The Blood of Dawnwalker: Where to Find Vicho’s Emporium in A Study in Crimson

Vicho’s Emporium is the first stop in A Study in Crimson, and it is the part of the quest that stumps most players. The shop never shows up on the map on its own, the front door is permanently locked, and the owner is a vrakhiri who only exists as a quest giver after dark. Everything about the building is built around one entry point.

Quick answer: Go to Svartrau City at night, find the two-storey curio shop roughly halfway between Altenmarkt and the Cathedral Complex, and use your vampiric traversal powers to jump onto the second-floor balcony. The balcony door is the only way in.

Vicho’s Emporium location in Svartrau City

The emporium sits in the middle of Svartrau City, in the Altenmarkt area, on the stretch between Altenmarkt and the Cathedral Complex. It is a two-storey building with a balcony over the street, and the ground floor is the shopfront itself. Nothing about it stands out from the surrounding houses, which is why people miss it on a first pass through the district.

The marker does not appear until you have a reason to go there. Three things can point you at it. Lacra mentions another vrakhiri living in Svartrau City during her questline, Ocha can hand you the lead while you work through The Heart Wants What It Wants, and you can simply stumble onto the shop by exploring the city. Asking around town about the trader who sells curios also gets you there.

Coen moving through a dark Svartrau street at night with the Visit Vicho's Emporium objective tracked — The quest tracker showing Visit Vicho’s Emporium while you search the city after dark.

Night only, and the ground-floor door stays locked

Two rules govern the whole visit. The first is that A Study in Crimson runs at night and nothing else. Vicho is a vrakhiri and cannot be out in daylight, so turning up during the day gets you nowhere.

The second is that the street-level door is not a puzzle. Walk up to it and the prompt reads “Locked” — there is no key, no lockpick, and no dialogue that opens it. It stays that way for the rest of the game, including every return trip once Vicho is trading with you.

The Locked prompt appearing on the ground-floor door of Vicho's shop — The ground-floor entrance to the emporium, showing the “Locked” prompt that never changes.

How to get into Vicho’s Emporium through the balcony

Switch to a night period before you travel. If you arrive during the day, rest or advance time until nightfall, because your vampire form is what makes the climb possible.

Make your way through Svartrau City to the shop’s street. Dropping down from the city wall with your traversal ability is a fast way to get to street level in that part of the district.

Coen using a movement ability prompt while crossing a dark Svartrau street toward the emporium — Crossing the city at night with a movement ability active on the way to the shop.

Stand in the street in front of the building and look up. The second-storey balcony hangs directly over the locked door, and it is the target you need.

Coen approaching the dark timber walkway outside Vicho's two-storey shop at night — The approach to the two-storey building that houses the emporium.

Use your vampiric traversal powers — Shadowstep and Planeshift — to pull yourself up onto the balcony. Aim at the balcony floor rather than the railing, since a partial lock-on can drop you back onto the street.

Open the balcony door and step inside. That interaction completes Visit Vicho’s Emporium and the tracker rolls over to Find the source of the noise, which sends you downstairs to meet Vicho for the first time.

What’s inside the emporium

The upper floor confirms you are in the right building. Focus Mode highlights the interactive objects, and Coen reacts to fresh blood on the floor, to the crosses and religious icons stacked around the room, and to a whip left out among them. Those are the details the investigation opens on.

There is loot here too, and Vicho does not object to you taking it. A Golden Bowl and a Golden Chalice are both sitting in plain sight upstairs.

Pick Up Golden Bowl prompt on a table inside the upper floor of Vicho's shop — The Golden Bowl pickup prompt on the emporium’s upper floor, next to the Golden Chalice.

Time segments you need before Vicho will talk

Meeting Vicho and agreeing to help are two different things. The investigation itself costs four time segments, and he will only start it if you have that much night left. Arrive with less and he tells you to come back another evening, since he cannot be caught outside at sunrise. Plan the visit at the top of a night rather than at the tail end of one.

Detail	Value
Region	Svartrau City
Area	Altenmarkt, between Altenmarkt and the Cathedral Complex
Quest giver	Vicho
Time of day	Night only
Entry point	Second-floor balcony door
Time cost	4 time segments
Requirement to start	None
Loot on the first visit	Golden Bowl, Golden Chalice

Why you can’t get into Vicho’s Emporium

If the objective refuses to tick over, the cause is almost always one of these.

You are there during the day. The building only opens up to you at night.
You are still trying the ground-floor door. It reads “Locked” permanently and is not the intended entrance.
You are not in vampire form, so the balcony jump is unavailable.
You have fewer than four time segments left, which stops Vicho from starting the investigation even after you have met him.

Note: the balcony route is not a one-off. Vicho later becomes a witchcraft vendor with a stock of legendary rings and amulets, and every return trip to buy from him uses the same climb, at night, with the front door still shut.

Once you are inside and Vicho has agreed to work with you, A Study in Crimson moves out onto the rooftops and into the jeweller’s house, and the rest of the quest follows the trail from there.