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We'll uphold the knightly values that define us. That is our quest. |  | |
| - Gwent: The Witcher Card Game Audio version: | |||
Erland of Larvik was a member of the first generation of witchers and the founder of the School of the Griffin.
Biography[]
Erland was born to Vanja, a spear maiden from Hindarsfjall, and an unknown man, though Erland suspected he might have been an unlucky Redanian fisherman. On top of this, Vanja had little love for her son and it was believed the only reason she even kept Erland was to avoid Freya's wrath.
As soon as he could walk and wield an axe, Erland was made a deckhand and proceeded to spend most of his childhood at sea. However, he received very little in a proper education, instead handling typical tasks like tying ropes, sharpening weapons, and being on night watch. As such, by the time he was 10, he was rather wild and on one occasion he even drew steel on a new deckhand after the boy had insulted him. A month after that the ship docked in Novigrad and Erland's mother was approached by the wealthy looking sorcerer, Alzur. As Vanja was keen on getting rid of her son by that point, she readily accepted to sell Erland to the mage, sealing her son's fate.[1]
Rissberg Experiments[]
For several weeks, Erland traveled with Alzur as the mage collected more children from across the continent. When the children asked what was in store for them the mage told them they would take part in a revolutionary experiment, and when asked why he needed children for this experiment he simply told them the test with adults had proven unsatisfactory. After Alzur had collected 38 children they then headed to Rissberg castle, the base of operations for the coming experiments.
At the facility the children were put through harsh and dangerous training to prepare them for the experiments, resulting in 4 children dying in the process, but the remaining ones began to form a kinship as they were all suffering but was a bit more bearable together. Despite their formed kinship Erland still got into fights in the early days, but as they all had to report to the mages in the morning they couldn't afford to hold grudges for long.
When Erland was 11 his eyes were wandering more and more to an Aedirnian girl named Jagoda. The two would sit together on the castle walls in the evenings and complain about the mages, the food, and the trials, so even when nobody else cared about them, they did care for each other and this made them feel human again. However, when the time for the real experiments grew closer the children's resolve began to fade. The mages put them on a regiment of bubbling mushroom stews and soapy alchemical teas. At first all seemed to proceed well, they became more powerful, stronger, and faster. As the concoctions grew harsher however many of the girls, including Jagoda, fell ill. Erland cared as best as he could for her, but most nights all he could do was talk to her and bring her cool water. Years later Erland still didn't know whether it was a bond forged by trauma or if it was genuine affection, all he remembered was that at the time it was real to him.
When the sorcerers began the real experiments it became clear to the remaining children that many of them wouldn't survive and that the girls would suffer the most. For more than a month the mages would lead a child into their laboratory and all the rest would hear their screams and begging. Unfortunately, Jagoda died within the first week and Erland proceeded to bury her mangled body in the makeshift graveyard build by the other prospects and himself. After her death Erland didn't speak to anyone for days.
Order of Witchers[]
After nearly a month of experiments the mages finally succeeded when one of the younger boys survived the transformation with his mind and body intact, becoming the first witcher. Less then a week later Erland was also mutated, with his hatred for the sorcerers keeping him alive. However, even two centuries later he would claim he never experienced such pain as on that operating table.
After all the mutations were completed only 5 boys had survived, but the experiment didn't end there, with the mages constantly inspecting and testing them. The mages had gathered professionals from all over the continent: hunters from Kaedwen, alchemists from Vicovaro, swordsmen from every corner of the continent, and the mages themselves. The hunters trained the boys in tracking and hunting, the alchemists on how to make the mutagenic concoctions and potions, the swordsmen on how to fight, and the mages on how to use magic. The latter proved disappointing; even though the mutations had opened their bodies to the flow of magic they ended up having limited magical potential. Due to this being seen as a failure, the witchers were banished from Rissberg, but a few mages still supported them like Cosimo Malaspina, Alzur, and Idarran of Ulivo, who in turn brought the witchers to Morgraig castle in the Kestrel Mountains.
