For Bear Trouble, finish Smoke and Ashes, cross the river from the Briar Sloughs tower, and follow the windchimes uphill with Focus. Track chimes, yellow-cloth cairns, and white chalk marks, defeat the Ravenous Bear in the summit clearing, then inspect the uriash corpse in the cave, the standing-stone glyph, and the bloody knife. The journal changes to meeting Anca at the old inn only after all three checks count.

Confirm that you are starting the actual quest

  1. Finish Smoke and Ashes first. Bear Trouble has no NPC giver: the windchimes trigger it, so the quest cannot appear before that prerequisite is complete.
  2. Open the map and reach the river valley by the Briar Sloughs scouting tower. Cross the river and move close to the mountain base until you hear persistent chimes and the journal says “Follow the windchimes.”
  3. The climb works by day or night and in either form. The map helps you reach the riverbank, but it does not provide a precise route once you start climbing.

If the quest is absent, check that Smoke and Ashes has resolved. If you crossed the river but hear no chimes, return to the riverbank opposite the tower and find the first chime on its wooden frame instead of free-climbing the cliffs.

Stay on the PC route: chimes, cairns, and chalk

  1. Sheathe your weapon and hold right mouse for Focus. It highlights the chimes, cairns wrapped in yellow cloth, and white chalk marks on the rock; reactivate Focus at every fork.
  2. Climb the short ledges directly above the first chime. This is a sequence of small climbable ledges, not one wall you can scale in a straight line. At each shelf, locate the next marker before moving.
  3. Use the movement ability shown by the game when a broken section is too smooth to grab. Its binding can differ after remapping, so follow the on-screen prompt and the Controls page rather than assuming a fixed key.

The route reaches an abandoned camp with rotten food. Sweep it in Focus to pick up footprints when the chimes thin out; without them, the trail can look like a dead end. Past the blue-ribbon chime, markers are farther apart, so identify the next outcrop before committing to a jump.

Save on the plateau, then deal with the Ravenous Bear

  1. Save when you reach flat ground. Entering the clearing should replace “Follow the windchimes” with “Defeat the bear”; if it does not, you have not reached the bear’s clearing yet.
  2. The bear’s charge and its forward slam after rearing up are unblockable. On PC, hold a movement direction and press Space to dodge sideways, leave its front, then counter only after the attack animation ends.
  3. The hilltop investigation advances after the bear is defeated. Do not skip the fight because you can see the cave, standing stone, or loose objects; they do not replace the current “Defeat the bear” requirement.

Use the journal update as the check, not a damage total, kill time, or mandatory combo. If the fight feels crowded, first make space for side dodges and wait for a clear opening.

Inspect all three hilltop clues

  1. Enter the summit cave and inspect the uriash corpse inside. It sits farther in than the entrance, so use Focus and wait for the interaction prompt.
  2. Return outside and inspect the large standing stone near the cave. Coen copies the glyph; this interaction displays a time cost, so read the hourglass prompt before confirming.
  3. Find and inspect the bloody knife on the ground near the stone. It lies flat and is easy to miss. The order does not matter, but every clue must register.

The last missing clue produces a quest update and changes the journal to “Meet with Anca at the old inn.” If it still says “Explore the top of the hill,” recheck the cave corpse, standing stone, and ground-level knife in that order; do not repeatedly interact only with the bear or stone.

What to check after the glyph

  1. After the glyph is copied, find the resulting scroll or Ravenous Flock Manual in your inventory and read it. A manual makes its matching node eligible; it does not automatically learn the ability.
  2. Open the Witchcraft tree and check the Ravenous Flock node for remaining conditions. Skill points, time, and other prerequisites must match what the node itself shows.
  3. The glyph investigation has a verified time cost, while the climb and bear fight do not use that same confirmation. Decide before accepting the glyph prompt, then verify the journal update and the manual in inventory.

If the node remains unavailable after reading the manual, use the Ravenous Flock manual and skill-tree checklist before repeating Bear Trouble or treating ordinary skill points as a manual requirement.

If you are stuck below the final ledge, return to the last chime or yellow-cloth cairn and use Focus to find the climbable edge; do not climb blindly upward. At night, use any currently available movement ability to cover the last gap; by day, work around to a climbable edge. If your goal is Ravenous Flock, finish by reading the manual and checking the Witchcraft tree rather than treating the copied glyph as a learned skill.