#he is aiden's cub griffin

[mini-minish]

city boy 🦉 ❄️

[farieshades]

What do you think about the Witchers and their schools?

When talking about the Witchers, I think it best to start at the beginning, before the schools then. 

The Order of Witchers was an attempt in the 10th Century (Continent time ofc) to create knights that would take on the monsters regular knights were incapable of fighting, the initial mutations were seen as disappointments and thus labeled "witchers" [can't remember why - who knows - fun name anyway, probably some lore there]. 

The Order itself didn't last long, those who were initially mutated had lost their 'knightly' values quickly as the Schools began showing up. As it was, of the 'original' order that did exist, Arnaghad moved out to found the School of the Bear in the Amell mountains (which would later split again to create School of the Viper in Tir Tochair Mountains, then again, School of the Manticore near the Korath desert) and when he did so another group moved out to Stygga Castle becoming the School of the Cat (which may possibly lead to a school of the lynx but that's not confirmed and fan hypothesis I do believe due to the medallion that showed up on a… The Witcher 4 game(?) that wasn't recognizable?). From there, the remaining Order split again with Erland of Larvik creating the School of the Griffin/Eagle at Kaer Seren with the last remaining Order heading to Kaer Morhen to found the School of the Wolf. 

Not much to speak on here, bullshit kings making their subjects suffer ‘for the greater good’ or some shit which makes me very much not like said kings who think mutating kids is cool.

We're doing this chronologically, so we start with the first branch, The School of the Bear. It should be mentioned that Older Witchers (particularly the ones that were from the time of the branching and just after it or so) call the Bears 'kinslayers', both for the betrayal against their brothers causing the Order to split into factions, but also the rumor that begun to spread that should a Bear meet another on the path only one may potentially walk away from the meeting. Supposedly, the Bears had little to no brotherly bonds with each other and no true loyalty to their school, and so abandoned the school and their brothers to their fate abandoning them.

Arnaghad believed that Witchers should focus only on the job aspect of the profession, forming no strong bonds with their brothers and thus walking the path alone, and any knightly code was all 'ego' based bullshit. Thus, autonomy is a key aspect of Bear Witchers. Along with the general swordfighting, it is believed that Bears once used shields (according to the Gwent Card Game) and are known for range fighting like the School of the Cat. 

The Bear school also seems to spend much time in Skellige, despite their 'home' being on the Amell mountain range, which basically is seperating Cintra from the south. The connection between Skellige and the Bear School was that the two were similar minded. The school, like many others, came to a downfall with one particular contract of Vampires with which they failed to 'stop the terrors' and the town 'destroyed' the Bear School Witchers with riots and destroying the school itself. 

Now, I’m going to go on and disagree slightly here, not with the background or how it's portrayed or anything but, more so with the animal. Many fics (and headcanons I’ve read) have the Witchers adopting more characteristics of their school (notably ‘cutagens’ = purring wolves/cats, certain habits, hissing Aiden, potential fangs, cat cheek rub (i’ll be honest most of that is wolf/cat thoughts but oh well)), so now let's look at Ursus. 

Bears as animals are highly social animals with great intelligence, often sharing friendship, resources, and security with others and forming hierarchy and kinship relationships. This isn't to say, of course, that Bear's aren't solitary, because they are. Outside of mated pairs and raising cubs, bears travel and live alone, but also congregate in high food density areas. 

They aren't mean or malicious, and are in fact gentle and tolerant. I'm sure people have heard the term "mama bear" as someone extremely protective of the young, which is very true, but Mother bears are also affectionate and attentive with their young. Bear's have an acute sense of smell that informs them of the environment, their hearing is excellent, far exceeding human range and sensitivity, and they are twice as fast as an Olympic sprinter, even having the chance to outrun a racehorse over short distances (although the speed cannot be kept up, little endurance for speed - only short bursts).

