Witcher 3: Mysterious Quest in Velen [Book References & Cut Content] 

"I was in the middle of committing crimes against Ciri". Best way to open the video🤣🤣🤣

Not even 5 seconds and Letal is already giving in to his inner daugther-selling nature

The plague maiden quest at Fyke Isle is also a reference to the Polish legend about evil king Popiel who was eaten alive by mice when he was hiding in a tower on an island. The original name of the prace from the legend - Kruszwica - is simlar to the polish name of the place in game - Kłomnica.

Finding this video now after Devil's Pit got it's own quest this makes even more sense now. Maybe the guy was briefly influencedby the Red Miasmal and that's why he couldn't die, just like the rest of the plague victims.

As a player who likes to think he has done every single quest and explored everything...you managed to surprise me once again, sir!

It was confirmed by one of the developers in a thread on SomethingAwful that this was related to the Catriona plague. Given that, I think it's a safe bet that he was hauling corpses from Devil's Pit. Another fun fact: the Nilfgaardian demonologist was supposed to be working with Gaunter O'Dimm. When the questline was cut, he was repurposed for Hearts of Stone.

Imagine all the stuff that could've been happening in that place we need a new DLC or something... Also I always chuckle when the guy refers to the corpses as a pile of stiffs

I don't think Triss made herself sick, having your potential lover helping you go shit in the bushes is probably not the best seduction strategy. But she definitely has her eyes set on Geralt. Wow that's a cool cave system. I love the Catriona link. I love all the little connections from the game to the novels.

Tris being allergic to magic is like a carpenter who is allergic to wood.

I would exchange the upcoming Netflix-based witcher gear dlc for this quest anytime. I want Iorveth in the game. And this quest sounds so amazing, it has so much potential. It's a shame they cut it

CDPR could just add a single new quest to this game every year and I’d probably never put it down anymore

Never knew Ciri came to our world. Kinda glad she didn't bring back firearms. Geralt with a pair of flintlocks or percussion cap pistols and using them like Edward Kenway would be a sight.

I've always wondered what was in the Devil's Pit, it seemed a bit too well indicated, with a fast travel post right near it, to be just a den of bandits. Never would have guessed it was fully rendered, and with such... disturbing details. I always thought it was just a circular cave beyond the doors, full of mushrooms and stalactites.

I'm convinced that the area of Frischlow in southern Velen was supposed to be closely related to the devil's pit.

3:20 - For witchers, I'd assumed that they were immune to diseases because their mutated physiology was so different from that of normal humans. A virus or bacterium that had evolved to be able to infect normal humans wouldn't be able to infect someone if their body was sufficiently different. For mages, unless the use of magic somehow alters their physiology like a witchers' mutations do, I'd thought that their "immunity" to disease was more of a shorthand for a mage being able to use magic to prevent disease -- either a spell to quickly kill any infection that they might get, or some lasting magical effect to ward off diseases before they can even take hold -- as opposed to an actual physiological immunity. This is all still just assumption, but for Triss, since she talks about being young and inexperienced as a mage, and since she seems embarrassed when Geralt brings up immunity as something that she _should_ be able to do... I'd assumed that Triss just wasn't yet proficient enough in that kind of magic to be able to ward off diseases like a "normal," more experienced mage could. It would be like if you asked a writing student a grammar question that any proper author would know. And you hoped that the student would know it too, given their subject of study. And then they just avoided answering the question. You'd think, "oh, they probably don't know it."

The opening of this video is further proof that xLetalis is actually secretly Leo Bonhart

Never have I met someone with such a pure dedication to selling Ciri in my life- I salute you

3:38 ah yes, still a man of culture

12:59 XLetails, as a Polish person I am coming in to let you know about a Polish 'folklore' story. There is a story about a legendary Polish king called Popiel. He was evil and the story goes that he ended up eaten alive by rats in his tower. The whole fyke isle quest is a reference to this story :3

Triss dodges the question because she doesn't want to admit another weakness and she is ashamed. it is pretty pathetic for a mage to not be imune and allergic to magic potion. Since she reaches KM, she admits her failure in Sodden, she failed protecting Ciri and now she failed to not being a burden during their travel. I really see no advantage for her to force herself into being sick, even toward Geralt, It really makes no sense.

Would love to see all the Velen cut-content reimplemented at some point.

Re-watching this video now is interesting since we recently got the next-gen update that has an added quest in the Devil's Pit. Some of the design of the inside of the mines appears to have been changed although I definitely see similarities and the overall layout is probably the same. It's also a shame they didn't find a way to connect the Fyke Isle quest line with the Pesta to this new quest or the quest with that guy hauling the cart, not to mention the connections with the witch hunter Graden coughing.

