Trapped in Time is one of Palia’s discovery quests, which means nobody hands it to you. It starts on its own the moment a chunk of amber with a bug inside falls out of a tree, and it ends with a choice about who gets to keep it. The reward you walk away with is entirely down to that choice, and the gap between the options is wide.
Quick answer: Chop large Heartwood trees in Bahari Bay until an Amber Fossil drops, bring it to Jina, then give it to one of five villagers. Elouisa pays out three star-quality insects, Tamala pays 800 Gold, and every option grants 5 Renown.
Trapped in Time rewards: All five Amber Fossil recipients
Once Jina identifies the fossil, the quest opens up into five parallel objectives and you only get to complete one. Each villager gives a different payout plus a small friendship bump, and finishing the quest awards 5 Renown no matter who you pick.
| Recipient | What you receive |
|---|---|
| Elouisa | Star-quality Garden Leafhopper, Leafstalker Mantis, and Duskwing Butterfly |
| Tamala | 800 Gold |
| Zeki | Between 350 and 750 Gold, set by your dialogue choice |
| Auni | Varies with your personality element (see below) |
| Jina | One star-quality Bacon-Stuffed Mushroom |
Zeki’s number moves with what you tell him about the fossil. Talking up the prestigious institutions supposedly chasing it pushes him to the top of that range.
Auni’s reward depends on your personality element
| Element | Reward |
|---|---|
| Water | Green Pearl |
| Fire | Apple Pie, Blueberry Pie, Apple Jam |
| Earth | 10 Gold |
| Air | Cactus Moray |
Which villager gives the best Amber Fossil reward
If you only care about Gold, Tamala’s flat 800 beats Zeki’s best-case 750 and requires no dialogue gambling. Everything else is a question of how much you value skipping a grind.
Elouisa’s three insects are the strongest pick for anyone still filling out bundles. The Leafstalker Mantis is Rare and only shows up about ten percent of the time when you forage Sweet Leaves or Dari Cloves, or occasionally near where those spawn. The Duskwing Butterfly is Uncommon and appears exclusively at Maji’s Hollow between 3AM and 6PM. The Garden Leafhopper turns up around Mirror Pond Ruins, Mirror Fields, and near the Family Farm, with roughly a five percent chance of popping out of Spice Sprouts in the same areas.
Auni is the outlier because Water-element players get a Green Pearl, which has about a three percent drop rate from Unopened Oysters and is required for the Beach Bundle in the Night Sky Temple. On any other element, Auni’s payout drops off sharply — Earth in particular hands you 10 Gold, easily the smallest reward in the quest.
How to get the Amber Fossil in Bahari Bay
The Amber Fossil is a random drop from the large Heartwood trees scattered across Bahari Bay. Small and medium trees will never produce it, so you need an axe good enough to fell the big ones — a Fine Axe at minimum.
The item description confirms you have the right thing: an amber fossil holding the perfectly preserved remains of an unidentified insect.
Take the Amber Fossil to Jina for identification
The first objective is simple: bring the fossil to Jina. She spends most of her day at Mirror Pond Ruins and moves to Caleri’s Library in the evening, so check the map for her icon if she isn’t at the ruins when you arrive.
Hand off the fossil and confirm the quest completed
After that conversation the quest log updates to a “Do one of the following” block listing all five villagers, each as its own 0/1 objective. Completing any one of them closes the others out permanently, so there’s no way to double dip.
Note: if you gave the fossil to anyone other than Jina, you can go back and tell her what happened. She’s disappointed, but there’s no relationship penalty for it.
Why the Amber Fossil isn’t dropping
There are only a few reasons the quest refuses to start, and none of them are bugs.
- You’re chopping small or medium trees. Only large Heartwood trees can drop the fossil.
- Your axe isn’t strong enough to fell large trees yet. You need at least a Fine Axe.
- You’re in Kilima Valley. The drop is tied to Bahari Bay.
- You just haven’t hit the roll yet. The drop is random with no guaranteed pity, so it can take a long stretch of chopping.
Because the fossil is a one-per-quest item, the decision is worth a second of thought before you sprint off to the nearest villager. Gold comes back easily in Palia, but a Green Pearl or a star-quality Leafstalker Mantis can save you hours of foraging and oyster-cracking later.
