Palia: Something Wicked Quest Guide (Full Walkthrough)

Subira’s lab work finally comes back with a name for the sickness spreading through the Elderwood, and the main quest that delivers it is Something Wicked. It’s a talking-and-travelling quest rather than a gathering one, but it stalls easily on a single step: the documents she hands you have to be read in full before the objective ticks over.

Quick answer: Talk to Subira at the Elderwood Central Stables, open your pack and scroll through the Hunter’s Diary, Elderwood Lab Results, and A Letter from Erwhin, discuss them with her, speak to Ulfe at the barrier, then fast travel to Kilima Village and check on Jina and Hekla in the Night Sky Temple before returning to Subira at the stables.

Something Wicked requirements and quest giver

Something Wicked is a Main quest given by Subira, and it drops into your log the moment Like A Shiprunt resolves. Getting that far means you’ve already worked through the Elderwood’s opening questline, so there’s no separate unlock to chase and nothing to craft or collect beforehand.

You can confirm it’s active from the main menu under Quests, in the Main Story tab. The quest was added in Build 0.191.

Objectives and rewards

Objective	Where
Meet Subira back at the Elderwood Stables	Central Stables, Elderwood
Read the materials from the Order	Inventory, Quest tab
Discuss the logs with Subira	Central Stables, Elderwood
Talk to Ulfe again	Blocked passage / barrier
Check on Jina and Hekla in the Temple of the Cosmos	Night Sky Temple, Kilima Village
Speak to Subira privately	Night Sky Temple
Optional: Check back in with Hekla and Jina	Night Sky Temple
Meet Subira back at the Elderwood Stables	Central Stables, Elderwood

Reward	When
Sacred Flower x3	During the quest
Cream of Mushroom Soup, Soup for Subira	Optional objective only
Piksii Grove (decor)	On completion
Infected Essence x500	On completion
Increased friendship with Subira	On completion
Renown (20 listed; 25 shown in some runs)	On completion

Something Wicked walkthrough

Head to the Central Stables in the Elderwood and speak to Subira. She hands over the paperwork the Order’s lab sent back and asks you to look it over before she explains anything.

Subira dialogue menu with the chat option highlighted at the Elderwood Central Stables — Pick the chat option in Subira’s dialogue wheel to receive the Order’s documents. Image: Singularity 6

Open your pack and go to the Quest section, marked with an exclamation point icon. Read the Hunter’s Diary, the Elderwood Lab Results, and A Letter from Erwhin, scrolling all the way to the last page of each one.

Palia inventory screen with the backpack tab open showing tools and item slots — The quest documents sit in your pack alongside tools and accessories. Image: Singularity 6

Return to Subira and discuss the logs. She translates the lab findings into plain terms, the infection gets a name, and Ulfe interrupts with the source. Three Sacred Flowers land in your pack during this conversation.

Follow Ulfe and Subira over to the blocked passage in the stables area and talk to Ulfe again. The aura around the barrier is too strong to push through, which is what puts the Cosmos Protocol staff on the table as a solution.

Quest tracker updated to Talk to Ulfe again beside the glowing barrier in the Elderwood — The tracker updates to “Talk to Ulfe again” once you reach the barrier. Image: Singularity 6

Hekla’s Flow network has gone quiet and Subira wants eyes on the temple. Use the Central Stables to fast travel out of the Elderwood and over to Kilima Village.

Fast travel selection from the Elderwood Central Stables to Kilima Village — Fast travel from the Central Stables is the quickest route back to Kilima. Image: Singularity 6

Enter the Night Sky Temple, now referred to as the Temple of the Cosmos. A short cutscene plays as you arrive, with Jina and Hekla unconscious and the staff gone from the beam of light in the middle of the room, its colour shifted from Flow to Echo. Wake them and hear what little they saw.

Cross to the other side of the chamber and speak to Subira privately. She asks you to meet her back at the Elderwood Central Stables.

Before you leave the temple, talk to Hekla and Jina one more time for the optional objective. They hand over a Cream of Mushroom Soup for you and a Soup for Subira. Subira won’t take her portion while she’s still in the temple, so don’t bother trying there.

Travel back to the Elderwood Central Stables and speak to Subira. If you picked up the soup, a dialogue option to hand it over appears, and the quest wraps up after she talks through where the investigation stands.

Quest tracker showing the optional Hekla and Jina objective ticked off on the way back to the Elderwood — The optional “Check back in with Hekla and Jina” line shows as complete on the return trip. Image: Singularity 6

Why the quest stops progressing

There are only two places this quest reliably gets stuck, and both are easy to fix.

Opening a document isn’t enough. Each of the three readings has to be scrolled through to the end before the “Read the materials from the Order” objective clears.
The soup is missable. If you leave the Temple of the Cosmos without speaking to Hekla and Jina a second time, you finish the quest without the two soup items.

How to confirm the quest is complete

Completion is loud. You’ll see the 500 Infected Essence and the Piksii Grove decor drop into your inventory, the Renown award pops, and the game rolls straight into Chapter 2: Even as a Dream. The follow-up Main quest, Even as a Shadow, appears in your log with the objective to meet Subira on your plot.

Subira also mentions she’s opening a stall in the Elderwood, sitting next to Tamala’s stand. That shop appearing is the other visible sign the quest closed out properly.

What Subira’s shop sells afterwards

Her stock is entirely Grab Bags bought with Infected Essence. Most of them stay locked until you push further through the In Essence achievement tiers, so the 500 essence from the quest is a down payment rather than a shopping trip.

Mystery Bag	Cost	Unlock
Mining	2,000 Infected Essence	Available
Foraging	2,000 Infected Essence	In Essence 1
Insect	2,000 Infected Essence	In Essence 2
Fishing	2,000 Infected Essence	In Essence 3
Hunting	2,000 Infected Essence	In Essence 4
Starstone	10,000 Infected Essence	In Essence 5

With the staff missing and the barrier still standing, Subira’s leads run out here — which is the point. The Piksii Grove goes on your plot, the essence goes toward those bags, and the thread picks back up with Subira waiting on your land in Even as a Shadow.