This is a non-commercial fanfic based on the universes of The Witcher and Disco Elysium. All rights to the original works, characters, names, and elements of their respective worlds belong to their respective copyright holders. The author of this fanfic does not claim ownership of any of them. Age rating: rated R (18+). The text contains profanity, alcohol, fictional drugs, violence, and other themes intended for an adult audience.
“Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”
— Samuel Beckett, Worstward Ho
NARRATOR – Around eleven in the morning, you and Vernon meet outside the Shaggy Bear. After yesterday’s conversation with Grave, Vizima seems deceptively calm.
VERNON ROCHE – Good morning, Geralt.
SENSIBILITY [Medium: Failure] – For some reason, Roche looks unusually troubled and uneasy.
VERNON ROCHE – At least, I sincerely hope it will be. Today we need to find a fugitive sorceress… and try to bring this case to a close.
NARRATOR – You massage your right temple, where the pain somehow seems to radiate into your left eye.
YOU – But where do we even start? Any ideas?
VERNON ROCHE – No.
STEADINESS [Challenging: Failure] – Yeah, all right… Wait, what? He doesn’t know what to do next?!
YOU – How?.. But… Elżbieta could be anywhere. What are we supposed to do now? Wander around the whole city aimlessly? I have no idea what to do…
VICE [Easy: Success] – I have a very good idea!
YOU – I’m afraid… it’s time to start drinking. There’s nothing else left.
VERNON ROCHE – Did you ever stop? Listen, Geralt, let’s keep our heads.
NARRATOR – His reply carries barely concealed irritation.
VERNON ROCHE – The answer isn’t going to fall into our laps. Just as before, we’ll have to rely on ourselves.
DISCERNMENT [Medium: Success] – Look at the dark circles under his eyes. It seems your companion barely slept last night, trying to work out what to do next. And judging by the disappointed look on his face, it didn’t go very well.
VERNON ROCHE – All right. Let’s think this through…
NARRATOR – Vernon wearily rubs the bridge of his nose and casts a thoughtful glance at the empty table. His face suddenly hardens with familiar resolve: once again, the experienced commander stands before you, not some exhausted middle-aged fellow.
KEEN EYE [Easy: Failure] – What did he spot over there that’s so interesting?
VERNON ROCHE – Let’s start with the obvious. Ever since we arrived here, pani Rosie has greeted us every morning, clearly acting as a spy, though not a particularly diligent one. But today she’s nowhere to be seen.
KEEN EYE – He’s right. The table where the gnome usually sits is empty. No cup of coffee, no open book, no little letter opener.
VERNON ROCHE – Perhaps she went to visit someone… Or to warn them.
WHISPER [Easy: Success] – Sensible. When you don’t know where to look for a sorceress, look for the person who brings her breakfast.
NARRATOR – You return to the Shaggy Bear and cautiously ask Garte a few questions. He lowers his voice slightly before answering.
GARTE – Yes, I know the gnome a little. She’s one of pan Grave’s people. His closest associates come here to drink from time to time, and they always leave generous tips…
WHISPER [Trivial: Success] – …Unlike certain witchers.
GARTE – About half an hour ago, I saw Rosie heading off that way.
NARRATOR – Garte sweeps an arm across what seems like half the city.
KEEN EYE [Medium: Success] – He’s pointing west.
GARTE – She was lugging a big basket with her. I could make out two loaves of bread, half a wheel of cheese, a length of sausage, some greens, and a couple of bottles. I remember thinking it was rather a lot for someone that small…
DIALECTIC [Easy: Success] – Could that basket have been meant for a sorceress in hiding?
NARRATOR – After thanking Garte for his help, you step away from the counter and stop by the front door.
VERNON ROCHE – See? And you were already about to start drinking.
YOU – But what does that tell us? There’s so much to the west…
WHISPER [Challenging: Success] – Think back to what Kalkstein told you!
YOU – He told me a lot of things.
VICE [Challenging: Failure] – Like the stuff about virgins and drugs!
WHISPER – No. The dark figure near the cemetery.
YOU – Wait a minute. The alchemist I spoke to yesterday mentioned seeing what looked like a child near the cemetery at night. But what if…
VERNON ROCHE – …It wasn’t a child at all, but a gnome visiting her friend? That would make sense. Unfortunately, it could still be nothing more than a coincidence.
