Koshchey

A koshchey is created through rituals such as Alzur's Double Cross or Fregenal's Triangle within a triangle, vile rituals known to some sorcerers. It is a member of that infamous group of gigantic beasts that can cause destruction on a massive scale while killing droves of people. Neither a crab nor a spider, it is tough as nails. Even a witcher might find the soft meat inside hard to get at. The most well known Koschey was created by Alzur's double cross, the Viy of Maribor.
The first koshchey was created by an ex-druid called Fregenal using either the Triangle Within a Triangle or Alzur's Double Cross and destroyed by Visenna using the Mirror Effect spell.
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In the game, Geralt encounters the koshchey, the result of much labor, during one of the boss battles. It is a formidable foe and there is no escape from its chamber other than killing the beast.
=== Journal Bestiary entry ===
: "What, in your opinion, is the best way to describe a koshchey?
: Death. I'd call it death."
=== Location ===
* Catacombs of old manor
=== Source ===
* The Road of No Return
* The Double Cross of Alzur
== Monsterbook ==
Developer CD PROJEKT RED's characterization of the koshchey taken from the monsterbook, which was enclosed with the Collectors Edition of the computer game for Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic:
This monster owes its name to Russian folk tales, in which Koshchay the Immortal is a murderous sorcerer who renders himself immortal by concealing his life's essence inside an egg. He does eventually perish — when the egg itself is shattered. In Sapkowski's short story A Road with No Return, the koshchey is a nearly immortal monster, or at least one that proves extremely difficult to kill — all by virtue of having been created through a magic ritual known as Alzur's Double Cross, which also made the beast enormous in size. In the story, the protagonists barely manage to kill the creature: in the game, Geralt must face this challenge alone.
While working on the concept art and model of the koshchey, the artists looked to the animal world for inspiration, as they had in creating the kikimores. Sapkowski describes the beast as possessing the features of an arthropod — half-arachnid, half crustacean. It moves surprisingly fast for its size and sudden strikes of its forelegs would surely instill terror in anyone suffering from arachnophobia.
== Videos ==
File:Koshchey
== Gallery ==
Bestiary_Koshchey_full.png
File:Kosciej komiks.jpg|Fregenal's Koshchey in the graphic novel (art by Bogusław Polch)
File:Koshchey.jpg|Koshchey concept art
File:Koshchey2.jpg|Drawing of the Koshchey inspired by Sapkowski's description of the beast
cs:Koščej
de:Koschtschei
es:Koshchey
fr:Koshchey
hu:Koska
it:Koshchey
lt:Koščėjus
pl:Kościej
ru:Кащей
pt-br:Koshchey
Category:Creatures
Category:The Witcher bestiary