A Knight's Tales

A Knight's Tales is a secondary quest in the Blood and Wine expansion.

Needed: Master Magicker!

I need a hard-hineyed man who won't spill his sphincter at the sight of sorcery and can give a witch a good fecking hiding if it comes to it. You'll find me chopping wood near Fox Hollow – my name's Jacob, and chopping wood's what I do.

All you poop-for-brains feckers who think you're jesters, I'm warning you, jesting's over.

Jacob, woodcutter of Fox Hollow.

Walkthrough[]

You can start the quest by either finding Jacob or his note on the notice board at Castel Ravello. After talking to Jacob himself about the matter examine the tree. The tree is indeed bleeding and by using your witcher senses you can hear it sobbing, after you are done with the investigation talk to Jacob again. You can haggle with him but you won't get much, Jacob will tell Geralt the story of the knight and witch from Lynx Crag, where Geralt must go to find a way to lift the curse and give him the book Tales and Fables. Read the book and head to the marked location.

Important: Reading the book unlocks more choices and outcomes later.

Lynx Crag[]

At the start of the climb you will see a non-hostile Panther, and soon after it you will find a cave. You can be explicitly directed to the cave later, but to save more walking around just head into it now.

Inside you will encounter some Kikimores and their eggs which you can destroy with Igni. If you search the cave thoroughly you will find a chest to the right of the southern entrance on a higher plane. If you climb it to get the loot and use your witcher senses you will notice a body on further higher plane you can climb from there. Examine the body and you will find Sir Gareth's bone. Now climb out of the cave through the other exit, go left and climb the the wall there. After that follow the path and you will soon reach the hut.

Inside the hut you will find several objects to examine and you can collect a few books by doing so. However, the important one is the bear pelt on the wall, just keep in mind once you interact with it, you will be locked out of the hut after the following events. Underneath the pelt there are 4 objects, among which is a kerchief which Geralt will take (50), after which the home owner - the Witch of Lynx Crag - will appear together with the panther from earlier. You will have 3 ways to deal with her: threaten her, say you can lift the curse yourself, or plead with her. The latter is only available if you read the book Jacob gave you.

Important: There is also an optional conversation line to ask what happened to Sir Gareth, which you must do if you wish to get a good ending.

Force the Witch to help[]

If chosen to threaten, Geralt will have to fight the Witch and her Panther. Be quick as the witch has a very strong magic attack, which can one-shot you on higher difficulties - open your inventory immediately and use all potions, decoctions and oils that you may need. Once she is almost dead she will give up and agree to lift the curse. Return to the Tree to find Jacob is missing. Use your witcher senses to find footprints, which will take you to his corpse. Turns out Morholt was possessed by the spirit and killed the woodcutter, so now you will have to kill him. Examine Jacob's body to complete the quest (150), after which you can find 123 florens beside him.

Important: Taking this path will count as "Proof of Valor" for There Can Be Only One.

Pleading or Self-reliance[]

The difference is that handling it on your own may fail, while pleading gives clear instructions on what to do. If you agree to the Witch's terms she will explain that you need Sir Gareth's bone for the ritual to succeed. If you already have it Geralt will mention it and the Witch will praise him for it. Regardless return to the tree and talk to Jacob, he will agree to help with the ritual. Now light up the fires in order and Geralt will throw the kerchief into it, as well as Sir Gareth's bone if you have it.

If you didn't ask what happened to Sir Gareth and/or don't have the bone, Daphne will emerge from the tree as a Wraith and you will have to fight her. If you did everything right, she will appear as a Ghost and ask if Sir Gareth remained faithful to her. Regardless what you answer, she will thank you for your help and leave this world for good.

Whichever the case was, Jacob will pay you the agreed amount of 100+ and the quest completes. (150)

Important: Successfully performing the ritual i.e. with Sir Gareth's bone will count as "Proof of Wisdom" for There Can Be Only One.

Journal entry[]

Geralt finds Jacob first:

In a loggers' clearing near the village of fox hollow, Geralt happened upon a lumberjack named Jacob. The man claimed to have recently discovered an enchanted tree that seemed straight out of Herreras Tales. He believed a young woman was imprisoned in the tree and desperately wished to free her. Though not one to believe fables and similar tales, Geralt nonetheless had to admit the tree was peculiar, for cut with an axe head it seeped not sap but human blood.

