Ladies of the Wood is a main quest in Velen in The Witcher 3.
Your task is to find information on Ciri by meeting the witches in Crookback Bog.
Here’s a walkthrough of Ladies of the Wood (and The Whispering Hillock) in Witcher 3.
This quest is suggested for level 6 and above.
Find the Crones of Crookback Bog
Your main objective is to find the crones. Head to the location on the map, marked by the quest symbol.
Use your witcher senses and you will see this statue. It’s the starting point of the trail.
Keep following the trail of treats. Use your witcher senses to detect the route.
Keep going until you reach a village and a cutscene will load. You will come across many children.
Ask them about Ciri.
Talk to the boy
The granny stops you from talking to the kids. Head towards the hut to talk to the boy.
Once you’re inside, the granny asks you to leave.
Find a way to lure Gran away
To lure Gran away from the hut, just go out and start asking the children about Johnny who has disappeared.
Look for Johnny
Head to the location marked on the map to find Johnny.
There’ll be drowners and other creatures in the area. You may want to take them out first.
Inside the circle, use your witcher senses to detect footprints.
Follow the footprints and you’ll meet more drowners. Take them out.
You will find a burrow here by following the footprints. Ask Johnny to come out.
Follow Johnny
After meeting Johnny, you’ll realize he can’t talk. Help him recover his voice.
Follow him first.
More drowners here.
Search the raven nest
Keep going until Johnny stops. You’ll then need to climb up the small hill to reach the raven’s nest. Go through the side to climb up.
At the raven’s nest, you’ll find some harpies. You may want to kill them first.
Pick up the sealed bottle and the raven’s feather. The sealed bottle is for Johnny and the feather may be useful in a later quest depending on your choices.
Follow Johnny to the village
After getting the sealed bottle, Johnny’s voice is restored.
Follow him back to the village earlier.
He’ll convince Gran to let you meet the Crones.
This part is only cutscenes.
Talk to the ealdorman of Downwarren
The Crones will ask you to do a favor first. Head to the nearby village (Downwarren). The location is provided in the map.
When you reach, speak to the ealdorman.
Find out what’s killing the villagers
You’ll be told about an evil tree that can’t be chopped down. Head to the location shown on the map.
You’ll encounter a werewolf near the entrance. Kill the werewolf first.
Next, head to the Place of Power.
Explore the cave.
What happens if you help the evil spirit (Whispering Hillock)
After you enter the cave, you’ll find the heart of the tree. It promises to help you free the orphans at Crookback Bog.
If you’re doing this quest after starting Ladies of the Wood, then the evil spirit will help you with the children. This only works if you’ve started Ladies of the Wood.
However, siding with the evil spirit will be bad for Anna who is part of the quest Family Matters.
If you choose to side with the Crones instead and destroy the evil spirit, it will be bad for the orphans as they’ll disappear sooner or later.
This will be beneficial for Anna instead.
Defeat the heart in the tree’s roots
We had chosen to defeat the evil spirit instead. This means you’ll need to attack the heart directly.
It has branches to protect it. Keep destroying the branches and attacking the heart.
In the meantime, some creatures will spawn to stop you.
Get rid of the creatures and continue attacking the heart.
Talk to the ealdorman
Once you’ve defeated the heart, speak to the ealdorman who is just outside. He’ll give you the ‘payment’.
There’ll be a cutscene where you’ll finally meet the Crones of Crookback Bog.
Escape from Crookback Bog
The Crones will tell Geralt on how Ciri escaped. You then have to play as Ciri for awhile and escape from the area.
Just keep running even though the monsters keep spawning. Ignore the monsters.
After the flashback, you can choose to go against the Crones, but you can’t fight them yet.
The quest ends here.
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