Good day everyone,
I hope you are all having a good day, welcome to CryptoGod-1's blog on all things gaming and literature. Today I will be doing an analysis and review of the sixth book from The Witcher series, and the fourth of The Witcher Saga, by Andrzej Sapkowski, entitled The Tower of the Swallow. Within I will break down the chapters and give an overview of what happens within the story, with a conclusion on the overall book at the end. This will be done in a six part series for this book, so check out the previous parts below and keep an eye out for the final part to follow.
Previous Parts to this Book
The Witcher Saga - The Tower of the Swallow - Part I
The Witcher Saga - The Tower of the Swallow - Part II
The Witcher Saga - The Tower of the Swallow - Part III
The Witcher Saga - The Tower of the Swallow - Part IV
Chapter 9
Yennifer watched on as the ships returned into Skellige. Among them were the Ringhorn, the Feneis, the Trigla, the Drac, the Havfrue, the Anghira, the Tamara, the Scorpena, but no sign of the Daria. Crach an Craite, the yarl of Skellige, emerged amongst the sailors and warriors once the ships docked. They had fought Nilfgaard bravely when the events on Thaneed took place, and immediately he made for Yennifer. He informed her she would be placed on a ship to Novigrad in the morning, the serve her fate before the royal court for her treacherous behaviour. Pleading her innocence, she informed Crach she would not go. For she had made a vow. The same vow Crach had made a decade prior. To protect Ciri.
Crach decided to help Yennifer. Over a meal, they discussed many things, including Yennifer innocence from the events on the island of Thaneed, and how rumours of Ciri and Geralt had reached Skellige. Yennifer needed help and Crach would give it. She needed coin, not ships. Seneschal Guthlaf was assigned to aid her, as Yennifer drew up calculations and requests, immediately sent to the treasury and islands bank. She needed a specific diamond, and only one place had it in all of Skellige. The priestesses of the temple in Hindarsfjall. Yennifer needed it to open a magical window to communicate with others, but knew the priestesses would not entertain the whims of a sorceress.
Crach and Yennifer set sail to Hindarsfjall, and as they approached Crach pointed out a large rock suspended above the water. Kaer Hemdall. The watchtower of the mythical hero Hemdall who is legend to face the evil powers from the land of Morhögg. It is legend that it will be the last battle. As they reach shore, Crach and Yennifer climb the temple steps. They were greeted by young priestesses and requested to see their superior, Modron Sigrdrifa. They reached the statue of Modron Freyja, and over the goddesses arms lay a diamond in a gold necklace. Sigrdrifa approached them, and she excused Crach so the women could come to an agreement. The diamond, Brisingamen, could not be removed as there was no clasp. Sigrdrifa knew Ciri from her time on the islands as a youth, and wished for the girl to find sanctuary, even from Yennifer. She would do all she could to help. As Yennifer pondered leaving amongst her options, Sigrdrifa informed her how Modron Freyja was the patron of soothsayers. If Yennifer stayed and prayed with them, perhaps the goddess could help with Ciri.
Kneeling with Sigrdrifa, Yennifer found no point to the silence of the prayers. She found herself drifting off, and was soon met by a pair of golden glowing eyes. Hanging below them was a necklace with a shimmering stone similar to that of Brisingamen. Yennifer was in a trance. The woman asked if she was ready to sacrifice, for good and evil, light and dark, chaos, a little bit was intertwined in all of us. The pain became crippling for Yennifer, and she found herself in a tree, taking to a squirrel. She witnessed flashbacks of her youth. Being born as a hunchback into parents who loathe her. The father who disrespected his wife. The price she paid for being from a line of witches. She saw the Tower of the Swallow. And Ciri. Galloping on her horse. Unicorns. Geralt on a bridge. She saw it all. Until Ciri took her by the hand and lead her to a door which would not open.
Yennifer awoke to Sigrdrifa standing over her. The statue of Modron Freyja was not longer holding the necklace. Instead it was at her feet.
She informed Crach that she was remaining at the temple, and would still have need for Seneschal Guthlaf. Crach let her know word had reached him that he should be on the look out in case Yennifer arrived in Skellige. He was not afraid of kings, and was bound to her by Feudal oath with her being Ciri’s guardian. He explained he knew Ciri was still alive, because her blood, the blood of Riannon, is tied to the sea. Pavetta and Duny, Ciri’s parents, had not died in a storm. The storm came after their ship disappeared over Sedna Abyss. Crach was determined to figure out what happened to them, and how Ciri made it out from Cintra alive.
