Summary: The San d’Orian side of the Northlands Expedition. The Tarutaru triplets search for their father in Windurst.
Quest: Martial Mastery (Weapon Skill)
-I took a brief break from the story to revisit Atori-Tutori, my creepydorable Tarutaru teacher. He sent me out on a quest to earn 15 merit points for a thing he doesn’t tell me.
-I do so, and return to him.
“When I say go, we’re going to condense all the merit power you’ve accumulated into one pulsating mass of energy, then proceed to rippy-wip that straight out from the core of your soul.”
AWW SO HUGGABLE RIGHT?? yeah no.
-He punches the crap out of me, and it seems to condense my power of whatever. This gives me “heart of the bushin.” Not sure what that means.
-Apparently, it gives me access to a new merit point category: weapon skills. I can use merit points to gain a new weapon skill!
-I go back to my current grinding spot (on bats and magic pots in Fei’Yin) and get 20 merit points. It’s absolutely worth it. Stardiver looks AWESOME! It’s an ability where I stab the enemy with my lance three times head on, then jump into the air and dive down for a final thrust.
---
Mission: Descendants of a Line Lost (Chains of Promathia, ch.3)
-Last time, I was sent to seek more info about the expedition 30 years ago to find the Gates of Paradise, to an old San d’Orian knight in Carpenter’s Landing. Guilloud.
-When I reach him, he’s not happy to see me. Doesn’t want anyone prying into that old expedition, so he sics a malboro named Overgrown Ivy on me. What a jerk.
-Huh. He thinks I’m here to kill him. He wants to die in service to his “Master.”
-Just then, his master, Sir Louverance, arrives accompanied by heroic/noble music. Which tbh is a bit undercut by the fact that he’s riding a goofy lil chocobo
-Oops. His master was actually Count Francmage – oh right! That’s the Elvaan we saw go join that expedition.
-So the Knights Mistalle, which this guy serves, were once a proud and noble family of nights but they were disgraced. Whatever it was that happened, the family couldn’t prove their innocence and their nobility was stripped.
-It sounds like more info about the expedition can be found in the San d’Orian Cathedral, but we’d need direct permission from the papsque.
-The current papsque doesn’t seem super willing to give me access, but the last papsque might have been more willing. He died, and his wife lives in Southern San d’Oria.
---
Mission: Louverance (Chains of Promathia, ch.3)
-I head over to the manor where his wife, Hinaree lives. She used to live outside Davoi, There were reports from Bastok at the time of something powerful in the northlands, and her husband thought this something was the Gates of Paradise.
-Ulmia busts in, surprised to hear this.
-See, I was expecting Hinaree to be all “who tf is this lady,” but she knows Ulmia.
“Oh, how our little guest from Tavnazia has grown! And just look at how beautiful you’ve become!”
Quest: Martial Mastery (Weapon Skill)
-I took a brief break from the story to revisit Atori-Tutori, my creepydorable Tarutaru teacher. He sent me out on a quest to earn 15 merit points for a thing he doesn’t tell me.
-I do so, and return to him.
“When I say go, we’re going to condense all the merit power you’ve accumulated into one pulsating mass of energy, then proceed to rippy-wip that straight out from the core of your soul.”
AWW SO HUGGABLE RIGHT?? yeah no.
-He punches the crap out of me, and it seems to condense my power of whatever. This gives me “heart of the bushin.” Not sure what that means.
-Apparently, it gives me access to a new merit point category: weapon skills. I can use merit points to gain a new weapon skill!
-I go back to my current grinding spot (on bats and magic pots in Fei’Yin) and get 20 merit points. It’s absolutely worth it. Stardiver looks AWESOME! It’s an ability where I stab the enemy with my lance three times head on, then jump into the air and dive down for a final thrust.
---
Mission: Descendants of a Line Lost (Chains of Promathia, ch.3)
-Last time, I was sent to seek more info about the expedition 30 years ago to find the Gates of Paradise, to an old San d’Orian knight in Carpenter’s Landing. Guilloud.
-When I reach him, he’s not happy to see me. Doesn’t want anyone prying into that old expedition, so he sics a malboro named Overgrown Ivy on me. What a jerk.
-Huh. He thinks I’m here to kill him. He wants to die in service to his “Master.”
