A Traveler on a Winter's Night
Last updated 2026-05-03
Where the false and the real intertwine, a battle for the fate of your companions and Nod-Krai has already begun... Will that true moonlight ever return to the land of its home?
A Traveler on a Winter's Night is the seventh act in the Song of the Welkin Moon chapter of the Archon Quests.
Quests
Summary
- Moonless Night
A few days pass after the Dottore incident. The Traveler arrives at the Curatorium of Secrets in the morning to meet up with the rest of their friends. As Varka begins the rundown, Jahoda stops him and the group is revealed to have sensed a Fatuus and order him to come out. The Fatuus, Gediminas, emerges from his hiding spot, having anticipated he would've been easily detected. He passes on the message that Arlecchino and Sandrone are heading to Dottore's lab in the far north and that they should meet them there. Before he leaves, he gives the map, warning them to be careful and that the Fatui will be their allies if they choose to. Aware of Dottore's ruthlessness, Aino, Ineffa, Varka and Jahoda remain behind to guard Nasha Town while the others make their way to the two Harbingers.
With the Traveler ready, the group heads to the facility, finding numerous destroyed Landcruisers with Arlecchino's flames flickering on them. They head inside, moving past the slain Fatui soldiers and handling monsters in their path. As they continue, they run into a Fatui grunt named Jotautas, surprised to find more tresspassers. He initially refuses to let them pass, but after the group threatens him and the Traveler explains that Dottore could endanger all of Snezhnaya, Jotautas decides to comply with their request, explaining that Dottore was building something ambitious and that he had been preparing for a long time. He had returned with two "gemstones" of some sort, which Lauma realizes are the Moon Marrows he stole from Columbina. Upon mentioning her name, Jotautas reveals that he originally served in the unit assigned to Columbina in Nod-Krai and that she got along well with Dottore at first, but then began to avoid him as time passed; when she left the Fatui, her subordinates were brought under Dottore's command and learned that he was trying to make an artificial Moon Marrow. Lauma asks if he would serve her again, but he declines, stating that she's not a Harbinger anymore, his loyalty is to the Tsaritsa, and that he was telling them this because he did not trust Dottore. The Traveler thanks him for his cooperation and directs him to the Design Bureau to seek safety there with Sandrone's unit.
The revelation of an artificial Moon Marrow worries the group and they continue further in. At the heart of the facility, they find Dottore, who had anticipated their arrival. He informs them that Arlecchino "disappeared" as soon as she stepped foot in the facility, while Sandrone had confronted him over his actions. Since he knew she had only cared for herself at first, he wonders if the Traveler was so influential to cause people to have a change in personality, which he found troubling. The Traveler asks where she went, so he obliges with their request: Sandrone had confronted Dottore and said that his ascension to godhood was too far, and he counters that it was a fact and not a claim, before stating that he was sending his people to her, which she realizes meant that he'd sent his troops to possibly attack the Bureau. Though Sandrone warns him that he was violating the Tsaritsa's orders, he waves it off as performing another experiment. He states that he would give all a chance, including her, and the frustrated Sandrone had decided to turn back to the bureau to check on the safety of her unit.
The group fight Dottore; midway during the fight, Arlecchino joins in, but their combined efforts are mostly for naught as Dottore, armed with the artifical Moon Marrow, is able to simply restores his injuries. Realizing the battle is hopeless, Arlecchino tells them to leave, while she faces Dottore down alone, but he captures the Traveler and teleported the rest of the group away.
- Where Our Space and Time Intersect
The Traveler finds themselves back in Nasha Town at the Speranza, though they quickly notice many of the residents are acting strangely. Realizing something was wrong, they ponder on their next action when Dottore speaks to them. Remarking that they must not like the atmosphere, he proceeds to change the venue with a gesture.
Elsewhere, Columbina wakes up and finds herself in a strange space before realizing she must be in the moon's reflection. She is surprised to find herself still alive, since Rerir and his fianceé Tholindis were presumably killed when they entered it. As she is unable to escape, she decides to conserve her power and explore the space. She finds a glowing mark and uses her powers on it, causing a golden circle to appear. She continues forward and finds a blooming flower, entering it and finding herself in a memory of Moon-Prayer Night. Finding that it gives her strength to continue, she explores the area, reminiscing about her time with Barbeloth. She discovers a kuuvahki pulse and, touching it, realizes the pulse is able to manipulate past events; in this case pulling the "Death" tarot card from the deck which she had drawn that night during the festival. As she wonders what else she could interact with, an unknown force pulls her from the memory back into the moon's reflection.
