Part 79: *Exposition Continues*
Entry 75 - Part 2: *Exposition Continues*
The fifth floor houses DeRosso's jewelry.
He's quite the collector! You don't find old god artifacts everyday.
This story is from Greek myth, and follows a very, very familiar pattern for that mythology: The god Zeus finds a pretty human lady and knocks her up (willingly or not, he's a real class act), woman bears child as a result, Zeus's god-wife Hera discovers Zeus's indiscretion and deals with it by creatively torturing the human lady (and sometimes the kids). Greek myth is just fun times for everyone.
Lamia was turned into some manner of child-eating monster, often depicted with the lower half of a serpent.
These paintings are looking progressively more violent.
DeRosso appears behind the party again, all too eager to chat about his work.
It represents the long and hard fought war between the Orthodoxy and we denizens of darkness. For five hundred years, my thirst for vengeance remained unsated.
...D's Journal: The Vampire Gallery: The War posted:
The Vampire Gallery 9:
Before the stairs to the sixth floor, we encountered a painting of war. Lord DeRosso called it "the long and hard-fought war between the Orthodoxy and we denizens of darkness." An act of vengeance, played out over five hundred years...
It had also been five hundred years since the Orthodoxy had been founded. The world was in the midst of an age of seafaring and piracy. Compared to the great exchange of ideas and information, the once hallowed Orthodoxy began to lose its luster.
Fearing irrelevancy, the grand patriarchy acted rashly to regain its authority. This led to the unusual decision to select a commoner--the gifted young Yulyana--for an important task.
Yulyana? Sage Yulyana? Yes, indeed. At age twenty, the young Yulyana became High Inquisitor of the Crystal Orthodoxy.
Ha ha... It's hard to believe he ever was young. *snrk* It was no laughing matter, for there was no one more skilled at rooting out enemies of the faith than he. The shadowy ones, those who had been working against the Orthodoxy, were crushed by the host he led. In the several decades that saw him age, I cannot count the number of times we have crossed swords, he and I.
You mean the rift under Eisen Bridge? In the battle at the foot of Mount Fragmentum, our armies smote the mountain to its very roots.
So that's how that ravine was created! And in the battle fought on the Harena Plain, the once fertile earth was reduced to desolation. The loss of that fertile plain is believed to have ushered in the downfall of the Harena Dynasty.
To think any sort of battle could change the face of the earth so!D's Journal: The Vampire Gallery: The War posted:
"The War" 1:
Five centuries after the Orthodoxy's rise, the world saw an age of seafaring, then of piracy. The advance of technology saw ships grow larger, navigation more refined. Trade flourished, the world's cultures mingled, and the Orthodoxy's miracles were steadily replaced with scientific fact. The Grand Patriarch's power waned.
"The War" 2:
The panicked Orthodoxy set about restoring its authority through fear. Its enemies, those who might become enemies, even those merely inconvenient to the Patriarch were branded heretics. Any who failed to flee in time were dragged before an inquisition and executed. The clash between "justice" and "darkness" spread in scale.
"The War" 3:
Using terror, the Patriarch regained his former influence...for a time. But soon enough, even that was insufficient. It a panic once more, the Orthodoxy turned to more extreme methods. A new High Inquisitor was named--a young genius of 20, of common origin (rare for the time). His name was Yulyana.
"The War" 4:
A military marvel, even by Lord DeRosso's admission, Yulyana had purged Eternia of the elements of darkness in the blink of an eye. In the decades that followed, he and DeRosso fought in countless battles the world over.
"The War" 5:
The scars left by their battles remain even today, some 1,800 years hence. Their powers carved the massive rift the Eisen Bridge spans, and split Florem's Mount Fragmentium. Their fighting transformed what was once a fertile grassland into the modern-day desert of Harena.
Ringabel includes more details on the Orthodoxy's inquisition and competition with science. The crystals seem undeniably powerful, so probably science was taking issue with the Orthodoxy's supposed sacrosanct ties to the crystals, not the power of the crystals themselves.
The Norende Heights? That's where the Great Chasm opened up! In the end, Yulyana, High Inquisitor of the Crystal Orthodoxy, utterly defeated me, Lord DeRosso, leader of the shadows. You were defeated? But you're here with us today! Yes, well, there was more to that final battle than meets the eye. You see, I ceded the glory of victory to young Yulyana that day. I say young in my reckoning, for he was already one hundred then. Yulyana returned triumphantly to Eternia with what he claimed to be my remains. What he brought them was not human.
