History Recap / OctopathTravelerII

** Boss: Captain Kaldena (Kaldena the Night)

** Boss: Lajackal/Malamaowl of the Sorrowful Moon

* '''Ochette''' ([[OnlyOneName no surname]]) is a TheBeastmaster who can capture random-encounter enemies for use in battle. If she has too many, she can process them into various meals. During the day she has a '''Fight''' interaction where she acts as a Pokemon Trainer, fighting solely via monsters; at night she can '''Recruit''' [=NPCs=] by giving them food she has made. Her Latent Power is a choice of three physical attacks.
* '''Castti Florenz''' is an Apothecary, a RedMage who splits her time between healing and physical combat. As an Apothecary, she shares the CombinatorialExplosion power of Alfyn, being able to mix reagents together and use BP to increase the number of ingredients; her Latent Power, "Every Drop Counts," lets her do this ''without consuming ingredients'', making Concoct a viable early-game option. Her daytime Path Action is to '''Inquire'''; her nighttime action is a one-sided '''Fight''' mechanic where she consumes (comparatively rare) items to inflict InstantSedation on the target.
* '''Throné Anguis''' is a thief wielding DeviousDaggers and VideoGameStealing. Her Latent Power allows her to take a second action immediately after her current one. Her daytime Path Action is to '''Obtain''' via stealing and her nighttime action is an instant '''Fight''' via a TapOnTheHead, but both have limits: Stealing has a probability, and screwing it up too often will cost the party's reputation (which takes money to restore). Meanwhile, "Ambush" is dependent exclusively on her level; there will be people she just straight-up can't do it to.
* '''Osvald V. Vanstein''' is the Scholar (BlackMage) who has a ton of {{Herd Hitting Attack}}s. His Latent Power focuses those spells on a single target for greater damage. His daytime action is an '''Inquire''', and his nighttime is "Mug," which combines '''Fight''' and '''Obtain''': Osvald has to duel the target, despite being a SquishyWizard, but if he wins, he gets their stuff.
* '''Partitio Yellowill''' is the Merchant, the JackOfAllStats. His Latent Power, "Hoot and Holler," instantly fills his BP to the max. (If he already had 4, he only gets one more. Maybe don't use it at that point.) His daytime action is to '''Acquire''' via money, and his nighttime action to '''Befriend''' via money. Anyone he Befriends provides alterations to the party's commerce, like discounts on purchases, bonuses when selling, or rebates on the CastFromMoney ability "Hired Help."
* '''Agnea Bristarni''' is the Dancer, who concentrates on strengthening her allies. She has a variety of ways to turn the game's (many) single-target skills into target-the-entire-party skills, including her Latent Power "All Together Now." Her daytime action is to '''Befriend''' and her nighttime action to '''Acquire''', though, similar to Throné's Fight skill, it is dependent on her level. Her Befriend companion will give her bonuses whenever she uses a dance ability in battle.
* '''Temenos Mistral''' is a Cleric, the game's WhiteMage. His nighttime action is an '''Inquire''', but is accomplished via an altered combat situation: he has to Break an enemy to learn about them. (It should be pointed out that Temenos, despite being TheGadfly and a priest, is the main character in a FilmNoir detective story.) Appropriately, his Latent Power, "Judgment," enhances his next attack to remove Shield Points ''regardless of what that attack is''. His daytime action is a '''Hire''' function called Guide; [=NPCs=] so summoned will hang around in battle for a few turns and can even be targeted by enemies.
* '''Hikari Ku''' is the MightyGlacier Warrior class. In addition to the "Challenge" '''Fight''' mechanic during the day, he can also '''Inquire''' at night by bribing people. Every NPC in this game has a special attack, and Hikari can learn them after winning the Challenge against them, carrying a maximum of five into battle. This helps give Hikari some versatility, as the Warrior class forsakes magic attacks, debuffs and healing abilities for an exclusive focus on melee combat.

* Chapter 2 (Cateracta Route): Ochette follows the scent of Cateracta to the town of Conning Creek, only to find that it was slain long ago by an individual known only as the Dark Hunter. Ochette earns the trust of Alpione, Cateracta's guardian, and leaves town with Acta, Cateracta's offspring, in tow.

* Chapter 1: Castti awakens on a skiff with EasyAmnesia: she has no idea who she is, but from the belongings in her satchel is able to discern that she is an apothecary. When the ship docks in the town of Canalbrine, a town in the Harborlands, the townspeople distrust her on sight: she wears the uniform of Eir's Apothecaries, a group FamedInStory for having massacred an entire village in cold blood. She also meets Malaya, an apothecary like her, who is in search of the cure to a deadly disease. A teenage boy named Senah falls ill. While his older brother thinks Castti poisoned him, more people get sick, and Castti realizes that the town's water source has been contaminated. Castti travels alone to the water source, slaying a couple bosses that have polluted the water with their toxins. The townspeople apologize for their distrust, and a conversation with Malaya causes Castti to recover a flash of her memory: she remembers who set her out to sea on the skiff, and that it was Malaya. Additionally, a journal in the bottom of her satchel gives Castti the names of two towns she apparently once visited -- Sai and Winterbloom.

* Chapter 2 (Sai Route): Castti arrives in Sai, a town in Hinoeuma, which is embroiled in war against the capitol of the Leaflands, Timberain. Sai's makeshift hospital is full of wounded soldiers, but their captain, Edmund, is short on men, and forces them back into battle before they have fully recovered. Mao, the town apothecary, causes Castti to remember that she was not just a member of Eir's Apothecaries but its leader. When Castti catches wind of wounded soldiers from Timberain, she rushes to the battlefield, where sand traps laid by Edmund's men have not only caused the enemy soldiers to fall into harm's way but also awakened an angry monster sleeping beneath the sands. While Edmund tries to stop Castti from helping the enemy, he is silenced by her firmness and ability to take charge, and the two of them end up going together in search of wounded. Edmund falls into the sand lion's lair, but Castti slays it and saves his life. The Leaflands commander, Griff, thanks Castti for her service, as does Edmund. Before leaving, Castti catches up with Malaya and gets another flash of memory -- someone in a plague-doctor mask, and a storm of purple rain...

* Chapter 2 (Winterbloom Route): Castti arrives in the town of Winterbloom in the Winterlands and meets with its lord, a terminally ill woman named Rosa whom Eir's Apothecaries had once helped (mainly Castti and a young apothecary named Trousseau). Now on her deathbed, Rosa wants Castti to help her survive until her daughter, Melia, reaches her legal majority at 12 and can inherit the position -- instead of her nephew, UpperClassTwit Greg. Castti helps Melia gather herbs for a concoction to soothe Rosa's pain, but later on, Melia is kidnapped. The kidnappers decree that if Castti does not leave town, Melia will be killed. Undeterred by this threat, Castti tracks the kidnappers, a trio of bandits hired by Greg, to a local tavern, and fights with them after they refuse to unhand Melia. Greg apologizes profusely, not expecting that the bandits would have behaved the way they did. Rosa passes away on the morning of Melia's 12th birthday, surrounded by Castti and all of her loved ones. Before Castti leaves Winterbloom, she gets reminded of two things: the Eir's Apothecaries' creed of extending their hands to help anyone in need, as well as a kind person called Trousseau. But who is the latter? And why is he particularly important to Castti?

* Chapter 1: Osvald has been serving a prison sentence on Frigit Isle for the murder of his wife and daughter, a crime he did not commit, for the past five years. For all of this time, he has had a muzzle in place so that he could not cast magic spells or even speak. The entire time, he has planned a RoaringRampageOfRevenge against a man named Harvey, his former research partner into the One True Magic and the person who framed him for murder. A scholar, he has been performing AwesomenessByAnalysis on the prison for the past five years, and he hatches an escape plan with fellow convict Emerald (who frees him from his muzzle). The two of them escape via an unfinished passage beneath the prison, planning to sneak out aboard am inspection ship from the mainland which visits regularly. However, they are intercepted by the sadistic Warden Davids, who had been monitoring Emerald on the suspicion that he would try to orchestrate a prison break. The two of them defeat Davids and his lackies, and Osvald uses his fire magic to blow a hole in the prison and make their escape.

* Chapter 2: Osvald and Emerald's prison break continues. When the inspection ship proves to be more heavily guarded, Osvald and Emerald get into a dispute on how to leave Frigit Isle, with Osvald MacGyvering a boat out of straw and ice and Emerald insisting that they take their chances with the ship. They split up, and Osvald tries to float to the mainland alone. Emerald boards the ship, but realizes he doesn't stand a chance against the guards, and opts to sink the vessel -- [[HeroicSacrifice with himself on it]] -- in order to cover Osvald's escape. Some days later, Osvald washes up on the shore of Cape Cold in the Winterlands, where a retired scholar finds him and deduces that he escaped from prison. He lets Osvald go on the condition that Osvald promise to lead an honorable life. [[BlatantLies Osvald does]], though with some inner regret, and then sets out from Cape Cold in search of Harvey.

