Graden

A level-headed Redanian witch hunter who takes Tamara Strenger under his wing and leads her band into Crookback Bog.

Graden is a witch hunter in the service of King Radovid V, stationed with his group in Oxenfurt. He is not the usual fanatic. Graden thinks things through, keeps his emotions in check and cares more about results than about following the hunters’ code to the letter, even though that approach will hardly win him friends among his superiors. He was among the first hunters to actually read books on black magic before burning them, reasoning that knowing the enemy is the best way to fight it.

Graden in The Witcher 3
In 1272, Graden takes Tamara Strenger under his protection. The daughter of the Bloody Baron has joined the witch hunters in the hope of rescuing her mother from Crookback Bog, and Graden trains her so she will be ready for what waits in the swamp. Geralt can meet him during Family Matters, when he breaks into the witcher’s conversation with Tamara. Unlike many of his comrades, he treats the witcher without prejudice.

They meet again in Return to Crookback Bog, where Geralt and the Baron find Graden’s hunters fighting drowners at the orphanage. Depending on whether Geralt already met Tamara, Graden either thanks him for arriving in time or asks what he is doing there. After an awkward reunion between Tamara and her father, Graden cuts in and sends his men to search the buildings.

What decides Graden’s role?
Graden survives the quest in every version, but his part changes with the outcome. If Anna has merely lost her mind, he reminds Tamara that the deal was only to find her mother and that she now has obligations to the hunters, so she cannot leave with her parents. If the Crones have turned Anna into a hag, Graden goes down into the cellar with Geralt and explains the magic of the dolls with hair woven into them, though the choice of doll is left to the witcher. If Geralt picks the wrong one, Graden remarks that it could surely have been solved another way and tells Tamara to seek comfort in the Eternal Fire. If Anna dies after the right choice, he gives Tamara time to grieve. Either way, he leads his band, Tamara included, back to Oxenfurt.