Witcher 3 - A Beginner's Guide To The World Of The Witcher

Kotaku has posted a primer on the world of The Witcher for newcomers to the series. I never got more than twenty minutes into the first Witcher game, but Wild Hunt has me hyped, so I think I'm going to need to consult this fairly often.

Anyway, it turns out that:

A “Witcher” doesn’t actually have that much to do with witches. Rather, Witchers are a rare breed of genetically mutated monster-killer. They were born as ordinary humans, and were taken in at a young age and more or less forced to undergo years of intense mental and physical training before eventually undergoing a mysterious ritual known as The Trial of the Grasses.

During the Trial of the Grasses, potential Witchers imbibe a mysterious alchemical concoction that mutates their genes and makes them more dangerous and harder to kill than ordinary men. The Trial kills the majority of those who attempt it—six or seven out of ten candidates die in the process.

Hey wait a minute. This sounds an awful lot like the Joining ritual in Dragon Age. Is David Gaider a big notion-snatcher? Hm.

More here.