Want to unlock the commendation ‘Secret of the Grave’? Well, you’ve come to the right place!
‘Secret of the Grave’ belongs to a series of six commendations, which must be completed sequentially in one grand adventure!
The series includes the following commendations, in this order:
- A Powerful Thirst
- Raising the Dead
- Treasure for the Dead
- Ship of Thieves
- Secret of the Grave
- The Crew of the Headless Monkey
Aye, this means that—before you embark upon the Secret of the Grave commendation—you must first complete ‘A Powerful Thirst,’ ‘Raising the Dead,’ ‘Treasure for the Dead,’ and ‘Ship of Thieves’—in this same session at sea.
Without completing those four commendations, you will not be able to unlock the ‘Secret of the Grave.’
So, if you have not done so already, make sure you’ve completed the previous four commendations. Once those are out of the way, you’ll be ready to pursue ‘Secret of the Grave!’
The Starting Point for 'Secret of the Grave'
You will begin your quest for this commendation right where you finished ‘Ship of Thieves.’ You should be standing at the Ship of Thieves’ recently unlocked door, taking in a tidy sum of gold.
Step 1: Rotate the Sails on the Ship of Thieves
From the door you just unlocked, walk inside the Ship of Thieves and past the piles of treasure to the ship’s top deck.
To the right, you will see a large unlit beacon. You must light this beacon—but not with your lantern.
You must light this beacon, using the lighthouse!
Unfortunately, the lighthouse cannot shine upon this beacon just yet—the ship’s sails are blocking the view.
Just past the beacon, you will see a pulley. This pulley controls the sails of the ship.
Use that pulley to angle the sails, until you hear and feel the sails stop turning. You should now have a nice view of that lighthouse.
More importantly, anyone standing atop the lighthouse can now shine the lighthouse beam directly at that beacon!
Step 2: Get the Cursed Captain, and Head to the Lighthouse
Up until this point, these six commendations have veered away from progressing through the Tall Tale. However, to go any further with this commendation, you must briefly return to the Tall Tale’s primary objectives.
This also means returning to the Cursed Captain. If you’ve been following along with these guides, he is likely in the gambling den.
Wherever you last left him, pick him up and make your way to the lighthouse.
Step 3: Cross the Bridge and Climb the Lighthouse
While trying to reach the lighthouse, you’ll notice that a bridge seems to be out. Just wait. The Cursed Captain will soon summon a few sailors to raise it up.
Once the bridge is raised, simply walk across and climb to the top of the lighthouse.
Step 4: Place the Cursed Captain
At the top of the stairs, there’s a landing just below the actual light. Stay on this landing because you won’t be able to use the light, just yet.
First, you must give the Cursed Captain a place to lay his head. Luckily, you should quickly spot a headless skeleton perfect for the Captain.
Place the Cursed Captain on the headless skeleton, and proceed up to the light.
Step 5: Light the Beacons
First, use your lantern to light up that lighthouse!
Next, you’ll want to use that beam of light to ignite four beacons. You’ll see two wheels, one on each side of the flames. One wheel allows you to pitch the lens; the other allows you to rotate the lens.
You must light three beacons to summon the Ferryman and progress through the Tall Tale, and there’s no sense in climbing all the way back up here.
Don’t worry, the tale won’t progress without you after you light the three beacons. You’ll still have all the time you want to finish these commendations and explore Sailor’s Grave.
If you look to the Southwest, you should quickly spot a beacon.
From there, if you turn slowly to the left, you should soon see two more beacons rather close to each other. One is a little higher than the first beacon, and one is a little lower.
Once you light all three, you’ll see the Ferry of the Damned sailing toward the island.
The fourth beacon is the one you just unveiled near the Ship of Thieves. So, now you’ll need to point that beam of light inland. The image below should help you line up that beam.
Step 6: Cross the Bridge to the Secret of the Grave
Like the bridge you crossed to reach the lighthouse, there is a bridge to the northeast—back toward the entrance to Sailor’s Grave—which was similarly lowered and unusable.
Lighting the beacon will cause that bridge to rise, granting you access to a previously off-limits area.
Before you leave the lighthouse, be sure to pick up the Cursed Captain. Otherwise, you’ll need to climb back up the lighthouse later to retrieve him.
Once you’ve descended the lighthouse, you can leave the Cursed Captain in a safe spot until you return.
Leaving him in front of his ship—the ship with the red sails pictured below—wouldn’t be a bad idea, since that will be where you pick back up with the Tall Tale.
When you first exited “Dead Man’s Grotto,” and walked down into the island, you might remember seeing a wooden signpost that read “Sailor’s Grave.”
Go back to that signpost.
If you don’t remember this signpost, just make your way to where you found the Cursed Captain. Then continue up the hill back toward the entrance—keeping an eye out for that signpost on your lefthand side.
The images below show the signpost from behind and then from the front.
Once you find that signpost, turn to face North. You should now see the bridge you raised when you lit that beacon.
Cross that bridge.
As soon as your feet hit the other side, you will complete the commendation: Secret of the Grave!
You can also finally collect those Headless Monkey journals, which will earn you the sixth and final commendation in this series: The Crew of the Headless Monkey.
Congratulations! You've Completed the Commendation: Secret of the Grave.
Well done, me hearties! Shortly after walking across that stone bridge, you should see yourself rewarded with the commendation ‘Secret of the Grave.’
There is still one final commendation to earn in this set. If you’re considering completing that final commendation at a later date, remember:
These commendations build on each other.
So, if you would like to complete the other commendations in another session, then—in that next session—you would need to first repeat the steps for all 5 commendations leading up to the next one!
Aye, but you likely want to continue with this adventure! For this next commendation, you must find five journals.
As such, you will find all the information you need here:
