Witcher

A witcher is someone who has undergone extensive training, ruthless mental and physical conditioning, and mysterious rituals (which take place at "witcher Schools") in preparation for becoming an itinerant monster slayer for hire.

Career

Qualifications

They must be trained at a Witcher School, eventually undergoing the Trial of the Grasses which mutates their bodies.

Career Progression

Every Witcher starts out as a normal human taken in by a Witcher school. They are trained in swordplay, up until the Trial of the Grasses. If they survive, they pass the training and set out on the Path, upon which they take contracts. There is no formal system of rank or progression among Witchers. However, the number of contracts and the type of monsters that a Witcher has taken on before can attest to their personal skill. Older Witchers (at least a century old) are considered incredibly skilled and knowledgeable given the perils of the profession and are therefore informally given the title of Grandmaster.

Payment & Reimbursement

Witchers almost always take payment for their work. They are code-bound to do so. It is equally rare and profound for a Witcher to refuse payment for a job: either the Witcher truly feels that the coin will serve the issuer of the contract better or feels so offended that they cannot accept payment.
The person or institution that issues the contract makes the payment directly. They negotiate the price with the Witcher beforehand, depending on the task.
The pay is usually money. However, when a Witcher saves another person, they may call upon the Law of Surprise. As per the Law of Surprise, the reward could be the first thing that greets the person upon their arrival or something at home which they don't expect to find. Neither party knows what the reward will be. It could be anything from a dog to a child.

Other Benefits

Witchers undergo mutations that change their body and extensive training. Benefits aside from payment include:

• Accelerated magic healing and bolstered immunity to diseases
• More magic potential than the average human, the ability to cast Signs
• Superhuman strength, speed, reflexes and endurance
• Extremely acute senses, night vision
• Sterility (whether this is a benefit depends on individual interpretation)
• Proficiency in swords, crossbows (dependent on School), Signs (basic magic), alchemy and tracking
• Incredibly long lifespan (at minimum, a few centuries)

Perception

Purpose

Witchers are primarily monster hunters. However, if needed, they could also act as a:

• Hunter
• Tracker
• Investigator
• Fighter
• Consultant on monsters or weaponry

Social Status

Due to the numerous rumours surrounding Witchers, religious propaganda and their intimidating appearance, Witchers are generally distrusted and disliked by peasantry. Even more sophisticated people are wary of dealing with Witchers until absolutely necessary.

Demographics

Incredibly few people are witchers. Maybe 1-2% of the population.

History

Creation

As humans settled in the northern part of the Continent, they had to deal with a vast array of monsters that inhabited the land and which humans were poorly equipped to deal with. To fix this, the Northern rulers tasked their mages to create magic-wielding warriors to deal with the monsters for them. As a result, the first witcher was created. Unfortunately, the witchers proved to have limited magical potential and were thus deemed failures and banished from the castle.

The First Age of Witchers

After the witchers were banished they were brought to Morgraig Castle by a handful of mages who wished to continue the experiment. Here, the first generation of witchers continued to train while the mages created more, soon establishing the Order of Witchers. As the first five original witchers set out on the path, the first age of witchers began. However, over time, the Order, after being abandoned by the original mages, had a violent fight break out among their own resulting in several deaths and a schism, and with other witchers' growing disillusionment about their Order's purpose and leaving as well, eventually led to the Order's end when the final witchers abandoned Morgraig, and thus brought the first age of witchers to an end as well.

Second Era of Witchers

After the Order ended and the independent schools were built, the Second Era of Witchers began, which witchers themselves refer to as the Golden Age of Witchers. With the continent divided between the schools and each one creating their own witchers, their work became efficiently organized. Past tensions between them calmed down and when witchers from different Schools crossed paths, no blood was shed as each knew they had their own territory, making them treat other Schools more like estranged brothers than bitter enemies like before.

End of the Golden Age

By the mid-1160s, the witchers had been too successful. Monsters grew increasingly rare and, due to propaganda from the churches of the North and the distrust of the rulers, witchers became the monsters in most of the population's eyes. The Schools each came under attack from various people and by the time the last school fell, the number of witchers had diminished greatly.

Operations

Tools

• Silver sword: For monsters that roam the wild (supernatural beings).
• Steel sword: For monsters in cities of stone (humans and nonhumans).
• Armour
• Potions: Elixirs that grant the consumer certain abilities.
• Bombs
• Blade oils
• Crossbow (optional)
• Witcher medallion: Used to detect monsters and magical presence. Also denotes the school which the Witcher is from based on the head depicted on the medallion.

Materials

• Alcohol, various plants and monster parts: brewing potions and blade oils, crafting bombs
• Repair kit: repairing swords if damaged

Workplace

Witchers do not have a workplace. They roam the Continent and take contracts according to need and skill. They may face beasts in pristine forests, damp and dark caves or even in cities.
All Witchers are trained by Witcher Schools, where they travel to and stay when winter falls.

Provided Services

Witchers are primarily monster slayers. Thanks to their diverse skill set, they can also provide the following services if they choose to:

• Hunting or tracking something or someone
• Protection for hire
• Advice or knowledge about monsters and weaponry

Dangers & Hazards

Inherent dangers of the job include:

• Training: Witcher training is ruthless and deadly. They are pushed to the limits of their bodies even as children. The Trials themselves are the most dangerous part of the journey to becoming a Witcher: only around 3 out of 10 candidates usually survive.
• Monsters: For all their prowess, Witchers are not invincible. Fighting even mediocre monsters can be perilous. Even experienced Witchers exercise extreme caution or outright avoidance when dealing with dangerous monsters like leshy, higher vampires and archgriffins.
• People: People generally distrust Witchers. Occasionally, Witchers can be backstabbed after completing a contract, being forced to flee without reward or killed. If tensions escalate enough, people may choose to raid, ransack and destroy a whole Witcher school in a pogrom. Mages may wish to experiment on Witchers due to their unique physical properties.
• Natural features: Extreme work environments (and rarely, ill-preparation) may pose a threat and even the loss of life of a Witcher.

Alternative Names

Hexer, Vedymin, Witchman, Vatt'ghern (Elder Speech), Wiedźmin (Polish)

Type

Public Services

Demand

Highly in demand (currently)

Legality

Despite the mistrust, the profession is actually legal. Rulers may sometimes take action against Witchers, influenced by the mistrust. However, in general, they do realize the importance of the services that Witchers provide, and thus the profession is legal.