Shadowed Remnants

Wherever I turn, there's Darkness as far as I can perceive; the only source of Light here is ourselves. The opposite was true in the First.

It seems the minions are content to gawp for now. Let's carry on.

Accepting the quest

Start of cutscene.

The warding scale exhibits no change. It should be safe to remain here and begin our search.

But whither now? I would sense Azdaja were she remotely near, but there is nothing...

Might you not call to her? Let her know that you have come.

Alas, this vessel is not capable of calling across vast distances. For that, I require my true form.

And even were it possible, a dragon's call is borne upon aether. 'Tis liable to draw more voidsent to us.

I see...

In any case, there's little exploration to be done while we are confined to this isolated isle.

I propose we begin by learning what we can from the castle's occupants. An understanding of their ways may prove useful to our cause.

Very well. Let's hope a few of them are capable of speech.

Let all remain vigilant while we go about our inquiries. We reconvene afterwards.

End of cutscene.

Gathering information on the hydromantic terraces.

Optional dialogue

This one does naught but stare...

Some seem willing enough to converse. Whether they have the ability to do so is another matter...

Feral Voidsent (X:10.8, Y:11.2)

Feral Voidsent

Grrrrrr...

Grrr? Grrraaargggh...

The creature snarls and glares at you. It is unlikely that you will learn anything from it.

Optional dialogue

Feral Voidsent

Grrr... Grrraaargggh!

Watchful Voidsent (X:11.6, Y:11.3)

Watchful Voidsent

What enticing aether you have... Give me some! Give me some!

Awww... If only I were stronger, I'd be able to eat you...

Fine, fine. I'll find someone else to eat... <grumble>

While able to communicate, this one seems to think only of feeding. Better to take your inquiries elsewhere.

Optional dialogue

Watchful Voidsent

I want to eat you. I mustn't eat you. I want to eat you. I mustn't eat you...

Like the prevailing tongue in Norvrandt, the language of this world bears a resemblance to our own. It may be assumed that they share a common ancestor.

Forlorn Voidsent (X:11.6, Y:12.3)

Forlorn Voidsent

The mistress's eyes are beauteous! Sublime! To bask in her gaze is bliss!

But now she's gone... Never again will I feel her gaze...

No mistress. No orders. What am I to do now? What am I to do now?

The creature mutters endlessly to itself, not sparing you so much as a glance.

Optional dialogue

Forlorn Voidsent

No mistress. No orders. What am I to do now? What am I to do now?

Fearful Voidsent (X:11.8, Y:12.4)

Fearful Voidsent

I serve! I obey! Please don't eat me!

A...dragon? What's that? Does it taste good? I don't know anything about it. Don't know about anything.

But the one we caught recently, they seemed to know lots.

We threw them in the dungeon, but clever ones are tasty. They might have been eaten already.

You've learned all you can from this voidsent. If you look in the dungeon, you may be able to find the clever one it mentioned.

Optional dialogue

Fearful Voidsent

We threw the clever one in the dungeon, but clever ones are tasty. If I had the chance, I don't think I could resist...

Wait at the designated location.

Start of cutscene.

I have nothing to share. While those I approached had no will to fight, neither were they capable of holding a conversation worth the name.

My experience was much the same. Lower-rung voidsent tend to have lower intelligence, 'twould seem.

A pity Scarmiglione is dead. He was talkative at least.

What of you?

A clever voidsent in the dungeon...

That would be the area in which we emerged.

Indeed.

Let's take ourselves back there and find this voidsent─preferably before its fellows make a meal of it.

To the dungeon, then.

End of cutscene.

Optional dialogue

Troian Knight (Troia Keep, X:13.8, 8.3)

Troian Knight

I can't survive without someone to give me aether. But where, oh where will I find a new master...?

Troian Doorkeeper (Troia Keep, X:10.7, Y:10.5)

Troian Doorkeeper

Prey we caught are weakened in the dungeon before being served up to the mistress. “Tenderizing,” she called it, and that's the way she used to like it.

Troian Guard Dog (Troia Keep, X:10.4, Y:12.7)

Troian Guard Dog

Woof! Grrrrrr...

Troian Manservant (Carcere IV, X:12.9, Y:9.6)

Troian Manservant

Though there's only the one dungeon here, we call it the fourth. The mistress's orders.

But the mistress is gone, and her orders with her. Rats can infest this castle for all I care!

Troian Gaoler (Carcere IV, X:13.0, Y:10.9)

Troian Gaoler

No one comes and goes from this dungeon without permission. For you, though, I'll make an exception. Go on, go.

Troian Warden (Carcere IV, X:11.8, Y:11.6)

Troian Warden

Food for the mistress's consumption is kept in these cells. With the mistress devoured, we're free to help ourselves.

But the clever one is strong! Another warden went in to devour the clever one, but he hasn't come back out...

I mislike the feel of this. Stay on your guard.

There appears to be someone within...

Could this be the clever voidsent?

Search for the clever voidsent in carcere IV.

Enter Troia Keep? (Yes/No)

Start of voiced cutscene.

You...

You are...the friend?

What will you say?

You're the voidsent bound to Zenos!

Didn't you fade away when Zenos fell?

The player's allies draw their weapons.

Zenos? The disgraced prince you yourself laid low?

I see it now. The bottomless darkness. The insatiable hunger. The aura was present when we faced him in Garlemald.

How did it come to be here?

When Zenos died, its connection to the Source was severed. It was forced to return to the void.

Zenos...

Yes, that was his name. And you are the friend, are you not?'

The player and the voidsent approach each other. Hydaelyn's crystal glows.

Is that...Hydaelyn's crystal!?

The voidsent turns into a reaper resembling a Hyur woman.

But how?

The light just now... Of course. And thus I am returned...

What do you mean, “returned”? Who are you?

I was once bound to the man named Zenos.

His “avatar”─until you killed him.

“Avatar” as in the voidsent servants of reapers.

In the name of his hunt, Zenos took up that traditional Garlean art.

And through it, he forged a covenant with a being of the void to lend him strength.

“Covenant”? A curse, more like. He stole my power. There was no equity in the arrangement.

My very essence was altered. Twisted into a tool to serve his desires.

Your previous appearance. This is your true form, then?

Perhaps. Perhaps not. What does it matter?

Indeed. It doesn't.

Regardless of your form, you are a voidsent by nature.

So answer me this: are you our enemy too?

In this world, only a fool would attempt to devour a stronger being.

And though it was as an avatar, I lost to you once. I have no desire to lose again.

Good enough for me.

Now, you will answer me a question.

Zenos called you “friend.” That's what you are? A friend?

What will you say?

Strictly speaking, I'm Forename Surname.

Whatever Zenos may have said, I wasn't his friend.

Not to you. At least, not yet.

So...you're not a friend?

Then...

What is it? What is a friend?

After the party walks away, Scarmiglione's voice is heard from a gathering cluster of darkness.

End of cutscene.

Optional dialogue

Troian Warden

It seems the clever one did for my fellow warden after all. I knew it was a bad idea to go in the cell...

Zenos's avatar, eh? What are the odds.

We still know little about her, but for now I'm glad we found someone who can do more than moan for aether.

I assume the dungeon was reserved for those intended for the mistress's consumption.

'Tis fortunate that we came here when we did. Fateful, even.

When I served Zenos, my mind was shrouded in haze. But one thing was always clear─his obsession with the “friend.”

What the word means, I do not know exactly. I know only that it referred to you, and that yours was an important existence.

Speak with Y'shtola.