Ever dreading the darkness and my return, the Orthodoxy kept those duplicitous remains under arcane seal for over one thousand years. Hmm... 'Tis a tale replete with irony, is it not?DeRosso vanishes again before the party can pepper him with questions.
It's hard to imagine a war lasting five hundred years.D's Journal: The Vampire Gallery: The War posted:
"The War" 6:
The final clash between them took place atop the Norende Heights of Caldisla--the later site of the Great Chasm. I could not help but sense fate's hand in this. Their epic struggle spanned a hundred days, and cut what were once mountains in the same range as Eternia's highlands in half.
"The War" 7:
For some reason, Lord DeRosso withheld the details of this final battle, but history tells that the High Inquisitor Yulyana vanquished Lord DeRosso, leader of the forces of darkness, then returned triumphant to Eternia. Lord DeRosso allowed that that was fact, in one strict sense, the corner of his mouth turned up in a smirk.
"The War" 8:
Lord DeRosso allowed the sage to claim victory, he explained. The bones Yulyana brought back to Eternia were not DeRosso's--were not even human, in fact. When the templar struck the Orthodoxy fifteen years ago, they found Lord DeRosso's grave sealed deep beneath the head temple. He was barely able to hold back laughter as he spoke.
More detail about Norende's geography. Wonder if the bones were goblin, considering the high goblin population in Caldisla.
We're almost to the top of the castle.
The next painting looks abstract from a distance, but is in fact a portrait.
As usual, DeRosso shows up.
D's Journal: The Vampire Gallery: Archbishop posted:
The Vampire Gallery 10:
Before reaching the seventh floor, we found another portrait. It was the sage, festooned in the gaudy vestments of an archbishop, his expression a mix of wry smile and tedium. I cannot help but marvel at Lord DeRosso's skill with a brush. Still more stunning were his words.
Yes, indeed. No one would mistake such a man for young now. Having put down the blood-sucking Lord DeRosso, bane of the Crystal Orthodoxy, he became the first-ever commoner to become an archbishop. Perhaps it was a small honor they threw his way, for he was already one hundred and one years old, and would not long count among the living. That makes it sound...despicable. Agreed. The truth is, however, that was when Yulyana's plot was at its most clever.
The sage's plot? What was he plotting? He was taking measures to separate you vestals, and the faithful among the people, from the Orthodoxy's corruption. After serving some eighty years, he had witnessed firsthand hwo corrupt the institution had become.
So it was he vowed to rid the Orthodoxy of the source of this poison--the concentration of power.D's Journal: The Vampire Gallery: Archbishop posted:
"Archbishop" 1:
For his victory over the Orthodoxy's nemesis, he was named its first commoner archbishop--a hollow gesture, that he might live out his few remaining years in glory. Little did they know, his plot was already in motion... When Edea balked at the term, Lord DeRosso offered an explanation.
"Archbishop" 2:
The war with Lord DeRosso behind him, the sage now thought only of distancing the vestals and the pious from the festering corruption within the Orthodoxy. After eight decades' service, he was well aware of the organization's state and the readiness with which it turned upon its defenseless constituents.
"Archbishop" 3:
Where power gathers, so too do leeches and vipers, and the Orthodoxy had long become a noxious marsh. What had begun as a body to serve the crystals and preserve world order now worked solely to further its own corrupt existence.
"Archbishop" 4:
Left to fester, this fallen faith would soon do irrevocable harm to the vestals and the world's people, he was certain. And so he thought to sever the source of the corruption: the power amassed within the Orthodoxy's hands. But to do this, he would need time--something he lacked after the long war with Lord DeRosso.
But how? For the great feat of defeating me, Yulyana had been made archbishop, but in name only. But such was not key to his plot. Timing was the key--the proper time to separate the vestals and the faithful from the Orthodoxy.
And just what timing would that be? The great upthrust of the Eternian Highlands. At the time, the highlands were not so formidable as they are today. But a colossal movement of earth and rock thrust the highlands to lofty heights, thereby isolating Eternia from the world. Hold on a moment! He was waiting for the earth to move? How could he have known when such an event would take place?
