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How the West Was Sung

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See also: Wandering Minstrel Quests

How the West Was Sung

Quest giver
Wandering Minstrel
Location
Tuliyollal (X:11.2, Y:14.7)
Level
100
Required quest
Dawntrail
Patch
7.0
Links
GT TC

No description available.

— In-game description

How the West Was Sung is a level 100 quasi-quest that serves as an unlock method for extreme-difficulty trials and chaotic and ultimate-difficulty raids in Dawntrail. There are no steps to this quest: talking to the questgiver both accepts and completes the quest.

Though the quest is "completed" upon talking to the Wandering Minstrel, players must go back and talk to him again each time they complete the necessary prerequisites in order to unlock the associated extreme, chaotic, or ultimate-difficulty encounter.

Unlocks

Dialogue

Wandering Minstrel
My word─is that you, Forename!? I am overjoyed that fate would arrange this meeting, though I am not surprised. When I heard tell of your journey with Wuk Lamat, I had a feeling it would only be a matter of time until we crossed paths.
What am I doing in Tural, you ask? Why, I am come in search of unusual and fantastic stories that I may weave into songs, to spin tales that will enchant crowds the world over.
And this land has proven to be a treasure trove of folktales and legends unlike any that can be found across the sea. I have set each and every one to memory, and my head is swimming with new verses...
Yet for all the myths newly added to my repertoire, I still yearn for tales of newfound adventure. Tales involving parties that yet live─preferably recounted by someone with firsthand experience!
...And you are just such a man/woman! Pray share with me everything that happened since you set foot in Tural, and I shall set it to song.
Every trial you endured during the rite of succession, every blood-curdling moment of your assault upon the levin-shrouded dome─I beg you spare no detail.
Your words will lend texture to my melodies and substance to my lyrics! Oh, I have a feeling my most memorable work is soon to come!
Of course, I understand you may not have the time at present. I shall be here for a while yet, polishing my prose to a mirror sheen. Simply come to me when you have a story to share, and I shall listen in rapt attention.
Wandering Minstrel
So, what have you brought for me today?
You did battle with Valigarmanda!? The tural vidraal of legend, dubbed the Skyruin, who ruled the heavens by beak and talon. Many are the legend of this beast among beasts, but I would wager the telling of your battle is more thrilling than the most harrowing tales!
By the hands of a devious scoundrel was the seal put in place by Gulool Ja Ja broken, and thus was the living calamity unleashed again upon the world...only to be struck down by Wuk Lamat and her mighty companion!
This glimpse into the events of the rite of succession shall provide me with more than enough inspiration for my next song. Thank you for sharing it with me, Forename.
By the by, do you know the meaning of the term “tural vidraal”?
In the language of the Mamool Ja, it means “that which clings to the earth.” A fitting description for beings powerful enough to claim an entire continent as their territory. And Valigarmanda was said to be the most formidable among them.
Though you emerged victorious, the fiend was but recently roused from slumber. What do you suppose would have happened had Valigarmanda been given sufficient time to regain its strength?
Hah, such questions are why we have imaginations, yes? And imagine I shall... The mightiest heroes of Etheirys matched against the full fury of Valigarmanda. A story for the ages!
Wandering Minstrel
So, what have you brought for me today?
Ah, the final moments of the former Dawnservant's firstborn. His story gives rise to a complex mixture of emotions, and it would be insulting to call it something so trite as an adventurous tale.
As the only true son of Gulool Ja Ja, he doubtless felt a heavy burden of responsibility to be deemed worthy of succeeding his father. This weight was likely made all the more stifling by the fact he had but one head.
And so he sought great power to make up for his perceived shortcomings. Yet he could never quite live up to the expectations he set for himself, and in his blind pursuit, he stepped upon a crooked path...
For thirty long years did he keep company with anger in that dome... Yet no amount of anguish can justify the countless lives he stole.
You know what I believe, Forename? I believe the moment Zoraal Ja killed his own father, whose admiration he fought so hard to win, his life lost all meaning.
His sins cannot be forgiven, 'tis true. Yet his story is a tragic one, and I suspect each of us can see parts of ourselves reflected within it.
Thank you for sharing it with me. A dark shadow loomed over the rite of succession, and we would do best not to forget he who cast it.
While many will view Zoraal Ja as a murderer and tyrant, reducing him to a mindless villain will blunt the impact of the lessons we can learn from his fate. This is a tale that must be told with great care...
Wandering Minstrel
So, what have you brought for me today?
The trials and tribulations of Queen Sphene, who was confronted with many a difficult decision as she sought to protect the citizens of her nation, Alexandria...
In that realm, people regard souls as merely a resource. And when they die, the aether of their memories is used to create the Endless, simulacra of the departed that can only be sustained with life force harvested from the living...
Being so very different from what we know, such a way of life is difficult for us to accept. Indeed, it seemed only inevitable that you should come into conflict with Sphene.
She herself was not among the living, but an entity brought forth to fulfill a certain objective. And therein, I believe, lay the root of this tale's tragedy.
Recreated from the noblest of souls though she was, she was helpless to defy the purpose to which she had been bound: protecting the Endless no matter the cost.
Thus did she continue on her destructive path, though she knew it led only to a dead end.
A question if you may, my friend. Deep in your heart, do you believe that the Sphene whom you met was alive?
What will you say?
She was alive, in her own way.
Wandering Minstrel
So you think that. Even with the knowledge that her existence differed from the living, you hold that she was alive...
Though she was many things, she wasn't alive.
Wandering Minstrel
I see. Though her existence differed much from the living, precisely what does it mean to be alive? 'Tis no easy thing to define.
I'm not sure...
Wandering Minstrel
I see. Though her existence differed much from the living, precisely what does it mean to be alive? 'Tis no easy thing to define.
Wandering Minstrel
I thank you for your honest answer. I shall take it to heart.
For my part, whether or not she was possessed of life, I believe that there existed an individual called Sphene, who cared deeply for her people. Who heard the voices of her people, felt as they did, and thought only for their welfare.
That is why, at battle's end, she returned as the gentle soul you knew.
But here, a thought fills me with dread. What if that soul failed to return, and the fearsome entity she had become continued its relentless onslaught?
Might it have succeeded in its objective, and plundered life force from other realities at the cost of untold destruction...? Of such a possibility shall I sing, that we might give thanks for the path we were mercifully spared.
By golden light two rulers walked,
Their paths in conflict lying.♪
One bound to slay, one sworn to save,
They forged ahead untiring.♪
The mem'ries of departed days,
Endure as fate and fetters.♪
For keepers staunch a blessed warmth,
Oblivion for the breakers.♪

