Yennefer's History
Yennefer (b. 1192) was a sorceress from Vengerberg, the capital city of Aedirn, before being recruited by Tissaia de Vries and brought to Aretuza to study magic. More than 30 years after her Ascension, she met Geralt of Rivia, whom she had mixed feelings for due to the circumstances of how they met.
Tutelage at Aretuza
In her home town of Vengerberg, Yennefer, a young lady with a curved spine and partial facial paralysis attempts to return a flower to two lustful lovers outside a barn. Disgusted by her appearance, they attack Yennefer, pinning her to the ground and hurling insults her way until she instinctively portals away to Aretuza. There, she meets Istredd, a young sorcerer who informs her that she's been marked. He then creates an untraceable portal to send Yennefer back home.
Having been marked from her portalling from Aretuza, a sorceress named Tissaia de Vries finds Yennefer and purchases her for four marks from her stepfather, less than half the price of a pig. Yennefer's mother objects, prompting her husband to denounce Yennefer as his daughter. Yennefer's cry for help is similarly futile. Yennefer is forcefully taken from her home in Vengerberg and locked in a room in Aretuza. She looks at herself in the mirror, disgusted at what looks back at her, and so shatters the mirror and grabs a shard of glass as she contemplates taking her own life. Despite slitting her wrists, Yennefer survives the night after her failed suicide attempt due to Tissaia's intervention.
Tissaia explains the dangers of magic and how each one of them showed an aptitude for controlling it, making them conduits of chaos, though magic itself is the control of chaos. She has gathered them for a trial: before each of them sits a flower and a stone, and they are to lift the stone without touching it. All of the initiates are able to lift the stone, with the exception of Yennefer. Discouraged by her failed attempt, Yennefer flees the greenhouse. She seeks out Istredd and introduces herself.
Later, The initiates sit across from each other during an exercise to determine their partner's greatest fear. Telepathy should occur; however, after hours of analyzing her partner, Anica, Yennefer has failed to determine her fear and lies to cover up her inadequacies. Tissaia calls Yennefer out for her lie and berates her in front of the class, so Yennefer retreats to Istredd and details her shortcomings. He advises her to keep trying, saying that he didn't give up and now he can read minds. He even helps Yennefer read his mind, revealing glimpses of cicadas, warm bread, and other things that she might enjoy.
The initiates are later taken to Tor Lara to bottle lightning, to test their ability to control the ultimate expression of chaos. On Yennefer's turn, she raises her bottle and fails, causing the lightning to strike her, and send her across the room. Enraged, Yennefer shoots the lightning at Tissaia, who redirects into the sky. Tissaia proceeds to relate to Yennefer, saying there are two types of mages: those who can control their emotions and those who let their emotions control them. Yennefer and Tissaia being the latter.
In her fear of being sent home, Yennefer finds Istredd, who insists that they'll find a way. He can't show Yennefer what he knows because he has to ensure that the knowledge never reaches the Brotherhood. Istredd instead shows her the skulls of the elves who built Aretuza, explaining the Elven history, and how they were the original mages. He gives Yennefer a Feainnewedd, a plant that only grows where Elder Blood has spilt. Using this plant, Yennefer summons a portal with no difficulty and reveals that her real father was a half-elf, and was killed during the Great Cleansing. The half-elf blood caused her to be born with a twisted spine, and she believes that this is why no one could ever love her. Istredd kisses her, as if to prove Yennefer wrong about no one loving her.
Yennefer takes the flower she got from Istredd to Tissaia, as it was a test to see if Yennefer could control her emotions long enough to get it from him. Yennefer asks if this means she's ready to "ascend," and is told to listen for the knock.
Yennefer listens for the knock as instructed. However, it's not her door that Tissaia knocks on. Nevertheless, she takes the opportunity to spy on Tissaia as she turns three of the initiates into eels. Tissaia instructs her to push them into the water. Tissaia took away their control, but they still have power. They're conduits for Aretuza. So when Yennefer takes a broom and pushes them into the water, all of Aretuza lights up with magic.
