A light bulb suddenly went ON over my head regarding a certain Elf Head, given to you as a trophy, thus far thought meaningless...

[A.P.P.]

.

Near one of the Redanian river crossings between Novigrad's outskirts and Velen proper, you encounter Boris the friendly Troll,
who awards you with an Elf Head after you defend him against some Nekker assailants !

Nothing new here in that knowledge --
-- Despite the obscure location of the mini-event, it has been well-documented in the Witcher Wiki(s) and plenty of YouTube videos / walkthroughs.


BUT ! ...


It suddenly hit me...

Relatively close to that area, there is also the Contract: Woodland Beast quest which involves you having to "deal" with a bunch of Scoia'Tael,
and then report back to Felix Grubb (the potential quest-giver) at the Redanian ford-crossing patrol post with 1 of these 3:
1) Nothing found
2) Found Scoia'tael, killed them, and present their squirrel-tail badges as evidence
3) Found Scoia'tael, but couldn't fight them (leading to them considering this as "betrayal", and eventually confronting you later on as a "snitch")

...


I bet you're already seeing where I'm going with all this...


The aforementioned ELF HEAD, to which this thread's title is dedicated...


...what if you already have it IN ADVANCE, BEFORE having undertaken and/or finished the Contract: Woodland Beast quest ???

Can you deceive the Redanian Captain o' the Guard with it, as "proof", that you took care of the Scoia'tael?
(yet, in reality, you never even fought them)


Thus, EVERYONE wins !!!:
* The Scoia'Tael (eventually?) continue on with their raids, to the dismay of the Redanians who'd think they have yet another "beast" to trouble them, because...
* ....because The Redanian Captain falsely believes the Scoia'Tael have been dealt with by Geralt, thus...
* ...Geralt receives his FULL reward !!! : D


So yeah, to get to the point, finally:


HAS ANYONE ACTUALLY TRIED THIS ???



THERE IS MORE !!!:

All locations involved -- the Troll's cave (and thus -- the elf head), the Scoia'Tael camp, AND the Redanian Officer --
-- are ALL located within a relatively small area !!!


Have a look:


i.imgur.com/KQhaEmM.jpg

http://imgur.com/KQhaEmM

Left vertex is the Troll cave. Bottom is the Elf camp. Right angle is the Redanian border post.
All so close... For a reason..?? ... Or just... a coincidence ?? :O

Given the proximity of all these events, I'd say it's fair to suggest: Someone should TRY to interact with Felix whilst in possession of the Elf-Head,
but BEFORE the elves have actually been "dealt with"....

For science!

P.S. needless to say, in my current playthrough, I had already completed this quest by the time I found the Elf Head.
So, too late for me! :O

.

 

[Riven-Twain]

Intriguing idea. I don't know whether this would work, though, as I'm fairly sure the quest is intended to be concluded as usual . . . but I'll try to keep this in mind on my next play-through.

 

[A.P.P.]

.

Intriguing idea. I don't know whether this would work, though, as I'm fairly sure the quest is intended to be concluded as usual . . .

Well, if my theory turns out to be correct, the quest will still "conclude as usual"...
It's just that the conclusion would have been achieved via other means...

Nothing too otherworldly in my suggestion, I'd say...

After all, two things should be taken into account:

1) Various details / easter eggs about the Witcher 3 still continue to be uncovered even to this day,
not to have been documented anywhere in the past.

2) This particular elf head serves no purpose whatsoever within the game's story. Why did the devs even bother then?
It must be there for a reason... ;]
See, in ther such events you are given some random trinket like a doll, piece of silver, fisstech, etc. But an ELF HEAD ?? Wow! :O

.

 

[A.P.P.]

.

but I'll try to keep this in mind on my next play-through.

.

Don't bother.

I just did quite the extensive testing on this part of the game myself.

CONCLUSION: Having the Elf-head from the Troll in your inventory prior to meeting the Scoia'tael units in the Woods
DOES NOT have ANY effect on your interactions with either them, OR the Redanian Guardpost Captain --
-- regardless of whether you kill the elves or spare them, OR whether you tell Felix Grubb the truth or lie to him.


CASE CLOSED.


P.S. BUT...

We're still left with the mystery of WHY exactly this head is there, WHY the troll has it, WHY he gives it to you, etc...

