Silver and Steel - A Witcher 3 story

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"But there is more. My lieutenant demanded we defacate on command. Ballista bolts landing all around, and all he could say was: A soldier with a full stomach will not step onto the battlefield. Now shit - that is an order. Can you believe it?! The cretin!" "Stop hehe -- Ah! Yo - you're killing me. My - my ribs - haa, it hurst to laugh!"



"That needs a tourniquet. But first... wanna explain what's going on here?" Geralt said. "Bastien! Is he... Has this Nifgaardian captured you?" Dune said. "No. He saved my life. I got a cut to me side, and then got hit in the head. Couldn't see anything. Rhosyn here found me as... as he crawled across the battlefield. His leg's twisted. And so we were - a blind man leadin' a cripple. Found this place," Bastien said. "I'm taking you home. We need to see to those woulds," Dune said. "I won't leave Rhosyn here. Alone, he'll die. And he can't go back to his own. He's deserted, they'll hang 'im," Bastien said. "And what if they find him with us? They'll hang us all, my Liesje included! No, the lack'un stays here!" Dune said. "Bastien only made it with the Black One's help. Maybe you oughta show him Nordlings aren't as barbarous as Nilfgaardians make us out to be," Geralt said. "Well... I could give him our pa's clothes, teach him to work the field. But... that accent. Fine, I'll take him in. Thank you, witcher. Your reward... and the gods protect ye," Dune said.



"Ghoul nest. Oughta just destroy it."



The witcher continued on his way...

[ltr]Born in 1173, Yennefer had a rough childhood from the moment she was born due to her congenital hunchback. Her father immediately detested her due to this deformity and blamed Yennefer's mother for it, claiming it was through her side, with mages and elven[/ltr]
[ltr]blood, not to mention her having had an abortion before, that caused the deformity. Her mother initially tried to protect Yennefer, believing it was by the will of the gods, but her father still struck Yennefer until one day he left them both for someone else. After this, her mother, upset that her husband had left, also began to beat her own daughter.^[1][/ltr]
At some point, due to her magical potential, she was received in the Aretuza school for sorceresses, where rectoress Tissaia de Vries became her teacher and mother figure. During her training, Yennefer tried to kill herself by cutting both of her wrists, severing her tendons, though she survived. Tissaia claimed that the purposefulness of her attempt was the only thing that prevented her from feeling contempt for her weakness, and continued her training. In accordance with the sorceresses' tradition, any physical flaw, including her hunchback, was magically removed. Yennefer eventually graduated as a sorceress

Meeting Geralt

At some point, Yennefer set herself up in the town of Rinde and, ignoring King Heribert's rules that no magic users could stay in Redania, openly practiced her magic and provided her magical services to clients by staying with Novigrad's ambassador, Beau Berrant, thus granting her asylum from the law while in the ambassador's home.

One morning, a witcher intruded on her sleep, revealing himself as Geralt of Rivia and that he needed her assistance in healing his friend, Dandelion, who had been afflicted by a djinn. After an initially rough greeting where Geralt responded sarcastically to her questions, Yennefer agreed to heal the bard, but she secretly made preparations in hopes of capturing the djinn, after Dandelion makes his final wish. When Geralt tried to stop her from using Dandelion, her spell took hold of the witcher, charming him to do her will against those on the town council who were against her.
After Geralt is arrested, she has Dandelion, now awakened teleported out into town with instructions to make his wish to free Geralt. Yennefer tried to capture the djinn, but it fought her, destroying a good part of Rinde in the struggle, not knowing that the djinn's master was not Dandelion, but in fact, Geralt, who still held one wish. Geralt arrived to see Yennefer struggle with her spell, and he tried to stop her, leading them to fight one another. She got the better of him, and he revealed to her that he was the one with the last wish that could free the djinn. Geralt knew that the moment he made a wish, Yennefer would be too weak to contain the djinn and it would kill her. So Geralt saved their lives, by wishing their fates were tied together. Yennefer was grateful to the witcher, willing to bind himself to her, and the two began a relationship.
Description

The lady of Vengerberg was famous for her beauty, even though she was nearly a century old. Yennefer had locks of curly, raven black hair fragrant with lilac and gooseberry perfume, falling in a cascade of curls on her shapely shoulders. Her face was very pale, triangular in shape with a slightly receded chin. Her eyes were cold and sparkling with a remarkable violet penetrating gaze, in anger blazing with livid, blue-gray fire. Those very eyes also concealed wisdom and imperiousness. Yennefer's nose was slightly long, mouth was pale with thin and slightly crooked, soft, sweet with lipstick, proud lips. On her long and slender neck hung a black marigold with a star made of obsidian sparkling with a multitude of tiny diamonds embedded in it.
Yen had pronounced cheekbones, natural, slightly irregular eyebrows trimmed by hand and emphasized with charcoal, long eyelashes, and petite hands. Even in high-heeled shoes she wasn't tall, was beautiful but threatening, having incredibly thin and slender waist and slender legs.
She always dressed in black and white, at times wore stockings, wore frilled panties but never wore trivialities with underwire, she didn't need to. Her voice was resonant and mildly derisive. Her overall feminine shape was one of a twenty-year-old girl and she moved with a natural, unforced grace. She was a quarter-elf (meaning she had a quarter elven blood, in her case on her mother's side).
It is implied that her attractive looks were a product of magic and had been acquired during her training, as with most other sorceresses. Geralt notes how her shoulders are slightly lopsided and by the end of the story realizes that Yennefer used to be a hunchback. Nevertheless, his love for her does not diminish

"They took 'em... Took 'em all... The sun was waning, see... and the dusk went crimson like blood. Thought to meself, Strange. The toads - I cannot hear them," the villager said...

