A Dangerous Game - The Witcher 3

Zoltan Chivay has never had much luck in business. No exception to this rule was the time he tried to acquire and sell three valuable gwent cards. At this time gwent was reaching the peak of its popularity and collectors were paying a fool's fortune for rare cards.

Zoltan was not alone in sticking his pan into this raging torrent and hoping to strike gold. Yet there was another player in Novigrad, one wanting to grow his already-sizeable fortune, interested in flipping rare cards. Duke was his name, but many felt he would soon be known as Whoreson the Third - for he was even more ruthless than Whoreson Junior. This Duke stood in Zoltan's path to riches. Luckily, Zoltan had a friend named Geralt of Rivia who decided to step in and get him the cards he so desperately desired.

The cards were in the possession of Zed - a Novigrad fence. Geralt went to the dealer's house to buy them, but it turned out Duke had made it there before him. A brief exchange quickly turned to blows, and ended with the thugs pushing daisies. Among the splayed-out corpses was that of Zed, whom the murderers had killed earlier.

Geralt searched the body and discovered his victory was not complete - he only found the Isengrim card. Zed had sold the two remaining ones to Caesar Bilzen and a man named Ravvy. There was nothing left but to visit both purchasers and get Zoltan his cards.

Thanks some clever misdirection by Zoltan, Geralt acquired the card held by Caesar Bilzen. He also managed to get the card from Ravik. I'll spare you the details of that unfortunate incident, during which gushers of blood chased down pitchers of alcohol. Perhaps some future chronicler of the lurid and ghastly will fill you in on them. I will satisfy myself with telling you that, having acquired all three cards, Zoltan and Geralt met with their prospective buyer. This individual, it turned out, lacked something essential for the transaction to be completed - namely, his life. Standing over his stiffening corpse: Duke and his henchmen.

In any game, one must account for the possibility of losing. And in a game as dangerous as that played by Duke against Geralt and Zoltan, losing meant never playing anything ever again. Duke lost to the witcher, and the coin and cards all went to Zoltan, who duly shared his winnings with Geralt.

In any game, one must account for the possibility of losing. And in a game as dangerous as that played by Duke against Geralt and Zoltan, losing could mean never playing anything ever again. Geralt spared Duke after defeating him, but left him in the sewers to an unknown fate. Nothing was ever heard of him again - not that anyone strained their ears. The coin and cards went to Zoltan, who duly shared his winnings with Geralt.

Though Geralt had promised Zoltan help, he quickly realized he had far more important matters to tend to. This came as a great disappointment to Zoltan, true, but it's hard to blame Geralt for doing as he did: in those days, he truly did have a hearty helping of more urgent problems on his plate. Luckily Zoltan's not the type to bear a grudge, so both of them soon forgot the matter and continued on as fast friends.