The Far Edge of Fate

This article is about the quest. For the name of the major patch, see patch 3.5.

“

Alphinaud has the look of a man with much to say.

— In-game description

Rewards

Unlocks

•   Five Minutes of Fate
• 
  Mount Speed Increase
• 
  Heavensward - Part 4

Steps

• Speak with Kan-E-Senna at the Lotus Stand.

• Speak with Alphinaud.

• Speak with Y'shtola at Amarissaix's Spire.

• Speak with Alisaie at the Rising Stones.

Journal

• Alphinaud informs you that the Alliance council will shortly be convening again and urges you to make haste to the Lotus Stand. Announce yourself to the silent conjurer, then approach the Elder Seedseer.

• Having thanked you for your efforts in Carteneau, the gathered heads of state proceed to explain the events following Omega's launch. After what was by all accounts a furious aerial battle, both it and the primal appear to have crashed down in Gyr Abania, and the Alliance now intends to exploit the resulting confusion by moving to secure Baelsar's Wall. Ask Alphinaud for his thoughts on these developments, and discuss your next step.

• Though mindful of your recent exertions, Alphinaud suggests that you rendezvous with your fellow Scions in the East Shroud. Look for Y'shtola at Amarissaix's Spire.

• You meet Krile and Y'shtola at the foot of the tower, and they relate their own account of the titanic battle in the skies over Gyr Abania. Terrifying though the spectacle must have been, a part of you cannot help wishing you had been present to see it... But even as you picture the scene, Alphinaud's inquiry about Yda's well-being draws you back to the present, and you proceed to the observation platform to find the grieving pugilist staring at the spot where the cocoon of light once hung. Yda turns at your arrival, and after appearing to come to a decision, shares the tale of her great deception, revealing at last that she is not Yda at all, but the fallen Archon's younger sister, Lyse. With her pledge to liberate Ala Mhigo still echoing in your mind, you prepare to follow Alphinaud back to the Rising Stones and the waiting Alisaie.

• Upon your return, you learn that Alisaie has already been apprised of Lyse's startling secret, yet it is not this but the future which occupies her thoughts. Conscious that the Scions will inevitably be drawn into the brewing conflict in Gyr Abania, she bids you gather your strength for the coming storm...

Dialogue

(Optional)
Cid: Alphinaud looks like he has news for us. I almost dread to ask...

Accepting the Quest (Cutscene)

Alphinaud: Words can ill express how glad I am to see you all unharmed. When Omega came hurtling towards the cocoon, everything dissolved into chaos...

Yda: I have to see it... I have to see it with my own eyes! 

Alphinaud: Yda, wait! We must first—
<sigh> The Elder Seedseer is expecting us...

Yugiri: Worry not, Alphinaud—Gosetsu and I will watch over her. You may safely attend your meeting. 

Alphinaud: My thanks, Yugiri. 
Alphinaud: The council reconvened a short while ago. Let us make haste for the Lotus Stand. All there are eager to hear your testimony. 

Optional

Aymeric: Had I not instructed you to throw Nidhogg's accursed eyes into the abyss, all of this might have been avoided. I thought them beyond reach...

Raubahn: 'Twould seem Garlond's little friend was as good as his word.

Merlwyb: Another Calamity averted, eh? How many times now have you and yours hauled us back from the brink?

Speaking with Kan-E-Senna at the Lotus Stand (Cutscene)

Kan-E-Senna: My friends, full eagerly have we awaited your return. Few indeed could have discharged the duty entrusted to you, and most humbly do we thank you for seeing it done. 

Cid: You are too kind, Elder Seedseer. As I recall, we as good as demanded the right to try. But tell me: how did the battle unfold? 
Cid: We succeeded in waking Omega, but we lost contact with the weapon shortly after it launched. From our position in the control room, we were blind to all that followed...

Merlwyb: ...What words could do justice to such a scene? None of my choosing, that much is certain. But I can give you the facts: the cocoon hatched even as Omega arrived, and from its midst rose a great dragon. The pair duly set about each other in the skies over Gyr Abania. 

