Main Walkthrough

Therion's hunt for the third of the dragonstones takes him to Wellspring, a wee oasis town in the south of Orsterra. You can find Orsterra by heading south of Sunshade, from the Eastern Sunshade Sands, then along the west side of the Northern Wellspring Sands. Given the open nature of the deserts finding Wellspring is pretty easy.

If you're busy completing third chapters you may have come through Wellspring as Olberic. If not, there are plenty of things to see and do in the town before you embark on Therion's mission:

  • The Townsperson who greets you as you enter Wellspring has a Fur Cap to Steal / Purchase.
  • Just outside the Tavern is a Townsperson with two Healing Grape Bunches and two Inspiriting Plum Baskets to Steal / Purchase. Scrutinize / Inquire her and you'll learn the Discount at the Inn info.
  • East of the Tavern is a building with a Guard out front. He's a powerful fighter if Provoked / Challenged, and unless you're way overleveled may prove to be too much for you. (Olberic's Thousand Spears / Brand's Thunder, and perhaps blinding / poisoning the guy, are your best bets.) If you can beat him you'll find three Merchants inside the building, and each has amazing items to Steal / Purchase: an Augmented Bow of the Falcon, a Memorial Necklace (part of a Side Story), and a Forbidden Axe. You can also learn Thieving Tips & Tricks by Scrutinizing / Inquiring the Merchant with the Forbidden Axe.
  • In the northwest is another blocked building. The Townsperson out front has a Heavy Coin Pouch and a Copper-filled Pouch to Steal / Purchase. Challenge / Provoke him and win - he's much, much easier than the Guard - and you'll find two purple chests inside the building he's guarding. One contains 14,000 leaves, the other 9,000 leaves.
  • On the west side of town is a Traveling Merchant with a Tightly Sealed Envelope that you can Steal. It's part of a Side Story. Just south of him is an Old Man with a Primeval Robe that you can Steal / Purchase, and if you Scrutinize / Inquire him you'll earn the More Plentiful Provisions info.
  • There's a large building on the west side of town with a chest inside containing an Inspiriting Plum (M). The Guard out front near the door has a Heavy Blade to Steal / Purchase, and he has the Challenge with Ease info. The next Guard over has a Jaguar Lance.
  • On the south side of town are three NPCs that have Side Stories for you. Assuming you've done Ria's Side Story and she has moved here, she'll have an Inferno Amulet to Steal / Purchase, among other things. Just to the right of the NPCs is a chest containing a Healing Grape (M).
That's all for the people of Wellspring. Time to see if Therion can find that dragonstone. If you turned down the chance to trigger his chapter earlier, you can do so now by speaking to the Tavern Keeper and choosing Hear a Tale.


Therion's Chapter

Therion enters Wellspring in the hopes of infiltrating its well-hidden black market, and immediately notices someone sketchy nearby. Speak to the nearby Pauper and he'll want some wine. Head to the Tavern and you'll see a Tavern Patron inside. Steal a Bottle of Wine from his inventory and take it to the Pauper to loosen his lips. The Pauper suggests ordering something at the Tavern that isn't on the menu.

Pop back into the Tavern. Therion will slyly ask the Tavern Keeper for something innocuous, and the man will reply with a note pointing Therion to a cave on the outskirts of town. Your next destination is the Southern Wellspring Sands, just south of the spot where you spoke to the Pauper.


Southern Wellspring Sands

Hey look, more desert. Fancy that. You'll run into the following baddies as you trek your way over to the Black Market:
  • Spiked Skink - Weak to Polearm, Staff, and Dark. Swift enemies that can buff each other and dish out a significant amount of pain with physical attacks. Stun them promptly. (On the plus side, though, you won't see them very often.)
  • Dark Roller - Weak to Dagger and Lightning. Powerful, painful enemy with few weak points but only one defensive shield. Stun it quickly so it can't cause too much trouble while you fight any friends it brought along.
  • Savage Scorpion - Weak to Polearm, Ice, and Wind. Can poison one or more characters in your party. Fairly dangerous, especially in groups.
  • Withered Wanderweed - Weak to Sword, Axe, and Fire. Bulky creature that can both confuse your party members and put them to sleep. Mercifully not that difficult to break.
Walk as far south of the save point as you can to find a chest containing an Energizing Pomegranate, then swing west. You'll enter a small clearing, and the path forward will be on your left. Check the rocks to the north before going further west and you'll find a gap that leads to a chest containing a Fire Soulstone (L). 

Carry on west until you see another save point to the south. Check along the wall on the right as you go down the nearby stairs and you'll find a secret path to a purple chest containing an Unerring Bracelet. Then finish your trek west. Pretty soon you'll see the entrance to the Black Market, and it quickly becomes obvious that you need to find a way inside. There are three methods for completing this section:
  • Steal the Attendant's Mask from the Employee standing near you when the cut scene ends. There's a lower chance you can grab the Mask, but it's conveniently right there for you. He's also carrying an Olive of Life and a Silver-filled Pouch that you should Steal regardless.
  • Steal an Aristocrat's Mask from either of the Aristocrats to the north of the Black Market. They will spawn once you can walk around again.
  • Steal the Black Market Inventory from the Tavern Keeper back in Wellspring. This is the easiest of the items to pilfer.
Regardless of the choice you make you'll gain access to the Black Market, though the scene changes a bit depending on how you got in.


