As It Once Was

As It Once Was

Quest giver

Tataru

Location

The Pillars (X:11, Y:11)

Quest line

Dragonsong Main Scenario Quests

Level

60

Experience

 5,000

Gil

 1,807

Previous quest

As Goes Light, So Goes Darkness

Next quest

The Word of the Mother

Patch

3.2

---

Main Scenario Progress: 344 / 960 (35.8%)

   

Heavensward Progress: 103 / 138 (74.6%)

   

“

Tataru is waiting to share good tidings with you and Alphinaud.

— In-game description

Rewards

Choose one of the following options:

• 1   Steamed Staff
• 1   Sesame Cookie

Steps

• Rendezvous with F'lhaminn in Limsa Lominsa.

• Speak with F'lhaminn in Revenant's Toll.

• Speak with the Scions in the Rising Stones. 0/5

• Speak with Tataru.

Journal

• Tataru proudly informs you that F'lhaminn, Hoary Boulder, and Coultenet -- the three Scions of the Seventh Dawn forced to flee Limsa Lominsa and the Crystal Braves' betrayal -- are at last homeward bound. Not to be outdone, however, Krile and Thancred appear shortly thereafter, to share with the others the next step in their plan for tracking down Minfilia. Theorizing that Hydaelyn's direct intercession must leave a measurable impact on the ambient aether, they intend to study the battlefield where you faced the Ultima Weapon -- where She shielded you with the Blessing of Light: the Praetorium. Though he knows not how such data may be put to use, Alphinaud nevertheless defers to your comrades' judgment, as well as their suggestion that you, Alphinaud, and Tataru see to the necessary preparations for the long-lost Scions' homecoming.

• Surprised and pleased to see a familiar face, F'lhaminn and her companions greet you warmly and offer their apologies for not returning sooner. Eager to speak with her daughter, F'lhaminn asks after Minfilia, forcing you to divulge that she has yet to be found. Though clearly distraught, F'lhaminn does her best to remain calm and trust in the Scions to see her daughter safely home, and together you make for Revenant's Toll.

• Outside the Seventh Heaven, the trio pause to take in the familiar surroundings. Though much has changed, much indeed remains the same... though who can say how they will feel once they walk through the doors of the Rising Stones?

• The Rising Stones is filled with the sounds of laughter and drink as F'lhaminn, Hoary Boulder, and Coultenet drift to familiar corners to greet old friends and tell tales of adventurers in foreign lands. For some, it is as though they never left -- a break in a conversation now resumed. For others, it is the promise of a new beginning -- a new chapter in a larger story. Yet in the midst of all the excitement, Alphinaud and Tataru stand apart, strangely silent...

• Though many delight in the homecoming of the long-lost trio, Alphinaud thoughts remain with those who have yet to return. But Tataru, ever resilient, reassures him that all their missing comrades will be found -- Minfilia, Yda, Papalymo... every last one.

Dialogue

Optional Dialogue

Alphinaud: Much as I worry for the future of Ishgard, the fate of our missing friends concerns me even more...

House Fortemps Steward: It is a relief to see that Lord Artoirel has found renewed purpose. Would that I could say the same of Lord Emmanellain...

Optional Dialogue in the Rising Stones

V'mah Tia: It feels as though all we do is track crystal shipments and spy upon beastmen strongholds. I know it's important work, but sometimes you want to be in the thick of it, you know?

Alianne: While Riol commands our efforts in the field, I tend to administrative matters here.
Alianne: You might say my experiences with the Crystal Braves helped prepare me for these duties. A pity I never had the chance to "thank" Captain Ilberd. For everything.

Ephemie: I never realized shinobi were capable of such amazing feats! Mayhap I too should take up the shortblades...

Bluomwyda: The way the refugees looked away when we showed them the linkpearl fragments... Aye, I think Aergmhus may have the right of it.
Bluomwyda: He is a good man, but I can tell the betrayal yet weighs on his mind. Would that more of the Braves had been like him.

