Mission: Westerly Winds (Treasures of Aht Urhgan)
-I return to Aht Urhgan to touch base with Prince Trion/Raillefal at the teahouse. [Later edit: the game varies the name it uses for him, so I may switch between the two also, but they’re the same guy.]
-Gessho meets me here instead. He’s both a mercenary and a “wandering monk who seeks to find a master in this foreign nation.”
-Gessho relates a recent conversation he had with Raillefal. There’s currently a stalemate in Aht Urhgan’s wars, a sort of trench warfare. The Empress is looking for a way to break the stalemate.
-Travialce, the San d’Orian ninja, arrived to pass a message to Raillefal that convinced Raillefal to return to San d’Oria. Travialce will stay here in Aht Urhgan as Raillefal’s surrogate.
-The scene changes. An unnamed blue mage is addressing the Empress. We don’t see the Empress – she’s behind a curtain.
-She tells the Empress about the diplomatic meeting in Jeuno, that a mercenary (me) was present.
???: “We were right to keep her occupied. They have taken the bait, just as we expected.”
The Empress now speaks with her Grand Vizier. They have some plan that they don’t want me to mess with. Sounds like we just met the Big Bad for this expansion.
-Back to me. I return to Naja Salaheem.
NAJA: “What happened to our puffed-up, over-prrretty knight-boy?” I missed you Naja.
-I report about Raillefal’s departure and Naja TEARS THE FUCK INTO ME.
“Both you and Raillefal have signed a binding contrrract with me. Or had ya forgotten? You belong to me. Forever! Always! Until death! You mercenaries are my pawns.” That sort of thing.
-She’s about to send me back out to chase down Raillefal, but then says never mind. “I’ve had enough of his bellyachin’ to last a lifetime anyway.” She even gives me a bonus.
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Mission: A Mercenary Life (Treasures of Aht Urhgan)
-Naja is writing something. Testimonials from her mercenaries like, “Thanks to President Salaheem, I learned the true meaning of bravery!” “Thanks to President Naja, I learned the true meaning of fear.” lololol
-Omg. This is for her company newsletter called “The Sentinel’s Voice.” I love how hilariously corporate this mercenary company is.
-Anyway. She just got a request for a mission from the Aht Urhgan Archaeological Research Institute, or “AARI.” They’ve been investigating the Ruins of Alzadaal, an underwater site and want my help to patrol.
-The AARI is under the direct authority of the Empress. Which means this mission promises both fortune and getting in good with the Imperial government.
NAJA: “So try not to mess it up!”
-I leave, and the camera stays on Naja briefly.
NAJA: “Hm. Why would someone ask for Detolilla by name?” Am I about to get ambushed?
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Mission: Undersea Scouting
-I reach the ruins, and I’m pretty shocked by how intricate and beautiful they are.
I was expecting some broken pillars in a musty cave.
-A Tarutaru alchemist named Abda-Lurabda is here, accompanied by a Galka alchemist named Ghatsad. Both work for the AARI, and Ghatsad explains about these ruins.
-This place is REALLY underwater. It’s like an aquarium.
The windows are protected with plasma oil. When the oil supplies run out, the windows will collapse.
-The pillars here have “markings that suggest a degree of rotation and elongation is possible.” OOH! I wonder if this place will be like Figaro in FFVI and turn into a submarine.
-There are transportation runes on the ground. The runes work as well now as they did 900 years ago.
-Ghatsad is in charge. He hints that the AARI’s purpose here in the ruins is more than just pure research or preservation of cultural heritage. Those are a mere façade.
GHATSAD: “The truth of the matter is, our organization is under orders from the Empress to locate the missing Astral Candescences.”
Wait. Astral Candescences PLURAL?
“The Astral Candescence was originally brought into the city to halt the spread of the Bastokan Blight in the Empire.” A disease I guess, and the this “energy” the candescence provided must’ve boosted immune systems or something.
-There are four other Candescences. And if they can find them, they can end the conflict.
There are two ways I can interpret that:
1)They end the conflict by giving the remaining Astral Candescences away to the beastmen who keep trying to bust into the city and take theirs.
2)They end the conflict by using all five Astral Candescences themselves to become energized and powerful enough to win the war.
My money's on #2.
-Ghatsad gives me an astral compass to help me find the remaining Candescences.
-He asks one more favor of me before I go: to not reveal his position as chief of the AARI, and not even acknowledge him if they meet on the street. A weird request. I wonder if he’s, like, head of the secret police, or maybe even not the real Ghatsad.
