Ginger in a Pickle
Ginger in a Pickle is the ninth main quest in Kingdom Come: Deliverance. After discovering Ginger's bloody hoof pick lodged in the belly of one of the bandits who raided Neuhof, Henry sets out to find the flame-haired stableboy.
Synopsis
The Neuhof stud farm met with tragedy. A raiding party killed several horses and some people. The trail led me to suspect that someone from the farm may have been involved.
Objectives
- Question the charcoal-burners in the south
- Question the northern charcoal-burners
- Question the charcoal-burners near Talmberg
- Kill the bandits
- Go back to Ginger's guardians
- Report the elimination of the bandits to the charcoal-burners
- Kill the bandits
- Question the charcoal-burners near Talmberg
- Question the northern charcoal-burners
- Find Ginger, the missing Neuhof stableboy
- Go back and tell Captain Bernard what you found out from Ginger
- Report the progress of your investigation to Sir Radzig
- (Optional) I have to ask at Neuhof Stud Farm if Ginger can go back
- Tell Ginger he can come back to the farm
- Tell Ginger he can't go back to the farm
- Go back and tell Captain Bernard what you found out from Ginger
Walkthrough
Now, to find Ginger. Before you leave to question the charcoal-burners, go and find Captain Bernard and tell him what you're going to do. If not, he'll chew you up and spit you back out the next time he sees you - he's a soldier, and soldiers take a poor view of squires running off on their own missions.
Once that's settled, head south to find the charcoal burner's camp. The regular workers don't know what you're talking about, but the spokesman seems a lot more clued in. He'll tell you that Ginger is probably with one of the northern charcoal-burners - which makes sense, as Jakub last saw him heading up towards Uzhitz.
Spokesman of Rattay's Stats
|
|
|
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 3 |
If you can convince him, he'll reveal that you're not the only one looking for the stableboy, and the other hunters don't seem particularly friendly.
The area you will need to search is quite massive, and contain several kilns. To start with, follow the road north past Neuhof until it meets the river. There, you will find the charcoal kilns of Neuhof. Once again, the workers aren't very helpful, although they do at least know who Ginger is. Unfortunately, he's not there, and most of them deny having seen him in awhile. Question or bribe the spokesman to get the information you need.
Spokesman of Neuhof's Stats
|
|
|
|
|
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 3 | 9 | <25 |
He'll tell you that he doesn't know Ginger personally, but he does know that he's friends with the twins at the camp near Talmberg.
Follow the river west to find the camp, and as it turns out, this is finally the right one. However, they're not going to make it easy for you. They've recently been visited by the bandits that are pursuing Ginger, and are terrified of giving you any information, lest the bandits punish them. It is possible to lie to the spokesman or to the charcoal burner twins, otherwise agree to take out the bandits yourself.
Spokesman of Talmberg's Stats
|
|
|
|
|---|---|---|
| 8 | 4 | 9 |
In addition, one of the burners will call you over and offer to give you more information about Ginger. If you don't agree up front, he'll get testy and threaten to double the asking price (although it seems to stay at 30 ).
If you threaten him, he'll tell you that Ginger is hiding in a cottage at the edge of the forest, closer to Uzhitz. Unfortunately, that's still a rather large area.
Charcoal-burner's Stats
|
|
|
|
|
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 5 | 30 |
But if you bribe him, he will reveal that the twins are hiding him. There's only one twin at camp, and he'll refuse to tell you where the cottage is until you take out the bandits.
However, you can still lie to him, and he'll tell you where they're hiding Ginger. But you're a squire now - shouldn't you be doing the honourable thing?
Twin's Stats
| Twin #1 | Twin #2 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 0 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 10 |
The bandits are camped out somewhere nearby. To find their camp, the easiest thing to do is to cross the bridge and follow the path along the river. Take the second right (past the grave) and follow the path south. The camp is just before the fork. They'll turn up sooner or later. If you listen in to their conversation, you can confirm that they took part in the attack on Neuhof, and they're going to kill Ginger when they find him.
They must have a packed lunch though, because neither of them eat from the pot (so don't waste your Bane potion or poison). However, they do sleep for short periods, which can make it easier to take one out and then fight the other.
Alternatively, if you don't feel like trekking around the woods after them, just take a little nap at their camp. They'll turn up sooner or later, and wake you to ask if you've seen their "friend" Ginger. If you tell them you've never heard of him, they'll go on their way - the perfect opportunity to take one out from behind. Alternatively, tell them you're also looking for Ginger. But then Henry will ask about Neuhof, and they'll attack. Beware - they're hardened criminals and put up one hell of a fight.
