During a highstorm eight years prior, Eshonai shelters her frail mother Jaxlim, who carries a gemstone to adopt a new form. The gemstone’s light instead floods Eshonai’s gemheart, ejecting her old spren as she hears the pure tone of Honor. She awakens in warform: armored carapace, great strength, and a deep voice. Around a dozen others—including Thude and Dianil—also achieve warform, feeling instant camaraderie and awe.

Battle drums signal a raid on their city. En route, the group meets Venli, who urges Eshonai to take the family’s Shards from Sharefel to display overwhelming force. Eshonai visits the elderly Shardbearer; while he offers to pass the Shards, she refuses to let any new warform take them. She asks Sharefel to stand with them in Plate but not lift the Blade against listeners, prioritizing restraint and symbolism over escalation.

On the field, the warforms and Sharefel’s gleaming Plate halt the attackers. Eshonai addresses the rival family, promising no battle today and inviting them to join a unified listener nation. She warns that only unity can meet the inevitable human threat, then demonstrates warform’s power with a spear throw that terrifies the opposition, ending the raid without bloodshed.

Afterward, the new warforms agree to train publicly to channel their aggression and educate others. Eshonai reflects on freedom and preparedness, accepting an emergent leadership role. Venli watches from the shadows, pleased with the breakthrough, while Eshonai leads the group to present warform to the family, beginning a campaign to spread the transformation and unify the listeners.