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Background

As one of the aspects of war, an artifact symbolized as death will be needed to remove the mist curse that prevents free passage to Vergen. This quest is automatically received once you talk to Dethmold when ready to cross the mist during the main quest The Blood Curse.


Walkthrough

Since it goes parallel with The Blood Curse, the initiating steps will be very similar to the ones described in that quest. After talking to Dethmold in his tent (#1), head over to one of the mist entrances. The closest one seems to be at #2. You'll also come across Zoltan, who isn't enjoying his stay in the camp and would like to move to Vergen.

Once you cross the veil (#3) with the help of De Tansarville's amulet (use the witcher's medallion to reveal it if you lose it from sight), head over with Zoltan to the gates of Vergen (#5). On the way you will be stopped by a band of elves at the burned village (#4), but they won't fight you even though they'll appear as very aggressive and ignorant.

Yarpen Zigrin and Skalen Burdon will be able to provide some additional details on where to find the symbol of death, Dun Banner's standard. It's located deep inside the dwarven catacombs (#7). To reach it, you'll have to traverse the small tunnel at #6 first.

Once inside, you're free to examine the corpses if you wish, though you'll only summon the wraiths which spawn if you meddle with the dwarven bodies. Your main goal is to reach #10, but before heading there, you might wish to take a look at the other rooms as well. Most of the rooms are blocked by walls which can be destroyed by using Aard. Aard walls are marked with #A not to clog the map with a bunch of numbers.

In the room marked with #8, you'll find an interesting sword called Fate on one of the corpses. Over at #9, you'll find additional lore on the Wild Hunt from the investigator's notes on the embalmed corpse.

The final room (#10) contains the ghost of Ekhart Henessy, the standard bearer of the Dun Banner. He'll ask you a few questions regarding the battle that took place three years ago. You can either try to deceive the specter and represent yourself as of the Dun Banner and answer all the questions correctly. The ghost will dissipate, leaving you with the sarcophagus which contains the items you need for the quest. On the other hand, you can also opt to kill him, and the ghost will attack you. The answers for his questions are these:

"You got it wrong." - Correct him about the positions from which the northern armies fought the battle
"Menno Coehoorn." - The name of the chief Nilfgaardian commander at Brenna
"Coehoorn is dead." - State that he won't be able to attack the North again because he died
"Vandergrift and Seltkirk." - Names of the northern army leaders
"I was led out by a priest." - That's how you apparently "survived" the battle of Brenna

Either way, the sarcophagus nearby contains the items that you need: the standard for the quest, and a Sword of the Dun Banner. You can also place the beaver cap that Zyvik gave you during one of your conversations, to honor the fallen Dun Banner unit. The quest is completed and you can return to the other matters at hand.


1 - Dethmold


2 - Mist entrance (Kaedweni side)


3 - Mist exit (Vergen side)


4 - Burned village & Scoia'tael


5 - Gates of Vergen, Yarpen and Skalen


6 - Tunnel exit out of the city


7 - Entrance to the catacombs


8 - Silver sword Fate


9 - Wild Hunt investigator's notes


10 - Ekhart Henessy's ghost


A - Walls that can be destroyed by Aard