Alliance of Crowns: Mana Crisis — Mana Cradle
The approach to Mana Cradle
Lore is described as silenced by Mana Affliction, and the map description presents defeating Malgor once and for all as the only way to stop it. Malgor, called the Shadowlord here, seeks out Einsof, the Avatar of Mana, to give the world what the description calls its final peace; the Hero and Champion of Mana pursue him into the heart of Lore’s lifeblood.
The Cradle
The opening is broken fragments that appear to include “Hu…rts” and “It…Hu…rts?” before a plea for help. The speaker remains unidentified.
Someone asks Tara whether she heard a voice and says they could not make out what it was saying. Tara says they are close to where the Old Worlds’ Order keeps the Avatar of Mana dormant.
Tara believes the voice has to be Einsof’s: it sounds so young, almost like another kid. The conversation turns to Malgor, who is after Einsof. His original goal was to corrupt the Mana Core with Shadowflame, but when the Core proved “complicated,” he made for the Queen of Monster’s Heart. Drakath reportedly no longer sensed the Heart. That raises the fear that Malgor could still succeed by reaching Einsof, especially if he has a plan involving the Heart.
Tara asks whether beating Malgor will fix Lore after he messed with the Core. A voice groans. Someone wishes things could be as easy as in the old days, but says they all have to grow up; the conversation adds that they do need Malgor, in a sense. The conversation turns to the Timestream: one speaker says they explored a place with Gravelyn and Drakath where failed timelines sank, and that those timelines died because Malgor kept going back and changing things.
For their timeline to keep existing, Malgor would have to return to the moment he killed the Queen of Monsters and repeat exactly what he did afterward. Tara says the exact repeat sounds impossible even setting aside how they could convince Malgor to do it; the reply says even they cannot remember everything they did yesterday. Tara jokes that if Malgor came out of the other person’s head, he would not remember, then catches herself and apologizes. The reply takes no offense, but warns she may have plenty later. Tranquility’s words spark an idea for a solution, though the speaker warns it will not be a nice one.
Tara says they need to reach Malgor before she decides how to feel. She warns that the Masks never let her explore this deeply into the Plane of Mana, then says they are going in blind. Someone asks if she has ever met Einsof. Tara says no: the Old Worlds’ Order said Einsof had to be imprisoned in sleep because they were dangerous and unpredictable. The conversation describes Einsof as controlling all the Mana flowing through Lore, near-infinite power. A companion says Malgor is priority one and promises to keep Tara safe. Tara answers that they all have to grow up, then promises to have the other’s back too.
Last Wish
Someone says, “There you are,” then pauses before asking, “Malgor, I’ve had time to think. What if we could talk for a moment?” Malgor replies, “Why bother?”
Malgor says that, if he were the addressee, he would have nothing to say to a failure, an incomplete shell. The countless cycles and wasted lives, he says, were all for nothing: gods were always inside the Mana Core, and he could never succeed while they remained there. He ends with a threat that neither the listener nor Lore will ever know peace.
A voice begins, “This isn’t what we need. I—” Tara whispers that she can no longer hear Einsof and instead hears a woman. Malgor says it is the Queen of Monsters. Tara reacts in surprise; the reply warns that the Queen is not back, only her Heart, and asks Malgor what he did with it.
Malgor says he ate the Heart. The first reaction is disbelief: the speaker expected him to do something with it, but not swallow it. The speaker then wonders why they themselves are surprised—of course he ate it—and says Malgor manipulates anguish, absorbing it to gain power, because he is that speaker’s anguish in physical form. Malgor replies that the Queen’s despair is only a drop in the sea and that the most it can do is make his throat itch.
Malgor says the Heart’s raw power let him block the listener from the Timestream and redo a cycle. Drakath had taken the Chaos Amulet this time, so Malgor resorted to the Heart. After eons siphoning power from others to pursue an impossible dream, he says, he must use it to face reality. Though he despises the Queen, he calls the last fragment of her existence the key to his final solution. Tara warns that Malgor is using the Queen’s Heart to kill Einsof and says she can feel them fading. Someone asks if putting everyone out of their misery is the answer.
