Ep. 46 — Chapter 7 from "Blood of Elves" (Part 2)
Breakfast in Beauclair will return on Thursday, February 3, 2022!
Sarah A. from the UK and Alycia from France join Alyssa for Part 2 of our discussion of Andrzej Sapkowski’s first Witcher novel Blood of Elves, Chapter 7. Very important bits include: the strength and softness that Yennefer and Ciri bring out in each other; magic as chaos, art, and science; prophetic visions; lessons on intimacy and consent; Owls, Monkeys, and little Ugly Ones; Polish euphemisms; and—oh, yeah—the end of Blood of Elves and “HEY, GERALT, REMEMBER WHEN YOU DATED THAT HAG, YENNEFER?”
This episode is available at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and Stitcher.
In this Episode
[00:00] Cold Open
[00:42] Introduction
[05:37] Discussion
[46:14] “Tidings from Toussaint”
[50:08] Ad Read: The Hanza Discord
[50:40] Discussion
[1:17:36] Outro & Credits
Relevant Links
Transcript
Cold Open
ALYSSA: Yeah, and The Witcher does that beautiful, beautiful, beautiful—
SARAH: Oh, no, Alyssa, it’s happening again!
ALYCIA: We’re so close!
SARAH: Alyssa, no!
[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.
We’re at the end of the line, yet again. It’s been such a joy reading Blood of Elves with you. Thanks so much for being a part of the journey and joining the hanza as the podcast and our community grow.
Thank you so much to all of the guests and partners who made this season possible: Brett, Lindsay, Charlotte, Anita & Karolina, Lea, Madi, Josh, Erick, Garrison, Daniel, Sarah A., and Alycia. A special thanks, of course, to Lars from WitcherFlix for his partnership as our “Tidings from Toussaint” news correspondent and for just being a great friend.
Breakfast in Beauclair will return on Thursday, February 3rd, 2022. Join us for Season 4 as we cover Netflix’s Nightmare of the Wolf and “The Witcher” Season 2.
[Hanza-ween]
In the meantime, I know how I’m celebrating the end of the season! Our Hanzaween Halloween Party and Witcher closet cosplay contest is this Saturday, October 30th! I’ve got my costume set—got yours? Meet members of our community and join the party at the Hanza Discord at bit.ly/thehanzadiscord.
[Podcast Survey & Call for Guests]
Apply to be a guest on a future episode of the show at bit.ly/witcherguest and find this year’s podcast survey at bit.ly/listenersurvey2021. Take the survey quick! The ‘Thank You’ code for 15% off the Breakfast in Beauclair shop is good for just a few more days.
[Hanza Meetup: EDINBURGH 2022]
We’re still planning a hanza meetup for 2022! Join the Hanza Discord to join travel planning and coordination over the podcast break.
[Guest Appearances: “But Make It Scary” and “The Newest Olympian”]
While the podcast is away, you can catch me on a few other shows! I was recently a guest on “But Make It Scary”, a show where the host, Sequoia, and I took turns turning a 2004 rom-com into horror films. I had so much fun bringing Norse mythology into a classic! Look for “But Make It Scary” wherever you get your podcasts.
In December, I’ll also be a guest on an upcoming episode of Mike Schubert’s “The Newest Olympian”, a podcast that seeks to answer the question, "Is Percy Jackson the young adults series we should've been reading all along?” I loved reading the Percy Jackson and Heroes of Olympus series and if you love The Witcher and Breakfast in Beauclair, you’re going to love The Newest Olympian too. Follow Breakfast in Beauclair across social to be notified about the release!
[Patron Announcements]
We had one new patron squeak in for the last episode of the season today: welcome, Febe from the US, to our hanza on Patreon! As always, thank you to our patrons for making the show possible and to our producer-level patrons: Luis of Kovir, The Owner of The Churlish Porpoise, Arix the Godling, Katie (The Redhead of Toussaint), Jacob B., Ayvo of Gulet, Bee Haven of the Edge of the World, Charlotte from Vengerberg Glamarye, RedKite, The Original Roach, Codringher’s Cat, Libby, Clare Odell, Jennidy Mundilovitch, Brett from California, Wolf, Corey from the US, John of Ryblia, Sebastian von Novigrad, Tom from Australia, Jill Cate, The Tabby Witch, Olle from Sweden, James Carson III, and Kyle, the H2HOE.
I’m excited to announce that for this year’s exclusive Producer-level gift, I’m partnering with Amanda from Steeped in Lore to create three custom tea blends inspired by Breakfast in Beauclair and holidays on the Continent. If you’d like to explore becoming a patron of the show—and maybe receive next year’s producer gift, too—head over to patreon.com/breakfastinbeauclair.
[Episode Details]
As for this episode, Sarah A. from the UK and Alycia from France close out Part 2 of our discussion of Blood of Elves, Chapter 7. Join us as we discuss the strength and softness that Yennefer and Ciri bring out in each other; magic as chaos, art, and science; prophetic visions; lessons on intimacy and consent; Owls, Monkeys, and little Ugly Ones; Polish euphemisms; and—oh, yeah—the end of Blood of Elves and “HEY, GERALT, REMEMBER WHEN YOU DATED THAT HAG, YENNEFER?”
In our mid-episode news segment, “Tidings from Toussaint,” Lars from Witcherflix shares news about The Witcher Season 2, The Witcher: Blood Origin, and this year’s Lucca Comics & Games Festival.
Without further ado, let’s conclude our discussion of Blood of Elves, Chapter 7, and Breakfast in Beauclair Season 3.
Discussion
[Breakfast in Beauclair stinger by MojoFilter Media]
ALYSSA (VOICEOVER): When we left off, Ciri had flashed back to Yennefer’s arrival at the temple of Melitele and her most early days with the sorceress.
ALYSSA: Through the rest of the chapter, we flashbacked through Ciri's memories of the sorceress. Yennefer put Ciri through a series of tests, and after confirming her natural magical abilities, trains her. So, almost similarly to Ciri's training in Kaer Morhen, we get all of these little vignettes about what Ciri and Yennefer had been up to, you know, over the course of a couple of months to a year that they're here at the Temple of Melitele. This first section deals with Yennefer having Ciri do a bunch of paper tests in which, like, Ciri has to figure out the pattern of, like, “There are three stars, and then two stars, and then how many stars are next?” “Draw a house. Draw the fifth house.” Like that sort of thing, but there's two things notably here that Yennefer requires of Ciri as her apprentice. And the first is obedience and the second is sincerity. Yennefer says, "It's enough for you to disobey or lie to me, and we will cease this immediately.” This sincerity and obedience will go two ways. And Ciri is just like, "Can I ask just one question?" And Yennefer is like, "Okay?" And Ciri asks, "What is there between you and Geralt, Lady Yennefer." The chapter reads, "Ciri almost fainted. Horrified at her own impertinence, chilled by the silence which followed the question. The enchantress slowly approached her, placed her hands on her shoulders, looked her in the eyes from up close and deeply. ‘Longing,’ she answered gravely, ‘Regret, hope, and fear.’” And it kind of continues and Yennefer is like, "Yep. I think that's everything. Okay, so time for the tests." And it's just this moment of just I think, like, breathlessness even for the reader.
SARAH: Yeah. It really is because, like, you've just seen how Geralt is clearly such a point of contention with the battle of wills between Yennefer and Nenneke about it, and then even with, you know, Ciri and Yennefer. So, the fact that the Ciri just immediately is like, "What is between you and Geralt, Lady Yennefer?" And you're just like, "Oh, my god," because of all the things to ask she just flat out, no hesitation, immediately asks it as soon as she can. I love how even herself she's like, "Oh, fuck. Why did I ask that?"
ALYCIA: “I'm gonna get in trouble. I'm gonna get in trouble.”
ALYSSA: Yeah, but it's so notable that, like, Yennefer takes her seriously and gives her a real response.
ALYCIA: Yes, that's so important, I think for the foundation of their relationship, you know? Yennefer is all, like, complete honesty between us. And I think Ciri, like, immediately puts that to the test and asks the most, like, daredevil questions she could have asked, you know? And Yennefer delivers. She's all like, "Okay, I promise. So, I will answer you truthfully what I think," you know?
SARAH: It really is.
ALYCIA: I think, also Yennefer... Ciri probably heard some mentions of Yennefer when she was at Kaer Morhen. I can imagine Lambert being like, "Hey, remember when you dated that hag, Yennefer, Geralt!?" or something along those lines. I can definitely imagine that so, you know, like, I feel like she's, she’s heard that name before and is sort of like, interested about how they fit with each other.
SARAH: I feel like, Alyssa, the word you used, the ‘breathlessness’ for everyone, including the audience is, like, bang on, is exactly—especially the audience because we've seen Yennefer and Geralt. We've seen their relationship. We've seen the nice parts, and we've seen the ugly parts.
ALYSSA: Yeah.
SARAH: So, seeing the Ciri just ask it, and you're like, "Oh my God. She just said it. She just asked it immediately."
ALYSSA: Yeah.
SARAH: ‘Breathlessness’ is like— [gasps]
ALYSSA: “She said the quiet part out loud!”
ALYCIA: Oh my god.
ALYSSA: Oh, man. And it's, yeah, because we know what Yennefer is capable of, and if she wanted, she could smite Ciri off the face of the planet for asking such a question. But as I said, she responds to her with sincerity and honesty, which, as Alycia said, sets that foundation for their relationship. Unfortunately, this also means that Yennefer is sincere in a very different way. In the English translation, she continually refers to Ciri in this chapter as 'My little ugly one' or 'My ugly one.' An interesting note about this, I had heard complaints from Polish readers that, you know, this doesn't sit right with them. There’re a few things in the English translation that don't really make sense according to Polish readers, and this is one of them. When you're reading the books as an English reader, it seems a little cruel like—
SARAH: Yeah.
ALYSSA: —there's not a lot of affection with that. However. So, I did tap Cyprian, you might remember Cyprian from, I think, episodes 3 and 4 and 15 if I'm remembering correctly. He did give a little bit more context for the translation here and for another part that we'll get to as well. The word that Yennefer uses in Polish, it is spelled B-R-Z-Y-D-U-L-K-A. Bryzdulka, maybe? I think I might just end up downloading Polish for Duolingo just to understand how to pronounce things in Polish, but that's the best I can do for now. Cyprian says, I'm afraid there's no exact translation. It comes from brzydki meaning ugly. However, it's a more advanced ‘belittled’ form, but simultaneously in a cute way, if that makes any sense at all. Like, it's a diminutive form, like, for example, like, in Spanish, she would say like, gato for cat and gatito for kitten. It's like a very, like, cute thing. So yeah, in the original Polish, there's affection to it. And as well in other translations going online and, like, looking at a couple of forums and looking into it, it sounds like in Italian, they used 'little monkey,' instead of 'my ugly one.'
ALYCIA: Oh, that's very cute.
SARAH: That's really cute.
ALYSSA: And in German, apparently they use 'little owl.'
SARAH: Aw.
ALYSSA: Instead of 'my ugly one,' but Alycia you... you... you have a little note about what they say in French.
ALYCIA: It's not on the cute side of things. I had to check because I genuinely cannot remember what they said in French. I think my brain just sort of, like, erased it. She calls her laideron, which is not a nice word. I just typed into Google Translate to see what comes up in English. It just comes up with ugly, but it's sort of like an old word as well, which I guess makes sense in the setting, like, because of the translation, but what I would give only would be moche but that sounds too recent of a word.
ALYSSA: Yeah.
ALYCIA: Does that make any sense?
ALYSSA: Yeah.
ALYCIA: Okay. And laideron is really not something that you would use any other way than sort of, like, ironically, you know, being like, high up on your horse and being like, “Tu es un tel laideron,” you know, like, being like, “Oh!” You know what I mean? So, it gives out this really weird vibe of, like, don't call a kid, like, that!
ALYSSA: My god.
ALYCIA: No, it's not cute.
SARAH: Like, I'm not Polish at all. I don't really speak any other languages. I used to be able to, I've forgotten them all because of medicine. I was aware of the ugly one thing being kind of different. And it really frustrates me, especially—it frustrates me even more now knowing that you've said that in other languages they have other versions that are a lot nicer.
ALYCIA: Yeah.
SARAH: Like, little monkey.
ALYCIA: Yeah. And—
SARAH: Yeah.
ALYCIA: —apparently there are some words that cannot be translated and apparently, like, that one Polish word is, like, not translatable. And it's just very frustrating to not be able to understand, like, what the original meaning of that nickname was.
SARAH: Yeah, and, like, I wonder how many other instances because, I do not speak Polish, I do not read it, and I cannot understand the original words, how many little nuances that end up getting missed because of the differences—
ALYSSA: Yeah.
SARAH: —in the translation. And I know nothing about translation work here, but sometimes, maybe it's better instead of trying to do as literal translation as you can, like they've clearly done here with 'My ugly one,' to make it a little bit different, but have the meaning or the feeling of it be more correct like ‘little monkey.’ You might call a naughty child a cheeky monkey, or a little rascal.
ALYSSA: Yeah.
SARAH: Or something. I always thought it was meant to be more along those—yeah, like, a little yellow monkey, you know? And I think it's a real shame because this is really used, I've seen a lot as kind of, like, bad faith criticism towards Yennefer.
ALYCIA: Yes!
SARAH: Where they’re like, “Oh my god, she's so mean and cruel towards Ciri! She calls her ugly.” And it's, like, well, obviously, in the English translation that comes across as very… harsh, but in the original, the meaning of that is just different, and just because they haven't maybe used the best way to kind of like translate it, it really changes, like, the character interaction and that's a real shame.
ALYSSA: Yeah. I'm trying to even think of, like, well, what would even be like a better substitute in English and, like, again, not a translator, because there is that little bit of just, like, irony or that little bit of, like, Yennefer knows that she's making a joke of some sort.
SARAH: Yeah.
ALYSSA: At least that's the understanding that I got from what I've heard. Would, like, ‘my little goblin’ or ‘my little gremlin’, like, be a little cuter in English?
SARAH: Yeah.
ALYSSA: But like, I can almost, like, see something like that where there's still, like, a little bit of like, it's a little bit biting, a little teasing, but like to say somebody is like a little gremlin kind of gets the point across where there's affection to it, but it's still something that's a little bit gross.
SARAH: Yeah, like ‘my little monster’ or something.
ALYCIA: I feel like maybe from Yennefer's part, it's actually quote unquote a compliment in a sense that Yennefer knows that every single sorceress and, like, the beauty that Ciri so admires in her… she knows that this is fake, like, it all comes from magic. It's all artificial. Like, it's not what she was at first. And I feel like in some way, maybe, again, I'm thinking too much about it, but maybe, you know, in some way, she's complimenting the fact that, you know, Ciri is pure and she's herself and she does not need any artifice. And she does not need, you know, to sort of, like, fake beauty to, like, get into the world because I feel like that's how Yennefer feels about it, you know? She had to become beautiful to become someone in the world. In the sense that when she was hunchback Yennefer, you know, she sort of felt that no one really wanted her. I guess there's this idea also of like, "you're ugly, but that's a good thing."
ALYSSA: Yeah, and I think we definitely see that in later parts of these little vignettes as well. So, before they're through with the paper tests, apparently, the temple notices, told Ciri that she can't perform magic. Ciri is just like, "All of this is useless. I can't do magic anyway, because the girls said I'm a virgin." Yennefer is like, "LOL. K. So?" Yennefer does not care. Yennefer is like, "Okay. So, if it's such a big deal, I'll wait for you to, like, go lose your virginity and then come back and we'll keep going with the test." And Ciri is like, "No, you don't understand." And Yennefer is like, "Okay, this is dumb."
ALYCIA: I like how Yennefer is like, "So you'll be back, like, what? 10 minutes? I'll wait, it's fine."
SARAH: She's like, "Be quick about it."
ALYSSA: No, and she's so biting because Ciri is just like, "I don't understand what all these tests and these pine trees have to do with seeing if I can do magic." Yennefer just goes, "What do pine trees have in common with magic? Nothing. But you've drawn it correctly, and on time. In truth, excellent for a virgin." And it's just, like, so good. Ugh so good. We already know that, like, Ciri has been fed all of these things and gossip from the other girls. Yennefer is having none of it. We'll kind of, like, see how that affects their relationship later on, as well as Ciri's fixation about this. She is coming to age. As we learned, she's 13. We are with Ciri as she's kind of fixated and asking questions about sexual relationships throughout the rest of this chapter. And I don't envy Yennefer for having to give her answers.
ALYCIA: I mean, it definitely happens a lot with kids. There’s this age where if they get, like, very fixated about it, but they still have that child wonder if I might say it like that. So, they basically, like, "How do you make a baby, and what's a penis?" And you're like, "Well, uhhhh, what happens is that —," and I feel like, you know, she's sort of in that moment, or in that phase. She wants to know, but at the same time, she feels scared to ask because I feel like she knows that that's not a subject you really talk about. And I mean, especially I find it interesting, because I don't think anyone in Cintra gave her sex-ed. She was basically meant to be the wife of some Prince or some King and, like, have his kids. And basically, that was it. Like, that was her destiny. I don't think anyone taught her about consent, because at that moment, it was not a thing for her, you know? She was gonna have to be with whomever it was. And you know, like, suddenly she's asking a lot of questions, and she sees that woman who is sexy and has mounds. And she's all like, "Oh, my God. Maybe she's a source of information."
ALYSSA: Yeah.
ALYCIA: And you know, she's trying to get all the info that she can.
ALYSSA: And there's no way in hell that any of the Witchers gave her any of that information before she left either.
SARAH: Oh, my God.
ALYCIA: Oh, my God. Can you imagine?
SARAH: Jesus.
ALYSSA: There's no way.
ALYCIA: Do you remember how they reacted when she got her first period? Do you really think any of them was all like, "So Ciri."
ALYSSA: No. Absolutely not.
SARAH: Papa Vesemir, how are babies made?
ALYCIA: Yeah.
SARAH: Can you imagine that conversation?
ALYCIA: I can imagine Vesemir getting red and being like, "No, no, no."
ALYSSA: Oh, my God. I do not have children of my own, but I would imagine that if I did and I had to give this discussion, not similar to the scathing way in which Yennefer gives it, but still, like, clinical and factual. Like, this is what happens and, like, it's normal, but for the most part, without all the dressings of Yennefer's snark, I do for the most part respect the way that she gives Ciri information.
ALYCIA: To be fair, working where I work, I've had to do sex-ed to 13-year-olds, 15-year-olds. That's pretty much my approach to it, you know? Usually, it's people that have already had sex, and sometimes have had, like, bad experiences with it and things like that.
