The vast world of Velen in The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt is packed with brief yet highly memorable side adventures that challenge Geralt's path. Among these optional tasks is a specific roadside request that highlights the cultural tension between local traditions and academic philosophy. This guide breaks down how to complete the mission while navigating the unique choices presented at the climax.
How to Initiate the Quest in Velen
To begin this journey, Geralt needs to locate a distraught peasant woman standing alongside the road in Velen. She can usually be found distressed near the crossroads southeast of the Blackbough signpost or right next to Duen Hen. The elderly woman desperately begs the witcher to repair local shrines that have been systematically targeted and destroyed by unknown vandals.
Geralt traditionally maintains a strict live and let live policy regarding local gods and their faithful followers. However, out of simple goodwill or the promise of a reward, he agrees to mend the damaged structures scattered throughout the territory. Fixing the initial shrine right in front of the woman yields an immediate experience point reward and updates the journal details.
Locating and Repairing the Remaining Shrines
After helping the elderly woman, Geralt must travel across lower Velen to find and restore two additional roadside holy sites. The locations are spread apart, and players should remain vigilant as high-level monsters like griffins roam the surrounding main roads. The order in which you visit the remaining sites does not strictly matter, but it changes the enemy spawns you encounter.
If you head to the site near Duen Hen second, an aggressive endrega warrior will ambush you before you can repair the structure. Choosing the site located between Byways and Frischlow instead forces you to deal with a pack of wild wolves. For players looking to minimize combat, visiting the Duen Hen location first and saving the Crow's Perch road shrine for second is ideal.
Confronting the Philosophical Vandals
The third and final shrine location triggers an immediate confrontation with the actual perpetrators behind the sacrilege. Geralt catches a group of radical students from Oxenfurt Academy actively pulling down the local monument. These characters loudly quote radical philosophies inspired by a Master Friedrich, viewing religion as a mass delusion that must be violently dismantled.
This situation presents the player with a definitive choice that directly dictates the final outcome of the assignment. Choosing to walk away and let the students continue their destructive crusade results in an immediate mission failure. To successfully complete the task, Geralt must intervene and engage the aggressive group of academics directly.
Combat Strategies and Final Outcomes
If you decide to protect the shrines, the confrontation quickly escalates into an active brawl against the academic group. Players can choose to draw their silver or steel blades, but keeping weapons sheathed defaults the encounter to a fistfight. The students will match your choice, allowing you to knock them unconscious rather than creating a bloody massacre.
Defeating the attackers concludes the mission and awards Geralt a final sum of fifty experience points. Additionally, players can search the fallen students to loot extra coin rewards for their trouble. Managing your journey through this questline ensures your journal stays clean while providing useful resources for the path ahead.
