Pestilence (2024)

Pestilence is a side questin Kingdom Come: Deliverance. After the events in Baptism of Fire, the village of Merhojedis both attacked by bandits and struck with plague. It also ties into the main quest storyline, and you will need to complete it in order to complete Questions and Answers.

You will also need to know how to read and write in order to assist one of the villagers and begin Last Will and Testament, and to help find the cure. If you can't read, people will die - so you should probably complete Mightier than the Sword before beginning Questions and Answers. Investigate the plague carefully, as time wasted chasing the wrong cure will result in deaths.

To save time, get a spade, and at least two thistles, a valerian, and a piece of charcoal.

Synopsis[]

The hamlet of Merhojed has been stricken by a mysterious scourge that first infected the animals and now the villagers.

Objectives[]

• Ask local Bailiff about the situation.
  • (Optional) speak to Matthias about the plague (Not "optional" if you want to succeed in the cure.)
    • (Optional) Investigate the plague in Merhojed (Not "optional" if you want to succeed in the cure.)
      • Have a word with Johanka at the monastery.
        • Talk to Brother Nicodemus
          • Find the right diagnosis and the recipe for the cure in the books
            • Prepare the remedy
              • Take the remedy to Merhojed
              • Find out from Brother Nicodemus how things look in Merhojed
                • (Optional) Give the cure to the sick
                  • Talk to Melichar.
                  • Wait until the situation clears up.
          • (Optional) Wait until Nicodemus finds the diagnosis of the ailment
            • Talk to Brother Nicodemus about the remedy
              • Wait and see how the cure works
                • Find out from Brother Nicodemus how things look in Merhojed
                  • (Optional) Give the cure to the sick
                    • Wait until the situation clears up.
                  • Talk to Melichar
      • Investigate the plague in Merhojed.
        • Dig a grave
          • Take the body to the grave
      • Find out what happened to the captive.

Walkthrough[]

During Questions and Answers, Henry learns that the town of Merhojed is suffering from a plague, which started the day after the raid. Speak to the local villagers in order to find out that Matthias is lying injured in the stud farm stables, and question him about the sickness. It has swept through the local livestock, who all sickened and died, and has started to make people sick. The symptoms include fever, stomach pains, vomiting, and diarrhea. Note that you must speak to Matthias to successfully cure the village.

So far, it only seems to have killed one person - Vrba, but he was already a sick old man. Nevertheless, if you don't get moving quickly to find a cure, more people are going to die.

Find Melichar, the self-appointed Bailiff, and ask to speak to their captured bandit as part of Questions and Answers. As it turns out, Melichar isn't inclined to help you, as he's too preoccupied with figuring out how to save his people, and seems to resent Sir Radzig for hurrying off to attack the bandit camp, leaving Merhojed undefended.

He claims the captured bandit is delirious from plague as well, and you will need to find a cure before you can get any sense out of him. It is possible to pick the Hard lock on the barn door - look out for the watchman, but once you gain entry to the barn, you will confirm that the bandit is indeed sick, and in no fit state to talk to you. You can also speak to the Melichar's maid, a woman in a blue dress, and bribe her 15 to give you the keys.

Melichar will ask you to go speak with Johanka at the Sasau Monastery in the hopes she might be able to help, and will tell you that he has daubed a lime cross on the plague houses. First though, you'll need to learn more about the disease. Failure to complete this step will result in the death of the villagers, even if you select the correct ailment and craft the correct remedy. Start at the western side of the village, at the grocery, where Daniel is suffering delusions, convinced that Henry is his brother.

Daniel's Stats[]

1-2	1-2	13

Whether you want to convince him that you are his brother or not doesn't matter, as he seems to think the two of you are going to the Skalitz fair for Advent, and will just ask for water to quench his terrible thirst (which you can't give him). There are also two people lying sick in the loft, but they don't offer any additional information.

