Ep. 31 — Chapter 2 from "Blood of Elves" (Part 1)

Lindsay Fawn from the US and Charlotte from Vengerberg Glamarye join Alyssa for Part 1 of our discussion of Andrzej Sapkowski’s first Witcher novel Blood of Elves, Chapter 2. Very important bits include: behind-the-scenes of voice acting and streaming, raising a pre-teen, strong female characters, Ciri’s relationship to oracles and soothsayers throughout history, and the joy of seeing our kids—or cats!—enjoy the timeless stories we love.

This episode is available at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and Stitcher.

Episode Sponsor

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In this Episode

  • [00:00] Cold Open

  • [01:01] Introduction

  • [03:50] Discussion

  • [28:16] “Tidings from Toussaint”

  • [34:06] Episode Sponsor: Mahakam Workshop

  • [35:37] Discussion

  • [58:54] Outro & Credits

Relevant Links

Transcript

Cold Open

ALYSSA: Oh, yeah, so I did actually look up the date of the last time that you were on the show and it was actually the day before the Netflix series came out.

CHARLOTTE: Oh my god.

ALYSSA: So December… 19th… was your last appearance on Breakfast in Beauclair. So definitely a lot has happened since then for sure.

CHARLOTTE: Oh my god. Yeah. [Chuckles] Oh, jeez.

ALYSSA: Timey wimey stuff.

CHARLOTTE: Yep, no concept of it. Totally just had a memory dump [laughs] of just—doot!

[Breakfast in Beauclair theme music by MojoFilter Media]

Introduction

ALYSSA: Welcome to Breakfast in Beauclair, a global Witcher Podcast. My name is Alyssa from GoodMorhen, and I’ll be your host as you, I, and our international hanza accompany Geralt of Rivia and his destiny, Cirilla of Cintra, across the Continent.

Stay tuned for the mid-roll sponsor message to learn how you can win a "Griffin vs Geralt of Rivia" print from Mahakam Workshop and other Breakfast in Beauclair merchandise!

[Patron Announcements]

Shout out to The Original Roach who upgraded their Patreon pledge in a way I didn’t realize was possible! As well as to our producer-level patrons: Luis of Kovir, The Owner of The Churlish Porpoise, Arix the Godling, Katie (The Redhead of Toussaint), Jacob B., Julie, Ayvo of Gulet, Bee Haven of the Edge of the World, Jacob Meeks, Charlotte from Vengerberg Glamarye, RedKite, The Original Roach, AerialKitty, Dustin, Libby, The Castel Ravello Sommelier, Clare Odell, Jennidy Mundilovitch, Katrin from Austria, Brett from California, Wolf, Corey from the US, and John of Ryblia.

If you’d like to explore becoming a patron of the show, head over to patreon.com/breakfastinbeauclair.

[Episode Details]

As for this episode, Lindsay Fawn from the US and Charlotte from Vengerberg Glamarye join me for Part 1 of our discussion of Blood of Elves, Chapter 2. Join us as we learn more about voice acting and streaming, raising a pre-teen, strong female characters, Ciri’s relationship to oracles and soothsayers throughout history, and the joy of seeing our kids—or cats!—enjoy the timeless stories we love.

In our mid-episode news segment, “Tidings from Toussaint,” Lars from Witcherflix shares a massive round up of casting news for Season 2 of Netflix’s The Witcher and The Witcher: Blood Origin.

Without further ado, let’s begin our discussion of Blood of Elves, Chapter 2.

Discussion

[Breakfast in Beauclair stinger by MojoFilter Media]

ALYSSA: Welcome to Breakfast in Beauclair. My name is Alyssa and I have two guests joining us for today's discussion on Chapter 2 of Blood of Elves. My first guest is a voice actor, she is the founding member of LTM Voiceover Workshops if you've remembered that I've talked about them in some of the previous episodes of the podcast. It's Lindsay Fawn from the US!

LINDSAY: Hi.

ALYSSA: Hi, Lindsay. How are you doing?

LINDSAY: Good.

ALYSSA: Lovely. My second guest is someone who is familiar to the Breakfast in Beauclair community. She is the founder of Vengerberg Glamarye. She is also on Twitch as aretuzadropout. She's a wilderness first responder, jack of all trades, and identifies as a local angry hermit. She is Charlotte from Vengerberg Glamarye. Hi, Charlotte!

CHARLOTTE: Hey, Alyssa. Hi. Thank you so much for having me back.

ALYSSA: Yes! So excited to have you both here. So, Lindsay, welcome to Breakfast in Beauclair and also to the Witcher community. You and I have gotten to know each other through an initiative that you started, which I came across on Reddit. Could you tell us about LTM Voiceover and the work that you do?

LINDSAY: So, what we do is we aim to help current and aspiring voice actors get into the industry, develop their skills. We also hold workshops that are hosted by professionals in the industry. So, that's kind of what we offer. What we do is all free because we know that, especially when you're starting out, it's, it's not easy to start making money right away. And we're pretty much like a family. [Laughs]

ALYSSA: Yeah, it's, it's been so lovely. Just like being able to meet all these people that I forget they're all from Reddit, [laughs] but it's, it's so fun. It's been the light of, like, my Thursday for the last couple of months. And I'm really excited because I'm gonna be going from releasing podcast episodes every Thursday to just winding down the day with you guys in the evenings.

LINDSAY: Aww.

ALYSSA: And I think it'll make for, like, a really good podcast season. And everything that I've been able to learn from these workshops will, hopefully, better the quality of the podcast from this season and in future seasons as well. So, things like audio quality, editing, building skills as voice actor. I'm really grateful to have met you online and to spend all of my time with you.

LINDSAY: I'm really grateful to have met you! You're such an amazing person and I love you.

ALYSSA: Oh, thanks.

LINDSAY: You're welcome.

ALYSSA: You and I had connected about the Witcher specifically because, of course, it came out after a while that I host and produce a Witcher podcast.

LINDSAY: Mhmm.

ALYSSA: And you shared with me that you're also – that you're actually reading The Witcher books right now.

LINDSAY: Mhmm.

ALYSSA: So, how did you get into The Witcher? And where are you currently on the book series?

LINDSAY: So, I got into The Witcher because my husband had played the video games or some of them. He hadn't really gotten too far into it, but then we found out they were making a television show about it. So, we saw the show. My husband started playing the, the Witcher 3 and he got super into it. And I was like, “You know what? Why don't I just read the books?” And, you know, I kind of like to compare. I usually like to read the books first and then compare, but it didn't work out that way, unfortunately. But, yeah. So, I started the books and I just fell in love. And, right now, I am on Baptism of Fire. I don't know if I can say what's happening right now.

ALYSSA: [Laughs]

LINDSAY: I'm probably like a quarter or a third of the way through.

