With the Sphinx, Devourer of the Unworthy beaten at the close of Chapter IV, William wakes back in the Abandoned Church with one road left to walk: the path toward the city. That path runs through a locked iron grille called the Outward Pass Gate, and the key that opens it is held by James at his workbench.
Quick answer: Talk to James at his workbench to receive the Outward Pass Key, then follow the path toward the Caverns and interact with the second door, the Outward Pass Gate, to open it and load the Vale of Wrath.
When you receive the Outward Pass Key
The Outward Pass Key comes from James in the Abandoned Church after you defeat the Sphinx at the end of Chapter IV (DARK DESCENT). When you wake, Louis speaks to you beside his Laboratoire and ends with a clear instruction: “James sees the world through a rifle scope. Go talk to him – he will find you a path that doesn’t involve a bayonet to the gut.”
Talking to James is the next step, and it begins Chapter V, CRIME. The key itself reads: “A battered camp key that unlocks the Outward Pass Gate, opening the path towards the city.” A fresh journal entry sets the goal for the chapter: “Louis requires his research notes from the old laboratory at the university. I must make my way to the city to acquire them.”
If you want the fuller picture of where the fight sat in the story, the Chapter IV walkthrough covers the stretch before this point, and the breakdown of all 11 chapters shows where CRIME falls in the run.
How to get the Outward Pass Key from James
Where the Outward Pass Gate is and how to open it
The gate sits outside the church, on the same path as the Caverns entrance you used in Chapter IV. Leave through the west archway and follow the path toward the caves. The Cave Grotto Key door (the timber-framed iron grille into the Caverns) is the first door you pass; the Outward Pass Gate is the second, about 15 metres further on, to the south-west. On the way, William notes: “Eventually, this path will lead me to the university in the city.” The gate is a low iron grille set in a stone wall between two square stone pillars, with a lit torch on the right-hand pillar.
What is beyond the gate (the Vale of Wrath)
Beyond the gate lies the VALE OF WRATH, where Chapter V, CRIME, unfolds. You emerge on a forest road overgrown with plants, with a waterfall and hut in front of you. Follow James’s guidance by avoiding the main roads and taking the back villages instead. This Vale is your first leg toward the city, and the journal still directs you to Louis’s old university laboratory.
To return, enter the path behind the spot where you arrive; it leads to the church. Walking into the path loads the Abandoned Church again, close to the gate. The Vale of Wrath map helps you locate the area’s Lanterns, chests and keys. The keys page shows every key on the Valor Mortis map and the region it belongs to.
What to do before you leave the church
At this story point, the church Lantern cannot transport you. Its menu displays “Travel between lanterns is currently impossible.” and leaves TRAVEL greyed out. You can still use LEVEL UP and UPGRADE FERROFLUID FLASK, so spend your Catalysts there before passing through the gate.
Two stations are worth a stop first. At James’s Iron Bench, put work into your weapons, since James himself tells you to bring every bullet you can find. At Louis’s Laboratoire you can upgrade your Transmutations, and after the Sphinx its TRADE list adds two items worth noting.
- Pure Transmutation Material — 4,000 Catalysts, the material for level 3 upgrades.
- Cleansing Vial — 1,200 Catalysts. Its text: “Use it to cleanse yourself of Ignite and Stasis statuses.”
If the Sphinx’s 20,000 Catalysts dropped as lost Catalysts in the arena, you can only recover them from the spot where you dropped them.
