Caer y Seren, corrupted as Kaer y Seren or Kaer Seren, was a seat of the witcher School of the Griffin. Built at the sea end of a mountain range[1] in Kovir and Poviss[2] it used to possess a great library. The very library which caused the downfall of the keep after a group of mages caused an avalanche to punish the witchers for not sharing their knowledge. Many inhabitants died and the keep was badly damaged.[1]
History[]
Construction[]
Centuries before the fortress would be built, a standing stone was erected at a confluence of air magic by the elves. When the mages found the confluence, they had a castle built at the site, placing the standing stone in the courtyard. Building it there ensured that the castle hummed with power.[3]
Experiments[]
The castle was one of the locations used by the mages Alzur, Cosimo Malaspina and Idarran of Ulivo in their attempts to create witchers. As their efforts failed however, due to using adults for the mutations, the halls of the fortress became cursed. The specters of failed witchers started roaming the corpse filled halls. Rather then attempt to remove the death curse, the mages abandoned the castle altogether.[3]
School of the Griffin[]
As the Order of Witchers fractured, Erland of Larvik took 13 of his closest friends and left to create their own school. He had heard of Kaer Seren while on the Path and decided to use it to house his school. When they arrived at the fortress they found the place exactly as the mages had left it years ago. Specters still haunted it. They put an end to the suffering of the dead and claimed the keep for themselves. It would serve as the Griffins fortress for decades to come.[3]
Destruction[]
The Griffins had gathered a large collection of books about magic in their library. This caused the ire of the Council of Wizards as the witchers refused to share them. Thus, when anti-witcher sentiments grew among the common folk, they used this to cause an avalanche, destroying the castle and killing many of its inhabitants.[3] Old Keldar was one of the witchers present that survived, and he guards the ruins of the school still.[4]
Known inhabitants[]
Trivia[]
- Caer is a Welsh prefix meaning "fortress", especially a fortified town or city. Seren is the Welsh word for "star".
Notes[]
- Contrary to Szpony i kły and The Witcher Role-Playing Game, the Wiedźmin: Gra Wyobraźni locates the Gryphon keep in the Amell Mountains. This was probably changed because Amell is already a seat of School of the Bear in CD PROJEKT RED's The Witcher franchise.