A Fickle Existence

Quest giver: Alphinaud
Location: Kholusia (X:24.7, Y:35.0)
Quest line: Shadowbringers Main Scenario Quests
Level: 70

Experience: 216,000
Gil: 1,116
Previous quest: Open Arms, Closed Gate
Next quest: City of Final Pleasures
Witch of the Sea
Following the Grain
Bridge to the Other Side
A Drop of Sunshine
Village of Woe
A Plankless Task
Patch: 5.0

Main Scenario Progress: 548 / 960 (57.1%)

Shadowbringers Progress: 7 / 157 (4.5%)

“

Alphinaud wears a look of profound disapproval.

— In-game description

Steps

Speak with Mosha-Moa
Search for the Mystel at the designated area.
Locate the blue-haired Mystel youth.
Speak with the blue-haired Mystel.
Rescue the weakened wretch.
Speak with Alphinaud.
Speak with Tristol.

Journal

Alphinaud wears a look of profound disapproval.

Dialogue

Quest Acceptance

What will you say? You disapprove of these people's way of life? You disapprove of Eulmore? -> You disapprove of Eulmore?
Alphinaud: 'Tis difficult to make a final judgment without first seeing the city's inner workings. Mayhap it is that uncertainty which always makes me feel so ill at ease here... Not that it matters. However unjust this system seems to me, if these people claim to be content with their lot, it is hardly my place to criticize their choices. But take that elderly lady you rescued─does it not seem that those who have chosen to forgo Eulmore's largesse are doomed to suffer for their independence? In the end, they are all but forced to seek refuge in Gatetown. And so hamlets and fields across the island are left empty and untended, hastening the region's descent into ruin.
Alphinaud: Nay, I am not convinced that Eulmore's generosity truly serves the best interests of Kholusia's people. I am not so naive as to think there is some miraculous solution to all of this. Yet I cannot help but frown at the sight of hardworking villagers struggling to survive, even as the chosen few rejoice at being plucked from poverty by the hand of a capricious noble. There has to be a better way. I will not know for sure, however, until I have taken those long-delayed steps through Eulmore's gates.
Alphinaud: 'Tis fortunate that you arrived when you did, [Forename]. I have been working on a scheme to insinuate myself into the city, and if all goes to plan, it should soon come to fruition. There is a beast tribe who makes its home in the seas surrounding the island. The Ondo, they are called, though you and I know them as Sahagin. For the most part, they keep to themselves in their ocean grottoes, and rarely have dealings with land-dwellers. But as Tataru took such great pains to impress upon me during our stay in Kugane, business favors the bold. And so I reached out to them. I duly discovered that the Ondo are inordinately fond of land-grown produce─fresh fruits in particular. And when I offered to procure such goods for them, they promised to pay me in pearls. An attractive business venture for any prospective investor, would you not agree? Surely even the most jaded Eulmoran lord would have time for a merchant who can make pearls from plums and pumpkins? Yes, I've come a long way since my days of buying samurai swords without first negotiating a price!
Alphinaud: My appointment with the Ondo is due to take place in a few hours. I just need to collect the produce and meet with them on the shore. Might you help me make the exchange? Excellent, I should be glad of your company. First things first, then─we must pay a visit to Mosha-Moa, my supplier in Wright. Come, it is just to the northwest of here. (Someone is watching the conversation)

Alphinaud: This is Mosha-Moa, the farmer of whom I spoke.

===Speak with Mosha-Moa

Mosha-Moa: ...Is there something I can do for you, friend?
Alphinaud: Good day to you, Mosha-Moa. This is my associate, Small. We are here to collect the produce I purchased.
Mosha-Moa: ...Eh? I loaded your lackey up with the goods not long ago.
Alphinaud: My lackey? I know of no such person!
Mosha-Moa: Mystel lad, short blue hair? ...No? He said he'd come on your behalf, and since he seemed to know all the details, I just assumed...
Alphinaud: Confound it. Someone must have been eavesdropping on our conversation... If this charlatan was here not long ago, he cannot have gone far. We should split up and search the area. You find a vantage point on the south side of town, and I shall take the west!

Search for the Mystel at the designated area

Search the surroundings for a male Mystel with short blue hair. You may move the camera as well as zoom in and out. Target a likely suspect and inspect him with (left mouse click).
You have located your quarry!

Locate the blue-haired Mystel youth

Alphinaud: [Forename]! Any sign of him!?  ...You've a keen eye. Let us move in, before he makes good his escape!

