Specters

Men and women who have died in horrible circumstances, who were not laid to rest in proper graves, who felt abandoned or betrayed by those they called lover or friend, or those who simply have regrets over their life, all can potentially return to the world of the living as vengeful wraiths. Dealing with these monsters is a common contract for witchers as war sweeps the known world.

Hyms

“Some men have got good reason to fear their own shadows.”—Svargmitt, An Skellig druid

Monsters most commonly claim innocents as their victims: tardy merchants, reckless children and travelers who wander into dark woodlands out of misplaced curiosity. None of the above need fear hyms, however. These wraiths only latch onto particularly despicable individuals who have committed some unspeakable crime. To all others, they remain completely invisible. When they do show themselves to the one they torment, they appear as a tall, shadow-clad, humanoid silhouette with long, sharp claws.

Yet hyms do not sink these claws into their victims. Instead, they sap their strength indirectly, through inflicting suffering. Speaking in a voice only the victim hears, they drive him to commit acts of violence, aggression and self-harm. A hym will seize on a guilty person’s worst fears and weave out of them hideous visions, slowing driving the poor soul into madness.

Those tormented by a hym are incapable of restful sleep, for they are tormented by ever-more-frequent, incredibly-realistic nightmares. At times the victim will become extremely on edge, yelling pleas or threats at invisible phantoms or confessing his guilt out loud in the hope this will end his torment. This act does not, however, bring any relief, for the hym will not leave until it has addled its victim’s wits completely or driven him to suicide.

Combat Tactics

Once a hym is exposed possessing a victim, the witcher way of exorcism comes into effect. Moon Dust keeps this spectre corporeal, while a silver sword coated with specter oil finishes the task.

Hyms do not move quickly, compared to other spectres. Their ethereal claws have great reach, and they can sap the life out of their victims with a mere brush, which makes up for their slowness. Evade or roll past the claws and try to strike the hym before it can react. Be aware that after several strikes, the hym will teleport to another corner of its room.

The battle against Udalryk’s hym takes place in two phases, one in the main chamber of his old home, and one in the basement. During the first phase, damage the hym whenever possible, using Moon Dust bombs to keep it physically present. This is a long fight, and unless you are significantly stronger than the hym, you will be at this for a while.

When Udalryk begins to succumb to the hym’s madness, immediately use Axii on him to force him to remain calm.

Igni and Yrden are both great help at keeping the pressure on the hym. Being lit on fire doesn’t have particularly dramatic effect on the hym, but it helps keep it more visible. Yrden slows down the already slow specter, making it easier to deal damage.

When the hym retreats to the cellar, pursue it quickly before it can regenerate. The cellar has candles you must light with igni to help keep the hym corporeal. Continue fighting defensively, evading its claws and striking as openings present themselves until the hym succumbs.

Nightwraiths

“Nightwraiths exude this immense sadness, this helpless wrath… I fear them, same as anyone. But most of all I feel sorry for them.”—Aelline Altsparr, elven trobairitz.

Compared to other creatures of the night (katakans, nekurats and werewolves, for example) nightwraiths (and their rarer cousins, duskwraiths) might not seem all that dangerous. After all, one might ask, how much harm could a pale, withered woman in a tattered dress do? The answer: quite a bit. Instead of finding this out the hard way, avoid crossing fields and meadows at night at all costs.

Like noonwraiths, nightwraiths are only found in rural areas. Travelers fall victim to them most often, but if legends are to be believed they also sneak into huts at times and murder peasants in their sleep.

When they attack nightwraiths remain immaterial for most of the time, meaning physical blows pass right through them. They only take on more tangible form for the brief moments in which they strike. When weakened, they will create several projections of themselves which cannot attack directly but act as transmitters of sorts through which the nightwraith can sap her victim’s vital energy.

Nightwraiths can turn immaterial and are at such times very difficult to wound. In order to force one to take on corporeal form, trap it with the Yrden Sign or hit it with the blast of a Moon Dust bomb.

Do not believe the old wife tales and think yourself completely safe from nightwraiths during the day. They appear under the light of the sun as well, but are much weaker then than after dusk.

Combat Tactics

Nightwraiths favor the dark. If you seek to claim a bounty on a nightwraith, you have to meditate until the moon hangs in the sky. Unfortunately, this is also when the nightwraith is at its strongest. If you are patient, you can find a nightwraith during the day, when it is at its weakest.

Mostly incorporeal, a nightwraith must be made corporeal, either through Yrden, or Moon Dust bombs. When forced to become corporeal, silver swords can be employed to finish the wraith off.

Bombs and crossbow bolts can destroy nightwraith doppelgangers.

When weakened, a nightwraith can split into three copies of itself. Destroy these with all haste, during this state the nightwraith saps vital energy from nearby sources. Destroying the copies forces the real nightwraith to reveal itself.

