With any luck you should have been able to craft your Griffin Swords by now, and with the Griffin Silver Sword in hand you should be more prepared than ever to deal with the threats in south-eastern Velen. Time to finish off the rest of this scavenger hunt by finding the Griffin armor. This also gives you an excuse to head back to Lindenvale, where you’ve got a few more outstanding quests worth tackling.

The Fall of House Reardon (Level 6)¶

Fast travel back to Lindenvale and head south-east from the notice board to find Dolores, who will bemoan her fate when you talk to her. Offer to help her and she’ll hand over a “Lockbox Key” , with which you can loot some treasures from inside the house. Dolores herself doesn’t care about the treasure, she just wants the house. You’ll end up doing this quest along the way, but for now, it’s enough that you get it started.

:::note:
Starting this will also start “Ghosts of the Past” if you have both 1) visited Reardon Manor and encounter any of the traps outside, and 2) spared Letho’s life in the last game… or at least told the Nilfgaardians that you did.
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For a full walkthrough, featuring the best choices and general playstyle, then feel free to head to this Reardon guide.

Contract: The Merry Widow (Level 10) Walkthrough¶

Return to the signpost and from it head east to find the Gravedigger near his house. Talk to him about the contract and he’ll tell you about some suspected Necrophage activity. Haggle with him, or just accept the quest, then head to the cemetery, which is located slightly north and to the east.

When you arrive, put down some Wild Dogs (level five) then after Geralt comments on the obvious, search one of several graves north of the chapel to learn some of the digger’s means (or lack thereof), then search a grave west of the chapel to discover a scent trail. Follow the trail over a wall, down a hill across a broken bridge (which you’ll have to leap over a gap to cross) and finally to a cottage along a road south-east of Lindenvale. Search the various implements in the hut - and the skulls in the corner - to identify the beast, then Geralt formulates a plan of action.

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Take the Grave Hag Skulls to lure the beast out into the open (left) then teach her to fear a Witcher’s blade (right).

Grab the “Grave Hag Skulls” after searching them, head to the cemetery, and place the skulls on the stone shrine in the chapel… if you can get Geralt to stop targeting the candles, anyways. Once done, Geralt will rest until nightfall, when the Grave Hag shows up to confront the thief who stole her skulls. She’s an easy fight, as her attacks are quite predictable, just dodge and counter with the strong style. Once she’s dead, loot her body for a “Grave Hag Mutagen” , the silver sword “Addan Deith” , and a “Grave Hag Trophy” , among other things. All you have to do now is collect your reward.

Bandit Camp (Level 10)¶

Return to the cemetery, and from there travel north-west to find a Bandit Camp north of a road running east-west. Kill the Deserters (levels nine and ten) on the ground, then climb a nearby watch tower to find the chest they were guarding.

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Kill the Deserters (left) then climb a nearby watchtower to find their treasure (right).

Abandoned Site (Level 6)¶

Backtrack south to reach the road running east-west across the north of this land, and continue east. After some running you’ll reach a smaller road branching off to the south-east. Take it down to discover an “Abandoned Site” guarded by some Renegades (level five) and their leader (level six). Slaughter them to have more honest folk move in, including a Merchant and an Herbalist.

Bandit Camp (Level 7)¶

From the refugee camp head west to find a road running uphill to the south. Follow it south until you near the end, where it turns east. Instead of following it further, veer off north-west into the wilderness until you find a “Bandit Camp” atop a hill jutting out abruptly over the land below. Kill the Bandits (level seven) inhabiting the area, then loot their camp, including a chest filled with valuables near some rocks atop the hill.

Fools Gold - Part 1 (level 6) Walkthrough¶

Return east to the road you left earlier, then follow it to its southern end at which point it’ll abruptly veer off to the east. Continue along it in that direction and shortly you should reach the town of Lurtch, which isn’t terribly interesting, although their are a few houses you can loot for their petty goods.

Make your way to the northern end of town, where you’ll find a peasant named Yontek whining about some Bandits who stole his “Yagoda”. Further north you’ll said Bandits merrily roasting a pig. Talk to them and they’ll explain where they got it, and offer to share. Before Geralt can sink his teeth into some juicy pig-flesh, Yontek will show up and whine about his pig, whining the Bandits take exception to. After this you’ll get a timed decision; stand up for the poor, beaten, pig-bereft peasant or keep your Witcher neutrality intact and stay out of it.

In this instance, there’s no benefit to staying neutral, so despite the chumminess of the Bandits, stand up for Yontek and the Bandits (levels five and six) will attack. Kill them to start the quest “Fool’s Gold” . Geralt will check up on poor, bereaved Yontek, who mourns poor Yagoda, before explaining where the other villagers went… as best he understands it, anyways. Took by the “piggy magic” apparently.

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At the town of Lurtch you’ll come across some Bandits roasting up a pig, much to Yontek’s dismay (left). After dealing with the Bandits, investigate the pigs to confirm Yontek’s tale (right).

After talking to Yontek, visit the houses back south and use your Witcher Senses to examine the pigs, upon which cursory examination reveals there may actually be some magic at work. Find Yontek again and he’ll show you a “key” to a “hog hut”, which seems to facilitate the transformation of people into pigs. No wonder he was so upset about poor Yagoda. This “hog hut” lies some distance to the east, and you’ll make your way over there in pursuit of the Griffin Armor, amongst other quests.

:::note:
“Fool’s Gold”** is a free DLC quest. You’ll obviously only be able to start it if you’ve kept up-to-date on your patches/DLC. We’ve also done this in a first part, as you have some more exploring to do before you make it to part 2 of Fools Gold.
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