Back at the Curatorium, Paimon is horrified to learn of the Traveler's capture and is worried for their safety. Arlecchino vows to rescue them and states that Dottore had used his artificial moon to replace the Frost Moon in the sky. As he is not rejected by Teyvat, she states that once he has control of all three moons, he will gain Teyvat's primordial power and become unstoppable. Additionally, Nefer reveals that strange spaces are emerging in Nod-Krai and assumes that it is Dottore's doing. Arlecchino becomes further agitated by Dottore's actions, as she sees it as treason of the highest order against the Tsaritsa by becoming a god and that not even her words would stop him if he obtained the power of the moons. As Paimon begs them to rescue the Traveler, Nefer tells her that they need to set a plan first as Sandrone comes in. She tells them that the bureau was swallowed up by one of the energy fields. She then has everyone that went into the facility scanned by Pulonia, discovering that they were all "cursed" by Dottore, who mocked them in the message he'd encoded with the curse. She states that they should be fine unless they attempt to leave Nod-Krai, which would result in the curse kicking in. Since the Traveler is a Descender, which the Harbingers are well aware of, she and Arlecchino presume that Dottore would not kill them off just yet.
Durin then arrives and informs them that more energy fields have appeared across the land. Varka states that alongside finding the Traveler, they also needed to evacuate everyone from the islands. Arlecchino suggests Snezhnaya as one temporary refuge while Paimon agrees to help her, being well-connected from her travels.
At the moon's reflection, Columbina decides to reenter the space in the hopes of altering history. As she returns to Nasha Town, she finds the town bare of the festivity decorations. Although she does not recall ever visiting the town outside of Moon-Prayer Night, she decides to try her luck if she could influence anyone. Seeing the Traveler and their companions, she comes to the conclusion that this memory is from before Moon-Prayer Night, when Columbina had iniitally dissappeared. She taps the Traveler's shoulder, getting a response, though they fail to sense her. Recalling the events afterwards, she realizes that this is what made the Traveler seem to notice Columbina back then, which had encoutaged her to follow them and discover their plan of bringing her back during Moon-Prayer Night. Columbina wonders if she could influence the Traveler before she is sucked back into the moon's reflection. Nonetheless, she resolves to try her best to inform the others of Dottore's upcoming actions.
Elsewhere, the Traveler finds themselves in an empty void before Dottore appears with a strange object on his back. He tells them that it is a Trilune, which holds the Moon Marrows. While he analyzes the Traveler's traits, the Traveler becomes irritated and asks what he wants. Dottore reveals that he wishes to work with them, seeing how they had done the same with the other Harbingers in the past. The Traveler decides to play along for the moment to learn of his motives and asks what he could provide for them that others couldn't. Dottore forces them into a seat and shows them his perspectives of life, wondering why life was restrained by rules set by the gods. He reveals that he's aware of their journey and offers to bring it all to an end in an instant. Although the Traveler is aware he's trying to manipulate them, they do note the various truths peppered in them, along with a desire to see their sibling once more.
At the curatorium, the group prepares for the immense evacuation task at hand. Lauma would handle the Southern Isles and Hiisi Island and help them toward Natlan, while Arlecchino and the Fatui would handle everything north of the design bureau and have those evacuees head for Snezhnaya. Aino and Ineffa would help with the evacuation efforts, while Nefer asks Jahoda to assist Lauma as she has to handle intelligence work. Dori decides to return to Sumeru to inform Nahida, while Varka asks Durin to return to Mondstadt to likewise inform Venti. Albedo would remain behind to work with Sandrone with his alchemy expertise. Before they are able to leave, Nicole arrives, telling them that Alice has roped every Hexenzirkel member apart from her to handle the situation at the border. She gives each of them a special Dodocommunication Device to allow them to talk over long distances before she also leaves.
