The Blood of Dawnwalker: A Study in Crimson Walkthrough (Full Quest)

A Study in Crimson is the side quest that turns a curiosity shop visit into a murder investigation. Coen teams up with Vicho, a vrakhir who runs an emporium in Svartrau City, to work out who killed his friends Eli and Devora. The trail runs through three locations in a single night and ends in a boss fight, but the quest does not truly close until you come back and talk to Vicho one last time.

Quick answer: Enter Vicho’s Emporium through the balcony door at night with at least 4 Time Segments free, follow him to the jeweller’s house, Doctor Simeon’s house, and the warehouse, then kill Simeon in the warehouse basement — after that, finish The Good Samaritan and return to Vicho’s shop at night to confront him.

A Study in Crimson requirements, timing, and rewards

The quest is night-only from start to finish. Vicho is a vrakhir and cannot leave his shop during daylight, so every objective has a moon icon attached to it. Budget your in-game clock before you start.

Detail	Value
Type	Side quest
Region	Svartrau City (Altenmarkt), northern part of the city, west of Market Tower
Quest giver	Vicho, at Vicho’s Emporium
Time of day	Night only
Time cost	4 Time Segments
Prerequisites	None — you can walk in on your own or hear about Vicho around the city
Rewards	1 skill point, XP, Mercenary’s Amulet, Jeweller’s Key, Vicho’s Cross (legendary amulet), Vicho unlocked as a Witchcraft Vendor

Rewards are split across the quest’s objectives and its ending branch, so the XP total you see depends on which optional inspections you do and how you resolve the final conversation. Vicho’s Cross only exists on the branch where you go back and settle things with him.

Note: The quest has a failure ending. If you leave it half-finished and the 30-day story clock runs out, it resolves on its own with Coen never following up.

Starting the quest at Vicho’s Emporium

Open the map and set a marker on Vicho’s Emporium in the northern part of Svartrau City. The shop sits west of Market Tower, and the quest marker points at the building rather than a specific door.

Map screen with the yellow quest marker for Vicho's Emporium highlighted in Svartrau City — The yellow objective marker for Vicho’s Emporium in Svartrau City. Image: Rebel Wolves

Go there at night. The ground-floor entrance is not the way in — use Shadowstep to climb the neighbouring houses and jump across to the balcony, then take the balcony door.

The city map screen open on the Map tab, showing Svartrau City streets and markers — The Map tab showing the surrounding Svartrau City streets you climb through. Image: Rebel Wolves

Head downstairs and follow the noise. Coen finds Vicho fighting off his own thirst, and he asks you to leave. Your dialogue picks here have no lasting effect.

Come back after sunset with at least 4 Time Segments left in the night. If you have less, Vicho tells you to return the following evening. Agree to help and the investigation begins.

Gameplay screen showing the square-button Talk with Vicho interaction prompt — The “Talk with Vicho” prompt that starts and resumes the investigation. Image: Rebel Wolves

Searching the jeweller’s house for Devora and Eli

Vicho leaps from his balcony and crosses the rooftops. Follow with Shadowstep, then continue on foot through the streets to the jeweller’s house. If your Infamy is high, city soldiers may pick a fight on the way; just clear them and keep moving.

Go upstairs to the smaller room on the left and inspect Devora’s body against the wall in Focus Mode. She is carrying a threatening letter written by a doctor named Simeon, and that letter is what sends the investigation to his door.

Take the basement door to the left of where Vicho was sitting and inspect Eli’s body downstairs. Examining him hands you the Jeweller’s Key.

Look under the back of the stairs for a small chest and open it with the Jeweller’s Key. It holds silver, which rules out robbery as the motive.

Step outside, where Brencis’ soldiers are hassling Vicho. At low Infamy you can talk them down; at high Infamy they recognise Coen and attack immediately. You can also pay 200 Denarii to have Devora and Eli buried.

Follow Vicho behind the house and back up to the rooftops, then share your findings. Everything else in the house is optional flavour — only the two bodies are required.

