Neretzes’ Folly is the main quest in Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord. It tells you to that as you travel Calradia you can uncover a mystery from the past and its importance by asking lords and ladies (NPC) you meet about the Empire’s recent history.
You will only require to seek and talk to 10 rulers around the map. Once you have completed this, you will then enable the next quests which I will tackle in the guide.
Investigate Neretzes’s Folly
In this section, we will cover the first part of the main quest (Neretzes’s Folly).
This quest will ask you to talk to 10 Nobles around the map. Once certain factions gets activated, it will be quite difficult to interact with this ruler.
I would suggest, when you start early in the game is to look for these rulers around the map. (Dont join any empire yet). Try to build at least 20 units in your team to avoid getting raided by looters and thieves lurking about.
The rulers below are the ones you need to interact with. I have added few more rulers in case you have started a faction with other rulers. I have marked across each of the different empires across the map for your reference.
Note: You can open up your Encyclopedia to search for this rulers by pressing “N” on your keyboard and typing at the top right of the search option. This will inform you where this ruler was last seen.
- Lucon (Northen Empire)
- Rhagaea (Southern Empire)
- Garios (Western Empire)
- Adram (Aserai)
- Unqid (Aserai)
- Tais (Aserai)
- Mesui (Khuzait)
- Monchug (Khuzait)
- Hurunag (Khuzait)
- Godun (Sturgian)
- Raganvad (Sturgian)
- Olek (Sturgian)
- Derthert (Vlandian)
- Unthery (Vlandian)
- Ingalther (Vlandian)
- Caladog (Battanian)
- Melidir (Battanian)
- Ergeon (Battanian)
The following incidents (and what you can do) below may also happen while you’re doing the quest:
- Lords are inside their keeps – bribe guards to enter or wait until they leave the castle.
- They’re engaged in a battle or siege – wait until the fight is over.
- They’re imprisoned or in a dungeon – they won’t talk to you and you might need to wait until they’re ransomed.
- Their kingdom has been destroyed – the unique characters will still be somewhere, probably as part of another nation.
Once you have completed this quest, it will activate the Dragon Banner quest which will be on the next section.
Assemble the Dragon Banner
This is activated as soon as you completed the first main quest “Neretzes’ Folly”. You will be tasked to speak with both Istiana and Arzagos. These are the two important characters who’ll tell you about Calradia’s history.
Istiana is in Epicrotea and she wants to continue supporting the Calradic Empire despite its fracturing due to civil wars. Arzagos, meanwhile, lives in Mannurath; he prefers that the empire be destroyed and that a non-imperial faction should rule in its place. They will be highlighted in the map.
I suggest you talk to both of them before selecting which side you will be taking on.
You will then be notified of two bandit hideouts near the main settlements (seen below). According to Istania and Arzagos, these two camps have the missing pieces of the Dragon Banner. Go attack the hideouts and defeat their respective leaders and you’ll have the Dragon Banner ready.
For my build, I went with archer and sword build along with my units. With this setup, killing these bandits will be easier as you can kite them when they start to run towards you.
When a boss fight ensues, I had my units team up with me as the boss and his bodyguards AI are too OP for me.
As you vanquish these 2 hideouts, go back either to Arzagos or Istiana to select which next quest you would like to take.
Note: You must first join a kingdom if you wish to support it when you hand over the Dragon Banner.
Istiana wants you to support the empire and here are her requirements:
- Option 1: Create an imperial faction – be at clan rank 3, have 100 troops, be an independent clan, and own an imperial settlement.
- Option 2: Support an imperial faction – present the Dragon Banner to a ruler of the three warring groups: Lucon (Northern Empire), Rhagaea (Southern Empire), or Garios (Western Empire).
Arzagos, meanwhile, has slightly different plans:
- Option 1: Create a non-imperial kingdom – be at clan rank 3, have 100 troops, be an independent clan, and own a settlement
- Option 2: Support a non-imperial kingdom – present the Dragon Banner to a ruler of the independent kingdoms: Unqid (Aserai), Caladog (Battania), Monchug (Khuzait), Raganvad (Sturgia), or Derthert (Vlandia).
You can refer back to the map for your reference on different empire locations.