Aergmhus: I'd wager those Ala Mhigans know where Yda and Paplymo went. In fact, I would not be surprised if they helped them to flee the city—not that they would ever admit to such.
Aergmhus: After all, half the Braves up and turned their cloaks during a royal banquet. What reason do they have to believe us when we claim we're friends?

Ocher Boulder: Praise the Twelve, they found him! Riol found Hoary!
Ocher Boulder: He's in Thavnair looking after Miss F'lhaminn, it seems. Hah, imagine that! MY brother, bodyguard to the Antecedent's mother! He sure has come a long way...

Aenor: You should've seen the way my man jumped for joy when he heard about his brother!
Aenor: By the by, you don't happen to know a reputable goldsmith, do you? I'm thinking of commissioning a pair of rings...

Clemence: Aenor, you cannot be serious! He must be three times your size! I mean, how would you eve... Surely you haven't...
Clemence: No, no, don't tell me. I don't want to know. I don't want to know...

Homei: Talking with Isildaure, I cannot help but wonder if we met long ago. It certainly feels as though we've known each other for years, if not decades.

Isildaure: You should hear some of the mischief Homei here got up to back in the old country! It's enough to make me think I still have a few good years of adventuring left in me.

Krile: I have an idea how we might find Minfilia, but I'm still working through the details. Tell you later?

Thancred: If I have to descend into the bowels of the seventh hell to find her, I will. 
Whatever if takes, [Forename]. Whatever it takes.

Accepting the Quest (Cutscene)

Tataru: Alphinaud, [Forename]! I've been looking all over for you! 
Tataru: We've received news regarding F'lhaminn, Hoary Boulder, and Coultenet! 

Alphinaud: Really? Has something happened? 

Tataru: No, no, it's nothing bad—quite the opposite, in fact! It seems that once they learned the Scions' good name had been restored, they boarded the next ship bound for Limsa Lominsa. They should be arriving any moment now! 
Tataru: It's easy to forget how useful linkpearls are, isn't it? When they work, I mean. And you don't mind being spied on.

Alphinaud: Quite. But what wonderful news! To think that our reunion is close at hand.

Thancred: A pleasure to see you too, Alphinaud.

Alphinaud: Ah, Thancred....and Krile. What brings the two of you here? 

Thancred: Krile and I have been looking into how we might track down Minfilia. 

Krile: And we may just have found the answer. 
Krile: [Forename]—when you were fleeing Ul'dah with Minfilia, you said that Hydaelyn spoke to her shortly before you parted ways, yes? 
Krile: Well, assuming that is true—and I see no reason to suspect that it is not—it seems reasonable to conclude that Hydaelyn commanded her to remain behind. 
Krile: That is to say, the Mothercrystal directly interceded to guide Minfilia. 
Krile: Admittedly, this is all still quite hypothetical, but I propose that such intervention, however, subtle, must surely leave some residual trace. A linger disturbance in the aether—or ripple, if you will. 
Krile: In order to establish the existence of such ripples, of course, we will require suitable data. 

Thancred: Fortunately, I know where such data can be found: the battleground where [Forename] felled the Ultima Weapon...and the site of my personal ignominy. 
Thancred: 'Twas there that Hydaelyn intravened to shield her/him from the magick I invoked. Krile and I will infiltrate the castrum and analyze the aether therein.

Alphinaud: The two of you? Alone? 

Thancred: I have a proven knack for subterfuge, and I am confident there will be sufficient nooks and crannies in which to hide Krile while the patrols pass. 
Thancred: Besides, if you and [Forename] come along, who will see to F'lhaminn's grand homecoming? 

Alphinaud: When you put it like that... Very well, I will trust in your plan. 
Alphinaud: I know not whether this data will yield a means to find Minfilia, but it will at the very least eliminate another avenue of inquiry. 
Alphinaud: Tataru and I will return to the Rising Stones and make preparations for our comrades' return. Might I impose upon you to meet them at the Lominsan docks? 
Alphinaud: Then I shall see the four of you at the Rising Stones. Safe travels!

