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TalemajorJin's JourneyModerateAct II — A Gathering Storm

A Message in Fire

An Act 2 mission in Toyotama, using fire as signal and weapon — one of the chapters building toward the assault on Castle Shimura.

RoleMain story
Importancemajor
  • TypeMain Tale
  • Act2 – Retake Castle Shimura
  • RegionToyotama
  • Quest giverLady Sanjo
  • PrerequisiteComplete "A New Horizon"
  • RewardsMajor Legend Increase
  • Steps17

Overview

Fire in this game is rarely just fire — it is how a scattered island communicates when the Mongols hold the roads.

One of the nine Act 2 chapters set in the Toyotama region, A Message in Fire continues the campaign to retake Castle Shimura. Signal fires and burning are recurring instruments in this act, both for coordinating a dispersed resistance and for denying the Mongols supplies.

It sits early in the act's sequence, alongside A New Horizon and the Yarikawa chapters.

In the game’s own framing: Reinforcements mean reaching the shogun, and reaching the shogun means a pirate named Goro who can run the Mongol blockade.

What to bring

What this tale expects you to have on you.

  • RequiredComplete "A New Horizon"This tale does not appear until then.

Objectives

  1. Find Umugi Cove
  2. Follow the guard
  3. Speak with Goro
  4. Walk with Goro
  5. Take the map
  6. Deal with the ronin
  7. Meet Lord Shimura
  8. Speak with Lord Shimura
  9. Ride together
  10. Follow Goro
  11. Head to Fort Mitodake
  12. Ambush the patrol
  13. Attack Fort Mitodake
  14. Open the front gate
  15. Fight the archers
  16. Avoid the hwacha
  17. Defend Goro’s ship

Full walkthroughSpoilers

  1. 01
    Find Umugi Cove

    Search the marked area in Toyotama for a path marked by red flowers on the left. Finding it unlocks the Den of Thieves.

  2. 02
    Follow the guard

    A cutscene sends him leading you through a house, up a ladder and left to Lady Sanjo.

  3. 03
    Speak with Goro

    Back down the ladder, in the room below.

  4. 04
    Walk with Goro

    A short way to his house.

  5. 05
    Take the map

    He hands it over.

  6. 06
    Deal with the ronin

    Two of them at the door on the way out.

  7. 07
    Meet Lord Shimura

    Fast travel to his old hunting camp on the east coast.

  8. 08
    Speak with Lord Shimura

    At the camp.

  9. 09
    Ride together

    Follow him along the road toward Goro.

  10. 10
    Follow Goro

    A short ride, then you dismount automatically before a cutscene.

  11. 11
    Head to Fort Mitodake

    Uphill through the grass with Shimura to the ambush point.

  12. 12
    Ambush the patrol

    Wait for Shimura to start it, then assassinate from the high ground, chaining if you can. Take the ends of patrol routes first, where a body will not be walked into — a discovered corpse raises the alarm just as reliably as being seen.

  13. 13
    Attack Fort Mitodake

    A large number of Mongols.

  14. 14
    Open the front gate

    With Shimura.

  15. 15
    Fight the archers

    Shimura opens the next gate while you deal with them. Deal with the archers first. Everything else in the fight is harder while arrows are landing, and archers fold quickly once you are on them — or take them at range before you commit.

  16. 16
    Avoid the hwacha

    Uphill toward the tower with Shimura. The white circles on the ground are where the volley lands and standing in one is usually fatal. Heal often.

  17. 17
    Defend Goro’s ship

    Take the hwacha, aim with the right stick. Six small ships first, then the archers on shore, then three larger ships that need several hits each, then more small vessels. Deal with the archers first. Everything else in the fight is harder while arrows are landing, and archers fold quickly once you are on them — or take them at range before you commit. The white circles on the ground are where the volley lands. Keep moving through them rather than stopping to fight, and heal between salvos.

    Checkpoint

Enemies in this tale, and how to fight them

Strengths

  • Archers — Deal with them before you commit to the melee, because everything else in the fight becomes harder while arrows are landing. Take them with your own bow, drop them from stealth before the fight opens, or close the distance immediately — archers are poor at close range and fold quickly once you are on them. Where the tale gives you high ground, use it: an elevated position means only one side of the field can answer you.
  • Straw Hats / ronin — Japanese swordsmen rather than Mongols, and they fight like it — faster and more technical than the invaders, with less armour. Stone Stance still applies. Standoffs work well against them, and against unarmoured ronin a won standoff often kills outright.

Rewards

  • Major Legend Increase
    A large step toward the next Legend rank. Legend gates your Ghost Weapon unlocks and your health and Resolve upgrades, so main and Mythic Tales are the fastest way to raise it.

What this unlocks

Sources