Iris von Everec

Iris von Everec (née Bilewitz) is Olgierd's wife and a talented painter.

Iris was from a noble family and, for a time, her family approved of her and Olgierd von Everec's courtship. However, when the von Everecs fell on hard times that led to them going bankrupt and losing their estate, Iris' family decided Olgierd was no longer suitable for their daughter and decided instead to give her hand in marriage to a visiting Ofieri prince.

Upset about this, Olgierd asked Iris to elope with him, but she didn't want to cut ties with her family. So Olgierd, full of rage at not being able to marry his love, inadvertently brought a curse down on the visiting prince, turning him into a giant toad. Sometime later, Olgierd made a pact with Gaunter O'Dimm and gained back his former noble position and fortune and thus, Iris. The two were soon wed, though her parents had reservations about it as Olgierd tended to hang out with bandit types, even letting them into the house.

Over time their marriage declined as Olgierd started to no longer have feelings for Iris, an unintended consequence from O'Dimm's pact. At one point, Iris wished to divorce him so her father began to read over the reasons to Olgierd. However, Olgierd lost his temper during the reading and killed Iris' father, making her lose all feelings for him.

Only remembering that he was supposed to love her, Olgierd gave Iris the black cat and dog for companionship and a mysterious being only known as the Caretaker for protection, not realizing she didn't want any of it. Then, deciding he didn't want to cause her anymore pain, Olgierd left, leaving behind a letter and a violet rose to remember him by. Iris, alone in the estate, laid in bed for days, just staring at the rose until it finally crumbled to dust, and she died soon afterwards.

Olgierd's Third Wish
As part of his pact with Gaunter O'Dimm, Geralt was to grant three wishes to Olgierd, with the third wish being the retrieval of the violet rose he gave to Iris before he left her. When Geralt arrives, he's attacked by the Caretaker of the estate but manages to finish it off, leading to the mysterious black cat and dog coming over and talking to him. Through examining the estate and conversing with the familiars, Geralt learns of Iris' connection to Olgierd and her talent for painting while she was still alive. Needing to talk to her about the rose, Geralt then buries her remains by her painting easel in the front garden in hopes of putting her spirit to rest.

However, this does not put Iris at ease and Geralt discovers that her spirit was strong enough to create her own version of the estate within a painting, which Geralt travels into to try and piece together how to put Iris to rest. While exploring the painted world, the witcher forces Iris' spirit to face her previous fears through past memories, including spiders, her marriage falling apart, the murder of her father, Olgierd leaving her the estate with only the groundskeeper and the familiars to attend to her and, ultimately, nightmarish versions of Olgierd which attack the witcher. By piecing the memories together, Geralt witnesses the result of Olgierd's pact with O'Dimm as he starts to lose his love and appreciation of life.

Final decision
After piecing together her memories and banishing her fears, Geralt is able to talk to Iris who, even though she regrets her choices, is still in love with Olgierd after all this time. Geralt can either let her keep the rose and allow her to live her afterlife in the painting or ask for the rose, which would destroy the painted world and allow her spirit to finally rest. If Geralt refuses to take the flower, he will instead take a painting of Iris with the rose to appease Olgierd's wish. Geralt then gives Olgierd either the painting or the flower and Olgierd is surprised to learn that, despite all he had done to his wife, she still loved him.

Journal entry

 * When Geralt visited Olgierd von Everec to hear his third and final wish, he learned the rough and rowdy ataman had once been married. At some point he had left his wife, however, and gave her a violet rose as a parting gift. Geralt's task was to find this rose somewhere in the von Everecs' abandoned manor. When he arrived there, he discovered the estate was haunted by a malicious wraith tied to Olgierd's wife, Iris, who had died of loneliness years prior. Her rage and remorse now filled her former house with evil energy.


 * Geralt gathered up Iris' remains and buried them in the manor's garden. He did this both out of simple human decency and cold calculation, for he knew this act would calm her unsettled spirit and lead him to the violet rose. During the funeral a now quieted Iris appeared to Geralt and took him on a journey to a world which existed only in her mind. This "painted world" consisted of her fears and memories, which Geralt now had to confront.


 * Iris von Everec's memories first recalled happy days spent in Olgierd's company, then became darker and darker. In fact, even the sunnier ones had an ominous cloud hanging over them – an uneasy feeling something horrible would soon happen. Iris von Everec had been a sensitive woman and noted subtle changes in her husband's behavior. She had lacked the courage, however, to delve into their cause.


 * Olgierd von Everec’s heart had turned to stone, turning him into a monster. Iris hated what her husband had become, but could not stop loving him. The couple endured together in a painful cohabitation until Olgierd ended it by abandoning his wife. Iris never came to terms with their separation, could not, in fact, even bring herself to read her husband’s farewell letter. Yet the violet rose he gave her upon leaving she kept, making it a focal point for all the longing and love raging in her soul. When she died, these unresolved feelings kept her spirit in this world and continued to cause her suffering.


 * If Geralt takes the rose:
 * The witcher’s intervention helped Iris accept what had happened to her and her husband. When he asked for the rose, she agreed to give it him, knowing this would put a final end to her pain and suffering – and also her very existence.


 * If Geralt leaves the rose:
 * The witcher’s intervention helped Iris accept what had happened to her and her husband. She was now free to dissolve into the ether, but the thought of this horrified her. She thus entrusted her fate to the witcher, who was unwilling to deprive her of existence. She thus remained in our world by entering a painting which Geralt then delivered to Olgierd. Her sad eyes stared out at him from that canvas for the rest of his life.

Associated quests

 * Scenes From a Marriage