The Crones, also called the Ladies of the Wood, are three witches who live in a cabin in the swamps of Velen. Legend suggests the three are sisters and the daughters of the original "Lady of the Wood", also known as "She-Who-Knows". They are named Brewess, Weavess, and Whispess.
Most of the time they communicate through an enchanted tapestry and a medium, an elderly woman named Gran who also seems to be their slave, or at least is bound to them in some way.
The Crone is also the third aspect of the goddess Melitele.
In The Witcher 3, the Crones or the Ladies of the Wood are three witches named Brewess, Weavess, and Whispess. They dwell in a cabin in Velen's swamps and are considered sisters, daughters of the original 'Lady of the Wood'. Their communication is often through an enchanted tapestry and a medium, Gran.
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What is the relationship between the Crones and the 'Lady of the Wood'?
The Crones, or 'The Ladies of the Wood', are three witches: Brewess, Weavess, and Whispess. They are considered the daughters of the original 'Lady of the Wood', or 'She-Who-Knows'. They rule Velen, assisting its people in exchange for obedience. Their unique magic draws power from water and earth, and they are tied to their land. They primarily communicate via an enchanted tapestry and a medium, an elderly woman named Gran.
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What is the significance of the character Gran in relation to the Crones?
Anna Strenger, known as Gran, serves the Crones in the Crookback Bog of Velen, caring for orphans. She communicates for the Crones via an enchanted tapestry. Gran is the Bloody Baron's lost wife, who traded her unborn child's life to the Crones for a year's service. Her duties include preparing the orphans as meals for the Crones.
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What is the fate of the Crones in The Witcher 3 game?
In The Witcher 3, Ciri eliminates two of the Crones, the Brewess and the Whispess. The third, the Weavess, escapes with Vesemir's medallion. If Ciri perishes in the final confrontation, Geralt pursues the Weavess to recover the medallion.
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Biography[]
It's unclear of the Crones' exact origins, but it's believed the three sisters have been around since the first humankings, or possibly even since the coming of the elves. If locals are to be believed, they were the daughters of The Ghost in the Tree before their mother went mad and they subsequently imprisoned her immortal spirit to save the populace. However, as the only account of this comes from locals who worship the Crones, and considering the long amount of time that's passed since the Lady of the Wood walked the land, this information may not be entirely truthful.
What is known is that the Crones guard over Velen, and while they will sometimes help the locals, this can come with a brutal price. Whispess demands payment in the form of one cutting off one of their ears, which she then uses to hang throughout the swamps to hear everything going on, while locals will willingly sacrifice children by sending them into the swamps, knowing the Crones will eventually kill and eat the children.
Sometime around the Third Northern War, the Crones made a deal with the local baron's wife, Anna Strenger, who was pregnant but didn't wish to have another child with her abusive husband, Phillip Strenger. The witches agreed to give the woman a miscarriage in exchange for one year's worth of servitude. However, the Crones' pact was ever deceitful so while the fetus would die, it would also secretly sap Anna of her strength and kill her as well. Anna, figuring this out, managed to circumvent this with the help of the local pellar. However, not to be outsmarted, the Crones were able to snatch Anna when she and her teenage daughter, Tamara, tried to escape from Philip one night. They then put Anna's pact to use, having her care for any children sent to them.
A few months later, the Crones found Ciri, who had been teleported into their bog, and took her to their cabin. The sisters, on realizing Ciri possessed Elder Blood, argued whether to devour Ciri or keep her alive for the Wild Hunt's leader, Eredin, but decided they would simply eat a limb while keeping her alive before handing her over to Eredin's general, Imlerith. However, Ciri overheard them and managed to flee before any harm could come to her.
Later, Geralt crossed paths with the Crones while trying to find Ciri, not realizing they'd tried to harm her. Communicating through a tapestry, the sisters agreed to give him more information but he had to do a task for them first: to help out the ealdorman of Downwarren, who was calling on the Crones for help with a problem. After Geralt dealt with the ealdorman's issue, the Crones revealed themselves to Geralt in their polymorphed forms while telling him about their encounter with Ciri.
