A Necklace and some Notes¶

Before we get involved in any more… involved… quests, let’s finally give that Naiad her stupid necklace back. She can be found in the Lakeside area, and will have migrated east of where you first met her-near the “Circle of Waning Magic”. When you give her the necklace, she’ll offer you one of three rewards-a book on the Vodyanoi ( A Description of the Vodyanoi or the Fishpeople ), an Earth Rune , or free healing whenever you need it. Of course, we should already have the book, and the free healing is… well, it’s easier to just rest at any fireplace, than it is to bother running all the way back here to heal… or you could just stan around, as you doubtlessly have decent Vitality regeneration by now. That really just leaves the Earth Rune , which isn’t much of a prize either. Ah well. On the plus side, she’ll give you a Red Ribbon, regardless. Considering her issues with Drowners, she should probably keep it.

Chapter 5 is… well… it’s supposed to be the terminal chapter of the game, and some of our normal hobbies-dice poker playing, fist fighting, and enjoying the infinite storage capacity of our multi-dimensional stash will be somewhat limited. With that in mind, we should have a few things ready for Chapter 5, which completing “Ripples” will lead us to.

First, of course, be sure to have completed everything that can be done in Chapter 4, you won’t be coming back. Second, have at least one Devourer Tooth in your inventory, as we can give it to Zahin Schmartz (the dentist) as part of “Wont Hurt a Bit” . There are no Devourers in Chapter 5, and very limited stash access, so you’ll just need to keep it on-hand. Finally, have about 2000 Orens-this shouldn’t be a problem, as Chapter 4 isn’t very expensive, and the two trophy quests give 800 Orens each. We’ll need the money to play the greatest dice poker player in the land. No, he’s not quite that expensive to play, but if he’s got a good hand, he can raise the bet by up to 600 Orens per round… and you don’t want to have to forfeit just because you can’t match his ante!

Ripples¶

It’s finally time to finish off “Ripples” , and there are three ways to complete the quest. All three solutions will be discussed, despite the fact that the rewards are in no way equaI. Siding with the Lady of the Lake comes highly recommended, as she gives what is by far a better reward than what Julian or the Vodyanoi Priest will give.

Either way, you’re going to end up on Black Tern Island again, and while you’re there, be sure to talk to the Lady of the Lake before you fight Dagon and complete “Ripples” if you

want to gain her Sex Card. During “Ripples”, if you want to side with Julian, consult the text under the “Siding with Julian” heading. if you want to side with the Vodyanoi Priest see the text under the “Siding with the Lady of the Lake” heading. Finally, if you have any sense about you and you’re siding with the Lady of the Lake… you get the idea. Regardless of who you side with, the quest continues under the “Dealing with Dagon” heading.

Siding with Julian

Ask Julian about taking up the contract from Berengar, and he’ll tell you about some humans looters who were massacred by Vodyanoi. Apparently some of the fish-men worship Dagon, a blood-thirsty god. Our mission? Head to Black Tern Island and kill the Vodyanoi cultists who guard the Altar of Dagon-which is on the north-eastern corner of the island. Enter the shrine and kill the Vodyanoi there to provoke Dagon.

Siding with the Vodyanoi Priest

If you want to side with the Vodyanoi, go to the Lakeside and head to the shrine where you found him way back at the beginning of the chapter. As you approach the “Resolute Girl” will bother you and tell you that the “funny fishman” has returned. Talk to the Vodyanoi Priest, and he’ll have a solution-abduct the prize-winning cow (which Dagon covets) and kill it on his altar to lure him there.. then kill Dagon. You can’t expect a Vodyanoi to tell you to sacrifice other Vodyanoi, can you? Although Julian (and undoubtably, most of the peasants in Murky Waters) surely think that the life of a cow is more valuable than the lives of sentient fish-folk.

To lure the stupid mammal, you’ll need Dried Fruit and Nuts. If you’ve been good and followed my advice, you should have stored plenty of it by now… if not, the Baker sells some for twenty-five Orens each. Head over to the village of Murky Waters and “talk” to the cow. Give it a gift of Dried Fruits and Nuts and listen as Geralt tries his best soothing call… Now head back to the Lakeside area and board the Fisher King’s boat-don’t worry about the stupid cow actually following you out of the village, it’ll show up when you arrive at the Lakeside. Head to Black Tern Island and head to the Altar of Dagon- which is on the north-eastern corner of the island. Enter the shrine and kill the cow to provoke Dagon.

Siding with the Lady of the Lake

If you want to side with the Lady of the Lake and reconcile both sides, talk to both Julian and the Vodyanoi Priest. Both sides need to give a gift to the Lady of the Lake, and what you have is really a guessing game-which is painless, since you have somebody telling you exactly what to get. Have the Vodyanoi Priest give up his (its?) golden bracelet, and convince Julian to fork over his alabaster figure.