Now, Bears are relatively quiet creatures with notable communication exceptions, such as cubs in distress, a grunting purrwhen content, and when threatened, there is no roar or growl in most of the species but more of a 'huff' of air or a 'pop' of teeth that often scares off predators. Bears also live in dominance hierarcy based on age, size, and tempermant (and if you're interested looking into "The Boss, Banff" might be a good idea), this hierarchy places mature males at the top with youths/cubs at the bottom with their place in the hierarchy determened by posturing/acting agressively, but not by being agressive.

[Bears also range in information due to having 8 species so who knows if we are talking Ursus, Ailuropoda, Melursus, Tremarctos, or Helarctos - but the Information above is mainly focused on Ursus due to the ‘Ursine school gear’ Witchers have in the third game.]

What I’m kinda suggesting then, isn’t a school that has no connection to each other and their brothers, but the opposite. It’s just that it's hard to see it from an outside perspective, especially when compared to Cats and Wolves bears are asocial. Instead, you have Bear School with its members being the strong/silent type but fiercely protective of another, and the reason that Scroll 3 states “Unlike witchers from the Wolf School – who possess strong bonds of friendship and brotherhood – those from the Bear School prefer a solitary lifestyle, away from the company of other witchers. Should they encounter others on the path, however, rarely does it end without bloodshed.” isn’t anger or solitary bullshit, but rough ‘play’.

Bear cub play looks like quiet fighting, with bites and pawings, but even adult bears do not fight with eachother unless absolutely necessary, it's all posturing. So the reason it 'rarely ends without bloodshed’ is that they aren’t Bears bears, but their play still ends with rough tackling, bites, and what they consider playful, looking very much not from the outside view.  

Now, some time after the conception of the Bears, Ivar split off with his own band to create The School of the Viper with a main purpose of preparing to take out the Wild Hunt which he believed would threaten the continent in the future due to some weird vision thing. Ivar, it should be noted, gained the moniker "evil-eye" due to an experiment which left one of his eyes able to see various worlds, in which he found the Wild Hunt killing and conqurering world after world, and knowing his world would come to meet them at some point, Ivar dedicated the School of the Viper to learn as much as possible about the Wild Hunt and to how to fight them, leading to the Viper School having one of the best libraries on the subject. 

Many years after the conception of the school, Nilfgaard destroys their keep making the students scatter, but years later, Emperor Emhyr sets them up to be kingslayers of a few northern kings in exchange to restore the school (which really, why is anyone going to trust a King/Emperor, Witchers and Rulers don't get along, haven't since the bloody conception of Witchers, but sure, why not, let's trust Emhry var Emreis to stay true to his word?). 

Gorthur Gvaed, deep in the Tir Tochair mountians, is where the Viper School calls home, and an interesting thing that Vipers do that is not mentioned in any other School is raising a pet as a child only to kill it later. This is supposed to show a militaristic teachings and a cruelty of the school, likely plucked from WW2 in which the rumoures of SS trainies did the same but with dogs, although it would have been quite impractical due to the amount of trainies and dogs needed, not including that the during the Third Reich dogs were quite popular and protected (unlike, you know, human life I guess). [This is also seen in many other books, such as the Unsullied in ASoIaF (George Martin), and in tv Such as "ragtag" AoS(Marvel)]

Much of this school stressed cold, ruthlessness, and preparing trainies for the harsh life of the Path. They trained with 'fangs' (twin small blades) and used assassin-based approaches to killing monsters (what did hamilton say "strike by night/hit em quick, get out fast" that probably sums it up I'd say). It probably helped that their blades were coated in poison so when they took on human targets a single cut would probably be all that was needed to kill the target, which was also part of their training, to  "embraced the poison of the viper”… whatever that was supposed to mean.