NARRATOR – You clutch your head in both hands and think so hard that your ears begin to ring.
FOREBODING [Impossible: Success] – SHE IS THERE. Among stone, damp, and old bones. The wind carried the sound of her light footsteps from that place. The city whispered her name.
YOU – Hmm… If I’m not mistaken, the entrance to the city catacombs is near the cemetery, isn’t it? Elżbieta could easily be hiding underground.
NARRATOR – Roche raises an eyebrow. He is clearly unconvinced.
VERNON ROCHE – She could just as easily be hiding in one of dozens of abandoned houses, or somewhere outside the city altogether. Why the catacombs?
YOU – I don’t know… It just feels that way, Vernon. Some strange feeling that’s been coming over me these past few days. I can’t really explain it.
VERNON ROCHE – Witcher intuition again? I admit, it already proved useful once — when you said the person by the fence was a woman.
YOU – Not exactly. It’s more like…
ELOQUENCE [Challenging: Failure] – You’re not going to explain this properly anyway.
YOU – …Vizima is talking to me.
NARRATOR – Roche gives you the look of a man who resigned himself to all of this a long time ago.
VERNON ROCHE – Is that so? Vizima is talking to you? I won’t even try to understand what that’s supposed to mean. Very well… It’s settled. Let’s take a look at those catacombs. But first we need to get ourselves a torch. I don’t know about you, but I’ll certainly need one.
NARRATOR – …Half an hour later, you’re already making your way cautiously through a dark tunnel, trying to keep your footsteps as quiet as possible. The stone walls seem to close in around you, while the floor slopes gently downward. Something squelches underfoot. The air is heavy and damp, leaving the taste of mold on your tongue. From deeper within comes the smell of rot, smoke, and something else — faint, but unpleasantly familiar. You suddenly stop dead.
REFLEX [Easy: Success] – The medallion. It’s vibrating again. Danger ahead.
HORRIFIC MEDALLION – Hold up, kumpel! I’ve got a really bad feeling about this.
YOU – Um… Weren’t you refusing to talk to me? Though I think you were rambling about something the night before last… I don’t really remember…
HORRIFIC MEDALLION – Ah, forget it! I lost my temper a little. Happens to everyone. What’s important now is that I’m sensing some seriously nasty magic. Looks like there could be an ambush up ahead. Honestly, I’ll be surprised if there isn’t one.
YOU – So what do we do?
HORRIFIC MEDALLION – Well, fuck me sideways, how the hell should I know?! I’m just a goddamn medallion! You’re the one with a skull attached to your neck, so use it and think! But I can give you one piece of advice…
YOU – I’m listening.
HORRIFIC MEDALLION – Try folding your fingers a certain way. Not like you did in that stinking junk collector’s shop. We don’t need to blow anything up this time. Something else… Come on, kumpel! You know exactly what I mean.
CODEX [Medium: Success] – He’s talking about the Quen Sign, which is used for protection. That could indeed prove useful.
HORRIFIC MEDALLION – Exactly! This guy catches on fast. So if shit hits the fan, start working those fingers like a fucking lunatic, kumpel!
YOU – Wait, but I… I still don’t know anything about you.
HORRIFIC MEDALLION – Ha! You actually do. You just don’t remember a damn thing. We’ve been together for a hundred years — literally. Thick as thieves, you and me.
YOU – A hundred years? But how could that be?..
HORRIFIC MEDALLION – Because you’ve been around a lot longer than you think, kumpel. Here’s how it happened. Once upon a time there was a little brat named Geralt — no mommy, no daddy. Then some kindly old grandpa took him in, only to put him through hell later: mutagens, poisons, and all sorts of other nasty shit. But before all that, he gave little Geralt a medallion with a wolf’s ugly mug on it — me, in other words… Back then I was brand-new, shiny, and didn’t have a scratch on me.
YOU – So you were given to me when I was still a little kid?
HORRIFIC MEDALLION – Yeah, pretty much. And for the record, I tried damn hard to be useful instead of just dangling around your neck. Warned you whenever your ass was in danger. Sniffed out all kinds of magical crap… Things were fine for a while, but every year you got gloomier and gloomier. You looked sour enough to curdle milk. So I figured it was time we really cut loose! Started egging you on to all sorts of things…
YOU – And did we ever actually manage to cut loose?
