Jamie McAleenan, Witchers Woe Draft 2

The Witchers Woe
By
Jamie Mcaleenan
The Witcher
jamiekmaca@gmail.com
07*********

Cast of Characters
KORIN:: Small child, 5-9
MAN:: Large, beer belly, 30-40
VAELIN::
Tall, muscular, bearded,
30-40
SOLDIER:: Handsome, clean shaven, 18-20
PROSTITUTE:: Withered, black haired, 35-40
EDMUND:: Tall, muscular, Ginger, 15-17
FREDRICK::
LUCAS::
Under 5’5, brown haired,
13-15
Tall, black haired, muscular,
16-17
WOMAN:: Big, Motherly, 40+

ACT I
1 Scene 1 1
The audience, guided by a hooded figure holding
a candle in a medieval era candle holder, are
ushered through a large overpass of stones.
There is a lightly tread pathway that is
squished tightly together by the trees on either
side, so tightly that the audience must travel
in single file. The tree’s are massive in scale;
their trunks easily twice the width of a fully
grown man and their leaves blocking out any ray
of sunlight that normally would have passed
through, leaving the forest silent and pitch
black, only lit by the guide and the candles
attached to the trees by elongated medieval
candle holders. In roughly 5 minutes of walking
the audience will be welcomed by the sweet sound
of laughter coming from an open area of the
forest; hearty bellows from drunken men and
fiendish giggles from drunken women, prostitutes
and harlots of all shapes and sizes. The sweet
and savory aroma of every kind of food begins to
fill the area; Duck Sausage, Honey Roasted Pig,
Lemon cakes, Smoked Lamb, etc.
At the farthest side of this opening sits a
dimly lit dark wooden tavern, the source of the
aroma’s and laughter. It is a beehive of
activity; men enter and leave as they please,
often with one or two well endowed women in tow.
The laughter is coming from inside of the
structure as the sound of the clanging of plates
and the clatter of kitchen utensils begins to
rise. The entrance to the inn sits on the end of
the building facing the entrance of the opening,
the door left wide open, and above it swings a
placard; it is roughly 3 foot in length and 2
1/2 foot in width. The placard, though tattered
and beaten by the weather, still serves its
purpose; painted on the center of it is a
scantly dressed, beautiful and voluptuous red
headed woman, bent over a table. Her hair is
large and curly, pushed to the side as she looks
over her shoulder with a freckled and toothy
grin, an all too alluring sight for any weak
willed man. The words ’THE VAGRANTS WENCH’ are
painted in bright gold above her, a contrast to
the deep purple colour the placard is based
with.
As the audience enters the open area there is
the rustle of leaves and breaking of twigs as a
small, frail and bloodied black haired child
sprints past them and to the inn. The boys
attire is of plain leathers; a cream undershirt
(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 2.
covered by a dark brown leather coat. Strapped
across his chest is a bow, a quiver of arrows
hangs loosely from his hip. A large knife is
attached to the side of his calf by a sheath
tucked into his knee high boots.
KORIN:
(Panicked, slight Scottish accent)
P-Please! Someone, you must help; my Father, he’s
be-been attacked!
The Boy grabs onto the closest man, tugging at
his shirt.
KORIN:
(Tearing Up)
H-He’s going to die if someone doesn’t help him..
MAN:
(Tugging arm away, thick and slurred
Northern Irish accent)
Get the fuck a-aff’ me, ya runt, ’fore a crack ya
’round the sk-skull.
The man swings his arm for Korin’s head, who
simply ducks beneath it and sticks his foot out
in front of the drunken man who then stumbles
and falls over followed by exaggerated gasps
from the people outside of the inn.
A tall muscular man exits from the inn. He is
kitted to the teeth with potions, throwing
knives, crossbow darts and a hunting knife held
in satchels crisscrossing his chest. Protruding
from his his black leather jacket is a large
wolf’s head medallion. A pair of long swords
hang on his back; they boast no significance in
their appearance. The eyes of the wolf seem to
glow crimson red as leaves rustle from around
the open area, a low and near inaudible growl
quickly circles the area once and heads deeper
into the forest. The only person in the
immediate vicinity that seems to notice the
growl was the tall man, who ignored it and
focused on Korin and the drunken Man.