And at last, it happened. The highlands ringing Eternia did thrust up to about half its height today. The Orthodoxy-ruled Eternia now found itself completely isolated, for this was an age preceding the airship.
This, what you believe to be the true form of Crystalism, is the fruit of Yulyana's efforts.
That was the sage's doing? I won't ever call him a miserable old lech again.
Sage...After DeRosso leaves, the party takes another look at the portrait.
He looks just as he does today, save for that elaborate attire.D's Journal: The Vampire Gallery: Archbishop posted:
"Archbishop" 5:
With the ornamental title of archbishop came one material privilege: access to the head temple's treasury, and the writings sealed within it. There, he found a text--the Rite of Agelessness--and an arcane elixir of longevity beside it.
"Archbishop" 6:
Though incomplete, the sage supplemented the text with knowledge acquired in battlefields the world over. Even Lord DeRosso was shocked at how quickly Yulyana perfected the method, and how readily he used it upon himself. He was 103, and an archbishop of the Orthodoxy; he would betray all expectations by remaining both.
"Archbishop" 7:
Now free of age's grasp, the sage bade his time until the chance to cut loose the vestals and the pious arose. The next 1,700 years saw the once gentle highlands rise to prohibitive heights, severing Eternia from the outside world. It was the opportunity he had awaited.
"Archbishop" 8:
With airships not yet in existence, the highlands' rise was enough to cut Eternia off entirely. The Earth Crystal remained in the Orthodoxy's hands, but stewardship of the crystals of fire, water, and wind reverted to their respective temples.
Here's a big addition: Ringabel explains how Yulyana's lived so long. This Rite of Agelessness seems pretty game-changing.
The party goes up the stairs one more time, to the castle's top and final floor.
Not far through the 7th floor, another painting catches everyone's eyes.
D's Journal: The Vampire Gallery: Asterisk posted:
The Vampire Gallery 11:
Soon after reaching the top floor, we came upon a familiar sight. The next painting depicted a glowing stone which Lord DeRosso confirmed was an asterisk: the same curious objects we had amassed through our victories over the Eternian Forces. But what connection to the sage and Lord DeRosso did they bear?
DeRosso pops up.
I believe you have seen a similar sight countless times. It is known as an asterisk. An asterisk? As in those objects we possess? Yes, indeed. The second stage in Yulyana's plot against the Orthodoxy's authority was to deprive them of the power to grant vocations.
Grant vocations? I'm afraid I don't follow. Before Yulyana intervened, special approval was required to change vocations within the Crystal Orthodoxy. In this way, the institution grew rich through fat profits they called alms. Oh, so the Orthodoxy cornered the job market and the fees to participate therein. In layman's terms, yes. But Yulyana exposed this fact before the reigning grand patriarch. It was then that Yulyana approached panicked high officials and the grand patriarch himself with a proposal of pure genius.
Those who sought such vocations would apply to the Orthodoxy and pay a fair price. Anyone with the means to pay could thus learn a new job. That's no different from the old system where people had to pay alms. No different, indeed, but the grand patriarch and his officials had naught but the material profits of the Orthodoxy in mind. Hence, they accepted Yulyana's proposal without question, even appointing him to the important position of overseeing the new asterisk system. I fail to see how that really changed anything. Well, it did far more than you would guess, for he was the only one who knew how to make asterisk stones. Why, that wily old fox!
Ringabel gives a better explanation of the sage's plan:
D's Journal: The Vampire Gallery: Asterisk posted:
"Asterisk" 1:
By Lord DeRosso's account, the asterisk was the keystone of Yulyana's plot to strip the Orthodoxy's power; he would steal their exclusive right to confer vocations. At this point in his explanation, Edea and Tiz's eyes glazed over. Even Agnès appeared to be struggling to understand.
"Asterisk" 2:
Lord DeRosso was quick to elucidate. Before the sage's intervention, someone seeking a job would have to acquire approval to commune with the corresponding crystal. In addition to controlling access, the Orthodoxy profited from the requisite alms given to the temples which soon after flowed into the head temple's coffers.
"Asterisk" 3:
In this way, wealth flooded in without any effort on the Orthodoxy's part. No lofty ideal could hope to survive such an environment long, and soon any who called for reform were the targets of swift removal. The sage saw through this system, and his efforts exposed it for the fraud it was before the Grand Patriarch's very eyes.
