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Background

You'll receive this quest from the blacksmith in Lindenvale in Velen East when you ask him about master blacksmiths.


Walkthrough

The Lindenvale blacksmith will tell you that Eibhear Hattori is the only master blacksmith he knows about, but that Hattori has retired. You'll meet Hattori in Novigrad (#1), where he'll try to sell you some Dumplings. However, when he realizes that you're a witcher, he'll change his tune a little, and he'll tell you that he'd like to get back into the swordsmithing business -- except that he has run afoul of Ernst van Hoorn, who controls the smithing market in Novigrad thanks to his association with Cleaver.

But Hattori will have a plan. He'll tell you that he can get around van Hoorn by dealing with the King of Beggars, only he'll need your help in negotiating an acceptable deal. To help with this deal, you'll need to show up at the crane (#2) after dark. Hattori will meet you there and lead you to a quiet alley, where you'll meet Tinboy, one of the King's men (#3).

When you meet Tinboy, you'll have to negotiate with him. No matter what you say, you'll reach an impasse where you'll offer 25% of Hattori's profits and Tinboy will demand 35%. Tinboy will then walk away, but if you stick to your guns, he'll come back and accept 25%.

At the conclusion of your deal, some of Cleaver's men will show up and attack you. They'll be level 23-24 bandits, but since you'll have help, they shouldn't be too difficult to defeat. After killing the bandits, everybody will flee past the gate to the east (#4). When you join them there and then head north, you'll escape the ambush. Hattori will keep running all the way back to his shop, but you'll still earn 20 crowns and 25 xp for saving the day.

When you return to Hattori's shop (#1), you'll find Hattori locked inside, unwilling to open the door. He'll be worried that he's now a marked man, so he'll ask you to find him a bodyguard, and he'll suggest Sukrus, a former associate who often drinks at the Golden Sturgeon.

Outside the Sturgeon (#5), you'll witness Sukrus beating up a merchant. He won't be happy when you interrupt him, so he'll attack you as well. After defeating Sukrus, he'll suddenly become more impressed with you, and he'll invite you inside to share a drink. During the ensuing conversation, you'll learn that the merchant is Sukrus' brother-in-law and that he earned his beating by trying to cheat Sukrus in a business deal involving Skellige mead.

When you finally get a chance to offer Sukrus the job -- and mention that he won't ne earning any wages for a while -- he'll agree to take it, but he'll demand a favor in return. All you'll have to do is visit his brother-in-law at the docks and either get him to pay what he owes or destroy all of his mead.

You'll find Sukrus' brother-in-law -- just called a "trader" -- on his ship at the docks (#6). You'll have two options for how to proceed:

• With a high enough Axii / Delusion skill, you can convince the brother-in-law to pay what he owes.
  
  
• Or you can start destroying the barrels of mead on the ship. Once you've done enough damage, the crew will turn hostile, but after killing one of them, the rest will flee.

Either way, when you return to Sukrus (#5), he'll agree to start protecting Hattori right away, and you'll earn 10 crowns and 10 xp. Then when you return to Hattori (#1), he'll inform you that he still can't craft weapons because Van Hoorn has hoarded all of the city's smithing supplies in his warehouse. So he'll ask you to "borrow" some. He'll also let you know that the crates with the smithing supplies will smell like ammonia. This conversation will earn you another 10 crowns and 10 xp.

To steal Van Hoorn's supplies, you'll need to talk to Sukrus, who you'll find right outside Hattori's shop. He'll tell you that he knows all about the warehouse, and he'll ask you to meet him by the Sturgeon after dark. When you talk to him there, he'll tell you that the warehouse only has one guard, and that once inside you'll just need to mark the relevant crates with chalk so he and his men will know which ones to take back to Hattori.

When you approach the guard in front of the warehouse (#7), you'll find Sukrus' brother-in-law with him. The brother-in-law will try to turn the guard against you, but the guard will ignore his prattling and send him away. Still, even with the guard on your side, you'll need to convince him to let you go inside. You can do this with a 200 crown bribe or by using Axii / Delusion on him.

Inside the warehouse, you should turn on your witcher senses. This will allow you to see the ammonia scent above three of the crates. You'll then just need to interact with the crates to mark them with chalk.

When you exit the warehouse, you'll run into Van Hoorn -- and you'll see that Sukrus' brother-in-law led him to you. However, when the brother-in-law sees that Sukrus is with you, he'll have a change of heart, and he'll join forces with you. You'll then have to fight Van Hoorn and his men, but since you'll have Sukrus, his brother-in-law, and his pirates helping you out, the battle should not be too bad.

After winning the battle, when you return to Hattori, he'll be a master blacksmith, and he'll have lots of high level swords and crafting components for sale. He'll also promise you a new sword, provided that you give him enough time to make it. If you return after several hours, then Hattori will hand you a leveled version of the steel sword Blade from the Bits. Receiving the sword will complete the quest.


1 - Hattori's House


2 - Crane


3 - Meeting Place


4 - Gate


5 - Golden Sturgeon


6 - Brother-in-Law's Ship


7 - Van Hoorn's Warehouse