Shadows in the Empire

Quest giver: Hien
Location: The Doman Enclave (X:8.9, Y:8.5)
Quest line: Post-Stormblood
Level: 70

Experience: 46,000
Gil: 1,007
Previous quest: Feel the Burn
Next quest: A Power in Slumber
Patch: 4.4

“

Hien has a request for the Scions.

— In-game description

Steps

Enter the Kienkan.
Speak with Hien.
Speak with Lyse in the Doman Enclave.
Speak with Hien at the Kienkan.

Journal

There are no journal entries for this quest.

Dialogue

Accepting the Quest

Hien: I had hoped to steal a moment's rest after our little outing, but it would seem duty calls. A foreign emissary arrived in my absence.

Y'shtola: Do not let us keep you then.

Hien: Actually... I was wondering if you might join me. I cannot think of a guest who could fail to be impressed by the presence of the Scions -- at least, none I should be happy to receive.

Alisaie: Of course -- if you think it will be useful.

Hien: Thank you. Let us return to my manor, then.

Within the Kienkan

Y'shtola: Lyse! What brings you here?

Lyse: Oh, Alliance business. We have a request for Doma -- well, Hien.

Lyse: But that can wait. They told me you were out searching for Alphinaud. Did you manage to pick up his trail?

Lyse: Well, if he wasn't at the crash site, he might still have escaped. We have to keep searching!

Hien: And we will. Alphinaud embarked on this journey as an emissary of Doma, and I hold myself responsible for his safe return. I will have our shinobi in the provinces search for him as a matter of urgency.

Hien: Chin up, Alisaie. You'll get to admonish your brother for his recklessness yet.

Alisaie: Well, someone has to do it.

Lyse: I'm sure he's going to be fine. There is one thing I'm not sure about, though.

Lyse: You said it was the Emperor's personal guard that attacked Alphinaud's airship.

Lyse: But the Populares would never have been able to arrange the prisoner exchange without Varis's blessing. So why would he sabotage his own mission?

Yugiri: They may not have been acting on Varis's orders. The guard answer not only to him, but to his family. The crown prince, included.

Hien: When Yotsuyu summoned Tsukuyomi, Asahi was quick to proclaim that a Doman citizen had violated the terms of our agreement. That the negotiations had failed.

Hien: And it is this version of events that is now being repeated across Garlemald. To hear the tale, one would think the prisoner exchange never took place. Plainly, someone is manipulating matters from the shadows. Most likely Zenos -- or whoever it is that wears his face.

Y'shtola: Whichever Ascian, you mean. We all know the nature of our adversary.

Hien: The servants of chaos are true to their name. Their meddling has cost Doma a chance at peace.

Hien: Whoever it was that loosed his personal guard, the Emperor cannot be ignorant of these developments. We must proceed on the assumption that our treaty is indeed in tatters.

Hien: But come, Lyse, you have journeyed far. Let me hear your petition.

Lyse: Right, so, the big news is that Ala Mhigo has agreed to join the Eorzean Alliance.

Lyse: To make it official, and discuss where we all go from here, the leaders of the five nations are planning to hold a meeting, and we were hoping you might come too.

Lyse: We've already seen what we can achieve when we work together, and the Alliance hopes to work even more closely in future. They think it's our best hope of keeping the Garleans in check -- and I agree.

Hien: As do I. By coordinating our efforts in the east and west, we may be able to discourage them from committing their forces to a single front.

Hien: I accept your invitation. I must, however, ask for time to attend to some pressing matters here.

Hien: In light of recent events, the risk of imperial reprisals is greater than ever, and I would not leave Doma unguarded. Ere I depart, I must shore up her defenses.

Lyse: Understood. I'll let the Alliance know.

Lyse: We'll wait to hear from you before setting a date. The meeting's to be held at the royal palace in Ala Mhigo, incidentally. Do you remember the way?

Hien: Well enough. Please assure my hosts that I will not keep them waiting any longer than I have to.

