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Story Explained - Version 13 vs Version 14
May 23, 2026, 04:06 PM
Added internal wikilinks (2026-05-23)
Jun 9, 2026, 06:55 AM
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11Overview22Crimson Desert tells the story of Kliff, a mercenary warrior determined to reunite his scattered comrades and rebuild the Greymane Clan after a devastating betrayal. Set across the war-torn continent of Pywel, the campaign spans a Prologue, twelve chapters, and an Epilogue. What begins as a personal quest for survival gradually expands into something far larger, as Kliff uncovers hidden factions, forbidden knowledge, and the true nature of a supernatural dimension known as the Abyss. The main story takes roughly 50 hours to complete, with a true ending available for players who invest around 80 hours into side content and companion questlines.44Setting66The story takes place on Pywel, a vast medieval fantasy continent scarred by centuries of conflict, political upheaval, and the growing influence of the Abyss. Pywel is home to multiple countries, factions, and cultures, each with their own ambitions and grievances. Above the continent floats the Abyss, a mysterious realm of floating islands powered by a mix of magic and technology. Abyss Artifacts regularly fall from this dimension to the lands below, granting strange powers to those who possess them and fueling conflict over their control.99Key Characters1111CharacterRoleDescriptionKliffProtagonistSon of Martinus and leader of the Greymane survivors. A skilled fighter with a strong sense of justice whose stoic exterior softens around his comrades. He gains supernatural abilities after awakening in the Abyss.DamianePlayable GreymaneA nimble gunsmith who joined the Greymanes by choice rather than birth. She fights with firearms and magic, serving as the group's ranged specialist.OongkaPlayable GreymaneA large, axe-wielding warrior known for his philosophical outlook and fierce loyalty. He balances empathy with ruthlessness in combat.MyurdinAntagonistLeader of the Black Bears. A ruthless adversary who orchestrated the massacre of the Greymanes and is Kliff's primary rival throughout the story.ShakatuAlly / MerchantHead of the Goldleaf Merchant Guild who helps Kliff gain a foothold in Hernand after Kliff removes the criminal Kailok from power.Marquis SerkisPolitical FigureA nobleman in Hernand who grants the Greymanes permission to settle at Howling Hill after Kliff proves his worth.YannGreymane MemberA key Greymane companion who plays a major role in the clan's reunification.NairaGreymane MemberBelieved to be Kliff's sister. She holds a narratively important role in the Greymane uprising.1313Factions1414FactionDescriptionGreymane ClanA mercenary band led by Kliff. Originally a tight-knit group operating out of Pailune, the Greymanes were shattered by the Black Bears' attack and must rebuild from nothing.Black BearsThe primary antagonist faction led by Myurdin. A violent and ambitious group seeking continental dominance by exploiting Pywel's political instability.Goldleaf Merchant GuildA powerful commercial organization based in Hernand. Led by Shakatu, the guild becomes one of Kliff's earliest allies.1616Prologue: Dead of Night1717The story opens in the middle of a catastrophe. The Black Bears launch a surprise nighttime raid on the Greymane camp, slaughtering many members and scattering the survivors across Pywel. During the attack, Kliff confronts Myurdin but is struck down and left for dead.1919Rather than dying, Kliff awakens in the Realm of Uncertainty, a strange region within the Abyss. This floating, otherworldly space is unlike anything on Pywel. Here, Kliff gains new powers tied to Abyss energy before finding his way back to the physical world. He emerges alone on the continent, determined to find his surviving comrades and rebuild the clan.2121Chapter 1: The First Encounter2323Kliff arrives in the region around Hernand, a bustling trade city, with nothing but his skills and the Abyss powers he acquired in the Prologue. He takes on odd jobs and helps the local population, earning a reputation through acts of kindness. The chapter is the player's introduction to Pywel's open world, its inhabitants, and the game's core combat mechanics.2525Chapter 2: Golden Greed2727Kliff's good deeds attract the attention of Shakatu, head of the Goldleaf Merchant Guild. Shakatu's guild has been taken over by force by a