The Blood of Dawnwalker: Fall Before Dusk Full Walkthrough

Fall Before Dusk is one of the ending quests in The Blood of Dawnwalker, and it is a long one. Coen and Crake tunnel their way under Greifberg Castle, fight through a Kobold nest, a dungeon, a courtyard, and most of the castle interior, then finish the job in the throne room. It ends with Brencis.

Quick answer: Follow the tunnel objectives into Greifberg Castle, clear the dungeon and courtyard, break Xanthe’s illusion loop by finding the hidden passage behind the bookshelf, then beat the Commander of the Blood Guard in the throne room and Brencis, Grotesque Ascendant in the ruined arena. The quest closes with the trophy “The Knyazmaker.”

Before you start Fall Before Dusk

This is an ending route, not a mid-game main quest. It follows Rise at Dawn in the rebellion questline and starts in Svartrau City, and there is no free roam once the story concludes. Make a manual save in a separate slot first — the game supports 54 manual save slots — so you can reload and run other endings or mop up side content afterwards.

The opening objective is “Inspect the tunnels” under the overall goal of rescuing your family. Squeeze through the gap in the cave wall to move from Svartrau City into the Greifberg Castle region, then climb the stone ledge to continue.

Greifberg tunnels: The Kobold Hive and the ladder route

Push into the dark tunnels and deal with the first Kobold ambush. Sword work handles them fine at this stage, and the fight is short.

Find the ladder left behind by the scouts and climb to the upper cave level. A cutscene triggers here when you reach the bodies of Crake’s scouts, Boris and Illie, who the Kobolds killed.

In the dialogue that follows you can pick “Maybe we don’t need to fight them” and try to talk the Kobolds down. They refuse, so The Kobold Hive encounter starts regardless. Treat the diplomacy line as flavour rather than a route around the fight.

Coen's dialogue line "Maybe we don't need to fight them..." on screen during the Kobold encounter — The attempt to negotiate with the Kobolds before The Kobold Hive fight begins. Image: Rebel Wolves

Survive the waves. Once the hive is clear, the journal marks “Inspect the tunnels” as complete and sets “Reach the ladder.” Run the tunnels and climb the wooden ladder at the end.

The objective changes to “Check the rest of the tunnel.” There is a chest nearby worth opening — it holds balms, ointments, and a Golden Brooch.

Journal screen showing the Fall Before Dusk objective "Check the rest of the tunnel" — The journal after the ladder climb, with “Check the rest of the tunnel” as the active objective. Image: Rebel Wolves

Meeting Catalin and splitting the party

At the gated entrance you run into Catalin and his guards. Two dialogue beats show up here, one when you first speak to him and another when the conversation turns to the prison cells. Neither blocks progress.

Past the gate is a torture room. Pull the lever to open the path — the room itself is empty. Catalin and his men then head for the upper castle while Coen and Crake take the prison cells, which is where the quest actually continues.

The prison cells and the Warden fight

Entering the cells triggers a confrontation with the Warden of the Greifberg Dungeons, which becomes the Watcher of the Greifberg Dungeons boss encounter. He does not come alone — his guards join in, so pull them apart rather than standing in the middle of the room.

The Warden of the Greifberg Dungeons confronting Coen in a cutscene before the boss fight — The Warden of the Greifberg Dungeons blocks the way into the prison block. Image: Rebel Wolves

Loot his body and the surrounding area afterwards. The drops include the Warden’s Log, Denarius, and high-tier gear. The journal then adds “Look for your family” plus the optional objective “Look for any prisoners willing to fight.”

Searching the cells shows they are empty — the prisoners have been moved. Fight through the castle guards in the corridors and the objective becomes “Find a way to the courtyard.” There is another chest to grab before the stairs out.

Courtyard: The Unblinking Blasphemy

Stepping into the courtyard drops you straight into a boss fight against The Unblinking Blasphemy, a flying creature that attacks the moment you arrive. Kill it and the objective flips to “Enter the castle.”

