The spirit in the tree (SPOILERS!!)

[hinti21]

I saved before I decided. I played both versions up to the point where you meet the three witches for the first time and I thought that was it with the consequences. Thus I decided to go along with freeing the spirit and thus freeing the children. Now, three hours and many quests later, the baron hanged himself. Now I dont want to do it all over again, so I hope someone of you will tell me what happens when I kill the tree spirit and what the consequences are.

[Secreth]

The witches take the orphans from gran to a far away land (who cares). But Gran lives (Its Anna). You and the Baron storm the swamp with some men and take Anna back from the witches service. And he is trying to get her to a healer so they can maybe remove her "Brain damage". Also i never ever considered helping the spirit here is why: The spirits bones was not human, meaning some kind of monster. The other witches killed her for a reason. She lied to you. And she wanted you to perform blood magic to ressurect her into a horses body? Now what kind of good person dwelves in blood magic? That would be very rare. I just didnt trust that spirit overall.

[Garto]

There's also a book in the game that mentioned about the true nature of the tree spirit too. Something real horrific that you let out into the world again..

[Cinnamoon_dragon]

http://witcher.wikia.com/wiki/Whispering_Hillock

[๖ۣۜC𝖆𝖘𝖆𝖜𝖎]

♥♥♥♥ I saved the spirit.
Rip the baron I guess.

[Cinnamoon_dragon]

Originally posted by Secreth:

The witches take the orphans from gran to a far away land (who cares). But Gran lives (Its Anna). You and the Baron storm the swamp with some men and take Anna back from the witches service. And he is trying to get her to a healer so they can maybe remove her "Brain damage". Also i never ever considered helping the spirit here is why: The spirits bones was not human, meaning some kind of monster. The other witches killed her for a reason. She lied to you. And she wanted you to perform blood magic to ressurect her into a horses body? Now what kind of good person dwelves in blood magic? That would be very rare. I just didnt trust that spirit overall.

Yes, I have chosen to kill the spirit, too

It is the mother of three witches

[hinti21]

Originally posted by Secreth:

The witches take the orphans from gran to a far away land (who cares). But Gran lives (Its Anna). You and the Baron storm the swamp with some men and take Anna back from the witches service. And he is trying to get her to a healer so they can maybe remove her "Brain damage". Also i never ever considered helping the spirit here is why: The spirits bones was not human, meaning some kind of monster. The other witches killed her for a reason. She lied to you. And she wanted you to perform blood magic to ressurect her into a horses body? Now what kind of good person dwelves in blood magic? That would be very rare. I just didnt trust that spirit overall.

So it has no further impact on the story (besides the baron being dead)?
What is the reward you get from the baron? I didnt get any since he hanged himself (I just picked up a hundred gold lying beneath the hanging fatty).

For anyone who cares: I didnt like the witches eating children, helping the wild hunt and trying to eat ciri, so I chose the version in which I worked against them^^

[avil]

Spirit in the tree is a druid. Yeah, it's a mother of that three witches, but Satan is an angel too, you know (highest of them).

[Random Person]

Originally posted by Static-ghost:

Originally posted by Secreth:

The witches take the orphans from gran to a far away land (who cares). But Gran lives (Its Anna). You and the Baron storm the swamp with some men and take Anna back from the witches service. And he is trying to get her to a healer so they can maybe remove her "Brain damage". Also i never ever considered helping the spirit here is why: The spirits bones was not human, meaning some kind of monster. The other witches killed her for a reason. She lied to you. And she wanted you to perform blood magic to ressurect her into a horses body? Now what kind of good person dwelves in blood magic? That would be very rare. I just didnt trust that spirit overall.

Yes, I have chosen to kill the spirit, too

It is the mother of three witches

They killed there own mother, thats pretty messed up on its own. They also eat children, worked with the Hunt who is looking for the same person you are. They might help the locals but its always a price in bloody and body parts. Sure the tree spirit isnt human but not being human isnt a crime.

