Mud and Velvet

"Mud and Velvet"
Details
Chapter(s)	5
Location(s)	Foltest's castle Swamp cemetery
Source	Antoinette
Reward	(see Rewards section below) + up to 9000 XP
Related	The Bruxa Contract
ID	q5011_charity

Mud and Velvet is an optional quest in Chapter V, which is offered to Geralt by Antoinette, a noblewoman who happens to be at the Royal castle when the witcher arrives.

Walkthrough

Antoinette is a noblewoman from Beauclair in the duchy of Toussaint that Geralt meets after his audience with the king at the Royal castle at the beginning of Chapter V. Her cousins, Buse, Corbin and Ramerot are in hiding in the refugee caves in the swamp cemetery after incurring the disfavour of the King and now they are completely out of orens.

She gives Geralt 900 , 300 for each cousin and begs him to bring the gold to her stranded cousins. In return, each cousin will give Geralt a receipt which can be redeemed by speaking to captain Jean-Pierre. Or Geralt could keep the cash, after all, but then he will have to fight Jean-Pierre and defeat him (which of course he does!). For his troubles, he gets a nice sword and the cash. He will never see Antoinette again anyway.

Notes

• If you forget to speak with Antoinette at the Royal castle, there is no way to go back and speak with her, so this quest is forfeit. When Geralt meets the cousins in the caves, his only option is to say that he has no idea what they are talking about.
• You may encounter the cousins in a different order than the one described below, so your phases may also be in a different order, but that has no impact on experience points or plot development.
• The rewards for completing this quest vary depending on how many receipts Geralt gives Jean-Pierre and whether or not they fight over the remaining gold.
• When Geralt speaks to Jean-Pierre about Antoinette, he can claim to have found as many cousins as he has receipts or fewer. If Geralt does not have all three receipts, he can not tell Jean-Pierre he found all three cousins, but he can still report finding fewer cousins than he actually did.
• If Geralt is holding one or more receipts, the game does not seem to give you the option of telling Jean-Pierre you found no cousins at all. The minimum is one after Geralt has the first receipt.
• At this point in the game, experience is often more important than gold. Geralt gets the most experience, 9000 XP, by gathering three receipts and turning them all in. However, if you intend to fight Jean-Pierre regardless, Geralt can get 8000 XP (plus ~350 XP for the fight) by delivering the money to all three cousins and then reporting to Jean-Pierre that he found only two cousins.
• The The Bruxa Contract should be completed first to avoid missing the quest reward if intending to kill Jean-Pierre.

Rewards

• For each of the three cousins, if Geralt admits Antoinette sent him, he earns 1000 XP and loses 300 of the 900 she gave him.
• If Geralt denies knowing Antoinette, then he gets no XP from that cousin, and it seems he no longer has the option of trading 300 for one of the three receipts with that particular cousin.

Three Receipts Returned

• 4000 XP + 3× Dragon's Dream bombs
• No option to fight

Two Receipts Returned

• 3000 XP + 2× Devil's Puffball bombs
• At this point, Jean-Pierre asks Geralt to return the remaining 300 .
  • If Geralt gives it to him, the quest is over.
  • If he opts to keep the money, Jean-Pierre will attack. His remains contain the two receipts, a Samum bomb, and the Mahakam Rune Sihill. Geralt gets around 350 additional XP for killing him, depending on level.

One Receipt Returned

• 2000 XP + 1× Samum bomb
• At this point, Jean-Pierre asks Geralt to return the remaining 600 .
  • If Geralt gives it to him, the quest is over.
  • If he opts to keep the money, Jean-Pierre will attack. His remains contain the single receipt and the Mahakam Rune Sihill. Geralt gets around 350 additional XP for killing him, depending on level.

No Receipts Returned

(After having found one cousin and denying meeting Antoinette, Geralt can speak to Jean-Pierre about this quest. At that point, he will report finding no cousins.)

• 1000 XP + 1× Samum bomb
• At this point, Jean-Pierre asks Geralt to return the original 900 .
  • If Geralt gives it to him, the quest is over.
  • If he opts to keep the money, Jean-Pierre will attack. His remains contain the Mahakam Rune Sihill. Geralt gets around 350 additional XP for killing him, depending on level.

Finishing the job

However poorly Geralt completes this mission, if he still gives Jean-Pierre whatever money is left, he also earns an additional 2000 XP.

