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!! FULL SPOILERS AHEAD — READ AT YOUR OWN RISK !!
This guide covers the route I actually took and the outcomes I was able to verify.
- Overview
- Unlock Conditions and Starting Location
- Time Cost and Deadline
- Rewards
- Echoes of Silenced Bells Walkthrough
- Use Stealth in the Courtyard — Enemies Give No XP and Respawn
- How to Secure a Safe Passage for Anca
- Move the Bookcase
- A Torch Helps in the Catacombs
- What Do the Decision Time Choices Affect?
- Unverified
- Related Quests
- Related NPCs
- Related Locations
- Related Monsters
- The Blood of Dawnwalker Guides
Overview
Coen sets out with Anca to explore St. Tyna’s Monastery in search of forbidden books that may help him achieve his goal.
Unlock Conditions and Starting Location
Starts automatically after completing Smoke and Ashes.
Time Cost and Deadline
The quest takes a total of 3–11 Time Segments.
Entering the monastery costs 1 Time Segment.
Reaching the library costs 1 Time Segment.
Opening the door at the deepest part of the catacombs costs 1 Time Segment.
(Optional) Investigating St. Tyna’s remains costs 1 Time Segment.
(Branching Optional Objective) Giving the notes to Anca costs 1 Time Segment.
(Optional) Choosing “Let’s go. I’m ready.” during the final conversation costs 2 Time Segments.
(The optional side quest Most Precious Thing takes 3–4 Time Segments to complete.)
There is no deadline.
Rewards
- 450 XP
- 150 XP for scouting the courtyard from the balcony
- 150 XP for reaching the library
- 150 XP for completing the quest
- Leonica’s Ring
- Unholy Vitality Manual
St. Tyna’s Monastery, which you explore during this quest, contains a very large number of manuals, recipes, and items related to other quests. You can collect all of them while progressing through the quest.
For that reason, the following items can also effectively be considered part of the rewards.
Item Required for A Bulwark Against Darkness
- Saint’s Tibia
Recipes You Can Obtain
- Regenerative Salve Recipe
- Razor Claw Vial Recipe
Manuals You Can Obtain
- Frugal Witchcraft Manual
- Vigour Manual
- Second Skin I Manual
- Precision Manual
- Herbal Remedies I Manual
- Unholy Fervour Manual
- Medicus I Manual
- Evil Eye Manual
The sheer number of manuals you can obtain here is particularly impressive. At 250 denari per manual, they are worth roughly 2,000 denari in total.
Echoes of Silenced Bells Walkthrough
- Go to Anca at the Crossroads Inn in St. Tyna’s Grove.
- Tell Anca that you are ready to go to the monastery.
- Follow Anca.
- (Optional) Investigate the body of Brencis’s soldier.
- Enter St. Tyna’s Monastery. This costs 1 Time Segment.
- Fight the scripted battle.
- Investigate the dead nun.
- Watch the event scene.
- Follow Anca.
- Scout the courtyard from the balcony. You receive 150 XP.
- (Optional) Investigate the infirmary.
- Examine the infirmary window.
- Speak with Brencis’s soldiers.
- Choose “We need to get into the library.”
- Choose “All right. I’ll bring it to you.”
- Most Precious Thing begins. Completing it takes 3–4 Time Segments.
- (Optional) Investigate the bell tower.
- Enter the bell tower, climb the stairs, and interact with the bell rope at the top.
- Something is apparently supposed to happen here, but it did not trigger in my playthrough. There may be an additional requirement.
- (Optional) Investigate the chapel.
- Investigate St. Tyna’s remains. This costs 1 Time Segment. You only obtain information from doing this, so it is not required.
- Secure a safe passage for Anca either by completing Most Precious Thing or, apparently, by using the bell tower to lure the nuns away.
- Speak with Anca and choose “Let’s go to the library.” You receive 150 XP and spend 1 Time Segment.
- Follow Anca.
- Move the bookcase.
- Follow Anca until you reach a locked door.
- Backtrack slightly and head to the right to enter an area resembling a prison, where a battle begins.
- Continue through the catacombs.
- Interact with the door at the deepest part of the catacombs to open it. This costs 1 Time Segment.
- Fight Leonica.
- Speak with Anca. This is a Decision Time sequence, and depending on your choice, it may cost 1 Time Segment.
- Complete the quest.
- Between the Words automatically begins.
Use Stealth in the Courtyard — Enemies Give No XP and Respawn
By using stealth, you can explore the courtyard while staying outside the detection range of the nuns.
There is little reason to fight them. Defeating them gives no XP, and they respawn after a certain amount of time.
How to Secure a Safe Passage for Anca
You can secure a safe passage for Anca either by completing Most Precious Thing or by using the bell tower to lure the nuns away.
Completing Most Precious Thing rewards 150 XP. If you choose the route where you do not hand St. Tyna’s Relic over to Brencis’s soldiers, you can also keep St. Tyna’s Relic.
I only learned after completing the quest that it is possible to lure the nuns away using the bell tower, but I was unable to reproduce this with the progression state of my save.
I would like to determine the exact requirements on a future playthrough.
Move the Bookcase
At one point, Anca will simply stand still with her hands on her hips.
Interact with the bookcase directly in front of her to move it.
A Torch Helps in the Catacombs
The catacombs are very dark, with long, maze-like corridors.
Using a torch from your inventory makes the area considerably brighter and easier to navigate.
What Do the Decision Time Choices Affect?
During the final conversation with Anca, you will encounter Decision Time twice.
I tested every possible combination myself, but none of the choices changed the rewards or whether the follow-up quest became available.
I also checked other walkthroughs, and these choices do not appear to lock you out of Anca’s romance or alter the ending. At most, some of the dialogue changes slightly.
Ultimately, these choices are more about deciding what kind of conclusion to this quest feels right for you as the player.
Choose whichever option you are most satisfied with.
Unverified
- How to lure the nuns away using the bell tower
Related Quests
- Most Precious Thing
- Between the Words
Related NPCs
Related Locations
Related Monsters
- Undead Nun
