The Witcher 2 Walkthrough Part 9: The Kayran: Ostmurk

Now that you’ve arranged an appropriate price for your work, it’s time to go meet up with the elf Cedric. To find him, head through the large door behind the gallows. You’ll find yourself in a small courtyard of sorts. Follow the wide path and head through another door to reach the treetops. This is where Cedric can typically be found. On the way to meet Cedric, you can point out Triss’s unease when you met Sile if you’d like to probe their history a bit. Those taken care of, climb up the ladder by the campfire to your left, then climb up another ladder to find Cedric overlooking the forest on an elevated wooden platform. Speaking to him will reveal a great number of details about the forest and its wildlife.

He’ll tell you that the Kayran has been around Flotsam for decades, with their predecessors calling it The Old Man because of its age. It has been the cause of numerous shipwrecks in the swampy areas of the village and has become a real nuisance to traders and merchants. He suggests that if you want to bring the creature down, you should investigate its lair in the swamps to the Northeast. Triss opens up a portal to go investigate immediately, but you will have to proceed there on foot.

Cedric also offers to sell you a diagram for a Kayran trap. These are entirely optional, but you should accept his offer and purchase the traps anyway. One of the ingredients can only be found in Loredo’s compound, so be sure to stop by there right before fighting the Kayran. For now, however, you should exhaust the rest of the conversation options with Cedric. You’ll pick up a few side quests and some useful information on the local wildlife.

After learning all you can from Cedric, climb down from his loft and follow the wide path straight ahead. Take the second narrow path on your left and follow it to reach the Kayran’s layer. Along the way, stop down all of the little offshoots to pick herbs. A few bandits have made camp down here, and although they shouldn’t pose much of a threat, you should proceed cautiously. When you stumble upon their campfires, kill them and loot them for orens.

After meeting Triss at the Kayran’s layer, jump down into the swamp to initiate a battle against a group of Drowners. These enemies are weak individually, but numerous, and when they surround you they can become very annoying. For this reason it’s probably best to back off and let them swarm on Triss. That way, you can pick them off individually while their attention is focused on Triss. If that’s not an option, remember to use Aard to knock the monsters back and buy yourself a little time.

Once your Drowner problem has been taken care of, run along the wall of the swamp to find what appear to be large egg sacs. Examine the one in the middle and Triss will cast a spell on it. Her spell will tell you that the Kayran is dying, albeit too slowly to simply step back and let the disease do its work. This disease has made this particular Kayran larger than the others of its breed, and more aggressive to boot.

It is also revealed that the Kayran’s breath is poisonous. You will need to construct an antidote in order to block the effects of the poison or you will never survive the encounter. This automatically opens up a new quest called The Kayran: Ostmurk. Head to the back of the area, pressing up against the water until you can’t go any further. There is a large shipwreck to the right. Search this area to find a chest and a corpse with a key on it. Now return to Cedric and ask him how to find the Ostmurk. He will tell you that it is only found in wet locations, most prominently a series of caverns to the right of his village. Follow a small stream all the way back into the forest. Along the way, be wary of the spiders that spawn near the edges of the pathway. The red spiders pose little immediate threat, but the green ones have poisonous spit that will drain your health for a few seconds.

When you reach the end of the path, head into the lake with the waterfall in it. Watch out for Nekkers, as they spawn from the ground around here and have a habit of swarming you. Enter the caverns through the waterfall. More Nekkers await you inside. If you’re having trouble killing them all or need some time to recuperate Vitality, you can run to the back of the cave and hide up against a climbable ledge for some respite. For whatever reason, the enemy AI doesn’t seem to like tracking you into that location, and will eventually leave you alone if you stay there long enough.

After defeating (or avoiding) all of the Nekkers, make sure you are fully healed and climb the ledge. A new enemy time awaits at the top. This enemy, called a Greater Rotfiend, is very resilient and can drain your health quickly with its powerful attacks. Dodge and parry its attacks, using your magic to stun it before swinging away with heavy attacks. Repeat this process until the Greater Rotfiend falls. Be sure to roll away from its corpse as it dies because it will release a cloud of poison upon dying. The Ostmurk grows on the far wall of this little cavern. It will be glowing blue. Pick it, then enter meditation and use it to craft a potion called Mongoose.

Leave the cave the same way you came in, and follow the little river path all the way back to Flotsam. Sile can be found in the same pub where you met up with Zoltan and Dandelion, right across from the gallows. Take the stairs up to find her room. Be sure that you have a healthy supply of potions before talking to her, as doing so will initiate a boss battle against the Kayran. Also, if you want to construct the Kayran traps, now would be a good time to do so. You can find them in Loredo’s compound, which will be covered in the walkthrough for Indecent Proposal. Speaking with Sile will automatically transport you to the location of the boss battle. Drink the Mongoose potion, along with Swallow and Rock. Head down into the swamp to begin the battle.