As you travel the grasslands northward, Haden explains her idea. Before you can stop the corruption and get to the tower, you need to see it for yourselves. And there's no better place than from one of the western watchtowers. Luckily her friend Selrick is an Eagle Guardian  and she had asked her friends which tower he was on duty before leaving the city. 

Won't he turn you in, you ask? "Maybe, nobody this far out has heard Dad's orders yet," she says. What about your 'friends' that you asked about the duty schedule? Won't they tell someone what you asked? Haden looks at you for a moment not sure if she can fully trust her friends loyalty to her over her father. "I hope not but just in case lets pick up the pace."

You're skeptical of all this trust, but it's the only shot you have right now so you all double time it behind Haden.

As you approach the watchtower, a man peers over the side. Seeing Haden and recognizing her, he beckons you to climb up.

"I thought you left for good!" he says as you reach the top. Haden mumbles a reply, but she's as distracted as you. To the west, lava pours through a mountainous purple forest. In the center lies the Voek tower. Selrick sees you are distracted by the visage and addresses you.

"Things are getting worse," Selrick says. "The corruption is growing, and a lava flow has kicked up that's spreading it even farther."

An eagle lands on Selrick's arm. He takes a scroll from its beak and reads. "What exactly are you up to? The Chief —"

"Just trust me," Haden begs. "I promise, we're trying to help. We need to get in there and check in that tower."

"The corruption would take your life and all of your friends if you even crossed the bridge. Even from this distance we don't know if we are completely safe, some say it spreads in the air." Selrick tries hard to ensure you realise the dangers but he also knows Haden and that look of determination in her eyes. "Look if you are really going to try to make it to the tower then you need a defense. There is a clan of Guardians that live by the Bordrad Marshes, there is talk that they have an antedote to the corruption that they get from poisons that they find in the marshes. Its a long way south but it could mean the difference between you making it to the tower or not." He sighs. "I won't tell anyone you were here, but I won't deny it either. You'd better go."

You thank Selrick and climb down, hoping he'll keep his word and that Haden hasn't gotten you in deeper trouble. While Selrick finishes telling Haden all this, Alster had walked to the front of the tower so curious about the plants and life beyond the river and then for the first time you see the ruined lands of Morian Islands up close. There is a beauty to them but you are aware of the danger of the loss of arable land and the spread of the corruption that causes the ruin. An eagle screeched a high pitched call and broke your astonished focus on the terrible scene of purple and blackened lands that lie below the watchtower. 

Next: E5Q2 Land of the Poison Frog