Phases

Money for the Cousins

I promised a female courtier I would deliver money to her "cousins" who hide in the caves in the swamp. Each must receive 300 orens and give me a receipt. I'll need to take the receipt to the mercenary captain in Old Vizima to receive my reward. I must deliver money to the courtier's cousins in the caves in the swamp. (+900 )

Cousin Corbin or Cousin Buse or Cousin Ramerot

	Cousin Corbin Find Corbin first and keep the money: I didn't give any money to cousin Corbin. I should still find cousins Buse and Ramerot. I must still find cousins Buse and Ramerot. or Find Corbin first and deliver the money: I found cousin Corbin. I still need to locate cousins Buse and Ramerot. I must still find cousins Buse and Ramerot. (−300 + 1000 XP) or
	Cousin Buse Find Buse first and keep the money: I didn't give cousin Buse any money. I should still look for cousins Corbin and Ramerot. I should still look for cousins Corbin and Ramerot. or Find Buse first and deliver the money: I gave cousin Buse his money. I still need to find cousins Corbin and Ramerot. I must now look for cousins Corbin and Ramerot. (−300 + 1000 XP) or
	Cousin Ramerot Find Buse Ramerot and keep the money: I refused to give cousin Ramerot any money. I should still look for cousins Corbin and Buse. I should look for cousins Corbin and Buse. or Find Buse Ramerot and deliver the money: Cousin Ramerot got his money. Now I need to find cousins Corbin and Buse. I need to look for cousins Corbin and Buse. (−300 + 1000 XP)

Cousin Buse or Cousin Ramerot or Cousin Corbin

	Cousin Buse Find Buse second and keep the money: I refused to give any money to cousin Buse. I should still find cousin Ramerot. I must look for cousin Ramerot. or I didn't given any money to cousin Buse. I should still look for cousin Corbin. I should still look for cousin Corbin. or Find Buse second and deliver the money: Now that cousing Buse and Corbin have their money, I need to find cousin Ramerot. I must look for cousin Ramerot. (−300 + 1000 XP) or Cousins Buse and Ramerot got their money. Now to find cousin Corbin. I need to find cousin Corbin. (−300 + 1000 XP) or
	Cousin Ramerot Find Ramerot second and keep the money: I refused to give any money to cousin Ramerot. I should still try to find cousins Corbin and Buse. I must find cousins Corbin and Buse. (Journal entry messed up! Should actually read "I should still find cousin Corbin" only) or I didn't give any money to cousins Corbin and Ramerot. I should still try to locate cousin Buse. I should still look for cousin Buse. or Find Ramerot second and deliver the money: I've delivered money to cousins Ramerot and Corbin. I still need to find cousin Buse. Now I need to find cousin Buse. (−300 + 1000 XP) or I've delivered money to cousins Buse and Ramerot. Now I need to find cousin Corbin. I must find cousin Corbin. (−300 + 1000 XP) or
	Cousin Corbin Find Corbin second and keep the money: I didn't give cousin Corbin any money. I should still try to find cousin Ramerot. I must look for cousin Ramerot. or I refused to give cousin Corbin any money from me. I should still find cousin Buse. I still need to find cousin Buse. or Find Corbin second and deliver the money: Cousins Corbin and Buse have their money. Now I need to find cousin Ramerot. I must look for cousin Ramerot. (−300 + 1000 XP) or I met up with cousins Ramerot and Corbin. Now I need to find cousin Buse. I must now find cousin Buse. (−300 + 1000 XP)

Cousin Ramerot or Cousin Corbin or Cousin Buse

	Cousin Ramerot Find Ramerot last and keep the money: I didn't give cousin Ramerot any money. I didn't give cousin Ramerot any money. or Find Ramerot last and deliver the money: I gave the money to cousin Ramerot. Cousin Ramerot got his money. (−300 + 1000 XP) or
	Cousin Corbin Find Corbin last and keep the money: I refused to give cousin Corbin any money, but I should still find cousins Buse and Ramerot. I should still try to find cousins Buse and Ramerot. (Journal entry messed up! Should read "I refused to give cousin Corbin any money. Cousin Corbin got no money from me.") or Find Corbin last and deliver the money: Now that cousin Corbin has his money, I need to find cousins Buse and Ramerot. I must now find cousins Buse and Ramerot. (−300 + 1000 XP) (Journal entry messed up! Should read "I gave the money to cousin Corbin. Cousin Corbin got his money.") or
	Cousin Buse Find Buse last and keep the money: I refused to give cousin Buse any money. Cousin Buse got no money from me. or Find Buse last and deliver the money: I gave the money to cousin Buse. Cousin Buse got his money. (−300 + 1000 XP)

The Cousins

The cousins were indeed hiding in the caves in the swamp. Now that I've spoken to all of them, I should see the mercenary captain in Vizima about my reward. I need to see the mercenary captain in Vizima to collect my reward.

A Reward or Receipts

A Reward Three receipts: I gave the captain the three receipts i received from the cousins and he gave me my reward. I received my reward for the three receipts. (3× + 4000 XP) or Two receipts: I gave the captain two receipts from the cousins and he gave me my reward. I received my reward for the two receipts I delivered. (2× + 3000 XP) or One receipt: I gave the captain one receipt. As a reward, he gave me a Samum bomb. I received my reward for the one receipt I delivered. ( + 2000 XP) or

Receipts I told the captain that I collected no receipts from the cousins. I told the captain that I have no receipts for him. ( + 1000 XP)

Job Done

I completed the task assigned to me. I completed the task. (2000 XP)