Crones of Crookbag Bog [[Spoiler Discussion]]

[Captain Australia]

I know I can cover an entire post in black sludge so you can't read it without mousing over, but that's annoying ♥♥♥♥ ... so if you're worried about spoilers, abandon all hope ye who enter here.


Below is discussion of the Crones of Crookbag Bog and their Mother

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okay you were warned, so if I lay a spoiler on you, don't tear your shirt off in nerd rage and come after me .. I may just piss my pants

I just wanted to see if anyone has an opinion on conjecture about the Crones of Crookbag Bog (Ladies of the Wood). I was hoping you'd consider a very specific question and share your thoughts ?

Okay, so you meet the witches (?trapped?) in a tapestry, communicating through Gran with a creepy possession trick, they send you off on a quest to destroy this awakening evil that is spreading plague and disease throughout the land etc. You learn the great evil is in fact a manifestation of their mother, who they conspired to trap in some bloated freaky physical form under an ancient tree...

Okay.

The question: when the Crones gave you the quest, do you think they could take physical form ?

I've read a bit of conjecture about the best choices and outcomes here:

- help the crones: you destroy a great evil, but the crones eat the kids .. but Gran & the Baron reconcile and everyone moves on much as they did before

- release the mother: she destroys the nearby village which serves the crones, Gran is turned into some kind of freaky-deaky monster and the Baron suicides

Just parking the outcomes to one side, I was interested in the choice.

When you complete the quest helping the crones, they appear to you in physical form (sexy!!) and although it's not clearly stated, they eat the children. If you don't help them, you later find the kids in an orphanage (the mother spirit saves the children as it promises).

If the Crones were actually trapped in the tapestry and could only take physical form AFTER you killed their mother, just thinking implies both Crones v Mother were at some kind of impasse.

I just wonder who is, in fact, the greater evil. First reaction was release the mother, but I didn't get a chance to kill the Crones and everyone else was ♥♥♥♥♥♥ up, so I went back and killed the mother (figuring at least kill one evil), and give the (flawed) humanity a chance to rise up .. it kind of suggests the Baron takes accountability for his mistakes and reconciles with his wife and toddles off to help her. I liked that result better ..

But ..

Well, what I'm wondering is, were the Crones a largely impotent/passive force and by killing the mother, did I release them ? And in releasing them, did they scamper off and gobble up that small tribe of children ?

Killing one trapped evil to release three other trapped evils sounds a bit un-cool.

Oh shiz.

I just realised in the cut-scene they took physical form to try and eat Siri .. er .. Ciri.. so no doubt they COULD take physical form before Geralt kills the trapped mother.

Nevermind :/

Whole thread now rendered stupid.

Delete or post ?

Okay, I'll post, because I do find this particular choice interesting and maybe you have some cool insights that'll add a layer for me.

Great game.

[Moon Punisher]

Here is the thing , if my memory is not totally messed up , i set the spirit free AND they were still outside to talk to me after.

They werent even pissed btw.

Yes the baron and his wife died , but so what , she was a ♥♥♥♥♥ and he a wife beater , neither of them was worth the life of even one kid in my book.

[Unit]

The crones still show up if you release the spirit so......

[Big Boom Boom]

The Crones are not trapped in the tapestry whatsoever. They have been roaming the land for centuries and as you will later find out Frequently appear in persons (as the sexy versions) during the Witch Sabbath at Bald Mountain which I believe they do this every year since forever and you will kill 2 out of 3 as Ciri.

[Nellvan]

I can't remember anything that suggests the Crones are trapped, so I think the tapestry is just used for communication and ritual purposes. Additionally to add more shock-factor to the Crones physical appearance and maybe to drive the point home once more: You can't depend on looks to determine what is a monster and what not.

Thinking about this again, I'm wondering if it's a bit heavy-handed : Just as the Baron honestly seems to be trying for redemption, you get into this mess.

The actual dilemma is a neat idea though. In my opinion you need to look past the short term consequences; no matter what some people will die. If you believe what's written in the book "She Who Knows", the Crones are the lesser of the two evils.
The spirit is utterly insane and has already killed men women and children, who knows how many people it will kill now that it's set free again. Kinda reminds me of Pratchett's "Carpe Jugulum" : The Crones are pretty evil too, but at least they play by the rules.

[Captain Australia]

@Buzzardbee - tricky tricky, tricksy it is, my precious !

Can't see any way that I'd naturally come across that - I'd have thought it was just defaulting to the 'released the mother' resolution with the crones, if it weren't for the fact that you also got the Gran & Baron reconciling outcome ...

Loving the story and decisions, although maybe I'm more built for the combat (brag: on death march, level 6 witcher, just killed a level 20 water hag, a level 20 alghoul and 4 level 12 drowners ... er .. three separate fights .. I know I know, bow, throw flowers, cheer my name .. er .. Geralt's name .. er .. nevermind, time to take my pills)