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Background

This is the first quest in the Hearts of Stone DLC. You'll trigger it when you first leave the Royal Palace in Vizima, but you shouldn't try it until you're somewhere around the quest's suggested level of 32.


Walkthrough

To start out the quest, you'll need to travel to the Seven Cats Inn in the Novigrad Outskirts (#1). When you examine the notice board there, you'll meet a man posting a note. He'll tell you that there's a monster squatting in the Oxenfurt sewers, and he'll invite you to meet with Olgierd von Everec at the Garin Estate to learn more about the problem. You can also read the man's note, titled "Contract: Monster in the Sewers," to get the same information.

At the Garin Estate (#2), you'll meet the Redanian Free Company -- aka the Wild Ones -- but they'll seem more interested in playing with you than in discussing the contract. If you call them idiots, then you'll have to box one of them, which will earn you 150 xp if you win. But regardless, the Wild Ones will eventually show you upstairs where you'll meet Olgierd. However, Olgierd won't be much more interested in the contract than his fellows. All he'll know is that the beast is "deadly," and that it killed his cook. But talking to Olgierd will earn you 150 xp.

On your way out of the Garin Estate, you'll be stopped by a Wild One named Adela. She'll tell you that her mate Kluivert was killed by someone, and she'll ask you to figure out who did it. This will trigger the quest Rose on a Red Field.

You'll find the entrance to Oxenfurt's sewers in the northern part of the city (Exit A). Inside, you'll quickly run into Shani (#3), and she'll tell you that she came down with a squad of six soldiers to investigate the creature, only they were attacked and none of the soldiers survived. She'll also mention that the creature is "huge," spits venom, and makes "slurping sounds."

Shani will then lead you to the attack site, but along the way you'll come to a gate damaged by the creature (#4). You won't be able to pass through it, but if you turn on your witcher senses then you'll see that the wall next to it is weak, and if you use your weapon or Aard on the wall, then you'll knock it down, creating a passage.

When you reach the attack site (#5), Shani will describe what happened to her squad of soldiers, and you'll decide to look for the key carried by their captain. This step is optional but easy. You'll find the captain nearby (#6). If you loot the Key to Sewer Gates from his corpse, then you'll be able to unlock a gate (#7), which will give you another way (Exit C) to the lower level. If you ignore the captain and jump into the nearby hole (Exit B) to descend, then Shani will pick up the key and go through the gate on her own.

On the lower level of the sewers, you'll encounter several level 30 drowners. After defeating them, Shani will rejoin you, and the two of you will work out that the creature likes alcohol mixed with blood.

When you finally reach the creature's lair (#8), Shani will collect a sample of its poison so she can study it, and you'll send her back to the surface to keep her safe. Then you'll take one of the corpses in the lair and pour alcohol on it to create some bait, and you'll meditate until the creature arrives.

When the creature eventually makes an appearance, you'll see that it's a giant frog. It'll hop around, whack you with its tongue, and deal poison damage. If you have the Superior Golden Oriole potion (which causes poisons to heal you rather than harm you), then the battle will be pretty easy. But when you land the killing blow, the frog will transform into a human, and you'll get blanketed with poison. This will earn you 600 xp, but the poison will slowly knock you unconscious, and the last thing you'll see is a contingent of Ofieri soldiers entering the lair.

When you wake up, you'll discover that you're being held captive in the hold of a ship. From a fellow prisoner, you'll learn that the frog / man you killed was an Ofieri prince, and that the Ofieri mage sent to cure him wasn't thrilled with your actions -- to the point where you're likely being sent to Ofier so you can be tortured and executed.

Shortly after that, some Ofieri soldiers will enter the hold. You'll ask your companion how to say "take me to your captain," and he'll respond with "vhajlth alle'khe uhl eghullath." If you repeat this phrase correctly (dialogue option 3), then you'll earn 200 xp, but it won't make any difference because the soldiers won't care what you say.

Next up, Gaunter O'Dimm aka Master Mirror (who you might remember from the quest Lilac and Gooseberries), will show up, and he'll make you a deal. He'll offer to get you off the ship in return for a favor that you'll owe him later. You won't have any other options, so you'll agree, and Gaunter will mark your face to show that the two of you are "associates."

Finally, a severe storm will rip into the ship, causing it to wreck in the northwestern part of the Novigrad Far Outskirts (#9). When you come to, you'll manage to escape your bonds and grab a sword, and then you'll have to battle your captors. The first thing you should do for the fight is bring up your inventory so you can put on your chest armor and gloves. Then you should quickly take down the regular soldiers so it's just you against the mage. The mage is more annoying than difficult. He'll teleport around and cast spells, so you'll have to keep chasing him. Luckily, he won't have a bunch of health, so it shouldn't take too many hits to finish him off. When you complete the battle, you'll earn 200 xp.

To hold up your end of the bargain with Gaunter, you'll need to meet him just outside Yantra (#10). When you do, you'll learn a few things of interest: that Olgierd von Everec set you up to take the fall for killing the Ofieri prince, that Gaunter and Olgierd have some sort of strange pact where Olgierd is allowed to make three wishes, and that Gaunter expects you to help him with the wishes -- as payment for the help he gave you, and also so he'll remove the mark he put on your face. At the end of this conversation, you'll earn 300 xp.

When you go to see Olgierd (#2), you'll find the Garin Estate burning and Olgierd preparing to execute one of his men. If you want, you can intervene and save the man, but this will force you to go one-on-one against Olgierd, which is one of the toughest fights in the game. You can also just leave the man to his fate. Either way, you'll learn that Olgierd can't be killed (if you fight him then you'll decapitate him; if not then somebody else will stick a sword through his chest; and neither blow will slow him down in the least).

If you decide to take on Olgierd, there is one strategy that works well against him -- counterattacking. Just keep approaching him while blocking with your sword. When you get close enough, Olgierd will start attacking you with quick strikes from his sword, which you'll parry. Then he'll charge up a big attack and his sword will glow red. If you counterattack at this point -- by releasing your block and then blocking again -- then you'll knock him back and make him vulnerable for a few seconds. The game will show this by placing a "red fog" around Olgierd, during which time you'll be able to hit him a few times with your sword. If you can get the timing for this down, then you'll be able to repeat the process and defeat Olgierd rather easily. Otherwise, you'll probably have a long, grueling fight ahead of you.

Either way, you'll receive 450 crowns and 400 xp for defeating the frog in the sewers. Then Gaunter will show up and Olgierd will make his first two wishes. He'll ask you to bring him the house of Maximilian Borsodi, and he'll want you to show his brother Vlodimir the time of his life. Learning these wishes will complete the quest.


1 - Seven Cats Inn


2 - Garin Estate


3 - Shani


4 - Broken Gate / Weak Wall


5 - Attack Site


6 - Captain Vern


7 - Locked Gate


8 - Frog Lair


9 - Shipwreck


10 - Yantra


Exits

1. Oxenfurt sewers entrance.
2. One-way hole.
3. Sewer staircase.