It was here that Cosimo developed the witcher signs and Erland, impressed by Cosimo's ability to perform these simple forms of magic, practiced the hand gestures and willpower to perform them deep into the night. However, with everything that'd happened in his young life so far, Erland could only find joy in practicing the signs and in the rare conversations with his fellow witchers.[1]
Coming of Age[]
Around the time that Erland was 15 or 16, the first generation of witchers had come into their own and would soon be sent into the world while Alzur and the other mages continued to gather more children to turn into witchers. Erland was prepared for his departure months in advance when the current sword trainer had a quarrel with Alzur and subsequently his vacant, charred room was given to a new instructor. Unlike the previous sword trainers they had had, the new instructor was no hard-eyed sell sword but a knight errant some of the mages had met, called Taliesin Bleddyn Yorath aep Lywelyn, but Erland and the other witchers took to calling him Gryphon after the black griffin depicted on his shield. As soon as Erland trained with Taliesin he could tell that Taliesin believed in something, that he had a purpose more important then surviving to the next day. The knight taught them the southern sword styles and techniques to ignore pain and how to fight through grievous wounds, but he also talked to the witchers about their duty. He told them they were created for a reason, that they weren't just the results of a failed experiment, and that they had great work to do in the world. These words resonated with Erland and he took them to heart. Even as a young man he was often angry, but after Jagoda passed all he felt for years was anger and grief. Believing that his suffering had a meaning finally gave him peace of mind so when he finally set out on the path he did so with a single purpose: protecting the people of the continent from threats they couldn't face.[1]
On the Path[]
Erland fighting foglets
As Erland and his four brothers set out on the path, the First Age of Witchers began. Erland's first hunt was in southern Kaedwen regarding a horde of rotfiends. When he approached the alderman, the man had a look of concern and confusion on him, not knowing what to make of the witcher as Erland's eyes betrayed him as being different. However, they agreed on a modest sum and Erland headed out to deal with the monsters. While it wasn't easy, he successfully killed 10 to 20 rotfiends and, after receiving his reward, the townsfolk treated him to a round in the tavern. This pattern would keep repeating for a small time, with people at first cautious and wary of him, but once he took care of their monster problem, they'd be grateful and treat him to a drink in the local tavern or trust him enough to have conversations with the witcher, and Erland even made a few friends in this manner.
As he continued from town to town, clearing the roads, lifting curses, and saving peasants Erland thought that word would spread and people would become less wary of the witchers. Unfortunate though, not everyone was happy with the witchers wandering around, as mages were jealous of them for taking their "heroic" position and the churches of the north began spreading tales of ungodly witchmen from the mountains. Soon the peasants saw Erland and his brothers as monsters and even Erland's best efforts couldn't convince them otherwise. As winter came Erland returned to Morgaig and where he would share tales of his first year on the path, listen to those of his brothers', and mourn those that had died. Erland realized that even with the peasants that greeted him warmly he didn't feel the same connection that he did with his brothers. Subsequently, every year as he set out on the path, he looked forward to the winter at Morgraig with his fellow witchers. Years turned into decades as Erland continued this pattern, heading out on the path in the spring and returning home to the warm fires of Morgraig in the winter.[1]
The End of the Order[]
When Erland was in his late 40s, the Order began to fracture. Alzur, Cosimo, and Idarran had left Morgraig, leaving the Order without a leader, and Erland began to hear of tales of witchers cheating each other out of contracts or threatening to kill each other to give one up. He also noted the number of confrontations in Morgraig's halls grew, with each one more tense then the last. When Erland returned from another year on the path he found one of his brothers, Rhys, was gravely wounded, and Rhys informed Erland he was attacked and nearly killed by another witcher, Arnaghad.
