Chapter Twelve: Geralt of Rivia's High School Reunion
After I did a bit of grinding, I returned to my regularly scheduled questing, though did still take a considerable detour from my quest for Dijsktra’s treasure, because fuck him.
PLEASE BE ADVISED: This blog series (obviously) contains major spoilers for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
Current Level: 13
Current Location: Sigi Reuven's bathhouse, Free City of Novigrad
Well, actually...I did a bit of grinding after my chat with Dijkstra last chapter. I had just finished my finals and I wanted to just *play the game* for a hot minute, so I did a bit of wandering and contract-taking that was ultimately pretty uneventful except for the plague cart guy predictably getting the fucking plague. I've already mentioned I won't detail my grinding, because it's boring and nobody cares, but I am still counting the deaths.
After I did a bit of grinding, I returned to my regularly scheduled questing, though did still take a considerable detour from my quest for Dijsktra’s treasure, because fuck him. The name of the game today is seeing old friends.
Current Level: 14
Current Location: Southern Gate, Free City of Novigrad
What did we do?
After the grind, I was getting a bit too big for my britches on a favorite quest of mine, so I headed to the outskirts of Novigrad to speak to a city guard supervisor who posted a notice for a beast that was murdering people at night. Geralt offers to track down the monster, and the guard at the door tells him that another guy is already on the case. Looks like we'd better hurry. Geralt asks his preliminary questions before heading off on his way to investigate. The victim is still lying where he died alone at night, along with all of the others who were killed. As for the other contract-seeker, the guard’s supervisor had only said he was "some brave fool."
Geralt's search of the crime scene provides him the evidence he needs to assume the beast is an Ekimmara. The monster’s tracks lead him to a riverfront warehouse, where another witcher is already fighting the vampire upstairs. We take him out together, and once out of the fray, the other witcher reveals himself to be Lambert, Geralt's old friend from Wolf Boy School. Lambert has some unfinished business to attend to, which we offer to help with. He first heads off for his reward for the ekimmara, which he graciously agrees to split with us.
Back at the guard station, Lambert insists on talking to the contract-giver himself, which the guard agrees to. Once inside, Lambert berates the supervisor for information on the whereabouts of Jad Karadin. The supervisor is unamused and runs off, and Lambert takes off after him, leaving us to fight off the angry guards he's summoned.
Once they're all sliced and diced, we find Lambert inside with the supervisor, who's crouching in terror as Lambert accosts him for information. The man tells him that one of Karadin's associates frequents the nearby Seven Cats Inn, and Lambert kills him before running off and telling us to meet him at the inn. Outside, he delivers on his promise to tell us everything: he'd teamed up with a Cat School witcher he particularly liked named Aiden to kill an ogre, but Aiden got mixed up in a political mess of a contract and ended up murdered by a band of assassins. The band was led by Jad Karadin, who landed the final and fatal blow, and the hit had also included our dear supervisor.
Inside, we find out that former band member Vienne is out of touch with Karadin, and that he's "changed" and fallen out with his old crew. The band was made up of two others besides everyone we've already heard about: a guy in Tretogor and a guy in Skellige. Lambert insists on talking to them both, and tasks Geralt with going to Skellige to chat with Hammond, which will have to wait for later. We spare Vienne and I'm on the road again, making a brief pit stop to Novigrad to change into a new set of clown clothes.
Next, I head to Vernon Roche's camp for a chat about Ves. He explains that she went out on the mission she was suggesting earlier without his permission, and he's worried she may come into harm as a result. Geralt agrees to meet him near the village and we fast travel over that way. Ves rushes into the village and we follow her. The Nilfgaardians have almost killed her when I myself also die and at least save myself that embarrassment. The second time I do a bit better at saving Ves, but still very much die.
On my third attempt, I finally get the hang of it and after we polish off the Nilfgaardians, Roche chastises Ves for her imprudent actions and battle attire. I insist we kill the lone Nilfgaardian survivor so as not to cause any trouble for future contracts and Roche begrudgingly agrees. Despite this, he's still grateful for our help and wishes us good luck on our quest.
I head back to Novigrad and run into Ronvid of the Small Marsh again; as expected, he still wants to fight, but based on his descriptions of his practice sessions, he hasn't gotten a whole lot better. He has a shield now, though, which is a little annoying until I throw my first bomb and he immediately yields. Probably a cheap shot, but having just been sliced to death by soldiers twice, I also wasn't looking to take any chances. On my way to my next destination, I also take a quick stock of how many pieces of weaponry the Hierarch Square armorer currently possesses (presently an even 80—will update along the way).
