A vast expanse of swampland that men never dare enter. Crookback Bog is home to a vast variety of monsters, including some whose names no man has ever uttered.
The isolated corners of our world harbor creatures older than humans, older than academies and mages, older even than elves and dwarves. The Crones of Crookback Bog are such creatures. No one knows their true names, nor what breed of monstrosity they in fact are.
Common folk have given these three sisters the names Weavess, Brewess and Whispess, and call the whole threesome "The Ladies of the Wood," or simply "The Good Ladies." The Crones act as the true sovereigns of Velen, whose inhabitants they help survive through harsh times in return for unquestioning obedience. They wield powerful magic, but one different from that of mages. They draw power from water and earth and are bound to the land in which they live. The Crones can hear everything that happens in their woods, predict the future, twist the threads of human lives and bring blessings as well as curses.
The Crones seem for all intents and purposes to be immortal. Magic elixirs keep them from aging and allow them to take the appearance of young women. These elixirs and their mystical ties to the swamps in which they live also give them supernatural strength and vitality.
SignpostsOnce discovered, signposts allow you to travel directly from one location to another. Walk up to a signpost and use it to open ingame map.
SignpostAncient Oak
Places of PowerWhen you draw on a Place of Power for the first time, you receive an additional Ability Point.
Place of powerIgni Sign
Notice BoardsOffers of work for witchers are posted here. Return from time to time to notice boards you've already seen - new contracts might have been posted since your last visit.
Notice boardNilfgaardian Camp Notice Board
Contract: Patrol Gone Missing (7)
Witcher Gear Diagrams / Scavenger HuntIt's always some kind of box, chest or a corpse containing witcher gear diagrams required for scavenger hunt quests.
Scavenger huntBear School Gear Upgrade Diagrams - Part 3
Chests in the eastern part of the ruins.
Guarded by earth elemental (25).
Diagram: Ursine steel sword - superior
Scavenger huntBear School Gear Upgrade Diagrams - Part 3
Chest inside Hidden Cave.
Diagram: Ursine silver sword - superior
Scavenger huntBear School Gear Upgrade Diagrams - Part 4
Guarded by Cyclops (19).
Chest next to the grindstone.
Diagram: Mastercrafted Ursine armor
Diagram: Mastercrafted Ursine gauntlets
Diagram: Mastercrafted Ursine trousers
Diagram: Mastercrafted Ursine boots
Scavenger huntGriffin School Gear Upgrade Diagrams - Part 2
Chest inside cave:
Diagram: Griffin silver sword - enhanced
Scavenger huntWolf School Gear Upgrade Diagrams - Part 5
Chest is inside wooden shed (same as hidden treasure).
Diagram: Wolven silver sword - mastercrafted
Hidden Treasure QuestsHidden treasure questTwo dead bodies
Guarded by Fiend (22).
Loot Bandit's key and Bandit's notes from one of the corpses.
Use the key to open nearby wooden doors.
Hidden TreasuresHidden treasureChest inside wooden shed
You need Bandit's key to get access to it.
Relic Glory of the North (steel sword)
Treasures
Guarded TreasuresIt's always some kind of box, chest or a dead body containing some goods and guarded by one or more monsters.
Guarded treasure
Special MonstersMonster NestsEvery nest is guarded by monsters of a specific type. Use bombs to destroy it. Do not forget to loot it after its destruction.
Monster nestMonster Nest - Drowners
Bandit CampsKill all the opponents in the area. There is always a treasure chest somewhere in the camp.
Bandit camp
Quests & EventsYou will find more info about quests further below. Warning: Quest descriptions contain a lot of spoilers!
QuestBlood Ties (12)
Entrance to a Cave
Requires a key.
Secondary QuestsSecondary questThe Whispering Hillock (5) - You'll get this quest while performing main story quest - Ladies of the Wood (6).
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." Velen 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?
- Find where the voice is coming from using your Witcher Senses.
- Speak to the spirit in the cave beneath the Whispering Hillock.
You have two options. Think your actions over, as they have a major effect on the fate of the Baron's family.
Option #1
- Destroy the heart in the tree's roots.
Option #2
- Find the bones of the spirit trapped beneath the Whispering Hillock using your Witcher Senses.
- Calm a wild horse using the Axii Sign and mount it.
- Bring a black horse to the cave beneath the Whispering Hillock.
Quest completed.
Secondary questBlood Ties (12)
- Talk to the quartermaster about the noblewoman's son.
- Find Hrodeberth's body using your Witcher Senses.
- Search the site for personal artifacts using your Witcher Senses. - Find Unsent letter lying on the ground.
- Return to the mother.
Quest completed.
Witcher ContractsWitcher contractContract: Patrol Gone Missing (7)
- Talk to the contract issuer.
- Go to abandoned camp.
- Search the area using your Witcher Senses.
- Kill the draconid.
- Take a trophy.
- Return to the Nilfgaardian camp.
Quest completed.
Witcher contractContract: Swamp Thing (12)
A mysterious fog that killed all who ventured into it had arisen near the village of Downwarren - inconveniently close to where peat was being dug. Geralt decided to investigate this murderous mist and see if he couldn't put a stop to it.
- Talk to the contract issuer.
- Find out what's killing people in the fog.
- Navigate the illusions to find the foglet.
- Use the Eye of Nehaleni to see through the illusion.
- Navigate the illusions to find the foglet. - Find hidden cave.
- Kill the foglet.
- Take a trophy from the foglet's body.
- Collect the reward for the foglet.
- Return in a week to collect the agreed-on reward plus interest.
Quest completed.