-Just then, his master, Sir Louverance, arrives accompanied by heroic/noble music. Which tbh is a bit undercut by the fact that he’s riding a goofy lil chocobo
-Oops. His master was actually Count Francmage – oh right! That’s the Elvaan we saw go join that expedition.
-So the Knights Mistalle, which this guy serves, were once a proud and noble family of nights but they were disgraced. Whatever it was that happened, the family couldn’t prove their innocence and their nobility was stripped.
-It sounds like more info about the expedition can be found in the San d’Orian Cathedral, but we’d need direct permission from the papsque.
-The current papsque doesn’t seem super willing to give me access, but the last papsque might have been more willing. He died, and his wife lives in Southern San d’Oria.
---
Mission: Louverance (Chains of Promathia, ch.3)
-I head over to the manor where his wife, Hinaree lives. She used to live outside Davoi, There were reports from Bastok at the time of something powerful in the northlands, and her husband thought this something was the Gates of Paradise.
-Ulmia busts in, surprised to hear this.
-See, I was expecting Hinaree to be all “who tf is this lady,” but she knows Ulmia.
“Oh, how our little guest from Tavnazia has grown! And just look at how beautiful you’ve become!”
-It sounds like Hinaree cared for Ulmia up until about 20 years ago. Even then, Ulmia was a renowned minstrel.
-Prishe comes up, and again, the conversation hints that something is odd about Prishe.
HINAREE: “Was there not another young lady with you?”
ULMIA: “…”
HINAREE: “Oh, I am so sorry. I was not thinking. I did not realize that she..”
THAT SHE WHAT?? TELL ME ABOUT PRISHE GRRRRR
-Oh. Phew. Hinaree just thought that Prishe died in the war, but is happy to hear that she survived. Though that still doesn’t explain why Ulmia has grown while Prishe has not. I get the sense that Prishe is not a little person, but rather a perpetual child.
-Ulmia presses Hinaree on the Gates of Paradise. She and I have both heard so much contradictory evidence. Was the message from Altana to the late papsque literal, or just a metaphor to seek the Gates of Paradise?
HINAREE: “Ulmia, Paradise is a beautiful place – a magnificent place with neither death nor fear.”
Look. Even now, it sounds like Hinaree could be saying “Yes, it’s wonderful, I went there last August,” or “Yes, it’s wonderful, even though it’s just a metaphor for the love you get from hugging puppies.”
-Aha. She’s being metaphorical. Her village was destroyed by Orcs and “the bloody hands of destiny ripped [her] husband away,” so faith in Paradise helped her recover. Not an actual visit to actual Paradise.
-Ulmia continues to press, not just accepting this. The Cardinal they both knew said “the courage to face the truth is what will ultimately save us.” Hinaree takes this in, and relays to Ulmia one of the Cardinal’s final messages:
“I was forced to abandon the truth.”
-I’ll be honest: something about all these long pseudo-French San d’Orian names makes it really hard for me to keep straight who is who here.
-So the Cardinal who helped saved Tavnazia – who helped their escape to the Tavnazian Stronghold and who founded the Tavnazian Cathedral – DIDN’T die in the war it seems. Something happened that led her to revoke her nobility, that of the Knights Mistalle, and leave.
-Hinaree doesn’t know where the Cardinal went, but Louverance – the guy we just met who rode on chocobo – was sent to search for the Cardinal.
-Ulmia and I leave. Ulmia is just as lost as I am right now. She doesn’t know what “the truth” is. Is it about the expedition 30 years ago? About the Gates of Paradise? Idk.
-Hearing that Cardinal Mildaurion is still alive is a huge shock to Ulmia too. Cardinal Mildaurion is basically the founding mother of Tavnazia – Ulmia just assumed she died in the war, and if the Cardinal is still alive, why did she disappear? Why not return to Tavnazia?
ULMIA: “Has she forgotten about us… about me?”
The Cardinal wasn’t just a founding mother to the Tavnazian survivors. She was like an actual mother to Ulmia.
-Prishe comes up, and again, the conversation hints that something is odd about Prishe.
HINAREE: “Was there not another young lady with you?”
ULMIA: “…”
HINAREE: “Oh, I am so sorry. I was not thinking. I did not realize that she..”
THAT SHE WHAT?? TELL ME ABOUT PRISHE GRRRRR
-Oh. Phew. Hinaree just thought that Prishe died in the war, but is happy to hear that she survived. Though that still doesn’t explain why Ulmia has grown while Prishe has not. I get the sense that Prishe is not a little person, but rather a perpetual child.
