Where is Triss Merigold?

Where is Triss Merigold? is a quest in The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings.

Walkthrough
Chapter I

After his battle with Letho in the ruined elven baths, Geralt rushes back to Flotsam to try to save Triss, but he is too late. Meeting Dandelion at the inn, the witcher learns that Triss was last seen on her way to see Síle. The two men then decide to check Síle's room.

Inside Síle's room, they find a sight of carnage: a dead bodyguard, a smashed megascope and obvious signs of a scuffle. They also find a peephole from the brothel next door and depending on Geralt's alliances so far, they see either Derae or Margot and Derae's body in the adjoining room. They then rush over to find out if the woman has seen anything that might help them locate Triss.

Regardless of who they find there, she tells them that she saw Triss and Cedric enter the room and that Cedric killed the guard. Geralt also learns that Cedric then left, staggering.

If Geralt is speaking to Margot, she tells him that Triss then spoke to Philippa via the megascope and a flashback of their conversation is shown, after which Margot gives Geralt a letter for Iorveth and reveals that she has helped Iorveth on occasion in the past. Geralt then decides to go look for Cedric.

If Geralt is interrogating Derae, she tells him that Triss spoke to Dethmold via the megascope and a flashback of that conversation is shown, after which Derae says that Margot has gone missing and the quest "Margot's Disappearance" is launched. At this point, Geralt must decide whether to try to find Margot, or begin looking for Cedric.

Cedric's trail can be found using a Cat potion, which will highlight blood on the ground (Alternatively, if you're a cheapskate with plenty of time to kill, you can also use the medallion, which also highlights blood). From the gate between Flotsam and Lobinden, Geralt finds a trail of blood leading into the forest. After following the trail, he is led to a location near the waterfall in the forest where he finds Cedric wounded and lying on the ground. The witcher gets the rest of the story from Cedric and then the elf dies.

Chapter II Note
If you're doing Iorveth's Path, be sure to do your side quests (like With Flickering Heart) first before giving Triss' bandana to Philippa. Doing so will trigger an 'event' and will prevent you from completing some of your side quests.

Journal Entry
Chapter I
 * Roche's path:
 * Triss was in danger. The kingslayer wanted to grab her and force her to open a portal to Aedirn. Geralt rushed full pelt to Flotsam - every second was precious. A single heartbeat could decide the sorceress' life or death.


 * Loredo consecrated the victory over the Scoia'tael by announcing a great celebration. There were barrels of beer and free sausage – what more would the people of a shithole town need to love their new heroes? Geralt was in no mood to celebrate, however. He ran for the inn where I awaited. Only I knew what was happening with Triss.


 * Somewhat surprised by Geralt's haste and preoccupied with the events occurring at the trading post, I answered the witcher's stern question with surprise, telling him that Triss had gone to see Síle. Then I looked at the witcher's face and understood that this was no joke. I joined him for moral support.


 * Iorveth's path:
 * Triss was in danger. The kingslayer wanted to force her to open a portal to Aedirn. Geralt ran to Flotsam as fast as he could - there was no time to lose. A single heartbeat could decide whether the sorceress lived or died.


 * And what of Flotsam? Iorveth had won and his victory wrought bloody revenge upon the people of Flotsam. They, in turn, avenged themselves on the nonhumans living in the trading post. It was a pogrom that would echo through Temeria for years to come. Thatched roofs set alight, the street were piled with corpses and smashed barricades. Geralt ran through blood and flame to the inn, to find me waiting there. Only I know what was happening with Triss.


 * Today I know what happened in that room, but back then we a difficult riddle to solve. At the brothel we were told that Triss had entered the room with the elf Cedric and spoken with someone through a magical device called a megascope. We learned that our sole witness had fled through the trading post's gate, wounded. Because of the darkness, ordinary people would have had to wait until morning to search, but for a witcher with a Cat potion at his disposal, no night is too dark. Without wasting a moment, Geralt left to search for Cedric, following a trail of blood.


 * And Síle's room? It looked like the devil had danced there. My trained eye immediately recognized that a fight happened. Feverish, we searched for any clues to tell us what had happened to Triss.


