The young soul waved goodbye, and the people and sun slept together warmly.
Bedtime Story is the sixth act in Chapter IV of the Archon Quests.
Quests[]
Summary[]
- Cold Case Commission
The Traveler and Paimon received a commission from Katheryne to find a missing person from Vimara Village. The commission is jointly issued by the residents of Vimara Village and a dozen successive efforts to complete it have all ended in failure. Katheryne informs them that none of the residents know the missing person's name and they can only provide his general appearance. The Traveler and Paimon accept the commission and head out to Vimara Village.
Arriving in the village, they ask around for information regarding the missing person. Bahram describes him as a young man in his early twenties, a very kind person, and always willing to help around the village. According to Amadhiah, he likes to accompany the elderly and play with the orphans in the village. After gathering information, the Traveler suspects that this person may only exists in their memories and this person never actually exists.
Atossa approaches them and takes them to a tree where they used to sit together and talk for hours. Atossa would confide in him about her problems and she considered him as a family that she never had. She mentions that it always seemed to be around dusk every time they were together and although they have been talking for hours, the sun did not seem to move. The Traveler realizes that it could be the key to solve the case. A Pyro Abyss Mage suddenly appears and attacks them. The Travelers wonders what the Abyss Order is up to around the village and Atossa mentions that the Hilichurls around Vimara Village has been more active lately and they always seem agitated.
- Memories That Should Not Exist
Atossa heads back to the village as the Traveler and Paimon find Dainsleif. Dainsleif is also investigating the Abyss Order and he suspects that they are up to something. The Traveler reminds Dainsleif about his promise to explain the mysterious voice from their last meeting. He reveals that the Sinner is "The Visionary" Vedrfolnir, who is his older brother and one of the Five Sinners of Khaenri'ah. The group consists of five highly esteemed and powerful individuals; Vedrfolnir himself, along with Rhinedottir, Surtalogi, Rerir and Hroptatyr. He believes that if they had worked together with him, they could have stopped the Vinster King from rocking the foundation of Teyvat, but instead they became allured by the power of the Abyss and shared a world-shattering power among themselves. Paimon recognizes Rhinedottir and Surtalogi, before Dainsleif explains that when the cataclysm came, none of them came to defend their nation, which he would never forgive and would always remember despite the erosion of his memories.
Dainsleif has been investigating the Loom of Fate operation, the operation keeps going forward even without the eye of the first Field Tiller. He suspects that the Loom of Fate is closely related to the Ley Lines and he decides to accompany the Traveler on the missing person investigation, seeing the possibility of someone existing only in memories.
The next day, the Traveler sees Dainsleif zoning out and seemingly agitated. He feels that memories of a person he never met before suddenly appeared on his mind when he woke up and Dainsleif is giving away the first Field Tiller's eye to this person in this new memory. He deduces that the missing person has something to do with Abyss Order and may have an ability to implant memories into other people and that the Abyss Order never stopped looking for the eye. Dainsleif takes them to the location of the eye to confirm if they still have it.
At the entrance, Dainsleif zones out again but quickly tells them to keep moving. The Traveler is curious of what did he wanted to say. Later on, he realizes that the Abyss Order is tailing them and that the fake memories is a trap for him to reveal the location of the eye. Sensing a disturbance in the Ley Lines, Dainsleif tells them to quickly leave the place and return to Vimara Village and this time they will have the opportunity to locate the missing villager. The Traveler thinks that something is off but they reluctantly do as he says.
After the Traveler and Paimon leave, the Traveler's Sibling slowly approaches Dainsleif from behind and holding a golden sword. Dainsleif reveals that he always knew that it was a trap but decided to go along with it for a chance to meet the Traveler's Sibling. The sibling had opted to confront him alone, as they knew that sending an army when the Twilight Sword was ready would spell their demise. The sibling further tells him that if they want to talk, he'll have to beat them first.
- World-Order Narration
As the Traveler and Paimon explore the area surrounding Vimara Village, they notice that the previously agitated hilichurls are now unusually calm. Returning to the village, they ask about the missing villager, but to their surprise, no one appears to remember posting a commission related to them. The Traveler concludes that there are some flaws in the memory and find Atossa with a strange man. They quickly deduce him to be Caribert. Caribert realizes that they had seen him through their sibling's memory and was planning to say farewell to Atossa, but decides to leave her a message instead and asks them to follow him.
