More Mystery At Ascendants Shrine

Vespera and River approached Halo Haven from above. River tilted her wings into a gentle, spiraling descent that landed the duo directly at Skybound Outlook, where the shrine was waiting.

"Orion!" Vespera called out as she leapt down from River's back. The Raylen returned to her normal size as the dragon magic fizzled out. "This last trip was a big success. I have five more orbs to show you! Two from the Berry Trees -- and then the three that will fit into the pedestals you wrote to me about."

Scholar Orion was standing near the inscriptions at Ascendants Shrine, contemplating the mysterious symbols. He moved to join Vespera at the pillars as the adventurer approached. "Very good!" He said warmly. "That's nearly all of them."

Together, Vespera and Orion gently placed each collected Quenaris Orb onto their corresponding glowing pillars. The sense of magical energy around Ascendants Shrine was growing -- the air almost seemed to hum with power as more and more Orbs were put into their rightful places.

Vespera and Orion surveyed their work so far. Eight pillars had Orbs, four more were still empty -- and two of the empty pillars were glowing!

"Ah! Let's have a look." Orion walked over to the newly glowing pillars to inspect it for clues, but after a quick examination, his eyebrows drew together in a worried frown.

"What is it?" Vespera asked, coming over to see for herself.

"The inscription on these pillars are worn with age," said Orion. "It looks like not all of the pedestals have stood the test of time equally. They're definitely glowing, but I can't make out what the markings are..."

Vespera peered closer. "Me neither. Hmm," she hummed thoughtfully.

"Well," Vespera continued after a moment, "because the pillars are glowing, we know the next two Quenaris Orbs must be out there somewhere. Mysteries haven't stopped us before -- we'll just have to search far and wide!"

Community Event: Where Are The Next Orbs?

"Adventurers, we need your help now more than ever!

"We know two more Quenaris Orbs can be found somewhere in Santae -- but we don't know exactly where. Please search wherever you can think of! When we work together, surely we can find where these ancient artifacts are hiding."

Two more Quenaris Orbs are now available for discovery!

Confront The Void With The Corrupted Enchanter Set

As Ancient Echoes festivities continue, Vespera has even more new items in stock!

These are the vestments of enchanters who seek to gaze beyond the Nether Moon and unlock the secrets of the void itself, but those secrets can come with a price.

The Corrupted Enchanter set cloaks you in fine white and purple garb accented by the inky blackness of the void beyond the stars. Meddling with forces of ancient, unknowable magic can also have… strange effects on those who seek dark knowledge.

A glowing third eye may open upon your forehead, giving you glimpses of the beyond! But don’t gaze too closely…Corrupted Enchanters may find themselves engulfed by eldritch tendrils of the void itself.

A Haunting Nighttime Encounter

Vespera could hardly wait to begin the search for the Orbs again. After conferring briefly with Orion and sharing a quick meal, she and River set back off into the skies to explore Santae.

The duo's flight carried them deep into the wild. They still hadn't reached a settlement by the time the sun grew low in the sky, casting long shadows across the landscape below. When the edge of the larger-than-usual Nether Moon started to peek out from over the horizon, Vespera knew they would have to land and make camp for the night.

River plunged down through the tangled canopy of the forest below, coming in for a landing in the shaded undergrowth. Beneath the trees it was already almost completely dark, so Vespera worked quickly to set up her tent and make a secure place to rest until morning.

It took a long time to get a small campfire lit. There was something ominous in the air as dusk darkened into night. Soon the circle of light from the campfire was just a small island of light in a pitch-black thicket of trees.

Vespera shivered, struggling to see beyond the firelight and into the dark forest beyond. No sliver of moonlight pierced the canopy, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something was moving out there...

She kept catching movement out of the corner of her eye -- or she thought she did. A swirl of shadow. The flapping of a dark wing. The rustling of a black branch.

The campfire went out.

Vespera held very still, clutching River close to her side as she tried to let her eyes adjust to the darkness. Her vision couldn't pierce the gloom at all, and she quickly lost almost all sense of direction as she looked back and forth. The blackness was complete -- not the normal soft shadows of a deep forest night. There had to be magic at work here!

Then -- a sliver of light appeared!

Vespera watched as a thin golden crescent traced itself through the air. Then it snapped open -- it was the shape of a luminous eye.

Another piercing golden eye appeared, then another, then another!

The eye-shapes shifted and flew through the air with the leathery snap of wings. The movement helped Vespera make sense of what she was seeing: Gleaming eye-like markings on the wings of a dark bat-like Minimal!

