Mystery of the Expedition is a side quest in Windrose that starts after a ghostly Spanish sailor appears at an ancient grave. The quest log tracks it internally as "Secret of the Expedition," runs across three stages, and sends you hunting for three named graves before leading to a wrecked ship near Tortuga. The twist that trips most players up: after the first grave, the map stops giving you direct markers.
Quick answer: Find the Grave of Esteban Vargas, the Grave of Jaime Lopez, and the Grave of Guillermo Sanchez — one sits in each of the three tiered biomes (foothills, swamp, coastal jungle). Look for magnifying-glass icons on the map (they appear at ancient grave sites you have already scouted) and explore any unvisited "?" islands. Then sail to the wreck near Tortuga and loot the Broken Ancient Medallion.
Quest overview
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Quest type | Side quest |
| Region | Open sea (multi-biome) |
| Recommended gear | 5+ |
| Stages | 3 |
| Final reward | Broken Ancient Medallion |
| Game version | Windrose 0.10.0 |
The quest begins with an encounter at an ancient grave, where the ghost of a Spanish sailor speaks about an old expedition. After that first interaction, the journal updates and asks you to locate the remaining graves.
Stage 1: Find the three Spanish graves
The three required graves belong to Esteban Vargas, Jaime Lopez, and Guillermo Sanchez. One spawns in each of the game's three tiered biomes — foothills, swamp, and coastal jungle — but the exact island within each biome is randomized per save. That randomization is why the compass gives you no waypoint after the first grave.
Two tools help narrow the search:
- Magnifying-glass icons on the map. Ancient grave sites you have already discovered display a small magnifying-glass (binocular-style) legend icon. Zoom in on your world map and check each tier's region for these icons.
- Unexplored "?" islands. If a tier is missing its grave icon, you simply have not landed on the island it sits on yet. Sail to every island with a question mark in that tier and walk the interior until you trigger the discovery.
Interacting with each grave triggers a short ghost encounter. One of these ghosts mentions a meeting place near Turtle Island — that line is the bridge into Stage 2. The Foothills grave is often guarded by a two-star alpha wolf, so bring gear rated around 5 or higher before approaching.
How you know it worked: The quest log checks off all three required graves and advances to "Find the expedition ship."
Stage 2: Sail to the wreck near Tortuga
Once all three graves are inspected, the journal reasons that "Turtle Island" refers to Tortuga, where the expedition was forced to stop before reaching port. At this stage, the game does place a proper quest marker, so open the map and set course for the indicated location near Tortuga.
The wreck sits in open water at the marker. Expect drowned enemies patrolling the decks and the surrounding area, so approach with weapons ready and clear the hostiles before searching.
Stage 3: Search the shipwreck
Board the wrecked ship and sweep both the decks and the interior. The objective completes when you pick up the Broken Ancient Medallion from the ruins.
The journal closes with a note tying the medallion to the one the protagonist's father gave them before their first voyage, and raising a question about the Order mentioned by Juan De La Cosa. That thread is left open for future content.
Completion check: The Broken Ancient Medallion enters your inventory, Stage 3 closes, and the side quest is marked complete in the log.
Common reasons the quest stalls
| Symptom | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| No marker after the first grave | Intended behavior — subsequent graves are not auto-marked | Search ancient grave sites (magnifying-glass icons) in each tier |
| Only one or two magnifying-glass icons visible | You have not yet landed on the island that hosts the missing grave | Explore unvisited "?" islands in the tier that is missing its icon |
| Foothills grave seems blocked | Two-star alpha wolf guards the site | Level up or gear up to roughly tier 5+ and engage |
| Ship marker appears but nothing to loot | Drowned enemies still active around the wreck | Clear all enemies on and around the decks, then search again |
Reward
The Broken Ancient Medallion is the only guaranteed reward tied to the final stage. It is currently a narrative item that ties into the protagonist's backstory and hints at a larger faction called the Order. No additional crafting or combat use has been confirmed for it in version 0.10.0.
If you are running Mystery of the Expedition for mechanical payoff, treat the Piastres and XP you pick up along the way — from the drowned at the wreck and from exploring new islands in each tier — as the practical gain. The medallion itself is a lore hook.