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Several weeks have passed since The Fisher clashed with Ifrit and Nael van Darnus entered into our story. Since then Dalamud has continued to get closer, last time it was just a bigger than usual red dot in the sky, now it is massive and defined, it glows red, crossed with blue veins and some form of towers clearly visible.
Primal activity continues however, dangerously strong winds have been assailing Quarrymill, a small hamlet in the east of the Black Shroud. The Archons suspect Garuda, the Ixal’s goddess of the winds, is involved. Louisoix has asked the Fisher to investigate Quarrymill.
1.0 Quarrymill is a small town on the far right edge of the Black Shroud map. Having not played pre-ARR FFXIV, I couldn’t tell you if the place was popular, maybe it was used in the Hamlet Defence events the old game had?
Either way, it probably wasn’t as popular as Quarrymill in the game now.
2.0 Quarrymill is in the upper section of the South Shroud, not on the very edge of the map like it was before the Calamity. I can only assume the town was destroyed and a new town with the same name was built nearby.
Quarrymill now pretty much always has a ton of people in it as it’s the entrance to a special instance popular for levelling classes before 60. The LP hasn’t covered it, so I won’t go into more detail, but there is normally quite a crowd in Quarrymill these days.
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After a long trek through the confusing and maze-like forest, The Fisher comes upon the entrance to Quarrymill.
Heehee HAHA hahaha HEEHEE haha HEEEEE!!!
Quarrymill is utterly filled with supernaturally strong winds.
...Wherefore come you hither? You...who have no power here. You who have no hope. No hope. None! NONE!!!
Bodies, carried by the wind, fly around the town. An adventurer, overwhelmed by the events, cowers before the wind goddess.
Landwalkers are worms, bound to crawl in filth. I shall scatter you all! FOR I AM THE WIND!!!
THE RECKONING COMES!!! The reckoning of all mortals. This is the price of your folly. The price of using the crystals’ power - MY POWER! - to waken the other from slumber.
That power belongs to me. All of it. It is mine. Mine! ALL MIIINE!
You will not live to repeat your folly.
It ends, worms of the forest. It all ends!
The primal prepares to make her exit, briefly dropping the wind, and the bodies.
Now die. Die. Die! DIE!!! DIIIIIIEEE!!!
Your horned sprats cannot save you - NOR THEMSELVES!!! I will slake the roots with their blood! I will festoon the canopy with their entrails!
Hahaha HEEHEEHEE haaahaha heeheeeeee HAHAHA!!!
She vanishes in an explosion of aether, the winds resuming after she is gone. One of Garuda’s feathers falls from the sky, The Fisher takes it and slips it into her pack. Louisoix may have some use of it.
The man who fell before The Fisher stirs.
Nnngh… Uhhh…
G-Gridania… Please… You must...help...the others.
The Seedseers… Everyone… *cough* None are safe.
The Archons… Heed...their words. *cough* G-Garuda must...be stopped.
He closes his eyes and breathes his last breath. The Fisher turns and runs her way back into the Forest towards Gridania.
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Louisoix is able to use the feather The Fisher took to create a vortex catcher, a device that will allow her to attune to an Ixali aetheryte to enter Garuda’s domain, the Howling Eye.
The aetheryte is believed to be hidden in Feathergorge, Ixali territory deep in Coerthas, lands governed by the Holy See of Ishgard. Thankfully, while the city itself is closed to outsiders, the surrounding lands are accessible.
The Fisher makes for the lush, green lands of Coerthas and asks for assistance at Camp Dragonhead, a small camp set-up just off the road not too far from the Gates of Judgement, the entrance to the city proper.
1.0 Coerthas was very different. The Calamity fucked up Ishgard something proper, taking lush, verdant, green fields and turning them into a permanently snowy hellscape.
Ceorthas is a massive map, much like all the maps in 1.0. You still couldn't enter Ishgard, but the lands around it were expansive. 2.0 only brought back a small area in front of the city. In fact, some of the additional Coerthas areas that the new game covers in the Ishgard focused expansion were actually in the 1.0 map.