Ascension to Mage
It's initiation day at Aretuza, and Yennefer and Istredd are having sex in front of an illusory audience. Afterwards, they share their mutual fears of being separated with Istredd exploring ruins and Yennefer working as a mage to King Virfuril. Yennefer recalls the frightened girl she once was, completely unaware of her power. She wants to go back home to Aedirn and never be that girl again.
Yennefer meets with the enchanter. Every girl he enchants leaves Aretuza a living work of art, no matter how challenging the task. He allows Yennefer to pick a dress, and she chooses the grey one. Tissaia enters and tells Yennefer that they remake themselves on their terms. Yennefer has the power to "free the victim in the mirror" forever. Tissaia instructs Yennefer to close her eyes and imagine the most powerful woman in the world, and takes that image from her mind and transposes it onto the mirror for Yennefer to see.
Later, Yennefer demands an audience with the Chapter after discovering that she is being sent to Nilfgaard rather than Aedirn as promised. Tissaia reveals that it was her blood that finalized the Chapter's decision. Sending a quarter-elf to Aedirn would only further ostracize Cintra given their hatred for elves. It was Stregobor who told the Chapter about Yennifer's true father, and Yennefer realizes that the only way he could've known is if Istredd told him.
Yennefer refuses to attend the initiation. Istredd finds her in the ruins forging her father's name on a deed to declare her as his natural-born daughter. Istredd apologizes for telling Stregobor her secret, so she wants him to go back to the Chapter and tell them that he lied, but it's too late as Yennefer missed initiation and the enchantments are done. Istredd offers to right his wrong, considering that the Brotherhood offered him a seat on the research chapter, so he wishes to bring Yennefer along. However, she wants more than a life "holding dustpans while he brushes bones." Yennefer storms off, but not before Istredd exclaims that she's just angry because she lost her chance to be beautiful. Not only beauty, Yennefer wants power, she admits. She leaves the unfinished deed behind in her angered retreat.
She finds the enchanter and demands that he make her beautiful. Despite not having the necessary herbs to sedate her during the procedure, Yennefer demands that he go through with it. Yennefer removes her clothes and is strapped to a chair. She requests that the enchanter leave her purple eyes and scars. Before proceeding, he informs Yennefer there is a cost to a creation. To be reborn, Yennefer will bear no more. The enchanter surgically removes Yennefer reproductive organs. He uses them to form a paste that when applied to Yennefer's skin, causes a transformation. Yennefer screams out in pain as internal flames crack her skin. Her body takes shape; her spine forcefully straightens, as does her jaw. The pain is so overwhelming that she breaks free of her chains.
Following a successful enchantment, Yennefer arrives at the Aretuzan ball, catching everyone's eye. Completely reborn, and appearing almost entirely like a new person. She greets the king of Vengerberg, who discards Fringilla in favor of her. The two then dance center floor, and she wins Aedirn as she originally wanted.
Protecting Queen Kalis
30 years have passed, and Yennefer hasn't aged a day. She travels with Queen Kalis and her newborn child in a carriage guarded by King Virfuril's soldiers. Many fear for Queen Kalis as she has yet to produce a boy to inherit the throne from Virfuril. Kalis envies Yennefer's life as a king's mage. However, Yennefer gave up everything to get her seat at court, and in return, she's spent the last three miserable decades cleaning up political debacles. Nonetheless, Kalis argues that Yennefer made the right choice until the horse carriage suddenly comes under attack. Yennefer and Queen Kalis exit the carriage to find all but one of the guards dead. Standing no more than 50 feet away is an assassin and a koshchey. Yennefer opens a portal for Kalis, her daughter, the guard, and herself to escape through.
They emerge from the portal in a desert, where Yennefer is fairly certain the assassin was paid to kill Queen Kalis as she's repeatedly failed to provide the king a male heir. The assassin then tracks them to the desert, Yennefer and Kalis managing to escape through another portal while the guard is killed in the process. They now arrive in an undetermined town, and Yennefer asks Kalis if she has something of the king's that could be traced. Confirming her suspicion, the assassin tracks and joins them not a second later, his koshchey lunging at Yennefer. She slows it down long enough for Queen Kalis, the child, and herself to escape through another portal to a mountain top, where Yennefer leaves the queen and her child after being tracked for a third time. Each time Yennefer makes a new portal it seems to take more and more effort to create a new one.
