By the Time You Hear This

“

Bethana of the Crystarium guard has a look of grim determination in her eyes.

— In-game description

Rewards

Bethana, a member of the Crystarium guard, explains that the Exarch has requested your assistance. You are to enter the Crystal Tower and provide support to a team of researchers who plan to investigate the inner reaches. Unfortunately, their way has been barred by a number of hostile creatures and machinations, and their work cannot proceed until these threats have been eliminated.

In the Exedra, Bethana informs you that in addition to clearing a path for the researchers, you are to investigate the origin of an aetherial disturbance detected from within. Though you are no stranger to the labyrinthine passageways of the Crystal Tower, your expedition will lead you into largely unexplored territory, where any number of hidden dangers may lurk.

Having conquered the ancient guardians that dwell at the deepest levels of the Crystal Tower, the team of researchers may now go about their work undisturbed. Bethana would no doubt wish to hear your account of the creatures you encountered, as well as any information pertaining to aetherial anomalies.

According to Bethana, the researchers have recovered a bizarre contraption from inside the Crystal Tower, which you recognize from your experiences on the Source. At your command, the machine whirs into life and relays a message recorded by the eighteenth president of Garlond Ironworks, a descendant of Biggs. The intended recipient is none other than G'raha Tia, who appears to have still been in a deep slumber within the tower. It becomes apparent that the Ironworks spent many, many years preparing to send him across time and space to the First, and their hopes for the worlds that may yet be saved are succinctly conveyed in this recording. While the circumstances surrounding the journey of G'raha Tia and the Crystal Tower remain a mystery, the researchers of the Crystarium will strive to unearth more information in the days to come.