MAN:
(Angry, getting up off the ground)
You wee bastard! ’Mere, you motherless cunt, show ya
to respect yer elders!
The man closes in on Korin, his fist raised. As
he swings down for the boy he finds his fist
clenched in another, armoured hand. Korin holds
his bow in one hand and an arrow in the other,
ready to be nocked and loosed.
(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 3.
VAELIN:
(Calmly, French accent)
Keep your hands off the child, and leave this inn.
MAN:
Fuck aff, wee cunt started it. Deserves a hi-
Multiple spine tingling cracks are heard
followed swiftly by a blood curdling scream from
the Man as his hand lays limp to his side,
disfigured and broken.
VAELIN:
(Turning to face Korin)
I warned you, now leave or I’ll do worse.
MAN:
(Heavy breathing)
Mutant fuck!
The Man rushes Vaelin, his good hand raised in
the air. Vaelin spins around and, in a small
burst of blue light coming from his hand, blasts
the Man back several feet and unconscious.
VAELIN:
(Sighing)
That should keep him down for a while. Are you hurt,
kid?
KORIN:
(Suspiciously)
H-how did you do that?
VAELIN:
I’m a Witcher. It comes with the territory. Were you
the cause of the commotion earlier?
KORIN:
(Realizing who Vaelin is)
You’re a Witcher?! You hunt Monsters, right?
VAELIN:
That depends on your definition of a Monster, but,
yes, I hunt them.
Korin grabs Vaelin by his sleeve and begins to
tug him in the direction he came from.
KORIN:
Please, you have to save my Father! We were tracking
a Mother bear when it ran back to its cave. We waited
for it to l-leave and fetch food for its cubs but
whe- when it took longer than normal to go hunting
Father wanted to see what it was doing, so we went
into the cave... it- it was covered in blood. Father
g-got more curious and wanted to go in deeper. He
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 4.
KORIN: (cont’d)
said it would be a learning experience fo-for me, but
when we found the bear it was dead; the cubs w-were
torn to bits and a great big Monster was e-eating the
bear. Father told me to back up slowly without making
a sound, but the ground was just so sl-slippy and I
fell. The Monster heard us and started walking over
to us, that’s wh-when Father told me to run, so I
d-did. Please, mister! You must to save my Father!
VAELIN:
(Kneeling down, somber)
Your Father’s likely dead, lest he be the luckiest
man alive. I’ll hunt the Monster for you, but I don’t
know what I will find of your Father.
KORIN:
(Tearing up)
N-no! You must save my Father, he’s still alive, I
know it! Please, sir!
Sighing, Vaelin waves his hand in front of
Korin’s face, a green glow emitting from his
hand. Instantly Korin’s face goes blank.
VAELIN:
Go back over to the inn, tell the bar keep that
Vaelin wants him to look after you for tonight.
Nodding, Korin makes his way over to the inn as
instructed. Straightening himself up Vaelin
pulls one of his swords from its sheath; though
the pommel and guard have no discernible
individuality about them, the blade on the other
hand has engravings all along it that glow
bright pink. He then heads into the forest.
A young, drunken man makes his way towards the
edge of the forest, a scantly dressed prostitute
in arm. The man is no more than 20 years of age,
well kept dirty blond hair. He is wearing a
plate of armor with an emblem emblazoned on the
upper left pectoral; a large white eagle with a
black and gold shield. Sword held in its sheath
at his hip, it is obvious the man is a soldier.
SOLDIER:
(Posh English accent)
Who is that man? He bested that brute as if he were
nothing and calmed the child with the wave of his
hand?
PROSTITUTE:
(Cornish accent)
Them there are what ya call Witcher’s, ’at one in
purticular is a nasty bugger called Vaelin, pays well
for a night though, and let me tell you, he can last
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 5.
