Reason of the State - new Witcher comic summary
The first issue of a new comic about Geralt was recently released in Poland, titled Racja Stanu (Reason of the State). The comic is written by Michał Gałek and drawn by Arkadiusz Klimek, with colours by Łukasz Poller.The comic is visually based on designs from the games, but the story is not connected to either the games or the books, it's a new story of one of Geralt's witcher contracts.You can find sample pages and panels here: http://komiks.polter.pl/Komiksowe-Hity-04-Wiedzmin-Racja-stanu-czesc-1-p37671The next issue comes out June 29.If I can find some place to scan the comic, I'll translate it. Until then I wrote a summary of the issue. It's long, but the comic has lots of dialogue and a detailed backstory. Here goes:It's night. A couple are preparing for a tryst in the woods. She's blindfolded, he's leading her to the place, a ruined shrine of some sort. She wants to take the blindfold off, he tells her to wait a moment since he has to make everything just right (bed of flowers etc, you know 
). There's suddenly a slashing sound. The girl is alarmed, she takes the blindfold off and finds her lover, Doireann, dead, mutilated in a gruesome way. She starts running, but eventually what got him, gets her too.A month later, Geralt's on the trail, near Creigiau, Malleore duchy. On a roadpost, there's notice of work for a witcher. He remarks to Roach, his horse that their trip to the mountains might be worth it after all.In Creigiau, a tournament is taking place. It's the final rounds, knights are taking on a captured, chained gryphon. Sir Owain of Poviss is first, the gryphon slashes his horse and the knight falls and breaks his neck. Geralt goes to see the castellan, Lazare. The latter is busy taking bets, since next to fight the gryphon is the lord of castle Creigiau, baron Bryton, decorated defender of Sodden hill, founder of the tournament in memory of his father, Anton the Bearded. The castellan seems sure of the baron's victory, Geralt is not amused by the whole spectacle.Bryton charges, but his lance hits the chain holding the gryphon. The impact throws Bryton off his horse, but he gets up. The lance managed to pin the gryphon to the ground. The baron calls for his squire Marcas to fetch him his sword. Bryton kneels and calls on the prophet Lebioda and goes to finish off the immobilised gryphon. He then holds up the gryphon's head triumphantly. The crowd goes wild. The castellan tells Geralt to meet him at dawn in the family chapel.At the chapel, castellan Lazare introduces Geralt to Marcas, who turns out to be Lazare's son. The young man is impatient and quickly leaves, to the chagrin of his father, who wants Marcus to be more serious. Lazare asks whether Geralt was discreet so far, Geralt says he stays at the Ripe Grape inn and no one paid much attention to him since a lot of people travelled to the town because of the tournament. The castellan is pleased to hear that, and leads Geralt to the crypt.In the crypt, Lazare presents the history of the de Creigiau family. Baron Anton the elder, nicknamed the Bearded, was Lazare's friend and Bryton's father. For loyal service to the baron, Lazare was allowed to marry Eanna, Anton's cousin. Eanna died some ten years ago at the hands of a leshy. Geralt asks if Lazare is sure it was a leshy, and not, say, a ghoul, wyvern or a drowner. The castellan says any child knows that a leshy, or woodwose, can take the appearance of a large cat or wolf. Lazare saw the claw marks on Eanna, and he knows there are no animals that could have done it. Geralt asks why the leshy had not been driven out for a decade now, surely the peasants would have tried folk methods. Lazare explains that the local folk worship the prophet Lebioda only on the surface, but really they stick to their old ways - the leshy is said to be the guardian spirit of the Creigiau family, and the forest it haunts is sacred. Besides, the leshy can fall asleep for years. But now, fresh corpses have appeared just after Belleteyn, including Doireann, the brother of baron Bryton's wife, lady Searlait de Creigiau."So that's the reason for all the secrecy" - Geralt catches on - "The monster needs to be slain discreetly." "Yes, the reason of the state demands it" answers Lazare, and presents Geralt with some advance payment to clear any