Once you’ve danced a deadly dance with the Caretaker and laughed hysterically at Geralt’s response to his defeated enemy, find out some information from your two new animal tour guides. Head through the back door and hear the ghostly voice warning of the dangers that lie ahead. Go left and through the door to start another cutscene and notice the glowing items on the table. You get a first glimpse of our next foe in this cutscene, too. She looks pleasant, but we’ll get to her soon enough.
Head over to the table and check out those items… you jumped at all the stuff flying around just then, didn’t you? Head through the door in the far right corner and watch out! The chandelier will fall on you and cause a bit of damage if you’re not quick enough. Follow your quest marker on the map up the stairs to be warned off once again by the lovely portrait.
Follow the corridor left into the burnt out room and straight out onto the balcony. Carry on along the balcony and into the only room you can go. The doors will eerily open up ahead of you. Go through these doors and prepare for your second boss battle, the Wraith from the Painting. This is definitely different from any other wraith you’ve faced in Hearts of Stone, or the Witcher 3 as a whole. Having a few issues with the Wraith from the Painting? Check out our guide here.
Now that she’s out the way, make any recovery and item changes you may need and head down the corridor. You’ll enter the bed chamber, the place Geralt was told Iris was supposed to be. Examine the body on the bed, but first, grab the portrait to the right of the fire, this will come in handy a little later on. Examine the body and let the cutscene begin.
Once the cutscene has finished and you’ve engaged in conversation with the cat and dog, go through the front door and out into the garden, examining each of the marked spots on your map. The bench that Geralt checked before is not a good place for her to be buried according to our tour guides. Of course, it would be the last place you check, by the easel. Give your kind words once you’ve buried the body and try to summon Iris. Lo an behold, Iris appears in all her… creepiness! After a brief cutscene, you’ll be heading into an unknown world full of even stranger dangers and enemies than you’ve already faced. You have entered the painted world of Iris von Everec.
