We’ve smashed Salamandra’s drug trade, helped out Siegfried and Yaevinn, and did almost everything we could possibly do without entering the Trade Quarter. So now it’s time to explore the new area of the city, rub elbows with VIPs, play politics at a much higher level than Geralt probably ever intended, and take a stand on the struggle between the Order and the Scoia’tael. Before any of that, however, we’ll chat with peasants, explore, and start-and resolve-some secondary quests before we get too deep.

More People Worth Talking To¶

Before we rush off to do anything questy, let’s take care of some minor encounters. Exploration is the name of the game, and there’s plenty of loot to be had in this quarter, and plenty of people to talk to. Although many of the upper-class citizens are unfriendly, there are still a few random encounters worth experiencing. And of course, now that we’re back in the Trade Quarter we might as well drop off that Wyvern Head we’ve been carrying around…

A “Townsman” will outright give you the book “Physiologus” if you talk to him-to aid you in clearing out the monsters plaguing the land and to settle a debt with Leuvaarden. Score. Leuvaarden pays off even when we’re not working for him!

One “Townswoman” will tease Geralt, and ultimately prove that she’s immune to his so-called charms. On the other hand, a “Noblewoman” will seem quite postively disposed towards Geralt’s ruggedness. She’ll ask for a piece of a monster if you keep selecting dialogue option #1. Give her a Kikimore Claw in order to obtain the “Merchants” Sex Card .

As for peddlers, we’ve discussed the Marketplace in detail, but along the wall you’ll find a few vendors worth talking to. There’s an optimistic Fishmonger and an absolutely hilarious Butcher. The latter has quite a bit to say-mostly negative-about politics, prominent figures in the city, and of Geralt’s bed-time reputation. You should especially ask about the courtiers to learn that-according to the Butcher-Foltest is incestuous and spoiled Adda into becoming a rotten whore, Velerad is an incompotent drunk, de Wett is a Nilfgaardian knight of the Order who is constantly in the company of Adda-and all that implies, Jacques, the Grandmaster of the Order of the Flaming Rose is a racist, and Triss is the biggest whore in Temeria… after Adda. It’s interesting backstory, at least.

In the Marketplace there’s a Wool Trader. If you talk to him, he won’t sell you any clothing, but he’ll suggest that he knows some secrets worth hearing. Pay him 25 Orens and he’ll tell you that Foltest is meeting with King Radovid, either discussing the trade war, or discussing marrying off Adda.

A few guards have something to say as well-generally the bigger, platemail wearing guards. One will seem to recognize you, and tell you to mind the law. Another will implore you to kill the monsters that roam the city.

A higher class of citizen means a higher class of whore. If you want the “Courtesan” Sex Card it seems like you’ll have to pay hundreds of Orens to get it. The cost can be cut down somewhat by presenting the “House of the Night Signet Ring” , but even so, it’s still expensive. There is an alternative, however. If you give a Courtesan any gem stone, even a rather unexpensive piece of Amber, you’ll get their card. Sex and savings rarely go together, but it’s sweet when they do.

Scholarly Debate and Naughty Clerks¶

Once you’re done talking to people outdoors, it’s time to head over to the Workshop west of Triss’ House. Inside, talk to a Townsman and question him about the factory-and particularly its clientelle. Geralt, with his magic powers of deduction will realize that the weapons being produced in this factory are being sold to a faction within the royal court. Obviously there’s some political strife brewing.

Talk to the Alchemist in the room and ask him about Zerrikanian masters and he’ll offer to swap a book with you for a piece of Red Meteorite . It’s mostly a lateral swap, and since you can obtain the book “Zerrikanian Alchemy” from many book merchants, yet Red Meteorite is finite, you should probably just hang onto the ore.

Pick dialogue option #1 until you get the option to mention Kalkstein. After this, he’ll try and tear down Kalkstein’s book, “Metamorphoses” . If you’ve read it, you can refute his arguments.. or if you’re reading along, pick options #2, #1, and #2 and the Alchemist will see his error. Afterwards he’ll ask you a question he’s certain will baffle you. Pick dialogue options #2 or #3 to get a positive response. For discoursing in Alchemy with him he’ll give you the books “Secrets of the Southern Masters” and “Samum” . Not bad for a bit of chatter, eh?

Let’s pay a visit to Town Hall while we’re running around. It’s surprisingly uninteresting considering it’s one of the centers of Viziman government. You can turn in your Cockatrice Feathers to the Scribe in the back.

When done, head upstairs to find numerous Clerks-many of which will flirt with Geralt. Call them naughty, and they’ll eventually ask for a gift. Give them a Diamond and you’ll get the “Clerks” Sex Card .

Questing the New Narakort¶

Now that we’ve given the area’s less important people and locations a good visit, it’s finally time to (officially) visit the New Narakort. Nothing moves until we get “A Posh Reception” over with, after all. Inside you can find a “Townswoman” who will trade tales for a mug of beer or a glass of milk (she means Cow’s Milk). What she asks for will determine what tale she’ll tell, but it’s always a folk-tale about some monster or another.

Talking to the Waitress can be worth your while as well. Most of the time she won’t say anything useful. Once she’ll gab on about her hideous witch of a grandmother, which she thinks Geralt would have gotten along with, for some reason. Another time she’ll complain about spilling sauce on a patron’s gloves. Offer to help her out by either paying for replacement gloves (100 Orens) or by giving her Red Woman’s Gloves. They cost about the same, but if you have some lying around, you might as well just give them over. In return, she’ll give you some Wive’s Tears Potions.