Triss had arrived at Skellige. Well known to Crach was the fact Triss was dismissed by King Foltest and had taken asylum with Phillipa and Dijkstra. She admitted as much, but she was not there to spy. She was concerned by the news of Yennifer's death, and wanted to find Ciri. Triss knew Yennifer had made a megascope to communicate, but Crach, a poorly sailor, wouldn’t possibly know anything about it. Crach had interrogated Modron Freyja about what Yennifer had been up to, who she had spoken with, and what it concerned. Without much information, Freyja was about to tell Crach about the wicked people she overheard Yennifer talking with. About all sorts. Mostly about two towers. The Tower of the Gull and the Tower of the Swallow. As Triss and Crach talked more, Triss informed him of the Radcliffe commission. It was a commission set up to determine who had teleported where after the events of Thaneed. It had established that one portal led to the middle of the ocean, the Sedna Abyss. They believed Viglefortz went there, taking Ciri with him, to an awaiting Nilfgaard ship. Another theory was someone passed through the portal in the tower, causing it to explode. The question is where did it take them?
Ciri and Vysogota are fishing for eels, so the old man can trade them at the markets. They have been in conversation for an unending amount of time, and finally he brings up Tor Lara. He believes if Ciri can get to the Tower of the Swallow, it could bring her back to Thaneed and far away from Nilfgaard. While Ciri is cautious seeing as the last time she went through the tower teleportation she ended up in the desert, she agrees. They located the book which Vysogota believed could help them, and Ciri read it. While it was written in strange words, Ciri distinguished a castle known as Assengard, located in Centloch. She was unfamiliar with it, but Vysogota would tell her all about Assengard and the Hundred Lakes.
The land of a Hundred Lakes, known as Mil Tracta today, is about four hundred furlongs from Assengard and situated near the river Yelena. The Tower of the Swallow, shrouded in mist, is situated there, as per the writing of Buyvid, who visited it in the company of Avallac’h. It was about three hundred miles from where Ciri and Vysogota were. Two weeks of riding on her horse to be precise. Vysogota explains to Ciri how the teleporter is magicial and hidden to the normal eye amongst the ruins of Assengard. He is certain it would appear and bid to her commands, for he feels she is the chosen one.
Triss persuades Crach to tell her more about what happened to Yennifer, how she travelled to the Sedna Abyss. Crach and Triss realise that Yennifer intended to be overheard in her conversations. She used herself as bait, sailing to Sedna Abyss with two ships to draw out the enemy. Her longships were the Alkyone, led by Guthlaf, and the Tamara, led by Asa Thjazi. Upon the Tamara would also be Crach's son, Hjalmar. In their youth, when both were near fifteen Hjalmar and Ciri had become bethroved, albeit without any consent or permission. It was for that reason Calanthe banner Ciri from returning to Skellige, as she had other plans for the lion cub of Cintra. When Hjalmar heard of Ciri’s perils, he fought valiantly at the Battle of Cintra and the Battle of Sodden to avenge her. Before Yennifer set sail, she had one more telecommution to perform.
It was with Triss, who was with Phillipa, and they briefly talked with Yennifer. She did not ask forgiveness for abandoning the lodge, but assured them she would not betray their secret organisation. Phillipa made it clear if Yennifer went after Ciri they were nothing but rivals. Plead as she could, neither Triss or Phillipa would agree to inform Ciri, Geralt, or the world of Yennifers innocence on Thaneed should she die. Her death was expected any day now by Phillipa, as Yennifer had been betrayed by all her communication. It was not in the lodges interest to clear Yennifers name. Triss asked her friend for forgiveness. Never, responded Yennifer.
Yennifer had set sail to Sedna Abyss to find out how natural disasters differ from unnatural ones, two weeks before Triss arrived at Skellige. Crach had not seen her since.
As reported by Asa Thjazi, a day and a bit after setting sail Yennifer demand to take the Alkyone ship to do something dangerous. She needed volunteers. Guthlaf was the first of fifteen men to volunteer, and Hjalmar was among them. Yennifer only wanted an essential amount, no more, and Guthlaf informed her eight would suffice to row the longboat. She got him to send the rest back to the Tamara, including Hjalmar. The Alkyone sailed into the abyss while the Tamara remained behind and watched, watched as the sea became hellish where the ship had just sailed into. Black clouds and lighting swirls flashed as the Alkyone was thrown about, rising from the sea. Some of the crew jumped, but in a flash and bang the ship disappeared. The Tamara rowed with all it’s might but found no survivors, only managing to get two corpses from the sea. All the others were presumed dead. Guthlaf. The crew. And Yennifer.
