Scavenger Hunt: Cat School Gear Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Quest

Laboratory notebook

Day 1.

Luckily the teleport deposited us directly in my laboratory. It’s good to be home. I had grown sick to the gills of that leaky tub. I hope that storm I summoned smashed it into those craggy rocks off the Grassy Knoll shore.

The experiments which my students conducted on drowners in my absence did not yield the expected results. As usual, I must do everything myself.

I will administer a brew of medicinal opium to the subject. This “milk of the poppy” will keep the witcher in a state of half-consciousness, and thus incapable of any resistance. Commencing studies.

Note: I must hold off on my planned experiments while I clear up the demolished portion of my laboratory. I have set the bones in the forearm of one of my assistants. I will now administer a quadruple dose of “milk of the poppy” to the witcher.

Day 4.

Subject shows incredible resistance to physical torture. Only broke after the second day of intense labor. Moderately satisfactory results from the interrogation. Garnered information about witcher training and the Cat School of witchers in general. As I suspected, the Cat School witchers are for the most part of elven stock. This school must have some tie to the Elder Races (addendum: perhaps its founder was a member of the Aen Seidhe?

Subject unfit for further study. I have discontinued his doses of poppy.

Day 7.

Administered extract of cowbane and hemlock. In typical representatives of the human and Aen Seidhe species such a mixture provokes paralysis of the peripheral nervous system, and eventually of the nerve endings as well. This results in muscular, skeletal, pulmonary and cardiac paralysis, and ultimately death through suffocation.

The witcher is not, however, a typical representative of any species. Though the poison did seem to cause some mild irritation (sic!) in his nervous system, his mutated body quickly managed to neutralize the harmful alkaloids.

In a matter of hours all symptoms of the poison I administered have vanished.

Day 15.

Stinging him with sea wasp toxin did not provoke the expected results. In order to strengthen the toxin’s effect I have poured ethyl alcohol into his wounds. His nervous system seems to be immune.

Day 26.

The subject has been tortured, poisoned, burnt, frozen, starved and dehydrated, and despite it all his body continues to function. He eats and drinks by himself, moves about his cell on his own and is able to articulate simple words (“please”, “drink”, “don’t hurt”, “stop”).

Conclusion: as I suspected the witcher is a superb energumen! A demon trapped in such an excellently prepared body will become death incarnate, vengeful wrath made flesh – and placed at my command. No one has succeeded in creating a being of such power since the times of Malaspin and Alzur.

This is a great day for science!

Time to begin the incantations.

Mage's notes

Kiyan has enlisted with the Flying Stag as a guard of sorts. A hefty sack of Novigrad crowns convinced the captain to lodge me in his cabin. All is going according to plan.

I’m actually finding this expedition amusing. I’m glad I didn’t contract the kidnapping out to some bulgy armed halfwit. I’ll do it more gracefully myself.

He’s cautious. I won’t be able to put him down with a casually placed poison apple. Guess I’ll have to zonk him out with a spell and whisk him away via teleport. I just hope it won’t plop us down somewhere in the middle of Temple Isle instead of in my quarters below it. The power pulsating from my laboratory tends to throw off a good portion of my attempts to teleport home.

Very high level resistance to psionic spells. Time needed for full penetration of his nervous system – a half an hour at least.

A few more moments and the witcher will be ready for transport. Now I just need to wipe our tracks. Perhaps a little change in the weather?

While waiting for more favorable atmospheric conditions, I looked through his things. Some very intriguing documents. A map of Est Tayiar, crafting diagrams of elven provenance (margin note: highly interesting sketch for a one-handed crossbow, most likely used to hunt draconids or ornithosaurs, must ask about this during interrogation. Confirms my theory that the witchers of the Cat School use elven weapons.) and, wait for it…. Professor Sigismund Gloger’s notes. It’s clear the witcher had something to do with the famous professor’s disappearance.

Think I might have overdone it a bit with those cumulonimbi… No point in tarrying, time to evacuate.

Professor Sigismund Gloger's notes

Excavations to be carried out by Gottfried Oss, Michelle Sabina Ruxer and Marco Gedl, under the supervision of Professor Sigismund Gloger.

We have begun excavation work under the aegis of the Oxenfurt Academy and with kind sponsorship from Prince Adrien of the Sea Cats. Our goal is to find the legendary treasure of King Maeglor of Est Tayiar.

8th of Blathe, 1st day of excavations

I am deeply worried about the witcher present among our company. I had a bad feeling about him at the very start, during the first meeting at Castle Drahim. Now, as we trek dark underground caverns, his presence gives me shivers. Are we entirely sure his task is to protect our expedition?

Furthermore, Castle Drahim is too close to Oxenfurt for us not to have heard those unsettling rumors about Prince Adrien… (illegible fragment).

11th of Blathe, 3rd day of excavations

Kiyan demanded we surrender all notes found in the ruins of the elven armory. I refused.

13th of Blathe, 5th day of excavations

We pitched camp in a vast and dry cavern in the easterly portion of the complex. There are a few active portals here. I am afraid they are very likely unstable and unidirectional.

14th of Blathe, 6th day of excavations

The witcher murdered Marco! He was deciphering one of the priceless elven sketches when suddenly, as I watched on aghast, the witcher slit his throat and grabbed his incunabulum! I panicked and jumped into one of the portals. It deposited me in some chamber which has no exit. Unless an echo of the portal appears, I am stuck here for good. I hope Michelle and Gottfried managed to escape.

[remainder of the notes difficult to decipher and no dates are indicated]

I must conclude the witcher had from the very start been operating on Prince Adrien's orders. I would not be surprised if they were toasting their scheme's success Drahim Castle at this very moment. Blast it, perhaps I should have given those elven diagrams to Kiyan after all? What good are they to me here, if I am to rot in this crypt?

I have finished the last drops of my water. There is nothing to eat. No echo from the portal has appeared.

Gods... I don't believe in you... But if you do in fact exist... If you exist, save me!

Prince Adrien's journal

Kiyan performed wonderfully! It's a shame, of course, that Professor Gloger disappeared somewhere in the ruins of Est Tayiar along with the rest of the elven diagrams, but those sketches for a steel sword alone are worth as much as a village in southern Redania!

We split the takings equally, as per our agreement: I kept the diagram for the silver sword, while Kiyan took the crossbow diagram. I must admit, I didn’t exactly need every member of the expedition’s head preserved in vinegar, but they do constitute impressive proof of Kiyan's conscientiousness and professionalism. The witcher swore none of the archaeologists would leave Est Tayiar alive - and none did.

All the more shame, then, that Kiyan didn’t accept my offer. As my personal bodyguard, he would never have wanted for a thing. Steady pay, caviar and strawberries for breakfast, lobster for lunch, daily baths, a court surgeon and courtesans of both sexes for all his needs… and if he still lacked for anything, he had but to knock on my chamber door.

He must very much love all that trudging around the world, because I do not believe Jacob of Dembich could have dangled a better offer than I did! Really now - Jacob of Dembich?! A second-rate captain transporting whores to dockside Novigrad pimps for a fistful of crowns? With any luck, sooner or later a storm will sink that leaky tub of his and Kiyan will return to me, tail between his legs!

[illegible scribbling] scrubbed [illegible] waxing [illegible] [illegible] blade oil [illegible] Devil’s Puffball [illegible] contortions (…)

[ink visibly fresher than previous entries, many years must have passed] I have heard the Flying Deer, the vessel on which Kiyan was sailing, wrecked off the coast of Grassy Knoll. Was it my curse? Hm. Not bad, for a beginner. Perhaps I should think about enrolling at Ban Ard?