All Book of Hours Librarian Origins + possible starting Elements of the Soul
tl;dr
The Librarian Origin picked during The Beginning of Book of Hours is associated with two starting Elements of the Soul (EotS) that one can select. However, there are four (arguably eight) additional Elements of the Soul cards people forget to account for.
Starting Health card.
Starting Trist card from mastering the Journal/unlocking the Tree of Wisdoms.
Starting EotS from cataloguing the Journal (the Journal name changes when catalogued)
The EotS you get from attuning one of your starting lessons from your Journal.
The other EotS you get from attuning your other starting lesson from your Journal.
The other four cards you are nearly guaranteed to get in the early game:
The extra Wist card received from solving the statue puzzle. (arguably mid/late game content)
The EotS you get from attuning the Edicts Liminal lesson reward from Travelling at Night, Vol. 1.
The EotS you get from attuning the Sights & Sensations lesson reward from Travelling at Night, Vol. 2.
The EotS you get from attuning your first language, as you’re guaranteed a Spintria from a chair and if you can get the Spintria before your first visitor, bam, free lesson. However, this could take a while for you to unlock depending on visitor RNG and how fast you can get that Spintria. You are guaranteed to learn a language from your first visitor because every visitor teaches at least one language, and at the start of the game, you don’t know any of those languages.
l;dr
The actual possible starting EotS are:
Health (everyone gets one)
Trist (from unlocking the Tree of Wisdom)
Whichever two EotS you pick during ‘character creation’
Whatever you get as a reward for cataloguing your Journal (not the starting Trist)
The two EotS you get from your starting skill attunements
And, during the early/early mid game…
Either Fet or Ereb from Travelling at Night, Vol. 1’s
Either Fet or Wist from Travelling at Night, Vol. 2’s
Your first language card’s reward
The Wist from the statue puzzle, depending on if you know your way around Hush House
Maximum starting base EotS for each origin:
The following is based solely on the two EotS picked during character creation, the journal cataloguing reward, the two skill attunement rewards, and the free Trist and Wist.
Chor: 3 Chor: Executioner. Chor and Mettle from character creation, Chor attunements for their two skills (Sickle & Eclipse into Preservation for Chor, Surgeries & Exsanguinations into Preservation for Chor)
Ereb: 4 Ereb: Artist (Shapt/Ereb/Chor, Ereb), Ereb from Journal cataloguing, Desires & Dissolutions in The Book for Ereb, Rites of the Roots under The Boss for Ereb. You can arguably get a 4th Ereb extremely easily with this run if you pick Shapt because you can use Shapt to pretty easily open Traveling at Night, Vol. 1. This is a really difficult run because the Ereb obtained this way will not be associated with a skill that can easily evolve it at a workstation. However…you do get 4 Ereb off the bat, the highest minimaxxable EotS.
Fet: 3 or 5 Fet: Cartographer: Fet and Phost from The Beginning, Fet from the Journal cataloguing, Path & Pilgrim into Nyctodromy for the final Fet. Can get Wist or Phost for Inks of Revelation. Given both lessons from the Travelling at Night series can be committed to Wisdoms in exchange for Fet, 5 Fet is arguably the highest guaranteed ‘early game’ amount of EotS.
Health: 2 Health. Fourway tie. All Origins start with one Health, but the four following choice paths give you an additional Health.
Archaeologist (Wist) -> Ragged Crossroads -> Preservation -> Health
Artist -> Rites of the Roots -> The Book -> Health.
Executioner -> Journal cataloguing reward -> Health
Magnate -> Quenchings & Queelings -> Preservation -> Health
Mettle: 3 Mettle: Revolutionary. Fet and Mettle from The Beginning, Mettle from the Journal cataloguing reward, Mettle for associating Edicts Martial with Horomachistry. Mettle is the best EotS, so this is the best start.
Phost: 4 Phost: Twice-Born (Shapt and Phost during character creation, Phost from Journal cataloguing, Auroral Contemplations in Illumination for Phost, Glaziery & Lightsmithing in Ithastry for Phost) If you really want to minmax the starting EotS, I would try this run (4 Phost) over the 4 Ereb starting run mentioned earlier, as the evolution stations come earlier in the game.
Shapt: 3 Shapt: Archaeologist (Mettle): Shapt and Mettle from The Beginning, Shapt from Journal cataloguing, Shapt from putting Ragged Crossroads into Skolekosophy, either Trist or Ereb from the final attunement of Wolf Stories. Note this does not apply to Archaeologist (Wist)
Trist: 3 Trist: Tie: Both The Magnate and The Symurgist can obtain 2 Trist cards in the early-early game. Everyone gets a free Trist for Journal stuff.
