A Needle in a Haystack

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A Needle in a Haystack is the nineteenth main quest in Kingdom Come: Deliverance. It begins when Henry, pretending to be "Karl", takes his vows as "Brother Gregor" and enters the Sasau Monastery to find Pious as part of Poverty, Chastity and Obedience.

It is possible to skip this quest by infiltrating the Monastery during Poverty, Chastity and Obedience and murdering one of the novices.

Background

A fellow is hiding in the Sasau Monastery who I'm supposed to find and kill. All I know about him is that he's one of the novices.

Simple walkthrough

• Find out which one of the novices is Pious
  • Kill Pious
    • (Optional) Get keys or lockpicks
    • (Optional) Get blood (0/1)
      • Wait until the blood arrives the next day
        • (Optional) Go back to Antonius
          • (Optional) Right after evening mass, meet with Pious in the dormitory.
            • Follow Pious
    • (Optional) Kill another novice
• Take back your things

Detailed walkthrough

Henry has his work cut out to kill Pious and infiltrate the bandits. Before all else, he must determine Pious's secret identity. While Kozliek previously supposed there should only be one novice, unfortunately there are actually four besides Henry: Antonius, Lucas, Siskin, and Jodok. As an added complication, Radzig Kobyla prefers that Henry not kill Pious at all, and securing him for arrest will be even tougher. To make matters even worse, Henry's worldly belongings were all confiscated before his initiation, and all exits to the Monastery are covered by Very Hard locks.

Henry is welcomed by the other novices - Antonius, Siskin, Jodok and Lucas

Tour with Antonius

Regardless of how to proceed, Henry must first maintain his cover as "Brother Gregor". The first day, fellow novice Brother Antonius has been instructed to guide Gregor through the monastery. He will give the player a book, Everyday Labours, and they may converse with him about why Gregor and him joined the Monastery. In Antonius's case, it is because he likes books and wants an education, as he would otherweise make a poor merchant. Regardless, Antonius will take Gregor on a brief tour of the Monastery, and he will remind the player that they must fulfill their daily obligations as part of In the Cloister. Otherwise, they may find themselves in trouble with the Circators, John and Stibor, who are very strict. Attempting to talk back to them can land the player in solitary confinement, or worse, being kicked out entirely for disobedience.

Henry is locked in solitary

Speaking to Antonius further can reveal more information about the life of the monks - Abbot Peter is old and the current monks are preparing to select a new Abbot when he passes. The leading candidates are John, the senior Circator, and Nevlas, the Provost. Antonius can also reveal what might be a crucial bit of information - Brother Cellarius might have some lockpicks.

Unlocking the Monastery doors

At some point, the player will want a way to unlock the Monastery doors to allow free entrance and exit at night. There are two main approaches to this. First, if the player speaks to Cellarius, he will trade Gregor lockpicks in return for food. Alternatively, the player may pickpocket or stealth takedown the Prior and take the Monastery key from his inventory. Finally, there is another key in the far kitchen storage room, on one of the shelves.

Evaluating the novices

Throughout the player's stay, asking the other monks about the novices will reveal some basic insights. Jodok is diligent and eager (perhaps too eager); Siskin is friendly but too worldly; Antonius is hard-working but does not pray much; and Lucas is quiet and secretive. Further insights can be gained from asking the novices themselves about each other. It is strongly recommended not to confide with them about hunting Pious until gathering more information, or else the player risks retaliation from Pious:

• Antonius freely admits that Siskin is ill-suited to the monastic life, and suspects that he has secrets. He also says that Lucas simply goes through the motions, as if just for life to be over. Finally, he thinks that Jodok is dangerous - cross him and he will get the Circators to make your life miserable. If you ask for help finding Pious, he will point the finger at Jodok, although he does not rule out the idea of either Siskin or Lucas being involved.
• Jodok tells Henry that Antonius is reliable and helpful, Siskin should be thrown out on his ear, and Lucas is being punished by the Circators. If you ask for help finding Pious, Jodok enthusiastically accuses Siskin, pointing out that he has not really devoted to the monastic life and has been missing from morning mass for a long time.
• Lucas claims to have never spoken to Antonius, that Siskin does not follow the rules, and that Jodok does not like him, but is friendly with the Circators. He will refuse to tell you anything about his former life, how to break the rules, or who he suspects might be Pious, unless his trust is gained after completing The Trials of a Novice.
• Siskin seems quite friendly towards Antonius, finds Lucas to be very reserved, and thinks that Jodok is a rat. If you ask for help finding Pious, he agrees that it could be Jodok, but not Antonius.

If the player accuses the wrong novice as Pious, he will run off in search of the Prior, who will confront Gregor. Telling him the truth or attempting to intimidate him will get the player kicked out of the Monastery, though passing a Speech check will convince him to let Gregor stay, which means another attempt at finding the correct novice.

Gaining information on Pious

The most straightforward way to identify Pious is to complete the many side quests associated with A Needle in a Haystack, which will build Gregor's relationships with the other monks and reveal important information about who Pious might be. The Circators will be drinking in the cellars at night, and everyone else besides Siskin will be asleep, so the player will have plenty of time to carry out these quests as long as they have sufficient Energy. Of the Monastery side quests, the following are most relevant to identifying Pious:

• Worldly Goods: Find Siskin's secret stash, containing evidence that there is truth to his backstory.
• Nasty Habits: Find out Jodok is a toady, but not quite a bandit.
• The Trials of a Novice: Get the Circators to leave Lucas alone to gain his trust, revealing he is not Pious - but does have some strong evidence on who could be.
• The Abbot's List: Read the Abbot's list to corroborate the novices' backstories with their official acceptance records.

