The Witcher
3: Wild Hunt is an action role-playing game developed by Polish
developer CD Projekt Red, and first published in 2015. It is the sequel
to the 2011 game The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings and the third and
final main game in The Witcher video game series, played in an open
world with a third-person perspective. The games are based on The
Witcher series of fantasy novels written by Andrzej Sapkowski.
The game takes place in a fictional fantasy world based on Slavic
mythology. Players control Geralt of Rivia, a monster slayer for hire
known as a Witcher, and search for his adopted daughter, who is on the
run from the otherworldly Wild Hunt. Players battle the game's many
dangers with weapons and magic, interact with non-player characters, and
complete quests to acquire experience points and gold, which are used to
increase Geralt's abilities and purchase equipment.
In Wild Hunt, you as Geralt embark on your most epic and dangerous
journey yet. Your mission is to find the child of prophecy, an
ashen-haired girl, a living and highly volatile weapon everyone wants to
control. The stakes have never been higher: the Elder Blood flowing in
the child's veins can bring about a final end. The fate of worlds lies
with you.
The Wild Hunt, or Wraiths of Mörhogg as they are called in Skellige, was widely believed to be a group of specters galloping in the sky. They were described by common folk as a cavalcade of wraiths on undead horses galloping across the sky and serving as an omen of war. In fact, they are a group of Aen Elle elves from Tir ná Lia who also call themselves the Dearg Ruadhri in their native Elder Speech, meaning Red Riders. They are led by the general, and later king, Eredin Bréacc Glas, commonly known as the King of the Wild Hunt.
Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon (better known as Ciri), was born in 1252 or 1253, during the Belleteyn holiday. She was the sole princess of Cintra, the daughter of Pavetta and Emhyr var Emreis (who was using the alias "Duny" at the time) as well as Queen Calanthe's granddaughter. After Geralt of Rivia helped lift Duny's curse, Duny asked what reward the witcher would like and Geralt evoked the Law of Surprise, as it turned out Pavetta was pregnant with Ciri, unbeknownst to Duny.
Geralt of Rivia was a legendary witcher of the School of the Wolf active
throughout the 13th century. He loved the sorceress Yennefer, considered
the love of his life despite their tumultuous relationship, and became
Ciri's adoptive father.
During the Trial of the Grasses, Geralt exhibited unusual tolerance for
the mutagens that grant witchers their abilities. Accordingly, Geralt
was subjected to further experimental mutagens which rendered his hair
white and may have given him greater speed, strength, and stamina than
his fellow witchers.
Yennefer of Vengerberg, born on Belleteyn in 1173, is a sorceress who
lived in Vengerberg, the capital city of Aedirn. She was Geralt of
Rivia's true love and a mother figure to Ciri, whom she viewed like a
daughter to the point that she did everything she could to rescue the
girl and keep her from harm.
She helped advise King Demavend of Aedirn, a close friend of Triss
Merigold, and the youngest member of the Council of Wizards within the
Brotherhood of Sorcerers. After its fall, the Lodge of Sorceresses
attempted to recruit her, but they didn't see eye to eye as the Lodge
wanted to advance their own political agenda by using Ciri.
Triss Merigold of Maribor is a legendary Temerian sorceress of the 13th
century. Called Fourteenth of the Hill by her contemporaries because she
was erroneously thought to have been killed during the Battle of Sodden
Hill, she passed into history as Merigold the Fearless. A member of King
Foltest's royal council along with Fercart and Keira Metz, as well as a
founding member of the Lodge of Sorceresses, she was involved in
politics for most of her life.
She was friends with Yennefer and the witcher Geralt of Rivia, but also
unhappily in love with the latter. Triss took care of Ciri at Kaer
Morhen for some time and is like an older sister to her. It was through
her intervention that Ciri was not subjected to harmful hormone changes
at Kaer Morhen, stripping her of her secondary gender traits.