You are a witcher, a mutant. The sooner you accept this, the better. People will seek you out for your skills, but you must know to disappear when your presence is no longer desired. You are unique, different. This puts you in the same precarious position as non-humans who find themselves impaled or hanging from nearby trees. That they exist and are different triggers resentment, animosity and hatred among common folk, who will use any pretext to show them their proper place. How is it then that witchers, while equally non-human and different, do not share the fate of these poor devils? The answer is twofold.
First, relatively few of you walk this earth. Therefore, one is far more likely to encounter an elf than a monster-slayer such as yourself. And second, you possess a couple of rather forceful deterrents, a solid sword and a simple set of life rules.
Your blades are your lifeline. It`s therefore unsurprising that your ability to wield them is renowned, or that very few are keen or even willing to risk their lives by engaging you in combat. Still, your prowess has not led to arrogance. Neither do you revert to force when it isn`t necessary. As long as even a small possibility remains of resolving a conflict by other means, you sheathe your sword rather than tempt fate. However, you are unrelenting and without remorse when you must fight. You`re no saint, and not out to save the world. Ultimately, you simply want to survive while remaining true to your profession.
The world needs heroes to protect the innocent from evil just as heroes need bards to ensure that their names are remembered, to sing ballads about their heroic exploits and noble, albeit dopey demises. Though roadside taverns are full of home-grown buskers who call themselves minstrels, only a few actually matter, and Dandelion is arguably chief among them. Calling him the greatest artist among lovers hardly does him justice; calling him the greatest lover among artists, well... dozens of seduced women can`t be wrong.
Dandelion has been travelling with Geralt for ages, and though it`s impossible to say how it all began, it`s hard to imagine them going their separate ways. Dandelion has a foul tongue, a jester`s sense of tact, and an ego the size of a small kingdom. These are the traits that would lead the two companions to the scaffold were it not for the swiftness of the witcher`s sword. Such is the price of friendship...
At first she was known as the owner of the most beautiful auburn hair; a promising, yet modest sorceress. When everyone thought that she had died together with thirteen other magicians during the Battle of Sodden, she was called the Fourteenth of the Hill.
Thanks to her wisdom and courage she has earned herself the title of King Foltest`s adviser and nowadays no one questions her position in magic and politics. The rulers take her opinion into account, and young trainee sorceresses learn about Merigold`s Hailstorm, a powerful spell which stopped the rioting in Rivia.
The gates to the witcher stronghold, Kaer Morhen, are always open for her. Geralt could always count on her, together they defeated sinister Salamandra and stopped the rebellion of the Grand Master of the Order of the Flaming Rose. After the attempt on the life of King Foltest, Triss and Geralt once again work together. The sorceress can once more be with her beloved man. Against all adversities.
For some he`s the most wanted bandit in the Pontar valley, for others - an indomitable fighter for the rights of nonhumans. During the war against Nilfgaard, he was the leader of scoia`tael commando unit which was heatedly racking Northern Kingdoms, and later - for many months - escaping Temerian special forces.
Iorweth survived the bloody pursuit. After his unit was broken up, once more he gathered veterans disadvantaged by injustice, rebellious elven youth, dwarven mercenaries hunted by law. He created a commando unit, which became a legend.
Iorweth knows no mercy for his enemies. He treats both humans and elves suspected of collaboration with equal cruelty. Hidden in the wilderness on the border between Temeria and Aedirn, he attacks the rich and slits the throats of the poor. He fought against special forces of Temeria many times and always managed to escape any ambush. For Vernon Roche, he`s the enemy number one. For local garrisons, he`s Nemesis which everyone should hide from behind thick walls.
But even infamous Iorweth has his secret. Those who see him only as a war beast, a rebel immersed in cruelty are wrong. Iorweth is also an elf, a son of a proud and sophisticated race. A servant for the idea which will soon become well-known throughout the world.
Who`s the mysterious giant with a scarred face? Why can his likeness be found on the walls and posts in three kingdoms? How and why, being a dh`oine, did he manage to gain the trust of the crafty Iorveth? What`s his connection to Geralt of Rivia?
Only a few people can answer these questions, but they must remain silent. The most wanted man in the North still remains elusive. His every deed makes his enemies seethe with anger, but he`s ever a step ahead of pursuit. He`s able to find temporary allies everywhere, for he always can offer something others cannot provide. What is his motivation? Where will he spring up next?
