Geralt hoped this being would help him find the baron's family. Then, following ancient custom, they buried the creature under the threshold so that in time it might be reborn as a lubberkin, a household guardian spirit. If Geralt lifts the curse: The beast hissed and howled and threatened to assume its more monstrous and vicious form, but the two men completed the naming ritual before it could. Once Geralt and the baron had reached the unborn babe's place of burial, they did not have to wait long for the botchling to show up. When the clock struck midnight, both men set off to find the botchling's grave. He also agreed to show Geralt where he had buried the miscarried child's remains. The baron admitted that his wife had miscarried after one of their frequent rows, and that she and his daughter had fled Crow's Perch. A witcher in this state is even more effective than usual, so Geralt accomplished this in short order. He was ready to drag the truth out of the man with a sword, force him to confess to what had truly happened that fateful night. Geralt's bosom boiled with wrath as he went to confront the baron. If its curse could be lifted and the monster could be turned into a lubberkin, this latter being, a friendly household guardian, could lead Geralt to the baron's wife and daughter. The beast was murderous and foud, but could yet do some good. The pellar's augurs showed that the miscarried fetus, undoubtedly discarded without a proper burial, had transformed into a dangerous monster: a botchling. The pellar shared some juicy gossip with Geralt: supposedly the baron was a drunk and a terror to his family, and his wife's recent pregnancy had ended in a mysterious miscarriage. Geralt's search for the baron's wife and daughter took him to the local pellar, a sort of soothsayer and folk mage whom Geralt rightly suspected would be well informed about all local goings on. Though the baron had moved heaven and earth to find them, all his efforts had proved fruitless. The women had mysteriously disappeared a short time before. He agreed to tell Geralt about Ciri on one condition: Geralt had to find his wife and daughter first.
Journal entry The baron turned out to be a tough negotiator who knows the full value of the information he possessed.