Tracking Through the Tundra

Follow the marks and look along a rough pathway to the west. Ahead are the remains of an old wooden guard tower, built against the cliffs. Hjalmar was attacked, judging by the evidence on the ground. Make sure you use your Witcher Senses to uncover the following:

• Hjalmar’s men were taken by surprise, but fought off the attack.
• One corpse has a broken back, as if he fell from a great height.
• One body is covered in wounds, and must have fought for a long time.
• A felled man fought barefoot after sirens caught him off-guard.
• Two people came through here. Separately. Scavengers most likely.
• One man didn’t even manage to draw his sword. Another bled to death in seconds. A third had his throat torn open by sirens.

Two trails of footprints lead up a hill to the west, and then turn to the south. There is also evidence of a track made by a boat being dragged in the opposite direction (northward). The human sets of footprints indicate one man (an archer) was determined to kill the other.

Follow the footprints carefully across the tundra and the most vague of paths, towards a fallen tree overlooking a stream.

• It seems one man had to fight off nekkers, and crossed the stream—do the same.
• One of the men didn’t come back for his arrows. He was harried.

Head west across the stream, and head up the large sloping hill ahead of you. There are more arrows in the ground.

• Further up the slope are nekker corpses. They pursued the men. Check the corpses and evidence near the barrels.

Close to the upturned log on the outskirts of the Abandoned Village (signpost) is evidence an archer was determined to kill. The other used this log as cover. Adjacent is another set of tracks—these lead off to the northwest. Follow them:

• With the tracks are splatters of blood on the ground and rocks—a lot of it, indicating the wounded man couldn’t have gone much further.
• The trail of blood and prints leads you to a cave entrance, where one of Hjalmar’s men is pincushioned with arrows. Close by is a horn that is said to drive away sirens. Take it and save it for later.

The archer was still alive, but troll tracks at the mouth of the cave indicate the man was dragged inside. Blood marks deeper into the cave entrance indicate the man was wounded. Head into the cave.