Act II, Kaedwen Part I

Act II, Kaedwen Part I

The next Act begins with Sile and her comrade Dethmold approaching the city with a noble, and the objective to to to the negotiations with the Aedirnian Nobility.  Dethmold is quite the character, what you might call an over-the-top bad guy -- get a load of his evil laugh, whew!

The noble with the party is King Henselt -- and you are actually playing as him for the moment -- and being a King in this particular game is not a healthy thing to be, I am just saying... 

Note that Henselt is not necessarily a bad guy, and neither is Dethmold for that matter, though how much you can really trust Sile is still an open question.  As you progress along the path ahead as Henselt he hooks up with some other nobles whose support he obtains the old fashioned way -- he bribes them, though he only gives them half of what they want and no new titles -- and they accept.

The nobles bring up a touchy issue -- and Henselt shuts them down -- and then the fabled Dragonslayer approaches!  A very Joan-of-Arc looking female warrior, though she talks like an Irish longshoreman!  Dethmold gets mouthy and you have to shut him up -- you listen as the Dragonslayer makes demands of you -- and the King scoffs at her demands.  She demands that you face her in single-combat to settle the issue.  This is a battle you must fight, so do not take the passive way out of it, say "I'll fight!"

The duel that takes place is not really hard, and you easily defeat her, but in the process the King makes the mistake of getting blood on the alter they are fighting before, and a magical force is unleashed boding ill.  As this CS ends we transition to another CS in which our party arrives, with Roche addressing the Guards to try to convince them that you are OK -- but they are not in the mood to be convinced.  The Guards attack but Geralt uses magic to protect himself as he detects the evil that the King has unleashed by getting the Monk's blood on the alter.

Unlocking the Tourist Achievement with Zyvik

We next get a CS that shows what happened at the alter -- complete with zombie soldiers and Wraiths spawning -- and then Geralt arrives!

Basically what you need to do is take out the zombies and then the pair of Wraiths that appear, and once you have done that Dethmold casts a bubble spell similar to the one that Triss cast at the start of the previous Act.  Now you just need to work your way along the path -- staying inside the bubble of course -- until you reach the end of the path.  Stay inside the bubble, try not to get injured too much, because there are no checkpoints here and if you die (unless you make strategic saves which I recommend) you have to restart before the meeting with the nobles.

Once you reach the end of the path where the bright light is you trigger a CS in which the party approaches the gate to the camp, and the King issues orders.  The King assigns a Guard to guide you around -- the Guard offers to show you around, and letting him do that will help you to learn the different areas of the camp which is only to your benefit, and in the process unlocks the Achievement "Tourist" (10 G) Tour the camp with Zyvik.

At the gate Zyvik heads off to do his own thing, telling you to go to the King's tent -- but before you do that now is probably a good time to visit with the different locations that we saw on the tour to sell off our junk and unneeded items (if you are anything like me you are nearly overloaded at this point) -- and then give the entire camp a good looting as that will actually take you quite a ways towards the 10,000 Oren goal!

In addition to acquiring items and money you will also flag quests and discover specialty vendors.  You will also flag some quests, and have some conversations, but before we get too heavy into that let's go talk to the King, shall we?

-- Speaking with the King --

When you arrive at the Royal tent you encounter the Emperor's Envoy -- you can speak with him to learn a little information -- you can persuade him to tell you more, including that the Emperor has an interest in you...  He knows a lot about you, and is tight with his own information, but if you exhaust the chat options you learn he is concerned with an organization of sorceresses.  This is the same Envoy who we met in the Prologue.

After you complete the conversation with the Envoy head into the tent and talk to the King -- he seems to be a lot more relaxed about us now, and asks what it is that we are seeking?  Telling him the truth, that you wish to clear your name, and being as honest as you can will help with your answers.  He asks the question of the hour -- who is behind this plot to kill Kings?  But you don't know the answer.

His concern is not with the Wraiths and the dark magic that has descended upon the region, and he asks you to deal with it.  Will you?  Of course you will!  We have to lift the curse anyway, since it stands in the way of our goals, so bonus!

You should ask about the curse before you leave and get as much information as you can, because he actually knows things that can help you.  Working your way through the conversation options is a good idea.

As you depart Dethmold stops you -- enter his tent and talk to him to learn that he is very happy to see you and to work with you.  He offers his hand to you and then when you shake with him, assesses your handshake.  Strange bloke this one.  Asking about the curse you learn what he doesn't know -- you end up giving him more information than he gives you, that is for sure. 

A long and revealing chat with Dethmold

You tell him about the artifacts that you need -- but Dethmold is no help there -- so you ask about whether or not he knows curses -- and it turns out he knows a lot about this particular type of curse, which is good for us.  He gives us a list of reading materials -- take them -- and then wrap up the conversation options.  Finally you will tell him what you need and what you expect him to do, and then  you flag the quests The Eternal Battle, The Blood Curse, Courage Symbolized, Conspiracy Theory, and you update Prelude to War.  Well done!

As a side note, how cool was that?  Seriously we talked to two members of the aristocracy and a mage, and got a slew of quests and lots of information?  This game is so awesome!  I know I am liking it...