After what happened at the Abyss in Crimson Desert, you leave the Scholastone Institute and allow the Dean time to figure things out before reporting back and summoning you.
Meanwhile, as Kliff makes his way back to Hernand, you receive an invitation from Marquis Serkis to attend the arrival of a very special Demenissian guest, but things will not go as smoothly as expected.
Table of contents
Uninvited Guest
As you make your way to the castle, you will notice the guards struggling with a horse that has gone wild. The guards ask you to help them tame the horse so they can bring it back to the stable.
This introduces the horse-taming mini-game you need to learn. It is simple: the horse will move around as you try to control it, and you must move in the opposite direction of where the horse is facing.
The more successfully you oppose the horse’s direction, the more the meter will fill, but if you take too long, the horse will knock you back. Do not worry, you can still run after it, catch it again, and try once more.
After you have successfully tamed the horse, you need to ride it to the nearby stable. As soon as you arrive, Damiane will be there, and it turns out that it is actually her horse.
During the conversation with her, you will learn that Damiane has been gathering information about the Demeniss, hoping to find a clue about the whereabouts of her master, which is why she is here.
Attend The Banquet
The time of the banquet is approaching, so you need to head toward Hernand Castle. At the entrance, you will find Serkis speaking with Middler. He urges you to go inside, enjoy yourself, and keep an eye out for anything unusual.
The Demenissian delegation will arrive and welcome everyone, but to your surprise, they have brought a huge box as a special gift. The box looks suspicious, and they proceed to open it.
It turns out a massive monster is trapped inside, which makes for a very strange gift.
They intend to use it as a grand display, and he announces for the musketeers to shoot the beast to officially present it.
What they do not realize is that the beast is still alive, and the shots only make it furious. It begins attacking and killing everyone in sight, causing chaos throughout the castle.
As the others attempt to evacuate the remaining guests, Kliff stays behind to fight and kill the creature.
Defeat The Kearush, The Slayer
Before you even attempt to fight this monster, you must have upgraded your health several times and carry a large amount of healing items. This is because Kearush lives up to his name, dealing massive damage and behaving very aggressively.
Not only that, but the creature has three health bars, and parrying does not work against him, so you will need to rely on dodging or guarding instead.
While Kearush does not have complex attacks and mainly uses melee combos along with a grab attack, they deal heavy damage, so you must avoid most of his attacks whenever possible. You should approach this encounter like a souls-style boss fight.
Wait for the monster to finish his combo, move in to land a few hits, then fall back again. Many times, you will notice that Kearush gives very few openings to attack, and that is completely fine; you need to stay focused on dodging and guarding his attacks.
With each health bar you remove, his aggression and attack speed increase noticeably, so you are very likely to get hit. This is why we strongly recommend carrying as many healing items as possible to handle the fight safely.
Do not hesitate to revive yourself using Palmer Pills a few times during the fight, but only if you have already taken at least half of his three health bars and still possess plenty of healing items.
After you finally defeat Kearush the Slayer, the monster will stagger back and escape through the window, but at least it has left the castle. Exit the castle and head to the wall, where you will find Damiane waiting for you there.
She wants to speak with you about some information she received regarding the Greymanes. It appears that the Black Bears have been receiving supplies from the Demeniss, and she plans to gather more details while you continue investigating further.
Black And White
After the conversation with Damiane, you will receive a letter from White Crow. It will be sent to your inventory, and you need to open it there; it is called the Unsealed Letter.
This will update your objective and ask you to go meet the witch, but there will not be any marker on your map to guide you. This is because there is a side quest that you must initiate in order to continue progressing through the main quest.
Witch Of Wisdom Side Quest
Southwest of Hernand, toward the Scholaship Institute, you will notice a side quest icon. Hover over it and make sure the name is The Witch of Wisdom; this is the side quest you need to initiate.
Alternatively, you can access it from your Journal in the menu. Go to Factions Quest, then the Hernand section, and there you will see Witches.
Make your way there, and you should find a woman screaming for help. She is trapped inside the house, and the only way to enter is through the open roof window. Untie the woman, and she will be grateful for your assistance.
It seems this was just a test, and the witch will then ask you to visit her place. Ride to her house, which will be marked on your map, and go inside. Here you will find the witch you need to speak to for the main quest.
During the conversation, the witch will warn you that a looming dark force is approaching, and you need to prepare yourself for it. This means heading back to Hernand Castle to gather more information and make preparations.
Head To The Abyss
Here, you will be stopped by guards who mention that there are intruders they have never seen before, and that they have attacked the castle.
Go inside the castle and take the stairs to the right to reach the upper floor. Turn right, where you will see a row of doors. You need to go to the first one on the left side, the same one where you reached the Abyss for the first time.
Enter the portal there to teleport to the Abyss and make your way to the Axiom Archive. As soon as you reach the entrance, a group of feathered enemies will attack you. Defeat all of them, then proceed inside.
