THE FIELD GUIDE
Withering Away: Find Anca and Prepare the Herbs
Knock at Anca’s hut west of Laslea, inspect the barrel and vegetable patch, then follow the path beside the hut to the river. Bring her remedy home and prepare it with hot, non-boiling water and three spoonfuls of herbs.
Withering Away: route and recipe at a glance
Find Anca at the river behind her hut, obtain her prepared herbs and take them home to Pieter. At the stove, choose hot water and three spoonfuls of herbs. Let the medicine steep, then offer Esme a story so she will drink it.
Staying with Anca for Latin opens the optional Page-Turner quest. You can complete that visit before going home; its shed bundles are separate from Esme’s remedy.
Finish the chores and equip the training sword
Withering Away follows All Good Things in the prologue. Split the logs outside Coen’s home, bring the firewood to the stove and finish the family conversation. The optional clothes chest is in your starting room; taking an item and equipping it are separate actions.
Pick up the Training Sword in the room across the hall and equip it in Inventory before leaving. Follow the village road towards Anca’s hut on the western side of Laslea. The Laslea Centre shrine beside the road is a useful landmark on the way.
Where is Anca when she is not at home?
Anca’s hut is west of Laslea. If no one answers the door, follow the clues outside and continue to the river behind the house.
- Knock at the hut’s door. The objective changes to Look for Anca.
- Inspect the barrel beside the hut and the vegetable patch across the path. On the default PC controls, hold the right mouse button for Focus and move close enough for F — Inspect.
- Take the path beside the hut and follow it down to the river. Approach Anca at the water’s edge to start the conversation.
- Ask for her help, then follow her back to the hut for Esme’s medicine.
Pay for the herbs and keep Anca’s instructions
Anca offers a stronger remedy for Esme. The conversation gives you a full 50-denarii payment, a reduced 25-denarii payment, or a response that you cannot afford it and will pay later. The route below takes the 25-denarii offer and receives both Anca’s Herbs and Instructions from Anca.
Keep the written instructions for the preparation at home. The medicine for Esme and the dried bundles in Anca’s shed are separate quest items; collecting the shed bundles does not replace obtaining her prepared remedy.
Stay for Latin or leave with the medicine?
At the end of the medicine conversation, Anca invites Coen to practise Latin. Leave if you want to return to Pieter straight away, or stay to play the optional Page-Turner branch below. The dialogue shows the time cost beside each response.
These numbers belong to the marked dialogue choice. Later, helping Anca after collecting the shed herbs has its own 1-unit prompt; do not treat the Latin choice as the total cost of every step in the visit.
| Response | Displayed time | Route |
|---|---|---|
| I really have to go. | 1 time unit | Leave with Esme’s medicine. |
| Gladly – I’ve missed it too. | 2 time units | Stay for Latin and the optional Page-Turner quest. |
Page-Turner: answers to the Latin lesson
Follow Anca’s suggestion to read the poem by Petronius. If you ask about the book with the red cover first, “Sure, if you prefer.” returns to her suggested poem.
| Anca’s clue | Choose |
|---|---|
| What first made gods? | Fear? |
| Something that falls from high heaven. | Lightning? |
Collect all 11 bundles from the damaged shed
After the Latin lesson, enter the shed damaged by the fallen tree. Pick up the hanging Dried Herbs from the five drying rods, look up for the higher bundles and turn back towards the entrance. Three bundles are behind the open door; there are 11 in total.
Keep checking the shed if the objective changes to Help Anca before you finish collecting. That update can appear while herbs are still available to pick up; it does not confirm that all 11 bundles are in your inventory.
Return to Anca at the steps outside the shed. On the default PC controls, hold F at Talk with Anca; this interaction displays a cost of 1 time unit. After collecting every bundle, choose “I got all of them.” in the conversation.
Finish helping Anca before heading home
After handing over the bundles, offer to look at Anca’s injured back. Continue the conversation inside and follow the on-screen wound-cleaning prompt, then finish talking to her. This completes the Help Anca step of Page-Turner.
You can check Page-Turner under Journal → Completed Quests before leaving. Take Anca’s prepared remedy back to Pieter to continue Withering Away.
Use hot water and three spoonfuls
Bring Anca’s Herbs home. If Pieter is still talking to Vladimir outside, let their conversation finish, then give Pieter the remedy. To read the recipe on the default PC controls, open Inventory with I, select Instructions from Anca and press Enter to use it.
The note calls for three scoops in water that is hot but not quite boiling. At the stove, follow these choices:
- Choose “use hot water” from the water options.
- Choose “add three spoonfuls of herbs” from the quantity options.
- Let the medicine steep while the family conversation continues. When Esme refuses to drink, offer to tell her a story.
Confirm completion and make a manual save
After Esme drinks the medicine and the family conversation ends, Withering Away appears under Journal → Completed Quests. If you stayed for the Latin lesson and finished helping Anca, Page-Turner appears there too.
Pieter’s sword-training quest, Like Father, Like Son, is available next. Make a separate manual save before continuing with it or choosing another Laslea Glen quest.