PROSTITUTE: (cont’d)
the whoooole night. They ’ave some sorta heeby jeeby
dark magic that they like ta call ’signs’.
SOLDIER:
Signs? I’ve heard of Witches and their magic, but
these ’signs’ you speak of are foreign to me. What
exactly are they?
PROSTITUTE:
What do I look like ta you? Some sorta Academic
phillyosopher? Want me ta suck yer cock or not?
The two walk off around the back of the inn for
some time alone. A few minutes pass as the
whistle of the wind is audible through the
rustle of the leaves. There are wolves howling
in the distance, quickly followed by the loud,
horrendous screech of a creature far off into
the forest. A few more minutes pass and Vaelin
emerges from the forest, a large head of a beast
gripped tightly in his hand. His left arm is
damaged, with cut and bite marks. He is bloodied
and looks exhausted; green veins pulsate around
his neck. He walks over to the door of the inn,
Korin standing in the entrance. Vaelin throws
the head of the beast at his feet and slumps
against the frame of the door.
VAELIN:
(Breathing heavily)
Katakan... It was a Katakan you saw eating at your
bear.
KORIN:
My Father... where’s my Father?
VAELIN:
(Sighing)
Everywhere. I’m afraid to tell you, but the Katakan
had already finished with your Father by the time I
got there.
Korin breaks down crying. Vaelin once again
waves his hand in front of Korin, calming him
instantly with a green glow.
VAELIN:
You can hunt, correct? Am I right in presuming your
Father taught you to hunt and track animals?
Korin nods his head, rubbing the tears away from
his eyes.
VAELIN:
Good. You’re half way there already. Come, you’ll
journey to Kaer Morhen with me.
(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 6.
KORIN:
(Sniffling)
Ha-half way to where?
VAELIN:
To becoming a Witcher, now come, we’ve a few days’
trek to Kaer Morhen, unless you have any family you
know that will take you in?
KORIN:
N-no. Father was the last family member I had.
The two walk off towards an exit to the right of
the entrance of the opening.
2 END SCENE 2
3 SCENE 2 3
After a few minutes the guide begins to usher
the audience down the curving path Korin and
Vaelin had previous ventured down. They are
greeted by the sounds of what seems like an army
encampment. One voice is heard above the grunts;
Vaelin issuing orders.
VAELIN:
Parry! Edmund, I said parry! You too, Sigmund! Korin
you need to be quicker with your ducks, or do you
want to lose your head?!
The first thing the audience will see is the
large grey and battered stone wall towering over
everything. At the base of the wall are wooden
practice dolls that are armed with sword,
shield, breastplate and helm. They are beaten
and broken, used over many decades of abuse.
Sitting in the center of the wall is two large
gates laying slightly ajar. Littered around the
area are 8 young men practicing sword combat
against one another; they wield simple wooden
swords and circular shields with etchings of
symbols long beaten away. Similarly to the
practice dolls, the young boys are wearing
simple breastplates and helm to keep them safe
from potentially harmful blows. While 6 of the
young boys seem to practicing with a form of
bemusement, almost like they’re having a
friendly spar, there are two boys that are not
holding back their blows.
The two fighters, in their practice gear, are
practically twins except for one stark
difference; one boasts strong, well defined
muscles while the other is scrawny and frail,
struggling to keep up with the onslaught of
strike after strike, only just keeping his
(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 7.
distance from each swipe. After having his
strike parried and the distance between them
widened, the more muscular of the two leaps at
his opponent with a strong strike down which is
blocked. He raises his leg up into the air and
kicks his opponent in the chest with a loud
thud, sending him onto his back. Closing the gap
in an instant he swipes his sword down quickly,
whacking the defeated boy on the wrist and away
from his practice sword. He places a foot atop
his defeated opponents chest. He takes his
helmet off and throws it and his sword to the
side. The boy is red headed; his hair is unkempt
and wavy, falling down to his eyes. He is
handsome; his face is spotted with freckles and
boasts a wide toothy grin and a jaw chiseled by
the Gods themselves. His eyes are large and
brown.
