(Setting: The foyer of House Fortempts, where a meeting is happening.)
COUNT EDMONT DE FORTEMPTS: The infamous Lady Iceheart, here in Ishgard? This is most unexpected…
AYMERIC: She has done much to quell the violence. The Inquisition may not approve, but we are glad of her presence.
COUNT EDMONT DE FORTEMPTS: And with the great wyrm’s demise, even our nation’s more reactionary elements will have scant grounds to press for her immediate impeachment.
AYMERIC: My thoughts exactly.
ALPHINAUD: What of the truth revealed to us by Hraesvelgr? That the origins of the Dragonsong War--a core tenet of Ishgardian faith--are quite unlike those depicted in the scriptures.
AYMERIC: … That men and dragons once lived together in harmony, and that it was man’s treachery which shattered the peace and plunged our peoples into war.
COUNT EDMONT DE FORTEMPTS: The same scripture also describes the origins of the High Houses. Were it exposed as false, the legitimacy of our rule would be called into question. If both highborn and lowborn can trace their ancestry to Thordan and his knights twelve…
ALPHINAUD: But a single sip of dragon’s blood is required to confirm their lineage.
(Aymeric looks troubled.)
AYMERIC: If the Holy See knew of this and chose to remain silent, their crimes are grievous indeed. Regardless, this state of affairs cannot be allowed to continue.
(Everyone pauses as Aymeric’s words sink in.)
COUNT EDMONT DE FORTEMPTS: Ser Aymeric! You cannot mean to raise this matter with the archbishop!
HAURCHEFANT: Pray consider what you are proposing! If the Holy See chose to conceal the truth for centuries, what reason would they have to reveal it now!?
ALPHINAUD: At best, you will be branded a heretic and clapped in irons!
AYMERIC: Then, at least, the archbishop will have shown his true colors. My friends, this war will never truly be at an end until the truth is made known. You must see what lies on the horizon if it is not. When ruled by fear of a common enemy, we were united. But now we have none. During the war, the highborn needed men to lead, and the lowborn, men to follow. Not anymore. ‘Tis but a matter of time before the old order is called into question. Lady Iceheart will share the truth with her followers, and the Holy See will be powerless to stop its spread. The disenfranchised will rise up, united, and blood will flow in the streets once more…
(Aymeric walks towards the door, facing away from the rest.)
AYMERIC: A divided Ishgard will not survive.
(He leaves.)
Pleading with the Archbishop: 3:18:03-3:23:45
(Setting: Inside the Vault, a great cathedral.)
AYMERIC: The founding, the scriptures--a thousand years of lies--all to deceive the common man! Nay, our own brothers and sisters--for the blood of the knights twelve flows within all our veins! You knew this to be true. You knew and you concealed it!
ARCHBISHOP THORDAN VII: I should be interested to hear how you came by this knowledge. But yes, you have the right of it. The architects of Ishgard, King Thordan and his knights twelve, entrapped and butchered the great wyrm Ratatoskr, that they might partake of her eyes, and thereby transcend their mortal limits. Upon learning of their treachery, Nidhogg was consumed with a murderous--and justified--rage. I daresay you know what followed…
AYMERIC: The great wyrm slew the king and half of his knights.
ARCHBISHOP THORDAN VII: Aye… but Nidhogg was subdued, and his eyes plucked from their sockets by the knights that remained. Their one mistake was to show mercy, for from his brother Hraesvelgr did Nidhogg receive a new eye, thus rejuvenating his form and empowering him to embark upon an eternal quest for vengeance.
AYMERIC: … Whilst Thordan’s son Haldrath took one of Nidhogg’s eyes and learned to wield its power in defense of his people…
ARCHBISHOP THORDAN VII: Thus was the first Azure Dragoon born. And ever since that time, his honored successors have risen to drive Nidhogg from our lands whenever the wyrm has returned to plague us.
(...)
ARCHBISHOP THORDAN VII: I ask you, my son: will you answer for my sins? Will your son and his son answer for me as well?
AYMERIC: What do you mean?
ARCHBISHOP THORDAN VII: If a man cannot atone for his sins in the course of his all-too-fleeting life, must his progeny then be held to account? Must every subsequent generation be judged as well?
(Aymeric looks troubled.)
ARCHBISHOP THORDAN VII: Thordan’s betrayal of Ratatoskr was an unconscionable, unforgivable sin. Should we, then, as his descendants, meekly surrender ourselves to an eternity of punishment? Nay, say I. I would not see our children sacrificed in a vain attempt to appease an implacable foe. Dragons are not like us, my son. To they who live forever, the wrongs of antiquity are as those of yesterday. No reparations shall ever suffice. This fact alone should serve as ample justification for our actions, yet some refuse to see it as such. For men like you, who yearn to commit themselves to a nobler cause, a more compelling narrative is required.
AYMERIC: This is your solution!? This is how you protect our people? You have given us a lost cause! A death sentence! With your compelling narrative, you but doom our countrymen to give their lives for a lie!
ARCHBISHOP THORDAN VII: And they do so gladly. Highborn and lowborn alike are proud to serve--to fight and die for their country.
(The archbishop’s gaze levels on Aymeric, steely-eyed.)
ARCHBISHOP THORDAN VII: And what would you say to them? What would you tell the wives who have lost their husbands, the mothers who have lost their sons? … That their loved ones died for naught?
(Aymeric looks stunned.)
AYMERIC: I…
ARCHBISHOP THORDAN VII: Over the course of a thousand years, countless men have donned these robes, and every one of them came to accept the necessity of this solution. Once, I hoped you might come to accept it as well.
(The archbishop rises from his seat, and stands before the statue of Halone, the Fury.)
ARCHBISHOP THORDAN VII: Do not despair, my son. Soon I shall free us from the sins of antiquity… And bring about the change you so fervently desire.
(The archbishop stamps his staff on the ground, and two members of the Heavens’ Ward, the Archbishop’s personal guard, enter, flanking Aymeric--Zephirin and Grinnaux.)
ARCHBISHOP THORDAN VII: If he has spoken with others, I would have their names. Escort him to a cell and question him--thoroughly.
ZEPHIRIN: Your Eminence.
(Aymeric moves forward to continue pleading, but he is stopped by Zephirin’s sword leveled at his throat. Grinnaux crosses his arms and grins deviously. Aymeric realizes he is outmatched, and is escorted from the cathedral.)
(It’s heavily implied that Aymeric was treated brutally by the Heaven’s Ward in their “questioning” of him, though the game doesn’t show it directly. Several members of the guard have a history of interrogating suspected heretics using ruthless and sadistic methods, involving magic as a means of torture. And the Heaven’s Ward have been pretty obvious about their collective disdain for Aymeric due to his position. I imagine since the game is alluding to the Spanish Inquisition that there were some pretty terrible things happening in Aymeric’s cell.
While Aymeric is being interrogated, there is a party infiltrating the Vault to try and rescue him and seize the archbishop. Lucia, Aymeric’s second-in-command, along with Haurchefant, are mounting a rescue, while the Warrior of Light heads an assault into the keep to find the archbishop. Along the way, the Warrior discovers that the Heavens’ Ward possess inhumanly powerful magics that exceed the limits of normal men. Eventually, however, they prevail, and both parties meet up on the airship landing near the top of the cathedral.)
Haurchefant’s Death: 3:12:33-3:16:23
(The archbishop and Charibert are preparing to board the airship when the Warrior of Light and company arrive on the strip. Aymeric is wounded, but still he limps forward to call out to the archbishop.)
