Overview
Contract: Devil by the Well is the first witcher contract you can take in The Witcher 3, in White Orchard, suggested for level 2. A villager named Odolan needs clean water: the river has been fouled by the bodies the war keeps washing into it, and his daughter has fallen ill with a fever. The only good well is in the abandoned village nearby, and a noonwraith circles it. It is a textbook introduction to contracts: investigate, find what ties the ghost to the place, prepare, then fight.
Don’t leave it too long. The contract fails if you haven’t finished it before the main quest On Thin Ice, and you can’t fast travel back during that final stretch of the story.
Getting the contract
Read the notice on the White Orchard board, or just talk to Odolan directly. You can haggle over the fee before he points you towards the well.
The investigation
If you arrive during the day, the Devil by the Well drifts around the well but leaves you alone unless you get too close. That lets you search the huts in peace. Only the hut on the east side matters. Inside, read the diary written by a woman named Claer and examine the skeleton. Geralt spots more blood, which leads back to the doorway.
Next, check the scorched ground and the body around the well, then the well’s rope. Hanging from it is a woman’s skeleton, and Geralt concludes that her bracelet must have fallen into the water. If the wraith is in the way, fight her until she flees and then carry on.
Jump down the well, use Witcher Senses to find the ornate bracelet at the bottom of the pool, and climb out so Geralt can look at it. Follow the passage to a second pool, dive in and swim through the underwater tunnel to get out of the cave.
Fighting the noonwraith
Back at the well, get your oils and potions ready, then burn the skeleton and the bracelet. She appears whatever the time of day. Fight inside a Yrden circle so she stays solid, and put specter oil on your silver sword. When she splits into three copies, kill them fast, because she uses that time to heal. Moon Dust is a handy backup for pinning her down. Full tactics on our Noonwraith page.
Choices and outcomes
Odolan offers 20 crowns. You can take them, or turn them down, in which case he gives you an amethyst instead. He also mentions that the herbalist Tomira once spoke of a woman called Claer. The contract is already complete at that point, but talking to Tomira reveals more about the village’s past and earns a small extra reward.
Rewards
- 100 XP (50 for the trophy, 50 on handing in the contract)
- 20 crowns, or an amethyst if you refuse the payment
- Noonwraith trophy
- From Tomira: 10 XP, 10 crowns and a few alchemy ingredients
Liked this one? A second noonwraith waits near Novigrad in Contract: The White Lady, and if you prefer gentler work, White Orchard also has A Frying Pan, Spick and Span.
