Mortal Shell 2: Vlas Questline Guide With All Locations and Rewards

Vlas is a traveling merchant in Mortal Shell 2 who gets ambushed on the Road of Absolution and turns up in three separate places over the course of his questline. He hands out two Coins of Mammon in total, but the questline also gates access to a Brigand shop that vanishes forever once you act, which makes the order you do things in matter more than the difficulty of anything you fight along the way.

Quick answer: Talk to Vlas south of the Outskirts of Mammon Beacon, examine the crate holding his cat Mutton for the first Coin of Mammon, then rest at a beacon between every visit until he leaves. Buy out the Brigand at Lonesome Spire, retrieve the Unremarkable Key, offer it to the caged Vlas three times, then find him outside Marrow Keep for the second Coin of Mammon.

Vlas locations and rewards in Mortal Shell 2

Vlas moves three times, and each move only happens after you have exhausted his dialogue and rested at a beacon. Nothing in the chain is timed to story progress, so you can run it as early as you can safely reach the Outskirts of Mammon.

Stage	Where he is	What you get
First meeting	South of the Outskirts of Mammon Beacon, beside a wrecked cart on the Road of Absolution	Coin of Mammon (after finding Mutton)
After he departs	Same camp, now empty	A letter left on the ground
Captured	Caged at the top of Lonesome Spire, behind the Brigand merchant, reached via the Gate of Mammon Beacon	Access to the Brigand’s stock; loot on the ground after he escapes
Final meeting	Outside Marrow Keep, standing with Mutton	Coin of Mammon

The missable part: Buy out the Brigand before you free Vlas

The Brigand standing in front of Vlas’s cage at Lonesome Spire is a black market merchant, and he is the one genuinely permanent loss in this questline. Once Vlas takes the Unremarkable Key and escapes, the camp clears out and the Brigand never returns.

Clear his entire stock before you hand over the key. Glimpse and Laterite are the two purchases worth prioritising if you are short on Gloom, but his shelves also carry consumables and upgrade materials such as Common Moonshine, Dorsalite, Galvanic Shard, Bloodseed, Burnt Effigy and Tarspore. You cannot attack the bandits here, so trading is the only interaction available.

Note: A Brigand also sells Glimpse before this stage, so it is worth picking one up on an early pass through the area rather than waiting until the cage encounter.

Stage 1: Find Vlas and Mutton at the Outskirts of Mammon

Fast travel to the Outskirts of Mammon Beacon and head south toward the Road to Absolute Ruin. Push past the shield-carrying enemies on the path rather than fighting through every group, since none of them guard anything you need here.

The Harbinger runs along a ruined stone path south of the Outskirts of Mammon Beacon toward Vlas. — The route south from the Outskirts of Mammon Beacon toward Vlas’s wrecked cart. Image: Cold Symmetry

Drop down over the broken ledge on the left to reach the camp below. Vlas is lying injured next to a damaged cart with his goods scattered around him.

Speak with him and keep talking until his dialogue repeats. He asks you to look for his feline companion, Mutton.

Search the camp. There are three spots worth checking, including an empty chest and the cliff edge, but the one that matters is the wooden crate opposite Vlas, underneath the baggage cart. Examining it reveals Mutton and earns your first Coin of Mammon.

Return to Vlas, exhaust his dialogue again, then rest at any beacon. Come back and speak to him a second time, when he is standing rather than lying down, and read the letter sitting near his campfire.

The Harbinger approaches the lit campfire at Vlas's camp where the letter is left behind. — Vlas’s campfire, where the letter is left once he moves on. Image: Cold Symmetry

The letter is short and confirms he left willingly rather than being dragged off:

Dear friend, if you’re reading this don’t worry. My former accomplices will not dare harm me or Mutton. They need me. Take care of yourself. I know there’s more to you than meets the eye. Sincerely, Vlas

Rest at a beacon one more time. This is what actually pushes him to the next location, and skipping it is the most common reason the questline appears to stall.

Stage 2: Free Vlas from the cage at Lonesome Spire

Teleport to the Gate of Mammon Beacon and make your way through the town to Lonesome Spire, climbing to the top floor. Vlas is locked in a cage at the back of the bandit camp, directly behind the Brigand merchant.

The Harbinger crouches in the ruined bandit market at Lonesome Spire with an enemy standing ahead. — The bandit camp at Lonesome Spire, where the black market Brigand trades in front of Vlas’s cage. Image: Cold Symmetry

Trade with the Brigand and clear his inventory now, before doing anything with the key. Once you continue, this shop is gone permanently.

Speak with Vlas at the cage until his dialogue loops, and examine Mutton in the smaller cage beside him.

Backtrack toward the camp entrance and find the shack you passed on the way in. A wooden barrier blocks the way, so break through it and pick up the Unremarkable Key inside.

Return to the cage and talk to Vlas again. Offer him the key three separate times. He refuses the first two attempts out of fear, and only accepts on the third.

The Harbinger stands facing an NPC in the settlement with health, Gloom, and equipment counters on screen. — Offering the Unremarkable Key. The prompt has to be used three times before Vlas takes it. Image: Cold Symmetry

Rest at a beacon and come back. The cage is empty, and there is loose loot scattered around the area worth collecting before you leave.

The Harbinger stands in the emptied bandit camp after Vlas escapes, with loot left on the ground. — The camp after Vlas escapes, with items left behind on the ground. Image: Cold Symmetry

Stage 3: Meet Vlas at Marrow Keep for the final Coin of Mammon

Travel to Marrow Keep and head left from the beacon, following the cave path down toward the water.

Vlas is standing there with Mutton, both unharmed. Exhaust his dialogue and pet the cat.

He hands over the second Coin of Mammon. That reward is the confirmation that the questline is finished, and Vlas remains at Marrow Keep from that point on.

Why the Vlas questline stops progressing

There are only a few things that break the chain, and all of them come down to skipped inputs rather than missed triggers elsewhere in the world.

You stopped talking to him too early. Every stage needs his dialogue fully exhausted, not a single conversation.
You did not rest at a beacon between visits. Resting is what advances him, and it is required more than once at the Outskirts of Mammon.
You only offered the Unremarkable Key once or twice. The third offer is the one he accepts.
You never examined the crate under the cart, so Mutton was never found and the first Coin of Mammon never triggered.

The whole chain takes well under an hour if you keep a beacon rest between each conversation, and the only irreversible decision is when you hand over the key. Clear the Brigand’s stock first, and everything else in the questline can be picked up at your own pace.