AYMERIC: Father, please!
(Haurchefant turns to the Warrior of Light in relief.)
HAURCHEFANT: We were not too late, my friend!
AYMERIC: Why must you do this, Father!? Nidhogg is fallen! There is no need for further deception! Now is the time to renounce the lies which led us down this path--to start anew!
ARCHBISHOP THORDAN VII: And tear down the very pillars of our society--our history, our values--everything we have built over a thousand years? [sigh] A fool to the last.
(Haurchefant and the Warrior of Light take the initiative to dash towards the archbishop to stop him. What they fail to see is Zephirin standing on a buttress above, who summons a massive spear of energy and fires it down at them.)
HAURCHEFANT: Look out!
(Haurchefant dives in front of the spear and holds it off with his shield, but the energy is too strong to be held back for long, and it pierces through the shield--and straight through Haurchefant’s torso. A spray of blood emits from his mouth, and he falls back to the ground, mortally wounded. The archbishop takes the opportunity to make his escape.)
ARCHBISHOP THORDAN VII: Go. Azys Lla awaits.
(The Warrior of Light, Estinien, Lucia, and a limping Aymeric quickly run towards the dying Haurchefant while the archbishop and the Heavens’ Ward escape on their airship.)
AYMERIC: Lord Haurchefant!
(Aymeric kneels at Haurchefant’s side and lifts him up a little, though it’s clear he doesn’t have much longer. Haurchefant weakly looks towards the Warrior of Light, who is stunned and horrified.)
HAURCHEFANT: You… you are unharmed? F-Forgive me… I could not bear the thought of… of…
(He reaches for the Warrior of Light’s hand, who clutches his in both of theirs, looking stricken.)
HAURCHEFANT: Oh, do not look at me so. A smile better suits a hero…
(The Warrior of Light lifts their head and forces a smile--the last thing Haurchefant ever sees. With a content expression on his face, Haurchefant’s eyes slide shut and he succumbs to death in Aymeric's arms. Everyone is silent, bowing their heads and closing their eyes in mourning.)
Edited 2021-09-21 03:58 (UTC)
The Vault, part 2 (As Goes Light, So Goes Darkness)
(Aymeric, Count Edmont de Fortempts, and his son Artoirel are walking through the cobblestone streets of Ishgard in the evening while in the midst of discussion. They’re so engrossed they barely notice a young man passing them by until he walks right into Aymeric, seemingly on accident--until they notice the dagger sticking out of Aymeric’s gut. Aymeric grasps the dagger as he collapses, and the Count rushes to his side. The young man attempts to flee, and Artoirel catches him before he can escape, pinning him to the ground.)
Demands of the reactionaries: 25:19-36:25
(Setting: At the Congregation of Our Knights Most Heavenly, the headquarters of the Temple Knights, the Scions and co. are discussing recent events: reactionaries and fundamentalists have been causing problems in Ishgard in the wake of the end of the war, unwilling to accept peace between the formerly-warring nations. One of the more damaging outbursts has been a series of fires set in the Brume, an area in the city where many lower-class families live.)
LUCIA: I do not mean to diminish our accomplishments, but until we identify the ones who ordered the fires set, our work is far from finished.
THANCRED: Between the various conservative and religious factions in Ishgard, I daresay there is no shortage of parties who would like to see the status quo preserved. Do any likely suspects spring to mind?
(Aymeric enters, wincing from his recent injury, but determined.)
AYMERIC: Far too many to count.
LUCIA: Lord Commander, your wounds!
AYMERIC: Are healing well, thank you.
(He gives her a reassuring glance.)
AYMERIC: Time is of the essence. Lest we forget, these men would sooner put their own city to the torch than see it change. When our enemies learn that we have apprehended their arsonist, there is no telling how they will react.
(At that moment, a Temple Knight runs into the room, frantic.)
TENSE TEMPLE KNIGHT: Lord Commander! An armed mob has seized control of the Vault!
(Everyone is immediately taken aback.)
AYMERIC: And now we know. Tell us what happened, ser. Spare no detail.
TENSE TEMPLE KNIGHT: We were directing refugees into the basilica, as you ordered, when all of a sudden, men brandishing weapons were all around us. It happened so fast, my lord. We had no time to respond. They’ve taken the refugees hostage and barricaded themselves inside the Vault.
AYMERIC: And they sent you to deliver their demands.
TENSE TEMPLE KNIGHT: They… the True Brothers of the Faith demand that a conclave to select the next archbishop be held forthwith. Furthermore, th-they declare that you, Lord Commander, are guilty of patricide and high treason, and that you must surrender yourself at once to receive of the Fury’s judgment.
LUCIA: Ridiculous! Do they honestly think that executing Ser Aymeric will change anything? That the truth will somehow die with him?
ARTOIREL: These fundamentalists rage against the passing of the old ways, unable to accept there can be no going back.
COUNT EDMONT DE FORTEMPTS: Given the fanciful nature of their demands, a peaceful resolution does not seem likely. If the hostages are to be rescued, it will be by force, I fear.
AYMERIC: Agreed. Lucia, take a contingent of knights and establish a perimeter outside the entrance.
LUCIA: At once, Lord Commander!
AYMERIC: Hilda, I need your people out in force throughout the Brume. When word spreads of the situation, the friends and family of the hostages may try to take matters into their own hands. I will not give these militants more targets.
(Hilda nods.)
AYMERIC: I shall lead the assault on the Vault. Master Alphinaud, can I count on the support of the Scions?
(Alphinaud nods. The Warrior of Light, Y’Shtola, and Thancred do the same.)
ALPHINAUD: Of course!
AYMERIC: We are in your debt.
ARTOIREL: I shall join you as well, Lord Commander!
(Aymeric spares a quick glance at Count Edmont, Artoirel’s father, who nods.)
AYMERIC: Your assistance is most welcome, Lord Artoirel. To arms then, friends! Time is against us!
(Inside the Vault, the group must fight off waves of armed guards in order to rescue bound hostages. They learn that the leader of this insurgence is a man who formerly served under the late archbishop. At one point, the enemies activate automatons inside the cathedral and the group has to split up to prevent more hostages from being hurt. Aymeric deals with the leader while the rest of the party take down the automatons. It’s a tough fight, but eventually they prevail. The last hostage they find, a young boy, fearfully informs them that a priest took a girl up to the top of the building. The group pursues.)
Vidofnir’s rescue: 29:10-34:28
(Setting: Near the top of the Vault, the group is frantically trying to find the priest who took the young girl as hostage.)
AYMERIC: Where is he? Where is he!?
(Aymeric, Artoirel, and the Warrior of Light quickly head further, to the balconies at the top of the cathedral. They find the priest holding the girl, Maelie, by her throat over the edge of a precipice. As Aymeric approaches, he shoves the girl further towards the abyss.)
VAULT PRIEST: Come no closer!
(The trio stop, and though the Warrior of Light looks ready to pursue, Aymeric holds them back.)
AYMERIC: You have nowhere to run! Release the girl and surrender!
VAULT PRIEST: Surrender to whom!? The blasphemer who throws wide the gates to our enemy, who breaks bread with him and calls him brother!? Ungodly swine! I would sooner die than surrender to you!
AYMERIC: Is it godly to spill the blood of an innocent child!? To burn the homes of your brothers!? Tell me, priest--is that godly!?