Aymeric: The primal's might defied belief—it seemed the very heavens would be rent asunder by the force of its blows. And it wielded such magicks as I have never seen...and hope never to see again. 
Aymeric: The battle raged on with no end in sight, until both combatants were engulfed in a blinding flash of light. When the radiance faded, I saw the pair fall motionless from the sky, coming to rest somewhere on Ala Mhigan soil. I will not speak for the rest, but to my eye it seemed that each had landed a fatal blow upon the other...

Kan-E-Senna: While most among us could only think of Bahamut when looking upon the primal's form, the Domans were heard to whisper the name "Shinryu". It would appear that the being resembles a creature of Far Eastern legend, and we have found it convenient to refer to it as such. 
Kan-E-Senna: This Shinryu's fate—and indeed, that of Omega—is yet unknown. We have, alas, no eyes on the Gyr Abanian side of the border. 

Raubahn: Aye. Which is why we have sent our main force, under the command of Marshal Tarupin, to capture the Wall. 
Raubahn: With the imperials in disarray, we have the perfect opportunity to secure Gridania's border, and assess the aftermath of the impact. I myself will join the marshal and his men when the council is adjourned. 

Cid: Well, that explains a few things. I'll wager that "flash of light" coincided with our loss of contact...
Cid: Lest you wonder, we quickly reengaged Omega's stasis systems, so even if it has fallen into the Empire's lap, it will be of no use to them—save perhaps as a statue. 

Nero tol Scaeva: Correct. Without me to guide their efforts, it would take them decades to decipher Omega's core functions, if they managed it at all.

Kan-E-Senna: Such reassurances do much to calm our fears—yet the relic's fate is but one of several concerns. 

Aymeric: Indeed. I humbly submit that the time has come for us to make contact with the Resistance representatives in Gyr Abania. Though Ilberd has forced our hand, it would seem only logical to seek an alliance, given the inevitability of imperial retaliation. And by working in concert, it is not impossible that Ala Mhigo might finally be wrested from Garlemald's grasp.

Optional

Aymeric: This operation to take the Wall will be Ishgard's first military action under Alliance banners. Though I have no appetite for bloodshed, a part of me is glad of the chance to begin reparations for our past inaction.

Kan–E–Senna: Pray accept my humbles and most earnest thanks again, Warrior of Light. Had Shinryu been suffered to roam free, the Twelveswood would surely have been laid waste.

Raubahn: I go to oversee operations at Baelsar's Wall. You have done your part—leave us to handle the initial imperial reprisal and rest while you may.

Merlwyb: When the primal emerged, I was for an instant transported back to Carteneau...to the moment the black wyrm made an eighth hell of the battlefield. Gladly would I live out the rest of my days without seeing such a sight again.

Nero tol Scaeva: I should very much like to see this "Shinryu" creature for myself.

Cid: If, as seems likely, we put Omega into stasis after—what did they call it? Ah, yes—after "Shinryu" was defeated, we should have little to fear from either one of them.

Speaking with Alphinaud

Alphinaud: You must be exhausted. I would ordinarily suggest that we retire directly to the Rising Stones...but I wonder if we might first make a small detour?   
Alphinaud: Y'shtola and the others have gathered at Amarissaix's Spire, and I imagine that you, too, would be interested ot see what has become of the Wall now that the cocoon is gone. 
Alphinaud: It is decided then. Lead on. 

Optional

Yda: .....

Alphinaud: No trace of the cocoon remains. 'Tis as if it never existed.

Krile: Oh, thank the Twelve. After witnessing Omega's single–minded onslaught, I had visions of you being trapped between it and its target. Hardly the most rational concern, I concede, but if you had seen what I saw...

Speaking with Y'shtola at Amarissaix's Spire (Cutscene)

Alphinaud: My friends... I cannot express how glad I am to see you both unharmed. They say that Omega's clash with the primal shook the very firmament...