EDMUND:
(Southern Irish accent, cocky)
Hah! Once again, I am victorious! What’s that, Korin?
Ten to Zero to me? Vaelin, partner me up with someone
that’s at least a bit competent with a sword, the
amusement of beating Korin to a pulp wore off after
my third win!
The rest of the boys burst into a laughter, some
more exaggerated than others.
Korin shoves Edmunds foot off his chest and gets
onto his feet, dusting himself off. He pulls his
helmet off and lets it and his sword drop to the
ground; he is thin, pale and 10 years older now.
He has piercing grey eyes and black medium
length hair slicked back and over his ears.
VAELIN:
(Chuckling)
Now now, Edmund, there’s no need to boast; though you
may have a surplus of victories against Korin, your
style is still sloppy. In the last 10 seconds of the
fight I spotted more than 5 ways to disarm and
disable you for life.
EDMUND:
(Scoffing)
That’s only because you’re the best fighter in this
place. No-one out in the mainland can be compared to
you, Vaelin.
VAELIN:
That’s a dangerous train of thought, one that will
most likely get you killed. Now. Line up and face the
wall, we’ll go through Signs.
Grunts and grumbles echo throughout the
courtyard as the boys line up as instructed.
(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 8.
VAELIN:
(Pacing before the boys)
Now. Who can tell me what sign you should use on a
Nekker? Fredrick, you tend to be quiet during lessons
involved in Bestiary and signs, per chance you
wouldn’t know the answer?
A scrawny, mousy haired boy steps forward.
Compared to the rest of his peers he is much
smaller in height.
FREDRICK:
(Nervously, Welsh accent)
Uh.... uhm... I-igni? Nekkers are susceptible to
Igni.
VAELIN:
(Tutting)
Wrong answer, Fredrick! Lucas, you’re up.
A tall and muscular boy walks out, nudging
Edmund with a grin prepares his answer. His hair
is long, black and tied into a pony tail.
LUCAS:
(German accent)
They have no susceptibility, that was a trick
question, Vaelin.
VAELIN:
(Disappointed)
Wrong again! Have any of you bothered reading the
notes Nesstel and I have loaned you? You will
not survive in the wilds if you know nothing of the
creature’s you’re hunting. Nekker’s are basic stuff,
I’ve trained children that caught on quicker! Korin!
What sign is best suited when taking on a Nekker?
KORIN:
Lucas was half right; Nekkers have no susceptibility
to any known signs, they do, however, react badly
when hit with a Northern Wind bomb or Ogroid Oil.
VAELIN:
Thank you! Someone with basic knowledge. Arachas?
Korin tilts his head in thought.
KORIN:
(Hesitant)
They... Arachas are only susceptible to Arachnid Oil
or Insectoid Oil.
VAELIN:
Werewolf?
(Nodding)
(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 9.
KORIN:
Igni, Cursed Oils and Moon Puff.
VAELIN:
(Impressed)
What about an Erynia?
KORIN:
Uh... a cousin to the Harpy, so trap it with a Harpy
trap and then use Igni.
Vaelin claps his hands.
VAELIN:
Very good, Korin, very good indeed! We haven’t gotten
on to Harpies just yet, so well done. Now, I think we
shall call it a day there, shall we?
Vaelin and his students proceed to enter Kaer
Morhen proper via the open gate.
4 END SCENE 4
5 SCENE 3 5
The guide ushers the audience through another
opening of the forest at the end of the
courtyard, this time the path leads to a small
cottage with a notice board sitting outside of
it. On the notice board was a ’WITCHER OR
MONSTER HUNTER WANTED’ poster, along side
notices about a local smithy, butchers, eviction
notices by the order of the Redanian Army, etc.
The cottage itself has no noteworthy
individuality; bog standard, as if it was the
only thing the owner could afford. There is a
woman standing only a few feet away from the
notice board; she is visibly distraught, biting
her nails and pacing. She is a large woman with
shaggy, straw-like brown hair.
As the audience gets closer to the notice board
a hooded figure steps up to the poster, reading
it and then tearing it from the notice board.
