Anca's recipe: Esme's medicine

Choose “use hot water”, then “add three spoonfuls of herbs”. Hot water is the middle water option; three spoonfuls is the last herb option. Boiling water is a different choice.

This is the medicine for Esme during Withering Away, before the Blood Mass. If you already have the herbs, bring them back to Pieter and finish preparing the brew before taking another detour.

The recipe choices

Step	Select	Avoid confusing it with
Water	use hot water	Boiling water and cold water are separate options.
Herbs	add three spoonfuls of herbs	One or two spoonfuls do not complete the correct recipe.

specifies hot water that is not quite boiling and three scoops of the mixture. Read the note in Inventory before starting the preparation conversation. If you are already choosing the ingredients, use the two selections above.

The recipe footage shows the note at 0:20 and the three herb options at 0:30. You do not need to guess which quantity the written “scoops” refers to.

Get the herbs and return home

If you have not obtained , track Withering Away and start from your current objective:

Finish the morning chores if they are still active. The Journal covers firewood, the stove, your clothes and picking up your sword before sending you to Anca.
Follow “Obtain medicinal herbs from Anca” to her hut. Knock at the door. When she is absent, the objective becomes Look for Anca.
Inspect the empty water barrel and the partly watered vegetable patch. After both clues, Coen concludes that she went to the river for water. Head toward the river within the search area and approach Anca to start the meeting.
Complete “Follow Anca”. Return with her to the hut and finish the conversation about your mother. When payment comes up, follow the option you can afford; “Sorry – can’t afford it” leads to a promise to pay her later, so a lack of coins need not send you away to earn money first.
Check the return objective and go back to Pieter. It reads Bring the herbs back to Pieter and read the recipe from Anca. Read the note before approaching the conversation at home. Having the herbs is only the acquisition step.
Prepare and give the brew. Select the two recipe choices, continue the family conversation and choose “The brew should be ready now.” If Esme refuses, “I’ll tell you story.” leads through Coen’s story to her drinking it. Continue until the return objective completes.

The immediate goal is to deliver the correct medicine. Follow Pieter’s next prompt once delivery finishes; whether training is still offered depends on the time remaining.

Keep time for the return

Prioritise the medicine before more optional activities. This is a time-sensitive prologue task. Obtaining the herbs and completing the return objective both have time commitments, and the approach to the family conversation also advances time. Do not treat a walk back with the herbs as the whole remaining task.

When Anca offers to stay and practise Latin, “I really have to go.” is the direct return choice. Inspect the hourglass before committing: even this departure choice has a time cost. This recommendation prioritises getting the medicine home; it does not promise that you can finish every optional prologue activity too.

Late in the afternoon, the church reminder is a reason to return immediately. If Pieter says there is no time for training, continue with the medicine and the preparations for Mass. Skipping that training at this point is different from missing the medicine entirely.

If the game has already moved you into the Mass sequence, check the Journal. A failed Withering Away entry means the medicine was not delivered in time. To change that earlier outcome, use an earlier save with the task still available. Otherwise continue the story with the recorded result.

If something went wrong

Anca’s door gives no answer: follow Look for Anca, inspect both garden clues and search toward the river. Knocking again does not locate her.
You have the herbs but no finished quest: bring them to Pieter and complete the preparation and family conversation. Check the return objective, not just the item in your bag.
You forgot the recipe during the conversation: use hot water, then three spoonfuls. The written note is called Instructions from Anca.
Esme refuses to drink: continue the story option in the medicine conversation. Repeating “Just a sip.” returns to the choice.
You chose a wrong ingredient: if you want to correct the recipe, return to a save before those selections and choose both correctly. A completed delivery alone is not a check that the recipe was correct.
The quest failed after time advanced: use an earlier available save if changing this result matters to you. The first open-world route starts later, after the village departure; it does not supply a replacement prologue medicine step.

Blood Mass outcome — story spoiler

The correct water and herb choices matter to Esme’s survival at the Blood Mass. Use both correct selections if keeping her alive through that event is your goal. Delivering a brew with an incorrect ingredient does not satisfy the same condition. This is a result for the prologue event, not a guarantee about her fate throughout the campaign.

Continue from your current stage

Finish the active village story objectives after the Blood Mass. When you reach the departure and first exploration stage, use the first scouting route to find a clear next objective.

For later decisions, the time-commitment guide explains how to inspect an objective and its warnings before spending time.