Talk:The Ghost in the Tree/@comment-84.72.34.85-20161006213439

I think i've stumbled upon some news regarding the Mother and the Crones.

If you released the "Mother" and afterwards met the Crones, ride straight for Downwarren which isnt destroyed yet. there you can talk to the elderman again and he'll reveal some interesting background information.

Apparently the reason for people dying on the hillock is beacuse the Crones ORDERED the villagers to chop down the tree and the "mother" defended itself. (so the part with men going into the woods, never to be seen again, is bollocks)

Also  the Crones are helping the villagers of Downwarren with only 2 things. One is helping the women bear healthy children, from which many are later sent on the path of treats. and the second is: once a year there is a giant pot of BOILED MEAT for the entire village.

The only reason why the children are always born healthy is for the Crones to have a steady food supply, and they pull the cruelest of jokes by feeding the villagers the leftovers of their own children on sabbath!!!!!!!

The part above is confrimed by the various dialouge options with the elderman. the part following only my personal speculation:

Should you free the mother it won't destroy Downwarren for revenge but to STOP this endless circle of sacrifices for the crones which otherwise would never end. it's also a possible explenation why she even killed the newborns in the village because in exchange for a healty birth the children are surley marked by the crones just lika Anna Strenger. so to spare them this cruel fate the mother just kills all the poeple to end this cult.