Does it serve ANY purpose other than sitting idly in your inventory ??

....

 

[kxcountry]

.



.

Don't bother.

I just did quite the extensive testing on this part of the game myself.

CONCLUSION: Having the Elf-head from the Troll in your inventory prior to meeting the Scoia'tael units in the Woods
DOES NOT have ANY effect on your interactions with either them, OR the Redanian Guardpost Captain --
-- regardless of whether you kill the elves or spare them, OR whether you tell Felix Grubb the truth or lie to him.


CASE CLOSED.


P.S. BUT...

We're still left with the mystery of WHY exactly this head is there, WHY the troll has it, WHY he gives it to you, etc...

Does it serve ANY purpose other than sitting idly in your inventory ??

....

There was a post on Reddit by someone who worked on the Woodland Beast contract and how it connected to the cut contract (besides what’s her name attacking later if you ratted them out). If memory serves me, there was supposed to be something related to the Nilfgardians (pretty sure it was Nilfgardians and not Redanians) massacring Elves/Prisoners of War. So…conspiracy theory…maybe we were supposed to interact with the troll AFTER completing TWB contract, and this was “evidence“ of the massacre.

On a side note, even selling this head to some of the random socaietal groups doesn’t result in anything.

 

[A.P.P.]

.

(besides what’s her name attacking later if you ratted them out).

.

Vernossiel.

.

If memory serves me, there was supposed to be something related to the Nilfgardians (pretty sure it was Nilfgardians and not Redanians) massacring Elves/Prisoners of War. So…conspiracy theory…maybe we were supposed to interact with the troll AFTER completing TWB contract, and this was “evidence“ of the massacre.

.

Interesting... Thanks for sharing !

Any idea WHEN this 'reddit post" was made? Roughly, at least ? :X (i.e. 2015 ? 2018 ? 2021 ?)
Honestly, I do find it quite strange that you're so certain it was Nilfgaardians in the og quest,
when in TWB, Scoia'tael are getting back at...... Redanians...
Doesn't make any sense at all, but it could be that the author of the reddit post made an error in haste, or just forgot himself.

Cheers!

.

 

[kxcountry]

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.

Vernossiel.

.



.

Interesting... Thanks for sharing !

Any idea WHEN this 'reddit post" was made? Roughly, at least ? :X (i.e. 2015 ? 2018 ? 2021 ?)
Honestly, I do find it quite strange that you're so certain it was Nilfgaardians in the og quest,
when in TWB, Scoia'tael are getting back at...... Redanians...
Doesn't make any sense at all, but it could be that the author of the reddit post made an error in haste, or just forgot himself.

Cheers!

.

After looking it over, I either got them mixed up or I lost the post I was thinking of. One other post I found has the title of “A lot more detail regarding the plot of the cut Iorveth and Scoia'tael content from TW3.”…which makes me think I might’ve got it mixed up with Patrol Gone Missing. On the other hand, Iorveth evidently was a part of Woodland Beast at one point (https://wccftech.com/witcher-3-dev-...ontent-blood-wine-games-finale/#ixzz4CkBj2fKk) and at least some of his content seems to be with the Nilfgardians.

It’s a shame though, it almost all makes sense - the Nilfgardians do eventually end up in that village (Mulbrydale?) where you, Ves, and Roche attack/defend. The troll is right down the hill from there, and the coach/caravan that got ambushed is right in between. Iorveth was supposed to have a quest with Ves and Roche too. Maybe it was supposed to happen earlier in the game? I’m not sure. I honestly hadn’t ever even made any connection between the head you get from the troll and anything else haha, but now it’s got me wondering.

Regardless, it’s something to think about and I’ll try to find that other post.

 

[A.P.P.]

.

Thank you for your input!

.

[...]
It almost all makes sense - the Nilfgardians do eventually end up in that village (Mulbrydale?) where you, Ves, and Roche attack/defend. The troll is right down the hill from there, and the coach/caravan that got ambushed is right in between.

.

Weeellll, not exactly "it all makes sense..." ...

First of all, Mulbrydale isn't exactly that close to the other 3 events from my OP.
Second, that specific part where the Troll is... it's really no-man's-land there...
...marshy, uninhabited territory, quite away from either front. I doubt that any military actions would take place there.
It's PERFECT for guerillas' hidden camps, though, grant you that.

