Long before the rise of elven and human kingdoms, the lands east of the Great Sea were populated
by the Gnomes of Mahakam, and Tir Tochair, considered to be the first peoples of the
continent.
In time, they were joined by the Dwarves, a stout, hardy race who arrived by sea while
the peoples known as Werebbubs came to inhabit lands further south.
The next people to arrive were the long-lived Aen Seidhe, Elves sailing on white ships during
the Age of Migration, roughly 2000 years before the coming of humans.
Engaging in a number of wars with the Dwarves, the Elves eventually established a number
of realms throughout the north, building magnificent palaces of stone, and living in harmony with
the natural world.
Feeling a deep connection to the land and creatures that inhabit it, the Elves were
fiercely proud of their burgeoning civilization, and so were equally heartbroken when it was
lost.
The beginning of the end, came during the Conjunction of Sphere, an event which shook
the very fabric of their reality, when a number of universes connected together, allowing
creatures and peoples to travel between dimensions, and bringing a new energy into the world which
could be harnessed into magic.
As a result of the Conjunction of Spheres, many monsters, beasts and peoples came pouring
into the lands of the Elder Races, like ghouls, graveirs and vampires, now forced to survive
in unnatural environment.
It was also after the Conjunction of Spheres, that humans first sailed into the continent,
leading the Elves to believe they originated from another world which they destroyed.
While some went to live further south, the peoples of Dauk and Wozgar came north, settling
in the lands later known as Kovir and Poviss.
Although their peoples did not long survive, some believed they introduced the worship
of the Goddess Melitele, one of the most widely revered deities in the north.
Dividing their history into years before and after a momentous event called the Resurrection,
the next wave of human migrants came around 760 AR, when the Nordling people landed at
the mouth of the Yaruga River.
Once arrived, Jan Bekker discovered how to control the force of magic which now inhabited
the land, and used it to help establish human settlements.
Training others in the use of this power, they discovered that a chaotic energy existed
in all living things, and it could be harnessed into elemental magic.
Although anyone could learn to use it, the most powerful Sorcerers were those few born
with a natural affinity for magic.
Known as a source, they were capable of unleashing extraordinary amounts of energy, and required
a great deal of training to avoid harming themselves or others.
Although humans did not live as long as the Elves, they reproduced far faster, and in
the coming centuries spread across the continent, threatening the borders of their neighbors.
Though some Elves and Men did attempt to peacefully coexists, their cultures were radically different,
as humans did not respect their environment, and instead tried to dominate it, cutting
down forests and wiping out animal populations.
Though war inevitably came to the North, the rise of the Nordlings could not be halted,
and the Elves started to lose territory.
Although some tried to heal the division between them, like the human mage Cregennan of Lod
who married the Elven sorcerous Lara Dorren, and had a half elven child Riannon.
Yet other humans could not accept this union, and murdered both parents, while their half
elven daughter was adopted by the Queen of Redania.
By the 13th century, the Elves lost all of their territories, becoming a scattered people
divided into those willing to work in human cities, and rural folk who kept away from
others and lived off the land.
With Nordlings now ruling over all the Northern Kingdoms, Elves, Dwarves and Gnomes became
second class citizens, sometimes used as scapegoats during times of hardships, leading to pogroms
in which they were rounded up and massacred.
As the Nordling Kingdoms came to dominate the North, the southern half of the continent
came under the dominion of the Nilfgaardian Empire, a unified power which expanded beyond
their borders to conquer a number of states, they converted into provinces.
From 1239 to 1257 the Empire was under the rule of the Usurper, a nobleman who assumed
power when he murdered the Emperor to implement expansionist policies which saw them conquer
their first Northern Kingdoms, taking Ebbing, Maecht, Metinna and Nazair.
Although the Usurper was eventually overthrown by the rightful heir Emhyr var Emreis, their
expansionist policies continued, and he prepared for the next war of invasion.
During the early reign of Emhyr var Emreis, the remaining Northern Kingdoms were divided
into Kovir and Poviss at the end of the world, the Hengfors League, Redania, Kaedwin, Temeria,
Aedirn, Cidaris, Verden, Lyria and Rivia, Cintra, Sodden and the island of Skillige.
Aiding the Northern Kingdoms maintain order and peaceful relations, were the Brotherhood
of Sorcerers, an organization which regulated and oversaw the use of magic in the north.
Although humans now dominated the continent and were warring amongst themselves, others
inhabited these lands as well, not only the Elder races, but also intelligent beings like
the dryads of Brokilon forest, female nymphs who seduced men from other species to procreate
and defended their home with extreme aggression, killing almost anyone who entered their realm
without permission.
There were also the nearly extinct race of unicorns, vampires, godlings, merpeople who
lived in the sea, dragons, trolls and more.
Yet there were also more primitive beasts and monsters roaming the continent, leading
to the creation of Witchers, human boys trained to fight under brutal conditions and use simple
magic signs in addition to undergoing the Trial of Grasses, a highly secretive ritual
which exposed them to dangerous mutagenic compounds.
If they survived, they gained superhuman speed, strength, agility and sensory perception,
along with longer lifespans and resistance to disease.
After graduating from a Witcher schools, they went out into the world, wielding a sword
of steel and another of silver to slay monsters for coin, enduring the scorn and ridicule
of other humans, many of whom saw and treated them as freaks and mutants.