- Licinia's inner turmoil is writ plain on her face.
Hmm? Sorry, I was... I'm still finding it hard to come to terms with all that's happened. Now that you're here, though, I'm hoping things might change for the better.
You know, I've worked up quite a sweat from all that running about, so I'll leave space around the fire for the others.
As you can tell, they're in a far worse state than me. We were planning to look for somewhere warmer or with more food, but they're not going anywhere until we nurse them back to health...which I don't know how to do. Is there anything you can do to help them? |
Before the civil war, I was a student. The others were officials of some sort, I think... Heh, even after all this time together, we hardly know the first thing about each other.
What I do know is this: we're Garleans. When times are hard, we stick together, no matter what. |
I can treat their frostbite and their wounds. But it will take time for the fire to do its work...
Now would be a good occasion to make use of Emmanellain's tinctures─the ones that can warm the body from the inside out. Would you make sure everyone gets one?
If there's something that can be said for Lord Emmanellain, he's not one to leave others at the mercy of the cold. Of course, being a man of Coerthas, I'm sure he is more aware than most of its dangers, but I sense that is not the only reason.
Ever since the warm welcome we received at Camp Dragonhead, the hospitality he and his brothers have afforded us has been nothing short of exemplary. Perhaps they aspire to live up to the example set by Lord Edmont. |
The numbness is beginning to subside, though I suspect once the fire dies, it will return with a vengeance.
Warming tincture? I've never heard of such a thing. No harm in trying...
But tell me, have you heard aught of the city? Though calling it that seems absurd after what's happened. It's nothing but ruins now...
The few buildings still standing offer no more than meager protection from wind and snow. Food production, water purification...the magitek that sustained us has come to a grinding halt.
What machina that remains operational cannot be run for lack of ceruleum. Of course, Cerulea Ingens is full of the stuff, for all the good it does us. No one here knows the first thing about extraction or refinement...
Many of our ancestors succumbed to the bitter cold when first they came to these lands. Much as we are now.
But with discipline and order, any obstacle can be overcome. When every man knows his duty and is held to account if he shirks it. Without a hierarchy, this is what we are reduced to. |
All is well! Yes, never better!
Oh, what sweet libation is this? Is it...poison, by any chance?
Hahaha! 'Twas a joke, a joke! Hahaha! Ha...ha... Ahh... “If I laugh, 'tis that I may not weep”─so said the poet. And alas, my tears would freeze on my cheek ere they fell.
We are the blessed damned, to bear witness to the fall of the great Empire, while our brethren lie dead...or live on as puppets of flesh.
First came the war,
Then came the roar,
When morning came,
Garlemald was no more!
In a cacophony of gunfire, explosions, and screams was our beloved capital razed to the ground. From the rubble rose the disheveled remnants, their lavish finery caked in ash as they shuffled mindlessly towards the palace...
Each bearing a fragment of stone or metal─an offering perhaps to the architect of our destruction. A hopeful few tried to reason with the deranged, only to be beaten for their kindness...
But I knew better than to plead with the horde. I fled with my health─if not my conscience preserved. Now I wait with my fellow cowards for our final judgment.
If you listen─listen very, very carefully, you can hear it. The sound of my stomach eating itself. Would that it could devour my soul. |
|
What do you want?
Hmm? A tincture? May as well drink it, I suppose.
|
 Cutscene start.
|
This? It's a radio. You don't have them where you come from, I take it? We use them to listen to messages sent by others, even over great distances.
There are different types, but this model is by far the most popular. Made with quality components crafted with the finest ore─sourced from Locus Amoenus, it is.
Not all that useful since the capital fell into ruin. The people at the broadcasting station must've either fled or...ended up like all the others, because all we've been hearing is the same music, being played over and over again...
"Home Beyond the Horizon." An ode to the brave men and women sent to reclaim our ancestral homeland of Locus Amoenus.
We may have founded an empire in these frozen wastes, but we always hoped to take back what was once ours.
'Tis a solemn reminder that though we must suffer great hardship, better days will surely come...
Despite everything, I believe that Emperor Varis yet lives, and that he speaks to us through our radios.
It was a cunning strategy, faking his murder. He must've foreseen this catastrophe and chosen to conceal himself, that he may one day make his triumphant return...
Yes...yes, I'm sure of it. Emperor Varis would not be defeated so easily. |
| Cutscene end.
|
I have faith you will deliver us from this madness, Your Radiance. By your grace shall Garlemald be reborn... |
| Cutscene start.
|
So this is what you gave the others? Thank you. I'll save it for later.
Actually, I've a few things to ask you.
Are you part of the group staying in Laterum?
I saw Legatus Vergilia's troops heading towards the Magna Glacies a few days ago. Are they the ones you encountered?
Camp Broken Glass, you call it... And Vergilia and her men are all there now. Hmm...
So how did you reach the Magna Glacies? Did you cross the mountains on foot?
Airships... Then there might be a way to─ |
|
Licinia... Where is everyone?
|
I-Is something the matter?
A voice from inside, you say? You must be imagining things. Everyone's out here!
Perhaps a baby almasty has found its way into the house. It wouldn't be the first time.
Without the soldiers to scare them off, wild animals have been roaming closer to the settlements. Some have been known to attack people, too...