Despite all this, they are Vipers, so let's examine that bit further. Viperidae adapt to just about any climate (with the exception of Antarctica, Australia, Arctic circle, and a few islands) and all are venomous. Fitting so far I'd say. Almost all have distinct triangular heads (which interestingly Letho basically has on his head as a scar, not sure where that's from but, cool), due to the fact that their venom glands reside in the mouth. They have keeled scales, vertically elliptical pupils, and camouflage colourings (and I'd definitely love to see Viper Witchers ending up with vertically elliptical pupils, that would be cool... I'm also now thinking about poisonous Witcher bites but that should probably stick to the poisoned 'fang' weapons they carry ). Due to vipers having a kill strategy of 'inject with venom and release - follow to find body' there's definitey no reason as to why certain beasts Witcher Vipers face wouldn't be handled similarily, especially with an unlimited amount of potential coatings for their blades. 

The School of the Manticore, also kown as the Alqatil (the Zerrikanian term for 'slayers') lays in the far east. When Ivar Evil-Eye split from the Bears, a large portion followed him, and in this group a faction became known once again. Iwan (later known as Imad Asem) split off again with his own group after doubting/disagreeing with Ivar's views heading to the Korath Desert. Not much is really known about the Manticore school, however, it is known that they do have ties to the Zerrikanian royal court and the Court Mage Nasira Faizan works with them to recreate the mutations. The Manticore School is known for a focus on defense and potions, along with meteoritic steel and silver shields. Most of the school was killed off by 1147 after being wiped out by a fire elemental. Merten, one of the survivors, is known to have been converted to Lebioda's teachings, changing his name to Shavel, and becoming a priest, renouncing his witcher past. 

Now, this is about to be conjecture, but I'm sticking with it. Manticore School was named due to the beast they had fought and killed, however, like the other schools, there is likely an animal behind the mutations. Theoretically, they may have stayed with the original Bear mutations to begin with, but I'd like to think they based it off a tiger genome (I also have no idea how witcher mutations work so idk if genome is the right word). This is mainly due to the Caspian Tiger, if we ignore half the media that presents Mantigore with wings and examine the linguistics that also spell Manticore as mantichora / manticora / mantiger((backed by Pausanias and Apollonius of Tyana (through Philostratus' biography of him) - although the understanding of Man + tiger would suggest false etymology of iranian and persian origin so take that with a grain of salt).

If one looks up images of a Caspian tiger, as most feline animals, it has 'a body of a lion' but it also has a distinctive curve of a tail, similar to that of a scorpion (without the spike or the venom), the 'human head and 3 rows of sharp teeth' are also explainable when looking at a tiger I suppose, their heads are rather anthropomorphic for a cat in some ways, and the rows of teeth is fine to assume when you see any feline having lots of sharp teeth and going "by the gods they have so many teeth!" type scenario. 

This isn’t exactly what you probably expected when you asked the question, but the Manticores don’t have much knowledge on them. 

Unlike many of the other Schools, the best known for not having political neutrality is The School of the Cat. Like the Vipers, they take on human contracts and with more augmented mutations, their School's emotions are heightened rather than suppressed giving a volatile range of expression. Many depict this as feral or mad or likely to explode with little provocation, but I'm thinking otherwise, but we'll get to that later. 

This School is one of the original branches from the Order that seperated following Arnaghad's departure which left unrest in the Witchers. At Stygga Castle in Ebbing the Cats emerged as a political power as well as a training facility, and with this power they removed the 'neutrality' understanding that had been with the Order and other Schools, sending out their Cats as spies, assassins, and mercenaries. Later, however, the school fell but was succeeded by the Dyn Marv Caravan which was led by Gezras, a friend of the Aen Seidhe (which really didn't help the popularity of Feline Witchers), and this group traveled togehter for the most part doing any job for pay. Under the leadership of Guxart, the school was slightly rebuilt during the 13th century due to the threat of monsters arising again (I say skipping entirely over the whole Treyse and Wolf thing), although the future is unclear considering the whole… eh, Honorton thing with Gaetan?

