Damsel in Distress

Damsel in Distress is a side quest in Kingdom Come: Deliverance. During All that Glisters, Henry will learn that a bathmaid named Esther was kidnapped by counterfeiters to blackmail her sweetheart, Florian. Florian requests that Henry rescue Esther in exchange for helping him with Henry's investigation of the counterfeiters.

Background

Every little boy dreams of becoming a knight in shining armour and rescuing a princess from a tower. I never thought that dream would come true for me... well, sort of. I'm not a knight, it's not a princess I have to rescue, but a bathhouse wench, and she's not locked away in a tower but on top of a hill.

Simple walkthrough

• Find the place where Esther is being held.
  • Save Esther.
    • Lead Esther to away (sic) from the kidnapper's camp
    • Talk to Esther
      • Talk with Florian about Esther.

Detailed walkthrough

Esther is held by three bandits at a camp in the hills south of Skalitz. The player may attempt to stealthily extract her by picking the lock without being seen, or simply attack and defeat the bandits upfront.

Henry rescues Esther

If the player manages to force one of Esther's kidnappers to surrender, they may question him to learn about a second, easier entrance into the counterfeiter's workshop.

In any case, after the player has secured Esther, she will accuse Florian of being in league with the villains. Here, Henry can either defend the apprentice or throw him under the bus. Afterwards, the player may escort Esther home with fast travel, or tell her to return by herself.

Strategies

• If the player attempts to free Esther stealthily, they will need to sneak far enough from the camp with her first before they can safely talk with her about returning to Sasau.
  • In this case, Esther will not move if the player strays too far.
  • For obvious reasons, it is recommended to attempt this at night if the player opts for the stealth approach. Two of the three bandits will sleep at a time, and the last one will often patrol far from Esther's shed.
• The combat approach is generally recommended unless the player is going for the Merciful achievement. The bandits are poorly equipped, especially relative to a typical player at this stage in the game.

Notes

• Esther is NOT protected while traveling to Sasau. Since there are two spawn points for random skirmishes along the route she takes, it is possible for her to be killed by bandits or Cumans that randomly spawn there.
  • Since skirmishes are triggered by the player entering the vicinity, this will not cause issues unless Henry follows Esther during her trip to Sasau.
• If Esther dies, Florian will be devastated and the player will fail the quest. However, with the bandits' leverage gone, he will assist Henry in completing All that Glisters.
• If the player kills the bandits without looting their keys, they will launch Lost and Found, allowing them to collect the keys in Rattay.