Imperial Audience is the last quest of the prologue in The Witcher 3, and the one that sets the whole story in motion. Geralt is brought to the royal palace in Vizima, scrubbed, shaved and squeezed into proper clothes, and then put in front of Emhyr var Emreis, Emperor of Nilfgaard. The emperor has a job for him: find Ciri before the Wild Hunt does.
How to start Imperial Audience
The quest begins automatically at the end of Lilac and Gooseberries, when Yennefer brings Geralt to Vizima. It is a level 2 quest.
A bath, a shave and some awkward questions
Geralt’s luxurious bath is cut short by Mererid, the emperor’s chamberlain, who has strong opinions about beards. While Geralt is being shaved, General Morvran Voorhis walks in and starts asking questions. If you did not import a save from The Witcher 2, this is where the game lets you decide what happened in that game, through your answers to Voorhis. Your answers have small knock-on effects later, for example whether Letho can show up in Kaer Morhen.
Then Geralt picks one of three outfits and gets a lesson in palace etiquette: left leg forward, right hand on the chest. Whether he actually bows to the emperor is up to you.
The emperor’s contract
Emhyr explains that Ciri, his daughter, is back on the Continent and on the run from the Wild Hunt. He wants Geralt to find her and promises a generous reward. Afterwards, Yennefer fills Geralt in on what she knows and splits the search: Geralt starts in Velen by finding an agent called Hendrik, while she investigates a magical explosion in Skellige. She also suggests looking up Triss in Novigrad.
Tips
- Keep the outfit from the chamberlain. Several later quests ask Geralt to dress up, and it saves you a trip to a tailor. You can also take all three and sell the two you do not want.
- Loot the bookshelves and chests in the palace. Most hold books, but there are some useful alchemy ingredients too.
- With the Complete Edition (patch 4.0 and later), a chest in Yennefer’s room holds the Dol Blathanna and White Tiger of the West armor sets. You can also come back for them later.
- Ambassador var Attre in Yennefer’s quarters gives a quick update on the war.