"Members of the School of the Cat are ill-famed due to their penchant for frenzy and bloodlust in the heat of battle. Even when their enemies capitulate, beg for mercy... They never stop killing." (Gwent Card Game, also echoed with Harlan Tzara in Season of Storms) This here is, er, interesting. In the canon sourses Cats are shown as becoming unstable under certain scenarios, but then come back to themselves after the event (the books, I believe, mention psychopathy not psychosis, but this feels like short term psychosis due to stressors or, as seen with Gaetan "Where the Cat and Wolf Play" in which Gaetan is set up to fall in a way, though that is my take on that. Interestingly, this 'problem' appears solely with the Cats as a believed symptom of the warped mutations, suggeting the possible counteraction with potions in the bloodstream causing this? Unclear, I'm not a scientist or therapist).

Really, the school is a mess in characterization and @t4tlambert and @pedantic-inquisition have great commentary on this that I stumbled across ages ago and I... remember agreeing and can't remember what was said anymore cause that memory is gone apparently. I'd suggest going to find that for more Cat School thoughts. 

Annnyway, the School developed fighting based off speed, precision, and agility, which went hand in hand with their tightrope blindfolded training they went through I assume. It is suggested that the warped mutations and the time with the elves made morals loose and flexible, with the theory that as long as they got paid for the job it was a job worth taking.….

Now our registered break in thoughts to talk about Felines/Cats cause kitty time is important.

Ok, that's kinda a lie cause I'm not about to talk about household cats but wild ones, and their feline cousins. Wild cats are solitary both in their hunts and in their day to day lives, usually with a large territory that is 'theirs' and will be defended by others, especially if there is a mate or cubs. This isn't always the case, as they can form groups for large prey or defending territories from others, and I'm sure Warrior Cats does great at this explanation. Idk. I've never read it but it seems like it would, Warrior Cats has that vibe.

Cats are often very tactile in greetings (especaily households or lions), and they have a behaviour called 'chinning' in which they rub chin/lips/cheeks against allies and friends (something I've read with Aiden/Lambert pairings often). Most cats are ambush predators, from leopards and their watering holes or the orange mess of a cat that stakes out the birdfeeder outside. Felines, wild cats in specific, communicate often with visual cues, such as raised hair, tail movements, and ears, although amongst humans they pick up more vocal cues. In the wild, vocal cues are often aggressive hisses and yowls, affectionate purring, and a form of squeak to make cubs quiet (the vocalizers often also seen in fics, specificlly the hissing, yowling, and purring). 

Lions in specific (particularly because I've seen/read "lioness of the cats” before), are highly social cats, forming groups/prides as a way of potentially surviving the savanna landscape and the hunting success of groups rather than singles. Interestingly again, this shows up with Axel/Cedric pairings that 'hunt in a pack' I suppose. This is why out of Tigers, Leopards, and Cheetahs the Lion is being mentioned specifically, as the Tigers and Leopards are solitary cats, and while the cheetah is somewhat social, they often have coalitions of 2 and 3 rather than prides. Like other animals, Lion cubs 'play', which often involves chasing, wrestling, pawing, stalking, and rushing, either with other cubs or adults.

After the Bear, Viper, and Cat schools were founded, the Order grew weaker, but Erland of Larvik decided that he would uphold the original ideal of the Order and with it (and 13 friends) founded The School of the Griffin/Eagle/Gryphon (depending on what you read), with their Keep in Kovir and Poviss named Kaer Seren. The school was named so after Erland's mentor Taliesin Bleddyn Yorath Aep Lywelyn, nicknamed 'Gryphon'. The school focused on magic, being prepared for anything,  flexibility in what they might face, along with proper etiquette.

The school held great respect, even so far as to have the grandmasters as partial advisors to courts, even though they retained neutrality. This school was also skilled in battling dragons, which the other schools were, eh, weary of. There of course was a downfall due to Mages being angry with the Witchers (a common theme, angry mages), and this caused a revenge avalanche(?) killing several Witchers and badly damaging the keep itself. 

