What happened? I'm alive – but how? Did Brencis turn me or not? And where's my family? I need to find them, and soon.
Question the soldier and search the family home
Smoke and Ashes follows Coen back into the ruined village of Laslea with Anca. The immediate aim is to find out what happened to his family. Anca teaches him to use Compel Soul, and the dead soldier is the first conversation to pursue in this investigation.
If the soldier speaks only briefly, look for objects that mattered to him: something he owned or was looking at as he died. Return to the soldier and use those catalysts with Compel Soul. Finding an object and using it to continue the conversation are separate steps, so check the current objective after searching the area.
Search the family home and return to Anca as the investigation advances. The later objectives concern the rubble blocking the exit and reaching the village gate. They continue the search for the captured family; finding the house still standing does not mean the family has been found there.
Hotfix 1.0.4 made investigating the rag optional in this quest. An older walkthrough that treats the rag as a mandatory step may therefore differ from the updated game. Check your current journal objective and installed update before spending more time searching for that one clue.