Geralt finds the notice first:

A short distance from Castel Ravello, Geralt happened on a notice posted by Jacob, a lumberjack. The logger was in search of someone who had no fear of spells and could thus face a witch. This was the very description of the witcher, no two ways about it, so it was no surprise that our hero took an interest in the notice and decided to visit Jacob.

Jacob proved a true expert on tales. The lumberjack readily explained to Geralt that the woman enchanted in the tree was Daphne, transformed out of great longing due to her deep love for the knight Gareth, whose return she awaited. Gareth had gone off to scale Lynx Crag, atop which he was to find the witch who dwelled there. He was to force her to lift the drought that plagued the land. Alas, the knight had not returned, and the tale from which the logger drew his knowledge said nothing about what had befallen the knight. If there was any answer to the mystery, it could only be found on Lynx Crag.

Geralt politely asks the witch for help and trades a lock of his hair, or lifts the curse himself with Sir Gareth's bone:

Geralt found the witch of Lynx Crag and did precisely what the knight from Herrera's tale was said to have done. He bowed before her and asked her for help. Though fussy, the witch seemed appeased and betrayed the manner in which the woman imprisoned in the tree could be freed. The success was bitter-sweet, however, as neither the witch nor the witcher could restore to the woman the life she had lost. Shortly after being freed, her spirit left this world, though it did so at peace with its fate.

Geralt lifts the curse himself, without Sir Gareth's bone:

Upon Lynx Crag the witcher encountered the witch, but he decided not to seek her aid in freeing the woman enchanted in the tree. Our hero decided he would employ his own devices to lift the curse. He managed to free Daphne's ghost, yet her specter was crazed and filled with pain. Geralt had no choice but to defeat it.

Geralt threatens the witch into helping:

Upon Lynx Crag the witcher encountered the witch and resolved to force her to help him. Defeated in combat, she pledged to free the cursed woman from the tree. Yet her pledge proved a ruse. Upon returning to the tree, the witcher found the lumberjack's cold corpse at its foot. Freed by the witch, the young woman's ghost, crazed with pain, had killed Jacob, then disappeared to parts unknown.

Objectives[]

Talk to Jacob the woodcutter.
Examine the bleeding tree.
Talk to Jacob the woodcutter. (50, Tales and Fables)
Go to Lynx Crag.
Search the hut using your Witcher Senses. (50)

Geralt politely asks the witch for help and trades a lock of his hair:

Find the entrance to the cave under Lynx Crag.
Find Sir Gareth's remains.
Return to the bleeding tree.
Talk to Jacob the woodcutter.
Light the southern fire.
Light the eastern fire.
Light the northern fire.
Light the western fire.

Geralt lifts the curse himself:

Return to the bleeding tree.
Talk to Jacob the woodcutter.
Light the southern fire.
Light the eastern fire.
Light the northern fire.
Light the western fire.
If you didn't bring Sir Gareth's bone and/or didn't ask about his fate:
- Defeat the wraith from the bleeding tree. (150)

Geralt threatens the witch into helping:

Defeat the witch of Lynx Crag.
Return to the bleeding tree.
Use your Witcher Senses to find Jacob the woodcutter's tracks.
Follow the tracks to find Jacob the woodcutter.
Kill Morholt.
Examine the woodcutter's body. (150)

Notes[]

Three unique books/notes are found inside the witch's hut: Liber Ivonis, On the Transmutation of Bodies and Remarks on the Proper Administration of Yarrow. Lootable containers there also contain a greater mutagen transmutator formula, a dye armor formula, and a couple of alchemy ingredients normally only dropped by monsters.
During Geralt's initial conversation with Jacob, the woodcutter mentions characters from the Noble Alondra and Gottfried and the Chessboard Knight in-game books.

Trivia[]

Daphne (Greek: "Laurel") and the transformation into a tree comes straight from Greek mythology, where Daphne is a Naiad, who is pursued by god of sun - Apollo. One of the best known writings is possibly Metamorphoses by the Roman poet Ovid. The myth was also depicted in an opera by Richard Strauss and premiered 1938 in Dresden.
The title is a reference to The Knight's Tale, one of the many stories found within Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales. While the tale has nothing in common with the quest, the themes of courtly love and knightly valor are reoccurring themes within the tale.

Bugs[]

In the case where Geralt lifts the curse himself, the quest is updated as if he bowed before the witch and asked for her help. This is reflected both in the journal entry, and with an optional conversation choice with Jacob before the ritual.