Yennefer appears in a field of sunflowers after having left the queen and her child behind. Yennefer eventually returns to find Kalis dead. She kills the koshchey, takes the child, and portals to safety though not before the assassin throws a knife at her as she goes through the portal. Yennefer emerges on a beach and drags herself and the child to shore. The princess doesn't make it due to the knife having grazed Yennefer and the baby, enough to fatally wound the infant. As the sun sets, Yennefer settles on the beach with the princess' infant body by her side. She believes the child is better off dead rather than having to endure the trials and tribulations of life. She then buries the child beneath the sand.
Trapping a Djinn
Yennefer enters a shop in search of assistance. Much like herself, the owner of the shop, Hemet, is a mage as well, and both have chosen to live a life off the grid, unbounded by the rules of the Brotherhood. She leaves empty-handed after failing to provide enough pay.
Yennefer starts her own business in Rinde; using her magic to fix the problems of the townspeople, so long as they're willing to pay. She has customers lined down the road until she is confronted by the town mayor, Beau Berrant. He's come to collect what's due to the kingdom, but Yennefer ends up arrested when she refuses to comply.
Yennefer receives a visit from Tissaia, who she hasn't seen in years. Not since she maneuvered her way onto Aedirn court over 30 years ago. Tissaia informs Yennefer that King Virfuril is dead, and King Demavend rules now. Yennefer remained hidden for a while, but now she's making noise in search of a solution to her problem; Yennefer wishes to bear children. Tissaia has come to warn her that the mages that Yennefer is enlisting won't help her with her problem because Yennefer is "pure chaos" at the moment. She wants a cure for her infertility, and it's making her sloppy. The Brotherhood left her to her own devices once she abandoned Aedirn, but her recent behavior will make her a target. Tissaia invites Yennefer to return to Aretuza, but she turns Tissaia down. Yennefer suspects that Tissaia only wants to see her thrive so long as she has a hand in it. Tissaia swears this is not true, and she questions what more Yennefer could possibly want, to which she replies "everything."
That night, Yennefer hosts an orgy consisting of several dozen townspeople. To her surprise, the witcher, Geralt of Rivia, interrupts. She knows him as the White Wolf. He requests her help in saving his ally, Jaskier. She questions just how powerful Geralt is, but Jaskier was attacked by a djinn and whatever it did to him is spreading, so Geralt insists on focusing on him. Should Yennefer cure him, Geralt promises to indulge her curiosity. Yennefer agrees to his terms, and states the phrase "ragamuffin," releasing the citizens of Rinde awaken from their trance, completely unaware of their actions.
Yennefer puts Jaskier in a deep healing sleep. He'll be out long enough for Geralt to bathe, and she's even acquired his clothes. As Geralt bathes, she points out that fishing for a djinn is an extreme measure to remedy sleeplessness. Geralt replies that he's desperate. Yennefer undresses and sits back-to-back with Geralt in the bath. She wonders if all witchers are as blessed as he is, being as they're made from magic, mage magic. However, as Geralt explains, it didn't make for a happy childhood. Judging by Yennefer's scars, he can tell she didn't have much of a happy childhood either. He accuses her of capitalizing on the political situation of Rinde, though Yennefer claims that she's serving the stifled townspeople. Ultimately, they both know there's more to the other's claim than they're revealing. Fortunately for Geralt, Yennefer has decided that his company and conversation is payment enough for her services.
While Geralt doesn't doubt her capabilities, he does doubt her intentions. Yennefer assures Geralt that Jaskier will survive and recover his vocal talents. Geralt looks around and realizes that Yennefer is attempting to trap the djinn. She explains that it's tied to this plane and its master. With Jaskier only making two wishes, Yennefer needs him to make his third and final wish so that she can capture the djinn. Geralt is taken over by the sudden smell of lilac and gooseberries. Yennefer kisses him and at that moment has full control of him. She uses him to enact her revenge against a couple of town council members.