* Chapter 2: Partitio travels to Clockbank, home to the factory of the Roque Company, in the Brightlands. He encounters a debt collector named Thurston, a reporter named Ori, and a workaholic inventor named Floyd, and learns that the Roque Company is named for (and owned by) Roque himself. Partitio learns that the Roque Company is developing steam engines, and helps Floyd design an updated model. When he goes to see the new model in production, however, he finds both it and Floyd missing, and deeper in the factory finds that due to a clause in Floyd's contract, he does not own the rights to his design. Partitio intervenes, but Thurston sics Garnet, the company guard dog, on him. After fending her off, Roque appears, and Partitio offers to buy the rights to the steam engine from him. Roque agrees, if Partitio can give him 80 billion leaves, so Partitio sets out to find someone who can provide that much money.

* The Scholar and the Merchant, Part 1: Osvald and Partitio are walking around New Delsta when they find a man unconscious in the street. They feed him some bread (his first meal in days), after which the man introduces himself as Regulus, an old scholar friend of Osvald's. He is attempting to build a new and improved telescope, but accidentally gambled away all the money he put towards the materials. Partitio agrees to fund Regulus -- grateful for the assistance, he returns to Montwise to continue this project.
* The Thief and the Cleric, Part 1: Temenos returns to Flamechurch with Throné to uncover the truth behind a treasure known only as "Alpates". Finding a secret passage to the rafters of the cathedral, they discover the treasure is in fact a ''woman'' named Alpates ("all-''PAH''-tees") who had been taken in by Pontiff Jörg. With Jörg dead, Alpates leaves to seek her destiny, and leaves Throné and Temenos a piece of a mirror as thanks for freeing her.

* Sai Route: Partitio meets Masoud, a retired merchant who wrote a famous manuscript detailing everything there is to know about the mercantile business, in Sai. Partitio asks to read the manuscript, but Masoud will only allow it if Partitio brings him something a merchant treasures above all else. Figuring that a true merchant would still value their loved ones, Partitio hires Masoud's daughter and escorts her to him, but Masoud says his answer is wrong. Partitio then tries to hire ''him'', believing the true answer is that merchants value themselves above all else. This is correct, and Partitio is allowed into Masoud's home to read the manuscript any time he would like.
* Winterbloom Route: Walking through Winterbloom, Partitio hears a voice calling out for help. It turns out to be recorded on a gramophone, and its creator, Audrey, has been having trouble selling them. Partitio gets the idea to record not just voices but also music, and hires a guitarist, violinist, and pianist to record a song. This turns the gramophone into a smash hit, and every tavern in Solistia gets one after this.

* Chapter 3: Ochette returns to Toto'haha as the Night of the Scarlet Moon arrives. The island is besieged by the shadowy creatures from her first chapter, and all the while Ochette smells a familiar scent. As Ochette turns the tide with the help of the Creatures of Legend, she comes face to face with the scent -- it is the companion she did not choose, having gained immense power and gone mad in the past ten years. The Creatures of Legend are unable to do any meaningful damage to it, and Ochette is flung off a cliff into the ocean. There, she sees the light of the Sacred Flame welling up inside her companion and realizes she is fighting to protect the people of her village. Ochette puts the creature out of its misery, offering it food as it withers away. With calamity averted, Cohazeh vows to pursue coexistence with Juvah and the beastlings, while Ochette embraces her role as Toto'haha's defender.

* Chapter 3: Castti arrives in Healeaks, finding it completely abandoned. She meets with Malaya once again, and it is here that Castti's memory completely returns to her. Eir's Apothecaries -- Castti, Malaya, Trousseau, Elma, Andy, and Randy, had all traveled to this village to check up on its residents, when one of the children suddenly fell ill. Castti and Trousseau traveled to the top of a nearby mountain to gather flowers for a cure for what ails her. Some time later, the Apothecaries returned in the middle of a rainstorm (shortly before the present day), and as they are about to leave again two of the children are found dead with symptoms of a deadly poison apparent. As more and more villagers fall ill and die, Castti realizes both that the rain itself is poison, and that Trousseau has gone missing. The rest of the Apothecaries except for Elma climb the mountain, where they find Trousseau created the poison and used a bonfire to release it into the skies and have it come down as rain. Trousseau, having completely lost touch with reality and what made him want to be an apothecary, reveals that he wants to bring about the death of all humans in order to end suffering in the world. To that end, he heads to Timberain with plans to unleash his poison on the people gathered there for a coronation ceremony. The rest of the Apothecaries give their lives to try and stop Trousseau -- Andy and Randy throw themselves onto the bonfire in order to put it out, Elma chooses to protect Castti's horse instead of herself, and Malaya succumbs to the poison just after setting Castti out to sea in the hopes that she can find a cure for the poison. With this, Castti realizes the Malaya that she has been talking to this entire time was a figment of her imagination, and with regained memories and a renewed purpose she heads out to Timberain.

* Chapter 4: After arriving in Timberain, Castti attempts to warn the soldiers and townspeople of Trousseau's impending attack, but is largely ignored until Edmund vouches for her. When the rain comes, Castti and Edmund help get the townspeople to safety, then Castti travels into Timberain Castle to confront Trousseau. She finds him and his bonfire on the roof of the castle, and while she attempts to appeal to Trousseau's nature as an apothecary she once knew, she fails and must kill her former companion to save the city. Using the ingredients from the cures she used over the course of the story, Castti is able to create a cure for Trousseau's poison, and after testing it on herself administers it to Timberain's townspeople. She is also able to lay "Malaya" to rest, along with all of her other fallen comrades in Eir's Apothecaries, and drifts off to sleep as their spirits watch over her.

* Chapter 3 (Father Route): Throné comes to Montwise as Father instructed, meeting him on the road to an abandoned church outside town. He reveals that while he is not Throné's biological father, he was madly in love with her mother, Marietta, who was the leader of the Blacksnakes at the time. Throné follows Father into the church, where he mentions that the two of them got married in this church after Father got Marietta pregnant -- he loved their child, but eventually Marietta left for unknown reasons and killed their child, which was Father's justification for him and Mother killing her. The two of them fight to the death in the abandoned church, and Throné calls him "dad" for the first time as he passes away.

* Chapter 4: Throné finds the Blacksnakes in total disarray after the death of Mother and Father, with its members killing each other at the drop of a hat to try and take control of the syndicate. Throné discovers a message written for her on Pirro's grave -- "Return to where it all began". She heads to the sewers, where Donnie died following the failed heist, and finds the keys that Mother and Father had unlock that door. Following the abandoned highroad beyond the door, Throné finds an old man operating a gondola that takes her to the town of Lostseed. She hears a baby crying in this town, and finds a woman on the steps of the castle that the crying is coming from who begs Throné to kill her baby. Heading into the castle, she meets Claude, her biological father and the founder of the Blacksnakes, holding the crying baby. He reveals that he is immortal, and that ''all'' of the Blacksnakes are his biological children, including Throné, Pirro, Scaracci, Donnie, and even Mother and Father. Eventually, having left his legacy, Claude grew bored and orchestrated a scheme for one of his children to kill him. Throné gladly obliges if it means earning her freedom, fighting him to the death and earning the real keys to her collar. Throné leaves Lostseed grateful to be free of the life of crime she was forced into.

* Chapter 5: Osvald travels to Gravell, where the tomb of D'arqest is said to lie. There, several people who were on a pilgrimage to the nearby Duskruin Shrine suddenly go berserk and start attacking others. Osvald realizes they were all holding amulets imbued with the same shadow magic as the Grieving Golem, and realizes he must be close to finding Harvey. Rushing to the shrine, he finds Harvey ready to sacrifice Elena, but Osvald saves her, having figured out the ''actual'' source of the One True Magic -- ThePowerOfLove. With Harvey defeated, Osvald returns to Conning Creek in order to place Elena in Lady Clarissa's care until her memories are fully restored. Osvald then sets back out, in the hopes of finding Harvey's associates.

* '''Osvald V. Vanstein''' is the Scholar (BlackMage) who has a ton of {{Herd Hitting Attack}}s. His Latent Power focuses those spells on a single target for greater damage. His daytime action is an '''Inquire''', and his nighttime is "Mug," which combines '''Fight''' and '''Obtain''': Osvald has to duel the target, despite being a SquishyWizard, but if he wins, his opponent is knocked out ''and'' he gets their stuff.
* '''Partitio Yellowill''' is the Merchant, the JackOfAllStats. His Latent Power, "Hoot and Holler," instantly fills his BP to the max. (If he already had 4, he only gets one more. Maybe don't use it at that point.) His daytime action is to '''Acquire''' via money, and his nighttime action to '''Befriend''' via money. Anyone he Befriends provides alterations to the party's commerce, like discounts on purchases, bonuses when selling, or rebates on [[CastFromMoney Hired Help]].