Finally, search the chests in the dormitory to find a dagger - Kozliek previously mentioned that Pious had one and might have snuck it in.

Confronting Pious

However the player finds out, it will eventually become clear that Antonius is Pious. From here, there are several ways to deal with him and obtain Kozliek's trust.

First, the player may simply kill an unsuspecting Antonius and loot the strange dice from his corpse. This will however instantly trigger some guards to spawn and investigate the spot where he was killed, so a quick escape is crucial.

Second, the player may confront Antonius and accuse him directly. If the player does so, or even confides in him about finding Pious, then Gregor will be poisoned at the next meal and wake up after a period of unconsciousness. At this moment, Antonius will confront the player, stating that he regretted his attempt to kill them. Furthermore, even if he did some bad things, he does not want to be a bad person. Antonius then offers a deal - let him live and he will leave Sasau forever, while he gives Henry information that will let him infiltrate the bandits. If the player agrees to spare Antonius, they may either kill another novice in exchange for his dice, or go along with his more sophisicated plan.

Pious's escape plan

Antonius's plan is the final option, and will involve getting the monastery keys and some blood. As previously mentioned, the keys may be obtained from the kitchen or the Prior. On the other hand, obtaining blood will require sneaking into the kitchen. During night or mealtime, the player may enter and find the papers for the next days order - add "blood" to the list to have it ready the following day.

The next morning, the player may find the goatskin filled with blood in the kitchen. Speak to Antonius and he will tell Gregor to meet him at the dormitory after evening mass, giving them one last day in the monastery.

When ready, Antonius and Gregor will stage the assassination above the church. Then, they will exit through the side door, sneak through the construction site, and end up outside the Monastery.

Henry and Pious flee the Monastery

At this point, the player has several options regarding their deal with Pious. First, they may choose to simply kill him here and take his dice, where there will be no guards to rush in and attempt to arrest Henry. Second, they may choose to arrest him, forcing Henry to defeat him in a fistfight. Both him and Pious will fast travel to Rattay once this is done, though he will not give his dice. Finally, they may let Pious go. Pious will thank "Brother Gregor" for giving him the chance to escape, and hand over his strange dice as proof that Henry "killed" him.

Strategies

• Killing any monk in the Monastery will instantly spawn a special group of Sasau guards who immediately investigate the spot he was killed. However, while they will attempt to arrest Henry, they cannot place a criminal bounty on him, so fleeing from them will only result in reputation loss for the Monastery.
  • Knocking out a monk with a stealth takedown will not spawn the guards, as long as stealth is maintained. The player can therefore kidnap Pious instead of killing him on the spot, then kill him once he is dragged outside the Monastery.
• If the player manages to retrieve Henry's belongings by exiting the Monastery, they must make sure not to wear anything besides the white Monk's habit and Slippers Henry was given during his initiation.
• Passing a Speech or Badassness check is required to convince Cellarius to sell the player lockpicks. He will only accept food when bartering for them.
  • Food for Cellarius can be stolen from the cellar or the kitchen, or by trading in excess potions made during daily chores with Nevlas.
  • Aside from Cellarius's shop, there is a free lockpick behind the altar of the church.
• Padfoot potion may prove useful in lockpicking and sneaking around. It can be brewed at the alchemy bench using ingredients found in the Monastery: cobwebs can be found in fratery and library bookcases, and eyebright grows in the cloister garden. The other ingredients are in the fratery herb chest.
• Cockerel potion is extremely useful for this quest. The recipe and ingredients are given for free during In the Cloister, and it allows the player to stay up late for the many Monastery side quests. Additionally, it is alcoholic, allowing the player to activate the Luck of the Drunk perk at will.
• While some belladonna grows in the cloister garden, it is in extremely limited quantities, making it impractical to brew Saviour Schnapps during this quest. If the player needs them, it is instead recommended to find a way to break out of the Monastery to access either the ingredients or spare Schnapps.
• If the player wishes to stash outside items and avoid potential confiscation, it is recommended to use the fratery herb chest. While many other containers are present in the Monastery, interacting with them will be considered a crime.
• If the player arrests Pious, they may still retrieve his dice by lockpicking the door to his cell and stealing it from him.

Notes

• There is an Assassin's Creed Easter egg in this quest.
• The Fake Blood from the No Rest for the Wicked quest will not work with this quest.
• The player must meet all four novices before they can question them about each other fully.
• If the player attempts to intimidate the Prior after accusing the wrong novice, he will lock Gregor in jail for one day in order to verify his true identity as Karl.
  • Once Karl's father arrives, he will attack Henry in a fury as he is kicked out of the Monastery, though the player may surrender to him to at least stop his attacks.
• If the player skips the meal where Antonius attempts to poison them, they will still be able to confront him afterwards.
  • Once the player is poisoned, using an Antidote will not prevent the poison from knocking Henry unconscious. In any case, Antonius will give the player a dose of Antidote after their confrontation, so it is not necessary to come prepared with one.