In the Claws of Madness

In the Claws of Madness is a side quest in The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, available in Chapter 1 near Flotsam. Cedric tells Geralt that two men went to a ruined asylum in the forest and never returned.

Geralt finds Rupert outside and Gridley inside the haunted ruins. After calming Gridley with medicine, he learns that the pair once served there as soldiers: they killed the priest who cared for the patients, tortured a Nilfgaardian prisoner for the location of a treasure, burned the building and carried off a patient. The tortured Nilfgaardian’s ghost now curses the place and demands the hearts and eyes of the men who tortured him.

Geralt can let the ghost take its revenge, trick it with nekker or animal organs, and then decide what to do with Rupert and Gridley. The quest is lost if Geralt leaves Chapter 1 before finishing it.

Walkthrough

Talk to Cedric, then find the ruined hospital in the forest.
Meet Rupert near the ruins, defeat the nekkers and go inside.
Follow the specter into the next room, defeat the wraiths and search the chest for the doctors’ notes.
Explore the hospital, fighting hostile wraiths, until you find Gridley.
Search the ruins for tranquilizers and give the medicine to Gridley.
Hear Gridley’s story, then find the Nilfgaardian’s wraith.
Lead Gridley back to Rupert.
Either lure Rupert and Gridley into a trap for the ghost, or collect nekker eyes and hearts (or buy them from the butcher in Flotsam) and give them to the wraith.
If you tricked the ghost, defeat the Nilfgaardian’s wraith when it turns on you.
Talk to Gridley and Rupert to decide their fate.

Quest Consequences & Choices

Geralt can lead Rupert and Gridley into the ghost’s trap, in which case the wraith kills them and lifts the curse.

If he instead deceives the ghost with nekker or pig organs, the curse is lifted, but the wraith attacks once it sees through the trick. Geralt then either lets the two men go or hands them over to Loredo’s mansion, where Marietta Loredo has them taken inside.