The Accidental Warlord and His Pack

The Accidental Warlord and His Pack, sometimes abbreviated as AWAU, is a popular on-going The Witcher epic AU series, created by inexplicifics. In September 2021 it comprised 41 works for a total of 343k words (up from 22 stories for a total of more than 235k words a year earlier.)
The verse is composed of main stories which advance a complex plot, and of side-stories which give alternate points of view on the series events or add character backstory and smutty interludes. It is notable for including many female characters, especially many Original Characters who subsequently took on a life of their own in other authors' stories inspired by the verse. The author has also taken care to include ace, trans, non-binary characters, and more. 
It is also notable due to the fact that the author did not consume any canonical material (books, video game or TV show) before writing, leading to some questions about the characterisation used in the fic. 
As of Sept 2020, the first installment of the series, With A Conquering Air, was in the top 20 stories with the most kudos in the Witcher AO3 tag, with almost 70k hits and 7k kudos. In Sept 2021, it had become the 5th most kudosed work in the tag, with 179k hits and 11k kudos. The series had been bookmarked more than 39k times on AO3. 
The verse has inspired fans to create an incredible number of related works, set in the same universe or Alternate Universes of the verse. In Jan 2023, 214 works were were listed as "inspired by" the first story in the series, including multiple podfic adaptations (up from 70 works in Sept 2021). The author has a very inclusive stance on derivative works and encourages others to use characters and tropes in their own works.
The AWAU Fan Server, a Discord server, has been created for fans of the verse.
==Summary==
The verse was born out of a Kink Meme prompt: 
Writer's summary for the first part:
===Chapters===
As of September 20, 2021, 41 chapters (parts or individual stories) of the ongoing series had been posted. The posting dates do not follow a strict chronological order of events. However, the author has also published Accidental Warlord Supplements, which include a timeline and chronological reading order, as well as a character list and face claims, a list of songs appearing in the verse, and other notes including a Blanket Statement giving permission to create works based on the verse: 
== Cast and pairings ==
The story features a full cast of Witcher characters from the book series, including main characters Geralt of Rivia, Jaskier, Yennefer of Vengerberg, Ciri; side characters Eskel, Lambert, Vesemir, Triss Merigold; minor characters such as Letho, Aiden, Serrit, Aubry, Priscilla, etc.; and Original Characters, among which Milena de Roggeven, who got her own canonical AO3 tag. 
The chapters are written from various points of view, showing various perspectives on the verse's timeline. 
The main pairings are: 
* Geralt/Jaskier
* Eskel/Geralt/Jaskier
* Geralt/Eskel
* Eskel/Jaskier
* Lambert/OFC (Milena)
* Lambert/Aiden
== IC or OOC? ==
The series is notable not only for its length and popularity, but also because the author explained they had not consumed any of the canon material (books, video game or tv show). See for example the author's replies to Tumblr asks: 
This has led to some discussion about whether the fic was in character or out of character. 
While some fans of the series praise its canon-compliant characterisation, others have a different opinion. The reference to Astolat's fic is interesting in this context as her Witcher stories, though extremely popular and beloved by a large portion of the fandom, have also struck some fans as being OOC compared to the books and video games' canons. 
This question discussed for example in episode 146 of the Fansplaining podcast, posted March 24, 2021, as a follow-up to the previous episode about the relationship between fans & the canon. The podcast hosts read a listener comment and reacted to the news of the author's avoidance of canon: 
== Fan Reactions/Reviews ==
From the comments on the first installment's AO3 post:
More praise for the verse: 
== Related works ==
The verse has inspired fans to create an incredible number of related works. In Sept 2021, 70 works were listed as "inspired by" the first story of the series. A Google Spreadsheet had been compiled to keep track of them. As of 20/09/2021, it had 197 entries, including art, fic, podfic, music and translations.
=== Podfic ===
* (Podfic) With a Conquering Air by nildot
* (Podfic) With a Conquering Air by vamprav
* (Podfic) With a Conquering Air by Yuurei
* (Podfic) With a Conquering Air by AceOfTigers
As of September 2020, only AceOfTigers seemed to be recording the whole verse. They have recorded most of the universe (39 stories as of Sept 2021). 
===Translation===
*With a Conquering Air, Russian translation by none for all and stuzhik
===Filk===
*"Accidental Warlord and his Pack" Witcher AU - Songs series by Milaley
=== Fanart ===
* (Art) The Accidental Warlord And His Pack by Kaister, banners for the fics. 