ALYSSA: Okay. Okay. Everyone in the hanza knows that that is my favorite book. [Laughs]

LINDSAY: [Chuckles]

ALYSSA: There's a – there's a passage in the last few pages of that book that I just have memorized in the back of my head. And it's easily become one of my favorite quotes from a book ever. So, Baptism of Fire holds a special place in my heart. I'm excited for you to keep going with the book series because it's – the first read through is genuinely so magical and so much fun.

LINDSAY: Mhmm. Yeah. And I'm excited to reread them and see everything that I, like, skipped over or, like, didn't realize was the thing. And that's – I'm really excited for that. So—

ALYSSA: Mhmm. 100 percent. Over the holidays, our community on Discord got very, very, very into Dungeons & Dragons.

LINDSAY: Yeah.

ALYSSA: So, our friend, Gary from Kentucky, who you guys might know from Discord and from the hanza is now running four games of D&D for our community. But you're also into D&D. How do you think collaborative storytelling in D&D has affected, let's say, your ability to do voice acting or improv? And how do you think those two things coexist?

LINDSAY: So, I actually think they are – they're very closely intertwined because… you don't have to do it this way but, when we are playing D&D with the voiceover group, each of our characters has a very specific voice and we use them all the time. So, we get to kind of practice, not just the voice because it's – voice acting isn't just about the sound that's coming out of your mouth. It's about, like, how you're telling the story with your inflections and your emphasis, and, and kind of making things feel a certain way. So, kind of being in the moment and having that story that just goes along and along and you're just kind of living within it, helps you figure out how to make those inflections with your voice to tell that story better. But, also, improv is also invaluable to that. It just – it not only makes you more, I guess, open and, and less inhibited, less embarrassed to kind of be yourself and, and be silly. But it also lets you think on your feet a little bit faster. And I think there's just so many aspects of it that you use when you're playing D&D that are just great.

ALYSSA: Yeah, I love that. It's been really fun to see our community just really open up in this collaborative storytelling dynamic. It's been so cool to just get to know everybody, not just obviously as themselves, but as their characters, whatever that may be. And it's been such a joy to play with everybody. But, yeah, it's, it's been so much fun.

LINDSAY: But didn't, didn't your character die?

ALYSSA: My character – oh, yeah. [Laughs]

LINDSAY: [Chuckles]

ALYSSA: So, for anybody who's listening along, you might have seen on the Breakfast in Beauclair Instagram that I kind of kept sharing pictures of a character that I'd hand drawn. I probably spent, like, 50 hours drawing this character before we even played a game. And her name was – her name was Gertie. Shout out to Christiaan from Canada and South Africa and Sarah C. from England and Gary, of course, who helped me craft this character. But I absolutely fell in love with her. And she played four games before she died in a really unfortunate accident. And I cried for a week. I was so upset and despondent for so long.

LINDSAY: Hmm.

ALYSSA: And then now, I’m playing as her mom, who is – who is an assassin basically. So, it's very, very interesting. But, yeah, that's why I stopped posting about her because I was just so sad.

LINDSAY: Aww.

ALYSSA: But, yeah. So, we're actually – it is currently Monday, February 15th. So, we are playing our 11th game tonight. And we’ll continue to play D&D games for the foreseeable future. So, if you're interested in getting involved with the Hanza D&D, make sure to let Gary from Kentucky know. He's on our Discord server. And you can see if there are any new games opportunities for you to get involved!

CHARLOTTE: Yeah, I definitely am interested. I feel like I missed out on the first time around just because I've been a little preoccupied. But I, I also play D&D. I just didn't get a chance to hop in on this round. So, soon.

ALYSSA: I'm sure – I'm sure Gary would love to have more players. And, actually, on that note—hi, Charlotte! How are you?

CHARLOTTE: Hi, I'm, I'm hanging in there. I'm hanging in there. I'm doing all right.

ALYSSA: Yeah.

CHARLOTTE: Yes.

ALYSSA: I mean you’ve been up to some new stuff since the last time we saw you. I think the last episode that you were on was Episode 10, I believe, for “A Shard of Ice”.

CHARLOTTE: Yes.

ALYSSA: And then you were also involved in the “Around the Table” YouTube series with the podcast as well. But I think it's been over a year of, like, podcasts time.

CHARLOTTE: Mhmm.

ALYSSA: And, a couple of new things since last time you're on the show: you started a Twitch channel—

CHARLOTTE: Yeah.

ALYSSA: Which is called aretuzadropout. I love it. And you've currently been playing the Witcher 1 every Wednesday for Witcher Wednesday. How's it going?

CHARLOTTE: Oh, god. I mean I’m, I'm doing it. I'm, I'm, I’m, I’m gonna – I'm gonna finish that game, I swear. Just, just because, at this point, like, I've mentioned it in several of my streams, like, I'm just rage completing it—

ALYSSA: Mhmm.

CHARLOTTE: —right now because it's just – I don't know if this is a popular opinion, but, like, I, I can't stand it. It's a terrible game. Like, I'm sorry CD Projekt Red. it is – it is awful. And I'm slogging through it. But I'm, I'm really enjoying getting to know Geralt 1.0—

ALYSSA: Mhmm.

CHARLOTTE: —at least, for the – you know, the gaming industry Geralt 1.0. The script writing is hilariously terrible. It's been about the interaction with the community for me mostly. Like, I enjoy playing the game, but I like it even more when people who've played it before, you know, join the stream while – you know, while I'm just like bumbling around and having no idea what the hell I'm doing, being like, “I don't know what's going on.” You know, some, somebody will chime in and be like, “Oh, I'm a pro. I played this three times. Just, just do this and everything will be easy.” And I'm like, “Oh, thanks, man.”

ALYSSA: I love it.

CHARLOTTE: So, it's, it's been – it's been a lot of fun getting to know people in the community through Twitch and, and through Discord. Like, those two – those two things have been really great outlets just for social interaction, and for a distraction from the isolation, and just the general miasma of the country at the moment. So, it's, it's been good.

ALYSSA: Actually, since the last time we've seen you, you've also launched, I think, two new scents for your Vengerberg Glamarye line. I believe, Ciri and Essi Daven.

CHARLOTTE: Oh, yes. Okay. Yeah, I couldn't remember if I had done that more recently or not. Time, time is weird right now. Time is very weird for me at the moment. But—

ALYSSA: It doesn't exist. There's no such thing as time right now.

CHARLOTTE: It’s a human construct. It doesn't matter. But, yeah, I suppose I have. I released Ciri, I think, a couple of years ago. And, Essi, I – okay. So, Essi was kind of a issue just because I, I had mixed feelings about releasing a fragrance or a character that had died during a plague. right at the beginning of Corona.

ALYSSA: That's, that's fair.

CHARLOTTE: It was – it was a little bit…

ALYSSA: On the nose?

