One of the more unsettling side quests in Valor Mortis sits off the beaten path in Chapter V, easy to walk straight past if you're not paying attention. In the Name of Art tells the story of a painter who took his own life and a daughter whose fate is far grimmer than it first appears. The reward for piecing it all together is the Butcher's Carnage Amber, a melee-focused healing item with a real trade-off baked in.
Here's the lowdown on everything you need to do, from triggering the quest to walking out with the Amber.
Where the quest actually starts
The quest opens in the Vale of Wrath area of Chapter V. Progress until you hit the Under the Bridge lantern, then double back across the bridge toward the side with the fallen log and crates. Jump across using the wooden handle and take the right path past the fallen log, then head up the ladder on your left.
Watch out for a Shambling Civilian slumped against three crates on your left. He will get up if you ignore him. There's also an exploding corpse tucked along the right path near a wagon. Shoot it from a distance rather than letting it catch you off-guard.
Keep going past two wagon and horse corpses, ignore the left fork, and look for a house on your left. Enter through the front door, go up the stairs on the right, and find the hanged man in the corner. Examine the painting behind him to trigger In the Name of Art.
Getting the Basement Key
Head back outside through the front door. Facing the house, take the right path and follow the fence until you can turn left into a clearing. You're looking for a dirt path lined with autumn trees and a large grey cross. The Basement Key is here.
The clearing is easy to miss because nothing marks it on the map, and the path to it branches off quickly after you exit the house.
Surviving the basement
Back inside, use the Basement Key on the door directly across from the front entrance on the ground floor. Head down and deal with the Spewer at the base of the stairs. A Pistol headshot is the cleanest option here.
In the next room, grab the note from the sacks near the lantern, then burn through the blockage using Fire Transmutation. Two more Spewers and a Carrion wait on the other side. The key here is that Status Transmutation handles Carrion far more efficiently than raw damage, so switch before engaging.
Another Carrion hides to the left of the next staircase, so don't rush down it. At the bottom, take the note from the table in the back left corner, then head into the tunnel opposite.
Collecting the Butcher's Carnage Amber
Take the left fork down the tunnel with flowers hanging from the ceiling. At the far end, you'll find the dead woman against the wall. Take the note from her to complete the quest and receive the Butcher's Carnage Amber.
What most players miss is exactly what that Amber does: it heals you with every melee hit, which sounds excellent until you read the fine print. The Ferrofluid Flask is disabled while it's equipped. That's a meaningful trade-off in later encounters, and you'll want to think carefully about when it's worth slotting in versus keeping your flask available.
If you're still working through Chapter V, the Valor Mortis guide on accessing poison areas safely is worth checking before you push further into the map. For everything else the game throws at you, the full Valor Mortis guide collection has you covered.
