Following Kerapac's betrayal in "Desperate Times", matters have grown worse. Seren's council is falling under the sway of her special ability- the more time that passes, the more they trust and blindly obey her. Seren wants to end the imminent threat quickly, and has a lead: she sent Thok and Charos to Anachronia, and they seem to have found Kerapac's hideout, but they need help.
The World Guardian joins Thok and Charos on Anachronia, and Thok tells them his story- or rather, his version of the story- of what happened when they started exploring. To sum up: they fought dinosaurs, Thok fell in love with Laniakea, and they ran into Kerapac and now know where his lair is- the volcano. Charos adds that everything about what Kerapac did with the Needle suggests that he wanted to do something very specific. Kerapac brought forward a version of the island after the dragonkin's civilisation fell, but before everything on the island was reduced to rocks and fossils. Ergo, Charos thinks, Kerapac has a plan and he doesn't want any dragonkin around to stop him.
The World Guardian excavates a couple of Dragonkin artefacts, one of them a tablet with writing on it. While none of them can understand the writing, Charos knows someone who can- Hannibus. When asked, Hannibus says that the tablet refers to a third group of dragonkin, the Nodon, who chose a third option for dealing with the curse. Instead of fighting or succumbing to the curse, they tried to sleep through it, and what's more, they might still be on the island, asleep.
The World Guardian and Hannibus get into the ruins and use Hannibus' ability to connect to the dragonkin's dreams to connect to sleeping Nodon they find there. Two Nodon elders are dreaming of a meeting where the leaders of each group- the Nodon, the Syrtes (now the Necrosyrtes), the Dactyl, and the fourth group, the Aughra- put forward a plan to deal with the Elder Gods. The Nodon were building a hibernatorium on the basis that they needed to recover before they did anything about the Elder Gods; the Aughra wanted to use the Abyss to explore other worlds; the Syrtes wanted to seek out Jas and show her how useful they could be; and Kerapac was building a machine to harness and generate shadow anima with the intent of using it to make the dragonkin the equals of Elder Gods in power, so the Elder Gods would leave them alone.
The groups agreed that everyone would continue with their own plans, but the Dactyl and Syrtes had to keep everyone else informed of what they were up to. The dream ends there, and the two Nodon elders confront the World Guardian and Hannibus, having become aware of their presence. Once they explain, the Nodon tell them what happened next: Kerapac turned his device on without anyone else's awareness or approval, and Jas promptly turned up, destroyed the dragonkin's cities and bound them to the Stone of Jas.
Once the dream is over, the World Guardian and Hannibus rejoin Thok and Charos, only for Kerapac to show up. He explains that the Nodon were builders and architects who created amazing things, but he views them as cowards for sleeping through the curse instead of trying to fix things. Thok, Charos and the player try to fight Kerapac, but due to his control of the Needle, he heals instantly. He doesn't fight back; once they've given up, Kerapac tells them that he's not doing this because he wants to, he's doing it because he sees no other choice- he has to sacrifice Gielinor to save every other world. But because they were once friends, he gives them one last gift- the opportunity to spend their last few hours with their loved ones- and flies off.
With Kerapac gone, Hannibus suggests evacuating Gielinor, but there just isn't enough time. The World Guardian refuses to give up, and asks Charos to keep studying the ruins and Hannibus to go talk to the Nodon again. The World Guardian then goes to the Council and tells them what happened. Seren suggests that they go talk to Primrose, the Needle's previous guardian, because she might be able to help. While Primrose can't offer much help, she does tell them a crucial bit of information: the Needle has its own will. It's not sapient, but while Gail could direct the Needle's power through the connection between them, she couldn't control it. The World Guardian thinks there might be a way to turn that connection against Kerapac, and goes to ask the Council.
When asked, Seren doesn't know how it could be achieved, but she knows someone who does: Jas. The World Guardian goes to the Heart of Gielinor to talk to Jas, who provides some information: Kerapac is shielded from the Elder Gods by shadow anima, which is toxic to them. The Elder Gods could solve the problem themselves, but it would involve destroying Orthen, and the resulting tidal waves would kill thousands, if not worse. Jas gives the World Guardian a strange object called the Eye of Jas, which will remove Kerapac's connection to the Needle, and sends them back to Anachronia.
