This winter only two witchers wintered at Kaer Latner, a small, old witcher castle hidden away in the mountains. The first snows blocked off the secret paths leading to the castle, keeping its location secret from non-witchers as it had been within living memory. Cut off from the rest of the world, the witchers passed the time meditating, training, and fucking. Finally, come the arrival of spring and the melting of the snows, the two witchers went their separate ways, taking up the Path once more. Krysia Mazur headed west while the witcher known only as Nial headed east.<br/><br/>Nial's route took him through Hag's Coast where the mountains met the sea. So named after the hexagonal columns of basalt rock that formed the seaside cliffs, scholars claimed that the columns of Hag's Coast were formed from the ancient eruption of a volcano. On the other hand, the local fishermen and farmers who actually lived in the area told tales of a coven of ugly old hags that once inhabited the caves in the cliffs, who cast so many hexes that the rock itself changed shape from being exposed to so much magic. Whatever the truth was, hidden among the columns was a descent known only to witchers, a natural staircase that Nial now took as he began his descent from mountain heights to sea level.<br/><br/>There was something new over the winter - the shipwreck of an unfortunate vessel dashed to pieces against the cliffs, her broken hull now lying like the skeleton of a carcass long picked clean by scavengers. Other than a sheer drop there was no way to get straight down to it though, not without finishing his descent down the secret path anyways and then doubling back along the beach at the base of the cliffs. The sun had already set behind the mountains at his back by the time he reached the bottom at last. The barren rocks of Hag's Coast gave way to meadows lightly covered with a think blanket of snow that the occasional blade of grass poked through, and a little further on he reached the road.<br/><br/>A chill wind was already picking up in the rapidly darkening dusk. The road ran to his left and to his right; he could turn left towards the small fishing village of Seawal on the coast and the shipwreck beyond it, or he could turn right heading further inland towards denser civilization, of which the first village on the road was Mistlewal.