Witcher 3 Guide: Lore & Story Recap 📖

This is a "brief" summary of the lore in the Witcher book saga and the first 2 Witcher games, mainly intended for newcomers to The Witcher 3, but it can also be interesting if you've already played TW3 and/or the previous games.

It leaves a lot of detail out, and it mainly revolves around the main stories of Geralt and Ciri, so a lot of other stories and events that are less relevant to TW3 are completely left out. I had previously made a similar text guide on Steam about the lore of The Witcher: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=743933239

--- Music Used ---
Cloak and Dagger (The Witcher 3)
White Orchard Theme (The Witcher 3)
Emhyr van Emreis (The Witcher 3)
After the Storm (The Witcher 3)
Kaer Morhen (The Witcher 3)
Philippa Eilhart Theme (The Witcher 3)
Hunt or be Hunted (The Witcher 3)
Vesemir (The Witcher 3)
Imlerith Theme (The Witcher 3)
The Witcher 2 Main Theme
Geralt of Rivia (The Witcher 3 Main Theme)

--- Art Used ---
Golden towers of Nilfgaard by Thylacinee: https://www.deviantart.com/thylacinee/art/Golden-towers-of-Nilfgaard-364910733
The Law of Surprise by Nikivaszi: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1093832050
Geralt and Ciri by Nikivaszi: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/219902394289095405/?lp=true
The Witcher 3 Doodles 44 by Ayej: https://www.deviantart.com/ayej/art/The-Witcher-3-doodles-44-597194972
Stairy Timeout by Sreliata: https://www.deviantart.com/sreliata/art/Stairy-Timeout-655413064
Ciri learning with Yennefer by Nikivaszi: https://imgur.com/FB3M0dQ
Thanedd by Franzi Bo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/fb_foto/16646379509
Teenage Ciri Model by Kial Oliver-Gibson: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/9D8Pa
Ciri and Mistle by MilliganVick: https://www.deviantart.com/milliganvick/art/The-Witcher-Saga-Ciri-and-Mistle-721719814
Leo Bonart by Saikono: https://www.deviantart.com/saikono/art/Leo-bonart-634558272
Auberon Muircetach by KavaharaHinata: https://www.deviantart.com/kavaharahinata/art/Auberon-Muircetach-The-Witcher-684838277
Ciri and Ihuarraquax by Prywinko: https://www.deviantart.com/prywinko/art/Ciri-and-Ihuarraquax-March-Patreon-Reward-738694464
Stygga by Gabriel Gajdoš: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/W28Rr2
Duel between Ciri and Bonhart by K K: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/zmdXQ
Goodbye by Andrey Mironov: https://www.reddit.com/r/witcher/comments/3igyrr/book_spoiler_goodbye/
Farewell by Egor Gafidov: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/the-witcher-life-and-death

--- Other Assets ---
The Witcher map from TW2 artwork: https://www.reddit.com/r/gwent/comments/5p47e1/complete_map_of_the_continent_in_which_the/
Cool Geralt: https://www.reddit.com/r/Witcher3/comments/9levq4/just_discovered_how_cool_you_can_make_geralt_look/
Thumbs up Geralt: https://imgur.com/z2h4wZE
The Witcher 3 Combat Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsXmpHgGdiM
Vesemir, Lambert and Eskel: https://glyckskind.tumblr.com/post/179014465138
King Vizimir: https://custom-gwent.com/cards/6080ad3ef298855429e54c0143e30a40
Philippa Eilhart: https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/2107/?
Scoia'tael: https://www.deviantart.com/nati13321/art/Scoia-tael-642253414
Geralt, Yennefer and Ciri: https://www.deviantart.com/larvayneyuno/art/Peaceful-Days-729281239
Geralt epic zoomed face: https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/3124?pk_medium=organic_social&pk_source=twitter&pk_campaign=nxm_twitter_stats&tab=files
Other unspecified images are official artwork from The Witcher 3 and Gwent
Also shoutout to the Witcher Wiki: https://witcher.fandom.com/wiki/Witcher_Wiki