OOC
Name: Blue
Contact: bretons + discord: bitchard#0228
Other characters: Drift | Transformers

IC
Name: Geralt
Canon: The Witcher
Canon point: After the events of Blood and Wine and the vanilla game where Ciri has chosen to become Empress of Nilfgaard.
Age: 100+

History: A wiki —please refer to the "Main" tab instead of the Netflix one.

Personality:
Loyalty
Geralt forms few lasting connections due to the nature of hareer and his own guarded nature. Usually, through ridiculous circumstances or the fickleness of the forces of so-called destiny, he crosses paths with people determined to make a lasting impression regardless of his wishes to keep his head down and go through life in obscurity. When this does happen, Geralt has proven himself to be a steadfast friend who is loathed to let a debt go unpaid or a friend left to fend for themselves. Over the years, Geralt has put himself through dangerous situations where he has little to gain and everything to lose simply because someone he cares about needed his help.

Level-headedness
Witchers have muted emotions as a side-effect of their mutations, and this is sometimes wrongly conflated with callousness. Geralt has his chillier moments, but he’s neither cruel nor interested in creating more strife in an already tumultuous world. Being a witcher necessitates being a shrewd businessman as well when haggling contact fees and sussing out potential scams. Geralt rarely allows his emotions to factor into his decision-making, and while he more often than not finds himself unwittingly personally invested in a situation, he always tries to find a middle ground. Chances are, if a fight breaks out, then Geralt is the one playing the begrudging mediator.

Kindness
Oh, it’s down deep and buried under several fathoms of emotional constipation and a professional reputation of being a hardass, but Geralt is a kind man. He might only be a kinder man in a comparatively harsh environment, but there are evident shades of his better nature throughout his story. These softer edges typically reveal themselves when Geralt is shown a good turn either by a close friend or even a stranger. Considering Witchers always anticipate being treated with suspicion or outright hatred, when Geralt is treated with kindness, he’s genuinely taken aback and humbled. In private moments, Geralt is revealed to be something of a sensitive man who carries every rejection and compassionate gesture close to heart and rarely forgets either. There are hints in the short stories and books that the mutations were meant to strip prospective Witcher of their emotions entirely, only numbing the feelings of a deeply gentle and sentimental man never given the chance to be either.

Stubbornness
On the flip side of being an obligate middleman trying to see every angle of a situation, Geralt can be famously stiff-necked when he sets his mind to something. This can either be because he perceives himself as the expert in the given situation or because he was told ‘no’ one too many times and decided to go forth heedless of any contradictory advice. He’s not arrogant but proud and doesn’t care to admit he’s wrong, especially if he feels the other person is holding it over his head. See also: Arguments with Yennefer so (in)famously volatile that his bard buddy wrote actual ballads about them that people off the street recognize.

Avoidance
If Geralt sees himself as being in over his head, he’s gone before you notice. Part of the reason Geralt is seen as an unfeeling bastard is he tries to avoid getting involved with anything that isn’t a clear cut. One example is shortly after he had inadvertently assisted the queen of Lyria and Rivia during a battle and finding himself suddenly knighted, Geralt left before either he or his companions could be expected to show any fielty or get further involved. Another is his atrocious track record with romantic partners, even (or especially) where it concerns Yennefer — the love of his life. Whenever Geralt feels restless or “tied down,” he slips away without notice or a very awkward and hamfisted goodbye letter. Basically, he’s a loner who is allergic to commitment because feelings are scary.

Neutrality
A trait that’s damned Geralt more times than it’s saved him. As a Witcher, there is an expected rule of neutrality they’re expected to take. Monsters don’t discriminate against their victims, so neither should witchers discriminate against a client based on what banner they’re under. During the height of the third war with Nilfgaard, Geralt made it abundantly clear he would take anyone’s money if a contract was legitimate. He claims no loyalty to any land or kingdom and that he has no interest in being involved with any political maneuvering no matter what “greater good” it claims to uphold. It often makes him come across as heartless, sometimes not without reason. Obviously, teaching Ciri — a lost princess from a ruined kingdom big on revenge — this lesson has been an uphill battle. And guess who gets dragged kicking and screaming into political ploys? You guessed it.

Powers/Abilities:
Mutations
Years of mental and physical conditioning through carefully guarded method creates the witcher. As a young boy Geralt was subjected to whats known as the Trials, a series of altered virus cultures and alchemical agents called "the Grasses" to mutate his physiology. Only one in ten boys manage to survive the Trials and come out permanently altered to the point of no longer being considered human.

The result is that Geralt has heightened senses of reflexes and a lifespan far exceeding a mortal man, with Geralt looking middle-aged while tipping the scale of being over a century. Another outcome is resistance to most poisons and boosted immune system allowing Geralt to drink alchemic substances with little side-effects and tolerance to infectious diseases.

Oh, and he's firing blanks.

Signs
As a Witcher, Geralt can use what a known as "Signs," a sort of lower magic. Most witchers have more magical potential than the average person but not on the level of a sorceress or wizard. Signs are cast with precise hand gestures for a limited, specific purpose. They're not powerful but practical spells a Witcher might use in combat or navigating the wilds. They are:

Quen: A small, limited protective shield that can stop most projectiles but only lasts for a few seconds and can't withstand a barrage of attacks.

Yrden: A warding spell laid on the ground around the witcher or a target to ward off monsters, specifically restless spirits or the undead. It's not a permanent spell and only lasts for however long the witcher can cast the sign.

Igni: The Fun One™ Igni is a compressed pyrokinetic blast from the caster's hand that can be used for anything from mundane tasks like lighting a campfire to offensive maneuvers like suppressive fire or giving someone a surprise sunburn.

Axii: Only linking the wiki for the benefit of potential CR and possible issues down the road. Axii is one of the more powerful signs in a witcher's arsenal — a hypnotic spell able to calm the minds of beasts or people and even influence them. Axii is essentially the Jedi Mind Trick that only works in certain circumstances and ineffective on non-sentient and incorporeal creatures that are only as reliable as the will of the caster. It wears off over time and can be countered, it is most effective at lowering aggression or subtly influencing a person's decision. Anything overt and the victim is almost always immediately aware and resistant to the spell.

Swordsmanship
Geralt has been trained for as long as he can hold a sword to use not one but two. Witchers are practiced swordsmen with an emphasis on carrying two blades at all times — silver for monsters and steel for humans. While not invincible, Geralt is certainly formidable in a field where short, violent lives are the norm.

Survival
Spending most of his life on the road and out in the wilderness hunting monsters necessitates mastery of bushcraft. Geralt is an expert tracker and survivalist capable of serving in hostile environments alone and with limited supplies for extended periods of time. Having to brew his own alchemic reagents and poultices to either slay monsters or heal his wounds, Geralt is adept at navigating, identifying, and cultivating local flora and fauna to his advantage. He's like if Steve Irwin and Coyote Peterson occasionally had to strangle Bigfoot to pay the bills.

Regret: Allowing Ciri to meet with Emperor Emhyr in confidence. Even though he did not betray Ciri’s trust and allowed her to stake out her own destiny, he regrets possibly setting her on the path to take the Nilfgaard throne.

Suitability: Geralt will tell you otherwise, but he is a team player willing to get involved with dangerous situations if he believes the reward is worth the risk. After some feet dragging and grumbling, Geralt will dust himself off and push forward. The concept of different worlds and dangerous artifacts subjecting people to curses is not new to Geralt. While he balks at getting involved with the stability of different worlds, he has shown tenacity time and again to do anything for his adopted daughter. Even if that means making a potentially dangerous and disastrous deal with an orb. He brings a veteran's expertise to the station with his long years of tracking down monsters, both flesh and magical, as well as his Big Dad Energy™.

Inventory:
Medallion: Geralt wears a silver medallion in the shape of a snarling wolf that denotes he is a witcher from the School of the Wolf. The Medallion itself is enchanted and vibrates in the presence of magic or creatures either touched by magic or otherwise supernatural.

Weapons: Geralt has both his trademark silver and steel swords and a veritable museum of hidden knives along with the smaller tools for more practical problems like equipment repair.

Potions and Bombs: Geralt carries several leather pouches with alchemic bases for small smoke and grapeshot bombs, as well as ingredients for pastes and elixirs toxic to humans but safe for Geralt to consume to boost his stamina or hasten his mutated healing factor.

Sample: TDM top-level TDM comment