Till Human Voices Wake Us (And We Drown)âs timeline so far:
Tissaia:
Year 696, Crown Princess Skylark is born in the late hours of the night during the Winter Equinox to King Lestyn and Queen Amicia of the Kingdom of Acaidal aka âThe Continentâs heartâ aka "The Golden Kingdomâ with a mark in the form of a lilac on the nape of her neck. This alerts everyone that she was blessed with a soulmate, which means that by holy and mortal law she can never enter an arranged marriage; this also confirms she is the prophecy child and is destined to destroy the world.
Year 708, Since infancy Skylarkâs strange behaviour has caused rumours to circulate and because of this and her parentâs refusal to accept any and all offers of betrothals, Acaidal is attacked during the ball hosted for the Princess 12th birthday (âthe age of consent back then,â according to Tissaia). When their army is defeated and the castle surrounded, the palace is set on fire with her family and the courtiers inside, effectively trapping them. After her parents and her grandmother say their (rushed) goodbyes to her, the Queen takes off her signature pendant and gives it to her daughter, instructing a soldier to try and take the Princess out through the tunnels below the castle. Once outside, the building collapses on itself, triggering her conduit moment and the complete destruction of her kingdom by their attackersâ hands and her own.
Year 709, Skylark is saved from unknown captors, from an unknown location by Rectoress Depraysie after months of physical/psychological torture. Upon reaching Aretuza she tries to kill herself and sometime during the week she spends in recovery (after the Rectoress saves her), she argues with the woman and is forced to endure her Enchantment prematurely in retaliation. Depraysie changes the colour of her hair (her most famous feature) and makes her indistinguishable from Princess Skylarkâs remaining portraits, lastly erasing all evidence of what had happened to her during her time in captivity. She is, however, unable to get rid of the mark on the girlâs neck, much to her frustration. â The trauma produced by the fall of Acaidal, her imprisonment and her Enchantment would soon cause her to develop PTSD and worsen her depressive/anxious tendencies. Depraysie also suspected that a throat infection she had contracted during her stay in the dungeon would be to blame for instigating her genetic predisposition towards OCD into violent existence. â Afterwards, Rectoress Depraysie procures a body that is similar in build to her already favourite apprentice and âprovesâ by various methods to several monarchs that it really is her, successfully tricking people into believing that Princess Skylark is dead. After spreading some more rumours, she gives Nilfgaardâs Emperor, the late Queen Amiciaâs brother, the corpse for safekeeping. Centuries later that same skeleton would be returned to its âhomelandâ when the first king of the newly restored and named Kingdom of Cintra was anointed. Occasionally, new monarchs are known to ask mages for confirmation that the bones are indeed Skylark's and it is always given.
Year 714, She meets fifteen-year-old Lytta Neyd aka âCoralâ aka âThe overbearing, nosy friend she absolutely just toleratesâ. At first glance, the redhead tells her that her name is now meant to be âTissaiaâ and she embraces it, going by it from that day forwards. With time she grows to love the medium like a sibling and trusts her with the truth and the many painful, distressing side effects of the bond (both things which Coral already knows due to her psychic gift).
Year 718, Tissaia meets fourteen-year-old Margarita Laux-Antille aka âRitaâ aka âThe bane of her existenceâ. At first, she considers Rita âneedyâ and âannoyingâ and thinks that she âweeps too muchâ, but sheâs a girl recently orphaned, afraid and alone, so Tissaia takes pity on her and threatens a younger student into changing rooms with her so she can take care of the blonde, who insists on sleeping in the same bed with her when Rectoress Depraysie is particularly horrid. With time she grows to love the blonde like a sibling and trusts her with the truth and the many painful, distressing side effects of the bond.
Year 720, Stregobor asks for permission to court Tissaia, now a gorgeous twenty-four-year-old young woman, but is denied and warned off of it by Rectoress Depraysie. This second-handed rejection causes the man to turn on Tissaia and the sorcerer tries to punish her for his humilliation for centuries.
Year 721, Coral is allowed to depart for Temeriaâs court after her Enchantment, leaving a distraught, resentful and confused Tissaia behind.
Year 723, Rita âstealsâ Feyreâs assigment after their Enchantment and departs for Kadwenâs court. Tissaia de Vries finally departs for Redaniaâs, determined to succeed and prove Rectoress Depraysie wrong.
Year 832, Tissaia commits her first premeditated murder. It is an act that will slowly change her magic in a brutal, unknown manner.
Year 810, Tissaia is sexually assaulted by the grandson of the first king she served, killing him is self-defence and âslaughteringâ him in revenge. Margarita makes the scene seem like an accident, and Coral and her take her away to â hide her in â Skellige âfor many, many monthsâ so she can recover.
Year 846, Falkaâs rebellion commences and what first was a ânobleâ war changes into a peasant one, further degenerating into a massive witchhunt in which Mirthe, an ancient city of mages, is burnt down.
Year 860, She founds the Chapter of the Gift and the Art, and the Brotherhood of Sorcerers with the help of four other mages, amongst them future Rector of Ban Ard/Arch-master Stregobor and future Arch-master Artorius Vigo. Three centuries later, sheâd still be the only woman in the Chapter.
Year 870, The prologue - In late October Tissaia has one of her worst episodes to date, instinctively making a mess of her office and later getting high on a concoction she stole from Rita, who in turn bought it from an elf, to try and negate her powers (which tend to be unpredictable and escape her control during those instances). Amidst the delirium and a high fever she is still able to subconsciously summon an incredibly aggressive thunderstorm to the isle of Thanedd.
Year 1188, After 477 years of being constantly âtormentedâ by their bond, Tissaia finds her soulmate in Yennefer of Vengerberg when the girl stumbles at her feet in Tor Lara. In her desperation to not be parted from her, she strikes a deal with the girl after she expresses her desire/duty to go back to her family. She subsequently wins their bet and when they return to Aretuza the strategy she used prompts the girl to have a breakdown where Tissaia has to stop her from dying after she slits her wrists. That same night she abducts the girlâs father and portals to an abandoned barn in Cintra where she taunts and proceeds to torture the farmer, ultimately killing him after his body gives out by having him eaten alive by wild boars to cover up her tracks, locking all exits and setting the place on fire when sheâs certain heâs passed away.
Yennefer:
Year 1173, Yennefer of Vengerberg is born in the early hours of the morning during Beltane to a half-elf father and a human mother after over 18 hours of labour with a crooked spine and a mark in the form of an orchid next to the deformation in her back.
Year 1788, Her conduit moment is triggered by a teenage couple whose almost assault causes her to create a portal to the Tower of the Gull. Immediately enchanted by the stranger who finds her she almost follows her through another one but stops herself when she realises sheâd be abandoning her family. She strikes a deal with the âladyâ, where either sheâll prove that Yennefer is deeply unwanted in her home or sheâll fail at doing so; in the first scenario, she is to come back with her and in the latter âher chaos will be bound and sheâll never hear from her again,â which Yennefer simultaneously does and doesnât believe. Hours later she is cruelly bought from her father for four marks by the witch (as her mother calls her), losing their bet. After being locked in a room, she breaks a mirror and in a desperate attempt for control tries to kill herself by slitting her wrists with a shard of glass â âfour cuts for four marksâ â but is immediately stopped by her ânew masterâ.
