Warhammer 40K: Rogue Trader Blood Ties Quest Guide—Treason on Dargonus

The Blood Ties quest in Warhammer 40K: Rogue Trader sends you to Dargonus to dig into a treason scandal tied to the Werserian family, with the whole situation landing squarely in the lap of Abelard, your long-time seneschal. You’ll get access to this case shortly after Act 4 begins, and while the matter is presented as a straightforward allegation, the truth behind it isn’t something you can simply declare—you have to earn it through the right investigation steps and conversation choices. Different routes can change how Abelard is affected, so if you’re trying to piece together what really happened, this is the approach you’ll want.

This walkthrough focuses on solving the Motive Force puzzle in Rykad Minoris’s Upperway and on opening a locked safe in Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader.

Note that the rest of this guide includes spoilers for the Blood Ties quest.

Rogue Trader: Blood Ties Quest Overview

1. Speak with Governor Drivestem and Clementia Werserian in the palace.
2. Return to the palace’s main entrance to find Halen Gaprak praying at a shrine.
3. Examine Halen’s body to locate a damaging note.
4. Talk with Vicent Gaprak about the note you found.
5. Question the leaders of Drivestem, Sauerback, and Gaprak about the dead body outside the throne room.
6. Speak with Governor Drivestem about Halen Gaprak.
7. Follow the Drivestem noble to a nearby bench and pass the Awareness check.
8. Speak with Governor Drivestem again to deliver your verdict.
9. Sentence House Sauerback to death, while allowing Abelard to handle it.

The Blood Ties ending, much like the Astray quest for Argenta, can substantially impact Abelard. To put it plainly: Regina of House Sauerback is responsible, but you can’t accuse Regina or her house outright unless you collect the right evidence. The key step to unlock that option is to go back to the palace’s main entrance hall and find Halen Gaprak by the stairs.

How to Find the Culprit in Rogue Trader’s Blood Ties Quest

The quest officially starts after you land on Dargonus, following Abelard’s appraisal of what’s going on. Once you arrive, you’ll see several bodies in front of the Von Valancius Palace. You can inspect the scene and pass some skill checks to gain a bit of context, but none of that information will actually move your investigation forward. If you’re chasing extra experience, it doesn’t hurt to still examine the bodies and talk to the officer who meets you.

Inside the palace, Governor Drivestem and Clementia Werserian will be waiting in the throne room. Speak with them to understand the framing of the scandal, but whatever you do, do not state that the Werserians are guilty. Doing so will instantly break the quest, and Abelard’s family will be publicly executed.

At this point, you’ll either want to speak with the heads of House Gaprak and House Sauerback to learn more, or you can head back out to the palace’s main entrance. There, near the bottom of the stairs, you’ll find a man praying at a shrine: Halen Gaprak. If you already spoke with Vicent Gaprak in the throne room, you’ll recognize that Halen has been acting unusually lately.

Once you’ve located Halen Gaprak outside the throne room, he’ll suddenly collapse. Passing a Medicae or Awareness check—or simply having Heinrix in your party—will show that he was poisoned. Then inspect Halen’s body to find an incriminating note indicating that a mysterious benefactor offered to erase his debts if he frames the Werserians for treason.

Return to Urbend Drivestem and ask whether he saw Halen Gaprak recently. One of the Drivestem nobles will respond that they spotted Halen speaking with a gentleman nearby. Follow that Drivestem aristocrat to the indicated location, then inspect the bench they point you toward. If you pass the Awareness check, Abelard will tell you that the wine bottle you found bears the mark of House Sauerback.

After checking the bench, talk to Governor Drivestem once more and deliver your verdict. As with many CRPG investigations, the game gives you the option to execute any of the high noble families you spoke with in the throne room—but the correct choice here is House Sauerback.

To be absolutely clear, Regina Sauerback is the real culprit. You won’t be able to accuse her directly, but if you complete the steps above, you’ll unlock the option to let Abelard handle the sentencing. Pick that option if you want to avoid wiping out the entire House Sauerback alongside the verdict.

If you fail to report the note from Halen’s body to the Drivestem nobles, you won’t receive the Abelard-handling sentencing option. Also, if you talk to all the heads of the major noble houses, you’ll get extra dialogue lines that include Awareness checks. Those choices won’t condemn them on their own, but successfully passing the checks grants bonus XP.

Once sentencing is complete, Regina is executed publicly outside the palace. For your trouble, you’ll receive the Traitor’s Ring, an accessory containing a single Liquefier shot. The shot damages enemies within a 3-cell radius and applies the melting status effect. That’s the only reward you can earn from this quest, at least based on what’s currently documented.