Y'shtola: You need not have worried—the battle took place far above the ground. We were able to observe in relative safety, though I am given to understand that there were casualties on the far side of the Wall. 

Krile: It was like watching a nightmare unfold before our very eyes. Ilberd's primal manifested in the form of a colossal dragon—a being of pure violence. It burst forth from the cocoon with such terrible force...

Alphinaud: That such a horror should spring from the eyes of Nidhogg comes at no surprise. Nor do I wonder at its form. Ilberd all but announced it in the moments prior to his death. Plainly, it was his dying wish to visit a second Calamity upon the Empire. 

Krile: And I am quite certain the abomination would have obliged, had it not found itself outmatched by Omega. Gods... I am no stranger to the works of Allag, but even I was unprepared for the machine's furiosity. It beggared belief. 

Alphinaud: And how fares poor Yda in the midst of all this? Have you spoken with her? 

Y'shtola: She is up on the platform, lost in thought. We deemed it best not to disturb her, but mayhap she would welcome some company after all. Shall we? 

Yda: The light's gone. It was all we had left of him...

Alphinaud: Yda...

Yda: I don't blame anyone. I knew what was going to happen. 
Yda: I knew the spell Papalymo meant to cast would drain away his life force—I...knew that it would only buy us a little time...

Y'shtola: Yda, there is no need to explain. 

Yda: But there is. I can't hide in Papalymo's little shadow anymore and I shouldn't hide behind my sister's mask. 
Yda: Twenty years ago, on the day the Empire marched into Ala Mhigo, I was still just a child—not even five summers old. 
Yda: My father had been one of the leaders of the revolution. He had fought to overthrow the mad king, Theodoric. 
Yda: And my sister had fought alongside him. She was strong and kind, and always knew what to do. 
Yda: But when the Garleans came, everything changed. My father went to a war against them too, and I never saw him again. After that, I remember a lot of running. My sister dragged me for malms and malms until we came to the city of Sharlayan. 
Yda: That was where she met Master Louisoix. He introduced her to the Circle of Knowing, and she eventually became an Archon. 

Y'shtola: She was your inspiration. Is that not why you took up her mask and her name? 
...Or did you simply mean to continue what she had started? 

Yda: ...You've known all along, haven't you? That I wasn't Yda. 

Y'shtola: Of course. We all recognized you at once. 'Twas Papalymo who persuaded us to maintain the charade. 

Yda: It was silly to think I could fool you. I knew that even then. But I...I sort of....decided not to know. 
Yda: Yda died six years ago, on a mission to smuggle refugees out of Ala Mhigo. They say she was overwhelmed by imperial soldiers when she stayed behind to save a little girl. She was so strong. There must have been a lot of them. 

< What will you say? >
< Why did you never tell me? >
< ... >

(Both)
Lyse: I'm sorry for lying to you. My real name is Lyse. 
Lyse: When Papalymo brought me Yda's mask, it was meant as a keepsake. But I decided I wanted to be his new partner; to keep alive all the good that she had done. 
Lyse: I didn't want to become Yda, exactly... At the time, though, I still didn't know who I was myself, and it almost seemed easier to play the role. 
Lyse: Papalymo agreed to help, of course... but it was never what he wanted for me. He wanted me to walk my own path. And those were his final words to me. 
Lyse: The Archon's mark he gave me is faded, and my last excuse along with it. 
Lyse: So this is it. Whatever I choose to do from now on, I do as Lyse.  
...And I choose to continue my family's fight. I want Ala Mhigo to be the country that Yda and my father always wanted it to be! 

Cutscene

Yugiri: War is upon us once more. 

Gosetsu: Do you regret standing against the Empire? Would you have chosen a different road, knowing what you know now? 

Yugiri: To claim that I never doubted the decision would be a lie. But I made my choice, and I have defended it with blade in hand ever since. 

Gosetsu: The battle continues, and our steel is needed. Come, shadow walker! We leave for the East—for Doma! 

