Contract: Devil by the Well

Contract: Devil by the Well is the first contract quest available in .
: Contract: Devil by the Well
 this quest will fail if not completed before starting On Thin Ice.
== Walkthrough ==
The quest is simple enough and can be started by either finding the contract on the notice board or by talking to Odolan directly.
Speak to Odolan who'll explain the river's water has turned foul from all the bodies turning up in it from the war, and as a result, his daughter has fallen ill. The only way to cure her fever is to get fresh water from a well in the nearby abandoned village. However, a noonwraith haunts it, preventing him from getting near. You can barter a bit for a reward, and once agreed to, the marker will direct you to the well.
=== Investigate the Well ===
Head out and, if you arrive during the daytime, you'll see the Devil by the Well circling around the well. However, she won't attack unless you get too close, so you're free to investigate the huts unhindered. While they marker points to all 3 huts, the only one with evidence is the one on the east side. Enter it and read the diary written by a woman named Claer, then examine the skeleton. Geralt will then note he sees more blood. Follow it back to the hut's doorway for another area to examine.
If the noonwraith isn't out, you can safely examine the scorched area and body around the well, then the rope on the well. However, if she is out and you want to quickly finish the quest without waiting, approach and fight her. She'll soon flee and you can then investigate the well. You can then approach and examine the rope to find a woman's skeleton and Geralt will conclude the bracelet probably fell into the well, and which you need to get rid of the noonwraith for good.
With that, jump into to the well and use your Witcher Senses to find it at the bottom of the pool, then climb out of the water for Geralt to look the bracelet over. Afterwards, follow the path to another pool of water and dive underwater, following the underwater cavern out of the cave.
=== Dealing with the Noonwraith ===
Head back to the well, making sure to prepare for the fight, like crafting any oils and potions. Once ready, burn the skeleton and bracelet and she'll appear, regardless of the time of day. Make sure to use Yrden to keep her vulnerable to strikes and when she splits into 3 lesser noonwraiths, quickly take them out as she uses this time to try and heal. Once she's been dealt with loot her for the trophy (50) and head back to Odolan.
Odolan will be grateful that you took care of the noonwraith and will readily try to give you the reward (50 and 20 ). However, you can choose to refuse it, in which case you'll still earn 50 , but get an amethyst instead of any coin. He will also mention that Tomira once mentioned a Claer. While the quest will complete here, if you talk to Tomira about Claer, she'll reveal more information on what happened to the village and gives you a small reward, including 10 , 10 , and several alchemy ingredients.
== Journal entry ==
:: Find the contract on the notice board:
::: In White Orchard Geralt happened across a notice posted by a certain Odolan residing in the village. The man wanted to take out the monster who was haunting the area around an old well - and doing so required a professional. This was as typical of witcher work as they come, so Geralt decided to talk to the man.
: Malicious beings usually haunt the ruins of castles, fortresses or, as a last resort, towers. The wraith of White Orchard, however, chose a much more quotidian site for its haunting: a well. A White Orchard peasant by the name of Odolan wanted someone to chase off the phantom and Geralt accepted the job.
: If Geralt later talks to Tomira about Claer:
:: Though Geralt had rid the village of the noonwraith, he could not stop thinking about the unfortunate woman the phantom had once been. Who was responsible for her untimely death? What had she done to bring this upon herself? Just who was she? Thanks to the dedication inscribed on the bracelet he found in the cave, Geralt was able to get answers to these questions from White Orchard's herbalist. She recounted to him the story of the area's troubled past.
: It turned out the devil haunting the well was a noonwraith: the ghost of a young woman who had died a sudden and cruel death. The witcher found her body hanging from the well's bucket rope and, nearby, a bracelet that must have belonged to her while she lived. Destroying this object broke the tie binding the poor woman's ghost to this world and allowed Geralt to chase it off once and for all.
== Objectives ==
* Ask Odolan about the contract.
* Investigate while noonwraith is not out:
** Find evidence of the spirit's presence using your Witcher Senses.
* Find the spirit that haunts the well.
* Read the entry about noonwraiths in the Bestiary.
* Find out what binds the noonwraith to the ruined village.
* Examine the items in the hut first:
** Read the diary from the ruined house.
** Follow the drag marks using your Witcher Senses.
* Use your Witcher Senses to examine the well.
* Get too close to the noonwraith while investigating:
** Defeat the noonwraith.
* Go down the well and look for something that belonged to the dead woman using your Witcher Senses.
* Find a way out of the cave.
* Leave the cave.
* Prepare to fight the noonwraith and light a fire near the well.
* Light a fire to destroy the noonwraith's bones and bracelet.
* Defeat the noonwraith.
* Take a trophy from the noonwraith. (50)
* Return to Odolan for a reward. (50)
== Bugs ==
* If you initially arrive at the well when the noonwraith isn't out (like at night) you won't be able to investigate further and must wait until she's there to investigate further.
* Sometimes, even after this quest as been completed, the quest may still get marked as failed while in White Orchard during Something Ends, Something Begins if one got the witcher ending.
== Notes ==
* This is the only contract with a cutoff point. Since you cannot fast travel during the final main quest, On Thin Ice, it is recommended that you fast travel to White Orchard to complete this contract before starting that part of the story line.
== Videos ==
File:The Witcher 3 Devil by the Well Noonwraith Boss Fight
File:Legends of The Witcher The Devil by The Well
Category:The Witcher 3 contracts
ar:الاتفاق: شيطان يجاور البئر
de:Auftrag: Teufel beim Brunnen
pl:Zlecenie: Licho przy studni
ru:Заказ: лихо у колодца
tr:Kontrat: Kuyu Başındaki Şeytan
uk:Замовлення: Лихо з криниці