things I'm not remembering because they are totally irrelevant. What the hell, Monolift Soft? What the hell?

As before, I've tagged a playlist for the soundtrack, and two for cutscenes (here and here), because, at this point, there's no reason not to tag both. While I don't have a specific goal, or challenge in mind, know that I will absolutely utilize Codebreaker codes, and thus, my experience will be vastly different than other players.

Table of Contents:

• Disk 1

-Session 1 - Hacking into the S-Line
-Session 2 - Rennes-le-Chateau d'If
-Session 3 - Takin' Out the Trash
-Session 4 - Ancient Temples, New Adversaries
-Session 5 - During the Dark Age of RMN's Server Issues

• Disk 2

-Session 6 - Everything Everywhere All At Once

Last time, Geralt met with the baron's daughter, and chose not to make any offer to help her find her mother. Or, at least, the game gave me no opportunity to do so. With no other leads concerning Ciri, or the baron's wife, he goes to Crookback Bog to find the Crones there, only to meet with an old woman running an orphanage there.

From the kids who live there, he then learns of Johnny, who turns out to be a goldling. After finding his voice, Johnny convinces the old woman to act as a medium to contact the Crones of Crookback Bog, which, in turn, gives Geralt a task in Downwarren. However, we need not do that right now. Refer to the optional content corner on this matter.

As for the task, the ealdorman can only speak vaguely about a cursed tree, or some-such, south of the village, and how any who have attempted to cleanse if have not returned. I have no idea what's there. However, as I approach the search area, I hear a voice, telling me to "begone". My curiosity gets the better of me, and I follow the voice rather than listen to it's probably useful counsel. The owner of the voice is...



...whatever this thing is. It spoke of the children of the orphanage being taken by the Crones. I'm not sure I can entirely trust either the Crones, or this thing. So, I do a bit of a test, and decided to help it. After a series of small fetch-quests, and a ritual, I report back to Downwarren, and received an ear for payment to the Crones for resolving their issue. The game teleports me to the orphanage, and it's during this scene that Geralt figures out, with a little display from the Crones, that "Gran" is actually the Bloody Baron's wife, thanks to the branding on her palms. Naturally, they aren't exactly happy to hear that I've helped the thornling (I'm just going to go with this delineation) revive into the body of a horse, but, a promise is a promise, and they relay what they know of Ciri's whereabouts.

However, something about all this didn't quite sit right with me, so I loaded an earlier save (giving me an opportunity to get the screencap above) and attempt to outright kill the thornling instead. The number of things that change between the two scenarios aren't all that much. Regardless of whether I betray the Crones, or not, I'll still get a short interlude from Ciri's POV. Wherein, she overhears the Crones speaking of cutting her up and putting her in stew. The Crones might consider her running from them after hearing such a thing a point against her, but, can you really blame her?

After seeing both scenarios, I end up helping the thornling anyway. The baron's wife is screwed either way, from the sound of things. The Crones lay the blame on her for letting the kids escape if I help the thornling, and I don't dare to consider what they would regard as a punishment. By not helping the thornling, she can only watch as the Crones take the kids away to who-knows-where, or possibly be eaten before her eyes? They are quite vague concerning the fate of the children in that scenario, and they dismiss the baron's wife long before they started speaking of Ciri in either scenario. She's certainly nowhere to be found, or at least nowhere in the huts of the orphanage, after the scene resolves.

So, now we find out how well does the baron take to the news of his wife. Of course, he's glad she's still alive, but, not exactly pleased we didn't take her back to him, nor that she's effectively ensaved to the Crones. The brand she bears is one they placed on her as an insurance to her servitude. That she bears it at all is because she made a plea for them remove the child she bore. It sounds like the Crones branded her, then used that brand to sap her of her strength, and apparently was the ultimate cause for the miscarriage.

That aside I kinda have to question if the baron's wife really agree to return? I dunno. I have the baron tell me more about his relationship with his wife, before getting him to tell me the rest of his story concerning Ciri. To sum it up, she helped him defeat a beast, but used her teleport power in doing so. The Wild Hunt would be able to sense this, so she feels leaving Velen entirely would be in order. She said she'd make for Novigrad, and was supplied a letter of conduct by the baron, himself. He supplies me with one as well, but also asks my help in fetching his wife from the grasp of the Crones.

