Transient Dreams

Transient Dreams is the second act of Raiden Shogun's Story Quest, the Imperatrix Umbrosa Chapter. In order to unlock this quest line, the player needs a Story Key, must have completed the , , and reached Adventure Rank 40.
During the events of the quest, the Traveler helps Ei with her past and her newfound views on "eternity".
==List of Quests==
# Cleansing Light
# Farewell to the Past
# Radiant Sakura
==Summary==
;Cleansing Light
Arriving at Inazuma City's Adventurers' Guild branch, Katheryne greets the Traveler and Paimon. She tells them that the Yashiro Commission has placed out a request in dire need of help defending the Sacred Sakura as rifthounds have inexplicably emerged and are aggressively targeting it. The Traveler accepts the commission and Paimon remarks on how the rifthounds are trying to defile Hanachirusato's legacy.
Once they reach the spot where rifthounds were reported, they tackle the massive horde. As two Thundercraven Rifthound Whelps encroach on the Traveler, Ei appears and eliminates them. The Traveler is surprised to see her, who tells them that the rifthounds remind her of the cataclysm that occurred 500 years ago which the Traveler recognizes as that of Khaenri'ah. Knowing that the Shogun would normally let the Yashiro and Tenryou Commissions handle it themselves and that there would be a serious issue if the situation was not contained, Ei suggests they work together to eliminate the monsters.
The group tracks down the damage dealt and arrive at some gnawed roots. Ei inspects them and states that the Yashiro Commission are more than capable to nurse it back to health. The mysterious sap begins to glow and a recollection of some of the incident 500 years ago manifests. Kitamura, a samurai spawned from the manifestation, informs the Traveler about the horrifying monsters that are roaming Inazuma and advises them to flee, stating that both the Shogun and Kitsune Saiguu are gone. Ei then joins in, much to Kitamura's relief. She tells him that Inazuma is at peace, which he realizes that the Shogun eventually returned and saved Inazuma before fading away.
As the Traveler wondered what happened, Ei tells them that the Sacred Sakura purifies filth in the Ley Lines; tainted filth evokes the form of aggressive memories, while purified ones evoke memories of the past. She tells them that during the fall of Khaenri'ah, monsters attacked Inazuma at the same time. Kitsune Saiguu led Inazuma's defence, but both she and Ei knew that it would end in tragedy, which came in the form of Saiguu losing her life. During her time spent with the Traveler, she realized that she was too fixated on the past and needed to look towards the future, promising to honor her peoples' wishes before reminding them they still need to track the damage.
Tracking more monsters in Araumi, Ei dispatches them with relative ease. The Traveler notices that she's not fighting as hard as they expected, in which she claims that she's conserving her energy for any stronger enemies that may appear. Just then, one of the roots glows again, manifesting Furuyama. Ei introduces him to the Traveler, telling them that he's a member of her entourage who specializes in tea. Furuyama is surprised to see the Shogun return so soon and states that he has no regrets as he is satisfied with life, and as the Almighty Shogun herself often says, that as all good things must come to an end, people must make the most of the life they have and seize the chance to enjoy it while it lasts. As he looks for his tea set to serve tea to the pair, the Traveler offers to get him one, which he initially declines but is eventually persuaded otherwise.
Arriving at the Kamisato Estate, Hirano is surprised to see the Shogun arrive. Ei states that she simply needs a tea set and tells him to take his time fetching one. As Hirano goes to get the tea set, Ei speaks with the Traveler, telling her that Furuyama's views actually came from her sister, Makoto, although she suspected that he pretended that he didn't know there were two different Shoguns. She remarks on how the Traveler reminded her of Makoto's views and that she was ultimately correct as the two had different views. Hirano then returns with the tea set and they return to Furuyama.
By the time they returned, Furuyama had disappeared, likely as a result of the Ley Lines unable to sustain his manifestation any longer. As Ei brews some tea, she reveals that Makoto had inexplicably gone to Khaenri'ah without informing her. By the time Ei realized what had happened, Makoto was already unconscious and dying; however, Ei was able to enter her consciousness so they could say goodbye. After Makoto died, it was there and then that Ei resolved to pursue eternity, preserved the realm of Makoto's consciousness before it completely collapsed and took it back to Inazuma. When she returned, she was shocked to see the Sacred Sakura on Mt. Yougou, which from her point of view had never been there before; everyone else she asked told her it had always existed. She believes that Makoto's remnants spawned the tree, but nonetheless used its powers to help her eliminate the monsters ravaging Inazuma. The Traveler then asks if their sibling had participated in the event. Ei, having heard of why they were traveling Teyvat, states that she does not know as she had arrived too late and was preoccupied with Inazuma's safety at the time.
