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Background

You'll trigger this quest when you talk to the Nilfgaardian Officer at the Nilfgaardian Garrison (#1), and learn that you're going to need to kill the griffin plaguing White Orchard.


Walkthrough

To start off in this quest you'll need to do two things. You'll need to talk to the herbalist Tomira so you can learn more about Buckthorn, and you'll need to talk to the hunter Mislav so you can learn more about the griffin.

• Tomira. You'll meet her in her cottage (#2). She'll tell you that you can find Buckthorn in the river to the east (#3). For an easier time spotting it, you should turn on your witcher senses. When you pick up some Buckthorn, you'll complete Tomira's portion of the quest.
  
  
• Mislav. When you knock on the door of his cottage (#4), he won't be home, but when you turn on your witcher senses, you'll spot his tracks and quickly find him to the south (#5). Mislav will agree to take you to site where the Nilfgaardian patrol was attacked, but first he'll want you to help him kill some wild dogs. This will take you to the east, where you'll find the dogs plus the corpse of a man named Dieter (#6). Defeating the dogs and talking about Dieter will earn you 350 xp. Afterwards, Mislav will lead you to the attack site.
  
  At the attack site (#7), you'll need to examine the carnage. With your witcher senses on, you'll spot some tracks leading south. They'll take you to the griffin's nest (#8), where you'll discover a dead female griffin. After examining the corpse, you'll realize that the griffin terrorizing the area must be her mate.

Next up, you'll need to report in to Vesemir at the inn in White Orchard (#9). He'll pick out a site for ambushing the griffin, and he'll head over there. Meanwhile, you'll need to create a Thunderbolt potion. If you have tutorials turned on, then the game will guide you through the process (and it'll make sure you have the necessary ingredients). Otherwise, the potion will just appear in your inventory.

At the ambush site (#10), Vesemir will give you a Crossbow, and then the griffin will show up. Vesemir will help you out at the start of the battle, but then once you've done enough damage, the griffin will retreat to the mill where you'll have to finish it off by yourself. The griffin will fly around and slash at you, but if you've completed the optional quests in the area (and especially the Viper School Gear scavenger hunt, which gives you the diagram for the Viper Silver Sword), then the griffin shouldn't be too tough. It'll drop a Griffin Mutagen, a Griffin Trophy and more when it dies.

To complete the quest, you'll need to return to the Nilfgaardian Officer (#1) and report your success. He'll offer you some money for your work. If you accept it, then you'll earn 150 crowns and 300 xp. If you refuse it, then you'll earn 500 xp.


1 - Nilfgaardian Garrison


2 - Tomira's Cottage


3 - River


4 - Mislav's Cottage


5 - Mislav


6 - Dogs and Dieter


7 - Patrol Attack Site


8 - Griffin Nest


9 - Inn


10 - Griffin Ambush Site


11 - Mill