Part 21 - The Witcher 3 - 2nd playthrough - Death March

I spent some more time trying to defeat this damn werewolf on the Whispering Hillock but none of the tips the Bestiary gave me helped much, so I just climbed up this rock and laughed at it. He can't get up here. I drew from the Place of Power, then entered the cave under the ancient oak tree.

I chose to free the ghost. I know it will have bad consequences for the people of Downwarren, but a choice must be made, and I prefer to save the orphans in Crookback Bog.

When I left the cave, the werewolf was gone...

I went looking for a black horse and the bones of the creature whose spirit lives in the tree. I read the creature was the Crones' "mother" in some way. Why the Crones hated it and killed it is unclear to me.

My thinking was, the Crones' enemy is my friend, so I let it live.

After the black horse now inhabited by the spirit galloped away, I exited the cave and found these brave men had killed the werewolf. Some witcher I am. :D

"The Dagger," as "Gran" (Anna) said. This game is dark af. I chose not to take a screenshot of the scene that comes after this.

It was time to go back to the bog and meet the Crones.

Brewess, the stuff of my nightmares. What you can't see is always scarier, and the designers of these characters know this.

Whispess, being very convincingly innocent with that child's hand sticking out of her bag.

And Weavess, the only crone who is showing her face and making you wish she wasn't.

The Crones were unhappy I had released the spirit from the tree instead of killing it as they had ordered, but nevertheless told me what they knew about Ciri.

It has been widely speculated where the inspiration for these characters came from, and I've seen Baba Yaga (Slavic folklore) and the Moirai (Greek mythology) being mentioned.

When I saw the trail of treats and learned these witches eat children I remembered a fairy tale I first heard when I was little. It is a German fairy tale called Hansel and Gretel (Jancsi és Juliska in the Hungarian version that I was told) about a couple living in poverty who decide to send their children off to the forest because they can't feed them. In the middle of the forest, the children find a hut built from treats and start eating pieces of the roof when a witch suddenly emerges. She locks them up and feeds them fattening foods with the intention of cooking and eating them later, but the children are smart and manage to escape after burning the witch in her own oven.

Good night, kids, sweet dreams. :)

I was shocked when I saw the size of this monster compared to Ciri! She didn't look this huge when she and her sisters were chatting with Geralt.

Quick, Ciri, wake up and run!

More fodder for your nightmares. :)

After learning that "Gran," the Crones' slave was in fact Anna, the Bloody Baron's wife, Geralt left Crookback Bog to return to Crow's Perch and give him the news.

This is the part where the baron tells me his side of the story and expects me to empathize with him. I don't. Not at all.

After I told him what happened to his wife, keeping his word, he told me what happened after he and Ciri were attacked by the basilisk.

And then this happened. When I first played the game and Uma appeared unexpectedly, I suddenly had a million questions, and it was at this point that I knew the main story would be very, very long. :)