Known as the first Elder race to populate the continent east of the Great Sea, the diminutive
Gnome people made their homes in the mountains of Mahakam and Tir Tochair, where they mastered
mining and smithwork, forging their famous Gwyhyr blades of dark iron, said to the greatest
swords in the world.
In time, they were joined by the Dwarves, a stout, robust race who arrived by sea, and
similar the Gnomes, made their homes in mountains like Mahakam, specializing in mining and smithwork,
though they were more open to travel, trade and warfare.
While Gnomes and Dwarves populated the North, the race of Werebbubbs inhabited lands further
south, while the female Nymph species, and their various subgroups populated woodlands
like Brokilon forest, where Dryads were ruled by a Queen of great wisdom and authority,
who suffered no threats against her lands and people.
Then there were the Halflings who never established a realm of their own, instead living and working
in the settlements of others.
Though their diminutive size and pleasant demeanor led many to see them as easy targets
for exploitation, Halflings were expert slingers and could prove fearsome fighters when provoked.
Roughly 2000 years before the arrival of humans on the continent, the long lived Elven race
suffered a cataclysm on their home world, and so travelled to the world of Dwarves and
Gnomes, where they sailed white ships onto the shores of their continent.
Arriving during the Age of Migration, conflicts arose with the Dwarves, but even so the Elves
eventually established a number of majestic realms throughout the north, building magnificent
stone palaces while living in harmony with the natural world.
In time the Elves sundered into the more imperialist Aen Elle who journeyed to another world, founded
the city of Tir na Lia, enslaved humans wherever encountered and waged war against the magical
Unicorn species, and the more isolationist Aen Seidhe faction who remained, feeling a
deep connection to the land and its creatures.
Fiercely proud of their burgeoning civilization, the Elves of the continent suffered terribly
when the arrival of humans marked the beginning of the end for all they achieved.
Approximately 2000 years after the migration of Elves onto the Continent, a pivotal event
known as the Conjunction of Spheres caused a great many universes to interconnect, allowing
travel between dimensions, while bringing forth a new form of energy which could be
harnessed into magic.
As a result of the Conjunction of Spheres, other worldly monsters, beasts and peoples
came pouring onto the continent of the Elder Races, like ghouls, graveirs and vampires,
now forced to survive in unnatural environments.
The Conjunction of Spheres also allowed the first human population to arrive upon the
continent, leading some to believe they originated from another world which they destroyed.
While some humans settled in the south, the Dauk and Wozgar peoples established themselves
in the northlands later known as Kovir and Poviss.
Although the Dauk and Wozgar did not long survive, their legacy endured, believed to
have introduced worship of the Goddess Melitele, one of the most widely revered deities in
the continent.
Dividing their world’s 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, a man named Jan Bekker was the first control and harness magic, using it
to help establish human settlements.
Training others, these sorcerers discovered that a chaotic energy existed in all living
things, which could be transformed into elemental enchantments.
Although anyone could learn to use these abilities, the most powerful were Sources, those born
with a rare, natural affinity for magic, capable of unleashing extraordinary amounts of energy.
Sources therefore required a great deal of training and discipline to avoid harming themselves
or others.
Although humans lived extremely short lives when compared to Elves, they reproduced far
faster, and in the coming centuries spread across the continent, threatening the borders
of the Elder Races.
Though some Elves and Men did attempt to peacefully coexists, their cultures were radically different,
as humans did not respect the natural world, brazenly cutting down forests and wiping out
animal populations.
Though war inevitably came to the North, the rise of Nordling realms could not be halted,
leading many Elves to abandon their cities, retreating into the mountains to wait out
the trouble, believing the age of human dominance would eventually pass, like a drought or heavy
winter.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, humans started to populate these former Elven settlements,
making use of their expertly crafted buildings and prosperous locations to establish cities
like Novigrad, Oxenfurt, Vizima, Tretogor, Maribor, Cidaris and Cintra.
As humans expanded and spread throughout the continent, a legendary leader named Sambuk
became the first Nordling King, establishing his realm in the lower pontar, while his descendant
King Radovid I formed the powerful kingdom of Redania.
From this mighty lineage also came the realm of Kovir and Poviss in the far north, founded
by Radovid I’s brother Prince Troyden.
As the years went on, other realms emerged throughout the Northern half of the continent
including the Hengfors League, Aedirn, Kaedwin, Temeria, Cidaris, Verden, Brugge, Lyria and
Rivia, Cintra, Sodden, the island of Skillige, Nazair, Metinna, Ebbing, and Toussaint.
While the southern half of the continent came under the control of the Nilfgaardian Empire,
a unified power which expanded beyond their initial borders to conquer a number of states,
they converted into provinces.
Yet the rapid expansion of humanity not only resulted in war with the Elves and other races
of these lands, but also against each other, as these burgeoning realms fought for territory
and resources.
By the 9th century, a number of kingdoms were embroiled in a Six Year War, until peace was
re-established by Raffard the White, a great sorcerer who mediated the conflict.
