King's Gambit Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Quest
Suggested level: 18
Group: Secondary Quests
Location: Skellige
This quest will appear in your journal when you help both Crach's children, which means you complete "The Lord of Undvik" and the "Possession" quests.
With Geralt's help, both Hjalmar and Cerys had defied death and won glory, greatly improving their chances in the race for Skellige's throne. Crach decided the news was an excellent excuse to host a great feast, during which skalds would sing the praises of the young an Craites and tables laden with mead and meat would sway those islanders who were still undecided, convincing them to support this generous and powerful family. Geralt was also invited to the celebration, where he was to receive a token of Crach's gratitude.
Prior quests
To begin King's Gambit you must first complete The Lord of Undvik and Possession.
Quest stages of King's Gambit
1. Report to Crach an Craite to collect your reward.
Return to Kaer Trolde Castle. Arnvald will be waiting for you at the gate to take you to the feast room. There you will meet Hjlamar and Cerys arguing with each other. When you finish talking, Anvald will tell you that Cach is currently in his chamber. Go there.
1.1. (Optional) Defeat the Vildkaarl.
Before you go to Crach's chamber, you can wait until Hjalmar starts fighting with one of the Vildkaarls and then approach them. This will distract Hjalmar and he will lose the fight. Then Hjalmar will offer you a wager. If you win fistfight with one of the Vildkaarls, he will give you his sword - Hjalmar's steel sword (Relic Steel Sword). If you lose, you give him your steel sword. If you loose, you will also be able to pay him 350 crowns to keep your sword. In this case you will get some XP.
At the entrance to the Crach's chamber, you will meet Birna, who will tell you what she thinks about the election of the new king. When you finally meet Crach, he will give you a relic silver sword - Fate, as a thank you for helping his children.
Your conversation will be interrupted by screams coming from the main room. When you reach the room you will see three big bears attacking the gathered guests.
2. Defeat the bears.
Kill the three bears (18) attacking the guests. Crach and the others will help you with that. After the fight, the other jarls will demand that Crach find out who is responsible for the massacre, as this is the only way to remove the shame from his family. Hjlamar and Cerys will have different ways of doing this and you will have to choose which one of them you want to help.
Note: Your choice will determine who will be the new king.
A Skellige saying holds that at a good feast, blood and mead flow in equal measure. Sadly, it seems someone took the saying literally and orchestrated a terrible massacre during the banquet at Kaer Trolde. Between the third and fourth courses of roast ram, massive, enraged bears suddenly appeared amidst the merrymakers. Before the hooch-dazed warriors could draw their weapons, the animals tore dozens of guests to shreds, including most of the claimants to the throne.
Geralt managed to save most of the other attendees, but could do nothing to stop the torrent of accusations and calumnies directed at Crach once the dust had settled. The other jarls accused him of conspiring to put one of his own on the throne. If an Craite could not prove his innocence, his family would forever lay buried beneath a mountain of shame.
Hjalmar and Cerys immediately took action, each in their own way. If he wanted to investigate how the massacre had come to pass, Geralt would need to choose which an Craite to support.
3. Help Cerys.
If you decided to help Cerys, she'll tell you what she knows and then she'll start questioning people and leave you with examining the crime scene.
Geralt decided to help Cerys. This was not surprising - her calm and systematic approach to the matter bore a strong resemblance to how the witcher himself conducted investigations.
Note: Choosing Cerys is the only chance to access the Quen place of power located in the tunnels below the keep.
3.1. Examine the crime scene using your Witcher Senses.
Examine the dead bear thoroughly. When you do that, Geralt will conclude that it is a half-man, half-bear, and the trasformation must have occurred after he drank or ate something.
3.2. Examine the traces of mead around the crime scene using your Witcher Senses.
Find and examine an empty bowl that smells "earthy".
3.3. Find the source of the scent using your Witcher Senses.
The scent will lead you to a horn containing mead spiked with human blood and some kind of mushrooms. Cerys will suggest that you ask Hjort what kind of mushrooms they are.
3.4. Ask Hjort to have a look at the mead sample.
Hjort will recognize the mushrooms that were used to treat the mead. These are highly hallucinogenic mushrooms. Cerys will suggest that you check the basement, because that's probably where the mead was spiced.
3.5. Follow Cerys to the cellar. / Examine the cellar. / Examine the mead in the open barrels.
Follow Cerys to the cellar. When you get there, you'll notice that someone spilled a lot of spirit on the floor. You have to find which barrel is filled with spiced mead.
When you locate the barrel, someone will throw a torch into the cellar and light the spirit spilled on the floor.
3.6. Flee from the burning cellar. / Follow Cerys through the tunnel.
Approach the barrels blocking the second exit from the cellar and destroy them with an aard sign.
Follow Cerys through the tunnel until you get back to the keep. To find out who the pyromaniac is, Cerys will suggest to look for his tracks near the cellar door.
3.7. Look for tracks around the cellar door using your Witcher Senses.
Near the cellar door, you will find spilled mead that someone stepped into.
3.8. Follow the footprints using your Witcher Senses. / Look around for a clue using your Witcher Senses.
Follow the footprints. When the trail breaks off, examine the piece of clothing hanging on the wall. Ceris will recognize that this is part of Arnvald's tunic.
3.9. Catch Arnvald. / Chase Arnvald.
As you walk past the castle entrance gate, you will see that Arnvald is trying to escape on horseback. Chase Arnvald and hit him once with your sword, which will cause him to fall off his horse and you will be able to question him. He will plead guilty and give you letter with instructions on how to poison the mead he received from Birna. However, the letter is not signed by her.