Then go to the house next to the stud farm, where Bedrishka is mourning over her dead husband Anthony. She asks Henry to help bury him, as Melichar has instructed that all bodies should be buried at once. You don't have to help, as she will tell you that her husband had a fever and stomach pains either way. But if you do decide to assist, go to the back of the house and dig a grave underneath the large tree, then put Anthony's body into it. Keep in mind before picking up the body, to dig the grave first and then speak to Bedrishka a second time, otherwise she will call the guards.

You may also notice that there is a fire just outside of town, where all the dead livestock are being burnt.

Old Straw's Stats[]

0-1	0-1	13-14

Got to the next house, which is the home of Old Straw. He mistakes you for one of the bandits, and leaps up to defend his wife. Convince him you are there to help (or beat him up, if you tried intimidation, which always fails). The old man is clearly grief stricken, and drunkenly begs you to save his wife. Check on her, and determine she has a fever. The next house belongs to Melichar, whose afflicted wife, Hannah, also has a fever.

Finally, head to the eastern end of town and find Vincent, who has a fever, diarrhea, and spent the previous day ranting and delusional. He asks Henry for a favour - although you are not required to accept - which starts Last Will and Testament (provided Henry is literate), giving Henry a will and his silver ring.

All in all, you are able to confirm that the plague infects people and animals, leads to fever, delirium, stomach pains, diarrhea and thirst, and occasionally with rashes. On your way to the Monastery, you may wish to take the opportunity to buy some ingredients as you pass through Samopesh. For example, charcoal from the Blacksmith, valerian from the Herbalist, and thistle from the Trader. Take the hint. Once you speak to Nicodemus about the plague, he will not sell you anything, and time spent searching for ingredients is time wasted. You can also steal the ingredients from the shelf in the herbarium.

First, find Johanka like Melichar advised. She is quite concerned when she hears about Matthias being injured, and advises Henry to speak to Nicodemus about the plague. Tell the priest that half the people are infected, and all the animals have died. Identify the symptoms of fever, stomach pains and diarrhea.

If you give him the wrong information, or are unable to read, it will make it harder for Brother Nicodemus to identify what is wrong with the people, and the delay will result in deaths.

Nicodemus is able to work out that the problem lies in the digestive tract, and tells Henry to look in the 'Breviarum de Signis Caussa' to find the potential cause. The book is located on a stand right there in the infirmary, so read it immediately.

You'll be able to rule out diphtheria, dysentery and Saint Vitus dance - those don't affect animals - and plague, as there are no boils on those infected. However, the document mentions poisoning, which will affect anything that drinks or eats from the tainted source, and animals seem to succumb quicker.

Once you have completed your investigation, go back to Nicodemus and confirm that you suspect poisoning from water. When the priest states they will need to make some medicine, offer to help.

Telling him any different will result in more delays and more deaths. You can ask him to cure the captive first, but he will respond that he will attend to the people according to severity of their condition, not your whims. If you don't provide enough information or don't offer to help, you'll need to come back the next day to find out his diagnosis.

If you agree to help, you will need to make the Remedy for Merhojed, while Nicodemus and Johanka will leave immediately for Merhojed. Get the ingredients ( two thistles, one valerian, and one piece of charcoal) and prepare the remedy by putting water and thistle in the cauldron, boiling it for two turns, adding the valerian and boiling for one more turn, then add the charcoal before pouring the whole thing into a phial. You only need to make one potion.

Note that if you receive a recipe calling for Spirits, Valarin and Wormwood, you have received the incorrect version of the Remedy, and it will fail. You must reload and select the correct ailment when speaking to Brother Nicodemus if you wish to actually save the villagers and the Bandit.

Once you're done, return to Merhojed (although while you're in Sasau, you might want to complete Last Will and Testament). Find Nicodemus in Old Straw's house. Give him the remedy and he will attend to Straw's family, while Johanka takes care of Melichar's family and Henry deals with Daniel, Vincent, and Bedrishka. Despite the stated division of tasks, Henry may also need to personally treat Straw's wife to complete the objective. Nicodemus will also reveal that the peasants have refused to let him treat the bandit, preferring to let him suffer.

