Quick Answer
To solve Xanthe’s Mansion Lantern Puzzle, you need to move the blue lanterns between statues to remove the red vines blocking different routes through Howling Keep.
The important part is that you eventually need to bring two lanterns to the two statues outside Xanthe’s final room.
The easiest route is:
- Enter Howling Keep using Xanthe’s Lantern.
- Go upstairs and leave the first statue lantern in place for now.
- Enter Iasmina’s room and take the movable lantern.
- Bring it downstairs and place it on the statue to open the second courtyard.
- Cross the courtyard and enter the small building with the trapdoor.
- Open the trapdoor, then take the lantern from the statue there.
- Go through the underground kennels and get the Key to the Kennels.
- Follow the route back toward the main mansion.
- Recover the lantern you previously placed on the downstairs statue.
- Return upstairs carrying two lanterns.
- Place one lantern on each of the two statues outside Xanthe’s room.
- The red vines disappear, allowing you to enter and continue The Cycle of Love.
If you accidentally move a lantern and vines block your route, you have not failed the puzzle. Reposition the lanterns to reopen the passage and continue.
Where Is Xanthe’s Mansion?
Xanthe’s mansion is Howling Keep, located in the southern part of Vale Sangora.
You visit the estate during The Cycle of Love, the quest connected to Xanthe.
Before you can properly enter Howling Keep, you need Xanthe’s Lantern. After progressing Xanthe’s Court Activities far enough, Coen can receive it from two soldiers.
Take the lantern to Howling Keep and place it on the statue near the entrance. This removes the red vines blocking your way inside.
How Does Xanthe’s Lantern Puzzle Work?
The puzzle uses blue lanterns and stone statues placed throughout Howling Keep.
The basic mechanic is simple:
- Place a lantern on a statue → nearby red vines disappear.
- Remove the lantern → the vines can return.
- Different statues control different blocked routes.
- The final doorway requires two lanterns at once.
The difficult part is therefore not figuring out what the lanterns do. It is figuring out which lanterns you can safely move without trapping yourself behind the vines.
Your ultimate goal is to recover two movable lanterns and bring both to Xanthe’s final doorway.
Where Is the First Lantern You Need?
After entering Howling Keep, deal with the enemies in the main area and head up the stairs on the left.
Continue through the available doorway until you reach a room containing a statue with a lantern.
Do not take this lantern yet.
You still need it to keep part of the route accessible.
Instead, enter the room on the right and find Iasmina. There is another lantern in her room that you can safely take.
Pick up Iasmina’s lantern and return downstairs.
Where Do You Put Iasmina’s Lantern?
Take Iasmina’s lantern back to the main area and place it on the downstairs statue.
This removes the red vines blocking the route into the second courtyard.
Go through the newly opened passage and clear the enemies in the courtyard.
Do not worry about leaving Iasmina’s lantern on the downstairs statue for now. You will come back and recover it later when you need two lanterns for the final door.
Where Is the Second Lantern?
After clearing the second courtyard, look for the small building at the far end.
Inside you will find:
- A statue holding another lantern
- A trapdoor leading underground
Open the trapdoor before removing the lantern.
Once the trapdoor is open, take the lantern from the statue and head underground.
You should now be carrying another movable lantern as you enter the kennels.
How Do You Get Through the Underground Kennels?
Enter through the trapdoor and follow the underground route through the kennels.
You will encounter several enemies, including hellhounds, along the way.
Continue through the area until you find a body containing the Key to the Kennels.
Take the key and keep following the available route.
The underground section eventually allows you to make your way back toward the main part of Howling Keep.
How Do You Get Two Lanterns for Xanthe’s Door?
This is the most important part of the puzzle.
When you return to the main area, remember the lantern you previously placed downstairs to open the courtyard.
Take that lantern back.
At this point, you should have two movable lanterns available.
Then:
- Return upstairs.
- Continue toward Xanthe’s final room.
- Find the two statues outside the blocked doorway.
- Place one lantern on the first statue.
- Place the second lantern on the other statue.
Once both statues are activated, the red vines blocking Xanthe’s room disappear.
You can now enter and continue the quest.
What If the Red Vines Block Your Way Back?
You do not need to restart the puzzle.
If a doorway closes after you remove a lantern, it usually means that lantern was keeping the route open.
Check the nearby statues and think about which passage each lantern controls.
The upstairs statue lantern can also be used temporarily when you need to keep a passage open while recovering another lantern.
If you become stuck, your goal is not to reset everything. Move the available lanterns between nearby statues until you can reopen the route and recover the lantern you need.
No lantern is permanently lost simply because you placed it on the wrong statue.
Why Do I Only Have One Lantern at Xanthe’s Door?
If you reach Xanthe’s final doorway with only one lantern, you have left the other one on a statue earlier in the mansion.
The most likely place is the downstairs statue used to open the second courtyard.
Go back to the main area and recover that lantern once you no longer need the courtyard route.
You need two lanterns at the same time for Xanthe’s final door, so reaching the door with only one means you still need to retrieve another movable lantern.
Do You Need Every Lantern in Howling Keep?
No.
There are several lanterns involved in navigating Howling Keep, but you do not need to carry every lantern in the mansion to the final room.
Some lanterns are mainly used to keep earlier routes accessible while you move through the puzzle.
What matters at the end is having two movable lanterns available for the two statues outside Xanthe’s room.
So rather than trying to collect every lantern you see, focus on keeping the necessary passages open until you can recover the two lanterns required at the end.
Does the Lantern Puzzle Cost Time?
The lantern puzzle is part of The Cycle of Love, rather than being treated as a separate activity with its own independent time cost.
The quest itself requires four Time Segments.
You do not lose additional Time Segments because you spend longer walking around Howling Keep or experimenting with the lanterns.
So if you become stuck on the puzzle, you can take the time to work out the lantern positions without worrying that every attempt is consuming another segment.
What Happens After You Open Xanthe’s Door?
Once both lanterns are placed on the final statues, the vines disappear and you can continue deeper into The Cycle of Love.
The storyline eventually leads to the confrontation involving Xanthe and Chariklea.
At that point, the quest moves away from the lantern puzzle and into decisions that can affect what happens later in Xanthe’s storyline.
So once the two-lantern door opens, the mansion puzzle itself is complete.
