1. Follow Sir Hans' company.
In a while we'll arrive at Trosky, where we're supposed to deliver a message to the lord of the castle. I'd better stick close to Capon. As the only noble in our company, he'll be the one to hand over the letter.
Your horse runs automatically, so you only have to answer Hans' questions as you go. Your answers are of little consequence.
Eventually you will come across a group of soldiers led by Captain Thomas. During the conversation with him, you can define your initial playstyle.
Choosing a playstyle will give you some starting experience points, but the choice of what traits you will develop next is up to you.
- Soldier likes nothing more than to have a weapon in his hand and wear a strong suit of armour; he is also infamous for his short temper.
- Adviser prefers to solve things using his knowledge, sharp tongue and a kind word.
- Scout likes to hide in the shadows and solve tasks silently, undetected and by stealth.
Next, you will get familiar with the persuasion tutorial.
Persuasion
You can solve a lot of situations by convincing the other side. In dialogues, you will have a choice of some of the options below that define how you will react, but beware! Persuasion requires the other party to believe you.
Persuasion is not about picking the highest number, it's about who you're talking to, what you look like, what your reputation is. For example, threatening a bunch of thugs with violence alone is usually pointless, just like claiming to be a nobleman with straw sticking out of your boots.
- Speech - You try to handle the situation peacefully and without conflict.
- Charisma - You make use of your noble appearance and good reputation.
- Might - You try to come across as a hero and protector of the weak.
- Coercion - You say anything to get your way, even using lies and manipulation.
- Domination - You make it clear to the other person that you're superior to them.
- Dread - When reasoning doesn't work, threats might.
Choose an option that matches your previous selection. Don't worry, this time, if you fail to persuade Captain Thomas, Sir Hans will make sure that everything will end well in the end.
Note: Selecting charisma should work in all cases.
We arrived in view of Trosky Castle, but on the road we encountered a company of Lord von Bergow's men led by one Captain Thomas. The situation was tense, but we managed to calm things down. Captain Thomas suggested that we should camp for the night, since we wouldn't make it there before nightfall.
2. Find out from Sir Hans what the plan is.
We set up camp, but there's still a lot of time till nightfall. I should go and ask Sir Hans what we do now.
Approach Sir Hans, who is standing near the pen. In order to be able to talk to him, you must first calm down your dog who barks and disturbs everyone.
3. Call Mutt to heel.
Mutt, my dog from Skalitz, keeps pestering Oats, our cook and general helper. I must call the dog before he scoffs our dinner!
Approach the campfire where your dog keeps pestering Oats and call him.
4. (Optional) Find something to eat for Mutt and feed him.
Mutt is hungry. Oats is the one who's in charge of supplies, so I should go and ask him if he can give me something for Mutt.
Talk to Oats. He has a sausage that you could give to a dog but he won't give it to you just like that. To get it you can try to convince him by choosing one of the dialogue options below:
- We'll get food at Trosky. (Speech)
- I'll bring you something from the nobles' feast. (Charisma)
- You wouldn't want Mutt to bite you… (Dread)
If you don't manage to persuade him or you choose the last dialogue option - "What would you swap that sausage for?" - you will learn that he lost his ring playing dice with Tankard and if you get it back for him he will give you the sausage.
5. (Optional) Get Oats' ring back from Tankard.
This objective will pop up if you have decided to help Oats get his ring back.
Oats mentioned that he lost his ring to Tankard in a dice game. If I can get it back, I'll be in Oats' good books. And knowing Tankard, he can't resist a bet.
Approach Tankard who is sitting at the dice table and offer him to play for the ring. He will agree and the game will introduce you to the basic rules of dice game.
Dice: Basic rules
You start the game by rolling all six dice. Select the scoring dice you want keep (put them to the side and gain points for them at the end of your turn), then roll the rest again. You can keep rolling until you run out of dice.
However, if you don't roll a single scoring die, you lose all points gained this turn.
The art of dice is to finish your turn and score your points before you run the risk of not rolling a single scoring die.
The first player to reach the score goal is the victor. You can see all point information for the current game in the bottom left corner.
You lose nothing by losing the game so you can try to play repeatedly until you win.
6. (Optional) Return the ring to Oats.
Now I've won Oats' ring back, I can return it to him.
Once you have won the ring, return to Oats, talk to him and after a while you will get the sausage.
7. (Optional) Find something to eat for Mutt and feed him (cont.)
Once you get the sausage just feed it to the dog.
Mutt was hungry, so I got a sausage for him from Oats. He likes roe deer ones the best.
8. Find out from Sir Hans what the plan is (cont.)
After calming the dog, you can talk to Sir Hans. At the end of the conversation he will offer you sparring session using swords.
9. Get kitted out with armour and a sword and talk to Sir Hans.
Sir Hans wanted to loosen up after the long ride with some swordplay, naturally with me. What an honour! I put on my armour and let him know I'm ready to start.
Open you inventory and equip yourself with a padded coif, a composite kettle hat and a training longsword.
Then enter the pen, approach Sir Hans and talk to him. Select "Can we start with the swordplay?" to start the fight.
10. Swordplay.
This part will help you learn the basics of sword fighting. Follow the successive instructions given to you by Sir Hans.
- Draw your sword - There'll be no swordplay without a sword. I need to have one in my hand.
