[ACT I] Few Questions Related To The Story

[staplewire]

[ACT I] Few Questions Related To The Story

After many saves and repeats due to dying, i managed to finish Act I but there are few things that I dont understand:1. I chose to save the witch, but among the three men (Odo, Haren (?) and Mikul), Mikul has the greatest sin of them all (raping her daughter) but he was the one allowed to continue to live in the end of Act I, and inspite of asking "sorry," he still committed one more crime by turning Geralt over to the guards. Will there be a time when Mikul will pay for all his crimes? Will I be the one to execute him? I really want him dead.2. Geralt and the King of the Wild Hunt already met in the past (before Geralt buried the friend of Lauvandeer (?)), did I miss that previous meeting?3. There is a quarternine (LOL i laughed at it ) in effect (that's why people need a pass to enter Visima), but I hardly remember meeting anyone at the outskirt of Visima who is suffering from any sickness. But, when I started Act II, i was able to enter the hospital where people are dying because of the plague. I have an impression that it is safer in the outskirts than inside Visima.4. Not story related, but what is the highest level i can reach in Act I? Does experience gained from a monster go down when my level go up? Or experience is the same no matter what level i am?Thanks again.

 

[DelighfulMcCoy]

1. Do you really want to be spoiled? Alright, if you must have it:

Spoiler

Of course you are right about Mikul (except for the daughter part, I gathered she was his girlfriend). But life isn't fair and you won't kill Mikul. Geralt never returns to the outskirts and Mikul isn't seen inside Vizima.

2. Nope, that didn't happen in the game, but in the books and there are references throughout the game.3. Lol. Good thing Geralt is immune. ;D Anyway, it's more of a political quaternine *g* than a physical issue. 4. There's no level cap anywhere in the vanilla game. However, you'll need more xp for every level and the xp from monsters go down by 5 points per level. And since you got no silvet sword yet, it's kind of hard to keep levelling, when you get a lot more xp from quests. Plus, more interesting monsters are to come in the following chapters. 8)

 

[staplewire]

Tnx for that quick reply, MCCOY. Too bad i cant punish Mikul. I think the worst thing i can do to him is to keep his pocket empty by beating him in Dice.Thanks for the info about his relation with Ilsa. Can I find that info in game?I am fully convinced that the quarternine (quarantine) is political in nature. At least that will keep ordinary townpeople safe from the dangers inside Visima -- both monsters and humans.

 

[DelighfulMcCoy]

Thanks for the info about his relation with Ilsa. Can I find that info in game?

I'm not sure, remember the dialogs, view the journal and I think there was something Haren said at the very end of the chapter. But that might relate to the rape issue, not the relation of Mikul and Ilsa. But the way he talks about her strongly indicates that he romantically loved her, not as a daugther. I could be wrong, though. Maybe someone else has an opinion about that.

 

[Corylea.723]

I always thought that Mikul was dating or engaged to Ilsa. One of the Salamandra in the Inn, when they're surrounding Shani, talks about "Mikul's girl, Ilsa." "Mikul's girl" can mean either "Mikul's daughter" or "Mikul's girlfriend," but other conversations suggest that it's the latter.And I thought the quarantine was to keep the Catriona plague from getting OUT of Vizima, not to keep it from getting IN; it's clearly already in Vizima.In the opening cutscene (not the opening movie, with the striga, but the cutscene, where Geralt is running, then falls down, then is picked up by Eskel and Vesemir), Geralt is running. It seems as if he's running away from something, though in the cutscene, it's not clear what. Many people think that it's the Wild Hunt that he's running from; certainly the atmospheric conditions that Triss talks about in the Prologue suggest that it could be the Hunt.

 

[staplewire]

I also didn't know that Ilsa was raped. When Geralt found Ilsa's body, the only info given was Ilsa killed herself by drinking poison (supposedly given by Abigail). But when Geralt was already defending Abagail from the Reverend, he accused Mikul for raping Ilsa and because of that, Ilsa committed suicide by drinking poison.The psychological effect if that crime must be so damaging to Ilsa that she found more comfort to end her life in one of the most dangerous place -- she wasn't afraid of those ghouls anymore not because she was brave, but because she saw the most vicious monster of all -- her father.

 

[wickedviper]

Heh. I also didn't know about that detail. I think what happens is that Geralt has grown sick of all the villagers that at some point he has to figure the worst thing that could happen to the girl simply because he doesn't believe she committed suicide for no reason. Speaking of father, there is actually another similar case... one of the supposedly most honorable man in the village also had issue with his own daughter, who ends up working as a prostitute in Vizima slum. But what really happened won't be revealed to you until way later in the game ;D

 

[Corylea.723]

Geralt doesn't just make Ilsa's rape up or conclude that this is what probably happened -- it's there in the story. Abigail explicitly states that Mikul raped Ilsa, and when the Salamanders are surrounding Shani in the Inn, clearly intent on rape, one of them says, "Let's do to her what we did to Mikul's girl, Ilsa," which suggests that Mikul may have colluded in Ilsa's rape to keep the Salamandra off his back.And I don't think Mikul is her father; I think he's her boyfriend, but I've been wrong before and will be again. CDPR is good at making this a dark story where the worst details are in hints and asides, rather than baldly stated. Whoever wrote the dialogue had some finesse.

 

[wickedviper]

Hmm you seem to have the whole script off the top of your head... ;D I am on my second playthrough and more concerned about getting formulae under my belt ASAP, paying less attention to conversations, definitely missed out on that details of what Abigail said. No mistaking about Mikul being not a father though, it is clear from the beginning that they were a couple instead of father and daughter. What I'm trying to say is that it's kind of funny that the plot becomes so complex some people perceive this part of story as another parallel one - which is not precisely so, either - but yes it involves rape and everything... if that makes any sense ;D

 

[petra_silie]

I never thought Ilsa was Mikul's daughter. If it was an incestuous relationship it became a bit fraught…. he raped his daughter and "offered" her to other men. Apart from that there is already an inzest issue in the game… later.

 

[Gamewidow]

"Mikul's girl" in that context, i'm pretty sure meant "Mikul's girlfriend", not his daughter eace:

 

[Corylea.723]

Hmm you seem to have the whole script off the top of your head... ;D

Well, I have played the game six times, so I remember a lot of the more memorable lines. You should talk to Game Widow -- she's played the game more than 30 times; I imagine she can quote the whole thing from start to finish, like a Rocky Horror fan.

I am on my second playthrough and more concerned about getting formulae under my belt ASAP, paying less attention to conversations, definitely missed out on that details of what Abigail said.

Yes, formulae are important! Many of the conversations are important, too, though -- they're not just background; they often provide crucial information. I'm not sure that formulae and conversations are an either/or -- I think you can have both.

No mistaking about Mikul being not a father though, it is clear from the beginning that they were a couple instead of father and daughter. What I'm trying to say is that it's kind of funny that the plot becomes so complex some people perceive this part of story as another parallel one - which is not precisely so, either - but yes it involves rape and everything... if that makes any sense ;D

*smile* Yes, it does make sense. I think a lot of younger gamers have grown up playing things like Diablo and Titan Quest, and they're used to RPG's where the plot is just an excuse to kill stuff, so they've developed the habit of not paying attention to conversations. The largest example of this that I've seen was someone in another thread who thought that Yaevinn and company were trying to steal gold from a bank that belonged to a dwarf, rather than stealing the papers that would let Vivaldi get his bank back. They somehow completely missed the fact that Vivaldi didn't own the bank anymore.The Witcher is very different from the Titan Quest sort of game; the story is the most important part of the game, and paying attention to what people tell you is crucial.

