Drowner

Drowner

Species	Necrophages
DLC	Base game
Oil	Necrophage Oil
Signs	Igni Aard
Location	Skellige White Orchard

The Drowner is a Necrophage that lives in the muddy water of ponds and lakes. It looks like a drowned corpse, but it belongs to a species of its own.

Lore

A fisherman from Blaviken gives simple advice. At the water's edge, stay quiet. The first reason is to avoid scaring the fish. The second is to avoid drawing drowners.

A drowner looks like a corpse pulled from the bottom of a pond. Its skin is a sickly blue or green. Slime and sludge ooze from every pore, and it reeks of rot. For this reason, many people believe drowners rise from the bodies of the drowned. Lost travelers who fall into bogs are said to become drowners. So are children who swim too far from shore. Drunk peasants who stumble off narrow swamp paths are said to turn into vodniks.

Like many beliefs about monsters, this one is false. From a distance, drowners do look like people. Witchers have studied them up close, though, and found many ways their bodies differ from a human body. Their scaly skin, gills and back fins show that drowners belong to an entirely foreign species.

Drowners have more dangerous cousins: vodniks, Mucknixers and the Drowned Dead.

Behaviour

Their bodies make drowners excellent swimmers in muddy water. They often gather near villages and towns, where food is easy to find.

Drowners are cowards by nature. They usually eat scraps dug out of rubbish heaps and the bodies of dead animals. A lone traveler or a careless fisherman who strays into their territory is another matter. Then the scavengers become fierce hunters. They strike with lightning speed and drag the victim into the water to drown. When not very hungry, they keep the body under water for a few days. This lets it age until it is soft and rotten, just the way they like it.

Drowners are most active at dusk and at night, above all when it rains. At such times they even leave the water and wander inland.

Weaknesses

Coat the silver sword with Necrophage Oil. Igni is the Sign to use, because drowners are especially weak to fire magic. Drowners live in rotting filth, so poison does them little harm. They are no smarter than a carp or a pike. That is why spells that work on the mind, Axii included, have no effect on them.

Drowners rely on their numbers. They try to flank their target and attack from several sides. Do not get surrounded. Keep moving and use Igni to break up the pack.

Contracts and Quests

Quest	Quest Giver	Location	Reward
Contract: Here Comes the Groom	Notice board	Svorlag, Skellige	Crowns, Ekhidna trophy, Ekhidna mutagen
Evil's Soft First Touches	Notice board	Seven Cats Inn, Novigrad	450 crowns

Drowners turn up in many quests near water. In Evil's Soft First Touches, a main quest of Hearts of Stone, drowners fill the sewers under Oxenfurt. They have to be cleared on the way to the lair of the Toad Prince.

On Spikeroog in Skellige, drowners guard the cave of Melusine. They attack inside the cave during Contract: Here Comes the Groom.

Drops

Name	Image	Category	Effect	Value
Drowner Brain		Alchemy Ingredient	-	30
Drowner Tongue		Alchemy Ingredient	-	30
Monster Bone	-	Crafting Component	-	15
Monster Claw		Crafting Component	-	15
Monster Saliva		Crafting Component	-	15
Monster Blood		Crafting Component	-	15
Monster Heart		Crafting Component	-	15
Monster Ear		Crafting Component	-	15
Monster Eye		Crafting Component	-	15
Monster Hair	-	Crafting Component	-	15
Monster Liver		Crafting Component	-	15
Monster Tooth		Crafting Component	-	15

All Monster Categories

All Necrophages