Template:Character infoboxTemplate:BigQuoteOlgierd von Everec, son of Kristina and Bohumil von Everec and older brother of Vlodimir, was a Redanian noble and officer, known for his fighting skills and tendency to take risks. He was an ataman of the Redanian Free Company, members of which were widely known as the "Wild Ones". Unlike his companions, however, he was educated, adhered noble code and loved art. During his lifetime, he was the last member of a Redanian noble family of von Everecs and even though he was married to Iris, they never had any children. At some point in his life, he also became Goetia practitioner able to summon demons and teleport at short distances.
Biography
Early years
Olgierd von Everec was the older of two sons born in the early years of the 13th century to Kristina and Bohumil von Everec, members of an ancient and respected family. He grew up with his younger brother at the Von Everec Estate and surrounding Gustfields and learned how to read, ride, shoot and fight with a saber. As soon as it was possible, Olgierd and Vlodimir formed a band of noble-born rogues around themselves and would raid Velen and other Temerian borderlands often, with locals developing fear at the mere sound of "Olgierd". Later on, however, the family was struck by a series of misfortunes. They took on some debts, poorly invested in a nearby sawmill, then a bad crop struck their lands and, finally, they lost a lawsuit.
To recover, Olgierd asked Gaunter O'Dimm for help. Gaunter agreed to fulfill von Everec's wishes but in return, Olgierd had to sacrifice somebody he loved. The next day, the band set up a raid that turned out to be a trap. Temerians had numerical superiority.
When Vlodimir saw them approaching, he fled and escaped to the basement where they caught and killed him. In spite of such an end, Olgierd, feeling guilty for his brother's death, spread a legend around that Vlodimir had died heroically fighting several opponents at once. After the funeral, Olgierd regularly came to his brother's grave, drank and remembered old times. Vlodimir never learned that he was sacrificed by Olgierd in order to retrieve Iris.
It is possible that the family would be able to recover without O'Dimm's help in few week were it not for Horst Borsodi who acquired their debts and required them paid off immediately and since they had not enough resources at the time, Horst started to put their possessions on auctions in a Borsodi Brothers' Auction House, act that started off animosity between him and Olgierd. Due to the pact with O'Dimm, Olgierd succeeded to restore family fortune but began to lose empathy and other emotions as a result of his wish to be immortal. With wealth and stature restored, and Ofieri prince cursed into a The Toad Prince, nothing stood in way for Olgierd to marry with Iris with her father approving it as he was left with no other option.
Hearts of Stone
Olgierd talking to Geralt regarding the contract in sewers inside Garin Estate
He first met Geralt when he took on a contract posted by Olgierd's man to kill a monster in the sewers in return for a substantial fee as well as anything he would like from the manor. Geralt accepted the contract, and underneath the Oxenfurt sewers, discovered Shani trying to revive a dead Redanian soldier. They were surprised to see one another, and after a moment of reminiscence, Geralt relented and allowed Shani to tag along so that she could extract a venom sample from the monster. Geralt, with Shani's help, succeeded but was unfortunately taken prisoner by a band of Ofieri soldiers under Aamad, having unknowingly slain their cursed prince. Fortunately for Geralt, Gaunter O'Dimm, an acquaintance who pointed him in the direction of Yennefer, offered him a choice: he can serve him for a time in return for his freedom, or hang in Ofier.
With time short, he accepted O'Dimm's offer, and shortly afterwards a storm shipwrecked the Ofieri ship and he was forced to do battle with the survivors. He returned to Garin Estate where Olgierd stayed at a time to see it in flames, and one of his men drunkenly greeted him as Geralt looks upon the destruction. As this took place, one of von Everec's men was about to be beheaded, and Geralt could choose to intervene or let the man be executed.
Geralt of Rivia, a proxy, Gaunter O'Dimm and Olgierd von Everec
If Geralt intervened, von Everec came out of the burning manor and said that he will duel the witcher for the man's life. After Geralt beheaded von Everec, he laughed and declared him the winner, and Gaunter O'Dimm appeared after the conflict. If the man was executed, the manor lord's daughter ran von Everec through with a sword to avenge her father's death. In either instance, von Everec's immortality was revealed to Geralt. O'Dimm made his appearance shortly thereafter. O'Dimm explained to Olgierd that he was forced to implement the terms of the agreement and introduced Geralt as his champion. Geralt was tasked with hearing out Olgierd's three wishes as per the terms of the agreement. Olgierd, suspicious of O'Dimm and his motives, stated his first and second wish and left the details of the third unclear until Geralt fulfills the first two wishes. He asked for three things: Maximilian Borsodi's house, his brother to have the time of his life, and the violet rose he gave his wife before his departure.