-Ulmia presses Hinaree on the Gates of Paradise. She and I have both heard so much contradictory evidence. Was the message from Altana to the late papsque literal, or just a metaphor to seek the Gates of Paradise?
HINAREE: “Ulmia, Paradise is a beautiful place – a magnificent place with neither death nor fear.”
Look. Even now, it sounds like Hinaree could be saying “Yes, it’s wonderful, I went there last August,” or “Yes, it’s wonderful, even though it’s just a metaphor for the love you get from hugging puppies.”
-Aha. She’s being metaphorical. Her village was destroyed by Orcs and “the bloody hands of destiny ripped [her] husband away,” so faith in Paradise helped her recover. Not an actual visit to actual Paradise.
-Ulmia continues to press, not just accepting this. The Cardinal they both knew said “the courage to face the truth is what will ultimately save us.” Hinaree takes this in, and relays to Ulmia one of the Cardinal’s final messages:
“I was forced to abandon the truth.”
-I’ll be honest: something about all these long pseudo-French San d’Orian names makes it really hard for me to keep straight who is who here.
-So the Cardinal who helped saved Tavnazia – who helped their escape to the Tavnazian Stronghold and who founded the Tavnazian Cathedral – DIDN’T die in the war it seems. Something happened that led her to revoke her nobility, that of the Knights Mistalle, and leave.
-Hinaree doesn’t know where the Cardinal went, but Louverance – the guy we just met who rode on chocobo – was sent to search for the Cardinal.
-Ulmia and I leave. Ulmia is just as lost as I am right now. She doesn’t know what “the truth” is. Is it about the expedition 30 years ago? About the Gates of Paradise? Idk.
-Hearing that Cardinal Mildaurion is still alive is a huge shock to Ulmia too. Cardinal Mildaurion is basically the founding mother of Tavnazia – Ulmia just assumed she died in the war, and if the Cardinal is still alive, why did she disappear? Why not return to Tavnazia?
ULMIA: “Has she forgotten about us… about me?”
The Cardinal wasn’t just a founding mother to the Tavnazian survivors. She was like an actual mother to Ulmia.
---
Mission: Comedy of Errors, Act I (Chains of Promathia, ch.3)
-I’ve now explored some of the San d’Orian history around the Multinational Expedition to the Gates of Paradise 30 years ago. Next up is the Windurst side of history.
-As soon as I enter Windurst, I see a cutscene with those three asshole Tarutaru from Tavnazia. After the Bahamut encounter, this is where they must have gotten teleported to.
-They are definitely kids. They have never been here, but know it’s supposedly the Tarutaru home town.
-They’re siblings. They know this is where they mother and father are from.
-You know what? I am starting to like this group. Sure, they tried to get me killed. (Like, if Prishe had believed them that I stole something, she probably would’ve dismembered me.) But they’re three kids lost in a big city who don’t know their parents.
-They start fantasizing, wondering who their dad is. A genius! Powerful! Important! Wealthy! I hope they find him.
-Meanwhile, I head to the Rhinostery to learn more about this Expedition. The researchers here know about Iru-Kuriru, a Tarutaru from the Rhinostery who was banished from here and died in the Outlands. (That’s the name for the island with Norg and the Tonberry jungles.)
-I wonder what Iru-Kuriru was researching that would get her banned. Has to be Gates of Paradise related.
-These Tarutaru refer me for more details to someone named Doctor Yoran-Oran.
-He’s also in Windurst, a former Minister of the Rhinostery.
-OMG THE THREE TARUTARU TWINS BUST IN HERE!! They think Yoran-Oran is their dad, and they seem pretty sure.
MAKKI-CHEBUKKI (the green-haired triplet): “You probably didn’t know it, Father, but we were in Mother’s tummy when you were separated.”
CHERUKIKI (blue-hair): “In Mommy’s tummy!”
KUKKI-CHEBUKKI (red-hair: “And that’s why we’ve been looking for you all this time!”
-Two other Tarutaru hear this and bust in. One is Koru-Moru (who I have as a bard trust NPC) and Shantotto. Shantotto of course has a rhyme for this occasion.
“So many children, you devious creature!
We must have the Tarutaru Times write up a feature!”
-Yoran-Oran legit seems to have no idea what’s happening, and Shantotto busts out laughing.
“You men are all the same.
