‘Twixt a Rock and a Hard Place is a side quest in Dragon’s Dogma 2. The quest begins when come a beastren named Akakios approaches you in the Mercantile Ward in Bakbattahl.
The Sotted Sage WALKTHROUGH
When you approach the Geyser Hamlet at the Volcanic Island Camp in Agamen Volcanic Island, you’ll trigger a cutscene featuring a man named Lamond sitting by the pillar near the hamlet’s counter.
Lamond reacts in disgust after eating a rotten boiled egg and mentions that it can be fixed with a Newt Liqueur, a popular beverage in Battahl. However, he’s run out of stock.
He offers you the rotten boiled egg, and you can choose to accept or refuse it. If you have a Newt Liqueur in your inventory, you can give it to him.
Accepting the rotten boiled egg ends the conversation and gives you one. Refusing it also ends the conversation, but you won’t receive an egg. You can return to him later with Newt Liqueur to advance the quest.
Newt Liqueurs can be found throughout Battahl, and you’ll need to give Lamond three of them to progress the quest. They’re available from various sources like Cliodhna’s home, the Forbidden Magick Research Lab, a man in Bakbattahl, or Higg’s Tavern Stand in Bakbattahl.
The first time you give Lamond a Newt Liqueur, he gives you a rotten egg in return. You also have additional dialogue options: “I came to enjoy the hot spring.” and “I would like to speak to you, Lamond.”
Choosing either of these options will end the conversation. To receive something else, give Lamond a second and third Newt Liqueur.
Giving Lamond three Newt Liqueurs in total will end The Cottage Sage quest, but not without learning that Lamond is a former Arisen who couldn’t kill his dragon due to what he claims as a lack of skill.
