Mission: Through the Quicksand Caves (Rise of the Zilart)
-Last time, I went around Vana’diel collecting eight elemental/crystal fragments. Not sure why, but apparently they are useful against the Zilart. I need to bring them through the Quicksand Caves, but a trio of named Anticans blocked me.
-I leveled my dragoon up to 80 in the Zeruhn Mines on bats and worms. Let’s try this again. If it doesn’t work, I’ll push to 85.
-Three Anticans in front of me. Party is buffed up. Let’s go.
-One down.
-TWO DOWN COME ON
-YESSSSSS GOT EM
-I move to a room with eight pedestals. One for each fragment of light I have. I go around to each pedestal, placing the fragments inside.
-Whatever this platform is, I’m activating it.
-Zeid appears. He’s not sure what’s happening.
-Women start to appear at each pedestal. Ghostly, transluscent women in similar robes.
ILLUSORY IMAGE: “We are the Dawnmaidens, servants of the Goddess Altana. Let us be your guide as you venture into the unknown.” Are these recordings?
-I remember the term “Dawnmaidens.” That was one of Gravi’ton Berisacci’s allied groups against the Zilart.
“We have long awaited your arrival, daughter of the five crystals. Just as the Crystal Warriors, your people, too, were born from the great force that dwells deep beneath the surface of Vana’diel.”
-She goes on about those warriors. Those five pale warriors were created by the Zilart using the power of the crystals. Their mission was to guard the five arks (those cremet/bone structures that house the mothercrystals).
-This illusory Dawnmaiden says that the name of the explosion that ended the Zilart’s attempts to turn Vana’diel into a playground for the gods (still not sure what that means exactly) was called “The Meltdown.” The power of the crystals has over time transformed the people from the Zilart’s time into the five races that exist today.
-However, the impact the crystals had on us was nothing compared to those five warriors.
-“While visiting Delkfutt’s Tower, the elder of the two Zilart princes made a ‘connection’ with the crystal. It was then that he had his ‘vision.”
What’s especially interesting about this image is that the person touching the crystal isn’t the Archduke, but rather the Archduke’s “younger” brother, Eald’narche Apparently, the Jeunoan leader who looks like a kid is actually the eldest.
-Eald’narche broadcast this vision – “a vision of the gods and eternal paradise” – far and wide. Whoever saw the vision also heard a voice saying that the light of the crystal would lead them back to paradise.
-When the power of the five crystals was joined, that would open the Gate of the Gods. The path to Paradise would be set.
-Two groups spoke out against this projected vision: the Kuluu (Gravi’ton’s group) and the Dawnmaidens. They worried that opening the Gate of the Gods would destroy most who lived on the planet.
-The Zilart ignored them. They constructed a floating island at the center of their nation to become the Gate of the Gods. But the Kuluu thwarted this.
-The princes somehow survived. So did their crystal warriors, the guardians of the arks. And now they’re trying to finish what they started thousands of years ago.
-We have a new destination. Delkfutt’s Tower.
“There is still time…
The end is near…
You must stop them from opening…
The Gate of the Gods…”
-The illusory Dawnmaidens fade, and this machine deactivates.
-Wait – it’s not quite done. Something forms at the heart of the machine: what Zeid calls a “prismatic crystal.”
It’s quite beautiful. It’s a crystal about the size of Zeid’s torso, floating in midair. It cycles between the colors of the fragments we collected. Red, green, brown, black, white, blue, etc.
-We leave.
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Mission: Return to Delkfutt’s Tower (Rise of the Zilart)
-I get a short cutscene as I enter the tower with Lion and Aldo (the Tenshodo leader). Lion is upset about Verena, Aldo’s sister.
OH CRAP THAT’S RIGHT! Verena was really upset by her goblin friend dying, and wanted to work for peace between beastmen and the five main races. Eald’narche heard about this and “summoned” her. Probably to kill her?
-Zeid arrives. This trio – Zeid, Aldo, Lion – needs a prismatic fragment to reach wherever we need to reach to stop the princes.
ALDO: “Just hold on a little bit longer, Verena. I’m coming.”
-Whew. Verena isn’t dead. I like her a lot.
-I’m still not sure though why the two Zilart princes would care about Verena. I mean, sure, she wants harmony among races and they don’t, but she’s not a major power player or anything. She’s no threat to them.
My best guess is that it has to do with that Gate of the Gods. Maybe they’ll use her as a sacrifice to open the Gate of the Gods?
-I take the elevator to the top of the tower, and head to the one area of Upper Delkfutt’s Tower that I couldn’t reach before. Or rather I could reach it, but the enemies in the way were way higher level than me.
-On the 12th floor, I found a new save point. That can only mean one thing: boss time coming.
-This area is the Stellar Fulcrum. Archduke Kam’lanaut is here.
KAM’LANAUT: “Now you can watch as life is breathed into the Chrysalis Core once again!... What you see below you is the heart of Delkfutt’s Tower. Regenerating it will open the path to Tu’Lia.”
-Tu’Lia is that floating island, the Gate of the Gods. Apparently, it wasn’t destroyed in the Meltdown all those thousands of years ago. It’s just dormant.
