The Blood of Dawnwalker Prologue Walkthrough
A step-by-step route through the opening day in Laslea: what to do, in what order, what costs time and which choices decide who survives the Blood Mass.
Prologue overview
The prologue is one full day and night in the village of Laslea. By daylight you prepare the village for the Blood Mass and try to limit the casualties; at nightfall the day ends in the fight against Brencis that sets up the rest of the story. You have roughly eight daytime segments to work with, and time only moves forward when you commit to a quest — exploring and travelling are free.
Recommended quest order
The route below follows launch-week reporting: time-sensitive quests first, then the family main objective, then the optional village quests you can afford. Segment costs are the reported costs per quest; your dialogue choices can change a few of them.
| Quest | Time cost | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| All Good Things | 0 | Main · required | Tutorial opening: find Lunka in the forest and learn the basics. No time cost. |
| Withering Away | 2 | Main · required | Chop wood and fetch medicine from the witch Anca to save your mother Esme. |
| Page Turner | 1 | Optional | Stay with Anca through the storm instead of leaving at once. |
| Like Father, Like Son | 1 | Optional · family | Train with your father Pieter. |
| Live Bait | 1 | Optional · family | Go fishing with your younger siblings. |
| Deep Down | 1 | Optional · time-sensitive | Search the peat bogs for the missing Lazar. Leave it until evening and he dies — do this early. |
| Blasphemy | 1 | Optional · choice | Investigate Gremla's stolen banner. Contains one of your first difficult choices. |
| Disturbed | 1 | Optional | Help Crina recover a stolen silver cross. |
| Sacred Covenant | 3 | Main · night | The Blood Mass at sunset. The casualties depend on what you did earlier. |
| Bad Blood | 5 | Main · night | The prologue ends with the fight against Brencis in Laslea. |
The family objective
Your mother Esme is sick, and the first main objective is to get her medicine: chop firewood, then travel to the witch Anca and bring the remedy back. Getting the preparation right matters — launch reporting identifies Esme's treatment as one of the factors that decide who survives the Blood Mass.
Optional objectives
- Page Turner — staying with Anca costs an extra segment but deepens that relationship.
- Live Bait — a quiet family moment by the river with your siblings.
- Like Father, Like Son — sword training with Pieter.
- Blasphemy — the stolen banner investigation; how you handle it shapes events later in the day.
- Disturbed — recovering Crina's silver cross.
- Deep Down — the only optional quest with a confirmed deadline: finish it before the day wears on.
Time-cost decisions
You cannot do everything: launch reporting counts roughly thirteen available quests against only about eight daytime segments. Treat every segment as a budget: do the time-sensitive and family-critical quests first, and be careful about spending daylight on skill upgrades — learning perks also consumes time, and the Blood Mass will not wait.
Important characters
| Character | Role |
|---|---|
| Coen | The protagonist, turned Dawnwalker — human by day, vampire by night. |
| Pieter | Coen's father; the family sword training partner. |
| Esme | Coen's sick mother; saving her is the first main objective. |
| Lunka / Yanna | Coen's younger siblings. |
| Anca | The witch of Laslea; holds the medicine Esme needs. |
| Brencis | The vampire lord who took the valley — and the one who turned Coen. |
Combat encounters
The prologue teaches combat in its dreamlike opening, then puts you in two real fights near the end: an escape through the mine tunnels while rescuing Kostel, and the closing confrontation with Brencis in Laslea. The Brencis fight is designed to be lost — the story continues either way. Beating him is possible but officially confirmed to be extremely hard, and it ends the game early as a hidden route.
Major choice points
- Blasphemy — your handling of the stolen banner is one of the first difficult choices in the game and has consequences later in the day.
- Who you help — every optional quest you take (or skip) changes who is present and what happens at the Blood Mass.
- Stay silent or speak at the Mass — launch reporting lists whether you keep silent during the ceremony among the factors that affect the casualties.
The Blood Mass and the transition
At sunset the Blood Mass (Sacred Covenant) begins — a three-segment night sequence whose outcome depends on the preparation you did by day: Esme's medicine, Gremla's banner, whether Deep Down was finished in time, and whether you stayed silent. What happens in the Mass sets the stakes for everything that follows.
What changes after the prologue
Once the prologue day ends and the story moves beyond Laslea, the full open world opens up and the wider 30-day clock takes over. Your skill options expand as the story progresses — the day-side and night-side trees unlock further branches as you play (exact unlock points: Needs verification).
Missable content
- Deep Down — if you reach the peat bogs too late in the day, Lazar is already dead and the quest changes.
- Optional quests skipped by daylight — anything you did not fit into the eight daytime segments is gone once the Mass begins.
- Mass casualties — who survives the night depends on your preparations; there is no replay inside the same run.
FAQ
Common questions about this topic.
How long is the prologue?
Launch reporting puts the prologue at roughly three hours for a focused run, depending on how many optional quests you complete.
Can I skip the optional quests?
Yes — only the main quests are required. Skipping optional content means fewer preparations, and launch reporting says that shows in who survives the Blood Mass.
Is the fight against Brencis winnable?
Yes, but it is designed to be lost and beating him is officially confirmed to be extremely difficult. Winning ends the game very early as a hidden route; losing continues the story.
Can I go back to Laslea after the prologue?
The story moves beyond the village once the prologue ends. Whether and when you can return is tied to later story progress (Needs verification).
Does what I do in the prologue matter later?
Yes. Launch reporting identifies the prologue choices and preparations — the medicine, the banner, Deep Down, and your silence at the Mass — as factors that shape who lives and who dies, and the story keeps reacting to those outcomes.