The Cursed Chasm Quest In The Blood Of Dawnwalker — Durandal Location Guide

TL;DR

• The Cursed Chasm is a side quest in The Blood Of Dawnwalker set in the gorge below Greifberg Castle in the Briar Sloughs region.
• The goal is to find Knyaz Skender’s lost treasure — a legendary sword called Durandal — buried in the wreckage at the bottom of the chasm.
• Inspect the wrecked cart at the broken bridge first to pick up Dimitar’s Orders, then descend to the chasm floor via the eastern ledge path.
• Kill the wolves, two Vidmo, and a powerful red Echo boss before looting the broken wagon remains for Durandal.
• The quest rewards 100 XP, 1 Skill Point, and Durandal — one of the strongest weapons available in the early game.
• Looting the sword costs 2 Time Segments and completes the quest instantly.

The Cursed Chasm quest in The Blood Of Dawnwalker is one of the best early quests in the game. It is short, has no fail state, and hands you a legendary longsword called Durandal at the end of it — a weapon that can carry you through a huge chunk of the campaign if you grab it early enough. The quest takes place in a deep gorge below Greifberg Castle, and the main challenge is getting down there, fighting through a tough enemy encounter, and finding the right piece of wreckage to loot. This guide walks you through every step, including both ways to start the quest, how to reach the bottom safely, how to beat the Echo boss, and exactly where Durandal is hiding in the debris. If you enjoy finding strong weapons and loot through exploration, you might also want to check out our guide on the Night Terrors quest in Blood Of Dawnwalker, which leads to another secret questline with great rewards.

The Cursed Chasm Quest — Basic Info

• Quest Type: Side Quest
• Starting Location: Briar Sloughs — chasm below Greifberg Castle, northwest of the map
• Quest Giver: Spirits / triggered by approaching the broken bridge or chasm wreckage
• Requirement: Complete the main quest Smoke and Ashes
• Fail State: None
• Time Cost: 2 Time Segments (charged when you loot Durandal)
• Reward: 100 XP, 1 Skill Point, Durandal (Legendary Longsword)
• Quest Description: Many spine-tingling stories have been told about the mountains surrounding Vale Sangora. One of them concerns Knyaz Skender’s lost treasure, rumored to remain somewhere near a certain broken bridge to this day…

Background — What Is The Cursed Chasm About?

After Knyaz Skender was overthrown by Brencis, some of his loyal followers tried to escape Vale Sangora with as much of the knyaz’s treasure as they could carry. They never made it. Their convoy fell from a mountain bridge into a deep chasm, and everything they were carrying — including Skender’s legendary heirloom blade, Durandal — went down with them.

Decades later, the chasm is still there, the wreckage is still at the bottom, and the sword is still waiting. Spirits haunt the area around the bridge. No one has successfully retrieved the treasure. Until Coen shows up.

The Cursed Chasm Quest In The Blood Of Dawnwalker

How To Start The Cursed Chasm Quest

There are two ways to get this quest into your journal, and both are equally valid.

Option 1 — Talk To The Innkeeper In Svartrau City

Head to the tavern on the western edge of Altenmarkt in Svartrau City. Ask the innkeeper for gossip. They will tell you about Skender’s lost treasure and how his followers tried to flee the valley after Brencis took over, never making it past a mountain crossing. This puts the quest marker on your map and gives you a head start on the lore before you even arrive.

Option 2 — Go Directly To The Chasm

You can skip the gossip entirely and just walk to the location. Fast travel to the Coward’s Path shrine in the northwestern part of the map. From there, follow the road uphill to the northwest and then south. You will reach a collapsed bridge over a deep gorge. Approaching either the broken end of the bridge or the wreckage visible at the bottom of the chasm is enough to trigger the quest automatically. No dialogue needed.

Both methods result in the same quest and the same objectives. The innkeeper tip is just helpful if you like to know what you are looking for before you arrive.

Step 1 — Investigate The Broken Bridge

Once the quest is active, your first objective is to investigate the broken bridge and its surroundings. Walk to the broken end of the bridge — the side where the road simply ends at a drop. Look for a wrecked cart beside it. It has a yellow glow visible even without Focus Mode, so it is hard to miss.

Interact with the cart to pick up the Special Orders, which contain Dimitar’s Orders. This document describes the treasure transport in detail and confirms that Knyaz Skender’s legendary blade, Durandal, was being carried when the convoy fell. Your journal updates and the second objective becomes active: find Knyaz Skender’s lost treasure.

