School of the Gyrfalcon

Gyrfalcon School Medallion

The **School of the Gyrfalcon** is a school founded in the year 1359 by Anika Marsir with the help of the few survivors of the extinct School of the Hawk. The school was founded under the premise to create a new generation of Witchers to fight the new monsters and the returning ones brought by the Second Conjunction.

## Origins

The School of the Gyrfalcon arose one year after the **Second Conjuntion**, created by Anika Marsir, an apprentice of the teachings of Triss Merigold due to the increase in the number of monsters and the emergence of new monsters and fauna brought forward by the Second Conjunction.

This school became the first Post-Second Conjunction to be founded, followed by the foundation of the School of the Crane in 1380 and the foundation of the School of the Boar in 1393.

## History

### Foundation (1359)

It took six years of hard work, but, in 1359, Anika and the Gemmerian mages she gathered finally officially founded their school, naming it after the biggest and strongest of all Falcons and using it's head as the symbol for the school, the equipment and the medallion that would be eventually used by their witchers.

### The School of the Gyrfalcon signs off on the Witcher Reformation Act (1360)

In order to gain some credibility with other Witcher schools and with the populace she was vying to protect, in 1360, Anika Marsir sent word to the School of the Fox expressing their interest in reviewing and signing of the Witcher Reformation Act.

Grandmaster **Adalwulf**, having fought side by side with Anika Marsir during the Haak Invasion and having been formerly a witcher of the School of the Wolf, decided to personally make the journey accompanied by his sisters **Eishe of Vicovaro** and **Arrah of Verden**.

## Characteristics

*Anika* gathered all the survivors from the Hawk's school and took them to the school she created, where they became teachers and mentors to a whole new generation of Witchers.

To complement all the teachings of the retired Witchers, Anika has, over the course of her travels across the Old Continent, assembled former soldiers to teach the aspirants new ways of combat, as well as to better teach them how to deal with all those humans who would inevitably mistreat them.

### Training Regimen

This led Anika, in conjunction with all the retired soldiers and all the surviving Hawk Witchers, to devise a training and teaching regime that was unique to this school, expanding its duration to twenty years and dividing it into two phases, each with ten years.
* In the first ten years, the aspirants would learn everything they needed to learn in order to be able to travel and live peacefully among humans.
	+ In these first ten years they would also learn how to fight humans and other humanoids, but first and foremost they would learn how not to do so.
	+ It was in these first ten years that Anika and the other mages of the school would teach the history of the Old Continent as well as subject the apprentices to the most varied range of philosophical problems, so as to shape the minds of the students to the vision and morals upheld by the school.
* Only the best students from the first ten years would advance to the second ten years where they would finally undergo the normal mutations, as well as unique mutations brought in by Hawk's school survivors.
	+ In these ten years, the surviving witchers would teach the apprentices to hunt and kill all those kinds of monsters that do not kill only to feed and those that do not kill only to defend themselves, those, the apprentices, would learn to preserve and defend, whenever possible.
	+ It was in these last ten years that Anika and the other mages would teach the apprentices alchemy, how to brew the most varied collection of potions and how to perform the magical signs that were so necessary to a Witcher.

### Morals

As the founder of the first Witcher School to be created Post - Second Conjunction, **Anika** had the freedom to define it's moral views and political standpoints as she pleased. Her inspiration to learn magic, the late **Triss Merigold** was not the best example, after all, decades before, she betrayed her best friend **Yennefer** and tricked her lover **Geralt** into doing the same by sleeping with him in order to gain power and fame.

She found her answer while travelling the *World* and applied these ideals in the formation of the school.

* The *Gyrfalcons* tend to believe that every human, elf, dwarf and halfling is born as a moral blank slate, nor good nor evil. That all villains are a product of environmental influences, such as upbringing, society, or maybe just an unlucky spot of brain damage. They don't deny that evil exists. They know it does, and regardless of their excuses, people who do bad things still have to bear full responsibility for their actions. However, since they don't believe anyone is naturally evil they believe that some spark of goodness will tend to remain within even the most black-hearted of characters and that redemption is always a possibility, although not easy to achieve. But they also know that sometimes there are people that doesn't want to be redeemed and in that case they are not forgiving and treat him or her as a true villain.

