Chapter Summaries

Geralt identified the sewer monster as an Idr Giant Centipede and made killing it Witt’s advancement trial. When the witchers tried to enter Ard Carraigh, guard captain Frank accused them of spying and arson and ordered his soldiers to seize them.

• Geralt questioned two drunk villagers and heard their account of a giant centipede with a human face in the sewers.
• Geralt explained to Witt that the monster was likely an Idr Giant Centipede that had reached the city through a portal in the elven ruins.
• Geralt told Witt that killing the centipede would serve as his advancement trial, and the two planned to enter Ard Carraigh the next morning.
• At the city gate, Frank refused to admit Geralt and Witt despite their offer to help with the monster.
• Frank accused the departing witchers of being spies behind the Ban Ard arson and ordered the guards to seize them.

Witt and Geralt avoided arrest in Ard Carraigh when Laud Böll intervened and revealed that Ban Ard Academy had invited them. They agreed to help Laud negotiate with the Iron Rat Gang for the bruxa tongue, while pursuing their own hunt for the Idr Giant Centipede.

• Frank ordered his soldiers to arrest Witt and Geralt, but Laud Böll arrived and stopped them with a display of magic.
• Laud told Frank that the academy had invited the witchers and that they had helped defeat the arsonist, so Frank let them enter Ard Carraigh.
• Geralt and Witt thanked Laud, who admitted that the academy's mission was not about the Idr Giant Centipede and that the Iron Rat Gang held the bruxa tongue as collateral for his unpaid brothel bill.
• Witt suggested negotiating with the Iron Rat Gang, whose local connections could also help them find a Foglet brain, and Geralt agreed.
• Laud asked Witt his name, then wondered whether witchers all made up names for themselves.

Witt, Geralt, and Laud reached the Iron Rat Gang’s underground headquarters to settle Laud’s debt, and Witt impressed Brody by swiftly overpowering an enforcer. Brody assigned the witchers to kill a giant centipede in the sewers after learning more people had gone missing, while the gang celebrated a new hundred-win arena champion.

• Laud led Witt and Geralt through the slums and underground passages to Iron Rat House, where they met the gang’s leader, Brody.
• When an enforcer threatened Laud, Witt broke the man’s hand, and he stood his ground during a tense confrontation with Brody.
• A subordinate reported that several more people, including workers who commuted from the inner city, had gone missing.
• Brody asked Witt and his companions to kill the giant centipede in the sewers to repay Laud’s debt and sent Carlson to take them to the storeroom for preparations.
• As Carlson led the witchers away, the crowd cheered the arena’s new hundred-win champion, whose bloodstained cloth was hung among the banners.

Witt and Geralt secured ingredients and equipment from the Iron Rat Gang to prepare for hunting the giant centipede. After brewing their potions and sword oil, they meditated and rested while waiting for nightfall.

• Witt and Geralt requested ingredients for their potions and sword oil, and Carlson supplied them along with several ingredients as advance payment.
• Geralt asked Carlson for an alchemy room, and Carlson arranged an empty cave and promised to take them to the giant centipede’s last sighting once they were ready.
• Witt and Geralt discussed Brody the Big Rat’s influence and decided how to divide the alchemy work, assigning Laud to assist Geralt.
• Witt and Geralt brewed two bottles each of Tawny Owl, Pops Potion, and Insectoid Sword Oil, plus three bottles of Cat Potion.
• Witt and Geralt meditated to prepare for the night’s hunt while Laud lay down to rest.

Witt and Geralt entered the sewers to track the giant centipede, but first Witt tested his homemade magic crystal bomb on a nest of drowners. The blast devastated the nest and left Geralt furious at Witt’s claim that the bomb was only about as powerful as a Dancing Star Bomb.

• Witt and Geralt followed the centipede’s tracks into the sewers, where Geralt identified drowner footprints at a fork.
• Witt and Geralt chose to deal with the drowners before pursuing the giant centipede and crept toward their nest.
• Witt charged a magic crystal with fire magic and hurled it into the drowner nest.
• The bomb exploded with tremendous force, vaporizing water and scattering drowner limbs and blood.
• Geralt dragged Witt to the ground and shouted that the bomb was far more powerful than Witt had claimed.

