The Great Escape Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Quest
Suggested level: 28
Group: Main Quests
Location: Novigrad
To start this quest, talk to Yennefer, who you'll find sitting at the table in Crippled Kate's brothel. She'll tell you that she's located the man who managed to escape from the prison in which Margarita Laux-Antille is being held. Unfortunately, when this man appears in the inn, he will not want to talk to you and will start running away. You have to finish this quest to accomplish one of the objectives of the "Final Preparations" quest.
In the mission to gather the members of the former Lodge of Sorceress, it fell to Yennefer to bring Margarita Laux-Antille to Novigrad. Yennefer's old friend had been captured by the witch hunters and was being kept in Deireadh, the best-guarded prison this side of the Yaruga.
Geralt and Yennefer thus had a hard endeavor in front of them - they would have to break into the sealed compound and sneak Margarita out. Good thing Yen had something even better than a file in a carrot cake: contact information for the one man who had managed to escape Deireadh. Escaping seemed to be in his blood, for he attempted to make another getaway at the sight of Yennefer and Geralt, but eventually they caught him and sat down for a chat. He told them how to outfox the guards and enter the prison unnoticed. With no time to waste, Geralt and Yennefer raced off to Margarita's rescue.
Related points of interest
Crippled Kate's
Velen / Novigrad
Quest stages of The Great Escape
1. Catch the runaway.
Chase the man and try to talk to him or just use Aard sign when you are close enough. If it takes too long Yennefer will teleport and catch him herself. When you catch him, you will all go back to the inn where the man will tell you how he managed to escape from prison.
2. (Optional) Ask Zoltan for help.
You will be able to ask Zoltan for help in getting the guards drunk, but if you've completed the "Now or Never" quest, he won't be able to help you because witch hunters are now hunting for non-humans.
3. Meet Yennefer at the bridge into Oxenfurt. / Enter the prison through the well.
Yennefer will be waiting for you near the east gate of Oxenfurt. Together you will go to the well, through which you will be able to access the ruins below the city. Yennefer will give you the Magic trinket from Yennefer, to summon her when you find Margarita.
4. Search the ruins.
Jump into the well and get to the ruins. In the room where you come across a grave hag (26), find a mechanism on one of the walls. It is broken and you must find a way to fix it.
5. Find the missing part of the mechanism using your Witcher Senses.
In another room where you come across three drowners (24), find another mechanism and take the lever out of it.
6. Repair the mechanism and open the doors. / Enter the sewers.
Go back to the previous mechanism and fix it with the lever you found. The passage to the next room will open. There you will find a wall that you can destroy with the Aard sign and then proceed to the sewers.
7. Find the sorceress Margarita.
First you have to get rid of the necrophage (13) and three ghouls (2$) that dwell in the sewers. Then find a hole in the wall through which you can get to the prison. There you'll run into two witch hunters (26) you'll have to kill.
Go to the next room with the prison cells and kill three more witch hunters. In one of the cells you will find Margarita. The cell is locked and you must get the key that the prison warden has.
Note: There may also be Sila in the cell, but only if he is still alive (Witcher 2 savegame, or your decision during the "Imperial Audience" quest).
8. Get the key. / Search the commander's body and find the key to the cell door.
To get to the room where the prison warden lives, you have to go through the courtyard, where there are several witch hunters (26) and soldiers (29). If you manage to convince Zoltan to help you, they will be drunk and you can sneak onto the wall on the left and then into the warden's room. Otherwise you will have to fight them all.
Once the prison warden (26) is dead, search his corpse and take the key.
9. Open the cell.
Go back to the prison room and open the cage where Margarita is being held. Geralt will use the amulet and summon Yennefer, who will take Margerita and they will both teleport out. You'll have to find another way to get out of jail.
Note: If Sila is also in the cell, she will ask you to let her die with dignity. You can agree to end her suffering. If you don't do it, Yennefer will.
10. Get out of the prison. / (Optional) Make your way to Zoltan.
You can go out onto the courtyard, climb the walls and jump through a hole in the wall.
You can also go back to the sewers. A key lying on a table in the room with a passage to the sewers...
...will allow you to open the gate in the sewers and go outside.
If Zoltan was helping you, you have to meet him and then the quest will be over.
With their powers combined, Yennefer and Geralt freed Margarita from the most formidable prison in the North. Rita was in a very sorry state, but the knowledge that she was free and would not perish on a pyre fortified her strength. Yennefer showered her long-time friend with tender care, and everyone hoped for a swift recovery.