The Blood of Dawnwalker: How to Free Mert the Miller From Stoneward Post

The Blood of Dawnwalker gives players a difficult choice when they reach Stoneward Post: Mert the Miller is behind bars, but speaking with him and breaking him out are not the same thing. Mert can provide information connected to the rebels without requiring a jailbreak, yet freeing him is an available objective during The Firebrand and Take Back What's Mine quests. It is also a considerably more dangerous undertaking than simply arranging a conversation through his cell door.

According to a guide published by GamesRadar+ on September 2, 2026, the process is best viewed in two stages. First, players can infiltrate the post in daylight through dialogue and expose a small corruption scheme among its personnel, which earns access to Mert. The actual rescue is a separate nighttime operation, one that leans on vampire abilities, stealth, keys hidden in the tower, a lengthy cell-unlocking action, and a potentially violent escape.

The important distinction is that players who only need Mert's rebel knowledge do not have to attempt the full breakout. Those who promise to save him, however, should prepare before committing. Stoneward Post is guarded, entry procedures can leave the player without weapons, and the jailbreak creates enough pressure that timing matters almost as much as combat readiness.

Start with a daytime visit to Stoneward Post

The safest route to Mert begins during the day, when the goal is not to fight but to get inside and learn who can be pressured. At the main entrance to Stoneward Post, speak with the guard. GamesRadar+ reports that the guard presents three possible reasons for entry: visiting a prisoner, delivering a message for the commander, or enlisting. Each option leads to access, so players do not need to worry about choosing a particular dialogue line here.

The guard will require the player to surrender their weapons. For this initial visit, that is not a serious problem. Accepting the condition prevents the situation from escalating immediately, and the early steps of the route do not demand combat. Refusing, by contrast, means the guards will not admit the player peacefully and the encounter turns violent.

Once through the entrance, head toward the central stone tower. Outside it, there is an argument involving a woman, a prisoner's brother, and a guard. Speak with them to uncover the key piece of leverage for this section: the guards have been stealing from prisoners.

That information points back toward Yenno, a merchant near the entrance. Confront Yenno and threaten to inform the commander about what is happening. He identifies two associates in the arrangement, Friedo and Cerbus. This does not free Mert, but it gives the player the means to force access to the jail level rather than trying to batter their way through a fortified post.

Use the guards' scheme to speak with Mert

With Yenno's information in hand, enter the stone tower and find Friedo. Tell him that you want to see a prisoner, then make it clear that you know about his dealings with Yenno and Cerbus. Friedo will relent and allow passage downstairs to the prisoner cells.

This is the point at which players can finally reach Mert the Miller. He remains locked up, but the audience is enough to advance the information-gathering side of the objective. Speak to him through the bars of his cell. If the guard remains nearby, tell that guard Mert is going to be sick. The guard leaves, allowing a private discussion about the rebels.

There is a time cost attached to the exchange. The conversation uses two time segments, but GamesRadar+ notes that those segments are spent regardless of how the player gets the opportunity to speak with Mert. Killing the guard first does not avoid that cost. For players focused only on the rebel information, the peaceful route is therefore the cleanest and most practical answer.

It is worth treating this daytime trip as reconnaissance even if a rescue is planned later. It establishes where Mert is held, reveals the tower's basic layout, and confirms the people involved around the post. More importantly, it avoids turning the first encounter into an unnecessary fight while the player is disarmed at the gate.

Why the rescue should happen at night

Choosing to save Mert changes the approach substantially. The recommended method is to leave the jail area, return at night, and begin the operation early in the night rather than waiting until dawn approaches. The reason is tied to the character's vampire abilities and the amount of time needed to complete the escape.

At night, teleport and planeshift powers make a stealthy entry much more manageable. GamesRadar+ cautions that attempting the same breakout during the day is especially difficult for many early-game players. The nighttime form provides the mobility needed to avoid a broad confrontation before the player even reaches Mert.

Timing is not merely a convenience. Unlocking Mert's cell takes three time segments. A player who begins too late risks changing back into a human in the middle of the mission, undermining the stealth and movement advantages that make this route viable. Starting early gives enough room to secure the keys, release Mert, defeat or evade the threats that follow, and get both characters away from Stoneward Post.

Break in from the rear and secure the keys

Rather than walking through the front entrance, approach Stoneward Post from behind. The suggested route uses the vampire powers to climb the tower and enter through its roof. This lets the player reach the interior without drawing the attention of most of the garrison. The guard stationed by Mert's cell is the notable exception and must be killed during the breakout route.

After dealing with that guard, the next priority is the Prison Keychain. The keys are not in the dungeon itself. They are upstairs in the same room as Friedo, hanging on a wall. Use Focus to identify them, then take them while remaining undetected.

Both keys are necessary. They provide access to the lower dungeon area and are also needed to open Mert's cell. That dual purpose makes the keychain the central item in the rescue: finding Mert first is possible through manipulation, but freeing him requires returning with the tools to bypass the post's locks.

Once the keychain is acquired, return to the cells and release Mert. Be aware of the three-segment time expenditure for unlocking his cell. This is the decisive reason not to treat the jailbreak as a last-minute nighttime errand. Even a flawless stealth approach can run into trouble if too much of the night has already passed.

Expect a boss fight and a hostile getaway

Getting Mert out of his cell is not the end of the mission. On the way back up through the tower, players encounter Rayko the Incorruptible, a boss inside the building. The escape becomes more openly dangerous once the pair reaches the exterior as well: nearby guards and their dogs attack immediately after leaving the tower.

Players should expect to fight through those enemies rather than count on slipping away unnoticed at that stage. The daytime visit may have been a dialogue-driven infiltration, but the rescue concludes with combat. Bringing a plan for the boss and the guards outside is essential, particularly because the breakout begins with a stealth-focused route that can make it easy to underestimate the force waiting at the end.

There is, however, a better exit than returning through the post's main approach. After leaving the tower, turn left and circle around its back. A small locked gate serves as a secret exit. The keys taken from Friedo's room also unlock this gate, allowing Mert and the player to leave by a route with fewer guards than the main way in.

This side gate is the final practical piece of the escape plan. The post's front-facing route is the more obvious direction, but it exposes the pair to a heavier guard presence. Using the rear exit turns the keychain into an escape tool as well as a prison key and shortens the most exposed part of the getaway.

What freeing Mert changes

After the rescue, Mert can later be found at the Almshouse in Svartrau, the major city south of Stoneward Post. The immediate gains also include 250 XP for breaking him free and an opportunity to loot Stoneward Post, which GamesRadar+ describes as a worthwhile early-game haul.

For players deciding whether to take on the risk, the choice comes down to priorities. Speaking to Mert is enough for the rebel-related information and can be handled in daylight through the Yenno, Friedo, and Cerbus lead. Freeing him adds the nighttime infiltration, the keychain theft, the timed unlock, Rayko the Incorruptible, guards, dogs, and the rear-gate exit. It is more demanding, but it delivers Mert's continued presence later in Svartrau, experience, and access to the post's valuables.

The most reliable overall sequence is therefore straightforward: enter Stoneward Post peacefully in the daytime, use the prisoners' theft scandal to reach Mert, return early at night, enter from the rear with vampire powers, kill the cell guard, steal the Prison Keychain upstairs, unlock Mert's cell, survive the tower and exterior opposition, then leave through the small locked gate behind the tower. It is not a quiet rescue by the end, but it avoids the post's most punishing route and gives Mert the Miller a way out of jail.