Back at the base camp, Hannibus alerts the others- Kerapac's making some kind of move. Kerapac appears and tells the World Guardian that he wanted them to spend their final days with their loved ones, but since they've chosen to fight, he's giving them a battle by sending waves of furious, terrified dinosaurs at the base camp for them to fight. Most of the base camp evacuates, but a small group of archaeologists are left, and it's down to the World Guardian, Hannibus, Charos, Thok and Laniakea to protect them. One hectic fight later, Charos thinks he knows how to unlock Kerapac's lab.
Charos and the World Guardian examine the anima around the island, and Charos notices something weird about the World Guardian. Once the group's back together, Charos tells them what he's discovered: Guthix infused their soul with shadow anima when he made them the World Guardian. On the one hand, because shadow anima is the opposite of normal anima, the player is effectively immune to the power of the gods; on the other hand, they have no idea what possible long-term effects this might have on them. But that's for the future; for now, the World Guardian needs to pass Kerapac's shadow anima barrier and confront them.
The World Guardian does exactly that, and kills the guardian Kerapac placed to protect his lab, a miniature version of the Dragonkin Laboratory's Black Stone Dragon. Kerapac tries to convince them that his plan is necessary and fails; the World Guardian has the option of trying to reason with Kerapac, but if they do, they also fail, with Kerapac saying that the Elder Gods will never care about mortals no matter what they do. The World Guardian pulls out the Eye of Jas, and Jas takes over the connection to the Needle and rebinds Kerapac to the Elder Gods, along with all the living Nodon.
The World Guardian flees Kerapac's lab as it collapses, and once they've escaped, Ful manifests in the volcano and tears it apart, furious. With Kerapac bound and his machine destroyed, his threat is nullified, but the world isn't saved quite yet...
Tropes:
- Accidental Misnaming: Thok misnames Charos as "Carlos", to the latter's annoyance.
- All for Nothing: Kerapac spent his lifetime fighting to liberate himself and the rest of the dragonkin from the Elder Gods' control. All of his hard work goes out the window after Jas seizes the Needle's power from him and enslaves him (along with the entirety of the Nodon Dragonkin) once again.
- Awakening the Sleeping Giant: Kerapac's actions invoke the ire of the Elder God Ful, who awakens and decimates his laboratory.
- Death Seeker: Kerapac begs for death after Jas seize the Needle's power from him and enslaves him, but she denies his request and he is at her mercy once again.
- Dumbass Has a Point: Thok points out a couple of times that yes, Kerapac has had a hard life and has suffered a lot, as have the dragonkin in general, but that doesn't give him a license to try to kill everyone in response.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Despite the World Guardian's attempts to disrupt his plans, Kerapac doesn't kill them immediately out of pity and respect. This act of mercy becomes his own undoing; after the World Guardian infiltrates his lab and dispels it of shadow anima to allow the Elder Gods to intervene, Jas seizes the Needle's power from him and enslaves him once again.
- No-Sell: Due to Kerapac's ability to control time after acquiring the Needle's power, he immediately undos any damage the World Guardian, Thok, and Charos inflict on him.
- Nothing Personal: Kerapac holds no ill will towards the World Guardian, and encourages them to make the most of their remaining time with their loved ones before Gielinor is no more.
- People Jars: The Nodon Dragonkin confined themselves within glass containers filled with liquid, attempting to sleep through the curse Jas bound onto them.
- Time Master: Kerapac's acquisition of the Needle's power grants him the ability to manipulate time, undoing any damage to him as if nothing occurred in the first place.
- Wham Episode: Charos reveals that Kerapac's plan involves using a substance toxic to gods - Shadow Anima. He notes that only one other mortal has the ability to wield this miasma, as they are intrinsically intertwined with Shadow Anima. That is the World Guardian themselves!
