The party are gathered by a Conflict Weaver, Dina Tran, who explains that she is attempting to make Conflict denizens less inclined to Conflict. She is planning an experimental ritual to combine aspects of Connection denizens with Conflict denizens. In order to do this, she needs the party to gather together denizens of each.
Dina theorises that in order to both make the fusion hold and meaningfully change Conflict, she will need a mixture of similar and different elements: Anger and Kindness.
She also notes that - in the spirit of self-improvement and striving to outshine your peers - she will be particularly grateful to those who perform particularly well.
The party are led to an “opportunity” - a simultaneous incursion of Connection and Conflict. The denizens of each are furiously arguing with each other across the gap, and soon work themselves up into such a rage they attack the party.
This dealt with, the party are introduced to Benedict, a Connection weaver collaborating with Dina. He leads them further into Connection, where they soon find themselves under attack by creatures spawned from his curiosity. After a long struggle spearheaded by Elias and Sly, the party eventually become significantly enraged to drive away the Inquisitors.
In the process, however, they encounter a problem. Eli doesn't really have it in her to get angry, even with Elias aggressively screaming anti-Forest-Touched sentiments at her.
To rectify this, Kaeris successfully performs a ritual to give her some temporary anger. Eli briefly becomes a bit more aggressive, feeling a force of anger pressing at the edges of her mind.
The party are then faced with manifestations of whatever they feel the most anger for. After a series of fraught confrontations, they build up enough rage in themselves and the spirits for Benedict to 'lock' them in place for the Ritual.
During this process, Sly and Jeremiah have a series of tense discussions focused around their differing attitudes to their family.
The party then take some time to calm down before gathering their kindness. Unfortunately, there's enough residual bitterness floating around to create some more Connection monsters. After a hard fight, the party manage to dispatch them.
This done, the party approach some Connection denizens who appear like ordinary people. As they treat them with kindness, they gradually transform into whatever the party feels the most kindness for. For some, it is a heartwarming exchange, for others, a bittersweet experience.
The party then return to the simultaneous incursion and converse with Dina, Benedict, and assorted Connection and Conflict denizens. They learn about a smaller, similar experiment performed by Dina in which she grafted her memories of a childhood friend to a Conflict denizen. It ended very poorly. The party become increasingly suspicious of their employers and the likelihood of this experiment ending well.
On consultation with Benedict, Dina decides to award her particular gratitude to Sly.
After shepherding a lot of Imps into the ritual area, the party defend the area from surrounding Conflict denizens until the ritual is complete. A composite denizen - The Rancour - is created, composed of everything the party have encountered up until that point. It is disgusted and horrified at its own existence.
The party 'defeat' it, but it simply disintegrates into separate entities which flee, screaming, into Connection. The party resolve to track it down and attempt to put it out of its misery. They are also incredibly vindicated.
Along the way, they encounter Connection denizens that have been severely altered by the presence of the Rancour in Connection. Confused and upset, they quickly attack the party.
When they find the Rancour, a long fight ensues in which it continually tears itself apart only to recombine. The party utilise Sly's Erosion magic to rot its heart and eventually manage to strike it down. At this point, its disparate elements revert into their earlier forms. The resulting Connection denizens are profoundly shaken - whether this is because of their experience or because they are mirroring the party is unclear.