Robber Baron
Robber Baron is a side quest in Kingdom Come: Deliverance, given by Sir Hanush after the side quest Clothes Make the Man, in an attempt to teach Henry and Hans a bit of responsibility.
Synopsis
It´s not unusual for family quarrels to get blown out of proportion, though they usually end with nothing worse than bruised feelings. Not so in the case of Captain Bernard´s kin! Two of his cousins are feuding so fiercely that one is lying seriously wounded in Rattay and the other is pillaging farms around Neuhof with his band of renegades. Sir Hanush has sent me and Lord Capon on a punitive expedition to deal with the robber baron. Captain Bernard will naturally be leading the corps himself.
Objectives
- (Optional) Go to Bernard and join the squad.
- (Optional) Meet up with the corps in the camp.
- Talk to Captain Bernard.
- Find Wolflin´s encampment.
- Scout out the south farm
- (Optional) Bring the farmer's wife at least three bandages for her husband (0/3)
- Follow the trail of blood
- Scout out the northern farm.
- (Optional) Report the position of the encampment to Sir Bernard
- Kill Wolfin of Kamberg
- Talk to Bernard
- Go back to Rattay and report to Sir Hanush.
- Talk to Bernard
- Kill Wolfin of Kamberg
- Try to parley. Put on Sir Bernard's colors and go unarmed.
- Follow the guard into the camp
- Go back and report to Captain Bernard.
- Go back to Rattay and report to Sir Hanush.
- Go back and report to Captain Bernard.
- Follow the guard into the camp
- (Optional) Report the position of the encampment to Sir Bernard
Walkthrough
After Hans and Henry are chewed out by Sir Hanush during Clothes Make the Man, he tells them that Sir Milota of Oleshna, a distant cousin of Sir Bernard's recently arrived in Rattay, seriously wounded, after his fortress was attacked by Wolflin of Kamberg, another cousin. Milota pursued him as far as Neuhof but was badly beaten. As the skirmish took place in Hanush's territory, and Wolfin is still pillaging the countryside, Hanush is determined that he be stopped - without bloodshed. Hans is gleeful at the chance to prove himself to his uncle by ridding the land of bandits. If you plan on negotiating, keep your new noble clothes with - they'll come in handy boosting your stats. Just don't get them dirty.
Hans heads straight down to the courtyard, where Bernard is waiting. Get what you need quickly and speak to him, because he won't wait for you, and they will head to the campsite to the north of the Inn in the Glade.
Along the way, Bernard and Hans discuss his Kamberg relatives, and the rumours of a curse that plague the family - Wolfin is even said to be the spawn of the Devil himself. Suddenly, Bernard pulls up the party, having spotted two of his scouts, hung from a tree. They continue on to their camp, where Henry can question the captain further about his cursed kin. Bernard then asks Henry to investigate two nearby farms where Wolfin was spotted - one to the north, and one to the south. Either one will lead to you learning the location of the Bandit camp.
The farmer of the Northern farm originally claims that Wolfin hasn't been at there, but Henry is suspicious of their behavior. Meanwhile, his wife tells Henry that two or three men came, and her husband made her hide inside while he spoke with them. Henry is suspicious and tries to convince her to tell him the truth.
Eventually she caves, or else speak to the farmer again to catch him in the lie. She reveals that they came to the farm and stole some food, and she offered them medical assistance to appease them. Henry can then insist that she lead him to the camp.
Wife's Stats
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| 12-16 | 10-13 | 3-5 |
Alternatively, head to the southern farm, where the farmer, Lumir, is lying unconscious and badly beaten. The farmer's wife will tell Henry that her husband ran after the bandits, catching one of them with his sickle along the way, but was beaten black and blue and now lies at death's door. Ask the worried wife where the bandits went and she'll tell you.
Before you go, it would be nice of you to give the woman 3 bandages, and she will offer you 325 
(she will insist you take it anyway so might as well at least pretend to be noble and decline).
Follow the small track north, where you will see splashes of blood along the path, until you come to a small tent with a blood-soaked garment lying on a fallen white tree behind it. Follow the path north-east, noticing the bloody hand-prints on a white tree and several more puddles of blood or bloodied clothing, as the path curves north and you get to a creek. There, you will find Wolfin’s camp.
Once you have located the camp, go back to Sir Bernard and report what you have found. After all, there are nearly a dozen bandits, so you'll have a hard time taking them out yourself - but if you do, Bernard will be agast that you went into the camp alone. Hanush will be pleased that the issue has been resolved though. There's no negotiating with Wolfin by yourself either, as the bandits will all attack you on sight. If you're going in, be prepared for a fight.
On the other hand, if you do decide to go for backup, Bernard is waiting with reinforcements and decides it would be best if Wolfin was caught and hung. Henry has two options - the first is to attack the camp with Bernard and his men. A tip is to keep to the left side of the fight, taking out the archers. This will decrease the difficulty of the fight if your skills are low, and looting the camp will net you a few groschen.