HORRIFIC MEDALLION – Oh, hell yeah, kumpel! You and me picked up plenty of chicks, and some of them were fucking gorgeous… Though for some reason you mostly had a thing for bitchy sorceresses old enough to be Vernon’s grandmother… You’ve got a very particular taste in women, but hey — no judgment.
WHISPER [Medium: Failure] – He’s obviously making that up. None of that ever happened.
HORRIFIC MEDALLION – And we drank with dwarves, elves, humans… FUCK, who didn’t we drink with?! We even managed to get absolutely shitfaced with a dragon and a vampire once. Took us the whole next day to recover!!!
YOU – Whoa! Even a dragon?
HORRIFIC MEDALLION – You bet! Yeah… we had one hell of a time. But little by little, things started getting out of hand. I’ll admit, I fucked up too: I didn’t warn you when it would’ve been smarter to slow down.
YOU – And that’s when I lost my memory?
HORRIFIC MEDALLION – Exactamundo! You know how it goes: one shitty decision after another… And now here we are in some goddamn tunnel where, in a couple of minutes, you may very well end up as a cracked, smoking cinder on the floor. So if you want to avoid that, kumpel, don’t forget what I told you about those fingers! Personally, I have absolutely no desire to turn into a stinking puddle today.
NARRATOR – You stand there, intently twisting the fingers of your right hand, trying to remember the protective Sign. Vernon politely waits for about a minute before asking in a careful tone:
VERNON ROCHE – Forgive me, but what exactly are you doing? I thought we were supposed to find the fugitive sorceress as quickly as possible.
ELOQUENCE [Challenging: Failure] – How do you explain this without making him think you’re insane?
YOU – Um… I should probably admit something, Vernon… Ever since I came to in that wrecked room, my medallion has been talking to me. And it just told me I need to remember a protective Sign.
NARRATOR – Your partner scratches his forehead, barely suppressing a smile.
VERNON ROCHE – Ah, of course… So it’s not just Vizima talking to you now. Your witcher medallion is too.
ELOQUENCE – To be fair, that really doesn’t sound very good. It makes you sound like you’ve finally lost your mind.
VERNON ROCHE – Why does that not surprise me in the slightest? And why did it decide to speak up now?
YOU – There’s some kind of danger ahead. I don’t know what kind, but… I think we should be very careful.
NARRATOR – Vernon answers with a firm nod.
VERNON ROCHE – All right. As we’ve already established, your instincts are worth trusting.
NARRATOR – He carefully draws his sword. You continue on. The torch flame trembles slightly, almost in time with the medallion vibrating against your chest. All around you, everything is silent except for the distant drip of water. The tunnel bends once more, and then suddenly…
REFLEX [Legendary: Failure] – Watch out!..
HORRIFIC MEDALLION – Motherfucker!
NARRATOR – Too late. A vile screech drills into your ears, followed by a sharp pop, and a greenish mist closes around you. You realize you can barely move.
FORTITUDE [Challenging: Failure] – A heavy, painful throbbing builds inside your skull. You try to tense your muscles, clench your teeth, but your body answers with nothing but trembling. Nausea rises into your throat.
YOU – Vernon… Are you… all right?
VERNON ROCHE – Damn it… I can barely move. Looks like… you were right…
NARRATOR – Somewhere ahead, a small glowing orb suddenly flares to life. Casting a soft light, it drifts slowly toward you.
WOMAN’S VOICE – Well, well… Look what the cat dragged in.
DISCERNMENT [Easy: Success] – That’s not Rosie or Karmen. The cadence is completely different. The voice is quiet and velvety.
NARRATOR – The orb comes to a stop a few meters away. You hear soft footsteps.
WOMAN’S VOICE – The Butcher of Blaviken himself. And Vernon Roche, commander of a band of killers. Charming company.
NARRATOR – A short woman emerges from the darkness. The stranger stops beside the glowing orb and studies you with steel-gray eyes. Her face is tense.
KEEN EYE [Medium: Success] – Dark hair. A mole on her right cheek.
YOU – Elżbieta Nox… right? We only wanted to… ask you a few questions.
