'On Death's Bed' is among the first side quests you'll find during The Witcher 3, as it's only available in the prologue. In fact, it's one of few quests in the game that can auto-fail, which occurs if you finish 'Lilac and Gooseberries' before completing it.
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The adventure begins when Geralt learns of a young woman named Lena who was attacked by the Griffin that's terrorizing White Orchard. The Witcher perhaps has the means to help the woman, but it could make things worse for her, so it's a morally complicated situation. This guide covers the results of your actions, and before that, tells you how to complete every part of the quest.
Speak With Tomira
Unless you already have some buckthorn, you'll meet Tomira during the main questline when you're looking for the said ingredient. Her hut is directly west from the White Orchard Inn, near the Sawmill.
Once you enter her home, the two of you will begin to talk about her injured patient. Say, "Griffin do that?" to learn more about what happened. Then your next dialog option doesn't particularly matter, but "I could try to help her" adds a bit more context to things. It'll prompt Geralt to explain that he could give her a Swallow potion before pointing out the great risks of doing so.
Your natural instinct will probably be to help her and continue with the quest. However, Witcher 3 is a game with plenty of decisions and consequences, and in this case, not doing anything because it's too risky is a genuine choice. If you choose not to use a potion on her, you can skip right to the aftermath.
Grab Ingredients And Brew The Swallow Potion
If you don't already have a Swallow potion — which you probably won't at this stage of the game unless you're playing on one of the hardest difficulties — then you need to brew one. The three ingredients you must acquire are:
- Dwarven Spirit
- Drowner Brain
- Celandine x5
Getting Dwarven Spirit
Dwarven Spirit is a drink you can loot from many different places, so you may already have some. If not, those with the ingredients can craft it, or you can buy it. Purchasing the item is easy as it's available at the White Orchard Inn, which is in the little town just east of Tomira's home.
Getting Drowner Brain
Unsurprisingly, to get the brain of a Drowner, you need to kill one. The monsters commonly prowl beside rivers or bodies of water. A good place to find them is south of Wosesong bridge as a group of them guard some treasure around there.
They're not among the most difficult creatures to fight in the game, so you shouldn't have much issue with them. Once you've killed some, loot their remains to find a brain.
Getting Celandine
Between Tomira's house and White Orchard Inn, there is a patch of grass where many herbs grow, including Celandine. Run around the area, and look for Celandine to pick up — your Witcher senses will help. This isn't the only place to find the herb, but it is the closest to the quest.
Brew the Potion
Once you've gotten all of the necessary ingredients, you are ready to brew your potion. Go into the Alchemy menu, scroll down to positions, find Swallow, and hit the craft item prompt.
Give The Potion To Tomira
With the potion in your inventory, you're free to return to Tomira. Tell her you've got the healing potion, and the herbalist will be pleased. She'll also give you your reward as the quest is marked as complete.
Aftermath
Later in the game, you can return to White Orchard to talk to Tomira and ask, "where's Lena" — you can do this bit after the prologue, unlike the rest of the quest.
- If you didn't do the quest: Tomira reveals that Lena died under her care, and the herbalist will be unhappy with your inaction.
- If you completed the quest: Tomira claims that Lena was getting better but was taken away by Nilfgaard soldiers. You can go to the Nilfgaardian Army Group Center Camp, which is in the southeast corner of the Velen and Novigrad map. Once there, a man will approach and inform you that Lena is alive, but her quality of life isn't very good. She doesn't say anything, nor does she recognize anyone.
So, both are tragic endings, which is unsurprising for Witcher 3.
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