Blackbough is a small village in western Velen, a short ride from Crow’s Perch, and you can smell it before you see it. Stacks of charred logs sit around the cottages, the leftovers of the loggers who once dragged unwanted branches here to burn, and that habit gave the place its name. The villagers prefer a nicer story: that an ancient race of tree people founded it long ago. A blacksmith works at the forge, two merchants sell crafting goods and hides, and simple wooden houses line muddy paths that end at the edge of the woods.

What makes Blackbough matter is the man who lives just north of it. The Pellar is a rural holy man with grey hair and pale blue eyes, a healer and soothsayer who talks with spirits and knows old rituals that the Church of the Eternal Fire would happily burn him for. His cottage stands alone among the trees, and he sells alchemical ingredients, diagrams and runes at fair prices.

In the game, the Pellar is a key part of Family Matters. Geralt tracks down his lost goat, Princess, in exchange for the knowledge he needs to deal with the tragedy at Crow’s Perch, including a ritual at Wolven Glade for the botchling. The village also hosts the secondary quests Wild at Heart, a missing-wife case with a bitter core of jealousy, and Forefather’s Eve, a ritual tied to the Pellar’s troubled past.