Outside, Flins approaches Illuga and informs him of their meeting. Illuga agrees to handle the evacuation but wonders why Flins would not leave with them. Flins informs them that he was "cursed," leaving the young man furious over who would curse him. Flins reassures him that he'll return and they could make up for lost time. Before he leaves, Illuga asks Flins if he isn't human, though Flins feigns ignorance. Illuga tells him that he'll be asking him again once the situation is over.
Columbina tries a third time to influence reality from the moon's reflection, hoping to leave behind a clue this time and use as little power as subtly as possible so she wouldn't be immediately thrown out of time. She arrives at the Flagship, where Nefer and Flins were conducting their own investigation. As they talk about their reasons that Columbina is still alive, they hear a sound behind the door leading to the accommodations, discovering a vase Columbina had accidentally broken when she was teleported in. She manages to phase into the Traveler's room and leaves behind a message in kuuvahki on a wall as Flins and Nefer enter the room. Though they fail to sense anything, they recall that Columbina would have sent them messages that could only be seen in the moonlight. Columbina then realizes that she is travelling backwards; in the present, Nefer grabs a cup and throws it at the grimy window, allowing moonlight in to reveal Columbina's message. Although it was too late to have helped them with the Rerir situation, they know she is still alive and head out to inform the others.
- Tracing the Footsteps of the Past
Flins and Nefer inform Albedo and Sandrone of their discovery before returning to their respective work. Nefer looks through the Traveler's belongings that Paimon had organized to search for clues, while Sandrone has Pulonia bring her reference material about a "world-formula." Wondering why Dottore needed the Traveler, she combines Rene and Alain's research in order to discover the truth.
North of the bureau, Arlecchino is informed about the status of Sandrone's subordinates. She has them incorporated into her own before meeting up with Childe. Learning what was going on, the Tsarisa was having Fatui Internal Affairs investigate Dottore's actions. Suddenly, one of the Fatuus turns into a monster, forcing the others to put him down. Childe is surprised by the revelation, while Arlecchino believes it was one of Dottore's experiments to showcase his new powers. Childe then tells her that the Tsaritsa had given Arlecchino and Sandrone clearance to kill Dottore should they decide that he proved to be a threat, which pleases her. He then asks about the Traveler, and she tells him they were captured by Dottore. Childe wants to rescue them immediately, but Arlecchino stops him, explaining they don't currently know where they are, but that Sandrone was working on it. The best thing he could do was to complete his current mission to escort refugees to Snezhnaya, and he begrudgingly agrees. Before he leaves, she asks him to tell Pulcinella to warn the other nations of the threat.
Outside one of the energy fields, Durin meets up with Albedo, having returned from Mondstadt. Albedo believes that the energy field is pure Light Realm energy and tests his theory by using his Geo powers on it. The barrier cracks slightly, and he asks Durin to use both his normal Pyro and abyssal energies on it, which creates a larger crack. Albedo then addresses the Wanderer, telling him he can come out, to which the latter emerges and replies that he didn't want to interrupt Albedo's train of thought. He asks the Wanderer to strike the energy field with Anemo, and an even larger gap emerges. Albedo and the Wanderer go inside to investigate, while Durin remains outside to stand guard. As they go in, they find many human bodies lying around along with an animal next to them. Albedo finds this odd, but because they're unable to communicate, they continue further inside. They soon realize that the animals and human bodies are a part of a twisted experiment done by Dottore, having swapped the humans' minds into the animals. With the research concluded, they leave the energy field and Albedo informs the others of their discovery.
After Albedo's report, Nefer tries to delve into the Traveler's mind by using their Adventurer's Handbook as a medium, but doing so causes Dottore to recognize and detect her. Before he could do anything to her, Nicole cuts off her connection. When the Traveler comes, too, Dottore apologizes, as he had knocked them out for over a month when he meant to do so for only a few moments, admitting that he still needs to master his control over the power of time. He muses on how the Traveler doesn't seem to "understand" humans, noting that humans would react differently to being imprisoned for extremely long periods of time as opposed to the Traveler. He then asserts that the Traveler's long life and status as an "alien" to Teyvat means that they will never be fully accepted, and claims that they have been treated "most unfairly", before offering to restore the Traveler to their rightful status as a Descender.
