The Lost Brother | Gamer Guides: Your ultimate source for... (2024)

Walkthrough for the quest The Lost Brother in Pathfinder: Kingmaker.

In Chapter 3, when there are +65 days left before An Ancient Curse, Part 3 ends, you’ll get a visitor in your throne room. Return to your throne room and you’ll be petitioned by one Edrist Hanvaki, who pleads for your assistance in finding his missing brother, Tomin Hanvaki. His brother was heading to Varnhold, and was last seen alive in your lands. Like An Amusem*nt for the Nobles, this quest is optional, but it leads into the events of the main questline for Chapter 3.

When you get this quest, you won’t be actively able to advance it - the main questline in Chapter 3, The Varnhold Vanishing, needs to start up, first. This won’t happen until there are only 5 days left before An Ancient Curse, Part 3 ends, so you’ve got about two months before you can advance this quest.

The Varnhold Vanishing¶

When there are +5 days left on An Ancient Curse, Part 3, The Varnhold Vanishing will finally begin. Travel to Varnhold and complete the Varnhold Stockade area, after which you should have hopefully discovered the Shallow Gulch area northwest of Varnhold. You’ll be progressing this quest in tandem with the main questline, and it’s recommended you explore the Shallow Gulch before continuing on with the Overgrown Cavern.

Shallow Gulch¶

To reach the Shallow Gulch from Varnhold, you need merely head west, then east, worming your way through the mountains to reach your destination.

When you arrive, you’ll find this is another Illustrated Book Episode, and you really have only three choices (“…turned back.“ just leaves the area):

• [Intimate 24] …stormed over there, rattling our weapons and shouting battle cries.

You’ll scare off some goblins looting a body, acquiring 120 XP, 1,636 gold and Mathian Hanvaki’s Letter.

• [Stealth 26] …approached carefully, trying not to reveal ourselves.

You’ll get the drop on osme some goblins looting a body, acquiring 240 XP in the process. After this, it doesn’t matter what you pick, you’ll score 1,636 gold and Mathian Hanvaki’s Letter.

• …hurried over there, trying to stay as quiet as possible.

Despite the “trying to stay as quiet as possible” part, this doesn’t come to fruition - the goblins hear you and make off with everything save for Mathian Hanvaki’s Letter.

Be sure to read the letter (it mentions some cyclops tombs Mathian was keen on plundering), then return to Edrist, who can be found in the tavern in your capital. Give him the news (and the letter) and ask you to report back to him if you just so happen to find yourself in any cyclopes tombs. What are the odds of that happening? We recommend you complete this step before dealing with the Kellid Barbarian Camp during The Varnhold Vanishing.

Penrod Hanvaki’s Letter¶

For the next phase of this quest, you’ll have to advance The Varnhold Vanishing to the point where you visit the [Kellid Barbarian Camp]. Talk to Dugath, then the Defaced Sister to start the followup quests The Lost Relic and Along the Cold Trail, during which you’ll need to visit three areas. One of these areas, the Sepulchre of Forgotten Heroes, is where you need to go to find what clues you can about Edrist’s great-grandfather.

See the page for that area by following the link provided above; you’ll need to work you way through the area until you fight some undead adventurers, one of which will drop Penrod Hanvaki’s Letter. Once you have this you can return to Edrist - who is still haunting the tavern in your capital - and give him the letter. He’ll thank and reward you, giving you a Ring of Improved Proficiency and 750 XP, completing the quest in the process.

This also unlocks the project Research Into the Nature of Curses: The Hanvaki Family.