Heatherton

Heatherton is a small village in the Crow’s Perch region of northwestern Velen, north of Blackbough and not far from the Inn at the Crossroads. From a distance it looks like any other Velen hamlet: a cluster of timber cottages with thatched roofs, a few fenced yards and a well. Up close it is wrong. Doors hang open, nothing moves in the pens, the villagers are gone, and the only sound is a pack of rabid dogs worrying at something in the lane. The map puts it bleakly: the villagers were relieved when the armies passed them by. Then, one night, they changed their minds.

In The Witcher 3

The Wild Hunt rode into Heatherton looking for Hendrik, a Nilfgaardian agent who had been working on Ciri’s trail. They seized him in his hut, tortured him for what he knew and killed him, and the village died with him. A single survivor remains. When Geralt arrives during The Nilfgaardian Connection, the man is being attacked by the dogs, and even after Geralt saves him he is so shaken that the witcher has to calm him with Axii before he can tell what happened.

Hendrik’s hut holds the real prize. His body carries the key to a cellar hidden under an animal-skin rug, and in the cellar a hidden chest holds his notes on Ciri. They give Geralt the two leads that open up Velen: the Bloody Baron at Crow’s Perch, and a witch near Midcopse. From here you can follow Bloody Baron or Hunting a Witch in either order.

Quests in Heatherton

• The Nilfgaardian Connection

Good to know

• Heatherton has a fast travel signpost, so it is a handy anchor for exploring the north of the Crow’s Perch region, including the abandoned fort of Lornruk.
• The cellar rug can be pushed aside with Aard or simply examined.
• Groups of hostile looters pick over corpses on the roads near the village, so expect company.