(after ....an awful lot of screaming these last days.. ... hey I don't know what is wrong with me, maybe it's the spring vibes finally kicking in or smth..)
Anyway here's the concept art for Hans and Henry - Witcher AU
'Cause I can not enjoy ANY franchise, ANY game, ANY-FUCKING-THING without witcherizing it. For t'is the law here.
Go down to my overly detailed description and non-text versions for AU Hans and AU Henry here. I have my brainworms and i'll spill them out on you, if you don't step aside, so beware.
Also this time I'm not going for a mix, I'm going full Witcher universe here.
Let me tell you there is a LOT of Hansry in the making for canon and Witcher AU right now.. I just need to find a way to finish it, for I am cursed to be stuck at WIPs so far as it seems. BUT I WILL DO MY BEST !!! FOR WE NEED THE HANSRY, DON'T WE?!
YES WE DO!!
So I've read the witcher books, played game 3, and looked up several things on fandom-wikis. If anything's not entirely witcher canon here, my bad. I tried my best ok? Also I took some liberty and smushed timelines and stuff to fit the scene here.
Capon is my fucking dress up doll.
I am sorry I could not not. He is so FUCKING Dandelion coded.. PLUS I had so many cool outfit ideas and well...LOOK AT HIM HE JUST EATS, OK? I feel like he could be stuffed in a human-sized sock and still would look great in it... I don't get it either.. the tailors just love him.
have a song recommendation for Hans :3
Hans Capon (House of Leipa)
The House of Leipa is a family line of famous military leaders at the nation of Kaedwen. (listen, there is a canon Fort Leida in the witcher universe, how could you blame me for jumping on that?) For generations they reigned over Fort Leipa and the surrounding region in Kaedwen. It was about 19 years ago when the Scoia'tael invaded the fortress and killed almost all members of the major family branch, including Hans' parents. Hans himself survived due to a servant's quick thinking. He was hidden in the servant's quarters in a bedroom's chest. The Scoia'tael focussed on looting the royal belongings. So he was not found until his relatives reconquered the fortress hours later. Hans has no memory of said day since he was still an infant, but suffers from claustrophobia now.
'The Slaughter of Leipa' contributed severly to the following pogrom in Ard Carraigh (Kaedwens capital), causing the deaths of over 400 nonhumans. Hans is not entirely against nonhuman races but has his personal, unprocessed issues with them....
Back in the present (20y/o) his situation is very similar to canon Hans, with Hanush currently being his guardian as long as he's not old enough to reign. He differs a lot from Hanush's imagination of a proper heir of their family tree and arguments are on a daily bases. For political representation Hans gets to travel and stay at the free city of Novigrad for a while. While he loves his home region in Kaedwen, he immediately falls in love with the urban vibes, and modern culture of the city (and of course the freedom of being away from Hanush's monitoring for once). For a few months he's spending a fair amount of coin on every tailor, tavern, brothel and bathhouse in the city.
By now the owners of said etablishements have made appropriate arrangements with every bandit's guilt around, for his regular visits are more profitable to all of them, than robbing him once.
There might have been one or two kidnappings with ransom involved nonetheless, which had Hanush consider hiring a bodyguard for his ward after all...If only just to mend his headache from time to time a bit.
This is were a certain offer from an old friend, plus a witcher's apprentice appears seemingly just at the right time...
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Henry's design and my idea of his witcher character made me painfully aware of just how similar those two universes actually are. I mean - not necessary a bad thing, but it might take the charm out of it a bit. So I tried to add a little twist to Henry here. Let's see how we're doing.
Have a song recommedation for Henry :3
Henry, child of the fate
Henry is born a blacksmith's son and lived a slow life in a small village around Kaedwen's hillside. There would be times he would even go as far as to call it straight out boring, but he's not one to complain about stuff like that.
Since his father Martin taught him from young age, Henry practically grew up with swords, especially the kind made of finest silver ore, used to slay monsters. His father's outstanding works, famous in all the northern nations, attracted many witchers from far and wide. Of course the nearby 'School of the Wolf' at Kaer Morhen was a popular and recurring customer at their forge as well.
All peace and quiet ended the day his village was raided by bandits and his parents were murdered. Henry found himself seeking refuge, first at Kaer Morhen, then at Fort Leipa, with a handful of other citizens. At the witchers fortress he recognized one or two faces from back at the forge, but there was one particularly standing out.
Radzig Kobyla, a reknown witcher in all around the region seemed to have special interest in Henry and even offered some first combat training in sword-fighting. With time Henry finds the truth about is bonds with Radzig...
Before he was born Radzig saved Martin from a mountain troll. Half joking, half serious Martin remembered old witcher's tradition of the Law of Suprise - 'for what you find at home, yet did not expect' and offered it. Radzig actually refused the offer, for he was not necessarily fond of said tradition.
It was only a month later that they found out about the pregnancy... While awaiting a child Martin was devastated about his promise. He was not sure if it was to be fulfilled or not. After Henry was born Radzig still refused to ever take the child, arguing he never agreed to any contract like this. But fate finds his way nonetheless and with Henry basically finding him and being robbed his family, friends and home, Radzig finally gives in and offers to train him to become a witcher.
Of course things are way more complicated by now, since Henry is not suitable for a proper 'Trial of the grasses' anymore. He never gained the full immunity and powers of a proper witcher, but with Kaer Morhen's knowledge, plus consultation of several sorcerer Radzig's find a way for Henry to undergo a lighter and also much slower variation of the original changing procedure.
Although the risk of said changing progress is the same, if not higher. Errors or negative effects can only be seen and be treated much later after they have already settled in. The sorceress Katharina of Ard Carraigh was outraged when she heard about Radzig's little experiment, but offered her help with the effects nonetheless. With her help Henry was able to adapt existing witcher potions to handle his new powers and skills easier, and - much more important - to keep them at bay, when they threaten to take over his sanity.
While trying to tackle his new life and witcher training, Henry is also confronted with his first 'witcher' contract (well whatever Radzig found fitting for a half-baked witcher, without much fighting experience, nor complete control over his powers, that is.) Their host at Fort Leipa seemed to have a promising task as bodyguard at hand, and since Radzig had taken a lot of contracts from the house of Leipa in past times, it would not hurt giving it a try. Henry would only have to take care of the spoiled Leipa's offspring for a while. Nothing too much of a task right? Right.
At least until said offspring runs off and jumps into sheets with an Alp and seems to be in need of a witcher now after all, .....
But that's a story for another time...
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*visible exhaustion but I made it*
that's it for now guys.. I ..clearly overdid myself in the description right there, I just know it.
Also - sorry for my spelling , I hate rereading stuff, and tend to miss weird errors...
Hope you liked it, I don't really call myself a good writer, I just want to get out my ideas here. :)
