A Long Way from Home

ID | q2003\_wayhome

**A Long Way from Home** is a secondary quest in Chapter II which Γκέραλτ can undertake if he asks Yaren Bolt a second time if he needs the services of a witcher, having already completed Flowers and Gold for him. Despite being optional, it does provide quite a lot of meaningful information about the main quests and should not be neglected.

## Walkthrough

Having sorted out the Flowers and Gold quest for the lumberjack, Γκέραλτ asks Yaren Bolt if he needs the services of a witcher for any other tasks. As it happens, the woodcutter does. He divulges that the way from the Lumberjacks' glade to the landing is blocked by monsters. These monsters include: bloedzuigers, drowners, echinopsae and vodyanoi, and this makes life for him and his band of woodcutters difficult to say the least.

Yaren also would like the witcher to get rid of the vodyanoi near the clay pits. He does not exactly explain why he wants to be rid of the "fish people", as he derisively refers to them, but it is part of the deal. Γκέραλτ points out that this is not really the best of ideas and that what the lumberjack is requesting amounts to a massacre, but there is no swaying Bolt.

Γκέραλτ decides to accept regardless and sets off to clear the road with his usual speed and efficiency, but he is still having doubts about the vodyanoi angle. He slices and dices his way through three bloedzuigers, a trio of drowners and a pair of echinopsae. There! Road cleared.

Γκέραλτ decides to follow her advice and goes back to tell Yaren about the new development. He manages to convince the dwarf to give up his axe. The witcher then goes off to the clay pits to place the axe upon the altar and wait for some sign that the offering has been accepted. **or**

 He goes to a nearby campfire and meditates until nearly midnight, then heads over to the vodyanoi altar.

The witcher then heads back to the Lumberjacks' glade to report to Yaren. The woodcutter is pleased that the road has been cleared and rewards Γκέραλτ as agreed.

## Notes

* While this quest is active, unrelated monsters with a timed respawning counter do not spawn anywhere in the swamp. Certain monsters with non-timed triggers (e.g. the two drowned dead at the beggartick patch near the ruined tower who appear every time after entering and exiting buildings etc.) are not affected. Once the quest is completed, all the monsters that had been waiting for respawning appear all at once.
* Do not go wandering around doing other stuff when you are supposed to be at the vodyanoi altar (or any other time during this quest). If you leave the swamp, or get distracted and forget to go back and see Yaren, the quest will fail and he will tell you that most (if not all) of the woodcutters have been killed, thanks to your tardiness.
* Also, if you are tardy and get the woodcutters killed, it seems like Gramps' good will disappears as well, so you can no longer get the formula for Hanged man's venom from him.
* Even if you chose to keep the money and angered Yaren in Flowers and Gold, he will still grudgingly give you this quest if you ask.
* Interestingly, if you go with making peace between the woodcutters and the vodyanoi, the lumberjacks (except for Yaren, of course) all undergo a miraculous conversion to the Brickmakers' faith. Clicking on them after this quest (with this choice) reveals all sorts of funny and interesting conversation tidbits.
* When you convince Yaren to give you his axe to make peace, you will automatically drop any secondary weapon you are carrying on the ground, so be careful. If you are carrying for instance both Harvall and a meteorite sword, you probably want to go to an inn and put one in storage before starting this quest, or you can store one of your swords at the vodyanoi altar and switch it for axe later - be carefull though, you need to collect/switch it before midnight, as it is possibly counted as sacrifice. Or, you can kill the fishpeople straight away without need to worry about your weapons.
* The quest can easily be missed, since the Yaren's dialogue line, when asking for another job, is greyed out, thus indicating there is nothing new to talk about. A "hidden" quest or dialogue bug, so to speak.
* If you negotiate with the vodyanoi, Vaska will explain what offerings to present at the vodyanoi altar. Mostly plants, brews, and incense. Offerings are turned into Hellebore petals after a few hours.

## Phases

### Monsters

The lumberjacks are in trouble — they have been cut off from supplies by wandering monsters. Yaren Bolt promised to pay me if I can deal with this threat. I must quickly kill the monsters blocking the road and take care of the vodyanoi issue. Time really matters — perhaps I should go to Vaska, as she seems to get along with the fishpeople well. *I must kill the monsters blocking the road and take care of the vodyanoi issue as quickly as possible. Perhaps I should turn to Vaska with this problem.*

### Bloedzuigers

A group of bloedzuigers has been destroyed — the swamps are now a better place. *I killed a few bloedzuigers. I should eliminate any creatures that threaten the lumberjacks.* (100 XP)

### Drowners

The drowners left this world — this time for good. *I killed a few drowners. I should eliminate any creatures that threaten the lumberjacks.* (100 XP + 200 XP when all monsters are dead)