A Blade Fit for a Witcher

Some time later, having returned to White Orchard village on the road to Vizima, you sit a spell and speak with some merchants on the old road to the ruined Nilfgaardian Barracks. They speak of the war, and what is to come.

Ending III (I): They mention the Nilfgaard are fleeing (in reality, they are retreating so the Temerians can fill the power void), and they’ve left some casks of wine behind.

Ending III (II): They mention the fleeing Nilfgaard, and the bandits sensing the void caused by the ensuing chaos.

Ending III (III): They mention that with the Black Ones gone, the witch hunters are moving in. But life will still roll on.

Mount your trusty steed, and ride Roach roughly northward along the road. On the way, you notice one of the following:

Ending III (I): After the crossroads, you pass a large contingent of Nilfgaardian cavalry and infantry troops, having left the Garrison beyond the swamp.

Ending III (II): At the crossroads, you pass a group of Redanian troops looting the corpses of a merchant caravan you hope they didn’t kill.

Ending III (III): At the crossroads, you see the corpses of a merchant caravan rotting in the sun. There are wolves nearby.

Follow the road north, through the small swamp and up the wooden steps of the Nilfgaardian Garrison. Your contact has been waylaid. You wait a few hours. Master Ort the weaponsmith approaches. He has forged the finest blade in over thirty years of sword-making. But what was the inscription you asked for?

• “Zireael,” Ciri’s elvish name.
• “The Flash that Cuts,” the blade’s name.

After you pay him in gems, he tells of a striga prowling the Maribor Forest. But you have a rendezvous at the White Orchard tavern, first. Or perhaps try this weapon out yourself, on a nearby training dummy.