I've met that guy in my first playthrough i think and it was so sad to find him later already sick, I knew that he's not immune, not in the witcher world, but he was so confident about it. Glad to know that there might be more to the story and that they've actually hid some suspicious things, it's making the wheel turning on in my head, seeking connection, I love it. Thank you for digging that out so cool!

seems you were right about devil's pit considering the new quest

Another possible cut or modified quest: Love's Cruel Snares I replayed it recently and it just struck me how quick and unfinished it feels. It's next to the cannibal camps, Condyle and the large cannibal camp (where there's a body with the red quest color lying at the center with which Geralt can interact). It feels to me as though this quest was supposed to involve these cannibal groups, but got reworked into what we got now because of time restraints.

I just took a look at the books [blood of elves chapter four page 113].Triss says she cant take the magic eixirs she is 'sensitized, allergic' and that she had always been and indeed, it dosen't specify why how or what the cause is.

I love how you're always finding bits and pieces of information in the witcher 3 even though the game's been out for 500 years. Love your videos, keep up the good work💜

On this episode of... "Will xLetalis sell Ciri?"

Man: «Have mercy! Don’t leave me here!» Geralt: «Sorry, got a more important Gwent tournament to win»

Omg, I would so love playing this quest. I know it's foolish hoping they put it in new version, but I hope at least one of mod makers could take this as inspiration. Since I played Witcher 2 I always kinda miss Ioverth in Witcher 3. And the place also bothered me every time! I don't remember how many times I tried to find keys or something to the damm door. If any of you was so sweet and tell me how to get there with commands or different way, you would be so great♡

Found that guy on the road but never thought I can meet him again, lol. Maybe we have said it thousand times but this game is incredible. Still top 1 after 6 years, above Bloodborne, RD2, or anything.

The quality of these videos just won't go down

And here we are - December 2022, quest in Devil's Pit added by CD projekt Red;)

Actually that "circle thing" in the cave system bears a strong resemblance to several H.P. Lovecraft descriptions of runic gates and runic circles for the summoning of Dagon and Nyarlathotep. Both are "old deep ones" or ancient god creatures from out of the human sphere in that lore and are at least somewhat involved in both deforming plagues and plagues of madness so it could have been some sort of touchstone to include Lovecraftian lore in the game.

xLetalis, you need to become a developer for The Witcher 4, you know more about the game than the developers themselves 🤣 👍

My theory is that Triss' sickness was magical in nature from Ciri's visions that Triss participated in. Maybe it was a magical attack by Vilgerfortz if the first was not possible?

It would be so cool if CDProject came back on TW3 and completed all cut content, maybe as part of a DLC... we want Iorveth, damn it!

When the Witcher 3 gets a remaster like 10 years from now they should definitely add this quest line in

Omg this is so freaking interesting! The cut content and especially Iorweth not being present in the 3rd game is making me scream! The Devil's pit "interior" behind the locked gate is giving me some serious goosebumps. Your videos are super catchy, I appreciate your effort very much. Keep it up! 👍🏻

Thankyou so much for continuing to explore this game, there is so much contained within it's just great to see. I'm replaying it after a few years of putting it down and you just continue to keep me entertained.

You missed one connection about Catriona. Infected flea that Ciri transported between worlds jumped onto.... large black rat. Alexander, sorcerer who worked on cure for Catriona, mentions in his notes a large black rat that seemed to observe his work, as if it understood what's happening.

Would be so cool to have all these quests back in the game one day in form of DLC or some anniversary edition. It always seemed to me that the plague was supposed to have bigger role originally, given the Keira Metz quests and her story with Lambert... BTW just for the record, some of the historical "plagues" are indeed considered to be caused by smallpox by today historians.

Well, with the latest update the finally used the Devil's Pit for a quest, though not what most would have expected related to Catriona plague but more about "zombie-like" plague :D

That was amazing! I don't know how you even begin to find this stuff. Or cross reference the games and books. Well done. I don't think I even found that quest, let alone would even think to come back to it later.

I don't know if it is translation fault but in original polish version Triss could not heal herself with magic potions because she said she was allergic and only thing that works on her was amulets, and she left it at Kaer Morhen or lost... It seem pretty straightforward and not sinister on her part at all.

Can you imagine in game Doctor figuring out that catriona is not from the continent but from other world.

Your videos are so fascinating. Very In-depth ,with an always enjoyable daft sense of humor.

Fascinating. I love videos about cut content, loose ends, and what could've been.

Holy ravioli! I have done this quest but didnt know that it continues after you burn the cart. Well, thats why we have you xletalis! Thanks

The thing with the plague maiden and being eaten by rats is most definitely a nod or rather was inspired by a polish legend about King Popiel. He lived in a tower and was eaten by rats

Great video. love the analysis.