----
;Farewell to the Past
Continuing to track the mysterious residue, the group eventually arrives at a cave. Ei handles the monsters herself, but she begins to freeze up while doing so. Just then, the roots glow and spawn three yoriki; Fujiki, Fukami and an unnamed samurai who notice the Shogun and fight off the rifthounds with the Traveler's help. After killing the monsters, the samurai remark on how the Shogun has given them hope before they fade away. Ei states that while they are simply fettered memories of a time long past, she realizes that she had neglected her duties as an archon and promises to uphold their trust. As they leave, Ei suddenly freezes. The Traveler checks up on her, who tells them that they need to bring her underneath the Grand Narukami Shrine as "she" is calling her for her final battleground, one where she would cut her past and look towards the future.
Arriving at the cave underneath the Grand Narukami Shrine, Ei opens up a torii gate and the three are sucked inside into Makoto's consciousness. There, they are greeted by the Shogun puppet, who Ei reveals is the one trying to reject her commands as it now sees her as an enemy of eternity. The Shogun believes that Ei is suffering from erosion due to her new perspectives; after a short duel, the Shogun using Engulfing Lightning and Ei wielding Musou Isshin, Ei states that she will take as long as she needs to prove to the Shogun she has not succumbed to it and asks the Traveler to be a witness. She then expels them from the realm, telling them to inform Miko to govern Inazuma in her stead.
After getting kicked out, Paimon wonders what they can do when the Traveler reminds her they needed to inform Miko, so they decide to go pay a visit to her.
----
;Radiant Sakura
Learning of the situation from the Traveler, the three return to the torii gate. Miko manages to reactivate it and informs the Traveler she can send them to a rough location of where Ei may be, but reminds them to remain focused or they could be potentially dropped off in another area. Doing so allows them to return to the plane where Ei is surprised to see them again without any change, as centuries had passed inside. The Shogun, impressed with Ei's abilities and the Traveler's return, proclaims that they will have their final duel.
Ei manages to defeat the Shogun, who finally acknowledges that she is not suffering from erosion and allows her to remain in control. Ei admits to the Shogun that she would have lost were it not for her new perspectives before offering it to become her kagemusha, which it accepts. The Shogun is also left impressed with the battle and looks forward to a rematch in the future. Just then, the Musou Isshin begins to glow and spawns a fragment of Makoto's consciousness, which she had placed in the sword and would only be evoked when Ei drew out its full power.
Makoto's fragment apologizes to Ei for not previously having taken the time to slowly persuade Ei away from her deeply entrenched views on the pursuit of stillness and always felt bad for suddenly dumping the rulership of Inazuma in Ei's lap. She confirms that she had a sense of what was about to happen in Khaenri'ah, and knew it was something that archons couldn't ignore. Suddenly faced with the situation in Khaenri'ah and having no time left to wait for Ei to have a change of heart, she placed her fragment of consciousness within the sword so she could, essentially, wait for Ei to come to her when she could understand Makoto's perspective and way of thinking. She gives her a seed which Ei plants in the past and grew into the Sacred Sakura, then gives her sister her final farewell.
Returning to the current timeline, Miko learns of the entire situation inside the plane. Ei, now knowing what she must do, decides to take a look at Inazuma's current state and abolishes the Sakoku Decree, thanking everyone for their support.
==Characters==
==Soundtracks==
==Trivia==
* After completing the Story Quest, the special climate A Nation Closed by Thunder is removed, and travelers can now freely exit and enter Inazuma's waters and travel to other nations without being teleported back to their original position.
* After completing the Story Quest, various NPCs in Ritou and Inazuma City will have some new dialogue regarding the abolishment of the Sakoku Decree.
** Some NPCs, such as Jones, Atsuko, Li Xiao, Tiger Li and Master Qin "Thunder Hand" will leave their default locations, returning to their homelands.
==Other Languages==
==Change History==
es:Sueños efímeros
ja:須臾百夢
pt-br:Sonhos Transientes
vi:Giấc Mộng Thoáng Qua