Eruyt Village After Mjrn

Road of Verdant Praise

Tetran: Looking for something, kupo? [shop menu] I spoke with the viera elder about running my shop here. I was a little frightened at first, but she seems reasonable enough, kupo. Speaking of frightening, I have it on good authority that there are monsters which mimic crystals, and pounce when you touch them!

Fran: With Lente’s Tear we can pass the barriers of Golmore Jungle. The Gran Kiltias on Bur-Omisace waits beyond. Our business here is done.

The Spiritwood

Wood-dweller (viera with long hair looking out over edge): The Wood whispers with the winds of distant lands, bringing us tidings from afar. A tranquil heart and keen ear might learn much of the world beyond the Wood, never needing to forsake Her gentle bosom.

Wood-warder (viera at base of steps): Many of our sisters have we lost to the beguiling winds of the outside world. We must lose no more. Your coming holds no joy for us.

Wood-dweller (viera with shoulder-length hair sitting in center): This place is one of quiet contemplation. Your presence disturbs its tranquility more than I would expect… Nera alone seems cheered, but she has always been… unique. Do no look for such welcome from others.

Wood-dweller (long-haired viera looking up to the sky): Viera who leave the village are viera no more. Shadow and illusion make for fleet quarry, but there is little joy in their capture.

Wood-dweller (viera with bob staring down at flowers): The flower that blooms upon the water, the flower that blooms upon the land. How are they alike? How do they differ? Are they really different at all? Or does the difference lie in how we perceive them? It vexes me.

Nera: In truth I should not speak with you. But it is all right. The others do not concern themselves with my doings. Here I was born, and here I live. I do not think, though, that past and present need dictate the future.

Wood-dweller (walking up and down path to warders’ den and Fane): Our houses bear little likeness to those of humes. They are places where those of like calling, be they wood-warders or salve-makers, gather.

Wood-warder (near warders’ den): With Jote’s trust and blessing does Rael lead the house of the wood-warders. Our task of defending Wood and village is no small one. See that you do not disturb us.

Rena: Mjrn has returned, but still a weight presses upon my heart. Why is this so? Is she… different, somehow? Is there something I might do to help her?

Kjrs: Jote does not show favor to the sisters who share her blood. She is strict, yes. More so with her sisters, still more again with herself.

Rael: We have known of the humes in the magicite mines. They fear us, and have not disturbed the Wood. We keep watch on them, but we do not interfere. Mjrn knew of this, but this was not enough for her. She left the Wood.

Fane of the Path

Wood-dweller (viera sitting and talking to other viera): Jote leads with Hala ever at her side. Hala herself is a salve-maker of great renown who has served the village as long as the village has stood.

Alja: We discuss the effect different methods of storage have on herbal potency. Do matters so beyond your grasp nonetheless hold interest for you?

Wood-dweller (long-haired viera wandering up and down path): One who has left the Wood but once ought never be allowed to return. It is only natural that the children of the Wood should not traffic with the world beyond. It is our way. The elder is too forgiving of her sister.

Wood-dweller (viera with pixie cut behind the salve-makers’ den): Once more the village is quiet, still. All reason for your presence is now gone, is it not?

Wood-dweller (viera with pixie cut near Jote’s den): There are those who have raised their voices against Mjrn’s return, but I support the elder’s decision. Never in the past has she erred. I do not think she is like to start now.

Hala: Mjrn went against the Green Word. The decision to welcome her back has met with much discord. These foreign winds bring much trouble for us. You may rest here if you like, but do not interfere with the doings of the village.

Jote: Mjrn is yet in her spring. Trouble her no more. She would shake and scatter before the rough winds that blow beyond the Wood.

Mjrn: An indescribable sensation overtook me within the mine. It reached out, closed about my heart… then all was darkness. This loathsome shadow… ageless and ancient beyond any viera or hume… what was it?

Eruyt Village

[The scene changes again. The party walks back into Eruyt, Fran and Mjrn side-by-side, chatting with each other. Jote is waiting for them.]

