Act I Velen Main Quests Walkthrough - The Witcher 3

Grayrocks West Grayrocks West Location Map

The Nilfgaardian Connection Quest

Geralt traveled to Velen in search of Ciri, an act that attested to the depth of his devotion. Only a man who has been to this land can know just how vile it is. At this time it was commonly known as No Man's Land. Why? Well, the emperor of Nilfgaard had not yet claimed it, Temeria Was in disarray, and the Redanian's had already retreated north. No Man had been left in charge, and he had proved a terrible ruler.

Geralt needed to find Hendrik, an imperial agent who had been working on Ciris case, and to collect from him what information he had managed to gather.

Yet it turned out Hendrik was no longer among the living - the Wild Hunt had murdered him. The spectral riders were also searching for Ciri and had beaten Geralt to the punch. The witcher only managed to obtain a few perfunctory notes about his ward, though thankfully these contained some scraps of valuable information. It seemed Ciri had been a guest of the Bloody Baron, the self-proclaimed ruler of Welen, and that she had quarreled with some witch, presumably the One living near the village of Midcopse.

Crow's Perch South Crow's Perch South Location Map

Bloody Baron Quest

Nilfgaard's agent had determined Ciri had stayed with the baron - the self-proclaimed ruler of Velen. This man was known for his violent temper and three-milelong cruel streak, hence his moniker: the Bloody Baron. Geralt, however, was not one to be frightened by nicknames, least of all those taken from bodily fluids, and so made his way to Crows Perch, the barons seat, to ask about Cirilla.

The guards at the castle gate were clearly not happy to see Geralt. They denied him entry, growling a few threats as they sent him on his way. However, the witcher had to talk to the Bloody Baron, so he set out to find another way into Crows Perch.

Surprisingly, Geralt got some help from a villager he met near the castle. The Oldman directed the Witcher to the Source of an old well, claiming Geralt would find a way into Crows Perch from there.

Geralt found his meeting with the Bloody Baron quite peculiar, and the baron himself not so bloody at all. Or did it just seem so? In any case, it turned out Ciri had indeed visited Crows Perch sometime past, but further information about her was only available for a price.

Ciri's Story: The King of the Wolves Quest

Fleeing the monsters of Crookback Bog, Ciri arrived at a dried-up branch of the Pontar.

While trekking up the former riverbed, Ciri came acrossa girl named Gretka. The child spoke in a quivering voice of the fearsome Wolf King, who, in a twist straight Out of a spine-tingling ballad, prowled the very path they needed to travel.

The Wolf King, it turned out, was in truth a common Werewolf. Ciri slew it, but sustained a wound in the battle. A villager whom the werewolf had been threatening just before Ciri intervened thanked her for saving his life and offered to take her and Gretka to CrOWs Perch, where the baron WOuld feed them and tend to their Wounds.

Crow's Perch South Crow's Perch South Location Map

Family Matters Quest

The baron turned out to be a tough negotiator who knew the full value of the information he possessed. He agreed to tell Geraltabout Ciri On One condition: Geralt had to find his wife and daughter first. The women had mysteriously disappeared a short time before. Though the baron had moved heaven and earth to find them, all his efforts had proved fruitless.

Geralt's search for the barons wife and daughter took him to the local pellar, a sort of soothsayer and folk mage whom Geralt rightly suspected would be well informed about all local goings-on.

The pellar shared some juicy gossip with Geralt: supposedly the baron was a drunk and a terror to his family, and his Wife's recent pregnancy had ended in a mysterious miscarriage.

The pellars augurs showed that the miscarried fetus, undoubtedly discarded without a proper burial, had transformed into a dangerous monster: a botchling. The beast was murderous and foul, but could yet do some good. If its curse could be lifted and the monster could be turned into a lubberkin, this latter being, a friendly household guardian, could lead Geralt to the baron's wife and daughter.

Geralts bosom boiled With Wrath as he went to Confront the baron. He was ready to drag the truth out of the man with a sword, force him to confess to what had truly happened that fateful night. A witcher in this state is even more effective than usual. So Geralt accomplished this in Short Order. The baron admitted that his Wife had miscarried after one of their frequent rows, and that she and his daughter had fled Crows Perch. He also agreed to ShoW Geralt Where he had buried the miscarried child's remains. When the clock struck midnight, both men set off to find the botchling's grave.

