Tané approaches Elder Vara in the courtyard of Vane Hall on Feather Island, bringing him breakfast. Vara shares troubling news: the learnèd Doctor Moyaka has written from Seiiki reporting that the Fleet of the Tiger Eye is holding a dragon hostage, intending to use it as leverage for safe passage through any waters. The captured dragon is Nayimathun—Tané's own dragon, whom she had mourned as dead. Vara also mentions a rumor that the Golden Empress seeks the fabled mulberry tree on the lost isle of Komoridu. Though devastated, Tané is given a flicker of hope that Nayimathun may still be alive, even as Vara warns that dragons do not survive long out of water.

Tané then asks Vara for permission to access the repository to research the celestial jewels, knowledge she learned of from Nayimathun. Vara agrees, noting there is scant record of them—sometimes called tide jewels or wishing jewels—and directs her to Windward Hall, where documents from the reign of Empress Mokwo are stored. He provides her with a letter of access and supplies for the long trek.

Tané makes the arduous journey across Feather Island, descending the Falls of Kwiriki, crossing the sacred Path of the Elder—a fog-shrouded burial ground for scholars, elders, and leaders—and climbing the rock face to reach Cape Quill and Windward Hall. Along the way, she is haunted by memories of Susa's execution. At Windward Hall, a Lacustrine bonesinger receives her and grants her access to the wheel repository, a cave illuminated by moondrops (lightfly eggs). He mentions that Scholar Ishari died from injuries sustained during the fire-breather attack while trying to save documents, which grieves Tané.

In the repository, Tané reads ancient documents from Empress Mokwo's reign. The first is a Lacustrine diplomatic letter addressing a woman named Neporo, self-declared Queen of Komoridu, granting her only the lesser title "Lady of Komoridu" because the House of Noziken disputes her claim. The second, in archaic Seiikinese, describes how Neporo and a foreign sorceress used two objects—the waning jewel and the rising jewel—to cause a "great chaos in the Abyss" on the third day of spring. The sorceress has died, and her body is to be returned to her country along with a white jewel she wore. Tané resolves that it is time to unlock the power of the celestial jewel stitched inside her, hoping it could be the key to freeing Nayimathun.