Jote: I heard the Wood’s whispers. Take it.

[One of the viera beside her approaches the party, presenting them with a glowing pendant, which Vaan takes.]

Jote: Lente’s Tear is a permission. Pass through the Wood and leave. To other places go.

Mjrn: That cannot be all! I saw it when I left the village! Ivalice is changing! How can the viera stand and do nothing at all?

Jote: Ivalice is for the humes. The Wood alone is for us.

Mjrn: But that is wrong! How can we just hide here in the trees when all the world outside is on the move! I, too, wish to live freely - to leave this Wood!

Fran: Do not do this. You must remain away from the humes. Stay with the Wood. Live together with the Wood. This is your way.

Mjrn: But Fran - my sister!

Fran: I am no longer of you. I have discarded Wood and village. I won my freedom. Yet my past has been cut away forever. No longer can my ears hear the Green Word. This… solitude, you want, Mjrn?

Mjrn: Sister -

Fran: No, Mjrn. Only one sister remains to you now. You must forget my existence.

[Mjrn looks at Fran, hurt, and then runs away.]

Jote: I am sorry to make you do this.

Fran: She goes against the laws of the Wood. I threw down these laws. It is better that I do this. Better I than one who must uphold these laws herself.

[Jote nods to her two attendant viera to leave. She and Fran are left alone.]

Fran: I have a request: Listen to the Wood’s voice for me. I fear - I fear She hates.

[Jote takes a moment to commune with the Wood, then announces her findings.]

Jote: The Wood longs for you. For the child gone from under Her boughs.

Fran: A pleasant lie, that.

[Fran turns to walk away, but Jote’s next words stop her.]

Jote: Be cautious. The Wood is jealous of the humes who have taken you.

Fran: I am as them, now. Am I not? Good-bye, sister.

[You obtain Lente’s Tear!]

The Henne Mines

North Entrance

Gate Switchboard: This switchboard operates the mine gates.

>Press the switch.

>Do nothing.

Ore Separation: It’s locked from the other side.

Advisory, Gate Operation: “For immediate distribution and posting: The colour of the switchboard phosphor corresponds with gates currently closed. Accordingly, use of the switchboard opens gates of the colour presently illuminated. Note your desired route and open such gates as it requires. It follows that one cannot open red and blue gates simultaneously. As gates throughout the mine are linked, do verify your route in advance. Workers’ Weekly Wisdom: NO accidents. NO injuries. NO worries. -Imperial Army, Officiary of Resources”

Pithead Junction A

Wounded Imperial: I managed to escape… I don’t know how, but I did. You must be careful. The mines… they’re not safe. How could we have known…

Wounded Imperial (x2): (He’s unconscious.)

Advisory, the 1st: “Noxious fumes and vapors are an ever-present threat within the mine. Should you feel you’ve been affected, report at once to the infirmary. Workers’ Weekly Wisdom: Our workers are our greatest resource. -Imperial Army, Officiary of Resources”

Staging Shaft

Larsa: Look at the magicite. These mines much resemble the ones at Lhusu. Of course. Draklor must be searching for new sources of ore. Should the Resistance move, the magicite in Bhujerba will be forever beyond their grasp.

[The party notices another collapsed soldier some distance away. They run toward him. Fran gasps.]

Fran: Is it her? What is this Mist? [looking up] Mjrn!

[Vaan and Larsa look wonderingly at Fran, then turn in the direction she is looking. A viera comes stumbling around the corner.]

Mjrn: The stench of humes. The stench of power.

Ashe: What’s wrong with her?

[Mjrn hears her and turns, pointing a finger at her, and when she next speaks, it’s with an unearthly voice.]

Mjrn: Stay away! Power-needy hume!

[Mjrn goes frantically running back the way she came, still stumbling.]

Ore Separation

[They catch a glimpse of Mjrn before she disappears again, behind the hulking form of a great wyrm.]