Malgor calls it the only solution: he will snuff out the core of the world and return everyone to nothing, letting them escape inevitable suffering. His sentence breaks off at “and you will—”. An unidentified voice calls him the most annoying slimeball it has ever faced, then realizes the trait came from the speaker. It says Malgor has never given up, so it cannot give up either. Malgor accuses the listener of having given up cycles ago, says that surrender is how Malgor was born, and insists the ending will match the beginning. He tells the listener they cannot stop him. Someone apologizes for the sudden request and asks Tara to do everything possible to keep Einsof alive. The speaker closes by saying, “Malgor and I aren’t done.”
Your Hero
Victoria says the entire world has gone silent; all she can hear is the hum of the leylines. She tells Brentan they have done everything they could and all they can do now is wait and believe in you.
Brentan laments that this would never have happened if he were king. He says he would have avenged Brittany and destroyed every threat to Greenguard, then blames his having to work with the listener and their indecision. He accuses the listener of being absent when Brittany died and of failing to save Tara, and declares them unworthy of the crown.
Victoria admits that wearing the crown did not help when it mattered and that she was not good enough. But until every last life is lost, she says, it is still worth fighting and believing. She will not give up on anything or anyone, and urges Brentan to hold out a little longer. Her thought trails off—“We need to have to have…”—before an unidentified voice supplies, “Hope.”
One voice argues that hope makes the listener weaker because of what they are. Another asks why that voice had so much hope.
Someone recalls that, when the Mask of Infamy attacked, the listener willed Gravelyn’s Doomblade to stab it. Asked why, Malgor answers only with an ellipsis.
Tara cries that Einsof is still dying and that beating Malgor changed nothing. She begs someone to wake up. A voice calls to Tara to calm down and says they will figure out how to help; Malgor echoes the plea to wake up. Mumbler’s words first come through scrambled, then the plea is clear: wake up, get up, please don’t give up, don’t go.
Malgor admits that a pathetic part of him has not died; deep down, it is still what he wants. Despite all the power he took, he says, it amounted to nothing. He cannot control how people feel, including how his creator feels. In the end, they rush toward destruction and he is left empty—then his thought breaks off. A voice marked “???” first says “Hurts,” then asks, “It hurts?” before pleading for help.
Einsof asks whether help is needed. Tara starts to answer, “You’re—”, and Einsof says, “Let me help you.” Tara objects that the shadow man is not who they are supposed to help and warns about stranger danger. Someone urges, “Let Einsof make Malgor complete.” Tara asks whether this is part of the plan; the response says Malgor and the speaker need this and have to see it through.
Einsof calls it a dream of what could have been: a nice possibility where the listener and a Dragon grew together. In that dream, one voice praises the little guy for learning to speak quickly. An apology follows: the speaker says the little one is still goop, that they need to understand him before settling on any looks, and that this is their first time creating something alive. First Speaker wants to be tall and red and black. Asked why those colors, First Speaker says they would look cool, asks for a cool name, and declares, “I’m going to be your Hero!” and “Your Protector!”
Someone says, “This was what you wanted all along.” Malgor insists it still is not enough: nothing but silence will bring complete peace. A reply concedes that he is right, but says they do not need that kind of peace. The lives they have now are still worth living, and the speaker promises to prove it the best way they know how.
Light the Ashes
Malgor speaks bleakly: happiness is an illusion, and life’s surest companions are conflict and misery. He says triumph and joy fade, bonds sour into contempt, and peace never lasts. He accuses the listener of being unable to bear that impermanence.
The reply concedes, “No, I couldn’t. Not until you showed me.” It reflects on the mistakes and disappointments that come with living, and the daily struggle to keep regret from consuming a person. The reply says it needed to come to terms with that regret and see Malgor for what he is. Malgor insists he cannot be overcome, but the response challenges his conviction: he no longer believes that himself. The response also says he can be beaten without bending time. He admits he has been infected by Hope. The reply describes hope as work that needs mutual support, promises to try despite inevitable mistakes, and stresses self-forgiveness. When Malgor asks about the mistakes he caused, the answer refuses to abandon either those wrongs or Malgor: they must make things right and pay for what they have done.
The story presents a choice between destroying Malgor and accepting him. In the alternate ending for destroying him, a caption says Malgor is disintegrated, no one was able to slay the Queen of Monsters in the past, and the timeline collapses, leaving Lore stagnant; that branch returns to the choice. Accepting Malgor leads into the proposal to send him back in time to stabilize the timeline. The collapse belongs to the alternate branch, not the continuation described afterward.
