Born with a twisted spine, Yennefer was bullied, tormented and abused both by her peers and the man
who raised her, though her biological father was a half elf. While beaten as a teenager, she produced
a random burst of magic which teleported her to the room of Istredd, a student at the Sorcerer’s
school of Ban Ard, a companion to the girls school of Aretuza. Helping her return home, Istredd
warned her display of magical ability would be noticed, and just as he feared, the Sorceress
Tissaia Devreis soon arrived at Yennfer’s farm, purchasing the deformed young girl from her father
for 4 marks, less than the price of a pig. Taken to the school of Aretuza, Yennfer underwent harsh
and dangerous training alongside students like Sabrina Glevissig and Fringilla Vigo, learning
that magic was a chaos which could be manipulated at a cost, with greater spells requiring larger
sources of energy. If a magic user did not have a source of energy to consume, the spell would drain
their physical bodies and cause serious injury or even death. Struggling with her new powers
Yennefer spied on Tissaia to discover students who failed to gradu and join the Brotherhood of
Sorcerers were transformed into eels which discharged magical energy into the school.
Improving her skills, Yennefer was on the verge of becoming a sorceress, and so the leadership
council assigned her to advise the lecherous ruler of Nilfgaard, despite Tissaia attempting to get
her a more ideal position in Aedirn. Denied her preferred assignment Yennefer lashed out at her
romantic partner Istredd, learning that he revealed secrets about her to his teacher,
though she did the same. Despite hating her assignment, she was equally appalled
by Istredd’s offer to join him as he began a life dedicated to excavations and studies of the past.
Exchanging harsh words, they part ways on bad terms, leaving Yennefer so frustrated
she forsook rules and restriction, convincing the School’s specialist enchanter to transform
her body into a beautiful black haired women, accepting the condition she would never bare
children and forgoing any pain medication to have it done as fast as possible. Once transformed she
made a grand entrance at the Sorcerer’s ball where she introduced herself as Yennefer of Vengerberg,
charming the King of Aedirn into choosing her as his advisor, thereby foiling the school’s plan.
Yet much to her disappointment, Yennefer epent the next 30 years dealing with petty political
troubles, feeling deep regret for her choice to serve in Aedirn, questioning whether it was
worth sacrificing her ability to have children. Matters then grew worse when she learned the
King sent a mage assassin to kill his own wife because she bore him 7 daughters and no sons.
Charged with her protection, Yennefer tried to save the Queen and her baby daughter,
but was unable to escape the killer, and so abandoned her charge to try and save
the child by fleeing through a portal only to learn she was already dead.
Abandoning her position at court and place within the Brotherhood, Yennefer remained
in hiding for a time, working with rogue mages in a vain attempt to reverse what was done to
her so she might bare children. In time, she was visited by Tissaia Devreis who explained
restoring her womb was not possible and invited her back to Aretuza. Yennefer refused the offer
and temporarily took up residence in the town of Rinde, enslaving the local mayor with magic.
While travelling in the northwest, the Wolf School Witcher Geralt of Rivia killed a wild Kikimora,
bringing it’s corpse to the nearby town of Blaviken to collect a bounty. Directed to
the local wizard Stregobor, he learned about the Curse of the Black Sun, where a number of girls
born during an eclipse suffered internal mutations leading them to became dangerous violent women,
which prophecy said would bring about the return of Lilit, a demon goddess worshipped in the east.
Seeking to disrupt the prophecy, Stregobor and his colleagues hunted, killed and autopsied these
girls, with only 1, the now woman Renfri surviving who tracked him to Blaviken with her gang,
seeking vengeance against the wizard. Offering the Witcher a contract to slay her, Stretobor
claimed the autopsies proved the girls really were mutated and tales about Renfri said she tortured
and killed animals as a young girl. Skeptical of the story, Geralt did not wish to involve himself,
but was next approached by Renfri who asked him to kill Stretobor, explaining that she was a princess
until the wizard ordered a guard to kill her in the woods. The soldier instead raped and robbed
her before letting her go and thus would not relent in her pursuit of Vengeance. Trying to
persuade her to leave Blaviken, Renfri promised to depart and spent the night with Geralt,
but in the morning went into town with her gang, intending to massacred everyone until the wizard
showed himself. Having dreamed of Renfri, hearing her say the girl in the woods was his destiny,
he defended the town by killing all the attackers, including their leader who died in his arms,
repeating that the girl in the woods was his destiny. Threatening Stregobor when he tried to
take the body for an autopsy, the wizard turned the town against him, making it seem like the
Witcher killed these people without cause, thereby giving him the nickname Butcher of Blaviken.
