Thanedd Island Coup

A conference of mages on Thanedd Island turns into a coup and a battle when Tissaia de Vries drops the field that inhibits magic inside Aretuza.

The events on Thanedd Island marked a catastrophic fracture in the unity of the Northern mages, transforming a conference of mages into a bloody coup. Yennefer planned to enroll Ciri at the Aretuza school of magic on Thanedd Island while attending a conference of mages there. The conflict began early in the morning, when Dijkstra and Philippa Eilhart ambushed several mages, including Vilgefortz, whom they intended to accuse of conspiring with Nilfgaard.

However, the situation spiraled out of control when Tissaia de Vries, the most senior mage, furious that Philippa and her other mages had abandoned their role as neutral advisors, released Vilgefortz and the captured mages and dropped the field that inhibits the use of magic inside Aretuza. This decision inadvertently enabled Vilgefortz and his allies, including a Scoia'tael commando allied with Nilfgaard, to launch a devastating counter-attack.

Quick Facts

Key figures involved

Tissaia de Vries
Yennefer
Vilgefortz
Philippa Eilhart
Dijkstra
Geralt
Ciri

Lore & Background

The coup was not a spontaneous riot but a calculated maneuver by Dijkstra and Philippa Eilhart to ambush mages they accused of colluding with Nilfgaard. Emperor Emhyr wanted the Chapter of Mages broken apart, since their participation in the previous war had led to the Empire's defeat. The turning point occurred when Tissaia de Vries, furious that her colleagues had abandoned neutrality, released Vilgefortz and the captured mages and dropped the field that inhibits the use of magic inside Aretuza.

This proved disastrous: rather than a trial, it sparked an immediate battle between Northern mages and their accusers, compounded by Vilgefortz's allied forces, including a Scoia'tael commando, launching their own coup. Ciri, brought by Yennefer, lapsed into a clairvoyant trance and revealed that the war had already begun: the King of Redania had been assassinated the night before, and the King of Aedirn had launched an attack on Nilfgaard; in the ensuing chaos she fled and took refuge at the Tower of Gulls.

Reader's Guide

The gathering began with Yennefer enrolling Ciri at Aretuza and attending a conference of mages. When Dijkstra and Philippa Eilhart organized the coup to accuse Vilgefortz of Nilfgaardian conspiracy, they underestimated Tissaia de Vries' reaction. Upon learning her peers had abandoned their neutral advisory role, Tissaia dropped the magic-inhibiting field, enabling a brutal counter-attack by Vilgefortz and a Scoia'tael commando allied with Nilfgaard.

Geralt disabled Dijkstra and rushed in to rescue Yennefer and Ciri, but was defeated and severely wounded by Vilgefortz at the Tower of Gulls; Ciri escaped through an unstable magic portal, releasing a flare of energy that collapsed the Tower. The aftermath saw the Brotherhood effectively broken: Tissaia committed suicide in remorse, while Vilgefortz escaped scarred. Soon afterwards Aedirn, Rivia, and Lyria fell quickly to the Nilfgaardian invaders.