I'm honestly not sure if this is a good idea, since I'm both uncertain as to the exact power of the Crones, plus, I can't say for sure if I have the ability to remove the curse/brand that the Crones have placed on the baron's wife to make her truly free to do as she pleases. However, you know what? I'll try helping him out regardless. That's a side-quest, though, and this is plenty of content for this session. There's doubtless a number of loose ends in Velen I'll want to look into, but, what will we find in Novagrad? Find out next time on the Witcher 3 LP!



Optional content corner
<An Invitation from Keira Metz>
How about seeing what Keira Metz wanted? She relays a tale concerning a curse on Fkye Isle, and that she was asked to do something about it by the local peasantry. Investigation is certainly more my thing than fighting, but, I cannot entirely discount the possibility of the latter.

<A Towerful of Mice>
I'm not sure if I randomly encountered a bug, or what. So, the game gave me a magic lamp with which I can see/hear various spirits. The search area was pretty wide, and, after felling a few groups of ghouls, I was at the edge of it. However, after checking a corpse, it just up and vanished on me?

Loading a previous save, and being a bit more careful about the lamp, I eventually reach the tower, itself, where the curse is said to originate. Rats have since moved in, but don't really bother me, or my investigative efforts. The path to the top floor lab is hidden with a secret door, but, my witcher senses detect the switch to open it. There, the deceased daughter of the old lord that ruled there lies in wait, as a wraith. Not one that I need fight, thankfully, but one that would see her once-beloved regret the actions he took on the day of her death.

Now, I sorta gotta wonder how long it's been since the events on this island that has taken place. I half-expect to meet with an old man who's moved on, perhaps even married another woman, and has grandkids to boot. As it turns out, I meet with a middle-aged man. He relays his part of the story, and certainly has reason to think his noble paramour drank poison. I relay what the wraith told me, and hand over her bones to him for a proper burial. I hear a scream as I leave the hut, and Geralt observes a ghost for a moment before it dissipates. Well. Sounds like things just got more complicated, as the noblewoman was actually a plague maiden. Still, the quest would have me report to Keira, so, we might as well see what she has to say. Of course, she's all too happy to learn that the island has been cleansed, but isn't exactly happy to learn that there's a plague maiden, and Geralt had not seen to it's demise.

<Wild at Heart>
The individual who posted this is a hunter by the name of Niellen. His wife, Hanna the ship's navigator, been missing, her last known location being a nearby wood. The first thing on our plate is to speak to various other people in this village to see if they have any information that would lead us to believe her disappearance is a more mundane matter of going to another village on a whim, or other possibility. However, everyone seems to think her last known location was the woods, and if she's gone for this long, she's likely died to the wolves there. However, a pair of children noticed another woman leading the hunter's wife out of town, though couldn't make out anything else about her.

I encounter a pack of wolves, and after clearing them off, Hanna's sister catches up to me, and is willing to pay double what Niellen is willing to pay if I drop the matter, and tell Niellen that Hanna is dead. Her argument is as the other townsfolk I've talked to. That she's likely dead. Now, call me crazy, or merely curious, but whenever a person offers to pay me to not do a thing in this game, I want to do that very thing all the more.

As I investigate the scene, it becomes more evident that it might not have been simple wolves, as everyone in town assumes. Examining the remains of a corpse of who Geralt assumes to be Hanna, he concludes that it's probably a werewolf. I happen to have the reagents to brew a cursed oil to help me fight such a thing, but, I do a hard-save before continuing toward it's lair.