Once Geralt and the baron had reached the Unborn babes place of burial, they did not have to wait long for the botchling to show up. The beast hissed and howled and threatened to assume its more monstrous and Vicious form, but the two men completed the naming ritual before it could. Then, following ancient custom, they buried the Creature under the threshold SO that in time it might be reborn as a lubberkin, a household guardian Spirit. Geralt hoped this being WOuld help him find the baron's family.

The baron's wife and daughter had not fled Crows Perch's unaided - a fisherman living nearby had provided key assistance. Geralt went to the man's hut, where he learned a fiend had attacked the two women during their flight. The beast had torn Annas horse to shreds, then Carried her off into the WOOds.

One detail the fisherman mentioned rankled in the witchers mind: it seemed Anna's hands bore strange marks that had burned with fire just moments before the fiend appeared. What could have caused them? What did they mean?

Geralt would have to endure this rankling until he found Anna, who, if still alive, had to be somewhere in Crookback Bog. Tamara, on the other hand, had made it to Oxenfurt, where the fisherman had helped her find Shelter With his brother.

Upon hearing this, the baron revealed another scrap of information about Ciri. He told Geralt of a certain afternoon When he and his retinue had decided to celebrate a successful hunt with a bit of horse racing. The race had come to an abrupt halt, however, when a basilisk attacked. Here the baron employed an old storytellers trick, breaking his tale off at a crucial moment and announcing he would not utter another word until Geralt found his Wife.

Crow's Perch North Crow's Perch North Location Map

A Princess in Distress Quest

Geralt's search for information about the baron's wife and daughter took him to the local pellar. One glance and he knew the man was highly eccentric - an impression only strengthened when the pellar announced he would not divine what had happened to Anna and Tamara until Geralt found Princess, his runaway goat. Having no other choice, Geralt set off on a wild goat chase.

As a knighterrant will comb the rugged heart of the wilderness to find the object of his quest, so Geralt searched for Princess the goat in the woods around Blackbough.

In the end, he found the caprine fugitive and, protecting it from manifold dangers along the way, led it back to its delighted owner. As promised, the pellar would now help Geralt in his search for the barons missing family.

Ciri's Story: The Race Quest

The baron treated Ciri like a daughter-no, better - for slaughtering a boar is sadly a delight few fathers think to share with their daughters. His men took an immediate liking to her as well, mainly due to her hunting prowess and passion for horses. One evening, as they were celebrating a successful hunt around a bonfire, Ciri proposed a wager: if she beat the baron in a horse race, he would give her amount of her choosing. The baron accepted the challenge.

The race Was meant as a harmless diversion, but SOOn took a different turn. Ciri and the baron, riding neck and neck, had just caught sight of the tower serving as the finish line when suddenly a basilisk landed at its base and turned its terrifying gaze upon them.

Spitfire Bluff Spitfire Bluff Location Map

Hunting a Witch Quest

The notes left by Hendrik, the Nilfgaardian agent, mentioned that Ciri had quarreled with some witch, and that the newt-stewer in question Could be found near the village of Midcopse. Exactly where, Geralt did not know - and so he was forced to swallow his manly pride and ask the locals for directions.

The peasants of Midcopse were not overly talkative, but in the end Geralt managed to get enough hints out of them to find the Witch's hut.

Unfortunately, Keira had not actually encountered Ciri, and the Witch mentioned in Hendriks notes was nowhere to be found. Geralt's efforts were not entirely in vain, however. The sorceress had recently entertained an unexpected guest - a masked elven mage. This mysterious visitor was, like Geralt, interested in Ciris whereabouts. Keira figured the mage would be where She had left him and Set Off With Geralt towards his hideout.

The Mire West The Mire West Location Map

Wandering in The Dark Quest

Finding Ciri in Welen had proven harder than tracking a swallow on a rainy day. According to Keira, an elven mage had been tracking this particular swallow as well. Had he found her? Did he know more about her fate? Geralt knew he had to find Out, and Keira, Well, she had unfinished business of her own with the mage. And so the witcher and sorceress set out together on a journey into the darkness to find the mysterious elf's underground hideout.

Barely had our heroes entered the underground chambers when they encountered the enemy. The Wild Hunt had reached the spot before them - and they, too, were searching for Ciri.

The Hunt had in its ranks a navigator, a powerful mage able to teleport its warriors from place to place in the blink of an eye. Geralt and Keira, on the other hand, made their way slowly on foot, encountering obstacle after obstacle. All might have been lost had our heroes not happened across a morphotic projection the elven mage had left for Ciri. The mages illusion guided her towards his lair and called her "Zireael" meaning "swallow" in Elder Speech. Hearing this, Geralt gained two vital clues: the mage clearly knew Ciri well, and he must have painted the swallows on the walls to direct her.