* random arts for the Accidental Warlord series by potofsoup
* Milena de Roggeven from The Accidental Warlord and His Pack AU by @inexplicifics, digital art by kayabiter 
*Milena de Roggeven and Lambert of the Wolf School, being just disgustingly adorable together. From @inexplicifics Accidental Warlord AU., sketch by wolfeyedwitch
*Illustration of Geralt, Eskel and Jaskier from The Accidental Warlord AU by @ainmalo on Twitter
=== Fic ===
Stories listed as "inspired by" the verse range from AUs of the verse (spinning off the main plot at various stages), stories which re-used the same warlord!Geralt set-up, or the concept of witchers as warlords in general, and stories directly set in the verse itself and either fill in "missing" scenes, present alternate points of views, or unofficially continue the story. 
So many stories were inspired by or set in the verse that a canonical AO3 tag was created: Inspired by The Accidental Warlord and His Pack Series - inexplicifics.
An open collection: Fics inspired by inexplicific’s warlord AU was also created.
====Witcher fics====
* For the Asking by gremble, a Geralt!pov retelling of the original story (35k).
* Rare Bird by spqr, an A/B/O AU of the verse (19k).
* But still, like dust, I'll rise by TheCrownprincessBride, an story which uses the same Warlord!Geralt/Consort!Jaskier premise (29k).
*Years With You by FalconEye, an OMC/OFC story set in the verse (7k).
*A Song of Service by didoandis, a Geralt/Jaskier dubcon story set in the verse (22k).
*The Fettered Lark by hoomhum, a Geralt/Eskel/Jaskier, Jaskier whump WIP (42k and running). 
*Songs of War by StarsAreMassive (Geralt/Eskel/Jaskier, WIP, 19k)
*Once Royal Wolf by randitigani & The_Girl_Who_Escaped_Gallifrey19, a 35k WIP.
*So You (Don't) Want To Be a Warlord by ghostinthelibrary, a 100k series: Welcome to my incredibly self-indulgent warlord(ish) AU. Characters are from a hodgepodge of TV, book, and game canon and timelines don't exist.
*Good Talks by GingerAnn, an Aiden/Lamber A/B/O story
*sweet little lies by anonymous: in which Yennefer is the Warlord who receives Jaskier as tribute. 
*Witcher brain children living in the Accidental Warlord AU series by MatrixFairy: during one of my many re-readings of With a conquering air I decided to headcanon these two table sparring witchers to be mine and my friend's OCs. 
*Damoiselle by RedFlagsAndDiamonds. Renfri is the one offered up as tribute. 
*blood and water series by CommanderMollyOBrien, a gen series featuring minor female characters of the Witcher canon. 
====In Other Fandoms====
*Bloody and Raw But I Swear it is Sweet by Poppyfics, a Boku no Hero Academia story in which Bakugou Katsuki is the Warlord of the North and Shinsou Hitoshi is offered up to him. 
*The Accidental Verd'alor and His Jedi by BairnSidhe, a Star Wars story in which Jango Fett accidentally starts an Empire and Obi-Wan Kenobi is sent to him. 
*Tumblr post about King Lear in the Warlord AU by mollyencrypted.
*An N7 team on the continent by Iarinthel: crossover with Mass Effect, in which a team of N7 is rescued by Warlord!Geralt. 
===Meta & Other===
*A Short List of Songs that Jaskier, Court Bard and Consort to the White Wolf, Warlord of the North, has absolutely performed the AWAU's versions of in the Great Hall of Kaer Morhen by mollyencrypted
*a look-see into a Crane’s weaponry by pristinepastel
*illustrated timeline and kingdom map by eiri-saiyuki
*Witchers in Kilts by dont-trust-humanity: a series of tartan for each Witcher school
==Resources==
*The Accidental Warlord and His Pack series on AO3
*Accidental Warlord Supplements by inexplicifics: timeline, dramatis personae, chronological reading order, and various notes for the Accidental Warlord and His Pack AU
*The Accidental Warlord and His Pack (Podfics) by AceOfTigers series on AO3 
*inexplicifics Tumblr bio
*Fics inspired by inexplicific’s warlord AU AO3 tag
*AWAU Discord server
*Google Spreadsheet tracking works inspired by the verse.
*Accidental Warlord AU and AWAU Tumblr tags
== References ==
Category:Slash Fanfiction
Category:2020 Fanfiction
Category:2020s Fanfiction
Category:2021 Featured Articles
Category:Recursive Fandom