Gaming Guide

The Blood of Dawnwalker: The Cursed Chasm Walkthrough (Durandal Location)

Requirements, the safe route into the chasm, the Echo fight, and exactly where the legendary sword sits.

Requirements, the safe route into the chasm, the Echo fight, and exactly where the legendary sword sits.

The Cursed Chasm is one of the few side quests in The Blood of Dawnwalker that hands you a legendary weapon for a single fight and a bit of climbing. It sits in the Briar Sloughs region, in the gorge below Greifberg Castle, and it exists for one reason: knyaz Skender’s treasure convoy went off a bridge here decades ago, and Durandal went down with it.

Quick answer: Search the wrecked cart at the broken bridge for the Special Orders, follow the ledges down the east side of the chasm, kill the wolves and the Echo that spawns, then inspect the ruined wagon under the bridge to take Durandal. Looting the sword spends 2 Time Segments and completes the quest.


The Cursed Chasm quest requirements and rewards

DetailValue
RegionBriar Sloughs, chasm below Greifberg Castle
RequirementComplete the main quest Smoke and Ashes
ObjectivesInvestigate the broken bridge and its surroundings; find Knyaz Skender’s lost treasure
Time cost2 Time Segments, charged when you pick up Durandal
Rewards100 XP, 1 Skill Point, Durandal (legendary sword)
Fail stateNone

Nothing here is timed once you arrive, so the two segments are the only real cost. Enemies at the bottom are noticeably stronger than the wolves guarding the wreck, so treat this as a mid-level detour rather than an early-game freebie.


Two ways to start the quest

You can hear about the treasure first or just walk into it. Both routes put the same quest in your journal.

The talkative option is the tavern on the western edge of Altenmarkt in Svartrau City. Ask the innkeeper for gossip and you get the story of Skender’s followers fleeing the valley with his valuables after Brencis took over, and how they never made it past a mountain crossing.

The direct option is the northwestern corner of the map. Fast travel to the Coward’s Path shrine and follow the road uphill to the northwest, then south, until you reach the collapsed bridge. Approaching the break in the bridge, or the wreckage on the chasm floor, starts the quest on its own.

World map with a yellow exclamation-point marker pinning the broken bridge objective in the mountains
The map marker for the broken bridge sits in the mountains on the northwestern edge of the valley. Image: Rebel Wolves

Investigate the broken bridge and get the Special Orders

Walk to the broken end of the bridge and look for the wrecked cart beside it. It glows yellow even without Focus Mode, so you do not need to sweep the area.
Inspect the cart to pick up the Special Orders, which contain Dimitar’s Orders. The document describes a treasure transport carrying the late knyaz’s heirloom blade, Durandal.
Inspect prompt highlighted over the wrecked cart at the edge of the collapsed bridge
The Inspect prompt on the wrecked cart is what produces the Special Orders. Image: Rebel Wolves
Check the journal. The objective flips to finding Knyaz Skender’s lost treasure, which is your confirmation that the first half registered.
On-screen quest tracker showing the updated Cursed Chasm objective during gameplay
The tracker updates to the treasure objective once the orders are read. Image: Rebel Wolves

How to get down to the chasm floor safely

There are two ways down, and only one of them works in daylight.

If you are in vrakhiri form at night, you can drop straight off the bridge and use Shadowstep before you land. Save first, because mistiming it is fatal.
Otherwise, take the walkable route. Move to the eastern side of the chasm and follow the rim away from the bridge, looking over the edge until you spot the ledges that step down toward the floor like a rough staircase. They sit west and northwest of the Coward’s Path shrine.
Descend the ledges and jump the one gap partway down. A normal running jump clears it in human form, so daytime is not a problem, and the same route works as your exit later.

Beating the wolves, Vidmo, and the Echo

A pack of wolves is picking over the wreck under the bridge and will attack as soon as you approach. They are the weakest part of the encounter and are not scaled to the rest of the quest.

Shortly after the fight starts, two Vidmo and a blood-red variant called Echo spawn in. These wraiths hit far harder than the wolves. Both types use blockable claw swipes plus an unblockable spinning attack flagged by the red skull icon, which is an area hit you have to back away from rather than parry.

Echo’s dangerous move is the drain. It raises an arm and pulls your blood from a distance to heal itself, and it cannot be blocked or dodged. If you see blood streaming off your body and your health bar sliding down, stop what you are doing and land a hit on Echo to break it.

Tip: the wolves and the wraiths are different enemy types, so positioning yourself between them can get them swinging at each other. That buys you room to fight one thing at a time instead of three.


Durandal location and everything else in the wreckage

With the chasm clear, turn on Focus Mode and sweep the debris field under where the bridge used to span. Several corpses and containers light up, and the piles are packed with Silver you can later sell to the Silver Trader in Svartrau City for Denarius.
Loot window with Glob of Likho’s Light selected among items pulled from the chasm wreckage
The debris under the bridge holds crafting materials such as the Glob of Likho’s Light alongside the Silver. Image: Rebel Wolves
Inspect the skeleton beneath the glowing gold patch to take a Ring and the Final Report. Captain Bojidar’s letter explains that his soldiers refused to die for a noble’s lost cause and were leaving the valley themselves. None of them made it.
Grab the Treasure Map: Silver Cache from the surrounding wreckage. It starts the Finders Keepers side quest, so pick it up before you climb out.
Inspect the broken wagon remains, the largest pile in the debris field. That is where Durandal sits, along with Denarius and a recipe. Taking the sword spends 2 Time Segments and closes the quest out with 100 XP and a Skill Point.
Loot screen showing the Recipe for Minor Balm of Fortitude and its item details
The same wagon pile that holds Durandal also contains a recipe, including the Minor Balm of Fortitude. Image: Rebel Wolves

If the quest will not start or complete

Two things gate this one. The quest needs Smoke and Ashes finished before it becomes available, and it only registers once you actually reach the break in the bridge or the wreckage on the floor. Standing on the intact side of the crossing is not close enough.

The completion trigger is looting Durandal specifically, not clearing the enemies or reading the Final Report. If the journal still shows the treasure objective, you have missed the broken wagon remains and need to Focus Mode the debris again.


Before you jump back up the ledges, it is worth clearing the rest of the gorge. The gold barrel near the wreck also feeds into Finders Keepers, and Ancient Circle: North-West Pass sits further along the chasm, which is easy to knock out while you are already down here.