Fanfic / Red Rowan

“I help people, Geralt… albeit not in the way you might expect. I help them to achieve what they truly desire – or barring that, what they truly deserve.”

- Gaunter O'Dimm, Red Rowan

Red Rowan is a fanfiction of The Witcher series by author IndiannahJones, set after the conclusion of the Blood & Wine DLC from The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. It can be found here on Archive of Our Own and here on Fanfiction Net.

The work began publication in November 2019 and is still in progress and updating monthly.

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Synopsis:

After the defeat of the Wild Hunt, all Geralt wants to do is retire to Toussaint and live the rest of his days in peace and luxury with Yennefer – but it seems the mistakes of his past are intent on coming back to haunt him. A rash decision from years back leads to unexpected repercussions, and Geralt soon finds himself challenged with a situation he never thought he would have to face. When he also receives a letter from Empress Ciri asking him to investigate one last lead, he finds he cannot turn down her request... even if he really should. Now, with everything at stake, Geralt must race against time itself as he seeks to undo what mistakes he can, and make the best of the ones he's slowly realizing he can't live without.

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Tropes in Red Rowan:

A-C

• Action Dad: Father-to-be Geralt is no stranger to the sword, and though he would prefer a peaceful retirement at this point in his life, he finds himself forced to pick up the blade again in order to protect his unborn child. With a long history of protecting foster daughter Ciri under his belt, this is nothing new for him.
• Alcohol-Induced Idiocy: After a night out drinking with Dandelion, Geralt tries to replicate the effects of a Wives' Tears potion by taking the ingredients raw, figuring that since he could gain benefits from raw monster parts, he could do the same with raw potion ingredients. Instead, he only ends up altering his drunken stupor into a hallucinogenic nightmare due to the effects of the poisonous and psychotropic ingredients.
• Alcoholic Parent: It is vaguely implied that Rosie's father might drink, but she is careful to avoid the question.
• Armor is Useless: In Red Rowan, Geralt goes up against several monsters he has never encountered before. His armour takes quite a beating and is often left in tatters as a result, with him grievously wounded.
• Babies Make Everything Better: Geralt assumes that having a baby to prepare for will make his wife, Yennefer, happy, even if the baby is not hers. Unfortunately, he could not be more off the mark, as Dandelion points out first, and is later confirmed by Yennefer.
• Big Bad: The primary villain of the story thus far has been revealed to be Gaunter O'Dimm. His motivation seems to be simply a want to make life difficult for Geralt, presumably as payback for losing Olgierd's soul, though Geralt questions whether that is the real reason behind the devil's actions.
• Big First Choice: Geralt is offered the chance to reverse infertility in all magic users if he walks away from Gaunter O'Dimm and leaves him to do his work in peace. When he refuses, O'Dimm tells him that the offer is no longer on the table for him, but that other magic-users now have the option of reversing their sterility, given they kill Geralt's unborn child first. In refusing O'Dimm's first offer, Geralt made a choice that would shape the rest of the story going forward.
• Black-and-Gray Morality: As a story set in the universe of the Witcher, there are often things that occur that are neither good nor wholesome, but are arguably better than a worse option. No character is perfect, and no one makes perfect decisions. Even the protagonists sometimes have thoughts or actions that could be considered unsavoury or unethical.
• But I Can't Be Pregnant!: At the beginning of the fic, Shani informs Geralt that their one-night stand resulted in her becoming pregnant, but both Geralt and Yennefer have a hard time believing her at first, because witchers are relatively well-known to be infertile. They are unsure how to take the news, until they realize that a potion Geralt took several years back may have caused a reversal of his sterilization without him even knowing it.
• Canon Fodder: Red Rowan takes advantage of a few things mentioned in book/game canon that were never expanded on sufficiently - most prevalently, the potion taken in Flotsam in The Witcher 2, which is only mentioned again if the player happens to pick up a letter near a statue in Oxenfurt Academy in The Witcher 3 during the Hearts of Stone DLC. The letter details that Geralt's sterility has canonly been reversed by consumption of the potion, but the plot hook is never mentioned in-game otherwise, and never comes to relevance again.
• Cutting Off the Branches: In Red Rowan, several in-game choices are established as the current setting for the universe.
  • The Witcher:
    › Geralt chose to leave the Source child Alvin with Shani, rather than Triss.
    › Geralt romanced Shani, rather than Triss. He also slept with several other women during that time, including the Queen of the Night, Regis' former lover.
    › During the events of The Price of Neutrality, Geralt chose to sleep with Eskel's surprise child, Deidre Ademyne, a young woman afflicted with the Curse of the Black Sun. After she mutilated Eskel and proved herself unfit for the witcher Path, Geralt made the decision to release her back to her kingdom under the watchful eye of her brother.
  • The Witcher 2:
    › Geralt took the potion from the alchemists in Flotsam when it was offered to him on the street. This is arguably the inciting incident for the entirety of the fic.
    › Geralt is revealed to have killed Letho of Gulet and Síle de Tansarville during the events of The Witcher 2. These are used as arguments against him, painting him as a willing murderer.
    › Geralt chose to support Iorveth, rather than Vernon Roche. Because of this, he was able to break Saskia from her spell, though he lost track of her soon after they parted ways.
  • The Witcher 3:
    › Ciri has become empress of Nilfgaard, due in part to the assassination of Radovid by Philippa Eilhart and her associates. Sigi Dijkstra is dead, but Vernon Roche, Ves, and Thaler are all still alive.
    › Lambert, Eskel, and Keira Metz all helped fight at the Battle of Kaer Morhen and survived. Lambert and Keira are now a couple, as happens in the game if they both survive.
    › Geralt challenged Gaunter O'Dimm for the release of Olgierd von Everec's soul, and won. He suspects this may be why O'Dimm has come back to make life difficult for him again, though he cannot be entirely sure.
• Cryptic Background Reference: Red Rowan includes several references to events from characters' pasts, including references to events in both the books and games.

