Chapter 5: Guest Unbidden

1. Uninvited Guest

Marquis Serkis has announced a delegation from Demeniss and invited the Greymanes to the banquet. The quest text says this is dangerous news for Damiane, a Demenissian in hiding, and that she is nowhere in the camp. The quest runs from a panicking horse at the castle gate to the beast the delegation brought with it, Kearush, the Slayer.

• 1

  Double-sided Invitation: speak with Marius

  The chapter's opening objective: a cutscene with Marius that completes itself right after the chapter title.

• 2

  Unwelcomed Guests: tame the horse

  Go to the commotion at the castle gate — the field north of Hernand Castle, by a carriage — and walk behind the fancy carriages to find guards struggling with a horse. Mount the loose white horse (not the carriage horses) and push the stick opposite to the direction it is heading, over and over, until a circle fills and you have control; it costs stamina, there is a hidden timer, and being thrown just means trying again. Then ride it to the nearby stable, where Damiane is waiting and tells you her swordmaster has vanished and she is now a fugitive.

• 3

  Demenissian Delegation: the banquet and Kearush, the Slayer

  Attend the banquet inside Hernand Castle — Game8 has you approach Marquis Serkis in front of the hall; PowerPyx, Barden Middler and Alan Serkis talking in the courtyard. The beast breaks its shackles in the cutscene and the fight begins. Kearush is a giant gorilla-like creature with three health bars (three phases) that climbs the walls, grows more aggressive and jumps more with each phase, and enters a blue-glow super armor in the second. Keep your distance and strike after it finishes an attack, or dodge forward-right to get behind it, land three quick hits and back off; use the Back Hang skill for heavy damage while your stamina lasts, and sprint to the far end of the arena when the armor comes up. Preparation: four or more health and stamina upgrades, gear refined to level 4 or higher, plate armour from the Hernand merchant, and 100 to 200 Grilled Meat.

• 4

  Exposed Plot: speak with Damiane

  Find Damiane — near the castle wall according to Game8; in the church's backyard, through the back right corner, according to PowerPyx — for a conversation about Demeniss. It establishes that Demeniss is the hidden hand supplying the Black Bears. She leaves to find out more.

2. Black and White

A sealed letter from White Crow opens on its own, and then White Crow is taken from the Axiom Archive. The quest is a pursuit: a witch in the Witchwoods, ghosts in Hernand Castle, a crow-like man, a ruined church in Demeniss, a relic in a crypt and a spire whose Skybridge leads to the final fight with Crowcaller, also named Draven.

• 1

  The Missing Seal: the letter and the witch

  Read the Unsealed Letter in your inventory, then go to Witchwood in Alfonso Estate to meet Elowen the Witch. The route goes through the journal: track the Witches faction quest "Witch of Wisdom" (Hernand section), travel to a hut slightly east of Scholastone Institute, defeat the enemies there, climb in through the roof window and untie the witch — and take the Abyss Artifact on the table, which is missable — then go to the Witch's House a little further north in The Witchwoods and choose "Listen to Request". Witches also sell Abyss Cores and Artifacts; this objective's reward is Core Blueprint: Haste.

• 2

  Crowcaller: the Axiom Archive

  Back in Hernand, the soldiers in the castle's inner courtyard by the church say there are ghosts loose in the castle. Track the intruder with your Lantern (upstairs, right, and on the second floor through the wooden door on the left — the room from earlier in the story) to an Abyss Gate, a yellow wall, that drops you in the Abyss sky. Head for the tall tower, the Axiom Archive, and defeat the enemies that appear; a cutscene ends the objective. The quest text says the raiders abducted White Crow.

• 3

  The Crow's Warning: Muckroot Ranch

  Gather clues about the Crow at Muckroot Ranch, a house slightly south of Hernand. Approaching triggers a cutscene with a man who looks like a crow and knows about the Greymanes, and then an ambush by Crowcaller's men to fight off.

• 4

  Bloodwind: the Church of West Demeniss

  Chase Crowcaller to the Church of West Demeniss in the Demeniss region (central Demeniss). The courtyard is already strewn with bodies; approaching them starts the fight. Defeat his men, then Crowcaller himself — he has one health bar here and goes down to parries followed by light combos, and to stock Grilled Meat first. He flees, promising a better place for a last stand.

• 5

  Secret at the Church: the Dagger of Radiance

  Visit the orphanage — the house in the north of the courtyard — and speak with Abbess Marina. Then go behind the church to the crypt in the yard, down the ladder, and open the puzzle box on the altar; the order is the top left, bottom right, bottom left and top right corner buttons, which lights every symbol. That gives you the Dagger of Radiance. Set it in the Pillar of Radiance between the church and the orphanage and spin the discs until they form an eye: down selects a ring, left and right turn it. The quest text says this wakes the Spire of Soaring.

• 6

  Toward the Nest: activate the Spire of Soaring

  The spire is to the north (northern Demeniss). Each guide gets in a different way: Game8 through a circular window and a climb, PowerPyx through a cave entrance below the tower, Vandal up the front above the broken door to a ledge and through a grated opening. Inside, the puzzles route power through the tower: wall panels on the top floor are rotated so the line enters on the left wall and leaves on the right, then a large rotating panel is turned twice into a left-bottom-right arrangement, after which the platform rises into the sky. Checkpoints along the way activate fast-travel points, so a fall is recoverable.

• 7

  Toward the Nest: the Skybridge and Crowcaller

  In the Abyss, activate the Skybridge (the Crescent Skybridge): aim the spheres' beams at the orange spots on the wall panels, reconnect the broken pipes — two cables shown as yellow lines — hit the main switch with Force Palm and turn the final switch until it glows blue. Cross to the battleground and defeat Crowcaller and his men. He has three health bars this time and gets more aggressive as they fall; the plan is the same as before: counter, quick combo, heal, with a hundred or more Grilled Meat in reserve. The chapter ends here, and Chapter 6 opens with Blazing Beacon.

3. Chapter 5 Completion

✅ Before Leaving Demeniss...