Provisional Recruitment with the Maelstrom

As I predicted, the rumors of early recruiting taking place at the Grand Companies brought me out of hiding. I left Owl's Nest for the first time in weeks to join up with other Moogle Knights to see what these Grand Companies had up their sleeves - and with hope we would have access to the Dzemael Darkhold which had been whispered among the people for a few weeks now. I had even heard these rumors out in Owl's Nest.  I had to admit that my lust for adventure got the better of me.

I had Nimla meet me in Limsa Lominsa where we hoped to lend our aid to the Maelstrom. Rumors proved correct when we found the doors to the Company headquarters unbarred and we made our way inside. It wasn't as crowded as I had thought it would be. Aside from Nimla and I, there were only a brave few Moogle Knights willing to lay down their lives for the city-states. Perhaps other adventurers were lining up in Ul'dah and Gridania, but Limsa Lominsa was quiet.

We spoke with the front man, Guincum, who feigned reluctance to ask us for help. He had heard of us, though, and knew we would be valuable allies to the Company if he could manage to hook us to their cause, so he gave us a test of sorts. He asked us to stop a man named Walcher from slandering the admiral and hurting the recruitment process of the Company. Apparently he had been seeding dissent among the hamlets and camps of La Noscea and the Maelstrom needed this handled before it opened officially in the months to follow. We were to be awarded with company seals and official recruit status in the Maelstrom if we were to handle affairs with Walcher. 

The Search Party for Walcher

Nimla, Skald and I found Walcher out in Wineport where he had been recently nay-saying the Admiral for their lies about the Empire and inability to handle simple affairs. We demanded he cease and desist or be brought back with us to the Maelstrom for questioning and he offered us a counter-proposal. He told us to find and capture Urianger, the alleged prophet, and he would be willing to sing a new song praising the Maelstrom and the Admiral. We were skeptical about the offer, but saw it as a fair deal. We set out to the east coast of La Noscea where Urianger had been last spotted.

We found Urianger along the bluffs and he gave an ominous warning about the future and our paths intertwined with it. He summoned a peiste to test our resolve and when the three of us made short work of it, Y'shtola was by our side. She startled us, but before we could speak she told us of the Archons and the mages deal with the devils long ago coming back to haunt the lands. She asked if we were ready to aid in the protection of Eorzea and once again warned me not to get in over my head without knowing the full strength of my enemy. Somehow she split into 4 people when she spoke to us. Another aspect of the Echo she had mastery over? She disappeared before I could speak with her any further about the Echo. All this time I'd been hoping to find her and talk with her and today we have no chance to speak.

Fighting Urianger's Familiar

After her disappearance, we were left with our previous affairs with Walcher. We told him how we were unable to capture Urianger, but somehow he had summoned a monster which we were able to defeat. He was convinced with evidence of the peiste familiar that there was more to Urianger than meets the eye and gave a written statement he would no longer slander the Admiral. I am forced to agree that Urianger's ability to come and go at will, as well as summon monsters to do his bidding had piqued my curiosity. I had thought him no more than a charlatan before this day.

When we presented Walcher's letter to Guincum he was most pleased with our results. He announced that we were now provisional recruits of the Maelstrom and gave us a great deal of Storm Seals, the company seals used to barter for rewards and ranks within the Maelstrom - the other two Companies had their own seals that they would be printing and distributing. He directed us to speak with Grizzly Gnat who was in charge of distribution. Grizzly showed me all the impressive assortment of weapons and wares he had to offer. I decided I would not part with my seals so swiftly and returned to Guincum to learn more about what we could do to help the Maelstrom. He told us of operation aptly named "Into the Dark."

Moogle Knights Assemble on the Astalicia

I regret to admit most of what happened next is a blur to me. Nimla, Skald and I were eager to join up with other Moogle Knights who had volunteered their services to the Maelstrom and make our way to the Dzemael Darkhold where untold treasure and dangers awaited us - provided we could return an Imperial device to the allies of the Maelstrom, an organization known as the Faces of Many. I should not even be leaving a written record of their existence, but I trust no one will read this journal for some time and their secrets will be safe here with me.