CHARLOTTE: Yeah. And I – you know, obviously, I had no idea that that was gonna happen, but I, like, still needed to release the product, regardless. So, I, I was concerned that some people might think that it was in bad taste. But it turns out our community's really cool and, like, understanding. And, you know, they're not – they don't think I'm trying to be like, “Oh, ho, ho,” you know, I'm releasing Essi Daven because there's a plague. You know, like—

ALYSSA: Yeah.

CHARLOTTE: But, yes, I did. I released Ciri and Essi. Essi is actually – it’s, it's a pretty popular one, too. People responded really well to both of them. So, I'm pleased that everybody likes them. I worked really hard on them.

ALYSSA: Just for our listeners who might not have – who might not have seen the new releases, what are the scents in those two fragrances?

CHARLOTTE: Oh, yes. So, Ciri, she, in the books, is only described as having a scent at the very beginning. There's another point in the books where she describes, like, what she would want her bath water scented with, but I didn't go with that one for this particular scent. I went with what she was described as smelling like by Geralt. And Geralt thought she smelled – as a child when he met her in the woods, he like picked her up and he thought she smelled like a little wet bird, basically, like a wet sparrow. Or maybe it was a wet swallow. I'm not sure. Well, I think it was probably a swallow because, you know—

ALYSSA: Mhmm.

CHARLOTTE: But I had to imagine what that would smell like. And, to me, you know, birds smell of trees and green things and arboreal stuff. So, I went with a cedar and elderflower blend that also has a bit of balsam fir in it. So, it's very woody. It's very green, fresh, arboreal, and it has a little bit of a floral hint to it. It's not – it's not a very floral perfume. It's much more woodsy than anything else. But it's not smoky. It's just very – it’s very green and fresh. It kind of reminds me of what – I don't know – like, an evergreen forest would smell like after a snowfall. That—

ALYSSA: Yeah.

CHARLOTTE: That's what I was going for. And it smells very different on the skin. Like, when you put it on, it warms up and you get more of that, like, warm, rich, kind of multifaceted Himalayan cedar fragrance, which is really nice.

ALYSSA: And I think you nailed the winter vibe. It smells so, so beautiful. And it has, as you said, like, a very fresh feeling to it that I think just immediately brings to mind, like, a winter forest.

CHARLOTTE: The resiny, piney stuff is not necessarily, like, for everybody, but I personally like it quite a bit. I like smelling like a – like a tree. So, like—

ALYSSA: [Laughs]

CHARLOTTE: I’m into it. And Essi, you know, in the book she's described as smelling like verbena. And verbena is a very bright, lemony, citrusy fragrance. Sort of like a mix between, like, lemongrass and lemon. And it's got a green note to it too. It's very fresh and bright. And I added a little bit of a marine ozone undertone to it. So, I don't know if you've ever smelled those perfumes that are called, like, “Acqua Du Blu” or, like, “Blu, the water of the tears of Athena” or, like, something like that. You know, all the ones that say like Blue in the title, they use – they use this undertone of marine and ozone. And ozone this like – it's really hard to describe honestly. You would – you would just have to smell it. But, if you've ever smelled any of those “Blu” perfumes, you’ll know – you’ll know what I mean. It's like watery. So, it's a nice, like, watery blue, aquamarine, bright, citrusy, lemony thing going on. And I, I think it turned out really nicely. I like it quite a bit.

ALYSSA: Yeah, I think it's, it's always so magical when I get one of your packages. And I open it up and it's just like, “Oh, my god, this just transports me right to the ocean.”

CHARLOTTE: Yay.

ALYSSA: And it's so beautiful. I, I can't even describe it. Like—

CHARLOTTE: It's wild.

ALYSSA: It's just so – I don't know. I'm making wild gestures that you can't actually see in a podcast and just imagining – really just imagining the ocean that, that I see from, from Essi Daven’s short story but just like blue skies. That's what it reminds me of. It's just blue skies. It's so, so lovely and has, like, a very bright and, again, fresh smell.

CHARLOTTE: Mhmm.

ALYSSA: I think – I think both Ciri and Essi’s are just very fresh and fragrant.

CHARLOTTE: Yeah. Yeah, I will say this. I've had a lot of people ask me about unisex fragrances and/or “like male” or, you know, marketed to men fragrances.

ALYSSA: Mhmm.

CHARLOTTE: And, usually, I'm just, like, fragrance doesn't have a gender. You can wear whatever you want. If you don't like being associated with a female character, you know, that, that's your deal. But, Ciri and Essi as well as Philippa, those three are all – like, they're very unisex. Like, they're not floral. That's typically, you know, what people mean when they're like, “Do you have a guy's fragrance?” or, like, “I don't want to smell like a flower shop or something,” which I don't understand. Everybody should smell—

ALYSSA: Yeah.

CHARLOTTE: Everyone should smell good in my opinion.

ALYSSA: Yeah.

CHARLOTTE: But, yeah, Ciri and Essi are both – anybody can wear them.

ALYSSA: Yeah, I definitely agree with that. Today, we'll be discussing Blood of Elves Chapter 2. And, in Chapter 2, the sorceress, Triss Merigold, arrives the Kaer Morhen to help the witchers navigate new changes in their ward, Ciri. The chapter opens with a brief introduction, of course, that Sapkowski does, of two contrasting excerpts from books. And the first one is an excerpt from an anonymous source from a book called Monstrum, or Description of the Witcher. In which it says:

“Verily, there is nothing so hideous as the monsters, so contrary to nature, known as witchers for they are the offspring of foul sorcery and devilry. They are rogues without virtue, conscience or scruple, true diabolic creations, fit only for killing. There is no place amidst honest men for such as they. And Kaer Morhen, where these infamous beings nestle, where they perform their foul practices, must be wiped from the surface of this earth, and all trace of it strewn with salt and saltpetre.”

The contrasting one, which I love that Sapkowski does this, not just in this chapter, but in other chapters as well. He gives us a excerpt from a book called Meditations on Life, Happiness and Prosperity, written by the in universe character, Nicodemus de Boot. And it says:

“Intolerance and superstition has always been the domain of the more stupid amongst the common folk and, I conjecture, will never be uprooted, for they are as eternal as stupidity itself. There, where mountains tower today, one day there will be seas; there where today seas surge, will one day be deserts. But stupidity will remain stupidity.”

So, this is the frame that we get for the rest of the chapter. What do you guys think is there for readers when they first encounter this? Why do you think he would choose these two things to introduce the rest of the chapter?

