I am up to Level 26. So you can imagine the hours I have into this.

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Spoke to Blake in the merchant district and a dialogue option came up where I ask if he has anything "really special" or something like that. He tells me someone gave him a key to a garden that contained wonderful things and that he never got around to checking it and he gave me key.

That was quite some time ago. Probably around level 17 or 18.

So, after all this time I decide to go explore this garden. On the way there I meet Otto (IIRC) who, with two other NPC's, are in some sort of cult or religion that requires them to enter the garden to pay their respects. They explain a fellow named Blake has a key. One of the dialogue choices when speaking to him was "Blake gave me the key, but why should I give it to you? Wherein he responds no, don't give it to him,merely open the gate. And new Quest shows up saying I need to find the key.

Having already "found" the key, I went to the gate to open it. Nope. Nadda. Nothing. And no I did NOT drop off the key (I have three or four in my inventory and NEVER drop them anywhere and they don't even show as an option to sell) nor sell the key. But someway, somehow I either no longer have the key OR I have the key but the game doesn't recognize that I have the key.

Just to check, I went back to see Blake, and no dialogue options appear for getting the key.

SO, another bug????

I will say this, I unlocked the graveyard with a key as when I attempted to open it up the first time it opened with the standard key floating above and the standard exclaim of "Excellant" while I do not remember getting the graveyard key. So is the bug that it used the Garden key to open up the graveyard??

I swear to you I got ALL THE WAY TO THE END of this game last time I played (on the CD version) and it was nowhere near this buggy. WTF is going on?

The key to Nericon's garden can also open the nearby graveyard (which gets opened anyway after you have been to the castle and follow the main plot line for a bit). This is the only set of matching locks and keys in the game, that I recall.

However, the Nericon's Garden gate is lockpickable (level 5 required), or there is a second graveyard / Nericon's Garden key in the back room of the Ars Magicana alchemist; see and [url=http://www.xanlosch.de/kiyas_crypt/Div_Arssteal3.jpg.html]here (Lockpick level 3 required). You can get 2 levels of Lockpick in the thieves' guild in Verdistis.

Alternately, you can get a replacement key using the procedure in the Lost Items topic, or can hex teleport either into the garden or to the back of the alchemist's shop to get the key.

ive heard of this "spare key" but i went and checked at the alchemist... and it ISN'T there