VAULT PRIEST: Do not speak to me of godliness, heathen! Your father’s blood is on your hands--as is hers!
(The priest shoves Maelie off the precipice. She falls, and the people below on the streets in front of the cathedral cry out in horror. At the last moment, the dragon Vidofnir flies into the scene, catching the girl on her back. She lands on the ground, and Maelie quickly hides behind Lucia, intimidated.)
LUCIA: Vidofnir!
VIDOFNIR: Well met, knight. Mayhap I chose an inopportune moment?
LUCIA: Not at all! Pray forgive us this most unworthy reception. We are honored to have you with us, and right glad of your aid!
VIDOFNIR: Fortune delivered the child unto me. I had but to receive her.
(Maelie still looks intimidated, but grateful.)
MAELIE: Thank you for saving me…
VIDOFNIR: Thou art welcome, child.
(Shortly, Aymeric, Artoirel, the Warrior of Light, and co. arrive to greet Vidofnir.)
AYMERIC: Never did I think to be indebted to so unexpected a savior. But full glad am I to be so.
(Vidofnir leans down, head level with the group. She turns to the Warrior of Light.)
VIDOFNIR: Friend of Ysayle, warrior of warriors, I had hoped to meet with thee. I bear a message from my sire.
AYMERIC: From Hraesvelgr?
VIDOFNIR: Upon returning to our lands, Nidhogg’s shade did sing unto his brood, and they for skies unknown did then take wing. This thou must know, for your fates are inextricably bound.
ALPHINAUD: What of Estinien? Is he truly lost to us?
VIDOFNIR: Such matters are beyond my ken. I but bear my father’s words. Take from them what thou wilt. Fare you well, mortals.
(Vidofnir takes to the sky, and flies away. Count Edmont de Fortempts approaches shortly thereafter.)
COUNT EDMONT DE FORTEMPTS: So it is as they say, then. A great white dragon swooped down from the heavens to rescue an innocent child.
AYMERIC: A most unexpected turn of events… but not an unwelcome one. The people will not soon forget this day.
COUNT EDMONT DE FORTEMPTS: Yet how will they choose to remember it, Ser Aymeric? And will these events serve to bring man and dragon closer together, or drive a deeper wedge between brothers?
(Aymeric looks taken aback.)
COUNT EDMONT DE FORTEMPTS: After a thousand years, the world these men once knew is changing--and with an ungentle swiftness to boot. Though their actions are misguided, their sentiments are only to be expected. You may be sure that others will rally to their cause. I share your desire for a lasting peace with the Dravanians, I do, but I would not see it built on the bones of our countrymen--nor on our own.
(The Count has a pained expression, and Aymeric bows his head.)
COUNT EDMONT DE FORTEMPTS: I see much of Haurchefant in you. And I could not bear to mourn the passing of another son.
(Setting: At Falcon’s Nest, a large fortified village on the edge of Ishgard, where a peace conference between Ishgard and Dravania is to take place. A great many people are gathered. There is a large sheet covering a relief of some kind on top of the archway that marks the entrance to the village. There is a walkway near the relief that functions as a stage of sorts, where Aymeric and Lucia are waiting.)
LUCIA: The appointed hour approaches.
AYMERIC: Aye.
(Aymeric glances down below and sees a young woman standing with a guard near her, her hands bound. She stares fiercely up at him.)
LUCIA: She begged leave to watch the proceedings. I saw no reason not to grant it.
(Aymeric is quiet for a moment, thinking.)
AYMERIC: Should I choose to deviate from my prepared remarks, I ask that you trust in my judgment.
LUCIA: Have I ever done otherwise?
(Aymeric smiles. It’s at that moment the dragon Vidofnir approaches, flying from the sky to perch in front of the covered relief. Aymeric approaches her.)
VIDOFNIR: Ah, how long it hath been since our peoples met thus, children of Thordan. Even by our reckoning.
AYMERIC: Vidofnir, daughter of Hraesvelgr, we give thanks for your visit and bid you welcome to Falcon’s Nest.
VIDOFNIR: Our sire bade us hearken unto the whispers of our hearts. They spoke to us of a paradise lost--of bonds of brotherhood which they yearn to see restored.
AYMERIC: Ours too yearn for such a restoration. And they have guided us here this day, that they might yearn no longer.
(Aymeric turns towards the crowd, raising his voice.)
AYMERIC: Brothers and sisters, ye who stand as witness, hearken to me! Since the days of eld, when the bonds betwixt man and dragon were sundered by our hand, our peoples have known only war. Bloodshed without end, losses beyond counting--and still we fought. And still we fought. Some wounds do not heal. The dead cannot be returned to us. But we the living can yet choose another course. Here and now, we can lay down this burden--this hatred, this vengeance. Our forebears fought not so that we could die, but that we might live! So let us honor their sacrifice and spare our children this death sentence. Let us gift them a new legacy. Life!
(The woman with the bound hands in the audience begins to cry.)
VIDOFNIR: Betwixt our peoples yawned a divide deeper than the deepest abyss; wider than the widest sea. Generations will live and die ere this divide is bridged. Knowing this, doth thy heart yet yearn for peace, son of Thordan?
(Aymeric nods.)
AYMERIC: Look now on the legacy we would leave to our children. A dream of peace inscribed in stone for generations to come.
(Aymeric signals for the cloth covering the relief to be removed. The crowd gasps. Vidofnir’s eyes widen. The relief depicts the dragon Hraesvelgr and his human love Shiva, entwined together joyfully.)
VIDOFNIR: Father and his beloved. As they were so long ago. Happy and at peace. The dream they shared shall be ours once more.
(Aymeric smiles and the crowd cheers, but an angry, hateful roar interrupts the proceedings.)
???: NEVER!
(Everyone looks up. Standing on the top of a spire is a man covered in blood-soaked armor, carrying a spear. It’s Estinien, whose body is possessed by a rage-filled Nidhogg. He leaps into the sky and plunges his spear into Vidofnir’s back, who cries out in pain. Her blood splashes against the relief. Aymeric is stunned for just a second, and then he grabs the nearest guard’s bow and arrow.)
AYMERIC: Your bow!
(Estinien thrusts the spear further into Vidofnir’s back, who collapses. Aymeric looses an arrow at Estinien, but Estinien merely lifts an arm--out of which a massive, yellow eye is lodged--and absorbs the arrow, foul magic rippling off of him in waves. As he rises, the yellow eyes twitch and gaze, moving independently of the body they’re attached to. Red glowing veins travel from Estinien’s human eyes down his face, wearing a crazed expression. With barely any effort, he leaps back up onto the spire.)
ESTINIEN: Child of Dravania! Art thou grown so forgetful that thou wouldst forsake kith and kin, and consort with the spawn of Thordan? That thou wouldst dare contemplate peace!
(Estinien addresses the crowd.)
ESTINIEN: Hearken unto me, all of you! The final chorus is nigh, and all will be held to account! All will bathe in the flames of retribution! Till the coming of that day, look you on your sins and despair! For none shall ‘scape my wrath! None shall ‘scape my revenge!
ALPHINAUD: Seven hells!
(Estinien rises into the air and transforms into the massive dragon form of Nidhogg and flies away.)
ALPHINAUD: Damn you, Nidhogg…
(There’s silence for a moment, and then the crowd erupts.)
DISILLUSIONED LORD: Hells take that wyrm! While he lives, we’ll never know peace!