 

"A ledger... payment for a sack of grain... amount due for a charcoal shipment... Hendrik was masquerading as a merchant. Hmm, what's this? Notes among the ledger enties - clever. Interesting headings... Missing and Wanted. Subject appeared in Skellige. Also sighted in Novigrad. Appearance unchanged. Ashen hair. Scar on her face. Avoids contact with others. Drunken Swine. So-called baron hosted subject at his castle, or should I say, illegally appropriated fort... Reason unknown. Talk to baron at Crow's Perch. Clashed with a Witch. Subject landed in a swamp, encountered a witch. Conflict ensued. Cause unknown. Find the witch. Talk to the peasantry - village of Midcopse. Caution Advised. I'm being observed. Don't know by whom or why. Unsettling signs... Dog ran off. Water in bucket froze solid. Strange glow observed in the sky. Ill omen, peasants say. Somehow they learned Hendrik was looking for Ciri. Thus the torture... I'm too late. My only leads - the baron, and some witch. Damn."



Outnumbering the witcher didn't help the outlaws...

"Blasphemers, dog's blood. Should all be flogged! Legs torn from their arses!"



"My sweet boy! Have mercy, take pity an old woman!"
The witcher dismounted from his horse...
"Help an old, feeble woman?" "What's wrong?" Geralt said. "T'other night blasphemers - pox take them! - profaned the shrine to Verna the Merciful! Shrine's gotta be repaired, else Verna'll take umbrage! Our cows'll croak, kiddies'll be covered in warts and our dogs'll get the mange!" "Warts and mange? Sounds dangerous. Fine, I'll help you," he said.



"The good gos've sent ye to me! Someone to repair their shrines from this day on!" the old woman said. "Look, already got a trade - I'm a witcher. Restoring traditional roadside structures in wood - just not my speciality," Geralt said. "Figtin' evil - that's a witcher's callin'! And vandals're worse than beasts!" "Fine, I see any damage shrine I'll take care of 'em. Won't go out of my way, though." "Nothin's otta the way in these parts. And the gods'll guide ye!" she said.
Geralt mounted back on Roach and continued on his way...

"Good day. Heard you know where to find the local witch," Geralt said. "Who told you that?" "Your wife." "Daft wench. Leave me be, and don't listen to that natterin' sow. We've not had a witch, shaman, nor cunnin' wench in ages," the peasant said. "Would a few crowns refresh your memory?" "Oh! Well, if that's how you put it... Know the small pond near the village? Path leads off from it. Follow that till you come across a lone rock. Walk around that, into the woods. Find the old cart - you're there." "Thanks," Geralt said. "It's just... don't harm her, sir. Word of your kind's reached these parts." "My kind - meaning?" "Well, the witch-burnin' kind," the peasant said. "Witch hunters've been here already?" "Nay, but we've heard tell of 'em. So when I spied ye comin', swords and all, straightaway I thought tales must be true." "I'm a witcher. Not a witch hunter," Geralt said. "Hmm? What, not one and the same?" "No. No need to worry. I'm not out to hurt your witch." "Oo, a weight off me heart, sir. She only arrived a short while ago, but she's frightfully wise. Even pleasant on the eyes, if you like 'em skinny," the peasant said. "Thanks for your help. Farewell."



"Now right, and on to the cart."



"What am I to do with Yagna? Poor girl's a'hurtin', don't give milk. And we've another young 'un on the way..." "Take pity on us, miss." "Miss... Cow's a-weezin', won't rise from the barn floor. Pus streams from 'er snout." "Do I look like a dairy maid to you?" the witch said. "No, miss, but you know things. 'Tis our last cow, none other left in the village... Rest died of hunger, or soldiers led 'em off. Oh... we're as good as dead without her." "I shall give you herbs. Mix them with water drawn from the spring at midnight, then make the cow drink them. But first, you must clean out your barn. Thoroughly, is that clear?" she said. "Thank you, miss! A thousand thanks!" "Enough! I've had my fill for the day - go home!" she said. "She's in a foul mood. We'd best come back on the morrow." "Watch what you say. She's quick to ire, apt to take revenge." "Bitch is in a proper fury. Needs a man!"
Geralt entered the hut...



"Ordinary ointment... nothing special. Now where's she run off to?"



"Hm, managed to amass quite a book collection."

Darling,
I'm writing because you must be worried that I'm still angry. Silly man, you know full well I never hold a grudge long. I forgive you. It's all because of that secretiveness of yours. Is it so strange for me to take an interest in your plague research? I adore watching you at work in your tower - please, if you still refuse to discuss the results of your experiments with me, at least don't deny me that small pleasure. If Vserad doesn't need you tomorrow evening, come see me. We'll clear everything up over a glass of wine - or two, or more...  
Your K