The Hunt Begins
The Hunt Begins is the eighth main quest in Kingdom Come: Deliverance. There have been reports of an attack on the Neuhof stud farm, and Henry is asked to accompany Sir Bernard as he investigates.
Background
Someone raided the Neuhof stud farm, and Sir Radzig has sent me there along with a squad of his men to investigate what actually happened.
Quick walkthrough
- Go and report to Captain Bernard in the courtyard
- Mount your new horse
- Follow the men to Neuhof
- Talk to Sir Bernard
- Find out where the raiders went
- (Optional) Scout the area
- (Optional) Question the survivors
- Explore the area to the north of the farm
- Explore the clearing in the woods
- Search the bandit
- Explore the clearing in the woods
- Explore the area to the north of the farm
- Find out where the raiders went
- Mount your new horse
- Find the owner of the hoof-pick from Neuhof
- Find out from Jakub where Ginger could have fled
Detailed walkthrough
After Henry rescues Sir Hans Capon from the Cumans and is officially promoted to Sir Radzig's service, Captain Bernard arrives with troubling news: the Neuhof stud farm has been raided by bandits led by Runt, resulting in several deaths. As a reward for his loyalty, Henry is given a horse, Pebbles, and is instructed to ride with Captain Bernard to Neuhof. Bernard will not wait for Henry, so the player must either set off immediately or get organized quickly to avoid missing out on parts of the investigation and the chance to catch any bandits still in the area.
Neuhof investigation
Upon arriving at Neuhof, Captain Bernard and his men cautiously enter the courtyard, where signs of a struggle are visible. Bernard questions a blood-covered survivor who can only stammer that the bodies are in the paddock. Gameplay: If Henry does not arrive with Captain Bernard, the investigation proceeds without him, potentially losing clues or opportunities to interact with the characters.
As Henry walks through the stables, he witnesses the full extent of the carnage: dead horses, smoldering stables, and the bodies of Franta, a stablehand, and Master Smil. Smil’s widow, Zora, is crouched in shock beside her husband’s body. Henry can approach Zora to initiate a conversation, providing crucial details about the attack.
Zora explains that bandits broke into the stables, hamstrung the horses, and killed several workers, including Smil and Radek, who attempted to stop them. After the killings, the bandits set fire to the stables. She also recounts how she and the remaining stablehands, including Mark, had to put down the surviving horses due to their injuries. When Bernard asks if anything was stolen or if Smil had any enemies, Zora cannot provide a motive for the attack. While questioning Zora, the player should pay attention to details about the raiders' behavior, which will provide context for later parts of the quest.
Searching for clues
Frustrated with the lack of solid leads, Captain Bernard orders his men to search for tracks and question the locals. Henry volunteers to help, but Bernard initially dismisses him. However, after some persuasion, Henry is allowed to participate, with Bernard warning him to stay close, not interfere, and report back when the search is complete. The player character must choose the correct dialogue options to convince Bernard to allow Henry to investigate. Failing to do so may result in a more limited role in the investigation.
The first step in the investigation is to inspect the dead horses and bodies. Henry should then speak to Zora again, who will reveal more details about the raid. She tells Henry that the bandits were Czech, not Cuman, and they appeared to be arguing. Unfortunately, she did not see anyone fitting Runt's description. Zora's information is vital for narrowing down the attackers' identity, so the player should exhaust all dialogue options during this conversation.
Questioning the stablehands
Next, approach Jakub, a stablehand near the stable doors. Jakub is injured and furious that the soldiers didn’t arrive in time. A successful persuasion will calm him down, though he will provide some background information even without this.
Jakub recounts how he attacked one of the bandits, later revealed to be Runt, but was injured in the process. If Henry succeeded in persuasion, he would suggest checking for any knocked-down fences or gates to see where the bandits escaped.
Henry then talks to Mark, who is sitting near a wagon and visibly traumatized. A successful persuasion will calm him down; otherwise, he will refuse to talk to Henry. If calmed down, Mark explains how Smil tried to fight off the bandits before being killed. Mark eventually confirms that the bandits fled north into the woods after an argument.
Finally, speak to Ginger, another stablehand standing near the stable door. However, Ginger claims not to have seen anything. Even though Ginger is uncooperative now, make sure to speak to him, as he becomes a key figure later in the quest.
Tracking the bandits
Based on the clues from Jakub and/or Mark, the investigation now takes Henry to the farm's northern perimeter, where, sure enough, a broken fence can be found. At the main gate, you will find a bag of flour on the ground and some tracks leading away from the stables. Inspect the flour bag and tracks carefully to unlock a map marker showing where the bandits fled. Follow the tracks north toward the woods. You can track the bandits alone or return to Captain Bernard. If you choose to return to Bernard, he will assign Ruda, a guard, to accompany you.
Follow the path through the woods until you reach a fork in the road. Here, you will hear the sound of voices. If you arrive at Neuhof quickly enough, you will encounter two bandits — one is injured, and the other is about to mercy kill him. You can stealthily approach them to gain an advantage in combat. Once the bandits are defeated, search their bodies. You will find a bloody hoof-pick on one of them. The hoof-pick is a key piece of evidence. Take it back to the Neuhof stablehands to progress the quest.
Return to Neuhof and show the bloody hoof-pick to both Mark and Zora. They will identify it as belonging to Ginger, who is now missing. Speak with Jakub again. He will tell you that Ginger fled north but is friends with some charcoal burners to the south, who may know more about his location. This opens up the next stage of the quest, where you will track down Ginger.
Report back to Captain Bernard, who will permit you to continue the investigation independently. Completing this step allows you to investigate Ginger’s whereabouts freely by following up with the charcoal burners. Failing to gather all the clues or reporting incomplete findings may cause the investigation to stall.
Strategies
- If you have the First Aid II perk, you may select the option to bandage Jakub’s arm.
- The Badassness option will always work on Mark.
- Having Ruda investigate the northern woods makes the upcoming combat easier, but this step is optional. Ruda can easily kill the hostile bandit to preserve the Merciful achievement.
- While not essential for the quest, it is recommended that you be diligent in reporting back to Bernard. He takes his responsibility for the investigation (and Henry's whereabouts) seriously.
Notes
- When the player character investigates Neuhof, Henry can gain extra speech XP by talking to the guard near the corpse by the pond and inspecting the carious horse cadavers and blood stains. Henry mumbling to himself also gives XP for speech.
- Even if Henry already owns a horse, it is necessary to mount Pebbles to satisfy the objective.
- The two bandits north of Neuhof are wearing the quieter version of the Padded chausses. This is one of the earliest opportunities to get one of those if you want to use stealth armour.
- If the player character catches the start of the bandits' conversation, they will mention Ginger by name. This will give some extra dialogue options and speech experience later.
- The dying bandit in the woods is wrongly classified as a civilian, so all items, except the hoof pick you loot from him, will be marked stolen.
- If the player character tells Captain Bernard about what happened in the clearing before finishing the investigation, he will run off to investigate there with several Rattay soldiers. Additionally, he will remind you that you should have searched the bandits if you did not find the bloody hoof-pick at this stage.
- If the player character runs off for more than a day after arriving at Neuhof before speaking to Captain Bernard, he will get angry at you for running off, making you lose your reputation. He will also inform you they have already found the dying bandit and his friend without you.
- Bernard will also get angry if you do not report to him before leaving to investigate the charcoal burners, even if you reported to him at previous stages of the investigation. Regardless of this happening, you may always continue with the quest after being chewed out by Bernard.