The Blood of Dawnwalker Laslea before the Blood Mass
Spend segments on Esme, Lunka, and the pew. Do not spend them on a shrine perk.
This is a spoiler-aware walkthrough of The Blood of Dawnwalker’s Laslea prologue. The game is out 3 September 2026 as a single-player Unreal Engine 5 action RPG from Rebel Wolves, directed by Konrad Tomaszkiewicz and published by Bandai Namco. You play Coen, a Laslea Glen miner with argyria (silver in the skin). Father Pieter, mother Esme (neurological illness), and sister Lunka are still in the village. Sundown is a Blood Mass. After that, Brencis and the mine. This page is the order of jobs and a recommended segment spend. Getting Started is the first-hour checklist. The time system is the math. When Smoke and Ashes ends, switch to Quests and First Week.
The prologue is not a hallway tutorial. It is a miniature campaign that uses the same clock the rest of Vale Sangora uses: eight daytime segments, walking and looting free, marked quests and story beats not free. If the bar empties, Sacred Covenant auto-starts. Unfinished prologue jobs fail. That is the only fail state that matters before the Mass. Running out of the later 30-day family clock is not a game over; emptying this bar is how you skip half of Laslea.
How to spend the day without going broke
Time does not tick while you walk Laslea, stare at the map, or pick up a stick. The hourglass appears before you commit. Read it. Back out if the price is a side job you do not need. How to Play will repeat this after the mine; the prologue is where people ignore it because the village looks small.
Do not buy time-costing shrine perks in the prologue. Wayside shrines already exist as travel, stash, and a bench. Unlocking travel is free. Leveling a node is a segment you will wish you had for Esme or the pew. Full shrine rules sit on Shrines and Fast Travel. Caught stealing costs four wasted segments. That is half a day. Do not test the guard’s patience for a loaf.
Combat is directional, in the For Honor / Kingdom Come family, with omni-attack and omni-block assists. Four difficulties exist: Story, Fair, Challenging, Duelist. Turn assists on if yellow arrows are new. Confirm binds on controls and keep the combat guide open for Deep Down. You are still human. No claws. No hex scars yet. Sword only.
Recommended spend, if you want the story beats and one dungeon:
- Main chain first: All Good Things, then Withering Away, then Like Father, Like Son if a segment remains.
- One or two sides that actually expire or teach a fight: Enter Not, Deep Down, Page-Turner.
- Leave the pew for last on purpose. Sacred Covenant is the point of no return.
- If the bar is already thin, skip sides. A finished Esme brew beats a perfect side-quest log.
Main chain, in order
All Good Things. Find Lunka in the forest. Soldiers are in the way. The church is part of the same beat. This is the sister beat, not a fetch. Do it while Coen is still a miner who can walk into the trees without a hunger bar. Lunka is why the later 30 days exist; do not treat her as flavour.
Withering Away. Chop wood. Get herbs from Anca, the Laslea healer who will later carve hex runes into Coen’s arm. Brew for Esme. The recipe is specific: hot water, not boiling, and three spoonfuls. Boiling ruins it. Two spoonfuls is not three. This is the quest people fail by rushing the pot. Esme’s illness is neurological; the tonic is not a joke item. Finish this before you gamble segments on a ruin.
Like Father, Like Son. Spar Pieter. It costs one segment. It is a fencing lesson, not a boss. Use it to feel four-direction swings on a man who will not kill you. If you only have one pip left and have not sat the pew, skip the spar. The pew matters more. If you have two, take the spar; it is the last clean fight with Pieter before Bad Blood.
Sacred Covenant. Point of no return. Sit the pew with Pieter and Esme. When you sit, unfinished prologue work fails. If the day bar hits zero, this quest auto-starts anyway. Treat the pew as a door you open on purpose, not as a cutscene that interrupts a shopping trip. The IGN video above is the tone of these first minutes: village, family, then the Mass you cannot postpone.