I like the fact that even from just a word you create a whole New subject and think and talk about. Love your hard work

I love how the visuals almost always match your voiceover, and they're all scenes from the game. Using giant Triss when talking about a "larger quest", using the gossiping women from The Witcher 2 when talking about "rumors". You really put a lot of attention to detail into making these videos just as the devs put into making the game

Yay a new Witcher video!

every stage of this video kept blowing my mind! my mans videos are too op

Incredibly fascinating as usual!

My theory on why the guy got sick is either his cart was enchanted and gave him immunity as long as he was close to it, or that when he (presumably for the first time) washed himself on Geralt’s recommendation he ended up being more vulnerable to diseases.

I wonder how much time this man plays Witcher 3 per day.

Always quality videos 😌 I always wandered what were inside the Devil's pit, thank ya!

Great video as always

This aged really well considering the next generation update 🤔

Who is watching after next gen update ?

How amazingly researched ❤

bloody hell, its been years and so many playthrough, theres still something new to discover

Why not put everything together and sell another expansion? I don't get it.

Damn it Letalis... Every time I say to myself that I should start playing some of the other games that I have purchased, but never even installed, you make me ONCE AGAIN want to spend another 100 hours on the greatest game in the world....

I spent so much time wondering about in the devil's pit, sure I had missed something! Crazy how much was cut

0:43 that composure and gait are super hilarious.

If I ever soomehow got filthy rich, I'd definitely fund the completion of the game - just finish everything that got cut due to time or tech constraints. I've gotten 400 hours out of it already, can you imagine how awesome it'd be if the third act was as full and detailed as the previous two?

It looks like they filled the cave with Skyrim-esque decor... maybe as an Easter egg after they knew it was cut? That whole Devil's Pit area really feels like a Skyrim "set" to me.

This would have been such a cool quest! Thanks for finding all this stuff haha

after several playthroughs i havent encountered this quest, gonna try it now..Thanks for this vid!

Just a note - Geralt's use of the term "pox" doesn't need to refer to smallpox. Pox just means... ailment. Illness. In English, it's a catch-all for disease... sometimes even includes curses. As in, "A pox on you!" - being a general insult meaning, I hope you catch something nasty. Anyway, it rather makes me wish they'd ditched the "open world" gimmick and stuck with what was clearly their original design - of having a lot of big free-roam but ultimately smaller zones, accessed via world map (like White Orchard and Kaer Morhen). Because then the game's development probably would have been somewhat easier (compartmentalisation makes everything more manageable, whether we're talking code, quest or level design), and anything they couldn't ship at launch could have been patched in later pretty seamlessly, without worrying about breaking the main maps. Additionally, it would have allowed them to make certain areas as significant in design as they are in lore - Crookback Bog, for example, could have been a zone unto itself, with the task of finding the orphans and the crones something far more interesting than walking towards the only visible structure as soon as you arrive. Similarly, if dungeon areas were zoned off, more time could have been spent making them intricate and interesting, with the developers not constrained by the physical presence of nearby scenery. Oh, and another bonus to returning to the older design of loading screens and lots of smaller zones? Load times would have been way quicker, because you wouldn't have to load the entirety of the Velen/Novigrad map any time you die.

Never knew you could open that door, awesome. With regards to the mages' immunity though, if I recall Ortolan from Season of Storms also had several illnesses. Could this mean the whole immunity thing is actually overexaggerated? Think I saw it on reddit but one user suggested mage trinkets is what actually makes them immune. The Devil's pit also reminds me of Kaer Amhult in Skellige and Cthulhu, could there be a way to dig deeper there as well?

3:38 Ah thank you for shedding some light on the assets.

Great vid, I remember running across the guy carting corpses a second time and being pleasantly surprised that it wasn't just a one-off encounter, even if the guys story ended in a... not so good way

Upon seeing the burning bodies in the Devil's Pit caverns, I was reminded of the similar ignitable piles of corpses in Frischlow (south Velen). I don't think we can ever learn the story of this village over the course of the game. Could it be part of the Catriona line too?

Triss is truly that deeply in love with Geralt? O_O I can only wish

Wow, I was referred to this video from your today's video and I had no idea there's smt behind this gate. So cool. I wish they finished this questline, sounds super interesting.

Thank you for reminding me once again how cool and caring for details this game is.

