Summary: The party of Prishe, Ulmia, Tenzen, Sir Louverance, and Detolilla sets out for the fourth mothercrystal beneath Pso’Xja.
Mission: Slanderous Utterings (Chains of Promathia, ch.4)
-This mission will directly follow-up from the next one. I have to return to the Tavnazian Safehold and see what kind of punishment awaits Prishe for interacting with the statue of Promathia.
-I head to the Safehold, to the room of Elder Despachiaire. Will he be understanding?
DESPACHIAIRE: “She spoke with the abhorrent god of chaos! What more evidence do we need!?”
Looks like that’s a no. He thinks this is evidence that Prishe is why Bahamut chose to return to Tavnazia, even why the beastmen first attacked Tavnazia 20 years ago.
-I love that even now, Ulmia continues to stick up for Prishe against her grandfather. “It is because Prishe’s heart is pure – that is why she was not controlled by the evil after touching the statue of Promathia. She only did such a foolish thing to save our nation!”
-Cardinal Mildaurion used to say that Prishe was born to the abhorrent one (Promathia), but was reborn through the power of Altana. Despachiaire responds that perhaps Cardinal Mildaurion isn’t as trustworthy as they once thought. I… kind of might agree?
-Just now, Louverance (who we met a few missions ago) comes in. A San d’Orian knight sent to search for Cardinal Mildaurion.
-But he’s not searching for the Cardinal’s sake. Apparently, 20 years ago, she helped steal a large number of scrolls and scriptures from the San d’Orian cathedral.
-Louverance wants to take Prishe as a lead, since Prishe spent so much time with the Cardinal. Prishe is… surprisingly okay with this.
“Ulmia, don’t worry. I was beginning to think that it’s about time everybody learned the truth. I’ve gotta do something, or people will continue to doubt and hate me.”
-Ah! She doesn’t want to go right now. Instead, she wants to get this whole thing solved. She’s going to go with us to the Northlands to help find the fourth mothercrystal and the Pale Kid.
-Louverance is understanding. He offers to fly Prishe and Tenzen to the Northlands if she’ll answer his questions about the missing Cardinal. Prishe and Tenzen agree.
-I’m sad that Prishe has to face so much mistrust, but the upside is that her desire to clear her name means she won’t be confined to Tavnazia. She’ll be with me!
-I head to the Sealion’s Den, the docks beneath the Safehold.
-Everyone’s getting ready to depart. Well, everyon except for Ulmia. Her grandfather, Elder Despachiaire, won’t let her join us. Boo. (I have a feeling she’ll find a way to escape and help Prishe anyway though.)
Prishe says goodbye to us for now. “Well, I guess this is goodbye. Don’t go fallin’ off a cliff or getting eaten by a buffalo, cause I won’t be there to save your butts.”
-Never change Prishe.
-YAY ULMIA SHOWED UP! And she tells Louverance that she learned a song from Cardinal Mildaurion to prove her usefulness on this mission. She can join.
PRISHE: “Did you hear that? Ulmia and Prishe, back together again on the trail of adventure!”
-Ulmia starts to… apologize? Yeah. She apologizes to Prishe.
ULMIA: “I do not have any of the special powers that you do. There is so much that I do not understand… However, there is one thing I do know, and that is that I wish to travel with you and sing – sing your song.
“It is you who introduced me to a world filled with song, and this is the only way I can repay you.”
This is one of the best relationships in any FF game. Hands down.
-The ship lifts off. I’ll meet them in San d’Oria’s Cathedral for the debriefing about Cardinal Mildaurion.
---
Mission: The Enduring Tumult of War (Chains of Promathia, ch.5)
-Btw, I still don’t know why this chapter of CoP is called “Cradles of Children Lost.” It’s a scary and ominous title.
[Later edit: Still not sure what this referred to.]
-I reach the Cathedral, but no sign of Sir Louverance. One of the priests tells me to search at the port. Weird. Sir Louverance literally just told me to meet him in the Cathedral.
-Okay. This is weird. The customs agents at the San d’Oria port say there was never any ship from Tavnazia registered to dock here. He says I should try asking at other agencies.
-Port Bastok. This is where. What the hell are they doing in Bastok?
