Ocha's quest, 'The Heart Wants What It Wants,' in The Blood of Dawnwalker offers a compelling narrative arc with multiple endings, revolving around the uriashi character's desire for a life beyond her people's traditions. This walkthrough details how to navigate the quest and influence its various conclusions.
Starting the Quest
The quest can be initiated in two ways: by encountering Ocha in the tavern in Altenmarkt or by accepting 'A Mother's Plea' from the uriashi Matriarch, who tasks you with finding her missing daughter. Upon finding Ocha, she will challenge you to a fight. Regardless of the outcome of this skirmish, Ocha will ask for your help to free her friend Nora from the control of a local gangster named Andrei. She proposes a plan involving a hex, rather than a direct assault on Andrei, which presents a significant branching point for the quest's resolution.
Infiltrating Andrei's Hideout
Andrei's hideout is located near a butchery. Players can choose to infiltrate it during the day or night. At night, players can use Shadowstep to access a balcony and find the necessary memento, a ring, on Andrei's desk. During the day, players must obtain information from an NPC, either by paying a beggar 50 denarii or a sex worker named Katja 400 denarii, to learn the password. With the password, players can pose as a silver seller to gain entry. Once inside, players must engage with Andrei, maintain a pretense of business, and then steal the ring from his desk when he is distracted.
Casting the Hex
With the ring in hand, Ocha will ask you to draw hex runes on Andrei's window. To do this, a guard must be distracted. Players can achieve this by opening a nearby pig enclosure, causing the guard to pursue the escaping animals. Once the guard is occupied, players can draw Ocha's sign on the window. If the correct memento was used, this will cause Andrei to lose control and fatally injure himself. His henchmen will then flee.
Alternatively, if the incorrect memento was provided, or if players chose to attack Andrei directly earlier in the quest, the hex will fail. In such scenarios, players must intervene and defeat Andrei and his men themselves to save Nora. If no intervention occurs and the hex fails, Nora will die.
Deciding Ocha's Fate
After resolving the situation with Andrei and Nora, players meet Ocha by a bridge outside Svartrau to determine her future. Dialogue choices here lead to different outcomes:
- Ocha returns to the uriashi village: Select responses that reflect a longing for home and traditional comforts.
- Ocha becomes the new crime boss: This ending is possible only if the hex was successful, Andrei was killed according to Ocha's plan, and his henchmen fled. Dialogue choices should reflect an embrace of the city and new opportunities.
- Ocha leaves Svartrau to travel with Nora: This requires the hex to fail and players to kill Andrei and his men. Dialogue choices should suggest a desire for travel and new experiences.
- Ocha leaves Svartrau to travel alone: This outcome occurs if the hex failed and Nora died. The dialogue choices are the same as those for traveling with Nora.
Upon completion of the quest, players receive 150 denarii and the Broad Swing Manual. Ocha can also be found later in the game as a swordmastery teacher, depending on the outcome of her quest. Her location varies: in Andrei's old hideout if she became a crime boss, in the uriashi village if she returned home, or at a campfire outside town if she chose to travel.