The Beast of Toussaint

"Do you really wish to know?" — Spoilers from the books and/or adaptations to follow!

Walkthrough[]

The quest starts right where the previous one ends. As soon as you reach Toussaint, Geralt will spot Guillaume de Launfal engaged in battle with a giant named Golyat. Obviously, Geralt will step in to help.

Note: If you manage to shoot Golyat in the eye with your crossbow it will result in an instant death and you will receive the David and Golyat achievement. However, even if you already have it you can still use this method to kill him unless regular combat is easier to you.

Regardless, after Golyat is dead you will have a short conversation on how to proceed. (450)

Note: Golyat leaves a second corpse containing over 100 (and up to 400 have been observed), but it might not appear until later revisiting the area.

Investigating[]

Follow Milton to the shoreline below The Cockatrice Inn and once there use your Witcher Senses to investigate. The trails there will lead you into the water, but before diving in you will have to dispose a group of scurvers - a more dangerous variation of rotfiends, for which you'll want to have Quen up to survive their far-reaching death explosions (especially dangerous if Deadly Precision is triggered against them). While searching underwater, you will find a Handkerchief monogrammed "d.l.C.", now talk to Milton and you will go to the Inn to get more details. After getting all your answers it's time to go to Corvo Bianco.

Note: In the barn next to inn you can find an old pamphlet.

The place isn't far so you can go on foot. When you get close you will hear the sounds of battle and, if you investigate the area thoroughly, Geralt will deduct the culprit is a bruxa and you will have the optional objective to check the bestiary for more info (doing that gives 150). Now enter the cellar and find the vampire, once you do Geralt will try to converse with her, however she won't listen and you will have to fight her. She can turn invisible, but if you have Superior Moon Dust and throw one at her it will make the ability useless. It is also possible to deliver a one-hit death by knocking her with Aard slowed down by Yrden (otherwise she's too fast). After she is dead (500) examine the last victim's body to find a coin pouch in its mouth and the Unusual severed hand which attracted the bruxa. (150) Then go see Palmerin at the arena.

The arena[]

Note: When you reach the arena you may overhear a Knight named Bors conversing with Percival to start the There Can Be Only One quest. You'll also find a notice for that later though.

Talk to Palmerin and after some small talk he will take Geralt to the stands. Guillaume will be fighting a handicapped shaelmaar, however it will soon lose its handicap and Geralt will have to step in to help. Palmerin will help too, but he can get beat up by the shaelmaar (he won't die, so don't worry about him). The shaelmaar can be a tough opponent, however as Geralt will point out it's blind thus it uses sound to know where to attack. To make the fight easy use Aard while standing near a wall then dodge away, thus baiting the monster to crash into it and tip over making it vulnerable to attacks. After you defeat it (300) Anna Henrietta will prompt you to finish it, but you can refuse.

Important: If you spare the shaelmaar it will count as "Proof of compassion" for There Can Be Only One.

During the following conversation, Anna Henrietta will take Geralt to meet Damien de la Tour and give him the deed and key to Corvo Bianco as part of his contract reward (100), starting the secondary quest No Place Like Home. When Geralt points it out as the morgue where he fought the bruxa, the conversation turns more serious and it's time to ask Damien for details about the victims. After learning everything Geralt will deduce that the next victim will be Milton de Peyrac-Peyran. Anna Henrietta will reveal that Milton and the other victims were once a team and agree with Geralt. However, Milton is already taking part in the annual hare hunt game and won't be easy to find. After the cutscene, you'll be on Roach following Annarietta to Beauclair Palace.

Hare hunt[]

Anna Henrietta will decide that breaking the rules of the game is necessary to save Milton. To find him, a riddle must be solved using a Clue from the horn of a "unicorn", Key from the Golden Fish, and the Phoenix egg. She will instruct you to find the fish and horn, while she nabs the egg. You're supposed to split up here, but following her will lead you right next to the "unicorn"'s location.

Apart from finding the key and making your way to the Milton's hiding spot, the rest of the objectives of this part of the quest are actually optional. While the intended way of progressing is retrieving the key and the clue from the horn of a unicorn and then meeting up with Anna Henrietta to solve a riddle, if the player already knows where Milton is hiding, they can go directly there after retrieving the key. However, in doing so you would miss extra rewards.

