After ransacking Ancient Temples for long-lost knowledge, Flameheart has discovered banished Ancients buried across various islands throughout the Sea of Thieves. The stone caskets that conceal these imprisoned dark disciples contain a powerful relic, the Skull of the Banished!
Working alongside a crew of skeletons, you must break the protective seals that guard the Ancient Warrior’s final resting place and retrieve the skull for Flameheart. But beware! The Ancients will not sit idly by as you pillage their lost secrets and will retaliate with force!
What is the Search for Ancient Secrets Voyage?
The Search for Ancient Secrets is a multi-phase Reaper’s Bones Voyage. During the Voyage, you will summon a Skeleton crew to help you unearth three Ancient Pillars, break their protective seals, and reveal the location of a hidden Sarcophagus that holds a Skull of the Banished.
Along the way, you must contend with waves of Ancient Phantoms defending their buried secrets. Digging up the Sarcophagus and taking the skull will complete the Voyage.
Flag of The Reaper's Mark
As the Search for Ancient Secrets is a Reaper’s Bones Voyage, you will be visible to all pirates on the Map Table as soon as you start. Voting for the Voyage will automatically equip the Flag of The Reaper’s Mark to your ship, marking you on the Map Table for everyone to see. You cannot remove the flag using the Ship’s Flag Box. The only way to lower it is to complete or cancel the Voyage.
As you’ll already be visible to every pirate around, you should sail as Reaper’s Bones Emissary to take advantage of the Emissary Grade you’ll receive.
How do you start the Search for Ancient Secrets Voyage?
To start the Search for Ancient Secrets Voyage, go to your Quest Table, choose Voyages, and then select the Reaper’s Bones Trading Company. Under Reaper Searches, you’ll see Search for Ancient Secrets. You don’t need to be a specific Reaper’s Bones or Servants of the Flame Reputation Level to start it.
As the Voyage is for the Reaper’s Bones, a Trading Company exclusive to the High Seas, the Search for Ancient Secrets Voyage is only available in the High Seas.
Search for Ancient Secrets: Step by Step
Step 1: Start the Voyage
Vote on the Voyage from your Quest Table to start the Search for Ancient Secrets Voyage. You can either Sail or Dive to the Voyage.
Once you’ve voted for and started the Search for Ancient Secrets Voyage, you will receive one Quest that you can open from your Quest Radial. The Quest will direct you to a large island where you must meet with a contact, a Reaper Parrot, and revive a skeleton crew.
Step 2: Sail to Island
The large island will be nearby if you voted to Sail to the Voyage. If you vote to Dive, you will emerge in front of a random large island after traveling beneath the waves.
Step 3: Meet Contact
Once on the island, it’s time to find the contact. You will use the directional clue from the Quest to find the contact’s location. The contact you are looking for is a Reaper Parrot perched on a wooden stand.
Each directional clue has a direction and landmark to help narrow the Reaper Parrot’s location. If you have a clue like “Meet Contact Near East Rowboat,” you know to search the island’s east side and look for a rowboat.
The Reaper Parrot will make noise when you get close to it, making it easier to find its exact location.
If you are having trouble finding the Reaper Parrot, start from the island’s center and fan out in the direction the clue mentions. Sometimes, the Reaper Parrot is closer to the island’s center than you would think.
You can also refer to our Reaper Contact Location guide, which shows every possible location the contact can be for every island.
Step 4: Revive Skeletons
Once you find the Reaper Parrot, you should see red glowing smoke billowing from the ground above a buried chest nearby. Dig up the chest to reveal a Chest of Bones. The Chest of Bones is a unique chest that allows you to summon Order of Bone and Blade Skeletons. The Order of Bone and Blade Skeletons will follow you around the island, attack enemies in their path, and, most importantly, help you complete the Voyage.
Interact with the Chest of Bones to break the seal and summon the Skeletons.
Before leaving, the Reaper Parrot will give you a Map depicting three locations on the island where you must unearth Ancient Pillars. Digging up and interacting with the pillars will break their seal and reveal the location of the Sarcophagus that holds the exiled Ancient with the Skull of the Banished.
Step 5: Unearth Ancient Pillars
Equip the Map from the Quest Radial, and you will see three pictures, each depicting an Ancient Dig Site on the island where you can find an Ancient Pillar. Each depiction also briefly describes where they are on the island. You must locate and dig up an Ancient Pillar at each one.