Sometime later, while in a tavern near the mountains, Geralt met the poet and bard Jaskier
who recognized him and joined in his travels, composing songs about his adventures. Geralt was
then approached by a local farmer who paid 150 ducats to stop a Devil from stealing his grain.
Investigating , the Witcher discovered a Sylvan was responsible, an intelligent goat-like creature
stealing grain on behalf of the Free Elves of the mountains, many of whom sought to wage war against
the humans who drove them from their lands. Led by King Filavandrel, the Elves captured Geralt and
threaten to kill him, but the Silvan interceded on his behalf, pointing out that the Witcher was not
like other humans, and thus was an outcast like them. After an argument where Geralt failed to
convince the Elves to rebuild elsewhere and avoid war, he was ultimately released from captivity.
Venturing into Temeria, Geralt sought out disgruntled commoners swindled by a Witcher
who betrayed a contract and fled with their coin. Wanting to apologize on behalf his guild,
Geralt offered to take the contract for a third of the price before the crowd was dispersed by
guards. Geralt was next approached by the King’s sorceress advistor Triss Merigold,
wanting him to find a way to stop but not kill, a terrible monster.
As it turned out, the King tried to prevent a panic by covering up the death of the previous
Witcher, who did not flee but actually died fighting the Strygga threatening their city.
Investigating further, he leaned the Strygga was the cursed daughter of King Foltest, who had a
hidden relationship with his sister before she passed away. Performing a ritual which had Geralt
trapped the Strygga until morning, it transformed back into a girl but still proved dangerous,
wounding the Witcher when he let his guard down. Healed by Triss, Geralt was paid and departed.
While travelling near Cintra, Geralt accompanied Jaskier when he performed at a betrothal party
to arrange a marriage for the queen’s daughter. Finding his old friend the Druid Mousesack Geralt
learned Queen Calanthe wanted her daughter to marry Crach an Craite, the Skillige born nephew
of her lover Eist Tuirseach, who she cared for but refused to marry, as it meant making him
king and sharing power. When the male suitors started presenting themselves before the Queen
and Princess, an unknown noble named Urcheon of Erlenwald or Duny interrupted, demanding
Pavetta’s hand in marriage, as was promised to him by her father King Roegner before he died.
Though Urcheon was cursed to have the appearance of a hedgehog, he explained that he once saved
the life of King Roegner and claimed the Law of Surprise as his reward, meaning he was given that
which the monarch had but was not expecting upon his return home. This turned out to be
his daughter as he learned his wife the queen was pregnant. Refusing to give Pavetta to a cursed man
she did not know, the Queen sent soldier’s to kill him but Geralt intervened, saving his life. Though
Pavetta already knew and loved the cursed man, the Queen remained defiant and tried to stab him only
for her daughter to unleash a burst of magical energy through a scream that pushes everyone
back except her and Duny. After the Witcher and Mousesack worked together to stop her screaming,
the Queen realized she must honor the promise made and gave her blessing to their marriage,
which in turn lifted the curse transforming Urcheon into a handsome young man. Although
this union angered many of the attending nobles, Lord Eist proclaimed he would marry Calanthe,
meaning anyone who had a problem with Cintra would also face the armies and fleets of Skellige.
Grateful for his help, Urcheon sought to reward Geralt of Rivia, who halfheartedly
claimed the Law of Surprise, with no intention of actually collecting whatever was promised.
They then learned Pavetta was pregnant, meaning Geralt’s destiny was now intertwined with the
child surprise growing inside the Princess. Though Mousack asked Geralt to stay at court and help
raise the child, he refused to believe in destiny and departed with no intention of returning.
Meeting with Jaskier again after years of separation, the two discovered a Djinn bottle,
which the Witcher opened before wishing for peace and quiet, which caused the bard to suffer from
a magical wound to his throat. Seeking help for his friend, Geralt found the sorceress Yennefer
of Vengerberg in nearby Rinde. Using magic to distract him while she interrogated the bard,
Yennefer believed Jaskier opened the bottle and must speak his final wish to free the Djinn,
allowing Yennefer to capture and force it to restore her womb. However she did not
realize the Djinn was bound to Geralt, who used his second wish to kill his jailor.
Geralt then found Yennefer in danger as she tried to take direct control of the Djinn,
and made his last wish so it could escape. Failing to hear the wish, Yennefer was initially furious
Geralt interfered, but found herself drawn to him, beginning a tumultuous relationship in
which they would depart, reunite, become intimate and leave each other again.
Sometime later, while travelling through Caingorn, Geralt and Jaskier joined various groups of
hunters, including the Dwarf Yarpen Zigrin, when he saw Yennefer of Vengerberg among them.
Pursuing a Green Dragon on behalf of the local King Niedamir, he learned the sorceress
sought ingredients from a dragons body which might help restore her ability to have children.
Geralt and Yennefer then fought together in the defence of their companion Borch three jackdaws,
who was revealed to be a Golden dragon posing as human, in order to protect the egg he produced
with his mate, the now deceased green dragon they sought. After defeating the hunters, the Golden
Dragon spoke concerning what he knew about their ill fated lives, leading to the revelation that
the Witcher’s third wish to the djinn was that he and Yennefer always came back to each other,
which made the sorceress believe she was robbed of free will. The Dragon then made their division
worse by stating she would never recover her womb and Geralt would lose her in the end,
prompting Yennefer to leave in anger. Borch then told Geralt his destiny lay elsewhere.
Having left the Witcher and grown wary of her seemingly impossible mission to have a child,
Yennefer found her old lover Istredd in Nazair, seeking to rekindle their relationship. But after
so many years apart, with Yennefer rejecting all his attempts to reconnect, Istredd moved on,
and so refused to take her back. Yet the trip to Nazair was not a complete failure as she
soon met the sorcerer Vilgefortz, who recruited her on behalf of the Brotherhood of Sorcerers,
to visit Aretuza where they were deciding how to deal with the impending invasion
of Cintra by the southern Empire of Nilfgaard. Attending a meeting of high ranking sorcerers,
Yennefer saw them vote in favor of allowing Nilfgaard to conquer Cintra, as Queen Calanthe
was openly hostile to the Brotherhood, and thus did not merit aid from their organization.
Yet some of their me ations in a defensive battle at Sodden Hill, east of Cintra, where the Empire
would strike next. Though initially hesitant, Yennefer was convinced to join their forces.
Meanwhile, at the Nilfgaardian camp, Fringilla Vigo and the Warrior Cahir
discussed how best to defeat the enemy so they could pass through and continue their
search for Ciri, the princess of Cintra, an important girl with unique abilities,
who they believed was destined to fulfill a sacred prophecy and was therefore wanted by
their powerful Emperor, who turned Nilfgaard from a fledgling state to a continental superpower.
Learning that Cintra was under imminent attack, Geralt made his way to the capital,
seeking to protect his child surprise by taking her away until the fighting was over.
Speaking with Mousesack he learned the child was a girl named Ciri but the Queen ultimately
denied his request and had him imprisoned. Yet soon Nilfgaard attacked and conquered Cintra,
creating chaos in the castle which allowed the Witcher to escape. Seeking to find protect Ciri,
the Witcher butchered his way through Nilfgaardian troops but failed to locate his child surprise.
Having conquered all of the south past the Amell Mountains, Nilfgaard was poised to attack Cintra,
led by the warrior Queen Calanthe and her Skellige born husband King Eist with her granddaughter
Princess Ciri as heir to the throne. When the Empire arrived, they vastly outnumbered the
defenders and used magic to destroy the ships on their way with reinforcements for Cintra,
allowing them to defeat the northern army, even killing the king with an arrow
launched by the soldier Cahir. After receiving a terrible wound, Calanthe retreated to the capital,
where he men fought a doomed last stand. Holding for as long as they could, the
nobles of the castle killed themselves to prevent capture and torture at the hands of Nilfgaard.
