Velen is the first large region the players get to explore in The Witcher 3, and it serves as a perfect setup for the games dark and grim tone. Velen is a swampy region that serves as the No Mans Land between Redanian and Nilfgaardian forces, housing marshes and plains full of dangerous creatures, including some sapient ones, like the three Crones that watch over the place and have villagers under their thumb.