A Deadly Plot

A Deadly Plot
Description
Region(s)	Novigrad Velen
Location(s)	Near Border Post North of Hanged Man's Tree
Suggested Level	14
Reward(s)	25
Previous Quest	Get Junior Now or Never
Next Quest	Reason of State
Additional Information
Enemies	Wolves Wargs Rock trolls (optional)

A Deadly Plot is a secondary quest in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. It will automatically start through a conversation with Sigismund Dijkstra at the end of Now or Never.

This quest is part of the Assassins' quests (the other two being An Eye for an Eye and Redania's Most Wanted). All three of these quests must be completed to later unlock Reason of State.

Walkthrough

Meet Dijkstra at the Passiflora

Follow your map to the Passiflora. It is just east of St. Gregory's Bridge. When you go inside, speak to Marquise Serenity and she will open a secret room for you. Head up the stairs and then speak to Dijkstra. Shortly after, Vernon Roche joins the two and Geralt can agree to help with tracking down the spies' missing contact.

Talk to the Redanian liaison

Meet with Gregor, the disillusioned Redanian soldier pointed out by Dijkstra. The easiest way to reach him is to fast travel from St. Gregory's Bridge to the Border Post nearby.

Find the shoemaker's wagon

The wagon is located southeast of the Border Post, southwest of Hindhold and north of Hanged Man's Tree, just east of the Person(s) in distress marker. After finding it, you will have to use Witcher Senses to investigate the area, but not before dispatching some low-level wolves and/or wargs. Mark the wagon on your map for later, and follow the trail of shoes southwest to find a rock troll, Rogg, standing over a pile of shoes.

Talk to the troll

Through the conversation with Rogg the troll you learn that he and his friends Ogg and Pogg have the shoemaker unharmed in their custody in a cave nearby.

Find the trolls' cave

The three trolls' hideout is just a few steps away. Enter the cave and pick up the Superior ursine boots, gauntlets, boots and armor diagrams from the small room on the left along the main passage, if you haven't done it in the past. Continue deeper into the cave and find Dijkstra's contact with the other two trolls. You can either threaten to kill the trolls to release him, or choose the second dialogue option which will reveal the possibility to have the contact released peacefully.

Kill the trolls (optional)

Both Ogg and Pogg will immediately turn hostile and attack if you threaten to kill them, and Rogg will join the fight a few seconds later, spawning behind you. This fight can be somewhat challenging even for high-level players, especially on higher difficulties, since the trolls will alternate between charging at Geralt and hurling rocks at him, leaving little room for attacks and maneuvers. It's recommended to keep Quen up all the time and, for lower-level players, to make use Ogroid oil or, if available, its enhanced or superior variants.

Escort Thaler

Regardless of how you've dealt with the trolls, you now have to escort Thaler back to his wagon. Unfortunately, he will not match your pace, and will always walk instead of running or sprinting, so if you are impatient, you can simply head back to the wagon using the mark on your map made earlier, and wait for Thaler near it while killing time by gathering nearby plants and looting crates. During the walk, you have the option to talk with Thaler and ask him about his life since the last time he and Geralt met. Once Thaler reaches the wagon, he will thank you for the assistance and you can either leave right away or first ask him about his cover as a shoemaker and what he plans to do next. Either way, the quest is concluded and you can now play Gwent with Thaler to win his unique card, provided you have fulfilled the prerequisites.

Journal entry

Though Geralt avoided politics like the plague, there were times when he simply couldn't avoid getting entangled. This was very much the case when Roche and Dijkstra convinced him to find their co-conspirator. The man had gone off undercover to resolve a certain matter among the Nilfgaardians and simply disappeared.

Upon finding Dijkstra mingling among the fugitive mages, then watching him assist them in their flight, Geralt got the sinking feeling the erstwhile spy would want a favor in return. He could not have been more correct, for as soon as the mages had set sail for Kovir's hospitable shores, Dijkstra confessed that he had set in motion a plot to assassinate Radovid and asked the witcher to meet him promptly at the Passiflora.

Objectives

• Meet Dijkstra at the Passiflora.
• Talk to the Redanian liaison.
• Find the shoemaker's wagon.
• Look around for tracks using your Witcher Senses.
• Talk to the troll.
• Find the trolls' cave.
• Find the shoemaker in the trolls' cave.
• Kill the trolls (optional).
• Escort Thaler (25).

Trivia

• The optional fight with the trolls can be a good way to stock up on cave troll livers if you are short on this important but rare ingredient, since you can get one from each troll.
• If for some reason you have missed the option to play gwent with Thaler immediately after the quest or need to unlock the option to play him first, he will be found at the Seven Cats Inn later.