Bryghita the Dreadblade

**(*This fan made character hinges heavily on two canon characters. Though the fate of these characters depend on the players' decisions throughout the Witcher game series, this depiction assumes certain specific outcomes. The rights to Letho of Gulet and Ciri belong to CDPROJEKT RED and author Andrezj Sapkowski.)***

## Political Information

### Nationality

Skelligen

**Bryghita the Dreadblade**, was a miraculous anomaly of a witcher created by the experimentations of Letho of Gulet. Though not an official witcher of the School of the Viper, she was granted the status of an honorary member by her mentor who bequeathed her with her own Viper medallion. Fighting for her freedom, Bryghita unleashed a terrible power that had laid dormant within her and managed to slay her captor. Roaming the Continent in search of a true purpose in life, Bryghita does her best to stay outside the influences of society. Those who have spotted her in the forests or along the roads, however, have taken to calling her the Dreadblade on account of the unique hybrid sword she fights with.

## Biography

### Early Life

Born in the town of Larvik, Bryghita started her life as the daughter of a fisherman. Having perished during childbirth, her mother left her father to raise the child all on his own. Though he lived with grief in his heart during her early years, he did his best to raise the girl with kindness and compassion, as he knew her mother would have wanted. Taking her out when he felt the time was right, the old man eventually taught her how to fish. Quite the fast learner, Bryghita would easily acclimate to the work and became a boon for their household as her father would be able to bring in and sell more fish with the extra help.

### Capture (1272)

A few weeks before the witcher Geralt would arrive on the Skellige Isles in search of his ward, Princess Cirilla, Bryghita's father would be summoned to Cidaris by the family of his late wife. Not wanting to leave his daughter behind, he packed bags for the two and bought passage on a merchant vessel that would be docking at the kingdom for provisions before heading north to Redania. Following a fortnight's travel on foot, the pair had passed the capital city and were a day's trek from the village where their extended family resided. That night as the pair were making camp in the forest near the road, a roving group of bandits ambushed them. Bryghita watched in abject terror as her father's guts spilled from his belly after having failed to plead for his life. Though half the group was readying themselves to have their way with the poor girl, the apparent leader stepped forth and stopped them, noting that if left unscathed, her 'pretty face' might fetch a few crowns if they sold her off to the Baron over in Crow's Perch as a maidservant.

### "Rescue"

Crossing the border from Cidaris and into Velen, the pack of bandits were blindsided by a mysterious figure. After having cut through the mob of vagabonds, the man took the girl with him to his camp in the woods. Letho of Gulet, as she would later learn, had been on the run from the Emperor's bounty hunters and had decided to intervene when he realized the girl was clearly not of the vagrants that had kidnapped her. Unbeknownst to the girl, Letho had been searching for a young female in attempts to make a witcher out of one. His ultimate ploy was to kidnap Ciri away from Emhyr and twist her into serving him as his personal understudy, both as a way to get back at the Emperor and to use her Elder Blood in order to combat the Wild Hunt. Being a member of the Viper School, Letho was well versed in the histories of the Red Riders and their motives as in its heyday, his school had been home to a vast library of knowledge on the spectral riders. However, before stealing the princess away, Letho needed to be sure that it was possible to turn a female into a witcher. History had deemed the concept an impossibility but far before the destruction of his school, Letho had been gathering old texts that might give him clues. Thus in the hands of Letho, Bryghita was a captive once again.

### Experimentation and Training

Taking young Bryghita to the elven ruins beneath Lake Wyndamer, Letho began his experimentations on the girl. Days bled into weeks, which in turn melded together into months. The poor child suffered various experimental procedures, including a modified Trial of Grasses, which had been updated to take into account the differences that the average female has over the average male. All the while, in between days of experimentation, Letho forced the girl to train. Endurance training, combat, signs, potion crafting, and monster knowledge were all funneled into the girl at rapid speed. One of the experiments dealt with the expansion of the mind. In theory, this would allow those who underwent and survived the trial to be able to use more of their brain capacity than the average human in order to give them an even greater edge in combat. Having successfully passed the experiment, Bryghita's brain was also able to absorb knowledge quicker than any human. Though the experiments and mutations showed that they were taking a toll on the girl's body, Letho would not relent until he felt that she was 'perfect', and the Viper would toil day in and day out to craft the girl into his ideal weapon. Although he knew that Cirilla, herself, had undergone various witcher trainings of her own, Letho had decided that he would keep Bryghita around as well and begin the expansion of the Vipers once again.