-Louverance intended to come here. He leads Prishe, Tenzen, and Ulmia to the Metalworks.
-A title screen appears. Chapter 5. “The Return Home.”
-I head to see Chief Engineer Cid. He must be the person for the next cutscene.
-Yup. Cid was expecting Louverance and company. Louverance shares that he’s no closer to finding Cardinal Mildaurion, and also learned something about magicite. We all catch each other up on the Multinational Expedition and relay the story thus far.
-GOD, THE ANSWER TO CARDINAL MILDAURION IS SO CLOSE!! I’m working under the assumption that the blond woman working with Nag’molada is Cardinal Mildaurion. Tenzen has clearly met her, but since he knows her as Esha’ntarl, he has no idea anything weird is afoot. [Later edit: this plot is convoluted enough that I could be dead wrong. I’m having a hard time keeping up.]
-Cid’s says that he learned that the magicite found in the Northlands wasn’t just lying around there. It was in a strange box.
That must be the box that Nag’molada found in the aqueducts beneath Tavnazia. A box made from an unidentifiable metal like in the Crag of Dem (which we know was constructed by the Zilart, iirc.)
PRISHE: “That sounds like… the baptismal vessel…”
So that box is the thing that affected Prishe, made her ageless and psychic.
PRISHE: “The Tavnazian theologians used that box when performing the baptism ceremony. It should still be in the Sacrarium’s tabernacle. I’d know because I’m the only one who has a key to that place. I’ve been protecting the key ever since the Great War – on Miss Mildaurion’s orders!”
THE PLOT, IT’S THICKENING
ULMIA: “I do not have any of the special powers that you do. There is so much that I do not understand… However, there is one thing I do know, and that is that I wish to travel with you and sing – sing your song.
“It is you who introduced me to a world filled with song, and this is the only way I can repay you.”
This is one of the best relationships in any FF game. Hands down.
-The ship lifts off. I’ll meet them in San d’Oria’s Cathedral for the debriefing about Cardinal Mildaurion.
---
Mission: The Enduring Tumult of War (Chains of Promathia, ch.5)
-Btw, I still don’t know why this chapter of CoP is called “Cradles of Children Lost.” It’s a scary and ominous title.
[Later edit: Still not sure what this referred to.]
-I reach the Cathedral, but no sign of Sir Louverance. One of the priests tells me to search at the port. Weird. Sir Louverance literally just told me to meet him in the Cathedral.
-Okay. This is weird. The customs agents at the San d’Oria port say there was never any ship from Tavnazia registered to dock here. He says I should try asking at other agencies.
-Port Bastok. This is where. What the hell are they doing in Bastok?
-Louverance intended to come here. He leads Prishe, Tenzen, and Ulmia to the Metalworks.
-A title screen appears. Chapter 5. “The Return Home.”
-I head to see Chief Engineer Cid. He must be the person for the next cutscene.
-Yup. Cid was expecting Louverance and company. Louverance shares that he’s no closer to finding Cardinal Mildaurion, and also learned something about magicite. We all catch each other up on the Multinational Expedition and relay the story thus far.
-GOD, THE ANSWER TO CARDINAL MILDAURION IS SO CLOSE!! I’m working under the assumption that the blond woman working with Nag’molada is Cardinal Mildaurion. Tenzen has clearly met her, but since he knows her as Esha’ntarl, he has no idea anything weird is afoot. [Later edit: this plot is convoluted enough that I could be dead wrong. I’m having a hard time keeping up.]
-Cid’s says that he learned that the magicite found in the Northlands wasn’t just lying around there. It was in a strange box.
That must be the box that Nag’molada found in the aqueducts beneath Tavnazia. A box made from an unidentifiable metal like in the Crag of Dem (which we know was constructed by the Zilart, iirc.)
PRISHE: “That sounds like… the baptismal vessel…”
So that box is the thing that affected Prishe, made her ageless and psychic.
PRISHE: “The Tavnazian theologians used that box when performing the baptism ceremony. It should still be in the Sacrarium’s tabernacle. I’d know because I’m the only one who has a key to that place. I’ve been protecting the key ever since the Great War – on Miss Mildaurion’s orders!”
