 Acquisition | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Aymeric: Foundation-Congregation of Our Knights Most Heavenly(x:13.7, y:11.3)
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 Heroes of the Hour (Level 60) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Description | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Aymeric appears lost in nostalgia. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Closest Aetheryte: Foundation→The Forgotten Knight
| NPCs Involved | ||
Maps | ||
| Aymeric,Temple Herald,Lucia,Handeloup,Alphinaud,Tataru,Temple Knight Guard | ||
- Aymeric appears lost in nostalgia.
- Ser Aymeric relates a small part of his and Estinien's shared history, and muses on the brotherly bond which has formed between Alphinaud and the gruff dragoon. His thoughts are interrupted, however, by the sudden arrival of a messenger who urges the lord commander to visit the infirmary immediately. Trouble Ser Aymeric for news of your ailing comrade's condition.
- Having followed Ser Aymeric to the infirmary, you are relieved to find Estinien in full possession of his senses and already mocking the openly weeping Alphinaud. You sense, however, that he is a changed man. Having spoken of his spirit's enslavement by Nidhogg, he declares at last that he intends to surrender the mantle of Azure Dragoon, his hunt now at an end.
- Echoing Estinien's resolve, Ser Aymeric finally moves to abolish the thousand-year rule of the archbishops, paving the way for a new republic. In the days that follow, Ishgard's governance is placed in the hands of a newly formed House of Commons and House of Lords. And though Ser Aymeric would like nothing more than to lay down the reins of state, he soon finds himself elected to the highest seat in the latter.
- You, meanwhile, borrow Midgardsormr's wings to escort Hraesvelgr back to Zenith, and find the former lord commander waiting to greet you upon your return. Speak with Ser Aymeric at the airship landing.
- Ser Aymeric is clearly burdened by his new position, but is quick to stifle his complaints, vowing to lead Ishgard into a new era of peace─one measured step at a time. He then reveals that Estinien has disappeared, and asks that you give him a message should your paths ever chance to cross. Finally, Ser Aymeric bids you convey his warmest regards to Alphinaud. Return to Fortemps Manor, and seek him out.
- Alphinaud appears certain that Ser Aymeric will make good on his promise to lead the people of Ishgard safely along their chosen road, though the way be choked with the debris of history. The Scions, too, have a difficult path ahead of them─bringing about a new dawn will be no easy task in the shadow of Ascian plots and implacable primals. But as the final strains of the Dragonsong War drift gently heavensward and a newborn litany of peace swells to take its place, it cannot be denied that there is much to celebrate.
Hydaelyn►Aldenard►Coerthas►Ishgard►Foundation►Congregation of Our Knights Most Heavenly
Cutscene start.
Aymeric
My own friendship with Estinien began some ten years past, shortly after we joined the Temple Knights...
I learned his name soon enough, but Estinien barely registered my existence. I was less a fellow recruit, and more a shadow which occasionally darkened his path.
And so I might have remained, had fate not seen fit to intervene. While out on patrol, our company was set upon by a dragon, and we were the only two to survive. The experience forged a bond between us, as such life-threatening situations are wont to do.
Despite our friendship, he remained an intense and solitary youth, wholly obsessed with claiming vengeance against Nidhogg. Revenge was ever at the forefront of his mind─revenge for the death of his parents, and revenge for his younger brother.
I would venture that in Alphinaud he sees something of his lost sibling.
And in the ungentle chidings of Estinien, Alphinaud has found the elder brother he never had.
Truth be told, Estinien's tactless observations have saved me from disaster more than once, and I can well understand Alphinaud's affection for him. He is a friend for whom I would gladly─
Temple Herald
Lord Commander! Your presence is required in the infirmary!
Aymeric
Is he─ Tell them I am on my way!
Cutscene end.
Hydaelyn►Aldenard►Coerthas►Ishgard►Foundation►Congregation of Our Knights Most Heavenly
Lucia
<sigh> So it is over, then...
Temple Herald
Captain Whitecape ordered me to fetch Ser Aymeric with all haste. I know no more than that.
Handeloup
I did not take the Azure Dragoon for a man to pass in his bed...
Aymeric
Quickly, Forename! We must go to him!
Infirmary
Voiced cutscene start.
Alphinaud
Oh... Estinien...
Estinien
Cease your mewling, boy. It grates my ears.
Alphinaud
Forgive me. When I saw you awaken, I could not─ It was such a relief! We feared you might never wake up!
Aymeric
Now, now, Estinien. If Master Alphinaud thought any less of you, you would still be Nidhogg's plaything─or dead.
Estinien
Aye, aye. 'Twas but a jest.
I thank you, Alphinaud...and you too, Warrior of Light. Quite how you managed to persuade Hraesvelgr to aid in his brood-brother's downfall, I cannot imagine─but full glad am I that you did. 'Tis an honor to share the mantle of Azure Dragoon with one such as you.
I thank you, Alphinaud...and you too, Warrior of Light. Quite how you managed to persuade Hraesvelgr to aid in his brood-brother's downfall, I cannot imagine─but full glad am I that you did. Yet again, you have achieved the impossible.
Aymeric
I for my part owe you an apology. When last we met, I did willingly loose an arrow at your heart. Can you forgive me?
Estinien
There is naught to forgive, Aymeric. You but acted in defense of Ishgard, as is your duty.
Were you any less single-minded about it, I would not follow you into battle─nor trust you at my back.
Besides, I had come to the selfsame conclusion─that I would have to perish for Nidhogg to be stopped. So let us dispense with the hand-wringing. I have heard enough mewling for one day.
Alphinaud
Oh!
Estinien
The tendrils of Nidhogg's foul presence bound up every fiber of my being, usurping my senses, but I yet retained some trace of awareness.
