Contract: Missing Miners Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Quest
Suggested level: 27
Group: Witcher Contracts
Location: Skellige
You can start this quest by reading the "Missing Miners" contract posted on the Blandare Notice Board or by examining the bodies near the Miners' Camp signpost.
Young men from the village of Blandare had ventured into the nearby mountains in search of silver. It seemed their expedition had taken an unfortunate turn, however - and the witcher was tasked with uncovering their fate.
Related points of interest
Blandare Notice Board
The Skellige Isles
Miners' Camp
The Skellige Isles
Trolls' Cave
The Skellige Isles
Wham-a-Wham
The Skellige Isles
Quest stages of Contract: Missing Miners
1. Talk to the village elder in Blandare.
If you have read the contract posted on the board, you must then go to the local ealdorman - Gjarr, who will tell you about the missing miners. You will also be able to haggle with him - 271+ crowns.
2. Travel to the missing miners' camp. / Investigate the area around the missing miners' camp using your Witcher Senses.
Travel to Miners' Camp signpost. You will find some footprints there.
Follow the footprints and examine the clues found along the way, such as the body of one of the miners...
...broken trees and traces left by someone who had to crawl.
You'll eventually get to the Troll's Cave entrance. When you also examine the crushed human bones lying in front of the cave, you should come to the conclusion that you are dealing with a rock troll. If you haven't examined the clues along the way, just enter the cave and you will meet Wham-a-Wham there.
It turned out a rock troll had taken residence in the caves near Blandare. Though such trolls are, in a certain sense, reasoning beings, they are often unthinkingly cruel and violent in their dealings with men.
3. Talk to the rock troll and decide his fate.
When you approach the troll, you will be attacked by it. It's best not to let him get close to you and after a while the troll will calm down and you will start talking. He will tell you about the miners who broke into the cave, that is, his house and did not want to leave it when he asked them to. You must decide whether you want to leave the troll alive or try to kill it.
If you decide to leave the troll alive, you will get from him 50 crowns, 25 XP, and 2 x silver ore.
It seemed the rock troll was responsible for the Blandare miners' deaths. Though they knew the cave was inhabited and the troll warned them he did not take kindly to uninvited guests, the miners were not deterred. Greed had driven them to risk their lives for a few hunks of ore.
3.1. (Optional) Tell the village elder in Blandare what happened to the missing miners.
If you left the troll alive, go back to Gjarr and inform him about the fate of the missing miners and about the troll. He will be unhappy that you did not kill the troll, so you will only receive 50 crowns, and 100 XP from him.
Geralt decided that the troll had a right to defend its home and did not deserve to die. This naturally did not sit well with the villagers who had issued the contract, and they refused to pay the witcher a single copper. And so, not for the first time, Geralt walked away from a job empty-handed, save for the solace of having listened to his conscience.
3.2. (Optional) Kill the rock troll. / Take a trophy from the rock troll. / Collect your reward.
If you choose to kill the troll (he is lvl 35), you'll get the Cave troll trophy (5% Bonus experience from monsters), Caroline (relic steel sword), and Troll mutagen.
The go inform Gjarr. He'll be pleased and you will receive the amount of money you have agreed to and 200 XP.
Geralt defeated the rock troll and took its head to Blandare. He was justly rewarded for his efforts - and the villagers could now mine silver in peace and enjoy the steady income that entailed. In brief, everyone had reason to cheer... except for the troll, that is.