Crake leads the Manumits, the rebel group trying to break the vrakhiri hold on Vale Sangora, and he is one of the characters Coen can end up with in The Blood of Dawnwalker. The romance does not happen by accident. It runs through a chain of quests, a handful of supportive dialogue picks, and one final conversation outside a fortress overlooking Svartrau City during the quest A Closer Look.
Quick answer: During A Closer Look, talk to Crake and pick “May I join you, then?”, “I’m worried about you. What’s wrong?”, “Please, just tell me the truth about Ascar”, and “Hey. Nothing you say can change the way I see you.” When he kisses Coen, select [kiss him back] to start the romance scene and unlock The Manumit trophy.
A Closer Look: Every dialogue choice for the Crake romance scene
Head to the marked location and you will find Crake practicing swordplay near the fortress. Every prompt below matters. Picking a dismissive or professional answer instead pushes the conversation back toward duty, and the romantic option never appears.
What Crake tells Coen after the scene
The morning conversation is optional but it closes out the story thread. Crake explains that his father warned him about his sexuality, telling him it would bring persecution, which is why he has spent years living under a false name and a false life.
Follow-up prompts let Coen ask “Anyone else knows?”, “Did you? Never act on it?”, and “Why are you still looking after him?” Crake says he keeps watch over Ascar despite being treated as a devil by him. Coen can also share that his own mother may have known he is bisexual, which is where the two settle into an understanding.
Choosing “So… About us.” leads to the practical part. The two agree to keep the relationship quiet and focus on the fight ahead. From there Crake lays out his plan against Brencis, which feeds into his own finale quest.
How to confirm the romance registered
When control returns to you after the cutscene, the game pops The Manumit trophy. That is the confirmation. If the trophy does not appear once gameplay resumes, the kiss-back option was not selected and the scene played out as a friendship beat instead.
Quests you must clear before A Closer Look appears
Coen cannot reach this conversation without joining the Manumits and building the relationship over several earlier quests. The chain runs in this order.
| Quest | What it requires |
|---|---|
| The Firebrand | Available straight out of the prologue. Completing it leads into the next mission. |
| Shadows in the Woods | First meeting with the Manumits: Crake, Drogos, and Sara. |
| Where Loyalty Lies | The group does not trust Coen yet. Raise Infamy to level 4 (Notorious) and the quest step updates, opening the Manumits hideout. |
| What Hunts the Night | Bonding conversation while hiding from soldiers. |
| What Moves the Dead | Escape from the crypts, then walk Crake back and treat his wounds. |
| Distant Shadows | Tail Ascar without being spotted, then report back honestly. |
Dialogue picks in the lead-up quests
During What Hunts the Night, Coen and Crake take cover in a building. Work through “Do you want to talk about Sara?”, “You sure? You look upset.”, “I know what it’s like to lose someone.” (which expands if Home Sweet Home is already done), “Maybe we could talk about them instead.”, and “Alin loved apples.”
In What Moves the Dead, take the option to walk him back to the hideout after the crypts. It costs one Time Segment, and it is where Coen learns his real name. Inside the hideout, dress his wounds using “Let me help.”, “Not that bad.”, and “Sure.”
Distant Shadows looks like filler, but it gates the romance. Trail Ascar using cover, keep well clear of the soldiers in the village so they do not recognise Coen, and follow him through the woods. Near the end, soldiers accost him and you can step in or stay hidden. Afterwards, tell Crake the truth about what happened. He storms off, Drogos points you to where he went, and agreeing to go talk to him starts A Closer Look.
Reasons the Crake romance fails to trigger
A Closer Look is time-sensitive. It has to be finished within the same cycle it starts in, so do not let the clock roll from night into the following day before you reach Crake. Advancing the cycle loses the opportunity.
Beyond the timing, the failure points are narrow. Infamy below level 4 keeps the hideout closed and stalls the chain at Where Loyalty Lies. Lying to Crake after Distant Shadows breaks the trust the final conversation is built on. Framing the questions as suspicion rather than concern shuts him down. And selecting “I’m sorry – but I’m not interested” at the final prompt ends the romance outright.
Note: Crake is not the only romance available to Coen, so a playthrough that misses this window is not a dead end for the character’s story, only for this particular thread.
The whole arc rewards patience more than anything else. Crake spends most of it deflecting, and the choices that work are the ones where Coen keeps showing up as a person rather than as a soldier taking orders.