* Chapter 2 (Tera Route): Ochette follows the scent of Tera to the town of Crackridge, where she meets a food-loving aspiring hunter named Pom. They learn that Tera was laying dormant beneath the town for years, but lately he has been stirring and causing earthquakes. The two of them venture to the Bed of the Titan, where Tera angrily attacks Ochette for disturbing his sleep. After they fight, Tera explains that it was the Dark Hunter that forced him into his slumber, and he agrees to return to Toto'haha with Ochette.

* Chapter 2 (Glacis Route): Ochette follows the scent of Glacis to Stormhail, where she learns that Glacis is the cause of regular blizzards that have been ravaging the town. Sneaking onto the mountain where Glacis roosts, Ochette meets a hunter named Heig, who wants to kill Glacis as revenge for the deaths of his fellow hunters. Glacis, in her grief over Heig's hunting party (including the Dark Hunter) shattering the egg of her child, attacks Ochette, but after hearing that the Night of the Scarlet Moon is coming, agrees to return to Toto'haha.

* Chapter 1: Castti awakens on a ship with no memory of who she is, but from the belongings in her satchel is able to discern that she is an apothecary. When the ship docks in the town of Canalbrine, the townspeople are immediately distrustful of her due to her uniform -- the uniform of Eir's Apothecaries, a group said to have massacred an entire village in cold blood. She also meets Malaya, an apothecary like her, who is in search of the cure to a deadly disease. A teenage boy named Senah falls ill, and while his older brother thinks Castti poisoned him, as more people get sick it becomes apparent that the town's water source has been contaminated. Castti travels alone to the water source, slaying the monsters that have polluted the water with their toxins. The townspeople apologize for their distrust, and a conversation with Malaya causes a flash of memory to return -- a memory of Malaya being the one to set Castti out onto the sea. Additionally, a journal in the bottom of her satchel gives Castti the names of two towns she apparently once visited -- Sai and Winterbloom.

* Chapter 2 (Sai Route): Castti arrives in Sai, a town in the middle of a civil war. Sai's makeshift hospital is full of wounded soldiers, many of whom are forced back into battle before they have fully healed by their captain Edmund. Mao, the town apothecary, causes Castti to remember that she was not just a member of Eir's Apothecaries but its leader. When Castti catches wind of the other faction having wounded soldiers, she rushes to the battlefield, where sand traps laid by Edmund's men have not only caused the enemy soldiers to fall into harm's way but also awakened an angry monster sleeping beneath the sands. While Edmund tries to stop Castti from helping the enemy, he is silenced by her firmness and ability to take charge, and the two of them end up going together in search of wounded. Edmund falls into the sand lion's lair, but Castti slays it and saves his life. Before leaving, she catches up with Malaya and gets another flash of memory -- someone in a plague doctor mask, and a storm of purple rain...

* Chapter 2 (Winterbloom Route): Castti arrives in the town of Winterbloom and meets with its lord, a terminally ill woman named Rosa whom Eir's Apothecaries had once helped (mainly Castti and a young apothecary named Trousseau). Now on her deathbed, Rosa wants Castti to at least help her survive to the 12th birthday of her daughter, Melia, so that her nephew Greg does not take Rosa's position instead. Castti helps Melia gather herbs for a concoction to soothe Rosa's pain, but later on, Melia is kidnapped. The kidnappers' ultimatum -- if Castti does not leave town, Melia will be killed. Undeterred by this threat, Castti tracks the kidnappers, a trio of bandits hired by Greg, to a local tavern, and fights with them after they refuse to unhand Melia. Greg apologizes profusely, not expecting that the bandits would have behaved the way they did. Rosa passes away on the morning of Melia's 12th birthday, surrounded by Castti and all of her loved ones. Before Castti leaves Winterbloom, she gets reminded of two things: the Eir's Apothecaries' creed of extending their hands to help anyone in need, as well as a kind person called Trousseau. But who is the latter? And why is he particularly important to Castti?

* Chapter 1: Throné's story begins InMediasRes in the city of New Delsta with her, Pirro, Scaracci, and Donnie escaping from a bungled heist on a nobleman named Diamante. Donnie dies of his injuries after the door that should have led to an escape route turned out to be locked with no key, and the remainder of the party returns to their home -- the headquarters of the Blacksnakes, the shadowy organization that they have belonged to since birth, ruled by "Mother" and "Father". Pirro takes the blame for the group's failure and endures Mother's punishment. The next morning, Throné and Pirro discuss what they want to achieve in the Blacksnakes, and later Throné receives a new assignment from Father. She is being fast-tracked to possibly succeeding Mother and Father if something were to happen to them, so she is tasked with eliminating a traitor within the Blacksnakes -- Scaracci, who leaked the details of the heist to Diamante. Throné sneaks into Diamante's manor, but finds both him and Scaracci dead. Pirro reveals it was him that killed them, having realized that he, Scaracci, and Throné had all been given similar assignments, and Mother and Father wanted them to all kill each other so only one would survive and become successor. Desperate to move on up, Pirro fights Throné but is defeated by her. Throné, longing to leave the Blacksnakes, seeks to kill Mother and Father and take the keys to her slave collar from them.

* Chapter 2 (Mother Route): Throné tracks Mother to Oresrush, where she learns about a man known as the Slaver whom Mother visited. Sneaking into the abandoned foundry, Throné discovers the Slaver playing a form of RussianRoulette (using poisoned glasses instead of a gun) with his slaves while the rich bet on it. Realizing the Slaver is also a Blacksnake, Throné decides to play his game to learn where Mother went. She wins, and the Slaver gives Mother's location -- Mother's Garden, an orphanage in Wellgrove.

* Chapter 2 (Father Route): Throné follows Father to Winterbloom to report on her mission with the intent to kill him, as she recalls how Father had taught her the art of killing when she was very young. Unexpectedly, Father tasks her with eliminating the Snowhares, a rival thief gang headquartered in town. Father comes along on the assignment and leaves the head of the gang, Bergomi, to her. In a moment of hesitation, Throné is stabbed by Father, who then kills Bergomi and tells Throné to follow him to Montwise so he can put an end to this madness.

* Chapter 1: Osvald has been serving a prison sentence on Frigit Isle for the murder of his wife and daughter, a crime he did not commit, for the past five years. For all of this time, he has had a muzzle in place so that he could not cast magic spells or even speak, which has not diminished his desire for revenge against Harvey, his former research partner into the One True Magic who got him falsely imprisoned. Using the information on the prison he has gathered over the years, he hatches an escape plan with fellow convict Emerald (who frees him from his muzzle), and the two of them escape via an unfinished passage beneath the prison and plan to sneak out onboard a ship that comes regularly to inspect the prison. However, they are intercepted by the sadistic Warden Davids, who had been monitoring Emerald on the suspicion that he would try to orchestrate a prison break. The two of them defeat Davids and his lackies, and Osvald uses his fire magic to force a way out of the passage.

* Chapter 2: Osvald and Emerald's prison break continues. When the inspection ship proves to be more heavily guarded, Osvald and Emerald get into a dispute on how to leave Frigit Isle, with Osvald MacGyvering a boat out of straw and ice and Emerald insisting that they take their chances with the ship. They have a falling out, and Osvald ends up traveling to the mainland alone. Emerald, realizing he doesn't stand a chance against the guards on the ship, opts to set it on fire with himself on it in order to cover Osvald's escape. Some days later, Osvald washes up on the shore of Cape Cold, where a retired scholar finds him and deduces that he escaped from prison. Lamenting that he could not follow the scholar's wishes that he lead an honest life, Osvald sets out from Cape Cold in search of Harvey.

* Chapter 3: Osvald's quest leads him back to his hometown, Conning Creek. There, in addition to finding that all of his research on the One True Magic was stolen, he meets with his old assistant, Lady Clarissa, who believes that the town guards were paid off to deny that Harvey was involved in the crime that Osvald took the fall for (and that her husband Ethan wound up dead trying to look into it). Osvald confronts Captain Stenvar, the greedy guard captain, who confirms what Clarissa had suspected -- Harvey had indeed paid Stenvar to get Osvald imprisoned. Osvald defeats Stenvar and interrogates him on Harvey's whereabouts, and is pointed to Montwise where Osvald and Harvey once both taught.

