A Deadly Plot

A Deadly Plot is a secondary quest in . It will automatically start through a conversation with Sigismund Dijkstra at the end of Now or Never.
 This quest must be completed (along with a peaceful solution with Dijkstra at the end of Blindingly Obvious) to unlock Reason of State. Note also you'll need to have at least obtained (and completed or failed) the other two Assassins' quests, An Eye for an Eye and Redania's Most Wanted.
 this quest will fail if not completed before starting The Isle of Mists.
== Walkthrough ==
=== Meet Dijkstra at the Passiflora ===
Follow your map to the Passiflora. It is just east of St. Gregory's Bridge. When you go inside, speak to Marquise Serenity and she will open a secret room for you. Head up the stairs and then speak to Dijkstra. Shortly after, Vernon Roche joins the two and Geralt can agree to help with tracking down the spies' missing contact.
=== Talk to the Redanian liaison ===
Meet with Gregor, the disillusioned Redanian soldier pointed out by Dijkstra. The easiest way to reach him is to fast travel from St. Gregory's Bridge to the Border Post nearby.
=== Find the shoemaker's wagon ===
The wagon is located southeast of the Border Post, southwest of Hindhold and north of Hanged Man's Tree, just east of the Person(s) in distress marker. After finding it, you will have to use Witcher Senses to investigate the area, but not before dispatching some low-level wolves and/or wargs. Mark the wagon on your map for later, and follow the trail of shoes southwest to find a rock troll, Rogg, standing over a pile of shoes.
=== Talk to the troll ===
Through the conversation with Rogg the troll you learn that he and his friends Ogg and Pogg have the shoemaker unharmed in their custody in a cave nearby.
=== Find the trolls' cave ===
The three trolls' hideout is just a few steps away. Walk into the cave and find Dijkstra's contact with the other two trolls. You can either threaten to kill the trolls to release him, or choose the second dialogue option which will reveal the possibility to have the contact released peacefully.
 Once you enter the cave, on the left along the main passage is a small room where you can pick up the superior ursine armor, gauntlets, trousers and boots diagrams, if you haven't already.
=== Kill the trolls (optional) ===
Both Ogg and Pogg will immediately turn hostile and attack if you threaten to kill them, and Rogg will join the fight a few seconds later, spawning behind you. This fight can be somewhat challenging even for high-level players, especially on higher difficulties, since the trolls will alternate between charging at Geralt and hurling rocks at him, leaving little room for attacks and maneuvers. It's recommended to keep Quen up all the time and, for lower-level players, to make use Ogroid oil or, if available, its enhanced or superior variants.
=== Escort Thaler ===
Regardless of how you've dealt with the trolls, you now have to escort Thaler back to his wagon. Unfortunately, he will not match your pace, and will always walk instead of running or sprinting, so if you are impatient, you can simply head back to the wagon using the mark on your map made earlier - in older versions of the game, you'd have to wait for him there, but recent ones will just trigger the cutscene there as soon as you reach the wagon. During the walk, you have the option to talk with Thaler and ask him about his life since the last time he and Geralt met. Once Thaler reaches the wagon, he will thank you for the assistance and you can either leave right away or first ask him about his cover as a shoemaker and what he plans to do next.
 After the quest concludes, you may play Gwent with Thaler to win his unique card, provided you have fulfilled the prerequisites.
== Journal entry ==
: Though Geralt avoided politics like the plague, there were times when he simply couldn't avoid getting entangled. This was very much the case when Roche and Dijkstra convinced him to find their co-conspirator. The man had gone off undercover to resolve a certain matter among the Nilfgaardians and simply disappeared.
: Upon finding Dijkstra mingling among the fugitive mages, then watching him assist them in their flight, Geralt got the sinking feeling the erstwhile spy would want a favor in return. He could not have been more correct, for as soon as the mages had set sail for Kovir's hospitable shores, Dijkstra confessed that he had set in motion a plot to assassinate Radovid and asked the witcher to meet him promptly at the Passiflora.
== Objectives ==
* Meet Dijkstra at the Passiflora.
* Talk to the Redanian liaison.
* Find the shoemaker's wagon.
* Look around for tracks using your Witcher Senses.
* Talk to the troll.
* Find the trolls' cave.
* Find the shoemaker in the trolls' cave.
*If you threaten the trolls:
** Kill the trolls.
* Escort Thaler (25).
== Notes ==
* In the Official Prime Guide, it was noted that to unlock Reason of State, all three Assassins' quests (this one, An Eye for an Eye, and Redania's Most Wanted) had to be completed/couldn't be failed. However, it was later shown the latter two could be failed as long as one completed A Deadly Plot and bribed Dijkstra (as opposed to breaking his leg) at the end of Blindingly Obvious.
*The optional fight with the trolls can be a good way to stock up on cave troll livers if you are short on this important but rare ingredient, since you can get one from each troll.
*If for some reason you have missed the option to play gwent with Thaler immediately after the quest or need to unlock the option to play him first, he will be found at the Seven Cats Inn later.
*For the duration of this quest, the cave where you find Thaler is a regular one, replacing a monster den. If you clear it of all loot, it will automatically be greyed out as resolved later. There will be a couple of new loot containers right at entrance, but not inside. More interestingly though, if you resolve the situation with Ogg and Pogg peacefully and return later to the monster den, they will help you fight the nekkers there.
ar:خطة مميتة
pl:Spisek
ru:Смертельный заговор
Category:The Witcher 3 secondary quests