Note: I chose Istiana’s plan which i will cover in the next upcoming guide.
FAQ
How to skip Neretzes’ Folly quest?
Play Sandbox mode. Of course, if you play sandbox, you do not get the quest to rescue your siblings, and you lose out on having your two brothers and sister in your clan.
If you play campaign and ignore Neretze’s Folly, you get your siblings but you avoid the fubar main quest.
Stuck on Neretzes’ Folly quest?
- If you have any mods, delete them and see if you can talk to Big D.
- Go find someone else to talk to. The lords you can ask should have a blue exclamation next to their name when they are on the map. It should not be too hard to find one.
- Wait outside the castle, unpause the game and talk to Derthert when he leaves.
- Give up that quest entirely. It is fubar, and you do not have to do it to form a kingdom.
Just go to another faction area, and ask some lord about it and he direct you to someone else. Also, sometimes they direct you to someone that might be stuck in prison as well.
How to find the location of the Nobles?
Press “N” on your keyboard, it opens a search function page. You can enter the name of a town or person. (or unit type) If you look at the persons page, you can see where they were last seen. Click the name of that town, and the towns page will come up. Click the Track circle so you can spot the town on the world map easier.
List of Nobles
There are 4 for each factions I made a list
- Lucon (Northen Empire)
- Rhagaea (Southern Empire)
- Garios (Western Empire)
- Adram (Aserai)
- Unqid (Aserai)
- Tais (Aserai)
- Mesui (Khuzait)
- Monchug (Khuzait)
- Hurunag (Khuzait)
- Ulman
- Godun (Sturgian)
- Raganvad (Sturgian)
- Olek (Sturgian)
- Lek
- Derthert (Vlandian)
- Unthery (Vlandian)
- Ingalther (Vlandian)
- Caladog (Battanian)
- Melidir (Battanian)
- Ergeon (Battanian)
I’m against working as a mercenary for a faction or joining one. Until you get enough wealth and power to establish a kingdom, you can prey on a culture like that of the Aserai, who are aloof and simple to intimidate and plunder. When your vassals are always raising armies and stealing fiefs from you, it’s a pain in the ass. Since the Aserai are separated by the sea, it is difficult to get jumped by them, so I usually mash on them. Additionally, look for tournaments for an easy 1,000 in every town you pass. Even if they are hired on by a faction, subcultures like the hidden hand are simple to take down for experience points and loot since only the subculture itself declares war on you.
I’m not sure if this was retained in Bannerlord, but in Warband, you can move an entire stack at once rather than just ten at a time by control clicking on something. It is now much easier to move those 100 grain or clubs with your mouse. LOL
It should be noted that many of the perks in the majority of skill trees are currently broken.
However, there is a benefit to the passive bonuses that come with higher skill levels.
Scouting is a valuable skill to have with a partner. It’s a useful skill to have, in my opinion, to be able to see much farther around you. It makes it easier to locate enemy armies that are fleeing and allows you more time to respond to armies that may attempt to break through your sieges. The encyclopedia takes a long time to use and isn’t very accurate.
They only need to set their companion’s role in the clan tab to Scout in order for them to advance in that skill.
IMPORTANT: CHARM is greatly increased by spending influence over votes. Once a vassal for a while has several fiefs and influence bonus policies, you can usually throw influence around with ease (influence is useless) and get massive boosts to your relations and multi-level charm (even reaching the hundreds).
In addition, maintaining roughly a hundred mules, trading horses, consistently purchasing low and selling high, etc. Additionally, if you want to gain sweet, smithy stamina, don’t be scared to spend the night in towns.
When trading, you may want to be aware that selling a good by holding down the right shift button will sell the entire stack, whereas selling in quantities of five requires holding down the left shift button.
A tip: If you win the duel and take out the chump you just destroyed, you’ll see that all of his goons are still there from your bandit hideout attack. GET EM! For simple ranged and athletics skill points, you can hit and kill them with ranged weapons;)
You can also speak with Archon Penton regarding the “Neretzes’s Folly” investigation. I recently came across him while utilizing this guide.
To “complete” the conspiracy quest, how do you do that?
I’m going to wait until 2000. I am aware that it will start a major conflict.