Cycle 1 introduces the normal audience, Gallery, free-time conversation, and Round Table loop. It also hides several lasting effects inside casual lines: the cat decision changes Angelica’s optional scene, one Lady of the Tower reply starts her romance score, and the first quest determines when Forge construction becomes available.
The A New Sovereign achievement unlocks at the boundary where the Prologue ends and this cycle begins. No additional achievement unlocks during Cycle 1.
Spoiler warning: This guide gives exact personality and relationship changes, the guaranteed quest result, the Cycle 2 follow-up, and the extra options available after turning back time.
Return to the Prologue walkthrough
Recommended Order
- Finish Arlin and Angelica’s automatic introduction.
- Hear the blacksmith’s audience and accept Hammer lost, yet again.
- Enter the highlighted Gallery and finish the Lady of the Tower introduction. The Round Table remains blocked until you do.
- Play Angelica’s optional cat-and-flour conversation before ending the cycle if you want it to count as Cycle 1 content. You may assign or unassign her first and return to the conversation; only advancing the cycle closes this opportunity.
- Open the Round Table, assign Angelica to Hammer lost, yet again, and end the cycle.
- On the transition screen, review the quest outcome, take the rewards, and choose Next Cycle. The mandatory Demon introduction starts in Cycle 2 and belongs to the next walkthrough.
Arlin and Angelica’s Introduction
Arlin’s opening answer only changes how much tutorial explanation plays. Angelica is then recruited unconditionally, regardless of every greeting and cat response. The personal greeting adds one required bridge line; the formal greeting goes straight to her request.
| Step | Choice | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Arlin tutorial | No need, I’ll just go with my gut feeling. | Skips Arlin’s longer explanation. None. |
| Arlin tutorial | With pleasure. | Plays Arlin’s full explanation. None. |
| Angelica greeting | How fares my favourite knight? | Adds one forced follow-up line before Angelica continues. None. |
| Forced follow-up | Yes, which objectively makes you the best. Please, continue. | Continues Angelica’s introduction. None. |
| Angelica greeting | Welcome to the Round Table, Lady Angelica. | Continues Angelica’s introduction directly. None. |
| Cat request | No cats in my Tower. | Tyrannic +1 and Kind -1; the cat remains forbidden. The cat is absent from Angelica’s optional scene unless permission is granted there. |
| Cat request | Something can be done for the room. But no cats. | Wise +1; the cat remains forbidden. The cat is absent from Angelica’s optional scene unless permission is granted there. |
| Cat request | Of course. Someone will assist you to make your room more comfortable as well. | Kind +1 and Tyrannic -1; Angelica may keep the cat. Her optional scene uses its cat-allowed branch. |
The cat choice does not change Angelica’s affinity. It changes personality totals and records whether the cat is allowed. Personality values can fall below zero, so the Kind -1 and Tyrannic -1 penalties are real rather than being clamped away.
The three cat decisions lead to two versions of Angelica’s optional scene later that afternoon:
- No cats in my Tower. and Something can be done for the room. But no cats. use the cat-forbidden branch.
- Of course. Someone will assist you… uses the cat-allowed branch.
Carina and the Lost Hammer
The only scheduled Cycle 1 audience is Carina, the Tower’s blacksmith. The opening accusation is required. Your next answer is the only meaningful choice: the fitness joke gives Audacious +1, while the quieter response gives nothing. You must then promise a knight and unlock the quest.
| Step | Choice | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Opening | … Dropped or lost? | Required opening line. None. |
| Response | Not long ago then… | Continues without a modifier. None. |
| Response | Curious to know how you stayed fit after two years without hitting the iron? | Audacious +1. The point persists. |
| Forced resolution | I’ll send one of my knights. | Unlocks Hammer lost, yet again. The quest must be assigned to Angelica before Cycle 1 can end. |
Hammer lost, yet again is a one-cycle Relic Recovery assignment in Clovermont with Woods and Heavy Lifting conditions. It asks for Strength 4, Agility 4, and Luck 6. Do not worry about finding another knight: Angelica is the only available recruit and is deliberately strong enough for the tutorial result.
The Lady of the Tower
After the audience phase, the game highlights the Gallery. Other progress controls remain blocked until you enter it. The first greeting changes dialogue only. At the end, the flirt is the one consequential response.
| Step | Choice | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Greeting | A speaking statue? What sorcery is this? | Changes the Lady’s reply. None. |
| Greeting | And mine also. Such a beauty in stone. | Changes the Lady’s reply. None. |
| Closing | What do you mean? | Finishes the introduction without a relationship change. None. |
| Closing | Will I be graced to see your lovely face again? | Lady of the Tower romance +1. The romance point persists. |
Will I be graced to see your lovely face again? adds Lady of the Tower romance +1. It does not require an existing romance score, so it is available on a fresh game. The room tutorial follows either closing response. Nothing can be constructed yet because Cycle 1 has not made a room available.