[Beyuhz]

Originally posted by BuzzardBee:

What I find confusing though is Anna's miscarriage. The Crones said that they caused the miscarriage but I was under the impression that it had occurred back at the castle in Crow's Perch. The Baron said he'd seen the bloody sheets and the fetus and that he was the one who buried it.

Supposedly Anna met up with the Crones AFTER her miscarriage so how did they arrange it for her in exchange for a year of servitutde to them since it seemingly happened BEFORE she'd even met them?

She made a pact with them to get rid of the baby, which is what the mark on her hand is. She had thought they'd magically make the baby poof but they made it drain her energy and eventually miscarry. Anna realized she was feeling poorly because of this pact which is why she went to see the Pellar who made that amulet for her to slowdown the effects of the pact.

You don't have to physically see the crones to make a pact with them. All you have to do is pray or do whatever ritual is necessary as you can see from the guy who you help with the tree spirit from Downwarren

[Bite]

Originally posted by BuzzardBee:

What I find confusing though is Anna's miscarriage. The Crones said that they caused the miscarriage but I was under the impression that it had occurred back at the castle in Crow's Perch. The Baron said he'd seen the bloody sheets and the fetus and that he was the one who buried it.

Supposedly Anna met up with the Crones AFTER her miscarriage so how did they arrange it for her in exchange for a year of servitutde to them since it seemingly happened BEFORE she'd even met them?

I believe Anna had spoken with the Crones BEFORE her miscarriage, I was also confused by this but some dialogue gave me the impression that Anna already had those markings in her hand from before, as Tamara remarks something along those lines. As they both flee the Baron's state, the Crones simply called upon Anna, hence, her mark burnt up like every time they interact with her.

I pretty much glanced over this whole aspect of the story but it just came off very natural, I remember finding some witchcrafty elements when you investigate Anna and Tamara's rooms, I took for granted that those things were Tamara's, when the Crones said Anna had been working for them I inmediately assumed those elements I found were Anna's.

In regards to the whole choice, it's important to note that the crones eat the children if you kill the spirit, they feast on them as the Baron and his men fight against the fiend, save the spirit and the Crones are eating something else (Maybe still children), but at least they're pissed.

All in all, I chose to kill the Tree, it may have saved the children but it never felt like it was going to do much good after that.

[Sundavr]

Originally posted by hinti21:

I saved before I decided. I played both versions up to the point where you meet the three witches for the first time and I thought that was it with the consequences.

There is a 3rd option, if you discover the tree before ever speaking with Gran you can help the Spirit in the tree, freeing the Crones Mother. Afterwards when your asked to help the Peasants the Eaderman confirms that the issue has already been dealt with, cuts his ear off, etc.

The part that changes however is the Children were not apart of your Bargain with the Tree i.e. Tree does not save the Kids but is freed, which does not enrage the Crones, Anna remains Human and the "Good" story goes on

As to the morality of the choice, it all boils down to this being a story about shades of Grey, not Black or White. So in this case you must determine, the Crones are well known as a "Required" Evil, but they are also known to curse those who displease them. Going as far as to steal a Godlings voice, turn people into Water Hags, control Fiends and other Demons, etc. As to their proclamation that the Tree Spirit is "Evil" would not 3 Monsters view Witchers as "Evil"??? If their Mother kept them in check, then the Crones would view their Mother as a Jailor, to them an "Evil" act.

Regardless, the choice is up to the player, have fun and don't regret your actions too much :P you can always play again.

[Janthis]

I initially wanted to free the spirit and thus save the orphans, because they were the only ones truly innocent in this entire tale. However, the "good" option in this case seems to be helping the Crones. They may be evil, but they also care for the people and keep their word, in their own twisted way. The tree spirit, on the other hand, is a creature of pure chaos and destruction, and you can't release something like that into the world. Killing everyone in Downwarren would have been just the beginning.

As for in-game consequences, it doesn't matter much. The Baron and his wife either die, or go away never to be seen again, so it's about the same thing.