TL;DR
- “The First Steps of a Little Marksman” is a Greymane Faction Quest unlocked in Chapter 3 after completing A Fresh Start at Howling Hill
- It has three steps: Trembling Hands → White Wood Bow → The New Archers
- You need 10x Timber and 5x Fine Timber to craft the bow — Andrew provides these materials
- Before visiting the blacksmith, read the “Ranged Weapons of the World — Bows, Vol. 1” book in your inventory or the bow won’t appear in the crafting menu
- Take everything to Turnali the blacksmith in Hernand to craft the White Wood Bow
- Return to Howling Hill (not the original camp) to deliver it to Andrew and complete the quest
- Reward: Jewel Beetles — hold onto them, they’re needed for later quests
The First Steps of a Little Marksman is one of the early Greymane Faction quests in Crimson Desert. It’s a short, story-driven questline where you help Andrew — one of the Greymane mercenaries — get bows made for the children learning to fight at camp. It’s a light quest on paper, but a surprising number of players get stuck at the crafting step because of one easily missed step: reading a book.
This guide covers the full walkthrough from start to finish.
How to Unlock the Quest
The First Steps of a Little Marksman is part of the Scattered Embers branch of Greymane Faction quests. It becomes available after you reach Chapter 3 and complete the A Fresh Start quest at Howling Hill.
Once that’s done, head to Howling Hill and you’ll find Andrew and Duane arguing near a crying child. Watch the cutscene. After it ends, you need to ride your horse to trigger a private conversation with Andrew. Don’t rush ahead — the dialogue fires based on proximity to Andrew, so stay close and let it play out.
That kicks off the first part of the quest: Trembling Hands.
Part 1 — Trembling Hands
Follow Andrew on horseback. He’ll lead you to the Equinsher Saddlery. Stay close at a steady pace — don’t gallop too far ahead or the quest markers won’t trigger properly.
Once you arrive and the conversation plays out, Trembling Hands is complete. Andrew then asks you to help craft a bow for the children. This starts the second step: White Wood Bow.
Part 2 — Crafting the White Wood Bow
This is where most players hit a wall. Here’s each step clearly.
Read the Recipe Book First
Andrew hands you materials and a crafting manual called “Ranged Weapons of the World — Bows, Vol. 1.” This is a red book sitting in your inventory. You must open your inventory and manually select it to read it. Until you do, the White Wood Bow will not appear in the blacksmith’s crafting menu at all.
This is the single most common reason players get stuck on this quest. They go straight to Turnali without reading the book and can’t find the bow in any menu. Read the book first, then go.
Gather the Materials (If Needed)
Andrew provides 10x Timber and 5x Fine Timber when he gives you the quest. Don’t lose them. If you’ve been ambushed by wolves or bandits along the way and dropped your loot, or accidentally used the timber elsewhere, you’ll need to gather fresh materials before you can craft.
Both Timber and Fine Timber drop from chopping down trees anywhere in the world. You’ll need a Logging Axe to harvest properly — you can buy one from the Provisioner’s Shop in Hernand or get one free from Turnali if you completed his introductory Turnali’s Request quest.
To chop trees: equip the Logging Axe from your tool wheel (hold Left D-pad on controller / F2 on PC), aim at a tree trunk using L2/CTRL, and chop until the tree falls. Then chop the fallen trunk into segments and pick up the drops.
Fine Timber is a rarer drop from the same trees as regular Timber — it doesn’t always appear on every tree you fell. If you need to gather it from scratch, plan on cutting down several trees before you collect 5 Fine Timber. The forest areas east of Hernand near the river island are a convenient early spot, since they’re close to the blacksmith. You can also use Force Palm to knock trees down faster, then use the axe on the fallen log for materials. Check our how to get Skyroot guide for more tips on gathering wood materials across different regions.
Visit Turnali the Blacksmith in Hernand
Once you’ve read the book and have your materials, ride to Hernand and find Turnali the blacksmith. He’s located in the central area of town — look for the anvil icon on your map. If you need directions, open your map, go to the Quests subsection, and set a destination marker for the quest objective.
Interact with Turnali and select the Crafting tab. Under Ranged Weapons, the White Wood Bow should now appear. Select it and craft it. The bow comes with 10 Attack and a Level 1 Attack Speed bonus, making it a solid early ranged weapon.
If you can spare the extra materials, consider crafting a second one for yourself as well. The White Wood Bow is statistically identical to the Grey Wolf Bow (your starting bow) but can be freely crafted and bought — useful if you want an independent copy to refine separately or keep as a backup for ranged situations. For more on bows and arrow types, see our how to get and use Replenishing Arrows guide.
Part 3 — The New Archers: Delivering the Bow
After crafting the bow, don’t go back to where you first met Andrew. He has moved to Howling Hill to oversee the children’s training. Head to Howling Hill and speak with Andrew there.
Hand over the White Wood Bow. A short scene plays of the children starting their archery practice. Andrew thanks you, and the quest completes.
Quest Reward — Jewel Beetles
Completing the full First Steps of a Little Marksman questline rewards you with Jewel Beetles. Don’t sell these or use them carelessly. They’re required for later crafting quests further into the Greymane faction storyline, so hold onto them.
Completing this questline also unlocks a new quest chain featuring Yann, which involves tracking down outlaws and collecting bounties. This is the beginning of the primary bounty-hunting content in the Hernand region.
Common Problems and Fixes
The White Wood Bow isn’t showing in Turnali’s menu. You haven’t read the recipe book. Open your inventory, find “Ranged Weapons of the World — Bows, Vol. 1,” and read it. Then go back to Turnali and check the Ranged tab.
I don’t have enough materials. Andrew gives you the timber at the start of the quest, but if you lost it, chop trees east of Hernand near the river island until you have 10 Timber and 5 Fine Timber.
Andrew has disappeared after I crafted the bow. He’s at Howling Hill, not the original meeting spot. Check your quest log for his updated location marker and ride there.
I don’t have a Logging Axe. Buy one from the Provisioner’s Shop in Hernand, or complete Turnali’s Request to get one free. You can also fell trees using Force Palm in a pinch, but you still need the axe equipped to actually harvest the timber from the fallen trunk.
About the White Wood Bow
Beyond this quest, the White Wood Bow is a genuinely useful early-game ranged weapon worth keeping around. Its Level 1 Attack Speed bonus lets you draw and fire arrows faster than bows without that stat, which makes it ideal for sustained pressure builds that rely on many quick shots rather than slow, powerful ones.
It sits in the same tier as the Grey Wolf Bow stat-wise. If you want to push into ranged builds more seriously, the next step up is the Sydmon Bow, which has 14 Attack Power — a meaningful jump from the 10 base of the White Wood Bow. Our OP Infinite Arrow Archer Build guide covers how to maximize your ranged output once you have better gear sorted.
For equipment you can use in the meantime alongside your bow, check out our guide to the best early items in Crimson Desert and the Beehive Club — a surprisingly effective early weapon that pairs well with any playstyle while you’re still building up your gear.
For full camp management at Howling Hill while you’re there delivering the bow, see our guide on how to upgrade Howling Hill Base Camp to Level 2 and how to dispatch Howling Hill expansion missions.
Where to Play Crimson Desert
Crimson Desert is available on PC via Steam, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and the Epic Games Store. Visit the official Crimson Desert site for more details. For all guides, visit our Crimson Desert hub.