The wyrm's mind was as a vast and tumultuous sea. Endlessly its black waters churned, his grief and despair at Ratatoskr's murder never calming, never receding. And driven by this surging current came wave upon wave of unrelenting rancor.
It was the very image of my own heart. There I saw the dark reflection of the hatred I felt after Nidhogg slew my family, when no path remained save vengeance against dragonkind.
Neither one of us had a choice. But I was blessed with something Nidhogg was not─comrades and teachers to console and admonish me.
Had I not had them to gainsay my obsession, it would surely have consumed me, as Nidhogg's did him, and we would have been in all respects alike.
Though his shade is banished, his spirit scattered upon the Sea of Clouds, I feel no joy at his passing. Where once I craved vengeance, I now crave rest.
Lord Commander, my hunt is at an end. I would lay down the mantle of Azure Dragoon.
Aymeric
My friend...
Hospitalier Captain Abel
He has tired himself with too many words.
I doubt not that he will make a full recovery, but he must be allowed some few days of quiet.
Aymeric
I too must see my path to its end. Sleep well, my friend.
Hydaelyn►Aldenard►Coerthas►Ishgard
Following the battle with Nidhogg on the Steps of Faith,
Ser Aymeric called an assembly that he might make his final proclamation as acting head of state.
'Twas there, with one decree, that the thousand-year rule of the archbishops was ended, paving the way for a new republic.
The governance of Ishgard would now be placed in the hands of high- and lowborn alike,
their ranks represented by the newly founded House of Lords and House of Commons.
Church was separated from state. The foundation for change had been carefully laid,
and the reforms proposed by Ishgard's new government passed into law without incident.
His duty done, Aymeric de Borel gladly stepped down from the archbishop's dais...
only to be raised unto the highest seat in the House of Lords.
Though he strove at first to refuse this honor,
the unexpectedly strident voice of the Count de Durendaire left him little choice but to accept...
And so it was that the winds of gentle revolution came to stir.
Prominent among the many honored guests at Ser Aymeric's investiture were the ambassadors of dragonkind,
a fitting symbol of Ishgard's newfound peace.
The people looked on in awe as he soared through the heavens on dragonback,
and by their cheers did they hail him an Azure Dragoon for a new age.
Thus were the notes of the Dragonsong rewritten, the din of war giving way to a rising litany of peace and hope.
— From the memoirs of Count Edmont de Fortemps
Heavensward
Voiced cutscene end.
Hydaelyn►Aldenard►Coerthas►Ishgard►The Pillars►Airship Landing (The Pillars)
Cutscene start.
Aymeric
I was gazing out at the Sea of Clouds, in an all too rare moment of idleness, when I chanced to behold a certain hero wending his way towards the city on dragonback. Welcome home, Forename.
Nay, 'twas no grave matter that moved me to greet you in person. Between you and me, I merely sought respite from the pressures of office... No sooner do I surrender my role as temporary head of state than I am burdened with a position of more permanent responsibility!
I fancy that it echoes in some small measure the way you must feel when your improbable feats of heroism are rewarded with still more impossible challenges...
The myth which guided our society for generations lies in tatters─am I then to be scorned for building upon the system of nobility that I once sought to tear down? And what strange jest is this that places me at its pinnacle? An archbishop's bastard at the head of the House of Lords...
...Ah, but these questions are for me to answer.
It is not in man's nature to change overnight. This I learned through painful experience. And it was this hard lesson which convinced me to take the path which we now follow. Even as we rebuild the bridge between man and dragon, so must we reimagine Ishgard─one carefully placed stone at a time.
We must remember that it is not for us that we lay this groundwork, but for the men and women that our children will become. May their towers rise proudly from the fundament of our legacy.
...I hear word from Captain Whitecape that Estinien has vanished from his sickroom. His willfulness survives undiminished.
Should you ever happen upon our unmannerly friend on your travels, pray assure him that I shall keep Ishgard safe until he deigns to come home.
Thank you, Forename. And please, convey my warmest regards to Master Alphinaud.
Cutscene end.
Hydaelyn►Aldenard►Coerthas►Ishgard►The Pillars►Fortemps Manor (Landmark)
House Fortemps Guard
Well come, Master Surname. Shall I show you inside the manor?
Hydaelyn►Aldenard►Coerthas►Coerthas►Fortemps Manor
Tataru
You've saved the day again, Forename!
...Not that I ever doubted you would!
Alphinaud
You spoke with Ser Aymeric? I do not envy him his new position.
Ishgard has chosen a new road, but one littered with the detritus of a thousand years of broken faith.
Yet though her people may stumble from time to time, I know of none better than Ser Aymeric to lead the march of progress.
As for us, there remains the small matter of ushering in a new dawn in the shadow of inscrutable Ascian machinations and a seemingly endless procession of primals... But we too must walk our chosen path─no matter how treacherous the footing!
System
In the wake of Ishgard's governmental reform, new airship routes have been sanctioned. You may now travel to a selection of distant locales from the landing in Ishgard.
Hydaelyn►Aldenard►Coerthas
- <No Dialogue>
Hydaelyn►Aldenard►The Black Shroud
Warrior of Darkness
Thank you, Blanhaerz. Nay, you need not remain there. We shall rendezvous at the usual place.
Elidibus
All is proceeding as expected, then?
Warrior of Darkness
Aye, there is naught to concern us. Aside from one overly curious mouse...
Thancred
This way!
Warrior of Darkness
Him again...
Elidibus
It is of no moment. They will play their part, and we will play ours...
AND THUS DID GREY MISTS GIVE WAY TO AZURE SKIES,
MAN AND DRAGON RISE ABOVE, VOICES JOINED IN SONG
BUT BENEATH SHROUDED BOUGHS,
BEYOND THE SCOPE OF LIGHT
SHADOW STIRS
