Herbert

Herbert heads the Guards. After the retreat from town he points you to the abandoned Inquisitor base, orders you to bury the dead there, and asks you to return with the burial certificates; he’ll be waiting at the Crossroads. His quests form the spine of the opening chapters, because nothing on the way to the opening fight with the zombies happens without him. After that battle he commands the defence from the Barracks, and every later push into zombie territory begins with a conversation with him.

He sees straight through your Inquisitor act, and doesn’t care: in his words, “Even an impostor may be of use right now”.

The road to the first battle

#	Quest	What he wants	Result
1	Certificate, Please	A look at the Burial Certificate your first burial produced; he just checks it and you keep it	The village opens (until now its gate guards turn you away), the donkey starts regular deliveries, +10 town quality, +10 reputation
2	Grave Expectations	Your graveyard at quality 10 when you report back	+10 reputation
3	Fighting Spirit Required	3 Faith, handed over this time	The Barracks unlock; 2 Town Gratitude and a Story
4	Swords and Bell	Barracks quality 12 plus a Magic bell, reported in the Barracks in either order	A Town Gratitude for each; the bell also gets you Pilgrim’s Clothes
5	First… Sludge?	Speak to him outside the Barracks	The red banner, 2 Healing Potions, and the battle can start

Faith exists only as a sermon reward (sermons), so step 3 has to wait for the church.

For the Magic bell you combine a Blood and a Bronze Ingot on an anvil, once its recipe is unlocked.

That unlock happens on your second wake-up after Jack sails off, so step 4 also depends on Jack’s village quest.

Getting the Barracks to 12

Barracks quality comes from two sources:

• Barricades built inside: 2 each for any of the three first-tier kinds (Barricade I, Spiked Barricade I, Fortified Barricade I). The Barracks is the only place they can go.
• The four mercenaries, provided you’ve paid them for the next fight. Each paid one counts his armour plus weapon, 1 + 1, so all four together make 8; unpaid, they’re worth 0.

Paid mercenaries leave you needing two barricades; unpaid, six. The first battle’s fee is 5 silver.

Barricades are unlocked by Simple Barricades, which requires Reinforced Plank, which in turn hangs under a reputation technology needing 20 reputation with Herbert, precisely what his first two quests give. Reputation nodes aren’t purchased: when your reputation is high enough, opening the tree is what switches them on.

The first battle

The pre-fight window displays your defence power, the quality of the Barracks barricades plus the paid mercenaries. This battle wants 12, matching the quest. Below that the Start button is disabled, and it’s also disabled if your hotbar has no sword or bow.

The reward for winning: one Defender’s Emblem, six Zombie goo, and four Town Gratitude.

Once you’ve won, walk out onto the port bridge; Jack greets you on the other side and the town opens up.

Clearing the south of the town

Winning once unlocks Our Military Plan in First… Sludge?: tell him the first stretch of town is safe. The main-gate square is his next target for scouting, and his guards at the barricades will take you there; every battle is launched from their camp, marked by a banner. The talk is worth 10 reputation plus a Town Gratitude and makes the Eastern Districts fights available.

Next comes clearing this bank of the river entirely (Safe zone.). It tracks three wins, namely the closing fight in each of three areas: Eastern Districts part two, Central Districts part two, and sewer brawl number two. To get at the Central Districts you first need the Market Square, which depends on Jack’s iron order; the sewer fights are done for Davy the Dagger of the Dockside Club. After the third win, Herbert decides the river is defence enough and that what the town lacks now is people rather than ground. That’s another 10 reputation and the A New Dawn achievement.

