Vlodimir von Everec

Olgierd’s younger brother and right-hand man, a brash, fun-loving ghost who borrows Geralt’s body for one last night of partying.

Vlodimir von Everec was the second son of the noble von Everec family and the younger brother of Olgierd. He grew up on the family estate and spent his youth raiding border villages with Olgierd’s band, serving as his second-in-command. He admitted some of their men were little more than brawlers, but he loved and admired his older brother, from his curiosity to his taste in art. Brash and sure of himself, Vlod loved drink, good company and women, and considered himself quite the charmer.

He died during a raid on a village. Faced with five men, he ran and hid in a cellar, where he was found and had his skull smashed. Olgierd told everyone a braver version in which Vlod charged all five. According to one account in the expansion, the death was no accident: Gaunter O’Dimm demanded a loved one’s life in return for restoring the von Everec fortune, and Olgierd chose his brother. Afterwards Olgierd often sat drinking by Vlod’s tomb in the family crypt, never knowing that his brother’s spirit heard every word.

Vlodimir von Everec in The Witcher 3
In Hearts of Stone, Olgierd’s first wish is for Geralt to show Vlodimir the time of his life, a tricky request given that Vlod had been dead for years. In Dead Man’s Party, Geralt gets help from Shani, who meets him at the crypt. The ritual wakes the whole von Everec clan, and only once Geralt has fought them off does Vlod appear, pointing out that he never much liked his relatives anyway.

Vlodimir then takes over Geralt’s body, so for once you play as someone else. Borrowing clothes and a fresh shave, he goes with Shani to a village wedding in Brunwich, where he drinks heavily, plays gwent, chases pigs, dives for a lost slipper and even steals a kiss from Shani, who finds him a likeable rogue despite pushing away his advances. At one point O’Dimm himself turns up and dedicates a song to the pair.

What happens to Vlodimir?
At midnight his time is up, but Vlod enjoys being alive so much that he refuses to give Geralt’s body back. O’Dimm steps in and drives him out, and Geralt later says the banishment caused the ghost great pain. Before the night was over, Vlod had also written his brother a letter. If you return to the crypt afterwards, you will find flowers on his grave, which Geralt suspects Shani left there. His fate is the same whatever you choose.