Locating Bran for the “Up to His Neck” Quest in Gothic Remake

Joining the New Camp in Gothic Remake is quite the journey. To get started, you’ll need to trade some swampweed for cash and assist the Rice Lord. After completing the A Few Drops Too Much quest, this Rice Lord will send you on a mission to locate Bran in the Up to His Neck quest.

Keep in mind that while this quest helps you gain the Rice Lord’s trust—a crucial step toward joining the New Camp—you’ll still have the option to decide with Lares later on. This means you won’t be locked out of other camp factions. Before diving into this quest, it’s wise to equip yourself with some armor, like the free Digger’s Dress.

The Rice Lord tasks you with finding Bran, his missing foreman, and suggests you talk to the farmers for clues. Only the named farmers will provide information about Bran, and in my experience, Malon was the one who revealed where he last saw him. Make sure to approach Malon politely.

Malon shares that Bran ventured to a cave near the pond where Jacko and his crew hang out. To save you from wandering around the camp unnecessarily (there’s both a pond and a lake), here’s a tip on locating the right cave:

Jacko can be a tough opponent early in the game, and if he defeats you, he’ll take your gear, making it harder to gather information. If you’re having trouble with him, consider upgrading your weapon—perhaps by purchasing one from Fisk in the Old Camp marketplace—and grab some armor, like the free Digger’s Dress from the Free Mine. You might also want to unlock the fire bolt rune for added firepower in The Price of Magic quest.

You can also train your one-handed weapon skills with Cord, who’s by the training dummies overlooking the lake tavern in the New Camp. However, if you really can’t take Jacko down, you can skip this step, but you’ll miss out on the powerful Bloodfly Sting mace he drops.

Next, head to the tavern by the lake, located up the hill in the New Camp, near the entrance to the main cave, to figure out how to access the basement. You have two choices: lockpick the door behind Silas or, my preferred method, swim underneath the tavern. You can discover this secret entrance by convincing Rayk, but if you’ve already dealt with him in the previous quest, you can bypass this step and avoid bribing him with ore.

After speaking with Silas, return to the Rice Lord to wrap up the Up to His Neck quest. Your main reward for completing this quest is the Rice Lord’s support for joining the camp, along with a solid 300 XP, which is quite a boost early in the game.