This walkthrough follows the main quests from the White Orchard griffin hunt through the Bloody Baron’s family story in Velen. Hendrik’s ledger opens two leads: the Baron at Crow’s Perch and Keira Metz near Midcopse. Together, those leads resolve Anna’s disappearance and reveal what happened to Ciri in Velen. The route ends after the Crones and “Return to Crookback Bog”; Novigrad and Skellige are outside its scope. It was checked against pre-release Remastered v5.00a footage, so launch-build changes have not yet been verified.
White Orchard: find Yennefer’s trail and prepare the griffin hunt
After the opening fight, follow Vesemir into White Orchard and visit the inn. Ask about Yennefer until the Nilfgaardian garrison becomes your next lead. At the garrison, the captain will only give you information after you kill the griffin troubling his soldiers. “The Beast of White Orchard” then gives you two investigations: the hunter who found the victims and the herbalist who knows where the bait grows. Complete both before returning to Vesemir.
For the nest lead, go to Mislav’s hut southwest of the village. If he is absent, turn on Witcher Senses at the door and follow his tracks rather than waiting at the hut. He can take you to the soldiers’ ambush site. Examine the bodies and tracks there, then follow the griffin’s trail uphill across the broken bridge and the rock gaps. At the nest, inspect the dead female griffin and the surrounding remains with Witcher Senses. The investigation is complete when Geralt identifies what happened to the nest; merely reaching the hill is not enough.
For the bait, speak to herbalist Tomira, then search the riverbed for buckthorn. The plant is underwater, so use Witcher Senses while swimming above the marked area and dive to collect it. Tomira also offers “On Death’s Bed.” If you want to help Lena, craft Swallow and give the potion to Tomira before leaving White Orchard; the side quest fails when you depart. It does not replace either griffin objective. You still need the buckthorn and nest information.
Return to Vesemir outside the inn and say you are ready to set the trap. At the ambush site, he gives Geralt a crossbow. Equip it before the royal griffin arrives. Quen covers a missed dodge, while the crossbow brings the griffin down when it takes flight. Attack after its swoops or other committed moves, then move away rather than staying under its wings. When it retreats at roughly half health, follow the quest marker toward the old mill and finish the fight there. Loot the trophy from the body and report to the Nilfgaardian captain; the captain’s information sends Geralt and Vesemir back toward Yennefer.
Vizima and Hendrik’s ledger: split the Velen search
After the encounter with Yennefer, “Imperial Audience” moves the story to Vizima. Dress for the audience, follow the chamberlain, and speak with Emhyr. Yennefer then explains why Geralt must find Ciri. Collect your equipment before leaving the palace. The next main-story destination is Velen, where the Nilfgaardian agent Hendrik was tracking her movements.
In “The Nilfgaardian Connection,” question the people at the Inn at the Crossroads and ride to Heatherton. The village has been attacked. Find Hendrik inside his house and use Witcher Senses to examine the body and room. His boots conceal a key. Open the trapdoor, examine the cellar candle to reveal the hidden chest, and read Hendrik’s ledger inside. Read the ledger before leaving: it supplies the two names that open the Velen investigation, the Bloody Baron at Crow’s Perch and a witch near Midcopse. If only one lead appears active, inspect and read the cellar evidence again rather than searching the ruined village for another person.
You can pursue the Baron and Keira in either order. This route starts at Crow’s Perch. Once the fisherman tells you where Tamara went, Keira’s lead will take you to the person who knows what happened to Anna.
Crow’s Perch: search the rooms and find the Pellar
Travel to Crow’s Perch and meet the Bloody Baron. His account of Ciri begins “Family Matters,” but he withholds the rest of her story until Geralt learns what happened to Anna and Tamara. Follow him upstairs and use Witcher Senses in the family rooms. In Anna’s room, inspect the disturbed furnishings, the damaged wall and the traces that show a struggle. Check Tamara’s room as well. Her dresser contains a rusty key and incense; follow the incense trail down to the hidden shrine in the cellar. Return to the Baron and ask about the talisman found during the search. It leads to the Pellar.
The Pellar’s hut lies outside Crow’s Perch. Deal with the Baron’s men at his door, then ask him to interpret the talisman. He will not begin without Princess, his goat. Take the Pellar’s Bell into the nearby woods, locate Princess with Witcher Senses, and ring the bell repeatedly as you walk back. If she stops, move close and ring again. Kill the bear that threatens her. Back at the hut, the Pellar explains the botchling and sends you to confront the Baron.
When you return to Crow’s Perch, the stables may be burning. If you choose to save the trapped stable hand and horses, enter the burning building promptly, clear the obstructions with Aard, and open the exit. The main investigation continues either way. After Geralt confronts and fights the drunken Baron, insist on learning about the buried child. Follow him to the grave; there you must choose whether to lift the botchling’s curse or kill it.
The botchling: two routes to Anna and Tamara
Lift the curse: Choose to turn the botchling into a lubberkin. The Baron carries it toward the castle while wraiths attack in waves. Fight the wraiths, but watch the child as well. When it starts struggling, cast Axii to calm it, then continue the escort. If you leave it agitated for too long, it turns hostile and the route switches to the kill option. At the castle, interact with the fresh burial mound and wait until the spirit appears. Follow the lubberkin, examining each stop with Witcher Senses, until it leads you to the fisherman’s hut.
Kill the botchling: Fight it at the grave and take its blood to the Pellar. When its spines extend and it begins regenerating, use Axii to expose it again; deal with the wraiths that join the fight. At the Pellar’s ritual, keep the fires burning with Igni while he conducts the rite. Relight a fire as soon as it goes out instead of trying to eliminate every endlessly arriving wraith. The ritual identifies the fisherman you need to question. Both branches therefore converge at the same hut, although their combat and ritual steps differ.