ALYSSA: Yeah.
ALYCIA: They ask a lot of questions, and my idea of it is, especially since, you know, I have the medical terms, my idea is always, like, use the medical terms, you know?
SARAH: Yeah.
ALYCIA: Penis and vaginas are medical terms. Don't go ahead and use ridiculous words because then they'll be, you know, ashamed of those terms, which are the right terms, again. You know what I mean?
ALYSSA: Yeah.
ALYCIA: They're not, like, a bad word or anything. And I feel like my approach has always been that one of being like, this is what happens and then, like, you throw a little science in it and I'm very happy.
SARAH: You definitely become desensitized to this kind of thing.
ALYCIA: Yes. Definitely.
SARAH: There's no embarrassment.
ALYCIA: Definitely.
SARAH: Or is this, like, this a thing that happens.
ALYSSA: Yeah. Like, when it comes to embarrassment and shame, I think both of you hit the nail on the head. Like, I think that's why I respect the way that Yennefer talks too about this, because there is no shame about it. And again, it does have a lot of snark, Yennefer does find the whole thing amusing, but she is generally respectful towards Ciri, and also has no shame around the discussion. It's not something that's like, hush-hush, things that should be important when you're discussing sexual relationships, things like consent as you brought up. That stuff that I would expect Yennefer to bring up to Ciri in a very matter of fact way, which I think is so important. We will definitely circle back around to conversations about virginity and sexual relationships throughout this chapter as Ciri does. But at the end of this, Ciri gives Yennefer a nonsense answer just to kind of test Yennefer's boundaries. Yennefer starts to allude to, I think, the realities of her past but she never tells Ciri the full story just like when Ciri had asked about war. And Yennefer said, "Not now." Ciri tries to poke Yennefer, she does. Yennefer's telling her all this stuff, and Ciri just shouts out something random. She's doing these paper tests, and Yennefer's like, "What should go here?" And Ciri is like, "I don't know, three." And Yennefer just immediately goes quiet. And she's like, "No doubt you wanted to know what would happen if you did this." And Ciri is like, "Oh, shit." Like, she knows that things just got real. And she embarrassingly, like, says, "Of course, there should be this amount here." And Yennefer is just like, "I get angry, you know, just as easily as I laugh," which is very difficult for Yennefer. So, she's not actually angry with Ciri, and then they just kind of continue. Although, Yennefer does flare up a little bit, where Ciri is like, meh. And Yennefer is like, No. Again, like, Yennefer has that sincerity. And she's a little more level, I think, than she lets on. But she's also not afraid to be firm when she needs to be.
SARAH: It was the “I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed” talk.
ALYSSA: Yeah.
ALYCIA: Yeah.
ALYSSA: After all the tests, Ciri gets tired. As if she was expecting this, then take Ciri out for a couple of days just to run around and play outside. Ciri notes that all of Yennefer's exercises are always accompanied with theory. At the end of it, they're kind of like laying in the grass. Ciri is like, "Well, how do you know I’m magic? Like, did you figure out the tests like am I? Am I?" Yennefer is like, "Ciri, since we've been laying down, we've been talking telepathically. I've known since you could detect the pulsations in my obsidian star." She's like, "You definitely have potential." It's a very, like, gentle moment. Like, again, with how combative they were just before all these tests through the end of them, and then we'll see their relationship grow from there.
ALYCIA: Yeah, I mean, go Ciri. I mean, she can do that on basically what is like her first week?
SARAH: Yeah. I do like that Yennefer has made her do all these tests, but she does see Ciri as, like, a very active, energetic child who needs to go outside and run around, and do all this stuff. And she recognizes that need and she addresses it. And even the fact that they both run through the park or jump over ditches and fences, it's funny imagining Yennefer doing that alongside Ciri. It's not something you would kind of expect.
ALYCIA: I like the idea that, you know, Ciri mentions that Yennefer gave her sort of like scientific tips for breathing and things like that. And I liked the idea that the Witchers have trained her to do crazy stuff, but never thought about, you know, she's not a Witcher, so she breathes like a normal human, and she's gonna get out of breath. And no one thought of, like, teaching her how to breathe and how to control her breath. And like, what do you mean, you'd have to take a break?
ALYSSA: Yeah. And it's definitely like, when we saw her with Lambert in the beginning of the book, he was just like, "You're panting like a woolly mammoth." And she's like, "Meh," so she clearly had, like, a lot of physical growth as well.
SARAH: I love that, this direct quote from the books, "You're panting like a woolly mammoth.” “Meh." It’s my favorite quote.
ALYSSA: That is, admittedly something that I think about a lot when I exercise myself just because I'm very prone to either asthma or panic attacks when I exercise through a lot of cardio. So, when that’s something that I keep in mind is just like Lambert being like, "You're panting," and I'm like, "Okay, I'm gonna fix it."
ALYCIA: Okay, Uncle Lambert.
ALYSSA: I know, I think about it a lot. You know, after Yen has Ciri do these tests and after she's confirmed her magic abilities, Yennefer actually goes about training Ciri. There's this monologue and it is, you know, very long and it takes place over the course of, like, a couple of sections, but it is one of my favorite monologues in the series. And it also gives a lot more insight into the way that magic works on the continent. Sapkowski writes very little about, like, the actual ins and outs of certain parts of... of the worlds of the continent. So, we do get a bit from Yennefer here so I do at least want to take the time to, like, read excerpts of it. As Yennefer is giving this training to Ciri, she says: “Magic is, in some people’s opinion, the embodiment of Chaos. It is a key capable of opening the forbidden door. The door behind which lurk nightmares, fear and unimaginable horrors, behind which enemies hide and wait, destructive powers, the forces of pure Evil capable of annihilating not only the one who opens the door but with them the entire world. And since there is no lack of those who try to open the door, someone, at some point, is going to make a mistake and then the destruction of the world will be forejudged and inevitable. Magic is, therefore, the revenge and weapon of Chaos. The fact that, following the Conjunction of the Spheres, people have learned to use magic, is the curse and undoing of the world. The undoing of mankind. And that is how it is, Ciri. Those who believe that magic is Chaos are not mistaken. Magic is, in some people’s opinion, art. Great, elitist art, capable of creating beautiful and extraordinary things. Magic is a talent granted to only a chosen few. Others, deprived of talent, can only look at the results of the artists’ works with admiration and envy, can admire the finished work while feeling that without these creations and without this talent the world would be a poorer place. The fact that, following the Conjunction of the Spheres, some chosen few discovered talent and magic within themselves, the fact that they found Art within themselves, is the blessing of beauty. And that’s how it is. Those who believe that magic is art are also right. There are also those according to whom magic is a science. In order to master it, talent and innate ability alone are not enough. Years of keen study and arduous work are essential; endurance and self-discipline are necessary. Magic acquired like this is knowledge, learning, the limits of which are constantly stretched by enlightened and vigorous minds, by experience, experiments and practice. Magic acquired in such a way is progress. It is the plough, the loom, the windmill, the smelting furnace, the winch and the pulley. It is progress, evolution, change. It is constant movement. Upwards. Towards improvement. Towards the stars. The fact that following the Conjunction of the Spheres we discovered magic will, one day, allow us to reach the stars.” And she concludes this by saying: “Remember, magic is Chaos, Art and Science. It is a curse, blessing, and progress. It all depends on who uses magic, how they use it, and to what purpose. Magic is everywhere. All around us. Easily accessible. It is enough to stretch out one’s hand. See? I’m stretching out my hand.” And so, Yennefer as they're going through this, and as she's monologuing, they're looking for intersections of magic, where she can feel magic from the ground, from sources of water, sources of earth, and sources of air, at least at this moment. And she also tells Ciri: “You have already felt the touch of that magic, the touch of the hand from behind that door, that touch fills you with fear. Such a touch fills everyone with fear, because there is chaos and order, good and evil in all of us, but it is possible and necessary to control it. This has to be learned. And you will learn it Ciri.” And she goes on. Like, this is such an incredible section and, like, it keeps going...
SARAH: So iconic.
ALYSSA: Yeah. But you know, until that, Yennefer is kind of, you know, talking at length about the purpose of magic, how it serves in the world, and this kind of leads to Ciri having a prophetic vision. Do you guys have any thoughts on this, like, “magic is…” monologue?
SARAH: It's just so cool. Like, it's such an interesting way of exploring the magic system in the world in a very eloquently explained manner that is very Yennefer.
ALYCIA: Mmh.
SARAH: It's very much her style to give this a really cool kind of like, metaphorical big speech about it, but it is really, it is interesting thinking of magic in these three ways that depending on who you are, it could be something that's really, really destructive. It could be something that's just very fancy, beautiful. And it could be something that is very academic. And you know, it depends on who does that. It's not a surprise that so many people quote Yennefer on this, you know, “Magic is chaos, is art, and science. It is a curse, a blessing, and progress.” Like, you see that so many times.
ALYSSA: Yeah.
SARAH: I think it's on her Gwent card?
ALYCIA: Maybe. It's definitely on Good Morhen. I know it's on Good Morhen.
SARAH: Yeah.
ALYCIA: It's a very famous speech, very famous speech. I mean, I'd be surprised if there isn't some type of version of it on the show. I'd be actually disappointed that I'd be very surprised.
