The Voice of Reason

The Voice of Reason is the framing story in The Last Wish, divided into seven parts.

Most of this story takes place in the Temple of Melitele in Ellander while Geralt is recovering from injuries he gained in a recent fight.

Summary
The Voice of Reason 1 describes how Iola, a priestess of Melitele, enters the chamber Geralt's slumbering in and the subsequent sex.

The scene is followed by the short story "The Witcher".

The Voice of Reason 2 begins with Nenneke waking up Geralt and Iola; the girl leaves, and the elder priestess and the witcher talk while Nenneke checks Geralt's injuries. She chides him for 'losing his touch', for letting himself get hurt so bad by an ordinary striga. Meanwhile, Geralt's stand on faith and belief is made clear.

Later, the temple's area, the cult of Melitele, are introduced while Geralt's walking the pathways, looking for both Iola and Nenneke.

He finds Nenneke and they discuss faith anew. The priestess tries to get Geralt to agree on a trance, for she senses something 'wrong' about the man. He refuses, arguing that his lack of faith would make such an attempt pointless. She merely remarks that it would be the first time lack of faith would have any power at all.

This segues into the short story A Grain of Truth.

The Voice of Reason 3 opens with the introductions of Falwick, count of Moën and Sir Tailles of Dorndal, both knights of the Order of the White Rose, on a mission from Prince Hereward. Nenneke doesn't like either of them, her remarks growing more scathing the more Tailles revels in his youthful righteousness. The knights demand that Geralt leave immediately; Nenneke counters by telling them that the temple is not under the jurisdiction of any prince. Tailles sees red, and throws down his gauntlet, demanding a duel with Geralt. Nenneke ignores the gesture, calmly telling the adolescent to pick up what he dropped.

The knights leave with a promise to return, throwing one of Geralt's many aliases, Butcher of Blaviken, into the conversation, thus introducing the third short story, The Lesser Evil.

The Voice of Reason 4 is a monologue without any description other than Geralt's own, while he's sitting with the silent Iola in the gardens of the temple. Geralt tells her about witchers, how they come to be, about Kaer Morhen and Vesemir. About destiny and how he shouldn't have stuck his spoon into that soup, cueing the short story A Question of Price.

The Voice of Reason 5 serves as the introduction of Dandelion, Geralt's friend. Nenneke despises him, but the witcher and the bard get along very well. Having hit a patch of blues, Geralt wonders outloud about the sorry state of witchers, about how he can barely make a living any more. Dandelion deals out some words of wisdom, asks if Geralt remembers all that happened at The Edge of the World.

The Voice of Reason 6 takes place in glass-roofed caves on the temple grounds, where the air is humid and many plants and herbs grow. While Nenneke's tending to the flora, the priestess and Geralt discuss Yennefer. The witcher wishes to give the reward he received for the striga to the temple, and asks Nenneke if she would forward a couple of the gems to Yennefer, to help her. Nenneke refuses to work as an intermediary, and they argue about Yennefer and her situation. The priestess pleads Geralt to stay some more, bringing up the trance again. He refuses.

Finally, Nenneke asks about how this thing between the witcher and the sorceress began, setting up The Last Wish.

Unlike the others, The Voice of Reason 7 happens outside the safety of the temple walls. Geralt and Dandelion are riding down a road, when they're suddenly surrounded, stopped, by lancers, knights of the Order of the White Rose, and the captain of Hereward's guards, a dwarf named Dennis Cranmer. Geralt is demanded to either accept Tailles' challenge, or the gallows. The rules of the duel further state that if Geralt touches Tailles with his sword, the witcher will suffer a slow death.

Geralt accepts the challenge, and the duel is short, ending as the blades meet and Tailles' own slashes his face. Falwick demands the footmen to take Geralt, but Cranmer judges that the rules of the duel were fulfilled to the letter, and Geralt is free to go. The witcher plans his route with Dandelion, and they make a brief stop at the temple of Melitele. Nenneke has restocked Geralt's box of elixirs, which Iola brings. The witcher's and the girl's hands touch, and the girl is whisked away by a vision.

Nenneke calms her, then turns to Geralt, who merely comments that he's seen it before, that there's no point in watching over one's shoulder. Still, the priestess begs him to stay.

Geralt leaves.

Characters

 * Cintrian child (mentioned only)
 * Dandelion
 * Dennis Cranmer
 * Ermellia (mentioned only)
 * Falwick
 * Geralt
 * Hereward (mentioned only)
 * Iola
 * Lunin (mentioned only)
 * Nenneke
 * Roderick de Novembre (mentioned only)
 * Striga (mentioned only)
 * Tailles
 * Tyrss (mentioned only)
 * Vesemir (mentioned only)
 * Yennefer (mentioned only)

TV series
The seven parts of this story served as a base for many scenes in The Hexer TV series.

(elaborate)

The Order of the White Rose was the basis upon which the Order of the Flaming Rose was built.

Głos rozsądku Die Stimme der Vernunft La Voix de la raison