Arranging for Ciri to escape with a guard and their wizard advisor Mousesack,
Calanthe’s last words to her daughter urged her to find the Witcher Geralt of Rivia,
because he was her destiny. When they departed, the wounded Queen threw herself from a window.
Mousesack was then captured while fighting off attackers and Ciri’s guard shot with an arrow.
Knocked unconscious and captured by the soldier Cahir, Ciri woke while travelling outside the city
and screamed in anguish and terror, causing a magical burst of energy to collapse the horse,
topple a nearby structure and crack open the earth, allowing her to escape into the woods.
While fleeing form Cintra, princess Ciri ran into Dara, a boy with knowledge about surviving in the
wild. After sharing his dinner of roasted rat, he disappeared for a time, leaving Ciri to find
a refugee camp where she was taken in by a wealthy Cintran family. Dara then rescued
her when the family was slaughtered and camp raided by Nilfgaard. Reaching Brokilon Forest,
Ciri was entranced by a magical spell which compelled her to enter the woods.
Following her, Dara was shot with an arrow before they were both captured by the female Dryads,
who lived in Brokilon, defending it from human encroachment. Meeting Eithne, Queen of the Dryads,
both Dara and Ciri are made to drink the Water of Brokilon, which would kill those who intended
to harm the forest while erasing the memories of others. When the Queen realized the water had no
effect on Ciri, she had the girl consume special sap, causing a vision of a great tree in a desert.
Meanwhile, Nilfgaard’s sorceress Fringilla Vigo sacrificed the life of her assistant in a dark
magic spell to find Ciri’s whereabouts, sending Cahir to Brokilon where he hired a Doppler,
a being able to mimic the appearance of others, to transform into the druid
Mousesack. After mimicking and killing the Druid, the Doppler found Ciri in Brokilon,
claiming he must take her to Geralt of Rivia, in order to honor the law of surprise.
When Ciri made it clear she wished to leave, Queen Eithne allowed it, and so the girl departed with
the Mousesack imposter and her friend Dara. However the Doppler eventually fled after
betraying and duelling Cahir, which gave Dara time to free Ciri from capitvity. Yet the two
then went their separate ways, as the boy believed Ciri was leading them into unnecessary danger.
Seeking passage to Skellige where she might find refuge with her mother’s allies, Ciri stole a
horse from Zola, a kind woman trying to help her, only to be followed by a group of ruffians,
including a boy she once thought a friend in Cintra. As they prepared to assault her,
she suddenly entered into a trance, speaking words of prophecy with a different voice. When
she regained consciousness she was alone and everyone else dead. She was then found and by
the same kindhearted woman whose horse she stole, and taken to he humble home,
where Ciri learned Nilfgaard was engaging Northern forces at the nearby battle of Sodden Hill.
With Cintra defeated, Nilfgaard made their way to Sodden, where volunteer Mages made their stand,
holding the enemy back long enough for King Foltest to arrive with a northern army.
Sacrificing many of their lives to achieve victory, the sorceress Triss Merigold was
badly burned, Sabrina fell from a tower, Tissaia was wounded, Yennefer stabbed and Vilgefortz
struck in his head after losing a duel to Cahir. When Vilgefortz awoke he killed a wounded ally.
Though he did not fight in the battle, Geralt was in Sodden while it occurred,
suffering a grievous wound saving the life of the local man Yurga, who loaded the witcher
onto his wagon hoping to find help. As fate would have it, Geralt was visited
by his biological mother Visenna, who seemed to appear in a fever dream to help heal his wounds
but refused to answer meaningful questions about why she gave him to the Wolf School. When he next
awoke the woman was gone and Yurga offered him the law of surprise in exchange for saving his life.
Upon arriving home, Yurga’s wife informed him of a girl she found who ran off into the woods.
Remembering Renfri’s words, Geralt instinctively started wandering through the forest.
Meanwhile, Ciri dreamed of Geralt calling out Yennefer’s name,
and when she woke, was compelled to leave Zola’s home, running into the woods where
destiny at last brought her to the Witcher, embracing him before asking about Yennefer.