Ugly Baby - The Witcher 3

When a witcher investigates, he expects to uncover the unexpected. He will learn, for example, that it was not a monster but the owner's brother who waylaid a missing caravan, or that the werewolf thought responsible for a streak of bloody murders would in truth never harm a fly.

Yet no investigation in witcher history had brought as many surprises as the search for Ciri. At one point Geralt discovered the key to finding her was a repulsive, brainless creature he called Uma. The witcher could sense this ugly being was no child of Mother Nature - even she could never be so cruel - but the result of sorcery. In other words, its deformed flesh was but a sort of magical cage in which someone else was trapped. The question was - who?

Geralt decided to take Uma to Kaer Morhen, so that he and his fellow witchers could confer about how to lift its curse.

It turned out to be Avallac'h - a powerful elven Sage whom Geralt had encountered during his previous adventures. Breaking his curse proved extraordinarily difficult and, though the treatments succeeded, they had deposited the elf on the brink of death.

Luckily, he still had a sound mind in his tattered body and was able to pass on the message they had waited so long to hear - Ciri was alive. Avallac'h had hidden her from the Wild Hunt on the Isle of Mists, a place tucked outside of time and space.

Yet even there she was not truly safe and, sooner or later, the wraiths would find her. It was clear to everyone that fleeing and hiding once more would only delay the inevitable. Geralt thus decided to fetch Ciri from the Isle of Mists and, with her and his friends at his side, give fight to her pursuers.

Geralt knew Uma currently resided at Crow's Perch. The baron's bandits, hungry for a bit of unrefined entertainment, had made Uma their jester. Geralt knew he would have to put an end to this farce, take the unfortunate being from Velen and, with Yennefer's help, try to lift the curse that held him.

Before this could happen, however, Geralt once again had the honor to face the emperor of Nilfgaard. Emhyr had run out of patience and demanded that Geralt report back on any progress he had made in his search for Ciri. Geralt presented Uma to the emperor and explained the unsightly fellow's role in the investigation. The emperor had hoped Geralt would return with someone other than a demented monstrosity, but ultimately recognized the creature as a solid lead in the search for his daughter Cirilla and handed over a portion of the reward he had promised the witcher. Geralt never revealed exactly how much that amounted to - he never did place much value on coin - but I wager, dear reader, it considerably exceeded the standard fees witchers received.

During the audience Yennefer hit upon an idea for lifting Uma's curse - though, not for the first time, she refused to share any details with Geralt. She merely told him to ride as fast as possible for Kaer Morhen, the famous keep of the witchers from the School of the Wolf - the home Geralt had not seen for some time, save in his dreams.