DISTRAUGHT LADY: Aye, there’ll be no end to this war till Nidhogg is dead and gone!
FURIOUS MAN: So let’s kill the bastard and be done with it! Death to Nidhogg! Death to Nidhogg! Death to Nidhogg!
(The mob begins a chant of “Death to Nidhogg!” Lucia tends to Vidofnir’s wounds, while Aymeric stares into the empty sky and murmurs something no one else can hear. It’s a name.)
(Setting: Zenith, an ancient crumbling tower-like structure floating above the clouds, in the land of the dragons. Aymeric, Alphinaud, and the Warrior of Light have traveled to the peak to summon the ancient dragon Hraesvelgr, and plead for his aid in defeating Nidhogg and ending the war. The Warrior of Light blows the horn that summons the great dragon, who descends. Hraesvelgr speaks in the language of dragons, the meaning telepathically communicated.)
HRAESVELGR: You dare summon me again, mortals?
ALPHINAUD: Great Hraesvelgr, ‘tis not lightly that we beg this audience. Pray hearken to our words, for they concern the future of man and dragon both.
(Aymeric steps forward.)
AYMERIC: Greetings, Hraesvelgr. I am Aymeric de Borel, acting ruler of the nation of Ishgard. I am come before you to parley on behalf of my people.
HRAESVELGR: … To parley? Thinkest thou thy purpose unclear to me? Thou art come to beg mine aid in the battle against the shade of my brood-brother.
(Alphinaud and Aymeric are taken aback.)
AYMERIC: You… foresaw mine intent.
HRAESVELGR: I but read that which is writ plain in thine eyes. Would that thou had wit enough to scry the answer in mine. My beloved Shiva did once build a bridge ‘twixt man and dragon--a bridge which thy treacherous forefathers saw fit to tear down, as thou well knowest. Thinkest thou Nidhogg was alone in despairing at the murder of our brood-sister? Thinkest thou mine own soul did not cry out for vengeance? Know then that upon that accursed day, my heart did wither in my breast, and thy kind became unto me the harbingers of despair. ‘Tis only Shiva’s gentle dream that preventeth me from flying at Nidhogg’s shoulder. Be grateful that I swore to abjure aggression ere I consumed her. I permit my children to offer or deny thee aid as they see fit; to warn thy people of my brood-brother’s coming. That thou wouldst dare ask more of me but affirmeth thine incurable arrogance.
(Aymeric is clearly stricken by this answer, and embarrassed by his approach. Alphinaud takes notice.)
ALPHINAUD: We understand that in your despair at man’s betrayal, you seek only the refuge of solitude. But despite your protestations of spent faith, do you not still nurture the smallest flame of hope?
HRAESVELGR: Perceivest thou such light in the dusk of mine existence?
ALPHINAUD: I do. If you claim I see falsely, then tell me: why did you consent to bear Ysayle upon your back?
HRAESVELGR: Ysayle… Piteous, deluded Ysayle. The child did lament her past sins, and sought to balance the scales with her remaining days. ‘Twas her unquenchable passion, so alike that of my beloved, which did spur me into flight. And for mine own part, I would countenance no longer the hands of evil men to use my brood-brother’s eye for ill.
ALPHINAUD: So you do distinguish between those who acknowledge and repent their sins, and those who perpetuate them. Interesting. It seems to me that you have not, in fact, lost faith in mankind as a whole. Rather, you weigh our respective merits by how we allow the past to influence our future.
HRAESVELGR: Spare me thine idle sophistry. Even were there a mote of truth in thy reasoning, what of it? Wouldst thou have me slay mine own sibling to save a city of mortals?
AYMERIC: Should we suffer ties of blood to bind our hands then? Nay. If the crime is one of unconscionable evil, we must needs condemn it--even should the transgressor be our closest kin. When my father corrupted himself and his followers with the power of a primal, I beseeched the Warrior of Light to slay him--an act alike to patricide. That he did not die by my hand matters little--if anything, it heaps greater disgrace upon my name. But had my father not fallen, he would have drawn countless thousands into a holy war of hellish proportions--which I hold the greater crime. Thus did I order his execution, sparing the lives of my people and yours. Alas, your brother wyrm now prepares to murder those whom I sought to spare. What is more, he has taken my comrade’s body for his own--but if I must slay my dearest friend to defeat my direst foe, I will not flinch from my duty!
HRAESVELGR: Thou wouldst strike down thy friend and, by example of thy righteousness, persuade me to break mine oath and kill my kindred?
(Suddenly, a creature is summoned from the aether before them--a small dragon, whom Aymeric recognizes as a miniaturized version of Midgardsormr, the father of all dragons. He’s clearly taken aback by this abrupt appearance, but the Warrior of Light seems pretty used to it.)
MIDGARDSORMR: Heed me, my child. The servants of Hydaelyn envision a different outcome. They intend salvation not only for Ishgard, but for the doomed dragonslayer as well.
(Hraesvelgr is uncertain.)
MIDGARDSORMR: Believest thou this shade to be Nidhogg returned? Is it not merely a manifestation of his vengeance--the shadow cast by thy brood-brother’s rage? I would not command thee, but ponder well thy course lest it lead thee unto greater remorse…
WARRIOR OF LIGHT: While this shade of vengeance remains, the future will ever be uncertain.
(Hraesvelgr seems pensive.)
HRAESVELGR: Nidhogg’s transformation into rage incarnate is, in part, of mine own doing. I rendered unto him mine eye, and empowered his revenge thereby… But ‘tis the purity of my brood-brother’s wrath that lendeth him his all-surpassing might. Hast thou the strength of will to stand against so terrible a shadow, I wonder? ‘Twould seem I must put thee and thy companions to the proof. I shall await thee in the ruins wherein Ratatoskr once dwelled. Heed well the words of my children, and hasten thee to the place of thy trial!
(A wyvern arrives and escorts the group to the place where they will be tested. They fly on dragonback, and arrive at an untouched, ancient ruin. They must undergo a series of challenges and battles. The Warrior of Light faces Hraesvelgr head-on, while Alphinaud and Aymeric face Vidofnir and Vedrfolnir, two of Hraesvelgr’s children.)
Hraesvelgr’s boon 19:10-21:04
(Setting: After the trials are complete, Hraesvelgr speaks to the Warrior of Light.)
HRAESVELGR: Even bereft of an eye, my brood-brother was a fearsome foe indeed. But having tasted thy strength firsthand, I do begin to see how thou didst bring him low. Hydaelyn chooseth Her servants well. Very well. I shall trust in the seed of man one last time. By thy deeds shall the flickering hope that lingereth yet within my heart be kindled anew… or extinguished forever.
(The Warrior of Light smiles. Alphinaud and Aymeric rejoin them, having finished their own bouts.)
ALPHINAUD: Your trial is ended as well, then?
AYMERIC: Mine was brutal beyond reckoning. Vedrfolnir seems ill acquainted with the notion of “mock” battles…
HRAESVELGR: That you yet stand is ready proof of your determination, mortals. Let us fight as allies, then, and together banish my brood-brother’s vengeful shade. On my oath, the wrath that once was Nidhogg shall meet its end! This I swear on the memory of my beloved Shiva, and on the soul of lost Ysayle…
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The Vault, part 1
no subject
Meeting at House Fortemps: 2:56:45-2:59:50
(Setting: The foyer of House Fortempts, where a meeting is happening.)
