What to know
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Start by looting the Blurry Sketch curio from a shipwreck on the east coast beach to mark the quest spot.
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Craft a shovel at your workbench using 3 copper ingots and 10 wood before heading out.
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Dig precisely in the center of four skeletons to uncover the buried pirate chest.
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Defeat four level 2 Drowned enemies that spawn upon opening for your rewards.
Windrose throws players into pirate survival with quests like Fifteen Men on a Dead Man’s Chest, an early side objective that tests basic crafting and combat skills on the starting island.
Finding the Blurry Sketch curio
Head to the east coast of the starting island early in your adventure. Look for shipwrecks marked by question icons near the beach, often close to spawn. A dead captain leans against a lifeboat with a chest nearby—loot this chest to obtain the Blurry Sketch of the Island curio. Open your journal (J key), add the curio to activate the quest, and watch a blue star marker appear on your map in the island’s center.
Crafting your shovel
The chest stays hidden without the right tool, so return to your base workbench first.
Select the shovel recipe under tools—it demands 3 copper ingots (smelt from copper ore found in rocks or wrecks) and 10 wood (chop trees nearby).
Craft and equip it from your inventory.
The shovel offers modes like weapon, dig, raise, and flatten—switch to dig mode with X or Z key once equipped.
Key locations
This quest unfolds entirely on the procedurally generated starting island: begin at the east coast beach shipwreck for the curio, craft at your central base workbench, then sail or run inland to the marked central spot featuring four skeletons in a square formation around a dirt patch.
How to dig up the pirate chest
Approach the quest marker amid the skeletons forming an X or circle. Position exactly at the center of the four bodies, matching the star icon’s core—avoid edges or you’ll miss it.
Step 1: Equip and aim
Pull out the shovel, toggle to dig mode (X key shows a small AoE circle). Face the dirt patch dead center.
Step 2: Start digging
Hold or tap the dig action—soil clears quickly, no deep excavation required. The pirate chest emerges shortly.
Step 3: Open with caution
Interact to uncover the chest, but brace immediately—four level 2 Drowned spawn around you.
Battling the drowned guardians
These early foes hit hard without upgrades, so use hit-and-run: strike one, sprint away to regen stamina, repeat.
Bring food buffs for HP boosts and healing potions if available from prior quests. Clear all four before looting to avoid interruptions. They’re your first real combat test, teaching enemy patterns like lunges.
Tips for smoother completion
Stock extra materials for shovel repairs, save at a point beforehand, and explore wrecks for copper while gathering wood. If underleveled, grind nearby camps first. Guineas from this fund smuggler trades for better gear.
Completing Fifteen Men on a Dead Man’s Chest jumpstarts your economy with smeltable silver and trade currency, fueling ship upgrades and sails to bigger islands.