Of course, not everything is as easy as it looks on the surface. It turns out Niellen was the werewolf. The wife's sister knew, and from the sounds of things, was the other woman that left with Hanna that day. Be that as it may, she was in love with Niellen herself, and thought that having Hanna watch the transformation process would make her change her mind. She didn't intend on Hanna dying, and certainly not okay with Niellen dying to my blade either. However, Neillen became angered upon learning of his sister-in-law's meddling, and would have turned his claws on her were I not there to stop him in his tracks. Which I barely manage to do, but, the deed is done. I don't doubt the sister-in-law will hate me for it, but, I could neither let Neillen live, nor simply allow him to kill his sister-in-law, as misguided as she might have been in her actions.

<A Favor for a Friend>
Keira's not quite done with me. She wants yet another favor, this time, tracking down a shipment of reagents. After getting a treasure guarded by drowners and a water hag (this was a little harder than I like to admit), I spot a set of wheel tracks on the ground that veer off from the road. I follow it, and find the cart, or what's left of it is found in due course. The owner's body isn't anywhere near, but, Geralt isn't terribly optimistic about their condition. The package seems to be in tact, though, which is definitely something? The contents of which aren't exactly reagents for potions, or rituals.

Turns out the package turned into something of a wine-and-dine, though not without a bit of trickery on the part of Keira. She naturally asked of Fyke Isle, the laboratory, specifically. I told her it was still in tact, and she seemed to be in a generally good mood. She presented an option for sexual relations, and while she's certainly pleasing to look at, something wasn't quite sitting right with me about it. I dunno, maybe I was being overly suspicious/cautious, or just plain being a prude. Either way, I ended up declining, saying I wasn't in the mood.

Laying down to gaze at the stars was an alternate solution presented, and it was here that she put me to sleep with a spell. The tower of Fyke Isle was in plain view, so it doesn't take a genius to figure that Keira's doing her own investigation of the lab there. I dunno if I should entirely trust her to her own devices, but, should I wish to track her down again, that's a separate quest.

Update to this script (and associated demo) as per this post.

Last time, Geralt made a visit to the Bloody Baron, who's got a fortress at Crow's Perch. The baron is willing to exchange what he knew about Ciri's current whereabouts in exchange for finding his wife and daughter. Which turned out to be it's own small mess, as he's been abusing his wife for who knows how long, and the ladies must've felt enough was enough and fled. The situation became even more complex, as the baron's wife was with child, but a miscarriage happened after the latest scuffle between husband and wife. To make a long story short, Geralt helped the spirit of the miscarried child become a guardian spirit that will watch over the baron's house.

Geralt also learned that the baron's wife bore strange markings on her palms, and that she was taken away by some kind of beast. The daughter is, presumably, alive and well in Oxenfurt, a town that lies beyond the Pentar River in the northwest section of the map. There's quite a bit of distance between me and that location, so you will have to excuse me if I do some exploration and/or side-questing.

That done (for now), we manage to cross over the bridge, and get into Oxenfurt. I wonder around a bit to get a few service markers on the map, then hit up the notice board before making any attempts at finding the baron's daughter. Things went about as well as I thought. She brought no additional information about the beast that kidnapped her mother. However, while I might have liked to help out with the rescue, that didn't seem to be an option here. She's getting assistance from a band of witch hunters, and I can only hope that's enough. I did not ask, or say anything about the miscarriage, nor that it was her father that turned the spirit of her miscarried brother into a lubberkin. Her focus is, and perhaps rightly so, on finding her mother, and I feel it should stay there until the task is done.

With that out of the way, I fast-travel back to Crow's Perch, and give my report to the Bloody Baron concerning what I know of the fate of his family. As a partial payment for services rendered (ie: finding his daughter), there is a small section here were I play as Ciri. He teases that there is more to this story, but, if I want to loosen the baron's tongue in it's entirely, he would have me find his wife as well.

Can I say I'm not appreciative of the game giving me these mixed messages about the baron's wife? Like, the baron's daughter clearly wants to save her mom. At no point during my conversation with her was I given a chance to join her in that effort. I was being given the distinct impression that she, and the hunters she was with, would handle things, and that I should not delve any further into the matter. Then, when I go back to the baron, he's like, welp, I can tell you this much, but, ya better get some decent info on the misses for more. Like, what the hell.

