The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings - Part Nine

Tracking Triss led Geralt straight into a Nilfgaardian trap set by none other than the cunning Shilard Fitz-Oesterlen. But the worst part? Geralt discovered that he had unknowingly carried Triss the entire time—compressed into a figurine through an artifact spell. The sorceress had been reduced to an object and passed from hand to hand until Fitz-Oesterlen took her to Loc Muinne. Geralt was furious, and Philippa Eilhart found herself in hot water.

Though Philippa denied responsibility, claiming the spell was cast by her apprentice—and lover—Cynthia, Geralt chose to believe her. With Cynthia revealed as a Nilfgaardian agent, Philippa gained a new enemy, and Geralt gained an unexpected ally. Among Cynthia’s abandoned belongings, Geralt also recovered the rose of remembrance he had once given Triss—its petals now a crucial ingredient for Saskia’s antidote.

Meanwhile, the Witcher turned his focus back to lifting the battlefield curse, a task that required relics representing both the horrors and virtues of war. To learn more about the infamous battle between the Kaedweni and Aedirnian forces, he consulted Cecil Burdon, the elder of Vergen.

Cecil spoke of a blade known only as "Hatred", once wielded by the brutal commander Vandergrift, and now in the possession of a dying Saskia. Though Geralt had stolen from the dying before, he couldn’t bring himself to do so this time.

Fortunately, with the antidote working and Saskia recovering, she willingly handed over Vandergrift’s cursed sword, granting Geralt the symbol of hatred he needed to begin breaking the curse once and for all.