Ginger in a Pickle

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Ginger in a Pickle

Questline

Previous Quest

The Hunt Begins

Next Quest

Mysterious Ways

Quest Info

Reward

Ginger:
150
Horsemanship XP
Bernard/Sir Radzig:

175

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.

Background

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.

Quick walkthrough

• 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
• 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

Detailed walkthrough

Before leaving to question the charcoal-burners, go to Captain Bernard and get his permission to leave and continue the investigation independently. If Henry opts not to do this, Bernard will be furious the next time he sees Henry.

The southern charcoal burners

Head south to find the charcoal burner's camp. This is the closest one to Neuhof. The regular workers do not know what Henry is talking about, but the spokesman seems much more clued in. He will tell you that Ginger is probably with one of the northern charcoal-burners. If he is successfully persuaded, he will reveal that Henry is not the only one looking for Ginger and the other fellows looked unfriendly.

The northern charcoal burners

The subsequent area the player must search is quite massive and contains several kilns. First, follow the road north past Neuhof until it meets the river. The charcoal kilns of Neuhof may be found here. Once again, the workers are not helpful, though they do know who Ginger is. Unfortunately, he is not there, and most of them have denied seeing him for a while. Question or bribe the spokesman to get the information you need. If successful, he will tell that he doesn't know Ginger personally, but he does know that Ginger's friends with the twins at the camp near Talmberg.

The Talmberg charcoal burners

Follow the river west to find the camp. As it turns out, this is finally the right one, though not all is well. The Talmberg charcoal burners have recently been visited by the bandits pursuing Ginger and are terrified of sharing any information lest the bandits punish them.

Before Henry leaves, one of the burners will call him over and offer to give you more information about Ginger. If you disagree, he will get testy and double the asking price from 30 to 60 . If the charcoal burner is successfully intimidated, he will confess that Ginger is hiding in a cottage at the edge of the forest, closer to Uzhitz. He will further reveal that the twins are hiding him if successfully bribed. Only one twin is at the camp, and he will refuse to tell where the cottage is until Henry takes out the bandits.

Dealing with the bandits

The easiest way to find the bandits' camp is to cross the bridge and follow the path along the river. Take the second right and follow the path south. The camp is just before the fork. If the player listens to their conversation, they will confirm that they took part in the Neuhof attack and plan to kill Ginger when they find him.

If the bandits detect Henry, they immediately ask if he has seen their "friend" Ginger. Denying this will have them ignore Henry further, but confirming will start a fight when Henry asks about Neuhof. Once they are dead, Henry may report back to the charcoal burners for reputation gain and the location of Ginger's hideout.

Ginger's hideout

Ginger's testimony

Regardless of how Henry finds out, he eventually learns Ginger is hidden at an abandoned cottage not far from the camp. Head over there by following the path north of the camp. Turn right at a worn-out side path, which will wind towards a ruined building. Ginger immediately starts stammering excuses when he detects Henry, upon which Henry questions him.

According to Ginger, he fled because he was sure the bandits would come after him after he recognized one of them. However, he is confused about 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 bandits then fled, running straight into Ginger. A man with a limp, who Ginger recognized from Uzhitz, snatched his hoof-pick and told him to hide, implying that the limping man was the one who killed his fellow bandit.

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 grooms. Henry tries to reassure him that he would only have caused his death had he tried to stop them.

Helping Ginger home

Once the questioning is over, Henry goes to leave, but Ginger begs for his help in killing the bandits that are after him. If they have not yet done so, the player has another chance to kill the bandits, or they may lie again without persuasion. Once this is done, Ginger will admit that he still worries the people at Neuhof will reject him for running away. Henry can either tell Ginger to go home and that it will be alright or agree to go and talk to Zora.

If you tell Ginger it will be alright to go home, he will return to Neuhof immediately. Otherwise, if you decide to ask Zora first, you must return to Neuhof alone. She is suspicious that Ginger may have been involved, and even when you convince her he was not, she will not take the risk of the bandits returning. If you have taken care of them, you can convince her by saying there are no loose ends. Otherwise, either promise to have some guards stationed at Neuhof to defend them, lie that the bandits tracking him are dead, or accept her decision.

If Ginger is allowed home, return to his hut and tell him the good news. He is incredibly grateful, and he will 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.

Status report to Sir Radzig

Regardless of how the Ginger situation is resolved, return to Neuhof and tell Bernard what you've found out. He will advise you to speak to Sir Radzig, who is also waiting on-site 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 the bandits didn't attack Neuhof for silver; they attacked it to spread fear.

Strategies

• When attempting to convince the Talmberg charcoal burner spokesman to admit that Ginger is nearby, Henry may always succeed by returning after the other charcoal burner attempts to bribe him.
  • Even if he is successfully persuaded here, the spokesman requires a separate persuasion check with Speech to reveal Ginger's location immediately. Otherwise, Henry will need to take out the bandits first.
• The two bandits will not eat from their food pot and cannot be poisoned this way. However, they will take turns sleeping, which can potentially help with stealth kills.
• The player may easily lie to the bandits about not knowing Ginger - this does not require a persuasion check and will allow them to get the drop on one immediately.
• If the player does not want to fight or lie about killing the bandits, they may return to Captain Bernard and ask for help. He and another Rattay guard will fast travel with Henry to the bandits and easily defeat them.
• When the player first approaches the Talmberg charcoal burners, one of the twins will leave the camp and walk to Ginger's hut to report Henry's appearance to Ginger. Following the twin will let Henry immediately speak to Ginger.

Notes

• There is a hidden dialogue option with Andrew from the Inn in the Glade about nearby charcoal burners. A hint may be given from one of the northern or Talmberg charcoal burners, who will say that Andrew knows the location of nearby camps.
  • If asked, Andrew will rant about the charcoal burners' poor habits as customers before pointing Henry towards the northern charcoal burners as the closest ones.
• If you succeed in helping Ginger return to Neuhof, talking with him after he has returned will award the achievement "Ginger".
• Sometimes the bloody hoof-pick will remain in your inventory.
• Ginger is a protected NPC, and the bandits looking for him will not attack him. If the player manages to drag them to Ginger, they will completely ignore him and vice versa. Similarly, hostile NPCs such as other bandits or Cumans will never attack Ginger.