knickers to relevance,i pronounce the trial over...now i am off to the toilet with the evidence ;)

I haven't heard Shani mentioned at all in the second game. I can fathom not including her, but not mentioning her is strange.

Shani is just a minor character in the novels.
what doesn't make sense is having her as a love interest in the first game

and Geralt's true love is Yennefer

Her prominence in the novels is irrelevant. Just as the legitimacy of completely new characters should not be questioned either. Continuity between games would be improved with a mention.

Just one dialogue would have sufficed:

Dandelion: "It's a pity Shani decided to stay in Vizima."

Geralt: A. "Yeah, it's a shame." B. "I was sick of her." C. "She and Triss didn't get along and I need Triss." C. "Blarg."

Yes continuity is just not there and so much for game import.

In my last play through of wt1 Triss was all pissed off at me and kept saying go away when ever I spoke to her. According to my journal I was in love with Shani and wanted to settle down and have a family.

So I start to play wt2 and first thing, I wake up next to Triss!! wtf

oh well onwards and upwards as they say.

Typically I choose Shanni when siding with the Squirrels and Triss when siding with the Humans!

Didnt plan that originally but thats how it played out and it just made sence to stay like that in future games

I just never warmed to or liked Triss.

What irriated me in Witcher 1 was, I chose her to take care of Alvin because it made the most sense - the boy's power was out of control, he needed to be contained and tutored in the magical arts.

I wasn't making a choice over which woman I wanted, merely what was best for the boy! Yet that's how they both saw it. It was really like they were offering Geralt a "normal" life (let's settle down, raise this brat, etc), and I didn't like that either. It was pretty clear to me Geralt would never really have (or even like) such a life.

I regretted that choice for the remainder of the entire game - almost went back to the beginning and started over, so I'd end up with Shani and not Triss.

Shani was a healer and put herself in danger to help the sick and wounded. Triss was a manipulative sorceress only looking out for herself (and possibly Geralt, since she wanted him). I thought the choice between the two was crystal clear.

Well I let Shani have the kid in TW1. It is a bit odd not having Shani in the 2nd game, but I do like Triss better in TW2.

I chose triss because I didn't like the in-game rendering of shani. In fact I just didn't like the general features of shani. Short hair, freckles, voice tone. A little too thin even.

On the sex card she didn't look bad though.

Speaking of sex cards Abigail's was the hottest of them all.

Dude can barely keep his trouser snake zipped away when going to the bakery in the morning, I wouldn't worry.

Considering the direction the story is going, where Geralt is probably eventually going to reunite with Yennefer, whom he's been in a magically induced (with all the issues such an inducement brings) love affair for years, combined with the issues there have always been between Yennefer and Triss, who are very close friends, and Triss always having loved Geralt without any magical prodding, there was never any real room for Shani, who's never really been a part of this complicated threesome relationship in the Witcher world.

I never understood why Shani was even in the first game, and to some extent, until the story opened up in Witcher 2, was always a bit confused why they went with Triss as well (now it makes total sense). So, while I'm sure Shani has her supporters, in my eyes, the story is ultimately about the travel Geralt is undertaking to reunite and possibly settle the relationship conundrum with Yennefer for good. All the politics and what not are just a background setting that the story takes place in.

Maybe if the video games were their own story, it would make sense to have totally different love interests (like Shani) but they're not. They're really a continuation of a rich story built upon five pre-existing novels. If you ended up boning Shani and attempting to make a life out of it, great. We can chalk that, and the constant screwfest playboy Geralt was in the first game, up to his amnesia. ;p

That's Ciri. Who is basically Geralt's and Yennefer's (and to a lesser extent, Triss') "daughter". One of many things you might not pick up if you have never read any of the novels.

Not biological daughter of course. You can read up on her on the wiki, though it's somewhat incomplete. She's basically the other main character of the Witcher books (Geralt being the other).

Edit: Ok, I totally misread your post. That's Yen, as you said. ;p But, Ciri did come by and then spirit them away. Shani was never a real prominent character in the Witcher universe, so for those who romanced her, just think of it as some pleasant, amnesia induced affair in Geralt's long and storied life.

Ahh ok good to know

Kicking myself for having two desktops running three different Operating systems. I played TW through twice on XP, on my other desktop, Played it to Chapter 4 on Vista in here and have installed TW2 on Windows 7 in here. So much for imports.
I didn't like having to make that choice with Alvin in the first game knowing I was going to alienate one of them and I liked both. Remember, Shani was a nurse, so if a hospital should show up ( not the ruined nut house out side of Flotsam ) who knows.