SIDE QUEST · STONEWARD POST
Under Watchful Eyes Walkthrough
Get the Prison Keychain, free Mert, and use the hidden rear exit beside Friedo’s tower; the quest accepts it even though the objective names the main gate.
Take the Prison Keychain, free Mert, then ignore the main-gate wording. The shortcut is on the north side of the overseer’s tower: unlock the door in the lit alcove, then unlock the second door to leave the fort.
How to start Under Watchful Eyes
Mert must survive The Firebrand. Speak to him in the Stoneward Post dungeon and promise to free him now. The new quest starts in the same location and uses 3 time segments when you release him.
If The Firebrand ended with Mert’s execution, this quest cannot start. Questioning his corpse keeps the rebel lead alive, but it does not restore the rescue branch.
Get the Prison Keychain
Leave the cell area and climb toward Overseer Friedo’s room. Immediately after the Mert conversation, Friedo can have his back turned, giving you a chance to take the keys without opening a larger fight. The Prison Keychain opens Mert’s cell and both shortcut doors.
If the camp is already hostile, defeat Friedo or the jailer and loot the key. If you surrendered your equipment at the front gate, retrieve it first or take the Weathered Longsword from the back-right side of the prison room. Equip it before the guard’s combat state fully engages.
| Item | Where to get it | What it is for |
|---|---|---|
| Prison Keychain | Overseer Friedo’s room — take it while he has his back turned, or loot it from Friedo or the jailer if the camp is already hostile | Opens Mert’s cell and both doors of the rear shortcut |
| Weathered Longsword | Back-right side of the prison room | A weapon if you surrendered your equipment at the front gate |
Free Mert
Return to the cell and unlock it. A living guard beside Mert attacks as soon as the door opens, so handle that enemy before expecting Mert to move. The release advances the clock by 3 time segments.
You do not need to clear all of Stoneward Post. Full combat is a loot-and-infamy choice, not a requirement for completing the rescue.
Use the back-door shortcut
- Leave the dungeon with Mert and move to the north side of Friedo’s tower.
- Find the lit alcove beside the tower rather than following the route toward the main gate.
- Use the Prison Keychain on the first door.
- Open the second locked door with the same key.
- Walk outside the palisade with Mert; the quest accepts this as the escape.
The objective text says to escort Mert through the main gate, but the rear exit still completes it and avoids most of the fort.
| Step | Required? | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Release Mert from the cell | Required | Costs 3 time segments. |
| Open both doors of the rear shortcut | Required for the quiet exit | Both use the same Prison Keychain. |
| Escort Mert through the main gate | Not required | The rear exit is accepted even though the objective names the gate. |
| Clear the rest of the fort | Optional | A loot-and-infamy choice, not a rescue requirement. |
| Choose Mert’s destination | Required for the follow-up | The almshouse in Svartrau keeps him available for later story contact. |
Day and night routes
| Approach | Best use | Main risk |
|---|---|---|
| Day | Enter peacefully, use the corruption conversation, steal the key when Friedo turns away. | You may be unarmed if you surrendered weapons. |
| Night | Use Shadowstep and vampire abilities to reach the tower with fewer direct fights. | Violence is harder to avoid once a guard detects you. |
| Full clear | Collect fort loot and raise infamy. | Longest and most dangerous route; unnecessary for Mert. |
If the rescue stalls
| Symptom | What to do |
|---|---|
| The quest is not available at Stoneward Post | Mert must have survived The Firebrand. If he was executed, questioning his corpse keeps the rebel lead but the rescue branch is gone. |
| The rear door will not open | Both shortcut doors use the same Prison Keychain, taken from Overseer Friedo’s room or looted from Friedo or the jailer. |
| Mert will not move after the cell opens | A living guard beside him attacks as soon as the door opens — clear that enemy first. |
| The quest does not complete at the main gate | The objective names the gate, but walking Mert outside the palisade through the rear alcove is accepted. |
| You arrived unarmed | Take the Weathered Longsword from the back-right side of the prison room and equip it before the guard reacts. |
Before the final conversation
Stabilize Coen’s hunger before talking to Mert outside the fort. When the dialogue offers a destination, send him to the almshouse in Svartrau. The quest awards 250 XP and preserves Mert for later story contact.
This page covers the Stoneward Post extraction only: the mill, the 64-segment deadline and the cell conversation that start it belong to the The Firebrand page, and the wider order of quests is on the All Quests Walkthrough.