D-H

• Deal with the Devil: Although Geralt initially refuses to enter into a contract with Gaunter O'Dimm, he finds himself embroiled in one anyway after refusing the devil's first offer. He suspects O'Dimm had twisted his agreement to do three tasks into agreement to a contract, and he finds the circumstances incredibly questionable.
• Didn't Think This Through: A pretty common theme in Geralt's life, particularly when it comes to dealing with matters regarding Gaunter O'Dimm and the challenges that stem from his existence.
• Door Stopper: Red Rowan currently sits at 220k and still updating.
• Experienced Protagonist: Geralt starts out the story at over one hundred years old, with years and years of witcher training and life on the hard witcher Path under his belt. In fact, he is all but set up for retirement when the story begins, though that ideal does not last long.
• Feeling the Baby Kick: Geralt feels Shani's baby kick for the first time when she is a little over five months pregnant. He also realizes at this time that the baby kicking causes Vesemir's amulet to vibrate, but not his own.
• For Want of a Nail:
  • Two years ago, in the small town of Flotsam, Geralt decided to take a potion offered to him by two alchemists on the street looking for someone to sample their concoction. Little did he know that potion would effectively reverse his lifelong sterility, eventually leading to him getting a good friend unexpectedly pregnant during a one-night-stand.
  • Gaunter O'Dimm directly references this trope at one point in the fic, though he refers to it as a "butterfly effect". Geralt asks if the devil can turn back time, and O'Dimm reveals that while he can, he prefers not to. Instead, he sometimes enjoys allowing people to change single elements in their past in order to create a new future - to whatever sinister end.
• From the Mouths of Babes: Rosie, the little girl who keeps coming around Geralt's house, often repeats things she claims she has overheard her uncle saying, including some very questionable double entendres. Geralt finds the uncle crass and offensive, and realizes that the girl likely has little idea what is and is not appropriate to repeat due to her young age - until she begins saying some very strange things that make him wonder if she is really as naïve as she appears.

