Montecalvo is a castle in Redania where Philippa Eilhart maintained her seat of power and was the site of the formation and several secret meetings by the Lodge of Sorceresses.[1]
History[]
In July 1267, following the coup on Thanedd Island and King Vizimir II's assassination in Tretogor, Philippa retreated to Montecalvo with several of her fellow mages, including Triss Merigold, Keira Metz, and Margarita Laux-Antille, due to the new hostility the kingdoms were showing towards mages. From there, Philippa attempted to re-coup the remaining loyal sorceresses while "aiding" Queen Hedwig, effectively using her as a puppet to gain true power.[2][1]
On August 5th, the four used a projection spell to begin their first true meeting, mainly around recruitment and their purpose. Despite initial disagreements over the events of Thanedd, they agreed to work together to protect the safe practice of magic.[1]
During the second meeting at this castle, everyone attended in person. However, this meeting also included a reluctant Yennefer, who'd been forced to come along. When it became clear the Lodge intended to use Yennefer's adopted daughter, Ciri, for their own purposes regardless of Yennefer's objections, Yennefer managed to escape by creating a blind portal out of the castle.[1]
The Lodge later used this castle to coordinate and launch an assault on Rhys-Rhun Castle, where they thought Vilgefortz was hiding and thus likely where Ciri was being held.[3]
Trivia[]
- In Italian, the name of the castle, Montecalvo, can quite literally be translated as "bald mountain" - in Polish folklore, Bald Mountain (pol. Łysa Góra) is a place where witches would, according to well-known folk legends, gather to have a sabbath, before flying away on their brooms. Moreover, Łysa Góra is a real place in Poland, a hill almost 600m (c. 1900ft) tall, located in Świętokrzyskie (pol. Saint Cross) Mountains, in the southern part of the country.
- In Italy, several mountains bear the name "Monte Calvo." One of those is the highest peak of the Gargano promontory, a historical sub-region of Apulia in southern Italy.