Find Melichar and tell him that you suspect the cause of the pestilence is poisoned water. He will then gladly allow you to see the bandit, and expresses his gratitude that someone cares. Henry can advise him to thank Radzig, thank Nicodemus, focus on his wife, or just to never cross Henry again. Now that you can access the barn, go and give the remedy to the bandit.

Wait several hours before returning to Merhojed and speaking to Melichar. If you managed to save everyone, you will earn Plague doctor achievement, and Melichar will reward you with 300 - which you can accept or graciously decline. Now, you can go and speak to the bandit and continue with Questions and Answers.

However, if you didn't investigate properly, gave the wrong information to Nicodemus, and refused to help him either research, prepare or distribute the cure, you'll find some, or even all, of the people died. However, the bandit will hold on long enough to get the right cure - but it may still be too late, leading to a massive problems during Questions and Answers.

Notes[]

• You will not receive a notification that the plague has been resolved if you have done so successfully. If it failed, you will get a failed notification of "Give the remedy to the sick".
• When dealing with Bedrishka and her dead husband, keep in mind before picking up the body, to dig the grave first and then speak to Bedrishka a second time, otherwise she will call the guards.
• If you fail the speech check, or try intimidation at all with Old Straw, you can not exit combat by fleeing. You will be forever stuck in "searching" combat mode until you either find Straw and defeat him, or reload an earlier save. Considering he is likely to get stuck, lost or glitched in chasing you over a long distance, this can be very problematic.
• Sometimes after fighting Old Straw, he will lie down in bed and die.
• It is possible to make the Remedy for Merhojed and travel / fast travel to Merhojed before Brother Nicodemus arrives. Simply wait an in-game half hour or a minute or two in real time for him to arrive. The quest will prompt you to speak with him and will mark him, if the quest is selected.
• In older versions of the game, it appears that completing Pestilence before speaking to Sir Radzig in Questions and Answers causes a game breaking bug. This bug has been patched in the latest version, but you may still wish to tend to the captive before the situation resolves itself in order to be safe.
• When prompted in the quest Pestilence to create the Remedy for Merhojed at the Alchemist's bench, you may acquire one that you created beforehand, or spawn one in using console commands.
• There is a known "bug" where administering the remedy to the people of Merhojed still results in their death. This is because if the player doesn't complete the optional objective "Investigate the plague in Merhojed" and "Speak to Matthias" and opts to skip straight to Johanka at the Monastery, the game will always fail the curing effect, even if you do diagnose the correct cure. To complete this step, you need to check Straw's Wife (after dealing with Old Straw in any way), Daniel (easy speech check), Vincent (has a quest, not necessary for success) and Bedrishka (help her bury her husband).
  • In short, talk to the villagers about the ailment, complete the "Investigate the plague in Merhojed" step (Check Straws Wife, Daniel, Vincent and Bedrishka), the "Speak to Matthias" step, select "Water Poisoning" with Brother Nicodemus and make sure the potion you brew uses Valerian, Thistle and Charcoal, has a value of 11.1 and provides 0 energy. Then the villagers should always survive.
• There are two variants of the Remedy for Merhojed; "Correct", using Valerian, Thistle and Charcoal, and "Incorrect", using Valerian and Wormwood.
  • Though it should be obvious, using the Incorrect remedy while also not completing the objective "Investigate the plague in Merhojed" and/or "Speak to Matthias" will result in the villagers not being cured.
  • Using the Correct remedy will only work if you spoke to the afflicted and completed the objective "Investigate the plague in Merhojed" and "Speak to Matthias".

Trivia[]

• This quest is considered one of the most infamous quests in the game, due to the steps needed for success being so particular. It has several issues, including (but not limited to): not completing an optional objective, not speaking to one or two specific people, lifting a body (that your supposed to carry) at the wrong moment, the quest also being timed with a side-quest integrated that you can miss, all things that can cause many issues or fail the goal of saving the village. It is considered annoying, poorly designed, and in many cases, one that players intentionally fail just to avoid doing. And on top of that, the quest is tied to an achievement, so achievement hunters have no choice but to slog it out.