The Flood of Light. [Futures Rewritten (Ultimate)]

Wandering Minstrel
So, what have you brought for me today?
Well now, that is quite a tremendous tale... If I may, I shall attempt to recount it in my own words, the better to reflect upon the events for song.
A century past, the hero Ardbert fought and felled the Ascian Mitron. By the power of Light, the villain's body was transformed into Eden, the first sin eater, who unleashed the Flood of Light that engulfed the First.
Despite being locked in a stupor, Mitron mustered the strength to call from the prison that was his vessel, in the desperate hope of reaching his fallen comrade, Loghrif. And reach Loghrif he finally did, in her reincarnated form as the maiden Gaia.
From a young age, Gaia had heard Mitron's voice in her mind. She referred to it as “the faerie,” and there were times when it even took over her consciousness.
And be it by chance or by fate, Eden's subsequent awakening by Ryne, the Oracle of Light, led to Gaia's appearance in the Empty, where the two maidens first encountered each other.
At length, Mitron restored Loghrif's memories in Gaia, and the two Ascians returned once more. But in no small part due to your valor, the worst was prevented from coming to pass...
'Tis truly a stirring tale, and no moment of it more so than when Gaia lay on the verge of being erased. How beautiful to imagine that her memories of Ryne served as an anchor that kept her from fading away.
Yet as perfectly as that unfolded, I cannot help but wonder what might have happened if something else had gone awry. For instance, in the moment that Ryne roused Eden, what if Mitron had likewise reached out and interfered...?
Yes, I believe I have the makings of a song. One that speaks of a future that was not, yet may very well have been...
A villain dark a gaol did break,
The Light to liberate.♪
A maiden pure her eyes unsure,
He sought to change her fate.♪
Undying soul a gaol did flee,
The Dark to stir awake.♪
A maiden lost to find once more,
And good a promise make.♪

The Cloud of Darkness. [The Cloud of Darkness (Chaotic)]