Only one person can keep pace with the man who`s busily shattering the ages-old world order to pieces. Geralt of Rivia dealt with him before, and now fate had them cross paths once more. Only the witcher can stop the kingslayer`s plans, and, oh irony, he`s the sole person the huge murderer cannot kill in cold blood.
Vernon Roche is an example of a man who achieved everything on his own. He personally tracked scoia`tael commando units during the war against Nilfgaard. He himself hung their leaders on roadside trees. He pulled elven arrows out of his body with his own hands. Soon after that Foltest realised that such talent should not be limited only to exterminating guerrillas. After all Temeria has numerous enemies, not only Squirrels. Vernon Roche was promoted and became a special agent. A hitman, as some might say.
Since he became the king`s right-hand man, he`s been thwarting plots, burning manors of unruly barons, infiltrating spy rings of hostile empires. Over the years he`s gathered a small unit – consisting of dauntless swashbucklers, interrogation specialists, noiseless scouts – which would go through fire and water for him. Roche is a sophisticated tactician and he manages his subordinates skillfully. His unit has suffered only one failure – they haven`t managed to capture the infamous bandit Iorweth.
There are many sayings about Vernon. Some say that if each of his enemies gave him an oren, he could buy Temeria together with nearby lands, and if each of his friends came to bury him, Roche would have to do it himself. Apparently, it`s enough to put a knife into his coffin and he`ll succeed.
The life of sorcerer Dethmold of Ban Ard underwent a drastic change during the Thanedd Coup. During the rebellion his brother died from Scoia`tael arrow, and to say that Dethmold was furious would be saying too little. However the sorcerer would not fall to despair. He was in mourning only as long as it took him to make a list of those guilty. Dethmold left the service of Esterad of Kovir and found a patron better suited for his aims. He decided that Henselt, king of Kaedwen, should ensure the success of his plans.
What does Dethmold desire? He wants the Squirrels to be exterminated, as he considers them to be bandits and murderers. He craves for the deaths of the treasonous sorcerers who sided with Nilfgaard, and of all others whom he considers, rightly or not, to have brought about his brother`s death. The list is long and continuously appended.
Serving Henselt, a mighty and aggressive Northern monarch, is to Dethmold`s liking. The king is also pleased and trusts his new advisor like nobody else. From the time of Thanedd, the sorcerer is seeing conspiracies everywhere and is good at rooting them out, a very useful skill. Henselt mitigates Dethmold`s ambitions, but keeps him at his side continuously. And that is well, for soon he`ll come face to face with the famous White Wolf. Will the witcher and the sorcerer find common ground, or will they become mortal enemies? The first move is Geralt`s.
Zoltan Chivay is among the few who can consider themselves Geralt`s close friend. They met years ago and very much by accident, when Geralt, pursuing his destiny, was seeking Ciri, and Zoltan was looking for a fight and a chance to get rich. Amidst the turmoil of war, they saved each other`s skins many times, which transformed their chance acquaintance into a friendship that endures to this day.
In breaks between bloody melees, Zoltan strives to cultivate beautiful dwarven traditions that include picking fights in taverns, losing his coin at cards, or getting drunk as if there was no tomorrow. Invariably curious about the world, Geralt has often joined in these rituals, usually regretting this the following morning, when a hangover obliterated any doubts as to what had happened the night before. Despite all, Geralt values Zoltan`s friendship as well as the edge of dwarf`s battleaxe, mindful that it is always better to wake up with a splitting headache than to wake with no head at all.
The player is Geralt of Rivia, a professional monster slayer, a witcher. Entangled in the political turmoil that engulfed Temeria, Geralt helped quell the rebellion of the Order of the Flaming Rose. Soon after, he saved King Foltest’s life when the monarch was attacked by a witcher-like assassin. He continues to protect the king, serving as his bodyguard as Foltest strives to bring peace to his kingdom. The Order’s last bastions have yielded to the royal army, yet one more task remains - the Baroness La Valette announced her secession from the realm, and her fortress must be taken. A month after the attempted assassination, Foltest’s armies stand at the gates of La Valette Castle, preparing for a final assault. Still at Foltest’s side, Geralt is among them, unable to begin his personal quest to discover the mysterious assassin’s origin and identity
You are a witcher, a mutant. The sooner you accept this, the better. People will seek you out for your skills, but you must know to disappear when your presence is no longer desired. You are unique, different. This puts you in the same precarious position as non-humans who find themselves impaled...
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