* Chapter 1: Sixteen years prior to present day, Partitio bears witness to the founding of Oresrush by his father Papp and their business partner Roque, with the town being constructed adjacent to a silver mine. Eight years later, with the economy of Oresrush booming, Partitio deals with a gang of thugs led by Giff hanging around the mine, and returns home to shocking news -- Roque is leaving town, and the silver mine's land has been privatized. With the mine landowner's blessing, Giff becomes the new leader of the town, and the economy plummets for everyone but him. In the present day, Partitio, sick of seeing his friends and family suffering, goes to Giff's manor, where Giff reveals that the new owner of the silver mine is none other than Roque. They fight, and Partitio spares Giff on the condition he give back the money he stole. Giff agrees, and after seeing life return to the town, Partitio sets out on a journey to eliminate poverty.

* Chapter 2: Partitio travels to Clockbank, home to the factory of the Roque Company. He encounters a debt collector named Thurston, a reporter named Ori, and a workaholic inventor named Floyd, and learns that the Roque Company is named for (and owned by) Roque himself. Partitio then learns that the Roque Company is developing steam engines, and helps Floyd design an updated model. When he goes to see the new model in production, however, he finds both it and Floyd missing, and deeper in the factory finds that due to a clause in Floyd's contract, he does not own the rights to his design. Partitio intervenes, but Thurston sics Garnet, the company guard dog, on him. After fending her off, Roque appears, and Partitio offers to buy the rights to the steam engine from him. Roque agrees, if Partitio can give him 80 billion leaves, so Partitio accepts and sets out to find someone who can provide that much money.

* Chapter 1: Agnea's story begins with her dancing in Cropdale's tavern to earn tips. She wants to leave the village and become a famous dancer like her mother Cuani was, but her father, Garud, will only allow her to leave once she proves she's serious about this by saving up 10,000 leaves. She's close to her goal, and dancing in the village's harvest festival will get her there. Agnea's sister Pala is in the woods picking fruit for the festival when a monstrous boar known as the Duorduor is spotted -- fearing for her sister's safety, Agnea, accompanied by Gus (her childhood friend and the local tavernkeeper), venture into the woods to fend it off. It then turns out Pala was never in danger, and the festival goes off without a hitch. After showing to Garud that she has the money to leave town, he permits her to go, giving her the dress her mother used to wear on stage, and the entire village sees her off.

* Chapter 2: Agnea travels to New Delsta, the largest city on Solistia, to pursue her dreams. She befriends a musician and tavern owner named Gil who compliments her on her "hot" moves, and lets her perform in the tavern. However, her success is short-lived, as La'mani, the owner of New Delsa's illustrious theater (and manager of its top talent, Dolcinaea), trashes the tavern and beats Gil up, unable to stomach the idea of the less fortunate being able to enjoy the arts. Hearing about this, Agnea heads over to the theater to give La'mani a piece of her mind, getting La'mani to agree to leave Gil alone after fighting her. Agnea then heads out, but Gil hands her a piece of sheet music that he wrote for her called the "Song of Hope". Agnea promises to write the lyrics for it as she continues on her journey. Meanwhile, Dolcinaea seems to have a plan of her own...

* Chapter 3: Agnea heads to the island town of Tropu'hopu, where she meets Giselle's Traveling Troupe -- a trio of performers named Giselle, Rico, and Coda, and their manager Tanzy. Agnea helps them out when their prop wagon gets stuck in the sand, enabling them to practice their performance. However, the day of the performance, Giselle is nowhere to be found. Agnea finds Giselle on a smaller island off the coast of the main town, where she reveals she struggles with stage fright, but Agnea encourages her and watches their show. Before Agnea leaves, Giselle realizes she had met Agnea's mother, and points her towards Sai, a town she had apparently visited often. She also encourages Agnea to go to the Festival of Grace, the largest dance event in Solistia.

* Chapter 1: Inquisitor Temenos' story begins from the perspective of Aelfric the Flamebringer, with his fellow gods all having fallen in battle versus Vide the Wicked. Just when it looks like Aelfric is also about to fall, the powers of his old friends return to him, and he is able to turn the tide against Vide... so goes the tale that Temenos is reciting to the children of Flamechurch. The children and fellow cleric Mindt chide Temenos on forgetting a critical line in the story, and the Pontiff Jörg, Temenos' superior, asks that he come to see him at the nearby cathedral. On his way through town, Temenos is attacked by heretics denouncing the Order of the Sacred Flame, but is saved by Crick, a knight of the Sacred Guard. Crick accompanies Temenos to the cathedral, but they find it locked. Temenos then coerces information out of an architect named Vados, and from him learns of another passage into the cathedral through the cellar of a nearby building. Upon their entry, they discover Jörg has been killed by a monster that somehow got into the cathedral, and the duo put it out of its misery. Recalling that Jörg was last seen alive with a scholar named Lucian, Temenos decides to track him down, while Crick is reassigned away from Temenos by Deputy Cubaryi.

* Chapter 1: Three years prior to the present day, the kingdom of Ku is embroiled in war with a neighboring nation. With the aid of their strategist Kazan, Hikari, along with his allies Ritsu and Rai Mei, bring up the charge behind Jigo, the king of Ku and Hikari's father. After an intense battle, Hikari's half-brother General Mugen chides Hikari for his mercy towards the enemy but praises Ritsu's fighting spirit, while King Jigo seems intent on bringing the war to a swift end. Shortly afterwards, a ceasefire is declared. In the present day, Hikari is watching over Ku's castle town and subdues a tavern patron who has thrown his support in with Mugen for Ku to return to war. After this, he is unexpectedly called away by Jigo's retainer Benkei to a meeting with his father. Jigo offers Hikari the crown, worried that Mugen's bloodlust would drive Ku to ruin. Seeking a way to keep Mugen from taking over, Jigo calls Mugen into the throne room while Hikari digs up information on the military support Mugen has gathered. He heads to a hill outside town where an arms deal is said to be taking place, but he instead finds Ritsu, who has also fallen in with Mugen. The two of them duel, with Hikari gaining the upper hand after a mysterious voice calls out to him and unlocks his Latent Power, which is apparently a SuperpoweredEvilSide. In the meantime, Mugen's soldiers ransack the capital and storm the palace. Hikari attempts to stop Mugen, but can only watch as he murders their father. Benkei covers Hikari's escape, and Hikari swears to find allies to retake Ku.

* Chapter 2: Hikari travels to Montwise in search of Kazan. He finds him at an underground arena, and Kazan then twists Hikari's arm into fighting in the arena to pay off his gambling debts. Suspecting something is amiss (as Hikari's first opponents were already wounded), Hikari confronts Kazan, who reveals his true goal is the total destruction of the arena and of the poor warriors fighting for the entertainment of the rich. Hikari decides to play along, defeating several other combatants including the feared Zeto the Butcher. All the while, Kazan places outrageous bets on Hikari, taunting Borneau (the proprietor of the arena) to keep his word on them. Hikari's battle against the undefeated Bandelam would be his and Kazan's final test, but one Hikari succeeds in despite Bandelam initially overwhelms him. With Bandelam defeated, Zeto and the other gladiators riot, demanding payment from Borneau, who runs for the hills along with Bandelam. Having gained Hikari and Kazan's trust, these gladiators agree to join the eventual battle to retake Ku. Meanwhile, Mugen has already invaded begun invading neighboring nations to expand Ku's territory, with the help of his right-hand man Ageha.

* '''Temenos Mistral''' is a Cleric, the game's WhiteMage. His nighttime action is both an '''Inquire''' and a '''Fight''': he has to Break an enemy to learn about them. (It should be pointed out that Temenos, despite being TheGadfly and a priest, is the main character in a FilmNoir detective story.) Appropriately, his Latent Power, "Judgment," enhances his next attack to remove Shield Points ''regardless of what that attack is''. His daytime action is a '''Hire''' function called Guide; [=NPCs=] so summoned will hang around in battle for a few turns and can even be targeted by enemies.

As with the first game, ''Octopath Traveler II'' puts the player in charge of an eclectic PlayerParty traveling the realm of "Solistia," a kingdom of two continents divided by the Sundering Sea. As with Orsterra, Solistia is an AdventureFriendlyWorld, organized into eight regions named after a salient geographical feature and musical theme; each region is divided into three sub-regions, with the starting ones being where each Traveler starts and having the lowest-leveled RandomEncounters, and with battle BGM depending on the "Danger Level" of the region. As with the first game, each character has a "Path Action" that allows them to interact with [=NPCs=] in certain ways: they can '''Inquire''' information of them, they can '''Obtain''' the NPC's inventory of items, equipment and ShopFodder; they can '''Recruit''' the NPC for use as an in-battle summon, at which point they will follow your party around; and they can '''Fight''' the NPC in various ways to render them comatose -- which is important because a number of [=NPCs=] are actually standing guard across buildings or even places you specifically need to go. (For instance, one security guard acts as a BrokenBridge stopping access to the third tier of the Winterlands, keeping people out of a mountain pass that is now overrun with monsters.)