Chaotic alliance raids pit up to twenty-four adventurers against a fearsome foe who has been made even more powerful than before.
Do you wish to unlock the Cloud of Darkness (Chaotic)? (Yes/No)
Wandering Minstrel
Ah, that reminds me. Some days ago, I had the pleasure of meeting your good friend G'raha Tia.
He approached me, wondering if he had seen me elsewhere before, and so I told him about my endeavors in verse.
Taking an interest in my work, he invited me to join him at Xbalyav Ty'e, where we discussed tales of heroism over tacos and churrasco.
'Twas then that he shared a story that is especially close to his heart.
The fellowship of NOAH's foray into the Crystal Tower... You played a vital role in it, did you not?
Together with more than a score of your fellows, you triumphed over numerous formidable foes to secure the structure.
How do you recall the experience, pray? As adventurers typically work in small groups, I daresay it felt quite different to be part of a large contingent.
What will you say?
It was thrilling!
Wandering Minstrel
Haha, you truly are fearless, my friend!
I may have been a little nervous...
Wandering Minstrel
Truly? I would not have expected that!
I just played it by ear.
Wandering Minstrel
Hehe, I do favor such an approach myself.
Wandering Minstrel
Now, I can only speak as an observer, but I imagine it must be uniquely satisfying to sally forth as a member of a great collective to accomplish tremendous feats.
And to defeat the dreaded Cloud of Darkness is a tremendous feat indeed.
She is a ruler among her kind, occupying the highest rung of the hierarchy of voidsent.
Full oft has she left her mark upon mankind's history, not least of all when she forged a pact with Emperor Xande.
What will you say?
She did...?
Didn't she use beams and...more beams?
Wandering Minstrel
Hmm... It may well be that you saw merely one aspect of the Cloud of Darkness.
As I understand it, voidsent are changeable beings, their forms dependent on factors such as the aether at their disposal. Another time, and you may have faced a somewhat different foe.
If player has completed the Eden raids
Wandering Minstrel
'Tis an intriguing possibility to consider, would you not agree?
...So together with your comrade Ryne, you gave rise to a being based upon the Cloud of Darkness?
A familiar yet distinct entity shaped by your combined impressions of the voidsent queen...
That gives me an idea! I shall compose a song about the true Cloud of Darkness as I imagine her, for which I shall draw inspiration from your account!
Otherwise
Wandering Minstrel
'Tis an intriguing possibility to consider...and it gives me an idea!
I shall compose a song about the true Cloud of Darkness as I imagine her, for which I shall draw inspiration from your account!
Wandering Minstrel
Without further ado...
When Light and Dark as one become,
to oblivion all to cast,♪
A champion dauntless shall arise,
to cleave them at the last.♪
Into their hands entrusted be,
the hopes of all mankind,♪
Upon the wind eternal borne,
a bright and shining sign.♪
The time is come, so go you forth,
unto the battlefield.♪
The final confrontation looms,
To test your blade and shield.♪
Though it may pale in comparison to facing the Cloud of Darkness, it gave me great satisfaction to compose these verses. And should they give you satisfaction as well, then naught would please me more!
Wandering Minstrel
So, what have you brought for me today?
Zelenia Triantafylli, second-in-command of Alexandria's royal knights... Chivalry is a timeless subject, indeed! Long has it been the inspiration for some of our most beloved tales.
Stirring epics of heroes who give every onze of their strength to defend their charge. Some recount heart-wrenching tragedies of the disgraced, who live bearing the burden of failure, while others tell of selfless figures who pay the ultimate price for their virtue.
These yarns captivate listeners because they venture beneath the celebrated image of the gallant knight, providing a glimpse of a person ordinary and flawed. A person not unlike you or I.
And while 'tis plain that as captured in the queen's memory, Zelenia was a devoted subject, hers is certainly a tale driven by more than mere loyalty. After all, a life lived by the sword must inevitably be stained with crimson.
The queen viewed her as a stalwart guardian, and ever found comfort behind her imposing form. Yet from that position, Sphene could not see the steely gaze with which Zelenia regarded her foes, nor feel the rage that burned within her heart.
And I imagine the chaos of battle, as well, appeared quite differently from each of their perspectives. A fascinating duality, perhaps best illustrated with a song...
A steadfast blade she wields for me,
Her gaze upon the foe.♪
In mem'ries deep that form engraved,
Her knightly pose just so.♪
Wandering Minstrel: All threats that rise against my liege,
With sword and spell struck down.♪
Deservéd death awaits the fools,
Who dare assail the crown.♪
No rose is without thorns. Zelenia was doubtless an honorable fighter and protector, yet that selfsame honor fueled the

merciless fury she unleashed upon the enemies of the royal family.