Angelica’s Optional Conversation
Once the Gallery tutorial is complete, Angelica’s first affinity conversation is available during the afternoon. You may play it before or after assigning her, but must do so before ending the cycle. Every route reveals her previously hidden Animal Lover characteristic, even the harsh route that ends the scene immediately.
Positive affinity instructions are secretly multiplied by 1.5. Accordingly, every listed +1.5 affinity below is the actual stored gain; the rejection remains exactly -2.
| Step | Choice | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Opening | There’s not much to snack from it. | Audacious +1 and Kind +1; continues. Reveals Angelica’s Animal Lover characteristic. |
| Opening, cat forbidden only | I said no animals in my Tower. | Tyrannic +1, Kind -1, and Angelica affinity -2; ends the scene. Reveals Angelica’s Animal Lover characteristic; the cat remains forbidden. |
| Opening | That’s a cute little fellow. | Kind +1 and Angelica affinity +1.5; continues. Reveals Angelica’s Animal Lover characteristic. |
If You Forbade the Cat
The middle opening rejection appears only if the cat was forbidden. If you choose either other opening line, the scene continues to these options:
| Step | Choice | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Follow-up, cat forbidden | If you clean up right now, you can keep it. | Wise +1, Kind +1, Angelica affinity +1.5, and permission to keep the cat. The cat state persists in this timeline. |
| Follow-up, cat forbidden | I said NO animals. | Tyrannic +1 and Kind -1; no additional affinity change. The cat remains forbidden. |
| Follow-up, cat forbidden | Of course. Only if you promise to smile like that each day. | A flirt-styled line with no romance point; it leads to a forced farewell. The farewell gives Angelica affinity +1.5 and permits the cat. |
| Forced farewell | … Good luck cleaning up the flour. | Gives Angelica affinity +1.5; also gives Wise +1 when reached from the name correction. The cat remains allowed, or becomes allowed after the promise-to-smile route. |
The promise-to-smile line is presented as a flirt, but it does not add romance. Its forced farewell gives affinity +1.5 and changes the cat to allowed. The direct permission option does the same while also giving Wise +1 and Kind +1.
If You Allowed the Cat
The harsh opening rejection is absent. After either remaining opening line, choose one of these responses:
| Step | Choice | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Follow-up, cat allowed | You know my name is not “Sovereign”, right? | Leads to a forced farewell. The farewell gives Wise +1 and Angelica affinity +1.5. |
| Follow-up, cat allowed | Meow. | Audacious +1 and a flirt-styled response with no romance point; it leads to a forced farewell. The farewell gives Angelica affinity +1.5. |
| Forced farewell | … Good luck cleaning up the flour. | Gives Angelica affinity +1.5; also gives Wise +1 when reached from the name correction. The cat remains allowed, or becomes allowed after the promise-to-smile route. |
The name correction makes the forced farewell add Wise +1. Meow. adds Audacious +1 instead. Neither route increases romance; both give affinity +1.5. Starting with That’s a cute little fellow. and taking either positive follow-up produces the scene’s maximum Angelica affinity +3.
Other Optional Stops
Cycle 1 also opens several linear tutorials. None contains a consequential story choice:
- Map Room: Arlin introduces the map, Audience Requests, recalling deferred knights, and repairing locations after failed quests. Cycle 1 has no request or repair to use.
- Inventory: The room is accessible, but Rupin is absent and the shop controls are unavailable.
- Sovereign Menu: Four pages explain faction satisfaction and personality archetypes.
- Glossary: Five pages explain characters, statistics, attributes, preferences, and affinity.
- World Map: You may inspect it, but there is no Cycle 1 map action.
The Demon room remains hidden. The Forge, Witch, Intendancy, Stables, Training, and Kitchen rooms are still locked; Angelica’s optional scene is a special exception that can appear despite its Kitchen setting.
Round Table and Quest Result
Open the Round Table after finishing any optional conversation. The tutorial explains the panels, but its page navigation is not a story choice. Assign Angelica to Hammer lost, yet again. Cycle End remains hidden until that assignment exists, so the quest cannot be abandoned during a normal first Cycle 1.
Angelica’s result is deterministic:
| Result | Exact outcome |
|---|---|
| Quest grade | Success. Her Strength 4, Agility 8, and Luck 7 produce a score of about 3.91, safely above the Success boundary but below Great Success. |
| Funds | +30, taking the normal starting treasury from 100 to 130. |
| Experience | +11 XP. Angelica remains Level 1, one point short of Level 2 at 12 XP. |
| Armor | Randomly loses 0 or 1 armor, ending at 5 or 4 armor. |
| Affinity | No change from the assignment; its category and conditions match none of Angelica’s quest preferences. |
| Follow-up | A Cycle 2 audience records where the hammer was found and makes the Forge available to construct in the Gallery. It does not build the Forge automatically. |
Her hidden Fortunate characteristic cannot change this grade: even its possible +1 score remains inside the Success band. The result therefore has random armor loss, but no random chance to become Great Success.