ALYSSA: Yeah, same. I mean, it's such a wonderful and nuanced description of what magic means to the inhabitants of the continent, and to Yennefer specifically. You know, she talks about chaos, and it does seem like they took the term chaos because throughout at least the English translation, they refer to magic as “the force”, which, you know, might be trademarked. So, I could understand why they started using the word "Chaos” instead of "The force" when they refer to magic. Yennefer also talks about, like, the pull of chaos and, like, she characterizes chaos into something that has it out for Ciri, basically, which lends itself beautifully to the rest of the scene that follows.
SARAH: It could have been so easy to have a really boring basic explanation of how magic works and kind of like a very hard magic system way, where it's like, "Oh. In order to draw from magic, you have to do this, and this, and this, and this, and this," but he manages to make it a lot more interesting than that, and I do appreciate that.
ALYCIA: I think it's actually Ciri that mentions that usually she finds classes boring as in, like, when they're given by Nenneke or Iola the Second, but when it's Yennefer, she's in.
ALYSSA: It really does start here. Like, they have to start from a clean slate, and the way in which Yennefer does that is she takes Ciri to one of these, you know, points or intersections. She has Ciri touch this stone, and in order to acknowledge that, like, "Hey, chaos has been sending you these dreams. It's trying to scare you. It knows how powerful you are. We're going to get rid of these dreams. I'm going to give you the tools in which to do so. But in order to do that, we have to understand what they are." So Ciri touches the stone and Yennefer commands her to speak. We get these prophecies from Ciri time to time. We've seen them continually throughout Blood of Elves. And there are some things that we might recognize here from the beginning of Blood of Elves when she prophesized with Triss that make a lot more sense, now that we're at the end of the book. Ciri sees things like, Yennefer's lips cut and crushed, she sees a horse, a leap, valley, abyss, stairs leading down. She hears elvish saying “something is coming to an end”. What? Something about the child of the elder blood. She sees violet eyes which can only be Yennefer's in an emaciated, shriveled face. The cold of iron on wrists, on ankles. Stairs leading down. She hears about the Time of End, the Time of the Wolf's Blizzard. “The lion cub must die for reasons of state”, which is something that we had heard in Chapter Five with the Northern Kings. Geralt tells her they have to go down the stairs. There's no other way, only down. His lips aren't moving, He's also dead. There's smoke, fire, she's sent back to Cintra. She sees the Black Horse and the Black Knight. It's a very intense sequence for sure. I'd imagine this is all just kind of like really incomprehensible flashes in her head, some of which come from the past, some which are from her own past. Some could be from the future, but there's just no indication of what these things are, especially as a reader, your just as disoriented as Ciri is.
SARAH: It's quite unnerving. Like, reading it yourself and the way that it jumps so quickly from thing to thing with seemingly no pattern. Like, obviously, once you've read the whole series, and you kind of are beginning to understand a lot of what is being referenced here, when you're reading it for the first time, it is very unnerving, because some of it you do recognize. Like, "The Lion Cub must die for reasons of state," but so much of it you’re just like, what does this mean? What is this referring to? And the way it just flashes through it so quickly is quite intimidating in a way they... it's like, oh my god, what does this all mean? And you're trying to make sense of it. So, I can't imagine what it must have been like for her to see it all. Because at least we're just reading it and we're just like people who are reading a book, but this character, she is seeing all this, like, flash through her mind non-stop. It must have been a really unpleasant experience. I think he manages to do that very well.
ALYCIA: It's scary. That's what I'm gonna say. It's sort of terrifying to think that, you know, this kid has had those nightmares come to her sort of like every night, for three years at least, she's been having those terrible nightmares and it just must be absolutely terrifying.
SARAH: Yeah.
ALYCIA: Like, poor her and thank God she's finally getting the help, if I might say it like that, you know, she's finally getting help for that. It sort of goes back to when Yennefer convinces her to do the training with her in sort of, like, "You don't want those nightmares anymore." And Ciri automatically is like, "No, I do not," and you understand that now because those nightmares do seem pretty terrifying.
SARAH: Yeah. I feel so sorry for her. Like, the nightmares about Cintra are bad enough, but at the same time you kind of understand that obviously, you know? She was in what was like a city being ransacked by an invading force. Obviously, that would leave you with nightmares. But then, all these additional things coming into her nightmare that would be completely senseless and meaningless to her and for the reader as well for the first time and you're reading through it, I feel so bad for that she's… she's seen all these frightening things in her dreams without even knowing what they mean. Poor Ciri, poor girl.
ALYSSA: And we don't get any answers, but Ciri does see an end to these dreams. Yennefer's able to kind of expel these dreams and the close of that line is just: “Ciri slept deeply with no dreams.” That process didn't come without that fright.
SARAH: God, this is also the bit where Ciri calls her mama.
ALYSSA: Oh, yeah.
SARAH: And oh my god. Oh.
ALYSSA: And it's like, you don't know if she's calling for Pavetta, you don't know if she's calling for Yennefer. It can be so instinctual. And the thing is, she hasn't had a maternal figure for years.
ALYCIA: Mhmm.
ALYSSA: So, who is she calling out to? It must be so instinctual and so deep for her to, like, have that reaction.
SARAH: But one thing that I also like about this whole thing to do with the dreams is, like, right at the beginning of the book when she has the nightmare of Cintra and the Black Knight and stuff, Geralt tells her like, "It'll be okay." When other people told her that, she didn't believe them, but because Geralt is saying it, she trusts him.
ALYSSA: Mhmm.
SARAH: And she believes it, but I think there's something nice here that Yennefer is saying, "You will not dream about this anymore. I will give you the force to push those nightmares away." Geralt was being reassuring, but Yennefer is saying, "No, I will make sure this does not happen again."
ALYSSA: As we move forward, now that they've taken care of, like, that first hurdle, Ciri can go about actually training to become a magician. And so, one of the first little vignettes that we get is Yennefer trying to teach Ciri hand signs. And Ciri is very frustrated, the process is painful, it's very uncomfortable. And while they're doing this, Ciri, again, who has been fixated on virginity and sexual relationships is now just like, "Well, when's the best time to bed a man?" Yennefer is just like, ugh. And she just gives again, one of her very snide answers. Yennefer says, "It's a more or less thorough process, you first find the men who have beds." And Ciri is like, "What do you…have beds?" And Yennefer is like, "And then you get rid of everyone who has a sloppy bed. And then…” yeah, so the whole thing is just, like, it doesn't seem to answer Ciri's question.
ALYCIA: It is good advice though.
SARAH: Yeah.
ALYSSA: But while she’s talking about beds, she at least also does talk about consent.
SARAH: Yeah.
ALYSSA: I don't know if it's in this section or in another, but Ciri asks at some point, "We'll, how old were you?" Yennefer says she was 16. Ciri is just like, "But what if I don't want to?" Yen’s like, "Well, don't."
ALYCIA: Yeah.
ALYSSA: If you don't want to, then you don't have to. So, I feel like there is that kind of like practicality and that autonomy and that independence that Yennefer is trying to instill in her when it comes to her sexual relationships.
ALYCIA: It should really be that simple, you know? Like, if you don't want to do it, then don't. You know, no one is forcing you to do anything. There's no right age for that, you know, there's not a limit of like, "Oh, my god, you're 14 and you haven't had sex. Quick, you only have until your 15th birthday." Like, you know what I mean? Like, if you want to do it, do it, then if you don't, don't. But you know, like, have all the info that you need ahead and then make your own decision. Go if you want to, but stop talking about it Ciri.
SARAH: It's very good advice. And it's very concise advice, which is what I think she wanted... she did not want to speak about this.
ALYSSA: There is something really interesting that I do want to pull out here, and it's something that I did not catch until I read this chapter again. While Yennefer is teaching Ciri all these little hand gestures, she notices that Ciri has an indent on her finger that looks like she was wearing a ring. And Yennefer's like, "What did I tell you? No metal. No crystal. No stones. It's important." And Yennefer is just like, "Wear whatever you want. Like, weave wheat in your hair, but don't wear metal crystals or stones." Ciri is like, "But you," and Yennefer is like, "No." Like, admittedly, when you're reading through this, you just kind of glaze over that. And I know that I did every other time I read it, and it seems rather unimportant and I will, I guess, leave it at that for all of the non-spoiler folks.
SARAH: I love little details like that.
ALYCIA: Mhmm.
SARAH: This very, very subtle hint here. Like, it's so easy to, like, blink and miss it and, like, I did. I... I did miss it. So, that's really cool. I appreciate the effort with the little details like that.
ALYSSA: Yeah. So, that was the interesting thing that I found. And if we get to a point where we're good to talk about it on the podcast openly, we will, if not, and you're cool with spoilers, and you're on Patreon, you can head over to the bonus content on Patreon when it releases and hear what I told Sarah and Alycia. Well, at the end of that, Yennefer has had enough of all this talk about virginity and all of the weird little thoughts that the other novices are putting into Ciri’s head. She's like, "You're moving out of the Novice Dorms. You're just staying with me because this is ridiculous." So, Ciri, as Yennefer asks, moves all of her things into Yennefer's quarters, which is cool, because then they start doing training that can only be done at night, spells that can't be done during the day. Ciri spends a lot of time now reading and it goes through a whole list of books that she's reading on history. She reads some romance novels, she reads about the sciences, she reads about all this other stuff, including, interestingly, a couple of ballads from Dandelion, who she doesn't know at this point, and also a beautiful small little book of poems by Essi Daven called the Blue Pearl for people who have read, you know, the short stories and have read A Little Sacrifice that's just like, "Ahhhh, noooo."
