The Ghost in the Tree Secondary Characters

Journal Description

The Whispering Hillock - if the world were not as it is but as it should be, this name would denote a place of hidden nooks and lovers sharing heartfelt lies in hushed voices. Instead, it stood for danger and terror, for a place where wild animals, driven by some mysterious power, had killed many an inhabitant of Downwarren. Geralt agreed to investigate the problem, and soon discovered the animals were controlled by a spirit entrapped in a tree growing atop the hill. The spirit spoke to him in a woman’s voice, and claimed to have once been a druidess who had kept watch over the Velen grove until the Crones murdered her and imprisoned her ghost in the tree. The forces of nature she had once served now protected her from the fiendish sisters’ further designs. The unfortunate locals had died as collateral damage, for, the spirit attested, nature’s wrath is unrestrainable and distinguishes not between unwary innocents and unwelcome ill-wishers.

The spirit begged Geralt to lift her curse and free her from her torment. In exchange, she promised to rescue the orphans from the swamp clearing, who would otherwise face a cruel death at the hands of the Crones.

These whispered words convinced Geralt and, following the spirit’s instructions, he lifted the curse, transferring the druid’s ghost into the body of a black mare. And so the spirit was set free, and the dark powers afflicting the Whispering Hillock were dispersed.

Yet too much innocent blood had been spilt on the Whispering Hillock. Geralt did not believe the spirit’s explanation and destroyed its cursed heart. In doing so he expulsed it from this world for good.