Shadows in the Woods is the quest that puts Coen in front of the manumits for the first time, and it is less a combat mission than a job interview held at knifepoint. You save a girl named Sara, walk into a trap, and spend the back half of the quest talking your way through an interrogation you cannot win outright. Crake, the rebel leader, sends you away with homework instead of an alliance.
Quick answer: Head south of Briar Sloughs to the bridge near Stoneward Post, clear the guards and the Vrakhiri Banneret, then move southeast into the forest. Free Sara by picking “That girl is my sister” followed by the 100 denarii bribe option, or kill the soldiers instead. Follow Sara to the camp, get caught in the chain trap, agree to meet Crake in Svartrau, then break out of the chains to end the quest for 1,000 XP.
How Shadows in the Woods starts and what you need first
The quest does not appear on its own. You need to finish The Firebrand, then keep Mert alive during Under Watchful Eyes. Mert is the one who names Sara as the manumits’ contact and points you toward the meeting spot, which is what puts the first objective in your journal.
From there the quest runs on four objectives, in this order.
| Objective | What it actually requires |
|---|---|
| Go to the bridge near Stoneward Post | Travel south of Briar Sloughs and clear the soldiers at the crossing, including a Vrakhiri Banneret miniboss |
| Reach the rendezvous point | Cross the bridge and push southeast into the forest search area |
| Rescue Sara | Bribe or kill the soldiers holding her, then agree to join the manumits |
| Follow Sara | Trail her to the hideout, survive the ambush, and talk to Crake |
Clear the bridge near Stoneward Post
Track the quest and ride south of Briar Sloughs. The bridge is guarded, and the fight here is a step above the usual patrol because a Vrakhiri Banneret joins in. Treat it like a duel rather than a brawl, since perfect blocks buy you the openings you need while the regular soldiers crowd in.
Once the crossing is clear, walking over the bridge flips the objective to “Reach the rendezvous point.” The search area is marked on the map to the southeast, and the forest between you and it is dense enough that it is worth opening the journal to re-check the marker before you commit to a direction.
Rescue Sara: the dialogue options that skip the fight
You find Sara tied to a tree with Brencis’s soldiers standing over her. The conversation that opens can end two ways, and both close the objective, so this comes down to whether you would rather spend coin or blood.
Follow Sara to the manumit hideout
The escort section is a long walk with no combat. Sara talks about why she threw in with the rebels and asks about Coen’s background, and the answers you give here are flavor rather than branching. Stay close to her, because drifting too far stalls the conversation and the walk simply takes longer.
At the camp, a chain trap snaps shut on Coen. This is scripted and unavoidable, so there is nothing to dodge and no fight to win. Drogos and Crake step out, and the quest becomes a conversation.
Crake interrogation: full dialogue order
Crake wants to know what Coen is and why a vrakhir can walk around in daylight. Coen does not have a clean answer, and leaning into that is what keeps the exchange from turning hostile. He also brings up his part in the attack on the Laslea mine as proof he has already hit Brencis where it hurts.
These are the picks that carry the interrogation through to the end, in the order they come up.
- I wish I knew.
- I don’t.
- Any option (this prompt does not change the outcome).
- Forget it. You won’t believe me anyway.
- What now?
- Very well. I’ll meet you in Svartrau.
Crake will not free you and will not swear an alliance on the spot. His terms are that Coen makes a name for himself first by tearing into Brencis’s forces, and the meeting point for later is Svartrau.
How to confirm the quest completed
The manumits walk off and leave Coen chained. Once they are gone, interact to tear yourself loose. Breaking the chains is the final action, and the QUEST ENDED banner appears with 1,000 XP awarded immediately after.
Note: if the banner has not fired, you almost certainly still have the interrogation running or you have not triggered the break-free prompt yet. There is no failure state to worry about here, and Sara’s fate does not gate the ending.
Reach Notorious before the follow-up quest
The next quest in the chain is Where Loyalty Lies, where you actually join the manumits, but it will not move until you have earned the reputation Crake asked for. That means hitting the Notorious rank on your notoriety bar.
You raise it by killing the regime’s guards belonging to Ambrus, Bakir, and Xanthe. Clearing Ambrus’s forces in full and then chewing through some of Bakir’s troops is enough to get there. Check progress in the Court tab, where the bar below shows your current standing. Notoriety level four or higher counts as Notorious, and at that point Where Loyalty Lies opens up.
Shadows in the Woods is short on loot and long on setup, which is the point. It ends with Coen bruised, still chained a moment ago, and holding an invitation that only becomes real once he has done enough damage to Brencis for the manumits to take the risk.
