I have a confession: I do not trust any forest called Carmine. It sounds like a place where the trees have opinions and the spiders have lawyers. Yet there I was in 2026, back in Throne and Liberty, doing the Codex quest known as The Abyssal Contract. It is one of those early side quests that looks simple on paper and then makes you stand around wondering whether the game is broken or whether you are just being personally trolled by a ghost. Spoiler: it is usually the second thing.

The Abyssal Contract takes place in Carmine Forest, which is absolutely infested with eight-legged freaks. The quest itself is not about farming spiders, though. It is about a haunted dungeon, a cursed bunch of inhabitants, and one very specific ghost tour that you have to follow. If you have done Return of the Age of the Wolves, you know the vibe: everything becomes ten times easier once you know where to go. The hard part is not the combat. The hard part is finding the right ghost and then discovering that Circe is already dead because some random player got there first.

Here is the short version of the quest steps, because I like my suffering organized:

The most confusing parts are the Soul Arbiter and Circe. The Soul Arbiter is the easy one, relatively speaking. You can find them near the Carmine Forest waypoint. The game should highlight their possible locations on your map, but if nothing shows up, do not panic. Wander around the waypoint area and look for the ghostly equivalent of an angry middle manager. You can also farm some Manasteel ore around there, which is a nice bonus for anyone who likes hitting rocks while ghosts judge them.

After you defeat the Soul Arbiter, a soul pops out of its remains. This is your cue to follow it. Yes, you are literally following a ghost through a haunted forest. No, it does not get less weird. The soul leads you to the gates of Syleus' Abyss. Circe is supposed to be right before the stairs leading further down into the dungeon. That is the plan, anyway. The reality is that Circe has a fairly large chance of not being there when you arrive, because other players in the area may have already taken her down. She is not that hard to fight, but make sure your character is upgraded accordingly. Do not go in there with a paper sword and hope for the best.

Getting Circe to spawn can be a little tricky. If she does not appear once the souls reach their destination, try touching the nearby waypoint. If she still does not show up, going inside Syleus' Abyss might trigger the right events. If neither of those works, then your best bet is to wait for someone else who is doing the same quest. If you see another player following souls into the open dungeon, wait for them by the staircase edge and check if Circe spawns for them. It is less of a solo quest and more of a group project where nobody agreed to be in the group.

Here is my personal checklist for the Circe waiting game:

• 🕯️ Touch the nearby waypoint. Sometimes the game just needs a little nudge.

• 🚪 Step inside Syleus' Abyss. Sometimes the dungeon needs to know you are serious.

• 👀 Watch for other players following souls. They are your unpaid assistants.

• 🧘 Wait by the staircase edge. Bring snacks. Or at least patience.

• ⚔️ Make sure your gear is decent. Circe is not a raid boss, but she is not a training dummy either.

In 2026, this quest is still a perfectly reasonable early Codex objective, and it remains a good example of Throne and Liberty doing what it does best: hiding a simple task behind three layers of location confusion and player competition. The Abyssal Contract is not complicated. It is just fussy. Once you know where the Soul Arbiter hangs out, how to follow the soul, and how to handle Circe's disappearing act, the whole thing takes very little time.

My advice? Do not overthink it. Talk to Rutaine, bully a ghost, follow the ghost, and then camp the stairs like you are waiting for a very dramatic bus. If Circe refuses to show up, remember that you are not alone. Somewhere nearby, another player is also staring at the same empty staircase, wondering why the universe hates them. Touch the waypoint, peek inside the abyss, and wait for the spawn to cooperate. And if all else fails, go mine some Manasteel. At least the rocks cannot run away.