Investigating Varnhold | Gamer Guides: Your ultimate sour... (2024)

Walkthrough for the “Investigating Varnhold” part of the main quest Varnhold Vanishing in Pathfinder: Kingmaker.

When there are +5 days on the counter for An Ancient Curse, Part 3 you’ll get the “Message from Jamandi Aldori” event in your throne room where your Councillor will inform you that Maegar Varn has stopped responding to the Jamandi Aldori - in fact, the whole barony of Varnhold has gone silent. Naturally Jamandi wants an explanation for why one of her political agents went silent, and hence she’s turned to another one of her minions to go sort things out - that would be you. If your protagonist is [Chaotic] you can complain about being treated like a servant and have a nasty letter drafted up, but either way, it looks like you’re stuck doing Jamandi’s dirty work for now. This starts the questline The Varnhold Vanishing.

At around this time, when you go to leave you throne room you’ll find yourself in another “Other World” area. Make your way northwest and you’ll find the Guardian of the Bloom, who wants to have a chat. Despite your well-justified urges, try to remain civil if you want to keep the door open for all possible endings, and when you’re done talking return southeast and exit the area.

Travel to Varnhold¶

When you’re ready, leave the capital city behind and travel out towards Lake Silverstep:

• East
• East
• East
• Northeast
• Northeast
• East
• East
• Southeast to reach Lake Silverstep
• East (along the northern coast of Lake Silverstep)
• Northeast

This will get you near Lake Silverstep Village - you can reach it by heading southwest from the empty node the above directions led to. This will allow you to rest up in relative safety and maybe sell off some items, if necessary. When you’re ready to continue, head east from the empty node north of Lake Silverstep Village or northeast from Lake Silverstep Village itself. From there, follow the directions below to reach Varnhold.

• East (across river)
• North (path bends and follows the river)
• North
• North
• West
• North (along the Kiravoy River)
• North (to Varnhold)

Exploring Varnhold¶

When you arrive in town you’ll find that, at first glance, it’s quite bereft of humanoid life. Head up to the tavern and loot a crate to find an Ancient Rostlandic Coin, then venture east to find a warehouse near the river, along the southeastern edge of the map. Flitting about the door are two Raven Swarms which, like the Spider Swarms you fought earlier will require some area-of-effect spells to properly damage. Fortunately by now you have easy access to Fireball and similar spells, both of which Octavia and Tristian should be capable of using. Notice some wasted grain lying about, then loot a chest to score a Frost Scythe +2 and a variety of potions and foodstuffs.

Before exploring back up north, make your way southwest to find a small chapel of Erastil, on top of which you may spot [Perception 20] a bird watching you. Is there some connection between the swarms of ravens you just fought and this oddly snoopy avian agent? Loot a ruined section of wall nearby to score a Taldan Warrior’s Dog Tag, then move on.

Make your way back to the tavern and from there head north to find a building behind the inn. In front of this building you’ll find two crates, one of which can only be detected via a successful [Perception 25] check. In the larger crate you’ll find an Ancient Scrap of Script-Covered Leather, while in the smaller one [Trickery 28] you’ll find Vengeance of the Meek, a Sling +2 with the “Giant Bane” property. Against creatures of giant subtype this sling acts as a +4 weapon and deals 2d6 extra damage.

Once that loot is secured, venture northeast to find a group of Spriggans. Great, more fey creatures. No surprise there. Cut them down, then then loot a crate on the back of a wagon to obtain The Heart of Ira, an odd trinket that makes the wearer immune to fatigue and exhaustion, and allows them to surround themselves with a damaging (2d6 per round) aura that can also inflict fatigue (Reflex 17). Before you leave, investigate [Perception 18] a bird atop the nearby house to note that it’s watching you. There’s obviously something foul afoot in Varnhold.

Make your way back to the inn one more time and follow the road northeast to reach the river, where you’ll be able to attempt a [Lore (Nature) 27] check. Pass or fail you’ll notice numerous tracks crossing the river, but if you pass you’ll notice the track belong to humanoids of various sizes. Unless Maegar Varn made friends with some giants recently, this is probably a bad sign.

Cross the river and continue following the road past the fort. If you check the walls of the fort you’ll be able to detect voices, but their nature is not disclosed. Make use of an area transition along the eastern edge of the map to travel to the Varnhold Stockade.