Noonwraiths

“Despite what is commonly thought, peasants do not interrupt their labors at midday to get out of the sun. They do it to avoid noonwraiths.”—Vlad Reymond, Peasants and Their Customs

On particularly searing summer days, when the sun reaches its zenith, wraiths will at times appear, resembling sun-scorched women dressed in long, white robes. These are noonwraiths—the spirits of young women and girls who died violent deaths right before their weddings. Driven mad with pain or anger, they wander the fields searching for their unfaithful lovers or backstabbing rivals, though they will kill anyone who does not get out of their way in time. They are often held in this world by some object of intense emotional significance. That is why, if one ever finds a wedding ring or torn veil in the middle of a field, one should not pick it up, but instead back away as quickly as possible.

Noonwraiths are only known to haunt rural areas, and usually stay near the place of their deaths. They prey on peasants working in the fields or children playing nearby.

Noonwraiths do not bleed and are for the most part immune to the effects of witcher Signs. They can create mirror images of themselves which circle their victims in a kind of morbid parody of a dance. This ghastly ritual drains their victims’ life energy while adding to their own strength. Noonwraiths are also able to manipulate the physical world to a limited degree, kicking up clouds of dust which temporarily blind and disorient their opponents.

Noonwraiths can turn immaterial and are at such times very difficult to wound. In order to force a noonwraith to take corporeal form, one must first trap it with the Yrden Sign or strike it with a Moon Dust bomb. Once the monster has regained physical presence, one can mount a fast attack with a silver blade, preferably one coated in specter oil.

Contrary to popular belief, noonwraiths can also be encountered at night, but are much weaker then than during the day.

Combat Tactics

Noonwraiths are similar in nature to nightwraiths, save for their preference of the sunlight, and a greater mastery of physical attacks. They can blind foes with dust they kick up. Noonwraiths can also create copies of themselves when threatened, consuming the lifeforce of their victims until they are destroyed.

Bombs and crossbow bolts can destroy noonwraith doppelgangers.

Yrden forces a noonwraith to become corporeal and vulnerable.

Plague Maidens

“Patients seem to have hallucinations of a woman covered in scabs and boils, with rats scurrying about all around her. These ravings subsided after an administration of henbane and poppy extract.”—Joachim von Gratz’s notes, Vilmerius Hospital in Novigrad

When plague ravages a region, a spirit will sometimes walk its lands, a ghost resembling an ill woman whose flesh rots off her bones and in whose wake crawls a cavalcade of rats. No one knows whether this spirit brings the pox with her or is merely drawn to it like a moth to a light. Yet it is certain that she delights in dealing pain and suffering, in hearing the howling and moaning of men.

Many have called into question the very existence of plague maidens, or pestae, as they are sometimes called. Only two sightings of such a creature have ever been recorded, both during times of raging epidemic.

As the name “plague maiden” suggests, these wraiths take the appearance of females, though exactly why that is remains a mystery. Some speculate they, like other such specters, arise from the powerful emotional charge associated with certain circumstances of death, such as death preceded by a long and particularly painful illness.

Not much is known about how to fight a plague maiden, though one can assume they possess many traits in common with other phantoms and wraiths. They undoubtedly pose a great danger, though a witcher’s immunities should at least prevent him from catching the contagious illnesses they carry.

Combat Tactics

Also known as pesta, a plague maiden is one of the more indisious wraiths a witcher can come across. When provoked, pesta calls forth clouds of plague-ridden insects that seek out their foes. The insect clouds can be destroyed with Igni or a slice of a silver sword. Aard can push the clouds back.

Plague maidens have fewer overt weaknesses compared to other wraiths, but are are still vulnerable to Yrden. This can help keep the maiden still while you strike with a silver sword, but it also means you will be swarmed by the plague clouds.

Wraiths

“Finish all your business before you die. Bid your loved ones farewell. Write your will. Apologize to those you’ve wronged. Otherwise, you’ll never truly leave this world.”—Paule Vikar, peasant healer, advice to a dying man

Clerics and scholars are forever debating whether spirits do in fact journey to another world after death, one where eternal joy or suffering awaits. Both groups agree, however, on what happens to spirits who, for one reason or another, remain in our world after their body breathes its last: they transform into wraiths. To hear their mournful howls, one can surmise this is not a fate to be envied.

Wraiths are usually encountered at night, near cemeteries, catacombs and other such burial places, or else near the places that were important to them in life: abandoned homes, crumbling castles or forgotten bridges.

Wraiths suffer endless, indescribable pain. Filled with anger and a sense of having been wronged, they both envy the living and brim with overwhelming hatred for them. Like other specters, they are immaterial, meaning they are not harmed by fire, poison or weapons designed to provoke bleeding.

Wraiths can turn immaterial and are at such times very difficult to wound. One can, however, force them to reassume a physical presence by trapping them with the Yrden Sign or by hitting them with slivers from a Moon Dust bomb. As with any such ghostly being, one should fight them using silver swords, preferably ones smeared with a thick coat of specter oil. Note as well that wraiths are particularly dangerous on moonless nights.

Combat Tactics

Typically encountered at night, wraiths are found in cemeteries, abandoned homes, castles, or battlefields. Wraiths are particularly dangerous during moonless nights.

A wraith attacks victims with sword in one hand, and a latern in the other. Like other wraiths, these spectres can turn incorporeal at any time, so Yrden and Moon Dust are useful tools.

Skilled witchers have been able to counter a wraith’s sword with their own silver blades, even while they are incorporeal.