Phillip Strenger
| Phillip Strenger | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | Character |
| Affiliation | Nilfgaardian Empire; Soldier |
| Location | |
| DLC | Base game |
| Also known as | The Bloody Baron |
Phillip Strenger, known as the Bloody Baron, is a human and a former Temerian soldier. He rules Crow's Perch in Velen as a self-proclaimed baron. Geralt meets him there while searching for Ciri. His story runs through the quests Bloody Baron, Family Matters and Return to Crookback Bog.
Lore
Phillip Strenger served in the army of Temeria. After that army's crushing defeat, he served, dealt and bargained with the occupying Empire of Nilfgaard. He took Crow's Perch as his seat and called himself the lord of Velen.
The local peasants named him the Bloody Baron. The name shows he did not treat his people gently. He drinks heavily and often, and he is dangerous when drunk.
His marriage to Anna was unhappy. While he was away leading campaigns, Anna found comfort with a childhood friend. When the Baron learned the truth, he flew into a rage and killed Anna's lover. The gap between husband and wife only grew after that.
Story
Ciri stayed at Crow's Perch before Geralt came to Velen. The Baron showed her real, almost fatherly care, and gave her shelter under his roof. Geralt comes to ask about her. The Baron offers a trade: he will tell what he knows of Ciri once Geralt finds his wife Anna and his daughter Tamara. Both had vanished some time before.
The Baron hides a great deal at first. He says nothing of Anna's recent pregnancy, her miscarriage or his own drinking. Geralt returns from the Pellar to find him drunk and raging. In the end the Baron comes clean. He had beaten Anna, and she had fled with Tamara. He had buried their stillborn child in secret, and the child has returned as a botchling. Geralt either kills the botchling or lifts its curse. To lift the curse, the Baron carries the creature to the threshold of the manor and gives it a name. The child then rises as a lubberkin, a spirit that leads Geralt on the women's trail.
The trail leads to a fisherman's hut. Tamara is safe in Oxenfurt, but a beast carried Anna off into the swamps. The Baron keeps his word and tells more of Ciri's time at Crow's Perch. Later he learns that Anna is a slave of the Crones in Crookback Bog. He decides to ride into the swamp and free her, with or without Geralt. This starts the quest Return to Crookback Bog.
The Baron's fate depends on the choice made earlier at the Whispering Hillock. If the spirit in the tree was killed, or freed before the Crones asked for its death, Anna is found alive but her mind is broken. Hope remains that she can be cured. The Baron rides with her to the Blue Mountains to seek help there. If the spirit was freed after the Crones gave that task, the Crones turn Anna into a monster. Anna dies whether or not her curse is lifted, and Tamara turns away from her father. The Baron returns to Crow's Perch alone. Soon after, he hangs himself from the tree in the courtyard.
Relationships
Anna Strenger is the Baron's wife, and Tamara is their daughter. Both women fled from his drunken rages and beatings. Tamara holds him in contempt. Even so, the Baron is set on finding them. When there is still hope for Anna, he swears to travel to the ends of the earth to heal her.
Quests
| Quest | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Bloody Baron | Main Quest | Velen |
| Family Matters | Main Quest | Velen |
| Return to Crookback Bog | Secondary Quest | Velen |
| Gwent: Velen Players | Secondary Quest | Velen |
| Ciri's Story: The King of the Wolves | Main Quest | Velen |
| Ciri's Story: The Race | Main Quest | Velen |
| Ciri's Story: Out of the Shadows | Main Quest | Velen |
Notes
The Baron gives Geralt a cloth doll to pass on to Tamara.
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