Hah... 420 - Tumblr Posts
Prompt 24
!!!SPOILERS FOR SECONDARY QUEST FROM BLOOD AND WINE (WITCHER 3 GAME DLC)!!!
There's a curse inspired by a quest (The Warble of a Smitten Knight) from Witcher 3 B&W so I put a spoiler just in case you don't want any of it spoiled <3 The curse is surprisingly a very small part of the actual quest, but like,,, I don't wanna take any chances! I'm using the curse as my base (ALL PICTURES ARE FROM THE WIKIPEDIA PAGE FOR THE GAME) I see two ways of this starting. EITHER Geralt arrives in a town only to overhear some hushed comments in a tavern about how awful the bard playing is, and how they miss the one that went missing ever since he went into the forest a few years back, followed by the other man at the table chiming in with the fact more men have disappeared in that exact same forest or Geralt is riding through a forest only to find a note that has hastily written "HELP - REDWOOD FOREST" on it, either stuck in a tree branch, on the ground, or attached to the foot of a bird. Geralt meanders around the woods, and no matter which way he learns of the danger, he comes across a huge tree, with a home carved into it. He enters the home and finds it has many floors. Geralt hears someone singing. He climbs the steps for quite frankly an annoying amount of time, before he comes across what appears to be some sort of... Witchy labratory. Note that I'm also heavily inspired by Auntie Ethel from Baldur's Gate 3 so I'm kinda thinking of some sort of hag-witch-thing like her as the villain, but you can change it into pretty much anything with magic and a bad attitude. Geralt sees beakers and flasks and bibs and bobs and an abnormal amount of bone jewelry and furniture, and in the corner of the room is a large birdcage, holding a chained man inside. The man, upon noticing Geralt is there, beams and begins explaining how he always knew help would come for him. The witch (or whatever else) kills anything she deems has "trespassed" too close to her home or too long in the forest in of itself. Jaskier is the only survivor, as she heard his singing and decided she wanted to keep him. To make it harder for him to escape, she has cursed him to have the likeness of the very songbird she likened his singing to. It's songbird of your choice, really. He could look like a lark, a nightingale, orioles like in the original quest, a literal songbird, it's all up to you.
I however like to imagine Jaskier has two large wings on his back, and maybe even bird feet. Now I don't fuck with her "can only live seven more years" or "give some of the curse to another person" outcomes, I like to think that that if Geralt cures Jaskier, he can keep his wings at the least, and there isn't any bad consequences. Perhaps maybe still thinking sticks would be great in his bed or something funny like that lmfao If Geralt can't cure Jaskier, he can just protect him from townsfolk, poachers, and creatures alike. Perhaps they get a glamour spell enchanted item from a sorcerer or something for him to appear human so he can play music for crowds. If he does get cured, perhaps this can be a way they hide his wings!