The Caged Magistrate
The Caged Magistrate is a Main Quest assigned by Captain Brant in Dragon's Dogma 2. Brant wants you to break into the palace dungeon and free the former magistrate. You will need to complete an extra side quest, The Heel of History, before you can complete this one.
Check out our full guide to both quests below:
The Caged Magistrate Walkthrough
This quest requires you to free Waldhar, the queen’s former magistrate who has now been imprisoned in the dungeons beneath the palace. Brant has given you a Goal Key to get in and out of the dungeons easily. You can disguise yourself by putting on the Marcher's Armor Set you got during the Disa's Plot quest.
Make your way up through the Noble Quarter and into the Royal Quarter. Check your minimap and you will see a quest marker hovering over one of the tall guard towers on the outskirts of the palace grounds. Make your way over to the tower and you will be met by another one of Brant’s helpers.
Enter the Gaol Tower and make your way down to the basement. The guards here will tolerate your presence for a bit, but if you try to do anything odd like steal another key and they will turn hostile. I recommend making a beeline for the dungeon and freeing Waldher before they turn on you.
Make your way to Waldher’s cell, which is the first one on the left upon entering the cell block. Speak to Waldher and you will quickly learn he doesn’t even want to be freed. That is, unless you can find him a “quiet place with a mountain of tomes”. Odd request, but I happen to know just the place.
Make your way to the other end of the cell block and use the Gaol Key to unlock the double doors that lead outside. This will bring you right to The Slums, where we want to be. Make your way to the church, the one large building in the Slums. Speak to the priest outside the church and make a couple of donations of gold or food to him. This will lead him to ask for your help locating a missing boy named Malcolm, triggering a side quest called The Heel of History.
The Heel of History Walkthrough
To learn more, we need to speak to the other children in the area. First speak to the little girl inside the church, who tells you Malcolm was exploring a secret vault. Then go speak to the boy with long hair located slightly north of the church. He will tell you that Malcolm was picking through the rubble.
Return to the priest and tell him what you learned, and he will remember the sealed off vaults located beneath the church. Follow him to the collapsed tower near the church. He will clear some of the rubble, allowing you to get inside The Gracious Hands Vaults.
There isn’t too much to see down here. When you run into the locked door go right and you will find yourself in a hallway with a large hole in the floor. Drop down into the hole and you will find yourself in a crypt with some loot in it. Exit the crypt through the doorway on the other side of the room and this will lead you up to a new room, where you will encounter Malcolm.
Malcolm says he found a secret workshop that is full of books. That sounds interesting to us, so follow him deeper into the vault. He will lead you down some stairs, up a pile up rubble, and into the secret library (keep your eye out, there is a Seeker’s Token in the room at the top of the rubble).
Entering the secret library will complete the Heel of History side quest. Your reward is 3000 gold, 900 xp, and a Panacea. More importantly, we can now convince Waldher to break out of prison.
Return to the dungeons via the backdoor we used to escape earlier and go back to Waldher’s cell. Tell him about The Gracious Hand’s Vaults and he will happily follow you out of the dungeon. Thankfully we do not have to lead him all the way to the vault. This leg of the quest will be completed as soon as he steps outside.
Wait for night and go speak to Brant at the Tavern. Deliver the news and return his Gaol Key to get your reward, 7000 gold, 1200 xp, and a Ferrystone.