Contract: Woodland Beast Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Quest
Suggested level: 6
Group: Witcher Contracts
Location: Velen
You can start this quest by reading the "Woodland Beast" contract posted on the Pontar Bridge Notice Board. If you tell the commander of the guard post about the elves, you will receive a Letter of safe conduct from him, which will allow you to cross the border on Pontar.
Monsters, like men, each have their own individual tastes and preferences. According to legend, dragons like to savor the delicate notes of virgins, while ghouls delight in the powerful flavors of rotting flesh. In the woods outside Novigrad, meanwhile, a beast had cropped up with a predilection for Redanian transport wagons. Not surprisingly, the captain of the nearby guardpost did not appreciate this culinary choice and put out a bounty on the monster's head.
Related points of interest
Pontar Bridge Notice Board
Velen / Novigrad
Quest stages of Contract: Woodland Beast
1. Talk to the commander of the guardpost by the bridge to Novigrad.
Talk to the captain standing nearby. He'll tell you about the supply caravans attacks. He can't haggle, but in exchange for help he'll offer you a pass to cross the Pontar river.
2. Examine the site where the transport was attacked using your Witcher Senses.
Go to the place marked on the map. First kill two alghouls wandering around. Then you must examine the empty crates, footprints, the body with an arrow in it, lying next to the wheel of the car, and any of the other corpses.
3. Follow the tracks using your Witcher Senses.
Follow the tracks. When you get near a big tree on the other side of the river, you'll be ambushed by elves. If you want to finish this quest without bloodshed, tell them that you want to meet their commander and then let them take your weapons. Otherwise, you will be attacked by them.
When you do that, you will be taken to a nearby camp where you will meet the elven commander. During the conversation you can remain neutral to what they do or call them bandits. In the first case, the elves will give you back your equipment, add even a few items and let you go. In the second case, you will be attacked by them.
3.1. (Optional) Kill the Scoia'tael.
If you chose the wrong answer or didn't want to give up your weapon, you will have to kill all elves (4) and their commander (9).
The fight will be a little harder if you're attacked in the camp after you've handed over your weapons. You can fight only with fists and signs or you can try to quickly pick up a sword that is just nearby.
3.1.1. Gather squirrel tails as evidence.
Loot the squirrel tail from the commander's body.
3.1.2. (Optional) Retrieve your weapons.
If you fought elves in their camp, don't forget to get your weapons back. You'll find your stuff in a box.
4. Return to the guardpost captain for your reward.
Return to the commander of the guardpost.
If you killed the elves, you will get 30 crowns and a Letter of safe conduct from him.
It turned out the woods did not hide a "shaggy fuck-knows-what," as the captain of the guard put it, but a band of Scoia'tael. They were the ones attacking the transports. Though the witcher codex would recommend charting a neutral course in such a situation, Geralt sailed according to his own moral compass. His needle pointed decidedly towards the elves' much-deserved death.
If you met with the elven commander and your meeting ended without bloodshed, then you will have two options:
You can inform the commander of the guardpost that the transports were being attacked by elves. In that case you will only receive a Letter of safe conduct from him. No money, because you have not fully completed your contract.
It turned out the woods did not hide a "shaggy fuck-knows-what," as the captain of the guard put it, but a band of Scoia'tael. They were the ones attacking the transports. Geralt promised not to betray their secret, but in the end he changed his mind. You might say, dear reader, that he acted dishonorable, and you'd probably be right - but those Scoia'tael were no innocents themselves.
If you don't mention the elves and say you haven't found any monster, you get some xp only.
It turned out the woods did not hide a "shaggy fuck-knows-what," as the captain of the guard put it, but a band of Scoia'tael. They were the ones attacking the transports. The witcher codex would recommend charting a neutral course in such a situation - and Geralt, feeling the pain of the elves' lot in his very marrow, duly followed that recommendation.