The King Is Dead — Long Live the King – Witcher 3 Quest

This guide is a walkthrough of a main quest in the Witcher 3 for the area of Skellige Isles. 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 – Cerys’ Table
2 – Jarls
3 – Doorway
4 – Antechamber
5 – Laboratory
6 – Secret Door

Exits

1. Entrance to the Kaer Trolde keep.
2. Passage.

Walkthrough

For this quest you’ll need to attend the wake being held for Bran, the former king of the Skellige Isles. You’ll be going with Yennefer, so you should wear fancy clothes. You’ll find some in a chest in Yennefer’s room adjacent to the New Port in Kaer Trolde. If you wear fancy clothes, then you’ll earn 150 xp, and you’ll make Yennefer happy. If you don’t, then you won’t, and you won’t.

To attend the wake, you’ll need to make your way to the Kaer Trolde keep. You can get there in one of two ways: by walking to it using the long north-south path on the eastern side of Kaer Trolde, or by using the elevator located on the northern edge of Kaer Trolde. Either way, you’ll end up on the bridge leading to the keep, where you’ll find Yennefer waiting for you.

Inside the keep, Yennefer will lead you to the feast hall, where you’ll meet a few of the jarls’ firstborn children, including Crach’s daughter Cerys (#1). During the ensuing conversation, Cerys will challenge you to a race. If you accept the challenge, then you’ll earn 150 xp whether you win or lose. If you don’t race, then you won’t earn anything.

Afterwards, Yennefer will excuse you from the firstborns’ table, and she’ll lead you to the south, where you’ll meet the jarls Donar and Lugos (#2). The two jarls will squabble with each other, and then eventually Lugos will insult Yennefer. If you take offense and box with Lugos, then you’ll earn another 150 xp.

Past the jarls, Yennefer will reveal that she needs you to help her steal the Mask of Uroboros from chief druid Ermion’s laboratory. You won’t have any say in the matter. To reach the laboratory, you’ll just have to keep making your way through the keep. Eventually you’ll come to the doorway (#3), but it will be guarded by ravens, so Yennefer will lead you through the window to the south, which will allow you to bypass it.

Next up, you’ll come to the antechamber (#4), where you’ll find several stuffed animals. When you interact with the doorway leading to the laboratory, the animals will come to life. They’ll be level “??” and have skull symbols next to their name, but they’ll die in one or two hits. At the end of the battle, you’ll collapse, and when you wake up again you’ll learn that the doorway was trapped, and that you hallucinated the animals attacking you.

Inside the laboratory (#5), you’ll find lots of things to examine, plus a Cone, some Mead, and a Skull that you can pick up. On the northern side of the lab, you’ll also notice a statue with its hand open. If you interact with the statue and place the Mead in its hand, then a secret door will open up leading to Ermion’s treasure vault (#6).

Inside the vault, you’ll find the Mask of Uroboros right away, but when Yennefer grabs it, the entrance gate will close behind you, and an earth elemental will attack you. Yennefer will help you with the fight, so you shouldn’t have too much trouble. Just roll to the elemental, hit it a couple of times, and then roll away. Or just keep dodging around and let Yennefer do all of the work.

When the earth elemental dies, a poisonous gas will start filling the vault. After a few seconds, Yennefer will ask you to think of something. If you tell Yen that you want to kiss her, then she’ll teleport you to her room in town, and you’ll be able to have sex with her before returning to the wake. Otherwise, she’ll teleport you right back to the feast hall.

Back at the wake, you’ll witness several people staking their claim to the throne, including Cerys. Then jarl Craite will finally get around to talking to you. He’ll give you permission to examine the site of the magical cataclysm where you think Ciri might have been, but then he’ll ask you to help his children, who went out to perform regal deeds. This will trigger the quests The Lord of Undvik (to help Craite’s son Hjalmar) and Possession (to help Cerys). You’ll also trigger the quest Contract: The Phantom of Eldberg. Then Yennefer will start heading for the cataclysm site, and you’ll earn 600 xp for completing the quest.