Law of Surprise
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Law of Surprise, a custom as old as humanity itself, is the price a man who saves another can demand. It is a request of which neither the saviour or the saved one knows what it is, untill the man saved returns home.
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[edit] Requests
[edit] "the first thing that comes to greet you"
When requesting "the first thing that comes to greet you", the price could be the likes of a dog, a halberdier at the gate or "a mother-in-law impatient to holler at her son-in-law when he returns home".
[edit] "what you find at home yet don't expect"
When requesting "what you find at home yet don't expect", the price could be a lover in the wife's bed, but sometimes, a child.
[edit] Notable examples
[edit] Involving Geralt of Rivia
- King Roegner of Cintra, as a reward to Urcheon of Erlenwald, promised him "whatever he had left at home without knowing or expecting it". This was his daughter Pavetta, who he officially returned for 15 years later, although they had already met before that time.
>These events are told in the short story A Question of Price.
- After curing him from his curse, Duny offered whatever Geralt of Rivia asked for. Geralt asked for "that which you already have but do not know": Pavetta and Duny's daughter Ciri.
- Geralt unknowingly names Ciri as his reward a second time when he saves the life of Yurga, for while the man was away, his wife took in the orphan girl.
[edit] From legends and tales
- As a child, the legendary hero Zatret Voruta was given to the dwarves because he was the first person his father met on his return.
- Mad Deï demanded a traveller give him what he left at home without knowing it. This was the famous Supree, who later liberated Mad Deï from the curse that weighed him down.
- Zivelina became the Queen of Metinna with the help of the gnome Rumplestelt, and in return promised her first-born. Zivelena didn't keep her promise when Rumplestelt came for his reward and, by using spells, she forced him to run away. Not long after that, both she and the child died of the plague.
[edit] In "The Price of Neutrality" premium module
Deidre Ademeyn, Eskel's Unexpected Child, appears in "The Price of Neutrality" premium module for The Witcher.
[edit] Glossary Entry
| When a witcher saves a man's life and the man says, "In gratitude, I will give whatever you desire," the witcher then answers, "You will grant me whatever unexpected thing you encounter when you return home." In rare instances, the surprise proves to be an infant, born during its father's absence. Based on the Law of Surprise, the child belongs to the witcher, becoming the Unexpected Child to whom the witcher is bound by Destiny. Many Unexpected Children were brought to Kaer Morhen, where they were then raised and trained to be witchers. |