COUNT EDMONT DE FORTEMPTS: The infamous Lady Iceheart, here in Ishgard? This is most unexpected…
AYMERIC: She has done much to quell the violence. The Inquisition may not approve, but we are glad of her presence.
COUNT EDMONT DE FORTEMPTS: And with the great wyrm’s demise, even our nation’s more reactionary elements will have scant grounds to press for her immediate impeachment.
AYMERIC: My thoughts exactly.
ALPHINAUD: What of the truth revealed to us by Hraesvelgr? That the origins of the Dragonsong War--a core tenet of Ishgardian faith--are quite unlike those depicted in the scriptures.
AYMERIC: … That men and dragons once lived together in harmony, and that it was man’s treachery which shattered the peace and plunged our peoples into war.
COUNT EDMONT DE FORTEMPTS: The same scripture also describes the origins of the High Houses. Were it exposed as false, the legitimacy of our rule would be called into question. If both highborn and lowborn can trace their ancestry to Thordan and his knights twelve…
ALPHINAUD: But a single sip of dragon’s blood is required to confirm their lineage.
(Aymeric looks troubled.)
AYMERIC: If the Holy See knew of this and chose to remain silent, their crimes are grievous indeed. Regardless, this state of affairs cannot be allowed to continue.
(Everyone pauses as Aymeric’s words sink in.)
COUNT EDMONT DE FORTEMPTS: Ser Aymeric! You cannot mean to raise this matter with the archbishop!
HAURCHEFANT: Pray consider what you are proposing! If the Holy See chose to conceal the truth for centuries, what reason would they have to reveal it now!?
ALPHINAUD: At best, you will be branded a heretic and clapped in irons!
AYMERIC: Then, at least, the archbishop will have shown his true colors. My friends, this war will never truly be at an end until the truth is made known. You must see what lies on the horizon if it is not. When ruled by fear of a common enemy, we were united. But now we have none. During the war, the highborn needed men to lead, and the lowborn, men to follow. Not anymore. ‘Tis but a matter of time before the old order is called into question. Lady Iceheart will share the truth with her followers, and the Holy See will be powerless to stop its spread. The disenfranchised will rise up, united, and blood will flow in the streets once more…
(Aymeric walks towards the door, facing away from the rest.)
AYMERIC: A divided Ishgard will not survive.
(He leaves.)
Pleading with the Archbishop: 3:18:03-3:23:45
(Setting: Inside the Vault, a great cathedral.)
AYMERIC: The founding, the scriptures--a thousand years of lies--all to deceive the common man! Nay, our own brothers and sisters--for the blood of the knights twelve flows within all our veins! You knew this to be true. You knew and you concealed it!
ARCHBISHOP THORDAN VII: I should be interested to hear how you came by this knowledge. But yes, you have the right of it. The architects of Ishgard, King Thordan and his knights twelve, entrapped and butchered the great wyrm Ratatoskr, that they might partake of her eyes, and thereby transcend their mortal limits. Upon learning of their treachery, Nidhogg was consumed with a murderous--and justified--rage. I daresay you know what followed…
AYMERIC: The great wyrm slew the king and half of his knights.
ARCHBISHOP THORDAN VII: Aye… but Nidhogg was subdued, and his eyes plucked from their sockets by the knights that remained. Their one mistake was to show mercy, for from his brother Hraesvelgr did Nidhogg receive a new eye, thus rejuvenating his form and empowering him to embark upon an eternal quest for vengeance.
AYMERIC: … Whilst Thordan’s son Haldrath took one of Nidhogg’s eyes and learned to wield its power in defense of his people…
ARCHBISHOP THORDAN VII: Thus was the first Azure Dragoon born. And ever since that time, his honored successors have risen to drive Nidhogg from our lands whenever the wyrm has returned to plague us.
(...)
ARCHBISHOP THORDAN VII: I ask you, my son: will you answer for my sins? Will your son and his son answer for me as well?
AYMERIC: What do you mean?
ARCHBISHOP THORDAN VII: If a man cannot atone for his sins in the course of his all-too-fleeting life, must his progeny then be held to account? Must every subsequent generation be judged as well?
(Aymeric looks troubled.)
ARCHBISHOP THORDAN VII: Thordan’s betrayal of Ratatoskr was an unconscionable, unforgivable sin. Should we, then, as his descendants, meekly surrender ourselves to an eternity of punishment? Nay, say I. I would not see our children sacrificed in a vain attempt to appease an implacable foe. Dragons are not like us, my son. To they who live forever, the wrongs of antiquity are as those of yesterday. No reparations shall ever suffice. This fact alone should serve as ample justification for our actions, yet some refuse to see it as such. For men like you, who yearn to commit themselves to a nobler cause, a more compelling narrative is required.
AYMERIC: This is your solution!? This is how you protect our people? You have given us a lost cause! A death sentence! With your compelling narrative, you but doom our countrymen to give their lives for a lie!
ARCHBISHOP THORDAN VII: And they do so gladly. Highborn and lowborn alike are proud to serve--to fight and die for their country.
(The archbishop’s gaze levels on Aymeric, steely-eyed.)
ARCHBISHOP THORDAN VII: And what would you say to them? What would you tell the wives who have lost their husbands, the mothers who have lost their sons? … That their loved ones died for naught?
(Aymeric looks stunned.)
AYMERIC: I…
ARCHBISHOP THORDAN VII: Over the course of a thousand years, countless men have donned these robes, and every one of them came to accept the necessity of this solution. Once, I hoped you might come to accept it as well.
(The archbishop rises from his seat, and stands before the statue of Halone, the Fury.)
ARCHBISHOP THORDAN VII: Do not despair, my son. Soon I shall free us from the sins of antiquity… And bring about the change you so fervently desire.
(The archbishop stamps his staff on the ground, and two members of the Heavens’ Ward, the Archbishop’s personal guard, enter, flanking Aymeric--Zephirin and Grinnaux.)
ARCHBISHOP THORDAN VII: If he has spoken with others, I would have their names. Escort him to a cell and question him--thoroughly.
ZEPHIRIN: Your Eminence.
(Aymeric moves forward to continue pleading, but he is stopped by Zephirin’s sword leveled at his throat. Grinnaux crosses his arms and grins deviously. Aymeric realizes he is outmatched, and is escorted from the cathedral.)
(It’s heavily implied that Aymeric was treated brutally by the Heaven’s Ward in their “questioning” of him, though the game doesn’t show it directly. Several members of the guard have a history of interrogating suspected heretics using ruthless and sadistic methods, involving magic as a means of torture. And the Heaven’s Ward have been pretty obvious about their collective disdain for Aymeric due to his position. I imagine since the game is alluding to the Spanish Inquisition that there were some pretty terrible things happening in Aymeric’s cell.
While Aymeric is being interrogated, there is a party infiltrating the Vault to try and rescue him and seize the archbishop. Lucia, Aymeric’s second-in-command, along with Haurchefant, are mounting a rescue, while the Warrior of Light heads an assault into the keep to find the archbishop. Along the way, the Warrior discovers that the Heavens’ Ward possess inhumanly powerful magics that exceed the limits of normal men. Eventually, however, they prevail, and both parties meet up on the airship landing near the top of the cathedral.)
Haurchefant’s Death: 3:12:33-3:16:23
(The archbishop and Charibert are preparing to board the airship when the Warrior of Light and company arrive on the strip. Aymeric is wounded, but still he limps forward to call out to the archbishop.)