[After defeating Tiamat…]

[Mjrn comes stumbling out of the shadows. Fran starts running toward her. We see Mjrn is holding a piece of manufacted nethicite in her hand; she drops it, and once it comes to rest on the ground, it shatters. A fearful, shadowy visage appears around Mjrn; frightened, Fran stops, but it disappears almost as quickly. Mjrn finally passes out and falls to the ground.]

Vaan: That thing inside her. What was it?

[No one answers. Fran cradles Mjrn in her arms, and Mjrn, though still drowsy, stirs.]

Mjrn: Is it you?

[Fran nods. Mjrn smiles, and with a sigh, falls back into unconsciousness.]

[In the next scene, we soon see Mjrn explaining to the others in a small room in the mine what happened.]

Mjrn: When the hume soldiers came to the Wood, the village took small heed of them. So long as the Wood Herself is safe, the viera give little care to goings on beyond. But in me an uneasiness stirred. I had to discover why they had come.

Balthier: So you came here hoping to find something out, and got yourself caught. You’re as foolhardy as your sister.

Mjrn: They took me then, and set close beside me a stone. They said its Mist would be drawn into me, that the viera well suited this end. I saw the light coming from the stone, and then -

Fran: We have seen this. On Leviathan, the Mist from the Dawn Shard drove me, too, into such a rage. She was taken not by the Dawn Shard.

Larsa: Manufacted nethicite.

[Fran nods.]

Larsa: Then that means - Penelo, the stone I gave you, do you still carry it with you?

Penelo: Sure, it’s right here.

[As she brings it out, Larsa snatches it from her hands.]

Larsa: This is more dangerous than I had imagined. I should never have given it to you. Forgive me. I did not know.

Penelo: I’d always thought of it as a sort of good luck charm. And even if it is dangerous, on Leviathan it kept us safe.

Ashe: There is a place for all things, even danger such as this.

Vaan: I hope you’re right about that.

Eruyt Village After Jote

Fane of the Path

Wood-dweller (viera with pixie cut hair standing in front of elder’s den): To be viera is to abide by the Green Word. It is only natural that Jote’s will and the will of the village be as one. If the Green Word forbids contact with the world outside, then so it must be.

Salve-maker/Hala: We have heard the whisper of the Wood. It tells us to deny passage to the humes. So have we summoned the barriers in Golmore. Those to whom Jote gives her leave, who bear Lente’s Tear, may pass - no other.

Wood-dweller (long haired viera walking up and down path): Even should you find Mjrn, to us she is forever lost. Once a viera has forsaken the Wood, return is forbidden. Besides, I would not think a hume’s dull senses able to find her. You will be lucky if your flesh does not soon feed the feybeasts.

Wood-dweller (viera with pixie cut walking behind salve-makers’ den): Are you lost? Or do you trespass here willingly? Either way, the presence of humes disrupts the harmony of our village… you must realize this.

Wood-dweller (sitting and talking to another viera): The salve-makers of our village gather at this house. A salve-maker must have knowledge not only of herbs, but of the Wood as a whole. With our knowledge of medicine and our healing hymns do we support and sustain the village as our elder, Jote, bids us.

Alja: Golmore Jungle has blessed us with a new herb, and we must decide how best it might be used to enrich our medicines. It is a matter beyond your understanding. I would thank you to interrupt us no further.

The Spiritwood

Wood-dweller (viera with long hair walking up and down path near exit to Fane of the Path): You flaunt our laws, abandon our village… does returning here not shame you? Did you think a mere fifty years would find you forgiven?

Rena: I would join my fellow warriors, but apprentices are not permitted outside the village. It is a hardship for me. What has become of Mjrn…?

Kjrs: You come with traitors who abandon the Wood… The blades of the wood-warders are sharp. Stay, if you would learn this for yourself.

Rael: You have spoken with Jote. The wood-warders brook no trespass within the village. Leave now, and do not look back.

Nera: To show interest in the world outside is forbidden by our laws, but a mind once open to the unknown will not be denied. Is this not what has brought you to us?

