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| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt created by CD Projekt Red. Images used for educational purposes only. |
Location: Some field
Prerequisites: Complete Kaer Morhen
Reward: None
- You’ll dive into this one immediately after the end of Kaer Morhen, pitting you against a pack of Ghouls. They’re fairly basic enemies, and the main thing to note is that you should use your silver swords against monsters. If you can’t remember which one you have out, check the list of attack options in the bottom-right corner of the screen. Check their corpses afterward for some small-time loot - Ghoul’s Blood, Venom Extract, stuff like that.
- Hop on Geralt’s horse, Roach, and follow Vesemir down the road apace. You’ll come across a Ransacked Village full of crying people, and find plenty of herbs along the path, but there’s not much to see otherwise.
- Vesemir leads you to a cut scene. You’ll have a chat in the midst of it, and if you decide to press the guy you save for a reward he’ll fork over 50 crowns. Once you’re done talking, hop back on your horse and keep following Vesemir. He’ll lead you to White Orchard, your first official town.
White Orchard
- Hop off your horse to watch a cut scene. You’ll wind up in a conversation with a vendor. Ask her whatever you like, and, if you want some basic supplies, use her for purchases. Her stock consists primarily of food for healing.
- Speak to the two peasants sitting near Vesemir once you regain control. If you use the Axii sign you can get information from one of them. This is useful later in the game, as well, though you need to keep levelling it for Axii to work the way you want it to work.
- Elsewhere in this little tavern are two men at a table. Speak to them to strike up a conversation with the remaining man. He doesn’t know anything of use, but he can introduce you to Gwent. Beat him to earn the Zoltan Chivay card, as well as gain the Collect ‘Em All quest.
- The primary dude you want in here is a bald guy near the door. Speak to him for the information you need. (Accept his drunk offer for a Nilfgaardian Lemon.) He’ll direct you to a Nilfgaardian Garrison nearby. You have your lead.
- Before you leave this tavern, check the box near the vendor’s counter. This is the Stash, and you can use this box to stow any stuff you don’t want to carry around. You can then access this stuff via similar boxes anywhere in the world. Conveniently magical. You won’t need it yet, but… some day.
- Leave the tavern. There’a a fistfight against three Peasants waiting, though two will wait until you take out the first. Poor schmucks. You can also Axii your way out of the fight, if you wish.
- Your next destination is to the northwest of White Orchard. Head west out of White Orchard and, as you hit the centre of town, you’ll see a Notice Board. These Boards are located in most major settlements, and can provide you with side quests that might come in handy for monetary and experience purposes. Don’t neglect ‘em.
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| The Nilfgaardian Commander. He has a name, I swear. |
Nilfgaardian Garrison
- Follow the trail to the Nilfgaardian Garrison in the northwest. If you follow the eastern path along the water’s edge to get here you can come across a cache of Guarded Treasure, watched by a pack of Wolves and their Warg leader; either fight them normally or use the pockets of gas to trigger explosions, hopefully wiping out multiple enemies at once. There’s a nice cache of goodies in the fallen cart they’re guarding.
- The soldiers at the top of the stairs into the Garrison will direct you to a tower within. The Garrison grounds have a few things to loot, but the guards won’t take kindly to your predations, so… maybe not. Check near the tower for a table that will temporarily enhance your equipment, if you want a slight advantage, and speak to the Quartermaster if you want to see his items.
- Head up into the tower (it’s rather a small tower, these days) and speak to the head of the garrison. He’ll get you to hunt down a griffin that’s been hounding the people of White Orchard. (Sound familiar?) Press him for info to get some new objectives. This will push you into a new quest, The Beast of White Orchard, but it won’t complete Lilac and Gooseberries.
- Head out of the Garrison, but before you leave the grounds proper, look to the broken bridge that’s connected to the main door. If you hop across a gap in the bridge you can find a few chests with some potentially-handy items inside.
- This is kind of the end of the quest, but not really, as it isn't considered completed until you finish The Beast of White Orchard. Finish that, as well as one small, almost insignificant quest (it lasts the length of a tavern brawl), to bring the quest to a close. More on that in the next article.