#MY SISTER IN HYDAELYN YOU MADE THE LIST

[tsunael]

wolcred week |  3. 'need / want.'

Never in his five years of being had he seen Norvrandt's commonfolk in such high spirits. How that woman still had energy for merry-making after everything they've been through, he couldn't know.

She was a fascinating spectacle: one moment she was showing off her footwork he recognized as distinctively Lominsan, and then she was floating across the floor, tangled tightly in a foxtrot with a Eulmoran come to join in the festivities.

Ryne couldn't seem to take her eyes off them, hands clapping along to the rhythm of the jaunty tune being played across the way. If he didn't know any better, he'd say she was eager to join in-- a better time for a girl her age than to be clinging to his side, no doubt.

She cheered along with the gathering crowd as Tsuna and her partner finished their round, and it was only moments until the next number started up.

He supposed she danced to console her heart.

If she stopped dancing-- stopped moving-- even if for a second, the despair would seep its way in through the cracks. She would exhaust herself until there was nothing left. She needed this.

"It's so wonderful to see everyone so spirited," Ryne giggled with a joy that did not cease to swell his heart. "I never knew she could dance like that... did you?"

He had been silent for far too long, he realized with a rueful smile-- too focused on not watching the feast in front of him, try as he may to dodge the furtive glances Tsuna would throw over her shoulder.

He hummed, looking into his tankard, thoughtful.

"Not quite like this," he snorted. "At this rate we'll have to carry her home."

He looked up at the opportune time as Tsuna began a daring pirouette. For a moment they met eyes, and in the next motion her arm extended to the two of them-- her fingers beckoning.

He chuffed a laugh, looking away again.

An unsteady click of heels from his periphery meant that the object of his affections would not be denied.

Tsuna came to them, out of breath and sweating a fine sheen. She fell into his arms, thoroughly drunk on mirth and spirits.

"If I didn't know any better I'd say you were ignoring me," she teased. She was right. "Dance with me."

Ryne's mouth fell open, silently enthused with the idea.

He cast her a pointed look, the corner of his mouth twitching with a touch of frustration as he had to peel her from his chest. "Now there's a Hell I would not suffer," he huffed a laugh, and Tsuna fell into a girlish pout that did not suit her. "I believe there's enough biting at the bit to have your hand already."

Her lips quirked in an impish smile as she reeled herself back in. The look she gave beneath her thick lashes was meant to entice. "At least buy me a drink?"

He was much too sober for this-- and in the company of Ryne, no less.

His brow raised. "I think you've had quite enough," he said, firm.

Tsuna held his gaze a moment too long before sighing dramatically.

Drink motivated her to suddenly pull Ryne in by the shoulders, hugging her possessively, despite the girl's embarrassment. "Then I shall have no choice but to steal. Your. Date." She declared. "He's so boorish, isn't he? No fun at all."

"I-- Well, I suppose a bit--" Ryne stammered, looking torn between loyalties, and obvious want.

He wasn't sure whether to be irritated or amused, but resettled himself against the bar all the same. Had Ryne seemed more opposed to the idea, he may have felt the need to step in, however...

"Just..." He held his breath, and exhaled with a sudden, deep sense of regret. "Go easy on her, won't you?"

Tsuna burst into a fit of laughter, hugging the girl until she squeaked-- her horns nearly poking something vital in her fervour. Clearly, she would not be heeding his warning. "Come on, the next one is about to start--"

And then the girl was dragged off.

And then he was alone.

He looked at his empty tankard and frowned. He had thought to sworn it off. It was used far one-too-many times as a crutch, but perhaps he would drink-- for old time's sake-- to join in the merriment. Just a singular ale to start, he figured.

That was, until Urianger curled his lanky-self around and reminded him-- in excruciating detail-- of where a flagon so often led him in the past. Out spilled a veritable list of his drunken conquests-- a familiar name only barely escaped the roster before he loudly begged mercy.

It would be water for the night, then. Water.

[imperial-nuisance-rudje]

i've seen a lot of "assign exaltations to media" posts recently and i wanted to get in on this, this time with final fantasy 14

major spoilers up to 7.0/Dawntrail! also, only hitting major msq characters bc i will actually lose my mind if i have to do all the side stuff and minor characters too, even though i know i'm already accidentally skipping some characters just bc the cast list is the size of the pacific and my brain is a bit fried.

