The Blood of Dawnwalker: How to Split Logs for Firewood in Withering Away

The first real chore of The Blood of Dawnwalker lands moments after Coen wakes up from his nightmare. Pieter has a list ready, and the top item is firewood. It is a small task, but it gates the rest of the “Withering Away” quest, and the axe is easy to walk past if you are still poking around Coen’s room.

Quick answer: Leave Coen’s bedroom, turn left to the chopping block, press E for “Chop Wood,” then follow the W and F prompts. The objective completes when the quest updates to “Add the firewood to the stove” and you receive 250 XP and x1 Firewood.

Loot the chest before you leave the room

Once you regain control of Coen after the conversation with Pieter, the chest beside the bed is worth opening first. It holds the Comfortable Tunic, Trousers with Wrappings, Grey Loafers, Excerpts from Fabulae, and the Recipe for Minor Mending Ointment. Taking the clothes clears the optional “Take your clothes out of the storage chest” objective, and the recipe unlocks permanently.

This is also a decent moment to open the menu and check the Active Abilities tab, where Dirty Trick is already unlocked for Coen. None of that affects the firewood, so skip it if you just want the chore done.

Where the chopping block is in Coen’s house

Step out of the bedroom and turn left. The axe is sitting in a chopping block a few paces away, on the covered side of the hut. You do not need to leave the building to reach it, and you cannot, because the main door stays locked until the chores are finished.

Coen stands in the dim wooden interior with the Withering Away firewood objective active — Coen in the dim wood-walled space next to the bedroom, with the firewood objective still tracking. Image: Rebel Wolves

If you lose your bearings, the tracker on the HUD does the work. “Split logs for firewood” carries a distance readout, and it should read single-digit meters the moment you clear the doorway.

HUD showing the Withering Away objective Split logs for firewood seven meters away — The quest tracker reading “Split logs for firewood” at seven meters. Image: Rebel Wolves

How to chop the wood

Walk up to the chopping block until the interaction prompt appears. On keyboard it reads “E Chop Wood.” Stand square to the block rather than approaching from behind it, or the prompt can drop out.

Coen two meters from the Split logs for firewood objective marker — Closing to two meters from the marker, where the chop prompt appears. Image: Rebel Wolves

Press the interact key to pick up the axe. Coen sets a log on the block and the game hands control back to you as a short button sequence.

Hit the prompts as they appear. On keyboard that is W to raise the axe and F to bring it down. The sequence repeats for a few swings, so keep watching the center of the screen rather than mashing.

Coen bringing the axe down on a log during the firewood prompt sequence — The axe swing itself, driven by the on-screen W and F prompts. Image: Rebel Wolves

Let the final swing play out. Coen finishes the split on his own and the chore closes without any extra input from you.

How to tell the chore registered

Three things fire at once when the task lands. A “QUEST UPDATE: Withering Away” banner appears, the XP ticker shows 250, and Firewood (1) drops into your inventory. The tracked objective then flips to “Add the firewood to the stove.”

The final axe swing that completes the firewood chore in Withering Away — The last split, which closes out the firewood chore. Image: Rebel Wolves

Detail	Value
Quest	Withering Away
Objective	Split logs for firewood
Interact prompt	E — Chop Wood
Swing prompts (keyboard)	W, then F
Reward	250 XP, x1 Firewood
Next objective	Add the firewood to the stove

If the axe shows no prompt at all, the usual cause is that you have not finished the wake-up dialogue with Pieter, so Coen is still locked into the conversation state. Back out of the menu, let the scene close, and the interaction returns.

Where the firewood goes next

Head to the dining room, the large space with the family table, and interact with the stove near the entrance. That drops the Firewood in and rolls straight into a breakfast cutscene, where Pieter sends Yanna, Lunka, and Mirto off to fish and then asks Coen to help feed Esme. Clearing that segment pays out another 250 XP and 25 Denarius, which matters immediately, because Anca wants payment for her herbs later in the quest.

Note: “Withering Away” is time-sensitive, and it can fail if you do not get through it before the blood mass at sundown. Chopping the wood is the cheap part of the quest, so do not let the house sidetrack you for long. Grab the Training Sword on the far side of the dining room, equip it from the inventory, and get moving toward Anca’s hut.