mogmelodies | To: All the Heroes of Light || [NPCs Q&A]

[ This letter comes in a purple envelope, sealed with the crest of the royal family of Aqures Ixen. ]

Greetings.
I am one of the Queen's advisers in charge of this city in her absence. I trust the Moogles explained the situation to you. "Heroes of Light," or so do the legends say. I have no doubt this is hard to believe, and of course, many people over here don't believe it either. The Queen did believe it though, and accurately predicted your arrival. I don't think this is a mere coincidence. Needless to say, the population of this city isn't supposed to be aware about any of this. Now, given how "talkative" some people at the castle are and how flashy some of you tend to be (from what I heard), I would expect weird glares and murmurs to be a thing in the weeks to come.

With these formalities taken care of, I imagine you have a lot of questions. If you do, please reply to this letter with your question and we shall do our best to answer them. Keep in mind, we have no idea how you came here and we know very little regarding the Heroes of Light beyond broad facts.

• If you have questions regarding the Crystals, Jobs, magic and science in a general manner, please address them to Jessie. She is our specialist here when it comes to Crystals and Magitek. According to the legends, Heroes of Light possess the powers to switch between Jobs. So if you need a new Job, she's the person you should pester.

• If you have questions regarding the military side of things, the political status of our world and things like that, you should address the questions to Biggs. He's the chief of our armies. Be warned he's not convinced you are 'Heroes of Light' (he's even less convinced you do actually come from other worlds), so don't expect his replies to be the epitome of elegance.

• If you have questions regarding Mognet, please address your inquiries to Artemicion, the director of Mognet.

• Finally, if you've got something to ask about the legends, history or this city, then your question is best addressed to me. Speaking of which, if ever you want to move into another house or something, address you request to your Moogles and they'll transmit it to me.

If you don't know who to address your question to, then we'll do our best to answer it anyway. Whether you choose to help our world or try to find a way back to your world, the Queen asked us to help you, and this is what we shall do. We're working on getting you Chocobos at the moment but it may take some time.

Sincerely;
— Wedge

P.S.
If your moogle did, in fact, not explain the situation to you,
we're cutting down their salary by 20% for the next two months.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

At least he is not mincing words. Small mercies. "I speak not of my people, but of those close to me who can find a way here." Wedge didn't need to know just how right he was. If she could exert even the slightest bit of pressure on him, it would be worth it. "Queens do not simply disappear from their bedchambers."

Ashelia crossed her legs, leaning forward. She meant it to come across as aggressive, yes, but also interested. She didn't want to seem too far gone with anger, despite what she felt. These were problems she needed to solve, too, and if she alienated Biggs, Wedge and Jessie too much, there was no way she would be included in any findings. A fine line to walk. "My destiny is to rule Dalmasca and usher in an era of peace not known since the days of the Dynast-King's conquest." She stated this plainly, still keeping herself just this side of anger. "Who is it that dictates it differently? Your disappeared Queen?"

Edited 2014-08-26 21:43 (UTC)

"Well, if those close to you can find a way here, I do hope they'll do so quickly, as it'll mean they'll have succeeded where we failed." Needless to say, his tone clearly expressed how doubtful he was about that.

"Your destiny is to rule Dalmasca, and I respect that, but you have to understand: this is outside of our control. We too have our responsibilities. We have a kingdom to rule here, not to mention we are constantly under the threat of an imperial attack. I understand you would like us to do more but quite simply, we cannot." He paused and sighed. "Now if we work together, and I am sure this is what our Queen intended, we will find a solution. We just need to know more about how you were brought here."

Imperial attack. Definitely one of the phrases she'd hoped to never hear again.

Ashelia took in a deep breath. It had been a while since she and the other heroes first appeared in Aqures Ixen. She had needed a lot of time - a lot more than she thought - to cool down and start to think things through rationally. Yes, she needed to cooperate. No, she didn't have to be happy about it, but starting some kind of feud with the people of Crystallis wouldn't do Dalmasca any good. It does not mean that you accept any of this. You are not their Hero of Light, you are not beholden to them at all. You are yourself.

She cleared her throat, settling back into her chair. "Your Queen knew of our coming. There were preparations made, the houses, supplies, the Moogles organized through Mognet, and through all this, she never told you how? Or why, precisely?" Her tone was pointed, in the end, but softer than anything she'd put forth so far.

"She gave us her instructions in a letter. By the time we got the letter, she was already gone." He explained, "Needless to say, the letter did not give us any details beyond what we shared with you already."

He took a pause before continuing.

"Without a doubt, she has the answers we seek. Now why she didn't say anything before disappearing, I am afraid we can only theorize and none of my theories make sense."

"What are your theories?" Ashelia asked. As far as she could tell, Wedge was telling the truth. Or he is a very good liar. Either way, if she wanted to help she'd need to earn his trust. If what he was saying was true and his Queen really did order him and the others to aid the Heroes in whatever way they could, that shouldn't be too hard. But there were still lots of holes to fill.

"If one were to ask me, with what little information I have, I would assume the Empire to be involved somehow. You are quite sure the letter was writ by her own hand?"

"We've confirmed that the letter was hers, yes." He nodded "And of course, I assume the Empire to be involved one way or another. The Empire's been involved with everything that's gone wrong these past twenty years..."

He sighed. It seemed as though this Empire was quite the source of trouble.

"I think there are three theories more plausible than the others. Either something threatened the Queen and she left to escape it, either there was something only she could do, either she didn't want to see you, the Heroes of Light." He paused, sounding a bit dubious "Of course, would any of these theories be true, they raise even more questions."

"Too true." Ashelia tried to think what she would do in the same situation. She couldn't imagine why the Queen would just refuse to see the Heroes at all, and if she were being threatened and escaped preemptively, she surely would have been able to get word back to her advisers by now. It seemed most likely that there was some other task that needed doing. There was no way to know for sure, though, and Ashelia felt that familiar anger bubbling up again at the feeling of powerlessness these revelations brought.

Best to focus on the practical details, then. "If the Empire was involved, surely there must be some trace of their presence in the city. What is the status of your intelligence?"

"Nothing so far." He shook his head "Not that it means a lot. You have to understand, the Empire has access to technologies and even Jobs we know nothing about. With all the people that come and go, they could be here and we wouldn't even know it. I would actually be surprised if we didn't have Imperial spies somewhere in the city."

Not a bad assumption to make - Rabanastre's security and intelligence force, while highly improved since the war, could never claim to be one hundred percent effective. Human err notwithstanding, it was just too big and too old. There were passages and byways not even Ashelia herself knew about. If Aqures Ixen was truly founded on the ruins of an old Ancient castle, it all made perfect sense. They really are stretched quite thin. The lack of direct support and intervention in the arrival of the Heroes of Light began to make more and more sense. She still didn't like it, but it made sense. Unless it truly is all an act. Not impossible, but it looked less and less likely.

"I would like to thank you for answering my questions," she said as she stood up. Ashelia hadn't planned on leaving so soon, but meetings that ran long were one of her biggest pet peeves. "I will surely be in touch, as I hope you'll be as well." She sighed lightly, nodding at Wedge in her most courteous manner. "I am sure if we cooperate, we will get to the bottom of all of this."

To: All the Heroes of Light || [NPCs Q&A]

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