The Beast of White Orchard Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Quest
Suggested level: 3
Group: Main Quests
Location: White Orchard
You will get this quest when while looking for Yennefer in the Lilac and Gooseberries quest you visit and talk to Peter Saar Gwynleve, the Nilfgaardian commander. He will share with you the information you need in exchange for getting rid of the griffin that is terrorizing the locals.
The commander of the Nilfgaardian garrison in White Orchard knew where Yennefer had gone. Shrewdly, he was unwilling to share this information for free. A man with substantial experience, he knew full well Geralt would do anything to find the sorceress. As luck would have it, there was a griffin about, a beast the commander's soldiers had been unable to hunt down. The commander could demand but one thing: the monster's head in exchange for his help.
Related points of interest
Peter Saar Gwynleve
White Orchard
Tomira
White Orchard
Mislav's House
White Orchard
Griffin Attack Site
White Orchard
Destroyed Griffin Nest
White Orchard
White Orchard Tavern
White Orchard
Royal Griffin
White Orchard
Quest stages of The Beast of White Orchard
1. Ask the herbalist about buckthorn.
Go to the hut where Tomira the herbalist lives and talk to her. She'll tell you where to find the herb you need.
Note: By asking about Lena, the dying girl on the bed, you can also unlock a new secondary quest - On Death's Bed.
1.1. Find some buckthorn on the riverbed using your Witcher Senses.
Go to the river and dive. The plant you're looking for grows at the bottom of the river.
2. Ask the hunter where he found the bodies.
Go to the Mislav's House and knock on the door. Mislav is not at home.
2.1. Use your Witcher Senses to find the hunter.
Look around the hunter's hut to find the tracks.
Follow the tracks to the forest until you get to Mislav and talk to him. You can help Mislav get rid of a few wild dogs or say you're in a hurry, then he'll take you right to the site of the attack on the patrol.
2.2. (Optional) Kill the wild dogs. / Talk to the hunter.
If you decide to help Mislav to get rid of the dogs, follow him and when you see the wild dogs, then help him kill them.
When the dogs are defeated, talk to him again. You will be able to listen to the story from his past and thus gain additional experience points.
2.3. Follow the hunter.
Follow Mislav to the site of the griffin's attack.
2.4. Examine the site of the Nilfgaardian soldiers' death using your Witcher Senses.
You can examine a few clues such as a camp fire, the bottles on the ground or the ground saturated with blood but the most important are the Nilfgaardian soldiers' tracks leading away from the camp.
2.5. Follow the Nilfgaardian soldiers' tracks using your Witcher Senses.
Follow the tracks across the broken bridge and up the hill until you reach the griffin's nest.
2.6. Search the griffin's nest using your Witcher Senses.
Examine the dead griffin. You can also examine other clues such as corpses, bones or a burnt nest.
The witcher investigated and learned that the griffin he had encountered along the high road outside of White Orchard had good reason to prey on the local populace. The soldiers the Nilfgaardian commander had sent out to scout had, in fact, killed the griffin's brooding mate. Griffins are known to mate for life, and Geralt thus felt a pang of pity for the beast. But, ever the professional, he could not let his feelings interfere with his work.
3. Talk to Vesemir.
Return to the village and talk to Vesemir, who is waiting for you in front of the tavern.
4. Prepare to fight the griffin.
Prepare to fight the griffin by brewing the Thunderbolt potion, then place it into one of the consumables slots.
5. Meet Vesemir in the field where you plan to ambush the griffin.
Meet Vesemir at the ambush site. Vesemir will give you a crossbow.
6. Kill the griffin.
You can use the crossbow to shoot the griffin with a bolt that will make it stop flying and land.
After it is down to half health, it will fly to a nearby ridge by the windmill. Follow it there.
7. Take a trophy from the griffin's corpse.
After the griffin is dead, loot it to get the griffin trophy.
Griffin trophy
10% Chance to dismember
8. Collect your reward from the Nilfgaardians.
Go back to the Nilfgaardian garrison. The captain will tell you that Yennefer is in Vizima and will offer you a payment for killing the griffin. It's a time-constrained decision, so you must choose your reply before time runs out. You can either accept his payment (150 crowns) or reject it. In the second case, you'll get more experience points.
Bringing the head of a griffin to the Nilfgaardian commander will complete one of the objectives of the Lilac and Gooseberries quest.
Once it came to ambushing the feathery widower, Geralt turned to Vesemir for help. With two witchers lunging at its throat, the griffin of White Orchard proved a lamb for the slaughter. As is the way of his order, Geralt took the beast's head as his trophy and delivered it to the Nilfgaardian garrison for his reward, which, as you might remember, was to be information about Yennefer.