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QuestsupportingSide missionModerate

Punish the Wicked

An Act Two side quest in the Shadow-Cursed Lands about retrieving Madeline's ledger for He Who Was and deciding whether her spirit deserves punishment or forgiveness.

RoleOptional moral-choice quest involving He Who Was, Madeline's ledger, and The Waning Moon.
Statusavailable
Importancesupporting
  • ActAct Two
  • RegionShadow-Cursed Lands
  • Mission typeSide quest
  • Core taskRetrieve Madeline's ledger
  • Primary decisionPunish or forgive Madeline
  • Potential conflictHe Who Was may become hostile

No reliable numeric duration, level recommendation, or fixed reward is established in the supplied facts.

Key takeaways

The important route and decision points are concentrated in three locations: the ritual site, The Waning Moon, and the return to He Who Was.

  • Find the quest giver Speak with He Who Was while he performs his ritual over Madeline. His request sends the party to The Waning Moon to recover a ledger. Quest giver
  • Search behind the bar Madeline's ledger is hidden under a floorboard behind the bar at The Waning Moon. Thisobald Thorn must be navigated before the party can secure it. Ledger location
  • Prepare for a judgment Returning the ledger leads to a choice between punishing Madeline's spirit and forgiving her. The decision controls the ending and may lead to combat with He Who Was. Final judgment
  • Consider the party Some companions may disapprove of the methods used to carry out the punishment. Check the party's likely reactions before committing to a choice if approval matters to your playthrough. Companion approval

Overview

Punish the Wicked is an Act Two side quest in the Shadow-Cursed Lands that asks the party to investigate Madeline's past and pass judgment on her spirit.

The quest begins when the party speaks with He Who Was, a Shadar-kai performing a ritual over the deceased Madeline. He Who Was wants evidence of Madeline's actions before he delivers his own interpretation of justice, directing the party toward her ledger in The Waning Moon tavern. The setup establishes the quest's central conflict: whether punishment is justified when the person being judged is no longer alive to defend herself.

The ledger is hidden beneath a floorboard behind the bar at The Waning Moon. Reaching it requires dealing with the tavern's occupant, Thisobald Thorn, so the retrieval is not simply a matter of walking into an empty building and searching the floor. The tavern sequence is the practical middle section of the quest, while the return to He Who Was turns the discovered evidence into a direct moral decision.

After the ledger is recovered, the party returns to He Who Was and chooses how Madeline's spirit should be treated. That judgment determines the quest's conclusion and can also determine whether He Who Was becomes hostile, making the final conversation the point at which the investigation becomes a confrontation. Companion approval may also be affected by the method chosen, although the exact reactions can vary with the party and circumstances.

Where this sits

InvestigationMeet He Who Was and accept the request
RetrievalReach The Waning Moon and recover the ledger
JudgmentReturn and decide Madeline's fate
  1. 1He Who Was's ritualstartThe quest begins at Madeline's remains.
  2. 2The Waning MooninvestigationRetrieve the hidden ledger behind the bar.
  3. ●Return to He Who WasconclusionUse the ledger to resolve the judgment.

Punish the Wicked is an optional Act Two quest rather than a main-story mission.

Requirements

The supplied facts establish a location and conversation requirement, but do not establish a fixed level, class, item, or companion prerequisite.

  • RequiredReach Act TwoThe quest takes place in the Shadow-Cursed Lands during Act Two.
  • RequiredFind He Who WasThe quest is started by speaking with He Who Was during his ritual over Madeline.
  • RequiredReach The Waning MoonThe requested ledger is located inside The Waning Moon tavern.
  • RequiredAccount for the tavern encounterThisobald Thorn must be navigated before the floorboard behind the bar can be searched.
  • RecommendedPlan for the final judgmentThe final decision can affect whether combat with He Who Was follows the return trip.

Objectives

  1. Speak with He Who WasApproach the Shadar-kai while he performs the ritual over Madeline and hear the request that starts the quest.
  2. Retrieve Madeline's ledgerTravel to The Waning Moon, navigate the encounter with Thisobald Thorn, and search beneath the floorboard behind the bar.
  3. Return to He Who WasBring the ledger back to the quest giver so the evidence can be used in the judgment.
  4. Choose Madeline's fateDecide whether Madeline's spirit should be punished or forgiven; this choice determines the conclusion.Optional

WalkthroughSpoilers

  1. 01

    Start Punish the Wicked and learn about the ledger.

    Speak with He Who Was at Madeline's remains

    Find He Who Was in the Shadow-Cursed Lands and speak with him while he performs a ritual over Madeline's body. Listen to his request before leaving, because the ledger at The Waning Moon is the evidence needed to continue the quest.

    Location: Shadow-Cursed Lands

    TipKeep He Who Was's name in mind when returning; the quest resolves through him rather than through the tavern encounter.

  2. 02

    Reach the tavern and locate the search area.

    Travel to The Waning Moon

    Go to The Waning Moon tavern and prepare to deal with Thisobald Thorn before searching the bar area. The ledger is not presented openly, so simply checking the room's visible surfaces will not complete the objective.

    Location: The Waning Moon

    Watch outDo not treat The Waning Moon as an unoccupied loot stop; the supplied quest information specifically identifies Thisobald Thorn as an obstacle to navigating this section.

  3. 03

    Recover Madeline's ledger.

    Search beneath the floorboard behind the bar

    Once the tavern section can be safely navigated, search behind the bar and inspect the floorboard there. Madeline's ledger is hidden underneath that floorboard, making the spot behind the bar the key location to investigate.

    Location: The Waning Moon, behind the bar

    TipSearch the floorboard behind the bar rather than stopping after examining the bar itself; the hiding place is beneath the floor.

    Missable
  4. 04

    Present the ledger and begin the judgment.

    Return the ledger to He Who Was

    Take Madeline's ledger back to He Who Was at the ritual site and begin the concluding conversation. The quest does not end when the ledger is picked up: the evidence must be presented to the person who asked for it.

    Location: He Who Was's ritual site

  5. 05

    Resolve Madeline's judgment.

    Choose whether to punish or forgive Madeline

    Use the final conversation to decide whether Madeline's spirit should be punished or forgiven. This is the decisive branch: your judgment determines the quest's conclusion and can lead to combat with He Who Was, while some companions may react negatively to the punishment method.

    Location: He Who Was's ritual site

    Watch outSave before the final judgment if you want to compare outcomes, because the choice can change the ending and may turn He Who Was into an opponent.

Mission mechanics

Punish the Wicked is structured as a short investigation followed by a conversation-based resolution. The quest does not ask the party to collect a long chain of clues: He Who Was identifies Madeline's ledger as the relevant evidence, and the core exploration task is finding its concealed position behind the bar at The Waning Moon.

The tavern is also the quest's main navigation challenge. Thisobald Thorn stands between the party and a straightforward search, so the group must first navigate the encounter before inspecting the floorboard. The supplied facts do not establish a single required solution to that encounter, so this guide avoids prescribing a class-specific or dialogue-specific route.

The final mechanic is judgment rather than a conventional boss objective. After the ledger is returned, the party chooses between punishment and forgiveness for Madeline's spirit. The outcome can alter the relationship between the party and He Who Was, including whether the conversation becomes combat, and the decision may influence companion approval.

What works and what does not

Strengths

  • The quest gives its investigation a clear physical clue: Madeline's ledger is hidden under a specific floorboard behind the bar.
  • Its central decision directly connects the evidence recovered by the party to the final judgment, rather than making the ledger an unrelated fetch objective.
  • The quest supports a moral-choice reading through the contrast between He Who Was's pursuit of justice and the option to forgive Madeline.

Weaknesses

  • The quest's outcome is sensitive to the final conversation, so players seeking a particular result may need to save before judging Madeline.
  • The supplied facts do not document a full reward table, fixed level requirement, or a complete solution list for navigating Thisobald Thorn.
  • Companion approval can complicate an otherwise simple choice because the party may not agree with the methods used to punish Madeline.

Best uses

  • Treat the quest as a focused Act Two character and morality episode rather than a large combat gauntlet.
  • Explore The Waning Moon carefully once Thisobald Thorn has been dealt with or otherwise navigated.
  • Bring companions whose reactions fit the kind of judgment you intend to make.

Choices and consequencesSpoilers

  • Punish Madeline's spirit

    The quest resolves through the punishment route. Some companions may disapprove of the methods used, and the judgment can lead to combat with He Who Was.

    Spoiler
  • Forgive Madeline's spirit

    The quest resolves through the forgiveness route instead of the punishment route. The exact downstream result should be checked against the current game version and party circumstances.

    Spoiler

Quest checklist

  • Find He Who Was in the Shadow-Cursed LandsHe Who Was starts the quest during his ritual over Madeline.
  • Hear the request for Madeline's ledgerThe ledger is the evidence needed for the quest's judgment.
  • Reach The Waning MoonThisobald Thorn must be navigated in the tavern.
  • Search the floorboard behind the barThe ledger is hidden beneath this floorboard.
  • Recover Madeline's ledgerConfirm that the quest objective updates before leaving the tavern.
  • Return to He Who WasThe investigation is not complete until the ledger is brought back.
  • Save before the final judgmentThe decision can alter the ending and trigger combat.Optional
  • Choose punishment or forgivenessThis is the quest's decisive moral choice.
  • Check companion reactionsSome companions may disapprove of the punishment method.Optional

Failure conditionsSpoilers

  • Fail to navigate Thisobald ThornThe ledger cannot be safely retrieved until the party has dealt with or otherwise navigated the encounter at The Waning Moon.
  • Leave without searching behind the barThe ledger is concealed beneath a floorboard, so searching only the visible parts of the tavern will leave the objective incomplete.
  • Commit to a final judgment without a backup savePunishing or forgiving Madeline changes the conclusion, and the chosen judgment can determine whether He Who Was becomes hostile.

On failure

The supplied facts do not specify every reload, death, or combat-failure checkpoint. Save before the final conversation if you want to preserve access to both judgment branches.

Rewards and dropsSpoilers

  • Quest conclusion
    The quest ends after Madeline's spirit is judged through the punishment or forgiveness choice.
  • Possible He Who Was combat
    The chosen judgment can determine whether the quest proceeds into combat with He Who Was.
  • Companion approval change
    Some companions may disapprove of the methods used to carry out the punishment.

AftermathSpoilers

The judgment is the ending branch

Do not assume that returning Madeline's ledger completes the quest by itself. The final decision to punish or forgive Madeline determines the conclusion and may turn He Who Was into a combat encounter; companion approval can also change based on the punishment method.

Trivia

  • The quest's title reflects its focus on judgment, vengeance, and the question of whether punishment remains meaningful after death.
  • He Who Was is identified as a Shadar-kai, and the quest's themes are connected to the Shadar-kai's service to the Raven Queen.
  • Madeline's ledger serves both as the quest's retrieval target and as the evidence used to frame the final moral decision.

Sources

Relationships

Characters

  • He Who WasQuest giverHe Who Was starts the quest, requests Madeline's ledger, and receives the final judgment.
  • MadelineSubject of judgmentMadeline's past actions and spirit are investigated through her ledger.
  • Thisobald ThornTavern encounterThisobald Thorn must be navigated while retrieving the ledger.

Locations

  • The Waning MoonLedger locationThe tavern contains Madeline's ledger beneath a floorboard behind the bar.
  • Shadow-Cursed LandsRegionThe Act Two region where the quest begins and concludes.