SARAH: No. I'm gonna sue Andrzej for emotional damage, that was really rude.
ALYSSA: It's like one of those things that, like, you're just not expecting, and it's like, She weeped over the ballads of Ci —." And you're just like, "I will too." Ciri at some point, you know, tells Yen about her first meeting with Geralt in Brokilon. Ciri is like, "Yeah, he looked so dumb like this." And she makes a face and Yennefer laughs. Like, Yennefer has a genuine, genuine laugh, which again just shows just how far their relationship has come.
ALYCIA: Right. It's absolutely adorable, three pages before she was like, "I never laugh." It would have to be like a really good joke.
SARAH: And apparently, Geralt's face is a really good joke.
ALYCIA: Again, it's like them bonding over the man that they care about. It's just so cute.
SARAH: Yeah. And I think it really shows how, like, it started off with Geralt being such a point of contention, but now they're just so comfortable with it that they're able to laugh about his stupid face, you know? It's a nice little change.
ALYSSA: Yeah. Yennefer asks Ciri, like, how did you get past the Nilfgaardians? Ciri is very reluctant to tell her but she eventually does, and then they start talking about her childhood in Cintra, and in Skellige, time in Kaer Morhen, and it ends up being very warm. But it's interesting to see that, like, there's still so many unknown things about Ciri's history and about her experiences that, obviously, given the circumstances, she either can't remember or doesn't want to remember. And Yennefer only probes her so far at the moment, but it's definitely on Yennefer's mind, like, and on everybody's mind. Truly like, how did Ciri get past Nilfgaard? How did she really end up in Kaer Morhen? This really comes up in the next section. Yennefer is taking Ciri around, looking for magical intersections as she had done in the beginning of the section. We learn that magic can be drawn from the elements. So, Ciri started with water, but Yennefer tells her she doesn't have the strength to draw magic from the earth, and she doesn't have the knowledge to draw magic from the air. And Yennefer absolutely forbids her to draw magic from fire. She says, "Under no circumstance, under zero circumstance, are you allowed to draw magic from fire." Once Yennefer gives that warning, they're just kind of, like, sitting and relaxing and Yennefer again, probes at Ciri's history. She asks, "Tell me about your parents." And Ciri's like, "I…I... I can't remember." And Yennefer tells Ciri to look at her star. And Ciri is then brought to her past, I guess, to a memory that she had either forgotten or chose to forget. Or one that's very deep, deep in her memories. She's brought to Skellige, in the aftermath of her parents' death. She's with Calanthe as Calanthe, you know, gets off a ship, and she sees her uncle Crach an Craite. And Calanthe is furious. How could you let their ship leave? Every ship needs the permission of you to leave. How could you do this? Where is Eist? Crach says, Eist is still out looking. And Calanthe is just, she's so angry. And she's like, "You now owed me a blood oath. And if I don't collect it, then Ciri will collect it." Crach goes to, like, slit his hand and Calanthe is like, "No dramatics. I don't need this." And after this small scene, Ciri just remembers the silent air in which all of Skelligan and Cintran warriors just got drunk throughout the night, and whispers of the curse of the sea, how Pavetta and Duny were just suddenly taken and killed by a tempest that should not have been there that no one had foreseen. And it's just a very ominous thing to hear. And again, as a child, she doesn't really understand it. All of these things are happening around her, but it's still terrifying in its own right.
ALYCIA: How old was Ciri when her parents died? I'm having a hard time sort of with the chronology of everything.
ALYSSA: I think she was about 5 or 6 when Geralt first came to Cintra.
ALYCIA: Uh-huh.
ALYSSA: Because I think Calanthe says, like, "It's been 6 years since you last came into my thing."
ALYCIA: Yeah.
ALYSSA: And then for the time for Pavetta to be pregnant, plus Ciri's age, but yeah, quite, quite young.
ALYCIA: Yeah, very young.
SARAH: It's something that I thought was really interesting. When Yennefer is like, "Oh, tell me about your parents," and Ciri saying that she can't remember. And then she says she's... she's trying to remember Pavetta. And she says, "She was always sad." And like, clearly, Ciri must have been pretty damn young, because she doesn't really remember anything about her papa, apparently. And all she remembers about her mum was that she had long hair, and she was always sad. But the fact that she was pretty young when her parents died, and she was still able to pick up on such a specific detail that her mum was always sad, I think is just a very interesting description that he decided to have Ciri remember, that kind of calls into question like, "What was their family dynamic like?"
ALYSSA: Yeah.
SARAH: If even wee child Ciri could sense that her mum was always sad. Like, it's kind of suspicious.
ALYCIA: Kids are extremely perceptive when it comes to emotions. I mean, especially babies if I'm really being honest. Like you said Alyssa before, like, kids are just sponges. Babies and infants are very, like, if people start randomly crying around them, kids will cry without any understanding of what is happening. Maybe she just intuitively, like, as a baby or as a young child sort of felt this sadness from her mother and sort of, like, being hypnotized by Yennefer to get her memories, like, that's the feeling that comes out of her childhood, like, her early childhood with a mum.
SARAH: It's very interesting because like you said, babies even, they're very good. And I think a lot of people don't realize that babies are incredibly perceptive to the emotions of the parent, especially if there's a strong attachment bond between the parents and the child. Because kind of from an evolutionary standpoint, they... they need to be in-tune with the parents. If the parents are upset and that means they clearly, there is something wrong in the immediate environment, you know, that needs to be fixed. And it's, even if the baby doesn't understand that, but I did think it was very, very interesting, slightly suspicious.
ALYCIA: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SARAH: Like, kind of way where you're speaking to a child and they're saying something like, "Mommy and daddy fight all the time," or something and you're like, "Oh, geez," like, you know? So Ciri being like, "She was always sad." You're like, "Oh, boy." Yikes, that… that doesn't sound great.
ALYCIA: We just saw little mentions of Pavetta and Duny even, like, you know? The only tiny glimpse that we get is, like, either woman wants to have sex with Porcupine-man, or woman is sad. That is basically all the info that we have about them.
ALYSSA: Yeah. And again, because Ciri can only express so much, there's very little nuance to like, "They were sad." But that's all she could remember or that's all she could express and... and give voice to.
ALYSSA (VOICEOVER): Before we continue walking through Ciri’s memories with Yen, we’re going to hand it over to Lars from WitcherFlix for recent news on the Netflix show. When we come back, Sarah, Alycia, and I will continue our discussion of Blood of Elves, Chapter 7.
“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! This is the final episode before the podcast break and the Witcher world is still kind of calm at the moment.
With Lucca Comics and Games convention in Italy just around the corner, another Witcher trailer might only be a few days away. A Witcher panel will take place on October 29th at 3PM local time. It will be attended by showrunner Lauren Hissrich, actors Joey Batey as Jaskier and Kim Bodnia, who will play Vesemir in Season 2; Lucinda Wright, the new costume designer; and Andrew Laws, the show's production designer. Let us keep our fingers crossed for an exciting event!
In an interview with the Sci-Fi and Fantasy collector's magazine, showrunner Lauren Hissrich, as well as Henry Cavill and Freya Allan talked a litte bit about Season 2 of The Witcher. Lauren talked about the differences between Season 1 and Season 2. She said: "In Season 1, especially with all those short stories from Sapkowski’s The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny, we embraced different tones. Going into Season 2, it had been my intention to keep doing it that way, let it go with the flow, but the stories are a bit more intense. We lean into those darker elements, and I think they perfectly suit the stories. The only thing we really tried to be consistent about was keeping [Geralt’s] sense of humor." Lauren also talked about adapting Blood of Elves, the first book in the Witcher main saga: "For instance, Blood of Elves lacks monsters. There’s just not very many. But we know from the games that people really like to see Geralt battling monsters, so we continued adding more monsters to Season 2. […] The goal is taking everything we can from the source material and then looking at where we need to bulk up the story to honor all these characters."
Freya Allan gave a little glimpse at Ciri's and Geralt's relationship in Season 2. She said: "When she sees him. It’s just that sense of relief—here, potentially is her future—and I think there’s an idea of ‘hopefully, I’ve found my protector,’ someone who could potentially guide her in being able to defend herself in that world." When asked about the first episode of Season 1, which is based on the short story "A Grain of Truth", Freya and Henry did not want to give too much away. This is what Freya said: "Whatever happens in Episode 1 triggers her main fear that everything around her falls apart, from people being harmed to people dying. And that fear is important for the rest of the season." Henry stayed even more vague: "Without giving away too much, let’s say Ciri has to face some of her own demons, while Geralt faces a monster or two." This definitely sounds exciting.
While Season 2 will start on December 17, we already know when the filming for Season 3 will start. According to Production Weekly, Netflix currently plans to start filming for a third season in the first quarter of 2022. Let us hope the filming will go a little bit smoother compared to the filming of season 2 which was quite complicated for all film productions around the world due to the pandemic.
To end this episode's "Tidings from Toussaint", I definitely need to mention a yet unconfirmed piece of news about the Witcher prequel miniseries Blood Origin that would connect the spin-off to the main show. According to Redanian Intelligence, our favorite bard Jaskier will make an appearance in Blood Origin as the story's narrator. This sounds quite intriguing and could be a very interesting way to tell the show's plot. The more Jaskier, the better!
