Beneath the crumbling stones of the Eothasian Temple, a missing expedition, a godlike relic, and a mysterious Oracle await. The “Dawntreader” side quest in Avowed lures you off the beaten path and into a labyrinth of moral choices, where every decision can shape the fate of the lost-and the world itself. Will you rescue the desperate, bargain with the divine, or confront the unknown forces lurking in the dark? Prepare to chart your own course through one of Avowed’s most intriguing and consequential adventures.
Our Avowed guide will give you a full “Dawntreader” walkthrough, including telling you where to find the Aedyran Expedition, what choice to make with the Oracle, and what choice to make with the Voice.
How to start ’Dawntreader’ in Avowed
To start the “Dawntreader” side quest in Avowed, head to the Southern Paradis Administration District and look for Ofryc, who is standing just outside the Aedyran Embassy in a blue and yellow outfit. Speak with him to learn about his missing expedition team and receive the quest to investigate the ruins north of Paradis. Follow the quest marker north toward Pilgrim’s Path, where you’ll encounter two NPCs, Kauia and Seegwin, blocking a narrow passage leading to the Eothasian Temple. Use dialogue options-such as asserting your authority or expressing your desire to see the temple-to convince them to let you pass. Once inside the temple, your main objective will be to locate the missing Aedyran Expedition Team, officially beginning the “Dawntreader” questline.
You’ll be able to pick up the “Dawntreader” side quest when you reach Paradis in Dawnshore. You’re looking for someone named Ofryc in the Southern Paradis Administration District. You’ll find him outside of the Aedyran Embassy.
When you speak to him, he’ll tell you about the godlike named the Oracle. Keep talking to him and he’ll point you to his brother Caedmon and the Free Expedition Corps in a temple called Pilgrim’s Path a bit north of the city.
How to reach the Eothasian Temple
To reach the Eothasian Temple for the “Dawntreader” side quest, start by heading north from Paradis toward the Pilgrim’s Path in the Dawnshore region. Along the way, you’ll need to pass through a rocky passage guarded by several xaurips and a bear; clear these enemies to proceed. Continue following the Pilgrim’s Path until you come across a small camp where two NPCs, Kauia and Secgwin, are arguing near the cave entrance to the temple. Speak to Secgwin and use the dialogue option referencing Ambassador Hylgard to gain access. Once past them, approach the cave ahead and enter to access the Eothasian Temple, where the Dawntreader quest continues.
Your destination for the ’Find the Aedyran Expedition Team’ objective is a ways to the north of Paradis in a region named the Northern Farms. If you’ve unlocked it, the Northern Farms Beacon is right next to Pilgrim’s Path.
Talk your past Secgwin, and you’ll head inside. Follow the path behind her, and you’ll come to the Eothasian Temple. Head inside.
In the first room you come to, there are a pair of essence generators on the left side. Hit the inactive one on the right with shock damage – either from a spell or from an electric lily seed that you can find nearby.
Once the door opens, take out the skeletons, loot the room, and read the Book of Verses. Head back out and continue on your way to the left.
In the next room, take a left up the stairs, and then stick to the right wall. Head into then tunnel on your right and you’ll get a good look at the Oracle’s temple. Take another right and deal with the xaurips you run into.
Keep heading toward the marker on your HUD, looting as you go. Eventually, you’ll find Caedmon and talk to him. He’ll give you more information about the Oracle and the temple, and then give you a new, optional objective.
Speak to Sargamis, the Oracle of Eothas
Deep within the Eothasian Temple, you will encounter Sargamis, the Oracle of Eothas, standing before a massive statue he hopes to bring to life as a vessel for his god. When you speak to Sargamis, he reveals that he needs the Splinter of Eothas-a powerful relic-to complete his ritual. He asks for your help retrieving it, explaining his vision and motivations, and offering insight into what happened to the missing expedition team. This conversation sets up a pivotal choice: whether to assist Sargamis in his quest, confront him, or pursue your own agenda with the relic. Your dialogue with Sargamis not only advances the quest but also determines the branching paths and ultimate outcome of the Dawntreader side quest.
