Chapter Nine: Pyre!
Unlike the oddly picturesque swamps of Velen, the Free City of Novigrad is all about underworld bosses, brothels, and religious cults.
PLEASE BE ADVISED: This blog series (obviously) contains major spoilers for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
Current Level: 10
Current Location: Redanian border post, Velen, Northern Temeria
After finally tying up all of our loose ends in Velen, we’re finally off to my favorite part of the game: the Free City of Novigrad. Unlike the oddly picturesque swamps of Velen, Novigrad is all about underworld bosses, brothels, and religious cults. You may remember that when we dropped into the city before to buy new swords, we witnessed a sorceress and a doppler being burned at the stake in Hierarch Square.
Things don’t seem to be looking too good for our other (main) hot Witcher lady, Triss Merigold, a sorceress with whom Geralt had dalliances in previous games. This is relatively recent, dating back to when he lost his memory after dying (more on that later) and sacrificing himself to ride with the Wild Hunt in exchange for Yennefer’s freedom. Eventually, he himself was freed—but left with amnesia. It’s during this time he forgets all about Yen and cozies up with Triss, which has caused some tension between the ladies, as well as between Triss and Geralt upon his arrival in Novigrad.
What did we do?
In Novigrad, we're set to meet up with Triss to find leads on Ciri’s whereabouts. She supposedly has a cozy apartment on the main square, though judging by the two people burning at the stake outside, I kind of doubt she's still in her home. In the courtyard out front, some bandits loot her things, which displeases Geralt. They stand down as soon as I draw my sword, which is good, because that fistfight wasn't going my way. They inform Geralt that she's no longer here, most likely in hiding with the other mages who are being actively hunted and burned. They offer Geralt the advice of asking around the Putrid Grove, a nearby hangout for Novigrad's many vagrants and petty criminals.
We're then interrupted by the man who was giving the televangelist sermon while they lit the pyres in the square before, Caleb Menge, who's high up in the ol' Church of the Eternal Fire and declares that, much like a bat hunting prey, he has sensed Geralt’s presence as a “freak” and is keeping a close eye on him. I have a feeling he doesn’t quite understand what he’s in for.
On the main square, our new goal is to either find a thief and follow them to the Putrid Grove or to speak with beggars in the area about its unofficial overlord, the King of Beggars. We're shown a thief as he picks the pockets of an unsuspecting passerby, but I'm overburdened from looting the bandits, so I first sell my inventory to the armorer and then go on a wild dismantling spree to further reduce my inventory weight.
After I switch out most of my armor for better stuff and finally convert my foreign currency at the bank, I strike up a chat with a nearby beggar who's sitting up on a beam. After placating his conversation for a bit, he explains that he likes to give directions, and he’s more than happy to offer me both directions to the Putrid Grove AND its password. Score. Thanks, guy. We give the password at the Grove and we're in.
Inside the grove, we stumble upon exactly what we're looking for: Triss Merigold. The King of the Beggars expected Geralt's arrival, and the two talk city politics for a bit before the King, also known as Francis Bedlam, gets to the point: he wants the city to belong to the free-thinking underworld bosses. Kind of the same train of thought as the students destroying shrines in Velen, tbh, but seemingly with a lot fewer tin foil hats.
Francis leaves Triss and Geralt be after that chat, and Triss invites Geralt to accompany her on her remaining errands in the city. He's surprised to see her working for criminals, but she reminds him that she had to start a new life after she and Geralt...er, parted ways. He does a great job of changing the subject once they're out of the Grove, telling Triss immediately that Ciri was spotted in Novigrad. Triss agrees to help however she can, and the two get on with their errand hang.
Our first stop is Kluhg's shop, where Triss asks the merchant where her package is. Turns out, Kluhg ran into some guards while bringing it back here and tossed it into the water to…avoid suspicion? Geralt offers to retrieve the package from the riverbed, and Triss is ever-so-grateful, but it seems the two of them will have to leave via the sewers due to the approaching Temple Guards outside.
Truthfully, I have a lot of love for the chaos of the Novigrad sewers, and that's a big part of why Novigrad is my favorite map area. In the passageway, Geralt remarks at how the city has changed, and Triss expresses how bleak it's gotten. We dive into the water, which I can imagine is only slightly more pleasant than a modern city’s would be, and find Triss's package in addition to some other forgotten parcels.
Once we give her the package, we're onto our next destination: a granary rodent extermination job? Where the client flat-out knows that Triss is a sorceress? Triss explains how hard coin has been to come by, and that no one would hire her unless she was honest about her abilities. Geralt pushes the guy for payment upfront, to which he agrees, and the two get started inside the granary. Yes, she explains, she would rather be somewhere more glamorous, but this is her life now: looking for evidence of rodent activity to spread incense for a spell.
