Haak

The Haak people inhabit the vast steppes of Hakland, a land situated northeast of Zerrikania. According to Encyclopaedia Maxima Mundi, they invaded the Northern Kingdoms in 1350, an event foretold by the legendary Ithlinne years ago.

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Ithlina, actually Ithlinne Aegli: daughter of Aevenien, the legendary elven healer, astrologist and soothsayer, famous for her predictions and prophesies, of which Aen Ithlinnespeath, Ithlina'a Prophesy, is the best known. It has been written down many times and published in numerous forms. The prophesy enjoyed great popularity at certain moments, and the commentaries, clues and clarifications appended to it adapted the text to contemporary events, which strengthened convictions about its great clairvoyance. In particular, it is believed I. predicted the Northern Wars (1239–1268), the Great Plagues (1268, 1272 and 1294), the bloody War of the Two Unicorns (1309–1318) and the Haak Invasion (1350). I. was also supposed to have prophesied the climactic changes observed from the end of the thirteenth century, known as the Great Frost, which superstition always claimed was a sign of the end of the word and linked to the prophesied coming of the Destroyer (q.v.). This passage from I.'s Prophecy gave rise to the infamous witch hunts (1272–76) and contributed to the deaths of many women and unfortunate girls mistaken for the incarnation of the Destroyer. Today, I. is regarded by many scholars as a legendary figure and her 'prophesies' as very recently fabricated apocrypha, and a running literary fraud. Effenberg and Talbot,
Encyclopaedia Maxima Mundi, Volume X

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— pg(s). 283, Baptism of Fire (UK edition)

In The World of the Witcher

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"(...) Whe know ever less of Haakland, safe its location to the northeast of Zerrikania. The people of that land are rumored to be the finest horsemen in the world, learning the art as babes before they even learn to walk. Though not referred to by name, they are also possibly mentioned in one of the apocryphal versions of Ithlinne's prophecy, which speaks of people that will come from the East like a storm, to burn, slaughter, and feast on the ruins, drinking from the skulls of their fallen foes." Bella Jande, "Tales and Legends of Distant Lands"

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— pg(s). 38, The World of the Witcher