As Yennefer prepares the spell, Jaskier awakens. She holds him against the wall and tells him to make a wish. Jaskier makes his final wish, and Yennefer releases him. She then starts chanting to summon the djinn. Geralt returns, offering his help. He tries to stop Yennefer before the power consumes and kills her. Jaskier expressed his last wish, but the djinn only seems to be getting stronger. That's because as Geralt explains, it is he who has the wishes. He refuses to make the last wish in fear that Yennefer becoming a vessel for the djinn would have her lose control. Yennefer states that true transformation is painful and that she'll take the djinn herself. Yennefer becomes unstable. The house itself starts to collapse. In saving Yennefer from herself and her own desires, Geralt makes his final wish to free the djinn. The building then caves in on them.
Yennefer manages to portal herself and Geralt downstairs before the building comes crashing down on them. She blames him for the djinn's escape and all the havoc it will cause. Geralt informs her that djinn are only dark creatures when they're held captive. He's certain that it won't cause much harm now that it's free. Geralt and Yennefer then have sex. Afterwards, Yennefer asks what he wished for, but Geralt does not reveal it. He then sleeps, soundly.
Hunting a Dragon
Yennefer and her latest companion Eyck of Denesle were among four teams to join in on a hunt to slay a green dragon. Yennefer greeted Geralt and Jaskier for the first time in a year. She couldn't help but wonder why she kept running into Geralt despite walking the earth for decades prior and never meeting a single witcher. She explained that she was there to accompany Eyck as he was to slay the dragon.
All four groups decide to settle down on the mountainside. Geralt, Jaskier, Borch, Tèa, Vèa, Yennefer, Eyck, Yarpen, the leader of the dwarves, and Boholt, the leader of the Reavers roasted the hirikka and feasted. However, Borch warned Eyck against eating a certain part of the creature. Another warning that went unconsidered by Eyck. "A great knight never wastes a kill", he replied. It's why he'd make a great lord after slaying the dragon. With Yennefer as his mage. Boholt interrupted and made a lewd remark towards Yennefer. Eyck took his leave as his stomach started to gurgle after failing to heed Borch's warning. They proceeded to discuss how the rightful son of Nilfgaard had returned and started burning through the south. With Fringilla as his mage. Wouldn't be long before they tried to take Sodden.
Yennefer awakened the following morning to find Eyck missing. Yarpen found him dead by a tree with his pants down and throat slit. Nevertheless, the hunt continued. Yarpen suspected that the Reavers killed Eyck, and so he knew of a short cut across the mountains that he only shared with Geralt, Jaskier, Borch, Tèa and Vèa. Proposing a truce until they reached the next peak. Geralt tried to convince Yennefer to join them on the shorter path. Much like Yarpen, Yennefer suspected that Boholt killed her escort before he could accomplish the one task she needed him for. Yennefer revealed there are certain healing properties dragons are said to possess. However, Geralt informed her that fertility cures using fresh dragon hearts were a myth. Geralt also didn't believe she'd make a good mother. Yennefer explained that she wanted her choice to bear a child back. Geralt informed her that witchers can't have children either. They were made sterile because their lifestyle weren't suited for a child. He then unintentionally revealed to Yennefer his Child of Surprise.
Yarpen and his men have guided Yennefer, Geralt, Jaskier, Borch, Tèa and Vèa to a fairly narrow path lined with wooden boards alongside the mountain. A tight squeeze for anyone larger than that of a dwarf. The board broke beneath Borch's feet and he falls, as does Tèa and Vèa. The only thing preventing them from plummeting to the ground was Geralt holding on to the other end of the chain. Borch told Geralt to let him go. When Geralt refused, Borch let go of the chain, shortly followed by Tèa and Vèa, and the three of them disappeared within the fog as they fell to the ground below.
