Note: this session had a whole ton of plot dropped on me that I had trouble processing as it came. I went over it again, and a lot of my “later edit” notes are reviewing the dialogue and plot, trying to make sense of things.
Mission: The Enduring Tumult of War (Chains of Promathia, ch.5)
-Prishe is heated, demanding the baptismal vessal be returned. Nag’molada laughs.
-He was amused that the box was being used for baptisms, for new theologians in Tavnazia to pledge their loyalty to Altana.
-What was it originally for though? Nag’molada clearly knows, as a Kuluu who was probably around when the box first appeared.
-Nag’molada not only knows the answer to this – he also knows what Prishe’s amulet is for.
NAG’MOLADA: “Many millennia ago, the king of the Zilart made the amulet – the testament of affinity [??] – to peer into the hearts of the Kuluu. The Zilart were born with the ability to communicate directly with the mind of another. This is called the ‘whisper of the soul.’
[Later edit: Eald’narche and Archduke Kam’lanaut were called Zilart princes. I’ll bet their father is the Zilartian king referred to here.]
“However, as centuries passed, some people were overcome by the Emptiness and lost this power of communications. Those who could no longer harness the whisper of the soul were known as the Kuluu.”
INTERESTING!! The Kuluu weren’t just a separate race from the Zilart. Rather, they were an almost devolved form of the Zilart, a form of the Zilart corrupted by Emptiness.
“The Zilartian king ordered the production of amulets – such as the one you possess – to contain the darkness residing within these unfortunate souls and open their hearts. And thus, the thoughts of all those who wore one were known by him.”
So the purpose of this amulet is to contain the Emptiness within a person’s soul. That explains why Prishe gains psychic powers when wearing it. The amulet takes away whatever natural Emptiness resides within the souls of the races of the world, including an Elvaan soul like hers. It unlocks her natural power.
[Later edit: Not sure about this anymore. So is she borrowing the Pale Kid’s power because the amulet anchors him to her or because it removed the Emptiness in her soul and opened up natural power?]
She was given it by Cardinal Mildaurion. Why? And why did the Pale Kid have one and give one to me? Is he a Kuluu?
NAG’MOLADA: “That amulet you hold… it was given to you by the Zilartian prince, was it not? And now you have begun using it to further your twisted schemes.”
The camera at this point is on the Pale Kid, standing still. So Nag’molada at least thinks that one of the Zilartian princes gave the Pale Kid the amulet, and the Pale Kid is using it for his own “nefarious” purposes.
NAG’MOLADA: “Detolilla, the boy has been using you as a guide over space and time into a world unknown to him. Using you to guide him to the mothercrystals.”
[Later edit: This is part of where I’m confused, that makes me rethink the role of the amulet. Maybe it doesn’t do anything to the Emptiness seeded in her soul and just anchors the Pale Kid to her.]
I believe this. But again, I don’t wholly believe the Pale Kid is evil. If only because Nag’molada certainly seems evil, and the Pale Kid seems opposed to Nag’molada.
-But what’s the Pale Kid’s plan? Why does he want to reach the mothercrystals and pour Emptiness into them?
NAG’MOLADA: “I had enough time to obtain this box, as well as find out who you [The Pale Kid] really are.”
WELL FUCKING TELL ME
“It was you who brought an end to our era… You who betrayed us! You… Selh’teus!”
-The Pale Kid has a name.
NAG’MOLADA: “Though you bear the mark of the Kuluu, you betrayed your people and the trust of the Zilartian prince. Though you have inherited the will of the slumbering gods, you betrayed them as well. And though you were born of the mothercrystal, now you plot to betray her...
[Later edit: I now know why Selh’teus has the mark of the Kuluu, but still not sure what’s up with the whole trust of the Zilart prince or will of the slumbering gods thing.]
“My heart yearns to know why you have chosen the path of traitor.”
[Later edit: Even now, my main question is why Nag’molada is working with the Zilart.]
-This is a lot to take in, and I’m trying to parse it. So the Pale Kid – Selh’teus – somehow betrayed the Kuluu and the Zilart. How?
-But for now, Nag’molada doesn’t press on this whole traitor thing. He wants to know how Selh’teus learned to control the Emptiness.