That point of annoyance aside, I'm honestly not sure what lead I could follow in regards to finding the baron's wife. The quest log indicates there might be something in Crookback Bog. The loading screen since leaving the elven mage's lab has been about finding the witches there since leaving the elven mage's lab. So, the game has certainly been nudging me in that direction for some time.

The Trail of Treats lead me to a house/hut in the middle of the swamp, where an old woman has taken residence, and looks after a lot of orphans. No one here has seen the likes of Ciri, but one of the kids mentions a Johnny that might know something. Attempting to talk to that kid again doesn't yield any results, probably because "Gran" is there imposing her influence. I speak to the other kids about Johnny, but, apparently, only the one kid has actually seen him. Gran's put it into their heads that Johnny isn't real. I dunno if he is or not, but, that one kid won't talk as long as Gran is around. The other orphans will help me with that, in exchange of playing a little hide-and-seek. I'm hoping my witcher senses will help in this matter.

They most certainly do. The kids outside get Gran out of the hut, and I get some one-on-one time with the one inside. Eventually gives me directions, certainly enough to place a search area on the map.

The tracks lead to a burrow. Johnny is humanoid, but, I wouldn't call him human. Gerlat takes a few shots, and eventually lands on godling. He's clearly lost his voice, and it kinda looks like I have to help him with maybe getting it back before he would relay any kind of information. I follow him to a cliff face, and Johnny points upwards. Harpies and a wyvern await me there, and it takes me some doing to take care of them.

Johnny's voice returns, and relays a small story about Ciri which leads back to Gran and the orphanage. He helps me convince her to help me out, which turns out as her becoming a medium to the Crones. If I want to be frank, what they are asking of me kinda sounds like a witcher contract that I could have picked up earlier? I didn't tag each quest I had to compare locations, but, this seems a good opportunity as any to go off-rails again. However, we'll save all of that for next time, on the Witcher 3 LP!



...Is what I would like to say, but, with RMN's server issues in question, I don't know if I should continue this thread as it is, or stop writing, and just play the game.



Optional content corner
So, y'all remember that bear in White Orchid? It's dead now. The Place of Power it was guarding was also claimed. There was one other point of interest here to check out, which was a drowner guarding a treasure. I ran into a merchant on the way back, who's lost his cart and horse to some kind of attack. Turned out the man was a soldier for Temeria, and was attacking the cart, as it was transporting medical supplies to the Nifgarrdians. He tried to run after being discovered, but, even after chasing him down, I let him go, but kept the cargo for myself. The console commands that I am aware of, unfortunately, do not include alchemy reagents, crafting materials, or blade oils.

Back to Velen, I set Lidenvale as my central point from which I explore. I tag the quest "The Fall of the House of Reardon" as my active quest, which can be found in town. An old woman speaks of monsters in an old manor, which I can take care of. The manor is quite a ways off, so, I busy myself with other matters

Northeast of Lidenvae lies a bandit camp. Three or four guys were stationed here, level 9.

Nortwest from the bandit camp was a person in distress, but, the five or so guys that were there were level 16. No thanks. So, instead, I go southwest to a treasure guarded by a level 14 critter. Uh, let's try a different direction, then. Like, say east, then a bit to the south? That one was an abandoned site, occupied by bandits. Clearing them out gives me access to a shopkeeper and herbalist.

From that point I try further northeast. Along the way, I meet with a guy whose job it is to cart corpses, that's under attack by ghouls. I help him out, burn the cart, and highly suggest he scrub himself thoroughly, if possible. This was considered a quest, with small reward of 10 XP, which, sure, doesn't sound like much, but also wasn't terribly involved either. The point I was originally aiming for turned out to be a bandit camp. Three or four guys, maye level 9.

Not far to the southwest of this position is a hidden treasure. Which also triggers a quest, concerning a note left behind by a now dead man. His treasure is now mine.

My next stop is where the quest "The Fall of the House of Reardon" is pointing me towards, which is south of this position. There were maybe 3-4 level 7 wraiths to deal with here. I managed to get them one at a time, which certainly helped, but, still took more damage than I would've liked. The manor has a fast-travel point, which makes turning in the quest not as much of a chore.