Aedd Gynvael (Elder Speech: a Shard of Ice) is a city in Narok, in the Dogbane on the Toina river, governed from Rakverelin. The local alderman is Herbolth and the resident mage is Istredd.[1]
History
The city's name, as recounted by Yennefer, comes from an ancient elven story. The myth tells of the Winter Queen who used to cross the land in a sleigh drawn by white horses during blizzards. As she went, small shards of ice flew about. Those who were hit by one of these shards were forever doomed. Nothing in this world made them happy any more, everything looked sad, disgusting and dull except the whiteness of the snow, the frost and the ice. They left everything behind them to search for the Winter Queen, forever wandering without being able to find her. And thus they died attempting to fulfill their dream. According to Geralt, the "Winter Queen" was actually the dreaded Wild Hunt, which haunted certain forsaken lands, enslaving its inhabitants' will and making them its thralls. The witcher also mentioned that he was offered money to lift the curse and banish the Wild Hunt, but ended up refusing the offer, for reasons unknown.[1]
Geralt slew a zeugl during his and Yennefer's stay in the city.[1]
Notable people
Landmarks
- Castle
- Temple
- Istredd's house
- The Sturgeon
- The Cheerful Spider[2]
- Garbage dump
- Merchants' Guild
- Market Square with a pillory
- Thermae
- Garbage dump
Notes
- In The Witcher, it is incorrectly placed in Kaedwen instead of Narok on the map issued with the game. This error was carried over to the map in The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings.
- In The Hexer TV series, the fifth episode, "Okruch lodu" takes place here and is where the renegade witcher, Dermot Marranga, had settled down.