Equine Phantoms – Witcher 3: Blood and Wine Quest

This guide is a walkthrough of a side quest in the Witcher 3: Blood and Wine DLC. The guide is composed of a map, map legend, and walkthrough to show readers exactly where to go and what to do to complete the quest.

Map Legend

1 – Pinastri’s Hut
2 – Mont Crane Cemetery

Background

You’ll receive this quest from Pinastri at her hut in Toussaint North (#1).

Walkthrough

Pinastri will tell you that she’s being haunted by a spirit horse, but that she can only see it when she drinks a special brew made from graytop mushrooms. To figure out what’s going on, you’ll need to turn on your witcher senses and search the area. You’ll find some dead moths on the ground, plus a blood trail starting inside Pinastri’s hut and leading out through a window. When you follow the trail, it will quickly disappear, and you won’t learn anything from it.

You’ll decide that the spirit horse must be drinking Pinastri’s blood. However, when you ask Pinastri about it, she won’t have any answers for you, so you’ll decide to quaff some mushroom brew yourself so you can see the spirit horse, too. The brew will knock you out for a while, and when you wake up, you’ll suddenly be able to understand what Roach is saying.

Roach will decide that the two of you should search the area. To do this, you’ll just need to walk next to Roach with your witcher senses on. At the end, Roach will declare that you’re dealing with an umbra — which he’ll admit he figured out by spotting it in the forest nearby. This will lead to a chase, where you’ll need to ride Roach and follow the umbra. The umbra will lead you south to Mont Crane Cemetery.

At the cemetery (#2), you’ll get attacked by an apparition. It’ll appear as two ghostly panthers that you’ll have to defeat twice. After the battle, Roach will notice a strange tombstone. When you examine it, the spirit of Marcello Clerici will appear. He’ll explain that he can’t move on until Pinastri forgives him for flogging his horse to death, and that he has no control over turning into an umbra and drinking Pinastri’s blood.

You’ll have two ways to respond:

• You can attack Marcello. He won’t do any blocking, so he should be easy to defeat. After the battle, you’ll automatically pick up an Umbra Trophy and return to Pinastri. She’ll announce that she’ll never forgive Marcello for what he did, no matter what suffering it causes her, and all you’ll be able to do is offer her advice about how to keep spirits out of her hut.
  
• You can convince Roach to forgive Marcello. This will allow Marcello to move on. Afterwards, you’ll automatically return to Pinastri, and she’ll thank you for your help.

Regardless of your choice, you’ll earn your negotiated Potatoes (if any) plus 150 xp for completing the quest.

Note: If you negotiate your payment with Pinastri and let her keep her Potatoes, then you’ll gain the Generosity virtue for the quest There Can Be Only One. If you defeat Marcello in battle, then you’ll gain the Valor virtue. If you convince Roach to forgive Marcello, then you’ll gain the Compassion virtue.