The romance novel

1. Sad Captain, No Action. The first battle leaves Herbert glum. What he’d like is a romance novel still sitting in his old house on the zombie side, and since he’d be embarrassed to buy one, he points you toward whoever runs the looters from the Dockside Club.
2. Davy the Dagger. The looters’ leader wants some sewer fighting from you first. Those fights reward Keys for Looters, and one key is the price of the Love Novel.
3. Herbert and? Hand Herbert the novel for 10 reputation and 2 Town Gratitude. He then confesses he can’t read, and none of his soldiers must ever know. He’s overheard Agatha at prayer, likes the sound of her, and hopes she’ll do the reading.
4. Reader for a Warrior. Agatha says yes once her own quest is done, a church Choir plus a sermon that uses it (details on her page). Let Herbert know she’ll read to him at her home for another 10 reputation.

Guards for the election

For the vote, Januarius wants Herbert’s men on duty. In Security Checkpoint: Democracy there’s one answer to ask (55 reputation) and one to convince him (60); nothing is taken. Up to this point only the six quests above award his reputation, 10 each, so reaching 60 means none can be skipped: the two early ones, the military plan, the safe-zone quest, the book, and finding him a reader.

North of the river

Post-election, other characters begin wanting things from across the river, and each time Herbert draws up the assault, usually after trying to dissuade you. Every one of these adds battles to your map; the battles page has their defence power and rewards.

Quest	Requested by	Battles	Opens up
Water Locked	Jack or Linda, whoever asks first	Closing the Western Floodgate	Drains the lock
Steamy Royal	Jack, once Water Locked is done	Both parts of Closing the Eastern Floodgate, followed by Break Through to the Bathhouse Basement, launched from the sewer camp	Access to the Royal Foundry under the bathhouse
Dirt Rights	Linda, once Water Locked is done	Both parts of Operation POTATO	Farmland on the lock floor; Sluice Area waystone
Still Standing on Stilts	Agatha	Battle at the Lake	The woodcarvers’ Stilt Houses; Flooded Quarter waystone

None of these battle quests adds to his reputation.

Retirement

While planning the lake battle, Herbert mentions he’s considering leaving the service. Not in Shining Armor Yet wants five Steel Armor: a keepsake for his wall, with the other four kept back for his troops. Deliver them for 10 reputation and 3 Town Gratitude; he lets slip that Agatha has offered to take him in.

At the same time, each of them secretly asks you for the same thing: an organ, which Herbert wants for Agatha because she misses the one at her monastery, and which Agatha wants as a surprise for Herbert. Once the Organ stands, A Good Example is the Best Sermon calls for a sermon using it; afterwards each of them gains 10 reputation and you earn the An Unlikely Pair achievement.

With the armour delivered and the organ sermon held, your next wake-up brings Well-Deserved Rest: visit the couple at Agatha’s house at the Crossroads, Herbert’s home now. He wants something more to read, three books this time, since the best tales come as trilogies, and Agatha would like some way to get his war stories down on paper. That sets up two gifts:

Gift	Give it to	Whose reputation rises by 10
Trilogy, made on a Printing Press	Herbert	Agatha’s
Speech Writing Device, made on a steel anvil	Agatha	Herbert’s

Each also pays 3 Town Gratitude. Both recipes unlock as the quest starts, and each can only be crafted once.

The portal

Restoring the portal at the end needs Herbert and Agatha together. In Wrath and Sloth you ask the pair for help; the answer requires 90 reputation with each if the Old God got his eye back, or 100 with each if you kept it. Only the numbers are checked.

Ninety is the full total from Herbert’s quests without the dark path, so each one must be done. His last 10 exist only on the dark path. A dark dream sends you to the Crossroads, where the pair want a Comfortable Chair; although the quest text names Agatha, you hand it over through Herbert’s dialogue, and both of them gain 10.

Reputation

Total	Added by	Unlocks
20	Certificate, Please; Grave Expectations	Reinforced Plank, Bronze Equipment
60	The military plan, the safe zone, the book, finding a reader	Winning him over for the election
90	Organ sermon, Steel Armor, Speech Writing Device	Portal help with the eye returned
100	Comfortable Chair	Portal help with the eye kept

The 20 node is his sole reputation technology.