Primrose
Primrose saw her father assassinated by three men marked with the crow when she was younger. She was then driven by revenge, and became a dancer in Sunshade while biding her time, hoping to learn more about her father’s killers. She eventually finds one of them men consorting with her master Helgenish, and she tries to follow him. However, Helgenish stops her and also kills her only friend in Sunshade, Yusufa. Primrose takes down Helgenish, and learns that the crow man can be found in Stillsnow.
In Stillsnow, she is reunited with Arianna, who used to serve House Azelhart. She tells Primrose that the crow man runs a brothel nearby, so he decides to infiltrate the place. After killing the man, she goes to Noblecourt in the hopes of finding her next target.
In Noblecourt, she meets Simeon, the gardener’s apprentice of House Azelhart and a childhood sweetheart. She doesn’t tell him about her plans for revenge, however, and she is also reunited with Revello, who used to serve her family as well. They track down the second crow man and take him down. Before she can rejoice, Simeon shows up to stab her, revealing himself to be the third and final crow man, and the leader of Obsidian, the organization that took down her father.
Primrose then travels to Everhold to confront Simeon, where he’s put on a play about Primrose’s childhood. During the confrontation, we learn that Primrose has been fueled by nothing but revenge all these years. When she kills Simeon, she finally goes to her father’s grave and admits that she still doesn’t have a purpose in life. And until she finds her purpose, she’ll continue dancing.
Alfyn
Alfyn serves as the town apothecary in Clearbrook, along with his friend Zeph. When Zeph’s sister gets poisoned, he goes to hunt down a snake and takes its venom to nurse her back to health. We learn that Alfyn became an apothecary because he was saved from a terrible illness when he was younger, and the apothecary who saved him inspired him to become one as well. Alfyn then decides to travel the world to help people out.
He first arrives at Goldshore, where another apothecary named Vanessa seems to be taking good care of everyone. However, we later learn that she’s been dosing her medicines with a virus, and handing them out for free to cure people with a common flu. After they’re cured from the flu, they then start showing symptoms of this deadly virus, and Vanessa can then scam them by selling the cure for a premium. Alfyn tracks her down in a nearby cave and takes her down, while also managing to concoct an antidote for the town.
He then moves on to Saintsbridge, where he meets another apothecary named Ogen. Ogen sees a man bleeding to death and refuses to save him because he recognized him as a bandit. Alfyn decides to save him, however, as he believes that all lives should be saved. Ogen reveals that he made the same mistake of saving a refugee once, and the man proceeded to kill his wife. Later on, the man that Alfyn saved kidnaps a child for ransom and runs off. Alfyn pursues him and rescues the child, but is then left conflicted about his ethics as an apothecary.
Alfyn then goes to Orewell, where he meets Ogen again, and they both start treating the sickly people there. Ogen starts showing signs of illness, and Alfyn learns that Ogen has been contracting all sorts of diseases over the years but refused to treat himself because he was waiting to die. Alfyn recognizes his symptoms as he had contracted the same disease when he was a child, and was saved by the apothecary who inspired him. He remembers the recipe for the antidote he needs, and is able to save Ogen. Ogen reveals that he was saved by the same apothecary some years ago, and says his name was Graham Crossford. After that, Alfyn returns home to Clearbrook.
Therion
When Therion learns of a mysterious treasure in Ravus Manor that no one can steal, naturally he wants to try it for himself. He manages to infiltrate the manor and he finds a dragonstone, but is waylaid by a butler named Heathcote. Though he beats Heathcote in battle, the butler manages to slap a fool’s bangle on him, which damages Therion’s pride as a thief. Heathcote and Lady Cordelia strike a deal with him, saying that they’ll remove the bangle if he manages to retrieve the other three dragonstones that have been stolen.
Therion first heads to Noblecourt, where a researcher is said to have the stone. He retrieves it, then reports back to Heathcote, who directs him to Wellspring next.
At the black market in Wellspring, Therion finds the dragonstone, but it’s stolen by another thief Darius. He and Darius used to be partners, but he betrayed Therion and left him for dead when he became jealous of Therion’s thieving skills. Therion was unable to retrieve the stone, but he tracks down Darius in Northreach.
At Northreach, Therion infiltrates his hideout and takes back all the stones. Darius himself is weakened, and betrayed by his own men when they take away all his treasure. Therion returns the stones to Heathcote and Cordelia, and they remove the bangle as promised, though we also find out that the bangle had already been unlocked when Heathcote encountered him earlier. We also learn that the dragonstones were instrumental in the ritual to open the Gate of Finis.
