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Witcher.tools

The Play's the Thing

Main questVelen and Novigrad

Dudu is hiding in some borrowed shape, and the only way to reach him is a sign he can't miss: Priscilla writes a play for Irina Renarde's troupe, his old friends, about a witcher saving a doppler, with Geralt playing the witcher. Most of the quest is staging it: hire ushers, get the word out, cast it, and remember your lines. Every casting call and every line you get right pays a little more. After the show Dudu reveals himself and agrees to help free Dandelion.

Choices

2

The Princess

When you cast the play with Irina

  • "Have Priscilla do it."25 XP

    25 XP and 20 crowns after the show.

  • "You should play the Princess."25 XP

    Irina takes it: 25 XP and 10 crowns after the show.

The Doppler-Prince

When you cast the play with Irina

  • "Let's go with Abelard."110 XP

    The reliable choice, and the one that pays: 110 XP and 30 crowns after the show.

  • "I prefer Maxim."

    The crowd favorite, who may or may not turn up sober. No bonus.

Walkthrough

7
0 of 7 steps done

  1. Priscilla's idea

    Next

    Tell Priscilla that Dudu is the key to getting Dandelion out of Temple Isle. Dudu was close to Madame Irina's mummers, so a play that clearly tells dopplers they're safe will draw him out. Write it with her; you pick the angle, the title and whether it's a drama or a comedy (300 XP).

  2. Madame Irina

    Take the script to Irina Renarde at the Butcher's Yard theater. She wants two things before opening night: ushers, because Novigrad audiences throw axes and bricks, not tomatoes, and publicity, which means the Puffins, a troupe of street performers.

  3. Ushers from the docks

    At the docks two strongmen from Metinna, Hal and his partner, are taking on all comers. Beat them in a fistfight and they agree to keep order at the play.

  4. The Puffins

    Optional. The Puffins live in a townhouse in the Bits and haven't dared go out since a ballad about Hierarch Hemmelfart set a gang of Church thugs, Fatso's boys, on them. However you approach the thugs it ends in a fight: they take a bribe and stay put, and Axii on one sets the rest off. Beat them and the Puffins spread the word for free (150 XP).

  5. Casting

    Back with Irina, settle the cast: Geralt plays the Witcher whether he likes it or not, and you choose the Princess and the Doppler-Prince (see the choices below).

  6. Opening night

    Start the play when you're ready. Geralt has five lines to deliver, each picked from two. The right ones are "To slay beasts most foul...", "Perhaps 'midst the guests…", "Seems men's hearts...", "But a base heart…" (in one version of the script it reads "But a heart that is base…") and "No monster is he...". All five pays 150 XP and 50 crowns, three or four pays 125 XP and 20 crowns, one or two pays 110 XP. Getting the play to its end pays 500 XP.

  7. Dudu

    A doppler play is too much for some of the audience. Help Zoltan put down the angry mob. Dudu shows himself at the end, and you meet him in Irina's room. He'll take Menge's shape to get Dandelion released, but you'll need to stage it: meet him in the ravine, or say you'll ask Dijkstra for help. That's A Poet Under Pressure.

Rewards

Wrote the play with Priscilla300 XP
Got the Puffins to publicize the play150 XP
Puffins' publicity bonus after the show25 XP30
Cast Abelard as the Prince110 XP30
Found Dudu after the show50 XP
Got the play to its end500 XP

One of these, depending on the the Princess

Cast Priscilla as the Princess25 XP20
Cast Irina as the Princess25 XP10

One of these, depending on the your lines

Delivered all five lines correctly150 XP50
Three or four lines correct125 XP20
One or two lines correct110 XP

At most 1310 XP and 130 crowns in one playthrough.

Tips

  • Don't pay Fatso's boys. They take the 50 crowns and still won't leave.

All objectives

12
  1. 1Tell Priscilla what you've learned about Dudu.Hierarch Square
  2. 2Write the play's script with Priscilla.Hierarch Square
  3. 3Take the script to Irina Renarde.Hierarch Square
  4. 4Head to the docks and hire ushers for the play.Novigrad Docks
  5. 5Defeat the strongmen from Metinna.Novigrad Docks
  6. 6(Optional) Recruit jugglers from the performing troupe called the Puffins.Hierarch Square
  7. 7Get rid of the thugs lurking outside the Puffins' house.Southern Gate
  8. 8Decide with the mummers how to lure Dudu out of hiding.Hierarch Square
  9. 9Talk to Irina Renarde and start the play.Hierarch Square
  10. 10Fight the angry mob.Hierarch Square
  11. 11Talk to Dudu in Irina Renarde's room.Hierarch Square
  12. 12Help Zoltan calm the angry mob.Hierarch Square

Journal

As you surely recall, Geralt knew Ciri had been in Novigrad, that she had contacted Dudu and me and that afterwards all three of us had plummeted straight into a writhing snake pit of trouble. The last person to have seen Ciri was yours truly, but I, too, had disappeared without a trace. Geralt accurately surmised that Dudu would be the easiest of our ill-fated trio to find. He went to the one person who could help him do this - Priscilla.

It should be noted that Priscilla counted an incomparable ingenuity amongst her many virtues. Barely had Geralt explained the problem when she hit upon a solution. Dudu had taken on some unknown form and gone into hiding. Their only hope of luring him out - a clear sign from his old friends in Madame Irina's mummers' troupe.

Priscilla thus decided to put on a play - one Dudu would be sure to attend and that would clearly convey it was safe for him to reveal himself. Geralt agreed to the plan and the two got down to work.

The play was a success. Although not the finest spectacle to ever grace the Butchers' Yard, it more than sufficed for Priscilla's purposes - Dudu attended the play and revealed himself at its end. Geralt quickly pulled him behind the curtain and began questioning him about me and Ciri. This is how the witcher learned I was a prisoner of the Church of the Eternal Fire.