Now return to Black Tern Island and talk to the Lady of the Lake, who will confirm that these are, indeed, the gifts she wanted. In exchange she’ll give you “The Lady of the Lake’s Ruby” , her enchanted blood, with which we’ll challenge Dagon to a duel. Head to the Altar of Dagon-which is on the north-eastern corner of the island. Enter the shrine and place “The Lady of the Lake’s Ruby” on one of the “Altars of Dagon” to provoke Dagon.

Lover in the Lake

Because it’s convenient to mention it here, and because everybody will have to go past the Lady of the Lake to complete “Ripples” , we’ll talk about getting the “Lady of the Lake” Sex Card here.

By talking to the Hermit earlier, we learned that the Lady of the Lake is not fond of the whole Holy Grail thing-she’s a lonely deity that has had too many of her brave knights run off and get themselves killed over baubles. Talk to the Lady of the Lake and pick the dialogue option “M’Lady! I have had a revelation and wish to embark on a mission.” She’ll respond “Geralt, I’m warning you…”. Pick the option “A jest”, and the two will begin flirting. When Geralt drops the flowery crap and tells her she has a nice ass, you’ll get the “Lady of the Lake” Sex Card . You can talk to her again afterwards and ask about her favoring the Fisher King. She’ll allude to his prowess, insults Geralt’s and Geralt will backtrack. On that note, it’s time to go pay Dagon a visit.

Dealing with Dagon

You’ll get a cutscene showing Dagon’s approach. The fight with Dagon is laughably easy-don’t bother with Dagon at all, instead, target whatever Vodyanoi come with him. He does paltry damage, and suffers every time you kill some of his servants. Be sure to loot Dagon for “Dagon Secretions” and a Sun Rune .

“Ripples” Rewards

Now to cash-in on our hard work. Return to Julian and he’ll reward you with a Huge Diamond. It sells for 300 Orens… and really is a pathetic reward when you see what else you might have obtained.

Return to the Vodyanoi Priest and he’ll reward you with a Cermonial Sword of Deithwen… It’s a weapon that was out-dated before it ever was obtainable. By now, we’ve found some (and probably have already sold some!) Still, like the diamond Julian would give, it’s worth 300 Orens.

Return to the Lady of the Lake and she’ll reward you by helping you regain some of your former abilities-in this case, it means giving you a free Silver Talent to spend. Two thousand more experience and a free Silver Talent? Yes please.

Finally, the Lady of the Lake makes good on her earlier promise to give you aid.. and in a big way! If you’ve completed “The Heat of the Day” , “Ripples” , and talked to Berengar for the Lady of the Lake during “The Paths of Destiny” she’ll reward you with knighthood, and the silver sword Aerondight . It gives a +60% bonus to damage, +10% bonus to attack, and a +50% critical chance to inflict Pain, Blinding, Incineration, and Precise Hit. Needless to say, it’s very, very nice sword, and certainly and upgrading over anything you may have been using. This updates the quests “Alvin” , and “The Paths of Destiny” .

Note: If you want to keep your old Silver Sword, you’ll need to store it in your stash-ideally before you talk to whomever you want to complete “Ripples” for, but after defeating Dagon.

Paths of Destiny¶

Head back to your boat. Along the way you’ll be accosted by Berengar-how he got here without a boat is worth pondering. He’ll admit to everything he did with Salamandra, most of which is reiteration by now, and invites Geralt to judge him. Despite his hostility, he betrays himself by confessing his crimes and subjecting himself to Geralt’s scrutiny.

If you call Berengar a traitor, Berengar will attack. Put him down with the fast steel style and loot his corpse for the scroll “Dagon Sap” , Berengar’s Letter , the Book of the Full Moon , some Quicksilver Solution, and 866 Orens. So ends “Paths of Destiny” , and the quest “Berengar’s Secret” updates.

On the other hand, if you try to sympathize with him, he’ll hand over Berengar’s Letter , the scroll “Dagon Sap” , and the Book of the Full Moon . You’ll also get a quest reward, and, as we should expect by now, characters we keep alive have a habit of showing up later.

In the end, both the Scoia’tael and neutral Geralts spare Berengar-the former because he’s a fellow freak, and the latter because… well, Witcher’s aren’t supposed to fight, and he generally refuses to murder things that aren’t monsters. For the sake of variety, however, the Order-aligned Geralt kills Berengar here. He’s far more concerned with morality and guilt than the neutral Geralt, and he has no reason to value Berengar’s “otherness”.