H’aanit
A year ago, H’aanit’s master Z’aanta left on a hunt with the Knights Ardante, and had only sent back one letter. When his wolf companion Hagen comes running back into the village, H’aanit learns that her master had some trouble dealing with a mysterious beast named Redeye, and she set out to assist him.
She first goes to Stonegard, where she’s able to find her master. However, she sees that he’s been turned to stone in his encounter with Redeye. H’aanit then travels to Stillsnow, in the hopes of finding a seer who can help with the curse.
At Stillsnow, she is told that the curse can be broken, but only by defeating Redeye itself. H’aanit then travels to a cave near Stillsnow to collect herbs that would protect her from the curse. She also kills a dragon.
Finally, H’aanit travels to Marsalim where she meets Eliza and the Knights Ardante who have cornered Redeye. She goes into the ruins to confront Redeye, and when she finally defeats it, she notes that the beast was unlike any other she had faced before. She could not feel any emotion from Redeye, and when it was slain, its body simply disintegrated. However, killing the beast freed her master from the curse, and when they are reunited, she shares with him tales of her journey.
It’s worth noting that there is a post-game dungeon in Octopath Traveler that ties all eight stories together in a more cohesive way. We get more explanations about the Gate of Finis itself, as well as Graham Crossford’s relation to the ritual.
Post-Game, and How Everything Connects
In the Gate of Finis, we learn more about how Lyblac had manipulated multiple people into opening the Gate for her, and allowing her to summon Galdera. It all started with House Ravus, the family that was entrusted with the legendary dragonstones. The sorcerer Odin Crossford had used them to seal shut the Gate of Finis so that Galdera would never enter the mortal world. The king of Hornburg, Beowulf, then passed the stones to his loyal knight, who was the head of House Ravus.
It’s never explicitly stated how Lyblac opened the Gate again, but we can assume that she had stolen the stones before Therion’s story begins, and explains why Heathcote and Cordelia needed someone to retrieve them. We’re also introduced to Graham Crossford, who was a descendant of Odin himself. He was an apothecary, and when his wife fell ill from a severe illness, he sought to create an elixir for her. However, he was too late, and his wife passed away. Graham then used the elixir to save a young Alfyn instead, and this inspired him to become an apothecary just like him. After that, Lyblac approached Graham and told him that he could see his wife again if he helped her open the Gate of Finis. She needed Crossford blood to complete the ritual, and while Graham was tempted, he also resolved to follow her and try to foil her plan. If he failed, he knew that she would turn her sights to his son, Kit.
Just as the ritual was getting started, Graham started to transform into a beast. He lashed out at Lyblac and managed to escape, but found himself losing more of his humanity. This is how he became Redeye, the beast that H’aanit and Z’aanta were tasked with hunting. Because Lyblac was unable to use Graham to open the Gate in the end, she started searching for Kit.
Another part of the ritual required Lyblac to produce a black flame to summon Galdera. To do this, she made use of Mattias by granting him eternal life, and having him infiltrate the ranks of the church. His plan was to kill Josef, and manipulate Lianna into being a vestal for the ritual. However, as we know, Ophilia eventually foils his plan by becoming the Flamebearer herself, and was able to save Lianna. It’s not really clear how Lyblac could open the Gate since everything seemed to be resolved in Ophilia’s story, but for the moment, we’re assuming that the creation of the black flame was enough to open it, despite it being snuffed out at the end.
Lyblac had also gained information about the Gate itself by using Lucia and Yvon. With the help of Lucia, they manipulated Yvon into killing the previous headmaster of Atlasdam so that he could assume the position for himself. Together, they were able to uncover more dark tomes and detailed information about blood crystals, which we assume is what Lyblac needed in order to use the Crossfords to open the Gate.
Meanwhile, Graham had been detailing his travels in his journal. We eventually find out that he meets Leon while looking for a ship to take him to where Lyblac is waiting for him, and he offers his journal to Leon as compensation. This is how Tressa comes across the journal when she meets Leon in Rippletide. The journal doesn’t actually detail his dealings with Lyblac, but rather his travels across the world as he was trying to brew the elixir for his wife.
Lastly, Lyblac sought to bring down the kingdom of Hornburg itself so that she could have easier access to the Gate of Finis. To do this, she made use of Werner, and gave him all the funding he needed to form a mercenary band to take it down from the inside. As we know, Werner made use of Erhardt to betray the king.
Primrose is the only character who seems to have a very loose connection to this whole saga. Her father, Geoffrey had found out about the Obsidians years before his death. He sought to destroy the organization, and in doing so, he found out that they were assisting Mattias in his attempts to infiltrate the church and to open the Gate of Finis. Primrose just wanted to kill them for revenge.
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