While in her tent, Yennefer got a visit from Geralt. Yennefer admitted to being worried for Geralt on the mountain. Her scent was mesmerizing. The moment he dreaded most every time she left is when it faded. Yennefer reminded Geralt that it was he who left first in Rinde. She woke up in the destroyed house, and he was gone. Geralt asked for forgiveness and kissed Yennefer. After having sex, Yennefer questioned if the rumors were true about witchers being devoid of human emotion. Geralt explained that was false. People say whatever justified despising his kind. If the choice had been his, Yennefer wondered what Geralt would've been instead of a witcher. Much like Geralt, Yennefer didn't have much of a choice in being a mage. She always dreamed of becoming important to someone someday. Geralt assured Yennefer that she was important to him.
Yennefer woke up the following morning to find Geralt still at her side. At a quick pace, they could make it back to the Pensive Dragon before sundown, however, Yennefer had no intentions of turning around. She was still intent on killing the dragon. She then rushed off to the dragon's cave after noticing the dwarves were already ahead of her.
Yennefer caught up to the dwarves, freezing them in place, allowing for her to pass them by and enter the cave. Once inside, she found the wounded green dragon protecting its egg. Tèa and Vèa appeared and demanded Yennefer stay back. Geralt arrived soon thereafter. The green dragon was dead, but she was not alone. Enter the gold dragon, who revealed itself to be Borch. When the dragoness was injured, her cry was heard by Villentretenmerth. But the egg could not be moved or the life inside it would die, which is why the dragon attacked. She was as protecting her baby. That's when Borch, Tèa and Vèa heard about the king's hunt and realized they had to keep their enemies close. So Borch came to find Geralt, the knight who was taught to save dragons rather than kill them. Boholt and his gang of Reavers arrive, forcing Geralt, Yennefer, Tèa and Vèa to defend the dragons.
Yennefer and Geralt defended one entrance to the cave while Tèa and Vèa defended the other. They are faced with Boholt and one remaining Reaver. Yennefer made sure that it was her who killed Boholt. Afterwards, Borch paid off Yarpen and his men; offering them teeth belonging to the green dragon to take to the king as proof of its demise.
Borch thanked Geralt and Yennefer for all their help in defending him and his family. He noted that he sees why Geralt didn't want to lose her. Yennefer questioned the meaning behind this, and Geralt revealed that he was referring to Rinde and their encounter with the djinn. That was why they couldn't escape each other. Because Geralt wished for it. Yennefer took that to mean that her feelings for Geralt were also magic, though he insisted that wasn't true. An argument ensued, resulting in the two parting ways. Borch saved them both a lot of hurt with a little pain now. He revealed that Yennefer would never regain her womb, and Geralt would lose Yennefer.
Returning to Aretuza
Coming from Caingorn, Yennefer arrived in Nazair, a Nilfgaard ran excavation site, where she reunited with Istredd after years apart. Why they're digging? The tunes described a "magnalith" in Nazair, but no one could find it until Istredd arrived and Nilfgaard tore through the lands. They allowed his research. Every glyph had a clue to something across the continent from a time before the Conjunction. Yennefer took a sip of the ale, which she described as having a terrible taste. However, Istredd claimed that the people of Nazair were starving before Nilfgaard's arrival. Yennefer surmised that Istredd "bought in."
She questioned how much longer Istredd intended to stay in Nazair as she missed him. Yennefer asked if it wasn't too late to do what they always talked about all those years ago in the cave of Aretuza. Living a life together. Istredd could excavate as she worked as a mage. He recalled how Yennefer always hated monoliths. Admittedly this was true, but Yennefer had spent decades being the object of desire, having anyone she wanted. But they all loved the power that came with her position at court. Not her actual power. And no one had ever seen that but Istredd. Yennefer kissed him. However, he pulled away. He spent years waiting for the moment that Yennefer realized that they were meant for each other. Coming up with excuses to study at Aedirn. Anything to get closer to her, but every request he made was denied by her. It was Stregobor who snapped him out of it. He reminded Istredd of the beauty of their work. Yennefer went after the thing she loved, so she chose power. At least she kept her eyes, he remarked, before departing.
Yennefer was then approached by Vilgefortz of Roggeveen, who was in need of her help. Nilfgaard had been conscripting mages into their service. And since neither of them possessed a legitimate letter of safe conduct, they both should leave as fast as possible. He needed Yennefer to accompany him back to Aretuza. He and Tissaia needed her help. Tissaia even said herself that Yennefer was the best student she'd ever taught.