A stable time loop is proposed: send Malgor to the past, turn back his internal clock, and return his mind and body to the state he had just before killing the Queen. This is intended to give him a higher chance of making the same decisions and keeping the timeline stable.
Tara asks whether Malgor will be stuck reliving the Shadowflame Saga and calls that a curse worse than dying. She also asks about the damage from the Mana Core’s corruption. The answer presents a choice: lose their memories and achievements, or accept the past and move forward. Malgor asks whether this is possible, and is told that the plan is a huge gamble requiring his agreement. He calls it selfish, says moving forward comes at the cost of his eternal torment, and asks whether seeking his consent comes from guilt. A final warning asks whether he is sure: this will lock them in for good, with no going back. Malgor tells them to proceed and revert him to the Shadowlord’s form, calling it his original purpose and first dream.
Malgor says that, for a brief moment, he lived his impossible dream: being your Salvation. He reflects that this fleeting joy could exist at all.
Tara exclaims that Malgor is gone and says she can sense mana flowing more slowly through the leylines. She says you sent him back in time and that your gamble worked. The reply says the loop was locked against tampering, then begins to credit a boost. Einsof says they helped because you needed help and fixed their own strange veins. When they ask whether you are safe, the answer acknowledges lingering injuries but says things would be fine if the mana affliction had been cleared.
Tara thanks Einsof and asks why the Old Worlds’ Order wants them asleep. Einsof warns that the Old Worlds are coming and urges the others to escape before they are hurt too. Einsof later cries out; Tara reacts with “No!” and “No no no!” Someone hushes her, warning against giving the Order an excuse to hurt them. The Law then says, “Well done.”
The Law says, speaking objectively, that you created an elegant solution to a problem that had perplexed even them. Tranquility says the Old Worlds’ Order has agreed collectively to stay its hand; for now, you will not be Silenced.
Tara protests that Einsof was a little kid and objects to treating them as a threat when they have done nothing. The Law calls it a preventative measure and says a creature of infinite power should not be free. Tranquility apologizes to Tara. The Law then asks, “You and the Avatar have met, and you raised your hand against us. Will you be a threat?”
Infamy cuts in, telling the others to stop fighting with children and to tell the Dragon what comes next. The Law says you made the correct choices, but warns that if you use your universe-altering abilities irresponsibly in the future, Silencing will be discussed again. Tranquility says that, for now, what happened today showed your abilities and tact are needed to secure the Universe’s future.
The account turns to the Order’s warning before everyone returned to Lore’s surface: slumbering threats called the Voice Throbbing Deep in the Sea, the Rumbling of Cold Thunder, and the Flame of the Beyond. According to this account, the Order can sense them, but cannot see exactly what or where they are and cannot leave the Mana Core unattended for long. The account lays out the Eternal Dragon of Time’s responsibility to pacify those threats or smother them in their sleep, stepping away from major conflicts between Good and Evil. It warns that failing to do so could allow another Malgor to manifest and lead to the speaker being Silenced. Tara adds that the Order would then have complete power over Lore.
Gravelyn says the information must remain private until they understand the repercussions of it becoming widely known. Even Lord Dage, who will soon speak with her, will not be told. Victoria asks whether Tara has to leave and whether she can take time to rest.
Tara says she has renounced her royal title and will help you as Champion of Mana. Brentan also renounces his claim: mana affliction revealed the bitterness in his heart, and he says the way he behaved proved him unfit to rule. He tells Victoria she will rule Greenguard and lead it through the Alliance’s dissolution. Gravelyn says they will all go their separate ways. The account acknowledges the extensive damage from Malgor’s Mana Crisis, the need for time to recover and the losses that cannot be undone.
A report says Gravelyn, Drakath, and the speaker negotiated a period of non-aggression, though no one is able or willing to fight. The speaker plans to speak with Varga about the Avatars and the Old Worlds’ Order, and suspects one or all of them are withholding the full truth. The wish for peace is limited to a little while, with hope that everyone will meet again as long as they are alive.
The account closes with a commitment to the responsibility owed to Lore and a refusal to sit idle again: “Every threat, lie, and myth must come to an end.”
