Aedirn is a Northern Kingdom with its capital at Vengerberg, the city that gave Yennefer her name. It sits between bigger, hungrier neighbours, and its history mostly consists of being invaded, divided and fought over. If Temeria is the North’s proud knight and Redania its banker, Aedirn is the poor soul standing in the middle of the battlefield.
Aedirn in The Witcher 2
The Witcher 2 makes Aedirn its main stage. King Demavend III is one of the monarchs murdered by the Kingslayers, the same plot that kills Foltest of Temeria and sends Letho into legend. With the throne empty, Upper Aedirn becomes a prize. The free town of Vergen, led by Saskia the Dragonslayer and defended by an alliance of humans, elves and dwarves, stands against the army of Kaedwen. If you follow Iorveth, you live through the siege from inside Vergen. If you follow Roche, you watch it from the Kaedweni camp. Either way, chapter two of the game is one long argument about who owns Aedirn.
In the books
In the saga, Demavend is one of the four kings who meet at Hagge to plan their response to Nilfgaard. When the Second Northern War breaks out after the coup on Thanedd, Nilfgaard pours into Aedirn and the kingdom suffers terribly. Yennefer’s birthplace never quite recovers its old glory.
Did you know? Yennefer’s full title, “of Vengerberg”, is one of the few happy things Aedirn ever exported.