Erland realized that they had allowed the threats and arguments to go on for too long and as a result, witcher blood had been spilt. The Order prepared for Arnaghad's arrival, intent on meting out punishment and putting an end to the infighting. Erland hoped that Arnaghad would see reason and quietly leave, but when Arnaghad arrived he did so with steel drawn and a posse of brothers at his side, and soon fighting broke out between the two groups of witchers. During the fight, Arnaghad manged to charge at Erland, slashing him across the face, but Erland was able to knock him back with Aard. By the end of the night, Arangahd and his group were driven out of Morgaig, and while the Order had won, they still suffered many loses themselves. In the years that followed, Erland watched as his brothers became more disillusioned with the Order's tenets and the Order grew weaker and unstable. As the years continued to pass, more and more tales reached the Order of two witcher schools from the south. Eventually, this prompted 20 younger witchers who had no memory of the First Era of Witchers to leave the order, taking a great deal of alchemical tools and mutagenic compounds with them. Search parties were send out to find them, but they couldn't find those who had left. For a time, the Order's witchers soldiered on, but with many of the witchers becoming more utilitarian. Then one winter, Erland finally decided to leave.[1]
Founding the School of the Griffin[]
Erland gathered 13 of his best friends and went to announce to the last remnant of the Order that they were leaving to create their own school. However, unlike the previous schisms, he viewed the Order as his family and wanted to part on as good terms as possible, and thus the group left peacefully. With that, Erland let his group lead themselves northwest to the Dragon Mountains and coasts of Poviss, in search of a fortress called Kaer y Seren, as Erland had learned it had been one of many places the mages had used to try and create witchers. However, they had also learned the mages had abandoned it because their experiments had brought about a curse, so it was no surprise when they found the castle that it was full of specters. After the band dispatched of them and claimed the fortress for their group, Erland found in the middle of the courtyard a standing stone erected by the elves and realized the stone and fortress were built on a confluence of air magic, making the place hum with power.
Thinking back over his own principles, Erland decided that his school would honor the noble knightly goals for which the witchers were originally created. In honor of his long-dead mentor, Erland took up the mantle of the Gryphon and named his school the School of the Griffin. The start of the school was difficult at first but soon the fires in the great hall were roaring and life started to resemble the days of old. However, there was one major difference: Erland and his brothers all valued the same principles and were all of the same mind about how to put them to practice. Erland stood as an example for the new witchers, training them to have honor in their practice and conviction in their hearts. Together, with the head sorcerer of the school, a new discipline was crafted, focusing on magic, preparedness, and flexibility.[1]
Later Years[]
Fighting the cyclops of Ard Skellig
Despite being Grandmaster of the School of the Griffin and earning such respect that he would, at times, be invited by kings to give advice and council, Erland still set out on the path to hunt monsters, as he still saw it as his duty. During his many decades turned centuries on the path, he would travel all across the Northern Realms and hunt many monsters, like killing a shaelmaar in Mahakam in 1123. During one such excursion in the village of Riverton in Sodden, while hunting plummards, he met a hunter named Vaz and the two became good friends, with Vaz eventually going on to teach archery to the witchers at the School of the Griffin. A year after the two met, Erland found himself in Oxenfurt where he had kill a botchling and did so with the help of an Ofieri merchant named Nylah, with the two also becoming good friends.