Optional Dialogue

Alphinaud: Oh? Lady F'lhaminn is not with you?

Tataru: I can't wait to hear what adventures they've had!

Hoary Boulder: Is that...? By the gods, it is you! Well met, [Forename], well met!

Coultenet: If it isn't [Forename] [Surname]! Really, you didn't have to come all this way just for us!

Rendezvousing with F'lhaminn in Limsa Lominsa (Cutscene)

F'lhaminn: Oh, [Forename]! How have you been? Come here - let me have a good look at you. 
F'lhaminn: Thank the Twelve. One hears the strangest tales in foreign lands. I worried about you all every day...

Coultenet: We would have sent word sooner, but the Braves afforded us no opportunity. When they fell upon us in the market, it was all we could do to escape. 
Coultenet: Tataru found her way to you, of course, but we were forced to seek shelter aboard a Hannish vessel. 

Hoary Boulder: It pained us not being there when you needed us most. But we made the most of it, didn't we, Coultenet? Studied and trained from dusk till dawn, we did! 

F'lhaminn: We would have sent word sooner, but we knew not whom to trust, and with the vast distance.... 
F'lhaminn: But those dark days are behind us at last. I shall be glad indeed to return home and speak with my daughter. 
F'lhaminn: What do you mean she's missing!? How could you let this happen!? 
F'lhaminn: Forgive me, I...I am sure you are doing everything in your power to find her.  
F'lhaminn: ...As Thancred must be. He watched over her from the first—long before me. And he will watch over her to the last.  
F'lhaminn: I shall pray for her safe return, and busy myself in the meantime.

Coultenet: For a certainty, there is much and more to be done. The Braves may have bloodied us, but the path remains, and we shall not be swayed by it. 

Hoary Boulder: Aye, that's the spirit! To the Scions, and a long overdue reunion! Huzzah! 

F'lhaminn: Well, there you have it. To the Rising Stones! 

Cutscene

Krile: Well done, sir. And with that, I believe we are ready to proceed.  

Thancred: Let us be about our business then. The next patrol may not be so credulous.

Krile: Why must you be so disappointingly brusque? You're not at all as Minfilia described, you know. I don't think you've favored me with so much as a single compliment since we set out. 
Krile: Tell me, did your time in the wilderness sap you of your charm, or are you holding it in reserve for your beloved? 

Thancred: This is neither the time nor the place. 

Krile: Well, call me old-fashioned, but when I'm risking life and limb infiltrating an imperial castrum, I like to be sure of my comrade's motivations.

Thancred: I see now where Alphinaud gets it from. 
Thancred: Minfilia is dear to me, it is true—but not in the way you think.  
Thancred: Fifteen years past, when she was still but a child, there was an incident at a parade. A goobbue broke free of its fetters and run amok through the streets of Ul'dah. Had I been more attentive, I could have prevented it...but I was distracted, and her father was killed. 
Thancred: I feared she would never recover, but in the years that followed, she showed herself to be more resilient than I had ever imagined. And when she learned of her gift, she did not flinch from the responsibility, but sought to guide others on the path. 
Thancred: She touched the hearts of all around her. Mine, Lousoix's, every Scion's. In those dark days following the Calamity, she was our guiding light—our hope for a brighter future. 
Thancred: She had so many dreams...and I would give anything to make them come true. 

Krile: My apologies. I can see she means the world to you. I did not mean to pick at old scars. 

Thancred: No harm done, I assure you. But fair is fair, my lady—what is Minfilia to you? 

Krile: You mean you don't know? Only my dearest friend.  
Krile: When I finally emerged from my torpor, I learned that nary a day had passed without her asking after me. She never gave up hope. 
Krile: And neither will I. 

Thancred: Then for Minfilia's sake, let us pray that these vestiges of Hydaelyn's intervention will lead us to her. 

Optional Dialogue

Hoary Boulder: Ahhh, it's great to be back in the Toll! <sniff> It even smells like adventure!

Coultenet: Home at last... I must make my rounds and see who remains.

Speaking with F'lhaminn in Revenant's Toll

F'lhaminn: ...It feels good to be home again. 
F'lhaminn: To think that everyone is waiting for us, just beyond those doors. Friends and family with whom we have shared so much... 
F'lhaminn: ...Gods help me, but the older I get, the more sentimental I become. Come, let us not keep them waiting. 

Optional Dialogue

Alphinaud: And there they are, at last. Thank the Twelve...

Tataru: Nothing like a homecoming to lift everyone's spirits! Thanks for bringing them back, [Forename].

V'mah Tia: Is that the Lady F'lhaminn I've heard so much about? Well, well! I shall have to introduce myself.

Speaking with the Scions in the Rising Stones

F'lhaminn, Alianne and Ephemie

F'lhaminn: Alianne, Ephemie! It fills my heart with joy to see you both hale and healthy. And what of Higiri?

Ephemie: She is well, though abroad on a mission at present. 

Alianne: It just wasn't the same without you. Welcome back, my lady!

Aergmhus

Aergmhhus: Ah, we could do with more of that around here! Heartfelt reunions with stalwart companions! Brings a—<belch>—brings a bloody tear to the eye! 

Homei and Isildaure

Homei: To secret oneself in a ship's hold to secure safe passage to a faraway land... 
This is a tale we know all too well. 
Homei: When they are well rested, I should like to seek a formal introduction. 

Isildaure: Why wait, my friend? Come, there is no need to be shy!

Homei: Pray grant me a moment longer, at least! though I am happy to oblige you, my legs are rather less accommodating...

Couletenet

Coultenet: Glad though I am to be home, I cannot help but think of those who have yet to return...
Coultenet: Once we have settled in, I would join the search.

Hoary Boulder and Ocher Boulder

Hoary Boulder: Ocher! What in the seven hells drove my little brother to come to Mor Dhona?

Ocher Boulder: Why, you, Brother—you and the Scions, of course! For a thousand days I trained, that I might grow as strong as you—that I might fight alongside you! 
Ocher Boulder: Yet now that you are here, I sense that you have surpassed me once more... No, do not tell me—you trained with the Hannish, did you not? 

Hoary Boulder: Your eyes do not deceive, Brother! Aye, I have studied the Trials of the Braves, and drunk deep of the souls of mine enemies! 

Optional Dialogue

F'lhaminn: Twelve be praised, so many are still with us...

Alianne: When our comrades betrayed us, I feared all was lost. How wrong I was!

Ephemie: We must tell the children at once! They've always been so fond of Hoary.

Aergmhus: Brilliant, bloody brilliant! <belch>

Bluomwyda: I worry that Aergmhus is getting a bit carried away, but I suppose I can overlook it on this occasion.

Homei: Isildaure has the spirit of a man half his age. I imagine his granddaughter often struggled to keep up.

Isildaure: Aye, aye, I heard it all from Alianne. So, where is she? If I'm to greet the Songstress of Ul'dah, I would do so on my feet!

Coultenet: We all must do our duty─and I am no exception. Our brothers and sisters are counting on us.

Hoary Boulder: An unexpected but welcome reunion indeed! And a challenge, besides. It would not do to be bested by my little brother, oh no. Not after having come so far!

Ocher Boulder: Huzzah! He is returned! Together, my brother and I shall serve the Scions till the breaking of an eighth dawn!

Aenor: Oh my. Decisions, decisions...

Clemence: First Ocher, and now Hoary! A passing fancy I could suffer, but this!? She's hopeless! Utterly hopeless!

Speaking with Tataru (Cutscene)

Tataru: It's been so long since I've seen them all like this. 

Alphinaud: Too long.... 
Alphinaud: 'Twas the chaos born of my foolish ambition which forced them to flee. 
Alphinaud: Though they are returned, there are others yet missing—others whom we cannot forsake. 

Tataru: We'll find them, Alphinaud—I know we will! Minfilia, Yda, Papalymo...every last one! 
Tataru: And when they walk through those doors, we'll be here to welcome them home. 
Tataru: With me at the head of the queue, of course!