Walkthrough for the quest The Nilfgaardian Connection in the game Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. This page covers all main objectives, key steps, or helpful tips to guide you through the quest smoothly. Whenever possible, the guide points out locations for key items and details interactions with NPCs, among other tips. To ensure maximum clarity, in-game screenshots are included for easy-to-follow visual guidance.
Quest Group: Main Quests
Suggested level: 5
Location: Velen
Prerequisites: To play this quest, you must first complete the quest Imperial Audience.
This quest will start automatically when Geralt retrieves his equipment back from the chamberlain at the end of the Imperial Audience quest.
Geralt traveled to Velen in search of Ciri, an act that attested to the depth of his devotion. Only a man who has been to this land can know just how vile it is. At this time it was commonly known as No Man's Land. Why? Well, the emperor of Nilfgaard had not yet claimed it, Temeria was in disarray, and the Redanians had already retreated north. No Man had been left in charge, and he had proved a terrible ruler.
Geralt needed to find Hendrik, an imperial agent who had been working on Ciri's case, and to collect from him what information he had managed to gather.
Hanged Man's Tree
Velen / Novigrad
Inn at the Crossroads
Velen / Novigrad
Heatherton
Velen / Novigrad
Approach one of the doors that serves as a signpost and use the fast-travel option to set out on your way to Velen.
After a few days of travel you will arrive at the Hanged Man's Tree signpost.
Go to the Inn at the Crossroads and get inside. Talk to the innkeeper and ask him about Hendrik. Your conversation will be interrupted by the arrival of the Baron's men at the inn who are apparently looking for trouble.
If you want to end this without bloodshed, it's best to tell them that you're a witcher and they'll leave you alone. You can also offer them a drink (Care for a drink? > Heading to Novigrad > Cheers).
Note: If you get out of this situation without bloodshed, then a little later, in the Bloody Baron quest it will be much easier for you to get to the Baron's castle. The guards watching the gate will simply let you in. If you kill the baron's men in the inn, then you'll have to find an alternative road up to the castle courtyard.
If you make them angry in any way, you'll have to kill them. When you kill them, the innkeeper will tell you where you should go to find Hendrik and suggest that you leave the inn through the back exit. In this way you will avoid fighting with another baron's men waiting outside, in front of the main entrance to the inn.
If you have solved the problem in a peaceful way, approach the innkeeper and talk to him again and he will tell you where you should go to find Hendrik.
Go to the village of Heatherton. When you get there, you should find a man there who is attacked by rabid dogs. Kill the dogs to save the man.
The man will tell you about the events that took place the previous night, when the Wild Hunt came to the village, and will show you the house where Hendrik lived.
Go to Hendrik's house and you'll find his corpse in the first room. Examine his boots and you'll find a key.
Check the animal skin rug in the other room and you'll find the entrance to the cellar below.
Go down and examine the candlestick on one of the walls.
This will open a secret compartment where you will find Hendrik's notes. Read them and you will find out what Hendrik has learned about Ciri. This quest will end and you will receive two new ones.
Yet it turned out Hendrik was no longer among the living - the Wild Hunt had murdered him. The spectral riders were also searching for Ciri and had beaten Geralt to the punch. The witcher only managed to obtain a few perfunctory notes about his ward, though thankfully these contained some scraps of valuable information. It seemed Ciri had been a guest of the Bloody Baron, the self-proclaimed ruler of Velen, and that she had quarreled with some witch, presumably the one living near the village of Midcopse.
After completing this quest, you will be able to play the quests Bloody Baron, Hunting a Witch.