Waukeen’s Rest is on fire, and two of its guests are trapped inside! In this guide we’ll show you how to rescue one of those poor souls and guide him to safety.
Map
Points of Interest 1 – First Recruit Ephren 2 – Storage Room 3 – Front Door 4 – Dead Halfling 5 – Barn 6 – Florrick’s Room 7 – Benryn’s Room 8 – Mirileth’s Corpse
Exits A – Main Staircase B – Bathhouse Staircase
Walkthrough
When you arrive at Waukeen’s Rest along the Risen Road, you’ll discover that the inn was recently attacked by goblins and drow — and that it’s still on fire with two of its guests trapped inside. One of those guests is Counsellor Florrick (#6). If you rescue her, then you’ll learn that the drow kidnapped Grand Duke Ulder Ravengard during their attack. This is a part of the quest Rescue the Grand Duke, and it’s the reason why you’ll encounter lots of Flaming Fists in the inn’s courtyard.
Note: If you’re playing a drow, then First Recruit Ephren (#1) won’t be happy to see you when you first arrive. If you pass a DC-11 Intelligence check (to detect her thoughts), a DC-5 Intimidation check (Barbarian advantage), or a DC-5 Persuasion check, then she’ll allow you to pass. Otherwise, Ephren will raise the alarm, and all of the Flaming Fists in the courtyard will attack you.
One, two, three — push!
The person you’ll need to rescue for this quest is Benryn. You’ll find him upstairs in his room (#7). There are three basic ways to reach him:
The front door (#3). If you haven’t yet rescued Florrick, then you’ll meet a group of four Flaming Fists at the front door, led by Gauntlet Yeva. Yeva will order you to help them break down the door. To do this, you’ll need to pass a DC-10 Strength check or a DC-10 Performance check (Bard only), or you’ll need to have Wyll in your party. If you’re successful, then you’ll kick open the door and create an entrance into the inn, and any Soldier in your party (like Lae’zel) will gain the “Chain of Command” Inspiration. But if you already rescued Florrick, causing the Flaming Fists to depart, or if you killed the Flaming Fists, then you’ll be on your own at the front door, and you’ll have to pass a DC-15 Athletics check to break it open.
Once inside the inn, you’ll just need to take the main staircase to the upper floor (Exit A), where you’ll have a direct path to the broken door on the eastern side of Benryn’s room.
The storage room (#2). A Shattered Wine Barrel will block the door, so you’ll either need to move it aside (by clicking and dragging it) or destroy it (by force-attacking it) to clear the way. Once inside the storage room, you’ll be able to jump to the upper floor, which will give you access to a “sturdy” oak door leading to Counselor Florrick’s room (#6). To open the door, you can use the Suite Key found on the dead halfling outside the inn (#4), you can pick the door’s DC-18 lock, or you can destroy it — ideally using Fire or Slashing attacks to defeat its sturdiness. Entering Florricks’ room will give you an easy route to Benryn’s room.
The bathhouse. You can use the staircase in the bathhouse (Exit B) to head up to the upper floor. This will give you a direct route to the broken door on the southern side of Benryn’s Room.
Regardless of the path you take, you’ll have to break down at least one broken door (by force-attacking it) to reach Benryn. Any door you open or break down on the western side of the inn will feed oxygen to the fire and cause the flames to spread. This will give you less than a minute to rescue Benryn before he burns to death.
Unlike Florrick, Benryn has a good excuse for why he can’t escape on his own.
When you reach Benryn, you’ll discover that a ceiling beam fell on him, trapping him in his room. You’ll have two ways to free him — by passing a DC-15 Investigation check or a DC-10 Strength check (Barbarian advantage). If you’re playing a Bard, then you can also pretend to help Benryn. If you pass a DC-12 Performance check and a DC-12 Deception check, then you’ll convince Benryn that he’s doomed, which will cause him to talk about his wife and their dowry (see below).
When you help Benryn to his feet, you’ll automatically enter turn-based mode. This will help you to escape the inn more quickly — especially if you use Dash — but it isn’t required. As you’re fleeing from the conflagration, one of two things will happen: you’ll either make it to the courtyard without discovering the body of Benryn’s wife Miri, which will cause him to start searching for her, or you’ll stumble over her on your way out. For the former case, when you talk to Benryn in the courtyard, he’ll ask you to find Miri, and then after you’ve relayed her location to him, he’ll rush over to her. So either way he’ll end up at her corpse (#8).
Benryn makes a sad discovery, but is he more upset about his wife or the missing dowry?
When you talk to Benryn next to Miri’s body, he’ll tell you that they had an argument about the dowry for Miri’s sister, which is why they weren’t together when the drow attacked. But Benryn won’t find the dowry with Miri, so he’ll ask you to look for it. If you use Speak with Dead on Miri, then she’ll reveal that she hid it in a barn outside the inn. However, this step isn’t required. You can find the dowry at any time, even if you’re not working on the quest.
The barn is located just outside the inn to the west (#5). When you interact with the haystack there, you’ll trigger a DC-15 Perception check. If you’re successful, then you’ll find a gilded chest containing the Dowry Ring plus some minor random treasures. If necessary, you can repeat the Perception check for each character in your party — and even swap in new companions and try with them as well.
When you return to Benryn (#8), you’ll have to decide if you want to give him the Dowry Ring or keep it for yourself. The ring isn’t useful for anything, and it’s only worth 20 gold, so this is purely a role-playing decision. Whatever you choose to do, this is where the quest will end.
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Steven Carter
Starting with cassette tape games on the TRS-80, Steven has been playing, creating, and writing about games for a long, long time. This makes him experienced, not old. Lately, Steven has been focusing on walkthroughs, making sure everybody knows how to solve Towers of Hanoi puzzles.
