Like every Soulslike, Mortal Shell 2 has plenty of NPC Side Quests to help flesh out the world between battles. However, unlike other Soulslikes, the Mortal Shell 2 quests are generally short and sweet, rewarding you for following through with NPCs with coins, items, and even unique Tarstones.
I found these quests a good break from other games in the genre where you had to balance several NPC quests and progress them in the exact right sequence or else lose out on the quest completion and its rewards.
This is shown perfectly in the very first quest I managed to clear, the Mortal Shell 2 Grisha Pup. Even with my accelerated progression thanks to the Beta, I haven’t accidentally killed any NPCs by playing the game, nor has any quest failed. As such, if you missed this little guy, allow me to point you in the direction of his predicament.
Grisha Pup Location & Quest Walkthrough
The Grisha Pup is found in a cage to the East of the Mushroom Village Beacon, right outside the Chapel housing the Axe and Dagger. From the Mushroom Village Beacon, turn left and proceed through the small doorway.
Beside the massive cage is a beastman shopkeep, selling a few wares. One of them is a key to the Grisha Pup’s cage, costing a measly 250 Coins. Make sure to buy everything you want from him now, because once you buy the key and leave, the beastman’s shop will become unavailable. The Grisha Remnant is a particular steal, otherwise only found on the corpses of Grisha Matrons later in the game.
Interact with the Grisha Pup’s cage to unlock it and gain the Sheephead Totem, an active item that allows you to morph into a sheep. If you equip the Totem as a passive instead, all enemy HP is lowered by 1%. This is a minuscule amount, but the stronger the enemy, the higher the HP lost, especially once you find copies later. Additional upgrades also give the sheep form new abilities, like a graze that makes you undetectable.
Even with the Sheephead Totem equipped and activated, the poor Grisha Pup is too scared to properly interact, and the beastman recommends that you return later once it has calmed down. Head back to the Mushroom Village Beacon and rest to reset the world, progressing quest lines.
Get used to this technique, as almost every questline in Mortal Shell 2 will require semi-frequent returns to Beacons to allow them to progress.
Alternatively, you can just kill the beastman shopkeeper or attack the lock directly with a melee attack to free the Grisha Pup. While the former will obviously start a small fight, the latter actually doesn’t have any major downsides, so if you’re broke or don’t feel like paying the hunter, give it a whack.
No matter how you freed the pup, once you return, the beastman will have been killed, and the Grisha Pup’s mother will have returned to collect her baby. Approach, and the pup will be happy to see you, calming its mother and offering you a Glimpse for your effort. A small reward, but reconnecting a child and its mother is reward enough, no?
If the feel-good ending of this quest doesn’t have you happy enough, why not snag the Troubadour’s Lute nearby to spread the love. Don’t forget to check every corner of the Marrow Keep you can; you never know what you’ll find hidden in plain sight.