### The Dreadblade

In between training the girl and experimenting on her, Letho would leave the ruins and sneak his way into nearby towns to take supplies. In one of the locations, he tracked down a blacksmith and placed an order for a blade based off an ancient manuscript. It called for ingots of both meteorite silver and steel. Though silver and steel have different levels of hardness, the composite metal of meteorite silver leveled the variations. A week later, Letho returned for his new blade and paid the blacksmith handsomely for his work. The mix of the two metals caused swirls, reminiscent of slithering vipers, to travel down the length of the blade. Interestingly, the fused material didn't shine like most metals did and instead almost seemed to have a matte finish. Taking this unique weapon, he would set it aside until he felt that Bryghita was ready for it.

### Fall of a Viper (1274)

Two years. Bryghita had been under Letho's tutelage for two years and she hated every waking moment of it. Though she had finally earned her own medallion, one that belonged to a fallen Viper, Letho still hadn't deemed her ready for the hybrid blade. The years of torment and the suppression of the passing of her father had twisted the girl into a spiteful being and was taking a heavy toll on her. Although Letho was able to use her hatred and leverage it during her training, Bryghita felt that the time had finally come when she could no longer deal with being shut away from the rest of the world in a subterranean prison. As her mentor slept, one evening, Bryghita managed to pick Letho's pocket and steal the keys to the shackles he had her wear whenever she wasn't training. Though her movement wasn't horribly restricted, being chained to a rock was a miserable existence. The next day, Letho left before the sun arose, as she knew would, in order to head into Oreton to meet a contact of his for supplies. Springing to life the moment she knew her captor was far enough away, Bryghita began rummaging through the ruins, trying to find something she could use as a weapon against Letho. Her desperation grew by the minute as she struggled to find something when she stumbled across a strange package wrapped in a canvas cloth. Taking it out, the girl unraveled the weapon that Letho had kept hidden from her. Knowing that the Viper would return at any moment, Bryghita hid near the entrance to the underground ruins and prepared herself to strike. When she saw her captor enter the premises, Bryghita leapt forth and swung mightily at the witcher. Any normal human would've been split in two by the blow but with his heightened senses and reflexes, Letho was able to dodge the attack and draw his twin daggers. Blades clashed as the two traded blows. The older witcher began employing maneuvers he had yet to use against the girl during their training, in efforts to throw her off. Much to his chagrin, however, Letho realized that thanks to the experiments on her brain, Bryghita was able to adapt to the change in tactics as they fought. Soon, it seemed as if she could even predict his next moves before he made them. Pressing forward with all the strength he had, Letho launched what would be his final assault against the girl. A hail of blades seemed to rain down on Bryghita and suddenly she was put on the defense. Her back eventually hit a wall and each deflection of Letho's blades became a desperate hit. With fear surmounting in her heart, something deep within the young witcher snapped. Her eyes, which had turned grey thanks to her unique mutations, had suddenly turned into a deep sanguine. Releasing a piercing shriek, Bryghita began counterattacking with a strength that surprised both her and her assailant. In a matter of moments, Bryghita had overpowered Letho and managed to knock the daggers from his hands. Before he could speak a word, the girl swung her blade madly and sent Letho's head flying with a geyser of blood. Their bodies fell to the ground in unison as Bryghita passed out into the pool of her former mentor's lifeblood.

