Iorveth's Path -- Act II: Prelude to War

Iorveth's Path -- Act II: Prelude to War

When the game resumes in this new Act, we are on a hill with Saskia and Iorveth and his men, and a conversation takes place between Saskia and Stennis, and we get to listen in.  Saskia is declared a monster or perhaps demon by the Monk that serves as the spiritual adviser to Stennis -- clearly she is not well liked in the same fashion that Joan of Arc was not well liked by the clergy.  More than just distrusted, they want her dead.

In case you missed it you are presently playing as King Hensfelt, and your immediate objective is to go to the meeting with the nobles from the other regions, where you are to negotiate obtaining their support for your intended war!

As you slowly walk forward -- Kings do not run, it is undignified -- you will make your way along the winding path until you arrive at the meeting location, and there you will hear the demands of the nobles, who are a bunch of greedy bastards, and you will only offer them HALF of what they want, plus no new titles!   That's right, you are the man!

Speaking as Stennis, you must answer the King's ultimatum -- clearly you do not want to give up your territory, and just as clearly the King intends to have it.  As you listen Hensfelt speculates on how weak Stennis really is -- is he really seeking a compromise? 

One option is to offer him Saskia -- which freaks her out completely -- but the King seems to like the idea...  Saskia on the other hand is not having any.  She tells the King where to head in, and then the King tells her that he wants the land, the gold, and her.  Hensfelt makes his move and attacks!  No matter how well you do as Stennis, you are not meant to win this battle, you know that right?

Even if you take the King down to a sliver of health you still end up with a slashed chest and Hensfelt still ends up killing the priest and splattering his blood on the alter, unleashing the curse contained within and causing an army of specters and wraiths to attack!

King Henselt Unleashes the Curse

-- Geralt Arrives --

The scene now shifts to Geralt arriving and being greeted by his diminutive Swarven mates.  Zoltan explains to them that your memory is not so good -- and while they seem to know you, you do not know them.  

Iorveth asks after Saskia and you are told that they are up talking to the King, and then Geralt detects that something has gone very magically wrong.  As you watch the sun goes blue and dark, and then Iorveth decides that you two should head up to the meeting.

You shift back to a CS of Hensfelt retreating from the ghostly attacks and then Geralt arrives -- kill specters until the two Wraiths arrive and then kill them to trigger a CS in which you save Saskia and Stennis, and the quest advances.  You need to follow the sorceress Phillipa's familiar form down the mountain, staying inside the bubble of protection and killing any specters who enter that Phillipa does not herself slay.

As you battle your way down the path Wraiths will appear at several points, blocking Phillipa's path -- you need to kill them and their servants in order to proceed -- so do that.  When you get to the bottom you meet and speak with Phillipa, and you must convince her that you are not a threat to her or the King.  Saskia speaks for you, as does Zoltan.  Saskia asks that you accompany the group, because she believes that your presence is necessary for dealing with the curse.

Saskia wants all of the commanders -- including Phillipa and Geralt -- in the Council Chambers of Vergen for the meeting.  You are greeted by a Dwarfish official who sets you up with a place to crash and welcomes you to Vergen.  This is a very different Vergen than the one we knew from the previous play-through!  For one thing it is not in flames :)

-- Arriving in Vergen --

The end of the conversation advances the main quest...  Basically Prelude to War is completed, The War Council is flagged, and you also flag the quest Bring it On: Vergen.  You should have picked up a few levels getting here, so you have Talent Points to spend.   Since there is no timer running and we can pretty much do as we please here -- baring leave the area of course -- we may as well explore and see to some of the side-quests...

So begin by exploring the area and do a little looting, spend some time talking with the different NPC's and you will encounter a pair of Dwarfish Dice Poker players inside the Vergen Blacksmith's Quarters as you are looting who will offer to play you -- which flags the quest Poker Face: Vergen.  You need to beat this pair to play the better higher ranked players anyway so why not?

Outside of the Blacksmith's Quarters with the Dice players is a dwarfish blacksmith whose specialty is weapon making -- who also happens to he the champion Poker Dice player, but you cannot play him until you beat the next two.  What you can do is trade with him and ask him to craft items for you -- and in the trading department take note of the fact that among the Diagrams he has a Harpy Trap, some Rune Diagrams, but more important than that, Meteor Ore Diagrams.  I am particular to the Robust Blue Meteor Silver Sword, but your mileage may vary on that...

You can buy the Diagram for the Robust Blue Meteorite Silver Sword from him, and its damage of 29-33 and 7 Sign Damage makes it a particularly formidable weapon indeed -- in fact it is what I used for almost all of the game play in the first play-through once I had obtained it!  The thing is it has a pretty hefty resource list, requiring x1 Diamond Dust, x1 Amethyst Dust, x6 Iron Ore, x8 Silver Ore, and x2 Blue Meteorite Ore.  Of those ingredients the Silver is likely to be your weak spot, but bear in mind that the inventory of each merchant and crafter tends to restock every other day or so...  So you can always buy what he has and then meditate so he restocks, right?

