The Blood of Dawnwalker: Smoke and Ashes Full Quest Walkthrough

Smoke and Ashes is the final prologue quest in The Blood of Dawnwalker, and it does two jobs at once. It walks Coen through the ruins of Laslea to learn what happened to his family, and it hands you the two systems the rest of the game runs on — blood magic and the day/night transformation.

Quick answer: Travel to Laslea with Anca, inspect every clue inside Coen’s family home, accept Anca’s sigil to unlock Compel Soul, retrieve Brencis’s Banner from the ruined structure nearby and use it as a catalyst on the dead soldier, then walk to the village gate at dusk to trigger the transformation cutscene.

Smoke and Ashes objectives in order

The quest starts automatically the moment Bad Blood ends, so there is no quest giver to find. Every objective is linear and none of them can be skipped.

Journal objective	What completes it
Go to Laslea with Anca	Follow the forest path west until the arrival cutscene plays
Search your family home	Inspect all seven interior clues
Return to Anca	Leave the house and talk to her outside
Cast Compel Soul on the dead soldier	Use the new spell on the corpse under the tree
Find items of importance to the dead soldier	Pick up Brencis’s Banner and return to the body
Go to the village gate	Reach the gate marker as the sun sets

Gear up before leaving for Laslea

Open the journal wheel and switch to your inventory before you set off. Equip the swordsman’s tunic, the leather boots and the greatsword, since nothing in the village hands you better gear.

Journal radial menu open in The Blood of Dawnwalker with the Inventory option highlighted — The journal wheel with Inventory selected, where you equip Coen’s starting tunic, boots and greatsword. Image: Rebel Wolves

Follow Anca along the foggy trail toward Laslea Glen. The run is uninterrupted, and the cutscene fires the moment you cross into the village and find the dead soldier lying under a tree.

After the scene, Coen sets his own objective. The marker updates to the family home, a short walk from the tree.

Every clue inside Coen’s family home

A stray dog attacks the second you step inside. Kill it — it drops dog hide and animal blood — then work through the room. The objective will not tick over until all of the following have been inspected.

Lunka’s Toy, sitting on a ceiling beam
The broken bench
The garlic and onions on the window sill
Blood splatters on the floor
The sausage links
Hobnailed boot prints
The displaced bed

Note: the boot prints are the detail that matters, since they mark the raiders as soldiers rather than bandits. Once the last clue is read, Coen leaves on his own and breaks down outside, and Anca proposes the ritual.

Unlocking Compel Soul and questioning the dead soldier

Follow Anca back to the corpse. In the cutscene she explains that she can make the dead speak, and she takes a knife to Coen’s hand to carve a blood sigil into it. This is the moment she confirms she is a witch.

Anca resting against a tree in the ruined village of Laslea before the blood ritual — Anca beside the tree in Laslea, where she offers to perform the ritual on the dead soldier. Image: Rebel Wolves

When control returns, cast Compel Soul on the body. The spell lands and the Dead Man Talkin’ trophy unlocks, but the spirit only flickers into view and refuses to say anything.

Talk to Anca. She explains the soul needs a catalyst — an object the dead man would recognise — before it will answer questions.

Anca in dialogue telling Coen to find an object the dead soldier would recognise — Anca explains that the spirit needs a familiar object before it will speak. Image: Rebel Wolves

Run to the ruined structure a short distance away and grab Brencis’s Banner. It is the only item that works here, and it is also one of five banners scattered across the world map tied to the Capture the Flag trophy.

Return to the corpse and cast Compel Soul again with the banner in hand. The spirit now talks, and confirms the villagers were dragged to Brencis’s castle to be drained for his coronation. Coen and Anca bury the soldier afterwards.

If the spell does nothing on the second attempt, you either skipped the banner pickup or are casting from too far away. There are no other catalysts in the village.

The 30-day limit and Anca’s magical guide

After the burial, Anca hands Coen a magical guide and points him toward St. Tyna’s, the convent where she trained, if he wants to learn more witchcraft. A “Time is Limited” prompt then spells out the rule that shapes the entire campaign — you have 30 days and nights to reach Coen’s family before the coronation.

Coen asking Anca in dialogue whether different hexes can do other things — Coen questions Anca about what other hexes can do before she recommends St. Tyna’s. Image: Rebel Wolves

Time does not tick away on its own. It is spent like a currency, drained by certain dialogue choices, skill unlocks and quest completions, so standing still costs you nothing. The main story fits comfortably inside seven to ten days, which leaves the bulk of the limit free for side content.

The village gate transformation

The last objective is a short walk to the village gate as dusk falls. Crossing the trigger starts a cutscene in which Coen collapses and changes into a Vrakhir, the curse taking hold the moment the sun drops below the horizon.

Coen transforming into a Vrakhir beast at the Laslea village gate as the sun sets — The gate cutscene where Coen’s Vrakhir form takes over at sundown. Image: Rebel Wolves

Anca lays out the rule afterwards. The beast sleeps while the sun is up and wakes every night, and Coen decides to turn it into a weapon against Brencis. From here on you fight with a sword and witchcraft by day, and with claws and vampiric abilities after dark.

Smoke and Ashes rewards and what comes next

Reward	Detail
Trophies	Dead Man Talkin’ (first Compel Soul cast) and A Dawnwalker is Born (transformation)
Armour	Coen the Wayfarer Armour Set — Chauses, Boots and Breastplate of the Sangoran Wayfarer
Abilities	Burning Blood and Astral Communion
Experience	150 XP
Follow-up quest	Echoes of Silenced Bells

You know the quest has closed out when A Dawnwalker is Born pops, the Wayfarer pieces land in your inventory and Echoes of Silenced Bells appears in the journal. That marks the end of the prologue, and the map opens up into the sandbox where you can climb towers, take on Court Activities and choose which of the three main bosses to provoke first.