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Chapter VII: Way Down in the Hole
When we last left Crash, a naive merchant named Wystan fell for a ruse set up by Lord Lolorito of the Syndicate. The trap was a failure as a cloaked mage interrupted an ambush by summoning a Golem.


Music: A Fine Death



Crash is left on his own to take on the giant Golem. Fortunately, its large size makes it very limited in what it can do.





The first attack you can expect is a frontal-cone AoE called True Grit. It launches up dust and rock, inflicting blind (reduced accuracy) and causing barely any damage. The simplest way to avoid it is to just run through the boss and clip it. If you are hit, remember that Eye Drops can clear away the debuff. If Crash's Fast Blade misses, he won't get the combo bonus on either Riot Blade or Savage Blade, so it's a pretty bothersome ailment.

Yesss... writhe! Writhe in eternal darkness!





Below 50% HP, the Clay Golem will start throwing in a Plaincracker between each True Grit, in which the monster will leap into the air and crash into the ground. It's a large, round AoE that does triple the damage of True Grit with no debuff. Basically, it's pretty harmless as a Gladiator, but something to watch if you rolled a lower-defense class. From this point, the boss will just spam his AoEs with no break between. They give you more than enough time to dodge, though.

Impossible! Never has the golem been so sorely tested!



With a little rinse-and-repeat, the golem goes down pretty effortlessly.

Soundtrack ends.





Crash looks over.



The opening cutscene after creating your character had a similarly robed individual. I wonder if they're the same person? Whatever the case, it looks like Crash has missed him.





The Handsome Stranger from before - Thancred - runs over to help. This time, it's his turn to show up in Crash's story. Though, that's the second time in a row Thancred has shown up at the right place at almost the right time. Does he have a Crash tracker or something?





Crash begins to get a headache. The screen fades.


New Music: The Echo





The screen fuzzes out on occasion.

For some reason, we find ourselves in a new scene back in Ul'dah. The screen seems to be fuzzing out, as if it's an old television with poor reception. Thancred is seen hitting on a pair of women. I guess he's quite the ladies man?

Thancred stops as the two ladies walk ahead. He overhears another conversation.



Aye, an' business is sufferin' for it. Bloody Amalj'aa... What's stirred 'em up, do you reckon?

This is weird. They're talking as if Amalj'aa attacks are uncommon.

Another raid... and I'll wager that caravan was carrying crystals, much like the last. If they truly mean to summon a primal, we must act quickly.





Thancred's thoughts are quickly interrupted by his companions, however. He doesn't seem very reliable. Perhaps it's because he's chasing after women that he arrives late when helping out Crash?





This time we've changed the channel, but Thancred is the star of this show too. He's walking through the markets, spying on the patrons and merchants throughout.

At this rate, grain will soon be more precious than gold.



Aye, this weakening of the aetheric flow must surely be linked to Dalamud's descent. And, of course, to the primals. Louisoix will know what to do. We need only trust in his judgement.

Oh... It seems that somehow, we're viewing Thancred back five years ago. Dalamud, the horrifying moon that was colony dropped summoned and caused The Calamity is still in the sky. We're distant and definitely can't interact with these visions, so this isn't time travel. Are these Thancred's memories? And who is Louisoix? Well, for anyone that missed 1.0 everyone's sake, Louisoix was the elderly Elezen man from the opening cutscene of the game. He's the one that sent the Warriors of Light five years into the future, and somehow stopped Bahamut at the cost of his own life.



We've changed scene again. More interesting than asking where we are is asking when we are?



Thancred is now wearing the strange contraption that's usually on his shoulders. It lets him see the aether and read it, which is useful somehow I guess. I don't really know what he's doing in this place at this time, but perhaps he's just taking the new goggles out for a spin?



It's clear that he's in one of the two temples inside Ul'dah. Specifically, it's the one hosting the Thaumaturge's Guild. Everyone seems to be out.

Thancred prays at the statue and then leaves.



It seems we've had a miniature character arc unfold before us. The once irresponsible man now has an organisation counting on him, and it seems like he's feeling the pressure a little.

Just then, Thancred appears to sense something in the air and puts the mask back on.