"wait some of these aren't exaltations at all" sometimes it is more interesting if a heroic character is Just Some Guy

Meteor Survivor/Default Warrior of Light - Dawn Solar. It's not even close. The WoL is a very large hammer and all the world is a nail. Even their more magicy stuff they approach like a Dawn rather than a Zenith! Couple arguments that could be made for their Supernal, for trailer-WoL I'd probably go for Melee. Like I have to actively fight the game for every scrap of Not-Solar I give my own WoL, the default WoL is super fucking Solar-coded.

Minfilia - okay hear me out. she's an Exigent of Hydaelyn and her Exaltation passes down to specifically young girls who fit other certain criteria. “Oracle of Light, Minfilia” ends up a sobriquet that devours even the girls’ names in the end. 

Ryne - See above. Exigent of Hydaelyn, just one able to make her own name for herself after it all. 

Thancred - just some guy!!!!! Not an Exalt at all he's just some dude! the stealth thing he can do could easily be a mutation rather than a power related to Exaltation.

Urianger - mortal sorcerer up to 5.0, exalts as a lunar during the time gap. Can be talked out of this, it's a gut read. E: THE GUT READ IS BC HE DEALS SAFELY WITH THE FAE AND TRICKS THEM IN TURN. Changing Moon, definitely. Spirit shape is something both ominous and benefic in terms of omens.

Y’shtola - gut is that she's a mortal sorcerer but I'm not sure if/when she exalts. I feel like the best point for that if she does is actually in the future for her, assuming my read of the plot thread tea leaves is accurate. Assuming nothing else changes, probably a Solaroid, though you may be able to argue Infernal over Solar for her.

Lyse - Deeb, Fire Aspect, same as her sister. I don't have much reasoning for this, it just feels right.

G’raha - I have tried to come up with not this but he really is just the Exigent of the god of the Crystal Tower… You could probably argue for deeb, bc of the royal eye thing, but i feel very strongly that he hasn't Exalted when he first shows up and that pushes him over the deeb exaltation age limit and I personally need some kind of major explanation to accept breaking that rule and while the Crystal Tower could probably manage it... given the physical changes he shows as the Crystal Exarch in ShB I think it works better if it's a very costly (to the Exalt) Exigent exaltation.

Papalymo - Mortal sorcerer. He dies because it was the only way to fuel the spell caging Shinryu as a mortal.

Alphinaud & Alisaie - I'm torn with the twins, honestly. I lean towards them being mortals but you can definitely argue for them having an Exaltation, especially after Coils or ShB, and they're young enough to be late-bloomer deebs if you want them to light up mid-story.

Erenville - Believe it or not I do think he's an Exalt. He's a Wood Aspect Dragonblooded like his mom and he put all of his points into dealing with critters and logistics and lifting heavy things and absolutely none into combat. (You could probably also argue for Earth, honestly, I can't articulate why I feel so strongly about the Wood aspect.)

Wuk Lamat - Dawn Solar, with her Exaltation coming when she breaks through to reach the Queen Eternal again at the end of MSQ. Shockingly social-focused Dawn, but still a Dawn.

Aymeric - Air aspect Deeb. His idealism nearly gets his ass killed like three times I am not budging on this.

Haurchefant - Water aspect deeb. WAIT HEAR ME OUT: i know the easy answer is to slap Wood on him for horny crimes and call it a day, but the way the rest of his personality actually is he fits water way more, including the part where when he's at his limit he's an unstoppable terror that doesn't know restraint. I could also be convinced to assign him Fire. (He's too flexible for Earth and too practical/grounded for Air, imo.) It also fits with his family since the Fortemps we meet all kind of vibe as damp-adjacent at minimum.

Krile - Joke answer: Sidereal bc i nearly forgot to add her-- :V

More seriously, the whole "refugee from another reflection" thing makes assigning her an Exaltation difficult. Alt timelines exist in this game but reflections are explicitly not those, it's more akin to Autochthon's relationship to Creation, and (barring some serious ass-pulls from the writers in the patches) Krile is an ordinary woman in terms of physiology. She's also not dead or associated with death, so I guess that means there's four options she absolutely cannot be rather than ones she can be.