After assigning Angelica, press Cycle End. The first Next Cycle button is on the end-cycle world map; Close returns you to the Tower if you still want to change something. Choosing Next Cycle opens the quest result. The forced Quest Outcomes tutorial has four pages, Recap is optional, Rewards advances the result, and the second Next Cycle completes the transition.
Even with optimal personality routing, Cycle 1 cannot unlock a normal personality level. Audacious can reach at most 9 by the end of the cycle; Wise, Kind, and Tyrannic can reach at most 8. Level 1 still requires 10.
Turning Back Time
After using the Demon to reverse time, Omniscient Level 1 opens four extra Cycle 1 shortcuts. The introduction shortcuts also require that the audience has already been completed once. The blacksmith foresight additionally requires learning the hammer’s location from the normal Cycle 2 follow-up before rewinding to Cycle 1.
| Step | Choice | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Audience shortcut | Let’s skip all that. | Skips Arlin’s repeated tutorial explanation, then still recruits Angelica. None. |
| Cat foresight | I have a feeling you want to ask me about a cat? Permission granted. | Sets the cat as allowed without adding Kind or Tyrannic points. Angelica’s optional scene uses its cat-allowed branch. |
| Cat foresight | Before you ask, no cats. But I can have your room rearranged. | Keeps the cat forbidden without adding Wise points. Angelica’s optional scene uses its cat-forbidden branch. |
| Blacksmith foresight | You should look on the outskirts of the shepherd’s village. By the river, near the old mill. | Skips Hammer lost, yet again and queues a different Cycle 2 follow-up. Forge construction still becomes available, but this timeline gets no 30 funds or 11 quest XP. |
The two foresight cat replies bypass the normal greeting and cat responses, so they set the cat outcome without awarding their usual personality points. The blacksmith foresight route reaches the same Forge-construction unlock in Cycle 2, but because no quest is created, that timeline forfeits the normal 30 funds, 11 XP, and 0-1 armor loss.
The Serpent Knight Audience
Returning to the beginning of the Act adds a second Cycle 1 audience with the hooded Serpent Knight, Epicrates. This scene is absent from the first playthrough. Carina and Epicrates may be heard in either click order, but both audiences must be resolved before the audience phase ends. The game prevents duplicate copies from being added to Cycle 1, but the Serpent Knight remains part of a replayed first cycle once introduced.
| Step | Choice | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Opening topic | What can I do for you? | Epicrates questions whether this is really your first time on the throne. Changes only the order of the two conversation topics. |
| Opening or second topic | Who… are you? | Asks the stranger’s identity before he turns the question back on you. Changes only the order of the two conversation topics. |
| Forced bridge | … And what can I do for you? | Moves from the identity exchange to his question about the time loop. None. |
| Time-loop answer | No. But this is the first time I have seen you here. | Tells Epicrates the truth. No mechanical difference from lying; completing the conversation records that you met him. |
| Time-loop answer | (Lie) It is the first time, though. | Lies to Epicrates. No mechanical difference from telling the truth; completing the conversation records that you met him. |
| Identity answer | The new ruler and master of this place. | Gives Epicrates the confident answer. No mechanical difference from calling yourself a sick traveller. |
| Identity answer | A sick traveller who, I-still-don’t-know-how, managed to open the Tower’s door. | Gives Epicrates the humble answer. No mechanical difference from calling yourself the new ruler. |
| Early exit | Guards?! Get this man out immediately! | Tyrannic +1 and ends the audience immediately. Records that you met the Serpent Knight. |
| Identity foresight | Hello again, Epicrates. | Skips the interrogation without awarding a modifier. Records that you met him and enables the same later callbacks as the full conversation. |
The normal conversation has two topics: what Epicrates wants and who he is. You can ask them in either order. Telling the truth or lying about the time loop changes dialogue only, as does calling yourself the new ruler or a sick traveller. Guards?! Get this man out immediately! is the only mechanical response, giving Tyrannic +1 and ending the audience early.
Every completed route records that you met the Serpent Knight. This changes a later Brimwood audience, allows three possible Epicrates interventions when their other conditions are met, and prevents the generic scheduler from arranging a separate first meeting later. It does not recruit him. After learning his real identity in a later timeline, Hello again, Epicrates. appears with Omniscient Level 1 and skips the interrogation without granting a modifier.
Cycle 1 End State
On the normal route, Cycle 1 ends with Angelica recruited and assigned quest cleared, 130 funds, Angelica at Level 1 with 11 XP, and her armor at 4 or 5. Her affinity depends on the optional scene, the cat state reflects your latest permission decision, and the blacksmith follow-up is queued for the next morning. All four faction satisfaction scores remain at 5.
The audience phase also resets the hidden courier cooldown to 3. The transition to Cycle 2 reduces it to 2, so Cycle 4 is the first normal opportunity for a random courier intervention.