Fools’ Gold is a secondary quest in The Witcher 3 that takes you to an abandoned village with a bunch of pigs and some bandits. Surprisingly, you will not see any normal human in that place except one idiot, Yontek.
You need to travel to the village known as Lurtch, located in Central Velen. You need to travel east from Lindenvale or northwest of the Reardon Manor location to reach Lurtch.
Reach Lurtch village and head toward the southeast side of the signpost to come across three bandits trying to cook their freshly picked pig. They seem pleased and even offer food to Geralt. You can accept their offer or just decline them with respect.
As they roast the pig, a man comes at them while crying the name of Yagoda. The bandits get angry, and they decide to end the annoying Yontek once and for all. Remember, you have to save him; otherwise, the Fools’ Gold quest cannot be started.
You ask the bandits to stay away, but they will come at you. Defeat the bandits and talk to Yontek to start Fools’ Gold in The Witcher 3.
You need to ask Yontek about the pig the bandits were eating, and he will explain how the whole village is full of such things. Yontek explains that some type of piggy magic turned all the village’s citizens into pigs. You need to examine the area using your witcher senses to find any support for Yontek’s words.
Examine the Pigs
There will be three marked locations on your map that appear after your talk with Yontek. You just need to reach any of the three to examine the pigs in the place. After using your witcher senses, you will understand that Yontek was telling the truth and that there’s something wrong with the pigs in the huts.
Head back to Yontek, and he will give you a key after your conversation concludes. He gives directions to the hog hut that you can unlock using the key. Yontek will also mention that the herbalist Igor and Ealdorman Klaus are missing.
Head to the Hog Hut
Yontek’s directions are inaccurate; you can use the map marker to get to a specific area. The area lies toward the northeast side of Reardon Manor and southeast of Lurtch. You are going to face a few Ghouls and Nekkers here. You can use your bestiary to know the vulnerabilities of Ghouls and use Necrophage Oil on your silver sword to eliminate them.
However, you can ignore Ghouls as they create no threat for you when you reach the later part of the quest.
But, you should take care of Nekkers, as they can become a pain later in the quest. Additionally, outside the Cave, you will face three bandits, and four of them wait for you inside. Use your Quen for protection and give them a swift death to make your way inside the Cave. You might find the Cave familiar if you have come here before to collect the diagram for crafting an enhanced Feline steel sword.
Head toward the main door of the Cave and use the key given by Yontek to unlock it. The door will turn into a portal, but it will not teleport you anywhere. You can just use it to get inside the Cave.
Examine the Hidden Hog Hut
You need to use your witcher senses to investigate the hidden chamber of the Cave. You will find footsteps, clothes, and a pig in the area.
Have a conversation with the pig, and you will understand that the pig is the herbalist, Igor, who is turned just like all the other village citizens. The Hog Hut is a temple, and you need to move further toward the giant pig statue.
You will find a pedestal right in front of the statue, and you will understand that there used to be gold in this place. Someone took the gold, initiating the curse for the whole village.
Head back to Igor to talk about the gold, but since he’s not in his true form, he cannot answer your questions.
Head back to Lurtch
You need to ask Yontek some questions regarding the gold. You will return to find some wolves attacking the village. Kill them and then talk to Yontek. He will state that he’s safe because he was not there with the villagers when the curse took effect. You need to gather all the pigs in a single place while Yontek goes to take the gold.
Herd the Pigs
You need to reach the marked houses in the village and then use your Axii sign on one pig per group to gather them all at the mill. After gathering everyone, move toward the Cave. You need to reach the Mowshurt area, but there will be some Nekkers that you must take care of.
There will be a Nekker Warrior, so you must be careful. The Nekkers cannot harm any pigs, so do not worry about them and concentrate all your actions toward offense and eliminate all the enemies.
As you reach Mowshurt, a cutscene begins, and all the pigs will turn back to people. They will thank you, but they want to kill Yontek as they think he’s the reason behind their suffering and curse.
Decide whether to save Yontek or not
Now, it’s in your hands to decide what happens to Yontek. If you let Yontek die, you will receive 100 coins, but if you stop the villagers from hanging Yontek, you get no reward for quest completion. Villagers will hang Yontek, and he will die, blamed for the curse even though he wasn’t greedy like the others.
I think the best choice for Fools’ Gold would be that since Yontek once helped you, so it might be right to lend a hand to save him from the horror of death and repay the favor. Even if there is no material reward for letting Yontek live. Whatever you choose, Fools’ Gold will end, and you will never hear from these villagers again.
