In the eyes of a peasant caught between warring armies, there’s little distinction between a bandit and a soldier, and the difference between “requisitions” and “pillaging’ is vanishingly small. Add to this mix the appetite for racially-motivated pogroms growing in the Redanian camp and the prospect of being an elf in No Man’s Land is grim, indeed. This page will cover the secondary quest Death by Fire in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, including how to find the victim’s stash of coins.
Quest Objectives¶
Starting Death by Fire¶
One of many quests you can start just by stumbling across it as you explore Velen, unusual only in that it’s actually listed in your journal like a proper quest! To start it, you’ll need to find several bandits standing outside of a burning house along a road - follow the road north from the Hanged Man’s Tree signpost and at a fork keep right until the road veers east towards Codger’s Quarry. If you stay on this road you can’t miss it, and approaching the arsonists is sufficient to start the quest.
(1 of 2) Travel down a road along the northern end of Velen to find a burning house (see marked location),
Travel down a road along the northern end of Velen to find a burning house (see marked location), (left), outside of which are several arsonists shamelessly reveling in their handiwork. (right)
Save the Elf from the Bandits¶
As you approach the Bandits you should hear somebody crying out for help from inside the house, and once you get close enough the Bandits will warn you off. They’re not only shameless about the evil they’re perpetrating, but they’re stupid enough to threaten Geralt should he intervene, making this one of the easier moral choices in the game. If you pick the option “This is not my concern.” you can walk away and leave the elf trapped inside the burning house to her fate. Come back later and the house will be burned to the ground. No reward, no condemnation, just one of many atrocities in No Man’s Land.
Respond to the Bandits with “There’s a third option.” however, and they’ll get the meaning real quick - make good on your own threat and dispatch them (Lv9 and Lv10), then use 
Aard on the hut’s door to clear the obstruction and allow the elf to flee. Once she’s out of the house, talk to the victim and she’ll tell you about some coin she has hidden in a log behind the house before leaving. You’ll get a small amount of EXP and the quest will complete, but there are more rewards to be had here.
(1 of 4) Approach the Bandits and pick a fight,
Find the Elf’s Hidden Stash¶
First, loot the dead Bandits, as one of them will always yield a pair of Alder Folk Boots, which are likely better than anything a low-level Geralt has access to by now (including the Temerian Boots, if you bought them in White Orchard). After looting the Bandits, plunder some parcels and crates next to the house for random goodies. Next head behind the house and use your Witcher senses to highlight a conspicuous log lying by the corner of the hut, inside of which are the 20 
Crowns the elf had stashed away. Clever girl. Finally enter the house itself and loot a shelf in the back for minor foodstuffs - you’ll choke while inside the house, but Geralt has more than enough lung capacity to wander inside, clear the shelf, take a quick nap, then stagger back out.
(1 of 2) Before you leave, loot the Bandits, as one will always yield some Alder Folk Boots,
Before you leave, loot the Bandits, as one will always yield some Alder Folk Boots, (left), then use your Witcher senses to find a log behind the house, wherein you’ll find some hidden Crowns. (right)
Sign up
No Comments