The Whispering Hillock
| The Whispering Hillock | |
|---|---|
| Type | Main Quest |
| Region | Velen |
| Suggested Level | 5 |
| Previous Quest | Ladies of the Wood |
| Next Quest | Ciri's Story: Fleeing the Bog |
The Whispering Hillock is a main quest in Velen that runs inside Ladies of the Wood. The Crones send Geralt to Downwarren, a village where people keep dying. The ealdorman says the evil behind the killings lives in the Whispering Hillock. Under the great oak there, a spirit is trapped in the roots of the tree. Geralt must decide whether to free it or kill it.
The Whispering Hillock Map Location and Quest Guide
The Whispering Hillock map location:
- Ride to the Ancient Oak and follow the whispering voice with Witcher Senses.
- Kill the wolves that attack near the tree.
- Kill the werewolf that guards the cave on the western side.
- Enter the cave and swim along the flooded path to the heart in the roots.
- Talk to the spirit.
- Choose to free the spirit or to kill it.
- To free it, find a raven feather, or take one from the nest on the cliff.
- Find the spirit's bones at its grave in the swamp, and kill the water hag and drowners there.
- Calm a wild black horse with Axii and mount it.
- Ride the horse back into the cave to the spirit.
- Perform the ritual to free the spirit.
- To kill the spirit instead, destroy the heart in the tree's roots.
Map credit by Map Genie.
Choices
The fate of the spirit is one of the hardest choices in Velen. The spirit claims the Crones trapped it. It offers to save the orphans of Crookback Bog if Geralt sets it free. That offer comes only when Geralt arrives on the Crones' errand.
Freeing the spirit saves the orphans from the Crones. The freed spirit later destroys Downwarren. The Crones also take out their anger on Anna, the baron's wife, for losing the children.
Killing the spirit leaves the orphans in the hands of the Crones. The children are lost. Both outcomes play out later in the Bloody Baron's story.
Characters
The characters who take part in the quest.
| Character | Image |
|---|---|
| The Ghost in the Tree | 
|
Monsters
The monsters fought during the quest.
| Monster | Image | Species |
|---|---|---|
| Wolf | 
|
Beasts |
| Werewolf | 
|
Cursed Ones |
| Water Hag | 
|
Necrophages |
| Drowner | 
|
Necrophages |
Notes
- The quest can also be found alone, before Ladies of the Wood. It then shows up as a secondary quest.
- The ealdorman of Downwarren pays for the job in Ladies of the Wood.
All Main Quests
Every main quest in story order, with the region it takes place in and its suggested level.
