Check the active quest in your journal first. In For Whom the Bell Tolls, the early Trosky Castle rescue, Hans is saved by getting Fever Tonic to Captain Thomas in the Maiden Tower so Thomas can identify him. If your journal says Taking French Leave, you are on a separate, later rescue in Maleshov and need to complete the escape with both prisoners.
Save Hans in For Whom the Bell Tolls
After Wedding Crashers, Henry and Hans are held at Trosky Castle, where Hans faces execution for poaching. Captain Thomas can vouch for them, but he is ill in the Maiden Tower. Your key objective is to brew Fever Tonic in the Crone Tower and deliver it to Thomas. The route below follows the walkthroughs from GameSpot and GamesRadar+.
- Complete castle work to gain access. Follow the work tasks assigned to you; walkthroughs describe jobs such as carrying sacks and making a horseshoe, or helping the blacksmith and kitchen staff. These are access routes, not a single universal task sequence.
- Find Thomas in the Maiden Tower. Speak with his sister Adela to learn that he needs medicine, then go to Thomas at the top of the tower.
- Get the Fever Tonic recipe and ingredients. Reach the alchemy room in the Crone Tower and read the Physician’s Journal. Walkthroughs also describe a locked chest near the alchemy table containing the needed ingredients; ingredients can otherwise be gathered around the castle.
- Brew the tonic. Use wine as the base. Add three Feverfew and boil for two turns; grind one Elderberry and add it; add two Ginger, then distill. This is the recipe sequence reported by GameSpot.
- Return to Thomas and give him the tonic. The rescue hinges on Thomas being well enough to verify Hans’s identity. Finding Hans’s cell or speaking with Thomas before curing him is not the completion condition.
Keep the quest moving
This is a time-sensitive quest, so prioritize reaching Thomas and preparing the tonic over optional exploration. Published walkthroughs describe the deadline differently: GameSpot says execution follows twelve bell tolls, with five minutes between later tolls, while a 2026 guide describes a twelve in-game-hour window. Those accounts do not establish one unambiguous wall-clock timer, so treat the objective as urgent rather than relying on a converted real-time estimate.
Optional castle access routes
There is more than one way to reach the relevant rooms. One walkthrough describes getting a lockpick from groom Kabat, optionally returning Father Nicodemus’s rosary, and asking to pray for Thomas. Another describes finding a lockpick around the smithy, completing staff tasks, and using the nearby locked chest for ingredients. These are optional approaches; the essential chain is recipe and ingredients, Fever Tonic, then delivery to Thomas.
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If your journal says Taking French Leave
This is not the Trosky Castle medicine quest. It is the later rescue in Maleshov, in the Kuttenberg region. The available stage-based guidance from kcd2.org describes finding Hans in the tower, completing the dialogue and weapon objective, and accounting for both Hans and Vauquelin Brabant before beginning the escape.
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- Your actions shape Henry’s destiny and how the world will react to him. Customize freely his appearance, skills and equipment while taking a moral stance on the events around you. Travel round the land engaging in unique activities, such as blacksmithing and archery, to truly immerse yourself in this vibrant region of Europe that will remember your actions, forever.
- This stunningly authentic rendition of 15th Century Bohemia allows you to experience this fascinating setting like never before. Get lost in a sprawling city, engage with peasants and talk with nobles while exploring a vast and rich countryside with taverns, bath houses, castles and more.
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- Locate Hans in the tower and finish the required dialogue and weapon objective.
- Make sure the plan accounts for both Hans and Vauquelin Brabant.
- Scout the route to the horses.
- Use the interaction at the front gate to initiate the escape. Reaching or mounting a horse alone does not finish the extraction.
Which rescue are you on?
| Journal quest | Location | What completes the rescue |
|---|---|---|
| For Whom the Bell Tolls | Trosky Castle | Deliver Fever Tonic to Captain Thomas so he can verify Hans’s identity. |
| Taking French Leave | Maleshov, Kuttenberg region | Complete the escape with both Hans and Vauquelin Brabant, including the front-gate interaction. |
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