Gargoyle Contract Rune Puzzle

In The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, Chapter 3 features a unique challenge in the form of a rune puzzle, part of the Gargoyle Contract side quest. Rather than a traditional riddle, the game presents you with a combination disguised as a poem, and your task is to interpret the lines correctly to unlock sealed chests protected by magical runes.

This guide breaks down how the puzzle works and shows you how to solve it easily—no books or guesswork required.

Gargoyle Locations

The runic chests are located in three areas of the Loc Muinne ruins, each guarded by gargoyles and sealed with a puzzle:

• Northwest section of the map
• Northeast section of the map
• Southeast section of the map

Each area contains a chest that must be unlocked using a correct sequence of rune extinguishments.

The Runes and Their Meanings

To solve the puzzle, you need to understand the four rune types used in the combinations. Each rune corresponds to a symbolic concept:

Animal: The Animal rune, marked by an S-shaped snake, represents living creatures.

Death/Art: The Art rune, shown as a harp, symbolizes beauty and human creativity

Sky: The Sky rune has a diamond-like shape with a slash and is associated with celestial imagery, such as the moon or lightning.

Time: The Time rune, marked by an hourglass, reflects seasons, mortality, or the passage of time.




While the in-game books (Runes of Power I–IV, sold by Felicia Cori in the Loc Muinne trade quarter) explain these, you can skip buying them thanks to this guide.

How the Puzzle Works

Each chest puzzle gives you a short poem—a cryptic set of three lines. These lines describe three of the four rune types in metaphorical language. Your job is to extinguish the correct runes in the right order. The fourth rune (the one not described in the poem) is extinguished last.
Let’s walk through an example.

Second encrypted rune combination
Three field mice
Dance in a circle at dusk
Stars are like grain

Note: Ignore the heading “Second encrypted rune combination”—it’s just a label and not part of the solution.

Breaking it down:

• Line 1: "Three field mice" → Clearly refers to animals. This is the Animal rune. Extinguish this first.

• Line 2: "Dance in a circle at dusk" → Focus on dance, symbolizing artistic or ritual expression, which ties to the Death/Art rune. This is second.

• Line 3: "Stars are like grain" → This metaphor relates to the passage of time (stars moving like the cycle of crops), so it's the Time rune. Extinguish third.

You now have one rune left—Sky—which should be extinguished last.

When you extinguish all four runes in the correct order, the magical seal breaks and the chest unlocks.

Final Tips:

• Every playthrough presents a random combination, so read each poem carefully.
• Focus on symbolic keywords (e.g., "mice" = animals, "stars" = time, "dance" = art/death).
• Remember: identify three rune meanings from the poem; the fourth is always what’s left.

Unlocking these chests is a fun and rewarding side challenge—especially once you know how to crack the code.