Seeking to unite their people and take a more active role in the administration of the Nordling
kingdoms, magic users throughout the North formed the Brotherhood of Sorcerers, which
became one of the most powerful and prominent organizations in the continent.
Integrating themselves into the governments of the Northern Realms, the Brotherhood sends
their highly trained agents to serve as advisors to the Nordling Kings.
Each of these sorcerers then gathered their own small army of spies, informants and allies,
gaining so much influence they were often able to convince or manipulate monarchs into
doing whatever they wished, and where that failed, could have the ruler replaced.
In the south, magic users were given far less deference, forced to abide by strict rules
and regulations set by the state to prevent abuses of power.
Having lost nearly all their former territories to humans by the 11th century, the famous
Elven heroine Aelirenn sought to wage a final desperate war to fight back against their
enemies and defend one of their last remaining strongholds in Shaerrawedd.
Yet many understood she had no chance of victory, and so the Elder Elves refused to fight and
advised her to cease this suicidal effort.
Undeterred she inspired many of the younger generation to take up the cause, but in the
end was soundly defeated and her forces slaughtered.
Known as the White Rose of Shaerrawedd, Aelirenn was revered by her fellow Elves, remembered
as a courageous figure of legend who did not flinch in the face of insurmountable odds,
preferring to die in battle then live in hiding.
Yet her actions also had serious consequences for her people, as only the younger generations
of Elves were able to procreate, and with so many killed in her war, their population
would never recover.
Seeking to prevent humans from building upon another of their creations, the Elves destroyed
the palace of Shaerawedd, leaving it a ruin and site of pilgrimage for those who wished
to honor their fallen champion.
Having lost yet another war against humans, the north eastern realm of Dol Blathanna became
the last Elven stronghold, until it inevitably fell to the Kingdom of Aedirn.
Refusing to surrender, the noble Elf Filavandrel retreated into the wilds and became leader
of the Free Elves, a group dedicated to continuing the fight against humanity and retaking their
lost lands.
As the centuries went on, the Elves became a fractured people, split 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, Gnomes and Halflings
became second class citizens, sometimes used as scapegoats during times of hardships, leading
to pogroms in which they were rounded up and massacred.
Others races like the Werebbubbs lost their homelands and migrated to the Mahakam mountains,
while the Dryads waged an unending war against humanity in a desperate attempt to preserve
their woodland home, killing or capturing any who ventured into the forest of Brokilon.
Nevertheless, the Dryads lost more territory with each passing year, seeing many of their
lands deforested and settled by humans.
In addition to the losses inflicted upon the Elder races, other intelligent creatures of
the continent suffered just as much if not more from human expansion, with the races
of unicorns, sylvans, Leprechauns, vampires, godlings, merpeople, dragons, trolls and others
driven to near extinction.
In order to deal with the more primitive beings which roamed the continent and threatened
nordling settlements, humans created the order of Witchers, young boys trained as expert
warriors under brutal conditions.
Whereas soldiers were taught traditional fighting styles, Witchers were specialized champions
dedicated to acquiring knowledge about beasts and monsters.
Sometimes this meant learning specific combat techniques to kill their target, while other
situations might call for a spell or ritual to end the threat.
Further enhancing their ferocity in battle, Witchers were taught to employ simple magic
signs, such as Aard , which sent a telekinetic thrust of energy to knockback an opponent,
Axii, used to calm or manipulate a target’s mind , Igni, able to send forth a burst of
fire, Quen, which created an energy shield to protect against sonic blast, and Yrden,
which inspired fear, slowed down opponents and brought non-corporeal beings into physical
reality.
Witcher’s also ate a diet of natural stimulants and underwent the Trial of Grasses, a highly
secretive ritual, created primarily by the sorcerer Alzur, which exposed them to dangerous
poisons mutagenic compounds which often killed the initiate.
However, if the student survived, they gained superhuman speed, strength, agility, night
vision and sensory perception, along with longer lifespans, resistance to disease and
the ability to drink potions which temporarily increased their skills.
These transformations also gave Witcher’s cat or snake-like eyes, a raspy metallic voice,
and limited emotional range.
After graduating from one of several training facilities like the Wolf, Cat, and Griffin
schools, each of which specialized in their own unique fighting style, Witchers 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 others, including humans, elves and mages, who treated
them like freaks, mutants and ruthless mercenaries.
Though they were considered dangerous, unnatural creatures by many throughout their history,
anti-witcher fervor was inflamed by the publication of Monstrum, written by an anonymous sorcerer,
which cast them as rogues without virtue and diabolic creations.
Among the many students trained in the Wolf School of Kaer Morhen, a northern fortress
accessible only to Witchers and sorcerers, Vesemir was a wise, courageous and skilled
monster slayer in the prime of his life during the early 12th century.
In time, Vesemir became an important leader in their community, responsible for the preservation
of their School into the 13th century and beyond.
Though he did not realize it in his youth, Vesemir would play a pivotal role in events
of such magnitude they would affect the future of the entire continent.