Anyway guys, that's it for me for today. I hope you all stay safe and well. We'll talk again in the next season of Breakfast in Beauclair. I wish you all a wonderful time with season 2 of The Witcher! Until then, thanks again for listening and good luck on the path!
[“Tidings from Toussaint” theme music by MojoFilter Media]
Ad Read: The Hanza Discord
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ALYSSA (VOICEOVER): It’s been so much fun for me getting to know all of you and, hey, now you can too! Join the Hanza Discord at bit.ly/thehanzadiscord to get involved with our international community. You can meet members from all around the world, get involved in topics such as gardening, cooking, Dungeons & Dragons, Witcher books and video games, and more. Get to know the community before the inevitable watch parties of “The Witcher” Season 2, “The Witcher: Blood Origin”, all of the spin-offs, and as we look ahead to Season 4 of Breakfast in Beauclair and a future hanza meetup. See you there!
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Discussion
ALYSSA (VOICEOVER): Hey everyone! Welcome back from the break. When we left off, we were walking through the moments that bonded Ciri and Yennefer as mother and daughter.
ALYSSA: Hey, everyone, welcome back from the break. When we left off, we were walking through the moments that bonded Ciri and Yennefer as mother and daughter. Ciri and Yen keep going. They're looking for these intersections to pull magic. Yennefer has this kind of fun note that veins of magic are marked by dried trees, gnarled plants, places avoided by all animals, except for cats. Cats like sleeping and resting on intersections, and she continues by saying, "No one knows why a cat absorbs the force and what it does with it," which is just very fun. It's a fun little detail.
SARAH: It's just proof that cats are superior. I'm sorry I don't make the rules.
ALYCIA: Cats and magic always. It's very interesting.
SARAH: Exactly.
ALYSSA: Yeah. It's a fun little piece, I think, for Sapkowski to throw in there. Ciri is able to find an intersection from a distance. And at first, Yennefer's very skeptical. She's like, "What do you mean? You can't do that. You can only do it by standing over it." Oh, really? Do you? And so, they go to investigate it. Yennefer is like, "Oh, that's a very strong one." And Ciri is like, "No, no, no. I can do it. I can do it. I can do it." And she's like, "Ahhhhh, Yennefer!" And she gets a nosebleed. She finds that intersection distance, we know how strong her potential is, and she also has, like, a little thing. We were talking about Ciri's innocence on the previous episode. Ciri says like, "Mother Nenneke says that we should draw from the earth sustainably. We shouldn't take too much; we should give back." Yennefer's like, "Oh, if only everyone else could hear you. If Vilgefortz, and Francesca, and Terranova could hear the wise words of the ugly little one in Melitele’s Temple.” People who think that they have the unreserved right to use magic, if only they could hear what you're saying. And Yennefer's like, "But no, it's fine. You can draw a little. It's like picking a single cherry from a huge orchard." And Ciri tries and gets a nosebleed
SARAH: Poor Ciri. Papa, I am a Witcher. Ha! I could do it. And then she's like, "Oh, no, Yennefer!" Again, it's very, very sweet. It tugs on my heartstrings, Yennefer calling her daughter. It's just so sweet.
ALYCIA: Yeah.
SARAH: And it's funny. It's just a little nosebleed but I know that when you're a child and you get a nosebleed, it can feel very scary. So, like, "Oh my god, I'm bleeding so much." And then it's just... when you're older is a bit more like, "Oh, it's fine, it's just it's just a nosebleed." And then maybe when you're a parent, you're like, "Oh my God, my child is bleeding."
ALYSSA: And that's definitely the way that Nenneke takes it. After that small nosebleed, Nenneke is not happy with Yennefer. And apparently, the two of them don't talk for a week. Ciri kind of ends that just by giving Yennefer a hug and then everything kind of goes back to normal.
SARAH: So sweet. I love that Ciri knows Yennefer just as well as Yennefer knows Ciri.
ALYSSA: Yeah.
SARAH: Like, Ciri knows exactly what she needs to do here, just go up and just hug Yennefer, that's all she needs to do. And it's so funny that Nenneke was so, so mad about it as well, like, "How dare you hurt my precious child." And they're not talking for a week, it's so funny. Meanwhile, Ciri is just like, "I'm having a great time. I'm just reading my books."
ALYSSA: As we keep going, we get, like, little flashbacks to what's happened and they talk about training spellcasting, and that a lot of these things were easy for Ciri because she was already fluent in the Elder Speech. So, a lot of the formula were very easy, and Ciri and Yen kind of reminisce about Kaer Morhen, and for — also about Triss.
ALYCIA: No!
ALYSSA: The book says that Yennefer very coyly pulls all of this information out of Ciri, about what happened with Triss at the keep. And Ciri was just like, "Magic was so calming."
SARAH: Yikes!
ALYSSA: Ciri should have felt much more nervous about telling Yennefer all these things, though by the end, she was very soothed.
SARAH: Ciri is like, "I'm gonna snitch on this girl."
ALYSSA: Yeah.
SARAH: "I don't care. Hey Yennefer, guess what happened?"
ALYSSA: It's crazy. There was, like, this small little line, which is its own section. Ciri is kind of becoming, you know, enthralled with magic and learning more about it. The book says, "Magic, like a spiked iron arrow, lodged in her. Wounded her deeply. Hurt. Hurt with the strange sort of pain oddly associated with bliss." It feels like a relationship with magic that is that kind of give and take relationship where, you know, you're giving yourself to this supernatural element and at the same time, it uses you as a conduit, as a tool. But yeah, it's just an interesting thing to know, like, how much she's growing into the training that Yennefer is giving her.
SARAH: She was getting closer and closer to the point in the previous section, in the kind of the current time where she's like, "I'm a wizard," and she's so proud of it. She's gone from, "I fucking don't want to be a wizard. No one asked me. I don't want to do this." Now she's becoming much more natural to her.
ALYCIA: And she's like, "This is quite nice."
SARAH: It's very calming. I really liked as well the bit where Yennefer is that... they’re speaking about Kaer Morhen. And Yennefer, like, her eyes grow warm, they lose that angry gleam and their cold, indifferent wise depth. And Ciri kind of describes it as her being dreamy. And I really like that because so far the... the way that we have been consistently presented with Yennefer as a character, dreamy is not a word I would assign to her if you get me. Like, she's so no nonsense, she's down to earth, she's getting shit done. So, I think there's something very nice there than when she's thinking of Kaer Morhen, she becomes dreamy. I don't know, I think it's just nice.
ALYSSA: It gives us a little bit more information about the relationship that Ciri can deduce and the audience can deduce about all the good times that Yennefer and Geralt have had and how affectionately she thinks about the memory of him. There's two more of these flashbacks in this section. We learn a little bit more about Witcher Signs which is pretty cool as an audience, and how they work, and the Witcher's place within magic on the continent. And then another scene in which Yennefer and Ciri keep talking. And this first scene, just to talk a little bit more about the magic at length, we learned previously that Ciri can't do Witcher Signs, that she's incapable of doing them. That's one of the reasons why Ciri doesn't think she can be a magician. And Yennefer expands on that idea here by saying, you know, "The sign of Aard is a very simple spell belonging to the family of psychokinetic magic, which is based on thrusting energy in a required direction. The Witcher's adapted the spell, making use of the fact it does not require knowledge of a magical formula, concentration, and the gesture are enough. That's why it's called a sign." And she gives us a little bit of entomology, about Aard specifically, by saying that, "I don't know where they got the name Aard, because in the elder speech, it means mountain, upper, or the highest. But if that is truly the case, then the name is misleading, because it's hard to find an easier psychokinetic spell."
ALYCIA: Pathetic!
ALYSSA: And then she doubles down by saying, "We obviously aren't going to waste time and energy on something as primitive as the Witcher sign." And this next part builds upon a previous scene in which Yennefer was like, "We're drawing magic from an element. We're going to expend what we're capable of drawing." So, she says, "Let me remind you, control the flow of the force. You can only emit as much as you draw. If you release even a tiny bit more, you do so at the cost of your constitution. An effort like that could render you unconscious, and in extreme circumstances, could kill you. If on the other hand, you release everything you draw, you forfeit all possibility of repeating it, and you will have to draw it again. And as you know, it's not easy to do and it is painful." Yennefer says, and we'll have a moment to talk about this, but in the English translation, it says, "You mustn't slack in your concentration and allow the energy to tear itself away from you of its own accord. My mistress used to say that emitting the forest must be like blowing a raspberry in a ballroom. Do it gently, sparingly, and with control, and in such a way that you don't let those around you know it was you. Understood?" And so that's kind of the understanding that we get, that's as much hard magic as we're going to get. And it's not even really bad, but an interesting note about this if you are reading the section in English, and the phrase, "blowing a raspberry in a ballroom so that nobody knows it was you," doesn't make sense. That's because it doesn't.
SARAH: This is just wrong.
ALYSSA: Yeah. The term raspberry in English, if you're unfamiliar with just, like, this is a colloquial term. When you blow a raspberry, you're usually blowing air out of your mouth with your tongue out. So like, that's what a raspberry means in English. Here, though. Yennefer seems to be saying that her mistress, which we could probably assume at this point is probably Tissaia, is giving analogies based on farts. You should release power the same way that you would release gas in a public setting. And Cyprian kindly confirmed this as well. He says, "Yes, I can confirm it is about farting." In Polish it says, I'm... I'm not going to say this sentence in Polish, but literally translated the sentence that he said means, "As if you’d let bumblebees fly in a ballroom," but this is just how you say to fart in Polish. So, the truest translation would be, "As if you'd fart in a ballroom." So, thank you for that, Cyprian, for not only confirming the translation, but also for letting us know that in Polish you say to let bumblebees fly because that is delightful.
