The Blood of Dawnwalker loves to lean into the strange and the occult, and the questline Home Sweet Home is certainly one of those. When visiting Aerelius' Tower, probably as part of the 'Who Pulls The Strings' quest, you may stumble across this questline.
This is a strange dream sequence that loops for eternity, and only if you know the way to break the cycle will you be able to break free from the Astrologer's clutches.
Here's how to wake up before you get turned into one of those demonic clay creatures.
How To Start Home Sweet Home
The Top Floor of Aurelius Tower
To begin Home Sweet Home, you'll need to head to the very top room of Aurelius Tower. As mentioned, unless you go out of your way to find this tower, the first time you engage with this area will likely be during the quest 'Who Pulls The Strings'.
Note that, for the quest Crake sends you on, you won't actually need to enter the top room to get what you need. So, when you collect the book, be sure to continue up a floor.
When you get to the door to the top floor, you'll be given the prompt to inspect the door, and when you do, you'll come out the other side in a dream state of some sort, having teleported back to a strange version of Laslea that seems to be a repeat of your first moments of the game's prologue.
You'll have some time to have breakfast with your family if you choose to play along. But eventually, a Gargoyle monster will come and snatch your family, meaning you'll need to give chase and take down this creature.
Preparation & Best Tactics For Survival
The first wave of specter enemies
As a mild spoiler, this quest works as an endless loop, and the only way to escape said loop is to find a way to break the cycle, unlock your vampire form, and find a different path. However, you need to complete the first loop before that will become available to you.
Firstly, you should take the time to set your character up, as you'll be stripped of all your usual gear, meaning you'll have basic garb and a sword that is just a step up from a kitchen knife.
This means battles are pretty tough and will take a lot longer than usual. However, there are ways to ensure your survival and deal decent damage despite your lack of top-tier gear.
I would suggest that you take the time to equip as many damage-dealing abilities as you can, as these are almost essential if you want to survive, especially on greater difficulties. Skills like Artery Strike, Broad Swing and Burning Blood are great to have. However, go easy on the latter, as witchcraft abilities cost HP, which is at a premium in this quest. All your health items are also taken from you.
You'll have some sausage to recover HP between fights, and you can also find some extra food items in barrels around the area. Most notably, a potent vitality balm in the cart closest to the house. Be sure to grab this on the way past.
Plus, I would also suggest that if you have any skill points available before starting this quest. You should head to a shrine and try to invest in HP regeneration skills, and those that offer more activation node recovery.
The First Loop
The beginning of the loop with Pieter
The first loop is pretty straightforward, but involves a lot of fighting. You'll first find Esme surrounded by some Spectre enemies, and you'll need to clear them out to move on. You can then instruct your mother to head to the Church and then continue on.
This will take you to an open area with some boarded-up houses. Here you'll fight some more powerful spectre enemies; this is where you want to be conservative, use your abilities to your advantage, and avoid getting overwhelmed by the group of enemies by staying on the move.
The second wave of specter enemies
Defeat them, and you'll be able to continue onwards through a wooden door to the Church. But before you can enter, you'll be stopped by the mini-boss of this quest, The Nightmare Keeper.
If you have fought a clay monster, this boss behaves no differently. Make use of your abilities, and do your best not to engage the creature when it is performing red skull attacks, or is in flight. Provided you can do this, you should be able to take down this boss.
The fight with The Nightmare Keeper
You can then enter the church, but when you do, the whole family will be in a frenzy, claiming that someone is missing. At which point you'll direct them out the back exit, step through, and the whole scene will loop again, bringing you back to the scene with Pieter back at home.
The Secret Ending
The Secret Ending obtained by looping 5x times
At this point, we should probably mention that there is the option to embrace this twisted fantasy of yours. Something that will actually earn you one of the most elusive endings in the entire game.
If you choose to keep looping this quest line exactly as described above, and you do this five times. You'll unlock the ending where Coen remains in this trance with his family, succumbing to the Astronomer in Aurelius Tower.
This can be quite hard to do, not only because it's mind-numbing. But also because of the lack of resources you have during this quest.
So, if you plan to do this, I would still recommend discovering the way to break the cycle, which will grant you access to your vampire form. Making you a more formidable force in battle and cuts down on the difficulty and time taken each loop.
Or, just drop it down to easy mode. No need to be a hero here.
The Second Loop - Breaking Free
The well that breaks the loop
To break free, you'll need to repeat the usual route of the loop until you beat the second wave of Spectre enemies. Then, you'll want to use your focus mode to inspect the nearby well. You can then peer in to see your vampire self, and through doing so, gain access to your Shadowstep ability. Allowing you to climb a nearby wall and access a new path.
This will lead to a big red portal that takes you to a church where you are effectively reliving Alin's funeral. You'll need to talk to the appropriate specter when the priest can't quite finish their sentence. First asking for Esme's name, then Alin's, then Coen's.
Follow the arrow and shadowstep up the wall ahead
After you answer Coen, your specter self will run out of the room, and you can follow them to exit the church. You'll find another portal that leads you to an area where you'll find your late brother Alin's belongings, which you'll smash just as you did as a child.
You can then walk over the cliffside and Coen will mention that you need to get down to the river below. There is no alternative way down, and you shouldn't just jump down either, as you will die.
What you'll want to do is use your claws to slide down the mountainside, slaloming to avoid the protruding rocks as you go. This will take you down to the river.
Use your claws to get down to the river
This will round off the quest as you have a heart-to-heart with your little brother, who died in the frozen river on your watch. But he forgives you, allowing you to forgive yourself. Which, in turn, awakes you from this trance you have been under.
As it turns out, you were sedated by the Astonomer in the tower, responsible for creating these clay creatures, and you were about to become one. However, you wake up and manage to kill them, finishing this quest.
Quest Rewards
Looting the Astronomer's Ring
For completing this quest, you'll gain 500XP. But the real rewards are found on the Astronomer's body.
You'll be able to loot the Astronomer's Ring. A powerful legendary item that boosts witchcraft ability damage, lowers witchcraft cooldowns, offers activation recharge, and restores passive activation.
Plus, you'll gain the recipe for Supernatural's Bane Brew, which allows you to craft a consumable that grants a buff of 10% extra damage against supernatural enemies.