You’re wandering through a swamp. It’s thick, grey, and smells like rotting peat and old blood. Then you find it—the Trail of Treats. It’s supposed to be whimsical, right? Like Hansel and Gretel. But in The Witcher 3, whimsy is usually a mask for something much, much worse. This is where you first really meet the Crones.
The Witcher 3 Ladies of the Woods quest isn't just a mission. It’s a masterclass in folk horror. Honestly, it’s probably the moment most players realize that CD Projekt Red wasn't playing around with the "mature" rating. You aren't just hunting a monster for coin; you’re stepping into a cycle of misery that has existed for centuries. It’s messy. It’s gross. It makes you feel like no matter what you choose, someone is going to suffer.
The Crones: Not Your Average Fairy Tale Villains
Most games give you a boss with a big health bar and a clear motive. The Crones—Brewess, Weavess, and Whispess—are different. They don’t want to rule the world. They just want to eat, specifically children, and maintain their grip on the people of Velen. They are old. Older than the human kingdoms, maybe even older than the elves in the region.
They look hideous. One has a basket over her face filled with twitching severed ears. Another is bloated beyond belief. But when the peasants of Downwarren look at them through their "magical" tapestry, they see beautiful, golden-haired maidens. This contrast is the core of why the Witcher 3 Ladies of the Woods storyline works so well. It’s about the lies people tell themselves to survive in a land where the gods have clearly left the building.
The Crones function as a dark mirror to the Lady of the Lake or other benevolent deities. They provide. They give the villagers rain for their crops or protection from bandits. But the price is always blood. Always. If you want their help, you pay in "tribute," which is a polite way of saying you give up your kids or your own body parts. It’s transactional evil.
The Mystery of the Whispering Hillock
Right in the middle of this quest, you run into a moral buzzsaw: The Whispering Hillock. You find a spirit trapped in a tree. It claims it wants to save the children from the Crones. The Crones tell you it’s an ancient evil that needs to be destroyed.
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Who do you trust?
If you kill the spirit, the children at Crookback Bog are taken by the Crones (and we all know what happens next). But the village of Downwarren survives. If you free the spirit, it saves the kids, but then it goes on a localized rampage and wipes out the entire village of Downwarren. Oh, and it also leads to the Baron’s wife, Anna, being cursed, which usually ends with the Bloody Baron taking his own life.
There is no "golden ending" here. Most RPGs have a hidden third option where everyone lives if you have a high enough charisma stat. Not here. The Witcher 3 forces you to weigh the lives of innocent children against an entire village of people who, while complicit in the Crones' games, are mostly just trying to not starve to death.
Why the Atmosphere Works So Well
The music. Seriously. "Silver for Monsters" gets all the hype for combat, but the "Ladies of the Woods" track is pure dread. It uses these discordant, scratching strings and a rhythmic thumping that sounds like a heartbeat. It’s oppressive.
Velen itself is a character in this quest. It’s a war-torn no-man’s-land. When you’re trekking through Crookback Bog, the environment feels like it’s trying to swallow you. The mud slows you down. Drowners pop out of the scum. The fog is so thick you can barely see five feet ahead. It builds a sense of claustrophobia that makes the eventual reveal of the Crones’ true forms feel like a punch to the gut.
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Connection to the Larger Narrative
We can't talk about the Witcher 3 Ladies of the Woods without mentioning Ciri. This quest is the first time we get a real lead on where she went after landing in Velen. The Crones tried to eat her. Let that sink in. Ciri, who is basically a demigod in training, barely escaped these things. It establishes the Crones as a threat that even Geralt should be wary of.
It also ties back to the "The Whispering Hillock" book you can find in the game. If you actually read the lore entries—and you should—it’s implied that the spirit in the tree might actually be the Crones' mother, a creature even more powerful and unstable than they are. The Crones didn't just trap her because she was evil; they trapped her to take her power. It adds a layer of Shakespearean family drama to the horror.
The Reality of Velen's "Protectors"
You’ll notice the peasants don't hate the Crones. That’s the most disturbing part. They worship them. They have festivals for them. In a world where Kings are burning people at the stake and the Nilfgaardian army is hanging "partisans" from every third tree, the Crones represent a terrifying kind of stability.
"They take our ears, but they keep the wolves away."
That’s the logic. It’s a survival mechanism. Geralt, as a Witcher, usually stays neutral, but this quest tests that neutrality to the breaking point. You aren't just killing a monster; you’re dismantling a social system, however twisted it might be. When you finally get the chance to fight them later in the game (as Ciri), it feels incredibly cathartic because of how much time the game spent making you feel powerless against them in the beginning.
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What Most People Miss
A lot of players rush through the dialogue, but if you pay attention to the orphans at Crookback Bog, they all have distinct personalities. They aren't just generic NPCs. One of them, a boy named Marek, talks about how his parents sent him "on a trip" because they couldn't feed him. The realization that these kids were basically sold for a bit of corn or a better harvest is what makes the choice at the Hillock so agonizing.
Also, look at the wall of ears. Each one represents a "request" made to the Crones. The Crones hear everything that happens in the woods through those ears. It’s a literal surveillance network made of flesh. It explains why they always seem to be three steps ahead of Geralt.
Tips for Tackling the Quest
If you’re playing this for the first time or going back for a replay on the "Next-Gen" update, keep a few things in mind.
- Check your Bestiary: The Crones are technically Relicts. If you find yourself in a scrap with their minions (or them later on), Relict Oil is your best friend.
- Don't Rush the Hillock: Go to the village of Downwarren first. Talk to the Ealdorman. Get the full picture before you decide whether to stab a giant beating heart in a tree or help it.
- The Doll Choice: Later, when you have to save Anna (the Baron's wife), you’ll be presented with a set of dolls. The one with the violet hollyhock is the right one. Pick wrong, and things get significantly worse.
The Witcher 3 Ladies of the Woods quest stays with you because it refuses to give you an easy out. It’s the peak of the game’s writing. It proves that the scariest monsters aren't the ones with claws and teeth, but the ones who make you choose between two different kinds of tragedy.
To get the most out of this storyline, make sure you've completed "The Bloody Baron" up to the point where he asks you to find his family. These two quests are inextricably linked. If you do "Ladies of the Woods" too early, you might miss out on some of the dialogue that connects Anna to the bog. Also, pay close attention to the tapestry in the Crones' hut. The art style is deliberately reminiscent of traditional Slavic folk art, which adds a layer of cultural depth to the horror that you don't see in many other RPGs.
Once you finish the quest, go back to Downwarren a few days later (in-game time). Seeing the consequences of your choice firsthand is a sobering reminder that in Geralt's world, you don't "win"—you just survive.
Actionable Insights for Your Playthrough:
- Read the Book "The Spirit of the Wood": It provides crucial context for the Whispering Hillock and suggests the spirit is actually "The Mother," who was betrayed by the Crones.
- Level Up Before the Bog: The Drowners and Water Hags in Crookback Bog can easily overwhelm you if you're under level 6. Use Quen constantly to manage the crowd.
- Loot Everything in the Hut: There are unique crafting materials and lore notes inside the Crones' home that are easy to miss during the cutscenes.
- Save Before the Hillock: This is one of the few choices in the game with massive, world-altering consequences. Having a backup save is just smart gaming.