SPOILERS AHEAD
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is full of missions, contracts, side activities, and interesting non-playable characters. Meeting some of these NPCs injects a bit of humor and excitement into the game, and it’s a nice way to further the main story. But, sometimes you can do much more than just meet these characters and do a simple quest. There are times when you can delve into the background of these masterfully crafted individuals and affect their lives in truly meaningful ways. One such opportunity is with the Bloody Baron.
Players will come across the Bloody Baron when they travel to Crow’s Perch as part of the main quest line. He has information regarding Ciri that Geralt desperately needs. Of course, the Bloody Baron isn’t willing to just part it out of pure niceness. He too is having some difficulty with his daughter, and wife for that matter, and requires the assistance of a Witcher.
The Bloody Baron requests that you help him with his family who has, according to him and his spotty memory, been kidnapped. What follows is Geralt uncovering the truth behind the Baron’s broken family, and the first major choice that needs to be made during this quest line as part of the Family Matters quest. It turns out that the Bloody Baron’s wife had a miscarriage and it threw the violent husband into a rampage. The baby has become a Botchling (a tormented creature formed out of an unwanted, dead baby), and in order to help set things straight, it needs to be dealt with. You can either fight it, or turn it into a Lubberkin which will allow for a proper burial as well as help with the whole finding the Baron’s wife and daughter thing. Once completed, Geralt will be able to locate Tamara and find out a bit of info regarding the Baron’s wife, Anna.
Afterwards, you must complete the Ladies of the Wood and The Whispering Hillock quests before you can return to the Bloody Baron and conclude his quest line. The Whispering Hillock will contain the second and final major decision of this quest line. While it may seem trivial at the moment, the decision of whether or not to free the Ghost of the Tree will decide how the Bloody Baron’s quest line will end.
After completing The Whispering Hillock Geralt figures out that Gran, the old lady that does the bidding of the Crones, is actually Anna Strenger, the Bloody Baron’s wife. Although the Baron is upset that you didn’t bring her back, that wasn’t exactly part of the deal and he proceeds to give you the information he promised. At this point, he will ask if you’re willing to assist him with one more thing. If you accept, the Return to Crookback Bog quest will begin, and you’ll be one step closer to completing the Bloody Baron’s quest line.
This is when the consequences of the quest The Whispering Hillock are revealed leading to one of two endings for the Bloody Baron and his family:
Ending One – Head on back to the location where you encountered Anna, the children, and the Ladies of the Wood. Be prepared though, there will be a few fights with Drowners, Water Hags, and a large beast known as a Fiend. Though the quest comes with a suggested level of 9, if you aren’t really comfortable with dodging and using signs yet, don’t attempt the quest until you’re around level 11. If you killed the Ghost in the Tree, then you will discover that Anna has gone completely insane when you find her.
After taking care of all of the enemies in the area, the Bloody Baron will approach his wife. They will travel to the Blue Mountains where he hopes to find her the help she needs. It is as happy an ending as one can get in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
Ending Two – If you freed the Ghost in the Tree then it will have kept its promise and freed the children being held by the Crones. This upsets the three sisters greatly, so much so that they put a curse on Anna Strenger. The curse is that she is transformed into what looks like a Water Hag.
The player will be instructed to seek out Johnny the Godling in order to obtain some info regarding whether or not Anna could be saved from this curse. It turns out she can, so head back, slay all of the enemies that appear, and find your way to the basement of the house. Here, you will come across an altar with several Cursed Dolls from which you must choose the one that represents Anna. The correct doll is the one with the purple flower pinned to it.
Anna is returned back to her human form, but a second curse is revealed in the process. As part of the Crones’ anger, a second curse that causes death is triggered when the first curse is lifted. There is no escape from her punishments since the Crones hold her responsible for the escape of the children. Her family is distraught, and you will find that the Bloody Baron hanged himself when you travel back to Crow’s Perch to receive your payment. It is a sad day indeed.
There you have it, the Bloody Baron’s quest line is complete and he is either happy with love, or leaves a distraught daughter who has lost both of her parents in the same day. What did you choose? Did you go back and undo your decisions to restore the family? Let us know in the comments.
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