If for some reason the battle is lost (likely if Henry undersells the number of enemies they face), the defeated Rattay group retreats back to camp where Bernard sends you to report the failure to Hanush; if you ask about Wolflin possibly giving chase to finish you all off, Bernard seems certain that his cousin will not and will leave the province to cause havoc elsewhere. Hanush is predictably less than pleased that the robber baron has cheated death once again and declines to give you a reward.
Once the battle is over and with Bernard's group victorious, return to Rattay and report your victory to Sir Hanush, who will praise your efforts and reward you with the Magdeburg cuirass.
Alternatively, convince Bernard to negotiate.
Bernard's Stats
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|---|---|---|
| 6 | 8-9 | 20-21 |
If Henry is able to convince Bernard to allow him to parley, Bernard will give him a Oleshnitz waffenrock so that Wolfin will know Henry is representing Bernard. Hans thinks the idea is batty and you'll end up with your head in a bag, but doesn't try to stop you. Leave your weapons at camp but wear whatever clothes you need to boost your stats, as Wolfin is hard to negotiate with. Walk into the camp and allow yourself to be escorted to Wolfin, who recognizes your colours and asks what his cousin has to say.
You may want to take this opportunity to speak to Wolfin about why he is attacking his Oleshna kin, and Wolfin has a very different story to tell than Sir Bernard. Nevertheless, he cannot be allowed to go free without returning what was stolen. Henry has four propositions to present to Wolfin (who is hard to beat, so might want to take a Bard potion or Amor potion before you start negotiating.)
Wolfin's Stats
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| 14 | 16 | 17 |
You can convince the bandit to leave the loot behind, however if your stats aren't good enough you might need to settle for him leaving with it. But, if you are a skilled negotiator, you can convince Wolfin not just to leave his ill gotten spoils, but to pay compensation to Hanush. If Hanush gets the loot back, he'll reward you with a Magdeburg cuirass - but Bernard will be a little disappointed to be denied his revenge on his shameful cousin.
Alternatively, you can duel ... to the death. Wolfin notes that if Henry wins, his men will leave the loot and go home, but questions what Bernard will do if Henry loses. Henry points out that at least Wolfin wont lose his honour by refusing an honourable duel, and Wolfin agrees to fight. After you kill Wolfin the whole camp attacks you - seemingly disregarding Wolfin's earlier promises - so you will likely have to flee. Bernard doesn't like that you disobeyed him and orders his men to hunt down the remaining bandits. Hanush on the other hand is pleased, commends you on your courage, and you'll get the Magdeburg cuirass.
Notes
- Warning: This quest with its related achievement and the related quest Clothes Make the Man cannot be started or completed after going past the point of no return in The Die is Cast.
- After finishing this quest, Sir Hans Capon may continue to wear his plate armor for several in-game days before switching back to his standard attire. The time it takes for his outfit to reset may vary.
- There are two unique items that can be obtained during this quest:
- Oleshnitz waffenrock: After finding the bandit encampment, Captain Bernard can be persuaded to let you parley with Wolflin, if done so, he gives you the Oleshnitz waffenrock, as a way to pique Wolflin's interest in speaking.
- Heavy shield (Blazing Heart variant): Wolflin carries a unique variant of the Heavy shield. To obtain it, Wolflin must die, either by duel, or battle.
- Alternatively, after peacefully resolving the quest, but before returning to Bernard or Hanush, Wolflin can be knocked out with the Takedown perk, and the shield taken. For best results, stealthily kill or knock out the camp before hand, or attempt to lure him away. However, you can slaughter everyone in the camp besides Wolflin even before Bernard orders you to scout out, since at this point, Wolflin would most likely flee from the crowd for some reason when you are trying to fight other bandits in his encampment (shooting from horseback is a very good option here, run away if Wolflin comes down to chase you), which makes it much easier to leave him alone for the parley afterward - chock him after the conversation and take anything you want.
- If the Charisma choice was successfully used against Wolflin, Henry can relay Wolfin's greetings and offer to ride against Sigismund when the time comes to Sir Radzig, and get an entertaining story about Wolfin's service to Sir Radzig involving a siege and crossdressing. It is unclear if this has any other effect beyond a little lore and entertainment.
- It appears you can't tell Sir Hanush about Milota's actions, even if you say you will during the Speech check (Leave the loot -> Sir Hanush -> He didn't know)
- If using a mace with appropriately high strength and agility stats, it is relatively easy to trounce the entire camp single-handedly if approaching the camp from the southern farm. The one or two patrol bandits can easily be disposed off by bow and arrow and the rest can be lured out by firing an arrow at the camp. The forest has ample choke points to dispatch of the attackers one by one without getting swamped. Wolflin will usually remain back in the camp and can be taken care of in a 1-on-1 fight after killing his bandits.