If the description says something like “East Camp,” you know you are looking for a campsite with possibly a Cooking Spot on the island’s East side.
You’ll also want to pay close attention to any distinct indicators in the pictures to decipher their location. A flag, Resource Barrel, Cooking Spot, Ammo Crate, Rock Painting, unique trees, and other noteworthy landmarks will help you find the dig site.
When you get close enough to an Ancient Dig Site, the Order of Bone and Blade Skeletons will begin to dig up the Ancient Pillar for you. They should also dig up a piece of Reaper’s Bones treasure nearby.
If you have trouble finding a location, you can roam the island, leading your Skeletons around, and wait for them to discover the Ancient Pillar for you. The Skeletons will equip their shovel when you are near a pillar.
Just like the Reaper Parrots, the directions in the description might be closer to the center of the island than you might assume.
You can also use our Ancient Pillar Location guide, which shows the location of every Ancient Pillar for each island.
Once they break ground, you can help them dig up the Ancient Pillar to speed up the process.
Step 6: Break Protective Seal
After digging up the first Ancient Pillar, you’ll want to be mindful of your surroundings. Upon unearthing the pillar, a dark cloud will shroud the island for every pirate to see. Anyone scanning the horizon will soon know you are trying to acquire a Skull of the Banished. Waves of hostile Ancient Phantoms will also descend upon your crew for the rest of the Voyage, trying to prevent you from progressing.
With the Ancient Pillar dug up, it’s time to wind it up and break its protective seal. Approach the pillar and interact with it to wind it. You will wind it up similar to raising a Capstan.
To successfully wind the Ancient Pillar, you must switch between taking out the waves of Ancient Phantoms and interacting with the pillar. Don’t worry about letting go of the Ancient Pillar. It will not unwind like a Capstan.
Once you’ve wound it enough, the Ancient Pillar will crash down and break the seal protecting the Skull of the Banished. The waves of Ancient Phantoms protecting the pillar will stop. However, smaller waves of Ancient Phantoms will appear periodically as you hunt for the remaining two pillars.
Track down the next two Ancient Pillars, and you will break all three seals. As you travel between the pillars, keep an eye on your Skeletons as the smaller groups of Ancient Phantoms that attack can easily take them out. Move forward, stop to kill the phantoms, and then continue.
Bony Bodyguard Commendation
If you want to complete the ‘Bony Bodyguard’ Commendation, you’ll want to prioritize defeating the waves of Ancient Phantoms. Take out the phantoms as quickly as possible, watch for nearby Gunpowder Barrels, don’t use Firebombs, and throw a few Bone Callers for extra support.
You could not revive your Skeletons to prevent them from dying again. However, that might make proceeding throughout the rest of the Voyage a little tougher.
Step 7: Find Sarcophagus
Once you break the protective seals of all three Ancient Pillars, a giant Ancient Beacon will appear above the Sarcophagus, revealing its location on the island. The beacon will appear as green swirling light beams with a black cloud above it. All pirates, from your crew and rival crews, can see the Ancient Beacon, so you will want to quickly make your way over to the Sarcophagus and dig it up before anyone else arrives on the island.
Lead the Order of Bone and Blade Skeletons to the beacon, and they will begin digging up the Sarcophagus. The Skeletons should also dig up more pieces of Reaper’s Bones treasure nearby.
You can help the Skeletons dig up the Sarcophagus, but you’ll also need to defend them from more waves of Ancient Phantoms. Between the waves, continue digging up the Sarcophagus.
Once you’ve fully excavated the Sarcophagus, the waves of Ancient Phantoms will stop. You can then approach the Sarcophagus, interact with it to open it up, and reveal the Skull of the Banished. Opening up the Sarcophagus will cause the Ancient Beacon and shroud to disappear.
Pick up the Skull of the Banished to complete the Voyage. However, you are not out of the woods just yet!
Skull of the Banished
The Skull of the Banished is a high-value treasure you can sell to the Reaper’s Bones on The Reaper’s Hideout for 12,500 Gold and Reputation. However, unlike most treasures, the Skull of the Banished has a unique marker on the Map Table that all pirates can see. While it doesn’t have a beacon emitting into the sky of its exact location, anyone can track it by following the marker on their Map Table. Reach The Reaper’s Hideout, sell the Skull of the Banished, and progress the ‘Relics for the King’ Commendation.