Cerys will decide to call the jarl council and tell them what you found out. Unfortunately, neither Arnvald's testimony nor the letter will convince the jarls of Birna's guilt. Luckily, Svanrige, Birna's son, who will understand that his mother is lying, will stand against her which will cause her to confess her guilt. Birna will be sentenced to death, and an Craite clan's name will be cleansed. As a reward for completing the quest you will receive a relic crossbow - Death From Above.
Birna was tried by a council of jarls. Though Geralt and Cerys presented damning testimony against her, for a moment it seemed the sly widow would escape justice. In the end, the final nail in her coffin was pounded in by her own son, Svanrige, who sensed her lie at once when she denied the accusations. Birna was given the sentence she deserved and disgrace covered the name of the once-proud Tuirseach family.
3.10. (Optional) Follow the tracks left by Arnvald's horse outside Kaer Trolde using your Witcher Senses. / Search Arnvald's body.
If for some reason you don't manage to catch up with Arnvald, find his horse's tracks and follow them all the way to the beach where you woke up when you first came to Ard Skellig. You'll find Arvald's horse there and right next to it, his corpse. Search the body and take the Arnvald's key.
3.10.1. Return to Kaer Trolde. / Go to Arnvald's Room. / Search for evidence in Arnvald's room using your Witcher Senses.
Return to the castle. Cerys will be waiting for you at the gate. Together you will go to Arnvald's chamber to search it. Find an empty envelope lying underneath the closet. You will smell the perfume from it.
Follow the scent and you will find a secret compartment in the wall with a letter with instructions on how to poison the mead. The letter is not signed, but everything indicates that its author is Birna.
Cerys will decide to call the jarl council and tell them what you both found out. In this case, apart from the fact that, for obvious reasons, Arnvald will not testify, the jarl council will end up in the same way as if you managed to chase Arnvald. Birna will be found guilty and sentenced to death which will end this quest. As a reward for completing the quest you will receive a relic crossbow - Death From Above.
4. Help Hjalmar.
If you decided to help Hjalmar, you will leave the castle together and go to Fornhala.
In the end Geralt decided to help Hjalmar. Like him, the witcher felt there was no time to go over everything with a fine-toothed comb - they had to act now, while the trail was still fresh.
4.1. Talk to Hjalmar.
On the spot, Hjalnmar will explain to you that he saw the people of this village turn into bears at the party.
4.2. Explore the Vildkaarls' village using your Witcher Senses.
When you enter the village, Hjalmar will notice a dead body.
4.2.1. Examine the place Hjalmar pointed out using your Witcher Senses. / Examine the place where fights are held using your Witcher Senses.
Go to the place where the corpse that Hjalmar noticed is located. You will find there the place where fights are held and old shrine covered in runes. Examine it. Hjalmar will be able to read the runes. This is a shrine dedicated to a deity named Svalblod, whose worship is forbidden.
After examining the shrine, Geralt will sense the smell of some incense similar to the bait that witches use to lure bears.
4.2.2. Follow the scent using your Witcher Senses. / Follow the footprints using your Witcher Senses.
Follow the scent until you come across the corpse of some unlucky man and a splash of blood mixed with bile. Check out the splash of blood. Someone stepped into it and left footprints you can follow.
The footprints will lead you to a hut on top of the hill, where you will find the entrance to the cave hidden under a bearskin rug.
4.3. Explore the cave. / Defeat Hallgrim.
Get down to the cave and keep going. After a while, you'll meet Hallgrim (17).
He'll admit that it was his men who did the massacre at the party, but he won't say anything more and the fight will begin. You have to kill him. When his lifebar drops to half, he'll turn into a bear (17) with a full lifebar. After the fight you will hear sounds coming from the depths of the cave.
Geralt rode off with Hjalmar to the Vildkaarls' village located in the wildest Skellige highlands. Young an Craite was convinced these mysterious warriors had transformed into the bears that massacred the Kaer Trolde feastgoers. It turned out his intuition had not led them astray. Geralt found a hidden passage in the village leading to a vast cavern. When they entered it, the whole gruesome riddle unraveled before their very eyes...
4.4. Venture further into the cave. / Interrogate the druid. / Defeat the druid and the berserkers.
Go further into the cave. At some point you will witness a terrifying ritual run by a druid.
When the ritual is over, go down to the cave and approach the druid Artis (18). Unfortunately, he won't want to tell you anything and the fight will begin. As for the old man he fights quite well and after a while a bear (18) will also join the fight.
After the fight, in the corpse of the druid, you will find a letter from which it appears that someone else was behind it all. Unfortunately, the letter is not signed.
The dark legends about the Vildkaarls were true. Geralt and Hjalmar saw this for themselves when they got a hidden peek at a terrifying ritual in which a man who wished to join the ranks of this bizarre warrior society let a bear devour him alive. Geralt tried to get the druid who conducted the ceremony to tell him who was responsible for the Kaer Trolde massacre. The druid refused to answer - and Hjalmar showed that it was vengeance more than testimony that interested him. He killed the druid, who took the knowledge of his patron's identity with him to the grave.
Then you'll go back to the Kaer Trolde Keep and tell the jarls what you've learned. This is enough to cleanse an Craite clan's name, but the identity of the true enemy will remain unknown. As a reward for completing the quest you will receive a relic crossbow - Death From Above.
Though Hjalmar was not able to uncover who stood behind the massacre at Kaer Trolde, the testimony he and Geralt provided clearly showed the hosts had not had a hand in it, and that those murdered during the feast had been properly avenged - thus clearing the an Craite family name of all suspicion. Crach and his children were still far from safe, however - the traitor responsible for the bloodshed remained at large, uncaptured and ready to strike again.
After completing King's Gambit you will get or will be able to get Coronation.