The woman quickly walks up to him.
WOMAN:
(Panicked, Welsh accent)
Are you a Witcher? My daughter, she’s gone, I can’t
find her anywhere! I-I think she was taken, please-
KORIN:
(Waving hand across face)
Calm down and speak slowly.
(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 10.
WOMAN:
(Calm, emotionless)
My daughter, Agatha. She’s been missing for two days.
I last saw her at the edge of the forest with her
friend Benjamin. They’re good kids, never stray where
they’re told not to and for too long without good
cause. Benjamin came home without Agatha and, when
asked where she was, he didn’t know. It’s been two
days passed. We’ll pay you in coin, the whole village
has pitched in.
Korin pulls the hood off of his head revealing a
defined, yet thin pale face; a scar stretches up
from his chin and just to the side of his left
nostril. His hair is slicked back, and his eyes
are a dull gold with cat-like pupils.
KORIN:
Tell me about Agatha; what does she look like?
WOMAN:
She’s a small wee thing, big blue eyes and ginger
hair; she gets those from her bastard Father that
left me.
KORIN:
(Sighing)
So it’s the same one.
WOMAN:
(Confused)
What do you mean it’s the same one? This has never
happened in this area before now!
KORIN:
No, but it’s the same creature; I’ve been tracking it
for weeks now. First in Ard Skellig, then Oxenfurt,
Toussaint, Novigrad and now Linden Vale. Seems the
creature favour’s redheads. If your daughter was
taken only two days ago then the creature must still
be close by.
(Mumbling to himself )
Hopefully I wont fail this child like the others...
WOMAN:
What are you going to do?
KORIN:
I need to prepare. If I’m correct then it’s a Bruxa
or another Humanoid Vampire that has captured your
daughter.
Korin leaves, exiting through the entrance of
the area around the small cottage. No more than
a minute later does the guide usher the audience
back onto the path through the forest leading to
the final destination; a 5 minutes walk reveals
(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 11.
an old, battered and broken down barn yard that
sits roughly 30 feet from the entrance of the
forest. The tree’s are particularly dense in
this area, hiding the building from passerby’s.
The Guide ushers the audience up to the barn
yard before the doors are thrown open with a
violent blast of wind. Korin stands to the side,
his hand shimmering with the same blue glow
Vaelin’s had when the two first met. Contrast to
his calm demeanor, there’s a hint of pain and
anger in the Witchers’ face; venomous green
veins pulsate violently, covering most of his
face. His teeth are barred and gritted. There is
nothing within the barn but the lifeless corpse
of a small girl dressed in a small brown and
white dress, her hair bright ginger; an arm lays
to the side while her leg hangs but by a few
threads of flesh.
Korin slowly makes his way into the barn yard,
his breathing heavy and labored.
KORIN:
(Through gritted teeth)
How scared the child must have been... Come out, you
savage, so I can cut you down where you stand.
There is silence, followed slowly with the
rustle of wooden planks from within the barn.
Korin spins around and waves his left hand in
the air, a faint red glow is emitted from his
hand as a wave of fire is unleashed at the air.
KORIN:
You’ve had your fun, beast! Now come and face me.
Once again there is silence as Korin readies
himself for a fight. A gust of air is heard from
within the barn as the doors are thrown close
with a loud bang. A screech can be heard from
behind the doors and the clanging of steel and
the grunts of effort are exerted from Korin. 5
minutes pass as the struggle between the two
fighters continue when suddenly there is silence
and two thuds are heard; the doors of the barn
slowly creak open ajar. Korin emerges from the
door, barely able to keep himself on his feet.
In his arms he holds the mutilated corpse of
Agatha. Suddenly he collapses, slumping against
the barn yard. His is bloody and beaten, deep
cuts spewing blood from all corners of his body;
the green veins are pulsing even harder now, a
more sickly green than before.
KORIN:
(Sighing)
Fucking Vampires... What use of a Witcher am I if I
can’t protect a child from a Vampire?
(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 12.
The guide then ushers the audience back to the
entrance of the forest.
6 END SCENE 6