By Sun's Burning Hand

You're invited to the Ephor's Palace to meet Septimont's Ephor, Augusta. After an exchange of swords, she shares a brief history of Septimont's hunting traditions and formally invites you to join the hunt for the Dark Tide and its creations in the Sanguis Plateaus. You accept and share information about the Sentinel's Relic and the Journeying Paradise. Upon hearing this, Augusta suggests that the Earthrend Wedge in the hunting grounds may be where the Relic is hidden. Before parting, she tells you that a storm rising in the skies southeast of Septimont will mark the beginning of the hunt.

Seeing a storm form in the distance, you head for Tempest Cliffs, the agreed-upon meeting point. Along the way, you encounter the Gladiator Avidius, who's also bound for the hunt. He suggests traveling together.

Under Avidius's escort, you arrive at Tempest Cliffs. Once the hunting party is assembled, Augusta gives the order to begin the campaign.

The hunting party stops at the Hunter's Den to rest and resupply. There, you meet Iuno, a Priestess of Tetragon Temple whose combat skills rival those of any Gladiator. Augusta reveals that the beast that attacked earlier is a Corrosaurus known as "Tyrannos," one of the Dark Tide's more fearsome creations and the target of this hunt. She explains that only by slaying it within the Earthrend Wedge's range can its frequency be bound, stopping the Dark Tide's advance. As Augusta steps away to plan the next phase of the hunt, the dreaded Whispers stir in her ears.

With time to spare, you visit Tetragon Temple and meet Avidius and Iuno. Avidius discusses the prophetic murals: The ancient Ragunnesi predicted Septimont's downfall, but the Priestesses later prophesied that a Hero of Heroes would one day rise to save it. Avidius and Iuno clash over the prophecy. You learn that, in the Senate's eyes, Avidius better embodies the qualities of this Hero than Augusta. But Augusta pays his ambitions no mind. If anything, she welcomes any challenge from a worthy opponent.

A Griffrex's cry draws Iuno to the top of Tetragon Temple. Through the eyes of Aquila, her bonded Griffrex, she spots the Corrosaurus Tyrannos deep in Maroonwood. She launches an arrow to ignite the signal flare. The hunt is on.

At the sound of the horn, you regroup and set out for Rustblood Pass. To lure Tyrannos into the Earthrend Wedge's range, Augusta has devised a strategy using Anchor Stones. But with traps already laid by Tyrannos, the hunting party decides it's safer to approach Maroonwood on foot. Just before departure, Augusta hears the Whispers return with an ominous warning. The path ahead will not be easy.

With all Anchor Stones in place, the hunting party tracks Tyrannos to Asphodel Barrens, a historical battlefield scarred by brutal conflicts between Gladiators and Dark Tide creations. Augusta, embracing her rivalry with fellow would-be Hero of Heroes Avidius, proposes they hunt the Corrosaurus together. The stakes are set for their eventual duel.

You arrive at the camp and attend to Iuno, who's weakened from using her Forte. You ask about the strange visions she saw after firing her Moon Arrow. She's surprised you saw the Dark Tide's "illusions," but quickly realizes it's because you carry an "unknowable fate." What you witnessed, she explains, was a glimpse of the future—the fall of Septimont. To change that fate, Iuno gave up her ability to see fate to gain a Forte capable of resisting the Dark Tide. But using this power comes at a cost. It consumes her very existence. The humanoid you saw was the Dark Tide's incarnate, the False Sovereign, and their true target all along. She and Augusta had planned to use Tyrannos as bait to lure the Sovereign out and use her power to make it vulnerable to attack, but the plan failed. Now, to recover from the toll of using her Forte, Iuno must remain at the camp. Before parting, she entrusts you with her Lunarum bracelet, sealed with her Resonance Energy, hoping it will help you and Augusta finish the hunt in her absence.

You contact Consultant Buling of the Black Shores. She reports that the Tethys System has detected the False Sovereign rapidly consuming nearby frequencies and growing stronger. Left unchecked, it could threaten the Earthrend Wedge and trigger a catastrophic collapse. To stop the Dark Tide's spread and intercept the Sovereign, you, Augusta, and the Gladiators set out for Murmurstown, the most frequency-rich area in the hunting grounds.

The hunting party drives the wounded Tyrannos into the lower Asphodel Barrens. Suddenly, a shrieking cry echoes across the plateau. Augusta signals Iuno just as the Dark Tide surges, swallowing Tyrannos. Iuno draws her Moon Arrow aiming at a faint humanoid figure in the distance. You realize this mysterious entity was their true target all along.

Iuno and Augusta's hunt for the humanoid is thwarted by an unknown, powerful force. The Whispers tell Augusta that to end the Dark Tide, she must return to her hometown of Murmurstown. The hunting party decides to regroup and tend to the wounded at a nearby camp.