 * The Good Book says he who seeks shall find. In the wall separating the sorceress' room from the neighboring den of pleasure, we found a hole with at least one purpose. Someone could peek through it and see what was happening in Síle's room! Never had the witcher run so fast to a brothel.


 * Unfortunately it was too late for the elf. Before he died, he managed to explain that he tried to fight the kingslayer in Síle's room. Letho had forced Triss to open a portal through which the tormentor and his victim departed for the town of Vergen in Aedirn. I had a felling Triss was dead, but the witcher had to find her, of course, or at least her body.

Chapter II
 * Roche's path:
 * The witcher didn't find any traces of Triss Merigold in Vergen, but Fate smiled upon our hero as he was exiting the ghastly mist. Geralt ran into Roche and his men, who were searching Nilfgaardian bodies. It turned out that the Emperor's troops attacked the Blue Stripes, a deed strange in itself and most likely resulting from nervous tension. But Vernon saved the most interesting bit for the end: he saw a miniature figurine bearing an uncanny resemblance to Triss Merigold in the Black Ones' hands. The witcher, of course, heard of artifact compression - a spell allowing to polymorph a living being into an inanimate item. Without wasting time, he followed the Nilfgaardian survivors to their camp, hoping he will find the sorceress there.


 * Geralt reached the Nilfgaardian camp, but he was too late. He could only watch as the Nilfgaardian vessel sailed away. The camp was deserted and bereft of any clues as to whether the Black Ones had indeed kidnapped Triss or not. The witcher had no way to follow the escapees up river, so the trail went cold. The witcher clenched his fists and decided to finish what he had to finish, and then venture off in pursuit of the Nilfgaardians.


 * Iorveth's path:
 * Further reading will tell you that Geralt accomplished a lot in Aedirn. He fought wars, killed monsters, obstructed kings and caused unhealthy arousal in sorceresses. You have to keep in mind, however, that his priority was finding Triss. Sorceresses, as all other women do, keep in packs. Thus, in his search, Geralt headed for Philippa Eilhart's house. Unhealthy arousal, however, was out of the question in that case.


 * In Aedirn, Geralt continued his intrepid search for Triss Merigold. Near the town of Vergen, he chanced upon a troll who had met the sorceress. It was one of those gloomy trolls that neither build bridges nor harass sheep and shepherds, but sit on boulders, brooding until they turn to stone. The troll had indeed found a woman who had fallen from the sky, but only her bandana remained. The garment, however, had been stolen by the troll’s wife just before she had left her mate. To recover the sorceress’ bandana, Geralt had to bring the she-troll home. What choice did he have?


 * Having found his way to the she-troll's lair, Geralt was surprised to encounter humans there. They were mercenaries commanded by one Adam Pangratt, a soldier of fortune who had made a name for himself at Brenna. The soldiers and she-troll were at each other's throats. As a witcher should, Geralt decided to help the mercenaries defeat the beast.


 * All happy families are alike. Including trollish families. Thanks to Geralt the couple was together again, and the trollish woman rewarded our hero with Triss' scarf for all his efforts.


 * As it turned out, the witcher was not the sole human in the area to be interested in trolls. A group of Adam Pangratt's mercenaries was hunting the brooding troll's wife. Facing a conflict of interest, Geralt stood with the female troll, whom he was supposed to bring back to her mate. Furious, the soldiers of fortune attacked the witcher, and our hero had to defend both himself and the beast. We could debate whether he did the right thing. As it was, he forced Pangratt to yield and could reunite the she-troll and he-troll.


 * Geralt turned out to be smarter than some of his deeds would suggest. He may have not found Triss, but he certainly knew a crafty sorceress could locate a missing person using said person's clothes. And Philippa Eilhart was, beyond all doubt, a crafty sorceress.


 * The witcher gave the scarf to Philippa, but the search for Triss had to wait. Friendship is all fine and dandy, but politics was always more important to Philippa. At that time, the Redanian sorceress put all her effort into the attempts to cure Saskia, and no-one could blame her for that.