Map screen with the Current Position marker highlighted while tracking Vicho through Svartrau — Checking the Current Position marker while trailing Vicho between locations. Image: Rebel Wolves

Doctor Simeon’s shed, house, and the property deed

Vicho leads you straight to the yard outside Simeon’s house. The front door is locked, and Simeon is not home.

Enter the shed in the yard and switch on Focus Mode. Inspect the table first, then interact with the stack of books in the upper-left corner to find the Doctor’s House Key.

While you are in there, look at the vrakhir teeth on display. They belong to Vicho, and he refuses to explain why Simeon has them.

Leave the shed and use the key on the front door of the house.

Inside, inspect the Patient Notes on the table between the doors, then go upstairs and pick up the Property Deed from the table in the room on the right. The deed is for a warehouse Simeon bought from Costin the blacksmith.

Show the deed to Vicho and talk to him when you are ready to leave. The warehouse is close enough that you walk there instead of taking the rooftops.

Getting into the warehouse and defeating Doctor Simeon

Both ground-floor doors are locked, so the entrance is above you.

Walk around to the back of the warehouse, climb onto the stable roof, then Shadowstep up to the third-floor balcony and go inside.

Use Focus Mode on the interior clutter if you want the full picture. The notes and equipment spell out how obsessed Simeon was with turning himself into a vrakhir using Vicho’s teeth.

Cutscene of Coen calling out to the doctor from behind wooden beams inside the warehouse — Coen calls out to Simeon from behind the beams before the fight starts. Image: Rebel Wolves

Heal up and restock before you head down. The bottom floor triggers a boss fight the moment you reach the basement.

Fight Simeon, now transformed into a murohn. Vicho fights alongside you, which makes this one of the more forgiving boss encounters — Simeon telegraphs his swings clearly, and the main risk is his habit of teleporting behind you.

Killing him triggers a cutscene and a short conversation. Your replies do not change the outcome; Vicho decides for himself that Simeon was the killer, and the quest is marked complete in the journal.

The Good Samaritan and confronting Vicho

The journal entry closing is not the end of Vicho’s story. Starting the next daytime period, one of the medics in Svartrau offers The Good Samaritan, the second part of his questline. Finish that first, because it produces the information you need for the final conversation.

Return to Vicho’s shop the following night and a new objective appears: confront him. Here you choose whether to tell him the truth about the murders. If you do, he accepts responsibility and decides to let the sunrise take him, and you can either stay with him or walk away. There is also a path where he keeps living, on the condition that Coen supplies him with human blood.

Once the decision is made, go up to the top floor of Vicho’s house and grab Vicho’s Cross, a legendary amulet. If Vicho dies, he is gone from the world permanently and is no longer available as a Witchcraft Vendor, so buy anything you want from him beforehand.

Every A Study in Crimson ending

Outcome	How it happens
Simeon named as the killer	Kill Simeon and stop there. Rewards Vicho’s Cross.
Vicho keeps living	Tell him the truth and agree to supply him with human blood. Rewards the Mercenary’s Amulet, XP, and a skill point.
Vicho burns, Coen stays	Tell him the truth and remain with him until sunrise.
Vicho burns, Coen leaves	Tell him the truth, then walk away before the sun rises. Counts as a failure ending.
Truth withheld	Learn what really happened but say nothing, leaving Vicho with his version of events.
Investigation abandoned	Stop helping once Vicho admits he might be the murderer.
Never followed up	Leave the questline unfinished until other matters overtake it.

Why the quest is not progressing

There are only a few reasons the objectives stall, and all of them are fixable.

You arrived during the day. Every step is night-locked, and Vicho will not leave his shop.
You have fewer than 4 Time Segments left. Vicho postpones the investigation until the next night.
You tried the ground-floor door at the emporium. The balcony is the only entrance.
You skipped a body. Both Devora upstairs and Eli in the basement must be inspected before Vicho will move on.
You missed the Property Deed. Without it there is no warehouse marker to follow.
The final talk has not unlocked yet. The Good Samaritan only appears from the next daytime period at a Svartrau medic.

Vicho’s questline is one of the few in Svartrau City where the mystery you solve and the truth you uncover are two different things, and the game lets you close the case without ever finding out which one you were chasing. Keep a manual save before the final conversation if you want to see how the other endings play out.