Admittedly, I'm a newbie with the first witcher ee game, though I've played and beaten the second witcher ee. (Go figure.)

Here's where I'm stuck: after fighting a mage in my "lab" during the prologue, I was told by another witcher to "rest."

How do you do that?

I've tried left and right clicking the medallion, to no avail. I've read the manual on how to rest using the medallion, but clicking and looking for commands to actually make that happen aren't clear or evident to me. I'm probably overlooking something extremely obvious, but right now I'm losing patience and interest in the game. I can't leave the lab to look for a fire to rest by, I don't know how to simply lie down in my lab and rest, and I can't get past the older witcher looking on, waiting for me to search for an appropriate spot to rest. I'm at wit's end. I can't even find a simple yet descriptive set of steps on the internet. Help would be much appreciated!

Please be very specific with directions, like: 1) click the medallion, 2) look for dialogue options, 3) take anti-anxiety meds, we're almost there (lol), 4) right click the rest tab at the bottom of the Hero screen where it says "rest," 5) rest and rejuvenate. Obviously that's not the answer, but you get an idea of what I need: pretend you are describing the directions to a five year old. (On second thought, a five year old would figure this out in about two minutes.) Thanks in advance for your help!!

Witchers don't rest. They too hardcore.

You can meditate. There are two ways to meditate as far as I know: by the campfire - you click it.
Or, sometimes, there's a round icon with Geralt's head to the left of dialog options (when talking with someone).

So If I'm reading this correctly, talk to the old guy and there should be this round icon with Witcher's head to the left of conversation topics.

Though, I've got to say, I don't remember him telling me to rest, and I was in that part two days ago.
My memory must be very bad :D

Thanks for your suggestions. I found out how to rest by the fire. I think I had to wait and get ingredients for Triss before resting and making potions could happen. Dunno.

But now I've got another problem (or two): first, I don't know how to use my points to level up skills. I mean I've played lots of computer games before, but this one is not easy to figure. I know where I want my points to go, tap "H" and see branches where my points could go (three) but I don't know how to put them where I want. Mouse clicking right, left, center no good; keyboard, same, though I've used every key available for tapping. Dancing in front of my computer or offering it a day off--no good either. So, how do I allocate points to the tree of skills (I want intelligence and herb picking).

Second, after we four witchers split up and I went south, the program stopped working just when the red trail was coming to an end. It hung there and I had to log off to end the game. Control Alt and Delete didn't allow me to terminate so I could start over. It wasn't exactly a CTD but a crash nonetheless. (I'd have preferred a crash to desktop because I could have started over again.) Now I'm wary and think I'll put the game aside as it seems glitchy. Don't know what else to do.

Five orens to whoever can help me solve either problem (15 orens for both!). :-)

The first problem - you need to start the meditation/rest. Then you can use your points.

Second - I had the exact same thing happen to me too :D Annoying, but since then I have completed the first chapter and didn't have any hangups along the way. The game autosaves, the crash didn't really affect any of my progress.

And you better keep those orens, 5 or 15 is not much for a witcher :D

Just to elaborate on what cich said, meditation is used for more than just resting. You must meditate in order to allocate points from leveling up, and you must meditate in order to mix new potions as well. So you may find yourself meditating often even if you don't need rest. Keep note of where the fires are, as that's the most common way to initiate meditation. It can be done from conversations sometimes, as was mentioned above, but not very often.

Brew is always most welcome!

Also, I'm quite surprised by your cheerfulness. After playing so much Witcher shouldn't you be drunkenly swearing and cynically cursing the world? ;-D

I've not gotten that far into the first game yet. Witcher 2 made me wobbly once.

Haha, only wobbly? I'm having a particularly difficult fight right now, and it makes me swear like a sailor.
I fear alcoholism is not far behind!