Through the Mana Cradle
Tara’s ten listed main Mana Cradle quests begin after Rippling Heartbeat and are marked for one-time completion.
Stunted Growth: On the steep descent, Tara finds Elemental Attempts that she thinks were disturbed by Malgor and are looking for him. She offers to help clear them, then reflects on why Elementals and Avatars speak to mortals when their Planes choose Champions. Frustrated that these Elementals cannot grow, she recognizes a connection with her own long confinement. The listed objective is 12 Elemental Droplets from an Elemental Attempt (Version 2).
Tossing and Turning: Tara describes the Crystalized Mana as solidified thoughts of Einsof, especially agitated after Malgor’s passage. Listening to their fragments, she compares their vibrations to waking from a nightmare and grabbing at blankets. She remembers having a toy or her sisters nearby for comfort. She thinks Einsof is going through something similar but cannot move, so these creatures are born instead, reaching out for interaction and comfort. The listed objective is 14 Crystal Shards from Crystalized Mana (Level 70, Version 2).
Dark Intruder: Tara points out white leyline veins coming from where Einsof sleeps and wonders whether Malgor made the dark cracks nearby. She later says the white lines sprout from Einsof but lead nowhere, while the dark fissures are emptied leylines from which something took Mana. She says this was not Shadowflame or Malgor’s work: someone had been there long before him. The listed objectives are to investigate three Leyline Capillaries and examine three Dark Fissures.
Doggy Paddle: At the shore, Tara guesses Malgor probably waded into the large lake and says the Elemental Attempts and Crystalized Mana must be cleared from the bank. She admits she is not good at swimming, then says she figured out how to harden small portions of Mana so they could walk across it. Remembering that she wanted her sisters or father to teach her, she imagines the Elemental Attempts cannot swim because Einsof is not there to show them. The listed objectives are eight Crystal Shards and eight Elemental Drops.
Amethyst Memories: As Tara tries to harden the Mana quickly enough, she finds more purple Crystalized Mana moving in an organized way to block the route. She says the Dragon knows Malgor did not corrupt these crystals with Shadowflame, and reacts to their identification as ordinary elemental Darkness. She also notes that the purple creatures can walk on Mana. The empty leylines make her think something entered the Mana Core long before they arrived. The listed objective is 14 Dark Crystals from Dark Tainted Mana.
Crawling Darkness: Near Einsof’s body, Tara sees Darkness Elementals crawling over it and says Malgor cannot simply conjure ordinary Elementals from nowhere. She distinguishes Shadowflame from Darkness, describing Shadowflame as a corruptive force and power that comes from Malgor, whom she also says the Dragon created by accident. Unsure how Avatars bring Elementals into being, she wonders what Malgor would have been like if the Dragon had intentionally brought him to life. The listed requirement is Darkness Dispelled ×16 from Darkness Elementals.
Raised Veins: Tara says the purple veins on Einsof look unlike Darkness or ordinary poison, though they remind her of her father’s illness. She recalls that the Dragon said Malgor had the Queen of Monsters’ Heart, but urges caution before drawing conclusions. Later, Tara says she recognizes the signs of Chaos infection from what happened to her father; she contrasts this with the Dragon’s report that the Heart could transform someone into the Queen and concludes that whatever Malgor did with Shadowflame and Chaos is making Einsof go hollow. The listed objective is to examine five purple veins.
In The Eye: Tara first thinks the Darkness creatures may be feeding on Einsof, then says they seem to be protecting the Mana Avatar and have treated the Dragon’s group as threats after Malgor’s intrusion. She says they slowed Malgor but urges everyone onward. Seeing Malgor beside Einsof’s eye, she asks whether they are too late. The listed objectives are ten Dark Shards, ten Dark Residue, and finding Malgor once.
Cognitive Dissonance: Tara warns that Malgor sees no way out for himself or the Dragon and describes his proposed final solution as poisoning Einsof with Shadowflame and Chaos from the Queen of Monsters’ Heart. She says he imagines a final, silent peace that would erase Lore and every other world, then insists that life is hard but death is not the answer. In a later reflection, Tara says Malgor is down but she still cannot hear Einsof and Mana is going haywire across Lore; she does not know what comes next. The listed target is Malgor, once.