Chapter 10
Johanna Selborne, now back in her cell after her interrogation at court, was discussing matters with her cell mates. They included the Scarra sisters, and a man named Kohut. The Scarra sisters were in for assaulting an officer, while Kohut was a quartermaster with an ongoing investigation into missing army bows. The sisters questioned Johanna, also known as Kenna, on what happened the year before when they were after Bonhart and Ciri. Without talking, Johanna thought back to how they had made it to Claremont two days too late. Bonhart had already left when they arrived, not before lashing Ciri in front of the temple. Houvenaghel didn’t give up anything of worth, nor did the villagers. Several days after that, she met Bonhart face to face. On the Equinox.
The day before that, Selborne had approached Steffen Skellen. She informed him she has sensed a spy, invisible, among them. She could hear it’s thoughts, strange ones, out of place amongst the troop. Tawny Owl was impressed. She informed him to make sure they stop at some village or other the follow day. She would prepare a pancake treatment for their unwanted guest. The following day they stopped in the late afternoon in a village called Unicorn. It was here the caught their unwanted guest. Tawny Owl summoned his troupe to his office, leaving the door and window open to create a draught. Upon Johanna's orders, the others threw milk, flour, and other ingredients in the direction she pointed. The captured the spy, bound it, and removed its invisibility hat. Tawny Owl leaned over, exclaiming he had not seen this person in awhile. It was Rience.
Tawny Owl warned them Rience was a sorcerer, and Johanna used her ability to scramble his thoughts. Once he was about to be tortured with the hot irons, it was fear blocking his mind from being read. Tawny Owl had a solution, to scorch Rience's heels. He had recommended Vattier de Rideaux do it seven years prior, but Vattier didn’t listen. Before Reince got scorched, he revealed he was tracking them on Vilgefortz’s orders, regarding the girl. He wanted to get ahead of the troop and negotiate Ciri from Bonhart. Tawny Owl laughed, commenting how they had not even started the torture yet. Johanna got into Rience's mind and discovered his utmost secret. His trump card. Before Tawny Owl could begin the torture, a wagon with two people approached. It was Bonhart, and Ciri.
Vysogota returned to his cabin in the swamp to find Ciri rummaging through his daughters old belongings. She was packing, preparing to set out to the Tower of the Swallow. Ciri was having more dreams, and now believed her friends had not abandoned her, instead they may need her help. Vysogota had been trading with a peasant, and was reluctant to see Ciri leave. He had news. There were sentries posted in the villages nearby, set to look out for Ciri. Upon hearing this Ciri wanted revenge. To be a Witcher again, and slay these monsters of men. The pair argued, as Ciri explained in no uncertain terms how Vysogota’s views on ethics and morality were nothing but lies. How the real evils of the world needed to be vanquished and slain. They could not see eye to eye, but for Ciri, it was a mere case of both eyes for an eye so the evil could not commit its acts again. She calmed down, telling Vysogota she needed to finish her tale. She had been telling him it for thirty nights, and was finally nearing the end. The events at the village called Unicorn.
Bonhart threw Ciri from the horse, and led her by chain up to the awaiting Tawny Owl. He greeted the bounty hunter, and they entered his hall. There Ciri met Rience, who she remembered from him chasing her on Thaneed. He told the girl that he has tortured and slain Yennifer and that he would do the same to her. Tawny Owl hushed him, and along with Bonhart, the three sat in discussion. Ciri was led outside by the others and chained to a post. Johanna Selborne, along with three others from her company, watched over the girl. Johanna eavesdropped on the trio in their conversation, realising more and more what she had gotten herself into.
Rience, Tawny Owl, and Bonhart discussed Ciri. Bonhart admitted he discovered Ciri was of importance due to the Barons daughter revealing that Falka had commented she should be bowing to her. He surmised that the girl was of noble blood, and went against Tawny Owls orders to kill her. She revealed it all to him, when he prepared to remove her teeth as torture. From within his bosom, Rience has a xenogloss, a magical device from which Vilgefortz communicated with them. He informed them all he needed was Ciri’s womb, to fulfil Ithlinne’s prophecy.
Vilgefortz made Bonhart an offer he could not refuse, as he persuaded the bounty hunter to give him Ciri in return for two thousand florins, twenty times what Steffen had offered. Tawny Owl, not to be left out, was offered what he really wanted. He had already betrayed the Empire, as instead of Emhyrs orders he was working with the Princes and Dukes whose daughters Emhyr had overlooked in place of marrying Ciri. They had paid Tawny Owl to eliminate Ciri. The reason he abided? Tawny Owl wanted a higher place in this world, and wanted to end the tyranny and instead replace it with democracy. Rience, Bonhart, and Vilgefortz laughed. Tawny Owl could team with Vilgefortz or suffer, and to prove it, Vilgefortz promised him Vattier de Rideaux’s position. Sceptical, Rience ensured there would be no hesitation by informing Tawny Owl that Vattier had a spy amongst Steffens troops.
