It might take a while, but when we’re level six (at the most), we’re done grinding. Intermitent boxing should have left us with a few hundred Orens (even after purchasing the book “Field Plants” ), looting the fallen should have resulted in us scoring plenty of Barghest Skulls, Death Dust, Beast Fangs, Ectoplasm, Drowner Brains, and hunting for herbs will have gained up plenty of Celandine, Hellebore Petals, Balisse Fruit, White Myrtle Petals, and Berbercane Fruit. Needless to say, as far as alchemy is concerned, we’re set for a while. On that note, it’s time to start questing in Chapter 1. Rest outside the Country Inn until morning, and we’ll start from there.

The Viziman Herbalist and the Notice Board¶

Let’s talk about some of the characters that we’ve been ignoring for a while. First, you can find a Viziman Herbalist hanging out near the Country Inn. Talk to him and he’ll tell you about the plague and other useless information. He will, however, sell you various alchemical ingredients (at a monstrous mark-up), but more imporantly he’ll sell flowers (if you still need to give them to the white-clad lady for some Tulips), and he also sells two books “Field Plants” , and “Subterranean Plants” . The former is immensely useful in this chapter.

Now head over to the Notice Board and grab the notices-along with the “Arrest Warrant”. Read the three notices to get the following quests: “The Barghest Contract” , “The Drowner Contract” , and “The Ghoul Contract” . We’ve completed all three of these quests by now-at least you should have killed enough Barghests, Drowners, and Ghouls by now-we just need to turn them in, which we’ll get around to doing later. Reading the Arrest Warrant starts the quest “Wanted” . Anyways, head on into the Country Inn.

Playing Dice Poker With Zoltan¶

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There are plenty of ways to man-bond with Zoltan Chivay. First, trounce him at Dice Poker (left) to be introduced to the seedy underworld of Dice Poker that infests Vizima, then engage in a good, old-fashioned drinking contest (right).

If this is the first time you’ve entered the Country Inn since helping Zoltan, he’ll talk to you. Ask him about the dice you found and he’ll offer to play a game with you. Play a game with him (and hopefully win), and talk to Zoltan again when the conversation ends and ask about playing the game for serious money, which will start the quest “Dice Poker: The Novice” , and allow you to play with Odo, Haren, and Mikul. It’ll give us something more to do when we go to help with their problems, and save us some trouble running back and forth. Now that we’re done with Zoltan, it’s time to turn out attention to other bar flies.

Chatting With the Bar Flies¶

Sitting around one of the tables during the day you’ll find an Antiquary, who serves as a bookseller. It’s not a bad idea to try and buy every book the antiquarian sells… which means a lot of boxing. Reading books adds codex entries to your Journal, allows you to loot various monsters and harvest various herbs, so it’s worth doing, just buy them as you can.

Talk to Vesna Hood, the local day-time bar wench. She doesn’t have too much to say, but just talking to her gets you her Journal entry, which will allow the quest “She’s No Early Bird” to start. You can also buy various alcohol from her, should you need to outdrink somebody or make a potion.

By now you should be able to find a merchant named Declan Leuvaarden somewhere in the bar. Unlike most of the folks here, he’s got a job for you, a paying job, at that. He wants you to explore a cave near the city walls and rescue his friend-or failing that, provide him with a decent burial. Accept his offer to start the quest “Dead Hand of the Past” . This is one we’ll save for later. You can also buy jewelry from Leuvaarden, which is mostly worthless right now. He also sells Flint (we have the Igni sign, so who cares?), Mettina Rose (if you don’t have any, get one, but we should have found a bottle of this by now), and Tulips (if you still need to seduce the green-and-yellow-clad lady to obtain the “People of the Outskirts” Sex Card .)

Now for the less noteworthy folks. You can talk to Shani again to find out that Alvin-whom had been in her care-she sent to go stay with Abigail, the local witch. Who knows better how to handle a mage than another mage, right? Near one of the tables you’ll find a Gambler, who talks about an unlucky hunter. You can play very, very, very low-stakes Poker with him. There’s also a Bard you can chat up, who knows of some “Geralt of Rivia”, whom you resemble. If you pay him five Orens he’ll sing a rather awful little song-but you’ll get a Journal entry about Dandelion, presumably a much better bard. Lastly, you can chat up the Innkeeper. For five Orens he’ll tell you about the plague and the always ineffective religious response to it, but it’s really just a waste of money.

Fighting Fat Fred¶

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Talk to Declan Leuvaardan to pick up the quest “Dead Hand of the Past” (left)… we’ll be seeing more of him throughout the game. Once done, defeat the local fist-fighting champion, Fat Fred (right).

Since all that’s out of the way, lets go deal with Fat Fred. Talk to him and put up 25 Orens to get him to fight. He’s stronger than the other fistfighters, but he’ll still fall to the same tactics we’ve been using to abuse the others. When you win you’ll get a choice of prizes, money-which turns out to be 100 Orens, which we could win in two rounds of boxing the lesser fighters, a ring-which turns out to be a Gold Diamond Ring (sells for 120 Orens) or vodka and chaser, which means two bottles of Zerrikanian Spirit, a loaf of bread, a mutton leg, and cheese. All the prizes suck, as Zerrikanian Spirit isn’t so potent as to be worth notice. I tend to take the ring, which is worth the most, and keep it for a rainy day. Now that Fat Fred has been beaten, we’ll need to wait until Chapter 2 to continue with this quest.

Drinking With Zoltan¶

We’re almost done with the bar, there’s only one thing left to do. Stash the loot earned from Fat Fred and withdraw ten mugs of Kaedwenian Stount. Talk to Zoltan and engage him in a drinking contest. Down seven mugs and Zoltan will admit defeat, and present you with a Diamond for winning (worth 60 Orens). Now that we’re trashed again, find somewhere to rest and sleep until midnight.