[Later edit: SAME. Selh’teus seems sympathetic, but the Emptiness does not.]
NAG’MOLADA: “When the attempt to open the Gates of Paradise failed, and Al’Taieu [there’s that name again] was destroyed, why did only you survive?”
-Judging by that flashback that Prishe saw, it seems that Selh’teus doesn’t remember.
NAG’MOLADA: “What happened on that day!? What did you see and what did you learn!? What unspeakable powers do you possess!?”
-Nag’molada’s pale Jeunoan “scientists” swarm down upon Selh’teus, but Prishe rushes to his rescue, beating the crap out of one of the Jeunoans. Tenzen joins in, his Phoenix blade erupting in fire as it slices through another Jeunoan.
You know what? I trust Prishe. I’ll trust Selh’teus here.
-Selh’teus send a blast of smoky Emptiness at Nag’molada, but Nag’molada repels it using the box. The box opens up, and turns the smoky Emptiness into black shards. Magicite.
“Ha ha ha! Behold the true power of the ‘Eye of Altana.’”
[Later edit: VERY interesting that the artifact of the presumably good Dawn Goddess was perceived by Prishe as evil.]
-The Jeunoans use their magic to bind Selh’teus.
-Prishe removes her amulet, giving it to me. “Come on, Selh’teus! Stop thinking and start talking! Tell me! Tell me what to say! Tell me what to sing!”
I think I misunderstood the amulet earlier. It didn’t unlock psychic powers within Prishe. Rather, it somehow mind-linked Prishe and Selh’teus. She was using his power.
[Later edit: Still confused on this. If the amulet served to link Prishe and Selh’teus, why did Prishe taking the amulet off allow her to sing in his voice? I would’ve thought the reverse would be the case.]
-Prishe starts to sing out. Or rather, Selh’teus starts to sing out, using Prishe’s voice.
“That star is you, and the song is yours.
And someday, that hope will become our dreams… our prayers…
Shine forth, star of hope! Let your song ring out across all of Vana’diel!
And what was split asunder will once more become whole. Complete and inseparable for all eternity.”
[Later edit: My current theory about this song is that Selh’teus made some kind of pact or bargain to attempt to reunite the Zilart and Kuluu, and this song is about Selh’teus. Idk.]
-The mothercrystal responds to this song. It flashes blindingly bright.
NAG’MOLADA: “Is he trying to…answer me? Is it only that I cannot hear him, because I… I have lost the whisper of the soul…?”
[Later edit: This is interesting in light of this session’s ending. I thought that as a Kuluu, Nag’molada had lost the whisper of the soul. But here, he seems surprised that he no longer has it. Did he get it back somehow more recently? Is that why he’s working with the Zilart – because he feels like a Zilart again? And how did Selh’teus – also a Kuluu – gain the whisper of the soul back?]
That’s right! Nag’molada is one of the Kuluu, not the Zilart. He couldn’t communicate with the Selh’teus.
-Selh’teus floats up to the mothercrystal. Extends his hand to it. The world turns bright, and we see Nag’molada disappear into black smoke.
[Later edit: I still don’t understand Selh’teus’s relationship with the Emptiness, and why he’s trying to insert it into the various mothercrystals.]
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Mission: Desires of Emptiness (Chains of Promathia, ch.5)
This is a flashback now. Yve’noile is bringing two children who “no longer hear the whisper of the soul” to the Zilart king. The kids are Selh’teus and Nag’molada.
YVE’NOILE: “I beseech the blessings of the king before the commencement on our journey to the city of the Kuluu.”
-Yve’noile says her goal is to cure this illness, the Emptiness, “and return to a world with neither Zilart nor Kuluu.”
-Wow. Losing psychic powers, the whisper of the soul, must have been incredibly traumatic for the Zilart. I’m thinking back to the TNG episode where Counselor Troi temporarily lost her powers.
“Thou must live as before. Believe in the honesty of people as thou did when their thoughts were open to thee.”
-We now see Selh’teus at the portal from whence Diabolos emerged. Still in the flashback. Gravi’ton Berisacci, the leader of the Kuluu, is here.