When it comes to monsters, the *Gyrfalcons* refuse to slay those creatures that don't actually hurt people. They are compassionate and understanding. They know that some "monsters" are just trying to survive like everybody else. If a creature doesn't kill, or only kills in self-defense, the Gyrfalcon Witchers will choose to spare it's life most of the times.

### Ranking System

Due to it's military ambient, this school has very defined rankings, each with it's own set of rules.

### Mutations

Like it happened with other Witcher for centuries, the Gyrfalcon Witchers were also subjected to grueling mutations that changed them physically, physiologically and mentally, however, this school is known, also, for it's experimental and unique mutations.

* **Experimental Mutations**: The experimental mutations this school uses are the ones the survivor Hawks brought with them, some of them it shares with other Witcher schools, but the most important ones, it keeps to themselves.
	+ **Female Mutations**: It is traditionally accepted that females do not survive the complete mutations that would make them Witcheresses. Anika however, had the theory that if girls were mutated at a more advanced age than the boys, they would have the same survival rate as them and she had the opportunity to both test and prove this theory when she founded her own school of Witchers.

### Equipment

#### Swords

Unlike their predecessors of the School of the Hawk, the Gyrfalcons rejected the use of harpes, electing to instead return to the use of double-edged, straight swords. They employed however, what the Hawks learned and altered the profile of the blades of the swords they use.

Realizing that curved blades have a larger surface, and therefore greater cutting ability, Anika and the retired soldiers came to the conclusion that a leaf-shaped blade would be ideal for their swords, as it was the best of both worlds, providing the cutting ability of a scimitar and the stocking power of a rapier.

With the profile of the blades decided, they then delved into the size of the school's swords. A long sword would be cumbersome and restrictive, making the use of signals too difficult, but, on the other hand, a short sword would take away the Witcher's reach, putting him in too much danger. This led the leaders of the Gyrfalcon school to decide in favor of bastard swords.

This was the perfect sword for the school's Witchers, as it would allow them to fight with only one hand every time they had to perform a signal or to fire their crossbow, as well as allowing them to fight with both hands for greater reach, leverage and for more power in their blows.

And so, after more than one year of intense research, Anika and the teachers at the school decided that the Witchers wearing the Gyrfalcon Medallion would use a Leafbladed Bastard Steel Sword and a Leafbladed Bastard Silver Sword.

 Gyrfalcon Leafbladed Bastard Steel Sword

 Gyrfalcon Leafbladed Bastard Silver Sword

#### Armor

Combining elements of both the predecessor's school and of soldiers armors, a new lightweight armor was created. Wearing the Gyrfalcon School Armor is required of the shcool's witchers, not only to show from which school they are, but because the smiths of the school are far better and have better tools than most of the smiths throughout the Old Continent

 Torso

 Torso

 Torso

 Torso

#### Crossbow

Taking the research and diagrams that the survivors of the Hawk School had and using the Zerrikanian Crossbow as a base. the Gyrfalcons developed the Falcon's Dive Crossbow wich could fire a single projectile each time or could, with a crank and sprockets, be changed to fire multiple projectiles in rapid succession. And when it was not being used it could also be folded to fit in smaller holters.

* Guns
	+ The Gyrfalcon school does not believe in the constant use of Guns, believeing that the Witcher Signs are more effective than any gun, and as such, they did not adopt them to the same extent as the School of the Crane. Using them just to make flying monsters land, nothing more.

### Combat Style

#### Hand to Hand Martial Art

With Anika's authorization, the ex-witchers and the retired soldiers developed an unarmed martial art for the school, for moments and circumstances when the school's witchers are unable to unsheath their swords or use their magical signs and after more than two years of trial and error, they finaly created the Martial Art they were looking for.

The ex-soldiers and ex-witchers developed this new style inspired by their unwanted and unexpected fights in the streets of the cities around the Old Continent, so, this new unarmed fighting style focused on real-world situations and became known for it's extreme eficiency.

It has a philosophy emphasizing aggression and simultaneous defensive and offensive maneuvers and from the outset, the original concept of this new style was to take the most effective and practical techniques of other fighting styles around and make them rapidly teachable to witchers.

At the image of the Martial Art itself, they gave it the name:

* ***Dean Teagmhail le Comhrac*** - ***Contact Combat***.

#### Swordfighting Martial Art

The swordfighting martial art taught by the **Gyrfalcon School** is completely unique and altogether different from the fighting styles of all the other Witcher Schools that came before and afterward.

