George of Kagen

George of Kagen, also known as the Dragonslayer, was a legendary witcher from the Griffin School.

Biography[]

George was taken to Kaer Seren as a child and trained to become a witcher. Like other members of the Griffin School, he embodied not only the traits of a professional monster slayer but also the ideals of a knight.

While on the Path, George heard rumors of a Dragon prowling the Crookback Hills in Velen. As he traveled through Velen to investigate, he was summoned by the prefects of Gors Velen. They hired him to look into a series of recent shipwrecks, which the local lighthouse keeper blamed on Nightwraiths, though he was accused of intentionally misleading the ships. George visited the lighthouse to investigate and ordered a new silver sword from the local blacksmith, as his was in poor condition after a recent contract. The lighthouse keeper's son showed George the ashes of fires set by hooligans, who misled ships to loot them afterward. With this information, George promptly returned to the prefects, without waiting for his new sword, and testified. He also recommended that the lighthouse keeper and his family be protected from possible reprisals.

After completing the prefects' contract, George traveled to the villages affected by the dragon. He learned that the villagers had taken refuge in ancient elven catacombs beneath Lake Wyndamer. Saddened, he discovered they had been burning old elven manuscripts for warmth, mourning the loss of such knowledge. From eyewitness reports, he identified the dragon as a green one and began his hunt. George succeeded in slaying the dragon, but was mortally wounded in the battle.

Unfortunately, George was entrusted to the care of a man named Balstick, who, instead of nursing him back to health, fed him wolfsbane and diluted remedies in a plot to obtain and sell the witcher's diagrams. Sadly, George died from his injuries. As thanks for his service, the villagers of Downwarren laid him to rest in a tomb in Crookback Hills.

George was seen by other witcher schools, particularly the School of the Wolf, as both an example to follow and a cautionary tale. To honor his legacy, the witchers of the Wolf School created a fresco in his image.

Gwent: The Witcher Card Game[]

Reward tree entries[]

Scroll 1: Word has circled far and wide that witchers refuse to accept contracts on dragons as the scaled behemoths are not only sentient, but highly intelligent beings. Indeed, the Continent's most famous monster slayer, Geralt of Rivia, closely adhered to this principle. Yet, his brother-in-arms from the Griffin School, George of Kagen, followed no such tenet...

Scroll 2: Witchers and experienced blacksmiths alike highly prized the School of the Griffin's exceptionally durable armor. Perhaps to a fault. For George believed his breastplate, forged from Mahakam steel, would protect him from dragon fire and noxious poisons. Alas, even Dwarven smithing cannot work miracles...

Scroll 3: The gargantuan draconid that had long ravaged the lands of Velen proved to be no less than a green dragon – and George's final adversary. Though he managed to fell the dragon, the witcher suffered grave wounds. Still, he might have survived... were it not for the depravity of man.

Scroll 4: A certain Balstick, a peasant of Velen and a man of conflicted morals, pledged his care for the maimed witcher. Alas, the peasant's wishes for a brighter future outshined this gesture of goodwill. Rather than nuture George back to life, Balstick sought to ease the dragonslayer's passing by diluting his remedies and slipping wolfsbane into his food. For, you see, he had plotted to claim the witcher's secrets for himself and his kin – to make way for newfound fortune...

Chest 1: Although George of Kagen belonged to the School of the Griffin, his likeness can be found immortalized on the walls of Kaer Morhen, the seat of the Wolf School. The Wolf School's mentors believed a depiction of George's triumph over a dragon would prove a valuable point of study for their witchers-in-training. By facing the scaly foe alone, the witcher demonstrated great courage. Yet, in the bitter end, George's misguided faith in the virtues of men served as a tale of caution for the future monster slayers. Alas, the fresco of the famed dragonslayer was treated by the young Wolves as little more than a open canvas on which to sketch curly mustaches, bushy beards, and other features of the male anatomy...