Zenos yae Galvus - Does not Exalt until after 4.0, where he rises as a Dusk Abyssal. Because it fits with how fucked up he is and StB/his arc that he, a mortal man, is able to cause problems until the WoL starts taking him seriously. I could also be open to him being a Casteless Lunar bc lunisolar bond w/WoL (I love a good Fated Nemesis and so would he) but in general I feel like his everything works better if he doesn't Exalt until he tries to remove his own head and it's important to his story that he is Very Dead-Seeming after that point which makes options very limited.

Varis zos Galvus - If he is an Exalt, he's a deeb. Earth aspect, but I could probably be talked into Fire too. The “if” is because I'm torn between him being a disappointment because he never Exalted or because he's the same aspect as his dad but never reached the same potential in grandpa’s eyes. The Garlean upper class generally maps surprisingly cleanly to Dynasts.

Emet-Selch - Honestly this applies to all three of the Unsundered, I'm just keeping the family together, but: I truly believe those three are narratively closer to Deathlords than anything else in Exalted, and I say this while also acknowledging that Zodiark is more like a Yozi than one of the Neverborn. I do not know how to square that circle.

Thordan - Deeb. Air or Earth aspect, either could work with his personality.

Sphene - Orichalcum Alchemical. Living-Sphene was mortal. (Why not liminal? Quite frankly, bc she is not made of meat and still retains her living memories, both of which are disqualifying factors.)

Zoraal Ja - Mortal. I think it adds to things if part of his violent insecurity is that he never lights up despite being his father's son.

Fandaniel - Could admittedly go with either Abyssal or Infernal, depending on what aspects of him you want to emphasize, but I personally see him as a Daybreak.

Gaius - Fire aspect deeb.

[celestialimpulse]

ArdbertWeek | Day III: Taste

"There's a number of places we haven't been to yet. To eat."

Iristelessa loved cooking for him, that much he knew, always wanting to make breakfast or dinner for him when they both had the time to sit down and eat and she wasn't buried in paperwork for her Free Company. Though now that he had a chance to live again, she also enjoyed bringing him to cafes or restaurants, the ones she dreamed of bringing him to. Iriste shared the love for great tasting cuisine with her father, believing that it should be nutritious and delicious, a contrary thought versus a majority of the scholars in Sharlayan during her parent’s time. Now with the added boon that neither of them had to imagine the taste in the rare times they spent together in her dreamscape. 

It was rare for her to dream. Not when fate constantly brought a Warrior of Light to the wake of a new battle with each coming dawn after the twilight of another won. During the time merged with her, he was glad when she could sleep through the night. Iriste deserved rest. They both did, she would say, reminding him she wasn’t the only Warrior of Light around. That she wasn’t the only hero and neither of them would allow the other to stand alone.

It made him happy, knowing how much she loves him.

“There are a number of places we haven’t been to yet,” she sweetly cut through his thoughts, hand in his while she led them out of their Lavender Bed home. “To eat,” Iriste clarified, knowing they both had Emet’s list to go through with traveling through Etheirys. Then Iriste also insisted on revisiting places alongside him. “I went through the last of some of my spices a sun ago. So, I was thinking that we should go to Radz-at-Han and eat at Mehryde’s Meyhane after some shopping.”

He would follow her wherever she wished and he squeezed her hand to tell her as much. “You lived there for a time, didn’t you? Mentioned it now and then when you use certain spices.”

In those same times it was mentioned, the expression on her countenance would turn bittersweet. He never pried, though he knew she wouldn’t hide it from him if he asked. 

“Would you…want to hear about it?”

“I would,” he answered, tugging her hand to pull her closer, pressing a kiss to her temple. “If you’re willing to share.”

Iriste smiled and kissed his cheek. “Over lunch then.”

Hearty meals had been placed before them, both dishes options that caught his attention and Iriste was more than happy to order the other for herself so they could share. The flavors were striking and pleasing to the tongue the moment it hit. He couldn’t stop himself from eating and she was more than happy to entertain him with her tales while he was occupied.

