Pestilence

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Pestilence
Description
Quest Giver	Matthias
Location	Merhojed
Suggested items	Spade x1 Thistle x2 Valerian x1 Charcoal x1
← Quest	Baptism of Fire Mightier than the Sword (suggested)
→ Quest	Last Will and Testament Questions and Answers The Madonna of Sasau
Skill Checks	Old Straw
Reward	300 (optional)

Pestilence is a side quest in Kingdom Come: Deliverance. After the events in Baptism of Fire, the village of Merhojed is both attacked by bandits and struck with plague. It also ties into the main quest storyline, occurring simultaneously with Questions and Answers.

Henry must be literate in order to assist one of the villagers and begin Last Will and Testament. Being literate will also help to find the cure in a timely manner - time wasted chasing the wrong cure will result in villager deaths.

Background

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

Quick walkthrough

• 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.

Detailed walkthrough

Main Article: Questions and Answers.

During Questions and Answers, Henry learns that the town of Merhojed is suffering from a plague, which started the day after the raid. To successfully deal with it, he must thoroughly investigate the village for symptoms and other clues that will allow a correct diagnosis. This is important not only to save the villagers' lives, but also to treat the captured bandit, who is also affected by the plague.

The quest can be started by speaking to Henry's friend Matthias, who is lying injured in the stud farm stables. Questioning Melichar or any other villagers wandering around Merhojed will also allow Henry to start the quest. From these initial leads, Matthias and the villagers besides Melichar can be questioned about the basic details of the plague. So far it has killed all the local livestock no matter their size, and it has started to affect some of the people. Symptoms include fever, stomach pains, vomiting, and diarrhea. So far, the plague has only killed one person, Vrba, though he was already a sick old man. Nevertheless, it is clear that more people are going to die if Henry does not save them fast.

Matthias lies injured

Checking the Merhojed households

Melichar suggest that Henry speak with Johanka at the Sasau Monastery in the hopes she can help. Additionally, he mentions that he has daubed lime crosses on the doors of afflicted houses. Henry may investigate these in any order to gather more clues, though this is not strictly necessary to successfully cure Merhojed.

At the grocery on the western side of the village, Daniel can be found suffering delusions, convinced that Henry is his brother. Persuade him with Speech to keep him talking, and he will ask for water to quench his terrible thirst, another symptom of the plague.

At the house next to the stud farm, Bedrishka is mourning over her dead husband Anthony. She asks Henry's help burying his corpse, as Melichar has instructed that all bodies should be buried at once. To help Bedrishka, go to the backyard of the house and dig a grave underneath the large tree. Return to Anthony and bring his body over to bury it. Whether Henry helps or not, Bedrishka will share that her husband had a fever and stomach pains.

The animals are burnt.

Upon entering Old Straw's home, he will mistake Henry for one of the bandits and angrily attempt to defend his sick wife. Either peacefully convince him to stand down with Speech, or beat him into submission if this fails. Once Old Straw is pacified, check on his wife, who evidently has a fever like Melichar's wife.

Finally, the house on the eastern end of town is home to Vincent, who has a fever, diarrhea, and spent the previous day ranting and delusional. He asks Henry for a favour, which starts Last Will and Testament. Henry may opt to decline to his disappointment, or accept provided he is literate. In the case Henry starts that quest, Vincent will give Henry a will and his silver ring.

Speaking to Vincent

Once the player has thoroughly inspected Merhojed, some trends about the disease will become clear. The plague affects both people and animals, though it killed all the animals first and has not yet affected all the people. Additionally, its symptoms include fever, delirium, stomach pains, diarrhea and thirst. From here, the only course of action is to head to the monastery and recruit the help of Johanka.

Finding the right diagnosis

Find Johanka at the monastery infirmary and tell her about the plague. Johanka will express extra concern about Matthias' condition, and she advises Henry to speak to Brother Nicodemus about the plague, as he is more experienced with treating disease.

Nicodemus will first ask about how virulent the disease is. Tell him that half the people are infected and all the animals have died. He will then ask if Henry can identify any symptoms, and if he can read. Being literate allows the player to look through Nicodemus's books and identify the disease directly. Being illiterate or declining the help of books will instead prompt Nicodemus to ask for the symptoms so he can diagnose the condition himself. In this case, tell him about the villagers' fever, stomach pains, diarrhea, and thirst.

Brother Nicodemus finds the case "interesting".

If left to diagnose the disease himself, Nicodemus will take 24 hours before he is ready to report back. If the player gave him the correct information, he will conclude the disease was poisoning from water. Otherwise, giving him wrong or no information will result in an incorrect diagnosis and the wrong recipe for the cure.

If the player instead agrees to help go through Nicodemus's books, he is able to work out that the problem lies in the digestive tract. Nicodemus then 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.

When consulting the book, the player will be able to rule out diphtheria, dysentery and Saint Vitus dance, since those do not affect animals. Plague too can be ruled out, as there are no boils on those infected. However, the document mentions poisoning, which can affect both humans and animals. While poisoning can be caused by either gas or water, gas poisoning is marked by a rash around the nose and mouth, something absent from water poisoning. The final clue is that animals tend to succumb to water poisoning sooner than humans when both drink from the same source. With this information, the player can now go back to Nicodemus and diagnose the issue as poisoning from water.

