Stolen Quarry

Overview

Stolen Quarry is the third faction quest in the Estate in Dismay chain for House Roberts in the Duchy of Hernand. Count Roberts tasks Kliff with reclaiming Karin Quarry, which has been seized by the Bleed Bandits. This is likely the first large occupied territory you will liberate in the game, introducing the liberation system that recurs throughout Pywel. The quest culminates in a boss fight against Marni's Excavatron, a mechanical drilling construct. Completing Stolen Quarry unlocks the Mining Knuckledrill and the Gold Vein Map, both valuable early-game rewards.

Quest Details

Prerequisites

Before the quest becomes available, you need to clear the Cask House south of Hernand (near Howling Hill) from Bleed Bandits. This triggers the Troubled Count quest, which sends you to speak with Erich outside Bluemont Manor and then meet Count Roberts upstairs. He explains that the same bandits who took the cask house have also seized his family's quarry.

Preparation

Karin Quarry is a large facility with dozens of bandits. The fight is long and resource-intensive, so prepare before heading out. The following will make a real difference:

Walkthrough

Reaching Karin Quarry

Head north from the City of Hernand toward Karin Quarry. The quarry is hard to miss thanks to the large hole in the earth and the giant crane visible from a distance. A cutscene triggers when you arrive, revealing the bandits and the Excavatron controlling the area.

Understanding the Liberation System

When you enter Karin Quarry, four objectives appear on the left side of your screen: the Infirmary, Timber Warehouse, Barracks, and Marni's Excavatron. A green bar displays the territory's occupation level at 100%. As you defeat Bleed Bandits, this bar depletes. When it reaches 0%, you can challenge the boss. You will need to fight a large number of enemies to get there, which makes the encounter taxing on your healing supplies.

To make the liberation easier, destroy the three sub-objectives scattered around the quarry. Use Blinding Flash to spot them; a spinning red square icon appears above each one. Destroying them weakens the enemy forces permanently for this territory.

Sub-Objectives

A good way to destroy each objective is to use Turning Slash on the walls or load-bearing structures near them. You do not need to kill every bandit around a sub-objective before destroying it.

Fighting the Bandit Horde

The quarry floor gets crowded and dangerous. Fight toward the outer edges of the quarry where possible, since the interior is littered with explosive barrels.

Spear for groups, Sword and Shield for archers. The spear is ideal for dealing with clusters of melee enemies. With Level 2 Armed Combat, it unlocks Counter Stance: activate it just before an enemy strikes and you will hit surrounding enemies as well as your target. Getting shot by an arrow also triggers Counter Stance, which keeps you safe from archers while you thin the melee fighters. Once the melee enemies are down, switch to sword and shield to chase down archers. Level 3 Armed Combat unlocks the Charge ability, which lets you close the distance and knock them down.

Watch for explosive barrels. Unlike most games, these barrels are not painted red. They have a white X on them and are easy to clip with a wide spear swing. Getting caught in an explosion can be lethal. Clear any barrels in your immediate area before fighting with wide-sweeping weapons. You can also shoot barrels with arrows to detonate them on groups of enemies from a safe distance, but be careful of chain reactions reaching you.

Do not worry about bystanders. The enslaved quarry workers will not take damage from your attacks or from explosions. Fight freely without concern for friendly fire.

Boss Fight: Marni's Excavatron

Once the green bar reaches 0%, head to the northeast corner of the quarry and climb over the stone barrier to reach the boss arena. See the full Marni's Excavatron article for a detailed breakdown of the fight.

The short version: the Excavatron's attacks hit hard but cannot be parried. Many of its attacks can be blocked with a shield, though this drains stamina quickly. Its burrow attack (when it goes underground and erupts beneath you) can be dodged or, if you are fast enough, canceled entirely by hitting it with Force Palm as its drills start glowing. With Level 3 Force Palm, chain three blasts in a row. The third one fills the Excavatron's Yellow Bar enough to stagger it, giving you a long damage window.

If the area dims and the Excavatron begins to dig, it will surface beneath you, go back underground, and repeat this a total of three times. Keep dodging or blocking through all three eruptions.

Rewards

Defeating the Excavatron completes Stolen Quarry and yields two items:

Follow-Up Quests

Sealed in Stone

With the quarry reclaimed, the quest Sealed in Stone begins immediately. Speak with Erich and ride the lift up to the Crane Controls. The crane wobbles when you move it, so go slowly. Lower one claw first to clamp onto one side of the buried relic (the gray cube), then adjust the second claw. The camera zooms in when the claw locks on. Pull the relic up to complete the quest.

Before leaving, drop down into the hole where the relic was buried to discover the Hidden Ruins of the Quarry. Inside you will find a turret that fires at you, a small room with 3 Palmar Pills, and a Bismuth Barricade that can be broken with a Focused Force Palm to reveal an additional room beyond.

A Count's Honor

Return to Count Roberts in Hernand to wrap up the Estate in Dismay quest chain. Completing this final quest rewards 3 Azurite, 3 Bloodstone, and an Engraved Gold Earring that increases defense and movement speed. This is likely your first earring in the early game, so consider keeping it equipped rather than selling it.

Abyss Artifact Farming Tip

If you have healing food to spare, you can leave the Infirmary intact and farm Bleed Bandits indefinitely. With the Infirmary standing, wounded enemies keep returning, so the supply of targets never runs dry. Defeating enough of them fills the yellow bar on your mini-map for Abyss Artifacts. This is not the most efficient farming method; searching for Abyss Cressets around Hernand is safer and generally more productive. But it is an option if you want extra artifacts before moving on.

Tips

• Liberation progress does not reset on death. If you die, you can return and pick up where you left off.

• Destroy the Infirmary first. It is closest to the entrance and removing reinforcements early saves the most healing items over the course of the fight.

• The Mining Knuckledrill is one of the most valuable early-game rewards. If you plan to invest in mining and crafting, prioritize this quest.

• Stock up on Hearty Grilled Meat (crafted from Fine Meat at bonfires) before heading to the quarry. You will go through more healing items here than most early-game encounters.

• Use arrows to detonate explosive barrels near groups of bandits for easy area-of-effect damage. Just keep your distance to avoid chain reactions.

• The Gold Vein Map unlocks valuable mining spots across Hernand and beyond, making this quest a gateway to profitable resource gathering.

Reward

Hernandian +100

Completion

The Bleed Bandits were driven out and the quarry was reclaimed. Investigation of the inner quarry is now possible.