The Durai Papers
This article is about the actual content and lore of the set of documents known as The Durai Papers. For a SPOILER-FREE summary of their importance, see Ivalice.
|
Spoiler Warning : This article contains spoilers! |
The Durai Papers are a set of documents mentioned by Jenomis cen Lexentale during several quests within the Return to Ivalice Alliance Raid series.
Origins
During the Ivalician "War of the Lions", an orphan named Orran Durai crossed paths with Ramza Beoulve, his sister Alma Beoulve, and Delita Heiral, who would go on to form the Zodiac Braves. It would be Orran who penned the Durai Papers -- an account of Ivalice and the War of the Lions detailing what truly occurred during that turbulent era. Following the War of the Lions, Orran believed the people of Ivalice had a right to know the truth of Ramza's involvement, and set about documenting his deeds. When the Church of Glabados learned of his intent, however, they branded him a heretic, and had him burned at the stake. The Durai Papers were never published, and any existing copies were gathered and sealed away in church vaults -- the truth about Ivalice along with them.
Orran's descendant, Arazlam Durai would eventually adopt the alias of Jenomis cen Lexentale to blend in with the Garlean society he immigrated to after the fall of Dalmasca. Like his ancestors before him, he inherited a transcript of Orran's work copied from an early draft -- the only version of The Durai Papers to survive to the present day.
Contents
Auracite and Lucavi
The Zodiac Stones, made of a substance called auracite, had the power to make manifest one's deepest desires -- be they fair or foul. When an auracite is used with malign intent, it warps both body and mind, transforming the wielder at last into monstrosities that would come to be known as Lucavi. Defeating the Lucavi served to restore the auracite to its original crystalline state.[1]
Ramza and Delita
Ramza was the youngest son of Lord Barbaneth of House Beoulve. Delita was born into a family of serfs -- the Heirals -- who tilled land owned by Ramza's family. When Delita's parents succumbed to the "Black Death," Ramza's father took the boy and his younger sister Tietra into his home and raised them as he would his own children. Years later when those same children were grown, Ramza Beoulve, acting at the behest of the Church of Glabados, set out with a company of knights to recover the twelve lost Zodiac Stones.
They succeeded in their endeavor, earning themselves the moniker of Zodiac Braves. [2]
Argath Thadalfus was once heir to a high house which had fallen into disrepute through the ignoble conduct of its then lord, Argath's grandsire. House Thadalfus had long possessed an heirloom they called the Duma, a brilliant gemstone that Argath carried upon his person. Cursing his family's diminished circumstances, the youth turned his ire upon the only souls over whom he still retained any influence: the smallfolk. But Delita, hero of the common man, would not suffer this, and after trying and failing to reason with Argath, put him to the sword. Argath believed that his blood entitled him to power, and the auracite seized upon that belief, releasing the Lucavi within. The stone duly gave form to Argath's fury, reanimating his body, and granting him the strength to exact revenge upon the one who ended his life. Yet who should spare Delita that fate but Ramza, who battled the vengeful corpse unbeknownst to his childhood friend, and finally brought peace to Argath's soul.
Now you may ask why Ramza would lend his blade to the selfsame man who forsook his ties to House Beoulve. The reason lies in poor Ramza's own involvement in the murder of Delita's sister. It was Argath who fired the bolt that struck Tietra down, aye... but it was Ramza's earlier rescue of Argath that paved the way for the tragedy to follow. Though Argath was dead, and Tietra avenged, Delita's bitterness endured and festered, and it was not long before he began to blame Ramza. Ramza, for his part, understood all too well the turmoil in his grieving friend's heart, and therefore chose, out of respect, to maintain his distance.[3]
The Sacrifice of Ramza
Ajora Glabados, first of the Zodiac Braves, was not the hero the church would have the public believe. He betrayed Mother Hydaelyn for the promise of coin and power, summoning forth a terrible evil from the depths of the celestial abyss--Ultima, the Angel of Blood. It was believed only one of the land's chosen -- only a Warrior of Light might stand against this threat. Yet while victorious in battle, Ramza was unable to see the darkness vanquished. When it became apparent that the Braves were powerless to truly defeat the High Seraph, they chose the only path left -- to do what Hydaelyn Herself did countless centuries past: imprison Ultima. Ramza, knowing that a prison is only as strong as the seal on it's gates, sacrificed his body to ensure that the Angel of Blood would never again walk the land. His final wish before surrendering his body to the aether was for his name to be struck from the annals of history; he believed that if people knew of this sacrifice, it would only inspire them to seek out the Holy Stones and repeat the mistakes of those come before.[4]