I don't mean to be pushy, but I'm currently replaying The Witcher 3 (again) and I came across an interesting detail. I know you really like Cintra, and I stumbled upon this particular mention of Cintra. This mention once again demonstrates the empire's "greatness."
Will Trade Cintran Rugs For Food
Will trade ornate Cintran rugs (three) for food (meat preferred, though I'll consider greens as well). New items, never used. Ideal for decorating walls, lovely fabric with linen warp. Meant as a dowry for my daughter, but the Blackguards did her in, so there'll never be no wedding.
I know soldiers from different armies can do things like that, but this is an "enlightened empire" with a "disciplined army," as they position themselves. I can easily imagine that this woman, Geraldine, could have either been Cintran herself, or traveled there, back in the days of Queen Calanthe, and purchased or even made beautiful canvases in the Cintran style. She could have raised her daughter by telling her stories of her people's traditions, of how beautiful Cintra was, how powerful the queen was. And then something called the empire happened. And once again, Cintra suffered, as if the massacre weren't enough.
Replaying and rereading The Witcher in later life, you realize how anti-imperialist this work is, exposing imperial narratives, showing its true side and the price of it.
The name of the village where I found the notice is Downwarren, north of the Orphans of Crookback Bog, Velen.
Sorry if I bothered you, I just thought it was worth noting. If you've already seen this in the game, I apologize again.
Have a nice day, you and the readers of this blog!
hi! you are not pushy at all, i love talking about the witcher, especially cintra!!
and that is a very interesting detail!
this is such a sad story and unfortunately there are many such crumbs in the books as well that show the cruelty of the empire. angouleme is one such story. ciri, of course, is another. even zoltan used to live in cintra before he had to run from the nilfgaardian conquest.
i believe it was mentioned in the books that the soldiers from the nilfgaardian army would desert and plunder conquered villages, rape women, raze the villages to the ground.
these were not their orders, but they were deserters, so they did not care. and the orders were not great, either. they were ordered to dismantle everything possible and transport it back to the empire which coincidentally were the orders the nazi army was given.
it is very reminiscent of the red army in poland after ww2 imo. people who compare nilfgaard to the roman empire do not seem to take into account the geopolitical climate that the witcher was written in, during the communist era here, still very much remembering the time of ww2.
let's not forget that this "enlightened" empire is also the one with SLAVE INFANTRY. slave. infantry. slaves and pow's forced to fight.