Talk to the fisherman to learn that Tamara fled to Oxenfurt and Anna was taken into the swamp. Report this to the Baron. You may visit Tamara in Oxenfurt now, but talking to her does not reveal Anna’s location or finish “Family Matters.” The Baron’s remaining Ciri account stays tied to finding his wife. If the quest journal says to investigate other Velen leads, switch to “Hunting a Witch” and continue the Keira and Crones chain below.
Keira Metz and the elven ruins
Go to Midcopse and ask around for the witch. The villagers’ directions lead to a hut outside town. Search it with Witcher Senses and find the concealed portal inside; stepping through reveals Keira Metz. Speak with her about Ciri and agree to investigate the elven ruins together. If you chose to meet her there, follow the quest marker to the entrance before starting “Wandering in the Dark.”
Keira’s first portal separates you in the ruins. Follow Geralt’s marker and Witcher Senses until you reach the chamber where rats have cornered her. Destroy both nests with Igni or Aard so new rats stop appearing. Continue after Keira, following the swallow symbols associated with the elven mage. The symbols point the way through the corridors; do not treat every carved creature as a valid clue.
In the Kelpie chamber, the swallow, hound and other marks on the northern rocks are distractions. Kelpie is Ciri’s horse. Look down into the pit for a horse symbol on the wall, drop into the water, and swim through the underwater passage beside it. Climb out and activate the second horse symbol on the stair landing. Keira acknowledges the effect, and a new path opens back in the projection room. At the apparent stone dead end beyond, inspect the swallow sign beside the door to open a portal.
A golem guards the next chamber. Cast Quen, let its heavy swing finish, then dodge and answer with a strong attack. Farther in, Keira shields Geralt from the White Frost while she closes the Wild Hunt portals. Stay inside her protective bubble and kill the hounds that emerge. Running outside the bubble exposes Geralt to the White Frost, so return to Keira before chasing another hound. At the end, Nithral periodically raises a barrier and summons more hounds. Stop attacking his barrier, clear the hounds, and strike when he drops it. Search the elven mage’s laboratory afterward. His warning about the Ladies of the Wood is the link to Anna’s disappearance.
Crookback Bog: Johnny, the Crones and the Whispering Hillock
Read the book about the Ladies of the Wood that Keira gives you, then follow the Trail of Treats into Crookback Bog. At the orphanage, Gran blocks your questions. Talk to the children and agree to hide-and-seek, or give them sweets if that dialogue option is available. For hide-and-seek, use Witcher Senses to trace the children: Genny is in the hay behind the eastern building; Yagna is in the bushes southeast of it; Mikula is behind barrels inside the northern hut; Ayarna is behind a bush along the south side of Gran’s hut. Once the children help you speak to Travik, follow Johnny’s footprints to his burrow. He cannot speak at first, so follow him to the harpy nest, retrieve the sealed bottle, and bring it back. The nest can also contain a raven’s feather. Pick it up now if you may later decide to free the spirit at the Whispering Hillock.
With his voice restored, follow Johnny back to the orphanage. Gran allows the conversation that introduces the Crones. They send Geralt to the Ealdorman of Downwarren, who in turn points him to the tree at the Ancient Oak. This order matters if you are choosing based on the children’s fate. Speak to the Ealdorman before resolving the spirit; freeing it early can produce a different outcome from freeing it during the normal quest sequence.
Enter the cave beneath the Ancient Oak and speak to the spirit. You can destroy the spirit or free it. To destroy it, reject its plea and fight the Tree’s Heart in the chamber. Deal with the creatures it summons, then keep attacking the heart when it is exposed.
To free the spirit, gather its bones from the grave northwest of the Ancient Oak, take a raven’s feather from the harpy nest if you did not collect one with Johnny, and find a black mare south of the tree. Calm the mare with Axii, then guide it into the opening northwest of the Ancient Oak signpost. The drop Geralt used earlier cannot take a horse. In the normal sequence after speaking to the Ealdorman, freeing the spirit saves the bog orphans but leads to an attack on Downwarren and the Crones’ punishment of Anna. Destroying it spares Anna that curse and Downwarren that attack, but the children disappear. If you free the spirit before speaking to the Ealdorman, it still attacks Downwarren without rescuing the children; Anna survives, and the Baron later takes her for treatment.
Return to Crookback Bog and finish the Baron’s story
Return to the Crones after settling the tree. Their account of Ciri advances “Ladies of the Wood” and identifies Gran as Anna. Report what you learned to the Baron at Crow’s Perch; this unlocks the rest of his Ciri account. If you have already spoken to Tamara, the family investigation can now close. The choice at the tree plays out in “Return to Crookback Bog,” when the Baron asks Geralt to accompany him back to Anna.
Meet the Baron at Downwarren, escort his group through the swamp, and help fight the drowners and water hags near the orphanage. A fiend appears after you reach Anna. Keep Quen active and dodge its charges before counterattacking. If you destroyed the spirit in the normal quest sequence, Anna survives but is deeply distressed by the missing children; the Baron takes her away to seek treatment. If you freed the spirit after the Ealdorman sent you there, Anna is cursed and you must find Johnny again to learn what happened. Follow his tracks from his burrow, then return to the Crones’ hut and select the doll with a violet hollyhock bloom to lift the curse. Choosing another doll kills her immediately. Even with the correct doll, Anna dies shortly afterward and the Baron hangs himself.
Once you have the Baron’s final account, Geralt has the Velen part of Ciri’s story. His remaining main leads are in Novigrad and Skellige.