Caribert brings the Traveler to his consciousness, where they begin asking him about the Loom of Fate. He explains to them that while his father told him that he was the foundation for the Loom and that the person before the Traveler was just a memory. The Loom of Fate was a device that could create Ley Lines; in its primitive form, it could create and implant memories, but when fully unlocked, it could create Ley Lines of its own, losing its previous ability to create and implant memories, but could "change" the world. Thus, everything that happened in Vimara Village was of his own doing in order to have a "chance" at the life he was denied.
The Traveler decides to leave to help Dainsleif, but Caribert tells them that the Loom of Fate was completed. He explains that he had guessed how he would act; he had hidden the eye in his body in order to draw the sibling out, then give the eye to the Traveler while they left. This was never achieved, as Caribert had implanted a false memory of him giving the eye to them, thus explaining his distraction. While he has no idea what the sibling plans to do with the completed Loom, he wanted to make his own reality and fades away in peace, just as the sibling arrives.
The Traveler is delighted to see their sibling again, but discovers that they cannot physically touch them. The sibling explains that they did not belong in Caribert's memory and were thus intangible, and that they would be ejected soon. They share a short conversation, where the sibling explains their motives for continuing their war against the divine. They are in a rush to fully unlock the Loom before the Heavenly Principles would awaken, as they did not do so despite the Divine Throne of Hydro being destroyed. They also express their loneliness to them, wondering if their actions were the right choice. Caribert's memory then begins to collapse, and the sibling informs then that they would not remember the conversation as they are separated.
As they awaken, Paimon explains that the villagers found them sleeping at the outskirts and were unable to wake them up, so they decided to bring them to the village. She also reveals that Dainsleif had come to check on them and that he had been seemingly injured and had a lot on his mind. The villagers then remember about the missing villager, Caribert, though realize that he had left with two others. The Traveler and Paimon then look for Atossa, who hopes that Caribert would return to the village one day. Paimon then asks the Traveler what happened after speaking to Caribert, but they are unable to remember before noticing something in their pockets, pulling out a picture of them, their sibling and Caribert, who urges them to get along with each other regardless of what happens.
Achievements[]
There are 4 Achievements obtainable from Bedtime Story:
| Achievement | Category | Description |  
|
|---|---|---|---|
| The Town Where Only I Am Missing |  Wonders of the World
|
Investigate "someone who only exists in people's memories." | 5 |
| Long-Awaited Moment | Wonders of the World
|
Without your knowledge, Dainsleif crossed swords with your sibling... | 5 |
| The Proof of Existence | Wonders of the World
|
Enter Caribert's "realm of consciousness." | 5 |
| Bedtime Story | Wonders of the World
|
Complete "Bedtime Story." | 10 |
Soundtracks[]
Gallery[]
Other Languages[]
| Language | Official Name | Literal Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| English | Bedtime Story | — |
| Chinese (Simplified) | 睡前故事 Shuìqián Gùshì | Bedtime Story |
| Chinese (Traditional) | 睡前故事 Shuìqián Gùshì | |
| Japanese | ベッドタイムストーリー Beddotaimu Sutoorii | — |
| Korean | 잠들기 전 이야기 Jamdeulgi Jeon Iyagi | Bedtime Story |
| Spanish | Un cuento para dormir | A Story for Sleeping |
| French | Histoire du soir | Bedtime Story |
| Russian | Сказка на ночь Skazka na noch' | Bedtime Story[• 1] |
| Thai | นิทานก่อนนอน | |
| Vietnamese | Câu Chuyện Trước Khi Ngủ | |
| German | Gutenachtgeschichte | |
| Indonesian | Dongeng Sebelum Tidur | Bedtime Story |
| Portuguese | História de Dormir | |
| Turkish | Bir Uyku Masalı | |
| Italian | Favole della buonanotte |
- ↑ Russian: Сказка на ночь Skazka na noch' literally means "story for the night."