Wist: 2 or 4 Wist: Magnate and Prodigal (tie): Magnate gets a Wist starting card out the gate, a Wist as their Journal cataloguing reward. Prodigal can attune either of their two skills to Wisdoms that grant them Wist (Pyroglyphics -> Ithastry -> Wist, Bells & Brazeries -> Ithastry -> Wist). You can get an additional Wist from the statue puzzle, but that may not count as ‘early game content’ to some. You can get an additional Wist for either build from Travelling at Night, Vol. 2.
Magnate -> Sacra Limiae -> Horomachistry -> Trist
Symurgist -> Rhyme & Remembrance -> Birdsong -> Trist
The Real Starting EotS for Each Origin
tl;dr
Note that there are 3 combos that create The Artist and 2 combos that create The Archaeologist.
Format: Origin: Choice One, Choice Two, Journal Catalogue Reward, Attunement for Skill 1 (skill you get 3 lessons of), Attunement for Skill 2 (skill you get 1 lesson of)
The Archaeologist (Mettle): Shapt, Mettle, Shapt, Shapt/Phost, Trist/Ereb
The Archaeologist (Wist): Shapt, Wist, Shapt, Mettle/Health, Trist/Ereb
The Artist: Shapt/Fet/Chor, Ereb, Ereb, Mettle/Ereb, Ereb/Health
The Cartographer: Fet, Phost, Fet, Wist/Phost, Chor/Fet
The Executioner: Chor, Mettle, Health, Shapt/Chor, Wist/Chor
The Magnate: Fet, Wist, Wist, Health/Trist, Mettle/Trist
The Prodigal: Chor, Phost, Phost, Mettle/Wist, Mettle/Wist
The Revolutionary: Fet, Mettle, Mettle, Mettle/Phost, Trist/Fet
The Symurgist: Chor, Wist, Chor, Ereb/Trist, Trist/Fet
The Twice-Born: Shapt, Phost, Phost, Phost/Fet, Mettle/Phost
The Archaeologist
Creation: The Archaeologist is created when you choose Shapt with Mettle or Wist.
Journal Cataloguing Reward: Shapt (doesn’t matter what other choices you make, the reward is always Shapt)
Wisdom: They’re associated with Skolekosophy, which is associated with Ereb and Shapt.
If you select Mettle, you’ll end up with 3 Ragged Crossroads and 1 Wolf Stories.
If you select Wist, you’ll end up with 3 Inks of Containment and 1 Wolf Stories.
Attunement 1 (Mettle): Ragged Crossroads can be committed to Illumination for Phost, easily evolved at the Practice Equipment early on, whereas attuning Ragged Crossroads to Skolekosophy provides Shapt that can only easily be evolved at the late-game Condignator.
Attunment 1 (Wist): If you select Wist at the start, you get Inks of Containment instead of Ragged Crossroads. Inks of Containment can be committed to Horomachistry for Mettle (evolvable at a variety of early/mid game locations, including the Telescope) or committed to Preservation for Health. However, the skill cannot be used to evolve Health, according to the Book of Hours wiki.
Attunement 2: Wolf Stories can be committed to Birdsong for Trist, evolvable in the early/mid game at the Sunset Harp. It could also be committed to Skolekosophy for Ereb, evolvable at the mid/late game Nocturnary.
The Artist
Creation: Select anyt EotS as your first choice with Ereb for your second choice
Journal Cataloguing Reward: Ereb (doesn’t matter what other choices you make, the reward is always Ereb)
Wisdom: The Artist is associated with the Bosk, which provides Ereb and Health.
Unlike The Archaeologist, The Artist does not get different starting lessons based on their creation choices. They always get 3 Desires & Dissolutions and 1 Rites of the Roots.
Attunement 1: Desires & Dissolutions can go in Horomachistry for Mettle (evolvable at the very early Telescope) or The Bosk for Ereb (evolvable at the Calcite Altar, which I’d argue is a late-game location.)
Attunement 2: Rites of the Roots can go under The Bosk for Ereb but that Ereb won’t be easily evolvable. It can be committed to Preservation for Health which is evolvable at an early/mid game station and a late game station.
The Cartographer
Creation: Choose Fet, then Phost
Journal Cataloguing Reward: Fet
Wisdom: The Cartographer is associated with Nyctodromy, which grants Fet and Shapt.
The Cartographer gets 3 Inks of Revelation and 1 Path & Pilgrim.
Attunement 1: Inks of Revelation can go under Hushery for Wist or Ithastry for Phost. The HusheryWist can be evolved in the mid and late game, whereas the Ithastry Phost can be evolved in the late game.
Attunement 2: Path & Pilgrim can go under Birdsong for Chor but will not be evolvable by itself. It can go under Nyctodromy for Fet which can be evolved at both a mid and a late game station.
The Executioner
Creation: Chor, then Mettle
Journal Cataloguing Reward: Health
Wisdom: The Executioner is associated with Preservation, which grants Health and Chor.
The Executioner gets 3 Sickle & Eclipse, 1 Surgeries & Exsanguinations
Attunement 1: Sickle & Eclipse can go under Nyctodromy for late-game evolvable Shapt or Preservation for Chor. The Chor will not be easily evolvable in a workstation.
Attunement 2: Surgeries & Exsanguinations can go into Preservation for an early/mid-game evolvable Chor or Hushery for a Wist that cannot be evolved by itself.
The Magnate
Creation: Fet, then Wist
Journal Cataloguing Reward: Wist
Wisdom: The Magnate is associated with Hushery, which grants Trist and Wist.
The journal grants 3 Quenchings & Quellings as well as 1 Sacra Limiae.
Attunement 1: Quenchings & Quellings can go into Preservation for an early/mid game evolvable Health or Hushery for a late-game evolvable Trist.
Attunement 2: Sacra Limiae can go into Horomachistry for an early-game evolvable Mettle or put into Hushery for a late-game evolvable Trist.
The Prodigal
Creation: Chor, then Phost
Journal Cataloguing Reward: Phost
Wisdom: Ithastry, associated with Phost and Wist
Their starting lessons are 3 Pyroglyphics and 1 Bells & Brazeries.
Attunement 1: Pyroglyphics can go into Illumination for an early-game evolvable Mettle or Ithastry for a mid and late game evolvable Wist.
Attunement 2: Bells & Brazeries can go into Ithastry for a mid and late game evolvable Wist or Horomachistry for an early game evolvable Mettle.
The Revolutionary
Creation: Fet, then Mettle
Journal Cataloguing Reward: Mettle
Wisdom: The Revolutionary is associated with Horomachistry, which is associated with Fet and Mettle.
Their starting lessons are 3 Edicts Martial and 1 Sky Stories.
Attunement 1: Edicts Martial can go into Horomachistry for an easily evolvable Mettle or Illumination for an early game evolvable Phost.
Attunement 2: Putting Sky Stories in Birdsong rewards Trist, evolvable in the early game, or Fet if put into Horomachistry, evolvable in the early game.
The Symurgist
Creation: Chor, then Wist
Journal Cataloguing Reward: Chor
Wisdom: The Symurgist is associated with Birdsong, which rewards Chor and Trist.
Their starting lessons are 3 Rhyme & Remembrance, 1 Sky Stories.
Attunement 1: Rhyme and Remembrance can go into Skolekosophy for a medium/late-game evolvable Ereb or Birdsong for an early/mid -ame evolvable Trist.
Attunement 2: Putting Sky Stories in Birdsong rewards Trist, evolvable in the early game, or Fet if put into Horomachistry, evolvable in the early game.
The Twice-Born
Creation: Shapt, then Phost
Journal Cataloguing Reward: Phost
Wisdom: The Twice-Born is associated with Illumination, which grants Mettle and Phost.
Their journal grants 3 Auroral Contemplations and one Glaziery & Lightsmithing.
Attunement 1: Auroral Contemplations can be placed in Illumination (Phost, easy early game evolution) or Nyctodromy (Fet, hard to evolve, no station is built for that.)
Attunement 2: Glaziery & Lightsmithing can be placed in Illumination (Mettle, easy early game evolution) or Ithastry (Phost, medium and late game evolutions.)
What’s the deal with Travelling at Night (the books, not the game?)
The first two Travelling at Night books are always in the Keeper’s Lodge, which is unlocked in the extremely early game. That means these books are guaranteed to appear, and thus, you are guaranteed to be able to use them for attunements. How fast you can master them is a skill issue, unfortunately, but they have relatively low solving thresholds.
Travelling at Night, Vol. 1 gives Edicts Liminal, which can be attuned for Fet (Nyctodromy) or Ereb (Skolekosophy.) It only takes 4 Knock to master.
Travelling at Night, Vol 2. gives Sights & Sensations, which can be attuned for Fet (Nyctodromy) or Wist (Hushery.) It takes 6 Sky to master. Given the early rooms of Hush House have lots of Sky Principle tools, furnishings, etc., this shouldn’t be too hard to master, especially if you just use Mettle over and over to try and decipher it.
Why did you write this up?
I like having reference documents and I assume that if I wanted to see this math done, somebody else might also find value in this work.
Should I restart my game to follow this meta guide?
This isn’t really a meta guide. This is just a map of the possible paths you can take at the start of the game. The reality is that there are 12 actual starting builds in the game (counting the two Archaeologist starts and the three Artist starts as separate starts), multiplied by 2 possible choices of attunement for the first skill, and 2 possible choices of attunement for the second skill, for a total of 48 actual starts, when it comes to builds.
Bonus Section: Maximum Initial Attainable Principles
Chor: 2 Heart, 1 Grail
Ereb: 2 Grail, 1 Edge
Fet: 2 Rose, 1 Moth
Health: 1 Heart, 1 Nectar, 1 Scale
Mettle: 2 Forge, 1 Edge
Phost: 2 Lantern, 1 Sky
Shapt: 2 Knock, 1 Forge
Trist: 2 Moth, 1 Moon
Wist: 2 Winter, 1 Lantern
Lantern: 8 Lantern. Comes from Phost and Wist, and with the possibility of getting 4 Phost out the gate, the Twice-born wins this by a landslide.
Forge: 6 Forge. Comes from Shapt and Mettle. The Revolutionary can get 3 Mettle easily in the early game, giving them 6 Forge.
Edge: 4-5 Edge. Edge comes from Ereb and Mettle, but each only have it as their secondary Principle, worth 1 point base. The Artist can gain 4 Ereb in the early game, giving them 4 Edge. You can get an additional Ereb from dedicating TaN vol. 1’s Edicts Liminal to Skolekosophy.
Winter: 4-8 Winter. Only comes from Wist. Magnate and Prodigal can get 2 extra Wist from the start and there’s the free Wist from the statue puzzle. TaN vol. 2 gives a skill that can be dedicated for Wist. That’s a total of 4 early game guaranteed Wist cards.
Heart: 8 Heart.
Everyone starts with 1 Health, which does have 1 Heart.
The Executioner starts with Chor and Mettle. That Chor gives us +2 Heart, subtotal 3 Heart.
The Executioner gets another Health for cataloguing their journal, giving +1 Heart, subtotal 4 Heart.
The Executioner can dedicate both their skills for a Chor chard each, giving us +4 Heart (+2 Heart/Chor, * 2 Chor), total 8 Heart.
Grail: 8-10 Grail. Comes from Ereb and Chor. With a Shapt Artist run, you can arguably master TaN 1 pretty early and commit the lesson for another Ereb.
Moth: 7-9 Moth. Comes from Trist and Fet.
The Magnate starts with Fet and Wist, giving them 1 Moth.
The Magnate can dedicate both their lessons to Trist, giving another 4 moth.
Everyone gets a single starting Trist, worth 2 Moth.
You can dedicate both TaN skills for Fet, giving another 2 Moth.
Knock: 6 Knock. Only comes from Shapt. You can get 3 Shapt cards via an Archeologist (Mettle) route.
Rose: 6-10 Rose. Only comes from Fet. Carotgrapher can get 3 Fet out the gate, and commit both TaN volumes for an additional 2 Fet, for a total of 5 Fet.
Scale: 2 Scale. Scale only comes from Health, and the max Health possible in the early game is a paltry 2 Health, as only four of the Origins can only receive 1 extra Health from their basic skills/rewards.
Archaeologist (Wist) -> Ragged Crossroads -> Preservation -> Health
Artist -> Rites of the Roots -> The Book -> Health.
Executioner -> Journal cataloguing reward -> Health
Magnate -> Quenchings & Queelings -> Preservation -> Health
Nectar: 2 Nectar. Nectar only comes from Health. See above list.
Moon: 3 Moon: Only comes from Trist. Symurgist and Magnate are guaranteed to have the potential to acquire 2 additional Trists in the early game, and everyone gets a free Trist.
Sky: 4 Sky: Only comes from Phost, so, Twice-born, with 4 Phost, gives the max starting Sky.
