The Calm Before the Storm Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Quest
Suggested level: 14
Group: Main Quests
Location: Skellige
You will be able to play this quest after Yennefer reanimate Craven's corpse at the end of the "Nameless" quest, to get information about Ciri out of him. You will play it as Ciri.
Craven's reanimated corpse told Geralt and Yennefer about Ciri's stay on Hindarsfjall. She had made a dramatic entrance, popping out of thin air in a narrow escape from some unknown danger. Exhausted and wounded, she was carried by a mysterious companion who then entrusted her into Craven's care. He took her home, where his family tended to her with warmth and kindness. For the first time in a very long while, Ciri had a moment to catch her breath and enjoy life's simple comforts.
When you wake up, you'll talk to Skjall for a while. You will be interrupted by his sister, Astrid, who will invite you to go with her to the sauna, and during this time Skjall will prepare a horse for you.
Prior quests
To begin The Calm Before the Storm you must first complete Nameless.
Quest stages of The Calm Before the Storm
1. Follow Astrid to the sauna.
Follow Astrid to the building where the sauna is located.
2. Leave your clothes in the changing room.
Go into the changing room and get undressed. You can wrap yourself in a towel. If you don't do that, you'll still be wearing bandages and panties.
3. Follow Astrid.
Enter the room where the sauna is located. You'll meet Astrid's mother there and you'll spend some time chatting together.
4. (Optional) Jump into the water to cool off and regenerate.
Jump into the swimming pool outside. It will regenerate Ciri's health bar.
5. (Optional) Drink a shot of Freya's Firewater to warm up.
Drink a shot. It will regenerate Ciri's health bar even more.
6. Join Skjall in the stable.
Go back to the changing room, get dressed and leave. Go to the stable where Skjall is preparing a horse for you. You'll talk for a while and eventually your conversation will be interrupted by the arrival of the Wild Hunt to the village.
7. Try to defeat the warriors of the Wild Hunt. / Get on a horse and flee towards Drowned Dead Rock
You will have to defeat several Wild Hunt Warriors (14) and several Hounds of the Wild Hunt (12). When Skjall shouts to run out, run towards the stables. You will mount your horses and start running towards Drowned Dead Rock.
8. Make it to Drowned Dead Rock while avoiding the riders of the Wild Hunt.
Follow Skjall. Avoid the hounds of the Wild Hunt that will try to attack you. When you get to Drowned Dead Rock, there'll be an elven mage waiting for you with a boat.
Skjall will draw the attention of the Wild Hunt rider chasing you, and Cri will run to her elven companion. Ciri will try to convince the mage to help Skjall, but he won't want to do it, he will incapacitate her, load her on the boat and sail away. Skjall will be knocked to the ground by the rider and will lose consciousness. When he regains consciousness a few hours later, he will notice on the beach the same boat in which Ciri and her companion had sailed away and a strange ugly creature next to it.
The action will move back to Freya's garden. The last information Yennefer will get out of the Craven's corpse will be that the strange ugly creature was taken care of by Jarl Donar, who then sold it.
Sadly, she was not given long to savor these blissful moments. The Wild Hunt had caught Ciri's scent. Dark clouds gathered in the sky, puddles began to ice over and the ruthless wraiths rode towards the village. Ciri knew she was in no shape to defeat her assailants. Craven, or rather Skjall, for that was the unfortunate lad's true name, decided to help her, putting his own life and honor at risk.
Ciri raced off to Drowned Dead Rock, where she rejoined her masked companion. From what Skjall could see the two got into some sort of quarrel, which the mysterious man ended by putting Ciri to sleep with a spell. He then set her down in a boat and sailed off with her into the thick fog blanketing the surrounding sea.
Ciri had thus escaped the Wild Hunt once again. Skjall was less fortunate - the wraiths had wounded him and left him for dead. Yet he had life in him still and fought his way back to consciousness. When his eyes opened, he saw he was lying on the beach near a boat - the very same vessel in which Ciri and her companion had sailed away the night before. Now it bore but a single, highly unusual passenger -- the ugliest man in the world.
If you haven't completed the "Family Matters" quest and thus haven't met Uma in the Baron's castle yet, then you'll have to talk to Jarl Donar about the ugly creature - you'll get "A Mysterious Passenger" quest.
If you have already checked all of Ciri's tracks in Velen, Novigrad and Skellige, and thus completed the "In Ciri's Footsteps" quest, then you will receive next main story quest - "Ugly Baby".
After completing The Calm Before the Storm you will get or will be able to get The Last Wish.