Questing the Country Inn¶

Return to the road leading to the Lakeside and follow it south. When it forks to the south-west, take the fork to reach the local Inn. Your inventory is probably overflowing with crap by now, but we got here eventually, right? Outside you’ll see Julian and Celina arguing. When Julian walks off, approach Celina and she’ll initiate dialogue in order to bitch about her sister getting everything-typical sibling stuff. Ask about the wedding and it’ll be pretty obvious that she doesn’t think her sister deserves Julian, and in a bout of bother, she’ll offer herself to you if you merely provide her a ring capable of one-upping her sister’s. Fortunately, she’s not being picky-any ring will do, regardless of its value. Hand over the ring and you’ll get the “Celina” Sex Card . This clear disfunctionality makes Geralt question the people Alvin is staying with-a bunch of jealous racists might not provide a suitable upbringing for what could potentially become a powerful mage. Geralt wisely resolves to ask Dandelion about these people.

Before you head into the inn, examine the Notice Board outside to start the quests “The Alp Contract” , “The Basilisk Contract” , “The Devourer Contract” , “The Giant Centipede Contract” , and finally, “The Royal Wyvern Contract” . We should have found plenty of Alp Fangs when we were clearing the Lakeside Crypt with Berengar, and the Basilisk and Wyvern Egg contracts can both be finished when we head over to Black Tern Island. Devourers (Stong Silver Style) and Giant Centipedes (Strong Silver Style) wander the outskirts and fields, and the former can be killed off while you’re helping the Blacksmith continue with his affair, if you chose that path. The rewards will be listed here, and you’ll be expected to turn these bounties in at your leisure.. although it’ll be noted when you come across such beasts… in case you have short-term memory problems.

That’s right, it’s another Country Inn. Lets hope the Innkeepers here fare better than the last one, eh? With our current quest-progress, Dandelion will bother us when we enter and give us a letter from our lover (either Triss or Shani) and a Dimeritium Amulet we’re supposed to give Alvin. Sure. While we’re dealing with Dandelion, chat him up. He’ll ask you about the turmoil in Vizima, and my Witcher responds in kind-the Scoia’tael aligned Geralt has no trouble killing humans, the Order-aligned Geralt has no trouble killing bad humans, and the neutral Geralt insists he only kills humans in self-defense. No matter how you answer, it updates the quest “Identity” .

Also, if you’ve defeated four Professional poker players, you can ask the seemingly innocent quest “How do you like the country?” This prompts him to play poker with you-and this time, if you beat him, you’ll get progress towards becoming a Sharper. This should be your third Sharper-if it’s not, never fear, there is one more Sharper in this chapter to play (see the note below). If Dandelion is your third Sharper, congrats, you’re now one of the best poker players in Temeria.

As an aside, if you leave the Country Inn and return, you’ll be able to talk to Dandelion again and get his help in composing a letter to Triss/Shani. Say whatever you feel is appropriate, then ask Dandelion how to send your letter. He’ll suggest you speak to the Fisher King. Do so, and he’ll… well.. he agrees to deliver it? Geralt sure seems to think so, but he can apparently translate “mmmm”.

Talk to the female Innkeeper and she’ll tell you about the sunken city, Tobias Hoffman, the vodyanoi, and the village’s prize-winning cow. It doesn’t get much stranger than rating animals, folks. Except tractor shows, but I’m pretty sure those two are related anyways.

Talk to the male Innkeeper and he’ll tell you a story about a princess-sorceress- witcheress.. and he’ll also babble uselessly about the wedding, the mayor, and he’ll make a jest about how everybody seems to have a quest-and a potent reward-for wandering, overly inquistive heroes. At least the game is self-aware, eh? You can store stuff by talking to the male Innkeeper, but note that he wants seven Orens for a place to rest… the lady Innkeeper only requires five. It’s that old Geralt charm again.

Don’t be sated with idle chatter, however, there’s boxing to do! And we can finally fight Professional Fist Fighters-nobody is going to spit on 100 Orens per match, are they? Alas, they’re still not able to beat down a mutant with superior reflexes, strength, and regeneration, but at least we’re becoming famous in the boxing world. You can duke it out with one Profession Fist Fighter, two Tough Fist Fighters, and if it’s still worth your while, one Fist Fighter-that’s 220 Orens.

The quest fighter here is The Rock, and if price is any indicator, he requires a wager of 500 Orens to box. Smack him around and he’ll tell you that one more fight awaits-we need to head into the Swamp Cemetery to find some “nameless one”… the guy from Planescape? We’re in trouble now, he can’t die either! It’ll be an amnesiac-fight!

Anyways as usual the gold seems to be the worst of the three rewards-especially when we can make 220 Orens per day boxing. Between the Yellow Meteorite and the Moon Rune , however, it’s a tough choice… not because they’re so awesome, we’ve been using Harvall and ignoring meteorite swords for over half the game by now, and since we’re approaching the end, you can be we’re going to find even stronger swords… it’s a tough choice just because it’s hard to care about either, at this point

While we’re around, we might as well talk to Julian, who seems to sleep an awful lot near the boxers. He’ll talk briefly about his upcoming wedding to Alina-the mayor’s daughter-and not-so-briefly about his grandfather’s business relationship with a Witcher. As of now, however, we cannot complete “The Basilisk Contract” nor can we update “Ripples” as his wedding has him too busy to bother with such trivial affairs. We can, however buy a variety of gifts and books from him, and he is a professional dice poker player. He’s got a few interesting books-namely “Disenchanting a Striga” which will update our journal entries on Geralt and Adda, and “The Double Cross of Alzur” , which will give us a beastiary entry on Skullheads-enemies that will become more important next chapter. Of course, you’ll be able to get both books for free in the next chapter, so don’t feel compelled to buy them early. Also ask him about Alvin, and he’ll insist that Alvin needs caretakers who are more knowledgable about magic… sensible, this guy. We’re now done with the Country Inn.