criminal named Kailok the Hornsplitter. Shakatu asks Kliff to deal with Kailok, and the chapter follows Kliff as he navigates Hernand's seedy underbelly. After eliminating Kailok, Kliff earns the trust of both Shakatu and Marquis Serkis, the local nobleman. This alliance gives Kliff the political backing he needs to establish a base of operations.2929The chapter also includes the Reunion quest, where a black cat leads Kliff to the Meandering Hills Ruins, teaching him the Nature's Grasp skill through a Memory Fragment vision.3131Chapter 3: Howling Hill3333With Serkis's permission, Kliff claims Howling Hill as the Greymanes' new home. The chapter focuses on rebuilding: constructing the camp, recruiting scattered Greymane survivors who made it to the Hernand region, and investigating a sinister supernatural presence lurking near the settlement. Players unlock the camp management system here, including housing, farming, and dispatch missions.3535Chapter 4: The Price of Knowledge3737Kliff pursues forbidden secrets tied to the Abyss. The chapter begins at the Kilnden Workshop with a mysterious artifact and leads through Scholastone and ancient ruins. Kliff encounters the Tenebrum, a powerful Abyss-linked entity, in a climactic boss fight. This is also when the player learns the Focused Force Palm skill, which unlocks hidden areas in earlier puzzle locations such as the Karin Quarry secret chamber. The events of this chapter deepen the mystery surrounding the Abyss and hint at a threat far greater than the Black Bears.3939Chapter 5: Guest Unbidden4141An uninvited presence disrupts the Greymanes' progress. This shorter chapter introduces new political complications and forces Kliff to navigate the tension between the clan's growing power and the suspicion it generates among Hernand's established factions. The chapter splits into two arcs that explore both sides of a brewing conflict.4343Chapter 6: Cracks in the Shield4545War erupts in earnest. The Greymanes are thrust into large-scale battlefield combat for the first time, fighting under banners alongside allied forces. The chapter spans four quest arcs and marks a turning point in the story, as the conflict expands from local disputes into a regional war. Kliff must hold the line as cracks begin to form in the alliances he has built.4747Chapter 7: Homecoming4949Kliff returns to Pailune, the Greymanes' original homeland, and leads an effort to liberate the region from enemy occupation. The chapter has four quest arcs and culminates in the Battle at Silverwolf Mountain. This is an emotionally significant chapter: Kliff must confront what was lost in the Prologue and fight to reclaim the land that the Greymanes once called home.5151Chapter 8: Blood Coronation5353The story escalates as Kliff travels to Demeniss for a decisive campaign. Major encounters include a boss battle against Fortain, the Cursed Knight, and the dramatic Blood Coronation sequence that gives the chapter its name. The Traitor arc delivers a story revelation that reshapes Kliff's understanding of the war and sets up the endgame.5555Chapter 9: The Sage of the Desert5757The tone shifts to something more spiritual. Kliff answers an unknown calling and travels to the Cloister of Enlightenment, a remote monastery in the desert. This is one of the longest chapters, with six quest arcs and encounters against the Jijeong Temple Guardians and the Black Witch. The chapter explores themes of fate, inner strength, and the true nature of the power Kliff has been wielding since the Prologue.5959Chapter 10: Counterattack6161A shorter but pivotal chapter focused on preparation. Kliff secures a secret weapon at the Gate of War and visits the Master of the Ironworks to forge powerful new equipment. The chapter includes encounters with mechanical enemies, including the Clockwork Insect and the Frozen Hearted Predator. By the end, the Greymanes are armed for the final push.6363Chapter 11: Reality and Truth6565Kliff reaches the City of Steel, a heavily fortified location where the line between truth and illusion begins to blur. The chapter features navigation through a Strange Manor, the collection of Fortress Keys, and a confrontation with the Master of a Forgotten Land. The climax takes place at Cloud Castle Orbian, a floating fortress that is the penultimate major setpiece before the finale.6767Chapter 12: The Abyss6969The final chapter of the main campaign. The bosses here are significantly harder than anything