Equine Phantoms

Equine Phantoms is a secondary quest in the Blood and Wine Expansion given by the hermit Pinastri.

Summary
To be able to track the hermit-haunting wraith, Geralt imbibed a dose of a brew the woman prepared. The concoction had a highly surprising side effect – for Geralt began to understand the speech of his trusty steed, Roach.

Journal entry

 * Geralt does not drink the brew:
 * Yet Geralt decided he shouldn't devote his attention to a specter that he could not see. After a time he returned to visit the hermit, only to learn that Roach herself had proved quite the witcher, having resolved the crisis on her own.


 * Geralt fails to catch up to the elusive specter:
 * Yet instead of pursuing the elusive specter, Geralt turned his attention to other matters.


 * Geralt follows the elusive specter:
 * Together, the witcher and his mount tracked down the nightmarish ghost. It proved to be the spirit of a knight, Pinastri's former lover, who had committed a terrible crime when in anger he had attacked his own horse and beat it to death. He remained restless in the afterlife for the hermit had refused to forgive him for the deed.


 * Geralt asks Roach to forgive the knight:
 * Yet the story ended happily thanks to Roach – namely, the mare decided to forgive the ghost on behalf of the horse he had murdered.


 * Geralt cannot forgive the knight:
 * The story did not end well, for Roach, too, refused to forgive the ghost on behalf of the dead horse. Geralt defeated the knight spirit, but he believed this was only temporary, that the specter would ultimately return to demand forgiveness from the hermit.

Walkthrough
Geralt asks Roach to forgive:
 * Use your Witcher Senses to investigate the area and find out what's tormenting the hermit.
 * Formula: Lesser mutagen transmutator - red to blue in hut on bedside cupboard.
 * The Flagellant's Manifesto in hut on table.
 * Use your Witcher Senses to examine the area.
 * Use your Witcher Senses to examine the moths by the window.
 * Talk to the hermit.
 * Common graytop brew (only transient in inventory).
 * Help Roach investigate the area.
 * Chase the spirit to find out where it comes from. (this can fail!)
 * Defeat the restless spirits. (178, apparition ×4)
 * Examine the gravestone.
 * The spirit is gone for good.

Geralt does not forgive the knight:
 * Defeat the spirit. (2, the spirit may return)


 * Return to the hermit. (150, 60× potatoes)

Trivia

 * Pinastri will sell some herbs, but has no gold.
 * When Geralt starts talking to Roach after drinking the Common graytop brew, few strange things issue:
 * Roach has a manly voice, and not that of a female.
 * Ironically, a game bug may get Roach stuck on a few logs, breaking any progress in the quest. Hopefully you have a save to fall back to, to fix this, i.e. one before Geralt drinks the brew.
 * When asked how the whistling for Roach works over continents, but Roach still gets stuck on low "barriers"... the answer to that is obscure. (The devs having some fun and breaking the 4th wall.)