While all the other Witchers seem to dance and sway when they fight, performing expansive and flamboyant movements, the Gyrfalcons are different.

As is the case with all Witchers, Falcons perform both simple and complex movements, yet they are taught to be extremely effective and highly efficient. They are taught not to waste time on senseless moves, useless feints and mindless flourishes that do nothing to help them in a fight.

Gyrfalcons are taught by the retired soldiers that train them, that the only goal in a swordfight is to cut, cut the oponent without haste, be quick and objective in the achievement of that goal. Only defeating the enemy matters, all else are distractions and could cause the death of the witcher or of the someone he or she are helping.

This style of sword fighting was so complex that when Adalwulf of Aedirn visited Kaer Okleddol at the time the Gyrfalcon School signed his Witchering Trade Reforms he recognised it as one of, if not the most effective style of fighting in the Old Continent.

And so, the Gyrfalcon School singular and exclusive style was created and Anika named it:

* ***An Blath Cath*** - ***The Flower of Battle***

#### Signs

The Gyrfalcons use all the signs known to the rest of the witchers, however they also inherited the signs that the Hawk school created with the help of Gemmerian mages and that the survivors brought to the school. Between these signs was a variant of Aard that made the air around the witcher thineer wich allowed the witcher to move faster than his/her oponent.

### Alchemy

#### Potions

Import of knowledge from the survivors and recipes from the School of the Hawk, afforded the witchers of the school of the Gyrfalcon, the ability to create never seen before potions such as:

* Cyflymder is a potion that increases the witcher speed for a duration of two hours.
* Ymwrthedd When drank, this potion increases the witcher's stamina for fourty minutes.
* Hebflino For a duration of half an hour this potion stops the witcher to ever tire.
* Falcon Eyes An improved version of the Cat potion that grants 25% more night vision and distance than the cat does.

#### Bombs

Like all witchers, they use bombs to kill certain monsters, further developments in bomb technology were brought to them from the Hawk survivors, so they got ahold of bombs never used by other witchers before, improving their monster hunting capabilities.

## Sustenance of the School

When Anika founded the Gyrfalcon school, the sorceress was careful to ensure that her school was completely autonomous, self-sustained and self-governing. Uninfluencable by external forces and interests.

She created rules that ensured the equal distribution of all winnings earned from contracts and monster hunts among all the members of the school.

This way she made sure that all the witchers would be capable of surviving the year round in the Path, and that at the end of each year they would have a well maintained, healthy and thriving school to return to.

This rule is the reason why this school does not depend or requires the approval of any kingdom or nation, not even *Kaedwen*, as the school owns the keep formerly known as *Kaer Morhen*.

### Horse Breeding

Another way, Anika found to garantee a steady sustenance for her school was to invest in horse breeding. Anika chose four healthy Portiwgaleg Mares and four healthy Portiwgaleg stallions, including Christa's Horse to Kaer Okleddol, so she could breed them under official authorization from the Cidarian Crown.

This deal with the Cidarian Crown allowed the Gyrfalcon School to breed and sell the horses they created, as long as the animals were inside the Cidarians parameters and as long as the school gave half of the earnings to the crown.

With the money the School made from this business, the pendulum was restored and improved, and all the amenities that were left abandoned and unused were rebuilt and workers were hired to used them.

All the money that the school made afterwards and that was not used in any way was stashed in the, reinforced with Magic, Vault hidden away in the secret basement of the castle.

From the moment the school were able to breed enough horses, each witcher would recieve a horse in their graduation, alongside all other rewards.

## Known Members

### Witchers

#### *Master Witchers*

 Pizmetac |  | Human (Previously)Witcher (Currently)

##### *Honorary Master Witcher*

 Christa |  | Human (Previously)Witcher (Currently)

#### *Witcher Professionals*

##### *Witchers in-Training*

###### *Retired Witchers*

 Liadi |  | Human (Previously)Witcher (Currently)

##### *Witchers with Unknown Status*

 Darsald |  | Human (Previously)Witcher (Currently)
 Sarih |  | Human (Previously)Witcher (Currently)
 Methlys |  | Human (Previously)Witcher (Currently)

### School Diplomats

* Corentin [The Retired Witcher became the school's envoy for the Aen Ghele after his marriage to Soerli]

### School Spymaster

*The resident master-in-charge of coordinating the school's spying efforts abroad*

* Ferdinand Hooren [The Redaninan born master of spies for the School of the Gyrfalcon.]