encountered previously. Once Kliff passes through the Forbidden Gate, there is no opportunity to leave and resupply. The chapter brings the Abyss storyline to its conclusion as Kliff confronts the source of the supernatural threat that has been building since he first awakened in the Realm of Uncertainty.7171Players should ensure they are fully prepared before entering the Forbidden Gate, as the point of no return is clearly marked. Having high-level equipment, a full stock of recovery items, and upgraded Abyss skills is strongly recommended.7373Epilogue: Journey's End7575After completing Chapter 12, the Epilogue wraps up the narrative with a series of shorter quests. Kliff returns to Hernand for a peace sequence, checks in with allies scattered across Pywel, and sees the results of his actions throughout the campaign. There are no boss fights in the Epilogue. It is a quiet conclusion to the story, giving closure to character arcs and the fate of the Greymane Clan.7777Chapter Summary7979ChapterTitleQuest ArcsKey EventsPrologueDead of Night2Black Bears massacre, Kliff enters the AbyssChapter 1The First Encounter2Kliff arrives in Hernand, earns local trustChapter 2Golden Greed3Kailok defeated, alliance with Shakatu and Serkis, Reunion questChapter 3Howling Hill3Camp established, Greymane recruitment beginsChapter 4The Price of Knowledge3Abyss secrets explored, Tenebrum boss fight, Focused Force Palm learnedChapter 5Guest Unbidden2Political tensions rise around the GreymanesChapter 6Cracks in the Shield4Large-scale war erupts, alliances testedChapter 7Homecoming4Pailune liberated, Battle at Silverwolf MountainChapter 8Blood Coronation3Fortain boss fight, Blood Coronation, Traitor revealChapter 9The Sage of the Desert6Desert monastery, Black Witch, themes of fateChapter 10Counterattack2Secret weapon forged, mechanical enemiesChapter 11Reality and Truth3City of Steel, Cloud Castle OrbianChapter 12The Abyss2Final confrontation beyond the Forbidden GateEpilogueJourney's End1Peace sequence, character resolutions8181Endings8282Crimson Desert has two endings: a standard ending and a true ending. Dialogue choices and faction alignments do not determine which ending the player receives. Instead, the true ending is unlocked by engaging with side content, including companion questlines and optional missions. The true ending extends the story beyond the standard conclusion rather than replacing it. Both endings have proper epilogues and credits.8484Hidden Secrets and Late-Game Reveals8686Spoiler warning: Everything from this section onward describes major late-game revelations. The content below is sourced from book passages found inside the Axiom Archive on the first Abyss Island, accessible only after completing the main story and the related Abyss puzzles. Skip this section if you have not finished the campaign and the post-credits Abyss content.8888The Axiom Archive Books9090After the credits, players who climb to the third floor of the Axiom Archive on the first Abyss Island can read a series of in-universe books that recontextualize the entire main story. The books are written from the perspective of the Guardians of the Abyss and are organized as numbered cycle entries. Each entry describes one attempt by the Guardians to guide a version of Kliff toward defeating Umbra. The campaign players experience is presented as the most recent in a long sequence of these attempts.9292Although these books are part of the in-game Knowledge System and the surrounding Abyss puzzles, they sit far outside the main quest path. The reveals below are therefore optional content that most players will never encounter directly.9494The Time Leap and the Cycle Structure9696The Guardians have access to an ability the books call the time leap. When their chosen champion fails to stop Umbra, they rewind the world to an earlier point and try again with adjustments. According to one passage, the time leap allows the Guardians to escape Umbra in the short term, but Umbra eventually catches up in every era. Their stated goal is not to defeat Umbra through the time leap itself but to find a champion who can end the threat permanently before Umbra arrives again.9898The numbers in the book pages correspond to individual cycles. Each cycle is one full attempt to guide Kliff (or, in some failed branches, a different person) to a successful confrontation with Umbra. The campaign players experience is described in the books as cycle 108, with