Lord of a Barren Land

 is a side quest in.

Synopsis
Gilded Vale is ruled by Lord Raedric, who resides in the keep beyond the Esternwood. With the Dyrwood in the grip of the curse known as Waidwen's Legacy, he has resorted to harsh measures in order to root out the cause. It has made him enemies, many of whom would see him removed from power. The Watcher is asked to help depose the tyrant by any means necessary.

Walkthrough

 * Meet Kolsc in Esternwood. He will only appear if you have a Good/Neutral reputation with Gilded Vale. You may agree to help him or choose to give time to think about it. Either way, travel to Raedric's Hold.
 * Raedric's Hold is a heavily guarded fortress, to enter you may choose to:
 * 1) Fight you way through the front door (difficult, but lots of loot). No need for a walkthrough this way as long as you know your tactics. But is recommended to have at least 3 fighters/barbarians in your team. Assuming you take the shortest route you will fight at least 10 Raedric's Guards, 3 Spellwrigths, 6 Champions of Berath, 6 Archers, 6 Sellswords, 2 Priests of Berath, 1 Archmage and Raedric VII.
 * 2) Climb the west wall to reach the lower ramparts (requires either Athletics 3 or a Rope and Grappling Hook unless you want to get Fatigued. All characters in your party that have Athletics 5 or less will receive a level of Fatigue). You will fight at least 3 Archers, 3 Guards and 1 Priest of Berath on the walls.
 * 3) Sneak your way through the sewers at the east side of the hold (requires either Might 18 or a Prybar unless you want to get Fatigued. All characters in your party that have Athletics 0 or less will receive a level of Fatigue)


 * Consider that you may change your approach at any given time until you meet Raedric.
 * There are 3 routes to complete this quest:
 * Kolsc route: Sneak through the Dungeons and ask for help from Nedmar (requires either Resolve 18 or Intellect 12 and Perception 12)
 * 1) Enter via the sewers.
 * 2) Kill all of the undead guarding the cells and to the sewer secret entrant. You may optionally kill Osrya.
 * 3) Free Giacco from his cell. Note that if the path to the secret entrance is not safe, Giacco will be killed! If he escapes successfully he will be found standing in the house at Magran's Fork.
 * 4) Make your way to the kitchen. Ignore this floor and continue up the stairwell.
 * 5) Take the Berathian Priest Robes from the chest. Equip them to any character to blend in with the other acolytes. Keep in mind you will be stopped by some of the characters in this area, and you must pass a unique check for each to proceed unhindered (see the item page for more).
 * 6) Make you way to the chapel towards the southeast. Sneak and press the hidden button at the second skull.
 * 7) Talk to Nedmar and tell him Giacco is safe. He will give you a Master Key. (Note: Nedmar will allow you to rest in his room)
 * 8) Go to the Library, open the locked door and descend to Raedric's Throne Room.
 * Osrya route: Sneak through the Dungeons and ask for help from Osrya (requires either Intellect 12 or Resolve 18).
 * 1) Enter via the sewers. This requires Might 18 to bend the bar of entrance by hand. Alternatively you may use a Prybar or swim through wearing Iverra's Diving Helmet.
 * 2) Make your way to Osrya.
 * 3) Talk to her and agree to kill Nedmar. Alternatively, kill her, and discover the switch to open the secret passage (Mechanics 7) by going into stealth mode. (Note: You can agree to kill Nedmar to avoid immediate combat, ask her to let you rest then kill her, it's not necessary to kill Nedmar even if you made an agreement with her)
 * 4) Take the stairs to the kitchen. Ignore this floor and continue up the stairwell.
 * 5) Take the Berathian Priest Robes from the chest. Equip them to any character to blend in with the other acolytes. Keep in mind you will be stopped by some of the characters in this area, and you must pass a unique check for each to proceed unhindered (see the item page for more).
 * 6) Make you way to the chapel towards the southeast. Sneak and press the hidden button at the second skull.
 * 7) Talk to Nedmar and kill him.
 * 8) Go back to Osrya. She will show you a hidden passage. Ascend to Raedric's Throne Room.
 * Do whatever you want.
 * 1) Make your way combining sneaking and fighting. There is no alarm on the castle, so knocking off someone doesn't put the castle on alert.
 * 2) Kill the weak guards in the courtyard, and enter through the wine cellar looking entrance on the left.
 * 3) This entrance has a full staircase from top to bottom with no guards.  The top floor spits you out right next to the Robes of Berath.
 * 4) Ally with Osrya or Nedmar for access to the throne room.
 * Once you've reached the throne room, talk to Raedric. You can either kill him or join him.
 * If you kill Raedric. Kolsc will give you full access to the hold and you may loot everything. (Note: you can tell him you're going to kill Kolsc to avoid immediate combat, make the necessary formation and attack, depending on the level of difficulty you will be mobbed to death otherwise)
 * If you side with Raedric you will be sent to Magran's Fork to hunt Kolsc.
 * Kill Kolsc [Gilded Vale: Major Negative] (Note: Before killing Kolsc, you can get Giacco to leave by talking to him, supposing you saved him, combat will start if you fail)
 * Return to Raedric to receive your reward. Optionally you can kill him for +1 Cruel disposition.