The Witcher 3 - What Lies Unseen
The second of the two forking paths in Blood and Wine's story comprises the quests Unseen Elder and What Lies Unseen.
This page covers What Lies Unseen. If you're looking for more assistance, our Witcher 3 Blood and Wine walkthrough can help.
If at the end of the quest The Night of the Long Fangs, you chose to confront Syanna, read on. Otherwise, head back one page for a guide to the quest Beyond Hill and Dale.
Unseen Elder
Head to Oriana's house and talk to her, then go with her as she attends to her "matter". When you reach the orphanage, it's obvious something is amiss, so listen to the child's story to find out what happened. Use Witcher senses to examine the two bodies inside, then head outdoors and look at the scratch marks by the door, the body on the ground, and the pawprints, then head down the stone steps and examine the stain on the corner of the wall to the right at the bottom.
Follow the scent trail over the wall and examine the body on the ground. Read the bestiary entries and then use Witcher senses again to follow the wagon tracks until they meet with the pawprints, and then continue along the trail until you reach the beach. Examine the horse and the remains on top of the wagon and then head left along the shore towards the bridge to fight the Gharkain.
The Gharkain's attacks can inflict poisoning and bleeding, so avoiding getting hit can be crucial to avoid damage over time. It's also got a long reach and a jump attack, but when it lands it's temporarily vulnerable, so this is your best time to strike. When it's dead, collect a trophy and return to the orphanage. After a brief discourse with Orianna about moral relativism, talk to the Ravens and head to the rendezvous point where you have one last chance to change your mind and pursue the other option.
What Lies Unseen
Sail across the lake and park the boat in the small inlet, then climb the stairs to find a cave entrance - there's a Place of Power (Aard) just off to the right that you can jump across to before heading inside.
Turn right when you reach the water at the end of the tunnel - you can optionally swim through the tunnel ahead to find a couple of pieces of the Hen Gaidth Relic gear set and some ancient coins then drop down through the hole on the other side - or turn right and climb up. Either way, you'll end up in a small cavern with a Fleder you need to tackle before heading deeper inside. After Regis introduces himself, you'll face a quick conversational choice, but both options lead to you becoming a light snack before being tossed down a hole.
When you come to, grab the Swallow potions off to your left and take a swig of one. You'll have lost some of your gear, so it's advisable to follow the optional quest entry to recover it - it's not gone far, and your swords will be behind you, your crossbow just ahead, and a random potion a little further on.
Follow the passage into a mysterious cavern and drop down to ground level. Head to the inverted waterfall to your right and read the mage's notes, then follow his footprints. If you're collecting the Hen Gaidth gear, take a detour up the passageway to the left to find a couple more items defended by some Protofleders - bigger, stronger, faster variants of the regular Fleder.
The trail will lead to another large cavern containing a pair of Protofleders. Deal with them and carry on following the footprints. Once you've crossed the bridge, pick up another set of mage's notes and examine the damaged megascope and then keep on the trail until everything goes more than a little peculiar.
Set your quest marker to "Find the Mage" and keep following the footprints. Jump across the gap and deal with another Protofleder, loot the nearby corpse, and read the crumpled letter. Use your Witcher sense and look next to the outer wall by the gap you jumped over to find the offering you need, and then jump back over the gap. Head forward a few feet, turn to your right, and jump across the stream to the higher ledge on the other side. Follow it round to the right and examine the rock and give it a blast of Aard before jumping into the water below. (Above? Whichever you want to call it.)
Use the recently dislodged rock to climb onto the stone bridge and follow the passage back to the main chamber. The Unseen is now a little less bitey and a little more talkative, so tell him that Dettlaff spells trouble and he'll agree to your plan.
Our Witcher 3 walkthrough and guide can help you with the main story, including the Wandering in the Dark and Family Matters missions, and eventually, one of several Witcher 3 endings. There's plenty of side content, too, including Witcher 3 Contracts, White Orchard quests, Velen quests, Novigrad quests and Skellige Isles quests. Elsewhere, learn about the best Witcher 3 builds, the best Witcher 3 mods, how to make money in Witcher 3, find Places of Power locations, and learn how to do Witcher 3 crafting and Witcher 3 Alchemy And when you're done with all those - we can help you through expansions with our Hearts of Stone walkthrough and Blood and Wine walkthrough.
The plots recombine now - skip forward two pages to read our guide to the quests Tesham Mutna, Pomp and Strange Circumstance and Be It Ever So Humble
Or head back to the first page for an index of our The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine Main Quest walkthrough
Other guides: