You’re standing at The Four Belfries in Liurnia of the Lakes, looking at three massive, shimmering waygates, and you’ve only got one shot to pick the right one. It’s a classic FromSoftware moment. If you use your only imbued stone sword key on the wrong portal, you might end up in a late-game nightmare way before you’re ready, or worse, miss out on a crucial quest item for hours. These aren't your standard Stonesword Keys. You can't just buy them from a twin maiden husk or find them on every random corpse in a dungeon.
There are exactly three in the entire game. That’s it.
Honestly, the game doesn't do a great job of explaining where they are or why they’re different from the rusty keys you use to open fog walls. While regular keys are everywhere, an imbued stone sword key is a specific, turquoise-tinted artifact used exclusively at The Four Belfries. Each one activates a portal that teleports you to a geographically isolated "island" of content—places you literally cannot reach by walking, jumping, or riding Torrent.
Where the Hell Are They?
The first one is basically a freebie, but only if you actually look around. When you reach The Four Belfries—which is on the western ridge of Liurnia—head to the very top. There’s a chest at the foot of the highest belfry. Open it. Boom. Your first imbued stone sword key. Most players get this one, use it immediately, and then spend the next ten hours wondering where the other two went.
Finding the second one requires a bit of a trek into the Raya Lucaria Academy. You’ve probably died there a dozen times already. From the Debate Parlor Site of Grace (where you fought the Red Wolf of Radagon), head out into the courtyard and take a sharp left. You need to jump onto the rooftops. It feels like you’re breaking the game, but you’re not. You’ll navigate a series of precarious ledges and ladders until you find a corpse slumped over a chandelier inside the Church of the Cuckoo. That’s your second key. It’s tucked away in a spot that most people miss because they’re too busy dodging glintstone pebbles from the mages above.
👉 See also: Is the Oblivion Remake Good? Everything We Know About the Return to Cyrodiil
The third one is the real pain. It’s in Sellia, Town of Sorcery, over in the rot-infested hellscape of Caelid. You have to solve the "lighting the candles" puzzle to break the magical seals across the town. Once the barriers are down, there’s a small balcony with a chest. It's guarded by those annoying phantom sorcerers who turn invisible. If you’re rushing, you’ll get backstabbed. Slow down. Clear the room. Grab the third imbued stone sword key and get out of Caelid as fast as you can.
Which Portal Should You Open First?
Deciding where to spend your imbued stone sword key is a bit of a gamble if you don't know what's on the other side. Each portal has a message at its base that gives you a vague, poetic hint.
The first portal says "Precipice of Anticipation." Use your key here if you want revenge. This takes you back to the Chapel of Anticipation—the very first area of the game where that Grafted Scion probably minced you into tiny pieces within thirty seconds of starting your save. By the time you have an imbued stone sword key, you should be strong enough to go back and finish the job. Why bother? Because you get the Ornamental Straight Sword and the Golden Beast Crest Shield. More importantly, you can find the "Stormhawk King" spirit ashes here, which you’ll need if you want to progress Nepheli Loux’s questline.
💡 You might also like: PGA Tour 2K25 PC: Is It Actually Better Than EA Sports PGA Tour?
The second portal mentions "Crumbling Lands." This drops you into a small, detached section of Crumbling Farum Azula. It’s a beautiful, terrifying place where the sky is literally falling. You aren't here for a boss fight; you're here for the Pearldrake Talisman. It’s sitting on a floating platform. Be careful, though. The beastmen here hit like a freight train if you’re under-leveled. You can’t access the rest of Farum Azula from here, so don't bother trying to parkour your way into the main city. It's a dead end meant for loot.
The third portal is labeled "Night Sky Unceasing." This sends you to a lonely rock in Nokron, the Eternal City. You’ll see a Crucible Knight chilling out in the distance. He’s not friendly. If you kill him, he drops... nothing particularly special. The real prize is the view and a Mottled Necklace found on a nearby corpse. Honestly? This is usually the last portal people activate because the rewards are a bit lackluster compared to the other two.
Why People Get Frustrated with the Mechanics
A common misconception is that you can farm these keys. You can't. If you lose one or somehow glitch your game, there isn't a hidden vendor in the Mountaintops of the Giants who sells spares. Another weird quirk: once you use an imbued stone sword key, it’s gone. The portal stays open forever, though.
I’ve seen players get confused because they try to use a regular Stonesword Key at the belfries. The prompt will just tell you that you don't have the right item. It’s easy to feel like the game is broken when, in reality, you just haven't climbed enough rooftops in a wizard school yet.
Some veterans argue that the Chapel of Anticipation portal is the only one that truly matters. From a lore perspective, they’re probably right. Returning to the start of your journey to reclaim your dignity is a huge narrative beat. From a gameplay perspective, the Stormhawk King item is the only "essential" thing tied to these keys. The rest is just icing on the cake for completionists.
Complexity in the Design
The way FromSoftware placed these keys tells a story. One is given to you at the site where they are used (The Four Belfries). One is hidden in the center of magical learning (Raya Lucaria). One is locked behind a puzzle in a city of secrets (Sellia). It forces you to engage with different styles of play: exploration, platforming, and puzzle-solving.
📖 Related: Modern Warfare 3 Hacks: Why the Cat-and-Mouse Game is Getting More Aggressive
It’s also worth noting that you don't have to do any of this. You can beat Elden Ring without ever touching an imbued stone sword key. But you’d miss out on some of the best environmental storytelling in the game. Seeing Farum Azula floating in the distance from a tiny broken bridge is one of those "wow" moments that defines the experience.
Actionable Steps for Your Playthrough
If you’re currently holding one and aren't sure what to do, follow this order to maximize your efficiency:
- Prioritize the Chapel of Anticipation (Top-most portal near the chest). Getting the Stormhawk King early allows you to move Nepheli’s quest forward before you trigger late-game flags that might lock you out. Plus, killing that Scion is cathartic.
- Hit the Crumbling Farum Azula portal next. The Pearldrake Talisman is great for non-physical damage negation, which becomes vital as you start facing more elemental bosses.
- Save the Nokron portal for last. Unless you’re a completionist or really want that Mottled Necklace for resistance stats, it’s the least impactful of the three.
Check your inventory right now. If you've been through Raya Lucaria and didn't explore the rooftops, you've likely missed a key. Go back to the Debate Parlor, head outside, turn left, and start climbing. Just watch your step—the fall is a lot further than it looks. Once you have all three, the mystery of the belfries is yours to solve. There’s nothing left to find after the third portal is open, so you can safely move on to the capital or wherever your journey takes you next.