The Hermit of Hadret House is a main quest in Pillars of Eternity.
Synopsis[ | ]
The Watcher has been summoned to Dunryd Row by Lady Webb, a reclusive woman who seems to know more about them than they know about her. The master of the Row asks the Watcher to keep her informed any time they learn more about the Leaden Key's activities in Dyrwood. Anything they can discover in pursuing the leads would be useful to her.
Walkthrough[ | ]
Speak to Lady Webb on the upper floor of Hadret House in southwest Brackenbury.
If you have not already done so, complete whatever quests remain out of The Man Who Waits, Through Death's Gate, and Undying Heritage, and report your findings back to Lady Webb.
Next you have to gain an invitation to the animancy hearings which are in progress behind closed doors in the Ducal Palace. You have four (mutually exclusive) options:
| Attend the hearings as a representative of | Precondition | Invite giver |
|---|---|---|
| Knights of the Crucible | Complete Built to Last and Winds of Steel | Commander Clyver |
| The Dozens | Complete Rogue Knight and The Bronze Beneath the Lake | Wenan |
| House Doemenel | Complete A Two Story Job and The Changing of the Guard | Abrecan Doemenel |
| Dunryd Row | Make enemies of all three factions | Lady Webb |
Simply talk to the invite giver of the faction you chose, after fulfilling their precondition, and they'll agree to let you attend the animancy hearings as their delegate.
Before you can attend the hearings, you have to talk to Lady Webb again. She finally explains how she knows so much about Thaos and the Leaden Key.
- Beware:
- Once you attended the hearings, all NPCs/interactions/quests in the Sanitarium become permanently unavailable – so be sure to complete any of that content that you're interested in before proceeding. This includes:
- Two-Sided (companion quest of Aloth)
- Clandestine Cargo (task)
- confronting Moedred during A Voice from the Past (but you can still solve the quest by killing Helig)
- Note that Kurren and Nedyn temporarily disappear as well, but they return, however only Nedyn's Quest (The Theorems of Pandgram) can be completed. Kurren's quest (The Final Act) cannot be completed during Act 3.
When you're ready, go to the Ducal Palace in First Fires, and enter the big room where the animancy hearings are taking place. You can't enter through the room's main door, so go up the stairs and use the side door onto the gallery. A long dialog/cut-scene commences.
See the Watcher's testimony for your choices at the hearing, but note that no matter what you say the hearing will end with the Duc's assassination, city-wide riots, the Sanitarium being burned down, and everyone in Hadret House being killed.
Return to Lady Webb (who is now a corpse), and read her soul. This marks the end of Act 2, and you automatically start the quest The Assassin at Large. You are locked out of Defiance Bay, and will only be able to return after you have visited Twin Elms.
Exposition[ | ]
The following text is shown at the end of The Hermit of Hadret House, immediately after reading Lady Webb's soul in Hadret House.
Smoke rises above the city walls in billowing plumes that blacken the sky like a storm. Behind the walls, the riots rage on.
Known patrons of animancy are forced into hiding as looters ransack their estates and make off with their possessions. Animancers are torn away from their families and dragged from their homes to be stoned to death in the streets.
Word had spread immediately that Duc Aevar had been assassinated, and that an animancer was to blame. The city wasted little time in exacting revenge, and little effort into evaluating guilt.
In the center of it all, Brackenbury Sanitarium burned. And down the lane, Hadret House, the last bastion of stability in the Dyrwood, had fallen silent.
Now safely outside the city gate, your path points eastward, to Twin Elms, where Thaos is bound for reasons that remain mysterious as the Leaden Key itself.
Trivia[ | ]
- The Hermit of Hadret House is the only main quest where it is possible to fail meaningfully. (It is possible to fail The Gilded Vale, but that has no impact on the game.) If the player kills Lady Webb, the quest will fail and the game will end.
- During the riots outside, you will be able to loot from the corpses of at least two Crucible Justiciars and Doemenel Bruisers if you wait for them to kill each other in Brackenbury. All chests and shelves that count as stealing in the Ducal palace as well as Hadret House may be safely looted during the riots.