AYMERIC: Father, please!
(Haurchefant turns to the Warrior of Light in relief.)
HAURCHEFANT: We were not too late, my friend!
AYMERIC: Why must you do this, Father!? Nidhogg is fallen! There is no need for further deception! Now is the time to renounce the lies which led us down this path--to start anew!
ARCHBISHOP THORDAN VII: And tear down the very pillars of our society--our history, our values--everything we have built over a thousand years? [sigh] A fool to the last.
(Haurchefant and the Warrior of Light take the initiative to dash towards the archbishop to stop him. What they fail to see is Zephirin standing on a buttress above, who summons a massive spear of energy and fires it down at them.)
HAURCHEFANT: Look out!
(Haurchefant dives in front of the spear and holds it off with his shield, but the energy is too strong to be held back for long, and it pierces through the shield--and straight through Haurchefant’s torso. A spray of blood emits from his mouth, and he falls back to the ground, mortally wounded. The archbishop takes the opportunity to make his escape.)
ARCHBISHOP THORDAN VII: Go. Azys Lla awaits.
(The Warrior of Light, Estinien, Lucia, and a limping Aymeric quickly run towards the dying Haurchefant while the archbishop and the Heavens’ Ward escape on their airship.)
AYMERIC: Lord Haurchefant!
(Aymeric kneels at Haurchefant’s side and lifts him up a little, though it’s clear he doesn’t have much longer. Haurchefant weakly looks towards the Warrior of Light, who is stunned and horrified.)
HAURCHEFANT: You… you are unharmed? F-Forgive me… I could not bear the thought of… of…
(He reaches for the Warrior of Light’s hand, who clutches his in both of theirs, looking stricken.)
HAURCHEFANT: Oh, do not look at me so. A smile better suits a hero…
(The Warrior of Light lifts their head and forces a smile--the last thing Haurchefant ever sees. With a content expression on his face, Haurchefant’s eyes slide shut and he succumbs to death in Aymeric's arms. Everyone is silent, bowing their heads and closing their eyes in mourning.)
The Vault, part 2 (As Goes Light, So Goes Darkness)
no subject
The assassination attempt: 24:17-25:15
(Aymeric, Count Edmont de Fortempts, and his son Artoirel are walking through the cobblestone streets of Ishgard in the evening while in the midst of discussion. They’re so engrossed they barely notice a young man passing them by until he walks right into Aymeric, seemingly on accident--until they notice the dagger sticking out of Aymeric’s gut. Aymeric grasps the dagger as he collapses, and the Count rushes to his side. The young man attempts to flee, and Artoirel catches him before he can escape, pinning him to the ground.)
Demands of the reactionaries: 25:19-36:25
(Setting: At the Congregation of Our Knights Most Heavenly, the headquarters of the Temple Knights, the Scions and co. are discussing recent events: reactionaries and fundamentalists have been causing problems in Ishgard in the wake of the end of the war, unwilling to accept peace between the formerly-warring nations. One of the more damaging outbursts has been a series of fires set in the Brume, an area in the city where many lower-class families live.)
LUCIA: I do not mean to diminish our accomplishments, but until we identify the ones who ordered the fires set, our work is far from finished.
THANCRED: Between the various conservative and religious factions in Ishgard, I daresay there is no shortage of parties who would like to see the status quo preserved. Do any likely suspects spring to mind?
(Aymeric enters, wincing from his recent injury, but determined.)
AYMERIC: Far too many to count.
LUCIA: Lord Commander, your wounds!
AYMERIC: Are healing well, thank you.
(He gives her a reassuring glance.)
AYMERIC: Time is of the essence. Lest we forget, these men would sooner put their own city to the torch than see it change. When our enemies learn that we have apprehended their arsonist, there is no telling how they will react.
(At that moment, a Temple Knight runs into the room, frantic.)
TENSE TEMPLE KNIGHT: Lord Commander! An armed mob has seized control of the Vault!
(Everyone is immediately taken aback.)
AYMERIC: And now we know. Tell us what happened, ser. Spare no detail.
TENSE TEMPLE KNIGHT: We were directing refugees into the basilica, as you ordered, when all of a sudden, men brandishing weapons were all around us. It happened so fast, my lord. We had no time to respond. They’ve taken the refugees hostage and barricaded themselves inside the Vault.
AYMERIC: And they sent you to deliver their demands.
TENSE TEMPLE KNIGHT: They… the True Brothers of the Faith demand that a conclave to select the next archbishop be held forthwith. Furthermore, th-they declare that you, Lord Commander, are guilty of patricide and high treason, and that you must surrender yourself at once to receive of the Fury’s judgment.
LUCIA: Ridiculous! Do they honestly think that executing Ser Aymeric will change anything? That the truth will somehow die with him?
ARTOIREL: These fundamentalists rage against the passing of the old ways, unable to accept there can be no going back.
COUNT EDMONT DE FORTEMPTS: Given the fanciful nature of their demands, a peaceful resolution does not seem likely. If the hostages are to be rescued, it will be by force, I fear.
AYMERIC: Agreed. Lucia, take a contingent of knights and establish a perimeter outside the entrance.
LUCIA: At once, Lord Commander!
AYMERIC: Hilda, I need your people out in force throughout the Brume. When word spreads of the situation, the friends and family of the hostages may try to take matters into their own hands. I will not give these militants more targets.
(Hilda nods.)
AYMERIC: I shall lead the assault on the Vault. Master Alphinaud, can I count on the support of the Scions?
(Alphinaud nods. The Warrior of Light, Y’Shtola, and Thancred do the same.)
ALPHINAUD: Of course!
AYMERIC: We are in your debt.
ARTOIREL: I shall join you as well, Lord Commander!
(Aymeric spares a quick glance at Count Edmont, Artoirel’s father, who nods.)
AYMERIC: Your assistance is most welcome, Lord Artoirel. To arms then, friends! Time is against us!
(Inside the Vault, the group must fight off waves of armed guards in order to rescue bound hostages. They learn that the leader of this insurgence is a man who formerly served under the late archbishop. At one point, the enemies activate automatons inside the cathedral and the group has to split up to prevent more hostages from being hurt. Aymeric deals with the leader while the rest of the party take down the automatons. It’s a tough fight, but eventually they prevail. The last hostage they find, a young boy, fearfully informs them that a priest took a girl up to the top of the building. The group pursues.)
Vidofnir’s rescue: 29:10-34:28
(Setting: Near the top of the Vault, the group is frantically trying to find the priest who took the young girl as hostage.)
AYMERIC: Where is he? Where is he!?
(Aymeric, Artoirel, and the Warrior of Light quickly head further, to the balconies at the top of the cathedral. They find the priest holding the girl, Maelie, by her throat over the edge of a precipice. As Aymeric approaches, he shoves the girl further towards the abyss.)
VAULT PRIEST: Come no closer!
(The trio stop, and though the Warrior of Light looks ready to pursue, Aymeric holds them back.)
AYMERIC: You have nowhere to run! Release the girl and surrender!
VAULT PRIEST: Surrender to whom!? The blasphemer who throws wide the gates to our enemy, who breaks bread with him and calls him brother!? Ungodly swine! I would sooner die than surrender to you!
AYMERIC: Is it godly to spill the blood of an innocent child!? To burn the homes of your brothers!? Tell me, priest--is that godly!?
VAULT PRIEST: Do not speak to me of godliness, heathen! Your father’s blood is on your hands--as is hers!