Anyway, you can see that Dragonhead underwent a massive change. In 1.0 it was only a tiny camp, in ARR it is a massive, permanent fortress built from stone. This is a recurring thing for returning locations. Most locations in the openworld in 1.0 are copy-pasted tiny camps or small hamlets like Quarrymill. Anything that returned was massively changed and is fairly unique.
While Ishgardians aren’t normally welcoming of outsiders, especially adventurers, they care even less for the Ixal. The camp commander was happy to give The Fisher directions to Feathergeorge and share some suppliers for her journey.
She was able to sneak through the Ixal’s land, find the aetheryte and enter the Howling Eye.
Wasn’t able to find the aetheryte, I searched the area marked as Feathergorge but I couldn’t find it anyware. It’s possible that it just didn’t spawn, this private server barely works. NPCs barely spawn most of the time, there was no one at Dragonhead when I was taking screenshots for this update
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The Howling Eye was surrounded in a perpetual whirlwind, likely impenetrable from the outside and certainly difficult for anyone inside to escape. Garuda awaited.
Random video of the 1.x Garuda fight
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The Fisher is victorious, the primal thrashes around, unable to contain the aether that makes up her very being.
No… Nooo! NO! NO!!!
The crystals… THE CRYSTALS!!!
Rather than dissipating into the atmosphere, the aether instead drifts up towards towards Dalamud.
My power… No…
It is my power! MINE!!!
Garuda goes limp and dissipates in an explosion of aether.
Ahhh, yes. Behold the light. Such sublimity!
Nael van Darnus stands just outside the barrier of wind.
Such a wondrous radiance...both magnificent and terrible. Truly, the soul can harbor no doubt that this is the light of creation!
Even you must recognize that.
Garemald owes you a great debt, adventurer. Wholly without our prompting, you have felled the primals of both fire and wind. Such ability and devotion commands even mine own respect.
Hmph. Hmhmhm… Ahahahahaha!
You would do well to see reality for what it truly is - cold, cruel,unforgiving. No words could do justice to the great deeds that I have done, nor the countless hardships I have endured in their doing.
Corpses litter the fields and choke the streets, and still your gods remain silent - utter indifferent. Such gods are not fit for worship. As they gaze impassively upon our corpses, so let us gaze upon theirs. The gods are dead to us - we have no need of them.
So please, by all means, persist. Struggle to your heart’s content.
Struggle however you see fit. Struggle long. Struggle oft. And when you tire of struggling...summon up your courage and struggle some more!
For with every act of defiance, another drop of Eorzea’s lifeblood shall be given over to the red moon. The crystals, the land, the primals - the power of all shall burn bright and shine down upon this realm a glorious purifying light!
These heathen lands shall be bathed in crimson brilliance. Only then, when the seal is broken, shall all I have labored long to accomplish with Meteor will come the pass!
Deeds done for good of all are rarely seen for what they are. Thus I am styled the villain. I have accepted my lot, and do what I must. As must you, adventurer. Let your fears and desires spur you to action, and struggle for all you are worth.
You will tire of futility. Your floundering shall subside, and before long you shall grow still. Only then shall I take your head, lest I do you the dishonor of an unclean cut.
The Legatus turns and leaves, apparently having decided since their last encounter, that The Fisher deserves to live a little longer.
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The Fisher made her way back to Gridania and informed Louisoix of her victory and encounter with van Darnus. The Archon says that he is beginning to suspect that Nael may be working towards his own goals, rather than the empire’s. Cid has confirmed that Dalamud is not a natural satellite, but was instead created by the long dead Allagan Empire. Cid still isn’t sure how van Darnus is pulling Dalamud from the sky, but he believes he is getting close to finding out how.
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There was another cutscene at the end of this quest, where you meet with Raubahn (or possibly the other Alliance leaders, depending on which Grand Company you joined, I’m pulling these cutscenes from the Immortal Flames quests) and discuss events and plans for what’s next. But it talks about earlier quests that I’m not covering since they don’t have anything to do with Dalamud.
I wanted to include it, but it probably would have taken quite a lot of re-writing and it doesn’t add much to the overall story, so I’ve decided to leave it out. Here’s a random screenshot though:
