Precious Cargo

"Precious Cargo"
Details
Type	Secondary quest
Suggested level	None
Location(s)	outside White Orchard village
Region(s)	White Orchard
Source	Merchant
Reward	10 / 30

Precious Cargo is one of the earlier side quests in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. It begins when Geralt stops to speak with a merchant by the roadside.

Journal entry

The merchant Geralt found standing by the side of the road in White Orchard was extremely distraught. He had been hauling some precious goods to the Nilfgaardian camp when his horse spooked and veered off the road, pulling the merchant's cart with it and dumping the whole works in the foggy swamp outside the camp. The poor horse became trapped in the muck and was soon devoured by the monsters who inevitably lurk in such places. The merchant was understandably afraid to go retrieve his goods, and thus asked the witcher to do it for him - in return for a sizable reward.

If Geralt doesn't expose his lies:

The witcher found the merchant's priceless cargo and the grateful man repaid him in gold for his trouble. The contract had turned out to be a simple one, without any moral dilemmas or wrenching doubts about where lesser evil lay, and to top it all off it ended with a satisfactory and immediately-paid reward - the witcher surely wished they could all be like that.

If Geralt exposes his lies...

Seemingly straightforward stories often turn out to be anything but. The witcher found the merchant's cart - and beside it signs of a malicious attack organized by human hands. It seemed the merchant had not told Geralt the whole truth. The confrontation that followed confirmed the witcher's suspicions - rather than stay to plead his innocence, the merchant immediately ran as fast as his legs could take him.

and lets him go with the medicine:

It turned out the "merchant" was no merchant at all, but a Temerian guerrilla. After Geralt heard the man explain his story and motives, he decided to let him go to continue his futile battle agains the Nilfgaardian occupiers. Do not act so surprised, dear reader - witchers might be neutral by principle, but it was no secret where Geralt's sympathies lay in the struggle between the Northern Realms and the Nilfgaardian Empire.

and lets him go but keeps the medicine for himself:

It turned out the "merchant" was no merchant at all, but a Temerian guerrilla. Though Geralt was skeptical about the man's chances in his partisan struggle against the mighty Nilfgaardian occupier, he decided to let him go... but kept the priceless object for himself. Perhaps he thought rewarding a cheat would not be the proper thing to do - or perhaps he was driven by a simple need for coin. It is not my place to judge, dear reader.

and hands him over to Nilfgaardians:

It turned out the "merchant" was no merchant at all, but a Temerian guerrilla. With his back against the wall, the soldier called on high ideals and Geralt's sense of patriotism in order to convince the witcher of the worthiness of his cause - but to no avail, for Geralt nevertheless handed him over to the nearest Nilfgaardian outpost. The witcher was clearly of the opinion that someone who acts like a bandit should end like a bandit, no matter how lofty his declared motives.

Walkthrough

• Find the little box the merchant mentioned using your Witcher Senses
• Use your Witcher senses to find where the cart left the road
• Find the cart
• Look around the cart for evidence about the attack using your Witcher Senses
• Return the box to the merchant
• Chase down the merchant
• Knock the merchant off his horse

Notes

• Players should make sure to have Roach near by or the merchant can quickly get away on horseback and the quest will fail.

Gallery

• 

  The "Merchant" and quest giver

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  Deserter

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  Nilfgaardian commander