Specters known as hyms only appear once inThe Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Even so, it’s one of the most memorable creatures in the game, primarily for its horrifying nature. As featured in the game’s “Possession” quest, hyms are elusive monsters capable of tormenting a human host in plain sight. Only those aware of the hym’s abilities have any hope of besting it.
A hym is the primary antagonist inThe Witcher 3’s “Possession” quest. However, there’s more to be gleaned about this malevolent being from in-game texts, which reveal just how much torment the hym’s hosts are put through.
RELATED:The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - A Deep Dive Into Cursed Creatures
Shadows of Tortured Souls
Hyms are unique among specters, as instead of haunting graves and crypts, they tether themselves to people. Not just any person will do, however. Hyms have no interest in innocent people. They much prefer human hosts who’vecommitted foul crimes or wrongdoings, and suffer from the guilt.
Once a hym has latched onto a new host, it will plague them with unending whispers and cruel visions. When the hym speaks, it’s in a voice only the host can hear, and the creaturepushes them to commit violent actsto others or even themselves. The visions are even worse as the hym pulls from the host’s worst fears. These plague the host as they sleep in the form of vivid nightmares that only grow in intensity as time passes. It’s no wonder these human hosts are so often driven into insanity.
With no peace at rest nor in waking life, victims of hyms become high-strung. Someconfess to their wrongful actionsin hopes that the hym leaves them be. Others are more forceful, threatening the invisible creatures with violence or some such consequence if they don’t cease with the torment. Neither of these actions will bring hosts relief as the hym will not leave until its victim until their mind is broken, or until they take their own life.
According to Geralt, hyms are creatures that appearedafter the Conjunction of the Spheres. This means that they are not originally inhabitants of the world whereThe Witcher 3takes place. Geralt also notes that they’re very rare, which explains why the player only sees one in the base game — in “Possession.”
RELATED:Witcher 3: The Lore Behind the Crones of Crookback Bog
The “Possession” Quest in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
“Possession” is a secondary questthat takes place in the region of Skellige. It features Cerys an Craite, daughter of the Jarl of Skellige, who’s on a quest to save Jarl Udalryk from a curse. This curse is tormenting Udalryk as he reports that voices are telling him to mutilate himself. While he believes that these voices belong to the gods and that his suffering appeases their anger, Cerys isn’t convinced. She thinks the curse was brought on by the jarl’s deceased brother, Aki.
According to Cerys,the two brothers had quarreledover Brokvar, the family sword, as their father had given it to Aki instead of the firstborn, Udalryk. This was against Skellige’s customs, and when Udalryk questioned his father’s decision, he was punished. This, too, went against Skellige law, so the old jarl had Udalryk chained to a rock at sea with the water rising up to his waist. He remained there for three days.
Fortunately, Udalryk survived his punishment, and after, he and Aki sailed out to sea to fish. A storm overtook the two brothers and as they struggled toreturn to Skellige shores, Aki fell overboard. Udalryk supposedly had his hands full, trying to keep the sails intact, so he didn’t realize that Aki was gone until it was much too late. Still, some believed that Udalryk let his brother die.
Regardless of the circumstances, Cerys thinks it’s Aki’s ghost that’s tormenting Jarl Udalryk, and that the only way to appease his spirit is to return Brokvar to Aki’s resting place under the sea. She also notes that Udalryk didn’t start hearing voices until after Aki’s death. Geralt isn’t convinced of Cerys’ theory but goes along with the plan. Thus, the player must venture into Udalryk’s dilapidated old home to retrieve Brokvar.
Upon entering the place, it’s clear that something isn’t right — otherworldly screeches echo throughout the interior and the basement are filled with an unnatural darkness. When the player finds Brokvar, a humanoid shadow can even be seen against the wall, standing and watching. With the sword in Geralt’s possession, he takes on the task of returning it to Aki’s remains. Unsurprisingly, this doesn’t lift the curse. When Geralt returns to Cerys, he concludes thata hym is the cause of Udalryk’s suffering. Despite its power, however, there are two ways to defeat it — both of which can be attempted in the quest.
Two Ways to Defeat a Hym
The first way to defeat a hym isthe old-fashioned witchers’ way. To do this, Geralt has to spend a night in the hym’s lair with the host. In this case, he’ll have to go to the old house with Udalryk. This will spur the hym to show itself in its visible form, and Geralt can defeat it. That said, fights against hyms aren’t easy as the more tormented their host is, the stronger they become. And Udalryk’s childhood home brings back plenty of painful memories that the hym can take advantage of.
The second possible way to defeat the hym is to trick it. A trickstermust do an evil deed, which will make the hym latch onto them as a new host. After the hym has tethered itself to the trickster, they must then reveal that an evil deed was never committed in the first place. This banishes the hym from both hosts. Though the catch with this method is that the trickster cannotknowthat they are tricking the hym as the creature must sense their guilt.
To achieve this, Cerys asks Geralt to wait in Udalryk’s childhood home and start a fire in the oven. After some time, she rushes into the house with the jarl’s infant son and tells Geralt toplace the baby in the oven. Udalryk and his men quickly follow, and he begs the witcher to return his child. Should the player put the baby in the oven, the hym will tether itself to Geralt. After which, it is revealed that the baby was never in any danger as there was another door to the oven in the adjacent room. This effectively banishes the hym and ends the quest.
Despite only appearing in one quest inThe Witcher 3, the hym has made its mark as one of the most terrifying creatures in the game. Its elusive nature and malevolent actions make it a specter no person would want to fall prey to.
The Witcher 3: Wild Huntis available now on PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
MORE:The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - A Deep Dive Into Draconids