Black Market

Head to the upper area of the Black Market to trigger a cut scene. Therion will spot a Black Marketeer with the dragonstone he needs... though before he can grab it, a group of Bandits rushes in and steals it first. Therion sets off in pursuit. The Black Market will now fill with monsters to kill, some new and some from the Southern Wellspring Sands:
  • Warrior Bones - Weak to Axe, Staff, Fire, and Light. Strong enemy that can use Helmcleaver, inflicting a ton of damage and debuffing the defenses of one target. Should be taken out before Helmcleaver comes out.
  • Brawler Bones - Weak to Axe, Staff, Fire, and Light. Headless skeleton that can lock away your Boosting with Horrific Claw. Not as dangerous as Warrior Bones but still a threat.
  • Carmine Eagle - Weak to Polearm, Bow, and Wind. Buffing enemy that can hit the party with blindness and the Thousand Scythes attack. A bit weak, considering how seldom they show up.
  • Desert Worm - Weak to Polearm, Axe, Wind, and Light. Painful brawler that can use Swallow Whole to steal a big chunk of one character's health. Stun these things early in a fight.
With everyone cleared out you can now explore the Black Market. Start by checking the east side of the cave. There's a hidden path along the east wall that will take you down to a chest containing a Fire Soulstone (L). Then return to ground level and head west to find the main path onward. Before you go down it, check along the rocks and goods to the north. You'll find a side path leading to a chest that contains a Healing Grape (M).

Follow the main path until it splits to the north and south, near a torch. Go south to find an Inspiriting Plum Basket, then double back and go north. Just before you go up a ramp there will be a path on your right. It leads to a hidden chest containing an Energizing Pomegranate (L). Up the ramp and on the left you'll find a save point, and if you keep going west you'll find a chest containing 10,000 leaves.

North of the save point you'll see three guys speaking to each other. Approach them to witness a cut scene where a surprise face from Therion's past shows itself. He'll sic a Henchman and two Lackeys on you, but they are absolute pushovers compared to the normal enemies you've been fighting up to this point. One or two attacks will demolish the lot.


Therion will reminisce over some bad times, then you regain control of the party. Take a left to find a Light Amulet, then head right. The path splits here, but the game won't let you take the northern path, so head south and east. You'll see Bandits to the right, but they'll run off after a cut scene. Check down a ramp to the left of the intersection where they were standing to find a Healing Grape Bunch. Just visible to the north of here is a purple chest; wind around the pathways over to it to retrieve the Calming Stone inside.

Continue east and you'll come to a save point, and the baddies will be right ahead of you. Therion is still pretty bent on getting some revenge, so the time for talk is over.

(You'll probably notice while everyone is speaking that there's a treasure chest to the north. If you come back here later you can open it to retrieve a Huntress's Longbow. Not really worth the trek, but hey.)


Gareth

Weakness: Sword, Axe, Staff, Ice, Wind
Weakness (Master Thief): Polearm, Dagger, Fire, Lightning

Ever wondered what it would be like to fight Therion? This is basically it. Accompanied by a pair of Master Thieves, Gareth is a strong, evasive opponent who starts off with the ability to use two moves in a row. He can both Steal Life and Steal Magic, similar to Therion's Skills, and can hit the whole party with the Fire elemental Will o' Wisp Skill. Once Gareth enters Boost mode he will use Steal All if you don't break his defenses by the next turn, which seals everyone's ability to use items until you successfully break Gareth. Gareth seals away his weaknesses whenever he recovers from a break, so you'll need to vary up your moves. Aside from normal physical Skills the Master Thieves can use Smelling Salts to help Gareth instantly recover from a break, and once they're gone Gareth's number of attacks per turn will increase to three. 

Fighting Gareth is a major hassle so long as his helpers are around, given how quickly they allow him to recover from breaks, so they need to die first. Even though it will make little difference to his health, keeping Gareth stunned while dealing with the Master Thieves isn't a bad idea, though prioritize his mooks. Once they're out of the way you'll need to keep Gareth out of the fight as consistently as you can, otherwise he'll just keep draining the party for his own benefit. Save Boost levels between breaks so you can put him under again as soon as he goes down. Having a secondary job on every character on this fight is highly beneficial so you can target Gareth's unguarded weaknesses. He obviously becomes more dangerous once he's alone, but so long as you go after Gareth's weak points the fight shouldn't change much in the second half. Keep using Inspiriting Plums to make up for the SP lost from Gareth's attacks and stay healed in general and you'll beat him eventually.

You'll earn Gareth's Helm and two Energizing Pomegranates for defeating Gareth and his buddies. Therion will return to Cordelia and Heathcote to admit that he failed to secure the dragonstone, and the older, former thief will point Therion towards Northreach for his final showdown with an old friend.