-Backstory time. Thirty years ago, Raogrimm (who became the Shadow Lord) came in contact with the crystal in the Northlands. Some of that crystal’s energy flowed to Delkfutt’s Tower, and that burst of power woke Kam’lanaut and his brother up. To continue their quest for Paradise.
-Why does Kam’lanaut still care about this so much? He wants to find “a pure, untainted world, perfect in every facet. A crystalline paradise fit for the gods.”
Still not sure what’s so great about this place. Is it, just, like, really pretty?
-OH SHIT KAM’LANAUT SUMMONED THE FIVE WARRIORS OF THE CRYSTAL
Am I going to have to fight them AND Kam’lanaut now?
And an important question: where is Eald’narche, Kam’lanaut’s brother?
-Cutscene ends. I guess I really will have to fight the warriors of the crystal and Kam’lanaut. Yeesh.
-Summoning my trust party and buffing, and then good to go.
-I enter the next room using my prismatic fragment, and… ah, I see. So Lion, Zeid, and Aldo will fight the Warriors of the Crystal for now, but I and my trust NPC party will take on Kam’lanaut himself.
-Ok, Kam’lanaut is an asshole who wants to bring about the apocalypse. Sure. But right now idc, because his transformation into a swordsman drawing power from the crystal is awesome.
-I love his design, I love the elemental sparklies coming off of him, I love his armor, his ponytail.
-KAM’LANAUT GOES DOWN, EAT IT ARCHDUKE
“Wh-why? I am the will… of the crystal… How could I be defeated by mere mortals?”
THAT’S WHAT YOU GET FOR BEING A VILLAIN IN THE FIRST EXPANSION OF A 15 YEAR GAME DUDE
“Warriors! Why do you just sit there and watch?” I assumed the Warriors of the Crystal were busy fighting Lion and Zeid and Aldo. Are they betraying Kam’lanaut?
FHDJKSFHL EALD’NARCHE APPEARS
EALD’NARCHE: “My poor brother, haven’t you realized? The crystal doesn’t need you anymore.”
THE WARRIORS AREN’T THE ONES BETRAYING KAM’LANAUT, HIS OWN BROTHER IS THE BETRAYER
EALD’NARCHE: “You were foolish to believe that the crystal ever chose you.”
Kam’lanaut is devastated. He’s here, dying on the ground, pleading with his brother and the Warriors of the Crystal to help, and Eald’narche is basically looking down and whispering “no.”
-Eald’narche apparently found a way to revive the Chrysalis Core and open the Gate of the Gods without Kam’lanaut’s help.
“Now let the show begin.”
-Eald’narche gives the word, and the Wariors of the Crystal who had been holding back open up and absolutely WRECK THE SHIT of Lion, Zeid, and Aldo.
-Verena, Aldo’s sister, walks out. Aldo is glad to see her, but my theory is now proven right.
EALD’NARCHE: “Of course she’s all right. Why would I harm my key to the Chrysaslis Core?”
So Eald’narche plans to use Verena somehow to reactivate the Chrysalis Core. Sacrifice? No. Seems like she has some kind of “resonating ability.” She’s basically Dawn in season 5 of Buffy.
“Farewell, my little brother. Return to the crystal from which you were born.”
-With that goodbye from Eald’narche, Kam’lanaut dies and fades. Only the elder prince of the Zilart remains. The tiny, childlike Eald’narche.
-When Eald’narche came in contact with the crystal 10,000 years ago, his growth stopped. Eald’narche starts to describe his own plan.
-He intended to let the Chrysalis Core regenerate while he slept. The emergence of Raogrimm, the Shadow Lord, interfered somehow with the Chrysalis Core, but that “noise” disappeared when we defeated him.
“My plan took a turn when I realized that Raogrimm was a Talekeeper.” Why the hell would that have anything to do with his plan? Raogrimm was a Galka religious figure, so what?
“I could utilize the long lost ‘memories of the ancients’ he carried to regenerate the Chrysalis Core.”
-Hm. But I thought the Talekeeper just carried about 200 years worth of Galka memories, nothing this ancient. But apparently it was something in his blood.
-Now it makes sense. Eald’narche was able to use whatever is in Raogrimm’s blood to reactivate the Chrysalis Core and now Verena’s resonating ability to finish the job.
“The soul of your [Aldo’s] younger sister resonates with the souls of the beastmen. Only she can communicate with them.” That’s why Verena has such a strong connection and warmth towards the beastmen.
-VERY CREEPY IMAGERY RIGHT HERE.
The head of the Shadow Lord appears before her, and she starts singing in harmony with it to reactiveate the core.
-THERE IT IS THE FLOATING ISLAND, HOLY SHIT
-Energy flowing from Delkfutt’s Tower into the sky wakes up the dormant island.
“Behold, the Gate of the Gods – Tu’Lia!”
-Eald’narche no longer needs Verena. He tosses her aside, and Aldo cradles her as she dies.
-He walks away. Into the Gate of the Gods. Inviting us to join him, if we’re worthy.
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So. Eald’narche reactivated the Chrysalis Core, let his brother Kam’lanaut die, killed Verena, reactivated the Gate of the Gods (the floating island of Tu’Lia) and stepped through it, heralding the likely end of Vana’diel as we know it.
I mean, I know there are more expansions and we’ll beat him, but still. In game, shit looks pretty grim.
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Next time: pursuing Prince Eald’narche into the Gate of the Gods.
