After completing the prologue and making your way to Troskowitz, you may find yourself keen to return to Bozhena’s hut - either to repay your debt or, more likely, while pass by on the quest Mutt. If you talk to Bozhena, however, you’ll find that all has not gone well since you left. This page will provide a walkthrough for the side quest Bad Blood in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2.

Page Breakdown¶

Starting Bad Blood¶

As mentioned above, all you have to do to start this quest is talk to Bozhena any time after the main quest events in Troskowitz. In your absence, Pavlena has gone missing, and she’s been away long enough to cause Bozhena to worry. Bozhena doesn’t have regular visitors, nor are there authorities she can seek help from, and you kinda owe her one for saving your life. In any event, she’ll ask for your help in tracking Pavlena down - accept to start this quest and you’ll be pointed back to Troskowitz, where Pavlena was selling baskets.

Before you head back to Troskowitz, a word about how this quest plays out - if you play your cards right, no combat will be involved. There are, however, many, many speech checks and they range from borderline essential to mere time-savers. Talk through things and you stand to earn a good bit of reputation (and Speech EXP), but this may require some preparation on your part. Wearing nice, clean clothes to boost your Charisma is a good idea, and you can further tip the odds in your favor by brewing or buying a Fox Potion and putting on some perfume (the alchemist Troskowitz sells Fox Potions and recipes for perfume - Lion perfume is easier to craft and grants a greater effect, although you may need to reapply due to its short duration). You don’t have to talk your way through every encounter, but it’s a distinct option and arguably results in a better ending, so a little prep can go a long way.

Search Pavlena’s Room¶

Before you leave, you can do a bit of sleuthing around the hut itself. Head inside and climb the stairs to reach Pavlena’s room, where you can search some clothes on a stool, a half-finished basket and an archery target to surmise that if Pavlena left, she didn’t plan to do so in advance. A minor clue, but it’s one less objective to worry about.

Ask About Pavlena in Troskowitz¶

Prepare yourself or not, then head back to Troskowitz, the whole of which is a search area. There are numerous leads to follow, but first they must be uncovered, and just about everybody in town has something to say, helpful or not. Instead of being daunted by the seeming enormity of the task ahead, we’ll cover the important leads, how to learn about them, and how to resolve them:

Learn About Roman¶

You can talk to just about everybody in Troskowitz now, including the normally uninteresting hired hands and housemaids. Most of them don’t know about Pavlena or have nothing interesting to say, but some named and unnamed characters should eventually point you in the direction of a woodcutter named Roman. Gerda, who can be found near the alchemist’s shop, should tell you about Roman, but she’s not the only character who can, so just ask around until you get the info you need.

Talk to Woodcutter Dushko¶

After you’ve learned about the Pavlena-Roman connection, head to the eastern end of Troskowitz and search the streets near the tailor’s shop and butcher’s shop and you should hear a man calling out for Roman. This is Woodcutter Dushko, and he’s surprisingly the most important lead in this quest. Talk to him and you’ll learn that Roman and Pavlena are an item, Roman - normally a reliable, hard worker - hasn’t shown up for work, and that Dushko has cause to suspect the two may have eloped. After this he’ll go mum, having almost revealed confidential information - be sure to succeed at the speech check here to learn about Pavlena’s condition. This is crucial information for the quest and will help you in a few dialog choices later, and almost single-handedly can allow you to resolve some encounters.

Woodcutter Dushko will recommend you search Roman’s house for clues, a task too disreputable for him to do, but you can succeed at a Speech check here to convince him to give you 25 groschen for taking the risk. This speech check is less important, but it’s some free coin if you can pass it.

Ask the Bailiff about Pavlena¶

You can now break into Roman’s house to search for clues, and while you’ll need to do this eventually, let’s finish off the leads in Troskowitz, first. Talk to Svatya Thrush - a guard patrolling around town - and while he doesn’t know anything, he’ll refer you to Bailiff Thrush. Again, other characters may do this instead of Svatya Thrush, but Svatya should be a surefire way of getting this lead.

Talk to Bailiff Thrush about Pavlena (he’s also wandering around town, but sometimes he can be found taking a break between the scribe’s house and the tavern) and he’ll give you a few more details about the botched birthing that got Bozhena exiled and Roman’s family situation, but more importantly, it’s another lead crossed off.