### A Wandering Blade

Bryghita spent the next few years wandering the land alone. She understood that the years spent training with Letho had stunted her social growth and she loathed the idea of trying to integrate back into society. Choosing instead to be a nomad of sorts, Bryghita began to live off the land as she traveled the Northern Kingdoms. She'd even traveled back to her home back in Larvik and created a memorial for her father in the dead of night, weeping softly into the twilight hours. Though she had only been away from Skellige for a few years, she felt as if the time she had spent away and underground had alienated her from the place. The land was old and beautiful, but the girl felt that she no longer belonged among the ancient trees and mountainsides, and instead wandered around from kingdom to kingdom. During this time, she even took monster hunting contracts from lesser villages yet did so anonymously. Taking whatever trophy from the target monster, Bryghita would leave it at the doorstep of whomever had written the contract.

### The Swallow (1294)

Having traveled far and wide, yet keeping her relative distance from humanity and other races, what few sightings people had of her had turned into ghost stories and even folklore. Some had begun calling her the Dreadblade on account of the weapon she carried around, though she fought with both the blade and one of Letho's daggers. Like all Vipers, she had been taught the art of dual wielding and felt comfortable with her arming sword in one hand and the dagger in her other. Others believed she was a spirit altogether and a harbinger of the end times. As these supposed 'ghost stories' spread through the North, a certain 'witcheress' caught wind of these tales and decided to investigate things for herself. As fate would have it, the two crossed paths in Aedirn, outside the town of Gulet...

*"Those runes. I recognize what it says. **Zireael.** Swallow."*

Though it seemed the two might come to blows, Bryghita assured the stranger that she meant no harm and that the stories the locals had begun peddling were nothing but tall tales. The two left on their own separate Paths on amicable terms.

## Personality

Having been stolen away from society at a rather young age and choosing to not re-integrate back into it, Bryghita usually seems to be quite withdrawn and reserved. She is quick to anger, however, due to the years of misfortune she'd endured when she was younger.

Thanks to the group of bandits that tried to rape her before she was taken in by Letho and due to the fact that her captor was male, himself, Bryghita tends to have a general distrust toward men. This doesn't mean, however, that she'd be willing to blindly open up to any woman either. It would likely take one of a gentle nature and keen patience to begin unraveling the years of anger and pain that grip her heart.

## Powers and Abilities

Being mutated into a witcher, Bryghita possesses the usual gamut of combat traits that all other witchers share: sign casting, enhanced speed, strength, reflexes, senses and endurance. She also possesses a decent knowledge of potions and oils and a growing list of monsters one might run into within the Northern Realms.

Due to the experimentations put into her brain, she is able to access more of it, though not by too great of a degree. This is mostly apparent in her fighting as she is able to quickly assess different fighting styles and adjust to them and even begin copying them as she possesses a near eidetic memory. She is susceptible to sheer strength, however, and can be overpowered by those strong enough to do so. This does, unfortunately, run the risk of triggering her near berserker rage. Unable to control it, Bryghita often finds that it kicks in as her last line of defense. When put under immense stress and when her life is perceived to be in danger, a chemical imbalance forms in her brain (a negative side effect of Letho's experiments) and Bryghita finds that her strength and speed nearly double. She cannot maintain this for long, however, and she usually tends to pass out when it is over. Those wishing to subdue her must pray they can do so before she enrages, and if they cannot, must hope they can withstand her full unbridled fury.

## Armaments

Nicknamed the Dradblade, Bryghita's namesake weapon is made of a composite of meteorite silver and steel. Swirls, seemingly appearing like slithering serpents, travel down the length of the blade which seems to have a matte-like finish. It is deadly against both humanoids and creatures borne of magic. Bryghita pairs this with a dagger she claimed from the fallen Letho of Gulet. When fighting against humanoids, the arming sword is her primary weapon while she uses the dagger to sneak in quick blows or assist her in parrying attacks. When fighting against monsters, she tends to wield only the hybrid blade and uses her free hand to cast signs. Though not entirely fond of it, she does carry a crossbow when Aard or Igni cannot reach her targets.

## Trivia

* The name Bryghita is derived from the Gaelic name Brighid or Brigitta as it is known in Scandinavian tongues.