After the completion of each task, Olgierd explained the reasons for the tasks. The House of Maximilian Borsodi he wanted in revenge against the Borsodi family as they had purchased his family's debt and proceeded to sell all of their belongings at their auction house, the "house" in question was the container used to house Max Borsodi's will which contained a clause which would bankrupt the Borsodi family. The second task given by Olgierd to show his brother the "time of his life" was intentionally impossible for Geralt to complete as Vlodimir von Everec had been dead for some time, however Gaunter O'Dimm had given Geralt a vial of blood belonging to Olgierd which he used to summon Vlodimir's ghost and allowed Geralt to fulfil the second wish by allowing Vlodimir's ghost to possess Geralt for one day.
The third task proved most difficult as the von Everec family estate was guarded by a demonic creature known as the Caretaker and his wife Iris who had the rose had died but lingered in the portraits throughout the manor as a powerful wraith. The rose in question had long since withered. After calming the spirit and summoning her, Geralt discovered her grief was so powerful that she had created a realm within a painting and had to travel through it to fully awaken her. In the painted world Geralt had to contend with all her fears attached to memories of her time with Olgierd which showed how over time Olgierd developed a heart of stone becoming more distant and uncaring towards his wife. However, after defeating Iris' fears and awakening her fully Geralt was able to obtain the violet rose itself or a painting of Iris holding the rose as proof that Olgierd's third wish had been fulfilled.
Geralt later met with Professor Premethine Shakeslock of Oxenfurt Academy, whom Shani had learned had corresponded with Olgierd many times. As Geralt learned from the blind professor, Olgierd had paid him a sack of gold to find out who O'Dimm is and how to get rid of him. As Shakeslock relays what Olgierd told him when the von Everecs were rendered destitute, Olgierd wanted to elope, but Iris refused to cut her family ties. Everything changed when a wandering witch referred him to Master Mirror. With a meeting at the crossroads, a wish and a pact signed in blood, Olgierd was to choose between Iris and Vlodimir to regain his fortune; he chose his brother, who died the next day.
Conclusion
Geralt and Olgierd look as Gaunter descends from the sky
Following the completion of his three wishes, Olgierd was summoned by Geralt to the Temple of Lilvani, where O'Dimm appeared to collect his due. Though Olgierd reiterated the final term of the contract required that they stand upon the moon, O'Dimm revealed that the temple floor was really a mosaic of a crescent moon, which fulfilled the terms of the contract by having them "standing on the moon" through a loophole.
If Geralt didn't intervene, O'Dimm claimed Olgierd's soul, causing him to wither and die.
If Geralt intervened, he wagered both his soul and Olgierd's to one of O'Dimm's games; if the witcher won, he would release them both and he would get their souls if he lost. After answering O'Dimm's riddle and banishing the evil entity, Olgierd's emotions were restored and he became mortal again. He immediately felt regret for his past actions and mistakes. He gave Geralt his family sword and promised to start a new life free from O'Dimm's control.[1]
Abilities and skills
Olgierd in his middle year, trying to summon Gaunter O'Dimm with various Goetic spells
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From a young age, Olgierd proved himself a charismatic man of many talents, able to charm any woman, raise the spirits of his men, or demonstrate a cultured love of art. Despite his cultured upbringing and mannerism, Olgierd was also a born rider and fighter, feared for his skill with his distinctive saber. After his family fell into misfortune, Olgierd expanded his education to include demonology and the dark arts.
- Horsemanship: Like any other pure Redanian nobleman, Olgierd liked his horses and was as good a rider as he was an owner, scolding anybody under his command who failed to properly care for their horse.
- Swordsmanship: If anyone ever challenged Olgierd to a duel, he was in for a horrendous fight. He was able to effortlessly dodge any attack, even one with Sign fired at him and prevent anyone from striking him with a crossbow or throwing a bomb at him by teleporting right in front of the man and attempting to cut him down. He kept a still figure and never let anyone knock him off while his standard attack combos were both elaborate and fast, able to kill even a witcher in seconds. He also had his sword enchanted and when it glowed red when charged with a critical strike. With Quen active at all times, it was possible to overpower him using a single fast attack into his back. He would block several of these regardless, but there would be hits in. If he did hit the witcher and break his Quen, the witcher would immediately back off and recast it, then dash right back in with the same dodge-hit pattern.
- Goetia: When his family was struck with misfortune and he met Gaunter, Olgierd divulged into dark arts with original intention being to summon O'Dimm back and change his wishes but he did not manage. What he did learn, however, was how to summon subservient lesser demons, like the Caretaker or The Black Cat and Dog, which would keep his wife company. He also mastered the ability to apparate and disapparate over short distances, leaving black and red smoke in his wake.
- Immortality: After his meeting with Gaunter O'Dimm Olgierd wished to be able to "live like there is no tomorrow". However, O'Dimm fulfilled his wish as literally as possible giving him a "heart of stone", thus rendering him immortal until the expiration of his contract.
