Mission: Ro’Maeve (Rise of the Zilart)
-Last time, Elder Prince Eald’narche betrayed his brother, Archduke Kam’lanaut, leaving him to die. Eald’narche successfully reactivated the Gate of the Gods, Tu’Lia. We have to pursue.
-I head to Aldo in Jeuno. Eald’narche used his sister, Verena, to open the way to Tu’Lia, and then tossed her aside.
-WHEW! I thought Verena was dead, but she was just unconscious. She wakes up.
-She was controlled. “by the… the Shadow Lord’s sheer will.” I don’t really understand that yet. The Shadow Lord, Raogrimm, is long dead at this point. Was that just an illusion Prince Eald’narche used?
-I kind of want to check out the Gate of the Gods itself at this point. It’s the zone that was listed on the map as due north of Ro’Maeve.
-Oops, “Hall of the Gods.” But still.
-It’s a ruined cermet hall. A short, narrow zone. I can’t summon trusts in here or even Lady the wyvern.
-At the end of the hall is an array of giant statues, with one in particular that looks like a Dawnmaiden with wings.
Is that supposed to be the goddess Altana? I’m 95% sure.
-There’s a door with a slot in it underneath the Altana statue, but I can’t interact with it or open it.
-!!! Ok. That took me by surprise. I turned around to leave, but as I did saw a giant statue above the entrance, opposite Altana. A similar winged figure, but chained and bound.
That must be Promathia. Not familiar with much about Promathia, but I know Altana opposed him and chained him.
I also know the name of the second expansion: “Chains of Promathia.”
-I head to Norg, to regroup with Lion and Gilgamesh.
-So only those who have been “blessed by the light” can pass through to Tu’Lia.
-Ro’Maeve is that area north of Sanctuary of Zi’Tah, an ancient set of ruins. They’re also known as the Temple of Desolation.
Lololol
GILGAMESH: “Detolilla, take care when traveling up there, unless ya want to be swimmin’ in Davy Jones’ Locker.”
-Lion tells Gilgamesh that instead of going with me, she’s going to check on the beastmen in Jeuno.
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Quest: Expanding Horizons (Limit Break #7)
-First, I decide to do the level 80 to 85 limit break quest. It’s pretty straightforward – get some merit points, turn in some Kindred’s Crests, and that’s it.
-The cutscene itself is pretty hilarious though. Two moogles and a Tarutaru cheerfully use some horrifying and experimental magic on me to raise my level cap. It works after my poor character is tossed about, knocked unconscious, rendered nauseous, and reraised.
PARIKE-PORANKE: “Success! Ahahaha, glorious success!!! The last time I tried that one, I was scrubbing my lab clean for a month!”
MAGIAN MOOGLE: “(How curious. The more excruciating the pain they endure, the stronger these adventurers grow. Perhaps my trials are not as torturous as they should be…?)”
Well, anything for a level cap increase I guess. :D
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Mission: The Temple of Desolation (Rise of the Zilart)
-I return to the same place I got blocked before, the Hall of the Gods north of Ro’Maeve.
-I inspect the cermet door beneath the statue of Altana… and nothing. Same message as before.
-Well. That was a short quest lol.
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Mission: The Hall of the Gods (Rise of the Zilart)
-This mission is to check back in with Gilgamesh about getting through that gate.
-omg I love how ridiculously piratic they made Gilgamesh. He calls the Zilart “the Zilarrrrt.” <span class="idc-smiley"><span style="background-position: -48px -12px;"><span><3</span></span></span>
-Gilgamesh thinks he knows a way to find a crystal that’ll open the gate. I have to find a Mithra named “Mary or Maroo or somethin’ like that,” who left Norg for the mainlands. She had tried selling the pirates here a crystal she found in the Sanctuary of Zi’Tah.
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Mission: The Mithra and the Crystal (Rise of the Zilart)
-The Mithra is apparently in a totally new and distant area I’ve never been to, Rabao, north of the Altepa Desert.
-Okay I found a Galka with the best name ever guarding the oasis town of Rabao.
”Angry Goat.”
-I also found someone fishing with a lightsaber which is pretty sweet.
-The Mithra is here. Maryoh Comyujah. She’ll trade me her crystal in exchange for some kind of treasure from Quicksand Caves.
-The door in the Quicksand Caves I need to pass through won’t open?
-Ah. The panel outside the door is weight-based. I have to have a certain amount of weight on it to open it, and my trust alter ego NPCs don’t count.
-There’s a quest that’ll give me an item to open the door solo, but after 45 minutes of farming for the quest item and coming up empty, I just ask a linkshell-mate to help me open the door. Thanks, Avarii!
-The enemy guarding Maryoh’s treasure is a magic pot-type.
Ancient Vessel.
-Killing it nets me a scrap of ancient papyrus.
-I bring it back to Maryoh, and she’s gracious enough to give me the cerulean crystal that she found in the Hall of the Gods in return.
I love the Mithra character design.
-With my new cerulean crystal in hand, I return to the cermet gate within Hall of the Gods that’s stopped me twice in my tracks. Third time’s a charm?
-Aldo and Zeid join me. The door glows, the crystal glows. The gate disappears. We enter.
-In the room beyond the gate, there’s what looks like a teleport pad. Will that beam me up to the floating city?
-Nothing happens.
-UNTIL IT DOES – HI MYSTERIOUS WOMAN
-A woman named Yve’noile appears. “Welcome, mortals, to the temple of Altana.”
-She’s a Dawnmaiden of Altana, still sworn to stop the Zilart and Eald’narche.
“The crystals that exist above the earth now are nothing but mere replicas, lacking true power.” Back in the Zilart’s time, there were five true crystals, but in the Meltdown the crystals shattered into the fragments that we now loot from corpses across Vana’diel.
-During the Meltdown, life on the planet devolved to some degree, in particular losing an ability to communicate with each other. The Meltdown divided us into the five races.
“The arrogance of the Elvaan, the envy of the Mithra, the cowardice of the Tarutaru, the apathy of the Humes, the rage of the Galka… These are the traits thou must carry with thee as thou make thy journeys through life.”
-But unlike Vanadiel’s legends, these traits aren’t curses. They’re just the aftereffect of the energy released during the Meltdown.
-She understands why Eald’narche would strive for perfection, but also acknowledges that the imperfections we’ve gained are not without benefits. She activates the gate for us.
-I teleport up, arriving in a futuristic space. The Ru’Aun Gardens. The floating island.
“The great bane will devour the fair land of Vana’diel.
The ancient seal will be broken, awakening nightmares of ages past.
The blood of innocents will soak the earth, and the world will fall into fear and disrepair.”
-What a sight this zone is. Mossy ruins, beautiful in an antique way.
The floating island.
-Aldo and Zeid move ahead. They’re determined to change the meaning of that song we heard, to not let the Warriors of the Crystal or Eald’narche soak the earth with the blood of the innocents or throw the world into fear and disrepair.
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Next time: the Ru’Aun Gardens.
