Dawnwalker Who Pulls the Strings: Search Aurelius's Tower
Find Silas's Book in Aurelius's Tower, unlock Life Lock, avoid starting Home Sweet Home early and fix the stuck Search the Tower objective.
After What Moves the Dead, travel to Aurelius's Tower in The Silts, defeat the flying guardian, enter above the first stairs and climb to the third floor. Defeat the miniboss, take Silas's Book from the wooden pedestal and learn Life Lock before returning to Marat at the Manumit hideout. If Search the Tower remains active after you took the book, go back to Marat anyway: current player reports show the journal can be wrong while the turn-in dialogue still works.
Spoiler warning and clean route
This guide names the tower bosses, Silas's Book, the Life Lock reward and the next Manumit objective. It avoids the story resolution of the later assault, but the upper tower contains a separate quest with ending-related spoilers. Make a manual save before climbing past the book floor.
Who Pulls the Strings begins automatically after What Moves the Dead. Track it before travelling so the tower and return objective remain easy to distinguish from nearby activities.
| Stage | Required action | Avoid this mistake |
|---|---|---|
| Unlock | Finish What Moves the Dead | Looking for a separate quest giver |
| Tower exterior | Defeat the flying guardian and use the raised entrance | Circling the ground floor for another door |
| Book floor | Defeat the miniboss and take Silas's Book from the pedestal | Climbing through the next door first |
| Learn the hex | Open the book objective and acquire Life Lock | Assuming the previous quest already granted it |
| Turn in | Return to Marat at the Manumit hideout | Trusting a stuck Search the Tower label over available dialogue |
Enter Aurelius's Tower
Travel to Aurelius's Tower, also associated with Silts Tower, after the quest marker appears. A flying gargoyle guards the approach. Its airborne swipe follows the arm it raises; create space, read the side of the wind-up and block or evade before punishing the landing recovery.
After the fight, climb the first exterior stairs and use the door above the base rather than searching for a ground-level entrance. From there, continue upward through the interior route.
- Track Who Pulls the Strings before leaving the hideout
- Fight the guardian in the open so the camera has room
- Use the door above the first exterior stairs
- Follow the interior route toward the third floor
- Save before the upper rooms
Search the tower and find Silas's Book
Climb to the third floor and defeat the miniboss guarding the study. Search the room after the fight: Silas's Book is on a wooden pedestal or desk on that floor. Taking it advances the return objective and provides the book used to learn Life Lock.
Do not confuse the book with the door one floor higher. Passing through that upper door can start Home Sweet Home, a separate dream-loop quest. It can be completed later, so finish the book pickup first unless you deliberately want to branch into that quest.
| What you see | What it means |
|---|---|
| Book on the wooden pedestal | Required Silas's Book pickup |
| Life Lock learn objective | Use the acquired book to learn the hex |
| Door on the floor above | Optional Home Sweet Home trigger |
| Search the Tower still displayed | Possible journal-state error; check the book and return dialogue |
Fix Search the Tower when the journal is stuck
A current player report reproduces a display-state error after taking and reading the book, then continuing through the upper door. The journal can keep Search the Tower active or show the return step incorrectly even though the quest item was collected.
First confirm that Silas's Book was taken from the pedestal and that Life Lock is available or its learn step has appeared. Then return to the Manumit hideout and speak to Marat. In the reported case, the completion dialogue remained available and no replay was required. Treat this as a provisional workaround rather than a universal fix because Rebel Wolves has not documented this quest state in the current known-issues post.
| Symptom | Safe check | Next action |
|---|---|---|
| Pedestal is empty | Book was probably collected | Return to Marat and test the dialogue |
| Journal still says Search the Tower | Check Life Lock or the learn-book objective | Use the hideout marker despite the stale label |
| Book is still on the pedestal | Pick it up before leaving | Complete the Life Lock step |
| No book and no return dialogue | Reload the save made before the study, then take the book before entering the upper door | Preserve the affected save for a support report |
Learn Life Lock and finish the quest
Silas's Book unlocks Life Lock, a Witchcraft ability that blocks incoming damage and reflects it back. Follow the explicit learn-the-hex objective; finishing What Moves the Dead alone is not enough to guarantee the learned ability.
Return to the Manumit hideout, show the book to Marat and ask how preparations are progressing. Published launch routes agree that this advances the Manumit ending setup and leads toward Rise at Dawn, which requires a later wait before the assault can begin.
- Take Silas's Book
- Complete the acquire-or-learn Life Lock objective
- Return to Marat at the hideout
- Finish the preparations dialogue
- Keep a save before committing to the later Manumit ending route
Time cost and confirmed rewards
The extracted quest record lists five time segments, while a fresh full walkthrough reports seven. The safest planning choice is to reserve seven segments until the game exposes exactly which dialogue or travel step your route charges; the disagreement may reflect different ways of counting staged objectives.
The consistently reported rewards are 1,000 XP and Life Lock. The next ending-route step is also unlocked, but it does not have to be started immediately. No unique weapon or armor pickup has been consistently tied to this quest.
| Item | Status | Planning note |
|---|---|---|
| Time cost | Reported as 5 or 7 segments | Reserve 7; do not present one total as universal yet |
| Quest XP | 1,000 XP reported across route sources | Check staged pop-ups if your total differs |
| Life Lock | Confirmed Witchcraft unlock | Learn it from Silas's Book |
| Home Sweet Home | Separate optional quest | Upper door; safe to leave for later |
Frequently asked questions
Where is Silas's Book in Who Pulls the Strings?
It is on a wooden pedestal or desk on the third floor of Aurelius's Tower, after the miniboss encounter.
How do you enter Aurelius's Tower?
Defeat the flying guardian outside, climb the first exterior stairs and use the raised door above the base.
Why is Search the Tower still active after taking the book?
The journal can remain in the wrong state. Confirm the pedestal is empty and Life Lock is available, then return to Marat at the Manumit hideout; current reports show the turn-in dialogue may still work.
Should you enter the upper door in Aurelius's Tower?
Only if you want to start Home Sweet Home. The required book is one floor lower, and the separate dream-loop quest can be completed later.
How do you unlock Life Lock?
Take Silas's Book during Who Pulls the Strings and complete the explicit learn-the-hex objective.
How much time does Who Pulls the Strings cost?
Sources currently disagree between five and seven segments. Reserve seven until the route-specific accounting is confirmed more precisely.
Facts are linked to first-party publisher, developer, or storefront pages. Launch-watch details remain labeled until an official listing or reproducible retail-build test confirms them.