Born as a daughter under the Black Sun, Kuba's family feared him. Brash, and loud, his abilities in verbal magic came early - so when he expressed interest in hunting monsters, it goes without saying that his father was happy to hand him off to the rigid disciplines of Kaer Morhen. When told they didn't accept daughters, Kuba headbutted the witcher that took him in directly in the face - breaking the witcher's nose in the process, insisting he was no girl. His abilities were hidden from the masters until his Trials began - by then, it was too late. He became a loud, boastful man at almost seven feet tall, with strength of almost ten men - no one could tame him, and any discipline that stuck only sloughed off his shoulders like snow with every coming spring.
On the Path, the lack of structure that Kaer Morhen gave him only worsened his attitude. He began to show a flagrant disrespect and disregard for others, living on impulse and vices. One day, Kuba took on a contract to rid a priestess temple of monsters. He succeeded - but only technically. The last monster he killed, he did so by stabbing through a priestess to kill it - killing the sister of the contract holder in the process. When he turned around and demanded coin for a job well done, the priestess fell to her knees, and through tears, cursed him...
Until he understood the weight of a life, he was cursed. He would be a Wolf in everything but name. He would wander, not alive, though he could not die. In full moons, he would take the shape of a wolf - as well as in times of immense stress. (For emotions were human things, and he was no longer a person, no?). On top of this, he was forbidden from claiming his rights as a Wolf Witcher - he couldn't look any of his Wolf brethren in the face, he couldn't set foot on Kaer Morhen, and any foods, drinks, weapons, or clothes specifically for Witchers would turn to grave dirt when passing his lips, or in his hands.
In the first year, he hunted Vesemir down and, with his back to him, begged for help in undoing the curse or easing the pain of transformations, any kind of support from his family. Vesemir, taking this as a natural consequence of Kuba's lifelong arrogance, refused to help him - and refused to acknowledge him as one of his own from then on. Eskel and Geralt, still too young to question Vesemir, did as well - Lambert was too young to remember him at all.
The nature of his curse would remain until he understood the weight of a life - since he fell into a deep despair after this, and stopped seeing himself as a person, the curse would remain until he viewed himself kinder... with no outside supports or changes to his life to cause this, Kuba became a hermit. Taking contracts, following the Path, and disappearing back into the woods before anyone could learn his name. Alone.
He would go on to meet Lambert on the Path. The two got along famously, and Lambert accepted him as one of his brothers - though Kuba was too afraid to let him close enough to tell him about his magical abilities, or show his wolf form in front of him.
The therianthropy progressed to any extreme emotion, including despair. Sometime after his 100th birthday, Kuba's fatigue began to worsen - in his frustration with his sudden disability, Kuba lost control of his transformations under extreme stress, and was hunted for his monstrous form. It was during one of these transformations that he was caught, and jailed... and he met Ronin.While jailed, Kuba was tortured for information on how exactly he transformed into a beast - and when he failed to answer after being worked bloody, he was slated to be hanged to death for the crime of using magics for monstrous transformation in a city controlled by the Eternal Fire. Ronin, curious about a witcher who was allegedly practicing magic, met him in jail - to escape death, Kuba struck a deal with Ronin: he would agree to take him to a place that had more witchers, if Ronin would waive his execution. Ronin, not knowing that Kuba planned to drag him to the top of the Killer mountains outside of Kaer Morhen to die, agreed. Ronin left with Kuba in custody, set out for Kaer Morhen.
While travelling through the forest, Ronin and Kuba were ambushed by Scoi'atel - wherein Kuba discovered that Ronin was a master swordsman and, while Kuba was protecting Ronin, Ronin discovered that Kuba had in fact transformed into a terrible monster -- he was a lycanthrope. Now falsely believing that the fight that formed a bond between them, Ronin let Kuba lead him up the Killer mountain to Kaer Morhen. Kuba abandoned him on this mountain, stealing his money and leaving. Kuba, knowing that Ronin had no witcher training, expected Ronin to die on the mountain that had taken so many of his brothers already.
Now a free man, Kuba fell back into his usual habits - only to be surprised when, eight months later, Ronin was not dead and had found him, alive, and still had the strength to beat him senseless. Impressed, Kuba apologized, and began the start of a deep bond between them.
Over the next nine years their friendship would deepen to an unhealthy state. Being the only ones willing to be close to one another, they found themselves dependent on one another, worsening eachother's mental state, Ronin's standing with Cisseis, and Kuba's mental state. At the last six months, Kuba's ability to control his werewolf form would fail...
Our story diverges here. In all forms, Kuba transforms in front of Lambert, driving away the only living family member willing to talk to him. In all forms, Ronin's ties to one of the last living Black Sun daughters complicates his political ties, and he is called back to his position under Cisseis, leaving Kuba alone. In all forms, Kuba's monstrous form causes a mob, and in all forms, Ronin's complications with Cisseis leave him too late to stop the mob from turning violent...
- ... RONIN DIES: Ronin gets between Kuba and the mob. Kuba is too far gone to realize the man who stood in front of him was his only friend Ronin, and he gores him in his blind state. Ronin dies. The death of his last living bond spurs Kuba to realize the importance of Ronin in his life; as he holds the body growing cold, Kuba's curse is undone. He returns to Kaer Morhen and, after difficult conversations between Eskel, Geralt, Lambert and Kuba - the only living Wolf Witchers - they agree that they've lost too many, and that their apathy as children was unfounded, and that they should never have turned him away. By wintering with them, Kuba relearns his family bonds, and eventually, learns how to live with himself.
- ... KUBA DIES: Ronin is too late to stop the mob from killing Kuba, and only arrives in time to see his only friend murdered. Kuba dies.
- ... NEITHER DIE: Ronin still gets between Kuba and the mob, and is gored; somehow, he survives. He is on bedrest for two years and, at Kaer Morhen with Kuba, learns the way of becoming a wolf witcher and completes his trials with them. Kuba's devotion to helping aid Ronin helps convince Eskel, Geralt and Lambert that he has grown and changed his ways, and they finally - finally - accept him again, though it is without challenging their views on rejecting him when they were young. Kuba is a wolf witcher again, but he never forgets that it had been conditional.
