Chapter 1 of Call of the Elder Gods puts you in Evangeline Drayton's shoes as she arrives at Everhart Manor looking for the missing Professor Harry Everhart. The chapter packs two puzzles, two trophies, and three collectible secret objects into a single location. Miss one clue and the Bookshelf Puzzle becomes a guessing game. This guide walks you through every step in order so nothing gets left behind.
Chapter Select is available if you miss any collectibles, so there is no need to restart the whole game.
How do you get into Everhart Manor?
You start outside the locked front gate. Walk around to the side of the building and climb through the open window to get inside. Once in, go through the first two doors to reach the Library, the central hub for Chapter 1.
From the Library, head left into the Professor's Office (also referred to as Harry's study across sources). Open the left drawer of the desk to find a key. This key unlocks the locked door back in the main Library room.
Before you leave the office, check the bookshelf on the wall. One book is missing from it. A letter on top of the fireplace hints that the missing book is hidden in the greenhouse outside.
Where are the three secret objects for "The Terrible Old Man" trophy?
All 3 secret objects are in Chapter 1. Collect all three to unlock the gold "The Terrible Old Man" trophy.
How to gather all the Bookshelf Puzzle clues
The Bookshelf Puzzle requires you to collect clues from across the manor before you can solve it. Here is where every clue is located:
- Photograph of the Statue (dark room upstairs, on the table): shows a tree next to Norah's memorial statue with a Triquetra symbol carved into it. That tree is now a stump in the garden.
- Two Broken Paintings (room directly in front of the stairs on the ground floor): both are portrait clues, interact with each.
- Broken Frame (dark room upstairs, left of the entrance door): another portrait clue.
- Broken Frame (indoor balcony, left side of the wall): fourth portrait clue.
- Portrait on the wall (main room, left side after entering): fifth portrait clue.
- Card on the table (main room, same area as the portrait): shows four people of different ages walking, which tells you the books must be ordered from youngest to oldest.
- Baby's portrait (inside the small building beyond the garden gate, on the wall): the final Latin phrase needed.
- Book: Futura (greenhouse table, after unlocking with the greenhouse key): the missing book from Harry's shelf.
All clues are stored automatically in Evangeline's journal, so you do not need to write anything down manually.
How to solve the Garden Faces Puzzle
This is the main outdoor puzzle of Chapter 1. Five vases (or urns, depending on the source) each have a face carved on them. Each face must be rotated to point at a specific symbol or landmark in the garden. Solving all five unlocks the gate to the Mausoleum.
The photograph clue from the dark room is required to solve the Scared face vase. Without it, the tree stump solution makes no sense.
Here is the full solution for every vase:
Sleepy face vase
Location: closest to the locked gate near the greenhouse path. Rotate it to face the Moon symbol on top of the gate itself.
Angry face vase
Location: through the side gate near the Greenhouse, under the gazebo. Rotate it to face the pile of ashes on the pedestal nearby (this represents the Fire symbol, even though there is no active flame).
Scared face vase
Location: past the gazebo, near Norah's memorial statue. Rotate it to face the tree stump to the right of the statue. The Photograph clue confirms the stump used to have the Triquetra symbol carved into the tree.
Happy face vase
Location: just outside the Greenhouse entrance, before the small bridge. Rotate it to face the Greenhouse itself, where the Leaf symbol is visible on the structure above.
Crying face vase
Location: across the right-hand bridge when you first exit the manor. Rotate it to face the well. Pull the lever on the well to raise a bucket that has the Fish symbol painted on it, then align the vase toward it.
Once all five vases are aligned, return to the gate and press the lock button to open it.
What is the Bookshelf Puzzle solution?
After opening the gate and entering the Mausoleum, grab the greenhouse key from the table and check the baby's portrait on the wall for the final Latin clue. Unlock the Greenhouse and pick up the book Futura from the table inside.
Return to Harry's study and interact with the bookshelf to place Futura. Now arrange all eight books in order from youngest to oldest portrait, based on the Card clue showing people at different life stages. The correct order from left to right, as confirmed across all three source walkthroughs, is:
- PRAETERITA
- MUTARE
- NON
- POSSUMUS
- SED
- FUTURA
- PROVIDERE
- DEBEMUS
The bookshelf slides aside to reveal a hidden alcove. Interact with the piece of paper inside it (you must do this or the next step will not trigger). The paper shows you that a secret passage runs through the large fireplace in the Library.
You must read the paper in the hidden alcove before the fireplace button becomes active. Skipping it locks you out of progressing.
How to finish Chapter 1
Go to the fireplace in the Library and press the hidden button on the left side. The fireplace swings open. Follow the passage into an underground room where you will find the Professor on the floor next to a Broken Statuette.
Interact with the Broken Statuette to trigger a cutscene and then a dialogue sequence with Harry. You can select multiple dialogue options in any order. After the conversation, Evangeline convinces Harry to travel with her to Virginia, and Chapter 1 ends.
Completing Chapter 1 automatically awards the bronze "Harry The Hermit" trophy.
How to unlock the "Bouquet" trophy
This silver trophy is easy to miss because it requires a detour during the garden section. Inside the Greenhouse, check the lower right shelf to find a small bouquet of flowers. Pick them up and carry them back to Norah's memorial statue (near where the Scared face vase was). Place the flowers on the bench in front of the statue. A short dialogue will play and the "Bouquet" trophy will unlock.
Chapter 1 trophy and collectible summary
For a deeper look at the story context and earlier puzzles before this chapter, the Call of the Elder Gods beginner's guide covers the Prologue and core mechanics. If you want solutions for every chapter from start to finish, the full puzzle walkthrough has you covered through Chapter 6. You can browse all available guides for the game in the Call of the Elder Gods guide collection as more chapters get covered. Call of the Elder Gods sits firmly in the adventure games genre, and if you enjoy this style of environmental puzzle-solving, there is plenty more to explore there.