FORTITUDE [Impossible: Failure] – The pounding in your head grows worse. It feels as though your eyes are about to burst from their sockets.
STEADINESS [Challenging: Failure] – Damn… At this rate, we’re not going to last much longer…
ELŻBIETA NOX – Ha… And what questions, exactly, did you plan to ask after showing up here with weapons drawn?
YOU – About that night… when the murder happened. When chevalier Bastien Lavelle was shot.
NARRATOR – The half-elf thoughtfully runs a finger along the cave wall.
ELŻBIETA NOX – I see you’ve managed to dig up a few things. So who gave me away? Karmen? Grave?
YOU – Grave only said you disappeared on Friday evening, but he refused to explain anything else. And Karmen… cracked after we threatened her with arrest… She claims… that you were in love with her, and that you killed Lavelle out of jealousy.
NARRATOR – The sorceress lets out a short, sharp laugh.
ELŻBIETA NOX – Karmen, Karmen… So that’s the game you’ve decided to play.
NARRATOR – There is sadness in her eyes.
ELŻBIETA NOX – We did have a kind of… relationship, though I wouldn’t call it normal or healthy. We’d get together, break up, fight, make up, then seek each other out again when staying apart became unbearable.
NARRATOR – She wearily runs a hand over her face.
ELŻBIETA NOX – We were both hiding, just for different reasons, and because of that we understood each other’s pain all too well. Maybe that’s what brought us together in the first place.
VICE [Challenging: Failure] – We need more details!
YOU – Care to elaborate?
ELŻBIETA NOX – Pff. Not a chance!
NARRATOR – The green mist thickens, and a wave of pain crashes over you so violently that you nearly lose consciousness.
ELŻBIETA NOX – Want to pry into our little secrets? Dig through our dirty laundry? Hear all the intimate details?! Wipe the drool off your chin. You’re a hundred years old if you’re a day, and you’re acting like a horny teenager.
STEADINESS [Challenging: Failure] – Kurwa… What the hell do we do?
VERNON ROCHE – Could you perhaps give us… your version of events? What happened that night?
ELŻBIETA NOX – Why not? I’m in no hurry… You’re the ones who might be torn to pieces any minute now.
NARRATOR – The sorceress smiles, watching your suffering closely. Her hands remain raised before her, fingers held strangely tense.
KEEN EYE [Medium: Success] – She’s ready to cast a spell at any moment. If it comes to that, you’ll have only a couple of seconds to react. Before that, of course, you’ll somehow have to break free of this magical trap.
ELŻBIETA NOX – It was already past midnight. We were at the Shaggy Bear… Grave’s boys were getting drunk as usual, while Rosie and I played Gwent and talked about whatever came to mind. Around one in the morning — I don’t remember the exact time — Karmen suddenly came barging into the tavern. At first we thought Bastien had gotten rough with her, but she pulled us aside and told us what had happened.
VERNON ROCHE – And that’s when the idea of staging the hanging came up? Who suggested it?
ELŻBIETA NOX – Karmen.
WHISPER [Easy: Success] – Very interesting, considering pani Růžička told you something completely different… But Grave pointed to Karmen too.
ELŻBIETA NOX – She immediately sent Rock and the twins to move the body to the vacant lot. Lavelle was tied up, and all I had to do was enchant the rope. The whole thing took fifteen or twenty minutes at most.
VERNON ROCHE – And you maintain that you did not kill Lavelle?
ELŻBIETA NOX – Exactly. He was shot, and I don’t own a handgonne or an arquebus. I wouldn’t even know how to use one.
NARRATOR – The sorceress gives an unpleasant little smirk.
ELŻBIETA NOX – If I’d wanted to kill that overdressed peacock, I’d simply have burned him alive. You see, fire and light are something of a specialty of mine…
STEADINESS [Medium: Failure] – We need to do something, fast. A few more minutes of this torture and your body will stop obeying you altogether.
RESOLVE [Challenging: Success] – Try using the Sign. It might help. Slowly and carefully shape your fingers… No sudden movements.
ELOQUENCE [Easy: Success] – And keep talking.
YOU – Then why did you run?
ELŻBIETA NOX – First of all, I needed to wait for things to blow over. Word reached us that some idiots had been sent into the Temple Quarter to investigate. Considering I’m a renegade, I had no desire whatsoever to draw attention to myself.
