The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt - Velen Side Quests: Forefather's Eve, Master Armorers
Take on every quest, small to large, with this complete guide to every available secondary quest available within the Velen area.
As you progress through the story, you will come across certain quests that are tied to Main Quests, and that must be completed to reach certain optional requirements for those quests. We’ve marked those quests with an asterisk in order to make them easier to find when scrolling through this document.
This is a work in progress, and there are a lot of side quests available to players in The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt. We’ll be updating this guide as often as possible until we complete it. If you haven’t picked up the game quite yet, you can head over and check out our review-in-progress.
Ciri’s Room*
- Main Quest Connection: Family Matters
- Quest Start Location: Baron’s Manor, Crow’s Perch
- Quest Rewards: Experience Points
Examine the room where Ciri stayed using your Witcher Senses
After speaking with the baron, head downstairs to the room marked on your map. Enter, and then use your Witcher Senses to find a Spinning Top, Ciri’s Clothing, and a weird book that Ciri was using to research curses.
Go to the kitchen and talk to Gretka.
Once you’re done in Ciri’s room, head across the hall and into the kitchen. Here you’ll find Gretka, the little girl from Ciri’s Story. Speak to her and she’ll offer up a little more information about Ciri’s adventures. Before you leave make sure you give her the top.
Deadly Crossing (I)
- Main Quest Connection: None
- Quest Start Location: Troll Bridge
- Quest Rewards: Experience Points
As you travel across the land you’ll come across vagrants trying to make a few extra Crowns off of the poor folk of the realm. The first group you’ll find is on the Troll Bridge in Velen. As you trot, or walk, up to the bridge they’ll demand 50 Crowns to pass. If you want, you can pay them. Or, if you have a conscience you can use your Axii Sign (at least Level 2) to make them give up the venture. Of course, if all else fails you can always just remove their heads from their shoulders, witcher style.
Defender of the Faith (I)
- Main Quest Connection: None
- Quest Start Location: Blackbough
- Quest Rewards: Experience Points
Head down the road east of Blackbough where you’ll find a woman in need of your assistance (She can also be found atop a hill near Duen Hen). Speak to her to find that vandals have been disrespecting the shrines they’ve placed around the land, and agree to help her re-erect them. We’ve listed the locations of all three shrines below, though you will only have to find two after the initial conversation with the woman.
Fix the damaged shrines (3)
- The first shrine is atop a hill in the southwest area of the region.
- The second shrine is located at a junction in the road heading eastwardly out of Blackbough.
- The third shrine can be found in the furthest southwestern part of Velen, just east and a little south of the Byway marker.
(Optional) Defeat the vandals
Once you arrive at the last shrine (you can complete them in any order you wish), you’ll happen across the vagrants as they desecrate yet another shrine. Speak with the leader, and then you’ll be offered to choices to conclude the quest.
- You can agree to leave him alone, and let him continue to make his stand against the old gods, and the intolerance of their teachings. This will fail your previous objective in this quest.
- Disagree with the vagrant, then take him and his companions on. Once they are taken care of the quest will end, and you can continue on your way.
Face Me if You Dare
- Main Quest Connection: None
- Quest Start Location: Crow’s Perch
- Quest Rewards: Experience Points
Heading out of Crow’s Perch you may come across a man named Ronvid. As you pass him by he’ll stop you, challenging you to a duel in the name of Maid Bilberry’s honor. He continues to babble, finally forcing you to face him. Don’t worry though, he’s not hard to take down, and after a few choice swings he yields and flees.
Later on, outside Novigrad’s gates you happen upon him again. This time he has a shield, and challenges you to a rematch. Just like before, he yields after a few choice hits. You’d think twice was enough, right? Wrong.
Head down to the Port of Novigrad a few days after you send him packing outside the gates. Here you’ll find Ronvid and a few of his newly hired bodyguards. At this point he realizes that you’re a witcher, and the quest can conclude in two different ways.
- Kill him and his companions (I mean he kind of had it coming, right?)
- Convince him and his bodyguards to leave the area and go home (This will require Axii Delusion level 2).
Forefather’s Eve
- Main Quest Connection: Family Matters; Main Quest: A Princess in Distress
- Quest Start Location: Pellar’s Hut
- Quest Rewards: Experience Points, Discount at all Velen Merchants
This quest can begin two different ways. 1: The Pellar will approach you at Crow’s Perch after you complete Secondary Quest: Towerful of Mice, but haven’t finished Main Quest: Family Matters. 2: If you already finished both quests, the Pellar will approach you outside of Keira’s cottage.
Meet the Pellar in the stone circle on Fyke Isle.
After accepting this quest from the Pellar, head over to Fyke Isle and make your way to the area indicated on your map. Upon arrival you’ll already see the peasants and the Pellar gathered around the stone in the center. This is your final chance to Meditate, or brew new potions, so make sure you’re prepared, then speak with the Pellar to start the quest.
Protect the ritual’s participants.
The ritual begins, and during this time you’ll need to protect the peasants and the Pellar from groups of Drowners and a Water Hag. Take out the creatures and keep them away from the Pellar. Once they’re dead, the ritual continues, and old man Ambros appears in the flickering flames on the center stone.
The Pellar and the ghost speak, but before they can finish a group of witch hunters show up to end the party. The hunters accuse all the peasants and the Pellar of practicing necromancy, and then the Pellar pleads with you to intervene. Either:
- Tell the witch hunters to leave the people alone, and have the witch hunters attack you, prompting the quest’s next objective.
- Tell the pellar this isn’t what you signed up for. The witch hunters will move in, dispersing the peasants, and snuff out the fire. The Pellar is upset by your actions, and the quest will end.
Defeat the witch hunters.
Simple enough, right? Just hack away at your enemies until they’re all dead.
Defeat the wraiths.
Once the witch hunters have been disposed of the ritual continues, however, blood has been spilled on holy ground, and wraiths begin to attack. Take them out, but at this point the ritual can’t be continued, but the quest isn’t over just yet. Speak to the Pellar to find out that the man in the flames was his father, and that he’s threatened to come back for his revenge. At this point he asks you to find his father’s body in the swamp, and remove the curse that has been cast on him, so that his father can’t return and kill him.
Find the body of the Pellar’s father in the swamps.
Time to head to the swamps near Crookback Bog (because we know how much everyone will love this place). Just head to the west of Orphan Village to find the corpse lying on a small mound of dirt. It’s in pretty great shape to be several decades old. Now that you’ve found it, it’s time to do the dirty work and burn it.
Burn the Pellar’s Father’s body.
Use your Igni Sign to set the corpse afire. You’ll probably run into a couple of Rotfiends in the area, just kill them. Once the corpse is burned, it’s time to head back and report in to the worried Pellar.
Talk to the Pellar.
Make your way back to the Pellar’s hut, and speak with him to tell him the good news. He’ll think you profusely, and offer up a pretty great reward which gives you discounts at every merchant in the Vellen area. Sweet!
More coming soon....
As we continue to update this, make sure you've located all the places of power, and completed all of the side quests in the White Orchard area.
