Witcher 2 Getting to Loc Muinne Market Place

In the witcher 2, act 3 starts with Iorveth and Geralt making their way into Loc Muinne undetected by the combined forces of the North who have gathered at Loc Muinne to discuss and sway the balance of power in the witcher 2 universe.

Getting into the Loc Muinne Market Place is important for two reasons - it allows the witcher 2 game to continue, and also more importantly for the rpg gamer, it allows for the merchant and craftsman Bras of Ban Ard to be found. This merchant will construct for Geralt some of the best weapons and armor in the game, including the legendary steel sword Caerme, the silver sword Zerrikanterment, and the Draug armor for mage intensive characters.

The path to Loc Muinne is initially straight-forward, with Geralt following Iorveth, who paints a long history of Loc Muinne as they travel, and fight through some harpies along the way to Loc Muinne. Eventually the pair reach a crossroads and discover the gates to Loc Muinne is closed, and also guarded by the Order of the Flaming Rose. If the gamer had finished the witcher 1, and gotten on the good side of the Order of the Flaming Rose, proceed to talk to the commander and Geralt will be let through the gates of Loc Muinne. Otherwise it is rather of a suicide mission to hack one's way through hordes of knights of the Order of the Flaming Rose.

Alternatively, follow Iorveth through a side path into a cave which will lead to Loc Muinne. The cave contains some arachas and associated feeble monsters which the pair should have no problem getting by. Out of the cave, into another snowy path, and Loc Muinne beckons. Continue to follow Iorveth into an abandoned courtyard in Loc Muinne, and a new set of monsters - the gargoyles attack! There are four gargoyles. Space out Geralt and Iorveth, Quen up and take on one gargoyle at a time; otherwise this fight will be a disaster.

After the fight, before following Iorveth, proceed to the chamber beneath the courtyard to collect the encrypted manuscript. This manuscript, once unlocked by Bras of Ban Ard the merchant, will allow the diagram for the steel sword Caerme to be unlocked. There are four signs in this chamber. Unlock the chest by touching the signs in the following order - left wall, then right wall, then sign by the door, then sign by the chest.

Reaching Philippa in Loc Muinne then becomes the next task, as Iorveth and Geralt eavesdrop on some guards and come to know that Philippa has been captured and held in a dungeon. Proceed to the dungeon in two ways. Either Geralt can walk into the guards' path and be captured and end up in the dungeon containing Philippa, or the better and more dungeon crawler way is to enter the sewers at the Loc Muinne Market Place.

To reach the sewers at the Loc Muinne Market Place, head to the right of the guards into a chamber. There Geralt will be besieged by two gargoyles. Fight them off, and head into an area containing some Nilfgaardian mercenaries headed by a sorceror. Target the sorceror and then his guards, then turn right and up a ramp into some harpies. Defeat the harpies, jump down from the ramp, and head straight and then turn right, and into the Loc Muinne Market Place, and Geralt will be able to find the merchant Bras of Ban Ard and construct the legendary weapons and armor.