A Goddess’s Fall
You’ll appear in another section of the Other World area, where you’ll witness a ghostly image of the Guardian of the Bloom walking through a gauntlet of hostile humanoids who are also ghostly. You saw the origin story of the Stag Lord back in the day, now it looks like this nymph is getting her own. Follow her phantom to the north and you’ll be treated to another scene, this time with her being accosted by some Will-o-Wisps, burdened with the task of “making ruins of kingdoms”, apparently to feed the “eldest”.
She aided you when you sought to topple the Stag Lord, then turned on you and attempted to destroy your barony immediately after you claimed it. While you’ve known for a long time that the Guardian of the Bloom wanted to keep the Stolen Lands lawless and uncivilized, what you didn’t know was how she’d set up – and then toppled – rulers and strongmen. Also, apparently she’s not working from the understandable motive of defending the natural order of the Stolen Lands, but she’s serving an even more powerful, predatory entity in search of atonement. What this “eldest” entity is and why she needs to atone are a mystery as of yet, but it does suggest that even should you end the threat the Guardian of the Bloom poses to your barony, it may be just the beginning of your troubles.
When the ghostly images vanish, search the oddly-oppressive rock the nymph was standing on [Perception 1], then note the Treant-Enlarged Owlbear on a cliff to the north. You can be sneaky and shoot it with ranged weapons all you want, but it’s unkillable, so don’t waste your time.
Note: You can put the Mysterious Bird on this rock if you wish. Refrain for now – you’ll get around to this later, after properly exploring the area. Or not, it doesn’t really matter, but it won’t be covered until later.
Instead, turn your attention to the mist portals that adorn this section of the Other World, including one to the east and west of the dais you saw the ghostly nymph on, and two (also to the east and west) along the southern end of the area. It’s all an illusion of choice, however, as the southeastern and southwestern mists will take you back to the previous area and the northern mists both lead to the same area, albeit two different parts of said area.