The treasure is at the bottom of the chasm. Now you need to get down there.

Step 2 — Get Down To The Chasm Floor

The chasm is deep and there is no obvious path down from the bridge side. But the descent is not as tricky as it looks if you know where to go.

Standard Daytime Route — Eastern Ledge Path

This is the recommended approach for most players, and it works in both daylight and darkness.

• Move to the eastern side of the chasm, away from the bridge.
• Walk along the rim of the gorge, looking over the edge as you go.
• You will find a series of natural ledges that step down toward the floor, like a rough staircase cut into the rock face. These are found to the west and northwest of the Coward’s Path shrine.
• Follow the ledges downward. There is one gap you need to jump across partway down. A normal running jump clears it easily in human form, so there is no need for any vampiric ability here.
• Keep descending until you reach the chasm floor.

Night-Only Vampire Route — Shadowstep Drop

If you are in vrakhiri form and it is night, there is a faster but riskier option. You can drop off the edge of the bridge and use Shadowstep to catch yourself before you hit the ground. This requires the Clawride, Planeshift, and Shadowstep abilities to be unlocked. Timing the Shadowstep is the tricky part — do it too late and you take fatal fall damage. Save before attempting this drop if you want to try it.

For most players, the eastern ledge path is the safe and consistent choice.

Step 3 — Fight The Wolves, Vidmo, And The Echo

The bottom of the chasm is not empty. A pack of wolves has made the wreckage under the broken bridge their territory, and they will attack the moment you get close. Take them out first — they are the weakest enemies in this encounter.

Shortly after you engage the wolves, things escalate. Two Vidmo (wraith-type enemies) and a blood-red variant called Echo will spawn in and join the fight. These are significantly more dangerous than the wolves, and Echo in particular needs your attention.

How To Fight The Vidmo

Vidmo use claw swipe combos that can be blocked. Watch for the red skull indicator on their unblockable spinning frenzy attack — you cannot parry this. When you see the red skull, dodge backward or to the side to avoid it. Do not try to block. Otherwise, stay patient, block their regular attacks, and counter when you have the opening.

How To Beat Echo

Echo is the dangerous one. It uses the same attacks as regular Vidmo, but it has one extra ability: a blood drain. Echo will raise its arm and pull blood from Coen at range, actively restoring its own health as your bar drops. This cannot be blocked or dodged. The only way to stop it is to hit Echo immediately when you see blood streaming off your body. Land any hit on Echo to break the drain effect and force it to reset.

If you see your health going down with no visible attack landing on you, look for Echo — it has started draining. Get to it fast.

Combat Tip — Use Enemies Against Each Other

The wolves and the Vidmo are different enemy types and will fight each other if they end up in the same space. Try to position yourself between groups so that enemy attacks clip their allies. This takes some heat off you and lets you focus on one threat at a time rather than three. It is not a guaranteed trick, but it can help a lot in a cramped area like the chasm floor.

Once all enemies are dead, take a moment to breathe and then start looting the area. Do not leave until you have checked everything with Focus Mode.

Step 4 — Find Durandal In The Wreckage

With the enemies cleared, activate Focus Mode and scan the debris field beneath the broken bridge. A lot of items will glow — there are multiple containers, corpses, barrels, and piles of material spread across the area. Do not rush to the first glowing thing you see.

The Skeleton And The Final Report

Look for a skeleton lying beneath a glowing gold patch on the ground. Inspect it to find a Ring and the Final Report. This is a letter from Captain Bojidar, who explains that his soldiers refused to die for a noble’s cause and were trying to leave the valley themselves when they fell. None of them made it. It is a small but grim piece of lore that adds weight to the scene.

The Treasure Map — Start Finders Keepers

Before you grab Durandal, look for the Treasure Map: Silver Cache somewhere in the surrounding wreckage — specifically near the golden barrels in the debris. Picking up this treasure map automatically starts the Finders Keepers side quest. Do not leave the chasm without it. If you skip it here, you will have to come back or might miss it entirely. Our Finders Keepers quest guide in Blood Of Dawnwalker has everything you need to complete that one after this.

Durandal Location — The Broken Wagon Remains

The sword itself is inside the broken wagon remains — the largest pile of debris directly beneath where the bridge used to span. In Focus Mode it will be highlighted like the other lootable objects, but this one is the most prominent. Interact with it and you will find Durandal, along with some Denarius and a crafting recipe.

