Songs of the Ancestor is the fourth main quest in Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora.
After completing this quest, the player is allowed to decide to skip the main story in order to play the DLCs. If the player elects to do this, the main story will not be able to be completed later on the same file. The player will be given a short text-based summary of the events of the main story, will be able to name and choose the appearance of their ikran, and then granted weapons and armor that will be strong enough to start the DLC content.
Description[]
After the Sarentu shuts down Pneumatic Tower Echo, Teylan informs them over the radio of a tarsyu that he and the others have found. This triggers the beginning of the quest.
Meet Teylan and the other Sarentu at the top of the cliff[]
Teylan quickly follows up his request for the Sarentu to come look at the strange flower he and the other survivors found. He asks if they see the butterflies flying around, and explains that if the player character follows the butterflies, they will lead them to the flower.
The butterflies lead the Sarentu to a grove of trees with large shelves of fungus growing from their trunks. The main character must leap from shelf to shelf in order to ascend to the cliff the flower, and the other Sarentu survivors, are waiting for them on.
Upon arriving at the cliff, Ri'nela laughs with joy and Teylan urges the Sarentu to come quickly. As the main character approaches them, a cutscene triggers.
The Sarentu follows the other survivors as they approach the tarsyu. Ri'nela explains that the flower opens only for members of the Sarentu Clan, and allows them to connect to Eywa. Nor, excited, states that he has dreamed of this moment.
Teylan, however, is hesitant and backs away. He expresses concerns, stating that it doesn't look right to him. Nor grabs his arm and pulls him closer, chiding him by stating that Teylan has never seen one before, and that Pandora isn't built out of metal and wires like human buildings. Teylan still isn't convinced, and wonders if the tarsyu may be poisonous. Nor continues to try and convince Teylan that it's alright, saying that Eywa would never harm them. Teylan panics and says to the main character that he was warned about Eywa by John Mercer. The Sarentu suggests that they all connect together at the same time, trying to soothe Teylan. This seems to work, and all the Sarentu survivors, including Teylan, each pick a section of the plant to connect to.
The main character connects to the tarsyu, and after a whiteout, awakens in a vision of the Clouded Forest, being spoken to by their ancestor and founder of the Sarentu Clan, Entu.
Entu notices the Sarentu mark on the main character's face and asks if they know him. He introduces himself, and explains that the Sarentu Clan were nomadic wanderers, telling stories to all the clans they encountered on their journeys. He notices that the main character is new to Pandora and tells them that connecting with the tarsyu will grant them the wisdom of their ancestors. He says that, before that, the main character must learn how to survive. He says that gazing upon Pandora for the first time is like seeing the sea for the first time — it is a vast collective that is always moving and changing. One can ride the waves, or drown in them. He closes his metaphor by stating that learning to harness the ocean is like learning to survive on Pandora. You cannot fight against it, you need to learn how to move with it.
The main character exits the vision bestowed with their first Ancestor Skill: Air Boost, which allows a double-jump in midair.
Teylan, after connecting with the tarsyu, is excited to have spoken with a real Sarentu ancestor. Nor seems contemplative and melancholy, wondering if the ancestor he spoke with knew that they were different from other Na'vi. Ri'nela responds that she doesn't think that they are different at all. Nor elaborates, stating that they didn't grow up in a clan or learn all of their clan's songs and stories. Instead, that knowledge was inhibited and replaced with Sky People ways.
The main character interjects and states that they all still belong to Eywa despite their troubled upbringing. Teylan replies that Mercer told him that Eywa only brings pain and suffering, and clouds the minds of those connected to her. Mercer told him that Eywa is a trickster, always lying. Ri'nela tells him that those words were only a part of Mercer's control tactics. He needed the children to be afraid and silenced. She says that this, instead, is the way of their people, and a way to connect to The Great Mother.
The cutscene ends. The player is awarded with two skill points, as well as the Eywa's Welcome bead for their songcord, and then the tarsyu flower closes up again.