the prior 107 cycles ending in failure for various reasons documented in the archive.100100Why Kliff Is Stoic102102Several cycle entries describe the Guardians' attempts to shape Kliff's personality. In earlier cycles they tried different emotional configurations. Confidence led to recklessness. Heightened sensitivity caused him to freeze in critical moments. Removing fear made him charge into fights he could not win. Increased responsibility sent him on endless wandering crusades that pulled him away from the central conflict.104104By cycle 66, the books note that the Guardians decided to extract Kliff's emotions entirely after concluding that no emotional setting they tried had kept him on course. This is presented as the in-universe explanation for the protagonist's flat affect across most of the campaign and for the way he accepts strange events, including his own near-death and the supernatural calls from witches and Guardians, without protest.106106Hexe Marie as a Fragmented White Crow108108The books explain that Hexe Marie originated as a fragment of the White Crow. In an earlier cycle, Umbra devoured part of the White Crow's essence. Her uncorrupted half survived and continued to aid the Guardians. The fractured, corrupted half fell to the world below and resurfaced as the Black Witch.110110The cycle 18 entry says this fractured half discovered Kliff and developed a deep obsession with him, wishing to make him her son. This frames Hexe Marie as a distorted mirror of the White Crow's protective attachment to Kliff. It also explains the in-game knowledge entry that describes her as incomplete despite her immense power. Master Du is described in the same entries as the figure tasked with delivering the spiritual trials that keep Kliff from accepting Hexe Marie's offer of adoption.112112The crow-themed boss known in earlier cycles as her adopted son is, in the books, the source of the jealousy that drives that fight. Treating Draven the Crowcaller as an in-cycle reaction to Hexe Marie's preference for Kliff is consistent with his recorded dialogue during the boss fight.114114Goyan, A Previous Kliff116116Goyan is identified in the cycle 45 entry as a version of Kliff from an earlier loop who lost every companion and pressed forward alone after taking up that name. The cycle 47 entry says the Guardians' creation became trapped within Umbra and that Goyan now wanders the void, neither living nor dead. Subsequent entries (cycles 54, 83, 99) describe Goyan continuing to exist across multiple loops, gradually corrupted, and eventually being asked by the Guardians to help guide a younger version of himself.118118This is presented as the in-universe reason Goyan and Kliff share the same fighting style and the same facial markings. The books frame the encounters between them not as a meeting between strangers but as a reunion between two versions of the same person across cycles. The implication is that the time leap restores the surface world but does not fully reset the Abyss, which is why Goyan persists when the rest of the timeline rewinds.120120Cycle 108 and the Player's Role122122The final entries in the archive (cycles 100, 106, 107) describe the Guardians' growing despair. In some cycles Kliff reaches the final confrontation but fails the decisive choice, sometimes by accepting union with Umbra rather than rejecting it. Cycle 107 ends with the line that the next attempt will be the final chance, suggesting that the time leap itself is approaching exhaustion.124124Cycle 108 is the run players actually experience. Inside Hexe Marie's house and in Goyan's room in the Abyss, observant players can find tally marks counting up to 107, lining up with the cycle counter in the books.126126Community interpretation: Some players read cycle 108 as a deliberate fourth-wall break, with the player as the new external variable that allowed the loop to finally close. Others read the number as a thematic flourish: 108 is a recurring count in Eastern spiritual traditions, including the count of defilements that cloud the mind in some Buddhist teachings, which fits the Cloister of Enlightenment chapter and the Master Du training arc. The game itself does not state either reading explicitly, so both should be treated as fan readings rather than canon.128128Other Reveals from the Archive130130Umbra's origin. Earlier entries describe Umbra as having been a neutral mass of pure power until artifacts from it spread across