By the Gods - Stringing Up Sods

"By the Gods - Stringing Up Sods"

Details
Chapter(s)	Chapter I
Location(s)	Flotsam
Source	Automatic upon entering Flotsam
Reward	Reunion with Dandelion and Zoltan

By the Gods - Stringing Up Sods is a quest from Chapter 1 in The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings.

Walkthrough[ | ]

Upon arriving in Flotsam, Geralt and his party are directed to the town square as an execution is taking place. When they group reaches the square, they see none other than Dandelion and Zoltan on the scaffold along with some Scoia'tael. The witcher must then find a way to stop his friends from being executed.

While the group is still by the docks, there two barrels where a prompt appears to use Aard to destroy them. If Geralt does this prior to being prompted to rescue Dandelion and Zoltan from the scaffold, it will be impossible to sneak around the harbour and fight only the executioner.

Spoiler warning: Significant plot details follow.

After talking to Dandelion, Zoltan and Triss in the tavern and the subsequent cutscene featuring the Kayran and Sile de Tansarville as well as the dialogue thereafter, Geralt receives 500 XP.

Notes[ | ]

The idea of Dandelion (but not Zoltan), about to be executed for debauchery as Geralt rolls into town is taken straight from "The Lady of the Lake" (the fifth and final novel in the Witcher saga). In that novel, Dandelion was about to be hanged in the town of Beauclair, in Toussaint, after being caught in the arms of the baroness Nique while he was supposedly deeply in love with Duchess Anarietta. There, as in the game, he receives a last minute reprieve.

Journal entry[ | ]

Cultural events are rare in the province. Thus it is unsurprising that when a rarity like the hanging of collaborators takes place, the whole town turns out. And when in Nilfgaard, do as the Nilfgaardians do. Geralt and company proceeded without hesitation to the scaffold square to partake in the local entertainment.

And at this point I enter the scene. I, Dandelion the unequalled, as described by some ladies: poet, lover, secret agent, friend and confidant to Geralt of Rivia. And at that moment a legal corpse with a noose around my neck. On the scaffold I was flanked by the dwarf Zoltan, also a friend of the witcher, and elves whom I never met before. As they say, a Rivian once volunteered for the scaffold so a condemned criminal would not hang alone, but I had no desire to die. Geralt had to find a way to free me, especially since I was Roche's aforementioned Informer.

If Geralt sneaks around the harbor and fights only the executioner:

The witcher decided to try a stratagem. He wanted to draw the guards away and then mount the scaffold, catching the executioner by surprise.

If Geralt decides to directly confront the executioner and the guards:

The witcher is a frank, straightforward man. Without much forethought, he chose the direct solution: he thrashed the guards and then tackled the executioner.

Saved by Geralt, I breathed a sigh of relief, while Zoltan wiped sweat from his brow. The world would keep the greatest of its living poets. There was no end to the greetings, and that's when I learned about the events which had brought Geralt and his company to Flotsam. As a well informed man, I could aid them in their search, thereby repaying my debt of gratitude. Roche and Geralt questioned me about Iorveth and Letho, and I told them everything I knew.