The Brevarium entry about poisoned water.

Administering the cure

However the player or Nicodemus make a diagnosis, the next step will be to brew the Remedy for Merhojed. The player will have the option to help Nicodemus, in which case he and Johanka will head straight to Merhojed while Henry is left to brew the remedy. Otherwise, Nicodemus will take around 1 hour to brew the Remedy, after which he and Johanka will go to Merhojed

If the player opts to brew the cure, they can optionally ask Nicodemus to cure the captive first. However, he insists that he will attend to the people according to severity of their condition, and not Henry's whims.

Regardless of how the cure is brewed, return to Merhojed and find Nicodemus in Old Straw's house. Nicodemus and Henry will split doses to treat the different households: Nicodemus will attend to Straw's family, Johanka Melichar's family, and Henry the rest of the households (Daniel, Vincent, and Bedrishka.) Before Henry sets off, Nicodemus will also reveal that the peasants have refused to let him treat the bandit, preferring to let him suffer.

Curing Bedrishka

Find Melichar and tell him you brought the remedy. He will gladly allow Henry to see the bandit, and expresses his gratitude that someone cared enough to help Merhojed. At this point, make sure to treat the bandit as well, or he will die even if the villagers survive. Additionally, the player may tell Melichar their diagnosis.

Wait 2 hours for the bandit to recover enough to continue with Questions and Answers. As for the Merhojed villagers, the player will need to wait a day to confirm their recovery. Saving everyone will earn Plague doctor achievement and get Melichar to reward Henry with 300 - which the player can accept or graciously decline.

If however the player took too long to administer the correct Remedy, they will find some, or even all, of the people died. Giving the wrong cure will ensure that all the villagers die.

Strategies

• When dealing with Bedrishka and her dead husband, dig the grave first before picking up her husband, or she will call the guards.
• In case the player did not bring a spade, there are two that can be found against the wall right before exiting Bedrishka's house.
• Old Straw may only be persuaded with Speech, the Badassness option will always fail on him.
• Daniel may always be persuaded with Speech.
• Brother Nicodemus's shelf near his alchemy bench will contain all the required ingredients to brew the Remedy for Merhojed. These will not be marked as stolen, so the player is free to use them without penalty. Otherwise, the nearest vendor of charcoal is Blacksmith Zach, while thistle may be found in Nicodemus's herb garden and valerian in the pastures outside the monastery.
• Only one dose of the Remedy is needed to meet the objective, so the player can safely attempt this objective even with a low Alchemy skill.
• It is NOT necessary to help Nicodemus with diagnosing the cause or brewing the Remedy to successfully cure all the Merhojed villagers. As long as the player reported the correct symptoms to him soon after arriving in Merhojed, Nicodemus will be able to make the correct diagnosis and brew the Remedy in time to save all the villagers.
• If left to diagnose the problem himself, Nicodemus' success depends on the following factors:
  • Before reporting the symptoms, the player must correctly report how virulent the disease was:
    • About half the houses.
    • All the animals died.
  • When reporting the symptoms, the player must correctly report all symptoms:
    • Fever.
    • Stomach pains.
    • Diarrhoea.
    • Thirst.
    • Reporting any other symptoms in addition to these will fail this step.
  • If the player gave him all the correct information, Nicodemus will report the cause as poisoned water and give the correct recipe for the Remedy. Otherwise, he will report it as the plague and give the incorrect recipe.

Notes

• During this quest, the horses at Merhojed will all be dead, and Johann will not offer any for sale to the player. If the right cure was applied, they will respawn after several in-game days.
• If you fail persuasion with Old Straw, you cannot 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.
• It is possible to make the Remedy for Merhojed and run or fast travel to Merhojed before Brother Nicodemus and Johanka arrive, in which case the player must wait for them to enter Merhojed.
• Brother Nicodemus and Johanka are NOT protected while traveling to Merhojed. Since they pass through a spawn point for random skirmishes, it is possible for them to be killed by bandits or Cumans who randomly spawn there.
  • Since skirmishes are triggered by the player entering the vicinity, this will not cause issues unless Henry follows them during their trip to Merhojed.
• When prompted to create the Remedy for Merhojed at the Alchemist's bench, the objective can be met by adding one to the inventory through other means, such as console commands or equipping a previously brewed dose.
• There are two variants of the Remedy for Merhojed. The correct variant uses valerian, thistle, and charcoal, while the incorect one uses valerian and wormwood.
• The player will not receive a notification that the plague has been resolved, only if the bandit has been successfully cured.

Trivia

• This quest was once one of the most infamous quests in the game, due to the steps needed for success being very particular and prone to bugs. It had several issues that could prevent saving the village, including (but not limited to):
  • Not completing the optional objective of speaking to Matthias
  • Not speaking to all the afflicted villagers
  • Lifting Bedrishka's husband without speaking to her a second time