ALYCIA: French version is just plain fart.
ALYSSA: Oh, yeah?
SARAH: Oh, really?
ALYCIA: Yeah, there's no, like, pretty bumblebee thing about it. It's just fart.
SARAH: This is why I just don't understand that, like, they clearly... they didn't want to just flat out say it, I guess? So, they wanted to kind of like dress up a bit in English translation, but it's just wrong.
ALYSSA: Yeah.
SARAH: I have never heard anyone say blowing a raspberry to mean farting. Like, when I read that for the first time, I was like, "What the fu-? What?" Like, why would you be making silly noises in a ballroom? I was so confused until I realize, oh wait, is this just like a really weird translation of just farting? Because that just made no sense. I was very confused.
ALYCIA: And as a like — do you really see Tissaia talking about farting? I don't.
ALYSSA: I don't also. Again, I'm making the assumption that it is Tissaia because she just says "My mistress." We know that's the relationship that they have, but at the same time, no, it's very difficult. It does color, to say a little bit more, but I imagine if she said it, it would be very severe.
ALYCIA: Yes.
ALYSSA: It would not be in a laughing matter. For the sole purpose of academia and analogy. The app.
ALYCIA: That should be like, "If you girls have to fart, do it nicely."
ALYSSA: Do not bring shame upon this house.
ALYCIA: Do it respectfully. Always classy you all be.
ALYSSA: Yennefer gives us all of this information to Ciri. And she has Ciri try this psychokinetic enchantment in order to send a basket flying. Ciri is like, "I think I did it." And Yennefer is like, "It barely twitched. Do it again." Ciri does it again and Yennefer is like. "It jumped a little." She's like, "Be bold, be bigger." Ciri does as asked and Yennefer tells her to try to fling the basket and knock the wall of a shed. Ciri instead destroys the shed.
ALYCIA: What a drama queen.
ALYSSA: I know. She sends this basket flying and the whole shed collapses and it's, like, a lovely thing because, like, when you're reading it in the prose, you don't really know what's happened. Yennefer is just like, "Oh, shoot. Uh, it's okay. We can fix it. We could turn it into firewood. No need to panic." And you have to infer what has happened, which I think is very fun. It's a fun way of writing.
SARAH: As well, when Ciri is like, "Oh, I'm sorry, I used a bit too much." And Yennefer is like, "Oh, don't worry, don't worry. It's fine." She's being nice about it. And then having like a, "Hold on ladies. Calm down, why this uproar and commotion? Easy, Nenneke!" Because they do have like Nenneke and all these, like, priestesses just fucking sprinting over. Like, what is happening? Why is the shed exploding?
ALYCIA: My shed!
SARAH: What are you doing to Ciri?
ALYSSA: I know. Everybody all around. It's a disaster. But Yennefer kind of takes it in stride as you said, just like, "No, it's fine. It happens." And that's kind of where we end that little flashback. The very last flashback that we get is an outdoor conversation between Ciri and Yennefer. It's very fun listening to Peter Kenny's audio book of this just because his version of Ciri, aside from being Scottish, is so, like, persistent in the section. And Yennefer is just like, "Oh my god, what?" Because Ciri is just asking her questions. Ciri is like, "Hey Lady Yennefer, uh, what about this?" And Yennefer answers it like, she's just trying to bask in, like, the outdoors. And Ciri is like, "Um, but what about this?" And Yennefer is like, "I just... I just told you," "But what about that?" And she just cannot sit in silence for five minutes. But yeah, so Ciri has all these questions, we find out that Yennefer tells Ciri that she became a sorceress when she was 13. And Ciri is like, "Oh, that's the age that I'm at now." It's a very quiet moment. Ciri says things like, "I don't want to be ugly. I want to be pretty, really pretty like you." And Yennefer is like, "Well, fortunately, you don't need magic for it. You don't know how lucky you are." Ciri also notes, "Lady Yennefer, what are you looking at?" Yennefer is just like, "I'm just taking in the tree. I'm... I'm glad that I can see it." And Ciri is like, "I don't understand." And Yennefer just says, "Good." As we talked about earlier, there's all these things that have happened to Yennefer that she's still trying to shield Ciri from to an extent. We learned through Geralt in The Last Wish that Yennefer had been a hunchback. We saw in Season 1 of The Witcher the interpretation of how that was fixed and how painful it was. And we heard from Triss Merigold in early chapters of Blood of Elves that Yennefer had been blinded at the battle of Sodden. It's a very reflective moment for Yennefer despite... despite this little pre-teen yapping off in the corner.
ALYCIA: Kids do ask, like, the weirdest question and will not shut up about it. I mean, like, I work night shift and sometimes you go and see a kid and he's awake, and he looks at you, and he's like, "Do you think crocodiles get sad sometimes?" And I'm like, "Dude, it's three in the morning. Just go back to sleep." It was just sort of how I imagined her, you know, this just being like, "And what's this?"
SARAH: To be honest, like, I was very impressed that, like, Ciri was even sitting there because we've seen so much throughout the chapter that she is constantly running around, she's wanting to jump and, like, exercise. And she's a bit of a wild child in that way. She's very energetic. So, the fact that, you know, she's just sitting with Yennefer.
ALYCIA: Mmh.
SARAH: On the grass, and she's just sitting still and they're just, you know, they're just in each other's company. It just shows how, you know, she's perfectly happy just doing that with Yennefer. Just sitting with her even for such an energetic child like herself, and I think it's nice. I like that. I like as well the very brief reference to Yennefer being blinded at Sodden. She doesn't explain it. She doesn't go into it at all, but just even the fact that, like, she's just staring at the tree, and it's just a tree and Ciri is probably confused at why is she just looking at this tree. Obviously, we know why. It's a neat little bit of storytelling, of Yennefer just looking at this tree just because she can. And that's something that for a while she was not able to do. I like that.
ALYCIA: Yeah. It's very subtle. I have to admit. Like, the first time I read it, I didn't get it. I was like, "Okay, she likes that tree. Good for her." When I reread it, and I was like, "Ohhhhh."
SARAH: She's just like, "Damn, I love this tree. This is a fucking amazing tree."
ALYCIA: It is so pretty. Look at how lush it is.
ALYSSA: Because I mean, I think we forget. Like, we're acutely aware of how this war has affected Ciri. She's also not letting us forget it, neither does Sapkowski. We hear repeatedly how this war has affected her, but we rarely hear about how it affects the other characters and, like, how deeply this must have affected Yennefer, and the horrors that we heard from Sodden at the end of Sword of Destiny from Triss' firsthand accounts in the beginning of Blood of Elves. But Yennefer is so hardened that for her to be able to show silent gratitude for that healing process for where she is now, shows that softness, I think, to her character that we rarely see. That brings us to the end of Ciri's flashbacks and her description of her and Yennefer's relationship from the time they met up until the scene in the bath. And I know that we're jumping from the previous episode to this one, but we are still here in the bath with Ciri. We kind of cut back to present and Ciri is like, "No, I... I didn't like you." Ciri inside is just begging for Yennefer to ask and Ciri is like, "Yennefer only has to ask and I'll tell her everything. I need to tell her everything before tomorrow." Yennefer just quietly looks away and she doesn't ask anything, but she must know. Like, she must know through telepathy because Yennefer smiles to herself. The complicated and warm feelings that Ciri has toward her.
SARAH: It's so nice. I do love that her having this really big inner monologue. In a minute she's going to do this and that no, she's going to be clever about it. And she's going to draw attention to my grammar and stuff like that. And then it's just, you know, Yennefer smiled. She did not ask anything. I really liked that. I think it really shows their dynamic very well. Yennefer just knows, she doesn't need to ask, she knows. That's how strong their bond is. It is funny. Ciri kind of like reads her for filth a bit here, like, "I could pretend to be cold, unfeeling, and indifferent, ashamed of my own feelings and emotions.” It’s like, wow really—
ALYSSA: I know, it's like, damn.
SARAH: Yeah, calling out a Yennefer here... Yennefer's reading her mind, like, “uh, rude”.
ALYSSA: Yeah. I mean, that does kind of take us to the end of this little section. And as we close the book, it talks about how after that evening in the bath, they receive the letters. Ciri and Yennefer finally leave the Temple of Melitele, and the only person to see them off in the morning is Nenneke. They're both wearing men's traveling clothes. Yennefer and Nenneke had a short conversation and then gripped each other's arms like men in a silent goodbye. And Ciri wants to do the same. She wants to be just like Yennefer, and Nenneke just won't allow it. She brings her in for a hug and blesses her and just says like, "Be safe, and may the great Melitele watch over you, but remember, the goddess has much on her mind. So, take care as well." As Ciri and Yennefer get on their horses, Nenneke waves them away and she's just like, "Good luck." And Ciri just says, "I'll be back."
ALYCIA: Oh, my god.
ALYSSA: Oh my god, it just ends with um, “Ciri did not know how wrong she was.” And it's just like, ahhhhh!!!
