Order of Witchers

Order of Witchers Silver Medallion

### Extinction Year

At the beginning of the 11th century, with the founding of the School of the Wolf

### Reason(s) for Extinction

Disputes and conflicts that became violent among its members

###  Successor

The four original Witchers schools:* School of the Cat
* School of the Bear
* School of the Griffin
* School of the Wolf

## Key Personel

### Founder(s)

Unknown monarchsA number of renegade mages including:

* Cosimo Malaspina
* Alzur
* Idarran of Ulivo

## Area of Activity

### Area(s) served

The Continent

The Order of the Witchers was the original experimental knightly order established by the mage Cosimo Malaspina and his student Alzur.

## Staff and Members

### Staff

#### Cosimo Malaspina

The human man **Cosimo Malaspina** was a notorious sorcerer and a master of hybridising, mutation and genetic modification. He was also the master and teacher of the equally renowned mage, Alzur.

According to Ortolan, Malaspina and his apprentice Alzur were in fact the true creators of the witchers sect. Though they later gave up on the project and left. After that it is unclear what happened to Cosimo though its likely he died of old age as the Mandrake Longevity Potion was probably not developed yet.

#### Alzur

A human man by the name of **Alzur** was a famous mage and the inventor of many spells, including Alzur's Double Cross, Alzur's Shield, and Alzur's Thunder. He is also known for having created many horrible monsters, some of which still roam the world. He is said to have had a voice and diction which were positively mellifluous. His spells were also used by other mages. Notably, Fregenal may possibly have used the spell known as Alzur's Double Cross to create Viy.

A very old and influential mage named Ortolan mentioned that Alzur, along with his master and teacher Cosimo Malaspina and disciple Idarran of Ulivo created the mutations of the witchers. It is alluded that Alzur did the lion's share of the work though. Alzur and his mentor Cosimo Malaspina gave up on the project and left. Alzur would lose his life at the hands of his creations later in life.

### Witchers

#### Rhys

Died from his wounds inflicted over a disagreement over a contract at the hands of fellow witcher, Arnaghad.

##### Deglan's Group (left in 1000)

The last group to leave Morgraig, this one was led by Deglan, with Barmin as his second in command, accompanied by other important figures such as Adon of Carreras, Obode, Beoc, Cael, Cascan, Colman and Rennes, the latter of whom would eventually take over the leadership of the School of the Wolf after the death of its founder. As an interesting note, a young Reinald would join this group. He started as an adept of the order and had not completed his training when the order fell, finishing his training as one of the first students of the School of the Wolf.

##### Adon of Carreras

One of the witchers that would form the **School of the Wolf**.

##### Deglan

A witcher from the Skellige Islands, characterized by his loyalty to the order and a strong sense of family due to being taken to become a witcher relatively late compared to other comrades. He maintained his faith in the order almost until the end; even when Erland and his allies abandoned it, he tried to hold onto the illusion. However, gradually, he lost that faith, causing him to ultimately lose belief in the order's values. It was then when he decided to leave the fortress of Morgraig with the remaining members of the Order of Witchers to create a well-rounded and professionally trained witcher.

Nevertheless, he remained a very loyal man to his friends, especially Barmin, who was closest to him and would become his second in command, occasionally acting as a leader in his absence. He considered them as his family and "pack," often likening them to wolves. This sentiment influenced his choice of a wolf as the symbol for the school he founded.

## Equipment

### Armor

The armor of the Order of Witchers, due to its origin as an experimental knightly order, was initially heavy and heavily influenced by the armor of 10th-century knights in its early years. However, as the order grew and developed, it gradually took on more distinctive characteristics. Examples of this early armor used by the order are later reflected in history following the order's fall and the emergence of the Witcher schools. The School of the Griffin, for instance, maintained a similar design but reduced the weight in favor of medium-weight armor. This influence can also be seen to some extent in the first school founded during the disputes arising in the order's decline—the School of the Bear—which chose to change the design but retained the same weight as the armor used by the order.

As for the armor that eventually took on a more unique design, this was evident in the School of the Wolf, which utilized the old order's armor to subject its students to the Trial of the Sword. It's also possible that this armor had an impact on lands as distant as the Tuyotuki Islands, given the similarities in design with the armor worn by samurais on the islands. Many speculate that the splinter group from the School of the Manticore, which founded the School of the Dragon, carried armor from the fallen order, influencing the design of the armors worn by these warriors from the Far East. However, it could also be a mere coincidence, since their designs are very similar, which could have led to the early members of the School of the Dragon adopting them as armor because they resembled the order's armor.

### Medallion

One of the central pieces of equipment utilized by the Order of Witchers, and later adopted by subsequent schools that emerged following its dissolution, was an enchanted silver medallion. This medallion served as an alert system for detecting dangers, magic, or magical beings. However, it was not infallible and could be deceived by exceptionally potent illusions, creatures like dopplers or Higher Vampires, metals like dimeritium, among other things for instance.

The design of this medallion was round and flat, taking its inspiration both in terms of function and materials from the enchanted silver medallion that Alzur, had gifted to his girlfriend, the sorceress Lylianna, before her passing. After the disbandment of the order, the medallion underwent a design evolution. Each subsequent school incorporated their emblematic animal or creature symbol, typically depicting its head with jaws agape (or the equivalent), positioned laterally as a visual representation of their affiliation with the guild.

Of course, there were exceptions. Some schools, like the School of the Scorpion and the School of the Spider, chose insects as their symbols, representing the creatures in their entirety. Others, like the ambitious but failed endeavor that was the School of the Siren in the Far North, adopted a more literal interpretation of the head in their medallion. Schools like the School of the Lion in Zangvebar, which were born under the original premise of the School of the Cat: *'That they could improve the mutation process and build a better order on their own, surpassing their predecessor and commanding the respect of both the poor and the mighty of the Continent,'* displayed the head of the animal frontally, and not laterally, as a sign of their determination to create a better order than the Order of Witchers. And lastly, schools like the School of the Crane after the Second Conjunction of Spheres depicted the Crane head in a non-aggressive stance, with its beak closed, not only for the elegance of the chosen animal as a symbol, but also to symbolize their role as protectors against threats from both the sky and the sea.

## Trivia

* Some of the early wolves are references to early Irish saints, one of them, would be a reference / reimagination of "Old Witcher" from The Hexer TV Series.