As she recounted her time in Thavnair to Ardbert, she continued on about her experiences with the alchemists, the friends she made, the things she did. In the pit of his stomach did an unsettling feeling rise while he filled it with food. He did not doubt that she was being detailed because he had asked her and she was willing to divulge her life to him. Though the woman she was describing was painted as someone more outgoing and excited for each new day to learn something new and share it. Something told him she was prolonging something, avoiding some mention of her time in Thavnair ending or the shift into the woman she became. He had pegged it to all the loss and sacrifice of being Hydaelyn’s Chosen.

“Did you start your adventure from Thavnair?” He asked as he pushed away his finished meal when Iriste slid over the remainder of hers. “After the Calamity?”

The woman fell silent. There it was. When they first met, he was already aware that she and her brother lost their parents during the disaster. One that left her brother with muddled memories of his younger sister’s identity and a young woman who once thought him dead, hoped to reunite with him years later to learn that she had been forgotten. They had both used each other to soothe their respective griefs. Finding comfort in the warmth of each other’s bodies, dark thoughts forgotten and focused on nothing else but the pleasures they provided each other. 

It was something he shouldn’t have done, not with his own world hanging in the balance. But, she allowed him to forget. To focus on her and the taste of her mouth. The taste of her everything. To give in to the undeniable pull he felt towards her. Gods knew of the rage boiling within him when he discovered the woman he grew to adore was the very woman he had to kill to save the world he doomed. 

Hilarious, almost, how their journeys brought them together in that way.

“I had a smaller adventure a couple months after the Calamity,” Iriste answered his question, taking another pause to sort through thoughts. She must have made peace with it in some way. “It was a difficult time then, to pull myself back together. Hearing no word of their fate to learn that they were lost broke me in a way I didn’t expect. I still wrote letters to them, tried to send things to our home that they would have liked from here. Then one day, it dawned on me that they would not want me to suffer in the way I was. So, I traveled a little. Just to see the sights, to meet the people. Then my grandparents reached out to me.”

“You were an adventurer before becoming a full fledged one by the sounds of it,” he said with a small smile and reached over to take her hand. As if second nature, she met him halfway and laced her fingers with his.

“My brother was more of an adventurer between the two of us during that time. Had his own party as well, like you. I would not have been surprised if he was chosen to be the Warrior of Light instead. Maybe in another lifetime.”

Ardbert was fond of her brother, an affable man that always extended a helpful hand, who treated him with kindness when he and his were working on bringing a disaster to the Source. Carmaine treated him like a brother, even while pretending to be the hard-to-win-over older brother when Iriste introduced him to her remaining family in Sharlayan. 

Iriste nodded towards his food and released his hand with the intent on letting him finish. “His stories are more fun to listen to. That reminds me, this one time…”

After their meal and as they were leaving, the image of her nursing her drink to prolong the experience rose to mind. “What was that drink you had earlier?”

“I had chai...oh, I didn’t offer you any!”

“It’s never too late.” Ardbert glanced around the hall while she casted a curious glance with the tilt of her head. Ensured that no one was around to catch them, he claimed her lips with his. Easily, he swiped his tongue across her lips and dipped between them, all while she melted into him. There was her usual sweetness with hints of spices on her tongue that danced alongside each other. He had half a mind to take more than just a fill, but he kept himself under control. 

They shared a knowing smile when they pulled away.

“I have to say…it tastes better from your lips.”

[dragons-bones]

FFXIV: A Synthesis of Aether

#FebHyurary Day 17: Food + Day 18: Music

A/N: So I had too many ideas for yesterday, but knew for today touching on Synnove’s aether synesthesia would work well, and then I said, “DT YOU FOOL YOU CAN COMBINE BOTH DAYS FOR HER AETHER SYNESTHESIA.” And lo: a fic! Mostly dialogue, I haven’t done a dialogue heavy ficlet in a loooong time so I feel a bit rusty, but this was a fun exercise!

RATING: T WORD COUNT: 1455 WARNINGS: None!

---

[Installing SCAEVAN SYSTEMICS operating software.]

[Installation successful, running update cycle.]

