After What Moves the Dead, the questline around Crake and the Manumits continues with Who Pulls the Strings. Marat — Crake’s real name — sends you to Aurelius’s Tower. Silas’s Book is supposedly hidden there, containing the key to fighting the gargoyles at Greifberg Castle.
The path through the tower is fairly straightforward, but there are two spots where you should be careful: a particularly tough gargoyle awaits before the entrance, and after finding Silas’s Book you can accidentally trigger Home Sweet Home. We’ll show you the direct route through the quest.
Starting Who Pulls the Strings and finding Aurelius’s Tower
Who Pulls the Strings unlocks after the quest What Moves the Dead. At the end of the previous quest, you learn more about Aurelius and Silas’s research. Marat knows the location of Aurelius’s Tower and sends you there to retrieve Silas’s Book.
Aurelius’s Tower is located deep in the southwest of The Silts. The large structure is already visible from quite a distance. As you approach the tower, your objective changes and you’re prompted to find a way inside.
Entering Aurelius’s Tower and finding Silas’s Book
Defeating The Unblinking Guardian outside the tower
Outside Aurelius’s Tower, The Unblinking Guardian awaits — a noticeably stronger gargoyle. Unlike the gargoyles you’ve faced before, this one still has its wings and can attack you from the air. Keep a close eye on its airborne attacks before heading up the outer staircase to the entrance.
After the fight, head to the base of the tower and take the first outer staircase. The entrance to the tower is set above the lower area. Follow the outside of the tower upward and use the access point there to get inside. From there, fight your way further up through the guards.
Defeating Svetlana and finding Silas’s Book
On the third floor, you’ll encounter Svetlana. Attack her right at the start of the fight. While she calls for help, you have a few seconds to deal solid damage before she reacts. After that, she relies mainly on her magic and teleports around the room regularly. Use the short windows after her teleports for your attacks instead of constantly chasing her down.
Defeat her and search her body afterward. She’s carrying the Vault Key, which lets you open a locked door in this area and grab some extra loot. For Who Pulls the Strings, though, Silas’s Book is what matters. You’ll find it in the same area, on a wooden pedestal. Examine Silas’s Book on the wooden pedestal to progress the quest. You’ll also gain access to the Life Lock hex, which you still need to learn before returning to Marat.
Don’t just keep heading up. One floor above Silas’s Book is a door that automatically triggers Home Sweet Home. Behind it awaits a lengthy time loop. If you just want to finish Who Pulls the Strings for now, take the book and head straight back to Marat. You can tackle Home Sweet Home later.
Returning to Marat and completing Who Pulls the Strings
With Silas’s Book in hand, you can leave the tower and head back to the Manumit Hideout. Talk to Marat there and show him the book. The notes give the Manumits a way to move against the gargoyle guardians of Greifberg Castle. Completing Who Pulls the Strings rewards you with 1,000 XP.
The quest data lists a total of 5 time units: three for the section around Silas’s Book and two for the follow-up conversation with Marat. Other walkthroughs, however, list seven time segments instead. If you’re already getting close to the end of the 30-day deadline, it’s worth planning in a bit of a buffer. If you want to continue the Manumit route, make sure you complete the quest before closing off Crake’s path.
What happens after Who Pulls the Strings?
After completing it, you reach an important point on the Manumits’ path. Rise at Dawn then becomes available. Before you can continue this part of the story, at least two in-game days, or 32 time segments, need to pass.
Alongside that, you can pursue further optional tasks around Crake/Marat. This includes Distant Shadows, among others. If you want to fully experience his personal questline and possible romance, you should complete these before pushing further into the later Manumit storyline.
You can find more tips and walkthroughs for The Blood of Dawnwalker in our guide overview. The vampire RPG from Rebel Wolves has been available for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S since September 3, 2026.
