Jehkipe Sastimos

**Jehkipe Sastimos of Behelt Nar**, known also as **Jehkipe of Zerrikania** and **The Laughing Manticore**, was a witcher of the Manticore School of Witchers and one of the last created in the 11th century. He was one of the few Manticores who traveled out of Zerrikania to ply his trade in the Northern Kingdoms and Nilfgaard.

He was most known for his successful defeat of the Ghost of the Amell Mountains and purportedly lived up to his moniker, as reports exist of those who traveled with him recounting his wicked sense of humor. Jehkipe died mysteriously some time in 1257, presumably while on a contract, but his body, swords, armor, and medallion were never recovered.

## Personality

Jehkipe was known for being something of a jester even among his lighter-hearted peers. He was given the moniker 'The Laughing Manticore' by Imad for his persistent habit of making jests while training and laughing at them when no one else would. He was a veritable prankster in his youth, and this cleverness was carried into his work on the field.

He was also known for being rather arrogant and regarded being a witcher a gift. He was quick to deplore any of his peers for their comparatively dour perspectives on the Path. Jehkipe also exhibited a strong sense of compassion, most notably toward sentient monsters and was strong in his appetites for wine, wandering, and women.

## Appearance

Jehkipe, as with many witchers, stood as a man of impressive stature. Like many Zerrikanians he stood a head taller than the average Nordling and was dark-skinned, with a complexion noted as being richly accented by copper tones. His hair was black, though in later years took on a smattering of gray. His eyes were similarly viper-like as many witchers' often are, but his were notably the color of manticore's venom, and gleamed with that same poisonous green glow. His face was unscarred, which appeared to be a point of pride for him. Right after setting out on the path, he had his canines removed and replaced with a pair of golden fangs meant to represent those of a lion.

## Biography

### Early Life (1165 - 1172)

Jehkipe was given to the Manticore School after having only seen five summers. He was discovered in the Korath by a cabal of Faithel and brought directly to Imad Asem, who cared for him until he came of age to begin his training. Jehkipe did not remember his childhood, only the stories the Grandmaster and Mistress Nasira would tell him. Because he was initiated after the fall in 1146, Behelt Nar became the only home he ever knew.

### Witcher Training and Trials (1172 - 1192)

Like most of the boys of the Manticore School, Jehkipe began his training at the age of seven. Many of his memories of this time were self-reported to be extremely difficult for him to recall, both cognitively and emotionally. Jehkipe witnessed twice as many boys die as summers he'd lived by the time he set out to complete his penultimate trial. Despite these traumatic hardships, Jehkipe was notably one of the brightest of Imad's students and the pair were rather close all throughout his training and later career. Jehkipe performed in the lower percentile in all areas but alchemy and monster studies.

Jehkipe underwent the first of the Trials during his training in 1178 and showed great promise the further along he went. He was the only known student to ever successfully save himself and his fellow initiate in the Trial of Venom and Claw.

### Career (1192 - 1257)

Despite the decline of his school, Jehkipe found great initial success in Zerrikania for the first three decades of his life on the Path, but in 1222 he decided to venture west into the Northern Kingdoms. In 1226 he took on the contract for the Ghost of the Amell Mountains, a decision which would eventually alter the course of his life. Jehkipe enlisted the help of a young ranger from the nearby village to lure out what he believed was an angry spirit. The initial hunt for the beast took over a week, as the creature proved incredibly elusive and uniquely resistant to all known methods of entrapment. Jehkipe nearly gave up the contract, believing himself to have been duped by the Nordlings for being a foreigner, until it finally attacked and killed the ranger while the pair patrolled. In that moment it was revealed that the Ghost was not a spirit at all, but instead a young lycanthrope. Realizing his mistake, he moved in to begin a long, drawn-out fight.

The conflict lasted over an hour, with Jehkipe finally forcing the lycan into reverting to its human form, revealing itself to be a Zerrikanian woman. Startled by this unexpected revelation, he hesitated and the lycan seized the opportunity to flee toward its den. He eventually collected himself and gave chase, finding her collapsed in a cave. Jehkipe quickly discovered that she could barely speak and what she could say was told in broken Common, as she hadn't had need to speak to another person in almost a decade. He was able to use clues found in her den to paint a fuller picture of what had happened; she was abandoned very young and, left to her own devices, the had done only what instinct demanded. While this did not excuse her actions, nor eliminate the potential danger she imposed on the local villages, Jehkipe took pity on her and asked if she had other family who might be able to take care of her. The lycan, whose name was Ishtalíareian was uncertain at first, but eventually recalled the name of her mother's clan in Zerrikania. Jehkipe, after hunting down and slaying a Nazairi timber wolf to present to the villages, then agreed to escort Ishtalí to Zerrikania, to her mother's ancestral city in the Oasis.

The pair parted ways once Jehkipe ensured she was properly rehabilitated, only to meet again in strained circumstances.

### Death and Legacy

Jehkipe spent the next half-year taking increasingly dangerous contracts in the hopes of saving enough gold and credit to barter for his beloved's freedom. He sought after work no others would take and because of the ever-dwindling monster contracts, he even began to take on bounties. Jehkipe died while on one such contract without ever finishing his task, and his remains, worldly possessions, and weapons were never recovered.

It is rumored that a set of matching Zerrikani saberra bearing the descriptions of the ones Jehkipe used and a gilded crossbow, alongside an anonymously penned love letter made the rounds in one of the esteemed auction houses of Oxenfurt sometime in the early-mid 1260s.