Withering Away: preparing the herbs for Coen's mother
Hot water, three spoonfuls of herbs, then tell her a story. That is the whole recipe, and you cannot open Anca's note at the pot, so here it is before you get there.
The recipe, choice by choice
Step 1 · The water
- Use Boiling Water
- ✓ Use Hot Water
- Use Cold Water
Anca's instruction is water that is hot but not quite boiling. It is the middle option in SolveBase's video.
Step 2 · The herbs
- Add one spoonful of herbs
- Add two spoonfuls of herbs
- ✓ Add three spoonfuls of herbs
Three, the last option.
Step 3 · Getting her to drink
- ✓ I'll tell you a story
IGN, Fextralife and Mantaa Gaming's video all name this as the line to pick at the further dialogue choice. None of them lists the other lines.
How To Prepare Anca's Recipe in The Blood of Dawnwalker (Withering Away)
SolveBase · 2:05
Two minutes: Anca's note read out, then the water and herb choices picked on screen.
Before the pot
- It starts on its own after All Good Things, at home. Coen’s father, Pieter, tries to get Esme, Coen’s mother, to eat, and you are asked whether to force-feed her. PC Gamer: if Coen tries, she knocks the spoon away and bursts into tears; if you refuse, Pieter tries and gets the same result, with less distress. PC Gamer and Polygon both say the choice has no lasting consequence.
- Pieter sends you for herbs from Anca, the herbalist of Laslea Glen, so Esme can make it through the evening’s Blood Mass.
- Find Anca’s hut. The guides point different ways: west of town (IGN), southwest (Fextralife), the southeastern part of Laslea Glen (GameSpot). Follow the quest marker.
- Get the herbs. GameSpot says 50 denarii; IGN says you can haggle her down to 25. Polygon recommends saying you cannot afford them: Anca lets you pay her back later, and you still get the herbs.
- The Latin lesson is optional. Fextralife: staying costs two segments and starts Page-Turner; leaving costs one. Mantaa Gaming’s video says neither affects whether Esme survives, and GameSpot says staying is worth it if you plan on romancing Anca.
- Brew at home. GameSpot says brewing costs one segment. IGN notes the instructions are in your inventory, but you cannot open them once the choice is in front of you.
If you get it wrong
This is disputed. IGN, GameSpot and GameRant say a wrong brew ends with Esme killed, Fextralife says the quest fails, and PC Gamer’s endings guide notes her absence from the epilogue if she was killed; Polygon, from its own testing, says it made no major difference. A Reddit guide notes conflicting reports. Treat the recipe as mandatory.
| Guide | What they say |
|---|---|
| IGN | Brencis judges her blood too weak and the vrakhiri kill her at the Mass. |
| GameSpot | She stays ill, the boyars notice, and they rip her apart. |
| GameRant | She makes a fuss at the Mass, Brencis is furious, and the other vrakhiri feed on her. A correct brew leaves her weak but safe. |
| Fextralife | The quest fails if you do not follow Anca's instructions or do not finish before the Blood Mass at sundown. |
| PC Gamer, endings | Your mother is absent from the epilogue if you did not make the medicine correctly and she was killed in the prologue. |
| Polygon | From its own testing, no major consequence: she drinks the brew either way and is at the Mass later. |
If you picked the wrong option, GameRant’s advice is to reload the nearest autosave and try again. If she survives, GameSpot says she lives on as a prisoner with the rest of Coen’s family.
How long it takes
Guides differ. IGN puts the whole quest at two time units; GameSpot says two to three segments; the prologue planner allows one to three. Once the herbs are delivered, GameSpot says you can spar with Coen's father for the Charge Manual and 100 XP. The other prologue quests and their costs are in the prologue guide.
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