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The Cycle of Love takes Coen into Howling Keep to investigate the women disappearing from Vale Sangora. Completing this route provides a chance to spare Xanthe; fighting her early at Svartrau Cathedral skips the quest and removes that option.
Unlock and time
Detail | Requirement |
|---|---|
Quest giver | Leonard |
Unlock | Complete nine of Xanthe's court quests and receive Leonard's lantern. |
Entrance | Howling Keep, south of Svartrau and northwest of Tantari Woods |
Availability | Day and night |
Listed time cost | 4 segments |
Missable | Yes, including by fighting Xanthe at the cathedral first. |
Cross the bridge, defeat the two spirits and place Leonard's lantern in the statue's hand at the entrance. The vines withdraw. Inside, clear the spirits before examining the corrupted tree with Focus Mode. The stairs on each side and the statues around the central chamber form the main route.
Moving lanterns through the keep
A lantern left in a statue holds its associated door open. Removing it closes that door, so take lanterns back only after establishing another route through the area. The steps below use left and right while facing the central tree from the main entrance.
Area | Route |
|---|---|
Left upstairs hallway | Climb the left stairs. Leave the hallway statue's lantern in place initially. Enter the room on the right near Iasmina and take the lantern there. |
Balcony and side room | Place that lantern in the balcony statue, then collect the hallway lantern. Return halfway down the stairs and enter the side room. Use a lantern to open its inner door; a Cycle of Ruin manual is inside. Retrieve the lantern after looting. |
Right upstairs rooms | Place a lantern in the statue at the top of the right stairs. Search the rooms for The Kingslayer, the Recipe for Potent Aetheric Attunement and the Relic of St. Dasius. Collect the statue's lantern before returning below. |
Underground entrance | Use a lantern at the base of the right stairs. Clear the next area and enter the southern slaughterhouse. Inspect it, then take the lantern from its statue to open the trapdoor. |
Underground route | Follow the tunnel, inspect Leonard's dead soldier and follow the tracks. Search the next dungeon for the torn wedding gown, then pass east to the hounds. The Key to the Kennels is in the southeastern bone pile and opens the way back. |
Painted door | Return to the first upstairs hallway and put a lantern in its statue. This keeps the entry open while freeing the balcony lantern. Carry two lanterns to the pair of statues beside the painted door. |
The Relic of St. Dasius is also needed for Forge It Anew. The Kingslayer is in a chest in the upstairs room with hanging hair. Search these areas before going through the final painted door, since the quest then moves into the confrontation.
The Xanthe fight
Beyond the painted door, Coen finds Charaklea, Xanthe's daughter. The confrontation throws Coen into the underground clearing. Xanthe has an armor gauge below her health. Depleting that gauge removes roughly a third of her health, after which she summons blood orbs to restore it. Destroy the orbs to interrupt that recovery before repeating the cycle.
Spare, kill or drain
Decision | Result |
|---|---|
Spare Xanthe | She reveals information about Brencis and removes supernatural enemies from the route through Greifberg Castle. |
Kill her during the day | Coen kills her directly. She does not join Brencis in the finale. |
Choose her death at night, then drain her | Grants Blood Surge and opens the invitation into Coen's mind. This kills her physical body and gives up the living ally route. |
Kill her directly at night | She dies without granting Blood Surge through this encounter. |
An invitation into Coen's mind and an alliance with a living Xanthe are different outcomes. The former follows draining her; the latter requires sparing her during this quest. The cathedral shortcut permits draining or killing, but does not reproduce the Howling Keep alliance.
Equipment to collect
Item | Location or condition |
|---|---|
The Kingslayer | Chest in the upstairs room with hanging hair. |
Relic of St. Dasius | Desk in an upper room; also part of Forge It Anew. |
Corrupted Pendant | Loot the place Xanthe died if she was killed. |
The other court finales are The Gilded Gauntlet and The Lunar Game. Their outcomes feed into the routes described on Endings.