King Radovid has restricted passage across the Pontar river, effectively blocking easy access to Novigrad and Oxenfurt. Nobody’s going to stop you if you go far enough out of your way and don’t mind swimming, but there are easier ways to cross the Pontar, because whenever a government passes a law that makes a need difficult to obtain, criminals will pop up to circumvent it… for a profit. This page will provide a walkthrough for the secondary quest Fake Papers in The Witcher 3, detailing a way to get your hands on some black market transit papers.

Quest Objectives¶

Starting Fake Papers¶

To start Fake Papers you will need to head to the Border Post northwest of the Hanged Man’s Tree, which is the last river crossing left intact over the Pontar. Predictably enough, a throng of refugees have clogged the southern coast of the Pontar - cynical Witchers might almost conclude that travel across the Pontar river might be designed to keep hungry peasants in Velen rather than as a precaution against Nilfgaardian spies.

Attempt to cross the bridge and you’ll be stopped by a guard, who will insultingly state that undesirables like Geralt aren’t welcome in Redanian territory. Grease his palm with 10 Crowns or hit him with the Axii sign and he’ll change his opinion, telling you that you might be able to get your hands on a pass on the black market. Nothing quite like good ol’ fashioned corruption, eh? It’s worth noting that all Redanian soldiers aren’t built the same - if you attempt to cross the bridge to Oxenfurt you’ll also be denied access and told you need a pass, but you won’t be incentivized to commit a crime in order to obtain one.

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Bribe or Axii a guard at the Border Post and he’ll recommend getting a Transit Pass on the black market.

If you can’t be bothered to talk to the law - such as it is - you can skip that step entirely and find a black market peddler on your own. Talking to a Shady Merchant down the road (southeast of) the Border Post will also start this quest. You’ll find him standing just northeast of the road, near some stakes.

Get the Transit Pass from the Shady Merchant¶

Talk to the Shady Merchant and you’ll find that, at a glance, obtaining a Transit Pass is a rather uncomplicated affair. Fork over 100 Crowns and you’ll get one, and despite the lack of a seal and the poor grammar, it’ll suffice to get you across the bridges to Novigrad and Oxenfurt. 100 Crowns might seem like a fair bit of coin, considering you can just swim across the Pontar if you really needed to, but you do get some EXP for getting the Transit Pass, as doing so completes this quest and showing the pass to the guard completes the aforementioned Thou Shalt Not Pass quest.

Complete Bitter Harvest for a Discount¶

If you want to save some money and achieve the same goal, things get trickier. Ask the merchant “Can you go any lower?” and he’ll panic at the prospect of losing a “customer”, offering you a job in exchange for a price cut. Respond with “What kind of work?” and he’ll direct you to the nearby quest [Bitter Harvest]. If you complete this quest successfully (Albin Hart must survive) you’ll be able to buy a Transit Pass for a mere 25 Crowns. That said, if you’re low level, attempting this quest isn’t a good idea. You must defend Albin Hart and his fellow scavengers from waves of necrophage - necrophages who shamelessly ignore Geralt in order to attack the softer humans the Witcher is ostenbily protecting. In the very likely case that Albin Hart dies, you’ll fail Bitter Harvest and the Shady Merchant will no longer be inclined to sell you a Transit Pass, failing Fake Papers, too. On Death March! difficulty this quest doesn’t become reasonably completable until you significantly improve your damage output, likely by crafting the [Griffin School Swords], which requires you to be Lv11.

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(1 of 3) You can pay a Shady Merchant 100 Crowns for a Transit Pass, or agree to do a job for him to knock the price down to 25 Crowns.

Axii the Shady Merchant for a Discount¶

Assuming you don’t want to wait around until Lv11 to get a Transit Pass, there’s another option. Ask about the job, then use the Axii sign on the Shady Merchant. Not only does this get you bonus EXP, but it’ll cut the cost of the Transit Pass down to 50 Crowns. Not as good as what you’d get if you completed Bitter Harvest, but much easier to pull off. If you find yourself agonizing over those extra 25 Crowns, go pick some flowers and ignore Bitter Harvest until you’re a higher level - you’ll be happier for it.

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A happy compromise is to just Axii the Shady Merchant to get a Transit Pass for 50 Crowns, and some bonus EXP to boot.

This quest ends when you obtain a Transit Pass by one of the three means mentioned above.