Both in the books and in the games of The Witcher, our entire journey takes place in a region known as the continent. Here, we encounter various races, political intrigues, kings, and wars.
Starting the story of how everything originated in the world of The Witcher, according to the oldest dwarf tales, the first existing race to appear on the continent were the gnomes, who had small colonies in the Mahakam and Tir Tochair mountains.
However, some scholars do not believe that the gnomes were the sole inhabitants of the continent during this primordial period, as, according to them, there is evidence that races like the Vrans, reptilian humanoids not much mentioned in the saga, and the Werebbubbs, an almost extinct race of hairy humanoids, were also there at that same time.
Some time later, between about 3 to 4 thousand years before the events of the games, there was the meeting of the dwarves with the gnomes, and this was the only moment in the history of The Witcher universe when a newly arrived race to that continent, did not result in a confrontation, precisely because these two races have similar habits and preferences, which favored them coexisting in the same society without much tension, so much so that this peaceful relationship remains until the times of the games.
Years later came the elves, who arrived about 2500 years before the events of the games. It appears that they probably came from another dimension through magical portals.
The elves reached solid ground with the help of their white ships, and once on the continent, they began to colonize and build their civilization.
Although they were peaceful, they ended up in conflicts with other races, however, these battles were not any attempt at complete annihilation against any of them, so much so that, for example, the relationship between elves and dwarves in the period of the games is peaceful.
Some time later, about 1500 years before the events of the games, a phenomenon known as the Conjunction of the Spheres occurred in The Witcher world. This phenomenon was actually a cataclysm in which several universes collided, causing creatures from other realities to end up trapped on the continent of The Witcher story.
According to the elves, the humans themselves arrived in that universe through this phenomenon, shortly after they had destroyed their own world. But this story is according to what the elves say, as another current of records says that who arrived after the Conjunction of the Spheres were two ancestral human races, different from conventional humans, who later came to colonize everything and create the civilizations known in the present period of the games and books.
These two races are known as Dauk and Wozgor, and they reached the continent from the north.
There are very few records about them, and all of them were found in some scriptures, menhirs, and tombstones.
However, these scarce records served as the basis for some prophecies and even for the creation of some religions, which I will explain at another time. Oh, and one thing I can’t fail to mention is that the way these two ancestral human races, Dauk and Wozgor, met their ends remains a mystery even among scholars of the series.
There is a more radical line of thought that claims that the Elves created this story that humans came along with the Conjunction of the Spheres to relate them to a threat equal to the monsters.
This way, they could say that the ancient races, those that existed before the Conjunction of the Spheres,like Elves, Dwarves and Gnomes, are the true heirs of that land and that humans are mere invaders.
The Caos
Alright, another thing that the Conjunction of the Spheres brought to The Witcher universe was magic, which became an integral part of that world. Its main source of power is called Primordial Chaos, which humans were the first to master.
Later on, I’ll bring more information about this subject, now let’s focus on continuing the story of this universe. All the events of the Conjunction of the Spheres and the arrival of humans on the continent occurred about 1500 years before the events of the games. However, the human expansion to the lands, which today are known as the Northern Kingdoms, began relatively recently, about 500 years before the games.
It was at this moment that an event known today as the Arrival of the Exiles began. It’s hard to know where these exiles, the humans we see in the game, came from. It is only known that they arrived by boats, and that they immediately had confrontations with the ancient races living on the continent.
Initially, during the conflicts caused by the arrival of humans, the elves had a certain advantage over their enemies. However, they did not think that humans would become a great threat. When the first confrontations began, the elves chose not to take up arms, as they wanted to avoid bloodshed and the loss of thousands of lives.
They then retreated to the east of the continent, believing that at some point the humans would pause their march. However, this turned out to be a great mistake, as it caused them to lose many of their cities to the enemy, which had all their buildings remodeled.
With this, the elves lost the chance they had to push the humans back to the sea, located to the west of the continent, and this error is a lamentation they carry with themselves until the current times of the series.
Endless Wars
The history of humans in The Witcher universe is full of conflicts. At the same time they set out to conquer the lands of other races, the first human colonizers began to fight among themselves. In fact, this era boils down to a corrosive disaster, as all four human boats that arrived on the continent were able to form three kingdoms, and they were not content with just governing themselves, they also wanted to dominate each other.
Thus, conflicts arose between the humans themselves and with other races. With this, those two races that I said might have coexisted with the gnomes in the primordial times of the continent, the Vrams and the Werebbubbs, ended up isolating themselves in mountainous regions. After a while, it was believed that humans were satisfied with their conquests, and thus, peace treaties were signed, including with the elves.
However, a few years later, these treaties were broken due to a massacre against elves, thus initiating the Second War between these two races. However, this time, the flower of elvish youth perished in this terrible conflict. The elves were defeated, receiving a blow from which they never recovered.
With this, in just about 4 centuries since their arrival on that continent, humans managed to conquer the entire territory from the Great Sea in the west to the Blue Mountains in the east, and also from the Dragon Mountains in the north to the Amell Mountains in the south, and the result of all this was the construction of the Northern Kingdoms.
200 years before the events of the games and the books, a young elf named Aelirenn, the White Rose of Shaerrawedd, led the elvish youth in a new, not very hopeful fight against the humans. However, this attitude had a different goal, which was to fulfill the wish of the elves who died in the Second War.
These elves wanted their race’s heritage to be preserved, meaning they wanted the elvish constructions not to fall into human hands and be transformed. This goal was achieved, and for this Aelirenn and his men were forced to ruin the springs, topple the towers, and also destroy the walls of the palace that was a source of pride and joy for them, Shaerrawedd, before it was taken by the enemies.
Because of this, the elves were forced to flee to the mountains and build new homes while waiting for the arrival of humans.
However, Aelirenn did not want to flee without a fight, and her attitude also encouraged her companions. Obviously, they all died in this battle, but with honor, and due to this story, the name of Aelirenn is used as a war cry by the elves who came to revolt in the next generations.
After all this, due to all their losses, the elvish race yielded to the humans, and there was a period of peace, at least until the moment when Lara Dorren, an elvish sorceress, and Cregennan de Lod, a powerful human sorcerer, fell in love in secret.
Upon discovering this secret love, the humans killed the couple, bringing back to the surface the rivalry that the two races, elves and humans, felt for each other.
And that’s a wrap on our first chapter in our series bringing you the complete history of The Witcher!
In the next chapter, we’ll discuss the creation and founding of the Northern Kingdoms.
Let me know in the comments if you enjoyed it and what other content from this universe you’d like to see, okay?
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