(The priest shoves Maelie off the precipice. She falls, and the people below on the streets in front of the cathedral cry out in horror. At the last moment, the dragon Vidofnir flies into the scene, catching the girl on her back. She lands on the ground, and Maelie quickly hides behind Lucia, intimidated.)
LUCIA: Vidofnir!
VIDOFNIR: Well met, knight. Mayhap I chose an inopportune moment?
LUCIA: Not at all! Pray forgive us this most unworthy reception. We are honored to have you with us, and right glad of your aid!
VIDOFNIR: Fortune delivered the child unto me. I had but to receive her.
(Maelie still looks intimidated, but grateful.)
MAELIE: Thank you for saving me…
VIDOFNIR: Thou art welcome, child.
(Shortly, Aymeric, Artoirel, the Warrior of Light, and co. arrive to greet Vidofnir.)
AYMERIC: Never did I think to be indebted to so unexpected a savior. But full glad am I to be so.
(Vidofnir leans down, head level with the group. She turns to the Warrior of Light.)
VIDOFNIR: Friend of Ysayle, warrior of warriors, I had hoped to meet with thee. I bear a message from my sire.
AYMERIC: From Hraesvelgr?
VIDOFNIR: Upon returning to our lands, Nidhogg’s shade did sing unto his brood, and they for skies unknown did then take wing. This thou must know, for your fates are inextricably bound.
ALPHINAUD: What of Estinien? Is he truly lost to us?
VIDOFNIR: Such matters are beyond my ken. I but bear my father’s words. Take from them what thou wilt. Fare you well, mortals.
(Vidofnir takes to the sky, and flies away. Count Edmont de Fortempts approaches shortly thereafter.)
COUNT EDMONT DE FORTEMPTS: So it is as they say, then. A great white dragon swooped down from the heavens to rescue an innocent child.
AYMERIC: A most unexpected turn of events… but not an unwelcome one. The people will not soon forget this day.
COUNT EDMONT DE FORTEMPTS: Yet how will they choose to remember it, Ser Aymeric? And will these events serve to bring man and dragon closer together, or drive a deeper wedge between brothers?
(Aymeric looks taken aback.)
COUNT EDMONT DE FORTEMPTS: After a thousand years, the world these men once knew is changing--and with an ungentle swiftness to boot. Though their actions are misguided, their sentiments are only to be expected. You may be sure that others will rally to their cause. I share your desire for a lasting peace with the Dravanians, I do, but I would not see it built on the bones of our countrymen--nor on our own.
(The Count has a pained expression, and Aymeric bows his head.)
COUNT EDMONT DE FORTEMPTS: I see much of Haurchefant in you. And I could not bear to mourn the passing of another son.
(Aymeric looks surprised, and touched.)
AYMERIC: Lord Edmont…
(The Count leaves, along with Artoirel.)
For Those We Can Yet Save
no subject
The peace conference: 50:52-1:00:44
(Setting: At Falcon’s Nest, a large fortified village on the edge of Ishgard, where a peace conference between Ishgard and Dravania is to take place. A great many people are gathered. There is a large sheet covering a relief of some kind on top of the archway that marks the entrance to the village. There is a walkway near the relief that functions as a stage of sorts, where Aymeric and Lucia are waiting.)
LUCIA: The appointed hour approaches.
AYMERIC: Aye.
(Aymeric glances down below and sees a young woman standing with a guard near her, her hands bound. She stares fiercely up at him.)
LUCIA: She begged leave to watch the proceedings. I saw no reason not to grant it.
(Aymeric is quiet for a moment, thinking.)
AYMERIC: Should I choose to deviate from my prepared remarks, I ask that you trust in my judgment.
LUCIA: Have I ever done otherwise?
(Aymeric smiles. It’s at that moment the dragon Vidofnir approaches, flying from the sky to perch in front of the covered relief. Aymeric approaches her.)
VIDOFNIR: Ah, how long it hath been since our peoples met thus, children of Thordan. Even by our reckoning.
AYMERIC: Vidofnir, daughter of Hraesvelgr, we give thanks for your visit and bid you welcome to Falcon’s Nest.
VIDOFNIR: Our sire bade us hearken unto the whispers of our hearts. They spoke to us of a paradise lost--of bonds of brotherhood which they yearn to see restored.
AYMERIC: Ours too yearn for such a restoration. And they have guided us here this day, that they might yearn no longer.
(Aymeric turns towards the crowd, raising his voice.)
AYMERIC: Brothers and sisters, ye who stand as witness, hearken to me! Since the days of eld, when the bonds betwixt man and dragon were sundered by our hand, our peoples have known only war. Bloodshed without end, losses beyond counting--and still we fought. And still we fought. Some wounds do not heal. The dead cannot be returned to us. But we the living can yet choose another course. Here and now, we can lay down this burden--this hatred, this vengeance. Our forebears fought not so that we could die, but that we might live! So let us honor their sacrifice and spare our children this death sentence. Let us gift them a new legacy. Life!
(The woman with the bound hands in the audience begins to cry.)
VIDOFNIR: Betwixt our peoples yawned a divide deeper than the deepest abyss; wider than the widest sea. Generations will live and die ere this divide is bridged. Knowing this, doth thy heart yet yearn for peace, son of Thordan?
(Aymeric nods.)
AYMERIC: Look now on the legacy we would leave to our children. A dream of peace inscribed in stone for generations to come.
(Aymeric signals for the cloth covering the relief to be removed. The crowd gasps. Vidofnir’s eyes widen. The relief depicts the dragon Hraesvelgr and his human love Shiva, entwined together joyfully.)
VIDOFNIR: Father and his beloved. As they were so long ago. Happy and at peace. The dream they shared shall be ours once more.
(Aymeric smiles and the crowd cheers, but an angry, hateful roar interrupts the proceedings.)
???: NEVER!
(Everyone looks up. Standing on the top of a spire is a man covered in blood-soaked armor, carrying a spear. It’s Estinien, whose body is possessed by a rage-filled Nidhogg. He leaps into the sky and plunges his spear into Vidofnir’s back, who cries out in pain. Her blood splashes against the relief. Aymeric is stunned for just a second, and then he grabs the nearest guard’s bow and arrow.)
AYMERIC: Your bow!
(Estinien thrusts the spear further into Vidofnir’s back, who collapses. Aymeric looses an arrow at Estinien, but Estinien merely lifts an arm--out of which a massive, yellow eye is lodged--and absorbs the arrow, foul magic rippling off of him in waves. As he rises, the yellow eyes twitch and gaze, moving independently of the body they’re attached to. Red glowing veins travel from Estinien’s human eyes down his face, wearing a crazed expression. With barely any effort, he leaps back up onto the spire.)
ESTINIEN: Child of Dravania! Art thou grown so forgetful that thou wouldst forsake kith and kin, and consort with the spawn of Thordan? That thou wouldst dare contemplate peace!
(Estinien addresses the crowd.)
ESTINIEN: Hearken unto me, all of you! The final chorus is nigh, and all will be held to account! All will bathe in the flames of retribution! Till the coming of that day, look you on your sins and despair! For none shall ‘scape my wrath! None shall ‘scape my revenge!
ALPHINAUD: Seven hells!
(Estinien rises into the air and transforms into the massive dragon form of Nidhogg and flies away.)
ALPHINAUD: Damn you, Nidhogg…
(There’s silence for a moment, and then the crowd erupts.)
