Phantom Blade Zero · Character
The Chord
The Chord is Inanis’ daughter: a puppet of The Order who plays the pipa and is a master of Phantom Arts. A year before the game she vanished in the battle in the Crimson Forest, and from Chapter 1 on Soul keeps hearing her weeping, faint and far away, calling him north.
- FactionThe Order
- Where you meetCrimson Forest, Mountain of Imprisonment
- Quests3 in the quest log
Who is The Chord?
The Chord is Inanis’ daughter. As a child she fell gravely ill, and to keep her, Inanis moved her consciousness into a puppet. Though she inhabits a puppet body, Jewel says, she is a master of both music and Phantom Arts. Her pipa was made by her mother too, an instrument Inanis once told her holds enough power to speak to another world.
A year before the game, The Order and the Pillars of Kunlun fought the Maskwalkers together in the Crimson Forest. In that battle the Chord’s pipa burst. Inanis believes she played the Song of Annihilation, and the illusion it let loose turned the depths of the forest into the Mirrorwood, where Bai Chilian has been trapped ever since. The Chord herself was never found: someone, Inanis says, has hidden her away.
You hear her from Chapter 1 in Weeping Creek Valley. Jewel, in the Crimson Forest, wonders whether the weeping is her way of asking for help; Myst, in Pangzhen, tells Soul it is not far at all, with only Meigu Lake in between. The Chord herself you see only in memories: a little girl in Inanis’ Memory Flowers in the Mirrorwood.
How The Chord looks in the game
Pictures from later in the story (1)
© PARAWULIN PRODUCTION LIMITED / S-GAME
Who The Chord is to the others
Mother
Inanis made the puppet the Chord lives in and the pipa she plays, and bound her with the Art of Distant Calling. In the Crimson Forest she asks Soul to save her daughter.
“The Chord... she's Lady Inanis's daughter. Though she inhabits a puppet body, she's a master of both music and Phantom Arts.”
In-game dialogueTrapped by her pipa
When the Chord’s pipa burst a year ago, its illusion caught Bai Chilian in the Mirrorwood. Bai Chilian blames “that puppet’s pipa” and hunts for its broken pieces.
3 more ties the story reveals later
Took her
In the battle a year ago Huangxing badly wounded her and carried her off to the Herald, Leng Tu. Moji, whom Huangxing sealed in a clay statue, says he imprisoned her beneath the shrine on the Mountain of Imprisonment.
“Huangxing severely wounded her and brought her to the Herald of the Thread-Binding Sect, Leng Tu.”
In-game dialogueCopied her
The Herald studied her body as his “Vessel Zero” and made countless puppets in her likeness, all to build a Perfect Vessel for the Lady of the Veil.
“Leng Tu created the Perfect Vessel for the Lady after studying the Chord's body.”
In-game loading screenPlanted the Rift
The moment Meng Hua saw the gifted little girl, she planted a Rift to the Discordance inside her. It devoured her memories, even the new ones, and wore her body away; practising the pipa was the only thing that let her hold on.
“My daughter was born with a rare gift. The moment Meng Hua saw her, she planted a Rift within her...one that connects to the Discordance.”
In-game dialogue
Every quest with The Chord in it
Mysteries
Whence the Weeping
From Chapter 1 a distant weeping follows you, carried by Phantom Arts. It leads into the depths of the forest, then north to the mountains and up to the Shrine at the summit. There the Flying Guillotine sets off the statue’s mechanism, and a dark way opens in the floor.
How this quest turns out
Beneath the Shrine is the Chord, where Huangxing hid her. The sound of her pipa guides Soul to the Realm of Mirage, and he brings her home to her mother.
Mysteries
Illusory Pipa
The Chord’s pipa, broken in last year’s battle. Bai Chilian’s notes point to its head in the Village of Lu, its backplate at the Mandate Encampment and its strings somewhere around Meigu Lake. Jewel knows it at once as the pipa Inanis made for her daughter, and Myst is the only one besides Inanis who can restore it. Near the Spectral Gate north of Meigu Lake, where the weeping comes from, the pipa begins to tremble.
How this quest turns out
The head had been seized near Vessel Zero by the Herald, who meant it as a token for the High Elder, until Dusk took it; the strings were the High Elder’s gift to Yan Qiansui, strung on her zither.
Collectibles
Resonant Strings
Six Memory Flowers of Inanis and the Chord in the Mirrorwood. In them the Chord is a little girl who loves the pipa and wants to play for her mother, then a child who has lain sick for three years and cannot play any more, still practising in her head so the pipa will not forget her.
What happens to The Chord
The end of the story for this character
Soul brings her home to the Realm of Mirage, but nothing of her is left in the puppet, not even a trace of consciousness. A Flesh Lily can draw a mind out of a puppet and back into flesh, Inanis says, but her child was gone for far too long. “My daughter died long ago. I was the one who refused to let go.” At last, Inanis says, she is at peace.
“My child... is finally at peace.”
In-game dialogue
Keep reading
- QuestWhence the WeepingMysteries
- QuestIllusory PipaMysteries
- QuestResonant StringsCollectibles
- MapCrimson ForestWalkthrough for this region
- MapMountain of ImprisonmentWalkthrough for this region
- FactionThe OrderWho they are and who leads them
- WeaponIllusory PipaHer pipa, restored
- AllEvery character in Phantom Blade ZeroEveryone who appears in the story or a quest
Frequently asked questions
Is the Chord a puppet?
Yes. Inanis moved her consciousness into a puppet body when she was a sick child, and she has lived in it ever since.
Who made the Chord’s pipa?
Inanis made it for her. Broken, it starts the Illusory Pipa quest; restored by Myst, it becomes the Illusory Pipa Phantom Edge.
Where is the Chord?
Follow her weeping in Whence the Weeping; what you find is in the fold under her fate.
Sources for this page 1
- Phantom Blade Zero Official Phantom Blade Zero launch build: the game’s own dialogue, documents, bestiary, quest log and loading screens, read 3 November 2026. Quotes are the game’s English text, unchanged.