Guide · Story & Quests
Songs of Glimmerwick: Headmistress or Fern? Cacophony Shard Choice
After silencing the Strange Pamphlets press and collecting its shard, choose one recipient: the Headmistress pays 300 Gold Petals; Fern pays 100. Both choices finish Strange Pamphlets and lead to Fern’s Confrontation, so pick the Headmistress for the larger recorded payout or Fern if you want to hand the evidence directly to her.
Reach the shard hand-in
During Strange Pamphlets, investigate the printing press in the Grey Hall storage closet, then return after learning Song of Silence and play it by the press. Pick up the Pamphlet Cacophony Shard. The choice is about who receives that single quest item; the Weki quest record lists the hand-in as available to either Fern in the Great Hall or Headmistress Abigailia in her office. Its captured walkthrough says the two recipients appear at those locations after the press is silenced.
Compare the two recorded outcomes
Hand the shard to Headmistress Abigailia for 300 Gold Petals, or give it to Fern for 100 Gold Petals. Both branches award 5 XP for Strange Pamphlets, complete that quest and start Fern’s Confrontation. The records do not describe a different main-story ending for either recipient. The shard is handed over to one person, so treat the choice as one-time; neither source documents a way to reclaim it or collect both payouts on the same quest completion.
Continue Fern’s Confrontation either way
If Fern received the shard, her dialogue says she will investigate how to trace the witch associated with it. If the Headmistress received it, speak with Fern afterward; the walkthrough says she traces the caster herself and then starts the same confrontation. Meet Fern at the Northern Grounds entrance and follow her to Green Sprites Headquarters near Nocturne Forest. The written walkthrough reports that the trace points to Zinnia as the last witch to cast a spell on the press, not the pamphlet author; Zinnia says she was trying to stop the Cacophony, leaving the author unidentified.
Version and evidence limits
The captured Weki and Fextralife walkthroughs are guide/database evidence, not independent playtests by this site; Weki labels its coverage up to 1.08b. The separate Japanese Ninkyokamo player journal corroborates the recorded payout options and follow-up, but does not document both hand-ins as continuous observations and states no game build. This site's operator did not play the quest or verify a 1.09 save. The official 1.09 notes dated 28 October 2026 fix a conflict between Fern’s Confrontation and Seaflower Fest, but do not state that the shard payouts or branch outcomes changed. For the wider quest order, see the main-story walkthrough or the separate Fern tea and confrontation guide. Treat the branch details as attributed reports, not a claim of current-save reproduction.
Sources
- Weki — Strange Pamphlets quest walkthroughCaptured page lines 44–53 identify quest and locations; lines 150–162 and 217–286 give the shard stage and recipient-specific dialogue; lines 287–335 list outcomes, 5 XP and Fern’s Confrontation follow-up; footer lines 405–409 claims coverage up to 1.08b. Unofficial data-mined guide, not this project's playtest.
- Fextralife community wiki — Strange PamphletsCaptured original page body dated last edited 6 October 2026, no game build stated: the shard reward section lists 300 petals for the Headmistress, 100 for Fern and 5 XP either way; the follow-up section describes the same Fern’s Confrontation route. Written community walkthrough, not an observed recording.
- Ninkyokamo — original player quest journal (Japanese)Quest-journal entry for Strange Pamphlets independently records the choice to give the shard to Fern for 100 GP or the Headmistress for 300 GP, and states Fern’s Confrontation follows; page dates 1–14 October 2026, no game build stated. The broader journal is an authored player record, not branch-specific footage.
- Songs of Glimmerwick Buzz — Fern Quest: Shard ChoicesThe source URL is on songsofglimmerwick.buzz. Sections “Hand over the Cacophony shard,” “Who Should Receive the Shard?” and “What Happens When You Confront Zinnia?” report the 300/100 payouts, shared follow-up and last-caster distinction; dated 7 October 2026, no game build stated. Secondary written walkthrough.
- Official Steam App News — current version and 1.09 notesOfficial Steam App News API, checked 30 October 2026: the newest listed item is Version 1.09, posted 28 October at 06:39 UTC. Its notes list a Fern’s Confrontation/Seaflower Fest conflict fix; they do not report a change to shard recipients, payouts or the Zinnia investigation.