I remember we met with a undercover agend aboard the Astalicia. He led us back to where I had started my morning - the Owl's Nest. Our agent in the Faces met us there and gave us his seal to win entry to the Darkhold where he had no doubt we would meet our end or return with the Dowsing Device they so required for some purpose that (if told) was lost on me. All that is burned into my memory is the breathtaking sights and hair-raising adventure that unfurled when we stepped foot into the forbidden underground fortress of Dzemael Darkhold.

We were able to recover the Dowsing Device, but unfortunately something much darker and scarier was happening down there in the Darkhold and we were unable to uncover and stop it. It remains to be seen that we must venture in there again and put an end to these Imperial schemes. Unfortunately, for Nimla and I, we have plans to return to our homeland for some weeks, if not months. We leave the future of the Maelstrom, the Darkhold and the entire continent of Eorzea in the capable hands of our fellow Moogle Knights and other brave adventurers who have harkened to the call of honor, duty and glory.

Something More Sinister Afoot

Life in Owl's Nest

I had been living the quiet life of contemplation in the small hamlet of Owl's Nest for the past month or more. Nimla visits often, but I am enjoying my time away from the commotion of the city states. My business ventures have been on hold and I have spent most of my free time fishing and thinking of the Echo and trying to piece it all together. Recent news brought by Hero or Nimla has me reassured that the Grand Companies are going to be seeking new recruits soon and there's a chance that will get me to come out of my shell. I've even read some news that expeditions have been sent into remote areas of Coerthas and the Black Shroud, though the details remain a mystery to me. 

Hello, Patrick!

I've been helping out around the hamlet as much as I can. Just yesterday the shepherd Patrick sent me to frighten off some wolves so he could herd in peace for a time. He had lost his sheep and was reluctant to go find them. I asked him about the odd structure he usually frequented and told me it was a well where he drew water for his sheep and his family. I had seen these all over the countryside, not just Coerthas, but the rest of Eorzea as well. I was quite curious who built them. Although the water was quite potable he told me that Ashpool and Banepool to the northwest were poisonous due to the taint of the dragon lingering upon them. When dealing with men in and around Ishgard, one has to be ready to deal with superstition about dragons. I have yet to see one myself.

Coerthas Wolves are Fierce!

After we had frightened off half a dozen wolves plaguing the area around Owl's Nest we returned to Patrick who informed us his lost sheep had been recovered by another shepherd and he invited us to dine with him on grilled dodo. Over dinner he told us a strange tale of how he had come to lose his sheep to begin with as a large shadow passed over head and a strange howl filled his ears. He had thought it to be a dragon, but it was more likely an airship. Since no airships were landing in or around Ishgard anymore, it could only mean it was of the Imperial Fleet, but this far north? He did not want to think long on it.

Earlier today, I bumped into Arscelin who told me how he had found a wounded man but has not the means to medicate him. He sent us after sheepbur seeds. The burrs get tangled in doe-fur and so we set out to hunt antelope doe near Thordan's March, south of Camp Glory. They weren't hard to find. The area is widely populated by doe, making it a good hunting ground for the serpent Ureaus who springs up (despite Moogle Knights constantly fighting him off) nearly every night to feast on the doe while they are sleeping.

When we returned with the burrs, Arscelin let it slip that this man he is treating is actually an Ixal. I recalled my dread upon hearing how a healer had been excommunicated from the Black Shroud when I last did work in Gridania, and as it turns out Arscelin is the very healer I had heard about. He told me that he now practices his medicine under the rules set out by the Holy See of Ishgard rather than those of Gridania. Although he said his actions were more tolerated in Owl's Nest, he also kept to the cautious side and paid us handsomely to keep his secret safe as he tended to the wounded Ixal. I wanted to see the Ixal for myself, but I did not want to be (yet) branded an Ixal sympathizer.