[[folder:Crossed Paths, Pt II]]

* In the Beastling Village is a Foreign Traveler who is excited to have found the village. He has ''Dispatches from the Beastling Village'' in his inventory; Throné, Partitio, Osvald and Agnea can relieve him of it through their normal means.
* In the Southern Stormhail Snows, just outside of Stormhail, an Archaeologist is overlooking the marvel known as the Great Wall. He has ''The Curious Legend of the Great Wall'' in his inventory.
* Down a ladder in the town of Crackridge is a Scholar standing guard outside his house. Knock him out with Throné, Castti, Ochette or Hikari to get into the building; Inspect him with Castti, Osvald, Hikari or Temenos to notice that the book has been driving him a teeeeensy bit binky-bonkers. It's ''From The Far Reaches of Hell''. Hey, didn't an Orsterran Scholar named Cyrus Albright have some problems with this book?...

Al thanks the party before pulling a ButNowIMustGo. He explains he needs to return home, and teleports away in a burst of light. Before leaving, he gives the team his full name: Alfred Hornburg. Hey, isn't that the name of the king Olberic Eisenberg once served, who died in his middle years long before the first game began?...

* '''Osvald V. Vanstein'' is the Scholar BlackMage who has a ton of {{Herd Hitting Attack}}s. His Latent Power focuses those spells on a single target for greater damage. His daytime action is an '''Inquire''', and his nighttime is "Mug," which combines '''Fight''' and '''Obtain''': Osvald has to duel the target, despite being a SquishyWizard, but if he wins, his opponent is knocked out ''and'' he gets their stuff.

* Ochette ([[OnlyOneName no surname]]) is a TheBeastmaster who can capture random-encounter enemies for use in battle. If she has too many, she can process them into various meals. During the day she has a '''Fight''' interaction where she acts as a Pokemon Trainer, fighting solely via monsters; at night she can '''Recruit''' [=NPCs=] by giving them food she has made. Her Latent Power is a choice of three physical attacks.
* Castti Florenz is an Apothecary, a RedMage who splits her time between healing and physical combat. As an Apothecary, she shares the CombinatorialExplosion power of Alfyn, being able to mix reagents together and use BP to increase the number of ingredients; her Latent Power, "Every Drop Counts," lets her do this ''without consuming ingredients'', making Concoct a viable early-game option. Her daytime Path Action is to '''Inquire'''; her nighttime action is a one-sided '''Fight''' mechanic where she consumes (comparatively rare) items to inflict InstantSedation on the target.
* Throné Anguis is a thief wielding DeviousDaggers and VideoGameStealing. Her Latent Power allows her to take a second action immediately after her current one. Her daytime Path Action is to '''Obtain''' via stealing and her nighttime action is an instant '''Fight''' via a TapOnTheHead, but both have limits: Stealing has a probability, and screwing it up too often will cost the party's reputation (which takes money to restore). Meanwhile, "Ambush" is dependent exclusively on her level; there will be people she just straight-up can't do it to.
* Osvald V. Vanstein is the Scholar BlackMage who has a ton of {{Herd Hitting Attack}}s. His Latent Power focuses those spells on a single target for greater damage. His daytime action is an '''Inquire''', and his nighttime is "Mug," which combines '''Fight''' and '''Obtain''': Osvald has to duel the target, despite being a SquishyWizard, but if he wins, his opponent is knocked out ''and'' he gets their stuff.
* Partitio Yellowill is the Merchant, the JackOfAllStats. His Latent Power, "Hoot and Holler," instantly fills his BP to the max. (If he already had 4, he only gets one more. Maybe don't use it at that point.) His daytime action is to '''Acquire''' via money, and his nighttime action to '''Befriend''' via money. Anyone he Befriends provides alterations to the party's commerce, like discounts on purchases, bonuses when selling, or rebates on [[CastFromMoney Hired Help]].
* Agnea Bristarni is the Dancer, who concentrates on strengthening her allies. She has a variety of ways to turn the game's (many) single-target skills into target-the-entire-party skills, including her Latent Power "All Together Now." Her daytime action is to '''Befriend''' and her nighttime action to '''Acquire''', though, similar to Throné's Fight skill, it is dependent on her level. Her Befriend companion will give her bonuses whenever she uses a dance ability in battle.
* Temenos Mistral is a Cleric, the game's WhiteMage. His nighttime action is both an '''Inquire''' and a '''Fight''': he has to Break an enemy to learn about them. (It should be pointed out that Temenos, despite being TheGadfly and a priest, is the main character in a FilmNoir detective story.) Appropriately, his Latent Power, "Judgment," enhances his next attack to remove Shield Points ''regardless of what that attack is''. His daytime action is a '''Hire''' function called Guide; [=NPCs=] so summoned will hang around in battle for a few turns and can even be targeted by enemies.
* Hikari Ku is the MightyGlacier Warrior class. In addition to the "Challenge" '''Fight''' mechanic during the day, he can also '''Inquire''' at night by bribing people. Every NPC in this game has a special attack, and Hikari can learn them after winning the Challenge against them, carrying a maximum of five into battle. This helps give Hikari some versatility, as the Warrior class forsakes magic attacks, debuffs and healing abilities for an exclusive focus on melee combat.

[[folder:Backstory (SPOILERS)]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Ochette's Story]]

* Chapter 3: Ochette returns to Toto'haha as the Night of the Scarlet Moon arrives. The island is besieged by the shadowy creatures from her first chapter, and all the while Ochette smells a familiar scent. As Ochette turns the tide with the help of the Creatures of Legend, she comes face to face with the scent -- it is the companion she did not choose, having gained immense power and gone mad in the past ten years. The Creatures of Legend are unable to do any meaningful damage to it, and Ochette is flung off a cliff into the ocean. There, she sees the light of the Sacred Flame welling up inside her companion and realizes she is fighting to protect the people of her village. Ochette puts the creature out of its misery, offering it food as it withers away. With calamity averted, Cohazeh vows to pursue coexistence with Juvah and the beastlings, while Ochette embraces her role as Toto'haha's defender.
** Boss: Lajackal/Malamaowl of the Sorrowful Moon
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Castti's Story]]

* Chapter 3: Castti arrives in Healeaks, finding it completely abandoned. She meets with Malaya once again, and it is here that Castti's memory completely returns to her. Eir's Apothecaries -- Castti, Malaya, Trousseau, Elma, Andy, and Randy, had all traveled to this village to check up on its residents, when one of the children suddenly fell ill. Castti and Trousseau traveled to the top of a nearby mountain to gather flowers for a cure for what ails her. Some time later, the Apothecaries returned in the middle of a rainstorm (shortly before the present day), and as they are about to leave again two of the children are found dead with symptoms of a deadly poison apparent. As more and more villagers fall ill and die, Castti realizes both that the rain itself is poison, and that Trousseau has gone missing. The rest of the Apothecaries except for Elma climb the mountain, where they find Trousseau created the poison and used a bonfire to release it into the skies and have it come down as rain. Trousseau, having completely lost touch with reality and what made him want to be an apothecary, reveals that he wants to bring about the death of all humans in order to end suffering in the world. To that end, he heads to Timberain with plans to unleash his poison on the people gathered there for a coronation ceremony. The rest of the Apothecaries give their lives to try and stop Trousseau -- Andy and Randy throw themselves onto the bonfire in order to put it out, Elma chooses to protect Castti's horse instead of herself, and Malaya succumbs to the poison just after setting Castti out to sea in the hopes that she can find a cure for the poison. With this, Castti realizes the Malaya that she has been talking to this entire time was a figment of her imagination, and with regained memories and a renewed purpose she heads out to Timberain.