To find the fish, you need to dive into the water. There are multiple under the water, but only one of them – a golden one – holds the key while the rest contain sweets. If you find the right fish the first or the second time, you get the key instantly. (150) If you pick the wrong fish twice in a row, someone else catches the fish from under Geralt's nose, leading to a cutscene of Geralt unceremoniously nabbing the fish from them and breaking it to get the key. (50) If you wish to find the correct fish on your own, then it's best not to use witcher senses to locate it, as the glowing outlines make it harder to differentiate the fish by color. It is the on the southwestern end of the search area, closest one to the shore.

To get the horn you need to reach the "Unicorn". The animal, however, will run away when approached and you need to either gain its trust with treats or use Axii to calm it. If you go for the treats, several can be found around the picnic blankets just south of the circular stone veranda where Anna Henrietta gets the Phoenix Egg. The "Unicorn" doesn't like cookies, though you can just find another treat when that fails. Regardless of how you got to it, you get 150, but using Axii will cause some other partygoers to accuse Geralt of cheating and try to fight him. However, you can Axii them as well (40 and doesn't require Delusion), or have a fistfight with the men.

Note: While not related to the riddle, there are two optional interactions that are only available until the quest ends and your last chance to do them is now, before returning to the Duchess with the clues (or finding Milton with just the key). See Lost ring and Grain cup for details.

Once you have both clues go back to Anna Henrietta who will just be taking the egg and now you have to solve the riddle. The correct answer is "Greenhouse" and you get 200 for guessing it. If you get it wrong, Anna Henrietta will guess the correct answer instead. Regardless, the quest will end here (1,000) and instantly continue to the next main quest, Blood Run.

Important: If you guess the correct answer it will count as "Proof of wisdom" for There Can Be Only One.

Journal entry[]

No sooner had Geralt arrived in Toussaint than he got his first taste of the local color. As he was clip-clopping along the high road, chit-chatting with Milton and Palmerin, a most unusual sight unfolded before his eyes. Here was a knight, with all the expected accoutrements, charging headlong at a windmill! The situation became clear a moment later when a giant strode from behind the windmill and charged right back at the knight. Before anyone could say "Only in Toussaint," the witcher and all three knights were swinging away at the brute, amidst the freshly crumbled ruins of the mill and a herd of panic-stricken sheep.

At long last the giant lay defeated, and the men who had vanquished it could make their introductions, then engage in the kind of conversation that oft happens over a fresh monster corpse. The young giant slayer gave the three arrivals fresh tidings – the Beast had struck again. The body of its most recent victim now lay on a riverbank nearby. Geralt decided he needed to see it and explore the crime scene, while Milton thought it both wise and courteous to accompany the witcher.

Geralt failed to find the victim's body on the riverbank. It seemed the Ducal Guard had removed it to the cool cellars of the Corvo Bianco Estate. Ever the ferreter, however, Geralt did spot something the soldiers had overlooked. Based on the item, and with Milton's help, he established the identity of the Beast's most recent victim. Yet he failed to divine the species, genus, or family of the creature that had perpetrated the crime. Only an autopsy could help him do that. So Geralt set off for Corvo Bianco, alone this time as duties at court had called Milton to the Ducal Palace.

Alas, something wicked had arrived at Corvo Bianco Vineyard. As the witcher drew near the estate, yet was still at some distance, battle sounds reached his ears. On arriving, he saw the bodies of guardsmen, murdered just moments before by a bruxa. The witcher promptly defeated the vampiress, who was not the Beast itself but was clearly in league with it. Yet Geralt could not guess at the link between them nor at the identity of the creature that had inspired the bruxa's rampage through the vineyard. The witcher needed information on the Beast's previous victims. He supposed the duchess might have this and thus set off to find her.

Anna Henrietta's time was precious. To get an audience with her was never an easy feat. Even more so in those days, as the duchess was overseeing a chivalric tourney playing out on tourney grounds outside the walls of Toussaint's capital. Yet in the end Geralt faced the one who had summoned him. As they related what each had learned about the Beast, thus pooling their knowledge and hypotheses, they deduced the likely identity of its next victim, who could very well prove to be Milton de Peyrac-Peyran.