Regarding what was to come out of Iorveth, Roche, the Redanians and Nilfgaardians...
...MY personal theory is that Iorveth would have rather COOPERATED with the NILFS...
...because the Scoita'tael has suffered PLENTY of victimhood at the hands of the Northern realms' armed forces...
...and thus probably sees the Nilfs as somewhat of... LIBERATORS. (My 2 cents anyway...)

.

 

[kxcountry]

Haha, yeah that’s fair. I think you’re right about the Scoita'tael and Iorveth. The House of Respite has some good evidence towards that if you’ve never made it in there (probably a slim chance lol), though that link above mentions that dwarf that was supposed to be a slave in “Blood Ties” does act a little weird (tried a few times to get a reaction from him on my last play through, nothing happened).

I really wonder what would’ve happened with a few of these quests and characters. Went crazy a few years ago hunting down all the cut content I could find. I still love all the cut story lines and it’s pretty interesting what got left in and reworked (kind of bummed we’ll probably never get a conclusion to them).

 

[A.P.P.]

.

The House of Respite has some good evidence towards that if you’ve never made it in there (probably a slim chance lol),

.

Of course I've made it into the House of Respite... What are you on ?? lol

how exactly does it tie-in to ANYTHING from the above-listed events?

.

though that link above mentions that dwarf that was supposed to be a slave in “Blood Ties” does act a little weird

.

I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about, and am unable to relate it either to MY own experience of the game,
OR to ANYTHING from the linked article...

Please elaborate.
Normally.

.

 

[kxcountry]

.



.

Of course I've made it into the House of Respite... What are you on ?? lol

how exactly does it tie-in to ANYTHING from the above-listed events?

.



.

I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about, and am unable to relate it either to MY own experience of the game,
OR to ANYTHING from the linked article...

Please elaborate.
Normally.

.

Sorry, blame it on late night posting. In my defense (at least in this case), they evidently updated/removed a line of dialogue or at least made it so you can’t talk to the guards in the House of Respite anymore. A few years ago if you did make it into the House of Respite, one of the guards by that bedroom used to mention “A deserter, from the Scoia'tael” (I spent a half hour looking for it - on Youtube find “Witcher 3 - How to get into the House of Respite”. It’s at the 0:52 mark.). I could be wrong, but that’s the only place I remember hearing that line. And that being the Nilfgardian place for officers, I figured that meant they were pretty friendly. Yeah…it’s an obscure cut. Not sure why I thought of it. And of course I figured you had made it in there haha, sorry for the confusion.

If you managed to find that Reddit thing I mentioned, it mentions that the Nilfs were taking slaves (this part got cut from the game). And with that Dwarf supposed to be a non-human one, I figured that‘d stand to reason Iorveth wouldn’t exactly see them as liberators. To be fair, it doesn’t state how the cut parts would’ve fit together other than to say they would’ve connected and how Iorveth was involved. Hope that clears a little up, I’ll see if I can’t find the other things I was looking for and get some sleep instead of crazy posting.

One other thing I did find - look up Roche, Iorveth, Nilfguard, and “SQ314(Lazaret)”. Some interesting cut content

​

 

[A.P.P.]

.

And that being the Nilfgardian place for officers, I figured that meant they were pretty friendly.

.

OK, so the way I understand it is, you figure that this line being uttered by one of the Nilf officers is significant towards the idea that
part of the cut Iorveth content, specifically a dwarf of his unit, was captured by the Nilfgaardians with the aims of serving as a slave ?

Intriguing! :O


---


btw, since you seem so knowledgable about the game's lore and story, would you care to provide any insight, if able, on any of these:



==================================================================

Weird non-quest / non-event small occurrence in SouthEastern Hindarsfjall... ANY significance?

. HERE, WHERE GERALT'S ARROW-MARKER IS: . . . . . . I was clearing Lurthen (previously an "Abandoned Site" - type of location) and I noticed this tiny path leading to the coast. It has no markers nowhere either along it, or at its end, but I thought regardless: "Hm... if...

forums.cdprojektred.com

==================================================================

Yrden alternate sign mode (Magic Traps) does NOT attack ARCHgriffins for some reason? :O

. Just a while ago I happened on a stray ARCHgriffin in Oxenfurt forest that was guarding a "Guarded Treasure" type of chest, which was associated with a Treasure Hunt quest that involved someone's aunt's inheritance, or something like that... I noticed during the fight that my Yrden alt-mode...

forums.cdprojektred.com

==================================================================

Three VERY curious side-details in the "Contract: The White Lady" quest which seemingly have NOTHING to do with it and are NEVER explained upon?!

