Blood Simple

Blood Simple
Description
Region(s)	Sansretour Valley Sansretour Marsh
Location(s)	La Compassion Orphanage Bridge near The Cockatrice Inn
Suggested Level	47
Reward(s)	1,000 Garkain trophy Magic key Read bestiary entry: 100
Previous Quest	The Night of Long Fangs
Next Quest	What Lies Unseen (optional) The Night of Long Fangs (if player changes their mind)
Additional Information
Type	Main quest
Enemies	Alpha Garkain Alp (optional)

Blood Simple is a potential main quest in the Blood and Wine expansion. Note that, at the end of the quest, you can then decide to change paths to go find Syanna. Only then will your choice be set.

Walkthrough

Having followed Orianna to the local orphanage, you learn some beast attacked, killing almost all the children. Once free to move around again, you can examine the 2 bodies inside the building, then the one just outside the doorway. Out here there's a number of things to examine: the claw marks going up the building, the body against the tree with the swing, footprints leading away from the first body, the blood on the rock ledge, the body just below the ledge, and the body near the orphanage's arch. However, the most important piece to continue is the green spot on the pillar near the entrance and steps, which will pick up a scent trail.

Follow the trail a short distance to find some tracks that go over the ledge. On this side you'll find another body. If you examine it, Geralt will correctly conclude the beast is an alpha garkain, even if you didn't examine any other pieces of evidence. Read the bestiary entry now for an extra 100. On the other side of the pen examine the wagon tracks and, if you haven't already guessed, it's best to ride Roach for this part to go faster. No need to dismount as Geralt will automatically comment when the tracks go off the road. Continue following into a small rut where, at the end, you'll see what became of the wagon.

You can examine the horse's body and the woman's, but you may have already noticed where the garkain is with your Witcher Senses. If you haven't, look northwest towards a bridge to see a red audio indicator, that's where the alpha garkain is hiding. Head there and, once you're close enough, a cutscene occurs before the fighting starts. Use whichever tactics you find useful against it and, once the deed is done, loot it for a Garkain trophy. (200) Before you leave and head back to the orphanage, you can also loot the body near the bridge to recover Orianna's letter to learn something rather interesting and to which Geralt will comment on.

Make your way back to the orphanage and open the door to catch Orianna red-handed. Respond however you wish, but in the end Geralt will decide to let her go for now, though vowing to return one day to deal with her. (800) You'll also be given a magic key that's needed to open the Unseen Elder's cave. Nearby are some birds in the trees; interact with them to let Regis know where to meet. You can then head straight to the docks or stay here and go manually, but if you choose the latter you'll encounter an alp at the city gates. Once you meet with Regis, this is your final chance to change your mind to go find Syanna or stay the course and go see the Unseen Elder.

Journal entry

Geralt had waded through the city's vampire-infested streets to reach Lady Orianna's estate. The vampiress, however, was hardly eager to help the witcher find the Unseen Elder. She was on her way out, about to leave Beauclair for the orphanage she maintained outside the city walls. Anxious about what she might find there, she had neither the time nor the desire nor the patience to listen to the witcher's arguments. Geralt had no choice but to accompany Orianna, hoping to convince her along the way.

Orianna's concerns had been completely justified. One of the vampires Dettlaff had summoned - a garkain, Geralt concluded, based on the clues he found - had perpetrated a bloody massacre. Enraged by what she found, Orianna pledged to help the witcher find the Unseen Elder - on one condition. Geralt had first to bring her the head of her wards' murderer. If I know Geralt, however, he would have hunted the bastard down without the promise of any reward.

Geralt had slain the garkain, but when he rejoined Orianna, he learned the old vampiress was, in fact, not much better than the brute she had asked the witcher to hunt down and kill. Though his hand itched to grab the hilt of his silver sword once more and tend to Orianna as he had tended to the garkain, he was well aware saving the city's inhabitants was far more important at the time. Nonetheless, I suspect the witcher and the vampiress will meet again one day...

As the witcher met once more with Regis, two possible paths lay before him. He now had to choose between meeting with the Unseen Elder or finding Syanna.

Objectives

• Search the orphanage using your Witcher Senses.
• Follow the scent using your Witcher Senses.
• Follow the tracks using your Witcher Senses.
• Follow the wagon using your Witcher Senses.
• [Optional] Read the entry about alpha garkains in the Bestiary. (100)
• Follow the wheel tracks using your Witcher Senses.
• Examine the cart using your Witcher Senses.
• Find the garkain's hideout using your Witcher Senses.
• Kill the garkain.
• Collect a trophy from the garkain. (200)
• Return to Orianna. (800)
• Tell the birds you're ready to meet Regis.
• If chosen to stay at the orphanage:
  • Meet Regis at the docks.

Notes

• There are remnants of a few unobtainable cut content items still in the game files that, while not all may be unquestionably linked to this quest, would make a lot of sense as part of it: a diary, "garkain venom antidote" and formula for it, "garkain bait bolt" and diagram for it, "garkain venom glands", and "blood of a poisoned child".

Bugs

• The chest by the cart on the beach is supposed to also have 500-700 florens, presumably all the money paid by Orianna to the orphanage caretaker, but only a random valuable appears instead.