LINDSAY: When I first read that part, before the chapter, I didn't know what they were about to go into. And then, when I finally got there, I was like, “Oh, that makes a lot of sense.” They referenced this book later in the chapter when, when Ciri and Triss happen upon something relevant to that. I guess I'll leave it at that till we get there. But I was surprised because, coming from the show, it seemed like people had a much more, like, visceral, angry, violent reaction to witchers than they do, overall, in the books. I think people have mixed feelings and there are definitely some people who dislike witchers, and some people who are indifferent, and some people who are like, “Oh, we need to hire a witcher”, things like that.

ALYSSA: Mhmm.

LINDSAY: So, I think that's really cool, but, very, very much so, we get to this part where we realize that people really have, in the past, especially not like witchers at all. And, I guess, you, you'll see what happens as a result of that passage in the Monstrum.

CHARLOTTE: For me, these two passages, it's that – it's that thing that Sapkowski does, where he takes elements from his fantasy world and reflects reality in it. And, like, reflects things that are that are going on in the real world with it. When I read these passages, I can't help but relate it to current events. And these two passages just sort of encapsulate things that have happened throughout human history just in general. It's like a nice little summary—

ALYSSA: Mhmm.

CHARLOTTE: —of the constant battle between people who have one opinion and people who have another.

ALYSSA: Yeah.

CHARLOTTE: But, you know – and, also, like, there's that aspect of it, but having, you know, read through the books prior to this, and played the games, and, and been so saturated in, like, the story of The Witcher, you know, when I read through these, I'm just kind of like, “Yeah. Yeah, everybody hates them. Yeah. Yeah, people are dumb. We know. Like, they’re, they're monsters. Wooh,” you know. Like – and then some people are like, “Actually, they're really cool.” It's like the guy that wrote the first description, obviously, came across a bad one.

ALYSSA: Yeah.

CHARLOTTE: And the guy that wrote the second description, obviously, came across, you know, Geralt or, like, Vesemir or something, you know.

ALYSSA: Mhmm.

CHARLOTTE: It’s just there's, there's these differences in, in all of society. It's fascinating.

ALYSSA: I think that's one of the reasons why I like revisiting The Witcher books every once in a while. It’s because, every time you read it, there’s just different passages slap different every single time.

CHARLOTTE: Exactly.

ALYSSA: Oh, gosh, like, like, sections like this. I think there was something else that I read recently that I was like, “Oh, no, that feels too on the nose right now.”

CHARLOTTE: [Chuckles]

ALYSSA: Yeah, I, I really love going back and looking at the stuff with fresh eyes every, every couple months or every year.

CHARLOTTE: Yeah, going, going back to those core stories that, like, you really resound with, like, for me, it's – for me, it's Lord of the Rings. Like, I love The Witcher. I do. But, like, for me, the, the story that I keep going back to and rereading at different stages of my life is Lord of the Rings. And it's just interesting how, when you reread a story that – I don't know – you haven't read since you were, like, 12, or 13, depending on where you are in your life and, like, the things that are happening around you, you just see it in a completely different way.

ALYSSA: Mhmm.

CHARLOTTE: And, yeah, it's, it depends on the reality around you how these words from these authors resound.

ALYSSA: Yeah, but I do appreciate the timelessness of it as well. I think both, you know, The Witcher, Lord of the Rings, plenty of other fantasy series do this as well. I think we've discussed this before on the podcast, but the ability of fantasy to, as you said, mirror current events or just mirror reality in a way that it's kind of packaged for, you know, popular consumption, but it really does cause us to reflect and mirror back on, on society, which I think just, just adds to the gravity and adds to the revelations that we experience every time we revisit these things.

CHARLOTTE: And that, that's why I think this passage is – even though it does seem like he's, you know, skipping records sometimes talking about witchers and superstition, it's like this – it, it just encapsulates all of that. You know, it, it can help people to process whatever it is they're going through if they happen to see it mirrored in, in a story. And, like, that's why I think authors retelling these, these, you know, kind of simplistic storylines, like, you know, bad guy versus good guy, or, you know, monster, is it really a monster. Things that make you question your perspective. And that's exactly what he does at the very beginning of the book. It’s like here are two opposing perspectives. Now, here's what actually happened, you know.

LINDSAY: When you talked about Lord of the Rings and going back to that at different points in your life and how things just kind of hit differently, you know, depending on what's going on in the world, what's going on in your life, I think that's so relevant and it's so exciting to be able to just see that in other people as well. I don't know if you guys have ever had the chance to do this. But my son read The Lord of the Rings last year, I think.

CHARLOTTE: Oh, my god.

LINDSAY: He's, he's 10 now.

LINDSAY: And, when it got to that part where the orcs all go into the trees, and they all just disappear. And the line is like, like, “They're never seen again or they’re never heard from again.” And that, for me, hit like – I was like, oh, my gosh, the trees, like, just like – it just made me so in awe of how powerful they were. And it didn't hit him the same way. I don't think he kind of understood the gravity of, like, what had just happened. So, I'm excited for when he's older to see, like, what happens in his life. Like, what sort of things he, like, goes through and then have him – having him reread that and see if it hits him different depending on, like, his life and all that. So, that's honestly really exciting and I think that's a really, really great observation about, you know, fantasy books or books in general.

CHARLOTTE: That's so cool. That's so neat that you get to see that.

LINDSAY: Yeah, I’m, I'm really excited.

CHARLOTTE: I'm like I will probably never have children. Like, I might adopt, but, like, that right there, what you just described, is like, “Ooh, yeah, might, might want to consider a child of some kind.” [Laughs] Like, maybe.

ALYSSA: Just keep reading it to your cats. And maybe the – maybe it'll be different for them every couple of years.

CHARLOTTE: I’ll just keep forcing—

LINDSAY: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I think—

CHARLOTTE: —I forcing my friends—

LINDSAY: —it’s the same really.

CHARLOTTE: —to watch Lord of the Rings with me, like, every three months, the extended edition. All three in one sitting.

ALYSSA (VOICEOVER): Before we continue with the episode, we're gonna hand it over to Lars from WitcherFlix for recent news on the Netflix show. When we come back, Lindsay, Charlotte, and I will continue our discussion of Blood of Elves, Chapter 2.

“Tidings from Toussaint”

[“Tidings from Toussaint” theme music by MojoFilter Media]

LARS FROM WITCHERFLIX: Hey, it's Lars from WitcherFlix and this is "Tidings from Toussaint". Welcome back everybody! We're on the home stretch when it comes to the filming for Season 2! Finally! So let's jump right into it.

