The Destroyer: Battleon Defenses and Zognax the Captive

The Destroyer: A Prisoner for the Empress

The attack has bought time, but it has also left the Charred Path covered in Extriki's bile. Gravelyn sends the Hero to clear the contamination and the fumes rising from it. She also wants crystals from the plague spreaders and samples of the growths appearing on infected wildlife. Lim can study those changes. For now, they offer questions and possible clues, rather than a cure for the poison.

When those samples have been gathered, Gravelyn directs the Hero to Artix in Greenguard East. He and Cysero are preparing Battleon for the approaching monster. They plan to evacuate its citizens and fight Extriki in the forest, where the town will not take the full force of the attack. Even so, Artix expects toxic flooding. Protecting lives may still leave them without a home to return to.

The fortifications need more wood. Artix asks for sturdy timber from treeants at the farm or Poisonforest, explaining that the stronger forest creatures are more likely to provide what they need. Next come sandbags to hold back the toxic flood. Their absorbent filling comes from an unlikely place: the litter elementals at Litter Beach, in Ziri's flying Baconcat fortress. With wood and filling collected, the Hero has helped prepare defenses against a creature they still cannot reliably stop.

Artix then passes on Gravelyn's request to return to the Charred Path. A larger, distinctive Rift monster has appeared, small enough for the defenders to subdue. Gravelyn wants it alive. If it can speak, it may know how to defeat Extriki. The Hero overcomes Zognax, turning a dangerous opponent into the prisoner the Empress needs.

With Zognax defeated, attention shifts briefly back to Battleon. From a barricade, Artix watches monsters coming from Greenguard Forest, with Extriki visible in the distance. He says they are safe there for now, but urges his friends to hurry. The defenses have created a place to hold; they have not removed the danger advancing on it.

Zognax is confined in Shadowfall's dungeons, reached through a portal beside Gravelyn. The Hero's task is to learn where the Rift creatures came from, what they want and how to stop them. Keeping the captive alive matters as much as bringing him in. Cooperation may tell them more than another fight, but the prisoner has little reason yet to make the questioning easy.

The Destroyer: A World That Poisons Monsters

Zognax begins with his wounds. He claims that he is too weak to help anyone and promises cooperation if the Hero restores his strength. Twilly seems the obvious source of bandages, but parasites have raided the moglin's first-aid chest and carried most of the gauze toward the Rift. The Hero must recover strong gauze from them before the captive's first request can be satisfied.

Relief from pain gives way to requests for comfort. Zognax wants bright gemstones, then something to hug, then a drink to wake him up. The Hero gathers sunstones, moonstones and star sapphires from Skytower, a plush toy from Cutie Grumbley in Sewerpink, and Black Metal Cold Brew from Torque at the Rift camp. Each favor holds out the possibility that Zognax might finally trust the Hero enough to talk.

Instead, surrounded by gifts, Zognax asks for a pony. Perhaps the unicorn Binky would do. The Hero recognizes the request as another way to waste time and begins to lose patience. Then the captive's teasing breaks into coughing. His discomfort has become harder to dismiss than his demands.

Zognax says that Lore is slowly poisoning him. The Hero is startled: why invade a world that will kill its invaders? The captive does not answer that question. He demands to be taken back to the Rift. The Hero refuses to release him, but suggests bringing something of the Rift to his cage instead. An unintended admission has given the defenders a more useful lead than all the promised answers.

The Hero consults Gravelyn, who approves making the captive a bed of toxic material if it will keep him talking. The task calls for poison goop from a Pustulisk; the following scene presents Zognax sitting on a pile of Rift soil. Those accounts describe the material differently, but show the intended relief: Zognax says he can breathe again and already feels stronger.

The Hero wonders whether Extriki, too, is simply trying to survive in a world that poisons it. Zognax rejects that hopeful explanation. He describes revulsion toward Lore and its inhabitants, and says Extriki intends to exterminate them. Its poison will change the ground as the first step toward colonization. He boasts that Extriki is one of the Queen's first children, wielding the power of beings older than time, and dismisses resistance as a temporary setback. The Hero refuses to accept that prediction. As their exchange ends, the scene turns to the Queen of Monsters, her eyes glowing blue, echoing that they will see.

Afterward, Zognax praises the Queen as an embodiment of Chaos beyond Drakath and argues that entropy and change are inevitable. These are the captive's convictions, rather than a reason for the Hero to surrender. Gravelyn focuses on the useful admission: Lore itself harms the Rift creatures. She proposes turning that weakness into a weapon, a kind of nature bomb, and thinks of Ravinos as someone who might help. They have a direction for the next attempt, but have not yet built the weapon or defeated Extriki.