Mission: The Secrets of Worship (Chains of Promathia, ch.4)
-My next goal is to enter the “Sacrarium” on Prishe’s request to find Promathia. Promathia himself. Maybe? I’m super excited.
-I head to the north end of Misareaux Coast, where a gate bars my way. Tenzen meets me here. This is the first basement of the Sacrarium. But we can’t get past the door. We need to borrow Prishe’s amulet.
-HAHAHA YESSSSS PRISHE RUNS TO JOIN US! I'm both happy she's with us and happy I don't need to run back to town.
PRISHE: “I can get us past that door! It’s time for us to pay a visit to Divine Promathia!”
-Tenzen says something that might concern me. He’s unsure how Prishe escaped her confines, since the Tavnazians were clearly keeping her locked up. She probably is just that squirrelly, but now the seed of doubt is in my head. Is this really Prishe?
Probably. Her amulet seemed real enough to get us through.
-The first part of the Sacrarium is labyrinthine. Not just figuratively – literally. It’s a maze. Normally, this would freak me out, but I read recently that you can get through a maze by just following the left wall. It works here.
-The next area here is full of Fomor. Those shade-types. I’m not sure what they are, but I get the sense it’s more important than just random monsters. I mean, they look exactly like regular players. Fomor Dark Knights, Fomor Summoners, Fomor Red Mages.
-Deeper in. I find a large open area that looks almost like a church, complete with an altar and an undead priest presiding. A named enemy called the Keremet who drops an ADORABLY named Sealion Crest Key.
-…shit. Damn damn damn. To progress, I apparently need two players, me to turn one key and a party member to turn another key simultaneously. I can do it solo, but have to go back to town and do a sidequest. Grrrrrr.
*a while later*
-I return to the Tavnazian Safehold, do the sidequest, re-do the maze, and get back to this sealed gate. Now it opens with the key obtained from the sidequest.
-Tenzen and Prishe arrive at a wooden gate. Prishe swears Promathia is behind the gate, but this doesn’t look like some ancient god-sealing gate. Just a regular wooden gate. Something weird is up. I’m betting this won’t be actually Promathia, but rather some sign or symbol or writing of Promathia.
-Prishe says she locked this gate after the war. I need to find the reliquarium key and return here.
-I do so. The key is held by an old ghost in one of the classrooms, and after I grab it I return here.
-This place is a storage room. An empty warehouse.
-OH SHIT IT’S --- well, it’s not Promathia, but it sure as hell is a huge statue of Promathia with a gem on it.
Also, Promathia is often representated as chained, but this Promathia statue’s chains are broken. Probably a bad sign.
-Apparently, the Tavnazian Cathedral used to buy up weird artifacts found/taken from bandits. This was one of them, used to help search for “Paradise.”
-Prishe relates again the rumor that the gods sleep in Paradise. Tavnazian theologians used to think they could go to this Paradise and ask Altana to remove the curse of Promathia. If Altana said yes, strife and war would leave the world. Nice thought.
-There are two paintings behind Prishe as she speaks.
One is Bahamut over a city, the other is a city that lifts off the ground (which I’m pretty sure is Tu’Lia).
-As the theologians continued their research into the ancient objects, they realized that the older civilization (Zilart/Kuluu) was way more advanced, and STILL not match for Promathia. The city was obliterated. This must be the painting of Bahamut – obliterating the city of the ancients.
-So given that entering Paradise would likely meet with catastrophic results, they thought of another option:
Instead of busting into Paradise to talk to Altana, why not invite Altana the Dawn Goddess to cross over into this world and ask her?
Talk about a bold maneuver. Wow.
-But before this could happen, “Cardinal Mildaurion” arrived. Tavnazia was destroyed shortly after.
Huh. I wonder. All of Tavnazia believes Cardinal Mildaurion was the savior of the city, helping everyone escape the destruction. What if she was also the one who started the destruction?
-NO PRISHE DON’T THIS IS AN AWFUL IDEA
DON’T DON’T DON’T
-Okay. This just happened really quickly. Prishe was like, “Oh btw, wanna see something cool? If I hold up my amulet like so when standing right next to this statue, I can hear the voice of Promathia.”
WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT
-Prishe’s amulet and the gem in the Promathia statue grow blindingly bright. We’re transported into a flashback.
-Someone (“???”) is first meeting “the Tavnazian child known as the abhorrent one.” This must be Cardinal Mildaurion, when she first met Prishe.
-More about the accident. Prishe caused the accident during some kind of church baptismal ceremony. Many clergy died during this, and the ones who survived suffered terrifying dreams of Promathia. Jesus. NOW I can understand why she’d be called “the abhorrent one.”
-Oh, and she can also read people’s minds. That was another side effect. But still! She uses her telepathy for good, like when she comforted kid!ULmia!
-OOH! This flashback isn’t taking place in Tavnazia. Rather, it’s taking place in San d’Oria. For some reason, the new Cardinal Mildaurion ended Prishe’s confinement and took her abroad to San d’Oria.
MUCHAVETTE (a San d’Orian priest): …I speak of the treasure entrusted to Tavnazia.”
The Star of Tavnazia.
