Playing The Blood of Dawnwalker as a power-hungry vampire gave me a surprisingly wholesome ending

The Blood of Dawnwalker has been a blur. It's been four weeks since RPG Club entered Vale Sangora, and in that time I've killed one bear, overthrown three vampires, accidentally consigned a fourth to hell, and ate more vermin than any man should have to endure. But that's all in the past (unless you'd like to refresh yourself). It's all been for the greater good, and this week we're marching into Greifberg Castle to save our family and dethrone the valley's undead ruler.

Quest Log

Midnight snack

At the beginning of September, I struggled to win one swordfight. But one month with Duelist difficulty has pried open combat's inner-workings. Playing on the hardest difficulty guts Coen's stamina, so perfect blocks have been essential – they don't cost stamina, so are the only way to fight without being staggered and killed. Landing those last-second parries comes naturally now, and in tandem with Coen's supernatural powers, Brencis' mortal soldiers no longer pose a threat.

I'm fairly confident we could stroll up to Brencis and stake the sucker now, but I promised to make Coen the strongest vampire I could. Lacra, the vampire ally we met in part two, promises one more opportunity to do so. We meet at her hideout, now one vampire fewer – having drained elder undead Isbrand and accidentally leaving his spirit in hell – and wade into another of Vale Sangora's gloomy swamps. Will-o'-the-wisps lead us to an ancient crypt, where cutting down ghosts and zombies pays off with a mandrake – a flower of condensed vampiric energy, sourced auspiciously from a body now overgrown with corrupting red tendrils.

It's now abundantly clear that Coen's vampiric powers, along with his witchcraft and the dark sorcery we've encountered throughout Vale Sangora, is sourced from the same hellish realm we left Isbrand in. Drawing upon it leads to madness and, gesturing at the corpse grown into the wall, that. But the sanctity of Coen's soul comes second to the rules of RPG Club. This mandrake is the most tangible promise of vampiric power we've encountered yet, so down the hatch it goes.

Drunk on the mandrake's power, Coen and Lacra spend the rest of the night having weird vampire sex – I'm talking claws through flesh, drinking blood, the works – and in the morning, I have two new abilities. The mandrake grants a unique perk that revives Coen from death once per night (where were you two weeks ago?), and the last vampiric power in my perk tree – mesmerizing enemies – is unlocked.

Goodbye tour

I return to Svartrau with unfinished business. Rebel leader Crake stormed out on us in part 3, furious that I messed up a reconnaissance mission, and I'd like to make amends – or at least give him the cursed tome he sent us to find before our falling-out. I'm thrilled to see him back in the hideout, and while there's no option to pick up our last conversation, he takes the tome off my hands. Out of his sulk, Crake announces that it's time to storm Castle Greifberg. I politely ask him to wait, but secretly I've already decided to overthrow Brencis with Lacra's help instead of the rebels. Besides putting mortals in danger, I think Crake's plan – which is to ally with the previous despot's heir and restore Vale Sangora's bleak status quo – is flat-out dumb. Hold off for just… two seconds, would you?

Before leaving, Crake impresses that the rebellion can't wait much longer. I'm 99% sure that nothing will happen without my go-ahead, but I don't want to risk tripping up at the finish line and prepare to meet with Lacra. There's just one problem: I've finally hit maximum notoriety with Brencis, who enacts his final edict. Svartrau's gates are lowered, sealing it from the outside world. The intent is to keep Coen out, but instead I'm trapped inside. It's also morning – which means I can't just shadowstep over the city walls.

It's a good thing my notoriety can't go any higher. The streets are flush with Brencis' men, but they can't hurt what they can't hit. Even en masse, they're fodder for the flow state – dying in scores as I comb the streets for a way out; Svartrau resembling a gothic Dynasty Warriors. But I can't find an exit, and fast travel has been disabled at the city's shrines. After 20 minutes of fruitless slaughter, I pass time at a shrine until nightfall and then flit over the walls, transforming into a wolf as I hit the ground and galloping to Lacra.

Endgame

Proceeding with Lacra will lock us into an ending, warns a pop-up – meaning we won't be able to use the hidden passage that Father Florin tipped us off to, nor help the rebels. That's fine by me: speaking purely to my odds of beating Brencis, I feel better with Lacra at my side.

