MARREND'S PROFILE

Last time, Geralt and Vesemir were tracking down Yennifer, but, were waylaid by a ghouls and a griffin. Vesemir was wounded in the fight, and they were directed to an inn to rest and recover. Maybe even get a more solid lead to wherever Yennifer buckered off to.

However, since this is an open-world RPG, I'm not on-rails, and don't necessarily have to follow the plot right now. I've taken some time to explore the game-space, some of which is more successful than others. There was a point of interest in the middle of a forest, so, let's grab our trusty steed, Roach, and take a ride!

As it happens, it was a bandit camp. Had maybe five guys there, and while I took them out, I certainly took a crossbow bolt or two. Aside from the beach encounter, there isn't too much more in my immediate vicinity, so, let's head to town to replenish our supplies, and sell of some of this excess junk.

There's also a quest in town concerning the arson of a smithy. The smith can't provide any clues, himself, but, ol' Geralt has a kind of detective vision of his own. Maybe not in the same vein as Batman in the Arkham games, but, enough to outline potential points of interest at the very least.

Our first hint is a trail of boot prints, which are examine to determine that they are from a large person, probably a man. I then follow them for a spell, and notice that the trail leads into a small river. He likely took off the boots and went into said river in an attempt to cover his trail. On the other side of the river, I notice a pair of boots, and the signs of a struggle. Perhaps he ran into some drowners, and dropped his boots while running away? A set of tracks lead back to the village, so I'm back to following the trail. He's bleeding, but not badly. A surface wound, at best. As I follow the trail, I notice that it leads into a house, where the trail ends. Hrm. Let's do a save before we do anything stupid.

So, he totally admits to the deed, and tries to convince me to look the other way by means of telling his own sob story and bribery. I will have none of this, and end up using the Axii sigil (mind control) to get him to come with me to apologize. It becomes an escort quest, and the guy isn't exactly walking fast, or even normally. I do my best to be patient, and walk slowly myself. As it turns out, this smith is providing his services to the military stationed in this area, and they largely consider the crime of arson to this shop as an act of sabotage. They take him away, saying there's no need for a trial, only a tree. Perhaps a rather stiff punishment, but, I suppose they have to send a message. This territory has only recently been under their jurisdiction, thanks to the ongoing war.

20 crowns and 50 exp were earned, which... well, that doesn't level me up, and I won't turn down the money. I could make an attempt at this witcher contract that's one level above me to see how bad it is. Or, I could tag the story mission, which is far to the northeast, and take a few detours along the way.

Sure, why not. So, the first site I get to is an abandoned sawmill, and clearing the area of ghouls and wolves gets the workers back. The nearest site is north, and that turns out to be another bandit camp. I also ran across a pack of wolves that decided to chase after me, one of which was a level 5 wolf, so, that might've been more perilous that I would've liked. Still, I'm alive, so, that counts for something!

From here, I can either go east into a light forest, or west, into some shallows. My gut is telling me to to into the light forest, and it proved... well, maybe it was right, maybe it was wrong. My first attempt, I died on the way there due to a pack of wolves. My second attempt, I got there, but, the location was guarded by a level 6 wraith. Which I managed to defeat, though I'm sure I took some damage while doing so. I've got to look at the controls again to see how the hell I lock onto a target, otherwise, I'm just being an idiot swinging wildly into the air.

In any event, the location was a place of power, which granted me a skill point outside of a level-up. I don't have to spend it right now, so, I'll be saving it for later. Maybe when I have, like, three of them to spend, or something.

While I could attempt a look-see at the point of interest in the shallows, I think my aim for this session is to actually advance the plot a little. However, there is a point of interest between my current position and the story point, so, sure, let's check it out.

Turned out to be a treasure guarded by a pack of wolves. I still take a bit more damage than I would like, but, I did see at least one level 5 wolf in their ranks. I would love it if the game automatically locked on to the closest hostile after taking one down, but, I guess I'll have to learn to manage it manually.

So, I dunno what game-time I was at when I started exploring and/or taking on side-quests, but my Steam record indicates I've been at this game for 6.4 hours. Which would include time spend flipping between the game and writing this. Still, since I'm pretty much at the story point, I might as well make a hard save, and see how far I can get. No doubt, I'll be chasing Yennifer for a while yet, but, I figure I can do at least one one story mission, maybe two, per session.