Now, outside of Old Keldar and Coën, we don't have much on Griffin Witchers, so I'm moving on to look at Eagles, cause that is part of the name and, well, why not? So, Eagles... Eagles are often solitary type flyers, well, as much 'solitary' as one could get with a mate and a clutch. Eagles are powerful fliers, with boath soaring and gliding and with distance and speed.... and yeah i don't know much about eagles actually. 

Symbolically, and especially in Poland, Eagles are a symbol of the Republic and a symbol that is a fierce protector of the young (and defenseless). During the second WW the Polish flag would be a symbol of pride, determination, and sheer grit. Lots of symbolism goes into it really, not sure what bits show up in the "Eagle/Griffin" Witchers, but on that thought, Griffins themselves were also signs of srength and protection, a 'superhero' against evil in lots of accounts. The Griffin was also heralded as noble, fearsome, and was meant to keep Evil from breaching its territory. 

[I'd love to insert a Crane Medallion but I can't find a picture so you have to suffer this owl instead]

Potential conjuncture here, but with unclear Origin, I’m likely to believe that The School of the Crane comes from the Griffin school. Mostly due to the theme of birds, which has absolutely no backing considering we went from Bear > Viper > Tiger/Manticore/Slayer scenario before, but why not you know? The School of the Crane shows up after the Second Conjunction as a way to protect ships traveling around from sea and air monsters, meaning they are trained greatly with ranged weapons and early forms of guns, along with the traditional swords. Now, ok, this group only shows up in Tales from the World of The Witcher, and long after everything happens and stuff, but, well, good thoughts and such. Cranes are also, as the species not the Witcher, known for their elegance and their loyalty, probably very important things in the time frame. Cranes also are graceful, harmony symbols, and a symbol of eternal youth. Not exactly something one might think of as, well, 'pirate style witcher' but, interesting all the same. 

Finally, we get to The School of the Wolf. With only a small group remaining of the Order of Witchers, they travelled to Morhen Valley in the North,  specifically Kaer Morhen by the 11th century. Originally the keep and the Wolves were one of the most recognized Schools, the members being professional and reliable, but with the Pogrom, all the Witchers present at the Keep were killed (which would have likely been the trainies and the Trainers), while those on the Path survived. A second Massacre happened for the Wolves later on, between a competition/tournament with the Cats in which King Radowit II more or less caused a lot of death he would probably later regret when Monsters returned to his land but he was a fuckwit as most kings seem to be. So, by the 1230s it's basically, maybe the main 4 (Lambert, Eskel, Geralt, Vesemir) and anyone whose just avoiding Kaer Morhen. Then, by 1270~ Kaer morhen falls with the Wild Hunt and Salamandra. 

Unlike the other Schools, the Wolves appear most ‘balanced’ in training, there is no speciality that is held above others, they do, however, have a stronger focus on sword techniques from what we as an audience can see, but that also might be from the fact that the Fencing Instructor is the ~current head of the school and the other 3 do trainings that he dictates so, who knows how that changed from pre-pogrom. 

Wolves, the animal, are very social as a species. They are playful, devoted to their families/packs, and their dynamics are centered around care for others. [oh... hmm... debating if i'm about to bring in pack dynamics and alphas...yeah ok] Then in pack dynamics, we get to the Alpha leader of wolves, now it should be mentioned the 1947 study by Rudolph Schenkel that gave rise to the alpha wolf concept is outdatted and incorrect, but packs do have what may be considered "Alpha" in terms of breeding. [And Guys I'm lowkey hating myself for this topic. Someone correct me too if this is wrong].

Wolf packs have heads of families, usually matriarchs, with the one producing pups as a leader of sorts (the male of this couple could also be a lead, the two formerly known as 'alpha male/female'). Hierarchy is important for pack structure, with the entire pack raising the young and the 'omega' as a scapegoat of the pack, usually a stress-reliever and instigator of play(the jester role kinda). "Play" for wolves isn't something that really ever stops, unlike in other species, even the elders participate in play. This is also seen as a way of caring for eachother in that knowledge is passed through play. 