If Geralt did Return to Crookback Bog and released the Spirit after he got the task: Acting out in cruelty for having the children taken away from them, the Crones used one of their magical dolls to transform Anna into a water hag and made the curse tied to Anna's own life such that, even if one picked the right doll to try and break the curse, Anna would die within minutes regardless.
Sometime after that, the Crones held their yearly Sabbath, a ritual like festival at Bald Mountain where locals worshiped them, with Imlerith in attendance that year. As the sisters took part, secretly feasting on the bodies of those who'd been chosen to personally see the Crones, Ciri interrupted them, having not forgotten what they tried to do to her nor their atrocities committed against the local populace. A fight broke out between the Crones and Ciri, with Ciri managing to kill Brewess and Whispess. Weavess, however, managed to escape, snatching Vesemir's medallion from Ciri as she fled.
If Ciri doesn't come back from fighting the White Frost: Geralt later ventured into the Bog and killed the last Crone, Weavess, before reclaiming Ciri's medallion.
Bestiary entry[]
Sister crones, hand in hand, terrors of the sea and land, thus do go about, about: thrice to thine and thrice to mine, and thrice again, to make up nine. Macveth, Act 1, Scene 3
The isolated corners of our world harbor creatures older than humans, older than academies and mages, older even than elves and dwarves. The Crones of Crookback Bog are such creatures. No one knows their true names, nor what breed of monstrosity they in fact are.
Common folk have given these three sisters the names Weavess, Brewess and Whispess, and call the threesome "The Ladies of the Wood" or simply "The Good Ladies." The Crones act as the true sovereigns of Velen, whose inhabitants they help survive through harsh times in return for unquestioning obedience. They wield powerful magic, but one different from that of mages. They draw power from water and earth and are bound to the land in which they live. The Crones can hear everything that happens in their woods, predict the future, twist the threads of human lives and bring blessings as well as curses.
The Crones seem for all intents and purposes to be immortal. Magic elixirs keep them from aging and allow them to take the appearance of young women. These elixirs and their mystical ties to the swamps in which they live also give them supernatural strength and vitality.
They are heavily inspired by the Baba Yaga, being from Slavic Mythology.
They are heavily inspired by the three Weird Sisters in Shakespeare's Macbeth, who are mighty creatures and define destiny, which is what the Crones are in Velen. Their Beastiary entry mentions the presumed play Macveth, which makes the affiliation to Shakespeare's play even clearer.
In Slavic Mythology, there are three sisters of fate called Rozhanitse or Sudjaje (depending on region in Slavic territory), who are believed to weave fates of each newborn child. One weaves its death, one weaves its strengths and weaknesses, while third one weaves luck, long life and prosperity. It's possible that Crones were inspired by them.
Myth about Sisters of Fate is common in all European Mythologies. In Greece, they were called Moirai, in Rome were called Parcai, while in Norse/Germanic territory were called Norns.
Each of their designs represent a way those accused of being witches were typically killed. Brewess has a basket on her head with a chain around her neck. This is a possible nod to how accused witches may have a bag or basket tied around their heads and weighted down with something like a sack of rocks and thrown in water to drown. Brewess's appearance is also large and bloated like a corpse decaying in water. Weavess has a noose around her neck alluding to the hanging of witches. Whispess was burned alive by a knight. This is of course alluding to witches burning at the stake.
Each of the Crones share skeletal model and movement animation with one common enemy type from the game. Weavess with Water Hags, Whispess with Foglets and Brewess with Sylvans or Gargoyles.
Videos[]
The Witcher 3 Crones Witches Boss Fight (Hard Mode)
What Are The Crones? - Witcher Lore - The Crones of Crookbag Bog
