Mission: Pride and Honor (Chains of Promathia, ch.5)
-Captain Wolfgang of Jeuno told me to go to certain coordinates in the Batalia Downs. I don’t know if the key to Delkfutt’s Tower will be there, or if he wants to meet me there to talk more openly.
-Wolfgang meets me out here. He reminisces about a childhood friendship. They found a shard of blue glass, and though it was just a broken bottle shard, they treasured it. Eventually they took it outside the city gates.
WOLFGANG: “And when they gazed at the towering Duchy through the soft blue glass, they realized the strength, the beauty, and the grandeur that was Jeuno.”
I feel like Wolfgang is steeling himself for something. Is he about to do something that adheres to that childhood vision of Jeuno while betraying its present leadership?
-The friend was Doctor Monberaux. AND MONBERAUX CHOOSES THIS MOMENT TO SHOW UP!
-They go through this adorable round of “What are YOU doing here?” “Oh, just resting a bit. You?” “Oh not much, just patrolling the area.”
I ship the fuck out of this.
-They buried the glass shard. And each of them came out here to look for it.
-Oh. I take it back. Wolfgang didn’t come here to dig the shard up, but rather to bury it. He dug it up a while ago, and kept it with him this whole time.
“It wasn’t mine. It was ours.”
DID I SAY I SHIP THIS YET BECAUSE I SHIP IT
WOLFGANG: “Recently, I seem to have lost sight of what I truly need to protect in this world. When I was a boy, staring at the Duchy from this hill, I thought I had finally realized what my father was risking his life to protect. Coming here today reminded me of that… And hopefully I will never again forget.”
-As Wolfgang walks off, he basically says, “Whoopsy-daisy, I must have lost my key! I hope I didn’t accidentally bury it in our special place.”
Bless you, Wolfgang.
-Before Doctor Monberaux leaves as well, he asks that if I take the Delkfutt Tower key, I leave behind the shard. Let the memory of those two remain.
-I head to Delkfutt’s Tower. This key opens up a new passage.
-Tenzen arrives, and Nag’molada. This dude is always tagging along. I trust that Nag’molada at least has good intentions at this point, for whatever that’s worth.
-The chamber we enter is the control center that we saw at the very start of the expansion, in the intro cinematic. When something in Delkfutt’s Tower was melting down or reversing polarity or whatever, the chaos happened here.
-This chamber protects the five mothercrystals. So that’s what Delkfutt’s Tower is for!
NAG’MOLADA: “The five crystals are connected by the five Crystal Lines that all converge on this very place. For many centuries we have monitored the lines… protected the radiance of the crystals.
Bahamut emerging from the ocean is what cause things to go haywire.
-And then Selh’teus came here. He came THROUGH the Crystal Line, aided by a terrestrial avatar. I wonder which one. (My money’s on Diabolos.)
The ruins of Pso’xja were “reactivated.” They used to be the home of the Kuluu, and during the war with the Zilart, the terrestrial avatars lent the Kuluu their power and helped make Pso’Xja nigh impenetrable. Below the ruins is a device that blocks the flow of energy through the Crystal Line. Esha’ntarl repaired it.
-Why?? Why would she want to block the Crystal Line’s energy? Again, I believe more and more that Duke Vicarious Esha’ntarl/Cardinal Mildaurion is not just a villain, but the Keeper of the Apocalypse herself.
-Major points to Nag’molada btw. Last session, the Zilart rulers of Jeuno – which he calls “the society” – told him to go do some other mission. He no longer trusts them and came to Delkfutt’s Tower to learn their intentions.
-The Zilart can communicate so directly and openly with the “whisper of the soul,” but Kuluu were forever destined to “sit outside the bonds of the Zilartian community.” And yet, this very outsider status helped them survive.
NAG’MOLADA: “The Zilart, the terrestrial avatars, Selh’teus… Once again, their sins will deface Vana’diel and undermine her children.”
While I don’t understand the specifics yet, I get the gist.
-Nag’molada believes that the terrestrial avatars want something other than just protecting Vana’diel, and reiterates that Selh’teus is a traitor. TO WHOM?
“Ten thousand years ago, he prevented the Zilart from obtaining what they desired. Now, he is simply attempting the same thing.”
10,000 years ago, he helped stop the Zilart from opening the Gate of the Gods. Now he’s attempting to stop the Society of Jeuno from doing the same thing. Isn’t that good?