First, let's start with the biggest news of the last two weeks: Several castings were officially announced by Netflix together with some interesting character descriptions. Among these new characters were some fan favorite ones from the book Blood of Elves. Let's see. Mother Nenneke, the head priestess of the Temple of Melitele in Elander will be played by Adjoa Andoh who's recently gained popularity in the Netflix show "Bridgerton". According to Netflix: "As a Priestess, Nenneke is a mother figure to many lost travelers who find themselves seeking refuge at the gates of Melitele Temple. She has nursed many, including Geralt, back to health with her elixirs, ointments, and level-headed advice." Geralt is mentioned in this character description. Could this mean that Nenneke and Geralt will meet in Season 2, just like in the short story "The Voice of Reason"? Another important character that was cast is the sorceress Philippa Eilhart. She will be played by British actress Cassie Clare who was in TV shows such as "Brave New World" or "Ransom". Netflix wrote the following about the character: "Equal parts charming and conniving, Philippa Eilhart is a primary advisor to Redania's King Vizimir. Her ability to figuratively — and literally — shapeshift through courts and parties alike makes her one of the most influential sorceresses within the Continent's politics." The third big casting announcement was Scottish actor Graham McTavish, who is famous for his role on "Outlander" and in the Hobbit trilogy. He will play the Redanian spymaster Sigismund Dijkstra. This is what Netflix has to say about Dijkstra: "As head of the Redanian Intelligence secret service, double crossers and ne'er do wells all over the Continent know Sigismund Dijkstra's name when whispered. His impressive style and physical strength are second to his knowledge of kings and mages and getting everything he wants." Actor Kevin Doyle known for his work on "Downton Abbey" will play a show-only elven character named Ba'Lian. His description reads as follows: "Having escaped violent round-ups in the North, Ba’lian is one of many elves seeking safe refuge in unexpected places on the Continent. Brave and principled, his journey intersects with some surprising characters, who are inspired by his refusal to go down without a fight." The sadistic mage Rience will be played by Chris Fulton who played a role on "Bridgerton" recently. This is what Netflix writes about his character: "A sadistic mage with a penchant for fire, Rience is employed by a mysterious lord in order to hunt down a prized jewel. His cruel tactics leave deep scars wherever he goes… though he’ll try in vain to escape without some of his own." Last but not least we also have actors for one of the most iconic duos of the Witcher books: Codringher and Fenn will also appear in Season 2 of The Witcher. While Codringher will be played by Simon Callow, Liz Carr will play his colleague Fenn. Here is Netflix's description for the two: "Partners-in-crime — ostensibly, solving crime — Codringher and Fenn deal in the business of information: gathering, knowing, revealing, and even burying, for the right price. Codringher acts as the face of the business, while Fenn stays buried in her research; neither have ever been presented with a mystery as all-encompassing as the one about to drop into their Dorian office."

Wow, that was a lot. In other news, at a new Witcher set on Saunton Beach in Devon, UK, some very dark and nightmarish looking black riders were spotted. Their horses wore detailed armor, as well as the riders themselves. They also wore helmets that disguised their faces completely and they held very sinister weapons in their hands. Thanks to Redanian Intelligence we know the identity of these black riders: In Season 2 we will meet the Wild Hunt for the first time. They are especially famous for their appearance in the Witcher games, but they play a very important role in the books, too. Let Geralt himself explain what the Wild Hunt is all about: "It’s a pretty description of the hideous phenomenon that is the Wild Hunt, the curse of several regions. An inexplicable, collective madness, compelling people to join a spectral cavalcade rushing across the sky. I’ve seen it. Indeed, it often occurs during the winter. I was offered rather good money to put an end to that blight, but I didn’t take it. There’s no way of dealing with the Wild Hunt…" This quote is from the short story "A Shard of Ice" from the book "The Sword of Destiny". So it is the perfect timing for the show to introduce the Wild Hunt in season 2.

Last but not least, there is also some Witcher: Blood Origins news to report. We now have our second lead actor beside Jodie Turner-Smith as Éile. Irish actor Laurence O'Fuarain, who was part of "Vikings" or the movie "Black 47", will play a warrior named Fjall. Netflix posted an official character description for him as well: "“Born into a clan of warriors sworn to protect a King, Fjall carries a deep scar within, the death of a loved one who fell in battle trying to save him. A scar that won't let him settle, or make peace with himself or the world around him. In his quest for redemption, Fjall will find himself fighting beside the most unlikely of allies as he carves a path of vengeance across a continent in turmoil.”

Anyway guys, that's it for me for today. I hope you all stay safe and well. We'll talk again in the next episode of Breakfast in Beauclair. Until then, thanks again for listening and good luck on the path!

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Episode Sponsor: Mahakam Workshop

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ALYSSA: One of my favorite things about the Witcher fandom is the creativity and craftsmanship that the Continent inspires. This episode of Breakfast in Beauclair is brought to you by our dear friend Lale from Mahakam Workshop. Mahakam is a little artisan workshop inspired by medieval fantasy worlds like The Witcher and historical illuminated manuscripts, offering a combination of handmade products and original designs for print products. To see Lale’s work and pick up a manuscript print, apparel, a custom handmade game board, or the Nilfgaardian shower curtain of your dreams, visit Mahakam Workshop on Etsy at etsy.com/shop/MahakamWorkshop or on Redbubble at mahakamworkshop.redbubble.com.

For this episode, Lale has generously donated one of his "Griffin vs Geralt of Rivia" prints to raffle off to the hanza!

  • One grand prize winner will receive Mahakam Workshop's "Griffin vs Geralt of Rivia" print plus a Breakfast in Beauclair 2-piece Enamel Pin Set, and a Breakfast in Beauclair 5-piece Sticker Set.

  • Three second prize winners will receive a Breakfast in Beauclair 2-piece Enamel Pin Set and a Breakfast in Beauclair 4-piece Sticker Set.

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And every prize package will also come with a handwritten note from me!

The raffle is open globally starting today Thursday, April 1, 2021 and will close Wednesday, April 14, 2021 at 12:01AM EST. Enter at bit.ly/mahakamraffle. There are no additional requirements to enter. Good luck!

Discussion

ALYSSA (VOICEOVER): Hey, everyone! Welcome back from the break. When we left off, we had discussed the chapter’s opening excerpts from Monstrum and Meditations on Life, Happiness, and Prosperity.

ALYSSA: In the next section, on the way to Kaer Morhen, Triss meets Ciri on the trail leading to the keep. Now, we get to the actual plot and meat of the chapter. It starts with, with Triss Merigold, who we have not met previously. We've heard her referenced here and there. I believe, Yennefer referred to Triss in one of the short stories by saying like, “Oh, my friend, Triss Merigold says yada yada about men.” And we also heard about her in “Something More” in which Geralt climbed Sodden Hill and saw the obelisk in which her name was engraved along with all of the dead sorcerers that were – that were part of the second battle of Sodden. But, as we see, she did not die at that battle and she is here on her way to the keep. We hear a little bit more about magic firsthand. And she comes across Ciri on what they call the Trail, which is a path that goes around the fortress in which she notes that previous generations of witchers had referred to as ‘the killer’. Yeah. So, she comes across Ciri. Ciri takes a tumble at some point. And Triss had mistaken her for a boy and was very surprised to see that she was a girl. And she kind of susses out Ciri, does a couple magic checks on her to see if she's undergone the Trial of the Grasses, which is the process that turns human boys into witchers and she hasn't. So, up until this point, Triss has continued on toward Kaer Morhen and has come across Ciri. Ciri does seem to be a relatively normal human girl.

