“We caught a break. One of our scouts saw a member of the Official Toledo Tubes Management make a dead drop inside the Santa Maria Houses in Old Town, in the Buried City.”

Digging Up Dirt is a short, exploration-first quest that sends you into Old Town’s Santa Maria Houses in the Buried City to locate a hidden dead drop. The objective sounds simple, but a recently sealed window and some interior defenses make the route matter. Below is the cleanest path in, where to interact once you’re inside, and how to exit fast.

Quest objectives, rewards, and chain

Vendor Location Objectives Rewards Quest chain
Celeste Buried City (Old Town)
  • Locate the Santa Maria Houses in Old Town
  • Locate the dead drop inside the Santa Maria Houses
  • 1× Buried City Residential Master Key
  • 21,000 XP
 Previous: Tribute to Toledo · Next: Turnabout

Route to the Santa Maria Houses (Old Town, Buried City)

Head to Old Town in the Buried City and move toward the cluster of buildings marked as the Santa Maria Houses. Approach from the north side alley behind the homes. You’re looking for a house with a low window fronted by a small pile of sand—that’s the building with the dead drop inside.

Previously you could slip through this window. It’s now sealed, so you’ll need to come in from above.

Get inside after the window was sealed

  • From the sand-fronted window, step back into the alley and climb onto the rooftop of the house opposite.
  • Traverse the roofline until you find a plank/bridge that lets you cross to the target house’s roof.
  • Look for an opening on the target rooftop and drop down.

Expect light resistance inside:

  • Turret coverage and a roaming Fireball unit can patrol the interior. Move deliberately, clear angles, and listen for audio cues before dropping to the lower floor.

Grab the dead drop and exit quickly

On the ground floor you’ll find a central statue-like fixture. Interact with it to complete the objective and pull the intel.

To leave without backtracking to the roof, find the shabby window to the left of the central fixture. Kick it to break out and exit to the street safely.

Where it sits in Celeste’s questline

Celeste hands out Digging Up Dirt after Tribute to Toledo and before Turnabout. It’s a compact objective with a strong payout—a Buried City Residential Master Key plus 21,000 XP—and it moves her storyline forward with intel on Official Toledo Tubes Management activity in Old Town.

Make the northern alley approach, take the rooftop route, interact with the central fixture, and punch out through the side window. It’s efficient, avoids the sealed entry, and keeps your exposure to the interior turret and Fireball to a minimum.