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The Grey Sleeper is a side quest in The White March - Part I.

Synopsis[ | ]

The Watcher has found an estoc in a mysterious stone pedestal near Longwatch Falls. Upon removing it, they realize that the weapon is cursed and soulbound - it tethers itself to the wielder.

A poem is written on the blade, and the verses may hold the key to removing the curse.

Walkthrough[ | ]

In the northeast part of Longwatch Falls, you'll find an alcove in the stone wall with an estoc sticking out of a rock. It is guarded by various spirits including a Wraith, so you'll have to fight through them first.

Activate the estoc, and a scripted interaction starts in which you can choose a party member to try to pull it out. To succeed, you need one of:

The estoc with the name The Grey Sleeper will automatically be soul-bound to the character who pulled it out, and you'll never be able to bind it to another character.

Also, there's a curse on the weapon, which prevents you from unequipping it until the quest is complete. To lift the curse, you have to follow the instructions which appear in the form of a riddle on the blade. Each time you solve one verse, another appears, for a total of three times. Here's what you need to do to solve all three:

Verse 1
Seek the whirling agent made of copper, adra, stone
Awaken first your essence so that you may atone.

Travel to Cilant Lîs (the area where you became a Watcher at the beginning of the game), and click the interactable area on the Engwithian machine. You can also use any other Engwithian machine - for example, the one on the top of tower in Heritage Hill or in the ruins in Clîaban Rilag.

The grey sleeper quest verse 1
Verse 2
Find the sun-kissed hillocks where the dead folk sleep.
Rest beside their wasting flesh; inspect what dreams you reap.

Travel to Esternwood or Heritage Hill, and go to the graveyard. There, simply rest once using your Camping Supplies.

The grey sleeper quest verse 2
Verse 3
Fingers of the world, adra strong and whole
Kneel before the pillars, bring order to your soul.

Travel to Caed Nua (your stronghold), Magran's Fork or Elmshore, go to the Adra pillars sticking out of the ground in the courtyard, click the interactable one, and select the option to kneel.

The grey sleeper quest verse 3

With that, the curse is lifted, and the quest ends. From now on you'll be able to unequip the The Grey Sleeper like any other weapon, though it will remain soulbound to that character.

Notes[ | ]

  • Several players have reported that the Engwithian machines cannot be activated for the purpose of solving first verse until the completion of the White March I (machines can be clicked, but the click produces no effect). Effectively in such a situation it is impossible to upgrade The Grey Sleeper (and, therefore, remove it from the soulbound character) before the completion of the expansion.
It's unclear, whether this is a relatively rare bug or an obscure script condition.
One solution that seems to work is to just save and load in the area where the machine is.
  • After first entering the Durgan's Battery map you can return to Cilant Lis and upgrade your soulbound weapon. There was no requirement to complete the White March. (Version 3.07.0.1318)
  • A 16 Resolve check is present when entering the cave.

Journal[ | ]

quests\px1_03_wildernesses\px1_03_qst_cursed_estoc
ID Objectives
0 The Grey Sleeper
10000 I found an estoc in a mysterious stone pedestal near Longwatch Falls. Upon removing it, I realized that the weapon is cursed and soulbound - it tethers itself to the wielder.

There's a poem written on the blade. It begins:

"'Tis a traitor's fate to sleep and never rest
Whilst knowledge of his deed stays lodged within his breast.
But earnest penance heals the sorrowful man
And worthy actions stay the executioner's hand."

The other verses may hold the key to removing the curse.

1 Find a "whirling agent of copper, adra, and stone."
10001 A new verse appeared after the blade was drawn. It reads:

"Seek the whirling agent made of copper, adra, stone
Awaken first your essence so that you may atone."

I think this is the first step in removing the curse.

2 Rest among the "hillocks where the dead folk sleep" mentioned in the next verse.
10002 The Engwithan machine strengthened the weapon and revealed another verse on the blade:

"Find the sun-kissed hillocks where the dead folk sleep.
Rest beside their wasting flesh; inspect what dreams you reap."

This must be another clue.

3 Reach the "pillars" mentioned in the last verse.
10003 I traveled to a graveyard as mentioned in the previous verse, and Grey Sleeper grew more powerful still.

While I was there, another verse appeared on the blade:

"Fingers of the world, adra strong and whole
Kneel before the pillars, bring order to your soul."

Perhaps this will break the curse.

End states
Yes Unbound the Weapon
30000 I removed the curse from the Grey Sleeper.
No Quest Failed
30001 Someone critically important to this quest has died.
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