Pywel and people's worldly desires bled back into the Abyss. The Crimson Desert is identified as the place where this corruption first concentrated, which is why the region carries the name and why Sebastian's epilogue commentary frames it as the origin point of the conflict.Caliburn as an avatar of Umbra. Cycle 72 notes that Caliburn was not always corrupt and that he eventually became an incarnation of Umbra. Cycle 77 adds that Umbra was searching for its own champion to stand against fate, mirroring the Guardians' search for Kliff.The Shaes' help. Cycle 5 describes the Guardians borrowing power from the Shaes so that their bright energy could be passed on to Kliff. This is presented as the reason the normally secluded Shaes are friendly to Kliff in the campaign.Kirouch as a failed ally. Cycle 17 says Kirouch, the large primate-like enemy fought in the dining hall arc, was originally meant to be Kliff's ally. After being imprisoned in a zoo and slaughtering everyone in the area in his despair, that plan failed. The books frame his later assistance during a White Horn fight as residual recognition of Kliff as an ally.The Witches of the East. Cycle 25 describes the Guardians summoning Woosa and Magu from a different region to assist Kliff. Their time-shaping powers are presented as a deliberate intervention rather than a coincidence.Engineered loss. Cycle 39 describes a peaceful Pyoon timeline in which Kliff never developed the motivation to pursue the Abyss task and the armies of Pywel were not prepared to fight Caliburn's forces. The books frame the deaths and losses around the Greymane ambush as deliberate Guardian interventions tuned to give Kliff just enough loss to stay on course without destroying his will entirely. Cycle 78 specifically notes that Marius being kept off the battlefield in cycle 108 (the broken leg in the campaign players see) was a calibration choice from earlier failures, after attempts that placed him at the front led to his death and Kliff's collapse.Blackstar's reluctance. Cycle 89 describes the Guardians enlisting Blackstar the dragon. The dragon initially thrashed and resisted Kliff. The book frames this as the reason Blackstar appears injured when Kliff first encounters him in the campaign and gradually warms to him over the course of his quest line.The lesson of small kindnesses. Cycle 90 records the moment Kliff began offering help to a woman in need and then taking on small village tasks. Cycle 98 notes the Guardians' realization that kindness, sincerity, and empathy were what they had been missing. This is presented as the in-universe reason the early game tests Kliff with cat rescues, beggar requests, and small favors.132132Because the Axiom Archive books are buried behind post-credits Abyss content, much of this layer of the narrative is invisible to players who finish only the main quest. Reading these passages turns the campaign into a final attempt rather than a single linear story, and it reframes the witches, the Guardians, and the structure of the world as a long iterative effort to produce a Kliff who can end the cycle.134134Central Themes136136Crimson Desert is a story about loyalty, loss, and rebuilding. The Greymanes are not a military force or a political faction; they are a family held together by shared hardship. Kliff's drive to reunite with his scattered comrades fuels the early chapters, but the narrative gradually reveals that personal vengeance is not enough. The Black Bears' attack was not an isolated act of cruelty but part of a larger struggle for dominance across Pywel.138138The Abyss is both a source of power and a looming threat. The artifacts that fall from it grant abilities to those who possess them, but that power comes at a cost. As the story progresses, Kliff must reckon with the possibility that the very powers keeping him alive may be connected to a force that threatens the entire continent. The game explores the tension between using dangerous tools for good ends and the corruption that comes from relying on them.140140The political landscape of Pywel mirrors these personal conflicts. Alliances shift, and figures who appear trustworthy may have hidden motives. As one piece of in-game lore puts it: "Today's enemy may be thine ally tomorrow." The reverse is equally true, and the Traitor arc in Chapter 8 drives that point home.142142Related Pages144144Main Story WalkthroughWalkthroughKliffGreymane ClanAbyssPywelEndgame Activities