Your Hero: Tara says Einsof felt Malgor’s despair and transformed him into the demigod he could have been had the Dragon been there to teach him from the beginning. She says despair makes Malgor stronger and that the taste of this impossible dream intensifies his anguish. She calls for one last fight between the Dragon and Malgor, but only says the Dragon can defeat him and convince him that you can live on. Tara recalls that the Dragon had a solution and warned she might not like them after the decision. She says she will understand whatever happens from there. The listed target is the Mainyu, once.
Tara’s conversations at Mana Cradle
Tara says Malgor escaped after saving you from the Mask of Infamy and is heading for Einsof’s cradle to finish what he began at the Mana Core. She says the Masks kept her from going farther because Einsof had to remain dormant, and she wants to see what they are hiding once Malgor is caught.
Tara says the future is on her mind, but first she wants to talk and take a long nap.
In another conversation, Tara says she and Brentan renounced their claims to the Throne. She reports that he plans to understand his subjects better, while Victoria may handle his supporters; Gravelyn will keep a low profile as the Shadowscythe recovers. Tara says she wants time with her family for now, despite expecting possible future conflict.
Tara says Drakath returned to Lore with the others and left quickly. She says he lost his wings and is about as injured as Gravelyn was. She guesses he went to his home base to recover; whether he returns soon is only her best-case or worst-case speculation.
Tara names the Voice Deep in the Sea, the Rumbling of Cold Thunder, and the Flame of the Beyond. She says the Old World Order is setting you on these unknown threats like an attack dog. The Order keeps Einsof trapped because it assumes he would be a threat if free; Tara fears they could trap you and her on a presumed-threat pretext too, but does not say that has happened.
Tara also says some serious events are coming and that a couple of faces want to meet you in /worldscore before that.
Tara says Einsof is fading and that Malgor is trying to kill Einsof and destroy Lore with the Queen of Monster’s Heart and Shadowflame. She promises to do what she can to keep Einsof alive, while telling you that both Lore and your own fate are at stake. She urges you to stop Malgor and says death is inevitable but never the answer.
Tara says Einsof woke after sensing Malgor’s anguish and despair. She describes Einsof’s frustration at being trapped turning into empathy, followed by a gift of pure mana. Tara calls Malgor’s resulting form the Mainyu and says it is the form he would have grown into had you raised him as a demigod. She says she can only stand back and urges you to defeat Malgor and convince him that you can live on.
Tara says you sent Malgor back in time to stabilize the timeline and wiped out Shadowflame’s influence. She calls it a clean sweep, then qualifies the claim: the Mana Crisis damaged Lore, and you will set out to focus on your duties as the Eternal Dragon of Time. Tara says she will go along to remind you to be easy on yourself.
Further experiments
After the quest Your Hero, Tara lists two optional tasks.
Once Upon Another Time: Tara asks whether Malgor, the Mumblers, and the False Wyverns manifested without the Dragon knowing, then asks how the Dragon could control those powers without anyone to teach them. She suggests examining the Elementals for traces of Malgor, while clarifying that they are not trying to create anyone new. In a later reflection, she says the attempt is a no-go and warns that the Old Worlds’ Order would overwhelm the Dragon if they tried so soon after Malgor. Creating demigods sounds appealing but complicated; Tara says they should avoid it and questions taking guidance from Varga because the Dragon had suspicions that she lied. The listed objectives are 20 Elemental Tears, one Weathered Armor Shard, and one Licorice Scale; the panel lists the Master of Fate Character Page Badge and Elemental Core ×1 among its rewards.
Build Malgor's Armor Set: Tara says Malgor was formed by a wish for a villain the Alliance could unite against instead of turning their ambitions against each other, and that his armor made that identity visible despite his own wish to be the Dragon’s savior. She asks whether the Dragon could create only his armor as practice. Later she says it matches the details and imagines making other items, though the Old Worlds’ Order remains a threat. Tara reports that Infamy told them Malgor and everything belonging to him were the Dragon’s to collect, then wonders whether the Order has noticed this ability. The listed objectives include 30 Gold Voucher 500k and Timestream Ravager, ShadowFlame Defender, Mana Guardian, Dark Dragon Slayer, Mystical Devotee of Mana, and Dragon’s Tear; quantities for those six items are not stated. The listed reward items are Malgor the ShadowLord and ShadowLord’s Helm.