Anyway, Gerald get stopped by the guards, saying that locals aren't allowed inside. He's no local, but, certainly looks like trouble. When Gerald tells them he's a witcher, they direct him to the garrison commander. I wonder what kind of work he has for me?

Apparently, his concern is about a griffin. I can't help but to suspect it's the self-same as the one Geralt and Vesmir chased off earlier. Be that as it may, the quest is a level 3 quest, and generated two points on the map for me. One is east from the sawmill I liberated earlier, and the other is southwest of the village where Vesmir is still resting. There's no convenient points of interest to discover along the way, so, fast travel it will be.

First, Geralt wants some buckthorn to use to bait the creature. The alchemist he was directed to is the quest point east of the sawmill. She might not have what he needs on-hand, but, gives some direction of where to look. There is an additional task here to brew a certain potion to help an injured civilian the alchemist is tending to, but, of course, I don't have the reagents for that recipe either. One of the reagents is a drowner brain, and I'm sure I don't have any of those. I might have some of the other reagents in my stash?

Well, I might be able to get the remaining reagents as I do other tasks. As for the current hunt, I could either visit the hunter the found the solder's bodies to inquire about the griffin, or gather the buckthorn. Let's meditate/rest for a spell, then gather the buckthorn. I'll hit up the hunter later.

...Is what I would say, if said hunter was home, and is another opportunity to use detective vision to track him down. Though, the fact that this is a level 3 contract makes me pause for a bit, since I'm still level 1. That, and if the griffin decides to fly during the fight, I don't have any kind of ranged weapon. Maybe I should allow for a bit more of a detour, and attempt the level 2 contract from earlier? The fact that I'm not locked into this story point might be one of the good things about open world games in general.

This might be a bad idea, given the amount of trouble I've been having in this game, but, I'm going to push forward with this story event. Maybe I'll die in the process, but, if I do, I can load my game, and either make another attempt, or switch to the level 2 contract.

After I hard save, I start tracking the hunter. His concern is a pack of wild dogs, which I help put down. After doing so, he takes me to where the Nilfgaardian soldiers fell to the griffin. Let's do some investigation of this scene.

There's bottles strewn about the place, and the remains of a campfire. Geralt figures the soldiers were celebrating before the griffin attacked. He finds bootprints on the ground that are older and heavy. Probably from one of the soldiers. We follow the prints backwards, across a now-destroyed bridge, and through a light forest. They run up to a few cliffs that we can climb, as well as a gap, and continue from there, leading to the remains of a griffin nest.

I examine a nearby corpse, and figure it's been there for at least a week. However, griffins are known to toy with their prey, so, who knows how long he was actually here, and alive. We also spot a pile of bones from dogs, horses, and perhaps other sources. Perhaps a month's stockpile worth of "trophies".

We then examine the body of a griffin. This one is female, with deep cuts across her body. No blood on her beak or claw, which suggests to Geralt that she didn't defend herself. Whoever slew this griffin crept up on her as she slept. We then attempt to determine the age. Geralt notices gray hairs, and figures she's maybe ten. Griffins pair off when they are young, so, this leads Geralt to deduce that the remaining male griffin is likely the same age. As for the type, the thick shaft and dense bards suggest a royal griffin. Maybe it's my Heroes of Might and Magic background talking, but, the fact that it's a royal griffin sounds like things got even more complicated/dangerous.

Either way, we can reasonably conclude that the griffin we're hunting had it's mate slain by the Nifgaardian soldiers, and such is the main reason behind it's aggressive behavior. I suppose one could say the solders did this to themselves, but, Geralt's task isn't to pass judgement. It's to finish this job. Though, we might have a few words with the garrison commander after we are done.

Either way, the game directs me to go and fetch Vesmir to help with this task, but also provides a note that I should prepare first. Speaking to blacksmiths and armor smiths can help with that, but, it also spoke of doing side-quests. I'm finally level 2 now, but, doing what preparations I can probably couldn't hurt.

Among said preparations is to do the level 2 contract. This concerns a ghost that's been haunting a well. Why it's an issue now is the quality of the water in the area. It's toxic, and some villagers, including the daughter of the person who posted this request, have fallen ill. Word from the alchemist is that access to clean water will help, and while the well might be the best source for such, the presence of the ghost is so terrifying that nobody would dare approach it.