Geralt and Anna Henrietta rushed like rabbits through the palace gardens. Ironically, at the time the gardens were the venue for a game of Hunt the Hare. Milton had been assigned the title role. The knight, having donned a bunny rabbit costume, sat hiding in the gardens, waiting to be found by the game's participants based on clues they could win by completing various challenges. Yet the duchess and the witcher could spare no time for such nonsense and set out to win the clues by breaking the rules.

Having assembled the clues, Geralt and Anna Henrietta had concluded that Milton was hiding in a greenhouse. They had set off to find him post haste. Alas, they were too late. Amidst lush vegetation, they found Milton's rapidly cooling corpse. The murderer stood over it. As the witcher stepped towards him, the killer dashed off. Thus ended the first stage of Geralt's investigation. And thus began his mad pursuit of the murderer.

Objectives[]

• Defeat the giant. (450)
• Follow Milton to the place where the body was found.
• Use your Witcher Senses to search the riverbank.
• Use your Witcher Senses to search the riverbank for signs of the guardsmen's activities.
• Defeat the necrophages.
• Use your Witcher Senses to search the nets for clues the guardsmen might have overlooked.
• Talk to Milton about your findings.
• Follow Milton to the inn to ask if anyone saw where the body was taken.
• Go to Corvo Bianco and examine the body kept in its cellar.
• Use your Witcher Senses to determine what kind of monster killed the guards.
• Look for the body of the Beast's victim in Corvo Bianco's cellar.
• [Optional] Read the bruxa Bestiary entry to prepare for the fight. (150)
• [Optional] Use your Witcher Senses to investigate the site of the massacre.
• Find the Beast's victim's body in the cellar.
• Defeat the bruxa. (500)
• Examine the body of the Beast's victim. (150)
• Find Palmerin and ask him to take you to the duchess.
• Defeat the shaelmaar. (300 + 100)
• Follow the duchess to the palace gardens.
• Look for the "unicorn" in the clearing in the palace gardens.
  • Use your Witcher Senses to find a treat for the "unicorn."
  • Take the basket of carrots to the "unicorn" to gain its trust. (150)
  • Take the cookie to the "unicorn" to gain its trust.
  • Take the apple to the "unicorn" to gain its trust. (150)
  • If Geralt uses Axii instead, but didn't Axii the courtiers: (150)
    • Defeat the courtiers.
• Retrieve the golden fish from the pond.
  • Use your Witcher Senses to find the golden fish in the pond. (150 / 50)
• Meet the duchess to assemble the clues and learn where Milton is hiding.

Notes[]

• If Geralt returns to the Greenhouse after facing the beast, he can find and loot a Hare Mask which Geralt can wear. The phoenix egg is also lootable at the location where Anna Henrietta opens it, but it can only be sold for a few crowns.
• Once you have the key you can go directly to the greenhouse, ending the quest without getting the clue from the unicorn nor doing the riddle. Milton is also visible through the glass walls before the key is found.
• At the arena, Palmerin may be in two different locations. During the day he's next to the arena itself and you'll join him in a conversation with some children. However, during nighttime he'll be at Guillaume's tent and you'll be waiting with him until daylight, where they end up reminiscing of the old times and a succubus contract which Geralt had in The Lady of the Lake.
• In the Tourney Grounds tent where you meet Damien de la Tour, files for the Beast's first three victims can be found (De la Croix's file, Ramon de Lac's file, and Crespi's file). If you wish to get them, it's better to find the tent (across from the barber's) before speaking to Palmerin, otherwise one has to come back from the palace for them. Invitation to the Hare Hunt can also be found around the Tourney Grounds.
• After the quest completes, upon returning on the riverbank where you first look for the third body, the fishing hut there will now be unlocked and inside a journal by the witness fisherman can be found, recounting his testimony.
• After reaching Corvo Bianco (presumably because the transport boat is in motion before that, even though it can't be seen), a bloodied boat and some wagon tracks can be found by a small fishing hut on Chestnut Shore, east of the Sansretour Valley signpost. Both can be examined, but are not important and Geralt will only conclude that the body was transported using that boat and there's nothing to be learned there. This can be done after the quest is completed too.
• You don't get any loot from killing the shaelmaar so it's best to just spare it.
• Golyat can be frozen with northen wind.