Partway through Smoke and Ashes, the sixth main quest in The Blood of Dawnwalker, Anca tells Coen that a corpse will only talk about what it cared about. That turns into the objective “Find items of importance to the dead soldier,” a short search around the body of one of Brencis’s men on the road outside Laslea. Two objects can be picked up nearby, and only one of them actually moves the story forward.
Quick answer: Grab the Drinking Gourd from the dirt path below the tree and Brencis’s Banner from the ruined wooden building beside the yellow flag, then return to the body, choose “Talk with Anco,” and select Use Catalyst – Brencis’s Banner.
Requirement: Compel Soul must be cast on the dead soldier first
The search objective does not appear until Coen has already used his new Witchcraft ability on the corpse. After you search the family home and return to Anca, she teaches Coen Compel Soul and points him at the dead soldier lying under the tree by the road. Casting it the first time awakens the ghost, unlocks the Dead Man Talkin’ trophy, and produces nothing useful — the spirit rambles because nothing is anchoring its attention.
That is the point where Anca explains catalysts. To make the soul speak about a specific subject, Coen needs an object that meant something to the man while he was alive, which is what sends you searching the immediate area.
Drinking Gourd and Brencis’s Banner locations
Both items sit within a few seconds of the body, so there is no need to range across the burned village. Neither pickup costs a time segment.
| Item | Where it is |
|---|---|
| Drinking Gourd | On the dirt path leading away from the tree where the corpse and ghost are. Prompt reads “Pick Up Drinking Gourd.” |
| Brencis’s Banner | Beside a ruined wooden building a short walk from the body, next to a yellow flag and a stack of corpses. Prompt reads “Pick up Brencis’s Banner.” |
Coen comments on each one as you take it, which is the game confirming both count as valid catalysts. Only the banner produces the memory the quest needs, but picking up the gourd costs nothing and adds a second dialogue option at the corpse.
Collecting both items and compelling Anco’s soul
What the banner memory reveals about the coronation
With the banner as the catalyst, the ghost replays the moment he received his orders. He repeats them back in disbelief, asking whether the villagers really are all to be taken to the castle for draining, and whether that includes the children.
The memory ends with him refusing outright, which explains why his body is lying on the road rather than marching with the rest of Brencis’s men.
Anca then delivers the detail that frames the rest of the campaign: the coronation is thirty days away. That is the same thirty-day window Coen has to reach his family before the draining takes place. The final prompt in the scene is “Let’s bury this man with the others,” which Coen chooses out of a grudging respect for a man who wore the vralthr’s crest but refused the order.
Confirming the objective completed
Once the memory plays out and the burial line is chosen, the tracked objective switches to “Go to the village gate” and Anca starts walking toward the wrecked entrance to Laslea. If the quest tracker still reads “Find items of importance to the dead soldier,” one of two things happened.
- You picked the Drinking Gourd as the catalyst, or backed out with [leave]. Interact with the body again and select the banner.
- You never picked up Brencis’s Banner, so the catalyst option does not appear at all. Head back to the ruined building by the yellow flag and take it.
From there Smoke and Ashes moves to clearing the rubble at the gate, a job that eats seven time segments and pushes the prologue into nightfall. Finishing the quest awards 150 XP along with the Burning Blood and Astral Communion abilities, and opens the valley up for the rest of the campaign.