Of course, there's an even easier solution - once you hear about the bandits, go back to Neuhof and ask for Captain Bernard's help. He's much better at tracking and will take you straight to them. Not only that, but his superior fighting skills will make short work of them.
Pacifist players may wish to get on a horse after the fight with these bandits has started and trot towards Neuhof. The bandits will be lured and Neuhof guards will take care of them.
Once the bandits are dead (or once you've convinced the charcoal-burners that they're dead), they'll give you the location of Ginger's hideout. Apparently, he's hidden at an abandoned cottage, not far from the camp. Head over there and enter the ruined building, where Ginger is hiding. He will immediately start stammering excuses, but cut to the case and find out what you need.
According to Ginger, he fled because he was sure the bandits would come after him after he recognized one of them. However, he's confused as to why Henry thinks he killed one of the thugs. After the slaughter began, Ginger stood petrified and unnoticed as some of the bandits began to quarrel, as they had been told it was to be a robbery, not a massacre. The robber-bandits then fled, running straight into a terrified Ginger. A man with a limp, who Ginger recognized from Uzhitz, snatched his hoof-pick and told him to hide - the limping man must have killed his fellow bandit, not the stable hand.
Ginger took his advice and hid until morning, only emerging after the bandits were long gone, then promptly fled Neuhof himself. He has been racked with guilt since that night, blaming himself for the deaths of Smil and the other stableboys. Henry tries to reassure him that he would only have caused his own death had he tried to stop them.
Once the questioning is over, Henry goes to leave, but Ginger begs for his help in killing the bandits that are after him. If you haven't already, lie again, or go find the suspicious pair. If you've already killed them, then Ginger will tell you that he fears the people at Neuhof will reject him for running away. You can either tell Ginger to go home and see what they say, or agree to go and talk to Zora for him.
If you do decide to help, you'll need to go back and see Zora. She is suspicious that he may have been involved, and even when you convince her he wasn't, she won't take the risk that the bandits will return. If you've taken care of them, she will agree that he can come back. Otherwise, either promise to have some guards stationed at Neuhof to defend them, lie that the bandits tracking him are dead (or, you know, stop lying and just kill them, or get Bernard to do it for you) or accept her decision. Ginger will be disappointed, but will leave for places unknown.
If he's allowed home, head back to Ginger's hut and tell him the good news. He is incredibly grateful, and he'll tell you to come and see him the next time you are in Neuhof, where he will give you 150 and some Horsemanship XP points. Otherwise, don't talk to Zora at all - tell Ginger it'll all be alright and he'll make his own way home.
Once the Ginger situation is taken care of, go and speak to the captain and tell him what you've found out. He'll advise you to speak to Sir Radzig, who is waiting at Neuhof for your report.
Sir Radzig will agree that the limping man in Uzhitz is your best bet, and advises you to track him down immediately, before he flees and the trail goes cold.
Radzig himself will go to his camp near Merhojed, which is not only more central, but also has a stud farm that could be hit next. Henry questions why Merhojed could be a target, as it's sparsely populated and quite poor, to which the Lord points out that they didn't attack Neuhof for silver, they attacked it to spread fear.
Notes
- If you succeed in helping Ginger return to Neuhof, talking with him 24 hours after he has returned will award the achievement "Ginger".
- Sometimes the bloody hoof-pick will remain in your inventory.
- It's unknown what happens if you send Ginger back to Neuhof without getting rid of the bandits. He's about to walk straight through their territory, one imagines that at least some of the time, they catch him.
- If you speak with the Suspicious men-at-arms, but don't tell them that you are looking for Ginger, and then kill them, there will only be the option to lie to the Charcoal Burners, despite the fact you indeed killed them. Moreover, once you speak with Ginger he will ask you to kill the bandits, and you will have to. Sure enough, one of the bandits, the one you interact with, will have been "ressurected" (Jesus Christ be praised), and you will have to kill him once again.
- The ressurected bandit will only have the items you did not loot from him.
- If you visit the Talmberg charcoal burners at around 09:30am, one of the twins will leave the camp and walk to Ginger's hut to report Henry's apperance to Ginger. This way you can find the location even if you somehow manage not to get this info out of the charcoal burners.
ru:Рыжий между двух огней