Not one of you ever wants to take the blame!”
-So Yoran-Oran DID travel to Tavnazia once, to appraise a rare item he found in the reliquary beneath the Tavnazian Sacrarium. A frightening statue of some kind that was dug up from a labyrinth.
-He didn’t know what it is, and Shantotto tears into him holy shit shantotto
“And now hear these poor fatherless children’s wailings.
Is there no end to your dismal failings?”
-Yoran-Oran defends himself by saying that he wasn’t needed to identify the statue, but rather to discern where it was excavated from by the dirt on its surface. It came from the Sea of Shu’Meyo, an inland sea north of Jeuno.
-The Sea of Shu’Meyo is famous for ships sinking there even in calm weather. (leviathan maybe? Probably not)
Mission: Comedy of Errors, Act I (Chains of Promathia, ch.3)
-I’ve now explored some of the San d’Orian history around the Multinational Expedition to the Gates of Paradise 30 years ago. Next up is the Windurst side of history.
-As soon as I enter Windurst, I see a cutscene with those three asshole Tarutaru from Tavnazia. After the Bahamut encounter, this is where they must have gotten teleported to.
-They are definitely kids. They have never been here, but know it’s supposedly the Tarutaru home town.
-They’re siblings. They know this is where they mother and father are from.
-You know what? I am starting to like this group. Sure, they tried to get me killed. (Like, if Prishe had believed them that I stole something, she probably would’ve dismembered me.) But they’re three kids lost in a big city who don’t know their parents.
-They start fantasizing, wondering who their dad is. A genius! Powerful! Important! Wealthy! I hope they find him.
-Meanwhile, I head to the Rhinostery to learn more about this Expedition. The researchers here know about Iru-Kuriru, a Tarutaru from the Rhinostery who was banished from here and died in the Outlands. (That’s the name for the island with Norg and the Tonberry jungles.)
-I wonder what Iru-Kuriru was researching that would get her banned. Has to be Gates of Paradise related.
-These Tarutaru refer me for more details to someone named Doctor Yoran-Oran.
-He’s also in Windurst, a former Minister of the Rhinostery.
-OMG THE THREE TARUTARU TWINS BUST IN HERE!! They think Yoran-Oran is their dad, and they seem pretty sure.
MAKKI-CHEBUKKI (the green-haired triplet): “You probably didn’t know it, Father, but we were in Mother’s tummy when you were separated.”
CHERUKIKI (blue-hair): “In Mommy’s tummy!”
KUKKI-CHEBUKKI (red-hair: “And that’s why we’ve been looking for you all this time!”
-Two other Tarutaru hear this and bust in. One is Koru-Moru (who I have as a bard trust NPC) and Shantotto. Shantotto of course has a rhyme for this occasion.
“So many children, you devious creature!
We must have the Tarutaru Times write up a feature!”
-Yoran-Oran legit seems to have no idea what’s happening, and Shantotto busts out laughing.
“You men are all the same.
Not one of you ever wants to take the blame!”
-So Yoran-Oran DID travel to Tavnazia once, to appraise a rare item he found in the reliquary beneath the Tavnazian Sacrarium. A frightening statue of some kind that was dug up from a labyrinth.
-He didn’t know what it is, and Shantotto tears into him holy shit shantotto
“And now hear these poor fatherless children’s wailings.
Is there no end to your dismal failings?”
-Yoran-Oran defends himself by saying that he wasn’t needed to identify the statue, but rather to discern where it was excavated from by the dirt on its surface. It came from the Sea of Shu’Meyo, an inland sea north of Jeuno.
-The Sea of Shu’Meyo is famous for ships sinking there even in calm weather. (leviathan maybe? Probably not)
-Anyway, Yoran-Oran still insists he’s not their dad, but sends the trio
off to eat. When they go, he expresses how distraught he is about how
this whole thing with his “kids” has sullied his reputation in Windurst.
He wants to clear his name by getting the Mimeo Mirror, which can show
memories.
-The Mimeo Mirror apparently belongs to an “unsavory figure.”
-I head next to a Tarutaru named Kyume-Romeh in the tavern of Windurst.
-We swap to another cutscene of the three Tarutaru talking, leaving the tavern after having eaten a huge meal.
MAKKI-CHEBUKKI (green-hair): “You know, I’ve been thinking… I don’t think that guy was our father.”
KUKKI-CHEBUKKI: “Nah, not our dad.”
