"Do you really wish to know?" — Spoilers from the books and/or adaptations to follow!
Woe to the Vanquished is a quest in The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings. Geralt witnesses conquering soldiers mistreating the inhabitants of the village within the walls of the La Valette Castle, and may decide to intervene.
Walkthrough[]
After Geralt, Triss, Vernon Roche and King Foltest escaped from the dragon, Foltest asked the witcher to find another way to enter the castle temple. This mission entailed wandering in the village, where Temerian soldiers were mistreating the citizens.
This quest is in two parts. 1) begins by passing near a certain house, which triggers a cut-scene in which a woman bursts outside and is shot in the back by a soldier's crossbow bolt. 2) is confronting a commander who is about to set fire to a house in which several folk have been trapped.
- Upon venturing into the house from where the woman was shot, the guards inside must be prevented from slaughtering more 'traitors' (one soldier seems convinced that nobody within La Vallette walls can be trusted, but Geralt understands that commoners have no real choice in these circumstances). Successful use of Axii, Persuasion, or Intimidation will cause the soldiers to leave. Then, talk to the civilians you just rescued from death. If payment is requested, they give 10
but Geralt will only earn 30 experience points; otherwise 50 xp are gained. - The commander of these brutes must be put in his place. Further downhill can be heard the screams of people locked inside one of the houses. In front of it, a group of soldiers is preparing to burn them alive. Speak with the commander and then fight him until he surrenders. You can use Yrden. There is no way to kill him. After this, enter the door on the left side, next to the corner and free the group of civilians. Again there is a choice of whether to refuse a monetary reward: Geralt may demand payment (in which case successful Intimidation yields 70 xp and 20 ), or be satisfied with the good deed (earning 100 experience points).
Clearly, showing charity in both cases will yield more experience now and (optionally) more orens later.
Notes[]
- This quest fails if you enter the sewers (advancing To the Temple!) before completing it.
- If both parts were resolved without payment, Geralt is approached in Chapter I by grateful family members and offered another reward (which can also be declined): a Diagram: Heavy leather jacket and 50 . Refusing this reward simply alters the quest's final journal entry.
- If you fail to sway the soldiers in the house, they will kill those civilians, and even if the other part is completed, ultimately the quest will be marked as "Failed".
- The two 'halves' can be completed in either order. If you walked around the right side through the hidden alley you will still be able to finish both halves of the quest. It does not matter which part comes first, as long as both are successfully resolved before continuing To the Temple!
Journal entry[]
Prologue
- An easy victory behind them, Foltest's soldiers grew cocky. They brazenly terrorized the town's inhabitants. Geralt watched their acts of cruelty with growing disgust.
- When Geralt saw a soldier shoot a fleeing woman, it proved the last straw and the the witcher intervened. He had often taken the side of the oppressed, and this time was no different. Clearly, something very wrong was going on inside the house from which the woman had fled.
- Inside, a group of Foltest's soldiers were threatening to kill some townsfolk unless they surrender their gold and valuables. The witcher managed to calm the hot-headed fighters, and it seems a massacre had been averted. Moments later Geralt learned that elsewhere soldiers were herding townsfolk into a single home. Genocide was in the air.
- Eager for blood and booty, the soldiers intended to set fire to the house in which they had imprisoned the townsfolk. The subjects of the La Valettes were in mortal danger, and only the witcher could save them. Therefore, our hero approached the unit's commander and a sharp exchange ensued.
- If you don't save them
- Since Foltest was hardly a patient man, Geralt had to focus on carrying out the king's orders. He had no time to intervene on behalf of the townsfolk and never learned their fate.
- If you choose to save them
- The negotiations grew so heated that the negotiators soon drew their swords. Geralt knew perfectly well that if he could defeat the Temerian commander in a duel, his men would stand down and refrain from killing the townsfolk.
- And so it was. Seeing their commander yield to the witcher, the soldiers lost their zeal for tormenting civilians. They sauntered off like beaten dogs, and the townsfolk were saved.
- If you don't ask for reward in the end
- The witcher then freed the civilians trapped inside the house and - the true hero that he was - refused to take any reward. It is through such deeds that Geralt inspired me to write up-lifting ballads.
Chapter I - If you saved them and didn't ask for a reward in the end
- If you accept their reward
- When fate plays tricks on the witcher, these tricks are usually unpleasant. How surprised then was Geralt when a family of burghers saved from the soldiers at the La Valettes' castle found him in Flotsam? Geralt accepted their thanks and a pouch full of orens. That event reminded him that witchers defended people not only from monsters, but also from other people.
- If you don't accept their reward
- When fate plays tricks on the witcher, these tricks are usually unpleasant. How surprised then was Geralt when a family of burghers saved from the soldiers at the La Valettes' castle found him in Flotsam? Geralt accepted their thanks, but did not accept their money. He always reminisced fondly about that event.
Bugs[]
- In the game (including the day one patch) when Geralt is prompted to enter a house following the incident with the woman and the crossbow bolt, nothing happens and the quest becomes stuck.
Videos[]
To the Temple