The Blood of Dawnwalker: How to Reach the Rendezvous Point and Rescue Sara

Shadows in the Woods opens with a vague marker and a long stretch of forest, which is why the “Reach the rendezvous point” objective trips people up. The destination is a small wooden hut south of the bridge, and Sara is being held there by two of Brencis’s soldiers. You can walk away with her without drawing your sword at all, provided you have the coin.

Quick answer: From the Small Bridge shrine, cross the bridge and run south into the forest toward the quest marker until you find the small wooden hut. Then pick “That girl is my sister,” followed by “Not sure. Maybe these coins hold an answer? (100)” to buy Sara’s release for 100 denarii, or refuse and kill both soldiers.

What unlocks the rendezvous point objective

Shadows in the Woods does not appear on its own. It comes out of The Firebrand, which leads into Under Watchful Eyes and the jailbreak at Stoneward Post. Once Mert is out of his cell and safe, he tells Coen about Sara, the Manumits’ contact, and the quest is added to your journal.

Before the forest leg begins, you have to clear the area near the bridge in the southern part of the Briar Sloughs. Several guards patrol there alongside a minor boss, the Vrakhiri Banneret. Kill them first, because the path onward runs straight through that fight.

Route to the rendezvous point in Shadows in the Woods

Fast travel to the Small Bridge shrine and open your map to confirm the quest marker sits to the south. This is the cleanest starting point for the trip, and it puts you on the correct side of the water with almost no backtracking.

Forest bridge with the Reach the rendezvous point objective highlighted on the gameplay HUD — The “Reach the rendezvous point” objective highlighted on the HUD as you set out from the bridge. Image: Rebel Wolves

Cross the bridge on foot and keep the marker ahead of you. There is no alternate crossing worth hunting for here, so take the direct route rather than following the riverbank.

Coen crossing a wooden bridge on the way to the Shadows in the Woods rendezvous point — Crossing the wooden bridge before turning into the forest. Image: Rebel Wolves

Run south, drifting southeast into the treeline, and stick to the dirt trail leading toward the marker. Wild boars roam this stretch of woodland. They are easy to outrun, and fighting them only costs you health and time.

Quest tracker showing Rescue your family and Reach the rendezvous point while running through the forest — The tracker keeps “Reach the rendezvous point” pinned as you push deeper into the woods. Image: Rebel Wolves

Keep going until a small wooden hut comes into view in a clearing. Walking up to it triggers a cutscene, Coen recognises Sara, and the journal flips to “Rescue Sara.” That objective swap is your confirmation that you found the right spot.

Note: if you approach from a different shrine, the geometry still holds. The hut sits south of the bridge crossing, deeper into the forest than the boar trails, so any approach that keeps you moving south-southeast will land on it.

Free Sara: pay 100 denarii or kill the two soldiers

Two soldiers are guarding Sara when the cutscene ends, and one of them opens with “Oi! You! What are you doing here?” What you say next decides whether this becomes a bribe or a brawl. Both routes end with Sara free, so pick based on your purse and your confidence in combat.

Route	Dialogue picks	Cost
Bribe (no fight)	“That girl is my sister.” then “Not sure. Maybe these coins hold an answer? (100)”	100 denarii
Fight	Refuse to pay, or take an aggressive line such as “Let her go!”	Beat both soldiers in combat

The bribe option only shows up if you have the money on hand, so top up before you head into the forest if you want to skip the fight. If you go the other way, it is a straightforward two-on-one sword duel with no boss mechanics. Focus one soldier down, block rather than trade blindly, and the encounter ends quickly.

Coen fighting two soldiers in the forest clearing with an enemy health bar targeted — The two soldiers guarding Sara, fought here after refusing to pay. Image: Rebel Wolves

Dialogue choices after Sara is free

Talk to Sara once the soldiers are dealt with. Mention that Mert sent you, then choose “I want to join the manumits” to steer the conversation toward the resistance instead of a dead end. She then asks you to follow her, and a short walk through the forest triggers the next cutscene.

The Manumits capture Coen at that point, and the interrogation that follows is a fixed sequence of prompts. Working through it in order keeps the quest moving.

I wish I knew.
I don’t.
Any option (this pick does not change the outcome).
Forget it. You won’t believe me anyway.
What now?
Very well. I’ll meet you in Svartrau.

This is where you meet Crake and Drogos, the two leaders of the Manumits, and where Shadows in the Woods hands off to the longer Where Loyalty Lies arc.

How to confirm the rescue worked

There are three clear signals. The journal shows “QUEST UPDATED” and swaps the objective to “Rescue Sara” the moment you reach the hut. Sara walks free after the bribe or the fight, and a closing cutscene plays once the conversation with the Manumits ends. Completing Shadows in the Woods awards 1000 XP.

Cutscene playing after Sara is freed at the forest hut — The closing cutscene that plays once Sara is rescued. Image: Rebel Wolves

If the objective refuses to update, you are almost certainly still short of the hut. The marker points into open forest for most of the run, and the trigger only fires when you get close enough for Coen to spot Sara. Missing the bribe prompt has a single cause as well, which is not carrying 100 denarii at the time of the conversation.

Once the quest closes out, joining the Manumits is gated behind your notoriety. You need to hit level four, the Notorious milestone, by hitting the regime’s forces, and you can track the bar in the Court tab. Clearing out Ambrus’s operations first and then chipping away at Bakir’s and Xanthe’s troops is the fastest path there before Where Loyalty Lies opens up.