Bad Blood. The mine. Kostel. Find Pieter. Fight Brencis. The game assumes you lose. Losing is how Coen wakes as a Dawnwalker instead of a full vrakhiri. Bandai Namco has confirmed that killing Brencis here can end the game — the main antagonist is gone and the sandbox never opens. That door is real. It is also the one that throws away Svartrau, the officers, and the 30-day rescue. Hands-on coverage is blunt that a fresh Coen loses on Fair or higher. Story difficulty plus omni-block is the honest first attempt at that joke ending. If you want Vale Sangora, lose on purpose. Details sit on endings and difficulty.
Smoke and Ashes. Anca. Compel Soul on a dead soldier. The 30-day clock starts when this beat completes. Day and night kits split here: witchcraft scars work in sunlight and heal after dusk; vampirism is night; swordmastery is always. Read day and night before you sprint to Greifberg. Feed before you talk to anyone you still need alive — feeding can delete a giver on a free walk. Then open Quests and First Week.
Side jobs, if the bar still has pips
Do these only after Esme’s brew is done and you still have segments. Names below are the real prologue sides. This page does not invent their interiors.
- Enter Not — ruined house north of Anca. Pick up Last Confession and the Figurine of St. Jude for Father Florin before the Blood Mass. This one expires. If you are going to do one side, do this.
- Page-Turner — talk to Anca. The line that flags it is: Gladly - I’ve missed it too. Cheap, character work, and she is the witch who writes on your skin after the mine.
- Deep Down — Lazar, then the Forgotten Guardian. You are still human. This is the directional exam the bosses page treats as the prologue test. Omni-assists are allowed. It is a ruin, not a vampire dungeon.
- Live Bait, Dead Drop, Disturbed, Blasphemy, On the Run, If a Tree Falls, Someone Needs a Lesson — real jobs. Take them only if the hourglass is kind and the pew is not yet due. Do not start a chain that will auto-fail when Sacred Covenant fires.
The time planner is overkill for one village day, but the habit is the point: mark the pew, then see what still fits. The Guides Hub is the map of systems this walkthrough is not repeating.
What not to do before you sit
Do not shrine-level. Do not steal. Do not pick a fight with Uriash ram-muscle in the square because you want to test Duelist. Do not wander into a second ruin after Deep Down if Esme’s pot is still cold. Do not walk to Greifberg Castle; you cannot finish the rescue as a human, and the prologue is not the 30-day sandbox yet.
When Smoke and Ashes is over, the valley opens: Laslea, Svartrau, Greifberg Castle, Maragir, Briar Sloughs, Shrike’s Crag. Climb towers. Restore shrines. Buy Mercurial Fervour and Shapeshift with a skill point that does not tax time after the prologue. That list belongs on the next page, not here. Finish the pew. Lose the mine fight unless you meant to close the book. Then go brew the month.
Frequently Asked Questions
Quick answers to the most common questions.
What happens if I run out of prologue segments?
Sacred Covenant auto-starts. You sit the pew. Unfinished prologue jobs fail. Spend the bar on Esme and Lunka first. See the time system.
How do I brew Esme's tonic in Withering Away?
Hot water, not boiling, and three spoonfuls. Chop wood, get Anca's herbs, then brew. Boiling or two spoonfuls is how the quest goes wrong.
Can I kill Brencis at the end of the prologue?
Yes. That can end the game. The campaign assumes you lose. Story difficulty plus assists is the honest first try. Full doors sit on endings.
Should I buy shrine perks before the Blood Mass?
No. Leveling costs a segment. Unlocking travel is free. Save pips for story. Shrine rules are on Shrines and Fast Travel.
Which prologue side quests are worth it?
Enter Not before the Mass (Last Confession and the Figurine of St. Jude for Father Florin). Deep Down if you want the Forgotten Guardian while still human. Page-Turner if you are already talking to Anca.
When does the 30-day family clock start?
After Smoke and Ashes, when Anca has you Compel Soul on a dead soldier. Then use Quests and First Week and the time planner.