After Witt’s oversized magic crystal blast destroyed the drowner nest, Geralt and Witt continued tracking the Idr Giant Centipede. The explosion caused panic in Ard Carraigh, and Ashford ordered Frank to arrest the people responsible, including the witchers.

• Witt admitted he had overcharged the magic crystal, then collected drowner trophies and continued with Geralt through the other sewer passage.
• The explosion’s roar frightened nobles in the inner city, who mistook it for an attack by Nilfgaard’s army.
• Ashford told Henselt that the commotion was only an earthquake, and Henselt ordered him to deal with the monsters in the slums and the Iron Rat Gang.
• Ashford beat Frank at the city guard barracks and learned that Laud Böll had let two witchers into the city to handle the sewer monsters.
• Ashford ordered Frank to find the source of the tremor and arrest everyone there, while Frank resolved to teach the two witchers a lesson.

Witt and Geralt tracked the Idr Giant Centipede into an underground cavern and fought off its sudden attacks. They killed it with coordinated sword strikes and a Yrden Sign, then Geralt identified its venom gland as its only valuable part.

• Witt and Geralt followed fresh tracks through the elven ruins into a cavern where the Idr Giant Centipede ambushed them from underground.
• Geralt dodged the first attack, and Witt evaded the next before using an Aard Sign against the ground to knock the centipede off balance and cut it in two.
• The wounded Idr Giant Centipede escaped underground, and Geralt warned Witt that its humanlike cries were meant to lure prey and lower their guard.
• Witt cast a Yrden Sign as the centipede tunneled above them, and both witchers dodged its attack before the Sign trapped it.
• Witt and Geralt cut the trapped centipede's head into three sections, killing it, and Geralt pointed out its venom gland as the valuable part.

Witt and Geralt discovered an air-element Place of Power beneath the collapsed elven ruins, where Witt gained an air rune and Geralt absorbed elemental power. They planned to tell Vesemir and the others about the newly found place.

• A tremor collapsed the elven ruins beside the cave and reopened a passage beneath them.
• Witt and Geralt followed a white light and discovered an air-element Place of Power beneath the ruins.
• Witt entered the chamber and was lifted high by a gale released from the air rune.
• Witt used the Ring of Favor to calm the gale, land safely, and absorb an air rune into his left forearm.
• Geralt absorbed air elemental power from the stone pillar, and Witt suggested they tell Vesemir and the others about the Place of Power.

Witt and Geralt found and shut down the portal that had brought the Idr Giant Centipede into the elven ruins. Aboveground, Billy warned the Iron Rat Gang that the city guard had surrounded the dump, and Brody chose to avoid a fight and get Laud out of the city.

• Witt and Geralt traced the Idr Giant Centipede's tracks to an elven portal and discovered that air-element runes kept it active.
• Witt sensed the wind's path to a hidden mechanism, and Geralt removed its magic crystal, shutting down the portal.
• Billy told Brody and Carlson that the city guard had surrounded the southern dump and arrested Uncle Paulie.
• Brody and Carlson decided the Iron Rat Gang could not fight the city guard, and Billy tried to leave to rescue the captured residents before Brody's men stopped him.
• Brody ordered his men to return the witchers' payment and collateral to Laud and help him escape the city through the tunnels.

Witt and Geralt were ambushed by city guards after killing the sewer monster, and Geralt fought his way through them. When Frank’s men attacked with bombs, Witt awakened powerful wind magic and turned the explosives back on them before Geralt carried him into the elven ruins.

• Witt and Geralt encountered armed city guards, who mistook their potion-blackened eyes for those of demons.
• The captain ordered the soldiers to fire, and Geralt killed him and two other guards while the survivors fled in terror.
• Frank arrived with bomb throwers and revealed that someone from the Iron Rat Gang had told him where to find the witchers.
• As bombs flew toward them, Witt commanded a gale that reversed their course and sent them exploding among Frank’s men.
• Witt lost consciousness, and Geralt carried him into the elven ruins, intending to escape through the portal.