Beyond Hill and Dale… is Syanna’s path through Blood and Wine, and one of the most imaginative places in the game. Geralt follows Syanna into the Land of a Thousand Fables, a vast magical illusion full of fairy tales that is slowly falling apart. Getting out takes three magic beans, and what you do along the way decides whether the story can end well.
How to start Beyond Hill and Dale…
Open the book The Land of a Thousand Fables in the palace playroom during The Night of Long Fangs. The suggested level is 47 and the quest gives about 2,350 XP.
Follow the yellow brick road
The illusion is too strong to dispel and your map won’t help much, so follow the objective marker along the yellow road. At a hut you find Syanna trying to free Jack from a locked hearth, and the Wicked Witch attacks. Jack sends you to Joss, the boy who cried wolf. Save him from real wolves and he “reverses the truth” about where the beans are. The fable creatures leave Syanna alone, but Geralt is an unwelcome guest, so expect pixies along the way.
The three beans
- Red bean: the Big Bad Wolf swallowed it. Little Red Riding Hood is dead, so Syanna takes her place. Jump into the well for the red hood, act out the tale and fight the wolf.
- Yellow bean: climb Longlocks’ tower alone, defeat her wraith and take the bean from the pillow on her bed.
- Blue bean: it’s with the Three Little Pigs in the northwest. Blow down the brick house with Aard and fight the piglets, which fight like boars. The Three Bears are a false lead.
After each bean, Syanna opens up a little more about her past and about Dettlaff. Plant the beans in the field by the small settlement, climb the beanstalk and defeat the Cloud Giant. The way out is a well that drops you into the fountain at Beauclair Palace, where Regis is waiting. From there you head to Tesham Mutna.
For the good ending
- Listen to Syanna’s story: after the first bean, ask what happened to her.
- Get the ribbon: the Little Flint Girl in the settlement north of Longlocks’ tower wears Syanna’s old ribbon. Pay 500 crowns or win it at gwent. Without it, Syanna can die at Tesham Mutna.
Tips
- Don’t take the food from the Three Bears’ table, or all three wake up and attack.
- Finish everything you want here before planting the beans.
- Hidden swords: a will-o’-the-wisp over a pond east of Longlocks’ tower leads to a dead knight with relic Toussaint armor and the steel sword Vitis. Another wisp after the Cloud Giant leads to a bonfire. Light it for the silver sword Gesheft.
- Items from the castle can’t be taken out of the illusion. If you did Duck, Duck, Goosed!, eat the golden egg before you leave, or it disappears.
- After the Cloud Giant, you can sleep with Syanna depending on your earlier conversations. It has no consequences either way.
- Look for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, and the falling whale through a gap in the castle wall.
