A Deadly Plot Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Quest
Suggested level: 14
Group: Secondary Quests
Location: Novigrad
This quest will start automatically after you talk to Dijksta at the end of the "Now or Never" quest.
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.
Related points of interest
Passiflora
Velen / Novigrad
Border Post
Velen / Novigrad
Trolls' Cave
Velen / Novigrad
Prior quests
To begin A Deadly Plot you must first complete Now or Never.
Quest stages of A Deadly Plot
1. Meet Dijkstra at the Passiflora.
Head to Passiflora and talk to Marquise Serenity, and she'll open a hidden passage for you. Go into the secret room and talk to Dijkstra. After a while Vernon Roche will join you and you will be asked by them to help them locate the missing spy.
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.
2. Talk to the Redanian liaison.
Go near the Border Post signpost and talk to one of the soldiers named Gregor. He'll tell you that the wagon of the person you're looking for was last seen on the other side of the river.
3. Find the shoemaker's wagon.
Go to the other side of Pontar and find the wagon.
4. Look around for tracks using your Witcher Senses.
Examine the area around the wagon and you'll notice the shoes scattered around. Follow these shoes until you see a rock troll that you can talk to.
5. Talk to the troll.
Troll will tell you that the shoemaker is still alive and was taken to a nearby cave to make shoes for him and two other trolls.
6. Find the trolls' cave. / Find the shoemaker in the trolls' cave. / (Optional) Kill the trolls.
Go to a nearby cave - Trolls' Cave, and you will find two trolls and the person you are looking for there. The shoemaker will turn out to be an old friend of yours, Thaler. You can threaten the trolls to let the shoemaker go, but then you'll have to kill them, which may not be so easy, because you will have to fight three rock trolls (16) at once.
You can also choose "I need this man. He's coming with me." > "Need him for a minute, no more. He'll be back." This way you will trick the trolls, by telling them that you have to go and get the leather you need to make shoes for them, and you will be able to leave the cave without fighting them.
7. Escort Thaler.
Then return with Thaler to his wagon and the quest will be over.
After completing A Deadly Plot you will get or will be able to get Reason of State (1 of 4).