Oh, sir, you're awake!
You were injured during the foray on Mt. Gulg, yes? I was here at my station, as always, when they carried you in on a makeshift stretcher looking disturbingly bereft of vigor...
And to compound my worry, the sky has...well, I'm sure you've seen. It has everyone rather concerned, to say the least.
Seeing you up and about is the first good news we've had in a while. Assuming you feel strong enough, would you mayhap consider a stroll around the city to reassure our anxious citizens?
Bragi was one of those who helped convey you to your chambers, and he has visited several times since to inquire after your condition...
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Well, well, look who's back from the dead!
Aye, it was a grim sight. Your companions looked fair ready to drop when they brought you in, so I offered a helping hand. Couldn't bear to see them struggle so...
And you, my friend, I feared you had one foot in the grave. Cold and lifeless, you were, like a corpse that was somehow still breathing.
Then they told me some evil bastard went and snatched our poor Exarch away in the midst of the chaos. Wicked white, what is this world coming to...?
...Bah, but moaning never solved a thing, did it? Nay, it's times like these that we Crystarium folk stand tall and do what needs to be done.
Trade with Eulmore is back on the table. We'd best make use of those resources to fortify the city against the eaters─or whatever misery the fates deem fit to throw at us next.
...Speaking of misery, Chessamile was worried sick about you. A healer wringing her hands is not a sight you ever wish to see, let me tell you...
Full glad I am to see you walking again, my friend. But this business with the Exarch...it weighs heavily upon all our minds.
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Oh! Oh, sweetie, you're alive!
No one's been allowed to see you─even Spagyrics chirurgeons were forbidden from making visits...
Ryne was kind enough to tell me you were showing symptoms similar to eater corruption─so I suppose there was little any of us could have done for you in any case.
As for your companions, they've been rushing hither and yon, seeking a cure to your condition. I worry to see their faces grown ever more haggard every time they pass through the Crystarium...
I shall let them know you're awake. And when they come to see you, sweetie, please do convince them to rest a bit─they won't be helping anyone if they all collapse of exhaustion.
Ah, and our own Moren has been little better, I'm afraid. He hasn't left the Cabinet, too busy with his nose buried in one dusty tome or another...
I wish I could brew you a tonic, sweetie, but I've no idea how it might affect you...
...No, it's too dangerous. In the end, I can but pray for your well-being. May blessed shadow keep you, your friends, and the Exarch as well.
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Confound it, this says the same thing as the last! Mayhap I should approach the problem from a different perspective...
Forename! Is it truly you and not some figment of my imagination!?
Oh, but this is wonderful! 'Twould seem our prayers have been answered!
Feeling otherwise helpless, I've been scouring our shelves for the wisdom to explain this most worrisome conundrum: why, with all the Lightwardens defeated, has the Light returned to obscure the sky?
I must have pored over a hundred tomes, but no definitive conclusion seems forthcoming. So many questions I would pose to the Exarch...and thus do I feel his absence all the more keenly.
Now that you are awake, however, I am hopeful the search for our stolen steward might begin in earnest.
Katliss, meanwhile, leads the Crystalline Mean in preparations for battle...though against what foe, we are as yet uncertain. Why not pay her a visit? I expect seeing you upright would be a much-welcome relief!
I shall forge ahead with my search for answers. I'll not have it said that I abandoned my efforts at the first sign of hardship!
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Forename! Alive and well, I see!
You gave us all a proper fright, you know that? The friends you've made in the facets have been talking with me, wondering what they could do to help...
You gave us all a proper fright, you know that? Not a day's gone by that I haven't heard folk worrying what's to become of you or the Exarch...
Anyway, I'm glad you've recovered enough to stand.
...You're not planning on striking out straightaway, though, are you? I was hoping to have a better look at your equipment...
If we'd been able to provide you with better weapons or sturdier helms...then maybe you would have won the day, and the Exarch would still be here.
As such, we're keeping busy consulting each other on new forging techniques and designs and the like. If you could stand still a moment, I'd like to assess the gear we're trying to improve...
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Cutscene start.
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Aye, well... That's some fine work, I must admit.
It wouldn't be impossible to make something better, but we'd need to experiment with different patterns and materials. And I'm not sure we have that kind of time...
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That sounds like a challenge that he would enjoy.
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Greetings, Glynard. The master of the Stairs is running his own errands now, is he?
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Aye, well, my servers are distraught enough as it is, and I didn't want to crack the whip too hard.
But never mind that. I'm thinking our absent genius and his epiphanies are the perfect answer to this predicament of yours.
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And by “genius,” you mean old Grenoldt? He is a man of unrivaled gifts, I won't argue with you there.
But what good does his talent do us if we can't bloody find him? No one's seen hide nor hair of Grenoldt since he wandered off some years ago.
You know what he's like once he latches onto an idea─he's probably cloistered himself in some forgotten cave, completely absorbed in his latest creation. I wouldn't even know where to start looking...
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...That does make things difficult.
Still, if that eccentric is someone you're destined to meet, I wager he'll show up soon enough.
In my time at the bar, many's the tale I've heard told of strangely fated encounters─even if a few of them might be stretching the truth just a bit.
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We'll keep our noses to the grindstone for the time being. But on the off chance you do encounter Grenoldt, you'd be wise to take advantage of his brilliance rather than wait on our slow-and-steady progress.
This is all talk for when you're fully recovered, of course. I'll let you get back to convalescing, eh?
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Ah, before you do that... You're actually the reason I came over here in the first place.
I don't suggest partaking of my stock until you're properly well, but if you're passing near the Stairs, then I've a regular who's eager to see you.
I don't suggest partaking of my stock until you're properly well, but if you're passing near the Stairs, then I've a few regulars I'd like to introduce you to.
I'd best be getting back. Just because the world's coming apart at the seams doesn't mean we have to follow suit now, does it?
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Hear, hear. We can't forget the heart upon which this city was founded, or the Exarch might not have much of a home to return to.
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Cutscene end.
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