SARAH: It is such an ominous way to end the book. Like, oh, you've had this whole chapter of, like, “Oh, isn't it nice. Look at Ciri and Yennefer. Oh, look at how they started off kind of not liking each other. But oh, they really like each other now. They're mother and daughter now." At the same time, you've had the constant messages to the ravens and the crows kind of being a sign of potential war or conflict or strife. And Ciri flat out calls it a bad omen and you have everyone, like, talking about the war and like, "Oh, you know, is there going to be a war?" And then you get to the end and we're back with all the crows and ravens flying overhead, and even Nenneke is like, “Maybe… maybe the bad times are gonna come,” you know, maybe it's, what was it, like the Time of the Axe and the Wolf's Blizzard and stuff like that, you know, Ciri is like, "Oh, well, I'll see you again." It's like no, she won't. She will not be back.
ALYCIA: Overall, this book doesn't have much in terms of plot. I mean, it has a lot in terms of, like, character development and things like that, but it's just overall a very sweet book, you know, like.
SARAH: Yeah.
ALYCIA: You have Ciri with her dad and her uncles at Kaer Morhen, and it's very sweet, and loving, and heartwarming. You know, if you've read the rest of the book and especially Time of Contempt that comes right after, it's all like problems and problems and you're sad and you're sad, and like there's so many things happening that, you know, sometimes I just go back and reread Blood of Elves and I'm like, "Everything is fine here." You know like, we're all happy.
SARAH: It’s so weird. This is actually where the series ends, this is the first and only book. Nothing happens.
ALYSSA: Nope.
SARAH: I don’t know what you’re talking about there. It's all fine, happiness and good vibes only, thank you. It really is like you said. There's a lot of sweet things, like, with... with Geralt and Ciri, and now Ciri and Yennefer. And then Andrzej just comes and, like, fucking sucker punches us in the face with that last line, like, "Oh, you better get ready. I was just going easy on you, bitch."
ALYSSA: I think that as someone who's new to the series, it's like, it's such an odd way, I think to end the book, because it's just like, "She could not have been more wrong." And it's like, about what? Like, what could possibly? Like, I feel like when you typically get a cliffhanger in a book, you at least get some idea of what's going to happen or the danger that a person may be in, but it's like something and you're just like, "Okay, but what?" and it's like, "I'm not gonna tell you."
SARAH: I think the vagueness of it just makes it even more ominous to me. He’s so deliberately scarce on details, this is like she has no idea how wrong she is about this. And it's like, "Wait. Well... well, what do you mean by that?" And Andrzej is, you know, "Teehee. Read the next book and find out! Uh-oh. Whoopsie-daisy.”
ALYCIA: It's all like.
SARAH: Oh, no.
ALYCIA: It's like, "Everything was good, or was it?"
SARAH: This is the thing, like, obviously, we all know what happens, but we can't even speak about it. All we can say is, oh, no.
ALYSSA: Buckle up motherfuckers.
SARAH: Uh-oh.
ALYSSA: That's basically it.
ALYCIA: Good luck!
SARAH: Whoopsie.
ALYSSA: But I mean, as we're finally at the end of Blood of Elves, after many years of Breakfast in Beauclair, many months of going through Blood of Elves, do you guys have any thoughts on, you know, the close of the book. And any advice, I guess, for people who are reading along and will get to the rest of the series?
ALYCIA: Get tissues.
SARAH: Yeah. Get ready.
ALYCIA: I mean, book 1 and 2, you know, being short stories are already sort of like different from the rest of the books, but this one, again, as I just said, this one, you know, it's... it's such a special book. Not much happens, and I know that people have already made that point about Baptism of Fire, where they're like, there's not much happening in plot, but there's so much in character development. So, maybe if you read Blood of Elves, and you're like, "Oh, nothing's happening. I might just stop." Well don't because stuff is coming.
SARAH: I definitely agree, because I think one thing that Andrzej is good at is he's good at building things up. He's patient. He takes his time, and I think that's good, because some people will try and be like, "Oh, there's not enough plot stuff happening. There's... there's not enough going on," but you need the moments of quienesst.
ALYCIA: Yes.
SARAH: And solace.
ALYCIA: Mhmm.
SARAH: And just calmness to explore the characters and see how they react. And even just having the little nice moments here and there. Like, Yennefer and Ciri sitting and just looking at this tree and just talking and their interactions, it's necessary. Because if you don't have that, then all of the things that are going to happen, they wouldn't be as impactful. And I think especially, well, I can't even say because it would be a spoiler. It's so frustrating.
ALYCIA: It's frustrating.
SARAH: Maybe if you read it the first time around, I could see why if you were someone who really appreciates a very plot heavy story, you might be a bit frustrated, but when you are reading it again, I feel like I have definitely... like, I enjoyed it perfectly fine the first time I read it. I really enjoy Blood of Elves, but reading it again, I had a much bigger appreciation for, oh, god. oh, God. I can see where all this is going. Oh, God, and he's setting it all up. Oh.
ALYSSA: Yeah.
SARAH: Oh, no. I know how this is gonna end, you know? It's there for a reason. He's not just... he's not pissing about because he doesn't know what to do. It's a deliberate setup. But yeah, and to echo what you said, have tissues. There's gonna be some highs, there's gonna be some lows. You might need a box of tissues.
ALYSSA: I feel like the thing about The Witcher in general is that it definitely hits, like, those highest highs. Like, really incredible heroic moments and it also just drags you down to the depths of despair and heartbreak and hopelessness. And it does those things so well, and it weaves so many stories together in order to do so, which I think is really incredible. There are a lot of characters, a lot of plot points, a lot of prophecies that we've seen throughout Blood of Elves that serve as a very solid foundation for the rest of the series. As you said, Sarah, there's so many things that Andrzej Sapkowski sets up here in Blood of Elves, as well as the short stories, but particularly in Blood of Elves, that are going to be crucial for character development and plot development as we move forward through the last four books. Alycia, do you have any final thoughts?
ALYCIA: Thanks for having me.
SARAH: Yeah.
ALYSSA: Yes.
ALYCIA: This was a blast, honestly. I had a lot of fun.
ALYSSA: Well, I'm glad you did. So, that is the first show today as well as for the end of Season 3 of Breakfast in Beauclair. Alycia, Sarah, thank you so much for joining us for this episode. And thank you to our Hanza for listening. So, where can people find you both, and is there anything that our community can help you with or anything that you would like to share with them?
SARAH: Well, if you want to follow me on Instagram, as well, I just basically post pictures of my figures because I am CDPR’s like, you know, sucker for buying all their merch. That's @_dolblathanna. And if you would be interested in reading my story, if you have played the games, and you've read the books and you're interested in that kind of thing, and you're interested in Yennefer being a more point of view character, my Archive of our Own account or AO3 is DolBlathanna. I'm very original with my names. I just love Dol Blathanna a lot. And the series is called Promises to Keep. And now that I've said that I'm going to go into a huge panic and be like, "Oh my God, I need to edit." And yeah, to all the people who have reached out to me recently saying that they've been enjoying the chapters, I can't say enough how much I appreciate that, especially when I've been going through a... a difficult time with all my dissertation work and starting my fourth year of medicine, it means a lot to me to hear everyone being so nice. So, thank you. And thank you Alyssa, for having me on the show. My favorite chapter of the whole book.
ALYSSA: Of course.
SARAH: I remember when the podcast was, like, only on, like, episode three. Like, two years ago. I remember listening to it and being like, "Wow, this is so cool. We get to talk about the books." I never would have imagined that one day you would be having to put up with me talking about how much I love Yennefer and Ciri on this podcast. So.
ALYSSA: Complaining about mounds. Yeah.
SARAH: Complaining about mounds. Thank you very much, Alyssa. Thank you for... for inviting me on and making this wonderful podcast.
ALYCIA: I second that. I guess you can find me on Twitter and Instagram. It's Alicia Lany which is my name, A-L-Y-C-I-A L-A-N-Y. Oh my god, that was hard, or you can go find me on Reddit, which I mostly use for Witcher stuff, which is Aluschia. A-L-U-S-C-H-I-A. That's it.
ALYSSA: Amazing. Well, thank you both for joining.
ALYCIA: Yes, thank you so much.
SARAH: Thank you!
ALYSSA: Alycia, thank you for your patience. We've have pushed this off for about two years.
ALYCIA: Yes.
ALYSSA: I'm so excited to have you finally on the show. And Sarah, thank you so much for jumping in with such enthusiasm and such vigor. And to listeners, to our Hanza, thank you so much for joining us as we close Season 3 of the podcast, covering Andrzej Sapkowki's Blood of Elves. And I will see you for Season 4 of Breakfast in Beauclair. Premiering on Thursday, February 3rd, 2022, as we discuss Netflix's Nightmare of the Wolf, and “The Witcher” Season 2.
SARAH: Yay!
ALYCIA: Exciting!
ALYSSA: I am done. I am done!
SARAH: Yay!
ALYSSA: Goodbye!
ALYCIA: Yay! Congrats!
Outro & Credits
[Breakfast in Beauclair theme music by MojoFilter Media]
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., Ayvo of Gulet, Bee Haven of the Edge of the World, Charlotte from Vengerberg Glamarye, RedKite, The Original Roach, Codringher’s Cat, Libby, Clare Odell, Jennidy Mundilovitch, Brett from California, Wolf, Corey from the US, John of Ryblia, Sebastian von Novigrad, Tom from Australia, Jill Cate, The Tabby Witch, Olle from Sweden, James Carson III, and Kyle, the H2HOE.
Special thanks to Sarah and Alycia for joining us for this episode and our international hanza for their support.
Transcriptionist: Krizia Casil