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Sacred Grove

Spoiler warning: This guide contains story details for the side tale Encounters of the Wild, the Fox Den reward chain and the Sanctuary Grove area.

Importancemajor

Overview

Sanctuary Grove is a concealed refuge used by the Nine Tails to hold animals. Atsu reaches it during Encounters of the Wild, a side tale that begins in the coastal area around Shipwreck Shoal in Teshio Ridge. The route is deliberately indirect. Rather than walking directly into the grove from the open world, the player solves fox-statue mechanisms, enters the Sarufutsu Lighthouse, frees a caged fox and follows it through a cave.

The grove itself is a quiet settlement-like clearing rather than a conventional village. Its central narrative purpose is to reveal that the animals once used by the Nine Tails are being given sanctuary. The area includes a pair of buildings, a settler caretaker, foxes, deer and a bear cub. After speaking to the settler, a deer leads Atsu towards a climbable route and an Altar of Reflection.

Sanctuary Grove also serves as the final destination for the game’s Fox Den reward chain. The dens provide their own charms, but the Fox Mask is collected from the settler at Sanctuary Grove after all eleven dens have been completed. This makes the grove important even for players who have already visited it during Encounters of the Wild.

Sanctuary Grove should be treated as a small hidden subarea, not as the name for the entire north-eastern part of Teshio Ridge.

These areas are closely connected during the tale but should not be collapsed into one location. For example, the first Altar of Reflection is in the sealed building near Shipwreck Shoal, while the second is above Sanctuary Grove.

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