Chapter Eight: Wicked Witch(es) of the Bog
We owe the baron some news about his wife, mostly because he’s also withholding the end of his story about Ciri’s stay at Crow's Perch until he gets it.
PLEASE BE ADVISED: This blog series (obviously) contains major spoilers for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
Current Level: 9
Current Location: Redanian border post, Velen, Northern Temeria
We spent most of last chapter grinding in order to get to where we are now: on our way to talk to the Bloody Baron of Velen about his wife, Anna, and her status as an unwilling but blissfully unaware permanent resident of Crookback Bog. Anna made a pact with the Crones regarding her unborn child, but it went terribly wrong, and now she’s stuck there taking care of a village of orphans—orphans that are now dead because I refused to be manipulated by a tree. We owe the baron this news, mostly because he’s also withholding the end of his story about Ciri’s stay at his home until he gets it.
What did we do?
After our jaunt around Velen last chapter, it's time to tell the baron that his wife now belongs to the crones. The baron is upset that Geralt didn't bring her back, still insistent that Geralt must think he's a piece of trash. I do, but that's besides the point. He tells us met his wife on the battlefield, got married, and had their first child. The war got worse, he was sent away a lot, and he started drinking to cope with how terrible it all was.
While he was gone, Anna had supposedly found comfort in the arms of her childhood friend and moved all of her things out. The baron went to bring them home, but snapped and killed Anna's lover instead. A fight ensued, and the baron hit her for the first time to "calm" her. The years that followed were dark, with a lot of murder and suicide attempts from anna. Geralt goes on to explain that Anna made a pact with the crones, having then been sapped of her energy to the point that she miscarried and started to lose her mind. The baron wants to go get her, but Geralt recommends against going into the swamp, as it’s dangerous even for a witcher.
But finding Anna also means that Geralt gets the end of Ciri's story. When we last left Ciri, a basilisk had attacked her and the baron after their horse race. I didn't get too far into that plot line, as the basilisk spits poison and I don't have any way to counter that as Ciri, so I died. on my second attempt, the basilisk picks up the baron and takes him to the top of the tower. Ciri, worried for him, teleports to the top of the tower and takes the basilisk out. The baron is forever grateful, but Ciri explains that she has to leave now—she's put everyone at risk by using her Power because the Wild Hunt is after her. Now, she's off to Novigrad.
The baron confirms that Ciri went to novigrad, and acknowledges that Geralt must be in a hurry to get there...but, on the off chance he's not, would he mind venturing into the swamp with the baron's men to find Anna? Geralt says yes, that the extra coin never hurt. It's at this point we're interrupted by a small misshapen humanoid creature with a hunched back and a lot of boils. The creature's name is Uma, named for the noise he makes and the fact that he is, well, the ugliest man alive. Geralt's medallion trembles around Uma, and the baron explains that he won the creature in a game of cards after his opponent had gambled away everything else he had.
The results of this quest take me to level 10, which is good, because the next thing I want to do is venture into the swamps with the baron. I hit a few points of interest along the way, because why not? We encounter a friendly dog near the abandoned village of Drudge, and he's getting torn apart by wolves.
After killing the wolves, Geralt notices that he has a key sewn to his collar and seems to want us to follow him. We head to the village and find a group of bandits outside a house, presumably the dog’s owner’s. The dog is a total champion and takes them out even quicker than I can. Inside the house, we learn that his collar key unlocks a secret treasure under the floorboards of the house. Score. Thanks, little dude. He's gone when we leave, but I love a video game dog, even if you can't pet it.
This whole venture is making me realize I should probably update my swords before I head to the bog, and the only place that might have good ones is Novigrad, so I take a brief detour there. now that I have a much better steel and silver sword and yet another clown outfit, I think it's time to actually venture down into the bog. On my way to the Hierarch Square signpost, we discover a mage and a doppler being burned at the stake in the middle of the square. Yikes.
