Making the Earth Move

Continue down more stairs and into Ermion’s laboratory. Here there are two types of items to inspect, of varying interest to you:

“Glittering” objects which are usually notes and other marginalia from Ermion, to add to your Lore knowledge. There are also objects that appear in red when you utilize your Witcher Senses. These are of importance, and some must be found in order to continue. Find the following:

• A correspondence letter on a sideboard.
• Ermion’s pipe on a small table near the fireplace.
• A book—Tales of the Wild Hunt—on a small table by the main pillar.
• A large goblet of dwarven triple mead on the bedside table.
• A set of ornate boiling casks atop a low bookshelf. A laboratory worthy of an imperial alchemist.
• A wooden goat on a plinth, sitting on a barrel. According to Yennefer, this might have been whittled by Ciri (as Ermion was Ciri’s tutor during childhood).
• A human skull, sitting on a small circular table. Wait, is that a child’s skull?
• Ermion’s wand, propped up against a wardrobe.
• An extremely large pine cone, on the table by the bookcases.
• A sword placed into a stone. Try as you might, you can’t pull the blade out; mainly because this is a vice!
• A larger-than-lifesized statue deep in thought. There is an outstretched hand to place something in. Perhaps the mead goblet? Slot it into place, and a section of wall rumbles open.

Head down the steps into a cavern under the keep, where Yennefer spots (and takes) the Mask of Uroboros floating in this strange roughly-hewn chamber. Alas, it is guarded by a lumbering earth elemental!

When the Elemental crumbles, the room begins to fill with gas! You now have 15 seconds to look around. Just enough time to gather the valuable loot from the slain elemental. With no way out, you implore Yennefer to teleport you both out of there. But she needs you to have a clear head, and you must choose from two options quickly!

We’re gonna choke and die: You tumble onto a feast table in Kaer Trolde, in between the drunk revelers. You avoid any carnal knowledge with Yennefer.

Damn, I wanna kiss you, Yen: You tumble back into Yennefer’s bedroom back in Kaer Trolde Village. She’s torn part of her dress.

Tell her you should get back to the wake, and she finishes up with her sewing and you both return to the great hall.

Tell her you wouldn’t mind watching, and you appear to Yennefer clad only in a loin cloth. You both catch up on lost time. After some bedroom (and unicorn) antics, you both return to the great hall.

End: Oaths of the Offspring

You finally make a return to the wake, where you witness a Skellige tradition. All the candidates for ruler place their weapon onto an animal skin, as a symbol of their will to rule. Crach substitutes for his son Hjalmar, who has already departed for Undvik to slay an ice giant. There’s a surprised murmuring when Cerys, the only woman with such machinations, throws her dagger onto the pile.

Afterwards, you appear with Crach and Yennefer on one of the keep’s crenelation promontories. Crach pledges help to find Ciri, but you need to ask for assistance with Ermion. He supports Yennefer’s decision to seek out the anomalous magical blast elsewhere on Ard Skellig. Then Crach has a request of you.

• His son Hjalmar has sworn an oath to kill the giant of Undvik: Secondary Quest: The Lord of Undvik.
• His daughter Cerys has sworn to lift the curse of Udalryk on Spikeroog: Secondary Quest: Possession.
• Yennefer is off to change, and explore the area around the anomaly. Main Quest: Echoes of the Past.

Agree to help Crach. You now have three important tasks to accomplish, in any order you like. But for now, this quest concludes.