Beneath the Surface

Mainquest1 Icon.png Lv. 80   Beneath the Surface
Quest

Journal detail hr1 07.png Acquisition
This quest unlocks an instanced duty.
Urianger: Lakeland - The Forest of the Lost Shepherd (x:26.2, y:32.6)

Map33 Icon.pngClosest Aetheryte: Fort Jobb

Journal detail hr1 08.png Requirements
071201.png80A Whale's TaleMainquest1 Icon.png A Whale's Tale (Level 80)

Spacer2.png Any Disciple of War or Magic (excluding limited jobs) (Level 80)

Journal detail hr1 03.png Rewards

22,440
Experience Points



4,000
Gil
Miscellaneous Reward

Dungeon Icon.png Anamnesis Anyder (Level 80)

Edit Beneath the Surface's Miscellaneous Reward
Journal detail hr1 04.png Description
Thus reminded of the urgency of your investigation, Urianger would press on.
Journal detail hr1 01.png Objectives
  • Speak with Urianger at the Split Hull.
  • Enter Anamnesis Anyder.
  • Speak with Y'shtola.
Journal detail hr1 02.png Unlocks Quests
071201.png80Echoes of a Fallen StarMainquest1 Icon.png Echoes of a Fallen Star (Level 80)

Journal detail hr1 07.png NPCs Involved
MainIcon7.png
Maps
Urianger, Thancred, Alphinaud, Alisaie, Y'shtola, Ryne, Diplomatic Ancient One, Distressed Ancient One, Venat
 
Journal detail hr1 08.png Objects Involved
Entrance To Noesis
 
Trust System Icon.png Trust NPCs Available
061801.png
UriangerAlphinaudAlisaieThancredY'shtolaRyne
 

  • Thus reminded of the urgency of your investigation, Urianger would press on.
  • Urianger suggests that you cut short your rest that the investigation into the undersea ruins might commence without further delay. This proposal meets with no resistance from Thancred or yourself, so the three of you depart forthwith for the Split Hull, where the remainder of your party awaits.
  • You join your companions at the Split Hull, and it is thankfully only a short while before your ancient guide appears overhead. All that remains now is to leap from the cliffs to Bismarck's back, and allow him to take you deep into the illuminated land, where secrets of the past yet slumber.
※Speak with your companion NPCs outside the instance entrance if you wish to enlist them for this duty.
※Use the Duty Finder if you wish to complete the instance alongside fellow players.
  • Fighting your way past a horde of hostile benthos, you cannot help but notice the astonishing number of forms stored within Anamnesis Anyder. Perhaps still more secrets of the ancients lie within the central chamber of Noesis─and with Rukshs Dheem vanquished, they are yours for the taking.
  • As you explore Noesis with your fellow Scions, an odd device activates of its own accord, conjuring the lifelike echoes of several ancient beings. This marvelous record of long-forgotten affairs shows them deep in conversation regarding the summoning of Hydaelyn, of all things, which was apparently spearheaded by a personage named “Venat.” Further prodding causes the device to divulge a single additional memory that reveals this Venat became Hydaelyn's heart─and Elidibus, Zodiark's.
  • An astonished Y'shtola attempts to reactivate the device that you might view further records, but unfortunately meets with no success. For want of further revelations, you are left confounded as to the true identity of Elidibus, who by rights should have long since ceased to be. The group trusts to Y'shtola to remain in Anamnesis Anyder and coax out more from the facility, while the rest of you return to keeping an eye on the wider world─or worlds, in your case.

Edit Beneath the Surface's Dialogue
It pains me to think that men with such pure intent are being made to serve Ascian ends, however directly. But they're right. The people need heroes.
Though our respite was cut short, I daresay we are all eager to avail ourselves of such knowledge as the ruins may hold.
Aye, and I doubt further contemplation of Elidibus's machinations will be conducive to relaxation. We may as well make for the Split Hull now.
Quest Accepted
You arrived rather early. Are you certain you did as you were told?
We rested! Didn't we, Forename?
So, how much of a respite did you actually enjoy? Half a moment's?
What's keeping Bismarck? Surely it doesn't take this long to shake off a few loose stones.
Perhaps we ought to have clarified what Bismarck meant by "a short while." To his mind, our whole lives might be as the blink of an eye...
All are present. Now we need but await Bismarck's coming.
Player7 Icon.png Cutscene start.
'Tis time. Pray make ready.
Player7 Icon.png Cutscene end.
Anamnesis Anyder Now Accessible
Trust System
Small Talk

I like to think my skills have improved in some small way since the last time we fought together. I won't let you down.

We can't be certain that the benthos are all we'll find down there. Stay alert.

Whether or not we find the knowledge we seek, we have a duty to stem the benthos' aggression. Eulmore has only just begun to rebuild.

What are we waiting for?

We must hope that whatever slumbers in the depths will help to shed some light upon Elidibus's recent activities.

Unlike Amaurot, the ruins which we now seek are no illusion. There is no knowing what awaiteth below.