In Downwarren, we're greeted with the sight of two hung bodies, the work of witch hunters who, the baron remarks, are surprisingly far from home. The ealdorman explains that they took off for the swamp with a young woman, presumably Tamara. we must venture into the swamp at once. Once we reach the village, we discover a group of drowners that the witch hunters are currently fighting off, with the help of Tamara. After a tense verbal stand-off between Tamara and the baron, Geralt and the lead witch hunter remind everyone that there's a purpose to them being here. They search the village for Anna and finally discover the shrine room, where Anna is slumped against a wall, babbling to herself and unable to recognize Tamara. She comes outside and we hear the rumblings of a monster—something's coming. First it's drowners and water hags, and then a fiend.
We take them all out as a group without any close calls (this was honestly surprising; I usually get my ass kicked in this fight), and the question arises of what to do with Anna. Tamara wants to take her and break the spell, but Geralt explains that it's more than a spell. Anna has been through a lot, and it's taken a toll on her, as it would anyone. The baron suggests taking her to a healer he knows in the Blue Mountains. Tamara wants to go too, but the lead witch hunter reminds her that she has a new life and new duties to the Eternal Fire. The baron vows to give up booze and find this hermit healer, leaving the swamp with Anna while Tamara watches. People rarely expect witchers to save them from themselves, Geralt remarks.
With the baron now settled, we can now fully turn our attention to other affairs. We take a jaunt south to fix the shrine woman's damaged roadside shrines, though I run into a bit of trouble on our way to the third shrine, when Roach refuses to gallop no matter how hard i try, and the large griffin between Dúen Hen and Byways swoops down and murders me. When I respawn, I decide to take the long way and take out the golem in the elven ruins that I never fought before. On my way in, I also realize I have some ability points and finally get myself that sweet, sweet Undying ability. It comes in handy right away during the golem fight, where I don't realize that my 20-minute Gourmet period has ended and almost die. I make it out, loot the copious amount of treasure in the chamber, and head along the coast to this lady's last monument.
A group of students surround the monument when we arrive, proclaiming themselves to be the heralds of lightning. Their responsibility is to dispose of the dead gods' "rotting remains" and rid the land of the fear of religion and the priests. They want to create their own morality, or else get rid of morality altogether. Kinda sounds like conspiracy theories in a flouncy shirt, so I kill them all. After liberating the nearby settlement of Cestersover, it would seem at this point that I've done enough wandering—I should really head off to Novigrad.
What did we learn?
Ciri: be careful with poison-spitting enemies and Ciri. She can’t make it go away with Quen or a potion like Geralt can.
Death Count (This Chapter): 2
Death Count (Total): 32
(as Ciri) Poisoned by basilisk during fight.
Killed by a griffin while on horseback and unable to gallop, presumably due to a glitch.
Abilities:
I probably won't do these recaps every chapter, but I realized that I've never given much thought to talking about abilities. Here's my current setup:
Top Left (greater blue mutagen):
Exploding Shield (3/3): Quen pushes opponents back and deals damage when it breaks, with chance for a knockdown. Increased stamina regeneration during combat.
Gourmet: Eating food regenerates Vitality for 20 minutes.
Delusion (3/3): Target does not move towards Geralt while he is casting Axii. Increases the effectiveness of Axii in dialogues. Reduces Axii casting time. Failed Axii attempts stagger the target. Increased stamina regeneration during combat.
Top Right (nekker warrior mutagen):
Strength Training (4/5): Strong attack damage increased by 20%. Increased adrenaline point gain.
Muscle Memory (4/5): Fast attack damage increased by 20%. Increased adrenaline point gain:
Undying (2/5): When Vitality reaches 0, it will be restored with a bonus of 25%. Requires at least 1 adrenaline point, which will be consumed. Increased adrenaline point gain.
NOTE: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is the intellectual property of the appropriate copyright holders, including the screencaps from the game I have included in this essay. I have no official affiliation with CDPR or anyone else associated with the game/books/universe; I’m just a fan who plays Witcher to cope.