The King is Dead - Long Live the King Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Quest
Suggested level: 16
Group: Main Quests
Location: Skellige
This quest is a follow-up to the "Destination: Skellige" quest. When the king's funeral is over and you talk to Yennefer, Crach an Craite will approach you and invite you and the sorceress to the wake.
Crach an Craite, an old friend, invited Geralt and Yennefer to a farewell feast for the recently-departed King Bran. One does not refuse such invitations in Skellige, and so, willing or not, Geralt had no choice but to meet Yennefer at the castle gates and attend the wake at her side.
Prior quests
To begin The King is Dead - Long Live the King you must first complete Destination: Skellige.
Quest stages of The King is Dead - Long Live the King
1. (Optional) Go to Yennefer's rooms and put on formal attire. / Put on new clothes for your meeting with Yennefer.
You don't have to do that, but if you do, you'll get 150 XP. Go to Yennefer's room, pick up the clothes from a chest and put them on.
Note: In order for Yennefer to approve your attire, you should wear the Elegant Skellige shirt (black/gold colors) and the Skellige breeches (black with brown straps wrapped around the legs).
2. Meet Yennefer at the entrance to Kaer Trolde keep. / Go with Yennefer to the wake inside Kaer Trolde. / Meet Yennefer inside Kaer Trolde.
Yennefer, accompanied by Bran's wife, Birna, will be waiting for you at the Bridge to Kaer Trolde. After a short conversation Birna will leave you and then Yennefer will rate your attire. After that, you will head to the castle for the party. If you get too far away from Yennefer, the sorceress will tell you she'll wait for you at the entrance to the party room. Once you reach the party you will be sharing a table with Cerys an Craite and other Jarl's sons.
During the conversation Cerys will challenge you to a race to the top of the mountain. You can take the challenge or refuse.
3. (Optional) Beat Cerys to the top of the mountain. / Pull Hjalmar's axe out of the stump.
Run to the top of the mountain and pull Hjalmar's axe out of the stump. When you do that you and Cerys will return to the party to inform the others about the result of the race. Whether you win or lose you will receive 150 XP.
4. Talk to Yennefer in private.
At some point, Yennefer will tell you that she wants to talk to you in private and you both will leave the table. Go after her. Along the way you will meet Jarl Donar an Hindar and Jarl Madman Lugos. During the conversation Lugos will insult Yennefer and you will be able to choose whether you want to teach him a lesson or try to calm the situation down. If you decide to fistt-fight him, whether you win or lose you will get 150 XP.
When you finally get to a quiet place, Yennefer will explain you what she wants to do. She's gonna break into the Ermion's workshop and steal the Mask of Uroboros out of there.
Bran's wake was in full swing, with mead flowing plentifully and Geralt making quite a splash with the jarls, when suddenly Yennefer announced she needed to meet with the witcher in a more private setting. Yet she did not have in mind what you do, dear reader. Instead, she wanted Geralt to accompany her as she broke into the druid Ermion's laboratory. Her goal? To steal the artifact known as the Mask of Uroboros.
As you can see, life with Yennefer was full of surprises, a fact Geralt had grown used to and even, one dares say, quite fond of.
5. Go to Ermion's workshop.
Keep following Yennefer until you reach the mysterious room filled with stuffed animals.
5.1. Explore the mysterious room using your Witcher Senses. / Defeat the aggressive beasts.
Approach the door in the room and try to open it. Geralt will cut his hand and after a while the stuffed animals in the room will come alive.
You will have to kill all animals. Fortunately, they deal very low damage and die quickly.
When you kill them, you'll realize that the cut in the hand caused a hallucination. Yennefer will make some fun of you. Anyway, you'll be able to enter the next room.
6. Find the Mask of Uroboros in Ermion's workshop.
There are three different items in the room, but you only need one of them - Mead, which is standing on the table next to the bed.
Then approach the statue standing in the room and put the chalice in her hand. A secret passage will open.
7. Explore the secret chamber using your Witcher Senses. / Kill the earth elemental.
In the next room you will find the mask you came here for. Unfortunately, it is guarded by an earth elemental and you will have to kill it.
8. Look around for a way to escape from the trap.
When you kill an elemental, the room will start to fill up with a poisonous gas. The exit will be closed so the only solution will be to use teleport. Yennefer will ask you to think about something. You'll have limited time to make a decision. Your choice will determine where you teleport to.
If you selected "We're gonna choke and die." then you will teleport back to the wake.
After much wandering Yennefer finally acquired the mask she sought. As Ermion's laboratory had grown rather dangerous, she teleported Geralt and herself back to the wake, where they landed with a thud in the middle of the ongoing party. Luckily all the feastgoers were already too inebriated to notice anything out of the usual.
If you selected "Damn, I wanna kiss you, Yenn." then you will teleport to Yenn's room. There you can tell Yenn that you should go back to the wake or, if you say "Wouldn't mind watching...", you will have a nice time with her. Then you get dressed and go back to the wake.
After much wandering, Yennefer had finally found the mask she had been seeking. When Ermion's laboratory grew dangerous, she teleported herself and Geralt back to her quarters. Once there, they… well, what they did is not really any of your concern, dear reader.
Afterwards, they returned to the wake.
When you get back to the wake, you will finally be able to talk to Crach an Craite. He will agree to help you with Ermion and will grant you permission to investigate the site of the magic accident. He will also ask for your help regarding his children.
Crach an Craite only arrived as the wake was drawing to a close - he and the other jarls had locked themselves away in a proverbial smoke-filled room to scheme plans for Skellige's future. That business finished, he now pulled Geralt and Yen aside for a talk. When he heard they were searching for Ciri, he agreed at once to provide them with everything they needed.
Luckily for Crach's treasury, Yennefer did not need everything, just Ermion's permission to examine a mysteriously deformed forest - the result of a magic explosion that might have involved Ciri.
Crach promised to convince Ermion, and as his word was as reliable as his beard was red, Geralt and Yennefer set off at once towards the magic-damaged woods.
After completing The King is Dead - Long Live the King you will get or will be able to get Echoes of the Past, Possession and The Lord of Undvik.