Kayran’s lair

Kayran’s lair is the den of the kayran, the giant tentacled river monster that has been sinking boats and choking off Flotsam‘s trade in The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings. The creature has settled in the swamps northeast of town, by a small shoal next to the remains of an ancient elven bridge. The place is easy to recognise: wrecked river boats, heaps of algae and the stench of rotting flesh.

The smell carries a long way whenever the wind blows from the ruined bridge, which confirms every story about the monster’s foul odour. Drowners lurk in the surrounding swamp as well, but the real occupant is the kayran itself.

In The Witcher 2

The lair is the arena for The Kayran, the big monster fight of Chapter 1. Geralt hunts the beast together with the sorceress Síle de Tansarville, whom he first meets at the tavern in Flotsam. When the time comes, a portal takes Geralt close to the swamp, and Síle takes up position on the ruined bridge to support him with spells during the fight.

The kayran fights in stages. Geralt has to sever its outer tentacles, using traps or the Yrden sign to pin them down, while dodging the raised tentacles and its poisonous spit. Once several tentacles are gone, the monster gets more aggressive and the fight turns to quick-time events. Finally the beast’s thrashing breaks the bridge, opening a path to its head for the killing blow.

Good to know

• The elf Cedric sells the diagram for kayran traps. One ingredient can only be found inside Loredo’s compound.
• In The Kayran: Ostmurk, you collect ostmurk from the cave behind the waterfall and brew a Mongoose potion, which protects against the kayran’s poison.
• In The Kayran: A Matter of Price, a merchant on the docks sponsors the hunt. Haggle for double pay: it raises the reward from 500 to 1,000 orens and unlocks the Haggling ability.
• Killing the kayran gives the diagram for Kayran Skin Armor, the best armour available in Chapter 1, crafted into Kayran Carapace Armor.