You’ll have to deal with a few xaurips on your way around to Sargamis, the Oracle. Cross the last wooden bridge, and you’ll find him waiting for you in a clearing in front of the strange statue.
Speak to Sargamis for some answers and context. You’ll learn about the Splinter of Eothas relic housed here.
Where to find the Splinter of Eothas relic
To find the Splinter of Eothas relic during the “Dawntreader” side quest in Avowed, progress through the Eothasian Temple after speaking with Oracle Sargamis. He will reveal the existence of the relic and ask you to retrieve it. Follow the quest marker southeast from Sargamis’s chamber, navigating through corridors filled with Xaurip and spider enemies. Along the way, you’ll need to swim underwater, clear webs, and jump across broken stairs. Eventually, you’ll reach a large chamber with a smaller shrine at the rear wall, where the Splinter of Eothas is located. Be prepared to face a group of skeletons and the Godless Executioner boss immediately after collecting the relic.
Head through the main door behind Sargamis and keep following the marker on your HUD. You’ll reach a flooded tunnel in the first room. Swim through.
When you surface in the first room, follow the ramp up and around. You’ll come to a crack in the wall with an essence generator on the far side. Throw an electric lily seed through (or hit it with electric magic) to open the door below you. Drop down and swim through.
Underwater, you’ll find a chest to loot. Surface, and follow the ledges around to a destructible wall. (You can also backtrack and just swim the rest of the way through.)
In the next room, there are several books to read scattered around you. Check them all out, and then deal with the spiders to your right. Check for more books and then examine the Statue Schematic on the wall for some more context.
From the schematic, burn through the webs on your left to reveal a tunnel. It’ll lead you to a small group of dwellings. Deal with the beetles and the xaurip, and then loot everything.
Use the ramp and ruined staircase on the right wall to climb into the next hallway. Grab the Consecration Prayer as you pass.
Go through the main door. The Splinter of Eothas is ahead of you, but ignore it for now. Turn left to hit an essence generator.
Directly in front of the altar with the splinter, look on the ground to the right. Smash through the vases there to enter another room. Keep smashing vases as you work through the coffins. Grab the History of the Living Lands IV: [Redacted] as you pass.
When you reach the end, look down and right again. Smash through more vases as you continue. Take out the skeleton monk and loot the lockbox.
Turn right again and go into the hall. Loot the corpse on your way out, and then unbar the door to return to the main entrance.
This time, duck under the platform on the left side of the main entrance. Inside, look to the left to find a crack in the wall. Shoot the essence generator on the far side to open the door above you.
Head back out and through the door you just opened. Around to your left, open the sarcophagus for a bunch of goodies and resources.
Head back out and go through the main door to retrieve the relic.
When you head back to the main courtyard, you’ll have to put down a handful of skeletons and a boss named the Godless Executioner.
How to find the Aedyran Expedition
To locate the Aedyran Expedition for the “Dawntreader” side quest in Avowed, begin by speaking with Ofryc, who can be found just outside the Aedyran Embassy in the Paradis District. After learning about his missing team, head north from Paradis toward Pilgrim’s Path, following your quest marker. Along the way, you’ll encounter Secgwin and Kauia near the entrance to the Eothasian Temple. You can choose to interact with them or slip past during their argument. Proceed through the narrow passage to reach the temple entrance, where you’ll need to solve a puzzle involving a shock generator-use a lightning spell to unlock the gate and continue inside. As you explore the temple, you’ll find members of the expedition, including Ofryc’s brother Caedmon, and ultimately uncover the fate of the team deeper within the ruins.
With the relic in hand, you could end the side quest here. But let’s get the other optional objectives out of the way.
When you head back the way you came, the temple will be partially flooded. Cross the tree root to the far side and jump the gap.
Climb up the ledges on your right. At the top, duck through the low tunnel ahead of you and a little to the right. Follow the cave around and drop through the hole in the floor.
Walk around the curtain to find the missing expedition. Talk to Kai about what you found and try to piece together what happened.
There’s another book in the room, On the Binding of Souls, that’ll give a little more context. If you don’t care about what the Oracle has to say, you can just leave at this point and go Speak to Ofryc.
Should you attack or help Sargamis, the Oracle?
When deciding whether to attack or help Sargamis in the Dawntreader side quest, you face a pivotal moral and gameplay choice. Sargamis, the Oracle, is responsible for the deaths of the expedition team and seeks your help to channel the souls of the dead-and potentially your own-into a construct to bring back the god Eothas. If you agree to help him and offer yourself as a sacrifice, your character will die instantly, leading to a game over screen or a forced confrontation with Sargamis if you try to back out at the last moment. On the other hand, attacking Sargamis directly results in a challenging boss fight, but defeating him rewards you with one of the best weapons in the game, the Last Light of Day. There is also a third option: attempt to convince Sargamis to abandon his experiment, but this path currently offers no significant rewards or consequences for his actions. Ultimately, attacking Sargamis is the most rewarding outcome in terms of loot and closure, while helping him leads only to failure or death.
When you leave the curtained off area, use the switch on the wall to open the door. Head up and around on the ramps. Unbar the door at the top to return back to the Oracle’s courtyard.
When you speak with Sargamis, you’ll have several choices to make – you can say you don’t have the relic, you can attack him, or you can “help” him – but they all end almost entirely the same way.
Say you don’t have the relic
At any point before you tell Sargamis you have it, you can tell him you don’t have the relic. All this does is kick you out of the conversation. The Oracle will still be standing there waiting for you to talk to him. You can ignore him, if you want, and just leave to Speak to Ofryc and end the quest.
Attack Sargamis
After you tell the Oracle you found the bodies of the Aedyran Expedition, you’ll have a dialogue option at the bottom of the list that picks a fight.
Sargamis isn’t too strong, but he summons some really annoying Fire Blight Minions to fight alongside him. Once he’s defeated, grab the Last Light of Day 2 from his corpse.
Help Sargamis
If you talk to him long enough and don’t choose to attack him, the Oracle will eventually ask for your help. He’ll have you put the relic in the statue and pull the lever at the workstation.
It won’t work, and Sargamis will decide he needs to add his soul to the statue. You’ll be asked to observe the Oracle’s death, press the button at the workstation, and then pull the lever at the workstation. Sadly for Sargamis, this won’t work either. His corpse will have his Last Light of Day 2 sword, though.
Should you give the Voice the statue?
Giving the statue (the Splinter of Eothas) to the Voice in the Dawntreader quest is a pivotal choice that shapes your relationship with this mysterious entity. If you hand over the statue, the Voice responds with gratitude and remembers your cooperation in a positive light, potentially influencing future interactions favorably. On the other hand, refusing to give the statue makes the Voice displeased and it will remember your defiance, which may have consequences later in the game. There is no immediate tangible reward or punishment for either decision, but many players report that the Voice continues to assist you if you choose to help it, suggesting that maintaining a good relationship could be beneficial as the story progresses. Ultimately, your choice should reflect your character’s alignment and how much you trust the Voice’s intentions.
Whichever way to deal with the Oracle – even if you ignore him – after Sargamis is dead, the Voice will ask to speak to you at the adra crystal on the west side of the courtyard. The Voice will explain that they could use the statue to do. something. Maybe. One day.
You can either go along with the Voice’s suggestion (giving it the statue) or not (destroying the statue).
Give the Voice the Statue
If you want to let it, follow its instructions to place the relic in the statue and purge the energies in it. That’s it, and there’s no immediate payoff.
From there, you can return to Ofryc to finish the side quest.
Destroy the Statue
If you don’t want the Voice to have the Statue, you can choose to destroy it. The Voice won’t be happy about it, but it won’t interfere. Go around and destroy the three essence generators to overload the statue and destroy it.
