I recently finished my first playthrough of the Witcher 3 and in the epilogue I got it was mentioned that
mad King Radovid has conquered all of the North including Novigrad and due to his hatred of all magic is persecuting and killing anyone related to it, including Herablists and Sorceresses.
All in all rather bleak. This really messed with the rest of my happy ending.
I can't remember having a quest related to it. I suppose it has to do with the Vernon and Ves' quest line.
Can I, and if so how, how can I avoid the rather bleak outcome?
I highly appreciate for the answer to be as spoiler-free as possible.
Best Answer
Yes, there are alternative outcomes to Radovid conquering the north. And one of the major decisions that determines the outcome happens in a series of quests that are started by meeting with Vernon Roche and Dijkstra.
The quest with Ves and Vernon is not actually related to this. You need to finish most of the Novigrad main quest line ("Get Junior" quest), as well as the quests involving Triss in Novigrad. At that point you will be able to start the quest "A Deadly Plot" which is the first in the quest line that determines whether Radovid rules the north.