The Night the Stones Answered

At dusk, Vespera noticed a Wysp circling one of the old gravestones in Shadow Veil Pass. It kept returning to the same worn inscription. When she brought her lantern closer, the letters began to glow.

Vespera: “Orion, come and look at this. I could barely read these letters yesterday.”

Orion found the same markings in an old lanternkeeper’s book. He had been comparing them with notes from Silvershade, who had seen Wysps gathering along the path to Luminary Meadows. Now that the stones were beginning to stir, he had a reason to follow that path himself.

The Nethermoon Returns Every Night

The lanternkeepers still aren't sure why the Wysps have returned, but they've noticed when the stones respond: tombstones can be activated every night from 6:00 PM until 6:00 AM SST, during the Nethermoon.

Current update: Tombstone activation now follows Santae’s nighttime, not a fixed 6 PM–6 AM SST window. Day and night alternate every hour, and active day/night medallions also apply. Your tombstone page shows when activation opens or closes.

You can discover tombstones at any hour. If you find one during the day, it will stay in your journal so you can return after dusk. You can also leave it there while you collect the materials you need.

The Stones of Shadow Veil Pass

There are six different tombstones, each with its own awakened appearance, and 60 unique inscriptions to uncover. You may find a familiar tombstone with a different inscription.

Put Your Saved Essence to Use

If you've been saving Essence of Dusk from the pumpkin hunt, this is where you'll use it. You'll need some to awaken tombstones, and you can visit Orion’s Essence Exchange for Lanternkeeper wearables or Eldrin’s Essence Exchange for supplies, the book and the Ghost Goopper Rune.

Start with the Wandering Lights

Start at the festival hub and complete The Wandering Lights with Vespera. She'll give you an Empty Echoes Lantern, one Hallowlight Marrow, one Duskbound Revival Stone, one Essence of Dusk, and 100 sP. Your first Wysp capture fills the lantern with 3–6 uses. Each successful tombstone activation uses one, and the lantern disappears after its final use.

Gathering Will-o’-Wisp Flames

Open Your Lantern in the festival hub with your Empty Echoes Lantern and some Hallowlight Marrow in your inventory. Place one Marrow to lure the Wysps, then toss your lantern to collect 1–3 Will-o’-Wisp Flames. There's no waiting period after placing the lure and no daily capture limit. You can capture more Flames with a filled lantern, but doing so does not restore its remaining uses. When it is used up, capture Wysps with another Empty Echoes Lantern to fill a new one. Empty lanterns can be found among the pumpkin bonus prizes.

If you're short on supplies, visit Eldrin’s Essence Exchange in the Fossil Cavern. He exchanges Hallowlight Marrow, Will-o’-Wisp Flames and Duskbound Revival Stones for Essence of Dusk. In Orion’s Essence Exchange, you can exchange 5 Empty Echoes Lanterns for 1 filled Echoes Lantern with 3–6 uses. 

Finding and Activating Tombstones

Once you've finished the introduction, follow the Wysps in Shadow Veil Pass and Luminary Meadows.

Current update: You no longer need to finish the introduction to discover Wysps. Follow them in Shadow Veil Pass and Luminary Meadows by day or night. Vespera’s introduction is still available for your Empty Echoes Lantern and starter materials.

You can discover tombstones in these two locations by day or night. Each tombstone opens on its own page. The first time you awaken each of the six different tombstones, complete all three minigames: restore the carving, arrange the remembered actions, and decipher the inscription. Your progress is saved, and retries cost nothing. Once you have awakened that type, later discoveries let you use the required items straight away. You can still choose to play the games, and every completed game gives you a chance at one bonus prize.

Current update: Tombstone minigame hints are back, with clearer feedback when pieces are placed incorrectly. You can complete the minigames during the day; your progress stays saved while you wait for nighttime activation.

After deciphering the inscription, return between 6 PM and 6 AM SST with a filled Echoes Lantern, one Duskbound Revival Stone and the required Essence and Flames.

Current update: After deciphering the inscription, activate during Santae’s hourly alternating nighttime, including the effect of active day/night medallions. Bring a filled Echoes Lantern, one Duskbound Revival Stone, and the required Essence and Flames; the tombstone page shows your activation window.