Bugs[ | ]
- Some players have encountered a bug where Commander Clyver won't close this quest for you. He will tell you to wait until all of the sentries are "taken care of," despite the player already doing so. This will cause Wenan with the Dozens to no longer give the player quests, because of the Knights, making House Doemenel the only option to progress in the story. This is verified, except that one can be locked out of Doemenel's quests, too. Which leaves only one choice, to kill some of each faction until they all fail you, including the Knights, which will finally close the Winds of Steel bugged-quest. You have to kill Cypher himself, but as the game is bugged, no one stops you nor turns violent or tries to help him. You can wipe them all out one-by-one if you like. Then go to Lady Webb who will be amazed at your idiocy, but will have to invite you herself and finally does after a rant).
Gallery[ | ]
The burning of the Brackenbury sanitarium
Journal[ | ]
| quests\critical_path\act_2\cp_qst_ducal_palace | ||
|---|---|---|
| ID | Objectives | |
| 0 | The Hermit of Hadret House | |
| 10000 | I have been summoned to Dunryd Row by Lady Webb, a reclusive woman who seems to know more about me than I know about her. | |
| 1 | Talk to Lady Webb at Hadret House. | |
| 10001 | I have been summoned to Hadret House in Brackenbury to meet with Lady Webb. | |
| 20009 | Lady Webb has asked me to keep her informed as I learn more about the Leaden Key's activities in Dyrwood. | |
| 2 | Get invited to join one of the animancy hearing delegations. | |
| 10002 | In order to attend the animancy hearings at the palace, I'll need to be sponsored by one of the three main factions represented at the hearings: The Knights of the Crucible, House Doemenel, or The Dozens.
The Knights of the Crucible have a keep in First Fires. House Doemenel has a manor in Brackenbury. The Dozens are based out of the expedition hall in Copperlane. | |
| 20000 | I've done some work for House Doemenel, but Lord Doemenel himself is the one I'll need to impress if I am to join their delegation. | |
| 20001 | Wenan, leader of the Dozens, is willing to let me into their delegation should I do enough work on the Dozens' behalf. | |
| 20002 | Commander Clyver of the Crucible Knights will get me into the hearings in exchange for helping their cause. | |
| 20006 | I've earned the ire of the Doemenels and they will no longer consider working with me. | |
| 20007 | My actions have irreparably severed my relationship with the Dozens. | |
| 20008 | The Crucible Knights are no longer willing to work with me. | |
| 3 | Return to Brackenbury and speak to Lady Webb at Hadret House about attending the hearings. | |
| 10003 | Now that I'm formally invited to the animancy hearings, I should return to Lady Webb and update her on my progress. | |
| 20003 | I have been invited to join House Doemenel's delegation. | |
| 20004 | I have been invited to join the Dozens' delegation. | |
| 20005 | I have been invited to join the Knights of the Crucible's delegation. | |
| 4 | Attend the hearings at the Ducal Palace in First Fires. | |
| 10004 | I should get to the palace in First Fires and attend the hearings as soon as possible. | |
| 5 | Return to Brackenbury and tell Lady Webb in Hadret House what's happened. | |
| 10005 | The Duc is assassinated and there is panic in the streets of Defiance Bay. Lady Webb may be the only person who can reestablish order. I need to make my way to Hadret House and tell her what happened. | |
| 7 | Tell Lady Webb at Hadret House that you're unable to get an invitation to the animancy hearings. | |
| 10007 | I've gotten on the bad side of the Doemenels, Knights, and Dozens, so getting an invitation to the animancy hearings through them isn't a possibility. I should tell Lady Webb at Hadret House about my situation. | |
| 8 | Inform Lady Webb about the Leaden Key's activities. | |
| 10008 | Lady Webb has asked me to keep her informed any time I learn more about the Leaden Key's activities in Dyrwood. Anything I can discover in pursuing the leads I obtained in the catacombs of the Woedican church would be useful to her. | |
| 20010 | I told Lady Webb about the Leaden Key's work in Heritage Hill. | |
| 20011 | I've informed her of what I was able to glean from the soul of the dead Leaden Key member in Clîaban Rilag. | |
| 20012 | After having run across Thaos in Brackenbury Sanitarium, I let Lady Webb know that he seemed to be trying to destroy the reputations of animancers. | |
| End states | ||
|
Found Lady Webb Dead | |
| 30000 | Lady Webb has been slain in her own bed by Thaos, but not before she managed to learn where he was headed. She has done me a great favor, one I suspect she was well aware of. | |
|
Killed Lady Webb | |
| 30001 | In killing Lady Webb I have severed a crucial relationship. Without her guidance and connections, my quest has no hope of success. | |