I-M

• Immortality Bisexuality: During the fic, Regis comes to visit Geralt in response to a letter asking for his advice on an unidentified species of vampire. While he is visiting, Regis reveals that he has been having feelings for Dettlaff while helping him heal from the events of Syanna's betrayal, but has no idea how to go about pursuing them, as he does not know if Dettlaff feels the same way.
• Imperiled in Pregnancy: Shani is unwittingly put at the heart of O'Dimm's devilish plans when he promises renewed fertility to any mage willing to kill Geralt's baby while it is still in her womb. Geralt must do three tasks set down by O'Dimm in order to release the doctor from this perilous bounty.
• Impossible Task: After Geralt refuses O'Dimm's first offer, the devil changes the circumstances of his deal, telling Geralt that he must now do three tasks chosen by O'Dimm in order to remove the bounty placed on his child's life. He tells Geralt what two of the tasks are, but refuses to reveal the third until the first two are complete.
  • For the first task, Geralt is given the riddle: “Mentor and daughter have borne this same; stole by three sisters who share a name. Two are slain, one remain, find her and trinket regain.”
    › Geralt interprets the meaning of this riddle to be that he must retrieve Vesemir's amulet from where it was stolen by the last remaining Crone. He heads to Crookback Bog in order to kill the creature, and succeeds in killing her, barely managing to get out alive with the help of Yennefer and a portal.
    › Geralt wonders what benefit O'Dimm would have from the Crone's death, and speculates that the devil might be eliminating her in order to shepherd in her lost flock, or that he might simply have been looking for a task he hoped would kill Geralt in performing it. It is only later that Geralt realizes that Vesemir's amulet seems to pick up on things his own does not, and he can't help wondering if that might have been part of O'Dimm's plan in having him retrieve it.
  • For the second task, Geralt is given the riddle: “Wolf School witchers left are three; to finish, two or four must be. Child or friend, rite or rend; alter forever, or end.”
    › Geralt takes this to mean that he must even the number of Wolf School witchers on the Path. In order to do that, he assumes he must either kill an existing Wolf School witcher or put someone new through the Trials, and his immediate thought is to make Ciri a witcher, though Yennefer objects vehemently.
• It Began with a Twist of Fate: Geralt and Shani reunited entirely by chance while traveling through the sewers of Oxenfurt - Geralt while hunting a monster, and Shani while looking for materials to use in an antidote against said monster. Geralt had not seen Shani in almost eight years, and had not expected to ever see her again, but he found that they reconnected easily even after so many years spent apart. A night of ghostly intervention and whirlwind romance at a friend's wedding led to a one-night-stand, which led to Shani getting unexpectedly pregnant.
• Innocent Blue Eyes: The child that Geralt continuously encounters in the fic, Rosie, is described as having "unusual green-blue eyes", which Yennefer refers to as blue (derisively). Geralt is more inclined to think of them as green, though he is biased by the girl's slim resemblance to Ciri.
• Ironic Echo: This element is used several times throughout the fic.
  • After Geralt goes out drinking with Dandelion and learns that Shani may be in danger, Gaunter O'Dimm taunts him by reminding him that he was the one responsible for telling Yennefer it would be healthy to give Shani some alone time. He does this by repeating exactly what Geralt told Yennefer on the subject back to him - in Geralt's exact voice.
  • Near the start of the fic, Rosie informs Geralt that her uncle once made a lewd joke about witchers and projectiles, referring to ejaculation, though the girl is unaware of that innuendo. Later on, Dandelion comes up with a similar joke, but Geralt does not bring up to him that someone already made the joke, so as not to hurt his feelings.
• The Law of Conservation of Detail: In Red Rowan, almost every reference has significance. If something is mentioned and dwelled on (such as the title of a book), it is because it has importance to some element of the plot.
• Mama's Baby, Papa's Maybe: Several characters in the story question the validity of Geralt's fatherhood of Shani's baby, as witchers are relatively well-known to be infertile. Yennefer is the first to believe Shani when she claims that Geralt is the father, and others slowly begin to follow suit as news of the potion Geralt took years back becomes more common knowledge.
• Merging the Branches: In Red Rowan, both Sylvia Anna and Dettlaff are said to have survived the events of the Blood & Wine DLC. These are two separate endings in the base game, and therefore the combination is not a possible option outside the events of the fic.
• Mouthy Kid: Rosie, the little girl who keeps showing up wherever Geralt happens to be, often speaks to him in a rather brash way that surprises him, considering that most children are frightened of witchers. She does not seem to be frightened of him at all - in fact, though she seems to adore the concept of witchers, she seems to think that he is far from the best of them, and is not shy about telling him so.
  Geralt snorted at the girl’s response, half-amazed by her brazen cheek; far from being afraid of him, this girl seemed determined, for whatever reason, to drag him across the stones. [...] Regardless, he found it rather refreshing to not have to temper his words in front of this strange little girl – she gave as good as she got, sometimes better, a trait which reminded him strongly of Yennefer.

