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After completing the introduction in Avowed, you’ll automatically receive the Message from Afar quest upon arriving at the docks. This will have the player meeting a few important NPCs, picking up their first ally in Kai, and fighting a deadly boss. There’s an important person that needs to be rescued from their current situation, and of course, it’s up to the Envoy of the Emperor, the godlike, to take care of the problem.
This quest is the second main story quest in Avowed, with Message from Afar leading in nicely after the completion of On Stranger Shores. If you’re confused, or need some help finding your quest objectives, we’re here to get you on track.
Note: This article features spoilers for the Message from Afar quest in Avowed.
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How to complete Message from Afar in Avowed
Walkthrough objectives
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- Speak with Captain Cynric
- Find the Strangleroot
- Burn the Brambles blocking the Strangleroot
- Find the Aedyran Ambassador in the Strangleroot
- Kill the Afflicted Bear
- Speak with the Ambassador
- Examine the Adra Pillar
- Leave Strangleroot
- Enter the City of Paradis
After arriving on the docks outside of Paradis for Avowed’s Message from Afar, you’ll be greeted by Captain Cynric of the militia, and Kai, who will ultimately become your ally. This will set you out on a quest to defeat a deadly foe, and rescue someone in need.
However, you can, and should explore, and take on other side quests while doing this part of the game. It’s important to find better equipment, gain levels, and cook good food before going into unknown territory. Some of these objectives are very short, so we’re going to put them together, just to make things easier to digest.
Speak with Captain Cynric
The first thing you do upon arriving is basically talking to Captain Cynric in Avowed. You’ll notice a trend immediately - Aedyrans aren’t exactly welcome here, even if you are the Envoy of the Emperor. It’s, if nothing else, a comical exchange.
Captain Cynric will recommend you take Kai along with you, to help you find your way. Kai is someone who values good, helpful people, so being kind to others and to him will benefit you. Cynric will also point out that the Aedyran Ambassador is gone, and so is the Claviger - this region’s equivalent of a governor. It’s up to you to find them, lost somewhere in the Strangleroot. So that’s going to be the first port of call.
We highly recommend doing some exploring, side quest completing, and just getting to know the land before diving straight into the Strangleroot. There’s a powerful boss coming, so it won’t hurt to be as prepared as possible.
Find the Strangleroot and Burn the Brambles blocking the Strangleroot in Avowed’s Message from Afar quest
You’ll find the Strangleroot in Avowed for the Message from Afar quest in the northwest of the map. It’s on the image above, sitting between two fast travel locations: the Strangleroot Beacon and Overgrown Expanse Party Camp - though you may not be able to reach this yet.
I wound up traveling north from Fractured Shore/Ivona’s Threshold, and making my way up to the Strangleroot Beacon. From the beacon, follow the quest marker, and it will lead you to a pair of Brown Bears to fight off. You will also begin to hear The Voice again. Follow the quest marker forward into the woods, and you’ll enter the Strangleroot.
You’ll see a building almost immediately upon arriving in Avowed’s Strangleroot, to your left. The corpse here is glowing orange, meaning they have a quest item you need to collect. You also can’t fast travel while in this area, so make sure you’re prepared well in advance. Loot the Dirt-Speckled Amulet, and this is when you learn about one of Kai’s abilities.
He can use his skill Firestarter to burn the brambles blocking the Strangleroot - or anytime you see those branches with orange growths on them. You can also use fire magic or fire throwables, but it’s easier to just let Kai do it.
Once you get past this, it’s time to find that ambassador, and hopefully, find him in one piece. The Strangleroot is a dangerous place in Avowed’s Dawnshore region.
Find the Aedyran Ambassador in the Strangleroot for Avowed’s Message from Afar
Upon getting past the brambles, you’ll see a campsite with a few items to loot on your right, and more importantly, a Young Brown Bear that you will almost certainly aggro. Deal with it, and go grab your items from that camp. There’s also a series of brambles growing over a building’s wall - go inside to loot a chest containing 10 Copper Skeyt and Softwood Branch.
You can also walk through a broken hole in the wall to progress in the Strangleroot. You’ll find a wall you can break in the building dead ahead, which also has a treasure chest hiding inside it. It contains 4 Silver Fennings, Amethyst, Common Gambeson (armor), 2 Pelts, and an Iron Chunk.
Follow the quest marker forward, looting any corpses you come across. The next clearing features a Black Bear and a Young Black Bear. They shouldn’t be a major challenge for you at this point in the game. There’s a little grotto here you can swim into for a free Health Potion as well.
When you’re done killing and looting, and ready to advance, burn the brambles that lie ahead of you on the path. The next area has a sleeping Young Black Bear. You can fight it, or leave it alone - you probably need the exp, so fight it.
Continue to follow the quest marker into a cave, jumping up small rocky platforms, and then run up the path, before jumping across a small gap, and down into the next area. The good news is we’ve found Ambassador Falscen Hylgard! The bad news is that he’s being hunted - so get out there and fight the bear.
Kill the Afflicted Bear in Avowed’s Message from Afar
The Afflicted Bear is the next objective of Avowed’s Message from Afar. It has a huge aggro range - as soon as you stand in the opening, it will start aggroing with almost complete certainty. Make sure you’re at full health, and properly equipped with your best gear. I went with magic, to keep my distance, and let Kai tank.
Thankfully, this boss still fights like a typical bear for the most part. It has slow, but painful melee strikes that it will try to use if you’re in range. If it stands up on its hind legs, it’s going to spit a little toxic blob at you that you should definitely avoid - this will poison you.
It can also charge at you to swing its massive paws at you. Since I went with a magic build, I tried to stay to his side, zapping him with wand spells and the Fan of Flames spell. He sure didn’t seem to like fire.
If you see a light blue circle around his head, he’s going to use a devastating melee attack that you can dodge. In general, if you see a circle appear on the bear, his next attack will be powerful. If you see a red circle, that means you can’t block it, and dodging is the only answer.
Try to save Stamina to dodge at all times. Magic also seems to have the bonus effect of dealing pretty high stun, so I kept blasting him with magic spells while dodging his lumbering attacks.
It gets a bit faster and more aggressive when it falls below 50% health, so keep pelting it with fire and staying out of its reach if you can. Just be patient and whittle away at its health and it will fall. When it’s around 15% health though, it will start combing its blockable/parryable attacks.
It will also start spamming a trio of unblockable swipes, which can drop you to 0% health if you get caught in them in Avowed. Just beware that the lower its health gets, the more aggressive this bear will be.
After the Afflicted Bear is defeated, you can loot a nearby Aedyran Soldier for an Adra, Medium Stack of Silver Fennings, Turquoise, Agate, Paradise Ladder, Health Potion, Essence Potion, and there’s also a Unique Shield next to them - Unflinching Duty.
Speak with the Ambassador and examine the Adra Pillar in Avowed’s Message from Afar
When you’re ready, speak to the Ambassador, who makes his way into the clearing. He briefly mourns the loss of the dead soldier, stating he never even learned their name. Get through the conversation as you see fit, but I chose to be polite with the Ambassador, instead of bullying them.
You’ll start to hear The Voice again, which will interrupt your conversation. It wants to commune with you. After the chat with Hylgard, go to the large green rocks directly ahead of you - this is Adra. You’ll have a chat with a mysterious voice, which will offer you a new power. Interestingly enough, if you reject the power, they will not ask you again - so don’t be snarky.
You will unlock the power of Dream Touch - using this ability Heals and revives all nearby allies, and deals damage over time to nearby Delemgan, Dreamthralls, and Vessels. It’s an important power, and you won’t want to skip it. Godlike powers are always a positive in Avowed, so collect as many as you can.
Leave Strangeroot and enter the City of Paradis
After this pair of fascinating conversations in Avowed, the next step of Message from Afar is simply to get out of this place. You can also choose to inform Hylgard of what you saw, or lie to him. He’ll remark that Inquisitor Lodwyn will want to know about this, if you mention what you saw.
Follow the quest marker to the nearby rocks, climbing and jumping across them to get higher. Continue to jump across the gaps to rise higher and higher, to get out of the Strangleroot and reach the next part of Avowed's main story quest.
You’ll drop down in front of a campsite - Overgrown Reach Camp. Set up camp for the night, relax, and then you can begin the final step - Reach the City of Paradis.
Just follow the quest marker, southeast through the Godless Ruins, and across the river to Paradis. Don’t be in any particular hurry though. There’s plenty to see along the way. Once you enter the city gates, this quest will end, and the next will begin immediately.
Avowed releases on February 18, 2025, for PC and Xbox Series X|S platforms. If you purchase the Premium Edition, you can tour the Living Lands much faster, with your journey beginning on February 13, 2025.
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