I-I've just had an idea. If you and yours are strong enough to defeat a legatus, then surely a few beasts shouldn't pose a threat.
If you've a mind to continue helping us, perhaps you could head to the other side of the lake. There's a small group of tappers living there─people whose job was to extract ceruleum. They still do, from what we can tell.
I've already tried asking if they would share their fuel with us, but they're not willing to give it away. They want food in exchange─lots of food─and that's something we don't have and can't get on our own.
On top of that, to even reach their den, we'd have to make our way past all those creatures.
Would you be willing to go in our place? We only need enough ceruleum to last until the others are strong enough to travel to your camp. If the offer still stands, that is. Oh, and I don't expect you to give up your own supplies...but there might be another way to pay the tappers. |
What will you say?
| If it's ceruleum you need, then ceruleum you shall have!
|
You'd best watch out for "baby almasties" while we're away.
|
|
|
|
Hmm? Ah, yes, of course! If I see any, I'll be sure to shoo them away!
|
|
|
To reach Tapper's Den, you'll have to cross the lake. The ice is thick enough to support a person's weight, but if you'd rather not take the risk, you'll need to take the long way around.
Finding the entrance can be a bit tricky, too, so it's easier to just look for someone standing guard outside. However you decide to head there, please be careful.
|
| Cutscene end.
|
I'm not sure what else the tappers might need besides provisions, though I daresay that capable fighters like yourself can offer them other forms of compensation. Culling dangerous beasts, that sort of thing. |
How did you get in here!? |
Come here from across the ice fields, did you? Then we'd better hope you weren't followed by any of them crazed soldiers, or we're done for. |
How the bloody hells did you find us here? And who are you!? |
Who goes there!? How did you find us?
What do you mean I stand out like a sore thumb? Hmph! If the purebloods over at Victors' Spoils hadn't given away our location, you'd never have found us!
Those stuck-up arseholes... Thought they could come waltzing in here demanding ceruleum with nothing to offer in return. Hah! Looks like the boot's on the other foot now the capital's gone to shite!
So they've resorted to sending you to "negotiate"? I know your game, sellsword. If they think we'll give in to intimidation, they've got another think coming! |
|
Stop, please! Consider me intimidated!
|
| Cutscene start.
|
|
Just after you left, Licinia asked me to go and catch up with you, in case you needed a hand. Someone must've let slip that I've a little experience in transporting barrels of ceruleum...
So this is Tapper's Den... Well then, after you.
|
Who are you!? What happened to the guards!?
Eorzeans and rebels here to save the people of Garlemald?
That doesn't make any godsdamned sense! Why in the hells would you pass up this chance to put those imperial bastards to the sword!? |
|
Let me guess. None of you are Garlean? You were brought here from other lands?
|
Gyr Abania, Yanxia, Bozja, Dalmasca, to name but a few. Some dragged here against our will, others fed bollocks about a better life, all put to work extracting ceruleum.
All given the esteemed title of "aan"─placing us firmly on the bottom rung of the ladder.
But the old hierarchy means nothing in the new Garlemald, says we. About the only thing that's escaped more or less unscathed is Cerulea Ingens. Still sustaining us, even with our paymasters out of the picture. |
|
We hear you're experts in drawing up ceruleum from the bottom of the lake. But how can you do that if it's frozen over?
|
Ha! Wouldn't you like to know? Trade secrets, I'm afraid.
At any rate, it's not as if ceruleum is used for much these days, what with the city in ruins. We take enough to power our heaters and save the surplus for later. And though it helps stave off the cold, it does sod all about our hunger unless we can trade it away.
Speaking of which, be sure to tell your contingent we've got ceruleum by the barrelful. If they're interested, we'll exchange it for whatever provisions they're willing to spare. |
|
We can certainly ask. But if you're all free to go now, why carry on living here?
|
Free to go? Go where?
Even if we managed to get back to our homelands, there'd be nothing left for us, thanks to the Empire. And the knowledge and skills we acquired working here would be practically useless outside of Garlemald.
So we're staying for the time being. Long as there's a need for ceruleum, we'll find a way to get by, even if Garlemald as we knew it is gone for good. |
| Cutscene end.
|
If you're wondering why we'd post guards outside, it's because we've had trouble with other refugees, and I don't mean the ones at Victors' Spoils. Some of them come bearing weapons, and won't take no for an answer.
As for the two guards you met on the way in, I'll tell them what we've discussed─once they've recovered from the beating you gave them. Come to think of it, maybe we should ask your contingent to send some bandages and healing balm... |
Regardless of what the Ilsabard contingent does for the people of Garlemald, the Empire itself is already a thing of the past.
For many, that would be a cause for celebration, while for others, their whole way of life will have been turned upside down.
After all the atrocities committed in the Empire's name, perhaps it is for the best that it is consigned to history. But what of the ordinary people, their lives, their stories? Should they be forgotten too?
Hmm... I suppose there'll be plenty of time to ponder that later. For now, let's see about getting some ceruleum. |
The fire we built at Victors' Spoils won't last forever, and it's too dangerous for Licinia and the others to search for more kindling. If we can get them some ceruleum, that'll be one less thing for them to worry about...for a time, at least. | 
|
Acquisition
Closest Aetheryte: Camp Broken Glass
Requirements
Rewards
Description
Objectives
Unlocks Quests
