In The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, the world of Hyrule is a living, breathing one. With people scattered off even in remote regions for Link to encounter and engage with.
The Duchess Who Disappeared Side Quest sends Link on a search to find a world-renowned shield surfer that’s gone missing. Completing this quest also unlocks training for Link to learn shield surfing by going through the gauntlet of trials.
Starting The Quest
This quest will only become available once the player has completed Tulin’s Sage Quest in Rito Village. Once the blizzard surrounding the region dissipates, this quest becomes available.
Head to these coordinates: -3518, 3103, 0316, and talk to Fin, a student of the great shield surfer Selmie. Fin will tell you that he has set up a smoke signal for his mentor, Selmie, to find him. Selmie was out in this remote part of Hyrule trying to set up a shield surfing course. However, she has not returned for a long time now, and Fin is worried she has gone missing.
Completing The Quest
This side quest involves figuring out where Selmie is located from context clues. Fin will give you a hint saying that Selmie is most likely somewhere where she cannot see the smoke signal Fin has set up. This means she is likely somewhere underground. Selmie is stuck inside the East Biron Snowshelf Cave, which has two entrances. One at the top of the sloping canyon (-3555, 3089, 0274) and one at the bottom (-3979, 3069, 0143).
Enter the cave from either entrance, and you’ll find the way blocked by a wall of rocks. Use a boulder-fused weapon or a bomb flower arrow to destroy the blockage and enter the cave.
The cave is actually a pathway that connects the bottom of the snowy canyon to the top of the mountain, sloping upward towards the mountaintop. Selmie is sitting by a fire in the middle of the cave.
Talk to her to discover that she was busy creating a slope to be used as a shield-surfing course when the cave collapsing trapped her inside.
Selmie will ask that you destroy the wall blocking the way toward the canyon. If you haven’t already, destroy it and talk to Selmie again.
She will invite Link to her Lodge at Hebra Peak to talk more and then leave the cave. Selmie’s Lodge is located at the cusp of Hebra Peak. You can get there quite easily by teleporting to the entrance of the Wind Temple and dropping straight down. The Stormwind Ark is flying right above the Lodge.
Find the Lodge by looking for the bonfire near the peak, and you should be able to spot it easily.
Head inside and talk to Selmi and her two students to finish The Duchess Who Disappeared side quest.
Selmie will reward you with a Strong Zonite Shield if you have an empty space in your inventory.