The former lovers have a chance to catch up while the rats filter out. It’s ultimately pretty awkward, with Triss bringing up Yennefer, but thankfully, we're saved by the bell. In this case, the bell is the merchant, and he's got witch hunters with him. After taking them out, we turn our attention to the merchant himself, who I bully into paying us double in exchange for our mercy. Triss thanks Geralt and mentions that she knows of someone who might be able to help him—Corinne Tilly, an oneiromancer in the city who is supposedly quite effective. Maybe her magical dreaming abilities would be useful? Triss takes off, letting us know where she'll be should we need her.
Before we head off to see Corinne, let's backtrack a bit. Next to Kluhg's shop is my second-favorite herbalist on the continent (or maybe third-favorite, honestly—the Eternal Fire priest in Elector's Square is pretty great, too). This kind halfling has a good assortment, and I stock up, brew, and go on my merry way. Thank god for that giant loot haul before, though, cause getting upgrade formulae for this many crucial alchemy items took some cash.
Also, I do still seem to be missing some alarmingly important formulae (how do I not have Golden Oriole yet?), so perhaps it's time for a detour to the various herbalists I've already found. On this journey, I also leveled up to 11 and got another beard trim. Really can't overstate how important Geralt's beard is to me. Turns out the dickwad herbalist outside Oxenfurt has most of what I need, and we're on our way again shortly after.
Back on the path, we return to Novigrad and after a short detour to humiliate a preacher, we head to the house of which the oneiromancer was hired to dream the history. So that's how it works. Outside, the banker who bought the house offers Geralt a pretty penny if he can discover the source of the supposed haunting. Upon entering the house, we hear Corinne in the throes of a nightmare, and quickly find her with a monster standing over her bed and unable to wake up when we head upstairs. She mumbles something about a doll and the attic, nudging us to head upstairs. All the while, we can hear the giggling of this supposed monster and I'm wishing I hadn't played this at night, because I can't tell what sounds are this house and which ones are mine.
In the attic, Geralt discovers a rag doll and a piece of paper with poorly drawn crib and doll on it. Presumably, we're supposed to put the doll in this crib. The crib is in the bedroom closet, and the closet door slams shut when we put the doll in it. Strange. On the door, Geralt finds another work of outsider art, this time a drawing of a big oven.
The oven is in the basement, and it's also where we find our artiste hiding: another godling named Sarah. She's been "pranking" Corinne by sending her bad dreams...and everyone else by making the house seem haunted. She was living in the house before the banker bought it, and she doesn't like bankers, so she wanted to give him a scare. I also don't like bankers, so we make a deal with her: if she stops bothering Corinne, Geralt will tell the banker the house is haunted in a way that can't be fixed.
Upstairs, Corinne is awake and disoriented, having dreamt of carnivorous furniture. Geralt explains the situation, and the grateful Corinne offers to find a way to pay us back. She'll do what she can to help us find Ciri, but she needs to clear her head first. She asks us meet her at her rented room in the Golden Sturgeon, a nearby inn for fishermen and other folks of the sea. Outside, the banker asks after the ghosts and Geralt keeps his word to Sarah. The banker is upset, but says it won't put him in the poorhouse. Must be nice, dick.
It's worth noting here that I could start to look for witcher armor if i wanted to go in on the Griffin set. I'm still weighing my options on this one, because I really want to go with the Wolven armor, but I'm not sure if I want to leave my armor situation up to fate for that long. I also, frankly, like the Grandmaster Griffin set bonus a lot, even if the finished armor is kind of ugly.
At the Sturgeon, Geralt recounts memories of Ciri for Corinne: how he came to meet her, watching her grow up at Kaer Morhen with the witchers, saving her life when she went on a quest to save Yennefer, the time Geralt died next to Yennefer in battle and Ciri carried them away to a mystical place. He explains her special abilities: her highly prophesized-about Elder Blood, her ability to travel between worlds, and her difficulty controlling her power sometimes. With all of Geralt's memories laid out, we can start the Corinne Tilly Dream Experience.
Before Geralt lies down, Corinne asks geralt one more question about Ciri: who would she have looked for if she couldn't find Geralt? He suggests Dandelion, and goes to sleep under Corinne's watchful eye. In the dream, a swallow pesters Dandelion inside of a lavish inn. Then, suddenly, the two are in the sewers, and Dandelion plugs his ears in anticipation of a nearby explosion. Geralt writes off everything but Dandelion and the swallow (obviously Ciri) as nightmares for now. Indeed, Dandelion is in Novigrad, having inherited a brothel called the Rosemary and Thyme. We're off to find our bard, it seems—but that's a story for another chapter.
What did we learn?
Honestly, this was really just a story chapter, with all the combat being pretty manageable. If anything, it just reinforced that I still kind of suck at fistfighting.
Death Count (This Chapter): 0
Death Count (Total): 32
NOTE: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is the intellectual property of the appropriate copyright holders, including the screencaps from the game I have included in this essay. I have no official affiliation with CDPR or anyone else associated with the game/books/universe; I’m just a fan who plays Witcher to cope.