. I was just doing the Contract: White Lady quest, where you have to hunt down a NoonWraith -- -- right outside of Novigrad's walls, where the fields are. The majority of the investigation happens around AND in an abandoned castle tower going by the name of "Drahim Castle". Namely, you find 3...

forums.cdprojektred.com

==================================================================



Could you provide ANY input?

.

 

[kxcountry]

.



.

OK, so the way I understand it is, you figure that this line being uttered by one of the Nilf officers is significant towards the idea that
part of the cut Iorveth content, specifically a dwarf of his unit, was captured by the Nilfgaardians with the aims of serving as a slave ?

Intriguing! :O


---


btw, since you seem so knowledgable about the game's lore and story, would you care to provide any insight, if able, on any of these:



==================================================================

Weird non-quest / non-event small occurrence in SouthEastern Hindarsfjall... ANY significance?

. HERE, WHERE GERALT'S ARROW-MARKER IS: . . . . . . I was clearing Lurthen (previously an "Abandoned Site" - type of location) and I noticed this tiny path leading to the coast. It has no markers nowhere either along it, or at its end, but I thought regardless: "Hm... if...

forums.cdprojektred.com

==================================================================

Yrden alternate sign mode (Magic Traps) does NOT attack ARCHgriffins for some reason? :O

. Just a while ago I happened on a stray ARCHgriffin in Oxenfurt forest that was guarding a "Guarded Treasure" type of chest, which was associated with a Treasure Hunt quest that involved someone's aunt's inheritance, or something like that... I noticed during the fight that my Yrden alt-mode...

forums.cdprojektred.com

==================================================================

Three VERY curious side-details in the "Contract: The White Lady" quest which seemingly have NOTHING to do with it and are NEVER explained upon?!

. I was just doing the Contract: White Lady quest, where you have to hunt down a NoonWraith -- -- right outside of Novigrad's walls, where the fields are. The majority of the investigation happens around AND in an abandoned castle tower going by the name of "Drahim Castle". Namely, you find 3...

forums.cdprojektred.com

==================================================================



Could you provide ANY input?

.



.

OK, so the way I understand it is, you figure that this line being uttered by one of the Nilf officers is significant towards the idea that
part of the cut Iorveth content, specifically a dwarf of his unit, was captured by the Nilfgaardians with the aims of serving as a slave ?

Intriguing! :O


---


btw, since you seem so knowledgable about the game's lore and story, would you care to provide any insight, if able, on any of these:



==================================================================

Weird non-quest / non-event small occurrence in SouthEastern Hindarsfjall... ANY significance?

. HERE, WHERE GERALT'S ARROW-MARKER IS: . . . . . . I was clearing Lurthen (previously an "Abandoned Site" - type of location) and I noticed this tiny path leading to the coast. It has no markers nowhere either along it, or at its end, but I thought regardless: "Hm... if...

forums.cdprojektred.com

==================================================================

Yrden alternate sign mode (Magic Traps) does NOT attack ARCHgriffins for some reason? :O

. Just a while ago I happened on a stray ARCHgriffin in Oxenfurt forest that was guarding a "Guarded Treasure" type of chest, which was associated with a Treasure Hunt quest that involved someone's aunt's inheritance, or something like that... I noticed during the fight that my Yrden alt-mode...

forums.cdprojektred.com

==================================================================

Three VERY curious side-details in the "Contract: The White Lady" quest which seemingly have NOTHING to do with it and are NEVER explained upon?!

. I was just doing the Contract: White Lady quest, where you have to hunt down a NoonWraith -- -- right outside of Novigrad's walls, where the fields are. The majority of the investigation happens around AND in an abandoned castle tower going by the name of "Drahim Castle". Namely, you find 3...

forums.cdprojektred.com

==================================================================



Could you provide ANY input?

.