doubts.Lazare and Geralt exit the chapel through the city walls, which the chapel is connected to. The castellan talks about Creigiau: a year after Eanna's death the leshy disappeared, and the townspeople turned work to forget the tragedy. Before, Creigiau produced mostly wool, but it wasn't particularily profitable. "But the wood! First class!" So, they turned to woodcutting, and now Creigiau is one of the finest towns in all of Malleore. The wood is exported mostly to Kovir - Kovir is rich, and labour is more expensive there, so wood from Creigiau is cheaper. Lazare wants his son to be more interested in economy, but the boy is only interested in mischief. "I don't know how he will fare ruling over this whole land...", Lazare worries. "...you mean... as the castellan?" - Geralt asks. "Yes, the castellan, of course.", the man answers.It's two years since the old baron died. While his older son Bryton was away fighting Nilfgaard, the younger son, Anton, was managing the town's affairs. He wasn't good at it. "But if you tried to tell him that, Ha!" - the castellan scoffs. When Bryton returned, he had to pull Creigiau out of debt. The only hope was the sawmill, but then there was the leshy. They tried some rituals to appease it, but when the killings started, the people decided they had to wait out the leshy's wrath. It's been three months since then, and no luck. Hence the contract.Lazare introduces Geralt to the dwarf Hurgan Bolt, head of the lumberjack's guild. Hurgan is in a bad mood, he initially refuses to lead Geralt to the ruins, but changes his mind once Geralt whips out some Mahakam mead.Geralt and Hurgan head out. The dwarf says he and his boys would have taken care of the problem long ago, but the supersticious townsfolk would have them impaled for that. He warns that this is what the people do to Geralt should they learn he killed their holy creature. "Crap. lazare said this was a secret, but he didn't mention anything about impalement. Why did I accept that advance payment...". Bolt replies that most other people whould have just ran. "Shows you're a man of honour. Though a witcher."Hurgan is not surprised the people don't want to get involved - it's the nobles' business. Truth be told, the leshy had mostly been attacking nobles so far. It's rumoured that the leshy, the guardian of the family, got furious because of the squabbling between the brothers. Bryton and Anton, it turns out, are half-brothers, from different mothers. They've been quarreling since childhood. When Bryton returned from the war, there was but a few months of peace, then Bryton got mad and exiled Anton. "Straight into the arms of death, as it turned out.""Anton is dead? Who killed him?" asks Geralt. Hurgan explains that Anton, was a reveler, much like his father. He played dice and was a womaniser. Popular with the ladies too, thanks to an unusual trait - mismatched eyes, one green, one brown. "Seems ladies like freaks", the dwarf quips."But what did Anton do to make his brother that mad? Did he plough the wrong person?" "Hit the nail on the head there, Geralt." Anton made lady Searlait pregnant. Bryton's wife. Doubly bad since since Serlait miscarried before, and it's rumoured Bryton has... problems in the bedroom. "Ehh, this whole contract smelt of politics from the start. That castellan..." Geralt grumbles. "Lazare? Poor sod has his own problems, his son runs away from the castle any chance he gets." Marcas never forgave his father for not avenging his mother's death. Instead, Lazare tried to appease the leshy with sacrifices so it would let the people exploit the forest. Recently, Marcas tried to escape with Anton, but he was caught by the castellan. Geralt: "So where are those ruins?"At night, Geralt arrives at the ruins and prepares for combat, drinking an elixir. He then sits down to and waits. Suddenly, something gets his attention. It's Marcas and another boy. "Marcas? What are you.. What are you two doing here? Get out of here!" "Did Father send you? How did you know about he secret passa..." Something roars on the darkness. Geralt tells the two to run away, they tell him he can count on them in battle. "I don't want to count on you! Damn it! Come here!" Geralt and the boys get ready to fight, the witcher's amulet starts reacting. A wild cat appears from the trees, but it's just an