Each successful activation also uses one lantern charge. Your tombstone page shows the Essence and Flames needed to activate it.

You can discover 15 tombstones and activate 15 tombstones in any 60-minute period. Discoveries and activations are counted separately. There's no daily limit; each discovery or activation stops counting toward its hourly limit once it's more than an hour old.

Rewards for Awakening Different Tombstones

There are three guaranteed rewards for awakening different tombstones. These count the six different tombstones, rather than all 60 inscriptions. You need to activate the stone to make progress, and each different tombstone counts once:

Each reward goes straight to your inventory when you reach its milestone. You can earn each milestone reward once and check your progress under Lanternkeeper Collection in Rewards.

More Prizes Along the Lantern Path

Alongside those guaranteed rewards, you may also receive a collectible or material from the prizes below. Any milestone reward you earn is added separately. Visit the festival page for the full reward details.

Choose Your Festival Rewards

Visit Orion’s Essence Exchange for the eight-piece Lanternkeeper outfit: Wig, Hat, Scarf, Coat, Trousers, Gloves, Boots, and Belt & Pouch. There is also a Lantern Staff to go with it. Eldrin’s Essence Exchange carries Whispers Beneath the Willows and the Ghost Goopper Rune. Both exchanges are repeatable while the festival is open.

Visit the exchanges to see the current requirements for each reward. The Lantern Staff is a wearable accessory; you'll still use your Empty Echoes Lantern to capture Wysps.

A Break at Echoes Kitchen

William is cooking in Echoes Kitchen. Bring 1 Red Apple and 1 Amber Sugar to make a Luminary Orchard Apple. Red Apples are available from his fruit stand. Prepare, heat and finish your dish through the regular cooking steps, then collect it to earn Cooking XP. This is the only festival recipe available for now.

Current update: Successful Gathering trips can also award Red Apples, Amber Sugar, and Hallowspice alongside your usual finds. There is no daily or total cap on these gathering bonus prizes, but drops still depend on chance. This does not remove the separate limit of 15 pumpkins in any 60 minutes.

Current update: Collecting your Luminary Orchard Apple awards the item and Cooking XP. Cooking has no additional clue or story turn-in; you can continue with another festival activity after collecting your dish.

If the cooking steps are difficult to use, Skip cooking steps appears after five seconds. It finishes the steps at Normal quality; you can then collect your apple and normal Cooking XP, without a technique bonus.

Keep the Pumpkin Hunt Going

You can keep hunting pumpkins throughout this phase. You can collect up to 15 pumpkins in any 60 minutes. Once you reach that limit, pumpkins stop appearing until an earlier collection leaves the hourly window. Tombstone discoveries have their own separate allowance. Take any spare pumpkin items to Crafting to make Essence of Dusk: 1 for Normal, 2 for Pristine, or 3 for Masterwork.

The festival remains open through November 15 11:59:59PM SST. There are more stories to come as the festival continues. For now, Vespera and Orion have plenty to investigate, and we'd love to see which Lanternkeeper pieces you choose first.

Orion: “Someone took the trouble to carve these names. I'd like to find out who they were. Bring your lantern; there are a few more stones along the path.”

TL;DR

• Complete Vespera’s introduction for your Empty Echoes Lantern and starter materials.
• Use one Hallowlight Marrow to capture Wysps and collect 1–3 Flames. A newly filled lantern lasts 3–6 activations.
• Follow purple Wysps in Shadow Veil Pass or Luminary Meadows. Complete three minigames for each new tombstone type; repeats can use items directly.
• Activate tombstones from 6 PM to 6 AM SST with a filled lantern, Essence of Dusk, Flames and one Duskbound Revival Stone.
  Current update: Activate during Santae’s hourly alternating nighttime; active day/night medallions apply. Bring a filled lantern, Essence of Dusk, Flames, and one Duskbound Revival Stone.
• Visit Orion’s Essence Exchange for wearables or to trade 5 empty lanterns for 1 filled lantern. Visit Eldrin’s Essence Exchange for supplies, the book and Ghost Goopper Rune.
• Contribute at least one light toward the community’s 10,000-light goal, then claim the Ancient Echoes Dreamscape from Rewards when it is reached.
• Festival ends November 15 at 11:59:59 PM SST.