The Blood of Dawnwalker: How to Reach Mert at Stoneward Post at Night

Stoneward Post is the fortified camp in Briar Sloughs where Brencis’s soldiers hold Mert the miller during The Firebrand side quest in The Blood of Dawnwalker. How you walk up to the gate decides whether the quest becomes a conversation or a brawl, and the difference is entirely down to the time of day.

Quick answer: Approaching Stoneward Post at night makes the gate guards attack on sight. Skip the gate, circle the wooden palisade to the tower, shadowstep onto the wall and drop down by the door, then fight the two guards inside plus one in the dungeon to reach Mert’s cell.

How the Stoneward Post objective unlocks

The Firebrand begins automatically when you approach Vladimir’s Hut, northeast of the Laslea Centre Shrine, after finishing Smoke and Ashes. The objective to reach Stoneward Post only appears once Renna tells you where her husband has been taken, so the two earlier steps are mandatory.

Enter Vlad’s hut and hold Focus Mode. Plenty of objects glow, but only one matters. Turn into the room on the left and inspect the flour sack against the wall.

Quest tracker reading Search Vlad's hut while Coen inspects a highlighted container indoors — The quest tracker sits on “Search Vlad’s hut” while you sweep the highlighted objects inside. Image: Rebel Wolves

In investigation mode, look at the cross mark on the outside of the sack, then tilt it back and study the silver arrowheads hidden inside. That confirms Vlad was smuggling weapons with help from his cousin, Mert.

Track the “Go to the mill” objective and head for Mert’s Mill, by the river southeast of the Laslea Glen Shrine. You may need to push the main story slightly to leave Laslea Glen first.

Map screen with Laslea Gate highlighted and the TRACK prompt shown — Laslea Gate highlighted on the map, with the track prompt used to set the mill as your objective. Image: Rebel Wolves

Coen running through Laslea Glen toward an objective marker reading 23 m — Following the 23 m objective marker through Laslea Glen. Image: Rebel Wolves

Arriving at the mill after dark gets you stopped by soldiers hiding in the shed. Give them a name, either “Coen of Laslea” or “Mirto,” and a harmless follow-up line sends you away with the objective changed to “Return to the mill during the day.” Coming back in daylight costs no extra time segment.

In daylight, Renna performs a cover story about a broken cart. Play along and agree to fix it, and she quietly warns you about the three soldiers in her hut and tells you Mert is being held at Stoneward Post. Refuse to take the hint twice and those soldiers pour out anyway.

Note: Leaving those soldiers alive has a consequence. If you never clear the shed, they kill Renna. Knocking on the shed door forces the fight, which upsets her in the moment but is the only outcome where she survives.

Night infiltration route into Stoneward Post

There is no dialogue option after dark. The gate guard attacks the moment he sees you, which also means nobody takes your weapons, and Coen’s vampire abilities are available. The trade-off is that you fight your way in and out.

Coen approaching the fortified camp of Stoneward Post during The Firebrand quest — The Firebrand pushes Coen out of Laslea Glen and down to the fortified camp at Stoneward Post. Image: Rebel Wolves

Ignore the main gate entirely. Walk the outside of the wooden palisade until you reach the tower at the back of the fort.

Shadowstep up to the wall and drop down in front of the tower door. This puts you past the gate patrol and cuts the number of soldiers who can converge on you at once.

Clear the two guards inside the tower, then take the stairs down and deal with the single guard stationed in the dungeon. Expect a few soldiers from outside to notice the noise and join in.

Combat HUD showing a grapple in progress with the orange bar filling as a soldier is restrained — The orange bar in the middle of the HUD fills while Coen holds a soldier in a grapple. Image: Rebel Wolves

Talk to Mert through the cell door. Since the dungeon guard is already dead, the conversation runs without the interruption you get on a daytime visit.

Ending The Firebrand: what Mert tells you

Mert admits the soldiers tortured the location of a manumit rendezvous out of him, and that his contact’s life is now at risk. The meeting point is a clearing southeast of the bridge in the woods. He then asks what happens to him, and your reply decides the next quest.

Reply to Mert	Result
“I’ll return for you later” or “There’s too many of them”	The Firebrand ends and Shadows in the Woods begins. Mert stays safe in his cell indefinitely.
“I’ll try to get you out now”	The Firebrand ends and Under Watchful Eyes begins immediately. You have to break him out and escape.

You know it worked when the tracker swaps The Firebrand for one of those two quests. Completion pays 75 XP, on top of 75 XP for speaking with Renna and another 75 XP for killing the soldiers at the mill.

Getting Mert out through the side door

Under Watchful Eyes asks you to fetch the cell key, free Mert, and escort him through the main gate. The objective wording is misleading, because the main gate is optional.

If you fought your way in at night, the guard beside Mert is already gone, so unlocking the cell is uneventful. If you entered in daylight and surrendered your weapons, grab the Weathered Longsword in the back right corner of the cell room and equip it from your inventory before the fight starts, so you are not swinging at armored soldiers empty-handed.

For the escape, head to the lit alcove on the north side of the overseer’s tower. The prison key that opened Mert’s cell also opens that door, and a second door behind it leads straight outside the walls. The quest completes for 250 XP even though you never touched the main gate, and Mert and Renna later turn up in Svartrau.

Night entry compared with the daytime route

Factor	Night	Day
Gate	Guards attack on sight; use the palisade and tower instead	Talk your way past the Post Guard
Weapons	Kept, plus vampire abilities	Confiscated unless you pick “I… I want to enlist” then “What? A soldier without a weapon?”
Reaching the cells	Fight two guards in the tower and one in the dungeon	Get past Overseer Friedo: bribe 300 Denarius, beat Cerbus in a fistfight, or expose the theft ring
Guard in the cell room	Already dealt with	Say “Officer! He’s going to be sick!” for 2 time segments, or trigger a camp-wide fight

The daytime theft route is worth knowing if you are short on coin. Speak to the angry woman near the tower base, then confront Trader Yenno by the entrance yard and tell him you are taking it to the commander. He immediately names Cerbus and Friedo, and you can either report them or lean on Friedo directly. Any other line with Yenno alerts the guards and starts a fight with the whole camp.

The four-day limit before Mert is hanged

The clock starts the moment Renna gives you the Stoneward Post objective. You have four in-game days, or 64 time segments, to speak with Mert. Miss it and he is executed, which permanently locks out Under Watchful Eyes and removes him and Renna from Svartrau. Speak to him even once inside that window and he waits in his cell for as long as you need.

Action	Time segments spent
Go to the mill	1
Speak to the Overseer	1
Speak with the miller	2
Free Mert (Under Watchful Eyes)	3

If you arrive too late, Friedo tells you Mert has already been hanged and that the body was dumped behind the tower. Approaching the corpse triggers a brief vision and changes the objective. Loot the sack inside the nearby tent for Mert’s Wedding Ring, then use it as a catalyst to compel his soul and question him. Shadows in the Woods still unlocks either way.

The short version: for anyone weighing the two windows: night costs you a fight but keeps your gear and skips Friedo entirely, while day costs you time segments and either coin or legwork. Both reach Mert, and only the four-day deadline is unforgiving.