Wednesday 10 October 2018

The Witcher Chronology

With The Witcher now headed to the small screen, it might be useful to put together a brief timeline of events in that setting. The following timeline draws on the short stories, books and video games.

The Witcher TV series is expected to draw on and adapt the short stories and novels, but will not cover the events of the video games (or at least it is not expected to do so at this time).

The Witcher Franchise Familiariser may also be of use here.

                                     A spectacular fan map of the entire explored Continent from DwarfChieftain on DeviantArt.

c. 2700 BR (Before the Resurrection)
Dwarves arrive on the Continent.

c. 2230 BR
Aen Seidhe elves arrive on the Continent in their white ships.


c. 230 BR: The Conjunction of the Spheres
Humans arrive on the Continent via portals from another world. Apparently the human homeworld was dying or had been destroyed before they were able to find a way of shifting to another world or universe. Shortly after their arrival, humans start conquering lands inhabited by the elves and dwarves.

1: The Resurrection
An unknown and mysterious event (only referenced in Season of Storms).

c. 760
The Nordlings arrive in the north of the Continent and begin carving out the Northern Kingdoms.

c. 830
Creation of the Conclave of Mages.

840
Regis, later a key ally of Geralt of Rivia, is born.

c. 950
The first witchers (drug-enhanced monster-hunters) are created by Alzur and Cosimo Malaspina.

1112
By this year, the witcher Vesemir is noted as being active in the world at large.

c. 1140
The mage Cregennan takes the elf Lara Dorren as his lover and they have a daughter, Riannon. Cregennan is murdered for this act and Lara dies in childbirth. Racial tensions between humans and elves rise abruptly. Riannon is adopted by the Queen of Redania.

c. 1150
The Falka Rebellion.

1173
Birth of Yennefer of Vengerberg.

1235
Queen Calanthe of Cintra marries Roegner of Ebbing.


NOTE: Events past this point are likely to be adapted in the TV series and may constitute spoilers for the series.




1237
Princess Pavetta is born to Calanthe and Roegner. Roegner is saved from death by a stranger named Duny.

1239
The Nilfgaardian Empire invades and annexes Ebbing.

1251
The events of the short story "A Shard of Ice" take place. The events of the novel Season of Storms take place. The witcher Geralt of Rivia starts to rise to fame.

1252
The events of "A Question of Price" take place. Princess Pavetta is married to Duny after the intervention of Geralt of Rivia; Geralt asks to train their daughter as a witcher.

1253
Princess Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon of Cintra is born to Pavetta and Duny, soon to become known to most as Ciri.

1257
Apparent death of Princess Pavetta and Duny at the Sedna Abyss. Emhyr var Emreis seizes the Throne of Nilfgaard.

1262
The events of "The Sword of Destiny" take place.

1263: The First Northern War
The Nilfgaardian Empire invades the Northern Kingdoms in force, conquering Cintra (Queen Calanthe commits suicide) but is halted at the Battle of Sodden Hill, where more than a third of the combatants - 30,000 fighters - are killed.

1264
The events of "Something More" take place.

1267: The Second North War
The events of Blood of Elves, Time of Contempt and Baptism of Fire take place. The Northern Kingdoms attempt to retake Cintra and fail, leading to a sustained counter-attack by the Empire.

1268
The events of Lady of the Lake take place. Battle of Brenna and Peace of Cintra, ending the Second Northern War. Geralt and Yennefer disappear.

1270
The events of The Witcher (video game) take place.

1271
The events of The Witcher II: Assassins of Kings take place. The Massacre at Loc Muinne, sparking the Third Northern War. Nilfgaard invades the Northern Kingdoms and soon overruns Velen.

1272
The events of The Witcher III: Wild Hunt take place. Geralt reunites with Yennefer and tracks down Ciri. The Third Northern War ends.

1275
The events of Blood and Wine take place: Geralt helps save the duchy of Toussaint from chaos and is rewarded with a place he can finally call home.

Note: The Witcher video games accept the books as canon, but the books do not treat the video games as canon (although they have not, so far, contradicted them).

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