Ealdred was a witcher from the School of the Griffin and a close friend of Rodolf Kazmer.
Biography[]
Ealdred had only a handful of memories from his life before being taken to Kaer Seren. One of the few he recalled vividly was riding through open fields on horseback with his father. He once told Rodolf that this memory helped him endure the painful mutations, offering a small but vital anchor to normalcy amidst the trauma. Rodolf speculated that this might have been the only truly happy memory Ealdred had of his childhood.
During their numerous hunts together, Ealdred was often accompanied by Rodolf, who admired the witcher's good humor and skill in battle. Ealdred had a knack for keeping the mood light, frequently telling jokes to ease the tension. On one particularly memorable hunt, he impressed Rodolf by wrestling a muzzle onto a werewolf in Angren, a feat that left the dwarf in awe. Another time, they slew a fiend together, and Ealdred generously allowed Rodolf to keep its prized third eye as a memento of the kill.
When Rodolf once asked Ealdred why he continued the perilous life of a witcher, Ealdred's response was simple and tinged with melancholy: he didn't know how to do anything else.[1]
Notes[]
- Ealdred's notes were intended to serve as a base for A Witcher's Journal, authored in-universe by Rodolf and Brandon of Oxenfurt.[2] Further in the monsterbook's development it was decided that the notes should be authored by a new character, Erland of Larvik. However, Rodolf does mention Ealdred by name in the Journal once, in yet another anecdote from their adventures.