* Chapter 4: After arriving in Timberain, Castti attempts to warn the soldiers and townspeople of Trousseau's impending attack, but is largely ignored until Edmund vouches for her. When the rain comes, Castti and Edmund help get the townspeople to safety, then Castti travels into Timberain Castle to confront Trousseau. She finds him and his bonfire on the roof of the castle, and while she attempts to appeal to Trousseau's nature as an apothecary she once knew, she fails and must kill her former companion to save the city. Using the ingredients from the cures she used over the course of the story, Castti is able to create a cure for Trousseau's poison, and after testing it on herself administers it to Timberain's townspeople. She is also able to lay "Malaya" to rest, along with all of her other fallen comrades in Eir's Apothecaries, and drifts off to sleep as their spirits watch over her.
** Boss: Trousseau
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Throné's Story]]
* Chapter 1: Throné's story begins InMediasRes in the city of New Delsta with her, Pirro, Scaracci, and Donnie escaping from a bungled heist on a nobleman named Diamante. Donnie dies of his injuries after the door that should have led to an escape route turned out to be locked with no key, and the remainder of the party returns to their home -- the headquarters of the Blacksnakes, the shadowy organization that they have belonged to since birth, ruled by "Mother" and "Father". Pirro takes the blame for the group's failure and endures Mother's punishment. The next morning, Throné and Pirro discuss what they want to achieve in the Blacksnakes, and later Throné receives a new assignment from Father. She is being fast-tracked to possibly succeeding Mother and Father if something were to happen to them, so she is tasked with eliminating a traitor within the Blacksnakes -- Scaracci, who leaked the details of the heist to Diamante. Throné sneaks into Diamante's manor, but finds both him and Scaracci dead. Pirro reveals it was him that killed them, having realized that he, Scaracci, and Throné had all been given similar assignments, and Mother and Father wanted them to all kill each other so only one would survive and become successor. Desperate to move on up, Pirro fights Throné but is defeated by her. Throné, longing to leave the Blacksnakes, seeks to kill Mother and Father and take the keys to her slave collar from them.
** Boss: Pirro
* Chapter 2 (Mother Route): Throné tracks Mother to Oresrush, where she learns about a man known as the Slaver whom Mother visited. Sneaking into the abandoned foundry, Throné discovers the Slaver playing a form of RussianRoulette (using poisoned glasses instead of a gun) with his slaves while the rich bet on it. Realizing the Slaver is also a Blacksnake, Throné decides to play his game to learn where Mother went. She wins, and the Slaver gives Mother's location -- Mother's Garden, an orphanage in Wellgrove.
** Boss: None

* Chapter 3 (Mother Route): Throné arrives in Wellgrove and meets a girl who bears a striking resemblance to her. She then infiltrates Mother's Garden, an orphanage owned by the Blacksnakes and run by Mother herself to raise its children into full-fledged members of the Blacksnakes. Throné finds the girl from earlier, Mira, here, and when Mother calls her into the courtyard Throné follows them. Mother recounts the story of the Blacksnakes' founding -- long ago, a prince and a princess of enemy nations fell in love, and eloped to a faraway land and had many children, and that prince and princess and their children were the original Blacksnakes. Mother also reveals that she and Father killed Throné's biological mother, after which Throné demands the key to her collar from Mother, and kills her to take it despite Mira's protests (as she sees Mother as her ''true'' mother). Throné leaves as Mira swears vengeance on her.
** Boss: Mother
* Chapter 3 (Father Route): Throné comes to Montwise as Father instructed, meeting him on the road to an abandoned church outside town. He reveals that while he is not Throné's biological father, he was madly in love with her mother, Marietta, who was the leader of the Blacksnakes at the time. Throné follows Father into the church, where he mentions that the two of them got married in this church after Father got Marietta pregnant -- he loved their child, but eventually Marietta left for unknown reasons and killed their child, which was Father's justification for him and Mother killing her. The two of them fight to the death in the abandoned church, and Throné calls him "dad" for the first time as he passes away.
** Boss: Father

After finishing both branches of Chapter 3, Throné attempts to unlock her collar, but finds that the keys do not fit. Determined to figure out what the keys are really for, she returns to New Delsta.

* Chapter 4: Throné finds the Blacksnakes in total disarray after the death of Mother and Father, with its members killing each other at the drop of a hat to try and take control of the syndicate. Throné discovers a message written for her on Pirro's grave -- "Return to where it all began". She heads to the sewers, where Donnie died following the failed heist, and finds the keys that Mother and Father had unlock that door. Following the abandoned highroad beyond the door, Throné finds an old man operating a gondola that takes her to the town of Lostseed. She hears a baby crying in this town, and finds a woman on the steps of the castle that the crying is coming from who begs Throné to kill her baby. Heading into the castle, she meets Claude, her biological father and the founder of the Blacksnakes, holding the crying baby. He reveals that he is immortal, and that ''all'' of the Blacksnakes are his biological children, including Throné, Pirro, Scaracci, Donnie, and even Mother and Father. Eventually, having left his legacy, Claude grew bored and orchestrated a scheme for one of his children to kill him. Throné gladly obliges if it means earning her freedom, fighting him to the death and earning the real keys to her collar. Throné leaves Lostseed grateful to be free of the life of crime she was forced into.
** Boss: Claude
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Osvald's Story]]

* Chapter 4: Osvald visits the library in Montwise, and after scrutinizing visitors to Harvey's lectures discovers a secret passage to an underground laboratory. In this laboratory, he discovers Harvey has been conducting illegal experiments on monsters before coming face to face with Harvey himself. Harvey sics a monster on Osvald, the Grieving Golem, and Osvald picks up on his wife's essence in the golem. Demanding to know what Harvey did to his family, Harvey posits that the One True Magic's source is shadows and ThePowerOfHate. Osvald's wife, Rita, was descended from the Lumina bloodline, one of IncorruptiblePurePureness, so she and their daughter Elena were kidnapped for Harvey to experiment on using magic derived from the ancient sage D'arqest. Just then, Elena appears, calling out for her papa... only for her to be referring to ''Harvey'', who has tampered with her memory to erase any reference to Osvald being her father. A broken Osvald can only watch as the two of them walk away, with Harvey taunting Osvald to find him.
** Boss: Grieving Golem
* Chapter 5: Osvald travels to Gravell, where the tomb of D'arqest is said to lie. There, several people who were on a pilgrimage to the nearby Duskruin Shrine suddenly go berserk and start attacking others. Osvald realizes they were all holding amulets imbued with the same shadow magic as the Grieving Golem, and realizes he must be close to finding Harvey. Rushing to the shrine, he finds Harvey ready to sacrifice Elena, but Osvald saves her, having figured out the ''actual'' source of the One True Magic -- ThePowerOfLove. With Harvey defeated, Osvald returns to Conning Creek in order to place Elena in Lady Clarissa's care until her memories are fully restored. Osvald then sets back out, in the hopes of finding Harvey's associates.
** Boss: Professor Harvey
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Partitio's Story]]

* Chapter 3: Partitio's search for an investor leads him to Wellgrove, where an eccentric nobleman named Alrond is said to reside. After the two meet, Alrond agrees to fund Partitio's deal, on the grounds that he do something to stimulate Wellgrove's economy. He gets the idea for what would ultimately become the first department store in Solistia, and he travels around the continent to find wares for the store to sell. Partitio returns to Alrond's manor to report on how things are going, only to find him under attack by an unknown assailant hidden in a cloak of steam. It turns out to be Thurston, whom Roque fired following the events of the previous chapter, seeking to sabotage Partitio. Partitio defeats him, and Alrond makes good on his promise, handing Partitio a promissory note for 80 billion leaves. Just then, Ori reveals to Partitio that Roque is holding a conference at the Roque Company headquarters regarding the steam engine. Determined to make good on his promise, Partitio heads out to meet him there.
** Boss: Thurston
* Chapter 4: Partitio travels to Roque Island, the headquarters of the Roque Company. He and Ori sneak into the conference, with Partitio crashing the announcement to give Roque the promissory note from Alrond. When Roque refuses to make good on his deal, Alrond appears with a ship physically containing the 80 billion leaves. However, Roque becomes agitated and runs away, before appearing with his latest invention -- the Steam Tank Obsidian, a cross between a steam train and a tank. Roque tries to kill Partitio with the tank, but Partitio survives the onslaught and destroys it. Roque, finally having realized he has lost his way, agrees to give up the rights to the steam engine and work with Partitio. They, operating as the newly-established Partitio and Roque company, use the steam engine to bolster Solistia's infrastructure, and the tale ends with Papp and Roque discussing business once again, this time about building a rail line through Oresrush.
** Boss: Roque and the Steam Tank Obsidian
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Agnea's Story]]

