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Background

You'll receive this quest at the start of Chapter II.


Walkthrough

You'll begin the chapter in a prison cell. After playing dice poker with the elven convict, Vincent Meis, the captain of the guard, will make an announcement. He'll say that the king will pardon anyone who is able to "subdue" the cockatrice in the sewers. The muscleman in the cell with you will volunteer first, and you'll have to defeat him in a fistfight to prove your worth. If you somehow lose to the muscleman, that's okay; he'll die in his attempt at the cockatrice, and you'll get to go next.

When you leave the jail cell, Jethro will give you a Witcher's Silver Sword plus two Cat potions and a Blizzard potion, and then you'll be lowered into the sewers (#1). Inside the sewers you'll almost immediately run into Siegfried, a Knight of the Order of the Flaming Rose, who will offer to help you kill the cockatrice. Even if you don't want Siegfried's help, you should exhaust all conversation options with him because he'll fill in your bestiary entry for the cockatrice.

Note: Your decision with Siegfried will mostly only affect what his duties will be during the remainder of the chapter. If you join with Siegfried, then you'll become a friend to the Order, which will give you access to an extra shopkeeper, and Siegfried will end up guarding the gate to the Dike. If you fight the cockatrice alone, then Siegfried will end up guarding the hospital. Either way, Siegfried will allow you to pass through the door that he's guarding.

You'll face a lot of drowners in the sewers, but you should notice that they're much easier to kill now that you have a Witcher's Silver Sword. The cockatrice (#4) also shouldn't be too difficult. Even without buffs or any skill points in the silver sword styles, we can usually beat it handily. If you have trouble with the cockatrice, then don't forget about the Aard sign. If you can knock it down, then your next hit will kill it.

After the battle, Siegfried will show up and remind you to take the Cockatrice Head from the remains. That's good advice because you'll get 400 orens for it when you turn it in to Vincent Meis in the Temple Quarter. You'll also find a Maal'kad Sephirah on the cockatrice remains. You'll eventually need to find ten sephirots for the quest A Mysterious Tower.

Then Siegfried will lead you to the exit (Exit A), where Salamandra assassins will attack you. Since not many people knew you'd be in the sewers, you'll decide that Vincent Meis might be working with the Salamandra, and you'll add him to your suspects list (see the Suspects section for more information). Siegfried will suggest that you meet with a detective friend of his named Raymond Maarloeve to help with the investigation.

To complete the quest, you'll simply need to leave the sewers and then return to Jethro in the prison to collect your belongings. Although Jethro will talk about selling your things, they'll actually stay in the depository in the prison until you can pick them all up.


1 - Starting Point

The corpse here will have a Torch.


2 - Locked Gates

You won't be able to go through these gates during this quest.


3 - Muscleman's Corpse

If the muscleman beat you in the boxing match, then this is where you'll find his corpse. He'll only have a Rusty Sword on him.


4 - Cockatrice

The cockatrice will show up in one of these two spots (whichever one you visit first).


Exits:

1. Exit to the Temple Quarter.