The Merry Widow – Witcher 3 Quest

This guide is a walkthrough of a contract side quest in the Witcher 3 for the area of Velen. 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 – Notice Board
2 – Gravedigger
3 – Cemetery
4 – Cottage

Background

You’ll trigger this quest by reading the “Contract: Monster in the Cemetery” note on the notice board in Lindenvale in Velen East (#1).

Walkthrough

From the note, you’ll learn that a creature has been causing mischief in the nearby cemetery — digging up graves and eating corpses — but that recently it kidnapped the miller’s son. To advance the quest, you’ll have to talk to the gravedigger on the eastern side of the village (#2), but he won’t really tell you anything that you didn’t already know.

When you get to the cemetery (#3), you’ll find some level 9 ghouls there. After dispatching them, you’ll conclude that while they might have caused the initial problems, they certainly didn’t kidnap anybody, so you’ll decide to continue looking around using your witcher senses. Most of the graves will show claw marks from the ghouls, but in one (on the southern part of the cemetery) you’ll discover an “overripe” corpse with a strong odor of cadaverine coming from it. If you follow the scent, then it will take you to an abandoned cottage to the south.

Inside the cottage (#4), you’ll find a pile of skulls, a cooking pot, and some tools, and you’ll decide that the creature must be a grave hag. This revelation will earn you 10 xp. To confront the hag, you’ll need to take one of the Grave Hag Skulls back to the cemetery and place it on the altar there. You’ll then automatically wait until nightfall (if necessary), which will cause the hag to appear.

Grave hags are necrophages, and they’re vulnerable to the Yrden sign. So get the hag into the sign, attack her quickly, and do your best to dodge her attacks. When the hag dies, she’ll drop a Grave Hag Trophy, a leveled version of the silver sword Addan Deith, and more. When you show the trophy to the gravedigger (#2), you’ll receive your negotiated fee plus 240 xp.