The Blood of Dawnwalker: Distant Shadows Full Quest Walkthrough

Distant Shadows is a surveillance job. There is no combat encounter to win and no boss at the end of it — the whole quest hinges on whether Coen can follow a beekeeper named Ascar around Tantari without ever being seen. Get sloppy and the tail collapses; stay patient and the quest ends with a conversation back in the Svartrau City hideout.

Quick answer: Travel to Tantari, search Ascar’s hut while he is outside, shadow him from cover through the beehives and his snares, stay hidden while Brencis’s Soldiers beat him, then fast travel to Svartrau City and report to Marat (Crake) in the hideout. Talking to Dragos afterwards closes the quest.

Distant Shadows quest requirements and where it fits

Distant Shadows sits near the end of the manumit questline that begins with The Firebrand in Laslea Glen and runs through Shadows in the Woods, Where Loyalty Lies, What Hunts the Night, What Moves the Dead and Who Pulls the Strings. It is flagged as optional, but it feeds directly into A Closer Look, which is tied to the trophy The Manumit, so skipping it costs you completion progress.

Detail	Value
Quest type	Optional side quest, manumit questline
Comes after	Who Pulls the Strings
Leads to	A Closer Look (optional, trophy The Manumit)
Locations	Tantari, Svartrau City
Key characters	Coen, Ascar, Marat (Crake), Dragos, Brencis’s Soldiers
Readable found	Last Will, inside Ascar’s hut
Lootable item	Rope, from a wooden crate in the woods

Getting to Ascar’s hut in Tantari without being noticed

Track the quest and open the world map, then travel to Tantari. The first objective is simply to check whether Ascar is at home, so head for the marker on his hut once you arrive.

Approach the hut from the side and peer through the window rather than walking straight to the door. From this point on the journal adds “Avoid being noticed”, and that objective stays active for most of the quest.

Crouched behind cover in Tantari with the Avoid being noticed objective on screen — The “Avoid being noticed” objective goes live as soon as Coen crouches near Ascar’s hut. Image: Rebel Wolves

When Ascar comes outside, duck behind the cart the objective marker points to. Stay crouched until he walks off toward his hives; moving early is the most common way to blow the tail this early.

Coen creeping toward Ascar's hut while the quest tracker shows the stealth objective — Cover near the hut lets Coen wait out Ascar’s patrol before slipping inside. Image: Rebel Wolves

Inspect Ascar’s hut: the dog and the Last Will

With Ascar out of the way, slip in through the highlighted door. The interior is small, so the search takes only a moment once you are inside.

The entrance to Ascar's hut highlighted in yellow while Coen holds cover — The highlighted entrance marks the way into Ascar’s hut for the “Inspect Ascar’s hut” objective. Image: Rebel Wolves

Ascar keeps a dog inside. Feed it to calm it down before you start searching, otherwise it will not settle while you move around the room.

Read the document titled Last Will. That readable is what satisfies the inspection objective, and it is the reason Coen is snooping around the hut in the first place.

Note: leave the way you came in and re-crouch before stepping outside. Ascar is working nearby by this point, and walking out upright is an easy way to be spotted.

Follow Ascar to the beehives, the woman and the snares

Catch up with Ascar at the beehives and inspect the marked hive once he moves on. That covers the “Inspect the beehive” objective.

Ascar then stops to speak with a local woman. Tuck in behind the barrels beside them and listen to the whole exchange instead of walking up to join it — the objective is to overhear the conversation, not to take part in it.

When he heads deeper into the forest, follow at a distance and use the terrain. A log cart further along the trail gives you a clean sightline while he keeps walking.

A wooden crate sits off the path during this stretch and holds a Rope. Looting it is entirely optional and does not affect the tail, but it is easy to grab while Ascar is checking his traps.

Wooden crate in the woods highlighted with a steal prompt during the tail — The crate along the forest path holds a Rope and can be taken while Ascar walks his snares. Image: Rebel Wolves

Keep shadowing Ascar as he works his way along the snares. The journal switches to “Follow the snares”, which is your cue that the tail is close to its final beat.

Find a spot to hide during the soldiers’ ambush

The objective changes to “Find a spot to hide” just before Brencis’s Soldiers arrive. Get behind the marked tree and stay there. The soldiers confront Ascar and beat him while Coen watches, and the scene has to play out uninterrupted for the quest to move forward.

Once the soldiers leave, Coen is free to move again. Nothing else needs looting or investigating at the ambush site.

Return to Marat in Svartrau City to finish the quest

Open the map and fast travel back to Svartrau City. The objective updates to “Return to Marat”, pointing you at the manumit hideout.

Enter the hideout and talk to Marat — the same contact you know as Crake. Tell him what happened to Ascar. He reacts badly to the news and storms out mid-conversation.

Crake mid-dialogue in the Svartrau City hideout after hearing about Ascar — Reporting Ascar’s beating in the hideout is what pushes Crake out of the room. Image: Rebel Wolves

Speak to Dragos, who is still in the hideout. He tells Coen where Crake went to cool off, and that exchange closes Distant Shadows.

You will know it worked when the quest clears from the tracked objectives in your journal after the conversation with Dragos. The location he names is where the questline picks up again in A Closer Look.

Where the tail usually goes wrong

Almost every failed attempt comes down to distance and cover. Trailing Ascar too closely on open ground, standing upright while he turns around, or entering the hut before he has moved away from it will all trip the “Avoid being noticed” objective. The dog is the other snag — searching the hut without feeding it first leaves you working in a room that is actively reacting to you.

The intended rhythm is to move only while Ascar is moving away from you, then park behind the nearest piece of cover the moment he stops. Carts, barrels, the log cart and the tree at the ambush site are all placed exactly where you need them.

Distant Shadows is short by the standards of the manumit chain, and it costs very little time compared with the court activities that drive the main story. Since it feeds straight into A Closer Look and the trophy attached to it, it is worth clearing while you are already working through Svartrau City content rather than leaving it for a post-ending cleanup run.