Elsewhere, Columbina heads into another portal and finds herself at Starsand Shoal before Rerir regained his physical form. As the cannon prepares to fire, and the Traveler summons the kuuvahki shield she'd taught them to use, Columbina is alarmed to realize that lethal levels of kuuvahki would strike the Frostmoon Scions on Hiisi Island. Recalling Flins asking her about the mysterious shield that had protected the Scions, she realizes it was her present self that was responsible and rushes in that direction. Pleading for the Frost Moon and the kuuvahki of the land to help her, she expends most of her power creating the massive kuuvahki shield in time and collapses. She dreams of a memory with Sandrone in Snezhnaya talking about their pasts before she comes to back at the moon's reflection. She opens another portal and finds herself at the Final Night Cemetery, where she uses her powers to move some of the books in the Lightkeepers' library that they needed. Before she is thrown back into the reflection, she spots Luonnotar, who can see her. Back at the moon's reflection, she realizes that the familiar presence she's felt near the Traveler with each trip into the past was actually Luonnotar. She enters the final portal, returning to when the Traveler and Paimon were heading to Hiisi Island after reuniting Ineffa and Aino. Realizing what she needed to do to inform her friends, she creates Luonnotar with a part of her soul and has her trail the Traveler to help them when the time came, with the immediate second instruction of leading them to Silvermoon Hall so they could meet her past self, "a little lost dove", for the first time.
Characters
34 Characters appear in this Act:
- Aino
- Albedo
- Alida
- Arlecchino
- Barbeloth
- Borzyslaw
- Columbina
- Dori
- Dottore
- Durin
- Flins
- Gediminas
- Illki
- Illuga
- Ineffa
- Jahoda
- Jotautas
- Kaarina
- Katheryne
- Katya
- Lauma
- Limppu
- Luonnotar
- Maisie
- Nefer
- Nicole
- Paimon
- Pulonia
- Rerir
- Sandrone
- Tartaglia
- Traveler
- Varka
- Wanderer
Achievements
There are 3 Achievements obtainable from A Traveler on a Winter's Night:
| Achievement | Category | Description | Requirements | 
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A Traveler on a Winter's Night |  Wonders of the World
|
To what end will her journey carry her? | Earned during Where Our Space and Time Intersect. | 5 |
| The Wanderer and His Shadow | Wonders of the World
|
Perhaps this is the power destined to be yours. | Earned during Where Our Space and Time Intersect. | 5 |
| The Heretic's Utopia | Wonders of the World
|
Investigate the energy field created by The Doctor. | Earned during Tracing the Footsteps of the Past. | 5 |
Soundtracks
Gallery
Other Languages
| Language | Official Name | Literal Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| English | A Traveler on a Winter's Night | — |
| Chinese (Simplified) | 如果在冬夜，一个旅人 Rúguǒ Zài Dōngyè, Yīgè Lǚrén | If on a Winter's Night, a Traveler[• 1] |
| Chinese (Traditional) | 如果在冬夜，一個旅人 Rúguǒ Zài Dōngyè, Yīgè Lǚrén | |
| Japanese | 冬の夜、ある旅人が Fuyu no Yo, Aru Tabibito ga | One Winter Night, a Traveler |
| Korean | 어느 겨울밤, 한 여행자 Eoneu Gyeoulbam, Han Yeohaengja | One Winter Night, a Traveler |
| Spanish | Un viajero en una noche de invierno | A Traveler on a Winter's Night |
| French | Un voyageur, par une nuit d'hiver | A Traveler, on a Winter's Night |
| Russian | Если однажды зимней ночью путешественник Yesli odnazhdy zimney noch'yu puteshestvennik | If on a Winter's Night a Traveler |
| Thai | นักเดินทางคนหนึ่ง ในคืนฤดูหนาว | |
| Vietnamese | Nếu Một Đêm Đông, Có Vị Lữ Khách | |
| German | Ein Reisender in einer Winternacht | |
| Indonesian | Seorang Pengembara di Malam Musim Dingin | |
| Portuguese | Um Viajante Numa Noite de Inverno | |
| Turkish | Bir Kış Gecesi Bir Gezgin | |
| Italian | Un viaggiatore in una notte d'inverno |
- ↑ Chinese: References the translated name of the novel If on a winter's night a traveler
Change History
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