Then we get to the interesting "lone wolf". From the above, it is easly identifiable that wolves are social creatures, and while a lone wolf is often seen (by humans) as an individualist who is independent and all the grit and 'forging your own path', not many wolves would choose to be alone. There are periods of being alone, especially when a youth is searching to create their own pack as a form of dispersal, or the omega or a sickly alpha who can no longer lead is challenged to the point of leaving. Because wolves are territorial, lone wolves must be cautious about trespassing and without a pack to support them they're more likely to die without one. 

Now, in terms of behaviour, there's lots of posturing, snarling to agressive/dominant behaviours while one also can find the purring,  and small yips in more playful behaviours. 

With unclear origins and muddled links, but there is one more school that gets notable mention after being confirmed roughly back in March this year(2022). The School of the Lynx shows up with The Witcher 4, with not much lore backing it outside of fanfiction. According to fanfiction, the Lynx school shows up after Vesemir’s death, potentially with Lambert and the Cats mixing Wolf/Cat schools into one. However, there’s really nothing to know outside of the medallion really. Whether it will have links to Lambert or the Cat school is a mystery.

Lynx however, as a form of wildcat, share similarities with other felines, but in particular, and what sets them apart, is that their eyes (in myths) could always see the truth and ‘see beyond’. The Lynx is the keeper of secrets, the elusive cat that will only be seen if it wants you to see it. Interestingly, Lynx are excellent snow hunters (and the Lynx medallion in the image is covered in snow 👀) and are solitary hunters that use the similar tactic or wait-chase and also stalking that which is burrowed in the snow. Is any of that ever going to be of use to Witchers that take on this name, who knows, but with the other schools and their animal namesakes, there seems to be a high probability for it.

[bryceslahela]

random specific headcanons i have about choices characters

disclaimer: don’t take this seriously <3

• zeph can burp on command. shreya knows seven different languages and will teach you how to swear in them. beckett knows five and will not teach you shit. atlas finds doing laundry really therapeutic and will do it late at night while everyone is asleep. griffin had a crush on someone once and decided to choreograph a whole dance routine to ask them out but the day before he were supposed to do it, they moved away. he thanks the higher powers every night. aster is really bad at handling kids, if a kid comes in the store she goes in the back. she also will blend into foliage purely to hide from people.

• maxwell has almost gone to jail, multiple times. his crimes range from tax evasion to gbh to eating an apple off of his cranky old neighbour’s property. his brother covered for him. liam was the president at his alma mater, even though he didn’t run. people just found him hot. hana is a hit with old ladies, they adore her. they were all angling to set her up with their sons and when she said she was lesbian, they immediately offered up their daughters and nieces. drake once got so drunk he called liam ‘mommy’ and when liam awkwardly offered to pay for his therapy in response, drake passed out.

• cassius had a wife at one point, she left him because he was ‘too boring’. sabina was once gifted a lion cub and when it bit aquila, she would reward it in treats. aquila eventually threw it out though :(. syphax is the youngest child and he has mostly older sisters. marc antony thinks he has a god complex, he does not. he has a lot of other issues though.

• eiko is obsessed with musicals and she makes mc do duets with her. it’s a problem at this point. in the future after moty, levi has multiple a-lister best friends, when he shows them to mc, he thinks its totally normal. mc will wake up to ryan reynolds walking in the hallways after leaving levi’s. thomas fainted when luz was born.

• speaking of musicals, caleb is obsessed with hamilton and glee. he hangs a poster of them both in his locker. michael secretly enjoys listening to beyoncé and lady gaga, but he’ll play nothing but indie music, that has less than 1k streams, around his friends. emma had a crush on big bird when she was little, no explanation. aiden adores just dance and that will be the secret he takes to his grave. he thinks hes being slick but his parents know. maria cannot spell pharaoh, and feels like it’s too late to learn how.

