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Background

Praios Devotee Warina (#1) will give you this quest after you've killed Yasmin the witch (#2) in the quest The Stolen Knowledge.


Walkthrough

Warina will direct you to Grand Inquisitor da Vanya, who will speculate that it's the witches of the Dark Forest who are maintaining the magic barrier around the fortress ruins (#3), and that by killing them you'd be able to get inside. To help you in this task, he'll give you a Ray of Light Chain Mail Shirt and a Ray of Light Robe. You'll also earn 10 experience points.

There are four witches in the Dark Forest. For each one you'll need to learn their secret, which will allow you to draw them out and kill them. This is described below:

• Alvina. To learn about Alvina, you'll either need to talk to Firniane at Darkforest Manor (#4), or pick open the chest at Alvina's camp (#6) and read the diary inside. Either way, you'll learn that Alvina is in love with Danos (#5), a farmhand at Darkforest Manor, and that Danos recently dumped her for Firniane.
  
  To make Alvina appear, you'll need to head over to Danos and accuse him of having relations with a witch. You'll then attempt to arrest him, which will cause him to turn hostile, but after taking a couple of hits, he'll give up, and he'll voluntarily agree to go with you to the main Praiot camp (#1).
  
  On the way to the camp, Firniane will show up with a few robbers and try to rescue Danos. You might be able to intimidate or bribe the robbers into leaving; otherwise you'll have to fight them. You'll receive 10 experience points at the end of the encounter.
  
  When you deliver Danos to Ray of Light Arngeld in the Praiot camp (#1), you'll receive 10 experience points. But then when you leave the camp, you'll be attacked by Alvina and her wolves. Alvina is much more dangerous than the wolves, so you should focus on her first and then mop up the wolves. You'll receive 15 experience points for killing Alvina, and you'll automatically pick up Alvina's Owl Skull.
  
  
• Morla. Warina will tell you that Morla is a weaver at Darkforest Manor (#4). However, when you get there, you'll discover that Morla is gone, and nobody will know where she went. But on the good side, you'll receive 10 experience points just for entering the manor.
  
  To learn about Morla, you'll need to visit Berndrik at his camp (#7). When you get there, you'll find Berndrik and his men being attacked by some (bear) nature spirits. As far as we can tell, Berndrik can't be killed by the spirits, so to make the fight easier, just attack whichever spirit he's attacking, and let him take the brunt of the damage.
  
  After the battle, when you talk to Berndrik, he'll tell you that Morla has a toad familiar, and that the bond between witches and familiars is a close one. "Kill the animal and the witch will probably come to you." Learning this bit of information will net you 20 experience points.
  
  You'll find the familiar, Knowall the toad, on the western side of Salmon Pond (#8). When you approach him, he'll sense your evil intentions, and he'll summon some troll toads and attack you. The battle shouldn't be difficult for you, and when you kill Knowall, Morla will appear.
  
  Note: To make the battle against Morla easier, you should kill all of the troll toads except for one. If you kill all of them, then more troll toads will appear.
  
  Note: Troll toads will continue to spawn even after Morla dies. Troll toads are pretty easy experience, so you might want to grind on them for a while, but once you've had enough of them, just leave the area, and they'll stop appearing.
  
  When Morla dies, you'll automatically pick up Morla's Owl Skull, and you'll also receive 15 experience points.
  
  
• Saphira. To learn about Saphira, you'll need to talk to the cook at Darkforest Manor (#4). If you have the right social skills (including Seduce, Intimidate, and Fast Talk) then you might be able to trick him or coerce him into telling you that Saphira's house (#9) is "her pride and joy." You'll receive 20 experience points for this.
  
  When you reach Saphira's house, you'll find a lit brazier in front of it. If you click on the brazier, then you'll knock it over and light the house on fire. This will cause Saphira to appear, and it will also net you 20 experience points. Saphira will have some (shadow) nature spirits with her, but you should focus on her first and then mop up the rest. When Saphira dies you'll earn 15 experience points, and you'll automatically pick up Saphira's Owl Skull.

Once you've killed the three witches, you'll earn 50 experience points. But when you report your success to Grand Inquisitor da Vanya (#1), he'll tell you that one witch remains -- head witch Heidruna, who you'll need to summon at the Witches' Dancing Ground (#10). Da Vanya will also claim to give you some gifts "as a token of appreciation from the Holy Inquisition," but you won't actually receive anything other than 10 experience points.

To reach the Witches' Dancing Ground, you'll need to follow the winding path that starts at the witch tree to the west (#11). Halfway along the path, you'll receive 10 experience points. Then when you reach the dancing ground, you'll find a bonfire surrounded by four empty monuments. To summon Heidruna, you'll just need to put an owl skull into each monument.

When Heidruna appears, she won't be happy with your decisions -- "You blind fool! Have you any idea what kind of evil you're serving?" -- but before anything can happen between you, Grand Inquisitor da Vanya will show up, and Heidruna will reveal him to be a sorcerer in disguise.

Da Vanya will have three dragon cultists with him. You should take them down first and then concentrate on da Vanya. When da Vanya dies, four things will happen: you'll automatically pick up Arm Greaves of Fire, you'll receive 110 experience points, the magic barrier will disappear from around the fortress ruins (#3), causing a dragon to flee the area, and Heidruna will chastise you and challenge you to make amends for your actions. Before rushing off to comply, you should loot the corpses, especially da Vanya's, where you'll find 28 ducats, some potions, and more.


1 - Main Praiot Camp


2 - Yasmin


3 - Fortress Ruins


4 - Darkforest Manor


5 - Danos


6 - Alvina's Camp


7 - Berndrik's Camp


8 - Knowall


9 - Saphira's House


10 - Witches' Dancing Ground


11 - Witch Tree