The Voice will yell one more time, but then you’ll be able to head back to Ofryc.
How to finish ’Dawntreader’
To finish the “Dawntreader” side quest in Avowed, you must retrieve the Splinter of Eothas relic from deep within the Eothasian temple, making key choices along the way. After navigating the ruins, rescuing survivors, and defeating or persuading the Oracle Sargamis, you’ll face a pivotal decision: either destroy the Eothas statue using shock-based abilities on three essence generators, or fuse the Voice with the statue by pulling the lever as requested. Each choice leads to a different outcome and reward, including the unique Last Light of Day sword. Once your decision is made, return to the Aedyran Embassy in Paradis and report to Ofryc to complete the quest and claim your final rewards.
Over on the west side of the Oracle’s temple, you’ll find an elevator that will take you to Dawnshore. From there, you can make your way back to Paradis. Either the Paradis Main Gate Beacon or the Administration District Beacon will drop you close to Ofryc.
You’ll find Ofryc and Caedmon waiting outside of the Aedyran Embassy. Talk to them to get the Delver’s Caution ring as a reward.
What secrets does the Dawntreader side quest reveal about Avowed’s world
The Dawntreader side quest in Avowed uncovers several significant secrets about the game’s world, particularly its divine history and the influence of godlike beings:
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Ancient Divine Relics: The quest centers on the search for the Splinter of Eothas, a bone from the titan Eothas, rumored to possess miraculous healing properties, even capable of curing the Dreamscourge. This relic’s existence reveals that remnants of the gods are tangible, powerful, and sought after by mortals and godlike alike.
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The Oracle’s Legacy: Players encounter the Oracle, a godlike touched by Eothas who constructed the temple to house the relic. The Oracle’s motivations and fate are at the heart of the quest, shedding light on the complex relationships between mortals, godlike, and the divine. The Oracle’s experiments and the choices you make regarding his fate expose the moral ambiguity and far-reaching consequences of meddling with divine power.
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Moral and Political Complexity: The quest highlights the political tensions and desperation within Avowed’s world. The Free Expeditions Corps’ willingness to risk everything for a cure, and the player’s ability to influence the outcome, demonstrate how power struggles and personal ambitions intertwine with the search for divine artifacts.
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Multiple Outcomes and Consequences: Dawntreader is notable for its branching outcomes-your decisions regarding the Oracle and the relic can lead to drastically different consequences, affecting characters’ fates and potentially the broader world. This reinforces Avowed’s theme that individual choices can have significant, sometimes unforeseen, impacts.
Through these revelations, Dawntreader deepens the lore of Avowed, illustrating a world where the divine is present, contested, and fraught with perilous choices.
What does the connection to Eothas reveal about Avowed’s divine lore
The connection to Eothas in Avowed reveals profound shifts in the divine lore of Eora, especially following the events of Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire. Eothas, the god of light, redemption, and renewal, played a pivotal role in maintaining the Wheel-the cycle of souls and reincarnation-alongside Berath. In Deadfire, Eothas shattered the Wheel, disrupting the gods’ control over the reincarnation system and fundamentally altering the relationship between mortals and the divine.
This act had several major implications:
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Weakened Divine Power: The destruction of the Wheel severely weakened the gods’ influence. The godlike, mortals touched by the gods, became extremely rare, and some lore suggests the gods may have absorbed their godlikes or lost the ability to create new ones.
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Lingering Faith and Uncertainty: Despite Eothas’ disappearance and the silence that followed, faith in him persists among some mortals, though many feel abandoned and question the future of divine guidance.
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A Changed World: The repercussions of Eothas’ actions are still unfolding in Avowed. The world faces new plagues and instability, and the gods’ diminished presence has left mortals to grapple with the consequences of newfound freedom and uncertainty.
In summary, Eothas’ connection in Avowed highlights a world where the divine order has been upended, the gods’ power is in question, and mortals must navigate a reality where the old certainties about life, death, and the afterlife no longer hold true.
