Vodyanoi

The vodyanoi are an intelligent underwater people, the fishpeople of the Witcher world. Their home is the Underwater City at the bottom of Lake Vizima, and most of them worship the Lady of the Lake. A legend claims the city was once inhabited by humans, but its distinctly non-human architecture says otherwise. The vodyanoi make tools and baubles, among them the famed stones of Ys.

They seldom come ashore. When they do, it is usually their warriors driving off treasure hunters, guarding their underwater domains or raiding human settlements, often with priests at their side. The journal treats the sight of a vodyanoi warrior as a sign that a boundary has been crossed or a taboo broken.

In The Witcher

Act II. In the Swamp Forest, the head lumberjack Yaren Bolt wants the road to the landing cleared of monsters and the vodyanoi who gather at the altar by the Clay Pits at midnight dealt with. That is A Long Way from Home. Vaska, the elder of the brickmakers’ village, offers a peaceful way out: persuade Yaren to give up his axe and leave it on the altar as an offering. A vodyan accepts it and leaves an amulet in return. The other option is simply to kill the vodyan at the altar.

Act IV. Around Murky Waters, the villagers and the vodyanoi are at each other’s throats, and the merchant Julian claims the fishpeople have started worshipping Dagon, “a monster that thirsts for human blood”. In the main quest Ripples, Geralt takes over a contract that the witcher Berengar accepted but never acted on. Berengar is found in the crypt at Lakeside and suggests letting the two sides fight it out. Geralt can instead settle it in one of three ways:

• Julian’s way: kill the Dagon acolyte. Julian pays with a large diamond.
• The vodyan priest’s way: the priest says only some of the vodyanoi follow Dagon, and asks Geralt to lure the villagers’ prize cow to the altar with dried fruit and nuts as a sacrifice. The reward is the Ceremonial Sword of Deithwen.
• The Lady of the Lake’s way: she wants no deaths. Bring her a gift from each side, Julian’s alabaster figurine and the priest’s gold bracelet, then place the ruby she gives you on Dagon’s altar. She pays with a silver talent.

Whichever path you choose, Dagon rises with his acolytes, and since he can’t be damaged directly, you bring him down by killing his worshippers.

Good to know

• Vodyanoi warriors resist attempts to burn them, but once they are alight they prove sensitive to fire. They are also susceptible to blinding.
• They grease their claws with an oil that causes pain to anyone they strike.
• Vodyanoi warriors drop vodyanoi bladders.