Talk to Jezhek the Cooper¶

You can learn about Jezhek from numerous sources, like most leads in this quest. A jealous would-be ex-suit of Pavlena’s, you’ll find him at the tavern or chopping wood along the southwestern edge of Troskowitz. Talk to him and he’ll tell you he’s soured on Pavlena, and if you question his injuries he’ll point you in the direction of the tavern. Another lead checked off, but this forces us to ask around the tavern.

Talk to Innkeeper Betty¶

Head over to the tavern and talk to Innkeeper Betty, who, as should be expected of an innkeeper, has plenty to say about the situation. She’ll clear Jezhek of any wrong-doing while giving him no praise whatsoever and will tell you to talk to Jakesh to learn more about what got Bozhena exiled.

Ask Jakesh About Bozhena’s Past¶

The final lead you should need to follow is Jakesh, who has a farm along the southern edge of the town. He’ll either be working the fields there or praying at a grave nearby. Talk to him and you’ll learn his side of the story, which is mostly useful for lore purposes and to finally clear the quest objective for searching around Troskowitz, but Jakesh is also a character you’ll need to return to later, so touching base with him now isn’t a bad idea.

Search Roman’s House¶

Now that you’ve pursued all the leads in Troskowitz, it’s time to attempt the first potentially dangerous part of this quest by searching Roman’s house. From the road south of the tailor’s shop head east - Roman’s house will be the first house on the right (southern) side of the road ahead. You can attempt to pick the locked front door on the southern face of the south (very easy) or you can climb a ladder to reach the attic on the eastern side of the house. Just keep an eye out and make sure nobody is nearby and make your move and consider quaffing a Saviour Schnapps in case something goes awry. You might also want to wait until things are less busy - early morning and night being the easiest time for sneaky endeavors.

If you entered via the attic, just go west and descend a ladder to reach the front door. Now that we’re at the same spot, whichever means of illegal entry we chose, note there are two doors to the east, either of which have anything interesting behind them. Go through the door to the west to find evidence at a glance that suggests if Pavlena and Roman planned to run off, the fruition of those plans weren’t imminent. Investigate the stool to confirm this information, then exit the house via whatever means you prefer and talk to Dushko again, who will tell you about Pavlena and Roman’s favorite hookup spot, which you need to investigate next.

Find the Clearing Dushko Mentioned¶

The clearing where Roman and Pavlena meet up is south, southeast of Roman’s house, and you can follow Dushko’s directions or you can just head to the map marker. Follow the stream near Roman’s house south until you find the stream obstructed by debris. Cross this natural bridge and head southeast through the woods until you find a picnic site near a pond. Approach the picnic site to find obvious signs of violence, but no Pavlena, then investigate some blood on the ground to pick up a trail you can follow deeper into the forest. Eventually you’ll find a shallow, fresh grave that has been discovered by a pig.

The color of the corpse’s hair leaves no question who the unlucky victim is. Make your way north out of the forest and you’ll find Hogherd Hugo wandering about - talk to him and he’ll tell you he saw one of Jakesh’s hired hands leaving the forest with a shovel, giving you the name “Straw” and a fresh lead.

Confront Straw¶

Time to confront Straw, who can be found along the southern edge of Jakesh’s estate along the southern edge of Troskowitz - you’ll find him along the side of a barn, in front of a chicken coop, around the corner from a well. Before talking to Straw, make sure to boost your Charisma and Speech skills however you can - apply perfume, drink a Fox potion, put on nice clothes, make sure Mutt is nearby, if you’ve recovered him and have the “Charming Companion” perk, put flowers in your pocket if you have the “Flower Power” perk, etc., then quaff a Saviour Schnapps. There are numerous speech checks coming up, and while most of them can be passed with modest Charisma/Speech scores (around 10~ in each), and save-scumming before each choice can allow you to save-scum your way through the game, or you can just increase your odds of success before you get started.

