Merwyn was Xin'trea's elven princess who, just prior to the Conjunction of the Spheres, set out to write her own destiny as empress of the Golden Empire but was ultimately killed for her ruthless actions.
Biography[]
Merwyn was born to King Darach of Xin'trea and was the sister to Alvitir. Their family was caught up in a thousand year war with two other kingdoms, Pryshia and Darwen, and thus relied on the Dog Clan as their royal protectors.
Feeling there was power in knowledge and knowing one's history, Merwyn dedicated herself to reading, paying particular attention to the famed Solryth, who guided her people long ago and brought forth a prosperous era for the elves. At one point, Fjall Stoneheart, the son of Chieftain Osfar of the Dog Clan, was assigned as her protector and who taught the princess a few basic fighting skills and the two soon developed feelings for one another but were nearly caught doing so. As this violated the clan's code, they pretended nothing happened. Some time later, her father died and Alvitir became the new king and tried to tour the streets, only for assassins to try and attack the royal family. Fjall rescued Merwyn, though not before she killed another in self-defense.
The two soon found themselves alone in her bedroom, where they confessed they still had feelings for one another and began to have sex, only to be interrupted soon after by Osfar, who'd noticed his son was away from his post. As they couldn't embarrass the crown by making such a public statement as beheading Fjall, which would then make it known to everyone what transpired with the princess, the warrior was instead banished from the kingdom to be forgotten about.
Afterwards, Merwyn continued to delve into her historical readings, much to her brother's amusement. When she noted she could be of use to him, like as an advisor, Alvitir brushed this off, feeling Merwyn would be eaten alive by his generals and mages in the court. However, he did have one important role for her: to be married off to King Midir of Pryshia, thereby helping to end the thousand year war. While crestfallen at this, Merwyn agreed to do so to help him out.
However, realizing this would only just cause a repeated history of war and wanting to take control of her own life, Merwyn began to plan a coup with Xin'trea's Captain Eredin and Chief Sage, Balor. On the day the treaty was to be signed between the three kingdoms, Solryth's eyes, two large comets streaking through the sky that Solryth used long ago as a guide to the Continent, were seen again and Merwyn took this as a sign of hope. Soon after, she attended the treaty ceremony and, on queue, each kingdom's mages quietly left the courtyard while Merwyn feigned feeling unwell. Ryl, Osfar's daughter and Fjall's sister, accompanied her out with Eredin and the princess' assistant, Ket, but as soon as they exited, other guards part of the coup barred the only door out of the courtyard. Ryl, distracted by this, had her throat slit by Merwyn, killing the warrior, as Balor unleashed a new kind of beast on the courtyard, quickly killing all the clans and their monarchies, leaving Merwyn as the sole ruler.
Reign as empress[]
Now taking on the title of Empress of the Golden Empire, Merwyn quickly realized she was only being used as a puppet, a public figure to quell the masses, and knew once her role was used up, Balor and Eredin would likely kill her off as well. As such, she became like a prisoner in the palace, confined away from the lowborn and receiving no news of what was really going on outside the palace walls. While walking around in the palace one day, a kitchen hand tried to kill her, decrying how others were starving while the empire grew fat before his neck was suddenly snapped by an invisible force thanks to a young mage apprentice nearby. Realizing she needed her own people she could trust outside of Balor's control, she named the apprentice, Avallac'h, as her protector and tasked him with stealing a book from Balor, The Book of Monoliths by Syndril, so Avallac'h could help open gateways to new worlds without Balor's assistance. She then took the apprentice's cloak to disguise herself so she could sneak outside the palace to see what was really going on.
Outside the walls, she quickly saw the cold reality, with many pleading for food or coin to pay for food. As she continued, she bumped into Eredin, who didn't notice her as he headed towards his destination, and she followed him to learn he had a secret and forbidden lover in a lower class, Brían. Using this knowledge to her advantage, she came by to visit while both were there and proposed a deal that would allow Eredin and Brían to be together while elevating Brían's station. When Eredin noted Balor would never allow such changes, Merwyn pointed out the two of them needed to work together then to show Balor he was not the one in power, the crown and the army was, and they didn't need Balor to open the gates to the other worlds. She then made one other request as part of their new alliance: Fjall was to be brought to her alive as she needed an heir.
However, their plans were thwarted by Scían and his mercenary army. Merwyn was wounded by Éile during the Battle of Xin'trea and decided to hasten her death by removing the dagger from her chest, the same Dog Clan dagger that Fjall had previously given her to protect her.
Gallery[]
Notes[]
- The character appears only in The Witcher: Blood Origin; Andrzej Sapkowski's writings don't mention any of Cintra's old elven rulers by name.
- In the author's original naming convention, -wyn or -gwyn is a masculine suffix meaning "white". The feminine variant is -wen or -gwen instead; Merwyn's hypothetical "book-friendly" name could be Merwen, or perhaps Muirwen or Muirewen if the first part is meant to mean the "sea".