animal, not the leshy. Still, it's eyes are glowing, and it attacks. Geralt dispatches it quickly, but more cats are circling around them. A fight ensues the cats manage to get Marcas' friend before Geralt kills them with the igni sign.There's another roar, and a huge cat-like monster steps out from the trees, accompanied by more wild cats. It looks fearsome, but it's also heavily scarred. Geralt speaks: "Call off your cats, I'm not here to fight you, werecat..." Still, the monster does not back off. "So be it then." The witcher and the werecat proceed to fight each other, while Marcas hides in a tree. At one point, Geralt and the werecat are face to face. Geralt notices the monster has mismatched eyes... "Anton?!""RRR... Who are you" - the werecat asks. The witcher introduces himself, and explains he was hired to slay a leshy. But it seems that's no longer the case. Anton the werecat says he should have expected Bryton would send someone to kill him. Geralt replies that the baron might not be aware that the creature is actually his brother, but Anton believes it was Bryton who put the curse on him. Geralt says the curse can be lifted, but Anton refuses, saying it would just only make it easier for Bryton to finish what he started. He wants Bryton to face him himself, and tells Geralt to send the message to the baron that he'll be waiting. "But what if he hires me to kill a werecat now?" "Then we shall meet again, witcher. But you will not leave my forest alive this time."At castle Creigiau, castellan Lazare and Geralt interrupt a party to speak to baron Bryton and lady Serlait. Geralt explains that the monster is not a leshy but a werecat, a cursed human. The baron says it makes no difference, citing a passage by the prophet Lebioda about figthing "the devil and all his minions - beasts of all shapes". "It's your brother, my lord." "Anton?! He's alive? That's impossible!" - exclaims Serlait. "Indeed." - replies Bryton. Lazare tells Bryton that his brother wants a duel. "Preposterous! I don't fight monsters!" "Not unless they're chained..." murmurs Geralt. "What did you say?" Geralt says the curse can be lifted. It won't repair the damage, but it will solve the problem. The baron's reply: "Really? And my people will surely forgive Anton for all those deaths, after all it's not his fault, it's the curse! No, witcher. It's reason of the state now. Brother or not, the beast must die."TO BE CONTINUED
The first issue of a new comic about Geralt was recently released in Poland, titled Racja Stanu (Reason of the State). The comic is written by Michał Gałek and drawn by Arkadiusz Klimek, with colours by Łukasz Poller.The comic is visually based on designs from the games, but the story is not connected to either the games or the books, it's a new story of one of Geralt's witcher contracts.You can find sample pages and panels here: http://komiks.polter.pl/Komiksowe-Hity-04-Wiedzmin-Racja-stanu-czesc-1-p37671The next issue comes out June 29.
). There's suddenly a slashing sound. The girl is alarmed, she takes the blindfold off and finds her lover, Doireann, dead, mutilated in a gruesome way. She starts running, but eventually what got him, gets her too.A month later, Geralt's on the trail, near Creigiau, Malleore duchy. On a roadpost, there's notice of work for a witcher. He remarks to Roach, his horse that their trip to the mountains might be worth it after all.In Creigiau, a tournament is taking place. It's the final rounds, knights are taking on a captured, chained gryphon. Sir Owain of Poviss is first, the gryphon slashes his horse and the knight falls and breaks his neck. Geralt goes to see the castellan, Lazare. The latter is busy taking bets, since next to fight the gryphon is the lord of castle Creigiau, baron Bryton, decorated defender of Sodden hill, founder of the tournament in memory of his father, Anton the Bearded. The castellan seems sure of the baron's victory, Geralt is not amused by the whole spectacle.Bryton charges, but his lance hits the chain holding the gryphon. The impact throws Bryton off his horse, but he gets up. The lance managed to pin the gryphon to the ground. The baron calls for his squire Marcas to fetch him his sword. Bryton kneels and calls on the prophet Lebioda and goes to finish off the immobilised gryphon. He then holds up the gryphon's head triumphantly. The