Crow’s Perch

Crow’s Perch is a palisade hold on a hill in northwestern Velen, and the nearest thing the province has to a seat of power. A low moat and a wall of sharpened logs circle a village of perhaps fifty people, and the only way in is a shaky wooden bridge built in what you might call the proud Velen style. Inside, muddy lanes and plank huts climb the slope toward a modest keep of red brick at the very top, which once gave its lord a pretty view of his lands in peaceful times and an early warning in bad ones. Up in the courtyard there is a garden, a forge, a stable yard and a queue of the Baron’s soldiers waiting their turn at the outhouse. It is grubby, cramped and well defended, which in Velen counts as luxury.

The hold belonged to Baron Vserad until rumours of approaching armies sent him fleeing to Fyke Isle. After that, Phillip Strenger, the Bloody Baron, moved in with his family and his soldiers.

In The Witcher 3

Geralt’s first visit comes in the main quest Bloody Baron. How he treated the Baron’s men at the Inn at the Crossroads decides whether the guards let him walk in or he has to find another way, through a flooded cave and up the castle well. Once inside, the Baron admits that Ciri stayed under his roof, and he trades her story for help finding his missing wife and daughter. That deal becomes Family Matters, one of the best-known questlines in the game, with a botchling, a burning stable and a long, uncomfortable night of family secrets.

The search spreads out across Velen from here. The trail leads to the Pellar in Blackbough, to a fisherman’s hut where the women were last seen and to Oxenfurt, where the Baron’s daughter has joined the witch hunters. Each time, Geralt rides back up the hill to report, and the Baron, with an old storyteller’s trick, holds back the end of his tale about Ciri until his wife is found. When he finally finishes it, Geralt learns that Ciri had to use her powers to save the Baron’s life, drew the Wild Hunt and fled on to Novigrad.

The keep was home to the Baron’s wife Anna and his daughter Tamara before they fled, and to Uma, the cursed little creature the Baron’s men keep as a jester, who becomes very important in Ugly Baby. Sergeant Ardal, one of the Baron’s men, will happily trade punches with Geralt in the Velen fist fights.

Crow’s Perch is also a busy service stop:

A merchant near the village gate and a quartermaster in the upper yard, who both play gwent.
The forge of Fergus Graem and his assistant Yoana, which can be upgraded to master level through Master Armorers.
A notice board with contracts and odd jobs, including the hunt for the Shrieker, a cockatrice in the fields east of the fort.
The Baron himself, a keen gwent player who starts the Velen gwent circuit.

Quests in Crow’s Perch

Good to know

Crow’s Perch has a fast travel signpost and lies just east of Blackbough, where the Pellar lives.
Beat the Baron at gwent before his story ends. If you miss him, his unique card can still be found in his office.
The horse races start at a crossroads between Crow’s Perch and Blackbough and run at night.
When the stables catch fire during Family Matters, rescuing the trapped stablehand is optional, but it’s the decent thing to do.
The archgriffin contract only appears on the notice board once you have delivered the smithing tools for Master Armorers. The trophy goes to the quartermaster.