As I write this, it still baffles me that I somehow found myself here. The events of the past year just don't seem real to me. There have been many tales of worlds beyond my own, but they are mere stories to entertain children, yes? In this case, not so. What I've experienced is very real, and would make the finest bards a fortune.
It all started with a contract. A stuffy Novigrad aristocrat was offering a handsome sum of crowns for anybody who could get rid of, as he called it, "An aberration most horrendous." The pay was more crowns than I typically made over the course of a month, so of course I would take it. My school's reputation very nearly cost me the job, though. The school of the Viper hasn't had nearly as bad luck as the school of the Cat, but it still sometimes results in bad business. Nonetheless, we agreed on a price and I rode for the manor, half a day's ride from the city proper in the middle of the lushest countryside I had ever seen.
On the outside, it was a seemingly normal home. As was tradition with Novigrad nobility, it was a sprawling, massive thing with more windows than one could count. It was within where things became far from ordinary, however. Despite being the middle of summer, the inside of the manor was deathly cold. Frost crept across almost every surface, and I could see my breath as if it were the harshest of mountain winters. Finely tuned senses immediately picked up on a sound. As I stepped closer to a door at the end of the east wing, the sound became more distinct. These were no growls of any beast nor the screams of any specter, but speech. Elder Speech, to be exact.
With my silver sword in hand, I descended to the cavernous depths of the home, almost afraid of what I may find. An open doorway revealed my target, and not one that I was even remotely prepared to face. A Navigator, the Wild Hunt's head sorcerers, sat in the center of the room, chanting frantically. Steeling my nerves, I lunged at the otherworldly abomination, my free hand letting out a stream of fire aimed right at his masked face. In a flash, he disappeared, only to reappear behind me. Quick reflexes and the clank of his armor allowed me to spin and catch his staff with the blade of my sword. My right hand lunged forward, prepared to knock him back with a blast of Aard, hoping to disorient him. Before the sign could be cast however, my vision was completely engulfed in a blinding white light. Once sight returned to me once more, the Navigator was gone. As was the manor, and as I would later discover, the world as I knew it.
This new world was similar to my own, but also vastly different in almost every conceivable way. I saw strange races, new beasts that I quickly filled my bestiary with, and best of all, no preconceived prejudice regarding my profession. The wonder vanished rather quickly when I discovered my magical abilities, what little of them I had, were all but gone. Igni, Quen, Aard.....I could cast none of my signs. My medallion also detected no trace of any sort of magic. With this sad revelation in mind, I spent my first month in this new realm simply wandering. And then I met someone who would change this monster slayer's life forever.
It was at an inn in some town who's name I had never bothered to learn where I first met Garon. He was very inquisitive about myself, my appearance and equipment especially. After several rounds of ale, he told me that he too had been whisked here from some far off place by forces beyond his control. At this point, he told me he was gathering people for a band, a Hanse as they say in my world. My knowledge of monsters and swordsmanship was apparently just the thing he was looking for. I thought him completely insane, but also didn't relish the idea of spending anymore time travelling alone, so naturally I agreed.