Sneaking into Castle Greifberg via underground ruins, we arrive at the site of Brencis' mysterious ritual. Corpses are suspended in the air, their juicy innards drawn towards a vast orb of swirling blood above us. Brencis isn't here, neither is Coen's family, and Lacra seizes initiative – destroying an ancient font that misfires the ritual's power through the castle. Our goal is the throne room, but the ritual's energies make getting there difficult. One moment I'm fighting guards in dingy dungeons, the next fending off spirits from Vampire Hell, then back in boring stone again.

My odds of finding Coen's family in one piece look slim, but there is a silver lining. Having spared Xanthe earlier in our playthrough, the vampire boyaress honors her promise to help. Her chambers are empty of their usual foes and traps (a colleague tells me I would have faced a nasty maze if I'd killed Xanthe), leaving the last stretch to Brencis clear.

In the throneroom, tendrils have nearly finished growing over Coen's family. Brencis is here, and offers one last deal: walk away with my family, and we'll call it quits. That's not the cathartic revenge story I'm here for – and I'm not convinced Lacra can handle the battle alone – so into the boss fight we go.

30 hours ago, Brencis slapped me aside in the prologue. Now, he can barely keep up. I've juiced Coen's vampirism as far as it will go, and in tandem with Duelist mode's teachings, Brencis' lightning-fast swipes and underhanded shadowsteps are easily anticipated. Lacra is nearly taken out of the fight with a talon to the guts, but the mandrake's powers allow her to shrug off the blow – which is more than can be said for Brencis, who is torn to shreds two-on-one.

Unlike our prior vampire conquests, Brencis continues the fight in Vampire Hell, albeit far gnarlier than he was in regular un-life. But Coen is practically immortal by this point, and we have a surprising ally – the spirit of Ambrus, whose soul I spared weeks ago, appears to help kill our sire. As Brencis struggles to deflect my claws, Ambrus strikes at his exposed side, landing the final blow.

Victory! Sort of. As Brencis' spirit materializes for one last soliloquy, I decide not to invite him in, which takes me longer than expected to decide – For all the heartbreak Brencis has put Coen through, I have a real soft spot for the baddie. He even gets the last laugh: fading away, Brencis tells Coen that he's prepared one last surprise…

Epilogue

We don't get to see the surprise just yet, as we're fast-forwarded to Coen's village, Laslea, for an epilogue. Winter is approaching, and although our playthrough has been a fairly selfish pursuit of power, it bears surprisingly pleasant fruit. The village is rebuilding with the help of Vale Sangora's rebel faction, who have taken reluctant control in the power vacuum left by Brencis. Coen's family survived, with one catch. Lunka, Coen's youngest sister, is a semi-turned vampire creature who lives feral in the caves above Laslea.

There's hope for Lunka yet, though, as Lacra – revealed to be a vampire in the ancient order of Augurs – joins Coen along with her superior, who promises to finish Lunka's transformation if Coen joins their ranks. We've already done much worse to save Coen's family so with Lunka in tow, we leave Vale Sangora – and The Blood of Dawnwalker behind. There's a beefy post-credits scene detailing the impact of our choices – I'll note the most interesting ones below, and we can discuss how it differed in the comments.

• Coen's mortal family survive, but he never sees them again
• Without the vampire's blood as protection, the Black Plague returns to Vale Sangora
• With no replacement for Brencis, Vale Sangora descends into lawlessness – leaving the manumit rebels to defend the valley
• Lacra continues her work with the Augurs
• Xanthe continues to live with her daughter – but I'm pretty damn miffed, as she goes back on our deal and returns to killing young women
• The nun's convent from part one remains cursed (oops)

As for Coen, he learns to live with his vampirism – a slight understatement, given I've spent a month forcing gallons of blood down his throat. As for myself, I'm thrilled that The Blood of Dawnwalker's happy(ish) ending isn't mutually exclusive with going all-in on vampirism. There are still a lot of loose ends, least of which being a post-credits scene of a leather-clad Coen in the modern-day, and I'm keen to see how Rebel Wolves continues its planned series.

As we come to the end of September's RPG Club, how did you find The Blood of Dawnwalker? Whether you followed the same rules or struck a different direction for Coen, let me know – I'll be hanging around in the comments to answer questions and chat about our decisions. And lastly, thanks for joining me on this 30–day odyssey. I'll always save you from Vampire Hell, dear reader.