The Blood of Dawnwalker: Phial of Xanthe’s Blood Location

The Phial of Xanthe’s Blood is a consumable in The Blood of Dawnwalker that hands you the Blood Surge ability in the Vampirism skill tree without ever crossing swords with the boyaress herself. It sits inside the Cathedral Complex in Svartrau City, behind a locked treasury door.

Quick answer: Take the Treasury Key from the ledger on the table inside the Cathedral Complex Belltower, then unlock the Treasury door in the northern garden and open the small golden chest on the second floor.

What you need before you go

The whole run happens inside one location, so the only real decision is whether you approach in daylight or after dark. Each option has a different cost and a different risk.

Approach	What it takes
Day	Front doors are open. Talk to the Acolyte guarding the Belltower and help with his task, which costs 1 Time Segment.
Night	Main doors are locked. Climb the southeastern tower using Shadowstep and the wooden platforms, drop in through the roof, and stay out of Xanthe’s sight.

Note: Xanthe patrols the Cathedral at night, giving orders to her followers. If she spots you, the Vrakhiri boss fight starts on the spot, which is not what you want if you came here to skip that encounter.

World map zoomed in on Svartrau City with the player marker sitting beside the Cathedral Complex — The map centred on Svartrau City, with your position marked next to the Cathedral Complex. Image: Rebel Wolves

Getting the Treasury Key in the Belltower

The Treasury door does not open without the key, and the key never leaves the Belltower. The daytime route is the shorter one and carries no combat risk.

Head to the Cathedral Complex in Svartrau City during the day and push through the main doors. Your first visit triggers a cutscene with Father Florin before you get free control back.

Player standing at the Cathedral's heavy wooden door with the open prompt showing — The Cathedral’s wooden doors, which stay open only during daylight hours. Image: Rebel Wolves

Find the Acolyte posted in front of the Belltower door and start a conversation. Offer to help him with his task, which he accepts in exchange for 1 Time Segment, and he lets you through.

Gold-highlighted acolyte standing ahead of the player near the locked Belltower door — The Acolyte, marked in gold, blocks the Belltower until you agree to help him. Image: Rebel Wolves

Inside the Belltower, walk to the table and inspect the ledger sitting on it. Reading the ledger carefully is what produces the Treasury Key, so a quick glance at the room is not enough.

Inspect prompt appearing over an open ledger lying on a desk inside the Belltower — The Inspect prompt on the open ledger, where the Treasury Key is hidden. Image: Rebel Wolves

At night the same table and the same ledger are your target, but you reach the Belltower from the southeastern side of the building instead of through the front. The climb drains stamina, so time your Shadowsteps between wooden platforms to top it back up before dropping inside.

Opening the Cathedral Treasury and looting the phial

With the key in hand, the rest is a short walk. The Treasury doors face the garden on the northern side of the complex.

Leave the Belltower, exit the Cathedral, and cross into the northern part of the garden until you reach the large Treasury doors. Use the Treasury Key on them to open the building.

Climb to the second floor of the Treasury. The room holds a small golden chest that stands out against the rest of the storage.

Open the golden chest to collect the Phial of Xanthe’s Blood. It goes straight into your inventory as a consumable and can be drunk whenever you like.

Player standing directly in front of a closed chest holding the quest reward — The chest that holds the Phial of Xanthe’s Blood, waiting to be opened. Image: Rebel Wolves

How to confirm Blood Surge unlocked

Drinking the phial raises your corruption and adds Blood Surge to the Vampirism skill tree. Open that tree after consuming it, and the ability should be available rather than locked. If it is still greyed out, the phial has not been consumed yet, only picked up.

Blood Surge causes regular enemies you kill to explode, spreading area damage to anything standing nearby. The size of that damage scales with the level of the ability. Bosses do not explode, but they still take direct damage from the effect.

The alternative: draining Xanthe directly

Blood Surge has exactly one other source. Defeat Xanthe and drain her blood, and the ability unlocks the same way. That route requires being in vampire form, so it only works at night, and it also opens the option to invite her into your mind.

Killing her without draining, or resolving her storyline during the day, will not give you the ability. That is the practical case for the phial. It hands you the same skill while leaving her fate, and the benefits of sparing her, entirely open.