Yennefer accompanied him back to Aretuza, where he and Vanielle of Brugge informed her that Nilfgaard was planning to attack Cintra. Not that Yennefer cared. She only cared for finding Tissaia. To her surprise, Tissaia had no idea she was in Aretuza. Vilgefortz lied to Yennefer in hopes of convincing her to join their cause.
Yennefer returned to her old room to find three initiates, Fola, Glacella, and Murta playing around, claiming to be studying botany. They questioned why she's back. A question that not even Yennefer at the time could answer. She offered to show them what the herbs used in botany were truly good for. While the herbs possessed certain healing properties, when mixed, they act as psychedelics. From the girls, Yennefer discovered that Glacella never had a "conduit moment" and that certain initiates were buying their way into the Aretuza.
Yennefer showed the girls a more terrifying fate than being expelled should they get caught. She took them to Aretuza's windmill, where many years prior, she watched Tissaia turn her friends into eels. Yennefer informed the girls that the ability to create life would be taken from them so that when they were sent out into the world, the only family and loyalty they'd have was to Aretuza. Initiates like Glacella, "with all the magical talent of shoe leather," would end up in the water with the rest of Yennefer's sisters who never ascended. Tissaia interrupted Yennefer's schooling of the girls and sent them to their rooms. She went on to tell Yennefer that she should stop with the one life she'd already ruined, that being her own.
Yennefer never wanted to come back, referring to Aretuza as a joke, letting in girls who couldn't even do magic. Tissaia explained that they had to make compromises in order to survive. Tissaia departed after noticing a gathering of the mages, leaving Yennefer clueless. Fortunately, she found Triss Merigold, who told her that an emergency conclave of the Northern Mages was called after Nilfgaard took Marnadal.
Artorius, Stregobor, and Tissaia led the conclave. Artorius and Stregobor had no desire to go to war with Nilfgaard, especially not for Cintra, who rejected their mages for decades. However, Vilgefortz worried that more kingdoms would fall after Cintra as Nilfgaard wanted the entire continent. Rather than watching them fall, Tissaia wanted to help Cintra defeat Nilfgaard. Sabrina, Vilgefortz, and Vanielle sided with Tissaia, wanting to convince the kings to send their armies because if they didn't stop Nilfgaard now, more kingdoms would fall.
Fringilla arrived at the conclave and denounced any suspicion that Nilfgaard was planning to take over the continent. Under their new leader, Emperor Emhyr var Emreis, Nilfgaard had strengthened trade and funded research. Fringilla believed that in taking Cintra, they had a chance of saving the continent. If the Northern mages wouldn't take sides, Fringilla asked that they at least stay out of her way. Fringilla then pointed out that if not for Yennefer, she never would've been assigned to Nilfgaard, and it wouldn't be the empire it is today. Artorius joked that had they sent Yennefer to Nilfgaard as planned, it would still be a "shitty backwater." Yennefer admitted this was true. Instead of Nilfgaard, she went to a prized kingdom and did "fuck all for decades." She helped murderers and rapists keep their crown. If given an option, she'd vote to burn it all down. The mages put it to a vote. Unfortunately, most sided with Stregobor and Artorius to allow Cintra to fend for themselves.
Once the conclave concluded, Yennefer and Tissaia resumed their previous discussion. Tissaia insisted that there are girls who need the help that only Aretuza can provide. She also added that Yennefer was right, back in Rinde when Tissaia visited her. But now, they may have to put their differences aside to stop Nilfgaard. Tissaia, Vilgefortz, and some of the other mages planned to fight, and she was hoping Yennefer would join them.
Battle of Sodden Hill
Approximately 60 mages, Yennefer, Tissaia, Triss, Vilgefortz, Vanielle, Coral, and Sabrina included, boarded a ship headed for Sodden Hill. They needed to get to the Elven keep that guarded it before Nilfgaard did. They had already sent word to the Northern kingdoms. Temeria and Kaedwen agreed to join them in defending the land. The plan was to protect the keep. Once on land, Yennefer questioned Nilfgaard's strategy of sacking Cintra and exposing themselves. Vilgefortz explained that the bigger picture was often left for history. Their task was much clearer - hold Sodden and save the continent.
