I dunno... I always figured it was in reference to the ability to use Cat, which might be very hazardous to a non-Witcher.~ Roxy
Maybe I'm just pragmatic, but in a computer game, cat potion is cooler than just having no problems.Besides, Geralt can fight in pitch darkness just fine. All those spins and stabs of unerring accuracy .. it's just us players that can't see what he's doing.
Use the ALT key to control Geralt's eyes.dieruhe said:Something I've been wondering: when discussing the trials with Geralt, one thing Lambert mentions is "...we can see in the dark." If so, why the need for Cat's Eye? I can't see a damn thing in some dark places without a torch or a potion.
A sorcerer is needed to oversee and magically administer and control the Trial of the Grasses. I can't remember exactly where I read this in game, I believe it was on one of the potion scrolls or formula descriptions - one that was developed by a former overseer of the trials. Obviously this would need to be done by a Sorcerer that the Witchers trust absolutely, and as was mentioned in the Prologue, Triss is trusted by the remaining Witchers, but not that far, she has loyalties elsewhere and would need to forsake those to exclusively help the Witchers. Also, apparently, much of the knowledge to administer the Trials was lost, and some kind of process of trial and error would need to take place, much like what's going on with the Salamandra's experiments.
Trial and error with live humans? *shudder* Maybe they can get the knowledge from the other witcher schools, instead.Vindik8or said:
It's what they did with Geralt.The process kills more than it converts (according to Lambert), but the human race was essentially forced to do something because of the hostility of the world they arrived on during the Conjunction. Although it sucks for the individual involved, the survival of the species basically depended on someone taking it for the team.
Yes, but that was when the process was completely unknown. Somebody at the other two schools might know how to make witchers; killing a lot of children seems unnecessary, when you can just send a messenger to the other schools.Nightward said:
I don't think Vesemir, Lambert, Eskel, and Geralt are going into business there; Vesemir (at least in the game, I've only read The Last Wish) seems to be more of an arms master than anything else; Geralt, Lambert, and Eskel seem to be more hunters than teachers. In the game, mention is explicitly made of how Vesemir makes a big deal of potions and alchemy but would probably rather sword things in the face than pick up an alembic.None of the Witchers we know about from Kaer Morhen seem likely to go back into creating new Witchers. At a guess, I would suspect that Witchers would go out on the Path until they "aged" (they seem to be functionally immortal, in that unless something kills them they live forever) by burning out or accruing so many lingering injuries they can no longer hunt effectively, then return to their parent school and take up a teaching position. As such, nobody from Kaer Morhen would really be able to do more than the dietary part and combat training. In The Last Wish, Geralt mentions that a Witcher candidate has to be "born in the shadow of Destiny" or something similar, and that such children are difficult to find at the best of time and/or are declining in numbers. There is also something about the way the sun shines on the world changing and the ecosystem becoming hostile to the world's orginal inhabitants (Elves, Dwarves, Gnomes, etc) and friendlier to humans, resulting in the (slow) extinction of the indigenous critters. That, and the fact Witchers are slowly putting themselves out of a job...As such, maybe the Force (USE IT LUKE!) that is behind such things might be thinning the ranks as time goes on.Unless the other two Schools has massively refined the process, they'll be killing off a similar number of candidates, too.
everything was already said about kaer morhen. at the time books end there's nothing known of possible witcher creation but game may explore unexplained parts of the story, like other witcher clans. they are mentioned but we dont know anything about them except that they existed. this leaves much freedom for fanfic and new game adventures and i bet that this is already used ingame spoiler:
outro. foltest assassin was a witcher. we dont know who, how, where, definitely not from kaer morhen. if not from wolf clan there are few other possibilities.
I personnaly think that there is no "simple" answer to those questions :--- I think that new witchers could be trained and modified, but for the last part, they would have to hire talented mages in order to understand the mutagens and try to find out about the original process used to create them. The mutagens and elixirs that the Witcher use were never created by them, but by the renegade sorcerers that worked with them at Kaer Morhen. Even Vesemir, despite his age, knows very little about the mutation process : his duty is to prepare the candidates, not actually transform them.--- Vesemir is most likely the "first" Witcher, perharps the one who defined their purpose : to slay monsters for money, not out of greed, but to avoid involving witchers and their powers in "civilized" society. The witchers' purpose is to fight the most visible kind of evil, the kind that is absolutly and utterly bad, that can't be defended. That's also why, though new witchers could be trained, there won't be any more witchers : Vesemir, Lambert and Eskel just can't let strangers study their secrets, it would be too dangerous. I don't know what kind of relationship thay had with the sorceres that used to take care of their elixirs, but one thing's for sure : they trusted them, but refuse to trust anybody else with those secrets.
we know nothing about vesemir being the first or "first" witcher, thats heavy speculation.the problem with mages is that they cant be trusted. even triss doesnt have access to witcher's secrets. still if someone could be trusted with their secrets, it would be triss. not yennefer nor anyone else. triss was most common guest in kaer morhen and vesemir liked her a lot. even lambert liked her though he had strange way of expressing it.
I know nothing about the books, I am just speculating from what I know from the game:There is no guarantee that Triss would even understand the magic involved in the shaping of a Witcher. The game dialogue says something to the effect of only sorcerers of the old ways knowing how to harness the magics necessary for the transformation process. Azar himself hails from Zerrikania, which as it says in the glossary no-one knows much about. It is possible that Azar stumbled upon a cache of hidden / lost lore in this own land before ending up in Temeria. Perhaps it is not so much the power that a sorcerer wields, rather the technique used. The process may even require a certain powerful artifact to be used (Azar WAS an antique buff - maybe he found one?).The secrets stolen in Kaer Morhen may only be one piece of the knowledge needed to create a Witcher. Not even Vesemir would be able to tell if the information kept is complete because not many were trusted to be even anywhere near the fortress itself, let alone the documents hidden in the laboratory.
She is an extremely talented sorceress, even having a spell named after her, I think she would be able to help the Witchers to train new ones. Geralt doesn't doubt it, as he asked Eskel why they didn't ask Triss to help them for Leo's mutation. Eskel was adamant : they trust Triss, but not enough to get her near their secrets. Everyone who might use those secrets for something else than creating new Witchers, they would never get near their secrets. And Triss would use those secrets, even if to do good things. That, the Witchers can't accept.To understand the magic behind the creation of a Witcher, one must have a strong understanding of mutation. Heck, perharps that Kalkstein would be able to re-create those ways if given the good materials and time. The guy is a gifted and passioned alchemist... but his search for fame would make him "unworthy" of getting near those secrets