Every character inPaliahas a little bit of backstory. Some backstories, like Reth’s, are a bit mysterious in nature. When you get to know him better, he trusts you enough to tell you about his storeroom in the basement of Ashura’s tavern. He requests to meet you there to discuss something important

Once you talk to Reth, you’ll notice there’s a mysterious cargo box on the table. Zeki has cautioned Reth not to open the box, upon threat of losing both his hands, but no such threats have been made to you. Solve the mystery of what Zeki is hiding and why.

Palia town Kilima Village with a picture of Ashura’s tavern taken from the angle of the plaza area. A stone path can be seen in the foreground passing in front of the entrance to the tavern.

Updated July 31, 2025 by Shannon Elkins:This article has been updated to improve formatting, and to enhance readability.

Palia is in open beta, and subject to change. We will update this article as needed.

Palia avatar showing off their latest fishing catch, which happens to be a small key. The small key is used in the Mystery Cargo box quest.

How To Get The Mystery Cargo Quest

A storeroom in Palia shouldn’t be that mysterious, but sinceReth keeps the door locked, it might have alerted you to the fact thatthere’s something more going onthan just prepping the day’s vegetables.

This questcan only be picked up once you’ve talked to Reth in the storeroom. You will need todo the following to receive the Mystery Cargo quest:

Palia location displaying Reth’s storeroom with a Mystery Cargo box on one of the tables.

Find The Small Key To The Mystery Cargo Box

According to Reth,Zeki has hidden the key where no man can survive. This means you’ll have todo some fishing, but you don’t need to go far.

To get the key, you can leave the tavern andfish in the water right behind it. The key you receivewill be called a small key.

Palia character Zeki standing behind the counter in his General Store. A cash register and waving cat statue can be seen in the foreground.

You canfish in any body of water in Kilima Village,though, to obtain the small key to the mystery cargo box.

You canfish up the key with or without bait.

Just in case you have multiple quests to look for keys, you’ll know it’s the correct one whenthe quest objective changes focusfrom finding the small keyto unlocking the mystery cargo box.

Unlock The Mystery Cargo Box

Once you have the key,you may return to Reth’s storeroom, andunlock the mystery box. Brace yourself for the unexpected, given the involvement of Zeki’s black market dealings.

You’ll encountera letterstashed within the mystery cargo box. While you will receive a pop-up explaining you won’t steal the letter,you will still be able to read the letter.

Talk To Zeki About The Cargo Box Contents

Thefinal stepin the Mystery Cargo box quest is totalk to Zeki. You canask him why he has the lettersto learn a little more about him and Grimalkin culture in general. In the end,he’ll give you 500 goldto keep his secret.