Honestly, nothing in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 spikes your blood pressure quite like the sound of those damn bells ringing out across Trosky Castle. You’ve just barely survived the chaos of Troskowitz, your gear is probably a mess, and suddenly you’re told your best friend—the arrogant but lovable Sir Hans Capon—is about to be hanged for poaching.
The quest is called For Whom the Bell Tolls KCD2, and it is a masterclass in stressful RPG design. You have exactly twelve bells. Twelve chimes until Hans swings. If you dawdle too much or get lost in the labyrinthine hallways of the fortress, it’s game over for the young lord.
The Ticking Clock of Trosky Castle
Most games give you a "timed" mission that isn't actually timed. This isn't one of them. While you have a decent window—about twelve in-game hours—the physical layout of the castle is designed to slow you down. You start as a lowly prisoner-turned-laborer. You've got no weapons, no status, and the guards look at you like something they'd scrape off their boots.
To save Hans, you need someone of high rank to vouch for him. That person is Captain Thomas, but there’s a catch: he’s dying of a fever in the Maiden Tower. The quest basically becomes a race to heal the only man who can stop the execution.
Hauling Sacks and Humiliation
The game forces you to start with the most mundane task imaginable. You have to haul three sacks of charcoal to the shed. It feels insulting when your friend is facing the gallows, but if you ignore the work, you'll attract the wrong kind of attention from the guards early on.
Some players try to skip this by jumping down the well—which is a viable, if painful, shortcut—but for your first run, just move the bags. It builds the "Henry" experience. You’re a nobody again. Use this time to scope out the guards' patrol paths.
Finding the Path to Captain Thomas
Getting to the Maiden Tower isn't as simple as walking through the front door. You’re a peasant in a restricted military zone. You have three main ways to gain access:
- The "Good Worker" Route: Help the blacksmith, Osina, by forging a horseshoe. This is a mini-game that can be tricky if you haven't done it before. You have to heat the metal until it's yellow, then hammer it into shape. If you do this well, you can talk to the groom, Kabat, who eventually helps you get closer to the inner circle.
- The "Silver Tongue" Route: If you’ve been pumping points into Speech, you can try to convince the Chamberlain, Ulrich, that you're there to help. He has a nasty stomach ache. If you diagnose him correctly (Scholarship helps here), he might just let you pass.
- The "Rat" Route: Stealth is your best friend. There are lockpicks hidden in a red bag near the forge and on a barrel near the carpenter. You can sneak through the kitchens, bribe a hungry guard with food, and work your way up the towers through the shadows.
The Secret of the Well
If you’re feeling brave (and don't mind a broken leg), you can actually drop down the castle well. It’s a literal leap of faith. You’ll lose half your health, but you’ll find a tunnel that leads directly to Hans’s cell. You can't break him out—believe me, people have tried—but it lets you talk to him and grab a unique item: the Golden Emperor's Badge. It’s a cool bit of world-building that most players miss because they're too busy sprinting toward the alchemy lab.
Brewing the Fever Tonicum
Once you finally reach Captain Thomas in the Maiden Tower, you’ll meet his sister, Adela. She’s desperate. Thomas needs a specific medicine to break his fever before the final bell tolls. This sends you on a scavenger hunt to the Crone Tower, where the alchemy bench is located.
Don't waste time looking for a shop. You need to find the Physician's Journal in the room next to the alchemy bench. It contains the recipe for Fever Tonicum.
The Recipe:
- Base: Wine (always check the shelves for a red vase).
- Ingredients: 3x Feverfew, 2x Ginger, 1x Elderberry Leaves.
- Process: Pour the wine. Add the Feverfew and boil it for two turns of the hourglass. While it's boiling, grind the Elderberry in the mortar. Add the ground leaves and the ginger to the pot. Finally, distill the mixture into a phial.
If you mess up the brewing, you might have to reload. Lockpicking the chest in the alchemy room is the fastest way to get the ingredients if you didn't pick them outside the castle walls.
The Final Sprint
With the potion in hand, you have to get back to Thomas. The bells are likely at 10 or 11 by now. The atmosphere gets thick. The music swells. You don't even need to be stealthy at this point; if a guard spots you, just keep running.
Once you trigger the cutscene in the Maiden Tower, the timer stops. You’ll watch Henry and a shaky Captain Thomas descend just as the executioner is preparing the noose for Hans. It’s a classic cinematic "just in time" moment that feels earned because of the work you put in.
Important Loot You Shouldn't Miss
Even though you’re in a rush, there are a few items in Trosky Castle that are worth the risk:
- The Holy Trinity Die: Found in the chapel area near Thomas. It’s one of the best dice for Farkle in the game.
- Lucky Die: Also in the chapel.
- Golden Crucifix: Very valuable, but it’s a "heavy" steal. Only grab it if you have the inventory space.
Actionable Tips for For Whom the Bell Tolls
To make sure you don't end up watching Hans swing, keep these points in mind:
- Prioritize the Lockpick: Even if you aren't a thief, get the lockpick from the red bag near the smithy early. You’ll need it for the alchemy ingredients chest later.
- Feed the Guard: There’s a guard in the kitchen pantry who is complaining about being hungry. Giving him a piece of stolen bread or an apple is the easiest way to clear the path to the upper floors without a fight.
- Use the Blacksmith Save: Talking to the blacksmith often triggers a checkpoint. Use it. This quest is buggy if you try to "brute force" the guards by killing everyone; sometimes the quest NPCs will refuse to talk to you if the castle is in full alarm.
- Watch the Hourglass: When brewing, don't just spam the bellows. Two turns means two full turns. Overheating the pot will ruin the potion, and you might not have the ingredients for a second attempt.
The beauty of For Whom the Bell Tolls KCD2 is that it doesn't hold your hand. It forces you to be a medieval errand boy while the stakes are life and death. Once the cutscene ends and you’re given your own quarters next to the smithy, you’ll realize just how much of the castle you’ve actually explored under pressure.
🔗 Read more: Why Elder Scrolls Morrowind Mods Are Actually Better in 2026
Now that you've secured your spot in Trosky, head over to the gallows area and talk to Kolda again. He has a side quest called "Demons of Trosky" that opens up some of the darker lore of the region and is a great way to build your reputation with the local garrison.