The crack of a twig breaking behind her caused Vespera to whirl around. She dreaded turning her back on the sinister bat, but she wanted to try and see what else was moving around out there...

It was almost impossible to notice, but she could have sworn she saw a patch of deeper blackness slinking through the back of the night on silent feet. Perhaps another Minimal, but it was impossible to tell for sure.

Scooping up River into her arms, Vespera dove into her tent and closed the flap. With such strange, shadowy creatures afoot outside, all she wanted to do now was stay snug and safe until the sun rose again and she could resume her travels!

Sleep came slowly to Vespera. Every noise outside the tent seemed magnified, and a mist of shadow seemed to be trying to creep in through the tent's edges. She tossed and turned as she dreamed.

Vespera dreamed that the shadowy mist outside was coalescing around her tent, forming a dark blob that threatened to engulf her and River altogether. The shadow creature took shape, opening two emberlike eyes. Then it lunged, opening a fanged, glowing mouth to bite!

Vespera snapped awake from the nightmare to see morning sunlight dappling the roof of the tent. She poked her head outside. The embers of the campfire were cold, but the forest looked much more normal in the light of day.

She sighed in relief. All those frightening Minimals were just a dream...weren't they?

Dreadveil, Krym, and Zyre are now available in the Cash Shop!

Hunt For Three More Hidden Avatars

Personalize your forum posts with three more brand-new hidden avatars -- if you can find them! Explore Santae to find out how to unlock these new discoveries for yourself.

The Berry Tree Bears New Fruit

A brand-new bounty of berries has been discovered at the Great Berry Tree! Several varieties of berry are looking more delicious than ever with freshly updated art. Plus, dedicated gatherers should keep their eyes out for three new never-before-seen berries among the branches.

TL;DR

★ Vespera and Orion discovered that two more Quenaris Orbs are available, but couldn't find any clear clues as to their locations.
★ Community Event: Explore Santae to discover the methods of acquiring the next two Orbs for yourself!
★ The Corrupted Enchanter clothing set is available in the Cash Shop and SanDust Shop.
★ Three new Minimals are available in the Cash Shop and SanDust Shop: Dreadveil, Krym, and Zyre.
★ Three new hidden forum avatars are available now.
★ Berry art updated, and three new berries are available in Gathering.

The Quest For The Orbs Continues

The sun filtering through the leaves of the Harmonic Heartwood's canopy dappled the page of the letter in Vespera's hands with speckles of light. It was a note sent from Orion up in Halo Haven -- and it let her know that three more pillars at Ascendants Shrine had begun to glow!

"Perfect timing," Vespera said to River, who was peering down at the letter from Vespera's shoulder. "Now we have a couple more places to check before we return to Halo Haven! Ready for some more adventure?"

River flapped her wings and let out an enthusiastic chirp. It was time to hit the road!

The duo's first stop was the Azure Abyss. Everything seemed quiet along the luminous shore. River flapped over head, riding a gentle breeze that cooled the air as she watched the Abyssal Monster splash and frolic with some Adventurers' pets in the crystalline waters of the Abyssal Lake below.

Eldrin saw Vespera before she noticed him. "Vespera!" The Seeker of Knowledge called out. There was an uncharacteristic note of excitement in the wise elf's usually-calm voice.

"Hello," Vespera greeted Eldrin as she approached the edge of the Lake. "What's going on here?"

"It's the Monster," Eldrin pointed toward the leaping serpent in the Lake. Vespera looked over, puzzled. Nothing looked wrong with the Monster or the Lake to her.

"What about it?" She asked, puzzled. "I was wondering if something had changed recently, since Scholar Orion wrote that even more pillars had started glowing up at Ascendants Shrine. One of the markings he described made me think there would be something to be found here, at the Abyss."

"Excellent," Eldrin sounded deeply intrigued. "I think you're exactly right. The magic at the shrine -- that must be related to this." He reached into one of his robe's deep pockets and withdrew a shining Orb.

"Yes!" Vespera cried. "Where did you get that? That must be one of the Quenaris Orbs!"

"It was given to me by the Abyssal Monster," Eldrin explained. "Ever since the discovery of the Twilight Ore we have known there are many mysterious treasures beneath the Lake's surface -- but I have never seen anything like this before. If you are seeking artifacts of this nature, you should take it with you."

"Thank you," Vespera said as she carefully took the Orb from Eldrin and stowed it in her pack. "We're getting closer to solving this mystery -- I just know it!"