[Updates complete. Archive Node Unit 453 now online. Please specify primary user.]

“Synnove Greywolfe.”

[USER: SYNNOVE now registered. How may I assist you today?]

“Please stand by for audio recording.”

[Standing by.]

The node’s lights dimmed from bright grass green to soft seafoam as it partially powered down, its northern and southern hemispheres slowly rotating in opposite directions.

Synnove lowered her hand and glanced over at Rereha. “All right, you can babble now,” the Highlander said.

Rere took her hands off her mouth to tug at her braided pigtails and beamed at her. “Whatcha doing?” she said, in the sing-song tone of someone feeling exceptionally nosy, rocking back on her heels.

Synnove rolled her eyes and set her hands on her hips. “Y’shtola’s working on a compilation of aetheric synesthesic perceptions as a downtime project,” she said. “She asked me if I was willing to contribute, to which I obviously said ‘yes.’ But because I’m not often able to spend much time in Revenant’s Toll that doesn’t devolve into Warrior of Light or Ironworks business—”

“—audio recordings you can send or give her are more convenient.”

“Careful, Rere, or other people will begin realizing you’re smarter than you pretend to be.”

The lalafell gasped. “Madam, you wound me!”

She received a satisfied smirk in reply as Synnove added, “And what better way to create an audio recording than with my new archive node?”

Rere pulled herself up onto Synnove’s desk, sitting on the edge and kicking her feet back and forth as she leaned back to rest on her hands. “Did you liberate it from the Ironworks?”

“I purchased this fair and square, I have a bill of sale from Jessie herself.”

“Nero’s OS?”

“The fact you know that term is vaguely frightening, but the man does have an unparalleled understanding of Allagan technology and if you tell him I said that, I will hang you by your toes from the edge of the Steps of Faith.”

Rere mimed locking her lips.

“Hand me that stack of paper, please.” Synnove pointed to Rere’s right. The lalafell snagged it and dutifully handed it over.

The arcanist shuffled through them, humming tunelessly as she did, before she came across the correct page. “All right,” she said, mostly to herself. “Start with Y’shtola’s list of baseline sensations today and go from there.” Louder now: “Begin recording.”

[Audio recording now live.]

Synnove automatically straightened her spine and rolled down her shoulders in the same way she did before she began a lecture for the fourth-year arcanist students. In a clear, strong voice: “Synnove Greywolfe recording for Y’shtola Rhul on the 18th day of the Second Umbral Moon, 11 Year of the Seventh Astral Era, on the subject of synesthetic perceptions of aether. I personally perceive aether, in addition to visual manifestations, as both taste and sound. Occasionally, one sensation will dominate the other, and certain sounds and tastes aren’t exclusive to one elemental type.

“For this recording, I’ll describe the overall generalities I associate with different elemental aether; variance is high depending on factors such as location or origin, in terms of ambient or crystallized aether, or in the case of spells, if they are being performed correctly or are altered in some capacity.”

“How to spot the catastrophic boom just before the boom becomes catastrophic and it’s too late to do anything about it.”

Synnove sighed. Rere giggled.

“Y’sthola, remind me to recalculate the angle needed to ensure Rere lands in Silvertear if thrown from the highest tower in the Toll.”

“Hey!”

“You’d be fine, Hydaelyn likes you best.”

Rere pouted, lower lip pushed out to the point of exaggeration, which meant she wasn’t actually offended.

“To get back on topic: fire. Fire aether most frequently tastes like hot spices, such as peppers; coffee; red meat, such as buffalo; bitter chocolate; cherries; wine. Sound tends to be uniformly brass instruments such as horns and trumpets; very occasionally it can sound like metal striking metal.

“Earth aether is auditorily simple and gustatorily complex. The sound of earth is always rhythmic and steady, if not outright drumming; the sensation of it echoing follows fairly often, too. Taste runs a huge gamut: savory or sweet seasonings, such as cumin or cinnamon; white meat, such as pork; most vegetables, particularly green or starchy vegetables; certain fruits such as apples and figs; bread; cheeses; stews; whiskeys.”

“I’d call most of those foods ‘homey.’”

Synnove frowned thoughtfully. “That’s a fair assessment,” she said after a moment. “Earth aether tends to ‘taste’ comforting.”