• bryce cannot take a bad picture, and when jackie tried to take one of him, it ended up so pretty it was put on multiple pinterest boards. he still brags about it. jackie has a strong southern accent and her voice is slightly deep, kinda like beyoncé’s. sienna had three boyfriends at once during high school, they never knew about e/o but she got so stressed out about it that she ended it with all of them. raf was average in middle school but suddenly had a glow up before high school. he looked so different that people just flat out refused to believe it was him.

[jaskiersvalley]

"Vesemir fretted over Jaskier like one of his own pups" Omg!!!! I love that!!! I'm now imagining Vesemir acting like a mom fussing over her son's clothing now and asking all the questions about are they eating enough? Are you hurt? Do you have clothes to sew?

You really are out there, bringing all the best ideas, aren’t you? Because Vesemir absolutely is Papa Vesemir now, isn’t he?

It started off with the aftermath of Kaer Morhen being destroyed and ransacked. Vesemir used to have dozens of pup and wolves under his care and he was run ragged. Suddenly, there were only three left and there were no means to create more. Not that Vesemir really wanted to anyway. The world was changing, it didn’t need witchers anymore.

All the love that had been spread wide and thin was now directed at the three survivors. Not that Vesemir could admit it, his pups were grown up, weathered by the Path and fiercely independent. They didn’t need an old mentor fretting over them. If anything, the three supported each other. There was a closeness between them all, they balanced each other out. With the other two, Lambert seemed a little less angry, Eskel was inclined to smile more, and Geralt’s self-loathing eased too.

That didn’t stop Vesemir from turning all his efforts to ensuring that their winters were the best they could be. Rooms were always warmed with fires, Vesemir ensured there were enough furs and pelts to keep warm, even when it was a puppy pile in front of a fireplace, there were enough soft things that they would all be comfortable. Food was as plentiful as he could make it, he even brewed some strong moonshine to make boring evenings a little more bearable for them all. Whether his efforts were noticed or not, Vesemir didn’t know. For him, it was enough to know that he was doing the best for his pups.

The year a griffin stumbled through the doors of Kaer Morhen, Vesemir welcomed him with open arms. Another witcher in the keep was always a nice surprise. And Vesemir found himself liking Coen. It took his pups a little while to accept a griffin in their den but, slowly, one by one, they warmed to him too. And suddenly, Vesemir had three pups and a griffin in his care. He did his best too, slowly becoming a little braver with his affections over the years. Eskel seemed the most accepting of his hugs while Lambert seemed to prefer a gruff ruffle of his hair which would get him yowling but never actually angry. By contrast, Geralt seemed to prefer sitting quietly, sharing a space but he was, by far, the most standoffish. 

Perhaps Vesemir shouldn’t have been so blindsided when Lambert came home late one year. The pass was barely open when he finally arrived, looking uncomfortable and almost terrified of his own family. Then the cat witcher slunk in behind him, wary and they both looked ready to run.

“I’ll get another room ready,” Vesemir had said solemnly.

“Don’t,” Lambert had barked, chest heaving in a way reminiscent of his panics as a child.

When nobody made a move, the two half backed out of the room, keeping a suspicious eye on everyone else. They weren’t seen for three days but the food Vesemir had carefully left out on the side kept disappearing. Once the pass was closed off, Lambert reappeared and it was only sheer familiarity with his own home that let Vesemir know that the silent shadow lingering by the door wasn’t his imagination or a gust of wind.

“Settling in okay?” Vesemir had asked as he passed Lambert two plates rather than his usual one.

“It will do.” Loading up the two plates, Lambert had obviously had enough because he was darting off again, two shadows through the keep.

They kept up this awkward game until Vesemir caught Lambert trying to raid the sewing kit.

“Just bring it down, I can patch it up for you.”

Hesitantly, Lambert shied away. “It’s not mine,” he said quietly.

“Leave it in the pile with the others’ things.”

He was happy to find a few unfamiliar shirts in the pile and didn’t even comment on the fact that they smelled of Lambert as much as the foreign, nameless cat witcher.