You will find that Alustin has been attacked and stabbed. He warns you about the intruder, who is the Crow, and it seems he has kidnapped White Crow as well.
You must find her, though Alustin can tend to his own wounds.
Head back to the land and go south of Hernand, following the quest marker. You will find a house there, and as soon as you approach, the Crow will reveal himself. He will attack you on sight and express disappointment at your performance.
After this, the Crow will disappear and send his enemies to finish you off. You must defeat all of these enemies before you can proceed further.
Chase After The Crowcaller
It seems you need to make a long journey toward the Demeniss region, so make your way there on your horse. As soon as you reach your destination, you will find a number of murdered people.
When Kliff tries to investigate, you will be attacked by the same enemies from before. Defeat all of them, and this will trigger the Crowcaller to appear and fight you personally.
This time, he is prepared for battle.
This is not the real fight against the Crowcaller, so you only need to deplete his health bar; he will escape afterward.
After the encounter, you still need to search the area for any survivors.
Secret At The Church
Make your way to the house ahead, where you will hear a woman talking. Go inside, and she will try to attack you, thinking you are the enemy. Kliff asks her to hold back and explain what has happened.
The woman will tell him about a unique relic key that can open Heaven’s Gate. She gives you the key for the door leading to it. Go there, unlock the door, head to the basement, and interact with the pillar inside.
You will need to complete a puzzle similar to the one from Octavius, pressing the components in the correct order. The correct order is:
- Top left corner button
- Bottom right corner button
- Bottom left corner button
- Top right corner button
After the door opens, take the relic from it and head to the Pillar of Radiance to insert it. You will then need to complete another puzzle, rotating discs to form a specific pattern.
The pattern here is an eye, and the image below showcases it.
If you complete it correctly, this will activate the Spire visible from a distance. You must then make your way toward it.
Head To The Spire Of Soaring
Make your way toward the Spire. After you reach the location, you will find that the entrance is blocked. If you go down to the right, you will spot a cave entrance.
Go inside, and you will see an air shaft. Take out your wings, and you will be able to float upward. Eventually, you will reach a platform where you need to activate the energy on this level to go higher.
On the wall in front of you, you will see disks that can be moved. You need to rotate them in a specific order to route the power from right to left.
The picture below showcases the correct order. Simply use your Axiom Force to rotate the disks as needed.
Activating the power on this level will make the platform rise, but it will stop at the next level.
The solution here is simple: the large disk in front of you needs to be rotated twice using Axiom Force, either right or left.
The picture below shows the correct position.
Now stand on the platform and wait as it carries you toward the Abyss. It will be a long ride, so you might as well enjoy the view and see the entire map from your vantage point.
If you happen to fall, do not worry. Simply return to the Spire and use your wings to float all the way to the top. After that, you will be teleported to the Abyss immediately.
Activate The Skybridge
The first thing you want to do is activate the Abyss Nexus fast travel point, which will make it easier to return to this location later.
Here, you need to activate the Skybridge, and there are several steps to complete. First, you will notice an orb emitting light toward a wall panel, but two spots do not have light pointing to them.
Climb up to the upper floor, where you will see two orbs, one on the right and one on the left. These are the ones you need to activate. Use Axiom Force on the center to take control of each orb, then direct the light toward the panel.
Do the same for the second orb, then fly to the other side. Here, you need to reconnect two spots where the cables are not attached.
One broken cable is in the middle, and the other is on the far right.
If done correctly, the round panel will activate. Make your way to it and use Force Palm to activate the power.
The Skybridge will now be accessible. Make your way to it and start the device there using Axiom Force, rotating the panel until it turns blue.
From this point, you will need to complete a series of platforming sections until you reach the large arena up ahead.
Defeat Crowcaller
Finally, you come across Crowcaller, and this time you must defeat him once and for all. He has three health bars, so you should prepare plenty of healing items before starting the fight.
He uses dual swords and unleashes a series of flurry combos, which are usually easy to parry. Successfully parrying them gives you a good opening to land a full combo before backing away.
Crowcaller constantly switches to his crow form and moves around the arena. He is very fast, so you should guard with your shield, as he will either create distance or dive bomb toward you.
Keep track of the crows to anticipate what action he will take next.
With each phase, he becomes more aggressive, although his attacks mostly remain the same. If you find yourself struggling, you may need to upgrade your gear a few times before attempting the fight again.
After defeating Crowcaller, you will find a cage where White Crow is being held.
Once you open it, she will be freed and transform back into her human form.
She will thank you for your help but warn you that this is only the beginning and that greater threats are still to come. This concludes the chapter.
Thank you for checking out another Into Indie Games article covering Crimson Desert.
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Former Staff Writer at TheGamer, with over 1,000 published articles covering everything from major AAA titles like Call of Duty, Elden Ring, and Dragon’s Dogma 2 to trending indie games like Blasphemous, Palworld, and Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, and many, many more titles!
