Water

This article is about the element. For the item in The Witcher, see The Witcher food and drink. For the item in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, see Water (item).

Water
Information
Other name(s)	Aqua (Scholar) Moigh (Hen Llinge)
Plane	Elemental Plane of Water
Genie	Maride
Prefix(es)	Hydro- Cryo- (Ice para-element)
Adjective	Aquatic, water
Symbol
Notable user(s)	Aurora Henson Aglaïs

One of the Four Prime Elements or Principles, Water is often associated with emotions. Its fluidity and moderate mechanics often make Water the entry point for beginners learning to control elemental Power.

Elemental Plane of Water

a delirium

The Elemental Plane of Water, also called the Dimension of Water or the Water Plane, is a strange universe that consists entirely of the Water Principle. While the Plane itself has been out of the reach of natives of the Material Plane since the time of Conjunction, its energy permeates the material world through ley lines referred to as "water veins". The elemental Water manifests most strongly at the intersections of ley lines, which occur in those areas of physical world where mundane waters meet, such as river junctions and deltas, or in caverns in the ocean's depths.

The Dimension is inhabited by a variety of water elementa, the most powerful of which being marides, the genies of Water. When summoned to the material reality, marides act as living reservoirs of Water magical energy and can create tsunamis or disastrous rainfall. Records exist of powerful sorcerers having forced marides to serve them; less powerful water elementals are also described as quite manageable by mages. A variety of water elementals, ice elementals, somehow occur in the material world naturally, at intersections situated in particularly frosted areas.

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The following is based on The Witcher Thursdays and may contradict Andrzej Sapkowski's works or R. Talsorian Games' official The Witcher Role-Playing Game line.

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Para-Elemental Plane of Ice

As the Water Principle can manifest itself in form of the para-Element of Ice, some groups of mages and elves speculate about the existence of the para-Elemental Plane of Ice.

If elven legends are to be believed, when the Winter Queen learnt about the incoming White Frost from the Ithlinne's Prophecy she travelled to the heart of this para-Plane in order to learn the essence of the menace in the very place of its (supposed) origin. Neither the Aen Saevherne magic nor her knowledge stopped the inevitable. The gene of the Elder Blood, however, was strong enough to moderate the effects of this alien reality and save the elf's life. The experience woke a power within her, allowing the Queen to bend time and space to her will; the gift's price was a perceptible aura of iciness around her, cold touch, and aversion to warmth.

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End of The Witcher Thursdays content.

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Water magic

Water—Due to its moderate dynamics, water is the optimal medium for inexperienced sorcerers to learn to channel the Power. As with the other elements, any concentration or manifestation of water can be used as a source of magical energy. However, it is best to start by drawing from water veins, preferably from their intersections—the most widespread Places of Power. Easily detectable by even the least experienced adepts, and isolated from most external influences, intersections are a relatively safe source of the Power. In time, a sorcerer will be able to learn how to draw energy from the many variable and mercurial manifestations of the element of water—for a calm lake requires a different approach than a rapidly flowing stream. The sea, on account of its dynamism, is a particularly troublesome source. Despite its vast stores of energy, drawing upon it is best left to more experienced sorcerers.

The World of the Witcher

healing waters

The Water Principle often serves as an introduction to magic, as its veins and intersections are both widespread and relatively safe to draw from. It is best suited for spells that manipulate water and ices, as well as those that affect thoughts and emotions.

In case of overexerting oneself while casting a Water spell, the caster is subjected to noticeable cold and a noticeable icy glaze might form around their body; overdrawing from Water can also induce vivid hallucinations.

A common witcher Sign utilizing this element is Axii, which is used to manipulate a mind of self or another living being.

Invocations and spells

For the full list of Water-based abilities, see Category:Water magic.

Notes

• While the story about Winter Queen confronting the White Frost was first told in Gwent: The Witcher Card Game's 2020 December seasonal tree, the clarification about the Ice Plane being the place of this encounter (and, subsequently, presumably of Ciri's own in Tedd Deireadh, The Final Age quest) appears in The Witcher Thursdays, not belonging to CD PROJEKT's official continuity.
  • Para-Elemental planes do exist in Andrzej Sapkowski's cosmology, but none of his novels have provided names for these dimensions yet.
  • The White Frost in the author's works is simply a poetic metaphor for the natural ice age inevitably awaiting The Witcher world, not a multi-dimensional quasi-sentient entity. One could speculate that the being confronted by Winter Queen and Ciri in CD PROJEKT's continuity is a some form of a very powerful frost genie, only mistakenly assumed by elves to be the source of the glaciation.

Gallery

Water magic avatar and avatar border in Gwent