In response to many fan speculations regarding this teaser image for The Witcher, CDPR’s community manager, Marcin Momot, confirmed that the above medallion is, in fact, from the School of the Lynx. This is a bit strange, delightfully so, considering the fact that the School of the Lynx has only ever been established within fanfiction.
Does this mean that the new Witcher game will have anything at all to do with these fanfics? It’s only natural for some fans to come to this conclusion, since there are wiki pages that lead to posts about this mysterious school, and they all stem solely from fanfiction headcanons. But whether or not CDPR will actually take inspiration from these headcanons remains to be seen.
For now, this is what we know about the School of the Lynx—both officially and unofficially.
The Origin
As far as headcanons go, the fanfic that started this discussion is very thorough. According to the wiki, the Lynx was founded after the School of the Wolf was dissolved, following the death of its leader, Vesemir. Former Wolf Lambert had been traveling with the sorceress Keira Metz, when one day, they stumbled across veteran members of the School of the Cat, who were seeking to recover their caravan.
While discussing their plans, all parties involved decided that it might be prudent to establish their very own school—or rather, reform the Cat into something new and better. Lambert was named its leader, and the new school was called, “Lynx.”
There’s quite a bit more lore surrounding this fictional school (including even more fictional schools, each with their own lore and backstories), but the crux of the Lynx is that it’s a school for adaptable people. There is no home base for this school, as members roam with their caravan from place to place, seeking work. It’s also one of the only schools that will train women and mixed-race people, another feature that has carried over from its Cat origins.
The Canon Implications
Now, it would be hasty to assume that everything (if anything at all) from this fanfic will carry over to the new game. But while there’s some wishful thinking involved in the fanon Lynx’s backstory, there are some plausible aspects of it that could become canon.
Considering Lynxes really are just bigger, wilder cats, it’s not out of the question that this new school will be an offshoot of the Cat (or vice-versa, depending on the time period in which this game is set). This would leave the possibility of character-creation a much more probable feature of the new game—since it would allow players to choose their own gender and racial backstory—two very simple things that fans have been asking for in modern RPGs for years.
This would be a wise, and rather exciting, addition to the Witcher franchise, considering we’ve only ever been able to play as big ol’ boy Geralt in the past (with only a few, ephemeral moments spent as Ciri). And while Geralt is a phenomenal character, part of the fun of playing role-playing games is being able to play a role that suits you—and I don’t know about you, but my mixed-Asian, female self never really found commonality within Geralt.
What do you think of all this? Are you hoping for something specific with this new game? Any theories about the School of the Lynx? Let us know down below!
(Featured Image: CD Projekt Red)
