Withering Away - Page-Turner - Like Father, Like Son

The first quest you’ll be given (not including the monolithic super quest The Blood of Dawnwalker) is to fetch some medicine from Anca in the prologue. While this quest is, like most quests in the prologue, optional, we’ll just say that actions have consequences, as does inaction. This page will provide a walkthrough for Withering Away and its even more optional, subordinate quests Page-Turner and Like Father, Like Son in The Blood of Dawnwalker including the outcomes of the choices you can make along the way.

Page Breakdown¶

Withering Away List and Rewards¶

Quest	Time	Reward
Withering Away	2	600 EXP
Page-Turner	1	100 EXP
Like Father, Like Son	1	100 EXP, Charge Manual

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Visit Anca and she’ll get you the herbs you need and tell you how to brew medicine for Esme,

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then when a storm hits, either decide to leave despite the weather, or spend time studying Latin.

Obtain Medical Herbs from Anca¶

This quest is pushed on your for several good reasons: It’ll teach you the value of time management both mechanically and narratively, and give you a lesson about how the up-front time costs in The Blood of Dawnwalker can be deceptive, at best.

Your first objective is to head over to Anca’s hut, a bit southwest of your house (and Laslea village in general). Roads will take you right to your destination, so this shouldn’t be much bother. Knock on the door to her hut when you get there only to find out that Anca is out, then use Focus Mode by holding and examine a barrel and a plant in the garden to deduce that Anca has gone to draw water. Head west to the river to trigger a scene and either snoop by selecting [keep on looking] or alert Anca by calling out to her.

Either way, you’ll be noticed and if you pick the optional choice ”Hope I’m not interrupting anything…?” you’ll then be able to pick the option ”That doesn’t explain the bloody scars.”. This doesn’t change much, but you will be allowed to call out her scars repeatedly through the quest, but it’s more foreshadowing than anything meaningful. After telling Anca why you’re here and responding however you wish, follow her into her hut.

Choice: How Much to Pay Anca for Herbs?¶

Say whatever you want until you need to ask ”How much for the herbs?”, after which you can opt to pay 50 coins, 25 coins or nothing… assuming you have enough money, which you won’t, if you came straight here. It doesn’t matter, if you say you’re broke (truthfully or otherwise) she’ll extend you credit… so if you want to save some coins here, feel free to lie. You can also just give her 25 coins with no repercussions, so there’s really no good reason to pay her the full 50 denarius.

Choice: Study with Anca or Not?¶

After paying for your medicine it’ll start storming out, and Anca will seize the opportunity by offering to teach Coen some Latin while you wait out the weather - apparently an old habit of theirs. You’ve been threatened with a time cost for this quest since you approached Anca’s hut, but now it’s time to pay - if you pick the option ”Gladly - I’ve missed it too.” you’ll spend 2 TIME and start the side quest Page-Turner covered below), while if you pick I really have to go.” you’ll only use up 1 TIME and will skip Page-Turner.

Honestly there’s no good, objective reason to waste the time here and complete Page-Turner, as it really just allows you to flirt with Anca a bit, but she’s a recurring character with her own questline, so if you want to waste time investing in some extraneous interactions with her, we get it. Whether you accept or decline, you will get 500 EXP, Instructions from Anca and Anca’s Herbs here.

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Get the herbs from Anca’s shed,

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then help treat Anca’s wounds.

Page-Turner Walkthrough¶

If you opt to wait out the storm by studying Latin, you’ll first get to choose between acquiescing to Anca’s safe choice of studying Petronius or pressuring her into breaking out the red book, the saucier Catullus. Of course, we have the internet and are exposed to all sorts of debauchery, but back in the day, writing prose about wanting nearly infinite kisses was apparently enough to make people swoon.

Pick whatever options you wish, then when nature interrupts you head outside, enter Anca’s shed and grab the herbs that are hanging from the ceiling. Once you have six of them or so (they may be easier to see with Focus Mode), Anca will cry out - finish collecting them or return to Anca immediately (you’ll get different dialog depending on if you got all the herbs or not) to find that she’s been injured.

Ask what questions you wish and go through the QTEs as you patch Anca up, flirting with the middle-aged woman with a raw back if you care to. Once the chatter ends, so will this quest, and you’ll earn 100 EXP for your trouble.

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(1 of 3) Brew the water until it’s hot - not boiling,

Brew the Medicine for Esme¶

Now that you have the herbs and instructions, you’re done at Anca’s hut. Either you used 1 TIME to do the bare minimum or you spent 2 TIME to also study Latin with Anca and got a bit of extra EXP in the process, plus some novel interactions with Anca, for what that’s worth.

Either way, return home and you’ll find Vladimir talking to Pieter, after which you’ll head into your hut and chat with dear old dad more, before you have to brew the medicine for your mom. You can actually mess this up, and medicating your mom does matter, so here are the choices you’ll have to make:

• [use hot water]
• [add three spoonfuls of herbs]
• ”I’ll tell you a story.”

Esme's FateShow Spoiler

If you fail to sufficiently bolster your mother before Mass - by botching her medicine or failing to procure it entirely - she will not survive the encounter with the Vrakhiri. If you complete Withering Away and brew the medicine correctly, she’ll still be deemed weak, but will not be killed.

This consumes 1 TIME but completes the quest, earning you 100 EXP. It’ll also start a followup quest, Like Father, Like Son, which is very short, and will be covered below.

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Follow Pieter, then duel him,

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and if you win you’ll get a Charge Manual.

Like Father, Like Son¶

This quest unlocks after you complete Withering Away, assuming you have time left. Follow your father and when he stops you’ll get a scene, after which you’ll duel him. He’s a stalwart foe, likely using combos you haven’t seen before, but otherwise functioning as a pretty standard miniboss. Defeat Pieter and him and Coen will have something of a heart-to-heart, after which you’ll get 100 EXP and a Charge Manual, which will allow you to learn the Charge skill. This consumes 1 TIME.