The moment you loot Durandal, 2 Time Segments are spent and the quest closes. You receive 100 XP and 1 Skill Point, and the Skill Point notification confirms the quest is fully complete. Durandal goes straight into your inventory and can be equipped right away.

What Is Durandal? Is It Worth Getting?

Durandal is a Legendary Longsword — one of the highest-quality weapon tiers in The Blood Of Dawnwalker. It is arguably one of the best weapons available during the early and mid portions of the campaign, and getting it as early as the quest unlocks gives you a significant power boost over what most players are using at that stage.

The sword can be equipped immediately after looting it. No crafting, no upgrades required to start using it. If you come to the Cursed Chasm at around level 11 and can survive the Echo fight, you walk away with a weapon that will serve you for many hours of gameplay. For players looking to build a strong early setup, getting Durandal should be a priority. If you want more context on how the Durandal fits into your broader build, our guide on the best skills to level up in Blood Of Dawnwalker is a good companion read.

Extra Loot And Side Content At The Chasm

There is more in the chasm than just Durandal. The wreckage field contains a variety of Silver items which you can sell to the Silver Trader in Svartrau City for Denarius. Silver is worth more at the Silver Trader than anywhere else, so do not sell it to general merchants. The debris also contains crafting materials including a Glob of Likho’s Light and the Recipe for Minor Balm of Fortitude.

Further along the gorge, away from the main bridge wreckage, is the Ancient Circle: North-West Pass. This is worth completing while you are already down here since it is out of the way and you will not be passing through this area often. Do not leave the chasm without walking further into it and checking for this ancient circle.

All Rewards From The Cursed Chasm

• 100 XP — Quest completion reward
• 1 Skill Point — Quest completion reward
• Durandal (Legendary Longsword) — Looted from the broken wagon remains
• Ring — Looted from the skeleton beneath the gold patch
• Final Report — Looted from the same skeleton; lore item
• Treasure Map: Silver Cache — Looted from the wreckage; starts Finders Keepers side quest
• Silver Items — Various pieces from the debris; sell to Silver Trader for Denarius
• Glob of Likho’s Light — Crafting material from the wreckage
• Recipe for Minor Balm of Fortitude — Found in the broken wagon remains alongside Durandal
• Tainted Marrow, Denarius, other drops — From enemy loot

What Happens If The Quest Won’t Start Or Complete?

Two things gate this quest. First, you must have completed the main quest Smoke and Ashes. If that is not done, the quest will not trigger regardless of where you stand near the chasm. Second, the quest only registers when you physically reach the break in the bridge or the wreckage below — standing on the intact side of the bridge is not close enough to trigger it.

If the quest is active but still showing the treasure objective after you have been to the bottom, the issue is that you have not looted Durandal specifically. Clearing the enemies and reading the Final Report do not complete the quest. Only taking the sword from the broken wagon remains does. Go back to that pile, activate Focus Mode, and look for the specific interaction point on the largest piece of wreckage directly under the bridge.

Tips For The Cursed Chasm Quest

• Come at around level 11 or above. The wolves alone are manageable early, but Echo is a real threat at low levels. Wait until you have some gear and levels before attempting the chasm fight.
• Take the eastern ledge path down during the day. It is the safest and most reliable route and requires no special abilities. Save the Shadowstep bridge drop for night runs when you are comfortable with the timing.
• Deal with wolves first, then focus on Echo. The wolves will distract you from Echo’s drain ability. Clear them as fast as possible so you can give Echo your full attention.
• Hit Echo immediately when you see the blood drain. If your health is dropping with no visible cause, Echo is draining you from a distance. Get to it and land a hit to break the effect.
• Pick up the Treasure Map before leaving. The Finders Keepers quest starts from that map. It is easy to forget in the post-combat loot rush, but you will regret leaving it behind.
• Use Focus Mode on every pile in the debris field. The chasm has a lot of lootable objects. Some are small and easy to overlook without Focus Mode active.
• Do not confuse the quest completion trigger. The quest only closes when you loot Durandal from the broken wagon remains. Everything else is optional bonus loot.
• Check the Ancient Circle further along the chasm. Ancient Circle: North-West Pass is deeper in the gorge and is worth visiting while you are already down here.

Frequently Asked Questions