 

[Eoghain]

While I haven't read the spoiler (don't want to): two points, on Mikul :1. When he said: "Witcher, I'm sorry," while at first I thought he was referring to his previous accusation that (paraphrasing) 'bad tidings follow you everywhere! Get away from me!' . . . immediately when he delivered me/Geralt to the armor-bedecked inside-guard, and consequently his ludicrous imprisonment (ludicrous becase Mikul must've organized this well in advance, and even that night probably knew nothing about the mass death of the entire village (except Mikul, conveniently), cause unknown, my chief suspect: the barghests, gone wild perhaps now that the Beast (a summoned demon?) saw it would be confronted and therefore chose this moment to exact comprehensive revenge: in other words a complete cleasing, since every villager's death was a violently bloody ones, a few of the victims even losing limbs -- so logically it can't be the workings of Abigail's massive "defensive" brew (although her comment "enough for a whole village" is highly suggestive): I realized that it's this betrayal -- reporting him to interested authorities, ostensibly for money, favor, or leniency against whoever holds the power/influence, possibly and reasonably the Salamandra -- for which he was apologizing in advance. He knows he acted improperly, though undoubtedly he did it out of pressure. (And to be fair: Abigail, of all people, called him "Honest Mikul". Considering her lack of reserve in leveling accusations and explaining crimes and also admitting her 'hatred of humans' ("hatred" being an important word, here): I do not believe she was being sarcastic. "Honest Mikul" was drawn into this rape forcefully by the Salamandra.2. Regarding Ilsa: When Mikul reacts to her death, my immediate questions were 1. How did Mikul know, immediately, that it was Ilsa? and 2. How did she get there, why was she there? Most likely, as someone else suggested, it was because Mikul, despite his feelings toward Ilsa, took part in her rape lest he incur the wrath of the Salamandra.The Salamandra ended up being all-powerful in the village in the Vizima outskirts. I would sympathize with the villagers, on this account, if they weren't cruel both to begin with and to end with.I was highly heartened by his speech to "come back and kill every last rice-ridden peasant, even those who can climb trees", should Abigail be murdered by them. This strong language was necessary, and again: heartening. Despite the cruel anger in such a pledge: given the culture and circumstances, it was proper, at the very least to make a strong point that would stick in their minds: if they murdered her they'd have hell to pay for it. (In more ways than one, assuming Hell is real in the Witcher world.)I find the Reverend -- definitely not Mikul -- to be the most guilty. He's blind, foolish, ignorant and cruel. His misogynistic speech preceeding Abigail's emergence -- assuming you chose to defend her -- proves it, if not his betrayal against Geralt, in the end, after defeating the Beast and after all his other good deeds. Abigail, of course, is a scapegoat for all their crimes, but their betrayal of Geralt, in the end, is something else. It speaks of an underlying current of violence that has at this point become a perhaps indelible characteristic.After him: Odo.Also, in terms of the Reverend -- supposedly he knew everything that went on in the village, which means he knew about all the rapes and murder. The violence against non-humans is something else. But he was their leader. When he spoke, they listened. They came to him with all their problems: he was responsible for everything that went on in the village. When the Salamandra came, they dealt with the Reverand. Ultimately, he was responsible. So in effect: without a mayor, he was their effective mayor.

 

[Maerahn.155]

2. Regarding Ilsa: When Mikul reacts to her death, my immediate questions were 1. How did Mikul know, immediately, that it was Ilsa?

That's exactly what I thought too! At no point does Geralt mention her name, or give any clues as to the identity of the corpse in his conversation with Mikul; he simply states that he found a girl's body. And Mikul immediately goes "Aaagh, my Ilsa, it's that witch's fault!" (or words to that effect.) Which implies to me that:a) he already knew she was dead - in fact, he must've found her body before Geralt did, therefore....b) he also already knew where - AND how - she died. So, most importantly.... c) the fact that he kept quiet about it must be due to a guilty conscience - otherwise he'd have surely run off to alert the whole village, wouldn't he?Nah, I give Mikul no quarter whatsoever.