Player7 Icon.png Voiced cutscene start.
This structure must have served an important function. And here are yet more crystals...
I too noted the crystal repository on the way. The benthos seem to employ them in their spellcasting.
In such vessels did the ancients preserve concepts─ideal forms to be drawn upon in the act of creation.
That so great an abundance should reside here lendeth credence to Y'shtola's conclusion. This facility held great significance.
Thank you all for joining us at Anyder in these most perilous of times.
By the summoning of Zodiark have we been granted a reprieve. Yet immutable as the laws He has woven may seem, they will not serve to forestall our doom.
Nay. Should we continue down this path, our fate will be the same.

I said as much to the Convocation, of course, but the stubborn fools turned a deaf ear to my warnings.


I had hoped that the defector, at least, would side with us, but I regret to report our overtures have gone unanswered.


Whither tend your thoughts, Venat? Where you lead, we will follow.
I shall not speak ill of the Convocation─they too seek only to secure the future of our star.

Yet it is plain they will not countenance a permanent solution. That being the case, we must ask ourselves a simple question: are we prepared to pursue our chosen course, even should it mean suffering the eternal condemnation of our brethren?


If so, I see no further reason to demur.


Let us bring forth the Light that shall ever after keep the Darkness in check.
So...it was they who first summoned Hydaelyn.
Their discussion did seem to imply as much, yes. I cannot say I have ever heard of this "Venat" before.
For a certainty, Emet-Selch never uttered the name, speak though he did of the schism which Zodiark's advent wrought upon mankind.

Some were of the viewpoint that His power must needs be restrained, and to that end did they call forth She who would serve as His shackles.


We know now that it was this Venat to whom they looked for leadership.
And that this place, in all likelihood, served as their headquarters. The presence of such intimate records attests to that.

I would hear what else they have to tell us. All of it. Did anyone see the source of the image?


The device there? Then let us see what other secrets it holds.
Venat, please... Why must it be you?
If I may speak plainly, I would sooner it were another─any other. You are our leader. None can take your place.
You know as well as I that but few support our cause. Far fewer than they who place their faith in Zodiark.

If Hydaelyn is to stand a chance of opposing Him, I am the only one who might suffice as Her heart.


Rest assured, however: I shall not vanish from this world. The form I take shall ever remain my choice.
...Then I will press you no more. Only know this...you will be sorely missed.
I wonder...is this how the Convocation felt about Elidibus?
What?
Forgive me, but did that not strongly imply that Elidibus sacrificed himself to become Zodiark's heart?
Seven hells... Then who─or what─are we dealing with?
Player7 Icon.png Voiced cutscene end.
I had always assumed Elidibus to be of the same ilk as Lahabrea and Emet-Selch. But if the real Elidibus sacrificed himself before the sundering...
It makes no sense...
That this facility shared intimate ties with the Akadaemia Anyder may readily be discerned from the common element in their names. Based on mine observations, 'tis like that the forms housed here were conveyed unto the Akadaemia only when required, and thence returned for safekeeping.

Yet...such procedural minutiae are of largely academic interest, I concede. 'Tis unto the parties which did frequent these institutions that our thoughts should rightly turn. Specifically, the followers of Venat, and the Convocation of Fourteen...


...To say naught of the matter of Elidibus.
And there I was thinking "immortal" was bad. Would someone explain to me how we're meant to kill a being who doesn't technically exist?
Do you think we might be able to activate the device again? I should like to hear how those discussions ended.
The device appears to activate via a form of aetherial attunement, not unlike an aetheryte. Beyond that, I can say little for certain, save that we should take this opportunity to see what other records it contains.
Player7 Icon.png Cutscene start.
No response. Confound it.
If I may, milady─the panel did formerly emit a soft-yet-perceptible glow. That it doth so no longer may betoken the depletion of some essential energy within.
Given how long it has lain dormant, I think it fortunate it functioned at all.
That may be, but if we can't get it to work again, we'll be leaving with more questions than we've answered.
The white-robed emissary hath ever named himself "Elidibus." Yet if the shade spoke true, Elidibus ceased to be ere even the sundering came to pass.

This calleth to mind a truth that Emet-Selch did once reveal in passing─that the names by which we know our foes are not those given to Ascians at birth. Rather, they are titles of office, afforded to individuals of merit at such time as the role becometh vacant.


Perchance the Elidibus at Zodiark's heart and the emissary with whom we are acquainted be not one and the same, but predecessor and successor.
It's possible. If the previous Elidibus perished before the Final Days, the one we know could still be a survivor of the sundering.

And yet...something in that explanation rings false.


I will remain for a time. I would not abandon my attempts to revive the device so soon. There is more to learn here─I can feel it.
In matters of aetherology, I know of none as capable as thee. If there existeth a means to learn more, thou wilt surely find it.
Whilst thou art thus engaged, we shall attend to matters on the surface.
Player7 Icon.png Cutscene end.
Quest Complete
System
You may now enter Anamnesis Anyder with a party of NPC avatars. To make use of this feature, open the Trust interface located under Duty in the main menu.

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