* Chapter 4: After arriving in Sai, Agnea finds a statue of her mother in the town's slums. She is surprised to see it, but when she comes back to it she finds it has been vandalized by a local girl named Laila. Laila lives in an orphanage and believes there is no hope left for this town, and resents the statue of Cuani for being a symbol of false hope. Agnea attempts to teach Laila how to dance, and while she seems to be a natural at it, their practice session is cut short by men attempting to seize the land of the old town and destroy it. The one behind this turns out to be Dolcinaea, who grew up in Sai's slums (and learned how to dance from Cuani herself) and hates that someone as successful as her came from a place like this -- she now wants to use the land to create "Dolcinaealand". Enraged by this, Agnea sets out to confront Dolcinaea in the hills outside town, where she instead ends up fighting Veronica, her bodyguard. Impressed by her talents, Dolcinaea hands her an invitation to perform in the Festival of Grace.
** Boss: Veronica
* Chapter 5: Agnea arrives in Merry Hills, the town that hosts the Festival of Grace, and is immediately accosted by strange men that she fends off. As Agnea attempts to lose her pursuers, who were hired by La'mani to try and get back at Agnea, she is helped out by all of the friends she made along the way -- Giselle's Traveling Troupe, Gil, and even Laila all help Agnea and make sure she gets to the festival safely. Just before she reaches the stage, La'mani himself appears before Agnea, but Veronica subdues him, and an intense dance battle between Agnea and Dolcinaea ensues. While the crowd is initially enamored by Dolcinaea's moves, Agnea's performance of the Song of Hope wins the crowd over. Agnea is congratulated by everyone that came out to support her, with Garud and Pala making the trip to see her dance and La'mani having a change of heart and supporting her. The story ends with Agnea proud of what she has accomplished.
** Boss: Dolcinaea
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Temenos' Story]]

* Chapter 3 (Crackridge Route): Temenos heads to Crackridge, where the townspeople (many of whom are wearing crescent moon necklaces) seem very suspicious of him. He spends the night in an inn, where he reflects upon an old inquisitor friend named Roi, who mysteriously went missing after discovering an artifact known as the Darkblood Bow. The next morning, Temenos ventures to the nearby Fellsun Ruins, accompanied by a fellow traveler named Reiza. Temenos sees that Reiza wears the same necklace as the other townsfolk, and deduces that she is not merely some other traveler. Her cover blown, Reiza admits that she was supposed to kill Temenos, but did not agree with the teachings of the Order. Exploring the ruins, Temenos finds that the Moonshade Order orchestrated the genocide of the Kal tribe and realizes it is this Order that Jörg had intended to warn Temenos about before his untimely death.
** Boss: None
* Chapter 3 (Stormhail Route): Temenos goes to Stormhail in the hopes of learning more from Vados himself. After catching up with Crick, Temenos enters the Sacred Guard's headquarters to figure out where Vados is, but the registrar denies any record of him entering the building. Heading outside to walk through the adjacent cemetery, Temenos finds Vados' corpse, and is attacked by a cloaked figure (but Crick saves him in the nick of time). Crick vows to get to the bottom of why the Sacred Guard is obstructing Temenos' investigation and hiding Vados' involvement in things -- however, the next morning, Temenos finds him dead outside headquarters. Shocked by this, Temenos uses clues Crick left behind to find a secret passage to the headquarters' forbidden archive. When he gets there, Cubaryi follows shortly after, revealing that she and Kaldena killed Crick for discovering the Book of Night, a tome detailing an ancient rite that Kaldena seeks to carry out. An enraged Temenos strikes her down to avenge Crick, and at his funeral (also attended by Crick's closest friend in the Sacred Guard, Ort) silently swears to carry on his will.
** Boss: Deputy Cubaryi

After finishing both branches of Chapter 3, Temenos deduces that Kaldena is the mastermind behind his story's events, and swears to bring her to justice.

* Chapter 4: Thirty years ago, Kaldena was the SoleSurvivor of the Kal tribe's genocide. She joined the Sacred Guard in pursuit of her family's murderers, and of the power needed to exact her revenge. In the present day, she is accompanied by Ort and other Sacred Guard knights to a cave near a nameless village in Toto'haha, with Temenos in hot pursuit. Temenos learns from a beastling guarding the cave that Kaldena's rite is meant to call forth "the Shadow" to envelop the world in darkness. Meanwhile, Ort demands to know why Kaldena killed Crick, to which she responds by striking down her fellow knights and continuing into the cave. Temenos arrives just in time to see Ort, just barely hanging on, beg him to stop Kaldena. As Temenos fights Kaldena, she invokes the rite but it goes wrong, warping her beyond recognition, and Temenos puts her out of her misery. After Kaldena's death, the Sacred Guard is stripped of its authority, but Temenos, mourning the loss of both Roi and Crick, is unsatisfied -- he still has many questions he needs to find the answers to, primarily the true goal of the Moonshade Order.
** Boss: Captain Kaldena (Kaldena the Night)

[[folder:Hikari's Story]]
* Chapter 1: Three years prior to the present day, the kingdom of Ku is embroiled in war with a neighboring nation. With the aid of their strategist Kazan, Hikari, along with his allies Ritsu and Rai Mei, bring up the charge behind Jigo, the king of Ku and Hikari's father. After an intense battle, Hikari's half-brother General Mugen chides Hikari for his mercy towards the enemy but praises Ritsu's fighting spirit, while King Jigo seems intent on bringing the war to a swift end. Shortly afterwards, a ceasefire is declared. In the present day, Hikari is watching over Ku's castle town and subdues a tavern patron who has thrown his support in with Mugen for Ku to return to war. After this, he is unexpectedly called away by Jigo's retainer Benkei to a meeting with his father. Jigo offers Hikari the crown, worried that Mugen's bloodlust would drive Ku to ruin. Seeking a way to keep Mugen from taking over, Jigo calls Mugen into the throne room while Hikari digs up information on the military support Mugen has gathered. He heads to a hill outside town where an arms deal is said to be taking place, but he instead finds Ritsu, who has also fallen in with Mugen. The two of them duel, with Hikari gaining the upper hand after a mysterious voice calls out to him, and in the meantime Mugen's soldiers ransack the capital and storm the palace. Hikari attempts to stop Mugen, but can only watch as he murders their father. Benkei covers Hikari's escape, and Hikari swears to find allies to retake Ku.
** Boss: Ritsu Mishuyo
* Chapter 2: Hikari travels to Montwise in search of Kazan. He finds him at an underground arena, and Kazan then twists Hikari's arm into fighting in the arena to pay off his gambling debts. Suspecting something is amiss (as Hikari's first opponents were already wounded), Hikari confronts Kazan, who reveals his true goal is the total destruction of the arena and of the poor warriors fighting for the entertainment of the rich. Hikari decides to play along, defeating several other combatants including the feared Zeto the Butcher. All the while, Kazan places outrageous bets on Hikari, taunting Borneau (the proprietor of the arena) to keep his word on them. Hikari's battle against the undefeated Bandelam would be his and Kazan's final test, but one Hikari succeeds in despite Bandelam initially overwhelms him. With Bandelam defeated, Zeto and the other gladiators riot, demanding payment from Borneau, who runs for the hills along with Bandelam. Having gained Hikari and Kazan's trust, these gladiators agree to join the eventual battle to retake Ku. Meanwhile, Mugen has already invaded begun invading neighboring nations to expand Ku's territory, with the help of his right-hand man Ageha.
** Boss: Bandelam the Reaper
* Chapter 3: Following a tip from Kazan, Hikari travels to Wellgrove to intercept a shipment of arms headed towards Ku. He encounters Ritsu in the forest outside town, along with Rou, an old general in Ku's army. Hikari duels with Rou and also with the voice inside his head, with his conflicted feelings and injuries from the fight causing him to pass out. In a flashback sequence, Ritsu recalls that his father was killed by Ku soldiers for merely being lowborn, and he joined the army after Hikari promised to bring his father's killers to justice. In the present, Ritsu moves to finish off the wounded Hikari. Rou refuses to let this happen, warning Ritsu of the Ku clan's cursed bloodline (which manifests in Hikari as the voice he hears), so Ritsu, unwilling to return emptyhanded, instead kills Rou and returns to Ku. Ritsu tells Mugen and Ageha that he killed Rou for conspiring with Hikari -- neither of them believe this, but Mugen gives him a promotion nonetheless, and returns to plotting Ku's expansion with the help of the Darkblood Blade.
** Boss: General Rou
* Chapter 4: After the death of General Rou, Hikari travels to Stormhail, where Clan Mei now resides following the war three years ago. He and Rai Mei meet outside the clan's castle, but to Hikari's shock, she reveals that she too has fallen in with Mugen and uses her Spear of Levin to destroy the bridge Hikari is standing on and capture him. While unconscious, Hikari recalls a memory of his past -- when he was young, Clan Mei swore its fealty to the Ku family, with Rai Mei and her older brother Jin becoming Hikari's retainers. Hikari learned swordsmanship from Jin, and became friends with Rai. Not long after this, Hikari and his mother Kura were walking through town, when a group of bandits attempted to kill both the young prince and his mother. They succeed in killing Kura, but Hikari experiences the Curse of Ku for the first time and kills the bandits. Jin Mei then intervenes before anyone else can get hurt. After waking up, Hikari is freed from the Clan Mei dungeon by one of Rai's retainers before he can be executed, and he heads up to the gallows to confront Rai. After an emotional duel, Rai Mei reveals that Kura's death was orchestrated by Mugen, and Jin Mei took the fall for their failure to kill Hikari on the condition that Clan Mei pledge its full loyalty to Mugen. Rai breaks down in tears, begging Hikari to kill her, but Hikari refuses, and heads for Ku in order to take back his land from Mugen.
** Boss: Rai Mei
* Chapter 5: Hikari's forces gather just outside Ku's capital, while in the capital, Mugen calls upon Ritsu to be his personal guard in the upcoming battle. Benkei is revealed to have survived the events of Chapter 1, but Clan Mei is nowhere in sight. Hikari's forces charge into the city after Kazan engineers a sandstorm to blow through and disorient the enemy, and intense fighting takes place in the streets. Ageha and his men attempt to stop Hikari, but after they ring the Bell of Dawn, Rai Mei and her forces appear to take them on. Hikari rushes into the palace, where he is intercepted by Ritsu. They battle one last time, with Ritsu realizing how far he has fallen as he dies -- however, Hikari has no time to mourn him, as he presses into the throne room to fight Mugen. During the fight, the Curse of Ku once again rears its head, and Hikari duels with its embodiment, a shadowy version of himself. Recalling the words of Kazan and his allies, he dispels the curse once and for all, and Mugen taps into the power of the Darkblood Blade to become the monstrous Enshrouded King. Hikari kills Mugen, and takes his place as Ku's new king. His first act as king is to renounce the claims Ku has on other kingdoms, breaking the vicious cycle of war once and for all.
** Boss: Ritsu Mishuyo, General Mugen, "Hikari", The Enshrouded King
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Crossed Paths]]