### School Librarian/Loremaster and staff

*The resident scholar-in-charge of maintaining the School's library and acquiring new relevant knowledge.*

* Erno Of Kaedwen [Kaedwenian Scholar that joined the school.]
	+ Nabrezit [A young Verdenian that serves as Jalest's assistant both at the library and during his lessons.]

### Recruitment and Retrieval Squads

*Squads that were sent out into the world at times to acquire orphans, to go through the conversion process. They would also recruit for the School such as mages, smiths and associates. They would usually go out with the other witchers come spring, returning after they got all the marks they intended.*
* Former Witcher
	+ Cornelius of Assengard
* Retired Soldier
	+ Omori Ryu
* Mages
	+ Husald
	+ Thughua
	+ Erlaes

#### Associates

* Yourtard Ornal [Dwarf]
* Rosamunda Farheimer [Halfling]

#### Blacksmiths

*Responsible for the creation and sale of Witcher gear and swords usually exclusively to members of the school and (sometimes) to approved members of other schools.*
* Frittidr an Tordarroch [A Grandmaster level Skelliger Weaponsmith and runic inscriptionist that works to create most of the School's Witchers weapons.
	+ Rhamana Zoleigge [One of Frittidr's apprentices, this Dwarf was the first apprentice to be recruited by Him.]
	+ Zulfrin Gotthoff [One of Frittidr's apprentices, this Gnome was the second apprentices to be recruited by Him.]
	+ Youride Kraibrenn [One of Frittidr's apprentices, this Temerian was the third apprentice to be recruited by Him.]
* Motelven Of Cidaris [A Grandmaster level Cidarian Armorsmith that works to create most of of the School's Witchers Armors.
	+ Yundruc Of Riverside [One of Motelven's apprentices, this Redanian was the first apprentice to be recruited by Him.]
	+ Svigrot Of Daevon [One of Motelven's apprentices, this Kaedwenian was the second apprentice to be recruited by Him.]
	+ Eilririns [One of Motelven's apprentices, this Verdenian was the third apprentice to be recruited by Him.]

## Allies

* Humanoids/Nonhumans
	+ Dryads
	+ Dwarves
	+ Elves
		- Aen Seidhe
		- Aen Ghele
	+ Gnomes
	+ Half-Elves
		- Quarter-Elves
	+ Halflings
	+ Hamadryads
	+ Vrans
	+ Werebbubbs
	+ Great Sea Civilization
		- Merpeople
		- Nereids
		- Marine Sorceresses

Since their first contact the two schools maintain a respectful and close friendship.

## Neutral

* Skelliger Clans
	+ Crow Clan
	+ Crowmother
	+ Axel Three-Eyes

## Enemies

* Vildkaarl
* Terror Crew
* Rogue Witchers
* Mage Hunters
* Witcher Hunters
* Remnants of the Eternal Fire
* Demons
* Hostile, non-sentient monsters

## Trivia

* The Hand-to-Hand Martial Art used by this Witcher School is based on the real life Martial Art created, trained and Employed in combat by the Israeli Armed Forces; *Krav Magá*
* The Swordfighting Martial Art used by this school is based on the 14th Century writings *Fior di Battaglia* gathered and writen by Fiore dei Liberi, somewhere before 1409
* The school's beliefs regarding humans, dwarves, elves and halflings are the Witcher Universe equivalent to Rousseau Was Right.
* Many people compare the School of the Gyrfalcon with the Crane School as both are the biggest post Second Conjunction Schools to defend the Old Continent and the Western Continent, respectively, even though their Witchers almost never cross paths.
* Throughout its history, this school has endeavoured to be equalitarian in every single way, constantly striving to recruit the same number of men and women which makes this school extremely progressive for the time.
* Determined to put an end to the *Law of Surprise* once and for all, the leader and founder of the school, **Anika Marsir**, refuses to accept children that were taken away from their parents or other relatives. Simultaneously, she instituted the rule that only allows the recruitment of boys and girls who are orphans and have no family left at all.
* Due to the extinction of most of the witcher schools on the Continent, the Gyrfalcon School became one, encompassing other territories beyond the Northern Kingdoms and Nilfgaard in the Old Continent. Something that the reconstructed surviving schools would imitate later on.

## Notes

* The **School of the Gyrfalcon** is a pure fanon creation as such there is no official proof of its existence in the Witcher works outside the fanon community.