-Selh’teus is draining the light/power from the mothercrystals. The Jeuno Society had recently revived the Zilart machines to slowly draw the light of the crystals for power. (Has nobody in FFXI played FFV? You should know better.)
-Selh’teus wanted to stop Jeuno directly but saw they were too strong to take on head-on. So he went to the power source they were using: the crystals.
NAG’MOLADA: “Without the life-giving light of the crystals shining upon it, the space became overwhelmed with darkness – with Emptiness.” That’s what Promyvion is.
-But this can’t be the origin of the Emptiness! Tenzen said his land was being eaten by Emptiness long before Bahamut arrived.
TENZEN: “Wait! You just said that you were slowly drawing the light of the crystals… That would mean that the cause of the Emptiness in the East is you – the Zilart!”
OH SHIT CAUGHT
-This was a byproduct of the Zilart’s actions. When they slept for 10,000 years, things changed. “Especially the fifth crystal, deep below Al’Taieu.” The capital sunk, and the crystal was damaged.
NAG’MOLADA: “However, you need not worry. Once the Gate of the Gods is opened, the crystals will return to their former state. And once they do, the Emptiness will disappear in the crystal’s radiance, and the Zilart will have accomplished their dream.”
DUDE. YOU ARE NOT COMFORTING ME. Opening the Gate of the Gods sounds like a TERRIBLE idea. Haven’t we been through this? Won’t the world get fucked up royally when the Gate of the Gods opens?
Like. That was the WHOLE FOCUS of the last expansion, “Rise of the Zilart.” Archduke Kam’lanaut and Prince Eald’narche wanted to open the Gate of the Gods, and we stopped them because it would’ve ended the world.
“Only the wretched terrestrial avatars stand in our way…!”
-Tenzen has heard enough. He’s ready to attack, and reminds Nag’molada of the words of Diabolos: “Wake up! You are all bound like marionettes by the chains of Promathia! When the Gates of Paradise open, our world will be no more!”
-Nag’molada thinks that this whole “end of the world” business is only part of the story, and that there will be some glorious new beginning.
“Yes. The world we live in now is nothing but an illusion. Compared to Paradise, Vana’diel is a cesspool festering with pain and suffering, lost hopes and dreams. Strict values waver in the winds of uncertainty, while you pilfer your precious time struggling to recognize truths that peer back at you through the darkness.
“You are inclined to search aimlessly for hints of who you truly are, though you rarely discover them, and it is this failure that ultimately forces you to tread a vague path through your miserable lives.”
I agree with you. Not just I-Detolilla, but I-Coldrun. Life is hard and confusing and mostly full of fucking-up. But what makes you think the Gates of Paradise opening will fix this instead of wipe it all out?
-Nag’molada believes that the terrestrial avatars are protecting this status quo. They were born on Vana’diel, and if they were in Paradise, they would be “nothing but mere animals.”
Again, it seems like you’re assuming a lot. Do you think that everyone on Vana’diel would get into Paradise, purified and turned awesome? Seems more likely that almost everyone dies.
-Nag’molada walks up to the control panel, aiming to discern the Zilart’s plans from the crystal’s memories in this device.
-We see what Nag’molada sees. An image of Duke Vicarious Esha’ntarl in a room of crystals, a room he calls the Chamber of Eventide.
[Later edit: This is also the room where we saw Yve’noile the Dawnmaiden talking about betraying the Zilart.]
“Yes! It’s all clear now!” He runs off without explaining how it’s all clear now. Of course.
-Nag’molada’s words about the terrestrial avatars hit Tenzen hard.
TENZEN: “The people who gave their lives for this flame… Phoenix! Answer me! To grant you this form, lives were lost, villages destroyed… The lifeblood you drank from my people… was it not to save Vana’diel!? Was it not to breathe hope back into her children?”
-Phoenix replies that Tenzen should visit Fenrir at the southern tower of Pso’Xja. The final avatar we have yet to meet.
(Phoenix’s “replies” are basically the sword vibrating and Tenzen going, “what’s that, Lassie? Timmy’s stuck in the well?” but I trust that Tenzen’s relaying this communication accurately.)
TENZEN: “We shall see what truths the final avatar presents us with. We shall see if we are simply being made fools of!”
I’m betting the answer is no. I trust Carbuncle. No way that floofy rabbitsquirrel would let me down.
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Next time: Fenrir.
