Overview
Pomp and Strange Circumstance is the Blood and Wine main quest that follows Tesham Mutna when Syanna is still alive. A grateful Anna Henrietta plans to award Geralt the Order of Vitis Vinifera, Toussaint’s highest honor. The ceremony at Beauclair Palace decides the fate of both sisters.
The fifth victim
Regis suspects that Syanna planned a fifth murder. Geralt can look into it at once, later, or not at all. If he investigates, a bootblack in Beauclair admits that the letters came from beggars, and the trail leads to a nearby shelter. After Geralt drives off two troublemakers harassing the owner, the beggars arrive, and one of them still has the fifth letter. It names the last intended victim: Anna Henrietta herself.
A talk with Syanna
With the letter in hand, Geralt can visit Syanna at the palace. This conversation matters only if everything else has been done right. Afterward, Damien de la Tour asks to speak with him, and Geralt can tell him the truth or keep it to himself; neither changes the outcome.
The ceremony
The two sisters can only both survive if Geralt has:
- completed Beyond Hill and Dale… in the Land of a Thousand Fables,
- read the first two entries in the governess’s journal,
- agreed to hear Syanna’s story while looking for the magic beans,
- uncovered the fifth victim and asked Syanna about it,
- chosen the right replies in that talk, pointing out that her sister turned her back on her, then asking whether she ever thought to forgive her.
If any of this is missing, or if Geralt went to the Unseen Elder in What Lies Unseen, Syanna kills her sister during the ceremony and Damien shoots her dead with a crossbow. Geralt later lays flowers in the Temple Cemetery, where both sisters rest. If every condition is met, the sisters argue before the court and finally forgive each other.
Mandrakes and bruxae
Either way, Geralt ends the evening with Regis at the Mère Lachaiselongue Cemetery. Regis sends him to pick fresh mandrake, which is toxic even to witchers, so Geralt should wear the gloves and mask he is given. When he returns, Regis is gone. Geralt follows his trail and finds him fighting off bruxae loyal to Dettlaff. Regis explains that he must leave Toussaint, as vampires tend to forget whoever is out of sight. The story then moves on to Be It Ever So Humble….