“Does that mean Tyr is the ultimate comfort food?”

“Does that mean you want to go flying out of my office window into the harbor?”

“I’m going to shut up now!”

“See how long that lasts,” Synnove said under her breath while her sister smiled beatifically. “Where was I… Ah, wind.”

The Highlander frowned. “Wind aether is another oddity, taste-wise. Mint tends to present quite frequently, along with sweet chocolate, white grapes, vanilla, white wine, arak, olives, and scallions. Thankfully when it seems to be a combination of flavors, it’s complimentary…” She shook her head. “Sound is similar to flutes, chimes, whistles. Bit stereotypical, honestly.

“Lightning…” Synnove paused, frowning again. “Sound tends to be similar to specific string instruments such as violas and cellos; deeper sounds. Low notes on a piano or harpsichord, sometimes simple humming or vibrations. Taste does not tend to be strong, but most frequently has manifested as berries and/or stonefruits. Alcohols such as gin, palm wine, ouzo, and brandy.”

“That is not the element I’d consider boozy,” Rere said idly. She had lain back on the desk and was staring up at the huge arched ceiling of the tower office, twiddling her thumbs.

Synnove shrugged without further comment, already looking at the next item on the list Krile had transcribed on Y’shtola’s behalf. “Water is what one would think would be boozy but I have legitimately never tasted ‘boozy’ water aether before. Tropical fruits dominate; in terms of savory, as horrifically stereotypical as it is, seafood. But almost never in a way that makes sense, I once found a water cluster in a bluefin tuna’s belly that tasted like Coerthan oyster confit.”

“I remember that, you made the weirdest face.”

“I still can’t find the words to describe just how fucked up that taste versus visual dichotomy was. In any event, water aether also sounds like string instruments, mostly harps, dulcimers, and brighter pianos. Also, a very specific drum… Rere, what’s that staccato-sounding drum the Flames have been using in their parades of late?”

The lalafell picked her head up. “Snare drum?”

“That’s the one. Timpanis on occasion, too. And finally…ice. Sound leans towards woodwind instruments like the clarinet and piccolo, as well as bells. Any bell. Taste…hmm. Slaw, fruits that freezes well, fruit juices, Thavnairian sweet tea—”

“That is not tea, that is an abomination.”

“—some melons, cucumbers, white rum, wintergreen.”

“I still can’t believe you’ve never come across ice aether that tastes like the Bismarck’s root beer float.”

“They introduced it to the menu last year.”

“So?”

Synnove sighed that heavy, gusting sigh everyone who spent longer than thirty minutes with Rereha learned. “Y’shtola, I see a note here about Primordial Light and Dark, but I’ll do that in the next recording along with variations and discrepancies, as first, I need to beat my sister over the head with a grimoire—”

Rereha hopped down from the desk and ran for the office door, shouting BYE Y’SHTOLA I LOVE YOU BEST over her shoulder as she did.

“—and second, I’m hungry and now is a good time to break for lunch. Recording end.”

[End of recording. Is there anything else on which I may provide assistance?]

“No, that will be all for now—ah! Before I forget. Please create new nodal designation of own choice.”

[Clarification requested.]

“Pick a name for yourself.”

[…]

[Accessing imperial Allagan databases for repository of birth certificates. Scanning records.]

[Archive Node Unit 453 rename complete. Archive Node Unit 453 is now Kleio.]

Synnove smiled, pleased. “It’s nice to meet you, Kleio.”

[…Thank you. Database scans are currently inconclusive as relates to instruments in modern usage versus those of Allag. What samples are available to provide edification?]

The Highlander cocked her head, staring at the silver-and-green node for a few long moments, before another smile, this one slow and delighted, crossed her features. “I have a few orchestrion rolls that include solos and chamber music that you could listen to while I have lunch, and I can provide lists of which instruments are used in each piece.”

[That would be satisfactory.]

“Perfect! Let’s get you set up…”

[livvyplaysfinalfantasy]

With Ramza gone and Alma in an uncertain state, the party assess their next steps. Fran expresses an intention that they learn from their failures - fitting, given her role in playing out her leader's failed requests for aid - and prompts Jenomis to think about what Ultima could have meant by "blood of the invokers" when she called Ramza to her.

