Small Problems¶

Finally, go talk to Julian, who will be standing outside of the Inn, for a change. He’ll tell you that Alina went for a walk in the fields, and has been missing since. He’ll ask you to help him-and as a nice guy, agree. Now that his fiance is missing, you can pursue the quest “Ripples” fully.

As explained earlier, you have three choices-you can side with the Vodyanoi, you can side with the humans of Murky Waters, or you can work for the Lady of the Lake and reconcile both sides. Since the completion of this quest is one of the main quests that will trigger the end of this chapter, we’ll put it off in favor of completing “The Heat of the Day” first. It’ll give us an excuse to search the fields and complete whatever side quests still need doing.

Speaking of side-quests… Pretty much everything we’ve done up until now could be accomplished at night-time, without having to set a single step into the fields. Both these facts are no longer true. Rest until morning (10:00 should do it) and head over to the Collapsed Bridge south of Murky Waters. You should find Pat and Mason Harn. The former has dreams of archery contests in Vizima, while the latter… well, he has need of a Witcher, of course. It’s his life’s work to reconstruct this bridge-a calling from the river spirits. There’s only one small problem-a band of Griggs are sabotaging his work. Strike a deal to start the quest “Small Problems” -he’ll offer 400 Orens, two books, or the archery services of his son. Eh… sure. If you’re feeling frisky, head west along the southern boundary of the area to find a lootable corpse near a pond. It will yield a variety of treasures, including an Earth Rune .

Now that we finally have an excuse, lets check out the Healer’s Hut. Inside is an old lady who wants the Devourer Teeth… and she also sells books, ingredients, alcohol, greases, and powders. If you didn’t get her killed in Chapter 1, instead of an old anonymous witch, you’ll find Abigail. She’ll play mischeivous, but she’s really trying to turn over a new leaf. Instead of selling poisons to her neighbors, she instead peddles in more benign, cow-friendly crafts. See? What you do does have consequences.

Anyways, tell her about the Mason’s problem and… well, she’ll pretty much tell you everything you need to know. A rival tribe of Griggs living in the field stole a treasure from the Griggs living near the village-a Cat Harness , of all things. We need to enter the in the fields and recover it.. which should placate Harn’s Griggs. And with that, we’ve pretty much run out of things to do here. Time to venture merrily to the fields.

Birth of the Midday Bride¶

No sense putting it off any longer, it’s time to travel to the fields. There’s an exit south of the Country Inn. We know a few things about what we’re looking for-Alina wandered into the fields to pick raspberries, and Alvin’s visions have her wandering around in sunlight. Of course, we could find a missing girl at any time of day… but something tells you it won’t be that simple, right?

During the day you can find Wyverns and Noonwraiths (Fast Silver Style) here, which will allow us to gather all the Shimmering Dust we need for the Blacksmith’s Wife. At night you’ll find Devourers and… more Wyverns. Point is, you’ll be able to complete “Temptation” either way you wish, and “The Devourer Contract” by exploring the fields… so their rewards will be recorded below and left for you to turn in at your leisure.

Before we do anything momentous, first we need to collect something. After entering the fields, do not leave until you have completed this step. Travel south along the eastern edge of the map until you come across some trees (north of the “Small Farm” on the local map). You’ll find some Wyverns roaming about, and in their midst, an over-grown and long-abandoned camp. Nearby are two “mangled corpses”, and on the ground you’ll find another Harvall sword. If you enter the fields, then leave before grabbing this sword, it’ll disappear… like all weapons in this game are prone to doing. Now, let’s get down to business…

Head to the middle of the area to find the “Raspberry Patch”. When you approach (if it’s day-time) you should trigger a cutscene where a familiar-looking Noonwraith approaches Geralt. Alina-the-Noonwraith will babble about raspberries, her wedding, and other nonsense. When Geralt tries to tell her that she’s dead, she’ll attack. Put down Alina, and when you go to leave, you’ll witness Adam chasing down and murdering Celina, whom he blames for murdering Alina. Celina will rise as a Nightwraith (these girls seem to have an uncanny disposition for becoming wraiths, it seems) and talk to you. She’ll have the audacity to whine about her fate-cursed by her own foul murder.