Never change letalis, never change

triss as gorgeous as always

Man, you never seize to amaze with your videos. Keep it up with the great uploads! :D

damn, your explanation about devil's pit inspiring the new quest

It will be so cool if the delay for the next-gen version of the Witcher 3 was caused because they want to add more missions to the game that they cut out such as the Catriona Plague missions that you and CDPR have talked about. I really hope that the Next-Gen version will have more then just graphical updates and that we get a bit more added on in terms of missions. As for Triss I don't think she got herself sick on purpose in the books. Since she is allergic to medical spells/potions she said she uses amulets to protect herself from illnesses. She says/thinks in her head that she forgot her amulet at Kaer Morhen. If she was just trying to get Geralt's attention she could have done that so many other ways. And ways that would be much more attractive to Geralt then her needing his help to go to the bathroom which I think she would just see as embarrassing. Also I think she would have at least brought the amulet with her if she was just trying to get sick to get Geralt's attention to protect herself if she really needed. For example she fears she may die from the sickness in the books and also she could have died when they were attacked my the Squirrels as well. If she had brought the amulet with her she could of just pulled it out and healed herself so she could help fight off the Squirrels when they attacked the Dwarves carts Geralt, Ciri and Triss were traveling with. So I do think she just forgot it at Kaer Morhen and that is coming from someone who always picks Yennifer over Triss lol. Lastly I have a video idea for you. Maybe you could talk about if you think Ciri is straight, bi-sexual or a lesbian in your opinion. I see many people argue about this constantly on the internet. Though something I notice they always forget is that Ciri says she has her first orgasms when having sex with the Elf King. Which is weird if she really liked Mistle that much (as a lover at least) that she would never have a orgasm with her if she really were a lesbian or even bi-sexual. I think at a minimum Ciri is only bi-sexual since she has obvious attraction to men throughout the books while only having attraction to one woman in the books. And that one woman (Mistle) it can be argued took advantage of her and tricked her into a relationship that Ciri didn't really want. Evidence shows for this in the books in that Ciri constantly doesn't want Mistle touching her until their last night together when Ciri plans to leave her and the Rats behind (I hate the Rats and how they change Ciri from a innocent little girl into a murderer). It seems to me that Ciri is more the victim of Stockholm syndrome during her stay with the Rats. She thinks everyone has abandoned her so she does anything she can to be able to stay with that gang (the Rats). I think this would be a good video topic to talk about now before Ciri gets with the Rats (probably in season 3) in the Netflix show. Based on how the show has done things so far I have a feeling that the show will make Ciri a exclusive lesbian (not that there is anything wrong with that). But I do think it goes against how Ciri is in the books and for what people argue about her on the internet.

I have a sneaky theory about Triss’ illness. I think she CHOSE not to go through all the mage enhancements. The books never state what they all are - women are typically made more beautiful and sterilized but the immunity to disease could be either a further enhancement or a direct result of how powerful a mage is. Triss in the books is strong but not as experienced. Maybe when she was taking care of Ciri she left her self vulnerable by depleting her magic? Her refusal to answer might have been her unwillingness to admit she had skipped the immunization and thus was actually at risk of death by stupidity

Please don’t ever stop making Witcher Videos!!!

Interesting how people come across different things in their playthroughs. I havent seen a lot of the stuff from your videos but the plague guy I found right away in my first play through.

There’s a theory that the real Triss died at Sodden Hill and the Triss we know from the games and later books is actually Coral pretending to be Triss.

Concerning Triss being sick, I got the feeling that mages weren't really immune to illness, it was just something people believed (perhaps the mages themselves spread rumours) sort of like Witchers are unfeeling monsters. Rumours that they'd prefer not to correct. Perhaps they kept illness away/ or treated it using magic potions, potions which Triss can't take. I don't think she would have made herself sick like that to get close to Geralt. I wonder why they cut the quest. Why didn't they add it as DLC if they already had the location and everything. I'm sure people would have paid for another DLC.

Woooh, you crossed that door ??? I was so upset to be stuck outside... awesome to see it !

Ahh yes now I see ! So glad you made this video because I couldn't connect the sick guy begging to die with the version of him hauling corpses as I think too much time had passed between these quests.

Regarding the corpse hauler: I think he was just naturally resistant to diseases, as some humans are in the real world. It would explain why he was unaffected by diseases as a lad but couldn't stop getting infected when literally having plague filled corpses on top of his head. His natural immunity could also explain why he didn't die as quickly as a regular person but stayed alive until Geralt finds him again. Simple explanation but sometimes that's all it is!

Is it possible they reinstate this quest in enhanced edition?

Excellent as always!

Thank you, that's really interesting. It would be fascinating to patch that plot back together!

I doubt Triss used sickness to seduce Geralt, in the books there's not alot of other info on it so that's just an assumption. Also Triss isn't allergic to magic, she's allergic to glamour, thats why she doesn't use it and doesn't need to as her beauty is real whereas all other sorceresses are ugly hunchbacks like yennefer😂

I don't think mages are immune because the mage hen gedymdeith died on a heart attack so the body of mages isn't "stronger" them the body of normal people like by witchers the case. I think that in the witcher world the people believe that mages are immune because they can heal the most illness with their magic.

I swear it's just when I think I've seen everything I could I get another video notification never even met this guy love finding new quest

I already commented this lot of times before but commenting again. . . . "You never cease to amaze me ".And You are the best witcher content youtuber out there.