- Aloy: "So this battlefield. You said it was part of the Red Raids?"
Talanah: "The Battle of the Burning Blooms."
The Burning Blooms is a side quest in Horizon Forbidden West.
Synopsis[]
During Aloy's recovery from her escape from the facility housing GAIA's backup, she comes under fire of Mian's criticism of foreigners. Probing her for more information, Aloy learns that a Carja huntress with an Utaru "Thrush" in tow had passed through Stone's Echo. With a good idea of who the Carja huntress may be, Aloy sets off southwest.
When Aloy catches up to the huntress, who unsurprisingly turns out to be Talanah, she finds her and her Thrush under attack by machines. After working together to defeat the machines, Aloy is introduced to Milu, Talanah's Thrush. Aloy then learns that Talanah has come west in search of another Carja hunter named Amadis. Talanah explains that she had become well acquainted with Amadis after he healed the injuries she had sustained during a hunt and then gone on to stop machines from attacking a nearby village. Not long after, Amadis had ventured to the Forbidden West to lay to rest someone close to him that he had lost during his time as a soldier in the Red Raids. Aloy offers to help Talanah search for Amadis. Talanah accepts, and sends an injured Milu back to Stone's Echo to recover.
Talanah and Aloy continue on to the Battlefield of Burning Blooms, the battle where Amadis had lost his comrade. Surprised Talanah would associate with a soldier that had participated in the Raids, Aloy further questions the huntress as they travel. Talanah explains that Amadis had opposed the Raids and tried to stop the attack. He had failed however, and the Carja force had been massacred by an underestimated Tenakth force. Ever since then, Amadis had been on the run. Talanah mentions that Amadis had promised to inform her when he reached the West, but no such communication had come, leading Talanah to seek him out.
Arriving at the Battlefield, Aloy uses her Focus to identify a set of footprints consistent with a Carja hunter. Following the tracks, they pass by Lel, an Utaru Scavenger. He welcomes their company and informs them that Amadis and an Oseram caravan had also passed by. Pleased to share his stories, he tells them of the Battle of Burning Blooms. He recounts that much of the Carja army had burned, but those that had survived were marched to a Tenakth prison named the Rot located further west. Surmising that Amadis and the Oseram caravan were travelling to the prison, Talanah and Aloy continue west.
Closer to the mountains bordering Tenakth territory, they encounter a Shellsnapper. After defeating the Shellsnapper, they continue on to a tunnel. Noting evidence of a cave-in, Aloy uses her Focus to search the rubble for any bodies. From the corpse of an Oseram, Aloy uncovers a scroll detailing the Oseram's travels. The scroll notes another caravan had made it through before the cave-in but finds nothing about Amadis. Hopeful that Amadis made it through the cave before the cave-in, Talanah searches for a way through. She thanks Aloy for her time and insists that she find a way through the mountain on her own. She assures Aloy that when she does, she will send word to Milu at Stone's Echo. With nothing more she can do, Aloy leaves Talanah. Alternatively, if Breaking Even had been completed beforehand, Talanah will attempt to continue the search, but Aloy urges her to go to Camp Nowhere to recover first and promises to meet her there as soon as she can.
Objectives[]
- Find the Carja Huntress
- Kill the Machines
- Talk to Talanah
- Follow Talanah to the Battlefield
- Examine the Footprints
- Investigate the Battlefield
- Follow the Tracks
- Talk to the Utaru
- Go to the Western Ridge
- Kill the Shellsnapper
- Enter the Tunnel
- Search the Tunnel for Clues
Collectables[]
Text Datapoints - Side Quests[]
Trivia[]
- If this side quest is completed before The Eye of the Earth, Aloy will mention Talanah to Varl during the final cutscenes of the quest, asking him to find Milu so she can tell Talanah about the base as a way through the mountain.