crowd goes wild. The castellan tells Geralt to meet him at dawn in the family chapel.At the chapel, castellan Lazare introduces Geralt to Marcas, who turns out to be Lazare's son. The young man is impatient and quickly leaves, to the chagrin of his father, who wants Marcus to be more serious. Lazare asks whether Geralt was discreet so far, Geralt says he stays at the Ripe Grape inn and no one paid much attention to him since a lot of people travelled to the town because of the tournament. The castellan is pleased to hear that, and leads Geralt to the crypt.In the crypt, Lazare presents the history of the de Creigiau family. Baron Anton the elder, nicknamed the Bearded, was Lazare's friend and Bryton's father. For loyal service to the baron, Lazare was allowed to marry Eanna, Anton's cousin. Eanna died some ten years ago at the hands of a leshy. Geralt asks if Lazare is sure it was a leshy, and not, say, a ghoul, wyvern or a drowner. The castellan says any child knows that a leshy, or woodwose, can take the appearance of a large cat or wolf. Lazare saw the claw marks on Eanna, and he knows there are no animals that could have done it. Geralt asks why the leshy had not been driven out for a decade now, surely the peasants would have tried folk methods. Lazare explains that the local folk worship the prophet Lebioda only on the surface, but really they stick to their old ways - the leshy is said to be the guardian spirit of the Creigiau family, and the forest it haunts is sacred. Besides, the leshy can fall asleep for years. But now, fresh corpses have appeared just after Belleteyn, including Doireann, the brother of baron Bryton's wife, lady Searlait de Creigiau."So that's the reason for all the secrecy" - Geralt catches on - "The monster needs to be slain discreetly." "Yes, the reason of the state demands it" answers Lazare, and presents Geralt with some advance payment to clear any doubts.Lazare and Geralt exit the chapel through the city walls, which the chapel is connected to. The castellan talks about Creigiau: a year after Eanna's death the leshy disappeared, and the townspeople turned work to forget the tragedy. Before, Creigiau produced mostly wool, but it wasn't particularily profitable. "But the wood! First class!" So, they turned to woodcutting, and now Creigiau is one of the finest towns in all of Malleore. The wood is exported mostly to Kovir - Kovir is rich, and labour is more expensive there, so wood from Creigiau is cheaper. Lazare wants his son to be more interested in economy, but the boy is only interested in mischief. "I don't know how he will fare ruling over this whole land...", Lazare worries. "...you mean... as the castellan?" - Geralt asks. "Yes, the castellan, of course.", the man answers.It's two years since the old baron died. While his older son Bryton was away fighting Nilfgaard, the younger son, Anton, was managing the town's affairs. He wasn't good at it. "But if you tried to tell him that, Ha!" - the castellan scoffs. When Bryton returned, he had to pull Creigiau out of debt. The only hope was the sawmill, but then there was the leshy. They tried some rituals to appease it, but when the killings started, the people decided they had to wait out the leshy's wrath. It's been three months since then, and no luck. Hence the contract.Lazare introduces Geralt to the dwarf Hurgan Bolt, head of the lumberjack's guild. Hurgan is in a bad mood, he initially refuses to lead Geralt to the ruins, but changes his mind once Geralt whips out some Mahakam mead.Geralt and Hurgan head out. The dwarf says he and his boys would have taken care of the problem long ago, but the supersticious townsfolk would have them impaled for that. He warns that this is what the people do to Geralt should they learn he killed their holy creature. "Crap. lazare said this was a secret, but he didn't mention anything about impalement. Why did I accept that advance payment...". Bolt replies that most other people whould have just ran. "Shows you're a man of honour. Though a witcher."Hurgan is not surprised the people don't want to get involved - it's the nobles' business. Truth be told, the leshy had mostly been attacking nobles so far. It's rumoured that the leshy, the guardian of the family, got furious because of the squabbling between the brothers. Bryton and Anton, it turns