COMPANION QUEST · LACRA
The Night of Horrors Walkthrough
Lacra’s last errand before the castle is the only source of the Mandrake Ward perk. Follow the will-o’-the-wisps through the swamp, reach Kallias’s lair and decide what to do with the mandrake — before Midnight Reckoning closes the window for good.
Eat the mandrake at the end of the quest. That one choice unlocks Mandrake Ward in the Vampirism tree — a once-per-night safety net that pulls Coen back from a killing blow. Staying for the optional romance scene in the same conversation adds the Mesmerize ability. Neither has another source, and both are lost if you start Midnight Reckoning first.
The Night of Horrors at a glance
| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| Quest giver | Lacra |
| Where it starts | Westridge Outpost — return to Lacra at night and ask about the plan she has been researching. |
| Prerequisite | Our Rotten Roots, the fourth quest in her chain. |
| Availability | Night only. Start it with a full night of time segments ahead. |
| Time cost | Roughly 6–7 time segments, plus a little more if you play through the romance scene. |
| Rewards | 1000 XP, 2 Skill Points, the Mandrake Ward perk, the Mesmerize ability (romance only) and the Misery Loves Company trophy. |
| Point of no return | Starting Midnight Reckoning. |
How to start The Night of Horrors
Finish Our Rotten Roots and give Lacra a day or two of in-game time to work on her idea. The next time you meet her at Westridge Outpost you will have two requests on the table: pressing on toward Brencis, and hearing her out about what she found. Take the second one — that extra conversation is the quest trigger, and it is easy to walk past if you go straight for the castle route.
The quest runs entirely at night. Check your remaining night before you accept it, because a run that starts too close to dawn can end before the reward is handed out. The route also fights hard: expect several enemy groups in the swamp and the cave, so bring supplies and keep a recent save you are happy to reload.
Once Midnight Reckoning begins, this quest is locked out for the rest of the playthrough. Everything it offers — the perk, the ability and the trophy — is missable. Clear it first.
Follow the will-o’-the-wisps
Lacra’s lead points toward the old battlefield where St. Mihai and the ancient vrakhari Kallias once fought, and from there into a mire far too large to search on foot. The answer is the will-o’-the-wisps: guiding lights that feed on heavy feeling and are drawn toward buried things.
- Reach the marked starting point in the swamp and look for the first wisps.
- Draw them in by talking through what weighs on Coen and Lacra. Both take turns sharing a memory, and the honest answers are the ones that pull the lights closer.
- Where the trail seems to stop at a dead end, recall the harder memory. The wisps respond and reveal a hidden way through, opening the path into Kallias’s lair.
- Clear the lair, collect what is worth taking, and keep going until you reach the petrified body of Kallias — and the mandrake growing beside it.
The lair is well stocked, so a slower sweep pays off before you finish. If the objective marker stalls, walk the edge of the dead end and re-trigger the memory prompt; the hidden entrance only appears after that beat.
Should you eat the mandrake?
The mandrake is the crystallised essence of a vrakhari who has lain in the same place for centuries. Lacra is far more excited about it than the surroundings deserve. When she offers it, take it — there is no trade-off worth weighing.
| Choice | What happens | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Eat the mandrake | Coen and Lacra both absorb its power, and the conversation continues. | The Mandrake Ward perk, plus the chance to continue into the romance scene. |
| Refuse it | The scene closes early. | Nothing — no perk, and the optional scene is gone for the run. |
Mandrake Ward is a perk in the Vampirism tree: once each night, when Coen would be killed, the ward holds and restores three health segments instead. It is not a full heal, and it does not refresh inside the same night, so treat it as a last line rather than a sustain tool. It only applies after dark, in vampire form.
Because Lacra eats the mandrake alongside Coen, she gains the same protection — and that detail matters far more than it first appears.
Lacra’s romance scene
The second half of the conversation is separate from the perk and entirely optional. It gates no ending, but it is the only way to unlock the Mesmerize vampiric ability, and it is easy to lose by refusing the mandrake a moment earlier. To play it out, keep the exchange going and use this exact sequence:
| Beat | Choose this response |
|---|---|
| After eating the mandrake | “Can Vrakhiri get drunk?” |
| When Lacra moves away | “[follow Lacra]” |
| When she tests Coen’s interest | “Yeah, I’m all over it.” or “Who says I’m not?” |
| When she offers her wrist | “[drink]” |
| The final prompt | “[kiss her]” |
If you would rather keep things professional, turn her down at any of these points — you keep Mandrake Ward and still finish the quest. When the scene ends, Coen wakes alone in the cave and Lacra makes clear the night was a moment, not a promise. You can leave then, or sweep the cave again for anything you missed.
Do it before Midnight Reckoning
This is the part that touches endings. Lacra’s route ends with Midnight Reckoning, where she confronts Brencis. Start that quest without The Night of Horrors behind you and the confrontation plays out with a wound she cannot survive — the same cutscene, but fatal, and the Midnight Reckoning ending closes with it.
Clear The Night of Horrors first and the shared Mandrake Ward is what carries her through that cutscene. She recovers, the fight continues with her at your side, and the alliance ending stays open. If you would rather not take her into the castle at all, she can survive another way — but you then give up both the perk and the Midnight Reckoning outcome, so finishing this quest first remains the only route that keeps every option.
Keep a manual save from before you accept Midnight Reckoning. It is the branch point for whether Lacra stands with you at the end or not.
This page covers Lacra’s chain and the mandrake choice only: the confrontation itself and the branches it decides are laid out on the All Endings Guide, and fitting Mandrake Ward and Mesmerize into a working build belongs to the Best Skills & Builds page.