- Attack x 3 - The basis of combat is attacking. I should demonstrate that to Hans.
- Attack using a chained sequence of strikes x 4 - Swordfighting isn't about individual strikes, but about how you string together individual techniques. I should show Capon how.
- Block attacks x 5 - You can defend against ordinary strikes just with the strength of your weapon. All you have to do is get it between you and your foe's weapon. I should show Capon how to do it.
- Parry an attack with a perfect block x 3 - You can defend against ordinary strikes just with the strength of your weapon. All you have to do is get it between you and your foe's weapon. I should show Capon how to do it.
- Parry an attack with a perfect block and follow up with a riposte x 3 - The advantageous position I acquire after a perfect block can be used to execute a riposte. All I have to do is follow up the perfect block with an attack.
- Hit his unprotected side x 4 - If I want to reduce my opponents chances of executing a perfect block, I should attack his unprotected side. I'll show Capon how it's done by striking at the opposite side to the one where he's holding his sword.
11. Defeat Sir Hans in a duel!
Our training session is over. Now it's time to show Sir Hans what I can really do.
At the beginning, you can choose whether or not to accept the wager that Sir Hans will suggest, and then simply use what you just learned to beat Sir Hans.
If you won:
Sir Hans was always a better archer than a swordsman. I beat him in our training duel.
If you lost:
Sir Hans apparently improved as a swordsman. It was only a bit of swordplay, but he kicked my arse.
12. Sit down by the fire.
After the swordfight, it's time to go and sit by the fire and have supper.
Approach the campfire. A conversation with companions about the old days will begin. During it you will be able to make some decisions, thanks to which you will upgrade selected abilities.
- First choice: Strength, Agility, Vitality or Speech.
- Second choice: You will state what your relationship with Theresa is (KKD1).
- Third choice: Houndmaster, Stealth, Survival, or Scholarship.
- Fourth choice: Swords, Heavy Weapons, Unarmed or Marksmanship.
When you're done talking, Sir Hans will suggest that you take a swim in the lake together. As you enter the water, the sounds of bathing women will reach your ears from the other shore and Sir Hans will head in that direction.
13. Crouch down in the reeds.
Me and Sir Hans are not alone in the pond. A little further along by the banks there are some girls bathing, and Sir Hans, gentleman that he is, wants to go and spy on them. We'll have to keep our heads down in the reeds, otherwise we'll cause a stir.
14. Cautiously follow Sir Hans along the bank.
I should follow Sir Hans and make sure he doesn't disgrace us before we even get to Trosky.
Follow Sir Hans until you reach a place where one of the women is doing laundry.
15. Throw a stone to distract the girl's attention.
One of the girls is standing in our way. Sir Hans got the bright idea of throwing a stone to distract her attention so we could sneak closer.
Throw a pebble to the left or to the right of the woman. Wait for her to move in that direction, and then sneak past her in the other direction.
If a woman notices you, she will simply run away and nothing bad will happend. Just keep moving forward.
16. Cautiously follow Sir Hans along the bank (cont.)
Moving on, you will reach a place from where you will notice women on the shore and then a cutscene will start. Your camp will be attacked by bandits, your comrades will be killed, and you and Sir Hans will have to escape across the lake to the other shore.
17. Get away with Sir Hans.
This is no time for heroism - Sir Hans and I need to vanish quickly, otherwise we're unlikely to get out of this with our lives!
Follow Sir Hans, stay close to him and do as he says. At first you will be sneaking to avoid the bandit patrols and when you pass a fallen tree trunk you will have to run. When you get spotted by one of the patrols then you will have to flee quickly.
Eventually you will reach a place where you can talk to Sir Hans. He will then tell you what you should do.
18. Explore the entry point into the rocks.
I have to find out if the path leads through the rocks and tell Sir Hans.
Follow the path between the rocks to the northeast.
After a while you should reach a place where Henry will think aloud that he has found an escape route and decide that he should inform Sir Hans about it.
It is not necessary, but if you return to the place where you left Sir Hans you will not find him there but only two bandits. Listen to their conversation and you will find out that they did not capture Sir Hans.
19. Find Sir Hans.
Sir Hans is gone, and there are soldiers blocking my path! But I didn't hear them say they'd caught Sir Hans. Most likely he escaped into the rocks. I have to find him.
Turn back and follow the path north. After a while you should leave the fissure to an open space and notice Sir Hans lurking by a tree.
I found Sir Hans by the exit point from the rocks. He got away from his pursuers at the last moment, but he got lost like I did.
20. Flee with Sir Hans.
I have to stick close to Sir Hans.
Follow Sir Hans until you reach a fallen tree. Sir Hans will succeed in getting to the other side but you will be halted by one of the bandits.
21. Survive!
The bandits caught up with us. Capon jumped down from the rocks, but one of the pursuers caught me. I have to face him.
Henry will automatically knock out and pick up his opponent's sword and the fight will begin. You don't have to win it.
At some point of the fight a cutscene will start. Mutt will come to support you, and eventually you and your opponent will fall off the rocks and you will lose consciousness.
The fall from a height caused a lot of damage and you will suffer from delusions, but Sir Hans will manage to lead you to a hut in the woods, where you will be helped by the woman living there.
When you wake up the next morning, this quest will end and another one - "Fortuna" - will begin.