MUCHAVETTE: “What generations of cardinals have hidden from in fear, this Mildaurion has chosen to reveal to the San d’Orian Cathedral. If Tavnazia’s treasure is brought together with the holy artifact we hold, the Gates of Paradise will not remain long closed…”
So… Okay. So does this mean that the Cardinal…
OF COURSE HFDJKLSFH HOLY SHIT!!!
So we KNOW “Cardinal Mildaurion” is really a Zilart. We knows she’s Jeunoan. Apparently, this Tavnazian thing combined with a San d’Orian relic can forge a key of some sort to the Gates of Paradise. Sure, the other Zilart – Archduke Kam’lanaut and his older brother Eald’narche – failed, but this may work.
But how does that make sense? How does the Pale Kid fit into this? And how does this fit with the Jeunoan mission to stop the Emptiness?
-We zoom in on “???” putting her hand on Prishe. “Prishe, you are a child of destiny. However, your part in this is over. There is nothing left within you…”
-Scene change. We see a little girl and the Pale Kid running in Beaucedine Glacier towards the entrance of Pso’Xja, when Diabolos pops out of the ground, blocking their way.
“What are you doing here? You should have met your demise in the city of Al’Taieu, along with the Keeper of the Apocalypse… Does this mean the battle still rages? Or do you mean to tell me you fled from the battlefield?”
So if Diabolos is addressing the Pale Kid, then that means that the Pale Kid someone DIFFERENT than the Keeper of the Apocalypse.
The girl with him, “???,” speaks: “Battle? What battle is this?” The girl must be a younger Cardinal Mildaurion. [Later edit: lol nope]
DIABOLOS: “The battle upon which rides the fate of the world! The image of Promathia I revealed to you… it was your task to travel to Al’Taieu and regain that form.”
HFDJKLSFHD IS CARDINAL MILDAURION ACTUALLY PROMATHIA?? I don’t get this.
-The Pale Kid remains silent.
DIABOLOS: “At first I thought those Zilartian fools were to blame for the spreading Emptiness that once again slowly devours Vana’diel. Have you been taken by the Emptiness? Were you defeated at the last battle of Al’Taieu?”
-Oh. No. Oh no. The person running with the Pale Kid isn’t a young Cardinal Mildaurion. It’s Prishe. “???” is the Pale Kid.
PALE KID: “Was I defeated? Was I victorious? I know nothing of what you speak.”
Diabolos fed the Pale Kid some vision of Promathia, but the Pale Kid doesn’t remember.
PALE KID: “My own existence is forfeit. But I have saved that which must be protected.”
The more I hear from this kid, the less I think he’s a Keeper of the Apocalypse, and the more I think I’ll end up on his side.
-But when was that? When did Prishe run alongside the Pale Kid?
-The scene changes again. This time, it’s the Hall of the Gods, the pathway that led to the floating isle in Rise of the Zilart that was supposed to open the Gates of Paradise. Yve’noile is here, the Dawnmaiden (servant of the goddess Altana) who helped us last expansion.
YVE’NOILE: “Welcome to the Hall of the Gods. Hast thou come seeking the salvation of Altana, my child?”
???: “I seek no salvation. I only wish to know the truth.”
This must be the Pale Kid.
???: “Dawnmaiden Yve’noile. You, who resonate with the spirit of the Goddess, should be able to answer my question.”
-The camera pans around behind Yve’noile. I’m still not sure who she’s talking to - I don’t see anyone in front of her. But the statue of Promathia across from her comes to the forefront.
???: “Was I born to carry out the will of Divine Promathia? Or was I born to thwart his designs?”
-Yve’noile doesn’t freak the fuck out at this, but takes it in stride. She responds with a question: why is the face of Promathia in the statue smooth and unfinished? No one has ever seen the true face of Promathia.
YVE’NOILE: “He vanished from Paradise upon his death. That is why we pray for his resurrection.”
Promatha… died? And the Dawnmaidens pray for him to be resurrected? He must not be all bad.
“For his resurrection, and his destruction…” oh lol nm, maybe he is all bad.
-Back to the present.
-I was knocked out, but Prishe is okay. Ulmia has arrived, and is scolding Prishe.
“Have you forgotten the warning of Cardinal Mildaurion? That statue has the power to bring out the worst in people. We were never supposed to touch it. Ever!”
Yeah, see, the thing is, I don’t trust Cardinal Mildaurion farther than I can throw her.
-The vision seems to have helped Prishe. She knows now what the Twilight God wants:
1)His own resurrection
2)His own death
This is some “American Gods” bullshit right here.
-Justinius is here. Ulmia and Justinius both watch Prishe with new horror – again, I don’t think Promathia is necessarily the equivalent of Satan, but Justinius and Ulmia absolutely do. Seeing Prishe commune with the statue of Promathia is confirming all their worst fears about “the abhorrent one.”
ULMIA STILL BELIEVES IN PRISHE
-However, shit is complicated now. Even if Ulmia believes in Prishe, this act may change how those back in the Tavnazian Safehold view her.
Prishe is clearly concerned about what reverberations this action will have back in the Tavnazian Safehold. How her people will see her.
---
Next time: Back to the Safehold to see any consequences. And hopefully learn more about the unfolding story of Prishe, Cardinal Mildaurion and Nag’molada, Bahamut and the terrestrial avatars… and of course, Promathia.
