#the witcher headcanons
A little history lesson about Kerack, the state where many writers place the mysterious Lettenhove.
The area was originally inhabited by the elves, who built a lightower at the mouth of the Adalatte. After they abandoned this region, humans started to settle. They founded the port city of Kerack near the abandoned lighthouse and soon it became a den of pirates, free traders and similar free-minded people.
At the beginning of the 13th century, the city and its vicinities became a base of operations for the merchant and pirate Osmyk. After monopolizing the sea trade in the area, finishing off the concurention and winning a few petty wars with Verden and Cidaris, he crowned himself as the first King of Kerack. The coronation was seen as just formalizing the status quo since Osmyk basically controlled the whole region before the ceremony.
You may be thinking: Rawr, that’s all very well… but why is it important?
Well, what if, when formalising his new state and gathering allies, Osmyk granted other pirate clans/families honourary titles to gain their support. It would make sense. Even with a formidable reputation, Osmyk would need alliances and loyal vassals.
What if, Julian “Jaskier” Alfred Pankratz was actually the son of an infamous pirate captain, who settled on land only with the promise of riches and power.
Jaskier was the product of a political marriage between his infamous cut-throat of a father and a petite debutante from the surrounding freelands. Once his seed was sown, his father spent most of his time at sea in the king’s “navy” and Jaskier scuttled off to Oxenfurt to delay the same fate.
TLDR: Lettenhove doesn’t exist because it was an honourary title bestowed on Jaskier’s family by an infamous pirate king. You’re welcome.
another direction to take this is good dad Pankratz who takes little Julian aboard his ship for half the year in a shared medieval parenting style. like for the warmer months Julian sails the seas with his father, and in the colder months he is at home with his mother learning politics and the inner workings of court
i can only imagine daddy Pankratz supported his son’s desire to become a bard, whereas his mother did everything she could to restrict his freedom and keep him in court as a political pawn.
like, this infamous pirate dad is trying to be cool for his son so he’s like “hell yeah, son! stick it to the man!”
and that was why Jaskier wanted Geralt to go to the coast with him, to visit his father and to show him his way of life on the sea
post-mountain, Jaskier takes to the seas on his father’s ship to get over the break up, and he accidentally becomes an infamous pirate in his own right
i also wouldn’t be against the idea of Jaskier being part siren in this au ….