 * Following the confusion with Prince Stennis, Geralt was forced to seek Philippa's advice. The sorceress had more time for him and helped the witcher with a very important matter…


 * The path through the mist was a path through a battle, through a clash of two wraith armies born of soldiers who had died in a struggle between Kaedwen and Aedirn many years ago. Death and chaos ruled that cursed soil, and Geralt was an intruder. But he was also a witcher, so he managed to get to the other side. To say he did so unscathed would be to say that the elves had benefited from human colonization. Vernon Roche awaited Geralt on the other side of the deathly cloud, and believe me, the witcher would rather have crossed the mist back and again than talked to Roche. Yet despite their differences, they shared a goal - both wished to find Triss. Vernon claimed the sorceress could be in Henselt's camp, among the Nilfgaardians. Geralt could not enter through the front gate. He had a choice: to use an eastern entrance, by the river, along the cliffs, or to ask the camp followers about another way in.


 * Once more the madame proved priceless as a source of information. Sometimes I think that if prostitutes were placed in charge of training witchers at Kaer Morhen, more of the boys would survive that ordeal and they would emerge into the world armed with all sorts of additional knowledge - and not just the kind you thought of first. But I digress. The witcher found the cave entrance, boldly strode inside, and began looking for the tunnel that would lead him straight to Shilard Fitz-Oesterlen's camp.


 * The western part of the camp really contained an entrance to a cave that lead Geralt to the Nilfgaardian camp.


 * I am forced to admit that once Philippa rolled up her sleeves and finally got to work, the results proved miraculous. Using her megascope, she ascertained that Triss was in an area shielded from divination magic, that is, either on the cursed battlefield or on the other side of it. The reader may ask if this was the limit of what this mistress of magic could do under the circumstances. But the learned among you know that cursed places are naturally saturated with chaotic energy and immune to penetration. Philippa gave Geralt an amulet that would lead him safely through the spectral mist, so the witcher resumed his search for Triss without further ado.


 * The witcher managed to enter the Kaedweni camp, and since he was already there he decided to sneak into Henselt's tent and get the royal blood he needed to cure Saskia. A plan worthy of a vampire, but Geralt was no bloodsucker (though he killed many). Our hero decided he needed the services of an ace spy and asked Vernon Roche for help.


 * Keeping their multinational Empire in check required much craftiness from the Black Ones, and Shilard Fitz-Oesterlen was known as one of the craftiest Nilfgaardians for a reason. While looking for Triss, Geralt fell into a trap the emissary set. But that was only the beginning. Geralt spat all elixirs out when he learned that he found a compressed Triss some time ago, and carried her, in the form of a figurine, on his person through the whole time. The sorceress-turned-item changed hands, and Fitz-Oesterlen took her to Loc Muinne. Geralt was furious, and Philippa Eilhart was now in deep trouble.


 * Who had cast the artifact compression spell and turned Triss into a figurine? Philippa denied all charges, claiming it had been the work of her lover, Cynthia. The witcher was willing to believe her, for Philippa was not one who would readily admit to an error, yet it was obvious that her lover, on Nilfgaard's payroll, had made a dolt of her. The Empire thus gained a powerful enemy, and Geralt gained an ally.


 * Small comfort though it was, Geralt spotted the rose of remembrance he gave to Triss among the sundries Cynthia had left behind. Now he could use the flower's petals as an ingredient for Saskia's cure.

Chapter III
 * Geralt reached the ancient elven city of Loc Muinne. Ages earlier the sorcerer Geoffrey Monck had brought a group of human children gifted with spontaneous magical abilities here for training. Taught by elven Wise, the Sources became legendary sorcerers who aided the human pioneers. When humans had finally settled the continent, they repaid their debt of gratitude by destroying Loc Muinne and slaughtering its inhabitants. The scenic city ruins now ironically played host to a summit of sorcerers. The Nilfgaardian delegation was also taking part, and the Black Ones had brought the kidnapped Triss Merigold with them. Pondering the fickleness of history, Geralt searched for any trace of the sorceress. Shilard Fitz-Oesterlen was the key to her freedom.

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