- Leadership skills: As a leader of a band that later came to be known as the Redanian Free Company, Olgierd was a very competent leader. It is said that they "worshipped the ground he walked on" and several times expressed that they would ride for him through fire. He was charismatic and never refused entertainment for his Wild Ones, though he was severely strict when they violated the chivalric code.[1]
Journal entry
- To this day, I do not know what caused Geralt to inquire after the contract posted by Olgierd von Everec. That famed witcher curiosity? An ominously light coin pouch? Or perhaps it was some other, more nefarious force… Whatever the impulse, Geralt decided to visit the locally-infamous nobleman and pursue the bounty on the sewer monster.
- From their very first encounter, Geralt knew Olgierd was a unique character. He led an informal band who worshipped the ground he walked on, though he clearly was of a different sort than they: educated, a lover of art and an adherent to a certain noble code. Yet Geralt also perceived something indefinable within the man, something years later he would call "a void crying out to be filled."
- Geralt later returned to the estate where he had first met Olgierd and his band – and found the place in flames. He soon learned the property did not in fact belong to Olgierd, but had merely been commandeered by the ataman and his men, who then went a touch overboard in their carousing. Olgierd did not begrudge them their pyrotechnic overexuberance, but the murder of the manor's lord he considered one cruelty too far and ordered the wrongdoer beheaded. Geralt entered the stage in the middle of this execution. In the tumult that followed, he made a most startling discovery: Olgierd von Everec was immortal.
- And immortality was but the start of the surprising revelations about Olgierd. Master Mirror revealed the two had signed a contract: in exchange for regaining his lost status and wealth, Olgierd had promised Mirror something very personal (what, exactly, Geralt did not yet know). This contract had a strange clause: before it could be considered complete and Master Mirror could collect his due, he had to fulfill three of Olgierd's wishes. He could not do this personally, however, but needed instead to make use of a proxy. His choice for this role? Geralt, who in this way was drawn into a personal settlement between a powerful, immortal nobleman and the mysterious Gaunter O'Dimm.
- Upon hearing Geralt would be the one to carry out his requests, Olgierd wasted no time and issued him his first challenges: to bring him the house of Maximilian Borsodi, and to show his brother Vlodimir the time of his life…
- Granting Olgierd's wishes had proven difficult but rewarding, for Geralt now knew a great deal more about the unusual nobleman – and the story that unfolded could have jerked tears from a cyclops.
- Once upon a time, Olgierd fell hopelessly in love with Iris, a beautiful young lady from a well-off family. Her parents accepted his proposal of marriage and all seemed set for a happy ending when a storm of misfortune suddenly broke over the von Everec family. A chain of bad decisions and a few years of bad harvests had left the once-wealthy family deeply in debt. Then the Borsodis purchased this debt and, with their brutal enforcement of its terms, drove the von Everecs into utter bankruptcy. After this, Iris' parents changed their mind about their daughter's future husband, revoking their approval of Olgierd and betrothing Iris to an Ofieri prince who had come to study in Oxenfurt. Out of desperation, Olgierd turned to Master Mirror – and soon won back his coin, influence and, most importantly, his betrothed. All seemed well until he discovered his wishes' unwanted side effect: his heart was slowly hardening into stone.
- Now the witcher was on the verge of bringing the pact between Olgierd and Master Mirror to completion. Did this mean everything would soon be as it once was? Geralt was not so sure. One question kept nagging him: what was that "something very personal" Gaunter O'Dimm intended to collect from Olgierd?
- If Geralt choose to side with Olgierd:
- Once Geralt realized Master Mirror was playing for the highest of stakes – Olgierd von Everec's soul – he decided he could not sit idly by. Instead he found a way to cheat the demonic being and win Olgierd back his soul. Free from his pact and his heart restored, Olgierd thanked Geralt and gave him his sword – a souvenir which had been in his family for generations – then walked off into the sunset.
- If Geralt leaves Olgierd to his fate:
- Geralt did not have to wait long to find out what lay at the heart of the contract between Olgierd von Everec and Gaunter O'Dimm. In exchange for regaining his family fortune, clearing his name and marrying Iris, Olgierd had agreed to give Master Mirror his soul. Geralt could now only watch as O'Dimm collected his due. Thus ended the sad tale of Olgierd von Everec, a man who lived as if there was no tomorrow, feasted as if he had never known joy and loved a love so strong he was willing to surrender his own soul for it.
- or
- Geralt did not have to wait long to find out what lay at the heart of the contract between Olgierd von Everec and Gaunter O'Dimm. In exchange for regaining his family fortune, clearing his name and marrying Iris, Olgierd had agreed to give Master Mirror his soul. Geralt knew of a way to stop this, but for some reason did nothing and instead watched as O'Dimm collected his due. Thus ended the sad tale of Olgierd von Everec, a man who lived as if there was no tomorrow, feasted as if he had never known joy and loved a love so strong he was willing to surrender his own soul for it.
Trivia
- Olgierd (Algirdas) and his brother name Vlodimir (Witold in Polish edition) are reference to Lithuanian Grand Dukes
Associated quests
- Evil's Soft First Touches
- Open Sesame!
- Dead Man's Party
- Scenes From a Marriage
- Whatsoever a Man Soweth…
Gallery