Johanna Selborne had figured out the same. She had read Neratin’s thoughts, if only briefly, during the encounter with Rience. She knew, and she understood what a dilemma she was in. The only way to figure out whether to serve Tawny Owl or if he was a traitor to the Empire was by entering Ciri’s mind. She tried, and to her astonishment Ciri repelled her, knocking Johanna back and making her nose bleed. In doing so, she inadvertently put the power back in Ciri. The Source. Her magic.
Ciri managed to subdue the guards around her, and was about to do the same to Neratin Cena when he told Ciri he was on her side. He cut her binds and got her on her horse, Kelpie. In the commotion Bonhart, Rience and Steffen emerged to see Ciri riding away. The guards were closing in on all angles and Ciri sliced one who came near her. She turned and galloped towards the gate, but Tawny Owl managed to sneak up on her and slash the girls face. Somehow she didn’t fall from her saddle, and getting upright on the horse, Kelpie managed to jump the gate. Tawny Owl bellowed for them to chase her, while he slaughtered the traitors.
Johanna, back in her cell, recalled how nobody had been able to track Ciri. Her horses prints had vanished. Tawny Owl and Bonhart had ordered any abled body to mount and search in the forest. Their tales were terrifying, of the straw unicorn of Unicorn turning into a fiery dragon, of banshees wailing, and of fiery eyes apparitions. Ciri was nowhere to be found.
Ciri was all packed and saddled, with Kelpie all ready to go. Vysogota had given her directions and a roughly drawn map. She was setting out to find the Tower of the Swallow. He reminded her again and again to keep off the main roads, to follow the paths to Dun Dare, then a crossroads and a tavern, and once she hit the river Sylte she would be halfway there. She was lost for words before leaving, but he saved her the need. “Stay for winter” pleaded Vysogota, that the tower is but a legend. Before she galloped off, Ciri reminded him that she was also just a legend. A child of destiny.
Four of Tawny Owl’s men were situated in the tavern by the crossroads, including Cyprian Fripp the younger, Yuz Jannowitz, Dede Vargas and Rispat La Pointe. They had settled in for the winter with ale and wenches on hand, banning the locals from the tavern. The pondered whether Ciri could have survived after Tawny Owl slashed her, and if her corpse or bones would be found in the woods. Two weeks of boredom in the tavern was driving them to their wits end, when an old beggar entered. Fripp allowed him to stay, and while the beggar was slurping some broth, he mentioned it was Samhain Eve. A night of witchcraft. He regaled them with tales of how it was the end of the year in the Elven calendar, and how ghosts and spirits made merriment and mischief that night before returning below the earth for the winter.
The group pondered what to do as the beggar spoke more tales, and they planned to get the blacksmiths daughter to share between them. Fripp had gone onto the porch to relieve himself, but came back in white as a ghost. Falka and her horse were outside. The planned to ambush her. As she entered the tavern they sprung out, expecting to take her by surprise, but she was ready. Exclaiming she was “Ciri of Kaer Morhen” the battles began, and did not last long. Ciri sliced and hacked, using all she knew to defeat the men. None were left alive. The old beggar exclaimed that Ciri will bring death wherever she goes, for she is death herself.
Back in the swamps, Vysogota is laying upon the floor. His heart is exploding in his chest. Life was beautiful he thought. The banshee howled as he was passing. His final words to the gods, “protect the Witcher girl on the road.”
To be continued.......
If you would like to check out my analysis on the World of the Witcher, please follow this link here: The Witcher
While if you wish to check out my review on the first book of short stories in the Witcher series, it is available here: The Witcher: The Last Wish
Finally if you want to see what I wrote about the second book of short stories from the Witcher, it is available here: The Witcher: The Sword of Destiny
The Witcher Saga
Book 1
The Witcher Saga - Blood of Elves - Part I
The Witcher Saga - Blood of Elves - Part II
The Witcher Saga - Blood of Elves - Part III
The Witcher Saga - Blood of Elves - Part IV
Book 2
The Witcher Saga - Time of Contempt - Part I
The Witcher Saga - Time of Contempt - Part II
The Witcher Saga - Time of Contempt - Part III
The Witcher Saga - Time of Contempt - Part IV
Book 3
The Witcher Saga - Baptism of Fire - Part I
The Witcher Saga - Baptism of Fire - Part II
The Witcher Saga - Baptism of Fire - Part III
The Witcher Saga - Baptism of Fire - Part IV
Have a great day.
Peace. CryptoGod-1.
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