For a Higher Cause!

For A Higher Cause! is a quest in Chapter III of The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings. This quest is only available on Iorveth's path, the corresponding quest on Roche's path is For Temeria!.

Walkthrough

You will start in the mountains of Loc Muinne together with Iorveth. While walking down the path, you will encounter several harpies. At the foot of the hills, you will have the choice to:

1. Either confront some soldiers from the Order of the Flaming Rose,
2. Or sneak into Loc Muinne through some nearby caves.

Note: If you had imported a saved game from the original game and were on good terms with the Order of the Flaming Rose in that particular game, they will be friendly towards you. If not, they will attack on sight, which is also their default behaviour if a saved game was not imported.

If you choose to follow Iorveth through the caves, you will encounter two Arachas at the enter of the cave, and another one later down the way along with some Endregas. After getting rid of the two first, don't forget to plunder their nest at the end of the corridor, you should find some pretty neat loot. Upon exiting the cave, follow Iorveth into the city to the courtyard with the gargoyles (they explode after being killed).

Note: Ignore the chest in the room below for now - it is part of the quest An Encrypted Manuscript.

Continuing through the ruins, ignoring the doors leading to the enemy soldiers, you will get to a passage, where there are 4 soldiers on its end. Iorveth will start talking to you on how to get to Philippa Eilhart:

1. Attack the soldiers and let yourself get arrested
2. Use the sewers instead

Note: There are a few quests throughout the map.

(If you choose to get arrested by the soldiers, there might be a glitch in game that makes all your Bombs and Daggers to disappear though you will still have the weight from them, you can get them back by adding same thing to same spot or taking same thing from warehouse and they will magically appear again.)

The fastest way is to simply attack the soldiers and let your health bar drop to zero. Another way is to find the poker players about a table in the merchants area of Loc Muinne. Instead of playing dice, have Geralt insult them. After winning the fistfight, Redanian soldiers will approach and the conversation ends in Geralt being arrested. Either way, you will be stripped of your armor and weapons and brought to the dungeons, where you can talk to Philippa about her bewitching Saskia. Once the dialogue is over Radovid will approach, order Philippa blinded and after some more talk, will leave again to participate in the debates in the city. The ambassador meanwhile believes you a threat and will order you killed. Use the Igni sign (fast mouse-clicking) to free yourself of the shackles and fight the guards.

The other way is to walk to Philippa in the dungeons all the way by using the sewers. The sewers are accessed via a small building entrance next to the Mighty Numa. It should not be confused with the other locked entrance which is guarded by two soldiers.

Whichever way you choose, the executioner will blind Philippa in front of you and you will have one big decision to make:

To either help Philippa home to get an item that'll free Saskia from her control, or to go save Triss. (500XP in either case)

If you go with Philippa, Letho will save Triss.

Journal Entry

Behold the last part of the story about Geralt and the assassins of kings. In his search for the kidnapped Triss Merigold and the treacherous Síle de Tansarville, Geralt arrived at Loc Muinne, an ancient city once inhabited by the elves. The witcher was in the company of Iorveth. Truly, should Geralt lead a Manticore on a leash, he would attract less attention from onlookers.

Meanwhile - the irony! - knights of the Order of the Flaming Rose made camp by the city gates. There was no way an elf, nay, one of the most famous and most wanted Scoia'tael, got through that gate without being accosted by the knights. Iorveth turned from the path in order to find another way into the city, and Geralt faced a dilemma: to follow him, or to have a look around the camp in search of familiar faces from Vizima.

As a Scoia'tael, Iorveth was quite experienced in finding hidden passages. He did not have to search for long - a path through a cave led straight to Loc Muinne. The witcher followed the elf underground.

Thanks to Iorveth's talent at sneaking unnoticed, our heroes got behind Loc Muinne city walls and started looking for Philippa Eilhart.

By a stroke of luck our heroes met Temerian soldiers discussing the sorceress they sought. Waiting in hiding, Geralt and Iorveth overheard that Philippa had been imprisoned. Luckily, an elven sewage system stretched under the city and even connected to the dungeon. Our spies split up - Iorveth went to search the sorceress' house, while Geralt headed into the sewers. The witcher wasn't looking forward to trudging through sewers again and seriously considered surrendering to a patrol to get into the prison that way.

And so, not for the first time in his career, Geralt entered sewers once more. This time, however, he was not hunting a dangerous monster, but was trying to reach a dangerous, but at the moment imprisoned, sorceress.

The witcher finally reached Philippa, but did not expect to see what he did. Fitz-Oesterlen and Radovid were present in the cell, and the king was taking revenge on the sorceress for years of humiliation he suffered as a powerless, underage heir at her, a powerful regent's, hands. Radovid had Philippa's eyes put out and tormented her in a way not becoming anyone, especially of a king. When the tormentor left, Geralt saw his chance. He revealed himself to press Shilard for information about Triss.

You should have seen Fitz-Oesterlen's face when he saw Geralt. Shilard would not be more surprised if the Nilfgaardian Emperor suddenly jumped out of a corner and kicked him in the arse. I heard he was white as a ghost and looked for a way out, but there was no escape from the witcher's wrath.

However Fitz-Oesterlen was too valuable a prize for Geralt to simply kill him. The emissary was, after all, his only way to the imprisoned Triss. The witcher faced a tough choice: he could free the wounded Philippa and look out for her, or carry the stunned Fitz-Oesterlen to get Triss.

Consequences

• Help free Philippa - If Geralt helps Philippa escape, Geralt and Iorveth retrieve the dagger and are able to undo the spell on Saskia. Saskia can be freed from Philippa and can rule Upper Aedin as an independent nation. However, during the summit, Shilard brings in a 'captured' Letho, who claims that he killed the kings at the behest of the Lodge of Sorceresses. Being unable to verify which mages were involved, most are gathered and killed.
• Save Triss - Choosing to save Triss will result in Triss revealing Sile to be a co-conspirator in the assinations of kings in the north. The soldiers are able to differentiate the mages from the conspirators, allowing the Conclave and Council of Mages to reform. However, Geralt will be unable to free Saskia from Philippa's control, and will have to either kill her or allow her to live with the potential for Philippa to use in the future. Iorveth will also be badly wounded by Philippa as she escapes Loc Muinne.