The road through the underground was not an easy one to travel. The mage had set a great many traps that Ciri could easily evade but which would trip up any who chased after her.

In the end Geralt and Keira eliminated the Wild Hunts lead and began nipping at its heels.

Ciris pursuers did not find what they were looking for. They departed empty handed, leaving one warrior behind to tend to Geralt and Keira. He proved a weak match for the witcher and the sorceress, but their victory was bittersweet, as in the underground passageways Geralt found neither Ciri nor the elven mage. All he could now do was to follow the hints provided by yet another morphotic projection the mage had left behind. Geralt finally learned the truth about Ciri and the witch from the mouth of an illusion. The mages projection corrected and supplemented the information left behind by Hendrik - Ciris opponent had not been one ordinary witch but the three Crones, mysterious and powerful beings dwelling in Crookback Bog. Who they truly were and what had happened to Ciriat their swampy home - that, dear reader, you will learn in the pages that follow.

Crookback Bog Crookback Bog Location Map

Ladies of the Wood Quest

Information found in the home of Hendrik, the Nilfgaardian agent, indicated Ciri had entered into conflict with some Witch in Welen. At first Geralt thought this "witch" was Keira Metz, but he later learned Hendrik had meant a different individual, one who dwelt in Crookback Bog. So the witcher ventured into the swamps, determined to find this bog dwelling witch and ask her about Ciri.

Hendrik had known but a portion of the truth and his notes had led Geralt astray, Ciri had in truth come into conflict with the three Crones of Crookback Bog. They had wanted to hand her over to one of the generals of the Wild Hunt named Imlerith. But Ciri escaped their clutches and fled the swamps before their vile plan could come to fruition.

Bald Mountain Bald Mountain Location Map

The Whispering Hillock Quest

Something about life in dreary backwoods settlements leads their inhabitants to hide the truth with misleading names. This takes the form of both hyperbole - a clump of bare trees called "Dragon Spike Forest" or a hole in the ground two paces deep named The Chasm of Eternity" - and understatement - a horrid massacre calmly referred to as the incident." Welen fit the mold in this regard, as Geralt learned while he wandered through it in search of Ciri. There he encountered a trio of highly suspicious magical sisters called the Ladies of the Wood, who directed him to a clump of bogside huts known as Downwarren, Geralt was to solve their "problem: a rash of mysterious murders. He spoke to the ealdorman and learned that the evil power behind the killings dwelled in the Whispering Hillock. Wherever else?

The truth hidden under the Whispering Hillock? A woman's spirit, imprisoned in a cave within it. Geralt concluded this foul being was responsible for murdering the inhabitants of Downwarren, and so destroyed its heart, loosening its last grasp on our world.

Crookback Bog Crookback Bog Location Map

Ciri's Story: Fleeing the Bog Quest

When Ciri arrived in Welen, she found herself in the very heart of the notorious Crookback Bog. Exhausted, she sought shelter, but instead found herself in the clutches of three demonic sisters known to the local peasants as the Ladies of the Wood. Ciri quickly realized how poorly that name fit these bloodthirsty hags and fled. She escaped with her life by a hairs breadth, but still had a long and dangerous trek through the marshes ahead of her.

Crookback Bog is home to more than its fair share of horrifying beasts, but none of them hold a candle to the general of the Wild Hunt who chased Ciri now, Imlerith - for that was his name - had arrived on the Crones' summons to take Ciri back to his king. The young witcher was able to give her pursuer the slip, but the two foes were destined to meet again in the future.

Crookback Bog Crookback Bog Location Map

Ciri's Story: Out of the Shadows Quest

Ciri and the baron were testing their mettle in a horse race when a basilisk swooped down and put an end to the competition. The beast snatched the baron up and carried him off to its nest. Ciri, sparing no time for second thoughts, ran to his rescue.

Ciri new that to save the baron she had to act quickly and use her special abilities. She made a desperate decision and, in the blink of an eye, teleported herself next to the monster and swiftly cut off its head.

This decision had consequences, however: Eredin could sense whenever Ciri used her powers, meaning that even that short moment - in which she revealed the strength lying dormant inside her - was enough to alert the Wild Hunt. Wanting to save the area and her newfound friends from the destruction that would inevitably follow in the Red Riders' wake, Ciri quickly abandoned Crows Perch and made her way to Novigrad, where she hoped to find Yennefer.