Yennefer, Tissaia, Triss, Vilgefortz, Vanielle, Coral, and Sabrina arrived at the keep, the only thing separating Nilfgaard from the North. They were greeted by a man. Yennefer advised him to take the children and hide, but as he explained, there was no more hiding from Nilfgaard. Their only chance was to fight.
Yennefer recalled Triss spending time in Temeria and asked if she truly believed that King Foltest would bring the Northern armies. Triss trusted that he would come through after she and Geralt helped save his daughter, who was cursed as a striga. Yennefer then sat with Tissaia and discussed Nilfgaard's encroachment and the need to enjoy the night while they could. Yennefer noticed that Tissaia had taken a liking to Vilgefortz. Tissaia looked to her and asked if she was ready to die should they fail to stop Nilfgaard. Yennefer claimed that she was, having lived several lifetimes, none of which satisfied her, Tissaia remarked. Yennefer had accepted that life had no more to give. However, Tissaia argued that Yennefer still had more to give.
Yennefer awakened to find a fireball fired by Nilfgaard coming straight for her. She halted the fireball mid-air and then redirected it. The sun had risen and the Northern mages made it through the night. Unfortunately, Nilfgaard arrived much sooner than they anticipated and the Northern armies were still a ways out. There were only 22 of them left, Yennefer, Tissaia, Triss, Vilgefortz, Vanielle, Coral, Atlan Kerk, and Sabrina included. They watched as a thick fog consumed the mountains around them, signalling Nilfgaard's encroachment. Tissaia ordered Sabrina to take the villagers to the artillery room while she and Triss head down. Yennefer was instructed to keep watch on the tower and reserve her chaos.
Yennefer watched from the tower as Nilfgaard's army approached. She telepathically communicated with the others to alert them and order them to make their move. On Yennefer's command, Vilgefortz portalled to Cahir's destination, taking out half a dozen soldiers before getting to Cahir. During the fight, Vilgefortz was disarmed multiple times, each time using magic to return his sword, despite Yennefer's warnings to reserve his chaos. Vilgefortz was bested by Cahir and with his chaos depleted, Cahir kicks him off the hill. Cahir rolls down the hill and hits his head on a tree stump.
Yennefer watched from the tower as Nilfgaard broke through their forces. She telepathically guided Coral back to the keep. After watching Atlan get struck down by an arrow, Coral decided to stop running. She tried to perform a spell but was killed before she can. Atlan was killed as well.
Sabrina sneaked up behind Yennefer and stabbed her in the abdomen with an arrow after being infected by a parasite. Two young boys, also under the control of the parasites, took their bottles of blue meteorite and dropped them on the table filled with blue meteorite, causing a massive explosion on both ends of the keep that sent Yennefer and Sabrina flying off the tower, though the former managed to stick the landing. The fall appeared to return Sabrina to her normal self as she apologized for attacking Yennefer.
Yennefer limped out of the keep, forced to witness the massacre that had unfolded as villagers of all ages lay dead on the grounds of Sodden Hill. She telepathically called out to her fellow mages without response, telling them to hold the front line as more Nilfgaardians approached. Although Triss seemed to survive the initial attack, she was still too wounded to battle. Yennefer killed two of them as they were tying an arm-less Coral to a tree. Fringilla intercepted Yennefer's message. She told Yennefer to stop fighting and join Nilfgaard. However, Yennefer stayed true to her belief.
Yennefer found Tissaia on the hillside. Tissaia had been severely weakened, but with the Northern armies close, Yennefer refused to give up. She looked Tissaia in the eyes and for the first time, admitted that Tissaia saved her. It was now Yennefer's turn to save the continent. Tissaia urged her to let her chaos explode. Yennefer got back to her feet, absorbed the fire that was consuming the keep and unleashed it all on the Nilfgaard army.
