While the Wild Hunt prevented you from meeting up with Hendrik, you were still able to find his hidden ledger and get two bits of information that gave you leads on Ciri: she met with the Bloody Baron and had a run-in with [a witch in Midcopse]. In the aptly named quest Bloody Baron, you’ll need to meet with this local strongman and find out what he knows about Ciri, although depending on how you dealt with the Bandits at the Inn at the Crossroads it may be somewhat difficult for you to meet with the Bloody Baron… this page will provide a walkthrough for the main quest Bloody Baron in The Witcher 3, including a walkthrough for both routes depending on your choices during The Nilfgaardian Connection.

Quest Objectives¶

Starting Bloody Baron¶

A main story quest, Bloody Baron will begin as The Nilfgaardian Connection ends, after you read Hendrik’s ledger and pick up on two leads (the other lead being the quest [Hunting a Witch]). You can pursue either of these quests as you wish - Bloody Baron is closer, but higher level, although the level difference is fairly trivial. Make your way on foot from Heatherton to Crow’s Perch, perhaps stopping by Blackbough along the way, if you wish to score another signpost for future use.

Once you reach Crow’s Perch, the way you continue this quest will vary greatly depending on your actions during The Nilfgaardian Connection. Before you made your way to Heatherton you needed to stop by the Inn at the Crossroads, where three Bandits interrupted your conversation with the Innkeeper. Depending on your choices you could have either fought the Bandits, or talked them into leaving you alone, and if you killed them, word got around - the town of Crow’s Perch will be on edge and the guards… unfriendly. This naturally affects how easy it is for you to meet the Bloody Baron, and both routes will be covered below:

Route: Did Not Kill the Bandits¶

Your restraint serves you well - none of the Bloody Baron’s thugs were butchered by a rogue Witcher, so they’ve no reason to be on edge. Crow’s Perch - the seat of the Bloody Baron’s power - is open for business, as usual. Walk right on over the bridge and into the town, and work your way up to the castle at the highest point. You’ll be stopped by some guards at the gate, but if you were friendly at the Inn at the Crossroads one of the guards will talk you through the gate - just pick the option “I did. Led me here.” when you get a chance and you’ll be escorted through the gate and to the Bloody Baron himself. It doesn’t matter much what you say to the Bloody Baron, this quest will end and the next main quest, [Ciri’s Story: The King of the Wolves] will begin.

See how smoothly things can go if you’re nice?

Route: Killed the Bandits¶

On the other hand, if you killed the soldiers at the Inn at the Crossroads, none of the peasants in Crow’s Perch will be out and about. Over near the doors to the east that lead to the gate, you’ll find two of the Baron’s soldiers (Lv3) that you’ll have to put down. Near the gate itself, more soldiers will speak to you through the barrier, stating that they’ve heard what you did at the Inn, and they wisely aren’t going to allow you in. Well, would you? Looks like you’ll need to find a sneakier way in…

Find an Alternate Way into the Castle¶

Head back downhill to the market, where you’ll see that one lone old man has decided to brave the murderous Witcher. Talk to him and ask him how to get inside the keep, and he’ll try to wrangle 15 Crowns off of you. Pay him and he’ll tell you a longwinded story that eventually leads to Geralt deducing there’s an alternate way into the castle. You just need to find some shrine northwest of the city…

Find the Shrine Outside of Crow’s Perch¶

Leave the city via the way you entered and from the Crow’s Perch signpost follow the road west, then north, then northwest around the western edge of the city. The road will turn west again and you’ll find a shrine at the crossroads ahead. This isn’t the shrine you’re looking for, but it’s a useful landmark anyways, as you’ll need to follow the road north from here, which eventually veers northeast. Note the hanged corpses on the side of the road, and if you attacked the Bandits at the Inn at the Crossroads you should find a search area here, which is largely unnecessary as the shrine is easily visible off the eastern side of the road. If you didn’t attack the Baron’s men at the Inn at the Crossroads and are just following along to plunder the cave we’re looking for, this might be trickier, but if you travel by night the shrine will be lit up by candles, making it easy to see in the darkness. Either way, from the shrine head southeast and into the river, where you should see a cave you can swim into, the roof of which is just above the water line.

Explore the Cave¶

Dive into the river and dive into the cave, then swim south until your progress is blocked by rocks. Climb up onto the stone ledge blocking your path and continue running south, then east, where you’ll find another ledge to scale. Drop off another ledge to the north where you’ll encounter a Water Hag (Lv6). Water Hags can “teleport” by slipping into the muck, emerging elsewhere on the battlefield after a moment, and while their primary attack is a claw swipe, they like to first throw muck at their opponent before closing in. If their projectile hits it’ll stun Geralt, preventing him from attacking or using signs, but he can still move and dodge.

Once the Water Hag is gone, it’s time to go lootin’! Use your Witcher senses to spot a chest to the west (near the ledge you just dropped down), and another to the east. Once those are looted, head north to a stalagmite east of which are two more chests. The northern of these two chests will yield the Diagram: Wolven Silver Sword - Enhanced while the latter usually contains random diagrams or formulae. While it’s nice to have the schematics for the Enhanced Wolven Silver Sword, it has a level requirement of 21, so you won’t be using it any time soon. Not only that, but you’ll have to find the earlier diagrams before you can craft this one. Still, better to have it than not.

If that’s not enough loot, you’re in luck, as there’s more to find, but you’ll need to get your everything wet to get them. Head west from the chest that contained the diagram for the Enhanced Wolven Silver Sword and dive into some water. Look down with your Witcher senses and you should spot two submerged chests - dive down and loot them, where you’ll might find more random diagrams/formulae.

Climb back out of the water and make your way south of where you fought the Water Hag and climb onto a ledge, then follow the linear path uphill, working your way around counter-clockwise as you go. You’ll find a crate and a sack you can loot, but ultimately you’ll end up under the well - the wooden platform and lantern should mark it out easily enough, if the sun isn’t out to do the job. Climb your way to the surface to witness a cutscene that introduces you to the Bloody Baron.

Whether you reached the Bloody Baron via the well or were on good enough terms with the guards to go through the gate, it doesn’t really matter much. Geralt will end up exchanging words with the Bloody Baron, and regardless of the dialog choices you pick this quest will end and the next quest [Ciri’s Story: The King of the Wolves] will begin.