The world of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is raw and full of monsters. The welcome you receive in Huerto Blanco upon taking control of Geralt of Rivia (after the dream) is a pack of ghouls. A kind of basic monsters similar to rabid dogs or wolves. And they are not few! Luckily, Vesemir is by your side to lend a hand.
So begins the adventure in white orchardThe Witcher 3 tutorial zone. After the skirmish with the Ghuls, I mount my horse and follow Vesemir, who reveals the world’s first geopolitical data to me as we pass through a village razed to the ground by the fires of war.
The Beast of White Orchard in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
The second welcome that The Witcher 3 gives you in Huerto Blanco comes in the form of enraged griffin. She has wrecked a merchant’s cart and is eating the horse while his owner looks on in terror. Geralt and Vesemir attack and manage to scare off the Gryphon, which flies away with its prey in its talons. He gifts Vesemir with a shoulder wound.
The merchant thanks us for the help and says he assumes we want a reward since we’re witches. I answer him “You owe us nothing. You needed help and we gave it to you…”, while Vesemir looks at me with a half smile on his face. The merchant thanks us and recommends that we go to the next inn. They will treat us well if we go their way.
We left the merchant and his battered cart behind to continue the trail of Yennefer of Vengerberg. The sadsong bridge It gives way to the town of Huerto Blanco, the epicenter of all the activity in this area of the map. Let’s go straight to the village tavern.
We enter the tavern and witness new events that reveal geopolitical data in the area: a soldier threatens the innkeeper and demands that she remove a coat of arms with lilies, who represents Temeria, while another is outraged. The innkeeper removes her shield and both soldiers stare into the bottom of their mugs. “Temeria is no more, old man.”.
The war ceases to be a problem when we enter the tavern. All customers look at us with disgust and hate, while the tavern attends us with some education and understanding. The merchant is a relative of the innkeeper and the latter invites us to eat in gratitude for the help.
I ask if there is a contract for the griffin and if he has seen a woman with black hair and who smells of lilac and currants. The innkeeper has no information on the woman, but she offers us clues about the contract for the beast. It’s something.
Vesemir sits down to drink Vodka and treat his wounds. I decide to ask the tavern customers about Yennefer. A strange beggar recognizes the sorceress’s description and recognizes me, Geralt of Rivia. He is called O’Dim or The Lord of Mirrors. I take a sip of my drink and follow the lead he’s given me: he argued with the Nilfgaardian garrison commander.
Nilfgaardians, healers and hunters. In the footsteps of the beast…
Insert subsection of 1-2 hours in which I was wandering aimlessly and exploring some locations. The only remarkable thing: I get the first pieces of the Viper School set. I decide it’s time to continue and head for the Nilfgaardian garrison.
I have never liked Nilfgaardians. They are very careful imperialists… although the alternative of Oxenfurt and Novigrad is not remotely better. I don’t bullshit and urge the guards at the gate to let me through. They yield. Finally, I manage to reach the commander.
The commander is not going to give me Yennefer’s whereabouts just like that. Obvious. He wants me to kill the Griffin in exchange for money and information. I can’t say I’m surprised or like where the money comes from, but… money is money.
I head to the herborista to get a plant to attract the Griffin. His house is near the town of Huerto Blanco. He tells me where to find the plant I need, but I happen to have it in my inventory, so I ask about the girl lying to the right of him. He assures that she will die, so I prepare one swallow potiononly suitable for witches, to try to save her desperately.
I go to the house Hunter, who knows the last trace of the Griffin: a small Nilfgaardian camp. Torn bodies, blood and entrails… The traces lead me to a Griffon nest. A female Griffon lies dead next to a nest with broken eggs. The Nilfgaardians killed her mother and burst her eggs. That explains the male’s fury.
Hunting (for the) monsters?
Disgusted, I head to the White Orchard tavern to inform Vesemir of the progress. The Griffon has reason to be so angry, but he’s preying on innocents, and I have a contract. It is not personal. I set the trap with Vesemir, who gives me a crossbowand we await its appearance.
The fight against the Griffon is nothing special. I take out the silver swordHe launched who and I start to circle the beast in search of discovered spots. There is no use taking cover in front of the powerful wings of the Gryphon, which he uses to strike and cover himself from blows. It breaks Quen’s signal, but I throw it again and continue fighting.
The Griffin takes flight. I take the opportunity to ingest a Lightning potion and select the crossbow. Vesemir yells that the beast is running away, so I run after it to a small clearing next to a lumber mill. I use the crossbow to knock him down and continue to swing with the silver sword. He manages to hit me a few times, almost killing me, so I cast Igni and let him burn to death. I pick up his head as a trophy.
The garrison commander pays me and reveals Yennefer’s location. He is very close, so I run to the White Orchard tavern to inform Vesemir.
What had to happen in the tavern happens: a woman attacks the innkeeper, Vesemir rushes to defend the latter and some bandits to the former, and I go to defend Vesemir. The innkeeper throws us out of the premises after the fight and when leaving a Nilfgaardian patrol appears commanded by Yennefer. Geralt’s (and me’s) heart melts and Vesemir asks him to explain.
Huerto Blanco teaches you a valuable lesson from The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt: Beasts rarely attack without reason and humans are the monsters that often provoke them. They strike the first blow and then cry out to heaven because they have been answered.
