TL;DR
You have the Letter Written in Coal and you want to know who gets it and whether your choice matters. Here is the short version: all three endings give the same 1,700 XP, and none of them touch the main story or block any other quest. The only thing that changes is gold. Take the letter to Denholm and use the blackmail line, because that is the one route that pays extra on top of the XP, up to 300 gold. If you do not care about a small payout, hand it to Caed for the quickest wrap. Confronting Erfyr at his forge is the roleplay path, same XP, no bonus.
What the Burdening Letter quest is
Burdening Letter is a branching side quest in Cuanacht. It picks up where the side quest Tightening the Screws leaves off, and it asks one question with three answers: now that you know who ordered the sabotage of the workers, what do you do about it.
The hinge is a single item. The Letter Written in Coal is signed by someone whose name begins with E, which points straight at the local blacksmith. Once you read it, you decide who hears about it. The game presents this like a weighty moral fork. Mechanically, it is mostly cosmetic, and we would rather you know that up front than agonize over a save reload.
How to start it (do not skip the pickup)
Burdening Letter begins the moment you grab the Letter Written in Coal, which appears during or right after Tightening the Screws. The catch worth flagging: you have to physically pick the letter up. Walk past it and the quest never triggers, and you lose access to the full set of choices.
The letter sits in the Old Shelter, a cave east of the Derelict Amphitheater. Clear the shelter, grab the letter off the body inside, read it, and the quest log updates with three NPCs you can take it to.
The three routes
Every route ends the quest and pays 1,700 XP. Here is who each person is and what handing them the letter actually does.
Caed (the fast finish)
Caed leads the workers and waits at the Last Tree camp. Bring him the letter and pick:
"I went to the cave. I found something that could point to the person responsible."
He thanks you for sticking your neck out, says the culprits will be handled, and passes the matter up to Denholm himself. Quest closed. This is the cleanest option if you just want it off your tracker. No extra reward beyond the shared XP, but no hoops either.
Denholm (the recommended route, the only one that pays)
Denholm is the Kamelotian Legate. Find him in the northwest of Cuanacht's upper level, near The Menhir. Show him the letter:
"I found a letter that quite clearly points to the person who ordered the sabotage."
He reads it, names Erfyr as the author, and makes it clear he wants this kept quiet so the trouble does not spread through Cuanacht. That nervousness gives you the opening. Push him:
"About that information? A little bit of gold could help me keep my mouth shut."
He pays to make it disappear, up to 300 gold on top of the 1,700 XP. This is the best return of the three. You give up nothing the other routes keep, and you walk away with coin for it. If you are optimizing, this is the answer.
Erfyr (the roleplay route)
Erfyr is the blacksmith and the man who wrote the letter. He works the forge in the north of Cuanacht's lower level, at The Menhir. Confront him and he owns it: the plan was to sabotage the workers' equipment, but the bandits he set in motion attacked the workers themselves instead of the gear. It is the route that closes the loop on the story you have been chasing.
Same 1,700 XP, no gold. You take this one for the conversation, not the loot.
The Erfyr trap (commit to the line)
This is the part that catches people, so we are putting it in its own section.
When you confront Erfyr, the safe ending is to tell him you will sit on what you know:
"I'll keep it to myself."
Say that, and the quest closes cleanly. He even points you toward Denholm for support afterward.
Pick the wishy-washy option instead, something like "I'll think about it," and Erfyr outsmarts you. By that point you have already handed the letter over, so you are holding no cards. He reads the hesitation, calls the bluff, and you lose the standoff. There is no upside to playing coy here. If you go to the forge, commit to "I'll keep it to myself" and move on.
Reward comparison
| Route | NPC location | Extra reward | Shared XP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Caed | Last Tree camp | None | 1,700 |
| Denholm | Cuanacht upper level, near The Menhir | Up to 300 gold (blackmail line) | 1,700 |
| Erfyr | Cuanacht lower level forge, The Menhir | None | 1,700 |
Whether the choice matters
Not in any way that follows you. The Burdening Letter ending does not shift the main story, does not lock other quests, and does not change who lives or dies later. Caed, Denholm, and Erfyr are interchangeable as far as your campaign is concerned. The single real difference is the up to 300 gold Denholm hands over when you press him. If you want to see how the choices that actually do carry weight play out, our choices and endings guide maps the decisions that follow you across Avalon.
So the decision is purely about how you want to play the moment. Optimizers go to Denholm and take the coin. Speedrunners hand it to Caed and keep moving. Roleplayers walk to the forge, look Erfyr in the eye, and decide what to do with what they know. Any of the three is a correct answer. Only one of them pays. For where Burdening Letter sits in the wider Cuanacht run, the full Tainted Grail walkthrough puts it in order with everything around it.