Tor Gvalch'ca, That Undvik Tower [Sort of Spoilers]

[whitewoof]

Tor Gvalch'ca, That Undvik Tower [Sort of Spoilers]

First of all I'd like to say that Undvik is probably my favourite area in the entire game. The whole atmosphere there, the sounds, the monsters, i find it to be the most fantasy-esque area in the map, almost like an alternate world compared to other parts of game, comparable to the areas in Through Time and Space. From the moment Geralt set foot there in Lord of Undvik, the one big question was what the hell is that big tower. Two playthroughs in, and I'm still not sure what it is.

Not sure if this question has already been asked, but the fact that this tower, known as Tor Gvalch'ca, plays such a pivotal role in the ending, I'm quite disappointed that there weren't any mentions of it in any of the in game books, or random conversations with druids/mages considering that it's one hell of a huge ancient artifact with immense power. No warnings from Ermion, and none of the members of Lodge seem to notice it either in the last act in Undvik. I'm only halfway through Time of Contempt in the Witcher books now, so is there any mention of Tor Gvalch'ca and/or Undvik in the remaining books? Or is Undvik and Tor Gvalch'ca something created solely for Witcher 3? Even the Giant Oak Tree in Velen gets more exposition than this tower.

 

[Vigilance.492]

I remember going to help Hjalmar and I ended up getting completely lost on Undvik (More-so on the way back from the tower to find Hjalmar) specifically because I went to explore the tower. I knew straight away that damn thing had some kind of importance, and yet not a word, not a whisper, anywhere in the game I explored or from any of the characters about it, so eventually I reached a point where I just forgot about it and assumed it was just some ruined, decrepit tower merely there for scenery sake.
Perhaps that was CDPR's intention, to just make not a single mention of it and hence it's a surprise when Ciri/Avallac'h end up over there. Hoping that book readers like myself would merely forget about it, or believe it there for another purpose, and newbies would have no idea. But either way that strikes me as odd, because part of the fun of these games for book readers is getting little snippets, hints and putting pieces together. And for newbies the tower means literally nothing, they only find out what the hell it is during the end, and it's part of a very weird and confusing segment that kind of vomits a whole heap of information on you that ultimately doesn't make a whole lot of sense anyway (Unlike say, the Letho exchange, where it's an information dump but an interesting one with real purpose).

Considering its importance lies mostly in Act 3, which I think most of us are well aware felt quite rushed and/or is missing solid chunks of content, I'd say it's more likely that much like everything to do with the White Frost it simply didn't end up getting the writing/lore attention it needed. It was there because it was the only way to have the ending they went for work, but they didn't have the time to actually flesh it all out properly.

Spoiler

Somebody say, Enhanced Edition? :doubt2:

Unless of course there's some sequence, vital information, hint etc that I missed because I didn't quite explore well enough, or I've forgotten a dialogue exchange. I have only played the game through once, and I didn't go explore crazy, so either is possible.

Also I demand a thread theme, for one of the best tracks in the game. You're not allowed to browse or reply to this thread unless you're listening to this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xt7u6J2uzFQ :geraltfeelgood:

 

[Paprikamann]

Albeit the books and games never mentioned this tower, I knew right from the beginning when I read the name "Tor Gvalch'ca" that it's heavily connected with Ciri and the main story.

In the books there are some other, ancient elven towers, e.g. Tor Zirael, Tor Lara. But Tor Gvalch'ca is solely created for TW3 indeed.

It's probably a tower with a connection to the origin of the White Frost.

 

[whitewoof]

It's just funny,

Spoiler

that when you find Ciri in the Isle of Mists and she tells you about her dreams/nightmares, always ending up at some big 'tower', most players who've been to Undvik can already obviously tell it's (most likely) the Undvik tower. Yet post-Isle of Mists up to Tedd Deireadh, The Final Age, Ciri shows no indication of knowing what Tor Gvalch'ca is or even show any interest in finding out about the tower in her dreams, and all a sudden she knows exactly what to do with the tower in the end

To use a LOTR reference, it's like Peter Jackson cutting out all the parts about Isildur's sword Nasril, and Aragorn suddenly appearing at the Battle of the Black Gate brandishing the reforged Anduril

 

[moonknightgog]

Tor Gvalch'ca means "Falka's Tower"

 

[Devils4dvocate]

Tor Gvalch'ca means "Falka's Tower"

Really? Wow...