School of the Manticore

The School of the Manticore, or Alqatil (Zerrikanian: Slayers), is a witcher school that was headquartered in the far east, on the edges of the Korath desert. They rarely venture on the other side of the Continent, and thus remain mostly an enigma to Nordlings.
== History ==
Around the time the schism happened at the School of the Bear where Ivar Evil-Eye failed to takeover, his group split off and was further joined by others who also didn't share Grandmaster Arnaghad's philosophy, with one of these individuals being Iwan. As this group headed into the Tir Tochair Mountains for a rumored fortress to found the School of the Viper, Iwan realized he also didn't agree with Ivar's view, so as the group headed to the mountains, Iwan and others who also doubted Ivar split off and headed to where they knew they could find work: Elskerdeg Pass in the Tir Tochair Mountains. This pass sat on the edges of the infamous Korath desert where Zerrikanian caravans regularly tried to pass through the treacherous area to trade with the western portion of the continent. In a short time, Iwan and his fellow witchers went from being solely hunters to skilled defenders as they escorted caravans safely back and forth across the desert.
=== Golden Years ===
One day in the desert, Iwan and his group found a royal Zerrikanian caravan under attack by a pair of manticores and ran in to help. After they had killed the monsters, they discovered the caravan was headed to meet mages at Aretuza and among their group was the Zerrikanian Queen's Court Mage, Nasira Faizan. Having seen how skilled the witchers were, Nasira then offered them substantial pay and an audience with the queen if they could get her safely back home to Zerrikania and they readily agreed. Once they got to Zerrikania's capital, the sorceress told all about the "alqatil" exploits and the queen offered a proposal: if the witchers would work exclusively for the crown and guard their merchant caravans and emissaries, then Zerrikania would build a castle on each side of the desert to help build up the school. The witchers agreed and the two castles were built: Behelt Nar in the west and Bialsuf Alsarea in the east, the latter of which Iwan stayed at.
Over the years, Nasira worked with Iwan to recreate the mutation process though Iwan was a bit evasive of giving the full details, having not known the full process himself. They even tried to apply the mutations to some of the famed warrior women of Zerrikania but these experiments were deemed inconclusive. Despite this, they brought in the best warriors to be trained at the new School of the Manticore, with a focus on defense and employing potions. To add to their arsenal they added in special shields made of meteoritic steel and silver. During this time Iwan later changed his name to Imad Asem and became the personal witcher to the Zerrikanian queen.
=== Downfall ===
In the fall of 1146, the Queen of Zerrikania organized a royal caravan to arrange a marriage between her son and the Princess of Metinna. As many royal family members and Zerrikanian's court were going, almost the entire school of witchers were called on to protect the caravan across the desert and despite his advanced age, Imad decided to also go. However, what later became known as the Day of Fire happened as the caravan passed within the Fiery Mountains, where the caravan was met by a towering Fire Elemental. Despite having most of the school's witchers there, they didn't have any siege artillery and were unprepared for such a threat. By the time the battle was over, almost all the witchers had been killed along with half of the royal family members and a third of the Zerrikanian court. Due to this, Zerrikania shunned the few remaining witchers and the country turned its focus on finding a safe sea route to the west instead. Having lost the Zerrikanian crown's support, the few witchers that remained fell into decline.
=== Later Years ===
One of the school's members, Merten, traveled to Toussaint in 1201, seeking the legendary armorer Tyen'sail to order forging of a Grandmaster Gear. Instead, he ended up converting to Lebioda's teachings. Baptized as Shavel, he renounced his witcher past and became a priest.
Category:Witcher Schools
Category:Organizations