LINDSAY: Yeah. So, my first thoughts when Tris is talking about magic, and how she could do this thing, and she could do that thing to keep herself warm and all this stuff. But she said that she prefers not to. And I thought that was really interesting. And then, later, she – I think she uses her – she uses something to heal Ciri’s knee after Ciri had fallen. And she says her hands are really itchy. So, it's interesting to see kind of the perspective of a sorceress who, I guess, was hesitant to use it and, and kind of – that, that it's not just as easy as – easy as magic, I should say.

ALYSSA: Yeah.

LINDSAY: And I don't – I don't know what that's all about yet. I don't know if I find out what that's all about, but I thought that was really cool to see. It's not just, you know, straightforward. It's not speak some words and things happen.

ALYSSA: Yeah. We will hear more about that in Chapter 4 of Blood of Elves. So, that is something in which you get a whole… load full, I guess I could say, which, I guess, if you've read Chapter 4, that'll be a little too – a little inappropriate. But we do get a load full of why Triss is the way that she is when it comes to magic.

CHARLOTTE: Yeah, I thought it was interesting that they or that, that Sapkowski started off her character building by making it clear that Triss is actually – she, she has, like, quite astounding magical power, but she has this reluctance to use them.

ALYSSA: Mhmm.

LINDSAY: Yeah.

CHARLOTTE: Yeah, I found that – I found that to be an interesting just little tidbit as far as like, “Hello, this is Triss. You're getting introduced to this new character. And, uh, she could, but she's not gonna do it.”

ALYSSA: It's interesting that you bring that up because, I think, like, the reluctance to power is a really interesting quality for characters in general. I guess it sets up her eventual hero's journey even as a secondary or tertiary character throughout the books in a really lovely way. So, starting with our acknowledgement of her being introduced as Yennefer’s friend and as the Fourteenth One of the Hill—

CHARLOTTE: Mhmm.

ALYSSA: —through the rest of the series.

CHARLOTTE: He seems to imply that she's very hardy. You know, that she's been – he states that she's been sleeping, you know, on the ground in uninhabited parts of this, like, mountainous region for days. And she's still – she's still going up there. For, for some reason, she's still – she's still heading up there. So—

LINDSAY: Yeah. And I think that's funny as well because I mean, as soon as Ciri falls, I think Triss falls like right after her.

CHARLOTTE: Mhmm.

ALYSSA: Yeah.

LINDSAY: So, she's, like, had this arduous trip and she's, you know, doing all this stuff. And it’s very cold. And it's – and it's like days and she's sleeping on the ground. And then, like, a tree is on the floor and she just kind of trips on it and hurts her ankle. Like, of all these things and, now, she fell.

ALYSSA: Yeah, it's cool to see, like, how magic is used in these much smaller ways. We heard, as I said, about the Battle of Sodden. We saw Yennefer trying to wield magic in order to rein in a djinn. We've seen other things, but, like, nothing quite as mundane as, like, fixing trousers or keeping yourself warm, which I think shows a little bit more about, like, the day-to-day practical uses of magic. But there is actually a note here when Triss – I almost said Yennefer – when Triss is trying to gauge Ciri’s normalcy, I suppose. The excerpt says that she sends, like, a magical impulse to Ciri somehow. At least, in the English translation, it doesn't really detail much more than that. But she notes that she doesn't see anything, meet any resistance, or get some sort of impulse back. That's another interesting note that she can use her own magic in order to sense magic in others.

LINDSAY: When she first sees Ciri, she thinks that Ciri’s a boy. And she kind of, like, sighs and she's like, like, “Ah, he's so young. Of course, they're doing this. They haven't – they haven't done this in so long and, now, they have this, like, 12-year-old kid running the Trail.” And I think that's funny because I think, earlier in the book or the previous book, Geralt also assumes that, that his destiny is a boy.

ALYSSA: Mhmm.

LINDSAY: And, and I think that it's – people don't expect this central character that – who everything kind of revolves around to be a female character, a strong female character. Everyone's just like, “Oh, it's a boy. It's a boy. It's a boy.” No, it's not. Ciri is a girl. And then we get to kind of see a little bit of that stuff later on in the chapter as well where, “Yeah, she's definitely a girl.” And she definitely goes through girl things—

ALYSSA: Yeah.

LINDSAY: —that a lot of books don't talk about.

CHARLOTTE: Yeah.

ALYSSA: Actually, this just came to mind right now, but Ciri is actually about the same age as your son. I think, at this point in the book, she's about like, 10 to 12 or so.

LINDSAY: Mhmm.

ALYSSA: I don't really have, like, a frame of reference for, like, what that means for a child or, like, where they are developmentally.

LINDSAY: Mhmm.

ALYSSA: So, like, what is that to you as, like, the mother of someone who is about the same age as Ciri in the books right now?

LINDSAY: So, a lot of the things that I read about Ciri and all the things she's going through, kind of make me see it in that perspective. Like, as a mother, it's a difference. I have a boy. But seeing those same things growing into them as far as asserting their independence and kind of that concept of privacy, which is new around that that age, and, and the things that she kind of goes through and she, she perseveres, that’s different from somebody – that I would expect of somebody that young.

ALYSSA: Mhmm.

LINDSAY: It's almost sad. It makes me really sad sometimes. She's obviously latched on to Geralt really strongly. She wants to be like him. She wants to be, you know, a witcher. And just imagining a normal child of that age going through what she's going through wouldn't be as, you know, well-adjusted or anything like that. I think that makes her really special.

ALYSSA: Mhmm.

CHARLOTTE: I thought it was a good way for Sapkowski to set up this chapter as centering around the expectations of gender performance. Like, in my mind, this entire chapter is a commentary on gender expectations and gender performance, like, just in general—

ALYSSA: Mhmm.

CHARLOTTE: —like, for both Ciri, and for the witchers, and for Triss, and, like, the sorceresses. It's, it's really interesting. The little, like, pepperings of descriptions that he puts in there to really set you up for like, “Oh, Triss thought Ciri was a boy. Oh, whoopsy, actually – oh, guess what? Recurring theme. Big surprise. It's a girl.” You know, like, I just – that’s, that's what I – that's what I saw, you know, when I saw that. I was like, “Oh, okay, she's breaking gender norms. Here we go.”

LINDSAY: And I think that that's almost comical in a way.

ALYSSA: Yes.