The Sultantree? Maybe Papashan will know something of it.

And now we know when we are. It looks like we're now viewing him from just a couple of updates ago. That was a strange experience. I wonder if we'll get answers about what that was?





And so ends the vision. That was weird.


New Music: Tranquility



Back in the old ruins, Crash is waking up again. This seems to happen a lot around Thancred.



The handsome stranger isn't really bothered though, and decided to attend to Wystan after Crash collapsed right in front of him. Does he just want to look like a hero?

Wystan stands up, and Thancred corresponds with someone over the codec linkshell.



Thancred hangs up the, uhh.. linkshell. He disconnects the linkshell?



Tread softly, my friend. The carefully laid trap you dismantled was clearly sanctioned by Lord Lolorito. I heard the Blades mention him as they fled. Believe me when I tell you that he is not a man to be trifled with. The sultana's enemies grow bolder by the day, and I suspect they have the support of outside forces.

I'm not sure that can be called a carefully laid trap, but whatever.

(Wystan) Thank you. If you hadn't come along, those bastards would surely have slaughtered us all.



Find me at the Coffer & Coffin later. Until then, stay safe.

Crash nods.

I shall accompany Wystan and his men. They need protection - and I need more information.



Well, it's nice that he remembered to introduce himself to us this time. It'd be pretty awkward if our mute protagonist started calling him Thancred without the introduction.

Everyone decides to leave, but Thancred pauses and looks back.





Thancred then actually leaves the scene.

That last little pause was for anyone who'd played 1.0 with the character. Otherwise, Crash just looks familiar. It might have something to do with the near default appearance of Crash.

Soundtrack ends.





And we've got control of Crash again. Well, let's go visit Wystan and have that private conversation in the only nearby hangout in the zone.





Uhh... Wystan? That's a Brass Blade right there. Like, right there. Right next to you! Is this really the place? There's a group of them!



Outside of Wystan's peripheral vision: the eavesdropping Brass Blade trying to hide behind the chat log.

Even so, I could hardly have predicted that the wealthiest man in Ul'dah would want me dead for the heinous crime of seeking to change the law! I'm just a merchant, for gods' sakes! That ruthless bastard! And what of that monstrosity? Those were his own men! It beggars belief!

Wystan starts to realise the implication of picking such a dangerous enemy.

My associates, my friends - gods, even the children may not be safe if I don't disappear. And you... godsdammit, if Lolorito learns of your involvement, you'll be next. I'll speak with the others and make sure your part in this stays secret. Maybe you should seek the counsel of Mistress Momodi.

He's not wrong here. The Adventurers' Guild offers support for adventurers in need, and Momodi did mention that she would be happy to help Crash out. The Adventurers' Guild is also an international organisation, so they could sneak us out if it came to it.







Well, let's depart for the Quicksand.


Music: Sultana Dreaming





Wystan, on the other hand, is now a pariah - about as welcome 'round here as a rabid wolf, poor bugger. Suffice to say, that boy risked the wrath of the wrong man. Lord Lolorito: chairman of the East Aldenard Trading Company, generous contributor to the Order of Nald'thal, and member of the Syndicate. Didn't get where he is by leavin' loose ends, that one.

The Order of Nald'thal, and presiding religion of Ul'dah with its worship of the twin deity, are the ones who draft the laws of Ul'dah. It's also home of the Thaumaturges' Guild.



You know, a lot of people would call you a damn fool for riskin' your life to save a marked man... But I believe you did a good thing, Crash, and for that you have my respect. Listen: you've been through a lot lately. Why don't you rest a spell?



I'll have the boys at the Hourglass set you up with a room, my treat. Just have a word with Otopa Pottopa whenever you feel like stayin'.



And when you've got your appetite for adventurin' back, consider takin' on a guildleve or two. We've a lot of requests from locals lookin' to hire adventurers for various jobs. It'd be a good way for you to earn yourself some extra gil





And with that, Crash is now a fully privileged member of the adventurers' guild. He has a permanent residence in an Inn at each city-state, and has now been given access to clients of the guild. If anyone further in the game has wondered why the adventurers' guild's presence seems to disappear later on, it's because all of the work is done through the leves that everyone ignores. We'll get to that shortly, though.