Despite all the decades that had passed, Erland hadn't set foot back in Skellige since that fateful day in Novigrad. However, in 1151, he ended up heading to the isles to hunt a cyclops with Vaz. Then around 1154, during Falka's rebellion, Erland, Vaz, and Nylah found themselves in pursuit of the sorceress, Rayli, who had burned down 3 villages in 6 weeks and had now summoned a fire elemental in Gors Velen. While Erland took care of the elemental, Vaz and Nylah killed the sorceress. This teamwork and friendship between the three continued throughout various adventures over the years, such as Erland and Nylah helping broker peace in 1163 between the inhabitants of a northern Redanian village and a phoenix who's home had been disturbed by them, helping protect Nylah's caravan from giant centipedes two years later, and hunting down a pesta in 1171 in Gors Velen with Vaz. Erland also managed to defeat a higher vampire and the old brown dragon, Fetanahuir, from the Kestrel Mountains.[1]
The End of an Era[]
Despite his many successful hunts and the renown and respect the School of the Griffin enjoyed, the tide eventually turned against the witchers. They had been too successful and by the late 1160s many monsters had been eradicated. Suddenly rulers became suspicious and wary of the independent schools of hardened killers and as witchers were less useful, the churches saw a new opportunity to spread more anti-witcher propaganda. Seizing on this moment, jealous sorcerers in turn caused an avalanche that buried Kaer Seren. While Erland was not at the keep when it happened, he was close enough to see the culprits and, not knowing how many of his brothers had survived, he decided to leave and found a cave in the mountains. Here, he wrote down all the knowledge he possessed into journals so that, when the last witcher had fallen and the monsters grew in numbers once again, humanity would know how to fight back.
What happened to Erland after this is unknown.[1]
Gwent: The Witcher Card Game[]
- Scroll 1: Erland of Larvik was one of the first witchers created by Alzur, and would go on to become the perfect embodiment of the mage's vision, despite holding great contempt for the man and his so-called "Trials".
- Scroll 2: Nevertheless, the master of the Griffin School sincerely believed in the same values that Alzur professed. Like the mage, he knew "The Guide to Chivalric Virtues" by heart, and could recite any passage from the book at a moment's notice. Erland even learned fencing from one of the great-grandchildren of its author. In a sense, he became a knight before he became a witcher.
- Scroll 3: This was one of the reasons why Erland founded his own school—to guide witchers toward more noble virtues, in hopes of changing how the common folk perceived them. Perhaps one day, he envisioned, they would stop fearing the monster slayers and instead show respect and gratitude.
- Scroll 4: Erland of Larvik also conceived a future where Griffins would not have to charge anybody for their services. To this end, once he made his name famous, the witcher began to visit royal courts in an attempt to persuade rulers to donate to his cause. If successful, even a beggar without a broken oren to his name could count on the help of a Griffin. Unfortunately, while the aristocrats respected Erland, they failed to see any way they could profit from such an investment, and so denied the witcher's request each and every time.
- Chest: The Witcher School of the Griffin made their home within the walls of the Caer y Seren fortress, or Kaer Seren if you go by the common tongue. This was a prominent fortification due to its location. Not because it stood on the shores of the Great Sea, but because of its vicinity to the Dragon Mountains. As a result, reaching Kaer Seren by land proved too daunting a task for most. The locale also provided the residents of Kaer Seren access to seafaring traders, ensuring they were always well-supplied. Armed with crossbows, a secured position, and a reliable source of provisions, the Griffins remained ready and capable to repel any assault. Nevertheless, not a single soldier was employed in Kaer Seren's destruction. Using the very mountains that had long protected the Griffins, the Council of Mages turned the tables—unleashing a devastating avalanche... burying them alive. Only Keldar survived.The old mentor still guards the ruined fortress of his beloved school.
Personality[]
Despite the world's hatred and fear of mutants, Erland always strived to uphold the knightly values that the first witchers were taught. It was these values that led Erland and a group of his closest allies to split off from the Order of Witchers as it began its decline. Erland ensured that the school he founded taught not only monster hunting skills but also chivalry.[2]
Notes[]
- In the note that introduced Erland, he was incorrectly stated to be mutated at Kaer Morhen. This did not match the established timeline according to which Kaer Morhen was built only 200 years before the Saga, entire century after the first generation of witchers started to roam the Continent. Moreover, in Season of Storms Ortolan strongly suggests that the first witchers were linked to Rissberg rather than Kaer Morhen. Following feedback from fans, R. Talsorian Twitter profile promised incoming corrections. In the released version, Kaer Morhen is replaced with Rissberg and Morgraig.