Lyse: Consider it done! And thank you for agreeing to come. If we all put our heads together, we're sure to find the best way forward. For everyone.

Speaking with Hien

Lyse: Don't worry. Alphinaud's been through countless trials and come out stronger every time. He'll be back, I'm sure of it.

Alisaie: Yugiri assures me the task of searching is best left to her comrades. I shall trust to their experience and focus on what I can do.

Yugiri: While we are happy to cooperate with the Eorzean Alliance, there are many things that Doma must do alone.

Y'shtola: That the Alliance would extend an invitation to Doma bespeaks the depth of their concern. Nor are they misguided. If Garlemald has fallen under Ascian control, the threat we face is incalculable.

Hien: My advisors and I will presently convene to discuss the matter of Doma's defenses. You are welcome to stay, of course...

Y'shtola: Had you not offered, I would have requested leave to remain. Where the Ascians are concerned, naught may be left to chance.

Hien: As ever, we would benefit from your experience.

Hien: I thank you for coming, Lyse -- even if it was on official business. I had hoped there might be time to show you the land you helped to save, but I will settle for a fleeting visit if needs must.

Lyse: There never does seem to be enough time for anything, does there... But I did get to see a little of the enclave. You've made excellent progress, I must say! And soon you'll have the chance to see how we're getting on too. Till the meeting, then!

Lyse: ...Um, [Player]? I was wondering if I might have a word with you before I go. In private.

Hien: Go on, my friend. I will send for Hakuro and the others in the meantime.

Lyse: Great. I'll wait for you at the docks.

Hien: Go on and see what Lyse wants. I promise we won't begin without you.

Alisaie: What does Lyse want to talk about, I wonder...

Hakuro: So the Eorzean Alliance has invited Doma to attend a council. I had wondered if that might be the purpose of Mistress Lyse's visit.

At the Docks

Lyse: Thanks for coming. Knowing you, you've probably guessed what I wanted to talk about.

Lyse: Alisaie. She's acting as if everything's all right, but it's clear she's barely coping.

Lyse: The Alisaie I know is overbearing, willful, and reckless -- and that's fine. It's how she deals with feeling weak. She has to keep moving, or she's afraid she'll fall apart.

Lyse: ...A lot like me.

Lyse: But the thing about people like us is that we need someone to keep an eye on us. I had Papalymo, and now I have my friends in the Resistance. And Alisaie has you and the Scions.

Lyse: Before you start, I'm not saying you're neglecting her. I'm sure you aren't, and I'm sure you won't -- but she's a good friend, and when I see her like this, I can't help worrying. So please, make sure you give her all the support she needs, all right?

Player: Leave it to me. / You've nothing to worry about. Seriously.

Lyse: Thank you, [Player]. It goes without saying, but if there's anything I can do, you only need to ask.

Lyse: Well, I'd best be off. See you in Ala Mhigo!

Finishing the Quest

Hakuro: We all had our suspicions from the start, but a part of me was credulous enough to believe the Empire's promises. Never again. The imperial court is a nest of vipers, and any peace they offer is laced with poison.

Y'shtola: I daresay I can guess the subject of your discussion with Lyse. She too was never one for concealment. Fortunately for you, the individual in question seems none the wiser.

Alisaie: Is everything all right with Lyse? I won't ask for details -- I know you'd tell me if it were important.

Yugiri: Your return is most timely. We have just apprised those newly arrived of where matters stand.

Hien: Ah, there you are, my friend. Everyone has assembled, so let us begin.

Yugiri: If we are to ready ourselves for invasion, we shall need manpower, provisions, and time. All of which are in notably short supply.

Hien: Candid as ever, Yugiri. And correct, I concede. Fortunately, I have an idea.

Hien: 'Tis plain no single nation can stand against the might of the Empire.

Hien: And it was only with the aid of others that Doma succeeded in winning her freedom. So I mean to take a leaf out of our Eorzean friends' book and form an alliance of our own.