Wandering Minstrel
How would you have fared had such fury marked Queen Sphene's memories? Would you have bested Zelenia, or would her thorns have left you bloodied?
Wandering Minstrel
So, what have you brought for me today?
Ah, you speak of Calyx, genius born of a bygone era, and the primal he nourished upon a feast of mortal terror...
Powerful was the onset of fear felt by a people who had long escaped death's mournful memories. And powerful was the entity which that fear begat.
Yet would Calyx not have nurtured that selfsame dread since the moment of his birth?
Was he not fated to succumb to his childhood malady ere he reached his full growth?
The chirping insects which lulled him to sleep in the evening. The birdsong which called him awake come the morn... Such sounds must have been as chalk on a slate, marking the passage of his dwindling days.
Surely 'twas Calyx himself, more than any other, who nurtured the deepest, darkest fear of death.
Dwelling upon that beleaguered heart, I am inspired to sing of the horror it may have spawned...
Forget thee not the hand of death,
For all shall feel its grip.♪
At queenly feet lay down thy fears,
Dark prayer be on thy lip.♪
Forget thee not the hand of death,
For even Endless end.♪
Where queen awoke stoke thee thy hope,
'Pon heels of Light ascend.♪

Guardian Arkveld. [The Windward Wilds (Extreme)]

Wandering Minstrel
So, what have you brought for me today?
Arkveld, the white wanderer from a faraway world... I daresay that the word “hunt” suffices not to capture your struggle with the creature.
Intrigued though am I by the device described in the Felyne's tale, what strikes me most of all is the nature of this Guardian. That is, its predilection for energy.
In the animal kingdom, a predator devours other beasts for its survival. Yet Arkveld appeared not to be driven by this fundamental need.
Instead, it harbored an extreme obsession for aether─an obsession which saw it slaughter the beasts of Shaaloani to assert dominance over its newfound realm.
In response, the Serpentlord rose up to face this interloper, as if the land itself wished to repel a common threat.
Without such resistance─and your timely intervention─there is no telling how grave a threat Arkveld might have become.
Finding itself in an unfamiliar land, the Guardian merely did what its instincts bade it do. Were I to render such a savage life in verse, it might go thus...
In silv'ry coat its body cloaked,
From distant world it came.♪
On reddened earth the Guardian roamed,
The lives of foes to claim.♪
In hunger deep was locked this beast,
In silv'ry chains entwined.♪
To conquer all its savage fate,
New paradise to find.♪

The Doomtrain. [Hell on Rails (Extreme)]