Honestly, probably not much. Most of what I’ve gleamed is either from random posts on Reddit about the cut content (which came from leaked info they probably still aren’t happy about), a few other sites, and oddly enough, on here. And that info was changed many times when in development evidently. Many, many times. It’s amazing how the game turned out with what was changed plus how quick to release they were changed. I just watched the E3 gameplay video and they have a quest involving Djisktra and…The Ladies of the Wood haha. That Iorveth stuff…if I can’t find the exact stuff/cut material I’m thinking of…I’ll just stick with what I‘ve already posted and what I can remember and what’s already there. Even some of the “sources” that have the game files might be incorrect/jumping to the conclusions. I think they’d admit there’s huge gaps missing and sometimes things aren’t real clear.

The Shieldmaiden on Hindersfall? I actually ran into the same thing on my last play through...but not where you found them. There’s another uninteractable Shield Maiden southwest of Uralla Harbor that will attack the wolves nearby. Yep, really weird. But that place on Hindarsfjall at least changed a little in development, or at least the area surrounding it and the quests. There was supposed to be a quest (I believe it was called “Thralls”) with a young kid named Hvitr with powers. You had to take him to the druids camp and back, plus he was important to the Jarls. He was replaced by Skjall…so you can see it changed a lot. His sister was the same, she ended up in a coma, and you had a quest to choose whether she lived or died - if the Shieldmaiden was involved with something cut, I imagine it was this. The Jarls were involved, it involved the rest of Skellige, it’d make sense to have “troops” helping you. Doesn’t help with the one I saw though. The main Witcher 3 wiki has some info on this. I imagine the Shieldmaiden was just supposed to “guard” the isles like that, or was left over from some of those early quests, or something else.

I just started using alternate Yrden a few playthroughs back…it sounds like more of a game mechanics thing to be honest. Or it might not be. Can’t help much there.

As for the White Lady Contract…no idea. There’s some things that are/were bugged like that weird clue you had to find that doesn’t give anything and the ghoul (not) appearing. You can weirdly start the quest by climbing to the top of the tower and commenting on it. Does that mean it’s supposed to be connected to the Cat school gear in the basement? Julia (weird and mysterious cat lady in Farcorners that was involved with the Cat school gear…they put a ton of effort into a “random NPC”.) is kind of near the quest giver, and Prince Adrien was the last owner of the castle (also involved with the Cat School gear). Who is the quest giver, and why does she have the dagger anyway lol? No idea. Farcorners changed a bunch in development (Even Fringilla Vigo was supposed to have a place, Iorveth was there in a basement, Elihal was moved around a bunch - the person that posted about SQ_Lazaret had a post about them. The Prima Guide even had it as “just an island as well”. ). I’m guessing that quest/area did too. If I had to make a wild, wild, speculative guess that is full of (plot) holes…Luzi was supposed to be betrothed to Prince Adrien, she had some relationship with Julia or her friend Dicker (sister? Daughter? Friend?), Adrien hired the Witcher for the deal with the professor (who also has 2 assistants that *might’ve* escaped), the prince either lies or murders Luzi (because she finds out about the loot or professor?) and then disappears, and that‘s what started Dicker/Julia to search for the caverns/what happened to the Witcher (to hire him to deal with Luzi’s ghost? I vaguely remember some other cut content on him, but I can’t remember where). At least that’s how I would’ve tied it together lol. This contact/Cat gear quest is a big “?” that I really have no answers and I’ve never heard anything about.

Side note - there’s a real Drahim castle, plus there’s an area that looks exactly like Farcorners around it.

 

[A.P.P.]

.

Thanks for all your input!

Now that I think about it, I actually seem to prefer the final version that ended up in the game.
All the rest that you either cite or theorize on your own sounds either a bit too cluttered, or a bit too fanfiction-y for my own personal tastes...

.

I just started using alternate Yrden a few playthroughs back…it sounds like more of a game mechanics thing to be honest. Or it might not be. Can’t help much there.

.

I figured some more out after yet another Archgriffin encounter (the high-lvl one on that Skellige island) :

It's not just Yrden's alternate mode that Archgriffins are immune to...
It's its BASIC mode too !!!

So, basically, Archgriffins are immune to Yrden ENTIRELY.

Now I've still to find some normal (i.e. NON-"arch") Griffins on which to check whether Yrden works !!

.