Wood-dweller (viera staring down at flowers): The flower that blooms upon the water may take root upon the land, but is it then the same flower?

Wood-dweller (long-haired viera staring up at sky): Did our laws not exist, I would still not consort with a hume.

Wood-dweller (viera sitting in center area): Mjrn, you seek? You seek in vain.

Road of Verdant Praise

Balthier: Not bad, Vaan. Didn’t think we’d get any information out of that one. So then, what was she saying about men in a warren?

Larsa: The Henne Magicite Mines - maybe that’s what she meant. They lie in Bancour, south of the Ozmone Plain. The entire region is a colony of the Archadian Empire. There would be soldiers.

Balthier: Is that a problem? Let’s move.

[Balthier and Fran turn to leave, when Vaan stops them.]

Vaan: Fran!

Fran: Yes?

Vaan: I was wondering - what Jote said, you know? About how you said the same thing 50 years ago?

Fran: Your point?

[Vaan makes an exaggeratedly thoughtful face and taps his finger on his chin.]

Vaan: How old were you again?

[A deathly silence as Fran stares him down, then turns and walks sharply away. Balthier turns his hands up resignedly.]

Balthier: Nice, Vaan.

[Ashe sighs pointedly and the rest of the party makes remarks to Vaan as they pass him by.]

Larsa: Surprisingly rude.

Penelo: Try to grow up, please.

Fran: I would avoid unnecessary… confrontation. Do what you must, and let us be off. When you are ready, we should return to Ozmone Plain in the west. The Henne Mines are then only a short distance south.

Eruyt Village

Road of Verdant Praise

Fran: In the village ahead you will find her: Mjrn. Bring her to me. She will know why you call her.

Fran: We will need Mjrn’s help if we are to pass through the barriers of the Wood. She will know that I have come. Bring her to me. I will wait here for your return.

Lulucce: Kupo! Where have I seen you before…? No matter… I know why you’ve come! I’ve just the thing to help you get to the bottom of all those viera secrets… Would you like to buy a map, kupo?

[Select a map to purchase.

Eruyt Village    60

Cancel]

So long, kupo!

Tetran: Kupo? I thought you looked familiar. You are the one who helped us on the Leviathan! We’ve had quite a time reaching this village. Oh, I hope you don’t think we followed you here, kupo. That wouldn’t do at all. Well, would you like to see my wares? You won’t find many shops around here, kupo. Best stock up while you can! [shop menu] Any merchant worth his salt needs but one thing to do business: a customer, kupo!

Tetran (x2): Looking for something, kupo? [shop menu] A little chilly inside the village… I’ve decided to set up shop out here, instead, kupo. Want to hear something scary, kupo? I have it on good authority there are monsters which mimic crystals, and pounce when you touch them!

The Spiritwood

Wood-dweller (long-haired viera looking out over edge): You are unwelcome in the Wood. She will not suffer humes to walk Her verdant paths; Her barriers deny you. Leave now, whilst you may.

Wood-warder (standing at base of steps): You walk a hidden enclave of the viera known to outlanders as Eruyt Village. We wish no consort with others. Leave us.

Wood-dweller (viera with shoulder-length hair sitting in center): Our laws forfend contact with the world outside. Here silence and solitude will be your companions.

Wood-dweller (viera with long hair, staring up at sky with one hand against pillar): I have no words to speak to a hume.

Wood-dweller (viera with bob staring down at flowers): It is because the spring remains apart that the flowers bloom. ...You would not understand.

Viera Maiden/Nera: Mjrn? Why do you ask after her? I am not she. What is it you seek?

Wood-dweller (log-haired viera walking up and down path): The sunward path leads to the fane of our elder, Jote. Though I cannot think she would speak with a hume.

Wood-warder (walking up and down path to wood-warders’ den): This path leads to the cove of the wood-warders. You will find naught there for a hume.

Warden Apprentice/Rena: Mjrn… her visage darkly clouded. A child of many gifts and much promise, yet she cannot bring her fierce spirit to heel. Ever do the storm clouds follow her… but why?

