diff --git a/app/game-api/src/daemon/redisTransport.ts b/app/game-api/src/daemon/redisTransport.ts
index 0780395b..69d1f3d0 100644
--- a/app/game-api/src/daemon/redisTransport.ts
+++ b/app/game-api/src/daemon/redisTransport.ts
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ export class RedisTurnDaemonTransport implements TurnDaemonTransport {
         const requestId = await this.sendCommand(command);
 
         const deadline = Date.now() + (timeoutMs ?? this.requestTimeoutMs);
-        let lastId = '$';
+        let lastId = '0-0';
 
         while (Date.now() < deadline) {
             const remaining = Math.max(1, deadline - Date.now());
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ export class RedisTurnDaemonTransport implements TurnDaemonTransport {
         await this.sendCommand({ type: 'getStatus', requestId });
 
         const deadline = Date.now() + (timeoutMs ?? this.requestTimeoutMs);
-        let lastId = '$';
+        let lastId = '0-0';
 
         while (Date.now() < deadline) {
             const remaining = Math.max(1, deadline - Date.now());
diff --git a/app/game-engine/src/lifecycle/redisCommandStream.ts b/app/game-engine/src/lifecycle/redisCommandStream.ts
index b4d7fcec..50868e37 100644
--- a/app/game-engine/src/lifecycle/redisCommandStream.ts
+++ b/app/game-engine/src/lifecycle/redisCommandStream.ts
@@ -137,11 +137,12 @@ export class RedisTurnDaemonCommandStream implements TurnDaemonControlQueue, Tur
         }
 
         const blockMs = deadlineMs === null ? 0 : Math.max(0, deadlineMs - Date.now());
+        const cappedBlockMs = deadlineMs === null ? 0 : Math.min(blockMs, 1000);
         if (deadlineMs !== null && blockMs === 0) {
             return null;
         }
 
-        const remote = await this.readRemoteCommands(blockMs);
+        const remote = await this.readRemoteCommands(cappedBlockMs);
         if (remote.length === 0) {
             return null;
         }
diff --git a/app/game-engine/src/turn/databaseHooks.ts b/app/game-engine/src/turn/databaseHooks.ts
index 4e2736d7..a29271a1 100644
--- a/app/game-engine/src/turn/databaseHooks.ts
+++ b/app/game-engine/src/turn/databaseHooks.ts
@@ -327,9 +327,13 @@ export const createDatabaseTurnHooks = async (
                 ...nations
                     .filter((nation) => !createdNationIds.has(nation.id))
                     .map((nation) =>
-                        prisma.nation.update({
+                        prisma.nation.upsert({
                             where: { id: nation.id },
-                            data: buildNationUpdate(nation),
+                            update: buildNationUpdate(nation),
+                            create: {
+                                id: nation.id,
+                                ...buildNationUpdate(nation),
+                            },
                         })
                     ),
                 ...troops
diff --git a/tools/integration-tests/test/initialization.test.ts b/tools/integration-tests/test/initialization.test.ts
index f2476452..8d0c6066 100644
--- a/tools/integration-tests/test/initialization.test.ts
+++ b/tools/integration-tests/test/initialization.test.ts
@@ -100,11 +100,11 @@ const truncateSchema = async (schema: string) => {
 const resetDatabase = async () => {
     await ensureSchema('public');
     await ensureSchema('che');
-    await execCommand('pnpm', ['--filter', '@sammo-ts/infra', 'prisma:db:push:gateway'], {
+    await execCommand('pnpm', ['--filter', '@sammo-ts/infra', 'prisma:db:push:gateway', '--accept-data-loss'], {
         ...process.env,
         POSTGRES_SCHEMA: 'public',
     });
-    await execCommand('pnpm', ['--filter', '@sammo-ts/infra', 'prisma:db:push:game'], {
+    await execCommand('pnpm', ['--filter', '@sammo-ts/infra', 'prisma:db:push:game', '--accept-data-loss'], {
         ...process.env,
         POSTGRES_SCHEMA: 'che',
     });
@@ -160,6 +160,7 @@ describe('integration initialization flow', () => {
 
     beforeAll(async () => {
         await loadEnv();
+        process.chdir(workspaceRoot);
         await resetDatabase();
         await resetRedis();
 
@@ -188,7 +189,7 @@ describe('integration initialization flow', () => {
         if (gatewayServer) {
             await gatewayServer.app.close();
         }
-    });
+    }, 30_000);
 
     it('seeds scenario, creates users, and validates founding flow', async () => {
         if (!gatewayServer || !gameServer) {
@@ -392,9 +393,12 @@ describe('integration initialization flow', () => {
         const runTurn = async () => {
             const status = await waitForStatus();
             const prevRunAt = status.lastRunAt;
+            const targetTime = status.nextTurnTime
+                ? new Date(new Date(status.nextTurnTime).getTime() + 5 * 60_000).toISOString()
+                : new Date(Date.now() + 5 * 60_000).toISOString();
             await gameClient.turnDaemon.run.mutate({
                 reason: 'manual',
-                targetTime: status.nextTurnTime ?? undefined,
+                targetTime,
             });
             const deadline = Date.now() + 20_000;
             while (Date.now() < deadline) {