DISILLUSIONED LORD: Hells take that wyrm! While he lives, we’ll never know peace!
DISTRAUGHT LADY: Aye, there’ll be no end to this war till Nidhogg is dead and gone!
FURIOUS MAN: So let’s kill the bastard and be done with it! Death to Nidhogg! Death to Nidhogg! Death to Nidhogg!
(The mob begins a chant of “Death to Nidhogg!” Lucia tends to Vidofnir’s wounds, while Aymeric stares into the empty sky and murmurs something no one else can hear. It’s a name.)
Sohr Khai
no subject
Parley with Hraesvelgr: 9:58-18:40
(Setting: Zenith, an ancient crumbling tower-like structure floating above the clouds, in the land of the dragons. Aymeric, Alphinaud, and the Warrior of Light have traveled to the peak to summon the ancient dragon Hraesvelgr, and plead for his aid in defeating Nidhogg and ending the war. The Warrior of Light blows the horn that summons the great dragon, who descends. Hraesvelgr speaks in the language of dragons, the meaning telepathically communicated.)
HRAESVELGR: You dare summon me again, mortals?
ALPHINAUD: Great Hraesvelgr, ‘tis not lightly that we beg this audience. Pray hearken to our words, for they concern the future of man and dragon both.
(Aymeric steps forward.)
AYMERIC: Greetings, Hraesvelgr. I am Aymeric de Borel, acting ruler of the nation of Ishgard. I am come before you to parley on behalf of my people.
HRAESVELGR: … To parley? Thinkest thou thy purpose unclear to me? Thou art come to beg mine aid in the battle against the shade of my brood-brother.
(Alphinaud and Aymeric are taken aback.)
AYMERIC: You… foresaw mine intent.
HRAESVELGR: I but read that which is writ plain in thine eyes. Would that thou had wit enough to scry the answer in mine. My beloved Shiva did once build a bridge ‘twixt man and dragon--a bridge which thy treacherous forefathers saw fit to tear down, as thou well knowest. Thinkest thou Nidhogg was alone in despairing at the murder of our brood-sister? Thinkest thou mine own soul did not cry out for vengeance? Know then that upon that accursed day, my heart did wither in my breast, and thy kind became unto me the harbingers of despair. ‘Tis only Shiva’s gentle dream that preventeth me from flying at Nidhogg’s shoulder. Be grateful that I swore to abjure aggression ere I consumed her. I permit my children to offer or deny thee aid as they see fit; to warn thy people of my brood-brother’s coming. That thou wouldst dare ask more of me but affirmeth thine incurable arrogance.
(Aymeric is clearly stricken by this answer, and embarrassed by his approach. Alphinaud takes notice.)
ALPHINAUD: We understand that in your despair at man’s betrayal, you seek only the refuge of solitude. But despite your protestations of spent faith, do you not still nurture the smallest flame of hope?
HRAESVELGR: Perceivest thou such light in the dusk of mine existence?
ALPHINAUD: I do. If you claim I see falsely, then tell me: why did you consent to bear Ysayle upon your back?
HRAESVELGR: Ysayle… Piteous, deluded Ysayle. The child did lament her past sins, and sought to balance the scales with her remaining days. ‘Twas her unquenchable passion, so alike that of my beloved, which did spur me into flight. And for mine own part, I would countenance no longer the hands of evil men to use my brood-brother’s eye for ill.
ALPHINAUD: So you do distinguish between those who acknowledge and repent their sins, and those who perpetuate them. Interesting. It seems to me that you have not, in fact, lost faith in mankind as a whole. Rather, you weigh our respective merits by how we allow the past to influence our future.
HRAESVELGR: Spare me thine idle sophistry. Even were there a mote of truth in thy reasoning, what of it? Wouldst thou have me slay mine own sibling to save a city of mortals?
AYMERIC: Should we suffer ties of blood to bind our hands then? Nay. If the crime is one of unconscionable evil, we must needs condemn it--even should the transgressor be our closest kin. When my father corrupted himself and his followers with the power of a primal, I beseeched the Warrior of Light to slay him--an act alike to patricide. That he did not die by my hand matters little--if anything, it heaps greater disgrace upon my name. But had my father not fallen, he would have drawn countless thousands into a holy war of hellish proportions--which I hold the greater crime. Thus did I order his execution, sparing the lives of my people and yours. Alas, your brother wyrm now prepares to murder those whom I sought to spare. What is more, he has taken my comrade’s body for his own--but if I must slay my dearest friend to defeat my direst foe, I will not flinch from my duty!
HRAESVELGR: Thou wouldst strike down thy friend and, by example of thy righteousness, persuade me to break mine oath and kill my kindred?
(Suddenly, a creature is summoned from the aether before them--a small dragon, whom Aymeric recognizes as a miniaturized version of Midgardsormr, the father of all dragons. He’s clearly taken aback by this abrupt appearance, but the Warrior of Light seems pretty used to it.)
MIDGARDSORMR: Heed me, my child. The servants of Hydaelyn envision a different outcome. They intend salvation not only for Ishgard, but for the doomed dragonslayer as well.
(Hraesvelgr is uncertain.)
MIDGARDSORMR: Believest thou this shade to be Nidhogg returned? Is it not merely a manifestation of his vengeance--the shadow cast by thy brood-brother’s rage? I would not command thee, but ponder well thy course lest it lead thee unto greater remorse…
WARRIOR OF LIGHT: While this shade of vengeance remains, the future will ever be uncertain.
(Hraesvelgr seems pensive.)
HRAESVELGR: Nidhogg’s transformation into rage incarnate is, in part, of mine own doing. I rendered unto him mine eye, and empowered his revenge thereby… But ‘tis the purity of my brood-brother’s wrath that lendeth him his all-surpassing might. Hast thou the strength of will to stand against so terrible a shadow, I wonder? ‘Twould seem I must put thee and thy companions to the proof. I shall await thee in the ruins wherein Ratatoskr once dwelled. Heed well the words of my children, and hasten thee to the place of thy trial!
(A wyvern arrives and escorts the group to the place where they will be tested. They fly on dragonback, and arrive at an untouched, ancient ruin. They must undergo a series of challenges and battles. The Warrior of Light faces Hraesvelgr head-on, while Alphinaud and Aymeric face Vidofnir and Vedrfolnir, two of Hraesvelgr’s children.)
Hraesvelgr’s boon 19:10-21:04
(Setting: After the trials are complete, Hraesvelgr speaks to the Warrior of Light.)
HRAESVELGR: Even bereft of an eye, my brood-brother was a fearsome foe indeed. But having tasted thy strength firsthand, I do begin to see how thou didst bring him low. Hydaelyn chooseth Her servants well. Very well. I shall trust in the seed of man one last time. By thy deeds shall the flickering hope that lingereth yet within my heart be kindled anew… or extinguished forever.
(The Warrior of Light smiles. Alphinaud and Aymeric rejoin them, having finished their own bouts.)
ALPHINAUD: Your trial is ended as well, then?
AYMERIC: Mine was brutal beyond reckoning. Vedrfolnir seems ill acquainted with the notion of “mock” battles…
HRAESVELGR: That you yet stand is ready proof of your determination, mortals. Let us fight as allies, then, and together banish my brood-brother’s vengeful shade. On my oath, the wrath that once was Nidhogg shall meet its end! This I swear on the memory of my beloved Shiva, and on the soul of lost Ysayle…