Hien: In addition to those with whom we already share an understanding, I would reach out to Hingashi and Sui-no-Sato, and further afield, to the myriad peoples of Nagxia and Dalmasca.

Hien: I am under no illusion -- not all will answer the call. Yet disparate though we may be, we are united in our desire for freedom.

Hien: If our neighbors could be made to see what is at stake -- Ascian machinations and all -- cooperation need not be so far-fetched a notion.

Y'shtola: ...It may even seem practical.

Y'shtola: Under the guidance of our former leader, Master Louisoix, we once strove to unite the fractious city-states of Eorzea. I daresay that experience shall be of use in your endeavor.

Hien: We should be glad of your wisdom.

Alisaie: For the record, I would have been in favor of this plan, even if it hadn't been my grandfather's, but I have to ask: how will we secure the time to carry it out?

Alisaie: Not that anyone has forgotten, but the Garleans have airships. Lots and lots of airships. Should they catch wind of our plan, they could send an armada to overwhelm us before our alliance had even begun to take shape.

Y'shtola: ...Not if we deny them access to the skies.

Y'shtola: During our time in the Burn, the Warrior of Light and I chanced upon some Allagan ruins.

Alisaie: Oh?

Y'shtola: As such ruins go, they were not particularly unusual, but something about the surrounding land struck me as odd. Faint though it was, its aetherial residue was uncannily similar to that of Azys Lla. Identical, in fact.

Y'shtola: For locations so far removed to share a single aetheric signature is all but impossible. I conclude therefore that the Allagans created the floating continent with land taken from the Burn.

Yugiri: While that is a most intriguing theory, I fail to see what relevance it has to Doma's defense.

Y'shtola: Azys Lla was enclosed in a powerful energy barrier, impenetrable even to an Agrius-class battleship.

Y'shtola: It occurred to me that those ruins may have enjoyed similar protection. I have no proof, but the Warrior of Light did report seeing a structure resembling other known Allagan field generators.

Alisaie: All right, but even if we could put up such an energy barrier, it surely wouldn't extend beyond the limits of the Burn. So what's to stop the Garleans flying around it?

Hien: ...Fuel. The Dalmascan capital, Rabanastre, was a key imperial refueling point in the East. By laying waste to it as a lesson to the rest, the Empire greatly hindered its own operations in the region.

Hien: If an imperial fleet were to advance upon Doma, it would now have little choice but to travel as the crow flies -- over the Burn.

Alisaie: I see!

Y'shtola: A word of caution. Even assuming the generator still functions, raising a barrier of such a scale will require a prodigious amount of energy.

Y'shtola: And few places are so bereft of suitable crystals as the Burn.

Hien: Hm... A source of energy.

Hien: Tell me, did the Allagans make a habit of launching things into the sky?

Y'shtola: A curious question. Besides Azys Lla, I know of only one other notable instance: the red moon Dalamud, whose fall triggered the Calamity.

Hien: Just the two occasions, you say... Then I believe I may have a solution to our energy problem.

Alisaie: ...You do?

Hien: I may. To find out for sure, we would need to visit the Azim Steppe.

Hien: ...Which would, I now see, present the perfect opportunity to discuss an alliance with the Xaela tribes. How very neat! What say you, then? Shall we see whither this road leads?

After the Quest

Yugiri: The reigning Ruby Princess is more receptive to the outside world than her predecessor, it is true -- but what we offer is an invitation to war. Though I will plead our case, I fear we can expect little of Sui-no-Sato.

Hakuro: We have fought long and sacrificed much to reclaim our freedom. I will die before I allow the Empire to take it from us again.

Y'shtola: In the field of aetherology, the Azim Steppe remains unbroken ground. Having missed your last expedition through injury, I mean to seize this opportunity with both hands.

Alisaie: The Azim Steppe... I always wanted to see it... <sigh>