This quest begins immediately after An Uncommon Proposition. After learning about the unhappy marriage between Estrid and Birstan, Eivor has agreed to help Estrid arrange her escape, with Birstan’s consent.
Speak with Estrid at the Market¶
You will find Estrid waiting for you at the market, on the western side of Colcestre. As you wander through, be sure to keep your cloak on. The guards will attack on sight if they identify you. When you speak with Estrid, you’ll have a few dialogue options to go through. It doesn’t matter which you choose, so just go with whatever interests you most. After the initial conversation, follow Estrid to the captain, who can be found at a nearby brothel.
Enter the Brothel and Protect Rollo¶
When Estrid leaves, enter the brothel to begin a cutscene. After you’ve been introduced to Rollo, you’ll be confronted by some Saxon soldiers, leading to Eivor and Rollo jumping out of the brothel window. When you do, the cutscene will end and you’ll have to defeat the soldiers. The fight shouldn’t be too difficult, but since you’re fighting some soldiers with spears, you should avoid too many light attacks at once. The soldiers will easily parry these after the first or second strike, so you’ll need to alternate light attacks with heavy attacks to break their defences. Now would be a good time to use any abilities you have at your disposal which deal damage to multiple enemies at once.
Identify the Traitor between Gerhild and Lork¶
When all the soldiers are defeated, speak with Rollo. He’ll ask you to join him at his camp to the northeast of Colcestre. You can follow him now or go there at a later time. We recommend you follow him on horseback for some interesting dialogue. Either way, when you reach the camp approach Rollo to begin a brief cutscene. At the end of it, you’ll need to inspect the camp and question the survivors to determine who the traitor might be.
If you want to find out who the traitor is immediately without going through the questions, it’s Gerhild.
To begin, examine the meat rack at the southern end of the camp, noting that it’s well stocked with fresh rabbit and game. Next, inspect the potential hiding spot in the bushes to the west. If you’re unable to find either of these, use Odin’s Sight to highlight them within the camp. After that, speak with both of the suspects who are tied up, kneeling on the ground next to Rollo. You’ll be asking them where they were when the attack happened, and what they think of Rollo.
The first suspect is Gerhild. When you speak with her, she’ll mention that she was out hunting when the attack occurred, stating that the camp needed meat. This conflicts with what you saw in the abundance of meat on the rack. When you present her with this evidence, she’ll state a new story that she went to visit a lad in a nearby village.
The second suspect is Lork. He will also state that he was hunting rabbit, the same story that Gerhild produced. There’s no doubt that rabbit is among the game meat. When you ask him if he’s seen anything, he’ll state that he saw Gerhild speaking with a Saxon, and he’ll suggest that she’s always been full of spite and ambition. When you present Lork with the same evidence of the abundance in game meat, he’ll admit that he was sleeping at the time in a nearby forest.
When you’re done speaking with both suspects, report your findings to Rollo. The key to the traitor can be found in Rollo’s responses. When you inform him of Gerhild’s initial excuse of hunting, he’ll state that she’s always been a terrible shot and a poor hunter. He will also confirm that she has always been ambitious. While Eivor seems more sure that Lork has the stronger motive to betray Rollo, this is not the case. If you want the best outcome for the story with Estrid, you should accuse Gerhild as the traitor.
Rescue the Danes¶
With Gerhild accused, Rollo will execute her. After that, you’ll need to head southeast to find and rescue the Danes. They are being held in a Saxon camp, which you can infiltrate in stealth through a break in the fencing on the eastern side of the camp, or you can run through the front gates and attack the camp guards openly. If you take the stealth route, you should be able to reach the caged Danes easily by sticking to the eastern side of the camp. Once there, you’ll need to quietly take out the guards surrounding the cages.
Whichever way you choose initially, once the Danes are free your objective will be to eliminate all the Saxons in the camp. This will be an easy task with the help of the Danes, but try not to let too many die needlessly. You won’t be able to proceed with the quest until every single Saxon within the camp has been killed, including those stationed within the towers. When all the guards are dead, a cutscene will initiate with Rollo and the quest will complete.
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