* The Hunter and the Apothecary, Part 2: Ochette and Castti return to Cropdale, where they find the meat vendor from before is now gone. They head to the Animal Trail again, only to find the entire trail covered in shadows. Ochette fends off a shadowy creature, and Castti finds Wooly-Ooly again and learns that it covered the other animals as they ran from the forest. The two travelers are suddenly separated, with Castti encountering the shadowy being from earlier and it trying to get Castti to give into her feelings of guilt and despair. Ochette finds Castti and, unaffected by the shadow, calls out to Castti, breaking her free. The two of them then fend off the shadows once and for all, and the forest returns to normal.
* The Scholar and the Merchant, Part 1: Osvald and Partitio are walking around New Delsta when they find a man unconscious in the street. They feed him some bread (his first meal in days), after which the man introduces himself as Regulus, an old scholar friend of Osvald's. He is attempting to build a new and improved telescope, but accidentally gambled away all the money he put towards the materials. Partitio agrees to fund Regulus -- grateful for the assistance, he returns to Montwise to continue this project
* The Scholar and the Merchant, Part 2: Osvald and Partitio head to Montwise and find Regulus passed out in the library, having not eaten in days again. Regulus reveals that the telescope is complete but has been repossessed by a loan shark, who charged the clueless Regulus with exorbitant interest rates. Angered by this, they visit the moneylender, and Osvald beats him up to get the telescope back. That night, they observe the stars with Regulus' telescope, and realize that the days seem to be getting shorter...
* The Thief and the Cleric, Part 1: Temenos returns to Flamechurch with Throné to uncover the truth behind a treasure known only as "Alpates". Finding a secret passage to the rafters of the cathedral, they discover the treasure is in fact a ''woman'' named Alpates who had been taken in by Pontiff Jörg. With Jörg dead, Alpates leaves to seek her destiny, and leaves Throné and Temenos a piece of a mirror as thanks for freeing her.
* The Thief and the Cleric, Part 2: Temenos and Throné are walking through Conning Creek, where they find Alpates has turned up dead. Throné breaks into the house where Alpates' body is being kept, and finds a note in her dress that points them towards the nearby Cavern of the Moon and Sun. Here, the two of them find the other half of the mirror, and vow to keep it safe given that Alpates had given her life to keep it hidden.

* The Dancer and the Warrior, Part 2: After Hikari wrested control of Ku away from Mugen, Benkei asks the new king holding a festival to celebrate the end of war. Hikari initially rejects this, but after hearing Agnea's proposal to make it about remembering the fallen, changes his mind. Hikari and Agnea gather materials around town to set up the festival, but then realize they need a musician. Benkei points them towards the nearby Tranquil Grotto, as he sometimes hears lute music coming from there. Sure enough, the two of them find Yomi in the depths of the cave, reminiscing about her late sister, Tsuki. Blaming Clan Ku for her death, Yomi challenges Hikari to a duel, but is defeated. Yomi is able to make her peace with Hikari, who invites her to play her music at the festival, accompanied by Agnea's dancing.

[[folder:Sidequests]]
* The Scent of Commerce:
** Sai Route: Partitio meets Masoud, a retired merchant who wrote a famous manuscript detailing everything there is to know about the mercantile business, in Sai. Partitio asks to read the manuscript, but Masoud will only allow it if Partitio brings him something a merchant treasures above all else. Figuring that a true merchant would still value their loved ones, Partitio hires Masoud's daughter and escorts her to him, but Masoud says his answer is wrong. Partitio then tries to hire ''him'', believing the true answer is that merchants value themselves above all else. This is correct, and Partitio is allowed into Masoud's home to read the manuscript any time he would like.
** Winterbloom Route: Walking through Winterbloom, Partitio hears a voice calling out for help. It turns out to be recorded on a gramophone, and its creator, Audrey, has been having trouble selling them. Partitio gets the idea to record not just voices but also music, and hires a guitarist, violinist, and pianist to record a song. This turns the gramophone into a smash hit, and every tavern in Solistia gets one after this.
** Tropu'hopu Route: Partitio walks through Tropu'hopu's shipyard after hearing about a master shipwright in town. He instead finds that shipwright's apprentice, Terry, refusing to sell her half-finished ship to anyone. She initially refuses to sell to Partitio, too, but relents when he says his interest in the ship has nothing to do with her master, and charges 100,000 leaves for it. When Partitio returns with that money, Terry is initially flustered, before explaining that she could never get out of her master's shadow, even after his death, as any potential buyers were more interested with her master's craft than her own. After the ship is ready for sea, Partitio names it the ''Grand Terry'' in honor of its creator.

The party journey to the four Sacred Flames, intent on relighting them.

!!Sidequest: The Traveler's Bag

Outside your starting traveler's hometown is a young man named '''Al'''. He's been ambushed by a thug and lost his satchel. The main purpose of this sidequest is InstructiveLevelDesign, teaching you how to use the InUniverseGameClock: switch to nighttime and a "Glowering Man" will appear near where Al was lying, dazed and injured. Confront him about the bag and the Glowering Man will change to a Bandit. He has 280 HP and 3 Shields, and upon defeat will surrender Al's bag. Give it back to the fellow. Hmm, this seems reminiscent of an adventure on Orsterra where we met a seemingly unimportant NPC right outside our starting town...

!!Sidequest: Procuring Peculiar Tomes

!!Sidequest: From The Far Reaches of Hell

Al has arrived at the Montwise library and decides he wants to read ''From The Far Reaches of Hell''. However, he can't read the language, and Duolingo isn't fast enough. He asks the party to help him with the translation. By consulting with both Al and the Unusual Tome Specialist, the party determines that a world-languages expert named Georges Lazuli could help. To find him, the party sets sail for the Nameless Isle, a Lv.38 dungeon in roughly the middle of the Sundering Sea. After defeating a boss, Gigantes, the party meets Lazuli, and are able to Inspect him to get a "How to Decipher Unknown Languages" token. Transferring this to Al completes the sidequest. You get some Leaves, a neat accessory, and... Hey, there's an island in the southeast corner of the map. It used to be marked "???", but suddenly it's now called "The Gate of Finis"...

!! Sidequest: A Gate Between Worlds

You can visit ??? before completing the above chain of quests. It consists of a couple of treasure chests and a temple whose doors will not open. Well, now that we know this place is actually the Gate of Finis, you can go in. Inside the temple, Al awaits, injured, begging the party to turn back.

It's another full-party battle, but worse; Vide can be defeated at Lv.60, but most internet guidance suggests your party be at least Lv.80 before attempting this fight. Galdera applies one of those gimmicks that reduce your max HP; it has arms that seal its weaknesses, and can seal the ''arms[='=]'' weaknesses. As on Orsterra, it's two-phase battle, where one half of the party battles Galdera's bottom half and the other four take on the top. But, after the most difficult fight in the game, the Octopath Travelers succeed, and Galdera is sealed away again... for now.

Al thanks the party before pulling a ButNowIMustGo. He explains he needs to return home, and teleports away in a burst of light. Before leaving, he gives the team his full name: Alfred Hornburg. Hey, isn't that the name of the aged king Olberic Eisenberg once served, who died years before the first game? So, is this a prequel, or...?