Climb the wooden scaffolding toward the castle gate — there is a lootable sack on the way. Behind a gate you can talk to a wounded rebel prisoner who explains that the frontal assault ordered by Catalin’s men failed. Choosing “May we meet again” sends the survivor off on a better note.

Coen speaking to the surviving rebel in a dialogue cutscene with a Skip prompt visible — The exchange with the wounded rebel behind the gate before entering the castle. Image: Rebel Wolves

Inside the castle: Guard Captain and Xanthe’s trap

The hallway inside is held by a group of guards. Clear them and you get cornered in a large hall by the Guard Captain and his soldiers. Asking him where Brencis is leads into the fight either way, and the soldiers with him make this harder than the corridor scraps.

With the captain down, the objective becomes “Find the throne room.” Head upstairs, deal with a lone guard, then a group of red-robed enemies in the next hall.

A wave of magic hits after that fight and red runes light up the walls. Ghostly copies of Xanthe attack and lock Coen into a repeating loop, with the journal switching to “Escape Xanthe’s trap.” Fighting the apparitions is not the exit on its own — look for the hidden passage behind the bookshelf and drop down through it. The journal reverts to “Find the throne room” once you are out.

Note: a Sergeant and his guards hold the dining hall between the trap and the throne room. The room is worth searching for food and gold before you move on, because the next stretch is continuous.

Throne room: Catalin, Brencis, and the major choice

The throne room cutscene opens with Catalin standing over his father’s body. Brencis appears and stabs him, then overpowers Coen. This is the decision point the quest is known for — the line you pick here can change who survives, and one option, Stay Silent, only shows up depending on Marat’s earlier state in the questline. If you care about that outcome, reload from a save made before entering rather than trying to correct it later.

Coen confronted by Brencis in the dim stone throne chamber during the Fall Before Dusk cutscene — The throne room confrontation, where Fall Before Dusk’s major choice lands. Image: Rebel Wolves

Brencis reveals Coen’s family tied up at a table behind him, then leaves you to his guards. Beat the Commander of the Blood Guard and the objective updates to “Defeat Brencis.”

Final boss: Brencis, Grotesque Ascendant

Follow Brencis out of the throne room into a ruined arena under a red sky. He transforms into a skeletal creature with long tentacles, and after the final dialogue prompt the fight begins as Brencis, Grotesque Ascendant.

The tentacle strikes have long reach, so keep moving and dodge rather than trying to trade hits at range. Once he goes down, a short dialogue sequence lets you press him for answers about what he was working toward before he laughs and dies.

Objective and boss order for Fall Before Dusk

Objective	Fight or event
Inspect the tunnels	Kobold ambush, then The Kobold Hive
Reach the ladder	Tunnel run, wooden ladder climb
Check the rest of the tunnel	Chest with Golden Brooch, meeting with Catalin
Look for your family	Watcher of the Greifberg Dungeons (the Warden)
Find a way to the courtyard	Castle guards in the prison corridors
Enter the castle	The Unblinking Blasphemy
Find the throne room	Guard Captain and soldiers
Escape Xanthe’s trap	Xanthe apparitions, hidden passage behind bookshelf
Find the throne room (resumed)	Sergeant in the dining hall
Defeat Brencis	Commander of the Blood Guard, then Brencis, Grotesque Ascendant

How to confirm the quest completed

Two things confirm it. The journal clears the “Defeat Brencis” objective after the final dialogue, and the trophy “The Knyazmaker” unlocks on screen as the quest wraps up. If the trophy has not popped, the closing conversation with Brencis has not finished playing out yet.

The most common way people get stuck is Xanthe’s trap, because the illusions keep respawning and the exit is easy to walk past. If the loop keeps restarting, stop swinging and search the walls of the room for the bookshelf passage. Everything else in the quest is a straight fight-and-advance sequence, and your save from before the throne room is the only rewind you need for the ending you want.