"Asterisk" 4:
He gathered the Patriarch and other high officials together to behold the tremendous new rite he had invented. Coming from the hero who had saved the Orthodoxy from the wicked Lord DeRosso, they were all too eager to see it. His demonstration: the autonomous acquisition of a legendary vocation, without the aid of a crystal...
"Asterisk" 5:
Despite the efforts of a desperate Patriarch, word of the sage's feat soon spread. Soon, the common man was rejoicing at this new discovery, and the Orthodoxy lacked the means to return the genie to its bottle. Had they but stopped the sage's demonstration... But it was too late. Yulyana advanced to the next stage of his plot.
"Asterisk" 6:
The sage then presented the asterisk, proposing that vocations be mediated using the stones, under the Orthodoxy's management. Those who desired a job would secure permission from the Orthodoxy and pay a corresponding cost. The asterisk allowed anyone to attain any job--his proposal seemed an expansion of the existing system...
"Asterisk" 7:
Blind to all but their own profits and unable to return to the previous paradigm, the officials eagerly agreed to his proposal. So great was their enthusiasm, they not only adopted the asterisk, but appointed Yulyana to oversee its implementation.
"Asterisk" 8:
But the sage's actions left us puzzled. He had exposed the Orthodoxy's scheme, only to supplant it with another. A smile played on Lord DeRosso's lips as he revealed the catch--the method of the asterisks' creation is known only to the sage. Apparently even Lord DeRosso is in the dark.
"Asterisk" 9:
And so it was that the sage successfully robbed the Orthodoxy of its control over jobs. Originally, jobs were acquired through dedicated training by those who bore a natural affinity for the vocation. In order to revive that model, Yulyana began to distribute jobs and abilities in secret to all who desired them, free of charge.
So in simple terms, Yulyana essentially broke a monopoly:
- Orthodoxy uses crystal power to give exp, charges people a ton for the service.
- Yulyana shows way to get same exp without going through Orthodoxy.
- Orthodoxy panics, hires Yulyana to develop Orthodoxy-exclusive new and improved exp.
- Yulyana makes asterisks, which provide new and improved exp. He tells no one else how to make asterisks.
- Yulyana hands out asterisks to everyone behind Orthodoxy's back.
Result: Public no longer has to deal with terrible Orthodoxy customer service and prices.
What of the Orthodoxy's profits? Wouldn't they demand Yulyana transfer the proceeds to their coffers? Yulyana was long gone. Abandoning the seat of archbishop, he fled with his knowledge of the asterisk craft. He also took arms and armor the Orthodoxy had seized from around the world...items of such power that their use was forbidden. He took them all and sealed them away in a hidden location.
He then hid himself in Yulyana Woods, until those who knew him reached the end of their natural lives. But that did not take long, for I led the forces of the shadows to ensure their swift demise. I had always believed the Crystal Orthodoxy required naught but the crystals, the vestals, and the faithful. With the institution free of corruption, I returned to my homeland of Eternia after a seven hundred-year absence.
Meanwhile, Yulyana retired to that land to tend to the vestals, but you know of that better than I. Sage Yulyana...
Sage Yulyana created asterisks to chip away at the Crystal Orthodoxy's authority.D's Journal: The Vampire Gallery: Asterisk posted:
"Asterisk" 10:
So, what are asterisks, ultimately? Lord DeRosso suggests they are a sort of secret manual, housing within them the requisite knowledge and experience. In short, they are traditional training, distilled. Perhaps, he posited, they exist now to place one in contact with true masters of a given trade. We've met our share...
"Asterisk" 11:
But surely the Patriarch was quick to notice the lack of alms coming in. Lord DeRosso's answer was cut and dry--they did, but Yulyana was long gone. He abandoned his seat as archbishop and absconded with the forbidden arms the Orthodoxy had amassed, sealing them away in a secret location.
"Asterisk" 12:
The sage then took up hermitage in the woods, awaiting a time when all who knew of his existence had died. In addition, Lord DeRosso's efforts saw this process greatly accelerated... To think these two who had battled around the world would come to forge such a partnership--just what transpired between the two of them?
"Asterisk" 13:
Am I alone in feeling that the actions of these two men took a drastic turn following the clash at Norende that marked the end of their warring? And Lord DeRosso's words, that the Crystal Orthodoxy requires naught but the crystals, the vestals, and the faithful... Has his desire for vengeance truly been slaked?
