A Towerful of Mice is a secondary quest in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Completion of the quest is required in order for Geralt to romance Keira Metz and/or to get her to help out at Kaer Morhen.
Note: this quest will fail if not completed before starting The Isle of Mists.
Walkthrough[]
Follow the objective marker to Keira's moored boat, which she kindly offered for Geralt's use, or swim or find another boat to take to the isle. From the safety of the boat it's obvious that this island has a monster infestation. Geralt can circle the island to look for the best place to land or land as close to the tower as possible.
Defeat any rotfiends, drowners, or ghouls that lurk between you and the tower entrance before heading inside. Along the trail Geralt will find recent remains of several locals but no evidence that it was the monsters in the area that caused these deaths. Also beware of any small black clouds on the island as these are swarms of black flies. However, they can be dispelled by using the Igni sign. Just in front of the tower there will be a water hag that you have to kill as well.
Note: There are three places of haunting located outside the tower, and four inside the tower with one of those in the basement. Use the lantern on them to see a brief conversation between spirits as they reenact some of their last moments. Each except one give 50 if watched, and the last one gives 100. However, the objective to watch them won't complete before using the lamp for a non-optional purpose.
Fyke Isle Tower[]
On entering the tower, it's quickly noticeable the place has a high rat population. If Geralt uses the lamp he can watch the last moments of the peasants killed in the past and learns more about the events that transpired on the island during the massacre. One body is fairly fresh, having been killed recently by an unknown foe. Keira directs Geralt to find the mage's lab, which is at the top of the tower. However, the entrance is hidden so Geralt must use the two levers in the false top of the tower to reveal the passageway. Once inside the lab, use the mage's lamp to meet the ghost of the former lord's daughter, Anabelle.
She tells Geralt of how the mage, Alexander, had been experimenting with rats and infecting them with a disease called Catriona. One day, peasants came to the island and broke into the tower to kill everyone there. Terrified by this, she drank a potion that the mage had given her, thinking it'd kill her. Instead, it was a strong paralyzing potion that put her in a deathlike slumber to make the peasants think she had killed herself, so they left after killing everyone else. However, when she awoke, she was still paralyzed and the rats ate her alive.
Geralt explains to her that the curse on the island is obviously centered around her and, as it was born from hate, only love can break it. He then suggests that to break the curse, she has to forgive her love, Graham, who left her alone on the isle, having believed she had died. She claims she is ready to forgive Graham, but only if Geralt brings her bones to Graham for him to bury. Geralt can choose to agree or refuse the request.
Breaking the Curse[]
Refusing Anabelle's request: If Geralt refuses to bring Anabelle's bones to Graham, she asks Geralt to bring Graham to her. However, as he refused to take her bones to Graham, she already doesn't trust Geralt and reveals herself as a plague maiden and attacks him. Geralt is able to fight her, but she can't die until the curse is broken. Keira advises Geralt to see Graham, who lives just north in Oreton, about lifting the curse. Geralt goes to Graham to inform him of the curse and about Anabelle becoming a pesta, explaining that if she forgives Graham the curse will be broken, but he needs to be there to prove his love to her.
The two head back to the island where they are attacked by wraiths of the curse's victims, who blame Graham for their misery, before finally making it to the top of the tower where the pesta awaits. Graham explains to Anabelle that he didn't mean to leave her and that he still loves her so she asks him to prove it by kissing her. Graham kisses her and, as she returns to human form, he dies and is reunited with her in death, lifting the curse. (500)
Bringing the Bones to Graham: Once Geralt acquires the bones, he takes them to the fisherman, Graham, who'll admit his role in allowing the peasants access to the island that led to the massacre, though he didn't know that his love was still alive when she drank the potion. Geralt gives her bones to Graham to bury and leaves. However, before he gets too far, Geralt hears a scream from Graham's cabin and rushes back in to find him dead, his body surrounded by rats with Anabelle floating over him in her true appearance as a plague maiden. Now that the bones are off the island, the curse is broken, but the pesta is now free to roam the world and spread the plague, almost ruining Kerack in the process. (300)
Leaving the conversation If Geralt decides to leave the conversation and proceeds to leave the tower, the Pesta will lock the door and appear before him and attack. This path leads the story as if Geralt refuses Anabelle's request.
Return to Keira[]
Once the curse is lifted, Geralt returns to Keira, explaining the situation. Before he leaves, Keira asks Geralt for one more favor. Note: this conversation is a cutoff point for the small secondary quest Lynch Mob.
If you've completed the botchling part of Family Matters, as you leave Keira's hut, the Pellar will approach and ask you to do something for him as well, starting Forefathers' Eve.
Journal entry[]
- A horrible curse had befallen Fyke Isle and the tower that stood upon it. Half a year prior, Lord Vserad had moved his court there, seeking shelter from approaching Nilfgaardian armies. While famine raged all around, the lord of Velen wallowed in excess and cared not a whit for his suffering vassals. The gods saw fit to punish him and, towards this end, cursed him. One day, a host of mice scurried into the tower and proceeded to devour everything, including Vserad, his court and his resident mage, Alexander.
- The isle had been haunted since that day, and fishermen feared to sail the lake, putting yet another dent in the already battered local economy. The local peasants thus asked Keira to lift the curse, and she turned to the witcher for help. Enticed by Keira's charms and her promise of additional rewards, Geralt took on the task. The sorceress equipped him with a magic lamp he could use to commune with dead souls, gave him a firm pat on the rear for good luck and sent him off to lift the curse.
- During his investigation of the isle, Geralt discovered the lord's daughter, Anabelle, was the key to lifting the curse. She had died along with the others and her spirit now roamed the tower's empty halls, trapped in this vale of tears by her love for a fisherman named Graham.
- If Geralt brings Graham to the tower:
- Geralt lifted the curse by bringing Graham back to see his love, but the story did not end happily. The young man's kiss dispatched the wraith into eternal slumber, but killed Graham - for, as Geralt realized all too late, Anabelle's ghost had become a deadly plague maiden, a spectral sower of disease and pestilence.
- If Geralt brings Anabelle's remains to Graham:
- Geralt thought taking her remains to the fisherman would solve everything - but instead it led to catastrophe. Anabelle, he discovered, was not an unfortunate lost soul but a dangerous plague maiden. The wraith had tricked Geralt - when he removed Anabelle's remains from the tower the plague maiden was freed from her prison and ventured out into the world to spread disease and pestilence.
Objectives[]
- Find a way to get to Fyke Isle.
- Use Keira's boat to reach Fyke Isle.
- (Optional) Use the magic lamp to find ghosts. (6x50 + 100)
- Head toward the tower.
- Explore the tower.
- Find the mage Alexander's laboratory. (100 )
- Use Keira's lamp to investigate Alexander's laboratory.
- Use the magic lamp to contact Anabelle.
- Help Anabelle:
- Refuse Anabelle's request:
- Tell Keira you've lifted the curse on Fyke Isle.
Notes[]
- Prior to Patch 4.0, rats (like all other enemies) are affected by enemy upscaling. While normally not a problem, during the boss fight one could easily be overwhelmed by upscaled rats. If having difficulties with this, turn off enemy upscaling or use another approach to finish the quest.
- In addition to parts 1 and 2 of the mage Alexander's log, found in his tower laboratory, there are also parts 3 and 4 (empty contents), as well as a letter from Keira still present in the game files, remnants from some cut content.
Trivia[]
- The quest's story is based on the legend of Popiel and also shares certain similarities with the German legend of the Mouse Tower of Bingen.