That’s all fine and dandy. Head back to Murky Waters to continue this quest. When you return to the village outskirts you’ll run into Adam, who pretty much sums everything up. Alina was killed by Celina (accidently), and Adam killed Celina.

Return to the Country Inn and talk to Julian, who takes the news rather stoicly. He’ll offer to pay you to deal with the threat Alina now represents, and when Geralt mentions Celina’s death, Julian will question that, too. You can either tell him the truth (that Adam killed Celina) or play dumb. If you tattle on Adam, he’ll be arrested and placed under house arrest. If you play dumb, he obviously won’t be arrested.. instead, he’ll hang out at a fireplace north of the Raspberry Patch in the fields.

Restoring an Uncourteous Mirror¶

Now, we’re actually a bit out of Geralt’s area of expertise here-that amnesia thing can be a real chore sometimes. We’ll need to talk to various people who might know how to deal with the situation.

The following folks have the information we seek-Berengar, Dandelion, the Healer/Abigail, the Hermit (a character in the fields we have yet to meet) and the Lady of the Lake. Berengar is aggravating to deal with as always, but he arguably gives some of the best advice-we need to find a magic mirror that Alina had obtained in life-Nehalennia’s Mirror-a proverbial prophetic mirror. The characters in the game think themselves overly clever by putting these mirrors into two categories-the courteous, and the smashed.

Alina’s mirror was apparently not one of the nice ones, and ended up smashed. Showing her ghost the mirror-an item she was familiar with in life-is a step on the road to getting rid of her, as we need to get her to realize that she is, in fact, Alina. Then we need to get her to understand that she’s dead… which involves either reaching her through the arts, or by having another deader tell her that she’s dead… but that’s getting ahead of ourselves…

What this immediately means is that we’re going to have to search the fields for the pieces of the mirror.. which might sound tedious, but from a guide-writer’s perspective, it gives us all a perfect excuse to explore the fields in detail… and since you’ll be collecting crap along the way, nobody can call the exploration arbitrary.

So, head back to the fields (and make sure it’s during the day!), which we’re finally going to explore in detail. For the sake of simplicity, let’s assume you’re entering from the village, not the Lakeside. We’ll explore in the most logical fashion… or rather, by heading around the edge of the map clock-wise. But first, a brief description of the major points of

interest. In the middle of the map is the Crypt, where we have a “mother-in-law” to hunt and a stolen… Cat-Harness to recover. To the north of the Crypt is the “Ruined Mill”. South-east is a “Small Farm”, more south and less east is a “Druid’s Circle”, and near the southern border of the map is the “Hermit’s Hut”.

Remember the overgrown campsite with the mangled corpses and the Harvall sword from earlier? Go back there. From here we’ll start our circuit. Keep heading south to find the “Small Farm”… and “small” here is probably too generous. You should encounter the “Midday Bride” again. Kill her and loot her for a “Shard of Alina’s Mirror” . You’ll also find a fireplace and a lootable corpse near the “farm”.

Continue south until your way is blocked, then turn west and and follow a small body of water to the west. Along the way you should run across a Vodyanoi named Teyu , and some fellow Dagon Worshippers. By now, these critters are pathetically weak. Smite them and take Teyu’s Head . The quest reward will be recorded here, but it’ll be left up to you to turn it in… just be sure to do so before you enter the Crypt. From here, head south to find a “Druid Lantern”, near which you’ll find the “Midday Bride” again. You know the routine, kill it and loot it for another “Shard of Alina’s Mirror” .