The Innkeeper is actually courteous-something we haven’t seen in the entire game, until now. He’ll refuse to talk about Leuvaarden’s party upstairs, but for a measly 233 Orens he’ll open up about the Salamanders who visit, and give you the password to their underground lair. This pertains to the quest “Following the Thread” , which seems to have wanted us to bleed Orens at every possible turn. Fortunately, we no longer need this password. If you’ve got it (and you should) turn in your Wyvern Meat for a decent reward.

And of course, there’s the boxing. It might seem a little out of place for an establishment like this, but in the day before electricity, folks had to amuse themselves… by punching each other in the face. The new quest fighter is Andrew Gablodda, a former professional boxer whose career lasted until he fought another boxer named “The Lion”.

Pay up 200 Orens to fight him and win. Your prize this time is actually rather interesting. Don’t be tempted by the gold, instead you can obtain a chunk of Red Meteorite , or an Earth Rune , depending on what you’d rather upgrade, your Steel Sword, or Silver Sword (respectively). Since we’ve got a handful of Red Meteorite , and only one Earth Rune , the latter is probably a better pick. Either way, you’ll get a Svarog Rune Stone along with it. Much better than the 300 Orens you’d get if you asked for cash.

As for characters of obvious interest, there are two that can be found in the New Narakort-Patrick de Weyze and Dandelion. First up is Patrick de Weyze, who will ask you to investigate his sister-a beautiful blue-eyed girl who Patrick thinks is a Vampire… or at least a Vampire’s thrall. This starts “Blue Eyes” , a quest that appears to suit Geralt’s appetites and profession just fine. Patrick will also bad-mouth Siegfried, if you ask about him. We’ll do this quest after “A Posh Reception” .

Dandelions Lute¶

Next up is Dandelion, our vagabond bard-friend has troubles. It seems that he misplaced his lute, without which he won’t be able to make sweet, sweet music. Ask him about his lute and you’ll learn a little more backstory, including some foreshadowing about a character who will be appearing later-the Elf Toruviel.

Pour six mugs of cheap beer down his throat and he’ll reveal-sheepishly-what happened to make this bard misplace such a cherished device. Apparently he got caught giving a local merchant’s daughter some “music lessons”, and although he’s coy about it, he means lessons of a somewhat naked variety. This starts the quest “Dandelion’s Lute” . We’ll do this now, since unlike the Patrick quest, there’s not a cheaper solution we can obtain later… and because Dandelion is our old buddy.

Exit the New Narakort and head east to find the house marked “Dandelion’s Lute”. Inside you’ll find a very angry dad, who will leave us with two ways to get past him. First, you can bribe him. 50 Orens for “pain and suffering” as he puts it. That restitution price makes his daughter cheaper than any whore or courtesan in the game thus far. But we’ve no need to throw Orens at him to satisfy his primitive anger over the fact that his daughter used her body to perform a natural function. Instead, expend all the meagre dialogue options and he’ll insult Geralt one too many times. Geralt answers the threats of Hobbs Pankiera with his fists. Win the fistfight and Hobbs will concede to Geralt’s superior strength.

Head upstairs and approach Rozalind Pankiera to have her initiate dialogue with you. She’s an easily bored girl, it seems, especially since she’s been kept in her room since the Dandelion debacle-which she’ll tell you about using heavy-and obvious-innuendo. Easily bored in this case means she’s a man-eater who takes a shine to Geralt almost immediately.

It doesn’t matter what you say, you can always obtain the lute, but to get to know Rozalind in a more intimate matter, tell her that if she gives up the lute it’ll show that she doesn’t care about Dandelion-that she dumped him, not the other way around. She’ll respond positively to the idea-either encourage her, or tell her she’s going just a bit outside the realm of believability. If you do the latter, ask if you can do anything to cheer her up. Either way, you’ll end up with her talking about a Witcher’s magical touch. Offer to show her to obtain the “Townsfolk” Sex Card .

All that’s left to do now is reunite Dandelion with his Lute. Return to the New Narakort and give it to him for a nice experience reward. He’ll invite you to witness his performance, which occurs after 20:00.

You can now play dice with Dandelion, but there’s no real point. Even though Dandelion is a Sharper, he will not bestow any quest progress upon you for playing him in this chapter… also, he seems to lose his desire to play anymore after giving his concert. Rest up until night-time, then exit the inn and return to witness Dandelion’s “concert”. Wee.

Night in the Trade Quarter¶

Now that it’s night-time, lets go explore the Trade Quarter. It’s a more dangerous place at night, that’s for certain. Kikimores and Salamanders stalk the streets-and for some reason the two don’t seem to be at odds… certainly not a good sign. At least Kikimores are worth some experience, and Salamanders drop weapons that can be sold for modest gains.

Wander the streets until you find a “Flaming Rose Militia Sergeant”. He hangs out near the barricade north of Town Hall. When you approach he’ll initiate conversation and will bust your balls about having a pass, and inform you that your current pass allows you to enter Vizima-not to wander around after curfew. Thanks, Triss. Even with 5,000 Orens isn’t enough to bribe him, so for practical purposes you might as well consider him unbribable. Offer to kill any Kikimore you come across in return for a pass. The knight will realize it’s a win-win and capitulate.

Along the alley along the southern wall of the district you’ll find a Gambling Den… At night, anyways, it’s empty during the day. Inside you can find Koster, and if you talk to him you’ll start “Dice Poker: The Sharper” . Of course, if you haven’t already become a Professional, he won’t play with you… and since we haven’t done “A Posh Reception” yet, you’re not a Professional. If you talk to the Bar Wench who runs the place you can try to find out who owns it-but you’ll only piss her off if you mention Salamandra. You can’t do much here now, but it’s worth mentioning… just be sure to return to deal with Koster when you are able.