  — Red Rowan

N-Y

• Noodle Incident: In Red Rowan, there are a few instances where events from Geralt's past are referenced, but never expanded upon, because they are not important to the current plot (apart from establishing relationships). One example is Dandelion's ballad about Geralt masturbating to the thought of a beautiful princess, which is referenced several times, but only to show that Dandelion will write songs about just about any event in Geralt's life he thinks will interest an audience (no such ballad exists in the actual canon - see also Bawdy Song).
• One-Night-Stand Pregnancy: During the prologue of Red Rowan, Geralt and Shani shortly reconnect during a friend's wedding and end up having a one-night-stand. Shani later learns she is pregnant after missing her period for two months straight, and heads to Geralt's new home in Toussaint to inform him that he is the father.
• Overcome with Desire: Geralt and Yennefer have a healthy marital sexual relationship - on just about every available surface.
• Plagued by Nightmares: In several chapters, Geralt finds himself facing down spectral dream versions of foes he killed in years past. These characters (including Jacques Du Aldersberg and Vilgefortz) seem more bitter towards him for not realizing he was being used in killing them than actually angry for being dead. They attempt to warn him about their suspicions of Gaunter O'Dimm's ultimate goal, but Geralt is unsure whether these dreams are being manipulated by O'Dimm or not to begin with, and so is hesitant to listen.
• Retired Badass: The story begins with Geralt deciding to marry Yennefer and settle down, hoping to retire from the Path and everything to do with being a witcher. His plan is short-lived, however, as new challenges begin cropping up almost immediately after the newlyweds move to Toussaint, forcing him back into a life of constant danger.
• Seriously Scruffy: At a few different points in the fic, it is noted that characters (particularly Geralt) have gotten so busy that they have forgotten to groom themselves or cut their hair. It is only after Regis comes to visit that they get set back to normal, though the cycle quickly begins again once Geralt returns to adventuring.

• Shout-Out: The fic contains a few subtle shout-outs:
  • The town of Marchen is a reference to the German word for "fairy tale", Märchen.
  • The young man who put up the notice asking for investigation into Gaunter O'Dimm is named Peter, after the protagonist (Peter Marmot) of the fairytale the Hearts of Stone DLC is based on (Das kalte Herz).
  • The type of vampire Geralt fought before answering Ciri's note (mula) was originally slated to appear in The Witcher 3, but was removed due to time constraints.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: As Yennefer continues to be pushed to the limit by Geralt's poor decision-making in the face of new challenges, she begins to lose her patience, and eventually gives up on being understanding.
  “I think you would’ve kept on the Path forever, if given the chance. And up until you learned you’d gotten Shani pregnant, I kept expecting you every day to leave to return to it. Because that’s who you are, Geralt—selfish. Thinking of yourself, and no one else. But tell me, why should I suffer – why should Ciri suffer, especially – because of one more of your selfish mistakes?”

  — Yennefer of Vengerburg, Red Rowan

• What If the Baby Is Like Me:
  • Both Geralt and Shani continuously worry through the fic that their baby may suffer negative developmental effects due to Geralt's mutated genes from his witcher Trials. Shani expresses that she worries the baby may have no quality of life, while Geralt worries the effects of his mutations may actually kill it in the womb or shortly after birth.
  • After Regis brings up Alzur's experiments in conversation while researching Geralt's sterility cure, Geralt begins to worry that the child might possibly end up as some kind of monster instead.
• Wine is Classy: For their retirement, Geralt and Yennefer decide to move into Corvo Bianco, a manor on the grounds of a vineyard. Geralt mentions that he purchased the branding for White Wolf when he moved to Toussaint full-time, and that producing and selling it helps to supplement the couple's income. Most of the characters are often seen drinking wine at dinner.
• You Remind Me of X: Several times during his interactions with Rosie, Geralt realizes that some of her mannerisms remind him of himself, Yennefer, or Ciri, and her appearance is sometimes compared to Ciri as well. He often subconsciously finds himself second-guessing her motivations and other red flags because of this, whether he means to or not.

More to be added as the fic is continued.

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