Pomp and Strange Circumstance – Witcher 3: Blood and Wine Quest

This guide is a walkthrough of a main quest in the Witcher 3: Blood and Wine DLC. The guide is composed of a map, map legend, and walkthrough to show readers exactly where to go and what to do to complete the quest.

Map Legend

1 – Tailor’s Shop
2 – Bootblack’s Stand
3 – Shelter
4 – Prison Tower
5 – Gardens
6 – Royal Crypt
7 – Mere-Lachaiselongue Cemetery

Background

You’ll begin this quest after completing the quest Tesham Mutna, provided that Syanna survived.

Walkthrough

With your contract with the duchess now complete, she’ll wish to reward you by giving you The Order of Vitis Vinifera. Of course, to receive such an honor, you’ll have to attend a ceremony while wearing nice clothes, so you’ll begin the quest in the tailor’s shop in Beauclair (#1), being fitted for a new suit. You’ll receive a Beauclair Doublet, Beauclair Shoes, and Beauclair Trousers.

While you’re being fitted, Regis will be there with you, and he’ll be pondering Syanna’s plan. He’ll speculate that there was supposed to be a fifth victim representing a lack of compassion, and he’ll ask you if you want to look into the matter further. No matter what you say, you’ll be able to continue the investigation or not. This will break the quest into two parts.

Investigation

If you want to keep investigating, then you should meet with Regis at the bootblack’s stand (#2). The bootblack will tell you that beggars brought him letters for Dettlaff, and that the beggars came from a nearby shelter.

At the shelter (#3), you’ll encounter a pair of “bandits” trying to force the establishment to shut down. They won’t take kindly to your interruption, and they’ll end up boxing you. After the battle, the man who runs the shelter will thank you for your help, but he won’t know the answers to your questions, so he’ll invite you to stick around until mealtime, when the beggars will be there.

During the meal, you’ll pick up the Letter Revealing the Fifth Victim, and you’ll learn that it was supposed to be the duchess. Regis will take this opportunity to head back to his lair at the Mere-Lachaiselongue Cemetery (#7), leaving you to talk to Syanna on your own.

You’ll find Syanna imprisoned in a tower at the palace (#4). When you talk to her there, she’ll freely admit that she wanted her sister dead, and that she might even try again, given the chance. When you ask her why, she’ll ask you for your opinion. If you guess correctly — “cause she turned her back on you, forgot about you” — and later suggest that she might actually forgive her sister, then you’ll leave open the possibility of a happy ending.

Ceremony

To start the ceremony, you’ll need to head over to the palace gardens and meet with Damien (#5). He’ll lead you to the duchess, and she’ll give you your reward for defeating the Beast / Dettlaff: 5000 crowns, The Order of Vitis Vinifera, a dozen barrels of Sangreal (which you won’t ever actually receive), and 200 xp.

Then the duchess will turn her attention to her sister Syanna, and she’ll ask you for your opinion on the matter. Depending upon how you reached this point, you’ll have two of four possible dialogue options to choose from:

• “Syanna should be punished like any criminal.”
• “The good of the duchy, that’s what matters now.”
• “Syanna’s crimes were horrible, but she had cause to feel pain.”
• “Syanna’s clearly guilty.”

The first two dialogue options will lead to an unhappy ending. The last two will lead to a happy ending.

Unhappy Ending

You’ll trigger this ending if you completed the quest What Lies Unseen, if you didn’t investigate the fifth victim, or if you didn’t learn enough about Syanna. For this case, even if you warn Damien and the duchess about Syanna’s plans, the duchess will still try to hug her sister, which will result in Syanna stabbing the duchess in the back and Damien shooting Syanna through the throat, leaving both sisters dead.

Two weeks later, you’ll pick up a Bouquet of White Roses from a flower seller, and you’ll take it to the (underground) royal crypt (#6). You’ll meet Damien out front, and he’ll inform you that Syanna was interred right next to her sister. You’ll then have to decide what to do with the bouquet. You can leave flowers on both coffins or just the duchess’. This won’t make any difference.

Happy Ending

You’ll trigger this ending if you completed the quest Beyond Hill and Dale (including reading all of the entries from the governess’ journal and acquiring the ribbon from the Little Flint Girl), investigated the fifth victim, and brought up forgiveness when talking to Syanna in her prison.

For this case, the sisters will hug it out, and nobody will get stabbed or shot. You’ll earn 200 xp.

Afterwards

Regardless of the ending, afterwards Regis will summon you away to the Mere-Lachaiselongue Cemetery (#7), where the two of you will do some drinking and talking. Eventually, Regis will ask you how you’re enjoying his “personal brew,” and he’ll tell you that it’s made from the local mandrake root. He’ll then invite you to go pick some with him, and he’ll give you Gloves for Picking Mandrake and a Mask for Picking Mandrake.

You’ll find some mandrake root in the cemetery to the southeast. If you have trouble spotting it, then just turn on your witcher senses to make it glow red. If you’re wearing the protective gear, then nothing bad will happen to you when you gather the Picked Mandrake Root. Otherwise, you’ll take a lot of toxic damage.

When you return to where Regis was, he won’t be there anymore, so you’ll have to turn on your witcher senses and follow his tracks to the south. You’ll find him battling three (really weak) bruxae, and after the battle you’ll learn that the vampire community now considers Regis to be a traitor for killing Dettlaff.

You and Regis will then return to your drinking, and Regis will mention that he’s left a gift for you at Corvo Bianco. When you eventually make your way over there, you’ll find a Mutagenerator on your nightstand. It’ll create random Greater Mutagens for you when you kill enough enemies. You’ll just have to use the item in your inventory once it has been charged.