There was an option to discuss a payment/reward, but, I skip it, and just agree to the task. I don't know what kind of reward I'll get for skipping that conversation now, but, I'm on this task more for the experience rather than the gold. Maybe I can pick up more alchemy reagents along the way, as well. Or, maybe I just throw my hands up, and attempt to put together an inventory hack with CheatEngine. I haven't quite decided that yet, but, it's hugely tempting.

At any rate, we arrive at the abandoned village where the ghost has set up camp, as it were. Gerald identifies the creature more specifically as a noonwraith. The game has me look up the codex entry for this creature, which I might have done anyway. The lowdown is that these are spirits of women that died violently right before their weddings. They are often bound to locations by objects of significance to them, so, finding that is of some importance. The wraith is not immediately aggressive, which Geralt finds interesting. However, attempting to approach the well, proper, will activate the wraith's wrath. Yeah, let's not do that until we are ready.

In one of the houses is a stain of blood that belonged to a man, and caused by knife stabs. Died on the spot. There was also a journal. Reading it speaks of a bracelet that was given to the author, which I highly suspect might be the object that's tying this noonwraith down to this location. There's a trail of blood stains that don't belong to the man, leading towards the door frame. This person was dragged out of the house while they were still alive. At the entrance to the house, we notice palm prints in blood. Smaller ones. A woman's? Geralt figures she fought for her life, and notices a similar mark on the well from his vantage point. I do a hard save here, because even trying to go near the place caused the noonwraith to attack before, and I actually would like to complete this investigation.

Examining the well, Geralt notices there is a rope attached to something, and said rope is quite taught. Looking down the well, he sees the remains of a skeleton. Probably the owner of the journal. He manages to lift the corpse out from the well, but, one arm is missing from the body. Geralt deduces that she might've worn the bracelet spoken of in the journal, and that it might be at the bottom of the well.

Surely enough, it was there, and it took some doing to resurface, but now comes the hard part. Preparing for the fight against the noonwraith. Gerald suggests preparing some oils and/or potions, and I have exactly none of the things he could be talking about. If flipping through the Alchemy tab is any indication, I also don't have enough reagents to make them on the fly. I'll do a hard save here, and make an attempt (or two) against this ghost.

Okay, that wasn't as bad as I thought. I still took more damage than I would have liked, but, I dunno if that fight would even be possible without using the Urden sigil/sign (magic trap) that caused the ghost into substantiate itself into a form I can actually hit. The thing spawned false duplicates of itself. This was a technique I knew about coming in, thanks to the codex entry. Still, even knowing that, and knowing that it could drain my health while the duplicates are out, I don't doubt that some of the damage I took was from said health drain. Still, the deed is done, and for my trouble, I earn 20 gold and 50 experience.

Before I visit Vesmir in the tavern, I gave the drowner treasure another attempt, or two. I mean, sure, the treasure they had was something I wanted to loot earlier, but, a drowner brain is a reagent for a potion the alchemist asked me to brew that I wrote of earlier in this post. For my trouble there, I earn 50 gold and 350 experience. This allows me to achieve level 3, at the very least.

I've been delaying the griffin hunt long enough. However, I feel that can be the start of the next session. How far will I go after that, and will I have the wherewithal to make screen captures of anything? Find out next time, on the Witcher 3 LP!

Forgive the added flair, but, I'll suggest...

In the beginning, when the Earth was very young, there lived a group of people called the Feather Tribe. For hundreds of years, they lived in peace and harmony until one day, they became prideful, and disobeyed their gods.

Chaos soon ensued after. Solders from lands unknown invaded them, stealing and killing and raping in the process. Unable to mount a defense, the humans ruled their ancestral lands with an iron fist. Any who would dare to stand against them would be immediately exiled, if not executed.

The fate of the Feather Tribe now rests upon you. Free your people, and restore the lands to them!

...this.

The easiest way to handle the ice platform puzzle would likely be through game switches. When a given switch is "on", the platform it's attached to can be used, and jumped on. When it's "off", it's inaccessible.

The spaces between the platforms would likely all be triggered off the action button, and checks the state of the relevant game-switch attached to any platform it might be adjacent to. Then, if the game-switch for the platform they are going to is true/on, perform do a move-route that jumps across the gap. You might end up needing to turn on "through" in order to allow the jump. Just remember to turn if off as well! Then, after the jump, you flip game-switches based on the character's new location.

*Edit: I don't 100% know if it would work this way, but, I wonder if you can easily flip switches with a script command of something like...


...this, or whatever switch ID(s) you end up using?