Man, during my first playthrough I completely missed places like Queenland, and went the complete opposite way without even fighting the first boss and into the room with the Drink Me potion, so by the time I reached Ludwidge from the other side, most NPCs were already dead since I was busy exploring other areas, and JubJub was the last boss I defeated, so everyone but 2 NPCs died. Though I found that by doing this route and not defeating the Headhunting Beast, Vernai stays in the Rabbit Hole until you exhaust his dialogue. Assuming you haven't beaten the Billingsgate's Fish Market's boss yet, he goes there near the bonfire, and so long as you exhaust his dialogue again before fighting the boss of that area, you can continue his questline like normal.
Also, where is the Folk Tale of Elizabeth Bathory? It's the only tale I'm missing and I have no idea where it could be, because I can't find a single spot in the walkthroughs posted that mention them, though I'm assuming it's somewhere in the Pond Of Bloody Tears.