Avowed: All The Schemer’s Offering Totem Fragments in Emerald Stair

Avowed has plenty of collectibles to gather and some of the most important are Totem Fragments. When combined at your Party Camp, you benefit from huge bonuses—and this guide tells you where to find all of the Schemer’s Offering Totem Fragments in Emerald Stair.

Emerald Stair is the second major area visited in Avowed and, like Dawnshore, it comes with Totem Fragments to find and riddles to solve. These fragments are hidden high and low, but seeking them out has huge benefits.

We’ve got all the details you need on the Totem of Defiance below, including all the buffs provided and the location of each fragment.

What is the Totem of Defiance?

Just like the Totem of Rightful Rulership, the Totem of Defiance is also referred to by another name in Avowed, the Schemer’s Offering, which is split into six pieces found across Emerald Stair. The more pieces of the totem found, the more powerful it becomes. Here are all the buffs provided:

• Furious Frenzy: Second Wind casts Flurry of Blows.
• The Slave’s Patience: +2 Constitution, +2 Dexterity.
• Hidden Hatred: Increases your damage against unaware enemies by 25 percent.
• Kill the Master: Increases your damage against “skull” enemies.
• Bitter Thoughts: Critical Hits deal high Poison Accumulation.
• A Vengeful Victim: After taking damage from an enemy, your next attack within 10 seconds deals +20 percent of the original damage you received. Stacks with Retribution.

Each buff is tied to a particular fragment when added at camp. All six fragments are spread far and wide in Emerald Stair, often hidden away from direct sight, and you can purchase hints from Lluisa Melcer at the Farmer’s Market for 575 Skyet to receive a list of riddles, shown in the image below.

The first riddle on the list provides a clue to where the core is found, which is required to place any of the fragments in your camp and earn the corresponding buff. Therefore, it’s best to start there.

Where to find The Schemer’s Offering Totem Core

Before you can place the fragments of the Totem of Defiance at your Party Camp, you have to find and acquire the Totem Core, The Schemer’s Offering.

Directly north of the waypoint for The Delemgan Glade, the Shrine to Skaen is waiting. Here, climb up to the very top of the tower, where The Schemer’s Offering is ready to be collected. On the way up, keep an eye out for other pieces of loot to claim, including Potions and crafting materials.

How to place the Totem at your camp and add fragments

Once you have the Totem Core, travel to any camp location and head to the small pile of rocks with candles at the base. With the Totem Core in your inventory, an interact prompt will appear, and the Totem Core is placed on the correct spot—the second lowest of the pillars.

Whenever you find another fragment for the Totem, return to camp and interact with the Totem Core to add them and receive the buffs.

All Emerald Stair Totem Fragments, their location, and buffs

Fragment Name	In-Game Clue	Location
Sacrificial Dagger	Left alone in fallow fields, this ritual blade thirsts for skin freshly peeled.	Pinned to the rear of a building in Abandoned Farms.
Idol of Covert Plots	In a place of worship amidst moldering rot, this idol continues to scheme and plot.	In an abandoned building east of the Infested Camp.
Idol of Secret Hatred	In a damp hollow its sibling waits full of rage, while its previous owner decays with age.	Inside the Ancient Grotto, to the right of the entrance.
Idol of Violent Rebellion	From on high the third surveys the land, sewing the seeds of revolt near at hand.	At the top of the tower at the Ranger Headquarters.
Obsidian Prayer Beads	In a verdant glade where old ruins crumble, you will find beads dark and umbral.	On the northern side of The Delemgan Glade, up a small cliff.
Effigy Necklace	Hidden in ruins of heathens long gone, the octet of skulls sings its silent song.	In the Depths of Naku Tedek, visited in the main story with Giatta.

Where to find the Sacrificial Dagger

• Clue: Left alone in fallow fields, this ritual blade thirsts for skin freshly peeled.
• Location: Pinning a note to the back of a building in the Abandoned Farms.

The clue for this fragment makes it fairly obvious you’re looking for a farm but, as Emerald Stair has plenty of farms scattered across the map, it can be quite annoying to track down. Fortunately, it’s easy to spot when you’re in the right spot.

In the north of the map, find the Abandoned Farms location, north of Fior mes Iverno, and head to the three buildings on the right-hand side. On the back wall of the largest building, the Sacrificial Dagger is used to pin a note.

Where to find the Idol of Covert Plots

• Clue: In a place of worship amidst moldering rot, this idol continues to scheme and plot.
• Location: Beneath a statue in a ruined church, located east of the Infested Camp.

West of the Grim Wetlands Party Camp and north of the Plateau Junction Beacon, near the Sunken Village, there’s an Infested Camp to clear out. Once all enemies in the area have been defeated, follow the cliff edge on the eastern side to reach a broken bridge.

Jump across the bridge to access the roof of a locked building, an abandoned church, and work you’re way down to the ground floor. The Idol of Covert Plots is ready to collect from a shrine opposite the main doors, which can now be unbarred for an easy exit.

Where to find the Idol of Secret Hatred

• Clue: In a damp hollow its sibling waits full of rage, while its previous owner decays with age.
• Location: Inside the Ancient Grotto, follow a path on the right-hand side near the entrance.

You may stumble across The Idol of Secret Hatred while accidentally hunting down Bounty targets in Emerald Stair, as it’s located in the Ancient Grotto where Old Nuna is waiting to be slain.

After entering the Ancient Grotto, climb up the first ledge and look for a narrow passageway on the right-hand side. Crouch to enter the passageway and follow it around as far as you can to find a hidden opening with a skeleton laying on a cloth—with plenty of loot to claim, including the Idol of Secret Hatred.

Where to find the Idol of Violent Rebellion

• Clue: From on high the third surveys the land, sewing the seeds of revolt near at hand.
• Location: At the top of the tower found at the Ranger Headquarters.

The Idol of Violent Rebellion is one of the easiest to find, once you know where you’re looking, as it’s waiting to be collected at the top of the tower at the Ranger Headquarters. With a fast-travel point nearby, it’s quick and easy to grab.

Just work your way around the edge of the tower, using the ladders, ledges, and climbable surfaces until you reach the summit, where this fragment is waiting.

Where to find the Obsidian Prayer Beads

• Clue: In a verdant glade where old ruins crumble, you will find beads dark and umbral.
• Location: On a ledge accessed by climbing a fallen tree on the right side of the Delemgan Glade.

Finding the location where the Obsidian Prayer Beads are located sounds easy in principle, with the clue making it clear to check a glade—which is obviously talking about the Delemgan Glade. However, it took me a while to find the precise spot as I didn’t realize one area was climbable.

On a path leading down the right side of the Delemgan Glade, climb a fallen tree that leads to a rockface on the right-hand side, then head left. A large rock is sticking out, directly opposite a flat section of a wall—jump across and grab the Obsidian Prayer Beads from the corpse.

Where to find the Effigy Necklace

• Clue: Hidden in ruins of heathens long gone, the octet of skulls sings its silent song.
• Location: In a flooded room in the depths of Naku Tedek.

While exploring the depths of Naku Tedek, you enter a flooded room. At the back, behind the water, is a large log that is accessed by making an ice platform, either with a weapon that deals ice damage or by throwing an Eye of Rymrgand at the water.

Once a frozen platform has been made, jump across to climb onto the large log, following it to the end. Then, turn right to find a lock chest, requiring three lockpicks to open, before a table with a Fine Dagger on top next to the Effigy Necklace.