Skip to main content

Why aren't witchers hunting during winter too?



When the witchers are wintering at their respective schools aren't there monsters that are winter based and only last until spring? Couldn't they hunt all year round and amass higher rewards for higher priority targets?


Books and games related answers.



Answer



My answer is speculative, based on my admittedly limited knowledge of medieval era and the Witcher world.


There are 3.5 reasons I can think of:



  1. As AcePL stated, northern realms tend to have harsh winters. Presumably this also affects the life cycle of animals and beasts, including those witchers are supposed to hunt. Presumably, it affects them to a point when they go to hibernation in order not to consume too much energy, since finding food is hard at winter.


And this brings us to second clause:




  1. Medieval life is year-cycle based. People lived from harvest to harvest. In between, they fed on what they harvested. They tried to limit their activities in such a way that they wouldn't have to go out much. This also applies to wildlife - they are year-cycle based too. Why do we care? Because humans and the wildlife actually feed monsters, and in absence of both monster have to go by saving energy, which would make them hard to find and hunt down.


Lastly,



  1. Witchers are humans too. I always assumed they liked to gather at their stronghold in Kaer Morhen to exchange stories, experience, and be among friends. Note that since witchers do not stay at one place when they hunt, it would be hard for them to find refuge in winter. Big cities where there is plenty of shelter do not (often) have pest problem; and smaller villages can't (often) provide shelter for one more mouth.


As a matter of fact, we are somewhat limited in our knowledge of the witcher world, since we can only witness one school, and a declining one at that. There is (to my knowledge) no direct evidence that witchers don't hunt in winter. It's just that the remains of the School of wolf don't.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

harry potter - Do the Kwikspell courses work?

In Harry Potter we are introduced to Kwikspell course in The Chamber of Secrets (and never hear about it again). We see Filch taking courses, presumably by mail. The descriptions of Kwikspell make me think it is for people who are weak in magic (kind of like how Neville was supposed to be when he was younger), but had magic in them nonetheless. However, Ron's comments later in the chapter make it sound like it is mainly for Squibs to learn magic. However, it is strongly implied through out all the books that Squibs are essentially Muggles, and will never be able to do magic. How then is a Kwikspell course supposed to work? Do we have any information to know if it works at all? Is it a scam? An answer from any level of canon is welcome. Answer Kwikspell courses are (probably) useful to some wizards, but not to squibs. The Kwikspell course literature comes with two testimonials. Madam Z. Nettles of Topsham writes: ‘I had no memory for incantations and my potions were a family joke...
Post a Comment
Read more

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.
Post a Comment
Read more

tolkiens legendarium - Difference between elves and dwarves blacksmithing in the Lord of the Rings

Both the elves and the dwarves were famous for their metal work in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but what is the difference between what they made, and which one had the better skill of making amours and swords? Answer James Christopher's answer sums up the second part of your question well, but as to the difference in what they made, a little more detail is needed. Once the Elves learned to forge with steel, the shape of the sword changed, now being able to take on the form of a great broadsword or a light and agile curved sword. Additionally, they took great pride in decorating their swords. As we see in the Lord of the Rings , some swords like Sting had magical properties such as glowing blue when orcs are near. As far as the use of Mithril, lotr.wikia has two contradictory passages: Thus, Elven blades became renowned as great weapons, capable of performing deeds beyond the skill of their handlers and were even more glorious when the use of Mithril was allowed to the Elves. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

game of thrones - Is Syrio Forel dead?

In the episode 'The Pointy End' (Season 1 Episode 8) when Arya runs from the Lannister guards you hear the sound of a sword being dropped (around 4:56): [embedded content] After that neither Syrio or Ser Meryn Trant is never mentioned or seen in the show again, except when Arya mentions to the Hound that Ser Meryn Trant killed Syrio. Is there any mention in the books that Syrio actually dies?
Post a Comment
Read more