The thing about wolves was that they liked their pack and craved their company. With Lambert so torn between mate and pack, the strain was starting to show. Not just on him but the other two too. It was going to be an issue but Vesemir had obviously underestimated his pups once again. The afternoon was too quiet and he went searching for them, worried they’d got into some mischief. They were nowhere to be found until he walked past Lambert’s bedroom. There, on the bed were his three pups, tangled into a pile and slumbering away. Vesemir smiled softly and looked up when someone stood next to him. The cat witcher sent him a hesitant smile and nodded to the pile.

“Do they ever run or growl in their sleep?”

“No. But they fart, snore and drool like champs.” Vesemir’s answer got a laugh from the other witcher who glanced back at the pups.

“I’m Aiden.”

“Vesemir.”

Leaning in as if to tell a secret, Aiden’s lips brushed against Vesemir’s ear. “I’ve heard a lot about you, Papa Vesemir.”

With that, Aiden turned and left, leaving Vesemir rooted to the spot, old heart squeezed tight in his chest as he looked over his pups again.

For years after that, there were three pups, a griffin and a kitten that Vesemir could call his. Then along came the bard. If Vesemir had thought he was protective of his pups, it was nothing compared to the little sparrow Geralt brought home. He was bright, happy and Vesemir marvelled that someone like Jaskier could exist in the face of the bleakness that was the world. While he tried not to fuss, it was impossible. Jaskier’s clothes were pretty but impractical, he was human so needed more warmth and couldn’t be worked as hard as his pups. Not that they were pushed a lot either. Vesemir had learned to let them relax as much as possible. They’d trained and fought for their lives until recently, it was time they had a break.

What was unusual was the way Jaskier seemed to return his affections. More often than not, Vesemir’s favourite tea would be brewing in the evening and a mug of it would appear by his preferred seat, along with a book. At first, Vesemir had been worried that Jaskier thought he had to do it. But when carefully asked, Jaskier laughed and said he liked taking care of people too. All he asked was that if Vesemir read his book recommendations, he’d consider discussing them with Jaskier, debating the merits and downfalls of each story.

By the time Ciri arrived at Kaer Morhen, Vesemir was feeling like he had a brood, pups, griffin, cat, sparrow and now a lion cub. It got even easier when she skipped in, fearless and smiling wide. Without even having to say anything, Vesemir was down on his knees to catch her running towards him with a happy “Papa Vesemir!”. While Lambert and Aiden snickered at that, Jaskier looked ever so smug. There was no doubt about who had told Ciri all their names. Though, a look at Geralt and the conviction about that dropped because he looked a little guilty too.

“Uncle Lambert! You’re a prick!” Ciri greeted merrily and Aiden brayed like a donkey. “You must be Uncle Aiden. I’ve been told not to tell you that you’re the one who rides said prick. Does that mean you and Uncle Lambert likes to play horses too?”

Suddenly, Vesemir was terrified, the winter was going to be an interesting one. And he worried what Ciri might say to Eskel, who had always been more sensitive.

“Uncle Eskel,” Ciri stood opposite Eskel and curtsied primly. “You’re as handsome as they all said you would be.”

And that was how Ciri wormed herself into all their hearts within a few minutes of meeting them all. She even gave Coen a high five as they met. Vesemir looked around at his family. It was very much a patchwork of ill fitting pieces and yet, they managed to make it work. He had never been happier or more proud. 

[inexplicifics]

Aiden taken Dragonfly advices in how to court a Milena's friend noble™️ and Sasha taking Livi advice in how to deal a same sex preference being a ex-redanian noble™️ Milena and Lambert just ships it™️

2/2 and Treyse had know idea how the Cat table had more nobles than the griffins AND the wolves and asks Melitele, in found exasperation, had he had do wrong in their cubs creation™️?

Aiden: *flirts enthusiastically*

Dragonfly: *snuggles her lovely Livi*

Treyse: *facepalms quietly*