One-on-One: Vergen Fought Out

-- The Vergen Inn --

When you arrive at the Inn near the center of town you will find that it is very much like the Inn in Flotsam -- there is a Bartender behind the bar (technically I suppose he is really the Innkeeper) and you can trade with him, play Dice Poker (this is your next opponent for the Poker Face side-quest so you may as well challenge him now), and access your Storage Chest through him.  In fact you should probably access Storage now and transfer all of the wonderful crafts and alchemy loot you have been picking up to put it into safe keeping!

In the far corner there is a group of fighters fist fighting -- head over and say hello and the organizer will explain the rules to you -- and you battle Young Zin and advance the side quest One-on-One: Vergen.  Your next opponent is Stel Placeholdern followed by Percy of Woodham and that completes the side-quest One-on-One: Vergen! 

As you complete the side-quest a stranger shows up and challenges you to fight --  this flags the side-quest A Score to Settle -- Sir Silgrat turns up and challenges you!  This brother of the hero Seltkirk things he can make his reputation by beating you -- of course he actually has to beat you to do that...

The bet is two sacks of gold -- and when the fight quickly ends with Geralt the winner, Silgrat is both humiliated and angered that in beating him you failed to kill him.  You point out that you are no murderer and he vows to exact revenge against you for destroying his honor...  Looks like you are going to face this bloke again later, eh?

If you want to you can continue to fight in the ring but as the maximum bet you can make is just 35 Oren this is not going to make you rich :)

-- Visiting your Inn Room --

Head upstairs to the room at the end of the hall to visit your chambers and complete this half of the main-quest The War Council.  Against the wall is your storage chest, so in addition to speaking the Innkeeper downstairs to access it, you can access it in your chamber as well!  That makes sense if you think about it...

Head to the second marker to the meeting chamber to hear the leaders in Vergen talk out the issues in a lengthy CS, talking about the blood curse that Henselt unleashed.  Phillipa points out that the Mist has stymied Henselt's army, but the Mist is also a threat to Vergen.  Geralt offers his advice on how to deal with the specters of the Mist.

Phillipa points out that Geralt knows a lot about lifting curses, and suggests that he is the ideal person to look into and break the curse.  She appoints a researcher, and then reveals that artifacts from the warriors who died in the battle three years before must be sought -- magical objects that are linked to the phantom warriors. 

Saskia demands that all present cooperate with Phillipa and Geralt.  She then takes a census of the forces within the city walls, at which point Iorveth puts in an appearance.  Saskia introduces the elf and you discover that he is even more hated than you are!

Saskia is something of a fan of Iorveth, and defends him from the accusations of the others -- she points out the underlying reality of the fight that Iorveth is waging and why his presence in the city makes complete sense now.  Saskia makes it clear what she wants, and simply presumes that all of the others will fall in line -- and they do (for the most part).

A Dastardly Villain Strikes Saskia with Silent Poison!

When Saskia takes a drink to celebrate it turns out that the cup she drank from was poisoned!  Someone has assassinated the Girl General (or nearly so)!  Saskia is dying -- Phillipa tells you that to save her you are going to need Royal Blood and Herbs.  She tells you what she needs: Purple Foxglove and an Elven Rose of Remembrance.  You mention that Triss has one of the roses, and it seems that the other ingredient can be found down in the mines below the city.  Getting Royal Blood is easier than it sounds, since you do not actually need a King's blood but simply someone who has the blood of the nobility flowing in their veins. 

Finally she tells you that she needs power -- and you get an homage to the Hobbit spoken by Iorveth LOL -- and that pretty much wraps up the CS.

-- An Explosion of Quests --

After the CS ends with Phillipa you unlock the following quests:

-- Subterranean Life
-- Hunting Magic
-- Royal Blood
-- The Eternal Battle
-- A Matter of Life and Death

You also update the continuing quest "Where is Triss Merigold!" as well.  Bear in mind that you still have the side-quests Bring it On: Vergen and Poker Face: Vergen outstanding.

If you are concerned about getting to Level 35 by the end of the game you can always go outside of town and kill monsters -- in particular Harpies are plentiful, but remember that the higher your level, the less XP you earn for each kill, I am just saying...  If you plan to farm Harpies to gain a level or two now would be a good time to seek out the Bulletin Board and flag the quest The Harpy Contract, and maybe even seek out the assistant Blacksmith fellow and have him make you a Harpy Trap or two just for the fun of using them?

Once you have that all arranged as you prefer go out and kill some Harpies -- I will wait for you...  Really, it is not a problem, go ahead...  No, seriously. Go!  Alright, sorry I wasn't yelling, really...  OK, fine, sorry pookie -- feel better now?  Good!  Now go kill some Harpies why don't you?