How to complete Laudanum
To complete Laudanum in Valor Mortis, retrieve the medicine beyond Market Square, deliver it to the woman near Island of Whispers, then rest at a Lantern and return for the final interaction. Agree to help the children before collecting the medicine to receive Potent Concoction Amber; completing either branch unlocks A Bitter Cure.
Start near Island of Whispers
Laudanum begins in The Outskirts during Chapter 7: Witch Hunt, using Island of Whispers as your starting Lantern. In the street after the children speak to you again, follow the road toward the weak point that opens a shortcut to the previous Lantern. Before reaching that weak point, look for the brown door on the right: interacting with it starts the quest.
The bottle route starts from The Outskirts > Market Square, while the delivery and final visit take you back to the house near Island of Whispers. Keep those destinations separate when following the walkthrough. Remember the original brown door so you can find the woman again after collecting the medicine.
Quest spoilers ahead
The following sections explain the medicine choice and both final scenes. Read the choice comparison before answering the children if you want to plan your outcome.
Choose whether to help the children
Your answer to the children locks in immediately, before you collect the Laudanum. Agree to help them if you want the quest's Potent Concoction Amber. Returning with the bottle is too late to make this decision.
| Choice | Outcome |
|---|---|
| Agree to help the children | You receive a Poison-Filled Bottle and collect Poisoned Laudanum. After delivery and a Lantern rest, the caretaker is dead and the children have escaped. Read the child's diary upstairs to complete the quest and receive Potent Concoction Amber. |
| Decline to help the children | You deliver unpoisoned Laudanum and find the children dead when you return. Examine the woman's body to complete the quest. A Bitter Cure still unlocks, but this branch does not award the quest's Potent Concoction Amber. |
Follow the bottle route and finish the return visit
- Interact with the brown door on the right side of the street near Island of Whispers, before the shortcut weak point. This begins Laudanum and introduces the woman's request.
- Interact with the other wooden door around the left side of the building to speak with the children before collecting the medicine.
- Choose whether to help the children. Agreeing gives you a Poison-Filled Bottle and commits you to their branch; declining commits you to the alternative.
- Follow the path through the poisoned area from The Outskirts > Market Square until you reach the house containing the Laudanum.
- Climb to the house's second floor, where a hole in the floor immediately ahead provides access to the bedroom below.
- Drop through the hole into the bedroom below to reach the room containing the medicine.
- Pick up the Laudanum bottle from the table. If you agreed to help the children, you receive Poisoned Laudanum without a separate mixing step.
- Deliver the bottle to the woman by interacting with the original door near Island of Whispers. Handing it over awards a Mythic Catalyst Clot.
- Rest at a Lantern after the delivery. This is part of the completion sequence, so keep going even though you have already received the delivery reward.
- Return to the house after resting to reach the follow-up scene determined by your earlier answer to the children.
- Read the child's diary upstairs if you delivered poisoned medicine, or examine the woman's body if you delivered unpoisoned medicine. The final interaction completes Laudanum and awards A Bitter Cure.
Collect your rewards
The Mythic Catalyst Clot comes from delivering the bottle, while A Bitter Cure requires completing the quest. Helping the children also awards Potent Concoction Amber after the final visit. That Amber lets your healing flasks restore Nephtoglobin as well as Health.
If you declined the children, Potent Concoction also has chest locations near Valley of Ashes > Quarry and Fortress > Ramparts. At Quarry, the chest is behind gold vines opposite the shortcut ladder reached after dropping from the wooden platforms. At Ramparts, shoot the weak point visible across from you after climbing the stairs to reveal a ladder, then follow that route to the chest.
When Laudanum stays active
- Is the Laudanum quest softlocked?
- A Laudanum softlock has been reported. First check that you have completed the normal sequence: deliver the bottle, rest at a Lantern, return to the house and perform the final interaction for your branch. If that required interaction still fails, contact the game's support team for progression help; it can provide replacement save files for each chapter.