Chapter 29: Novigrad Approach - Part 1
Novigrad was everything Oxenfurt wasn't.
Where Oxenfurt spread academically across both banks of the Pontar, Novigrad thrust upward—spires and towers competing for sky, streets canyon-narrow between buildings that seemed to lean into each other. The smell hit first: fish from the harbor, smoke from countless chimneys, the undertone of humanity packed too dense.
I arrived by river barge, one more anonymous traveler in a city of thousands.
[LOCATION ENTERED: NOVIGRAD]
[Population: Approximately 30,000]
[Power Structures Detected: Religious (Temple of Eternal Fire), Secular (King's Guard), Criminal (Multiple syndicates), Economic (Merchant guilds)]
[Recommendation: Extended reconnaissance before operational commitment]
The system's assessment matched my meta-knowledge. Novigrad was layered with competing authorities, each jealously guarding their territory. The Temple hunted mages and non-humans with religious fervor. The crime syndicates controlled the docks, the brothels, the gambling houses. The merchant guilds regulated trade with iron grip.
An adventure guild entering this ecosystem would face challenges Oxenfurt never presented.
"But the opportunity is proportional to the difficulty. Novigrad generates more contract volume than any five Oxenfurts combined."
I spent the first three days walking.
The docks were chaotic—ships arriving constantly, cargo handlers working in shifts, merchants arguing over manifests. Security was nominal at best. The guards focused on major theft; petty crime flourished in every shadow.
The fish markets smelled of commerce and desperation. Vendors shouting prices, customers haggling aggressively, pickpockets working the crowds with practiced efficiency.
The Temple district gleamed white and gold, priests in ornate robes preaching about the cleansing flame. Their zealotry was visible in every gesture, audible in every sermon.
And everywhere, the unglamorous problems that kept a city from functioning.
Drowners bred in the sewers—the canal system that served as Novigrad's waste management was perfect habitat for aquatic ghouls. Every few weeks, they'd emerge to drag a dock worker or beggar to their deaths. The city posted contracts, but adventurers wanted griffin hunts and vampire problems. Sewer work was beneath their dignity.
Pest infestations plagued the warehouses. Necrophages—ghouls and grave hags—haunted the slum districts where the city's poor lived and died in numbers that overwhelmed the graveyards. Nobody with options wanted to clear rotting corpses from beneath tenement buildings.
Theft crippled small merchants. They couldn't afford dedicated guards, and the city watch didn't care about cargo valued under a certain threshold. Their goods vanished, their businesses failed, and nobody organized offered help.
"The boring work. The unglamorous services. The things that actually matter to ordinary people."
I found an inn near the Harbor Gate—cheap, anonymous, positioned to observe dock traffic. From my window, I could track ship arrivals and departures, merchant movements, the ebb and flow of legitimate commerce.
[NOVIGRAD ASSESSMENT: COMPLETE]
[Viable Contract Categories:]
[- Sewer maintenance (High volume, low competition)]
[- Pest control (Steady demand, minimal prestige)]
[- Small-scale security (Underserved market)]
[- Warehouse protection (Growing need)]
[Recommended Strategy: Reliability-focused entry, avoid attention from major powers]
The strategy crystallized over those three days of observation. Don't compete with established adventurers for glory contracts. Don't attract Temple attention through visible magic use. Don't step on syndicate territory through enforcement activities.
Just provide reliable service for problems nobody else wanted to solve.
The first contract came from a warehouse owner named Hendrick.
"Drowners in the canal access," he said, nervousness evident in how he clutched his manifest ledger. "They've killed two of my workers this month. I posted on the adventurer board weeks ago—nobody's even looked at it."
"How much are you offering?"
"Ten crowns. It's all I can—"
"Done." I took the contract document. "I'll clear them today. Payment on completion."
Hendrick stared at me like I'd grown a second head. "Today?"
"Is there a reason to wait?"
"The other adventurers... they wanted time to prepare. Special equipment. Higher payment."
"I have what I need. Point me toward the canal access."
Three Hours Later
The drowners had been exactly where expected—a nest of six in the junction where canal water pooled before filtering into the main sewage system. Dark water, minimal light, perfect ambush territory.
I'd used the same tactics that worked in Oxenfurt's sewers. Oil on the water surface. Fire to force them into chokepoints. Silver blade for the actual kills.
[COMBAT COMPLETE]
[Drowners Eliminated: 6]
[Method: Fire trap + choke point engagement]
[Injuries: None]
[+100 GP]
Hendrick nearly dropped his ledger when I emerged from the canal access, wet but unharmed, with six drowner tongues as proof of completion.
"That was... three hours."
"The nest was small. Straightforward clearance." I accepted the ten crowns. "I noticed your neighbor's warehouse had similar canal access. Would he be interested in preventive clearance?"
"I... probably? He's complained about rats. Big ones."
"Give me his name. I'll visit tomorrow."
The referral led to another contract. That contract led to three more. Within a week, I'd established myself as the person who handled dock-side problems quickly, professionally, and without drama.
[NOVIGRAD RECOGNITION: 2%]
[Category: Merchant Class (Dock District)]
[Note: Reputation spreading through word-of-mouth referrals]
The numbers were tiny compared to Oxenfurt. But they represented something more valuable than recognition—they represented trust. Merchants talking to each other about a reliable problem-solver. The foundation on which everything else would build.
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