THE PLOT, IT’S THICKENING
-When Louverance was in Tavnazia, he tried investigating this “baptismal vessel.” Unfortunately, Nag’molada broke into the Sacrarium just before Louverance got there and stole the relic.
Damn! I knew Nag’molada saw it and was looking for it, but when I was with him he left the box along. He must’ve come back and stolen it later.
-Cid is pissed too. “It’s those hooded bastards from Jeuno! They must have learned that I was searching for the origins of the black magicite, and stole the box so I couldn’t get my hands on it.”
-Even though the box is out of their hands, is there anything Prishe can say?
-Not really. Just that it’s evil. “It changed my life. Dragged me to hell and back…”
-She has newfound determination to take the box back from Nag’molada.
-Prishe runs off in anger towards Beaucedine Glacier to confront Nag’molada. Ulmia and Tenzen follow, and Sir Louverance takes off too. I’ll meet them there.
-I proceed to Beaucedine Glacier. It’s a pain in the ass to navigate, since it’s a terraced zone, but I reach the northwestern tower of Pso’Xja.
-Everyone is here. Including Sir Louverance. He’s here as an heir to the Knights Mistalle…? Oh right! Almost forgot. Francmage Mistalle was the knight who something happened to in the Multinational Expedition hunting for the Gates of Paradise. Now Louverance wants to help bring honor back to the Knights.
-No sign of Nag’molada. Perhaps he went on ahead towards the fourth crystal.
-I take an elevator down to a sub-level of Pso’Xja that reminds me strongly of the path to Diabolos. Are we gonna see him again?
-NOPE HOLY SHIT IT’S THE FOURTH MOTHERCRYSTAL
RIGHT HERE IN PSO’XJA
-This is a holy moment for Tenzen in particular. “The divine light it
emits… This is from where we are from, and where we all eventually
return. Simply gazing upon its beauty soothes the mind and soul.”
-Prishe is listening closely. She seems to hear something the rest of us cannot.
PRISHE: “That song… the crystal… it’s calling us…”
I’m getting a horrible feeling right now.
The song:
“That star… you…
…song…yours…
…someday…hope…become…dreams…our prayers…
…And what was split asunder will once more become whole. Complete and inseparable for all eternity.”
What does this song mean? Clearly another verse to the Memoria de la Stona. What about things split asunder and becoming whole again? Maybe this refers to the Gates of Paradise opening one day to reunite the two worlds – but no, that can’t be it. Paradise was never really part of Vana’diel. Always separate.
-OH SHIT IT’S THE PALE KID, he snuck in behind us.
-Tenzen and Louverance begin to draw their swords, but freeze in place. The Pale Kid seems to have frozen time. He walks forward through them, unconcerned.
???: “Now that all the performers have arrived, the play can begin!”
Okay, Kuja.
-HAHA I THOUGHT IT WAS THE PALE KID SPEAKING, BUT IT’S NAG’MOLADA. He appears, with the baptismal box floating above his hand.
---
Next time: encounter at the fourth mothercrystal.
-Prishe is listening closely. She seems to hear something the rest of us cannot.
PRISHE: “That song… the crystal… it’s calling us…”
I’m getting a horrible feeling right now.
The song:
“That star… you…
…song…yours…
…someday…hope…become…dreams…our prayers…
…And what was split asunder will once more become whole. Complete and inseparable for all eternity.”
What does this song mean? Clearly another verse to the Memoria de la Stona. What about things split asunder and becoming whole again? Maybe this refers to the Gates of Paradise opening one day to reunite the two worlds – but no, that can’t be it. Paradise was never really part of Vana’diel. Always separate.
-OH SHIT IT’S THE PALE KID, he snuck in behind us.
-Tenzen and Louverance begin to draw their swords, but freeze in place. The Pale Kid seems to have frozen time. He walks forward through them, unconcerned.
???: “Now that all the performers have arrived, the play can begin!”
Okay, Kuja.
-HAHA I THOUGHT IT WAS THE PALE KID SPEAKING, BUT IT’S NAG’MOLADA. He appears, with the baptismal box floating above his hand.
---
Next time: encounter at the fourth mothercrystal.
