Talk:The Whispering Hillock/@comment-92.210.15.176-20170309221035/@comment-74.56.233.139-20170319153021

Thats very good observation however, think of this perspective: when you talk to the spirit, it gives you some history. Firstly, it identifies itself as a druid in its former life; the kind of people that I (geralt) thought did not exist anymore but later in the game find out that they actually do. Don't remember if the later part is of this quest or not. Second, it does say that people who have died here have died because their purpose was to kill this spirit.Perhaps the crones have been sending people to kill this spirit for quite some time now but no one has managed to get past the guarding factor so far. Which begs the question: why do the crones want this spirit dead. Assuming Geralt's point of view, he has to decide between letting a demon spirit free or helping some control freak witches who are, very shadily, separating orphans from their parents. Wisdom would dectate that you do not just consider the immediate repurcussions but also long time effects (the latter being harder to do in terms of Geralts POV because he is finding Ciri which should cloud judgement). So to reduce it for short analysis here is my take:

At first glance:

Crones: Taking care of orphans and kids whose parents cant afford to raise them

Running things around the crookbag bog with the help of a woman (granny)

Asked witcher to complete a simple task in exchange for providing information on Ciri, who we know was seen              having a quarell with them.

Spirit: as you mentioned its demon101

says it was a druid in the past life now cursed by witches; again possibly demon101; chapter 2 demon treachery

whoever goes there dies - bad thing needs to be dealt with.

However, here is my in depth/long term look:

Crones: They are witches, they simply will not have the childrens or the villagers or Velen's best interest at heart until it              serves their own purpose. So there must be an angle they are playing. Chances of not being so; very low.

They have total control over a womans mind and it is having negative influences on her. She is losing her                       mind so to speak.

They have asked a favor from Geralt, which certainly serves their purpose. Are we certain this purpose serves               the villagers and the childrens best interests, or tramples over them completely? I favor the latter.

Spirit:   What if it really was a druid trying to protect Velen and the witches got rid of him by this curse. And now they                 want him dead because he still has an influence over the land, and there is chance he can still get to them. He               may possibly be ensuring his survival hoping to be set free one day so that he can drive the witches away.

Conclusion: All this rationale does not actually take into account the known outcomes as stated in the article above. Only what has happened so far and what aspects to consider to make a decision here. Ultimately, a player should chose the decision that "THEY" believe will serve the best interest of the people in Velen. Because that is what the witcher code is: Protect people against monsters. Therefore there is no wrong choice. Only unwanted outcomes. I think thats the whole purpose of decisions in every part of this game.