Flickering Shadows is a main quest in Dragon’s Dogma 2 that comes right after Nation of the Lambent Flame. The quest starts right after the cutscene that plays at the end of the Gaoled Awakening. You start in the Ultramarine Forest in the Northern Vermund after you and Rook are shot down off your Griffin.
Flickering Shadows walkthrough
After receiving the Battahl Residence Permit from Menella and finishing the Nation of the Lambent Flame, the quest Flickering Shadows starts immediately.
Walk towards Bakbattahl and as you approach the Mercantile Ward, cutscene will play out where the shrouded figure, named the Pathfinder, talks to you.
The Pathfinder welcomes you to Bakbattahl and reassures you that the Godsway can be found in Battahl, particularly in the Forbidden Magick Research Laboratory.
But first, the Pathfinder suggests that you go to the Olta’Battahl Coast to find a man named Ambrosius.
Speak with Ambrosius
Follow the Pathfinder’s advice and head to the far back area of Bakbattahl, where you will reach the Olta’Battahl Coastline. You will have to pass through the Mercantile Ward and Residential Ward of Bakbattahl, and then go down a slope pathway leading to the coast. If you feel lost, just look at the map and find the quest marker.
When you reach the Olta’Battahl Coastline, you will find Ambrosius with Beastren guards lurking around him.
Come close to Ambrosius, and he will speak to you, asking for help in finding Small Blue Crystal Shards lying around. Find blue items around the coastline and deliver one of them to Ambrosius.
Once delivered, you will ask Ambrosius what the blue crystal shards are, and he tells you they are what makes up the Godsway. Through refining these shards, they can become items that grant the same powers as the Arisen: Command Pawns. However, a small amount cannot compete with the power of the Arisen, so he asks that you try to find a larger fragment.
Ambrosius then suggests you talk to the Dragonforged or Oracle to find a large blue crystal shard.
Seek information about larger blue crystal Shards
Now, a new quest objective is marked in your quest list, telling you to locate and ask the Dragonforged and the Oracle in Battahl.
Finding the DragonForged
The Dragonforged is easier to find as he lives very close to the Olta’Battahl Coastline.
If you went through the Guerco Cavern to get to Battahl, you may have already encountered him. If not, keep on reading.
You can find the Dragonforged in the Bay Wayside Shrine just north of where you found Ambrosius. Cross the wooden platform towards a cavern just north of the Olta’Battahl Coastline. Inside, you will find two paths leading left and right, as well as a Riftstone of Remembrance.
Head down the left path where it leads deeper into the cavern. At the end of the path is a room where the Dragonforged lives.
Talk to him and choose “Tell me of the Godsway.” However, he will tell you that he does not know anything about it. In fact, he has never heard of it. He will, fortunately, tell you about a sorcerer who came to him seeking knowledge of the dragon named Phaseus. Phaseus, as surmised by the Dragonforged, was to change “the will of the world through mortal means.” Through this, he suggests that you may find your answers there.
Finding the Oracle
The Oracle can be found in the Reverent Shrine, where a drake can be found close by the river.
Upon entering the Reverent Shrine, you encounter a ghostly figure instead of a person. Speak to the figure and learn that it is named Luz, the Oracle.
Speaking to the Oracle’s ghostly presence, she will tell you that she felt a “warmth akin to your own, Arisen” in an area nearby. However, the area is below the surface of the sea and assumes that it will be accessible sometime in the future.
She then suggests that you seek “he who was Dragonforged” in Harve Village.
Seek “he who was dragon-forged” in Harve Village.
Return to Vermund and to Harve Village where Ulrika resides (if you’ve done the Readvent of Calamity quest). Go to the shore past Stormwind Cave to find an old man. You may have heard rumors about him from the citizens of Harve Village about his ventures to the sea, and returning back to shore through the brine.
Speak to the old man, named Rivage Elder, and he will tell you about a tale he wants to share. However, he notices that the day is about to end and will ask that you spend the night first and come back to him in the morning. A night passes by automatically and the village Elder will start to tell you about the temple in the middle of the ocean.
The Rivage Elder speaks of a man who resides in the said temple who was once a “worthy ruler in life that his armies safeguard him even in death.” However, this man the Rivage Elder speaks of once denied the task of “watching over this world from the heavens above” and to create a small kingdom instead. Nobody seems to remember this man’s name anymore and the Rivage Elder ponders whether or not being forgotten is a blessing or not.
Your conversation with the Rivage Elder ends and suddenly the focus shifts to the wreckage in the ocean. A rumbling occurs and a large ruins; akin to a small kingdom, emerges from the sea. A Vermundian knight runs to shore and takes notice of it. For some reason, the knight also knows that the path in the Stormwind Cave leads to the ruins that appeared. He then says that he shall report this to the commander.
After the cutscene, the quest Flickering Shadows comes to an end.
