The Blood of Dawnwalker Romance Guide — Anca, Lacra and Crake
Three companions can fall for Coen — a healer, a vampire, and a rebel — and each romance runs through one specific quest.
Quick answer: The Blood of Dawnwalker has 3 romance options: the healer Anca, the vampire Lacra, and the rebel leader Crake. Each romance triggers inside a specific quest — The Font of Life for Anca, The Night of Horrors for Lacra, and A Closer Look for Crake.
The three romance options
Only three of the characters around Coen can become romantic partners, and each is tied to a questline you can follow or ignore. Anca is the village healer of Laslea, a former nun with a few dark secrets, introduced in the prologue. Lacra is an older Egyptian vampire with a ruthless streak who joins you while investigating Brencis’s history. Crake — birth name Marat — leads the Manumit rebellion against Brencis and recruits Coen early on.
| Character | Who they are | Key romance quest | After the scene |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anca | Village healer of Laslea, former nun | The Font of Life | Warm, but the 30-day clock limits repeat meetings |
| Lacra | Egyptian vampire hunting Brencis’s secrets | The Night of Horrors | Says she enjoyed it but wants nothing serious |
| Crake (Marat) | Leader of the Manumit rebellion | A Closer Look | Promises a real relationship once Brencis falls |
How romance works
All three romances run through connected quests rather than a gift or affection meter. You follow someone’s storyline, pick the options that show interest, and at the right moment the game offers an explicit choice to become intimate or stay friends. Choose the intimate option and you get a romance scene; afterwards you can usually talk about what happened, though the 30-day time limit means the story rarely leaves room to repeat it. The system is forgiving — players report reaching these scenes even while disagreeing with the character along the way — so a missed dialogue here or there rarely locks anything.
How to romance Anca
Anca appears before you even meet her: Coen’s siblings tease him about the former nun turned healer during the prologue. The prologue choice to stay with her or go does not decide anything — another path still leaves romance open later. The same goes for the choice at the end of Echoes of Silenced Bells at St. Tryna’s, where you decide whether to throw her notes into the fire. Both branches keep the door open.
The romance itself lands in The Font of Life, the quest where she sends you toward the Cathedral and the sword shards. Emphasize your romantic interest in her dialogue throughout the quest, then return to the inn afterward: she meets you on that level and the intimate scene triggers. Players who spent extra time with her during the prologue, reassured her about her witchcraft past, and eased her anxiety about being an older woman report the smoothest route — but the quest choices are what actually trigger the scene.
How to romance Lacra
Lacra’s line starts with A Friend Like This, triggered near the Svartrau cathedral by following supernatural signs of a struggle — or simply by slaying Ambrus. Agree to the alliance at the end and her questline opens. Disagreeing with her is allowed: players who talked her down from feeding on a shepherd and from attacking the Uriashi during Song of the Mountain still reached the romance.
The scene itself lives in The Night of Horrors, the optional quest she offers alongside Midnight Reckoning. Follow the will-o’-the-wisps through the deadly bog to an ancient vampire’s remains and uncover the Mandrakes, a blood-magic source she describes as the closest a vampire gets to drunk. Accept the Mandrake — refusing ends the quest early — and she offers you her blood to taste. The moment evolves into her propositioning you; agree and the romance scene plays. She leaves before sunrise, and talking afterward gets you a clear answer: she enjoyed it but is not looking for anything serious. The quest also shapes her ultimate fate, which is reason enough to complete it on any save.
How to romance Crake
Crake’s romance is baked into the rebellion storyline. Start it right after the prologue by saving Mert the Miller and following his information to the Manumits. Crake first sends you on a task to raise your infamy, then summons you into the city to investigate a winged monster. Treat him fairly along the way: do not question his methods or judge the hard calls he has to make.
The turning point comes when Crake takes a wound to the shoulder in the field. Offer to help remove his armor and tend the injury — the game makes the tension obvious. Afterwards, complete Distant Shadows, the task where you follow a man named Ascar. Report back and Crake storms off angry, which unlocks the time-locked quest A Closer Look. Meet him outside town and the scene ends with him kissing you; kiss him back and the romance scene triggers. Afterward he admits the rebellion leaves no room for anything long-term — but he offers a real relationship once Brencis is ousted, which makes him the most committed of the three.
Choices that help every romance
The three routes reward the same habits: choose kind responses over cruel ones, push each character’s quests promptly instead of leaving them to the last days, answer honestly rather than people-pleasing, declare romantic interest whenever a dialogue offers it, and take upgrades for yourself when offered. None of these is a hard requirement — every romance has been completed while disagreeing with the character — but together they keep every door open through a single 30-day run.
FAQ
Can you romance all three in one playthrough?
The scenes trigger in separate quests, so there is no hard lock — but the 30-day structure gives you little room to chase all three, and no option exists to sustain several relationships at once.
Does romancing someone change the endings?
Romance and endings run on separate tracks: your ending comes from the final quest dialogue. Lacra’s and Crake’s questlines matter for The Patricide and The Knyazmaker endings, but the romance scenes themselves do not alter the ending list.
Can I lock myself out of a romance?
Anca’s early choices are forgiving by design. For Lacra, refusing the Mandrake in The Night of Horrors ends the quest and its scene. For Crake, skipping Distant Shadows stalls A Closer Look. Follow each chain and the scenes stay reachable.
Which romance is the most serious?
Crake. He is the only one who promises a relationship after the story — Lacra explicitly wants nothing serious, and Anca’s arc stays warm but open-ended.