When you’re ready, talk to Straw and accuse him. You can make a Scholarship check to discuss infants and purgatory, if you wish, then you’ll need to pass a speech check to get information about Pavlena out of him. Succeed and he’ll point you in the right direction, after which you’ll get an option about what to do with Straw: you can let him flee, you can turn him into the bailiff (you’ll automatically head to the rathaus and do this, losing Reputation in the process) or you can pick a fight by telling Straw that he deserves death. If you fail a speech check or pick a fight afterwards, Straw will turn violent, but he’s no fighter - a good hit or two and he’ll surrender, divulging the information you seek (if you failed the dialog check) or dying (if you picked a fight after getting the information out of him).

Either way, you’ll get a new destination pointing you to the woods south of Troskowitz. You should head over there quickly, especially if you used perfume - you’ll want that still in effect for the next encounter!

Find Pavlena at the Gorge¶

Make your way to the gorge in the forest south of Troskowitz and as you approach the objective marker you’ll find a white dog named Bristly guarding the ladder you need to take. Either dispatch Bristly or spare the dog and just run to and climb up the ladder - if you’re wearing armor and not out of stamina, the worst Bristly can really do is annoy you.

Climb the ladder and approach Ota and Pavlena, but don’t get too close and be sure to press the button prompt to negotiate with Ota, who has Pavlena’s life in his hands. Ota will ask Henry some questions, and you can try to lie (often requiring speech checks) or tell the truth, including Henry’s name, who sent Henry and what happened to Straw and Bristly. If you antagonize Ota, he’ll kill Pavlena and attack, and he’s a far better combatant than his brother… but he still has no armor and a junk-tier weapon.

Pavlena dying is suboptimal, so tell the truth about your name and who sent you, and if you did not kill Straw or Bristly, be sure to tell the truth about that, too. Otherwise, lie if you have to. If you found out about Pavlena’s condition, you can reveal that to Ota and that seems to go a long way in convincing him to let Pavlena go, which is why it’s a Speech check we highly recommend you pass earlier. Drop that bomb on Ota and he should let Pavlena go, then watch the scene that follows.

If she survived, talk to Pavlena to confirm the truth of the rumors you heard earlier, then accompany her back to Bozhena’s hut to fast travel there instantly, saving yourself some time and bother… or say you’ll meet up with Pavlena later. Regardless of whether Pavlena survived or not, you’ll need to chat with Bozhena next to continue the quest.

Resolve the Feud Between Bozhena and Jakesh¶

Talk to Bozhena and regardless of what happened thus far she’ll ask you to kill Jakesh to settle their feud once and for all. You can agree to carry out the murder or try to convince Bozhena that she needs to reconcile with Jakesh - a task that’ll be more difficult if Pavlena is dead. If you fail to convince Bozhena, you can still resolve to attempt a reconciliation regardless, and you can still murder Jakesh for Bozhena if you convince her to accept reconciliation, so your choices here don’t box you into a set course of action.

Kill Jakesh¶

If you want to settle this blood feud with one more bout of violence, go find Jakesh on his farm along the southern edge of Troskowitz and wait for him to be alone. He prays at the grave of his wife frequently, and ironically this is an opportune time to strike, as there’s less likely to be other people nearby, as opposed to at his farm itself. We had success sneaking up on him while he was praying at the grave where we could attempt to put him down with a stealth takedown - if you can’t kill him outright, you may be able to knock him out, then butcher him while it’s unconscious. Or you can run up to him and butcher him with a sword. Return to Bozhena and she’ll thank you, giving you 85 groschen for your trouble, and ending the quest.

Convince Jakesh to Reconcile¶

Alternatively, head back to Jakesh and talk to him, tell him what his hired hands did, and convince him it’s time to end the grudge. He’ll try to abdicate blame, but you can succeed at a Speech check to convince him or inform him of Pavlena’s condition (if she’s still alive and you learned about it) which, once again, seems to be a sure-fire way to convince Jakesh without a Speech check. Not only will Jakesh agree to stop enforcing his grudge, he’ll give you some groschen to give to Bozhena by way of reparations.

Return to Bozhena and tell her the news and she’ll have no grounds to refuse reconciliation, after which you can lie and pocket the money Jakesh gave you, or hand it over. If you give Bozhena the groschen, she’ll try to give you half for your efforts, which you can also refuse.

Either way, Bozhena and Pavlena (if she survived) will become skill trainers, and you can again sleep at the bed in Bozhena’s hut should you need a place to crash.