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Secondary quest
"Without a Trace"
Tw3 hos without a trace
Details
Type
Secondary quest
Expansion
Hearts of Stone
Suggested level
32
Location(s)
Herbalist's Hut
Deadwight Wood
Erde
Region(s)
Novigrad
Source
Notice board in Brunwich / Otto Bamber
Reward
68 XP earned based on the Story and Swords! difficulty level / 200 crown(s)

Without a Trace is one of the quests available in Hearts of Stone.

Journal entry[ | ]

"Witcher" has become a synonym for "monster slayer" in many minds. While accurate as far as it goes, this does not encompass the whole truth, for witchers take on a broad variety of other tasks besides the slaying of monsters. For example, they sometimes use their superhuman senses to find missing persons. Such a lost individual was the subject of the notice hung by a certain Otto Bamber, an herbalist residing near Oxenfurt.
Otto told Geralt his apprentice, Folkert, had not returned from an herb-gathering excursion to the Deadwight Wood. Though this was not at all on Geralt's way, he decided to help the desperate herbalist. Something tells me this was not merely on account of the reward on offer – though those knowing only Geralt's surface from ballads and rumors might find this hard to believe, deep down, he was really a softy.
If Geralt does not investigate further:
Geralt did not in fact find Folkert, but witness testimony allowed him to establish the halfling's fate. The young halfling had so badly wanted to bring his master the herbs that he had ventured deep into the woods, braving the wolves that hunted there. Though no body ever was found, it is not hard to guess what had become of the poor lad.
If Geralt chooses to kill the old couple:
Geralt found Folkert – carefully gutted and salted and hanging in a larder belonging to an elderly couple living near the woods. The couple swore they hadn't killed the young halfling, but the witcher did not see that this absolved them of their crime and reached for his sword.
If Geralt choose to let the old couple live:
Geralt found Folkert – carefully gutted and salted and hanging in a larder belonging to an elderly couple living near the woods. The couple swore they hadn't killed the young halfling and had been forced into cannibalism by famine. Though Geralt condemned their actions, he decided punishing cannibals was not his duty and walked away.

Walkthrough[ | ]

  • Talk to the herbalist
  • Look for Folkert's tracks in the Deadwight Wood using your Witcher Senses
  • Follow the blood track
  • Ask the inhabitants of the village about Folkert
  • Follow the scent to its source using your Witcher Senses
  • Search the room
  • Interrogate the peasant couple
  • Kill the peasants
  • Report back to the herbalist

Notes[ | ]

  • If Geralt does not investigate further, i.e. ignores the scent trail to the trapdoor basement behind the old couple's hut, and tells the herbalist about the old couple's wolf attack story, there will be no reward and no XP earned based on the Story and Swords! difficulty level.
  • After having investigated further Geralt can tell the herbalist that Folkert was eaten by cannibals. Should the old folks in Erde not have been killed, the herbalist says he will gather someone willing to help seek revenge.
    • Visiting Erde a few days later, Geralt will encounter four Alghouls in front of the old couples hut. The beasts killed the cannibals, and Geralt comments that the herbalist had not been kidding regarding revenge.
    • In the drop door cellar behind the house, the remains of the unfortunate halfling, Folkert, were removed by the herbalist.
    • The old man will have a Rusty key on his body. The old woman does not have anything on her though.
  • Should Geralt decide to kill the cannibals, the old man will have a Rusty key on his body that opens the old couple's hut nearby. The old woman will have Strange meat on her body.

Gallery[ | ]