Cloud Forest Temple

Terrain and atmosphere

The temple is presented as a secluded religious retreat rather than a fortified town. Its buildings sit among trees, slopes and broken ground, making vertical movement more important than in a conventional village. The location’s upper and lower levels are especially relevant during the side tale, when the player is required to observe the compound before entering it.

The forest also makes the temple a useful visual landmark. From the surrounding cliffs, the roofline and temple buildings can be picked out through the trees. The northern banner overlooks the river, while the eastern banner is positioned on high ground overlooking the temple area.

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Recommended approach

The temple’s vertical layout rewards a slow circuit. Rushing straight to the main building can leave the lower Record of Iki undiscovered, particularly because the lower house is not the visual focus of the location.

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1. Speak with Ito

Approach the temple area and speak with Ito. She explains the immediate problem and directs Jin towards the investigation.

2. Survey the temple

Move to the designated vantage point and inspect the compound. The investigation involves checking several points around the temple, including people and objects associated with the occupation. A walkthrough identifies the people by the tents, a cart beside the temple and a guard in front of the building as relevant investigation points.

Use stealth during this stage. The objective is observation, not an immediate assault.

3. Investigate the caretakers

Continue through the investigation sequence and learn what has happened to the villagers. The temple’s religious caretakers are connected to the missing-persons problem, and the tale deliberately presents the location as a sanctuary that has been turned into a controlled and dangerous compound.

4. Wait for the right moment

The tale requires Jin to rest or wait until the caretakers fall asleep. This is a progression step, not an optional time-of-day activity. Follow the objective marker and avoid leaving the mission area.

5. Rescue the captives

Reach the lower part of the complex and release the kidnapped villagers. The lower houses are important here. One Record of Iki is located in a house near the captive area, making this the safest time to collect it if the building is accessible during the mission.

6. Clear the temple

After the captives are safe, deal with the remaining hostile forces. The mission ends by clearing the temple grounds and restoring the location to the local survivors.

Rewards

The documented rewards for Caretakers of the Eagle are:

These rewards are tied to completing the tale, not to finding the temple’s records or banners.

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Before or during Caretakers of the Eagle

The area is associated with hostile Eagle Tribe forces and Mongols. The player is expected to investigate carefully, use stealth and follow the tale’s objective structure. Some movement through the compound is therefore mission-controlled rather than freely available from the start.

After liberation

Once the tale is completed, the temple becomes a safer exploration space. Survivors return, the immediate hostile presence is removed and the site can be revisited for remaining collectibles.

A merchant is reported in the lower part of the temple after the location has been liberated. The merchant’s appearance is also recorded by player reports as a source of the Plumes of Plenty headgear or related vanity purchases, although the available evidence is not a complete official inventory.

Because the expansion’s location maps label Cloud Forest Temple with merchant, armorer and bowyer icons, but do not provide a reliable item-by-item explanation, those additional services should be treated cautiously. The merchant is supported by multiple guides and player reports. A fully verified distinction between permanent shop services and map-marker shorthand is not available in the sources consulted.

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Ito

Ito is the character who introduces the player to Caretakers of the Eagle. She is found near Cloud Forest Temple and serves as Jin’s contact for the investigation.

Zenshin

Zenshin is associated with Cloud Forest Temple through a Record of Iki titled To My Future Shaman, Zenshin. The record is found inside the main temple. The available directory evidence does not establish that Zenshin is a freely encountered resident during ordinary exploration, so he should be treated as a lore-associated figure rather than a confirmed permanent resident.

Temple caretakers and villagers

The temple contains caretakers and villagers connected with the tale. Their exact individual names are not consistently supplied in the sources consulted. They should not be expanded into a named resident directory without stronger evidence.

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Records of Iki

Two Records of Iki are documented within the Cloud Forest Temple area:

These records are separate placements. Finding the main-temple record does not complete the lower-house entry. The lower record is especially easy to miss if the player only searches the upper temple after completing the tale.

Sakai Banners

Two Sakai Banners are listed under Cloud Forest Temple:

These are distinct from the Sakai Banner within the separate Cloud Forest map marker. The wording of available banner guides is important here: the temple entries identify the north and east cliffs, while the Cloud Forest entry describes a banner within the forest marker and a grapple-based approach.

Banner route

The guides consulted do not provide exact compass bearings, coordinates or a universally agreed landmark name for either cliff. The directions above therefore use the verified positional descriptions rather than invented map references.

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Temple merchant

A merchant is associated with Cloud Forest Temple after the temple has been liberated. Player reports describe the merchant as appearing in the lower part of the temple, and several reports specifically connect the location with the Plumes of Plenty vanity item.

The merchant should be classified as a post-liberation service, not as a permanently available shop during the initial hostile state.

The consulted material does not establish a complete, authoritative inventory. Do not assume that every map icon represents a separate functional merchant, armorer or bowyer without checking the in-game interface. The safest confirmed statement is:

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Cloud Forest

Cloud Forest is nearby and shares the same woodland atmosphere, but it is a separate map location. It has its own Sakai Banner placement, including a banner positioned within the Cloud Forest map marker and accessed using a grapple interaction. It should not be counted as one of the two temple-associated cliff banners.

Gonoura

The temple is situated in the Gonoura region. Gonoura is the broader regional hierarchy, while Cloud Forest Temple is the named local site. The temple should therefore be listed under Gonoura rather than treated as a synonym for the whole region.

Nakajima Island

Some guides describe Cloud Forest Temple as north-west of Nakajima Island. Nakajima is a separate offshore or coastal reference point, not a subarea of the temple.

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