The Blood of Dawnwalker: How to Find Items of Importance to the Dead Soldier

Smoke and Ashes drops Coen into a fog-choked, burned-out village with a vague instruction: find items of importance to the dead soldier. The game does not mark the items on your map, and the ghost standing in the road will not say anything useful until you are carrying the right objects. There are three of them, all within a short walk of the body, and they have to be presented one at a time through the Compel Soul dialogue.

Quick answer: Pick up the Trampled Apple, the Drinking Gourd, and Brenic’s Banner, then cast Compel Soul on the dead soldier and select “Use Catalyst” for each of the three in turn.

Coen runs through the ruined village with the Find your family objective tracked on screen — The ruined village where the three catalysts are scattered. Image: Rebel Wolves

All three catalyst locations in Smoke and Ashes

Every catalyst sits on the ground or on a structure in the same ruined settlement. None of them are locked behind a fight, and none require a key or a specific time of day.

Catalyst	Where to pick it up
Trampled Apple	On the ground beside a wooden shelter, close to where the objective begins
Drinking Gourd	Lying on the dirt path through the village; use focus vision to make it glow
Brenic’s Banner	On a wooden structure near a yellow flag, a short distance from the body

Coen comments as he collects each one, which is the clearest confirmation you have the right object. The apple gets “An apple like any other… Or is it?”, the gourd gets “A simple drinking gourd… But it feels different”, and the banner gets “This banner… Something about it…” If Coen says nothing, you have picked up ordinary loot rather than a catalyst.

Coen moves along the path with the Smoke and Ashes objective to find items of importance to the dead soldier — The path through the village, where the Drinking Gourd is easy to walk straight past. Image: Rebel Wolves

How to collect the Trampled Apple and Drinking Gourd

Head for the wooden shelter near the start of the objective and look at the dirt around its base. Press the pick-up prompt on the Trampled Apple.

Turn onto the dirt road running through the village and switch on focus vision. The Drinking Gourd is small and blends into the mud, so the highlight is the fastest way to spot it.

Grab the gourd, then keep walking the road. The pitchforks and pikes lying around are scenery rather than catalysts, though Coen will note that villagers tried to fight the soldiers off with whatever they had.

Cast Compel Soul on the dead soldier and present the catalysts

Walk to the dead soldier’s body, near where Anca is standing, and use the Compel Soul prompt. His ghost appears and the dialogue menu opens.

Quest tracker showing the distance to the objective marker in the burned village — Following the marker to the soldier’s body before casting Compel Soul. Image: Rebel Wolves

Choose “Use Catalyst – Drinking Gourd”. The memory shows the soldier being scolded for drinking on duty, insisting it only helps him sleep.

Dialogue wheel with the Use Catalyst Drinking Gourd option highlighted — Selecting a catalyst from the Compel Soul dialogue menu. Image: Rebel Wolves

Pick “Use Catalyst – Trampled Apple” next. This memory has the soldier handing food to a crying child named Lunka and telling her there is no telling when they will feed her next.

Leave the dialogue and speak to Anca. Selecting “This is disgusting!” opens the exchange where she admits she tried not to look at the bodies.

Talk with Anca interaction prompt appears as Coen approaches her by a large tree — The Talk with Anca prompt beside the tree near the soldier’s body. Image: Rebel Wolves

Collect Brenic’s Banner from the wooden structure by the yellow flag, return to the ghost, and select “Use Catalyst – Brenic’s Banner” to close out the sequence.

How to confirm the objective is done

The objective text changes once the ghost has been compelled. Instead of “Find items of importance to the dead soldier”, the tracker switches to “Cast Compel Soul on the dead soldier and use the catalysts” with a counter that climbs toward 3. A QUEST UPDATED banner appears alongside it.

Watch that counter rather than your inventory. Holding all three items is not enough on its own, since progress only registers when each catalyst has actually been selected in the dialogue.

Why the Use Catalyst option is missing

You are not carrying the item yet. Each catalyst only appears as a dialogue choice after Coen physically picks it up, so a missing option means a missing object.
You walked past the Drinking Gourd. It sits flat on the dirt path and is the easiest of the three to miss without focus vision active.
You left the ghost before finishing. Leaving the conversation is fine, but you have to cast Compel Soul on the body again to present the remaining catalysts.

Once the third catalyst lands, the soldier’s memories are fully exposed and Smoke and Ashes moves on. Keep in mind that time in Vale Sangora keeps advancing while you search, so it is worth grabbing the gourd on your first pass down the road rather than doubling back for it later.