"Asterisk" 14:
Having completed his purge of the Orthodoxy, Lord DeRosso returned to Eternia for the first time in seven centuries. There, he erected a castle of ice atop the ruins of his former home and from it kept watch over the Orthodoxy. Elsewhere, the sage assisted the vestals from his hermitage, as Agnès and the rest of us well know.
Ringabel finally explains how asterisks work. As some guessed, they basically contain the info of a master which the wielder can tap into. FF14 has a similar concept for its job stones.
Lilith is a demon from Jewish myth, but in the past thousand years has gained awareness for another supposed aspect: her role as Adam's (of Adam and Eve) first wife. The story goes that Adam and Lilith were created together, roughly equal to one another. Then when Adam told Lilith to obey him, Lilith said "screw you" and ditched Eden to be with Lucifer. Afterwards, God made Eve from part of Adam so she'd be guaranteed to be subservient.
Anyway, the myth's origin is disputable, but it's an interesting story nonetheless.
Adventurer! Buddy! You a friend of DeRosso's?
DeRosso's finally decided to stay visible and is hanging out in his throne room. Let's say hi.
Oh, no more paintings? The final painting lies beyond this throne. I shall reveal it to you if you defeat me in battle. What!? The last test is a test of strength. I shall only reveal the painting to those whom I deem worthy.
But be forewarned, I am a formidable foe. I trust you are well prepared.
If we politely decline DeRosso's offer, it's no big deal.
Yes, perhaps it is for the best.But screw that, we got this far.
Next: Part 3 of 2!
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Event Viewer
Sub-Scenario:
War Landscape - A
War Landscape - B
Archbishop Portrait - A
Archbishop Portrait - B
Asterisk Painting - A
Asterisk Painting - B
Immortal Lester DeRosso
D's Journal: Sage Yulyana posted:
As we gazed upon a battlefield landscape on the fifth floor of Vampire Castle, Lord DeRosso shared a surprising secret regarding the sage. It seems the sage was the High Inquisitor of the Crystal Orthodoxy, born 1,900 years ago. He fought many battles against Lord DeRosso, who led the forces of darkness, and in the end achieved a triumphant victory.
While viewing the portrait of the archbishop on the sixth floor of Vampire Castle, Lord DeRosso told us of the sage's actions when he was made archbishop. It seems he worked to diminish the power of the Orthodoxy, and shield the vestals and the faithful from its corruption.
As we looked upon the asterisk painting on the top floor of Vampire Castle, Lord DeRosso told us how the sage deprived the Orthodoxy of the power to grant vocations, and sealed away a cache of weapons of forbidden power that the Orthodoxy had seized from around the world.
D's Journal: Lord DeRosso posted:
Over the ages, the Orthodoxy began to falter. To regain the power they once had, they turned to the tactic of fear-mongering. With the young warrior Yulyana as their High Inquisitor, they eliminated their enemies one by one. The battle between the shadowy Lord DeRosso and the High Inquisitor is said to have continued until Yulyana was 100 years old.
1,800 years ago, the conflict between Lord DeRosso and High Inquisitor Yulyana came to an end. Yulyana struck DeRosso down, and in recognition of this, he became the first commoner to be made archbishop. He set about purging evil and corruption from the Orthodoxy, supported by Lord DeRosso from the shadows.
D's Journal: Harena Region posted:
Desertification:
According to Lord DeRosso, the Harena region was once temperate and lush with vegetation, but a great battle he waged against Sage Yulyana 1,800 yeas ago commenced the region's decline into a desert waste, which in turn led to the fall of the Harena Dynasty. The name Harena is all that remains.
D's Journal: Mount Fragmentium posted:
The Rending of Mount Fragmentium:
The rift that tore the mountain asunder and opened up a pass between Florem and Yulyana Woods was the result of the fierce battle Lord DeRosso and Sage Yulyana waged against one another 1,800 years ago.
D's Journal: Yulyana Region posted:
The Land Grant:
This land was granted to Yulyana upon his victory against Lord DeRosso and his shadowy forces while the sage was still High Inquisitor of the Crystal Orthodoxy. It has ever since been known as Yulyana Woods. After he left the Orthodoxy and retired to its verdant depths, no outside power or authority reaches these woods.