Cutscene

Alphinaud: It was brave of Lyse to remove her mask after so long...
Alphinaud: Though she has scarce begun to come to terms with Papalymo's loss, that one act made plain her determination to move forward. 
Alphinaud: And should she ever falter, we shall be there to support her on this road she has resolved to walk. 
Alphinaud: Let us return to the Rising Stones. We have quite a story to tell Tataru and my sister...

Optional

Riol: Things are heatin' up in Ala Mhigo, but we can't afford to lose track o' the trouble what might be brewin' in the rest o' the realm. Don't you worry though! I'll be keepin' an ear to the ground, me nose in the air, an' one eye on the horizon!

Tataru: Did you know about Yd–I mean, "Lyse"? I had no idea! We only met after the Calamity, and her sister must already have been... Well, you know.

Isildaure: At last I was able to rise from my sickbed, but the pain when I tried to take up my axe...
Ugh, what a sad, old man I have become.

Homei: Back in the Far East, we treat back pain with a long soak in a hot spring. What say you to a short journey, Isildaure? I am told the waters at Camp Bronze Lake are famous for their healing properties!

Ephemie: Lady F'lahminn? I sent her outside to enjoy a quiet cup of tea. Much has happened these past moons, and we all can use a rest every now and again.

Coultenet: Though it might be simpler to surrender to despair, I have chosen to resume my studies in the arcane. I received much wisdom from Papalymo, and I would put his advice into practice...

Ocher Boulder: A fine showing, Brother! But you have yet to outpace Aenor!

Hoary Boulder: Should the Archons be called away to Gyr Abania... <huff>...it will fall to us to deal with Scions' usual obligations. And thus...<puff>...we must remain in...<pant>...peak condition!

Aenor: I made a fool of myself...<huff>...on our last mission....<puff>...but I will show him...<huff>...what I'm made of!
Come now, Hoary! <pant> Is that the best you've got!?

Clemence: My sister has the most curious ideas about courtship...

Alphinaud: You should have seen the look on Tataru's face when I recounted Lyse's—Ah. I realize in retrospect that I should perhaps have waited for you to return... I, uh...also told Alisaie. Apologies.

Speaking with Alisaie at the Rising Stones

Alisaie: He may have mentioned, but Alphinaud has apprised me of all that came to pass in Gridania. Your only task now is to rest. This is the calm before the storm. 
Alisaie: Lyse has chosen her path, and as her friends, we must do what we can to support that choice. We are fated to join the conflict in any case. Once the Alliance has taken the Wall and opened the way to Gyr Abania, we will have little choice but to fight. 
Alisaie: Which is not to say the cause is unworthy. After all, ignoring the plight of those whom one might conceivably save is not wisdom but indolence, correct? I for one look forward to joining hands with the Ala Mhigans, and striking a blow against the tyranny of the Empire—as I rather suspect, do you! 

Post turn in Cutscene

Pipin: Quick march! The imperials will soon come to their senses, and we must be ready to face their retribution! 
Pipin: It is almost time, Father. 

Raubahn: Aye, almost. Stand firm, Pipin. 

Pipin: I learned to brace myself against the charge of the Bull of Ala Mhigo. No foe will dislodge me! 

Raubahn: Very well, Ilberd... 
I will take our homeland back... 
Raubahn: ...For the both of us. 

Cutscene

Imperial Officer: My lord Viceroy—our scouts have confirmed the preliminary reports. Baelsar's Wall has fallen to the Eorzean Alliance. 
Imperial Officer: The hunt for Omega and the unknown eikon continues, though both yet elude us. My lord...their battle caused considerable damage across the region...
Should we perchance divert some of our forces from the search to undertake necessary reconstruction work? 
Imperial Officer: I— Forgive me, my lord! I did not intend—Your will be done!

Viceroy: "Unknown"? My spies tell me the Domans call it "Shinyru," and that it proved a match for Omega. 
Yes...the coming days promise to be most interesting. 
Most interesting. 

At the far edge of fate, the road begins anew. 
The heroes look to eastern skies, and behold their crimson hue.  
A dawn of liberation. a gathering storm of blood.