Wandering Minstrel
So, what have you brought for me today?
A man-made horror thundering across a levin-struck plain...
...Kingdoms it was to vanquish now vanished in all but name.
With even the battlefields they were born to besiege reduced to ash, the locomotive and its fearsome cargo were condemned to run hither and thither along the rails till time's end.
One wonders how the entity housed within perceived its fate.
Did its union with the train allow it to take joy in the simple embrace of speed? Had it an innate love of bloodshed, the thrill of each violent encounter may have driven it ever faster in search of foes to slaughter.
Or was it fueled by belief that those tracks would, someday, deliver it home? Perhaps it was unable to understand─or accept─that Lindblum and its people were no more...
I should like to see it reunited with those who created it, if only in song. Let the melody carry it where steel did not...
O the wild charge it made!
Beasts aboard and wheels ablaze,♪
Entrusted with a nation's fate,
'Pon glory fixed its gaze...♪
When that kingdom too was razed,
With nowhere left to go,♪
O the wild charge it made!
And ne'er did it slow...♪
Wandering Minstrel
So, what have you brought for me today?
Ah, Enuo... That dread denizen of the depths who sought out the voidgate and thence the Source.
Having already endured a deathless eternity in the void, it is not inconceivable they would have been content to merely preside over their realm without end.
Yet perhaps our light-filled world presented such a loathsome affront as to beckon Enuo from the dark, intent on rendering all to naught. Of course, we can but speculate upon their true designs...
For your unforeseen arrival upon the red moon laid any such vengeful plans to rest. It is fitting that your companion Zero was there by your side as the killing blow was struck─her name evoking new beginnings as it does.
Were it not for that fateful reunion, mayhap all Light would be enveloped in Darkness, all life trapped within the ceaseless void.
A world unmade... 'Tis a paradoxical notion, but one I nonetheless feel compelled to put to song.
In darkest depths did they abide,
Cursed to lurk undying.♪
Life and Light did they decry,
The void's dread power rising.♪
By golden path was ingress made,
Will and might prevailing.♪
Cleaving through that bleak domain,
The void's dread power failing.♪
Have you ever pondered how your life might have unfolded had you been born unto that endless dark expanse?
Wandering Minstrel
You are always so generous with your time and tales of adventure, but today I would offer you a most curious tale shared with me in passing on a recent excursion.
The sprightly adventurer was relaxing at an inn after a laborous day's journey, ready to retire for the evening.
No sooner did he enter his room than he found himself in an altogether different space. What's more, he was not alone.
Seven other adventurers stood at the ready beside him, drawing their weapons as they exchanged pleasantries.
What stood before them was a rather peculiar mage he described as putting the mad in madcap.
A pitched battle then ensued, the echoes of maniacal laughter filling the air as the harlequin fiend flung spell after spell.
It seemed the would-be jester was toying with them, its repertoire of tricks and traps seemingly inexhaustible.
Even so, the adventurers did not falter, and after a grueling struggle, they would eventually prove victorious.
Their relief was palpable. But no sooner had they split their hard-earned spoils than he found himself back at the inn.
A truly inexplicable-yet-fascinating encounter, would you not agree?
Was it a dream? Or perhaps a wild fabrication? I have played audience to many a tale, both tall and true, yet I cannot help but feel the fool seeking the truth behind this particular story.
What will you say?
A fascinating tale in any case.
Wandering Minstrel
Indeed. Seemingly absurd, and yet it sets my mind to racing all the same.
Eh, I've had stranger things happen.
Wandering Minstrel
Hah, I suppose you have shared with me no few stories of events that defy explanation.
Even so, such seemingly outlandish stories set my mind to racing all the same.
It's unbelievable!
Wandering Minstrel
Yet something in your eyes bespeaks a bond between you and this adventurer. If I did not know better, I might surmise you joined him on this curious venture...

Kefka's laugh is heard.

Wandering Minstrel
Am I right? Is that the way of it?
If you are unwilling to tell me, then I shan't pry... Would that I could bear witness to such fierce battle. The very thought of it sets my mind to racing.
Wandering Minstrel
Yes, I do believe a song is taking shape in my mind. Of breathtaking, death-defying feats of heroism.
A distant land, in a distant age,
Sundered by this harlequin mage.♪
Its rubble stacked to build a tower,
Stronghold for his twisted power.♪
A dark world suffering ceaseless plight,
No solace found in judgment's light.♪
And thus heroes ventured far and wide
In search of friends to turn the tide.♪
I daresay this motley mage and I are alike in at least one regard─a flair for creative flourishes in our art. With every telling of our stories, every rendition of our songs, we find new meaning. Thus are no two performances ever the same.
Of course, there can be no performance without an audience. As their participation often elicits unexpected changes of course, it falls to us to take these diversions in stride—our reward an eruption of praise and applause.
Does this adventurer have what it takes to steal the show, I wonder...

Nothing.

Wandering Minstrel
Oh, have you come just to say hello? I appreciate the gesture, to be sure, just as I appreciate that you are a busy man. Even so, I do hope you find time in the future to regale me with a tale or two.

Default

Wandering Minstrel
Have you come here to share a heroic yarn with me, Forename? Please, do go on─you have my rapt attention.
...Ah, I understand. You have no tales worth telling─yet, that is. I know for certain 'tis but a matter of time until you are thrust into the heart of matters most dramatic.
Fortunately, the denizens of this city are great lovers of tall tales and thrilling verse. They simply cannot hear enough of your exploits, Forename! Thank you for being my ever-dependable muse.

Additional information

This quest's title is a reference to the 1962 film How the West was Won.

Video Archive

Video Archive by Meowlo's FFXIV Quest Archive
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