Early on into The Forgotten City, you'll be told about a character called Naevia, who previously worked as a doctor and has since locked herself away in a palace. You're tasked with finding her to get the cure for Rhumaeristim, which Rufius is suffering from and has become irritable because of it.
This quest is called "Behind Closed Doors" but it also crosses over into one called "The Gilding" and will later tie into "A Thorn In The Paw". However, to complete all of those quests, you'll need to find a way into the palace to speak to Naevia.
How To Find A Way Into The Palace In The Forgotten City
As soon as you're tasked with getting into the palace, it's worth heading up towards it and investigating a bit. Once you get there, you'll find a note from Naevia saying that she's locked herself inside. You'll also hear a whisper telling you that you need to get a bow.
This should clue in that you need to be pursuing the questline from Desius that gets you a golden bow. To start this quest off, you'll need to first take out the assassin and get his bow from him. You'll then need to talk to Desius and agree to his business venture, which will place you inside Diana's temple and give you the golden bow, which is essential for this mission.
Once you've got the golden bow, you'll now be in the "The Gilding" questline. Don't worry, completing this is a one-way street into completing "Behind Closed Doors" and "A Thorn In The Paw" as well, as they're all linked.
Once you've shot down the hornet's nest and gone through the floor, you'll need to keep following the path through the cave. You'll come across a bit of water to shoot and turn gold to stand on before finding Naevia's journal and clueing you into what you're doing here. This should be your first hint that you're finding your way into the palace. You'll also get to turn some vines into gold to be able to climb on them, which is important to remember for accessing the upper cistern.
After you climb up this vine you'll find yourself in the palace, completing the "Behind Closed Doors" mission. However, once you're in the palace, you can't do anything but keep going until you've finished "The Gilding" too, as Naevia has barricaded the doors.
How To Get Out Of The Palace In The Forgotten City
So you've put this much effort into trying to get into the palace, and now you want to get out? Keep walking through and you'll run into a Peeled Statue, The Forgotten City's only enemy. These statues have had the gold peeled from their skin, making them sentient again. You can turn them back into gold by shooting them with two arrows, or by getting one headshot. Alternatively, you can a gilded one into another to take them out.
Although you'll likely have enough arrows, it's best to kick a Peeled Statue first and then shoot it in the head. Keep going past two more statues until you reach the courtyard, where you'll hear from Naevia, who tells you you're not supposed to be here. As she says this, quickly shoot an arrow into each of the fountain ponds to get rid of four peeled statues at once.
In the right corner is a destroyed fountain that you can go down to carry on. Go down here to find more peeled statues standing in the water. If you're quick you can shoot the water to gild them instantly, but it takes some fast reflexes. Carry on and you'll find a similar situation, although it's best to wait for all three statues to appear at once before shooting the water.
After this, you'll need to shoot some ivy to stand on and reach another part of the cliff. Keep heading upwards and dealing with the statues as you pass them. Follow the caves up to reach the palace once more and shoot the pot in front of you to turn it gold and make it a distraction. You'll reach the other side of the courtyard where you'll be able to shoot a pond to turn it gold and take out all of the statues stood in it.
We're nearly done now. Go inside to find another diary entry and a key for the door to the right of you. Go through the corridor and up the stairs to find statues standing behind curtains. You'll need to be quick, but shoot the curtains to turn them gold and make sure the statues can't come through. Do this for the other two curtains in the hallways and carry on to find some vines to shoot and walk across.
After climbing over that, you'll need to shoot more curtains to keep statues in, climb a set of vines and then jump to the other side. Keep following the path to find more statues to gild, a new part of the diary, and an unfortunate bunch of peeled people. You'll come to the palace balcony door next to talk to the Half-Peeled Statue, who will warn you that Naevia is behind you.
Talking to Naevia can go two ways. If you antagonise her and pick options like "Good luck with that" that clearly indicate combat, then she'll attack you and The Golden Rule will be broken, forcing a time loop reset.
What you want to say to calm Naevia down is:
- "If you attack me we'll both end up encased in gold."
- "This has nothing to do with me."
- "It's not just this statue whispering to me. A lot of them do it. But it's always the same voice."
- "It's like someone else is whispering to me through the statues."
- "No, I swear."
- "I ended up here by accident. All I want to do is leave."
- "I got trapped in tunnels under the city and came up inside the Palace."
- "I never had any intention of hurting you."
- "Wait! I can undo all this if you tell me the treatment for rheumatism."
- "I can cover her in gold again."
- "This golden bow is the weapon that encases people in gold."
- "Alright. Stand back."
After this, shoot the Half-Peeled Statue with the golden bow to turn her back into a statue. Naevia will be grateful to you for doing this and will tell you the treatment for Rheumatism, which you can then go share with Lucretia to cure Rufius' of his illness. Better yet, you'll have finished The Gilding by leaving the palace.