Pearls Before Swine is a side quest received from Sergeant Kylon, the guard captain in the Denerim Market District.
A group of mercenaries, the White Falcons, have been causing trouble at The Pearl. Sergeant Kylon wants the Warden to get the mercenaries to leave without killing them.
Walkthrough
Leave the Denerim Market District and head to The Pearl. The White Falcons can be:
- Persuaded to leave.
- Intimidated away.
- Fought off. (They will surrender at some point in the fight and you will have the option to let them pass and gain 2
or kill them. If you kill them, you will miss an opportunity to acquire Aodh, a unique item dropped by Cristof, who later will attack you).
If the mercenaries are made to leave The Pearl, the party will have a random encounter the next time they travel within Denerim. Sergeant Kylon will appear and offer his congratulations for the Warden's success in resolving the situation peacefully, but will be interrupted by Cristof and his mercenaries, who will attack. You will have be assisted by Sergeant Kylon and four weapon and shield soldiers. Cristof will be backed by several melee soldiers and two archers. Cristof is a melee lieutenant and will have another lieutenant by his side.
* Note: Because there is a mandatory plot dialog following this fight, Sergeant Kylon always survives. Even surrounded in melee, he stays alive at zero health. If you hide and let Sergeant Kylon do all the fighting, he will eventually kill all the enemies himself, and then compliment you on your bravery.
If the Warden killed The White Falcons at the Pearl, Sergeant Kylon will instead be displeased and will order his men to go clean up the mess. The Warden at that point has the option to attack Sergeant Kylon for refusing to give a reward.
Result
- 2 from Sergeant Kylon if the mercenaries were made to leave The Pearl.
- Sergeant Kylon returns to Denerim Market after helping you fight the mercenaries. He will have another quest for you.
- If you killed The White Falcons at The Pearl and did not then kill Sergeant Kylon, he will return to the Market District, and will refuse to speak with you again.
Bugs
After Cristof and his mercenaries are defeated, you should get another cutscene in which Sergeant Kylon remarks on your skill and rewards you for your work at The Pearl. There is a common bug where this cutscene does not start, thus preventing the completion of the quest and the obtaining of subsequent quests in the chain. Try walking away from Sergeant Kylon (but remaining in the Back Alley) to give the game a few seconds to catch up, and then return to him.
If the cutscene still doesn't trigger, follow these steps:
- Activate the Console
- Type runscript zz_dlc_debug
- Choose "More options"> "combat pass debug" > "The White falcon attack on Kylon"
This will trigger the cutscene and finish the quest. An alternative is:
- Activate the Console
- Type runscript zz_dlc_debug
- Choose "Set up light content quest" > "More..." > "Finish the pearl quest" (this will only set the flag)
Both ways will allow you to finish Pearls Before Swine and speak to Kylon to start his other quest.