Kingdom Come Deliverance 2: For Whom the Bell Tolls
For Whom the Bell Tolls is a challenging quest with a time limit, during which you have no access to your inventory. On this page of the tutorial we described how to explore Troski's castle, get to Captain Thomas at the top of the tower and save John Bird from execution.
For Whom the Bell Tolls is the most unusual main quest in Kingdom Come 2. In this quest, you'll be deprived of your entire equipment and you'll be stuck in the Trosky Castle. It is also time-limited: you need to reach Captain Thomas at the top of the tower and save Hans Capon from execution before the bell tolls for the twelfth time. On this guide page, we explain how to obtain a fever tonicum and reach the top of the Maiden Tower.
- How to infiltrate the castle?
- How to get lock picks?
- How to get to the kitchen?
- How to get a fever tonicum?
- How to get to Thomas?
How to infiltrate the castle?
Related map marker: For Whom the Bells Tolls @ Trosky
The quest will begin once you're released from the cell to work off your sentence. You have twelve hours (twelve bell tolls) to reach the top of the Maiden Tower and heal Captain Thomas, the only witness who can save Hans Capon. As a prisoner, however, you are guarded and you cannot enter other parts of the castle without permission.
To save Capon, you must get to the surgeon's room, then brew or steal a fever tonicum, then get to the top of the Maiden Tower and give the tonicum to Thomas. On the way, you may come across optional tasks for people in the castle. Completing these tasks will allow you to freely explore certain areas of the castle. Alternatively, you'll receive some additional information.
How to get lock picks?
There's only one path to the top of the Maiden Tower, but depending on how well-read your Henry is (Knowledge, Survival and Speech over Level 10 should be enough), you will either be able to pass through it freely or you will have to sneak. In both paths, however, you will most likely need at least one lock pick. There are two ways to acquire them and both are related to the blacksmith, with whom you can speak once you're done with carrying the bags.
- After forging a horseshoe for the blacksmith, talk to Fanka, the cook standing in front of the forge. She asked you for help in opening a chest. Let the blacksmith know about this and he will tell you where to find his personal lockpick: it's in a red vase on a shelf in the forge (grab the charcoal from the vase too, it may come in handy later when brewing a potion). You can take it earlier, but it will be considered theft and you will likely be noticed.
- You can get more lock picks from Kabat, the hired hand. Follow the blacksmith's instructions, bring him the horseshoe you forged yourself and ask about its past so that he allows you to purchase it (to be able to afford it, you will either have to steal money or sell items to Saddler Matthew, whom you can find between the castle and the gallows). Then, you need to bring the blacksmith a rosary from Father Nicodemus, which you will exchange for three lock picks. You can win the rosary in a dice game or steal it by pickpocketing. Alternatively, you can skip all these steps and simply steal the lock picks from Kabat by pickpocketing (wait until no one is around him).
How to get to the kitchen?
The first step will always be the same: you will have to get to the kitchen. First, however, you must carry three bags from the cart to the coal shed nearby, in the outer courtyard of the castle. Once you're done with it, go to the blacksmith, who will give you the next task: forging a horseshoe and delivering it to Kabat. This way, you will be allowed to enter the inner courtyard.
Now you'll have two possible paths to choose from. We'll describe the easier one first. Forge a horseshoe for the blacksmith (the materials for the horseshoe and the blueprint you need to read are all inside the chest in the forge) and show it to him. Next, talk to the cook Fanka, who will ask you for help in opening the spice chest. You will need a lock pick - we described how to get it above. After obtaining the lockpick, talk to the cook and follow her to the kitchen, to the chest with spices. Open a very easy lock. This way, you will gain access to the kitchen.
The second path is more challening: go to the gallows and talk to Kolda, the hired hand, who is sawing wood. He will ask you to go to the shed nearby, take his axe, sharpen it on the grinding wheel right next to it and bring it back to him. In return, he will tell you about the secret entrance in the well, leading to the underground. Interact with the well in the outer courtyard twice to jump inside. As a result, you will lose half of your health and you'll start to stink. You will have to wash yourself in a tub afterwards to avoid attracting the attention of the guards while sneaking around.
Pick up a torch from the ground and go through the tunnel until you reach the door that will lead you right next to Hans Capon cell. Talk to him through the door and ask him to distract the guard. Enter the empty torture chamber opposite the cell. When the guard approaches the singing Hans, sneak into the open room next door. Go up the stairs to reach the kitchen: here, you can walk around freely.
How to get a fever tonicum?
Talk to Ulrich, the sick chamberlain, in the kitchen. This is going to be the most important conversation in this entire quest: if you diagnose the chamberlain correctly, you will be able to move around almost the entire castle freely. First, you have to convince him to let you make a diagnosis (Knowledge or Speech: Medium), and then pass at least three out of four skill checks (Speech: Easy, Survival: Easy, 2x Knowledge: Medium). This will allow you to diagnose the chamberlain with a stomach disease and he will allow you to go to the surgeon's room to prepare a medicine for him.
If you fail to diagnose the chamberlain, you will have to sneak into the surgeon's room. First, go up to the higher floor of the kitchen, where you will find food in an empty pantry: steal a piece of bread or dried meat from a basket. Exit the kitchen through the main entrance and go to the opposite end of the courtyard. Go upstairs using the external stairs and talk to the guard behind the doors. Let him know about the chamberlain's permission or give him the food you've just stolen. Then, you'll be able to sneak past him while he's eating.
On the way to the top floor of the building, you may encounter a single guard - if necessary, hide in the adjacent room and wait for him to go downstairs before proceeding further. Eventually, you will end up in the surgeon's room, where you will meet Katherine. You'll need to convince her to tell you where to find the surgeon's notes and the already prepared potions (Theft or Persuasion: Medium; threatening to turn her in to the chamberlain will be more effective than the other option).
Pick up the surgeon's notes from the shelf and read them to get the digestive potion and fever tonicum recipes. You can now brew them at the alchemy station: all the ingredients are in the chest right next to it, locked with a very simple lock. If you don't want to brew potions, which can take about two bell tolls, you can also steal them from chests in the adjacent room. They are locked and you have to steal the key from one of the maids hanging around nearby.
How to get to Thomas?
After preparing the fever tonicum (and the digestive potion, if you want to help the chamberlain), leave the building and return to the courtyard. You can deliver the potion to the chamberlain to gain free access to the Maiden Tower. Otherwise, you will have to sneak there. Keep climbing up the stairs in the kitchen to eventually reach the tower - there are two guards on the way. This is the only entrance to the tower, so if you don't have the chamberlain's permission, you'll have to sneak through: the staircase is very narrow, so it can be really challenging. We strongly recommend giving the potion to the chamberlain and obtaining his permission.
At the top of the tower, you will meet Captain Thomas and his sister, who's taking care of him. Give her the fever tonicum to finish the quest. At the very last minute, Hans Capon will be taken off the scaffold and his identity will be confirmed. This will immediately start the next quest.
More about the walkthrough:
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