Know Your Enemy/Plot Details

< Know Your Enemy
Know Your Enemy - Prologue
Flame Lieutenant Aubrey: Hello, <Name>. And how are y─ <Name>...? Have you been crying? Did the general's words move you to tears?

Flame Lieutenant Aubrey: There is talk of the other Grand Company leaders making similar addresses. But the incoherent whisperings of a forest child and the rousings of a jumped-up pirate whore are as naught next to the honest words and stirring roars of our own General Raubahn, do you not think?

Flame Lieutenant Aubrey: No. Do not answer that. The time for such thought is past. There is no place for thinking in this war─only knowing.

Flame Lieutenant Aubrey: Hm? You have heard such words before? From a man you spoke with after the speech? Then you have already had time to think on their truth, and will be prepared for the journey ahead.

Flame Lieutenant Aubrey: You were sent to serve in the companies of the other nations to help draw recruits to the Immortal Flames. Now we would ask that you make use of your standing within the Order of the Twin Adder and Maelstrom, by attending the speeches of Kan-E-Senna and Merlwyb.

Know Your Enemy - Part 1
Flame Lieutenant Aubrey: Welcome back, <Name>. Were you able to hear the speeches of the other Grand Company leaders? Tell me everything you have learned.

Flame Lieutenant Aubrey: Hmmm... So the Maelstrom and Twin Adder are not idle. To hear you tell it, they are focusing more on recruiting than we thought. We must redouble our efforts.

Flame Lieutenant Aubrey: But enough of that. Let us speak now of you, <Name>. You have excelled in your service to the Flames. Even as a recruit, your name is often heard within the Hall. Happily, I have a new task befitting one of your courage and ability.

Flame Lieutenant Aubrey: Surely you have heard by now of the Garlond Ironworks. It is a collective formed of the realm's most talented engineers and smiths, overseen by the incomparable Cid Garlond─a man of rare talent.

Flame Lieutenant Aubrey: Such devices as the airships are just the beginning of the wonders born of their forges and workshops. We have them to thank for the vast majority of the magitek at our disposal.

Flame Lieutenant Aubrey: They spearhead the technological progress of the realm, and for that, we owe their genius a great debt. But like all genius, theirs is not without a crippling flaw─they have no mind for business.

Flame Lieutenant Aubrey: The fools will not pledge themselves to a single nation, but share their knowledge and secrets freely with all. They refuse every offer we make, always citing some thrice-damned philosophy. Bloody idealists!

Flame Lieutenant Aubrey: Imagine if that genius were funded by the wealth of Ul'dah! If those engineers could pursue their passions without heed to the costs of rare materials and the price of a pint of ceruleum. Think of the progress to be made! Of the knowledge to be had!

Flame Lieutenant Aubrey: Yet there is still hope, for even philosophies must adapt to the times which birthed them. And in these dark times, with the Garleans on our doorstep and the Grand Companies preparing to move, one amongst them came forward.

Flame Lieutenant Aubrey: His name is Charledore, and we entered into a contract with him some time ago. In exchange for funding, he agreed to provide us with information gleaned from their observations of Dalamud─the lesser moon.

Flame Lieutenant Aubrey: His reports have been coming, as agreed. Or had been, until some few days ago. The last report we received from him concerned the reddish hue that Dalamud had taken on. Since then we have lost all contact.

Flame Lieutenant Aubrey: Is this simply negligence? A breach of contract? Has Charledore met with danger? We must know. I ask that you search for him, <Name>, and find the answer.

Flame Lieutenant Aubrey: If he is in danger, deliver him from it. If he is not, see to it that he remembers our agreement, or gives us back our gil. Every last one.

Flame Lieutenant Aubrey: Several of his colleagues from the Ironworks have been sent to the airship landing for a routine inspection. Mayhap some among them will know of his whereabouts. Will you go?

((Refuse))

Flame Lieutenant Aubrey: That is not the answer I expected. It is not like you to let an opportunity to distinguish yourself pass. I hope you do not mean to forsake us for one of the other companies...

((Accept))

Flame Lieutenant Aubrey: Then travel to the Wellhead Lift south of the Ruby Road Exchange. It will take you to the airship landing. I look forward to hearing your findings.

Know Your Enemy - Part 2
E'bolaff: Where is Charledore? I couldn't say. But I will know where you learned that name, friend.

E'bolaff: A contract with the Flames? Exchanging information for gil? Such treachery breaks nearly every vow we speak when we join the Ironworks. So the traitor's treacheries go that far...

E'bolaff: I suppose I cannot feign surprise. Given what we now know, it is clear Charledore never meant to keep to our code.

E'bolaff: You will not find him here. He has gone, and will not be back. Charledore was a spy amongst us─a Garlean.

E'bolaff: We noticed that the records of certain findings would oft go missing, and so began an investigation in secret. In time, damning evidence came to light implicating Charledore.

E'bolaff: So we confronted him, armed only with words─a foolish mistake, in retrospect. Sure enough, he bolted.

E'bolaff: Some of our men gave chase, following him as far as southwest of Camp Horizon. The search continues, but we have yet to find any trace of him.

E'bolaff: The information he stole is...sensitive. There are technical documents, yes, but also intelligence concerning the Grand Companies and the great cities of the realm. The longer Charledore eludes us, the greater the chance it will reach Garlean hands.

E'bolaff: It must not come to that. I wonder, might you be willing to help us? It is in the best interests of every Eorzean that these documents are recovered─and swiftly. If you would serve the realm, travel to the southwest of Camp Horizon, and join in the search for this traitor.

Know Your Enemy - Part 3
Charledore: <cough> You know nothing, fool. Nothing!

Charledore: Your pathetic realm worships Cid Garlond─the genius, the creator. Hah! <cough> <cough> But did you know he was once an engineer of Garlemald? An artisan in the employ of His Radiance? No, of course you bloody didn't.

Charledore: He is driven by a great passion─yet blinded by it as well. His research and experiments made our Empire what it is, spilling the blood of hundreds, thousands in the process. A small price to pay for his art.

Charledore: For years, he enjoyed His Radiance's favor, being given all he ever asked, until one day he tired of his duties, turned his cloak and forsook us for this doomed realm. All for his own ends, lest you doubt it. That monster never gave a damn about anything else!

Charledore: And the dogs at the Ironworks name me a traitor!? Hah! They who serve the greatest traitor of all!

Charledore: Isn't that right...Cid?

Cid: Charledore... So you were the spy among us.

Cid: You were ordered to steal our findings─to learn what we knew of Dalamud. For Meteor─

Charledore: Stay your bloody tongue!

Charledore: The stench of the eikons permeates this pathetic realm. Even now I feel saturated by it. I can taste their stink, and every time I do, I fear that I've somehow been infected by it. Destruction alone can deliver this Eorzea from its taint─and destruction it will know!

Charledore: No man can stop Ifrit. Nor Leviathan and Titan, nor the eikons yet to come. Only Eorzea's end will bring about their death!

Charledore: Long live Nael van Darnus!!! Long live Garlemald!!!

Cid: Hmph... Spoken like a true Garlean. Is that you, <Name>?

Cid: There is much I would ask─but not here. I will expect you at the airship landing in Ul'dah.

Know Your Enemy - Part 4
Cid: You've come. Good.

Cid: Ah, and you've come for the truth. Yes, the look in your eye tells me that much. It is a look I know well.

Cid: Charledore spoke true. I was once Garlemald's man. I studied the ways of their magitek, and from them created new theories and methods. In my lust for innovation, many lives were sacrificed.

Cid: But of one thing he was wrong─I did not turn my cloak for profit, or fame, or some other selfish motive.

Cid: I left Garlemald to fight. To defy the Empire, and the man I was. I won't let another Ala Mhigo come to pass.

Cid: You've helped us avoid disaster, <Name>. Charledore may have escaped us, but we found most of the plans and reports he'd stolen still on his chocobo.

Cid: The secrets of the Flames and all Ul'dah, of the changes seen across the realm and in the skies─all have come at great cost and toil. To think they were so close to falling into the Empire's hands...

Cid: It would appear he sought information on the sudden surge in the size of the realm's beasts, as well as the crystal deaspecting phenomenon. But most of all...

Cid: ...Dalamud. The Empire has taken a keen interest in the lesser moon's changes, as have I.

Cid: Which means he is involved. Nael van Darnus─the White Raven, Legatus of the VIIth Legion.

Cid: We have seen the power of the crystals gathering─first near Silvertear Falls, and now elsewhere. Garlean airships streak the skies. If van Darnus is behind all of this... Dalamud...

Cid: But enough musing. You did not come to hear me mutter. I've sent word of your deeds to the Hall of Flames. It would seem you've made quite a name for yourself there.

Cid: They mean to make you a sworn man of the Immortal Flames when next you visit. Such honors are not bestowed lightly. You should be proud.

Cid: Yet know that opportunities should not be taken for their own sake. Learn from my mistakes. Consider well before pledging your loyalty. I didn't, and it yielded nothing but regret.

Cid: But you are a good soul, and strong. You will achieve greatness wherever you go, of that I am sure. Until we meet again, <Name>.