Merchant to haggle with
The Kayran: A Matter Of Price is a quest in The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings. It begins when By the Gods - Stringing Up Sods ends, as Geralt and Triss investigate a disturbance in Flotsam's harbor.
Walkthrough
Talk to one of the three merchants of the harbor. Geralt can ask for a minor raise in the reward, demand double the reward, or try bluffing ("Get back to me ..." or "I'll tell Sile you're cheating her"). If the witcher demands doubling the reward, he might be forced to use persuasion or Axii sign hex (only when using Axii, you will obtain the Haggling ability). If either coercion or Axii fails, there will be no bonus; if either succeeds, it is agreed that the fee will be doubled. Simply bluffing prompts the merchant to offer two fists full of orens as a bonus; then Geralt may demand an advance of half this bonus. (One large fistful is 200
).
Note that this sub-quest does not need to be resolved before dealing with the kayran.
Journal entry
- Sorceresses never do anything out of the kindness of their hearts for this simple reason that they have stones instead of hearts. Síle said she had enough of talking and wouldn't life a finger against the monster until the price of the contract was set/ The artless witcher would never have thought to do things that way, but since a sorceress lifting her finger can be mighty helpful in any situation, particularly ones that involve killing huge monsters, our hero went to haggle with the merchants at the harbor.
- Passing along the waterfront, the witcher approached a merchant who was willing to pay for the beast to be slain. Geralt never liked haggling, but he did it often on account of his profession, so he managed to agree a good price.
- With much effort and no small help from Síle de Tansarville, the kayran was finally slain. Now came the best part of any contract - Geralt could go see the merchant on the waterfront and collect his reward.
- A full pouch of orens improved Geralt's mood and was fair compensation for the difficult fight with the kayran. Freed from danger, the townsfolk of Flotsam breathed a sigh of relief, and foreign merchants could finally set off. Everything just like in the old stories, before the time the witchers began to have second thoughts and dabble in politics.