Fortunately, you have a convenient Echo vision to put that question to rest.

At this point, both while watching this scene and hearing non-XIV friends react to it, it repeatedly struck me how difficult it is to explain XIV's storytelling methods once the Echo is involved - particularly when the Echo allows you to look back on things that happened far into the past. In this case, the Echo is granting you a vision of Ivalice from thousands of years ago.

King Delita, having obtained his throne, hears from Orran Durai himself that Ramza has sacrificed himself - "abandoned his mortal vessel, entrusting his aetherial soul to the auracite" - in an effort to seal away the High Seraph. Delita is agonized at the thought of his friend never returning; though he prepares to hurry to Orbonne to rescue him, Orran stops him.

Orran explains that none other than Ajora Glabados, the first Zodiac Braves, summoned Ultima. In Tactics, Ajora was a martyr with otherworldly, messianic powers who sought to gather the zodiac stones to save the world; in actuality, Saint Ajora was possessed by Ultima and gathered the stones to try to carry out the High Seraph's resurrection. Ajora's gender is also somewhat up to interpretation, to the point that listing Ajora as male in the XIV universe feels more than a bit like a cop-out. Still, the concept that Orran Durai explains in this scene is much more terrifying, if possible, than the scenario presented in Tactics: Ajora Glabados betrayed Hydaelyn herself and summoned Ultima for power. As a result, only a Warrior of Light can defeat Ultima - and Ramza Beoulve, himself a Warrior of Light, took it upon himself to do just that.

I don't know what it is about the fact that Ramza Beoulve was a Warrior of Light that gets me so emotional, but I was nearly in tears the first time I got to that point! Above all else, I think it's the idea that our own Warriors of Light are following in the footsteps of one of my favorite characters ever; it also feels like a well-deserved nod to Ramza's status as a protagonist within the greater Final Fantasy universe.

And not only was Ramza a Warrior of Light - he was also a hero in every other sense. His sister Alma arrives to explain that his last wish was to have every record of him removed from history, so that no others would feel a need to seek out him or the being that he sacrificed himself to imprison. Delita, agonized at the loss of his best friend, refuses to accept his friend's sacrifice; when Alma reaches out to him with a piece of auracite, he receives a vision only he can see of Ramza saying his final goodbyes.

Some time later, the three have fashioned that same stone into two necklaces that will help guide their future wearers to where Ramza lies. Orran insists that it's "what Ramza wished" - despite the previously-stated fact that Ramza never wanted anyone to be able to find him. My interpretation of this change is that Orran was being guided by the auracite to create a means for future generations to revisit Orbonne, though this is never expressly confirmed. With that done, Orran goes into hiding to avoid the church's persecution for the truths he's written, presumably about the nature of Saint Ajora. He doesn't mind that his works will be confiscated, as it means they'll be locked away and hopefully rediscovered once the church is no longer in power. And though Orran has been branded a heretic, he's not concerned with his own life - as he and Alma are expecting a new life of their own.

The revelation of Orran and Alma ending up together in this universe is... not entirely unwelcome; in Tactics, Orran's presumed companion is Valmafra Lenande, a church spy assigned to monitor Delita. While the relationship between Orran and Alma makes sense in the context of XIV's history I wish this scene had changed Alma's model from her childlike appearance, even a little, before they hinted at a pregnancy. That made me recoil more than anything else.

In any case, we see now the events that directly led to the Lexentales' own return to Ivalice: the "invokers" Ultima mentioned was not a reference to Ramza's own bloodline, but to the Warriors of Light - starting from Saint Ajora, who summoned her; to Ramza, who sealed her away; and now you, who will almost certainly fight her. Alma awakens in time to explain that she doesn't want Ramza's body at all: she wants yours, the Warrior of Light, and the power that would come with such a form.

One last reveal before the quest ends: Fran expresses an apology, revealing that she had had plans to take one of the auracite stones and use it to destroy the IVth Legion. Now that it's become known to her how dangerous they truly are, she resolves instead to help you rescue Ramza.

And with that, the Orbonne Monastery is unlocked!