Disney Dreamlight Valley‘s second major expansion, The Storybook Vale features a few familiar faces you can befriend. One of these is Merida from the 2012 Pixar film Brave, and you’ll encounter her at the very beginning of your journey. Here’s how to win her over and invite her to your valley.

How to unlock Merida in Disney Dreamlight Valley

To be able to get Merida in Disney Dreamlight Valley, you’ll need to meet the following prerequisites:

• Purchase and download both A Rift in Time and The Storybook Vale expansions.
• Complete Merlin’s quest “A Port of Many Worlds”, which begins after you’ve purchased the A Rift in Time expansion.
• Access The Storybook Vale by entering the Stardust Port within the Dream Castle.

As soon as you arrive in The Storybook Vale, you’ll find yourself facing a linear path forward. Walk ahead to find Merida surrounded by magical ink (which folks call “inkies” in-game). You can remove these just like night thorns and splinters of fate, so just press your interact button to clear a path to speak with Merida.

Exhaust Merida’s dialogue and follow her into the library ahead. Follow her straightforward requests for a bit, including speaking to the Lorekeeper and then finding her bag next to the stairs to round up a potion.

Use the potion on your pickaxe, then clear away the hunks of wood on the large disc in the center of the library. With those removed, you can now use the two nearby levers disc to spin the two outer layers of the disc.

Spin them until the picture of Princess Aurora is aligned like the photo above.

You’ll be rewarded with the Royal Net, which you’ll then have to use to catch flying Snippets around the library. This is easily achieved by pressing the corresponding action button when near them.

Speak to Merida again, then follow her instructions to clear each wing of the library of Snippets. When you’re done, chat with her once more, then head over to the Lorekeeper book.

Here, you’ll only be able to purchase one of the stories available to you using the Snippets you’ve rounded up, so go ahead and buy “Once Upon A Time In Storybook Vale…”

Now you’ll be tasked with flipping scraps of paper and placing them together like a puzzle. This is pretty simple compared to the ones you’ll be doing later in the DLC, but use the picture above for reference if needed.

After a somewhat lengthy bit of dialogue, follow Merida outside to learn about opening the pathway to the Bind. Use 500 Story Magic (found by completing duties) to clear the ink beside Merida and provide you access to the Bind biome.

Merida will ask you to clear inkies and catch Snippets, so do that, then report back to her. You’ll then have to speak with Goofy and Scrooge McDuck, who will ask you to mine and fish in the Bind. Collect everything you need, then speak to the two of them again and follow through with the remainder of their request to get their shops up and running.

Speaking to Merida again will lead you to a series of events regarding a hidden room under the nearby bridge. This is very straightforward, and when you complete the tasks, Merida will finally give you her home.

Place her home somewhere in the Bind, then interact with the sign by it to finally invite the beloved <i>Brave</i> protagonist to your valley!

For more on Disney Dreamlight Valley, take a look at our comprehensive guides hub.