DEFTNESS [Challenging: Success] – With enormous effort, you manage to move your fingers. It feels like something is finally starting to work…
ELŻBIETA NOX – Second, I found out that one of those idiots was none other than you. The Butcher of Blaviken.
YOU – So you were afraid to meet me?
NARRATOR – The sorceress arches an eyebrow and snorts.
ELŻBIETA NOX – Let’s say I was wary. In Blaviken, you killed a self-taught sorceress whose own parents had thrown her out on the street on the advice of some idiot…
DEFTNESS – Carefully shape your fingers… That’s it…
ELŻBIETA NOX – Besides, you associate with those old hags from the Lodge of Sorceresses, and they don’t take kindly to unregistered mages… How was I supposed to know what might get into your head? So admit that—
BRAWN [Challenging: Success] – Now!
NARRATOR – It seems to have worked. A low hum fills the tunnel. The greenish mist around you begins to thin, breaking apart into ragged wisps that creep across the floor. You regain control of your body, though your stiff limbs respond poorly — as if someone handed them back without bothering to explain how they work.
DEFTNESS [Impossible: Failure] – You try to draw the sword over your shoulder… but your arm moves as though through thick jelly. Too late.
NARRATOR – A tiny, dangerously pulsing flame ignites between the sorceress’s palms. She jumps back and hisses like a cat.
ELŻBIETA NOX – You bastard! Thought you could distract me with all that talk?! Now lower those damn claws and stand still! One wrong move and I’ll burn both of you alive.
KEEN EYE [Easy: Success] – Even if you make a sudden lunge, it’ll take at least two steps to reach her. Too risky.
DEFTNESS – You could try dodging the spell…
KEEN EYE – Then she’ll hit Vernon. He’s still paralyzed, and he’s standing directly behind you.
ELŻBIETA NOX – I think it’s time to end this conversation. I had nothing to do with Lavelle’s murder. Nothing whatsoever. And as a gesture of goodwill… I’ll even let you live. Though I admit, the idea of reducing you both to ash is very tempting.
NARRATOR – The sorceress takes another two steps back, almost disappearing into the darkness.
WHISPER [Medium: Success] – She doesn’t want to draw unnecessary attention. Two charred corpses would make a mage’s involvement far too obvious. People would start looking for her… No. Pani Nox is much too cautious for that.
YOU – But who?.. Who is the killer, then?!
ELŻBIETA NOX – I have no idea… And I couldn’t care less. Consider this a warning: the tunnel is riddled with traps, so I strongly advise against following me.
SENSIBILITY [Easy: Success] – She’s not bluffing.
ELŻBIETA NOX – If you’re foolish enough to keep chasing me… don’t expect any mercy. I have no intention of talking again. Farewell.
NARRATOR – The sorceress makes a sharp sweep of her hand, and a brilliant flash blinds you. Behind you, Vernon lets out a pained groan. By the time you finally open your eyes, Elżbieta Nox is long gone.
YOU – Damn it… Vernon, you all right?
VERNON ROCHE – At least I can move my limbs again. Let’s… rest for a moment. Following her would be both pointless and dangerous. I have no doubt Elżbieta will make good on her threat.
NARRATOR – With some difficulty, you lower yourselves onto the wet stone floor opposite each other and catch your breath. A sharp pain is still throbbing in your head.
YOU – Do you think she really is innocent?
VERNON ROCHE – I don’t know. The fact that pani Nox spared us proves nothing. Perhaps she simply didn’t want to leave a trail of bodies behind.
YOU – So in the end, we’ve hit another dead end…
VERNON ROCHE – It seems so. But it’s too early to give up, Geralt. We can’t afford to stop now.
RESOLVE [Medium: Success] – He’s right, though he sounds as if he’s trying to convince himself as much as he’s trying to convince you. You’re in pain too, and all you want is to lie down on the floor, preferably face-first. But the investigation isn’t over yet. Pull yourself together.
NARRATOR – Once you’ve recovered enough to move, you limp back toward the exit. Bright sunlight hits your eyes, still aching from Elżbieta’s parting gift. The world looks offensively fresh — as though it hadn’t just watched the two of you nearly get smeared across a dungeon floor.
VERNON ROCHE – I suggest we return to the tavern and think this through properly.