CHERUKIKI: “Nope, not our daddy.”
THEN MAYBE YOU SHOULD’VE BEEN A BIT MORE CAREFUL BEFORE SAYING HE WAS??
-But their reasoning is that their dad would probably be much richer. They remember their mom having a huge gem and a fur coat, so they reason that the dad must’ve been wealthy.
-Their search continues.
-Back in the tavern… ah. So the next person we have to ask about the Mirror is who the Trio presumably believes to be their real dad.
---
Mission: Comedy of Errors, Act II (Chains of Promathia, ch.3)
-I head to the house of a wealthy Windurst trader, Honoi-Gomoi. Shortly after I arrive, the trio comes her. “Dad, we missed you!” “Daddy, your beautiful children are here!” etc.
-The dude from the tavern, Kyume-Romeh, followed us, overheard us, and intends to spread this unsubstantiated rumor. How many more poor Tarutaru will get tagged with this deadbeat dad story?
-So Honoi-Gomoi actually has been to Tavnazia, like Yoran-Oran, but he swears he only met with a group of “scoundrels in Atarefaunet’s band.” He swears that he mets with those bandits, had a warrant out for his arrest after doing so, and fled back here. No “dates or dilly-dallying.”
-The kids swear they have proof that this guy is their dad back in Tavnazia. Lol I doubt it, but the ploy works. Honoi-Gomoi gives them enough money to fly back there, just so they gtfo of his life.
-The kids leave, and I’m alone with Honoi-Gomoi. He’s still freaked out about his rep. I tell him about the Mimeo Mirror that can clear up any doubts, and he actually has one – albeit a cracked one.
-I take the cracked mirror back to Yoran-Oran. He can fix it, but needs three Mimeo Feathers and three Mimeo Jewels, from Parradamo Tor and Attohwa Chasm respectively. Not sure where those are.
I’ll find out next time.
---
Next time: Repairing the Mimeo Mirror and learning more about the old Northlands Expedition.
-The Mimeo Mirror apparently belongs to an “unsavory figure.”
-I head next to a Tarutaru named Kyume-Romeh in the tavern of Windurst.
-We swap to another cutscene of the three Tarutaru talking, leaving the tavern after having eaten a huge meal.
MAKKI-CHEBUKKI (green-hair): “You know, I’ve been thinking… I don’t think that guy was our father.”
KUKKI-CHEBUKKI: “Nah, not our dad.”
CHERUKIKI: “Nope, not our daddy.”
THEN MAYBE YOU SHOULD’VE BEEN A BIT MORE CAREFUL BEFORE SAYING HE WAS??
-But their reasoning is that their dad would probably be much richer. They remember their mom having a huge gem and a fur coat, so they reason that the dad must’ve been wealthy.
-Their search continues.
-Back in the tavern… ah. So the next person we have to ask about the Mirror is who the Trio presumably believes to be their real dad.
---
Mission: Comedy of Errors, Act II (Chains of Promathia, ch.3)
-I head to the house of a wealthy Windurst trader, Honoi-Gomoi. Shortly after I arrive, the trio comes her. “Dad, we missed you!” “Daddy, your beautiful children are here!” etc.
-The dude from the tavern, Kyume-Romeh, followed us, overheard us, and intends to spread this unsubstantiated rumor. How many more poor Tarutaru will get tagged with this deadbeat dad story?
-So Honoi-Gomoi actually has been to Tavnazia, like Yoran-Oran, but he swears he only met with a group of “scoundrels in Atarefaunet’s band.” He swears that he mets with those bandits, had a warrant out for his arrest after doing so, and fled back here. No “dates or dilly-dallying.”
-The kids swear they have proof that this guy is their dad back in Tavnazia. Lol I doubt it, but the ploy works. Honoi-Gomoi gives them enough money to fly back there, just so they gtfo of his life.
-The kids leave, and I’m alone with Honoi-Gomoi. He’s still freaked out about his rep. I tell him about the Mimeo Mirror that can clear up any doubts, and he actually has one – albeit a cracked one.
-I take the cracked mirror back to Yoran-Oran. He can fix it, but needs three Mimeo Feathers and three Mimeo Jewels, from Parradamo Tor and Attohwa Chasm respectively. Not sure where those are.
I’ll find out next time.
---
Next time: Repairing the Mimeo Mirror and learning more about the old Northlands Expedition.