Speak with the blue-haired Mystel

Alphinaud: There you are! (the Mystel looks apprehensively) The thief who claimed the harvest on my behalf. Hand it over.
Blue-haired Mystel: Wha─ I...I... (the Mystel is on his knees)  Forgive me, I just─ I have to get into the city!  I have no family, and all my friends have already been chosen.  No one here gives a damn about me. When the meol gets handed out, I'm lucky if I get a smell of it!  No matter what I do, they won't call out my name! I'm so tired─I'm so bloody hungry...  I thought maybe I could steal your idea─get in that way... (Alphinaud looks down briefly)
Kai-Shirr: Kai-Shirr...
Alphinaud: Tell me then, Kai-Shirr─must it be Eulmore or nothing? What of the Crystarium? They may not offer charity, but you would be fairly compensated for any work you did.
Kai-Shirr: No, no, it has to be Eulmore! That's where all my friends are. We made a promise that we'd live together in paradise... (Alphinaud looks down again)

Alphinaud: ...I was to make my deal with the Ondo at the Clave. Listen carefully, and I shall tell you my plans for the business, and how best to arouse the Eulmorans' interest.
Kai-Shirr: You'll give me your place? Just like that?
Alphinaud: I'm giving you a chance, nothing more. What comes of it is entirely up to you.
Kai-Shirr: ...I understand! Oh thank you, thank you!  (Kai-Shirr runs off)
Alphinaud: This was but one path─there will be others. But for young Kai-Shirr, it was the difference between life and death.

Alphinaud: I do not regret my decision...yet I will admit that a part of me wonders if it was for the best. We strive to bring swift salvation to this world, that countless lives might be saved─not least your own. Even if it came at the cost of one man, should I have forged on regardless...?
What will you say? That's not who you are. / Quite possibly. Meaning we'd better hurry up and think of a new plan. 
Alphinaud: Indeed. We will find another way, I promise you. Shall we return to Wright, then? Is that...? (Alphinaud spots someone lying down next to the waters)
Alphinaud: I can't be sure, but I-I think someone's in trouble! Come on, they may need our help!

Alphinaud: Here! He's breathing, I think, though he won't last long without help.

Rescue the weakened wretch

Alphinaud: ...That should take care of the worst of his injuries.
Weakened Wretch: <cough> <splutter> Mercy... Mercy, I beg you...
Alphinaud: Breathe easy, sir. No harm will come to you here.  The poor man is shivering. Pray keep an eye on him while I get a fire going.

Weakened Wretch: I thought for certain I was d-dead. How am I ever to repay this kindness...?
Alphinaud: We'll settle for the tale behind your current predicament. Why don't you begin by telling us your name?
Tristol: Tristol. I was invited into Eulmore to work as an artist...  A wealthy couple took me in to paint pictures for them, but when my style proved contrary to their taste, they just as quickly turfed me out onto the street. I was left penniless and patronless─a grave sin in Lord Vauthry's city.  Within days, they had brought me before the man himself, and he asked me what I meant to do. Dejected as I was, I told him that I wished to leave... Little did I know how soon he would grant me my wish! They flung me over the balustrade into the godsdamned ocean! 
Alphinaud: (Looking at a cliff over the water) From up there!? How were you not dashed to pieces!?
Tristol: Don't ask me. Luck, I suppose. Though if you hadn't found me when you did, it wouldn't have counted for much.
Alphinaud: Monstrous... And the citizens condone such barbaric punishment!?
Tristol: Oh, without a second thought. When Lord Vauthry passes judgment, no one so much as blinks, let alone argues.  In Eulmore, his word is law.

Speak with Alphinaud

Alphinaud: The more I hear about Eulmore, the more determined I am to see what waits within its walls.  I shall bend all my thoughts toward securing another way into the city. There must be something we can do...  But first, we should convey Tristol to the shelter of the village. Fire or no fire, he needs to be out of this chilly coastal air.
Tristol: A way into the city...?

Alphinaud: I wonder what Tristol will do now..

Speak with Tristol

Tristol: Pray accept my deepest gratitude. I owe you both my life.  And...if you'll permit me, I would assist you in your attempt to enter Eulmore─insofar as I am able, at any rate.  To be frank, the thought of sending my saviors into that awful place makes me sick to the stomach─but since it's plain you've set your minds on it...you should take this.  It's my favorite paintbrush.  The Eulmoran elite are never satisfied until they get exactly what they want, and if I'm not mistaken, the couple I mentioned will be looking for someone to replace me. If you make a show of owning such a well-used brush, you may be able to convince people you have a talent for painting.
Alphinaud: Are you certain? This is your livelihood. We cannot deprive you of such a treasured possession...
Tristol: I give it gladly after all you've done for me. Besides, I can't─ I...don't think I have the heart to paint anymore.  As to what I'll do instead...I honestly haven't decided. But I shan't stay long in this place─not with that city brooding over me. Nay, I'll move on to new lands and a new profession. And I'll keep you in my prayers from now until my dying day.