The Firebrand is the quest that puts Coen on the trail of the manumits, the rebel network working against Brencis in Vale Sangora. It starts quietly, with a search of a dead man’s house, and ends with a choice inside a prison cell that decides whether one character lives. There is also a hard timer running in the background that a lot of players miss.
Quick answer: Inspect the flour sack in Vlad’s hut, get Mert’s location from Renna at the mill, then reach Stoneward Post and talk to Mert in the cells within four in-game days. Telling him you will come back later ends The Firebrand and starts “Shadows in the Woods“.
The Firebrand requirements, time costs, and rewards
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Requirement | Complete “Smoke and Ashes” |
| Start | Given automatically when you approach Vladimir’s hut in Laslea, west of the yellow banner |
| Time cost | Go to the mill (1 segment), Speak to the Overseer (1 segment), Speak with the miller (2 segments) |
| Deadline | Speak with Mert within 4 days (64 time segments) of receiving “Go to Stoneward Post” |
| XP | 75 for speaking with Renna, 75 for killing the soldiers at the mill, 75 for completing the quest |
| Leads to | “Shadows in the Woods”, or “Under Watchful Eyes” if you break Mert out on the spot |
The four-day timer before Mert is hanged
The moment the objective “Go to Stoneward Post” appears, a countdown starts. If you have not spoken to Mert by dawn on the fourth day, exactly 64 time segments later, he is executed and the quest moves onto a different track entirely.
Once you do reach him and tell him you will return, the clock stops mattering. Mert sits safely in his cell until you decide to come back for him, so there is no pressure to break him out during the same visit.
Note: side content, travel, and resting all burn time segments, so anything you detour into between the mill and the outpost eats into those four days.
Search Vlad’s hut for the smuggled spearheads
Vlad’s house is marked with a sigil branding him a traitor, and Focus Mode lights up a lot of interactable clutter inside. Most of it is flavor and loot. Only one object advances the objective.
Mert’s Mill: Day and night approaches
The mill plays out completely differently depending on when you show up, because Brencis’ soldiers are hiding in the shed either way.
At night, the soldiers stop you and demand a name. Answering “I’ve done nothing wrong” just loops the conversation. Give them “I’m Coen of Laslea” and, provided your infamy is low, they will only comment that it is late for a walk. Follow up with “Well I was going to have a piss” and they wave you off, with the objective changing to “Return to the mill during the day”. Saying “I’m Mirto” works similarly, and “Talk to my sword about it” starts a fight immediately.
During the day, Renna is in the yard chopping wood and starts talking about a broken cart you supposedly left with her. It is a coded warning about the soldiers listening in the hut. Play along with “All right… Let’s do it” and she quietly explains that Mert was arrested for working with the manumits and is being held at Stoneward Post. Push back twice with “You’re confusing me with someone else” and then “Cut the crap already!” and three soldiers come out to arrest you.
If the night guards turned you away, coming back in daylight replays the day version without costing another time segment.
Killing the soldiers decides whether Renna lives
This is the one choice in The Firebrand with a lasting consequence. Renna will beg you to leave the men in the shed alone, and interacting with the door gives you the options to knock, shout “I know you’re there!”, or walk away.
Leave them alive and they kill Renna after you go. The only way to save her is to force the fight, either by knocking on the shed door or by refusing to play along in the first place. She panics afterward and is convinced she will be blamed, but you can still calm her down and question her about Mert and the manumits. Killing them also pays out the extra 75 XP.
Getting inside Stoneward Post
Stoneward Post is roughly 300 meters from the mill and marked by the objective marker. Time of day changes your options here even more than at the mill.
Daytime entry through the gate
The Post Guard asks why you are there and gives you three answers. “I’m here to visit a prisoner” and “I have a message for the commander of this post” both get you through, but you have to hand over your weapons. Pick “I… I want to enlist!” and then reply “What? A soldier without a weapon?” to keep your gear on you.
Inside, walk through the inner walls toward the tower at the back. Ignore the man being beaten on the way. There is a shifty merchant, Yenno, near the entrance yard selling low-level rings and amulets, and a woman arguing with a soldier at the base of the tower. Both matter in a moment.
Forcing your way in at night
Approaching after dark makes the gate guard attack on sight. The cleanest route is to skirt the wooden palisade around to the tower, shadowstep up to the wall, and drop down in front of the door. That still leaves guards inside the tower and one more down in the cell hallway.
The prison level holds Royka, the Incorruptible. He fights like a standard soldier with a much deeper health pool, so it is a war of attrition rather than a mechanical puzzle. His body drops the Prison Keychain and a Knightly Longsword, and a chest in the same area holds the Bandit’s Gutter shortsword and a Ring of Regeneration. If you plan to fight your way through the daytime route instead, grab and equip the Weathered Longsword found in the room after surrendering your weapons.
Three ways past Overseer Friedo
If you came in peacefully, Overseer Friedo in the rear tower controls access to the cells. Both opening lines, “I just wish to speak with a prisoner” and “Might say so… You caught the wrong man”, lead to the same demand for something in return.
| Route | What it takes |
|---|---|
| Bribe | Hand over the Denarii he asks for. He unlocks the cell door straight away and the time segment is spent. |
| Beat Cerbus | Ask “Is there another way I could persuade you?” He points you at the soldier who gave him a black eye. Win the fight, pass on Friedo’s regards, and he lets you in. |
| Leverage | Talk to the angry woman outside the tower, then confront Yenno about missing prisoner belongings and say you will take it to the commander. Tell Friedo “I know about your deal with Yenno and Cerbus.” |
The leverage route has one trap. When you confront Yenno, you must say you are going to speak to the commander. Any other line makes him call the guards, which drops you into a fight with the entire military post.
Speak with the miller without alerting the camp
A guard stands in the cell room and Mert will not say anything useful in front of him. You get three options when the soldier asks what is going on, and only one keeps things quiet.
Say “Officer, he’s going to be sick!” and he steps out long enough for the real conversation. It costs 2 time segments. Choosing “[try whispering]” annoys him, and “You will leave the two of us alone” starts a fight with the whole camp.
Mert admits the guards tortured him into giving up a meeting with his manumit contact, Sara, and that her life is now in danger. The rendezvous is a clearing southeast of the bridge in the woods, south of the post.
Then comes the last choice. “I’ll return for you later” or “There’s too many of them” leaves Mert safe in his cell and closes the quest. “I’ll try to get you out now” starts “Under Watchful Eyes” and you have to fight your way back out of the fort. Unlocking his cell with the Prison Keychain after clearing the tower at night has the same effect of freeing him.
How to confirm The Firebrand is complete
Completion is confirmed by the journal, not by leaving the fort. The Firebrand closes out and “Shadows in the Woods” appears immediately, pointing you at the clearing Mert described. If you chose to break him out on the spot, you will see “Under Watchful Eyes” in the log as well.
If nothing updates, you have not actually finished the conversation with Mert. Talking to him is what completes the quest, so the guard must be sent away and the dialogue played through to the final choice.
What happens if Mert is executed
Miss the four-day window and Friedo tells you that you are too late, his belongings have been sold, and the body was dumped behind the tower. Approaching the corpse triggers a short vision and the objective changes to “Question Mert’s corpse”, followed by “Look for Catalysts”.
That path still gives you a route toward the manumits, but it is a slower one, and Sara can end up dead before you ever reach her. Getting to the cells early is the difference between walking into the rendezvous with a warning in hand and arriving to find your only link to the rebels gone.