LINDSAY: It's very relatable because it's not just Triss’ expectation of Ciri being a boy and Geralt’s expectation of Ciri being a boy. And, and then, you know, Triss’ reaction to Ciri’s clothes that are so ill-fitting. And she's just, like, so annoyed that they would put her in such, like, drab, ill-fitting clothes. And then the witcher is thinking there's nothing wrong with it. Like, “What's wrong with her clothes? She's been fine.” I think that, especially seeing the difference between, like, a father and a mother and the way they dress children, like, I can't count how many times my kids have come out of their room after my husband got them clothes and it's like a giant t-shirt that belongs – like, the younger ones wearing the older ones’ clothes and, and pants that I don't even know where he got them from because I've had them put away for, like, a year because they don't fit. And, and he doesn't think there's anything wrong with that. And, so, I saw that a lot in this. The witchers are just like, “Well, I don't – I don't get it. What's the problem? It's fine.” And Triss is like, “No, it's not fine. She, she can't wear these clothes. They're, they're giant and they don't fit her. And what is wrong with you?” So, I think that that's all very relatable as far as, you know, differences in, in, you know, gender expectations and gender norms. So, yes, very comical. Very relatable.

CHARLOTTE: I remember thinking that it was – Triss was really impressed with her first glimpses of Ciri. That, that's what I remember the most.

ALYSSA: Yeah.

CHARLOTTE: It was that, like, her descriptions of Ciri flitting across this log, not even using her arms to run – I would imagine doing the Naruto runs.

ALYSSA: [Laughs]

CHARLOTTE: Do you know what I'm talking about? With, like, the arms out to the side.

LINDSAY: I imagined that I too.

CHARLOTTE: Like, like, zoom. You know, just, like, zooming across the log and, like, jumping around. She's like, “Wow. This kid is like – this kid is an acrobat. This kid is, like, insanely nimble and agile.”

ALYSSA: I, I think there's a certain element of fearlessness at that age, though, I think, which is coupled with the way that the witchers are raising her. But I think there's just a unique fearlessness up until you get to a certain age, which I greatly respect and admire.

CHARLOTTE: They're also made out of rubber at that point, I imagine. So, they're still made out of rubber at that age.

ALYSSA: Oh, 100 percent.

CHARLOTTE: They bounce off everything.

ALYSSA: Can you verify, Lindsay?

LINDSAY: I can verify a little bit. I think there's – yeah, I can verify that a little bit. But they get to a certain age where that kind of stops and they have a realization of their own mortality.

CHARLOTTE: Oooh.

LINDSAY: But, before that happens, you just kind of wonder, like, what did you think was gonna happen when you did that? Because, you know, they just do whatever they want to do, regardless of how much it hurts them and how many ER trips I've had because of this or that. Thankfully, Ciri hasn't had anything too serious. But she, obviously, has that sort of “I'm invincible, I can do anything” mentality and that has not gone away yet. And I kind of hope that it doesn't.

ALYSSA: Yeah, definitely, a combination of nature and nurture, I think, at this point as we’ll – as we'll see. At this point, Triss puts Ciri onto her horse and they start to ride the last little stretch toward Kaer Morhen. And, on the way, Ciri asks Triss about the skeletons that are around the keep. Triss, although she acknowledges that there was a massacre at Kaer Morhen in which all the witchers died, she doesn't tell Ciri any of the gruesome details and resolves to herself privately that she's not going to. Unexpectedly, Ciri begins to speak in a voice that's not hers and starts saying all of this stuff that she, you know, shouldn't know and that doesn't really make much sense. But I will say that Peter Kenny's rendition of this in the audiobooks is excellent.

CHARLOTTE: Oh, it's spine tingling. It's, it's great.

ALYSSA: [Chuckles] I'll talk about that later. Yeah. Ciri says:

“They don't want to be like that. They don't want to be a symbol, a bad conscience, or a warning. But neither do they want their dust to be swept away by the wind. An ordinary barrow, a mound of earth which will be overgrown with nettles. Death has cold blue eyes and the height of the obelisk does not matter, nor does the writing engraved on it matter. Who can know that better than you Triss Merigold, the Fourteenth One of the Hill? You died on the hill Triss Merigold. Why have you come here? Go back. Go back at once and take this child, the Child with the Elder Blood, with you. Return her to those to whom she belongs, do this Fourteenth One. Because, if you do not, you will die once more. The day will come when the hill will claim you. The mass grave and the obelisk on which your name is engraved will claim you.”

Reading this, it has that very eerie vibe to it. Peter Kenny does a very impressive job. He's the narrator of the audiobooks. And, listening to it this morning, he's able to use his Scottish Ciri, this young Scottish 12-year-old girl's voice, and then just gradually morph into something borderline demonic. But it still sounds like Ciri. It's, it's so cool. I don't know if you've listened to the audiobooks yet, Lindsay. But I feel like you'd really enjoy them for the performance alone.

CHARLOTTE: They're fantastic.

LINDSAY: Oh, I'll have to look into it. I have not. I, I prefer to read books myself. But, I mean, that sounds incredible. And I would love to hear that. If not the whole thing, that part.

CHARLOTTE: Mhmm. Highly recommended. Yeah.

ALYSSA: Yeah, super creepy prophecy and, uh… go.

LINDSAY: And go. [Laughs] Go where?

ALYSSA: Wherever your heart takes you. I don’t know.

LINDSAY: I think that, later on in the chapter, Triss kind of talks about, like, where Ciri belongs. And I didn't kind of connect the two until, I think, like, just now when, I guess, the prophecy says take her to who – to where she belongs, to who she belongs to, and then, later, Triss is like, “Why isn't she with the people she belongs with? There's Cintrans here and there's, there's this and that.” And I'm curious whether or not the prophecy spooked her enough to influence her saying that? I don't know. I'd love to hear your thoughts on that, either of your thoughts on that. And, also, she, she clearly doesn't want to tell Ciri because I feel like she might have some guilt as far as being associated with the people responsible for this massacre. They aided the people who killed all the witchers and, and, I think, that's probably also why she doesn't want to tell Ciri.

CHARLOTTE: Yeah, I have a note about that, too. Just prior to Ciri going into her trance, she was going over in her head what her role, you know, as I would imagine. I, I can't remember if the wizards and sorceresses are hereditary in this – in this series. I don't think they are. But, in any case, she has history and training from the people who are responsible for the massacre there.

ALYSSA: Mhmm.

CHARLOTTE: So, she's just coming to terms with her role in that even though she didn't actually play one. It was before her time, but, like, she learned about it and she knew about it. There, there’s a lot to unpack with Ciri’s prophecy. I can't remember, if prior to this, we had heard about Geralt reading Triss’ name.

ALYSSA: We, we did on Sodden.

LINDSAY: Mhmm.

ALYSSA: We did in “Something More”, the last short story.