Warder-swordmaiden/Kjrs: The wood-warders gather about this cove. Mjrn is no wood-warder. You will not find her here. Do you come to visit misfortune upon us? You may expect no mercy if you do.

Warder-chief/Rael: What errand have you with Mjrn? What errand could you have? You should leave before aught ill comes to pass. For your sake, and our own.

Fane of the Path

Wood-dweller (viera with pixie cut sitting and talking to another viera): The fane of the village elder is just beyond this bridge. What errand could a hume possibly have with her?

Salve-apprentice/Alja: It is Mjrn you seek? She is usually just beyond this bridge, but I tell you now, you search in vain. I should not think she would even know who you are.

Wood-dweller (viera with pixie cut walking around behind salve-makers’ den): Leave me be.

[The party approaches the elder’s den. The viera eye them coldly. Penelo senses the tense atmosphere.]

Vaan: Hey, Mjrn lives here, doesn’t she? We’re here to see her.

???: You will leave at once.

[A viera descends from the steps of the elder’s den.]

Elder: It is not allowed for humes to walk on these grounds.

Vaan: We’ll go as soon as we’ve seen Mjrn.

Elder: If you can find her.

Vaan: We’re not leaving until you let us see her. [Jote turns away defiantly.] Fine then. We’ll look for her ourselves.

[The viera elder sighs a knowing “ah”. The party turns to see Fran has come.]

Fran: I’ve heard the voice of the Wood. She says Mjrn is not in the village. [turning to the elder] Jote. Where has she gone?

Jote: Why do you ask? The Wood tells us where she has gone. Or… can you not hear Her? [Fran looks away] You cannot. Your ears are dull from hearing their harsh speech, I think. Viera who have abandoned the Wood are viera no longer. Mjrn, too, has left Her embrace.

Balthier: And you forsake them in turn?

Jote: It is the will of the village. Viera must live always with the Wood. So is the Green Word, and so is our law.

Vaan: We’ll let you worry about keeping your laws. Just do us a favor and stay out of our way. We’ll find her ourselves.

[Wind, light, and leaves begin to swirl around Jote. She raises her arms, closing her eyes. After a moment she rests her arms again and speaks to the party.]

Jote: Our sister has left the Wood and gone west. She wanders warrens among men who hide themselves in clothes of cold iron. Thus to me has the Wood spoken.

[As Jote walks away briskly, Fran speaks.]

Fran: The viera may begin as part of the Wood, but it is not the only end we may choose.

Jote: [halting to consider her words] The same words I heard 50 years ago.

[Finally, Jote leaves them.]

Golmore Jungle - The Needlebrake

[The party stands at the magical blue crest over the path.]

Vaan: What is it?

Fran: The jungle denies us our passage.

Ashe: What have we done?

Fran: We? No. I.

[Fran turns and walk away.]

Vaan: What’s that mean? How’re we supposed to get through that?

[Balthier, some distance away, falls into step with her as she passes. You can hear Vaan indignantly shouting in the background.]

Balthier: Making an appearance?

Fran: I am.

Balthier: I thought you’d left for good.

Fran: Our choices are few. This is as much for you as it is me.

[They stop on the steps. Fran turns to Balthier.]

Fran: You are ill at ease. The nethicite troubles you?

[Balthier is silent.]

Fran: You’ve let your eyes betray your heart.

Balthier: Right.

[Balthier shrugs it off. Fran stands before what seems to be nothingness, tracing the air with her index finger, glowing green with magicks. Vaan, who has followed them, watches.]

Vaan: What are you doing?

[Fran blows a soft breath with a gesture of her hand, almost as if blowing a kiss.]

Fran: Soon you will learn.

[A grassy path suddenly opens before them. Vaan looks stunned.]

Fran: We go to seek aid of the viera who dwell ahead.

Penelo: [stepping in beside Vaan] I bet they’ll be glad to see you after so long.

Fran: [looking down] I am unwelcome. An unsought guest in their wood.