Deep Down is one of the prologue side quests in The Blood of Dawnwalker, and it is the rare early job that can end two completely different ways depending on how much of your day you have already burned. A farmer named Gavril wants someone to check on his brother Lazar, who went out to the peat bogs and never came back. Find him fast enough and you walk him home. Wait too long and you come back with news instead.
Quick answer: Start Deep Down and enter the Ancient Ruin before the prologue Time Segment bar reaches its last three rectangles. Drop into the ruin near the Northern Foothills Shrine, follow the footprints with Focus Mode, kill The Forgotten Guardian, then escort Lazar back to Gavril for 1 Skill Point, 250 XP, and 50 Denarius.
Deep Down quest details and rewards
Everything you need to plan the trip before you commit any time to it.
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Quest type | Prologue side quest, Laslea Glen |
| Quest giver | Gavril, on the farm east of Anca’s Hut Shrine |
| Alternate start | Jumping into the Ancient Ruin yourself |
| Objective | Search for Lazar by the peat bogs |
| Time cost | 1 Time Segment |
| Boss | The Forgotten Guardian |
| Rewards | 1 Skill Point, 250 XP, 50 Denarius |
If this is the first Ancient Ruin you have entered in the game, dropping in also pops the Antique Aficionado achievement.
Save Lazar: the prologue timing window
This is the part that actually decides the outcome. Deep Down has two endings, and the split is purely about when you do it during the prologue, not about anything you say to Gavril or Lazar.
To find Lazar alive, head into the ruin before the prologue Time Segment bar reaches its last three rectangles. Go in after that and Lazar is already dead. You will inspect his body instead of talking to him, and the quest ends with you telling Gavril what happened. The quest itself still completes either way, and it still consumes 1 Time Segment when you finish it.
Note: time in this game only moves when you spend it, so exploring the bogs and the ruin does not eat into your window. Completing quests and skill upgrades does.
How to start the Deep Down quest
Tracking Lazar inside the Ancient Ruin
The cavern is dark and the route is not signposted, so the whole underground stretch runs on Focus Mode. Turn it on, look for the highlighted trail, and follow it deeper.
Lazar is hiding behind rocks not far from the entrance if you arrived in time. Talk to him, agree to help, and he tags along for the rest of the descent. If you were late, you inspect his body here instead and continue alone.
Along the way there are several things worth stopping for. Focus Mode picks out a hound corpse, more footprints, stone tablets, and other bodies scattered through the halls. Jars and chests are stuffed with sellable junk and valuables, including Ruby Brooch, Golden Earrings, Remains of an Ancient Necklace, Remains of an Ancient Spearhead, and Remains of Ancient Tools. None of it is required, all of it converts to Denarius.
The warrior’s coffin and Mireleaf Braces
Deeper in you reach a stone coffin ringed by murals. Inspect each mural one at a time before you open anything. They tell the story of the tomb’s occupant, a woman warrior who fought the Vrakhiri and burned herself alive rather than be turned.
Then open the coffin. The haul inside is the real reason to take this detour.
| Item | What it does |
|---|---|
| Mireleaf Braces | Cuffing that unlocks Coen’s Claw Art attack combination, triggered mid-fight once the cuffing icon fills |
| Ruby Diadem | Valuable, sell for Denarius |
| Golden Brooch | Valuable, sell for Denarius |
| Copper Sulfate | Crafting material |
Sweep the surrounding room for anything left, then take the exit heading north out of the tomb.
How to beat The Forgotten Guardian
On the way out, The Forgotten Guardian drops in and blocks the tunnel. You cannot skip it, and at this point in the prologue Coen has nothing but his sword — the vampire side of his kit has not appeared yet.
Parrying is the fastest way through. Watch its armor and wait for it to turn orange, then move your sword in the matching direction to block the incoming hit. A clean parry opens it up; trading blows without parrying just drains your stamina.
Gear to equip before leaving the ruin
The Guardian and the surrounding chambers drop a stat upgrade over anything you are likely carrying in the prologue. Open your inventory before you climb out and equip the Undead Warrior’s Sword and the Champion’s Vambraces. It takes ten seconds and it carries straight into the rest of the prologue quests.
Finish Deep Down and confirm the rewards
Follow the remaining tunnels back to daylight. If Lazar survived, he thanks you at the surface and you can agree to walk him home; the two brothers reunite at the farm, and reporting the ruin to the elderman gets handed off rather than added to your plate.
Speak to Gavril to close it out. You know it worked when the quest clears from your journal and the reward payout appears: 1 Skill Point, 250 XP, and 50 Denarius. In a normal prologue run that XP is enough to push Coen to Level 4.
Why Lazar dies anyway
There is really only one failure state here, and it is not combat. If you reach the ruin after the prologue Time Segment bar has hit its last three rectangles, Lazar is already gone and no dialogue choice brings him back. Everything else — looting the coffin, examining the murals, killing the Guardian — has no bearing on which ending you get.
If you are working through the prologue and want the good outcome, slot Deep Down in early, before you spend segments on skill unlocks or other quests. It is a short trip underground, the Mireleaf Braces are worth having in your kit long before the sandbox opens up, and getting Lazar back to his brother costs you nothing extra beyond the single Time Segment you were always going to spend.