My next destination is just around the corner and continues our hunt for Dijkstra's treasure: Margrave Henckel's house. Inside, Geralt finds footprints leading upstairs, where there's a table with a mysterious note. It instructs the reader to sample the bottle from their birth year, but to put it back when they're done. Geralt assumes it's Ciri's birth year and clicks the bottle into place, opening ANOTHER totally cool secret hideaway.
Inside the room, Geralt finds a pile of evidence related to the heist: instructions on bomb-building from Kalkstein, bomb chemistry and parts, and a letter from Dudu to Ciri, explaining that notorious Temple Guard creep Caleb Menge is following him, and has Dandelion held captive. Geralt can barely digest this information before he hears footsteps approaching downstairs—better see who's here.
Never to worry, though: our visitors are just Dijkstra and a handful of hired cronies. Next time him, shockingly, stands Triss, who's been paid to examine the bomb and aid in the search for the treasure. I play it cool with Dijkstra and he gives us a lead on Menge's whereabouts before making a snide comment about Geralt and Triss's romantic history and heading off.
Once he's gone, Geralt confesses to Triss that the treasure hunt really has to do with Ciri. Of course, she's happy to help in that case, and asks us to meet her at the harborside Eternal Fire shrine at midnight to enact her plan.
In the interim, I head to her house with the Nobleman statuette I bought earlier in Gildoorf and she lifts the enchantment holding the nobleman in the statuette. He immediately begins pleading with a Coral before realizing she's not there, and he has no clue where he is. Last he remembers, he was in Oxenfurt, and the rest of the puzzle suggests he was seemingly cursed by Coral for his infidelity. He scurries off and Triss skedaddles as well.
At midnight, we head over to the shrine and meet Triss, who almost immediately pulls out a set of dimeritium shackles and asks Geralt to cuff her. He's understandably confused, and Triss explains her plan to infiltrate the otherwise high-security witch hunters' quarters by pretending to turn Triss in to the Temple for a reward. They head to Menge's place and put on quite the show, with Geralt pretending to be ruthless and Triss playing up her disobedient side. We talk our way into Menge's private office and the hunters whisk Triss away for questioning by torture. They’re big fans of torture here in Novigrad.
Inside Menge's office, he's prickly at first before realizing Geralt has brought him Triss, at which point he invites us to sit down and have a drink. I agree, and gulp down some alcohol. Triss's wailing continues in the next room, and Menge sends his lackey in to check on her. Geralt notes the silver goblet, a precaution against doppler imposters, before reminding Menge that he hasn't been paid yet for his delivery of Triss. Menge turns it back around by offering twice the usual reward for her, on account of Geralt and Triss having once been an item. Geralt reminds him that Triss betrayed him first—perfect timing, by the way, as she bites Menge's man in the other room.
Geralt then dangles information about Philippa in front of Menge in exchange for... well, I pick freeing Dandelion from the dungeons under Temple Isle, because again: I don't really give a shit about Dijkstra getting his treasure back. Menge would, you see, but he already spent a bunch of church money on an elaborate execution, set to take place in the Oxenfurt square once he gave the order to his men to begin the transport. But enough of that for now—Triss has gotten pretty quiet all of a sudden. In the other room, we stumble upon her dead captors, and she turns her attention to Menge, who she kills with magic. You can't blame the girl, really.
We search Menge's body and find a key, presumably to whatever vault contains Dijkstra's treasure, as well as a key to the back way out of there. Geralt weighs some options with Triss and she brings up Dudu as a possible solution. He's in hiding still, but maybe Priscilla would know something. Geralt and Triss head out, with Triss setting the entire place on fire once we're out of the building. Again, you can't blame her. She alludes to one more thing she needs help with, but now's not the time to discuss it—best see her at her place later.
Dijsktra's henchman shows up the second we're out of the outpost and brings us to the man himself, tucked on a wharf nearby. Geralt hands him the key, and he's, of course, dissatisfied. But not just because Geralt didn't find the treasure—he found out Geralt knew who took it the whole time. Boo hoo. poor Dijkstra. He does admit that in spite of himself, Geralt did earn his reward, and hands it to him with a warning to never try and fool him again. This completes our tour of old friends in Novigrad...for now, as we're nowhere near finished with our ghosts in the Free City.
What did we learn?
Devourers: Giving these guys a wide berth when they start to die is absolutely essential, cause that explosion can take Geralt out if his health is too low.
Death Count (This Chapter): 3
Death Count (Total): 39
Killed twice by Nilfgaardian soldiers while trying to save Ves in Mulbrydale
Killed twice by an exploding devourer I accidentally got too close to while destroying a monster nest
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.