Eskel

Eskel was a calm and reasonable witcher and Geralt's friend from youth. They were raised at Kaer Morhen and participated in the trials together. He had a large, disfiguring scar on his face and spent winters in Kaer Morhen's keep, like all the others.

In the short story "The Last Wish", Geralt reminisces about an afternoon with Eskel when they were young. Later, in Blood of Elves, Ciri's first encounter with Eskel is described:

Eskel returns in the final installment of the game trilogy. He can be seen striking at an insectoid and fighting a group of wraiths with igni in the early release material.

Journal entry

 * All witchers have a great deal in common, but with Eskel and Geralt, the similarities are particularly striking. They first met as two boys of the same age swinging wooden swords at Kaer Morhen. They then went though an ordeal together: the first round of selections, the murderous Changes, the Trial of the Grasses, and training on the Gauntlet - the witchers' daunting obstacle course. They also received hidings together for more than one act of childish delinquency. When they became adults, they walked the Path separately, but still reconvened at Kaer Morhen nearly every winter to wait out the cold, drink to their successes and remember fallen comrades.


 * Though Eskel never gained Geralt's renown, he equaled the White Wolf in experience and carried out his contracts with care and efficiency. Death had almost taken him many times during his hunts, yet in an ironic twist the hideous scar on his face came not from a monster claw but from the blade of Deidre Ademeyn, his highly unpredictable Unexpected Child.


 * Perhaps this traumatic experience lay at the root of Eskel's dislike for Yennefer, though he tried not to let this get in the way of his friendship with Geralt.


 * Eskel took active part in the defense of Kaer Morhen, standing bravely in the face of overwhelming odds to fight one of the Hunt's generals. When Vesemir died, he took over responsibility for watching over the witchers' keep.

Associated quests

 * The Battle of Kaer Morhen
 * Blood on the Battlefield
 * No Place Like Home
 * To Bait a Forktail...
 * Ugly Baby

If you stick around Kaer Morhen after you have cured Triss with the potion, you can receive a fistfighting tutorial from Eskel as well as some valuable information on fighting in general. Eskel also provides information about the three stages of the Trial of the Grasses. Otherwise, his role in The Witcher is quite small. He appears in no other acts, only the Prologue (as is the case with all other witchers in the game except Berengar).

Journal entry

 * "The calm and reasonable witcher from Kaer Morhen is my peer. Wonder how he got that disfiguring scar..."

Associated quests

 * Defending Kaer Morhen, he is there as are all the other witchers, busy fighting.
 * Fistfight

Eskel does feature prominently in the premium module "The Price of Neutrality", where he is nearly as important as Geralt to the plot. In "The Price of Neutrality", he must come to terms with the consequences of a chance encounter some 20 years in the past. It appears that Eskel saved a knight in dire trouble and was offered anything he wanted as a reward. Given such a wide-open choice, he could not think of anything and instead repeated the fabled and oft-heard request "give me that which you find at home yet do not expect" that he had heard Vesemir repeat over the years.

This is how Deidre Ademeyn became his surprise child. The story goes on to say that Eskel took great pains to avoid ever going back to get his surprise child, sometimes taking ridiculously long routes to avoid being in the vicinity in Caingorn.

Eskel can be found in the old mine, just south of Kaer Morhen where he is busy clearing the place of a kikimore hatchery and generally brooding about Deidre.

Journal entry

 * "The calm and reasonable witcher is my peer. We are similar in many ways and people often think we are brothers."

Associated quests

 * The She-Wolf

Gallery
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