GRAVI’TON: “So the living immortals have finally been born among the children of the Dawn. Why dost thou seek to show us this vision of Paradise? This heavenly garden the Zilart believe to be the goal of all on Vana’diel…”
SELH’TEUS: “What are we waiting for!? Gravi’ton, all of us… we should strive for that perfection! If we behold that vision, we too can understand what they are aiming for! We can join with the Zilart and be whole once more!”
-It sounds like Gravi’ton is accepting of the plight of the Kuluu. Selh’teus is not. He wants back what he lost.
[Later edit: This seems to illustrate what we saw in the last expansion. The Kuluu losing the “whisper of the soul” made them less ambitious in some way than the Zilart, less willing to sacrifice everything for this “vision of Paradise.” Selh’teus isn’t ready to accept this.]
-Another question: what are they doing here? Why are they outside the Diabolos dream portal?
SELH’TEUS: “What is wrong with all of you? We have nothing to fear; Diabolos is…”
GRAVI’TON: “It is too late, Selh’teus. We have already fallen. Our hearts have been stained with corruption.”
[Later edit: the Diabolos piece here feels major. I don’t know why Diabolos talked to Selh’teus about a vision of Promathia, or a battle, or why Selh’teus didn’t remember the battle, or why we saw Selh’teus emerging from the dream realm. Whatever the case, Selh’teus is somehow connected to dreams and Diabolos.]
-Scene change. Not sure when this is, but I think it’s inside Delkfutt’s Tower, where this whole mess began. Yve’noile is in here, and Nag’molada is shocked. She’s not supposed to be here. It’s forbidden. I don’t know when this is.
YVE’NOILE: “Why dost thou, a Kuluu, work for the Zilart? This battle has gone beyond the point of salvation. The killing, the lies, the mistrust – we are no longer capable of understanding one another.”
NAG’MOLADA: “It’s all the fault of the terrestrial avatars. They are merely using the foolish Kuluu to force the king of the Zilart to keep the Gates of Paradise closed. And then there is that traitor, Selh’teus. All this blood has been spilled as a result of him breaking his promise to you!”
[Later edit: This feels like a major passage. Okay. So the main fight seems to be whether to open the Gates of Paradise.
-In favor of opening the Gates are the Zilart, and Nag’molada too. He’s a Kuluu, but thinks of himself as a Zilart still.
-Against opening are the Kuluu, the terrestrial avatars (Bahamut, Diabolos, Carbuncle, and two more who I can’t remember right now), and Promathia as well. This explains why Bahamut was so happy to see that one of the Kuluu was still alive and kicking back when Nag’molada saw him a few sessions back.
-However, I’m unsure about Selh’teus and Yve’noile. Yve’noile seems pretty anti-opening, which makes sense. As a Dawnmaiden, why would she want the Gates of Paradise open? That seems like it’d be a huge betrayal of Altana. But if that’s the case, why does Nag’molada sound so shocked in a few lines when Yve’noile says she’ll betray the Zilart? Why did he think she was on the Zilart’s side to begin with?
-And then there’s the last part I don’t understand - namely, what promise did Selh'teus make to Yve'noile that he broke?]
YVE’NOILE: Thou dost yet believe in me, Nag’molada? Thou dost believe my words, my pledge to return this world to a place with neither Zilart nor Kuluu?”
-So Nag’molada joined the ZIlart because he never considered himself NOT a Zilart. Even with the Emptiness removing his whisper of the soul, he still sees himself as Zilart. As one of Yve’noile’s people.
NAG’MOLADA: “I will never betray your trust in me.”
YVE’NOILE: “Even if thou discoverst that I have betrayed that trust?”
NAG’MOLADA: “Lady Yve’noile…?”
YVE’NOILE: “Not only thee; I intend to betray all the Zilart. It is because I….”
DAMMIT THE FLASHBACK ENDS. But talk about turns.
[Later edit: It sure as hell is looking more like Nag’molada is sympathetic and the true villain may be Yve’noile, servant of the Dawn Goddess Altana. Or not? I mean, the Zilart were villains in the last expansion, trying to open the Gates of Paradise in a move that would’ve destroyed Vana’diel. So maybe she’s good. I really have no idea yet. Not enough info.]
-I’m in that bizarre and abstract memory world, Promyvion. Separated from the others. Need to find them.
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Next time: Back in the weird mindscape of Promyvion to find my friends.
