Velen: The Beauty of No Man's Land (The Witcher 3)

A couple of months ago I bought and played The Witcher 3 for the first time and I really enjoyed it.  Everything, from the characters and quests to the music and cutscenes had me in a chokehold.  But one part of the game that still stands out to me, is the second location you go to in the game, Velen.  In this blog post I would like to explain to you why I and so many other people love Velen and why I think it is one of the best area's in gaming history.  This blog post is also best enjoyed if you have played The Witcher 3 before, so keep that in mind when reading.  

No Man's Land

In The Witcher 3, after you complete the main quests in White Orchards, you go to Velen, also known as No Man's land.  Velen is situated between two kingdoms, and the area has been plagued with wars for as long as it has existed.  The area is as good as a battleground with some settlements inbetween.  It's also full of bogs and swamps, which are filled with Drowners and Water Hags.  

In the game, one of the first scene's in Velen is of Geralt riding in on his horse, with a tree in the background filled corpses hanging from it.  That scene immediately sets the tone for the area.  Now, there are also a lot of other great places in The Witcher 3, like Novigrad and Skellige, but Velen will always stand out to me, because of the unique mood and vibe that it gives off. 

Because it is basically one giant swamp land (that is also as good as lawless, because no one owns the land) Velen is a very unnerving place.  I am very catious to call Velen "scary", because that would undermine the feeling the area gives off.  It feels distictly dark and uncomfortable - like something is brewing in the underbelly of this place.  The music design in Velen is also incredible; it only helps to drive the feeling of unease further.  One song still sticks out to me is this slow, drawing violin piece that seems to carry the same type of sorrow as the land.  

The people of Velen

In the game we meet some important characters in Velen like Kiera Metz, The Bloody Baron, Johnny the godling and so many more.  Even just standing and listening to the NPC's talk with eachother makes them all feel more alive.  I remember in my playthrough overhearing one NPC telling another that they sent one of their children into the woods with the full intention of them not returning.  This is probably foreshadowing for what happenes later, but still, absolutely wild.  

They are all interesting individuals and very well written, but for this section I would like to focus on the story of The Bloody Baron (also known as Phillip Strenger), the self-appointed leader of Velen.  This quest is also one of the most disturbing ones in the game, which only helps to amplify the dread Velen gives you.  The first time we meet the Baron in the game he challenges us to a boxing match, and after he loses he lets you into his castle to give you information about Ciri's whereabouts.  But before he helps Gerald, he first wants him to find his wife and daughter who are missing.

  Just a heads up this next part will be a bit dark, so if child death is something that disturbs you I would recommend you skip to the next part.  Through a series of events we find out that when the Baron was sent off to war long ago, he became a drunkard and that his wife cheated on him when he was away.  When he got back he killed the man she was cheating with and became more and more of a drunk.  His wife, Anna, kept nagging and pushing him until he started to abuse her.  Anna then got pregnant with their 2nd child, but one night the Baron pushed her over the edge, so she and her daughter, Tamara, ran away.  Tamara made her way to Oxenfurt, while Anna fell off her horse and got saved by the Crones, three malevolent witches who resides in Crookback Bog.  

Anna then stayed in the bog and started to look after some orphans there that the Crones wanted to use as a sacrifice, because they aborted Anna's baby (at her request) and decided to use her as a vessel to speak in the real world.  Later on in the quest you get faced with one of the hardest decisions in gaming history.  Either you let the Whispering Hillock, a spirit under the ground that wants to destroy villages nearby go free, saving the orphans of the bog in the process, or you kill it, saving the villages nearby but dooming the orphans.  I chose to set the spirit free and save the orphans, but I didn't realise the effect this would have on the game. 

When you then go tell Phillip about the abortion and where his wife is, he sets out to try and safe her and Gerald joins him too.  Sadly, we find out that the Crones turned Anna into a Water Hag and that she has no way to be cured.  To make matters worse, Tamara decides to not forgive her father and she goes back to Oxenfurt.  Phillip looked heartbroken when the quest ended, and told Gerald to get his payment at his fort when he is ready.  I definitely suspected that this wouldn't end well for the Baron, but when Gerald arrived back at his fort, he finds him hanging from a tree, with the only thing in his inventory being Tamara's childhood doll.  This scene was the catalist that made me want to write about how hopeless of a place Velen is.  

This blog post does not at all do justice the impact this quest has on the game.  Finding out that your choices are so important in the game was extremely cool and terrifying at the same time.  The other thing this quest does is setting up how morally gray most characters in the game is - the Baron, even though he was a drunken abuser, seemed genuinely remorseful of his actions and was very kind and caring towards Ciri.  The quest also shows us that the people of Velen sacrifices their own children to the Crones, because if they didn't they would bring even more terror to the unruled land.  

Contrast to other locations

One of the other areas in the game that you will spend loads of time in is Novigrad, the free city.  One of the first scenes of Novigrad is two people, one of which is a Witcher, being burned at the stake (not so free after all).  But to get back on track, Novigrad is a city that feels alive, even the music in the city carries the same sentiment, with upbeat medieval songs playing as you roam the streets.  It is a clear contrast to the cold, empty swamps and forests of Velen.  When you first get to Novigrad, you feel like you never want to leave, because compared to the stinky swamps of Velen, the cool sea-side air of Novigrad is way better. 

Another contrast is that Novigrad has a very big focus on "cleansing" the city of people like witchers, alchemists and sorcerers.  They do it in the name of the "Eternal Fire".  But the funny thing is, is that the streets of Novigrad is filled with prostitutes and explicit posters of the old Rosemary and Thyme, before Dandelion and Zoltan took it over.  Not to mention all the crime bosses, from Sigi Reuven to the King of Beggars.  Here you also complete a lot of quests that a normal person could also do, while in Velen you get to feel like a real monster-hunting Witcher.  

This isn't really important to the overarching topic of Velen, but I really liked being in Novigrad.  Every time got to the ports and saw that wide, open waters I could only imagine how fresh the air would have been there.  Even the richer parts of Novigrad is great to explore, because you can still get some sick scenery spots from up there.  Also, another small side-tangent but why is Gwent so difficult to play?  Everytime that I've tried to play that card game in The Witcher 3 I would lose miserably, because I still don't understand how it works.

In conclusion...

If you haven't played The Witcher 3 before, please give it a try.  It is almost permanently on sale (that's how I bought it) and it is really a worthwhile experience.  This blog post can't do the feeling of Velen or the entire game justice, so if this post was interesting to you in the slightest, please go try it - I doubt that you will regret it.  

This blog may have been a bit shorter and more yap-ish than my normal ones, but I really wanted to write something about The Witcher 3 and I didn't want to write about the entire story (because I haven't finished it yet).  Thank you so much for reading to the end, if you enjoyed it please consider following my blog, because then you will be the first to know when I upload a new post.  Until next time, have a good one!

PS: I'm playing Fallout: New Vegas at the moment and I'm enjoying it a lot.  I might just write a blog post about it in the future, who knows?