The Witcher 3: Burlap is the New Stripe Walkthrough (Blood and Wine)

Burlap is the New Stripe is the final main quest in The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine. It unfolds if Geralt cannot save Syanna, leaving the Beast of Beauclair to take its fifth victim. Grieving and enraged over her sister’s death, Anna Henrietta sends the witcher to Toussaint Prison to await sentencing. This is one of the two bad endings, and your actions during the quest cannot change the result.

Quick answer: Complete the laundry sequence, win the inmate brawl, collect your gear on release, then optionally track down the fifth victim with Regis. The ending is fixed regardless of your dialogue choices.

If you want the happy ending instead, reload an earlier save and secure the ribbon during “Beyond Hill and Dale…” so Syanna survives. Once you reach this quest, there is no good ending left to earn.

Image credit: CD Projekt Red via YouTube/@Lone Wolf

Quest basics and rewards

The quest starts in Toussaint Prison in Beauclair and follows directly from “Tesham Mutna.” Its suggested level is 49, and it leads into “Be It Ever So Humble…”. The rewards depend entirely on two earlier and in-quest decisions.

Reward	Condition
3,750 Crowns	You fought and killed Dettlaff in Tesham Mutna
No Crowns	You spared Dettlaff
50 XP	You investigate and discover the fifth victim
35 XP	You use the Axii dialogue during the laundry brawl

Whatever happens, Geralt keeps Corvo Bianco and is not exiled from Toussaint.

Optional prison content before the laundry

When Geralt wakes in his cell, the inmate Handsome Jacques strikes up a conversation and offers to guide you to the laundry room. Before you follow him, take a moment for two easy extras that vanish once the story moves on.

The Perks of Being a Jailbird side quest

Activate your Witcher Senses at the brick wall beside the spot where Jacques stood during your conversation. Search the wall and take the loose brick to collect the Toussaint prison Notes, triggering this missable side quest.

Take the hammer and chisel from the wagon beneath the gallows. Go back to the brick and put the tools inside.

Meditate for 7 days, then interact with the brick wall again to collect the Prison poster. You can hang it as decoration in Corvo Bianco.

You can play Gwent with the inmates in the courtyard, but there is no reward for winning or losing, so it is purely optional.

The laundry room brawl

Follow Handsome Jacques downstairs to the laundry. Collect both piles of dirty clothing from the bins against the west wall.

Grab the bar of soap on the floor near the stairs you came down. Use your Witcher Senses if you have trouble spotting it.

Interact with the laundry tub and drop in the clothes and soap, then pick up the large stick at your feet to start washing. A cutscene begins as three assailants confront Geralt.

If your Delusion Level is 2, answer with the Axii option “Do something useful” when confronted. You’ll earn 35 XP, and two attackers will fight you rather than three. A fight is unavoidable either way.

Win or lose, the guards break up the brawl and send Geralt to solitary confinement. He wakes a week later.

Release, Dandelion, and collecting your gear

A guard leads Geralt out to the courtyard, where you watch a condemned inmate get executed. This is only meant to frighten Geralt, not to harm him. The guard then brings you to Damien de la Tour, who reveals that Geralt is free thanks to Dandelion, who arrives to explain he talked the Duchess down.

Dandelion hands over 3,750 Crowns only if you killed Dettlaff earlier. If you spared him, you receive nothing. Either way, Geralt keeps Corvo Bianco and stays in Toussaint.

Once the first prison gate swings open, enter the room on your left and take your belongings from the chest. With so much to collect, press Triangle/Y to take everything in one go. Then put your gear back on to replace the prison rags.

Investigating the fifth victim with Regis

Regis waits outside the gate and asks whether Geralt will help him question the bootblack again about the intended fifth victim. Your answer has no effect on the ending, which is already locked. Agreeing simply gives you more closure and 50 XP for finishing the investigation.

Speak to the bootblack during the day. If it is night, meditate until daytime so you can interact with him. He points you toward a shelter, or poorhouse, where the beggars received the killer’s letters.

Travel to the marked shelter and defeat the peasants harassing the owner. After the scene, the beggars arrive for food and reveal the final letter.

Read the letter to learn that Anna Henrietta, the Duchess herself, was meant to be Syanna’s fifth and final victim.

Should you tell Anna Henrietta she was the fifth victim?

Once you know the target’s identity, Geralt must choose between going for a drink or informing the Duchess. Neither choice changes the ending; both lead to the same closing scene at Regis’ crypt.

Let’s go drink. Geralt and Regis jump ahead to the finale, sharing a drink as they reflect on the contract’s disastrous outcome.
Need to inform Anna Henrietta. Geralt shows the Duchess the letter, but she is too consumed by grief to accept it. She denies that Syanna ever meant to kill her, and Geralt leaves to drink with Regis anyway.

The main story of Blood and Wine ends after Geralt and Regis share their drink. You will know the quest is complete when the final cutscene finishes and “Be It Ever So Humble…” begins. If you were aiming for the happy ending that reconciles Anna and Syanna, the only fix is to reload and save Syanna during “Beyond Hill and Dale…”.