MSQ: Passage

Revision as of 17:15, 11 February 2019 by Inni (talk | contribs) (→‎INFERNO: added hyperlinks)
This article covers the story for levels 15-20, read the previous story here.

PASSAGE

A sudden hero to their people, tales of the adventurer’s exploits spread throughout the city-state. Reminded of the Warriors of Light, the city’s leader names them as an envoy to the other two cities in hopes of organizing a day of remembrance across Eorzea for all that was lost at the Battle of Cartenau. A message is quietly passed between the leaders that the wolf grows more active as of late, but none mention its true meaning.

In Eastern La Noscea, however, a Garlean airship bears XIVth Legion Gaius van Baelsar, the Black Wolf, and his three tribunii to Castrum Occidens in continuing preparations for a new campaign. Before a cohort of saluting soldiers, he rallies his legion behind his cause, describing what they will soon face – Eorzea, festering in corruption and worship of eikons (icons), has somehow withstood Garlemald’s might against incredible odds, but the primal threat must be extinguished and the realm must be brought under the yoke of the Empire, and the XIVth Imperial Legion will see it done.

XIVth Imperial Legion leadership

“Eorzea… A blighted realm, riddled with false gods… Twice now it has eluded the Empire’s grasp. For all the destruction it wrought, even Meteor, the Great Sin, failed to yield us control over it. And for this failure, the realm has sunk deeper into depravity. It is twisted beyond all reckoning—rotten nigh to the core. Yet it must be saved. Only Garlean rule can bring order to Eorzea. It falls to us to deliver the misguided masses from their ignorance.”

With their notoriety growing, the adventurer is solicited by Baderon to assist the Yellowjackets with an exploration of Sastasha Seagrot, a suspected pirate hideout. Sure enough, the caves are riddled with Serpent Reavers and connect to a hidden port beneath the Sahagin's foothold in Western La Noscea. Neutralizing this threat leads Baderon to send the adventurer to Gridania, where a similar problem has taken hold in the Tam-Tara Deepcroft due to the entrenching of a doomsday cult known as the Lambs of Dalamud. Having heard of these exploits, the Adventurers' Guild in Ul'dah requests aid in the securing the safety of the Copperbell Mines, which was recently closed after being overrun by hecatonchiers locked in its depths for three centuries at the hands of the Thorne Dynasty, thought long dead.

Scions

The adventurer is the approached by Y'shtola, Thancred, or Yda and Papalymo, who had been following their exploits since realizing that they possessed both the Echo and the will to help Eorzeans in need. Offering them the means to discover the meaning behind their mysterious visions, the Archon extends to them an invitation to join the Scions of the Seventh Dawn, an organization wholly dedicated to safeguarding the future of Eorzea. Minfilia, the organization’s leader, welcomes the adventurer with open arms, offering access to the full extent of the Scion’s resources in exchange for any assistance that can be provided, especially against the threat of the primals, aetherial demigods summoned by the realm’s beast tribes. Those possessing the Echo are invaluable allies against them, she explains, as, somehow, a primal’s ability to bend the minds of men to their will is useless against those with the blessing.

If the adventurer is a Warrior of Light returning from Cartenau, this is the first time anyone remembers their identity. Minfilia can’t explain why, and suggests that the secret be kept as to not draw unwanted and distracting attention, but assures the adventurer that they are home and have been dearly missed.

INFERNO

Amalj'aa summoning their primal

A recent string of crystal theft and abduction lead Thancred and the adventurer to Thanalan, where both are confirmed to be the work of the Amal’jaa. Suspecting them to be aided by someone in the Drybone community, the adventurer spends some time at the local church helping a refugee named Marques performing odd jobs until it is revealed that an unscrupulous merchant has been the one in collusion with the beastmen.

Using the merchant as bait, the adventurer joins with the Immortal Flames to lure the Amal’jaa into a trap, but a traitor within the flames sells the party out and they are captured as an offering to the beastmen’s primal – Ifrit, Lord of the Inferno. The Amalj’aa return with their captives to the Bowl of Embers, where Ifrit is summoned forth from the aether. The primal bathes his captives in a blue flame that sears not their flesh, but removes all resistance to his will. The tempered rise proclaiming Ifrit the one true god, but the Amalj’aa panic when they see that the adventurer is immune. When Ifrit can find no sense of another primal on their soul, he labels them one of the “godless blessed” of which the Paragon spoke and attacks, insistent that their kind not be suffered to live. Against all odds, the adventurer overcomes the freshly summoned Ifrit and returns the aether spent on his summoning to the land. Nearby, XIVth Imperial Legion tribunii Livia sas Junius and Nero tol Scavea look on, though Nero is wistfully underwhelmed by Ifrit’s power… and concerned about the adventurer’s.

Ifrit, Lord of Embers

Thancred arrives too late to assist, and the fact that he wasn’t there to assist the party weighs heavily upon him, even moreso knowing that those unable to resist a primal’s tempering must be put to the sword, for they will never truly recover. His only solace is that the adventurer has come to little harm. Word spreads quickly, and soon representatives from all three Grand Company arrive to recruit Ifrit’s bane as their own. Minfilia eases the pressure by suggesting that the adventurer attend the remembrance ceremonies across Eorzea and listen to each Grand Company leader’s speech before making a final decision. At each ceremony, they are approached by a pair of young, cynical Elezen twins who seem to question if the city-states are even worth saving, as they are. The adventurer decides on a Grand Company, but their initiation is interrupted by an urgent report concerning a Highwind Skyways airship downed by Garleans and in need of rescue. The ship turns out to be owned by the Garlond Ironworks – the very first model created since Cid Garlond, the Ironworks’ leader, vanished in the Calamity – under heavy attack by a Garlean unit. The imperials are scattered, returning Ironworks engineers Biggs and Wedge to safety.


This concludes the story for level 15-20, read on here.