Xanthe’s Recruiters: Taste of Power Walkthrough in The Blood of Dawnwalker

Taste of Power is one of the three Blood Guard recruiter activities in Xanthe’s Court panel, and it is the only one that hands over a Phial of Brencis’s Blood. The whole thing runs on a short timer of a conversation, a fight, and a single interaction with a golden reliquary — but the reliquary prompt is where most players stall, because one of the three options ends the activity without the legendary item.

Quick answer: Talk to the Blood Guard in the courtyard in central Svartrau City, pick the line “I’d like to see just how strong the vrakhir blood makes you” to start combat, wipe out the recruiters and guards, then interact with the reliquary and choose [collect vrakhiri blood]. Time skips to midnight and the activity completes with the Phial of Brencis’s Blood in your inventory.

Where Taste of Power starts in Svartrau City

The activity sits in a courtyard in central Svartrau City, tucked behind the main streets. Like every Court Activity, it shows up as “Unknown Activity” in the Court menu until you physically walk into it, so the fastest way to get an icon on your map is to climb the nearby tower first and let it mark the white question marks.

Xanthe’s region is tuned for level 25 and up, which is why she is normally the third vassal you deal with after Ambrus and Bakir. Taste of Power itself is one of the lighter encounters in her set — a handful of recruiters and guards rather than a full camp — but the enemies still hit like Xanthe-tier enemies.

Budget 3 time segments for it. That is the standard cost across her recruiter, transport, and digsite activities, and it is worth knowing before you start a run of them back to back.

The dialogue option that starts the fight

Walk into the courtyard until the interaction prompt appears over the Blood Guard standing beside the golden container. The recruiter is pitching the vrakhir blood to civilians, and nothing here turns hostile until you speak to him.

Talk prompt appearing over one of Xanthe's men in a Svartrau City courtyard — The talk prompt appears as Coen approaches Xanthe’s recruiters in Svartrau City. Image: Rebel Wolves

Work through the conversation and pick “I’d like to see just how strong the vrakhir blood makes you.” That line is the trigger — the recruiters draw immediately and the objective “Destroy the blood reliquary” appears in your journal.

The other replies, “How does one become a blood slave?” and “I don’t think I’m worthy,” are flavour. They let you back out of the conversation without a fight, and you can walk up and start it again later.

Clearing the recruiters and looting the courtyard

Kill the recruiter and the guards who join him. It is an open stone courtyard with no environmental tricks, so standard blocking and counterattacking is enough. Coen is stronger at night with claws, which is worth remembering if you are underlevelled for Xanthe’s region.

Coen striking a red-cloaked Blood Guard in the courtyard with the enemy health bar on screen — The fight against the red-cloaked Blood Guard plays out in the courtyard where the recruiters were standing. Image: Rebel Wolves

Loot every body before touching the reliquary. The drops include Blood Guard’s Greaves, Denarius, a Quicksilver Amulet, a Saffron Milk Cap, and the Recruitment Instructions note.

Loot prompt highlighting a fallen recruiter's body after the courtyard fight — Looting the fallen recruiters turns up the Recruitment Instructions and Blood Guard’s Greaves. Image: Rebel Wolves

Open the chest in the same courtyard. The document inside reveals additional Xanthe activities on your map, which saves you a lot of blind wandering later when you are pushing her Anger meter toward the threshold.

The reliquary choice: Collect, destroy, or leave

Interacting with the golden container where the recruiter was standing opens three options. Only one of them puts the legendary phial in your bag.

Option	What happens
`[collect vrakhiri blood]`	Time advances to midnight, the activity completes, and you receive the Phial of Brencis’s Blood.
`[destroy the reliquary]`	Satisfies the “Destroy the blood reliquary” objective without giving you the phial.
`[leave]`	Backs out of the prompt. You can return and interact with the reliquary again.

The blood reliquary interaction at the end of the Taste of Power courtyard fight

Note: taking the blood is the whole reason to run this particular activity. The Anger contribution toward Xanthe is the same either way, but the phial is a one-time legendary pickup tied to this location.

Rewards and how to confirm the activity completed

You know it worked when the screen fades, the clock jumps to midnight, and the completion card appears listing the rewards. If the card does not show up, the reliquary interaction has not been resolved — go back to the golden container and pick an option other than [leave].

Reward	Amount
XP	100
Skill Points	1
Item	Phial of Brencis’s Blood (Legendary)
Time cost	3 time segments

The phial is a consumable, not a quest item. Drinking it unlocks the Piercing Shriek ability in the Vampirism tree, in the same way the Ambrus and Bakir phials unlock their own vampiric perks and push Coen’s Corruption higher.

The other two Blood Guard recruiter activities

Taste of Power is one of three recruiter encounters, and all three follow the same shape — talk, fight, then open the golden box. Each one holds a different phial, so it is worth clearing all of them while you are in the area.

Activity	Phial	Extra step
Taste of Power	Phial of Brencis’s Blood	Loot the chest for a document that marks more Xanthe activities.
Just a Bit More	Phial of Ambrus’s Blood	South of Svartrau City. A Blood Addict interrupts you at the box — deal with him before taking the blood.
Come Home	Phial of Bakir’s Blood	Also has a chest with a document revealing further Xanthe activities.

Xanthe's Recruiters: Just a Bit More appearing on screen as Coen swings his sword at an enemy — The Just a Bit More recruiter activity registering on screen mid-fight. Image: Rebel Wolves

Xanthe has 15 Court Activities in total, and roughly 12 of them is enough to max her Anger and unlock her boss quest, The Cycle of Love. The recruiter trio is the cheapest way to bank three of those completions in a single trip through Svartrau City, and you walk out with two of the game’s legendary phials plus a map full of newly marked icons for the rest of her set.