Valor Mortis Laudanum Quest Guide – How to Complete It and What Choice to Make

TL;DR – Laudanum Quest Quick Summary

• This is Side Quest #14, found in Chapter 7 – Witch Hunt, The Outskirts.
• Start it by interacting with a brown door near the Island of Whispers lantern.
• You get a choice: help the children (poison the old lady) or don’t.
• Your choice is locked in immediately – you cannot change it later.
• The reward is the same either way: a Potent Concoction Amber and a Mythic Catalyst Clot.
• Completing the quest unlocks the A Bitter Cure trophy/achievement.

The Laudanum quest in Valor Mortis is one of the more memorable side quests in the game. It has a real moral edge to it – and the way the story unfolds catches most players off guard. You think you’re helping sick children. Then things take a turn.

This guide walks you through every step, both choices, and what happens at the end. No fluff, just exactly what you need to know.

Where to Start the Laudanum Quest in Valor Mortis

The Laudanum quest becomes available during Chapter 7 – Witch Hunt, while you are making your way through The Outskirts. You need to be past the point where the children (known as the Mice) have spoken to you for the second time.

From the Island of Whispers lantern, head down the street toward the weak point that opens a shortcut back to the previous lantern. Before you reach the weak point, look for a brown door on the right side of the road. Interact with it to begin the quest.

An old lady inside will ask you to find a bottle of Laudanum. She says she needs it for sick children in her care who have typhus. This kicks off the quest.

The First Choice – Will You Help the Children?

This part is easy to miss. After you interact with the front door, go around the left side of the building and you’ll find another wooden door. Interact with it.

Here, the children speak to you directly. They tell you the truth: the Laudanum is not for them. The old lady wants it for herself. They ask you to add rat poison to the Laudanum before giving it to her so they can escape.

You now face a choice:

• Agree to help the children – You receive a Poison-Filled Bottle. William will automatically mix the poison into the Laudanum the moment you pick it up. You cannot undo this decision.
• Decline to help the children – You leave the Laudanum as it is. The old lady gets a normal bottle.

Important: Unlike most other quests in Valor Mortis, this choice is locked in immediately. There is no way to change your mind after this door conversation. Both paths lead to the same reward, so pick what feels right to you.

How to Find the Laudanum Bottle – Step by Step

After making your choice at the children’s door, continue progressing through The Outskirts as normal until you reach the Market Square lantern. Rest here if you need to.

From the Market Square lantern:

• Head forward through the poisoned area. You can push through the poison clouds if your flasks are in decent shape.
• Follow the path until you reach a house. This is Barnaby’s house – a drunk named Barnaby lives here and has a supply of Laudanum.
• Go up to the second floor of the house.
• You will see a hole in the floor directly ahead of you. Drop down through it.
• You land in a bedroom below. On the bedside table, pick up the Laudanum.

If you agreed to help the children, you will automatically receive Poisoned Laudanum instead. William adds the poison on the spot.

From here, exit via the nearby door and continue along the main path. You’ll find a wooden ramp you can knock down nearby – do that to open a shortcut back to the Market Square lantern. Then fast travel back to the Island of Whispers lantern to return to the old lady’s house.

Returning the Laudanum to the Old Lady

Head back across the stone bridge to the brown door where you started the quest. Interact with the door and hand over your bottle of Laudanum – poisoned or not.

The old lady receives it and her dialogue makes something clear: she was planning to use the Laudanum for herself all along. She thanks you and gives you a Mythic Catalyst Clot as a reward.

The quest is not finished yet. You need to do one more thing.

Completing the Quest – Rest and Return

After giving the Laudanum to the old lady, go back to the Island of Whispers lantern and rest. This triggers the next stage of the quest.

Return to the old lady’s house. The door will now be open. Go inside and look around:

• If you poisoned the Laudanum: Go upstairs to the children’s room. You will find the children alive and gone. Pick up the Child’s Journal to complete the quest.
• If you did not poison the Laudanum: Go downstairs. You will find the old lady dead. Interact with her body and with the journal on the dresser nearby to complete the quest.

Either way, completing this step finishes the Laudanum quest and unlocks the A Bitter Cure bronze trophy/achievement.

Should You Poison the Old Lady or Not?

This is the question most players ask. Here is the honest breakdown:

If You Poison the Old Lady

The children survive and escape. The old lady dies from the poison. Upstairs, you find the children’s room empty and can pick up their journal. It is the “save the kids” ending. The children were telling the truth – the Laudanum was never for them.

If You Don’t Poison the Old Lady

The old lady uses the Laudanum herself and dies – but from an overdose, not poison. The children in her care do not make it. You find the old lady’s body downstairs along with a journal that tells the full story.

Both choices result in the same quest reward. There are no late-game consequences from either decision. It is purely a narrative and moral choice. The quest is deliberately dark – there is no clean “good” outcome here, which is very much in line with Valor Mortis’ overall tone.

For more on navigating these kinds of moral decisions throughout the game, check out our full Valor Mortis tips and tricks guide.

Laudanum Quest Rewards

• Potent Concoction Amber – received upon quest completion
• Mythic Catalyst Clot – given by the old lady when you return the Laudanum
• A Bitter Cure trophy/achievement (bronze) – unlocked after completing the quest

The reward is the same regardless of whether you poison the Laudanum or not. You also do not earn any extra in-game items for picking one path over the other.

If you want to make the most of your Amber rewards, have a look at our guide on the best stats to level first in Valor Mortis.

Is the Laudanum Quest Missable?

No. The Laudanum quest is not missable. You can return to The Outskirts and start or complete it after finishing the main story. The only side quest in Valor Mortis that is actually missable is The Choir, which is tied to Chapter 10’s prison section.

That said, it is worth doing the Laudanum quest naturally as you progress through Chapter 7, since you will be in the area anyway and it does not require any backtracking at that point.

More Valor Mortis Quest Guides

If you are working through all the side quests in the game, here are some other guides that will help:

• Lullaby Quest Guide
• Sleeping Beauty Quest Guide
• The Scarecrow Quest Guide
• The Deserter Quest Guide
• Till Death Quest Guide
• The Curious Case of Seamus Diggory Quest Guide
• The Lost Boy Quest Guide
• In the Name of Art Quest Guide
• The Shrike’s Anthem Quest Guide
• The Oathbound Quest Guide
• An Unheard Farewell Quest Guide
• The Emissary Quest Guide
• Homesick Quest Guide

You can also find a full breakdown of everything available in the game on our Valor Mortis all chapters list page, or check the full achievements and trophy list if you are going for 100% completion.

Valor Mortis is available on PC via Steam, PlayStation, and Xbox.

Frequently Asked Questions