Search Party¶

You’ll remember that way back in the Encampment it was mentioned that Reynard had a quest for you… but he would only give it to you after enough business transactions were conducted with him. As was stated earlier, it’s not how many items you buy, or how much gold you spend, but rather how many unique transactions you complete that prompts him to give you this quest. You may have been buying from him all game by this point, and he may or may not have started his quest… for the sake of simplicity, let’s assume he hasn’t yet given you any quests. To trigger his quest, you can just make multiple one-purchase transactions with him, buying the various wares he has. Namely, start out by purchasing Gran Soren Rubble, as it’s not terribly common, it’ll be the object of a Notice Board Quest later, and it’s very cheap. Other than that you can buy Festival Pies (used for raising Julien’s affinity, and cheap, too.) Silk and Chestnut Branches aren’t cheap, but they’re uncommonly found and useful for upgrading equipment… Just buy whatever strikes your fancy. It’ll take around nine purchases before his quest marker popped up.

After making enough purchases Reynard will get his quest icon. Talk to him again and he’ll request a rare item from you-in this case a hunk of Scrap Iron. Scrap Iron is dropped by Skeleton Knights, and you should certainly have found a bit of it by now. If not, these undead pollute Pastona Cavern (at night) and Bluemoon Tower (anytime), along with many other locales. Once you’ve recovered a piece, hand it over to Reynard and the quest will update.

Continue selling crap to Reynard, like you did earlier. This time it only took five purchases, although the number of distinct transactions is fairly variable. The next item he needs? Miasmite. Miasmite is dropped by Phantasms, which can be found just over the bridge from Gran Soren in the Deos Hill, or in the Witchwood, both at night. If you only find a Miasmite Shard you can combine it with a Firefly Stone to create Miasmite. When you get yourself a piece turn it in to Reynard.

You know the drill; make more transactions with Reynard to prompt him to offer up another quest. Ten transactions or so should do it this time. Once the quest marker appears again, Reynard will hail you as his finest patron, and worthy of his trust. He’ll tell you his back-story… at least, the part that’s relevant to his travels. His father apparently was a scoundrel who abandoned Reynard’s mother before he was born, and the question has haunted him-what could so vex a man that he might desert his unborn child? Apparently he never considered that the child itself might be reason enough to get the hell out of there! In any event, Reynard’s been searching for answers, taking up trade to fund his travels. Well… if you’re already wandering around, might as well make good on all that travel, right? Anyways, he’s looking for clues, a record of his travels, a diary, or… perhaps a journal entry? Maybe even six of them?

That’s right, those Journal Entries you’ve been finding all game belonged to Reynard’s father-they’re the clues Reynard was searching for. Now, you’ve had these for a while, so why didn’t you turn them in earlier? Well, the search for the answers contained herein is the only thing that’s been keeping Reynard on the road, so it was prudent to postpone satisfying him at least until Fournival’s trial was over, just to keep your options open. If you want to raise Reynard’s affinity or buy anything from him, do it before you give him these journal entries. Once he has them, he’ll leave the world forever… unless he ends up as your romantic interest, but there’s no way to know whether he will end up as such for sure, so just assume he’s gone for good. He’ll at least be gone for the immediate future, in any event. Anyways, hand off the Journal Entries when ready and Reynard will thank you, reward you, and bid a heart-felt farewell.

Bad Business¶

One down, one to go. You’ll remember back at the end of ‘Pride Before a Fall’ it was pointed out that Madeleine will no longer be around? Yeah, let’s go look into that. Head over to her shop in the ‘Venery’, just across the street (south-east) of the Black Cat. Inside you’ll find a woman named Katlyn, who will tell you that Madeleine has found a way to get herself in trouble… enough trouble that she had to flee her shop. Loot the counter nearby to score Divine Razors ; Madeleine’s weapons. She had to run at night, and in such haste that she’s left these behind? She must be in deep.

Now it’s time to scour Gran Soren for info. Head to Arsmith’s Alehouse… where else would you go for gossip? Arsmith himself is useless, but the serving wench, Nettie, will fill you in. She was apparently dealing in illicit goods, and got caught. You can also talk to some dork named Guston, who talks more about Madeleine’s beauty than her problems. Anyways, after talking to Nettie the quest will update, and you’ll be directed to the sewers next.

When you approach you’ll be bothered by a guard named ‘Ser Raulin’, who will ask if you’ve seen Madeleine. What you say to him doesn’t matter in the slightest, although you can lie and say you saw her heading towards the castle, or out into the countryside. Continue past him towards the sewers to spot Madeleine near the water below. She’ll bolt to the nearby gate and vanish. You should probably follow her, eh?

Head outside and walk onto a wooden bridge. Turn south and walk along the wall and around a corner to spot Madeleine, who has used her keen self-preservation skills to hunker down behind a rock. Talk to her and she’ll proclaim her innocence. After the quest ‘The Conspirators’, where you saw her talking to Julien… well, knowing what he was involved in, it’s not too much of a stretch to imagine how useful a legitimate business front for Salvation’s dealings in Gran Soren could be. It’s also not difficult to imagine that Madeleine didn’t care who she was dealing with, as long as there was profit in it, legal or not. She’ll lament the loss of her daggers… if you have them in your inventory she’ll notice them and ask for them back. If you return them, she’ll sing your praises and reminisce on how faithful a friend you’ve been… or she’ll write the daggers off as fair payment for not turning her into the guards. Either way, she’ll be interrupted by when she spots soldiers in the distance and makes a run for it. Shortly thereafter you’ll be bothered by Ser Marcas, who’ll ask you-like Ser Raulin before him-where Madeleine went. Again, like with Ser Raulin, it doesn’t matter what you say. Ser Vyctor will show up and lead the guards on a false trail, which allows Madeleine to return and thank you… and mooch more money off of you. She’s probably aims to get far away from Gran Soren, and with the loss of all her worldly possessions, suffers from genuine need. Either give her the money she wants-50,000 gold-or refuse. This quest is all about raising Madeleine’s affinity at the last moment, really-the nicer you are, the more affinity she’ll gain, the more likely she’ll be to end up as you romantic interest.

Buying Love¶

Only one more task to do before you head to Greatwall, and it’s entirely optional. You’re nearing the end of the game, so you should consider your romantic interest. You will have a romantic partner whether you like it or not, your only ‘choice’ is who. If you don’t care who you end up with, skip this Step, if you do… well, there are a few things you can do to try and influence them. Raising their affinity is the name of the game here, and the best way to do this is by giving gifts. Below is a list of gifts you can give and what characters are particularly fond of them:

Pick the object of your affection and gift them generously, perhaps even using the Arisen’s Bond, which will massively increase their affinity. As their affinity raises you’ll first see blush appear on their cheeks (accompanied by a chime sound when you talk to them), and at the highest affinity they’ll be surrounded by a lavender aura when talking to them. Maxing an NPC’s affinity for you will score you the achievement/trophy ‘Affinity and Beyond’. Just keep in mind that at this point in the game you cannot access Valmiro, Reynard, Aelinore, Madeleine, Julien, Mercedes, or Quina, as they’ve all departed due to quest progression.

Anyways, now that that’s over with, you’ve nothing left to do but go after Salvation. Rest up and head off to Greatwall. You should have already placed a Portcrystal in the Greatwall Encampment. If not, head back there and place one there now. You might need to travel back and forth a few times over the next few quests.