-I walk away, but the camera lingers on Ghatsad and a nearby blue mage named Amnaf.
GHATSAD: “Tell the Grand Vizier that the ‘bell’ has been set.”
THESE FRIGGING AHT URHGANITES ARE PLAYING ME.
-I head a bit deeper into the ruins, unlock the portal leading back to Al Zahbi, and return to the city to report into Naja Salaheem.
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Mission: Astral Waves (Treasures of Aht Urhgan)
-When I return to Naja, she’s pissed. I haven’t reported in soon enough per company protocol.
-The scene changes to a couple of Immortals, including Amnaf from the ruins with me. They’re kneeling before Grand Vizier Razfahd.
-They give him the message that the “bell” has been set, and he goes to see the Empress to pass on the news.
EMPRESS NASHMEIRA: “Excellent. We have faith that you will not fail us…”
I assume she’s using the royal we, but wouldn’t be surprised to find that she’s really, like, a seven-headed snake monster and the “we” is her seven sentient heads or something.
-This is taking longer than Nashmeira would like. They have to act cautiously and avoid attention.
-The Grand Vizier turns to address some nearby Immortals. “The Age of Judgment is at hand. Deal with any who threaten our progress. We cannot give free reign to these otherworldly fiends.”
I assumed he’d want to send the Immortals to kill meddling San d’Orians and others from the west, but no. This makes me think he’s talking about that “Undead Swarm” army helping the beastmen. Later edit: Nope.]
-At this moment, a bizarre puppet who overhears this butts in: “’Otherworldly fiends?’ Is he talking about ghosts?”
-The camera pans back a bit and we see a woman who I imagine is the puppetmaster behind the puppet. “It appears our dreary days in the palace will soon be at an end.”
-The game isn’t showing us the woman’s face yet. Since she seems to be annoyed at having to be in the palace, I’ll assume she’s General Curilla, the woman sent from San d’Oria.
-lol like two seconds later I’m proven wrong.
???: “Can’t you show a little more enthusiasm?”
APHMAU (the puppetmaster): “Huh? Oh, yes. Wonderful.”
This is… strange. Mostly because the “???” is the puppet, and I thought the puppets were mindless automatons. Either this puppet is NOT a mindless automaton, or someone else is controlling it and speaking through it, like Cait Sith in FFVII.
-Back to Grand Vizier Razfahd: “Our main objective is to make them think the Candescences are our primary concern.”
Are those Candescences just a small piece of the puzzle then, or a distraction?
EMPRESS NASHMEIRA: “Grand Vizier. We wish to know more about these spirits returning to plague the living.”
-The Immortals kneel before the veiled throne and tell her.
“In recent years, the rumors concerning the appearance of spirits, and a ghost ship menacing the waters of the Cyan Deep, have become more and more frequent. The Immortals believe many of these rumors to stem from the activities of the Lamia.”
Oh, right! The Lamia in this game don’t just charm their enemies, but reanimate the dead as puppets.
“The ghost ship… it bears the name of a famous shipwreck known as the Ashu Talif… it is said that the true name of this ghost ship is really the Black Coffin – a pirate ship of the lost Kingdom of Ephramad.”
-The Immortals think these rumors are spread by a rebel group called the Seagull Phratrie, descendants of the Kingdom of Ephramad.
Still not over how cool the blue mage Immortals look.
Rumors of old Ephramad heroes returning to help their cause, specifically someone named Luzaf.
-Empress Nashmeira wants to learn more, while Razfahd is skeptical.
NASHMEIRA: “Puppetmaster. You will solve the mystery of this ghost ship.” So Aphmau is the court puppetmaster.
APHMAU: “Wha--? Uh, I…”
???: “We accept this task!”
-lolol I like these two. The puppet is more vocal and confident than the puppetmaster.
-Court intrigue is afoot. Grand Vizier Razfahd clearly dislikes the puppetmaster and her puppet.
-The puppet’s name is Ovjang, and the Empress talks to it like an independent being. Maybe Ovjang is the puppetmaster and Aphmau is the puppet. She seems to follow Ovjang’s lead.
-Razfahd sends some immortals to keep watch on the duo.
-The scene changes back to me and Naja Salaheem, where Naja Salaheem is reading out a long list of penalties docking my pay. Man, the mercenary life sucks lol.
-Naja Salaheem is suspicious, and not of me. Something about these jobs seems fishy, and she thinks the Empress is playing her.
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Next time: searching for Astral Candescences.
