[2] Condatum's Roman governor Varius Flavus has been embezzling a majority of the local taxes in order to finance a debauched lifestyle of never-ending parties, sending only a pittance to Rome, until Quaestor Vexatius Sinusitus is sent to investigate.

Flavus, upon finding the Quaestor will not be easy to corrupt, serves him poisoned food and provides inept doctors making absurd guesses at his ailment.

Realizing his life is in danger, Sinusitus sends for the druid Getafix, who instantly identifies the malady as attempted murder by poison.

Getafix agrees to brew an antidote for Sinusitus but lacks an essential ingredient: a flower called the "silver star" (edelweiss), and sends Asterix and Obelix to Helvetia (Switzerland) to find it.

Later Varius Flavus comes to the village, expecting Sinusitus to be near death, either from the poison or execution by the Gauls after Asterix and Obelix have failed to return.