An Uncertain Future

I was fishing in my favorite spot when I got a notice from Zoxio at the Ashcrown Consortium. I was summoned to duty and left behind my fishing hole to help the sylph at Ashcrown.

 I arrived to find Hero already waiting for me. The Consortium members mentioned the sylph had taken a liking to our work - which many people considered a bad thing. I was slightly flattered, though. Zoxio and Almxio said negotiations were falling apart with the Ixal and they only had one idea left - to gain enough unaspected crystals. Although they offered to help, Hero insisted we would brave it alone. So we headed out to Mor Dhona to find these neutral crystals.

The trip through the Shroud was difficult, but once I made it into Mor Dhona it was oddly peaceful. I buried five crystals around a pool of water and waited patiently for the elemental property to be sucked from them into the soil - I never realized this process could be done and it certainly wasn't difficult. If only getting in and out of Mor Dhona could be done more easily.

Return to Mor Dhona

When we returned the sylph insulted me by telling me they sent my reward to the Waking Sands. Apparently they think I'm made of anima or enjoy long hikes between city-states. They knew I was coming back to the Consortium, why didn't they simply leave my fee here? I suppose there must be some arrangement between the Path Walkers and the Consortium I'm unaware of.

Hero didn't seem troubled by the walk back to Ul'dah. He was more curious about the Paragons and what they meant to the Ixal and Amalj'aa. Apparently these Paragons guide the tribes to the light of the primal ones and so if we could reason with the Paragons themselves we could sway the tribes to use their powers for our cause rather than to make war in Eorzea. It all sounded over my head, but Hero seemed to be moved by the idea. We said no more on the subject. I decided to head to Ul'dah to discuss the Paragons with Lady Minfilia.

As I walked into the bustling streets of Ul'dah I received a notice from Tataru that I was needed at Waking Sands which is convenient because that's why I came to Ul'dah to begin with. I stepped into the Meeting Hall and gathered with the other Walker initiates - alongside Hero. Minfilia gathered us together to warn us about imperial linkshells being passed out and filling the heads of citizens with propaganda. The pearls whisper of the beast tribes secretly plotting to summon eikon to lay waste to Eorzea. This is the first i had heard of these linkpearls despite my various travels among the city-states. The Empire offered its assistance if the city-states would be willing to join the Empire.

What she said next shocked us all. Our ability to speak with the beast tribes - a skill granted to us by the Echo - would mark us as traitors and enemies of the Empire and possibly the city-states if they chose to stand against the beast tribes with the Empire. I couldn't wrap my brain around it and neither could the others. This was my home now! I had worked hard to make sure it was safe; ever attempting to quell the escalating tensions of the beast tribes. Minfilia assured us that we would persevere despite these political upheavals regardless of how they turn out.

Hero pulled me aside after the meeting and asked me if I would come with him to speak to the Antecedent. I had never seen him so worked up, so outraged! He wants to fight the Empire every step of the way and not stand idly by while they poison the minds of the city-states and plan their next move on Eorzea. Minfilia and he exchanged terse words, but then she spoke to us in confidence - that she planned to side with the tribes if it came to that and fight the Empire as outsiders. Wouldn't that mean we would have to fight the citizens of the city-states as well? I'm not sure I have the stomach to fight the people I have fought to protect.

I am scared for the future and what it holds for me on the Path. Would Nimla side with the Walkers or the city-states? How could it come to that? I left the Waking Sands trembling.