Vespera and River's next stop was closer to home. They crossed the river southwest of Azure Abyss and took the narrow valley road back into Shadow Veil Pass. As they moved deeper into the mountains, the craggy stone around them began to light up with the deep scarlet glow imbued by the Nether Moon overhead. Vespera wanted to check in on her Shop, and see how the Ancient Echoes Festival was proceeding, since they were near the area anyway.

As Vespera strolled the familiar streets of Shadow Veil Pass, a low voice caught her attention. "Vespera," the voice called. "Do you have a moment to speak?"

Invoker Imara beckoned with a white-gloved hand, inviting Vespera closer.

"Imara," Vespera greeted the mysterious artifact collector. "Always a pleasure. What can I do for you?"

The ghost of a smile was visible in the shadow of Imara's wide-brimmed hat. "I believe it is I who can do something for you. Are you not seeking certain objects of magical power?" Vespera leaned closer to look as Imara withdrew a smooth white orb from a pouch for her inspection. The orb was clearly magical: Wreathed in wisps of cloud, with a surface that glimmered with subtle prismatic reflections.

"You know I have my ways of getting my hands on unconventional artifacts. But this one holds no purpose for my own invocations." Imara held it out for Vespera to take. "Something tells me you know where this belongs."

Vespera took in Imara's knowing smile, wondering as always how the mysterious Invoker held such a depth of magical insight. "You're right," Vespera replied, "and I thank you. River and I will return this to Ascendants Shrine as soon as we can!"

Thrilled with their discoveries, Vespera and River set off for Halo Haven. Draconic magic swirled around River once again, empowering her to carry Vespera back up into the skies and return to the Shine with the Orbs they had collected so far.

As they approached Halo Haven, the flock of dragon Minimals filling the skies around the floating islands swirled around them. The swarm of smaller dragons soared and dived seemingly at random, sometimes coming perilously close to River's wings as she flew.

One swift-flying Velofang swooped directly toward Vespera on River's back -- it seemed like it was about to crash! Vespera threw up an arm to protect her face, but the small pink dragon flared its wings to check its flight right in the nick of time. It hovered above River's back for a second, seeming to peer closely at Vespera's face, then dropped something from its claw and flew away.

Vespera caught the item the Velofang had dropped on pure instinct, but when she saw what it was, she gasped. The way it caught the light made it almost look like a luminous dragon's eye. It was another Quenaris Orb -- and the Minimal had dropped it for her seemingly at random!

New Feature: Random Events

We are please to unveil the latest new feature being added to Santae - Random Events! They can happen to anyone, any time, and the first Random Event that is available today is in conjunction with the ongoing Quenaris Orbs Event!

There is no way to influence the frequency or type of random event that will appear other than being active on site. Our system will periodically choose people that are online (or have recently been online) to be chosen to receive the Random Event Notification. We'll be monitoring the system closely for the next few days and will adjust the activation of the event rates based on user feedback and system analytics.

We are truly excited to implement this feature and look forward to adding more positive Random Events soon! Let us know in the comments what sort of Random Events you would like to see appearing around Santae!

(Disclaimer: Santae will never implement random events that have a negative impact, such as taking items or currency from accounts, additionally you do not need to have your Show Online status turned on to be randomly chosen)

Community Event: Continue Collecting The Quenaris Orbs

Three new pillars are glowing at Ascendants Shrine, and that means three new orbs are now waiting to be discovered around Santae!

One can be found in the depths of the Abyssal Lake. The Abyssal Monster might be able to dredge one from the depths from you -- but with the right fishing and gathering equipment, you may also be lucky enough to discover one there for yourself.

Another has found its way into the hands of many friendly faces around Santae. If you complete Quests for any quest-giving NPC, there is a small chance you will receive an Orb as a reward.

As for the last -- random chance may just need to be on your side! Good luck!

Commemorate Your Quest With The Event Trophy!

If you participate at any point during the Quenaris Orb community event -- from taming dragon Minimals to collecting Orbs and beyond -- you'll receive a gorgeous event Trophy to commemorate the experience once the event concludes. Take part in the adventure today to make sure you'll receive this beautiful reminder of the magical Quenaris mystery on your profile!

This trophy will not retire so if you do not get an opportunity to earn it during this event, there will be future opportunities to acquire it

TL;DR

★ Vespera and River continue traveling Santae to discover the locations of three more legendary Quenaris Orbs.
★ Three new orbs are available for collection, via the Abyssal Monster or gathering/fishing at the Abyssal Lake; as rewards from Quests; and as a random drop while active on Santae.
★ New Random Event system has been implemented!
★ The art for the Quenaris Event trophy has been revealed!