out, are half-brothers, from different mothers. They've been quarreling since childhood. When Bryton returned from the war, there was but a few months of peace, then Bryton got mad and exiled Anton. "Straight into the arms of death, as it turned out.""Anton is dead? Who killed him?" asks Geralt. Hurgan explains that Anton, was a reveler, much like his father. He played dice and was a womaniser. Popular with the ladies too, thanks to an unusual trait - mismatched eyes, one green, one brown. "Seems ladies like freaks", the dwarf quips."But what did Anton do to make his brother that mad? Did he plough the wrong person?" "Hit the nail on the head there, Geralt." Anton made lady Searlait pregnant. Bryton's wife. Doubly bad since since Serlait miscarried before, and it's rumoured Bryton has... problems in the bedroom. "Ehh, this whole contract smelt of politics from the start. That castellan..." Geralt grumbles. "Lazare? Poor sod has his own problems, his son runs away from the castle any chance he gets." Marcas never forgave his father for not avenging his mother's death. Instead, Lazare tried to appease the leshy with sacrifices so it would let the people exploit the forest. Recently, Marcas tried to escape with Anton, but he was caught by the castellan. Geralt: "So where are those ruins?"At night, Geralt arrives at the ruins and prepares for combat, drinking an elixir. He then sits down to and waits. Suddenly, something gets his attention. It's Marcas and another boy. "Marcas? What are you.. What are you two doing here? Get out of here!" "Did Father send you? How did you know about he secret passa..." Something roars on the darkness. Geralt tells the two to run away, they tell him he can count on them in battle. "I don't want to count on you! Damn it! Come here!" Geralt and the boys get ready to fight, the witcher's amulet starts reacting. A wild cat appears from the trees, but it's just an animal, not the leshy. Still, it's eyes are glowing, and it attacks. Geralt dispatches it quickly, but more cats are circling around them. A fight ensues the cats manage to get Marcas' friend before Geralt kills them with the igni sign.There's another roar, and a huge cat-like monster steps out from the trees, accompanied by more wild cats. It looks fearsome, but it's also heavily scarred. Geralt speaks: "Call off your cats, I'm not here to fight you, werecat..." Still, the monster does not back off. "So be it then." The witcher and the werecat proceed to fight each other, while Marcas hides in a tree. At one point, Geralt and the werecat are face to face. Geralt notices the monster has mismatched eyes... "Anton?!""RRR... Who are you" - the werecat asks. The witcher introduces himself, and explains he was hired to slay a leshy. But it seems that's no longer the case. Anton the werecat says he should have expected Bryton would send someone to kill him. Geralt replies that the baron might not be aware that the creature is actually his brother, but Anton believes it was Bryton who put the curse on him. Geralt says the curse can be lifted, but Anton refuses, saying it would just only make it easier for Bryton to finish what he started. He wants Bryton to face him himself, and tells Geralt to send the message to the baron that he'll be waiting. "But what if he hires me to kill a werecat now?" "Then we shall meet again, witcher. But you will not leave my forest alive this time."At castle Creigiau, castellan Lazare and Geralt interrupt a party to speak to baron Bryton and lady Serlait. Geralt explains that the monster is not a leshy but a werecat, a cursed human. The baron says it makes no difference, citing a passage by the prophet Lebioda about figthing "the devil and all his minions - beasts of all shapes". "It's your brother, my lord." "Anton?! He's alive? That's impossible!" - exclaims Serlait. "Indeed." - replies Bryton. Lazare tells Bryton that his brother wants a duel. "Preposterous! I don't fight monsters!" "Not unless they're chained..." murmurs Geralt. "What did you say?" Geralt says the curse can be lifted. It won't repair the damage, but it will solve the problem. The baron's reply: "Really? And my people will surely forgive Anton for all those deaths, after all it's not his fault, it's the curse! No, witcher. It's reason of the state now. Brother or not, the beast must die."TO BE CONTINUED