CHARLOTTE: Okay. So, you get that little tidbit about Triss and you hear about her a little bit from Yen. But, in this prophecy, it's like, you know, what the hell do they mean she died? Is she reconstituted with magical power? Like, how much of her is actually real? Like, did she – was she misidentified? Did someone think a different body was hers? Like, why is her name even on that obelisk? And, like, what the hell is she doing here? It just puts this whole situation of, like, why. Why are they saying the hill is gonna fucking claim you? You know what I’m saying? [Chuckles]

ALYSSA: Mhmm.

CHARLOTTE: Like, why are they saying that Triss? What did you do? You know, what happened, girl?

ALYSSA: Yeah. [Laughs]

CHARLOTTE: And, like, you know, there's, there's that. And, throughout this series, like, the whole episodes where, like – all the episodes where Ciri has these moments of, like – of going into a trance and prophesizing, this is something that's really interesting to me, especially when it comes to just, like, folklore history and our own history throughout humanity with oracles and you know, soothsayers. And it, it actually brings up some stuff that's pretty highly personal for me. They – I think Triss describes the whole situation as, like, when Ciri comes out of it – you know, when, when she's done with the prophecy and she doesn't really know what happened, she has no recollection of anything she said. Triss says that, like, there was no – there, there’s no aura. There's nothing that she can detect afterwards. And, whenever the word aura is used, especially when it's in relation to, like, prophetic episodes like this, I immediately start thinking about the history of oracles and soothsayers and the history of people with epilepsy, specifically. I had a form of – I, I had seizures up until the time I was seven years old. I did not have epilepsy. I had something called partial complex seizures. But, epilepsy, it used to be called a ‘sacred’ disease because it enraptures people. It takes control of them. This is how it was described, you know, by people back in the day. It takes control of them. It bestows visions that can be heavenly or hellish. It is the realm of oracles and wise men. It was said that, when seizures overtook people, they were touched by the gods themselves. And, over time, people began to fear it. It literally became a sign of witchcraft and demonic possession. And, during the Inquisition, epileptics, people were – who were just having epileptic seizures, were burned at the stake in mass quantity. And, so, when I – when I read about Ciri going into these spells, I'm reminded very viscerally of my childhood, especially during the parts where she's coming out of it and she doesn't know what happened.

ALYSSA: Mhmm.

CHARLOTTE: And everyone around her is like, “What the fuck? You know, like, what the hell was that?” The type of seizures that I had were not the kind that you see in movies, which involve, you know, the – I think those are the – what are those – the grand mal seizures, where you're shaking violently. You know, your whole body is convulsing. Your eyes are rolling back in your head. There are different types of seizures and they don't all present the same. The kind that I had, I would literally just be doing a normal thing. And then I would just stop doing it. And it would be the lights were on, but there was nobody home. So, throughout my childhood, when I was raised, the teachers just thought I was spacing out and not paying attention. Like, the whole time that that was happening. They thought that there was something wrong with me, that I was stupid, that I wasn't paying attention. But the, the issue that I had was that it frightened people because I would also – my whole body would seize. So, I go into a state of, like, rigor mortis, basically. But my eyes would be open. I'd be breathing. I'd be blinking. But I would not be there. Like, my consciousness would be completely gone. And, as a result, you know, it, it scared most of the teachers and most of the kids around me. So, I didn't really have any friends growing up. And people thought that I was possessed. Like, straight up. Like, I had kids and parents, you know, say some pretty hurtful things to me because of that. But, in any case, like, I don't mean to get too far off the topic. But, like, whenever this happens to Ciri, it's always like – it always reminds me of that and of just, like, the history of how people were treated for having this. And, like, clearly, that, that, that plays into this book as well. You know, like, there, there were witch burnings and pogroms. And, you know, anybody that displayed anything even remotely different like a witcher or a Source is, you know, made a pariah, pretty much. They're just ostracized.

ALYSSA: I think it's really interesting to share the history of epilepsy and epileptics around this time period.

CHARLOTTE: The main thing for me that sort of connects it is the word ‘aura’. It's used in both, you know, magical language and in medical language because people who have seizures sometimes see what's called an aura right before it happens.

ALYSSA: Okay.

CHARLOTTE: So, as a child, I was constantly being asked, “Do you see an aura before it happens?” You know. So, that word – like, that word in particular is just like, you know, “Oh, Triss didn't feel any magical aura after the whole episode.” It’s just like – ugh. You know, just this, this, like, triggers so many, like, memories for me.

ALYSSA: Mhmm. It's definitely loaded with, obviously, all of that history when it comes to how people were treated, as you brought up, and then also just within fantasy in general. Yeah, I, I don't even know if you can, like – if it's possible to really divorce what Sapkowski’s written and the – and the plot that he's crafted for Ciri from the historical relevance that you've – that you've brought up as well as your own experiences.

CHARLOTTE: It's those seeds of reality that plant those roots for the fantasy. And they're not always the most pleasant seeds of reality.

LINDSAY: It kind of goes back to what we're talking about before just how relevant it is at any time period. I'm sure anyone, at any point in time, is reading this and can kind of relate to something that's happening in the world somewhere. And I think a lot of authors don't really have a grasp on, on how to bring that feeling and bring that, that kind of relevance, a timeless relevance.

ALYSSA: At this point, after Ciri’s prophesied and Triss verifies that there's no further magic from this child, they eventually make it to the keep.

ALYSSA (VOICEOVER): Before we meet the inhabitants of the keep, we’re going to end our discussion here. Join Lindsay Fawn from the US, Charlotte from Vengerberg Glamarye, and I in the next episode of Breakfast in Beauclair for our continued discussion of Andrzej Sapkowski’s Blood of Elves, Chapter 2.

Outro & Credits

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ALYSSA: Thanks for joining us at the breakfast table! For show notes, transcripts of each episode, and a complete list of our social platforms and listening services, head over to breakfastinbeauclair.com.

Breakfast in Beauclair is created by Alyssa from GoodMorhen. It’s hosted by Alyssa with the “Tidings from Toussaint” News Segment by Lars from WitcherFlix. The show is edited by Alyssa with music by MojoFilter Media.

Breakfast in Beauclair is produced by Alyssa in New York City with Luis of Kovir, The Owner of The Churlish Porpoise, Arix the Godling, Katie (The Redhead of Toussaint), Jacob B., Julie, Ayvo of Gulet, Bee Haven of the Edge of the World, Jacob Meeks, Charlotte from Vengerberg Glamarye, RedKite, The Original Roach, AerialKitty, Dustin, Libby, Clare Odell, Jennidy Mundilovitch, Katrin from Austria, Brett from California, Wolf, Corey from the US, and John of Ryblia.

Special thanks to Lindsay and Charlotte for joining us for this episode and our international hanza for their support.

Transcriptionist: Rachelle Rose Bacharo
Editor: Krizia Casil

 

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