Head west, past a “Circle of the Walking Fire” until you reach the Hermit’s Hut. Along the fence to the west you’ll find the “Midday Bride” again, and when you’ve killed her, a third “Shard of Alina’s Mirror” . You can also find some Barrows near the hut, which contain Mandrake Roots.

But really, why visit the Hermit’s Hut if we’re not going to talk to the Hermit? He’ll be outside during the day, or inside at night… how sensible! He sells a huge variety of bomb/oil/potion recipes, and books… most of which we should have (in the latter case) or you shouldn’t need (in the former case.) The only interesting thing here for you might be the “Dagon Sap” scroll… but we’ll be getting it for free soon enough. He’s also a professional-level dice poker player, if you need another win under your belt.

He’s also got a lot to say-pick “Can I ask you something?” to see a full variety of topics. Ask about the kurgans to learn more about the Lady of the Lake’s past champions-from great knights to humble innkeepers, ask about the Lady of the Lake herself, the legend(s) of the Holy Grail, and the Lady’s skepticism over the search for said Holy Grail. Finally, he’s got a job for you. He wants you to drive off the Wild Hunt, the king of which is trying to lure away the souls of his buried knights. In exchange for this boon, he’ll offer you a book on vampires ( Vampires: Facts and Myths ), the ownership of a hut, or a “Wreath of Immortelles” . If you ask him about the wreath, he’ll just vaguely reply “You might find it useful…” What a jerk. No wonder he’s a hermit.

Chasing Off the King of the Wild Hunt¶

We might as well deal with the Wild Hunt now, since it’s current and close. Rest at the nearby fireplace until night-time and head back to the “Druid’s Circle”, where you’ll find a trio of Wraiths. They woke up on the wrong side of the afterlife, and don’t want to be friends. Kill them, and three more Wraiths will show up-accompanied by the King of the Wild Hunt. He’s a pain in the ass, as he’ll parry every attack you direct at him (and given Geralt’s tendency to strike at exactly the target you don’t want him to attack, he’ll be even more bothersome than he should be.)

Simplly put, he can deal a good bit of damage, and is utterly untouchable. You can banish him by activating the “Druid Lantern” near the totem and burning up a Mandrake Root, but if you’re tough enough, you can just fight around him. After the three Wraiths with the King of the Wild Hunt are dead, three more appear. Defeat these final three, and the King of the Wild Hunt will vanish… if he wasn’t already banished. It should also be noted that there’s a “Shrine of the Walking Fire” nearby, if you’re partial to signs. It’ll give you a nice boost to your Igni sign, and make blasting the Wraiths back into the afterlife something of a trivial affair.

Return to the Hermit’s Hut, rest until morning, then talk to the Hermit. You can choose three rewards-first, the book “Vampires: Facts and Myths” , which we should already heave. Second, the ownership of a hut. The hut contains a few lootables, where you can find a Rattle (an item that repels Giant Centipedes) and the book “The Rivian Pogram” which we should already have found at Triss’s House last chapter. It also contains a fireplace that you can’t seem to actually rest at, and despite what the Hermit says, it contains no storage. Screw the hut, Geralt isn’t the type of guy to settle down anyways. The third option is vague, but trust me, it’s the best of the choices… if for no other reason than because the other two choices suck. Regardless of what reward you choose, he’ll give you a “Pouch of Salt”, which repels Wraiths.

Now continue west along the southern boundary of the area, then north along the western boundary. Loot a corpse along the way (just south of the western “ridge” on the local map) and eventually you’ll hit the road leading to the Lakeside area. Note that the “road” only exists on the local map… but the path we’re looking for should be pretty clear, considering it’s a narrow route of passable land leading east-west to the Lakeside area.

Kill another “Midday Bride” and loot the fourth “Shard of Alina’s Mirror” . Our next target is the Crypt, which is east and slightly south of here… or south and slightly east from the Raspberry Patch… however you want to find it. Be sure to return to Tobias Hoffman with Teyu’s Head , if you haven’t already. Wouldn’t want to leave behind any trophies, now would we?