On Death’s Bed

A peasant woman lies dying after a griffin attack, and a witcher's potion might save her, or kill her in agony.

On Death’s Bed is a secondary quest in White Orchard that asks Geralt to choose between a greater and a lesser evil. While preparing to hunt the griffin, he meets one of its victims, a peasant woman named Lena. She was on her way to meet her lover when the beast attacked, and she has been mortally wounded.

The herbalist Tomira is doing what she can, but it is not enough. A witcher’s potion might save Lena, but potions made for witchers are poison to ordinary people, and she could just as easily die in agony. To make the attempt, Geralt has to gather the right herbs and help prepare a remedy that might be strong enough without killing her.

It is a short quest, but a quietly heavy one. There is no clean choice, only a risk worth taking or not, and it shows early on that The Witcher 3 is not afraid to put the player in uncomfortable positions.