We've also unlocked the Recommendations, which is a small window that pops up every time you log into the game and will promptly be ignored. It lists all the nearby quests, FATEs, and leves as well as any level appropriate dungeons you have unlocked. It's pretty unnecessary now, but it was useful when players still used most of those features.



First, let's take a look at the Inn.


New Music: Behind Closed Doors



Back in the early days of A Realm Reborn, the only way to gain a sanctuary bonus was by staying at the Inn. You could use the bed to log out, and accrue the bonus over time. The sanctuary bonus would be a 50% increase in exp obtained through combat and FATEs, and this would end after receiving a certain amount of bonus exp. The amount you could get was determined by the length of time spent in a sanctuary and was scaled depending on your level. Of course, there was also an upper limit of bonus exp so that you couldn't get rewarded for not playing for two weeks. Nowadays, you can log out in almost any camp or settlement and get the bonus - just look for the crescent moon next to the exp bar.

Beside the bed is the Unending Journey, which lets you watch previously seen cutscenes.

Elsewhere in the room, the Crystal Bell, Summoning Bell, and Toy Chest are useless to us. The former two will be unlocked around the time we can enter the tutorial dungeons, so I'll explain them there. The Toy Chest is for minigames from seasonal events and a level 50 questline, so forget about that for now. The only other useful thing here at the moment is the Armoire, which is where we can store seasonal gear and other special equipment. We don't have any like that right now.



However, if we step outside the Quicksand and onto Ruby Road Exchange, we can have a chat with the Delivery Moogle. In FFXIV, Moogles are mysterious creatures that tend to be unseen and reside in the Black Shroud (where the starting city of Gridania is found). This Moogle explains that Dalamud destroyed the aetherytes and linkshells were unusable.



The Padjal - a group of horned people from Gridania - managed to rope the Moogles into assuming their Final Fantasy IX role. This time, players will send and receive messages rather than the Moogles. Through them, Square-Enix will send promotional rewards or other players can contact each other.



Crash has a whole lot of mail. Some of these will be special decorative equipment, like Squall's outfit from Final Fantasy VIII or Cloud's from the terrible Advent Children movie. Those can be stored in the Armoire, and are pretty much the only thing that can be at the moment for Crash.





As an added extra, you can get non-equipment from promotional rewards. This is the Cait Sith, a minion that was given to players for pre-ordering A Realm Reborn. Minions don't really do anything (except in the Gold Saucer, but that's later), and are really just pets to collect and have around.



A later patch even added a lore guide for minions. You can find some interesting stuff here too.



After unlocking the Inn, we also unlocked guildleves. That being said, getting access to them and unlocking them are maybe two separate things. At the Levemete in any of the city-states, Crash can pick from a selection of repeatable quests and travel to their local area. Level 10 Ul'dah leves are found in western Thanalan, in a camp called Horizon. The city-state Levemetes are kind basically the middlemen before the middlemen. Crash can skip this guy and travel straight to Horizon.


New Music: Tenacity

We won't battle in Leves often, so here's the theme while we talk about it.



At Horizon we can pick our quest leve, but here's where the unlocking part comes from. Only one is available until Crash proves himself trustworthy to work for the Adventurers' Guild in this area.



After accepting a leve, Crash must then travel to where it takes place. It's usually not far from camp. There, we must initiate it and select the difficulty level - a higher level means a greater reward. After that, it's basically just a standard quest.



After completing it, you can choose to be ported straight to the issuing Levemete. Each Leve also has a card, displayed in the corner like so. This dictates what type of objectives we'll have to carry out, but it's not too important. Honestly, Leves are valued less than FATEs are, so you'll rarely see anyone do them. They're essentially a leftover from 1.0, which made them out to be a huge deal and made them the central gimmick to the game (which is partly why the game had no real content after a certain level). Nowadays, they're ignored and almost completely forgotten, simply serving to give the Adventurers' Guild some presence in the game world and to pad out relic weapon quests.





Chapter Summary

Boss Battle

Bonus: Moogle Dialogue
This is the dialogue you get when you speak to a Delivery Moogle for the first time.