An Egi-stential Crisis

The time has come, Forename! Prin is ready to administer the final trial.

Yes, your third challenge is at hand, Master/Mistress. I shall be glad to at last share the wisdom that has long lain dormant within my pages.

Thus far we've had evaluations of raw power and refinement of skill. What, then, will this third challenge seek to test?

...That, I cannot tell you.

Cannot...or will not?

I do not keep this detail from you for the sake of my own amusement. It must be secret—were you aware of the test's purpose, such knowledge would unfairly affect its outcome.

What I will tell you, however, is that this trial requires conditions that are akin to an actual battlefield.

As such, I must ask that you call fellow summoners to your side, and arrange a location where you might join hands against a most-realistic primal threat.

Well, this ought to be welcome news for Captain Wolf. I shall see if his acolytes are available...

Greetings, this is Y'mhitra, I— Y'mhitra. ...Of the Sons of Saint Coinach? Aye. I have a favor to ask...

Well, Captain Wolf was more than eager to accept our request. He even offered to arrange exclusive use of a section of Seal Rock.

It seems there will be an airship waiting in Ul'dah to fly us to the island. Shall we rendezvous at the landing once you are prepared, then?

This will be the final and most grueling challenge. Pray ready yourself, Master/Mistress, that you are not reduced to so much gruel.

End of cutscene.

Join Y'mhitra at the airship landing in Ul'dah

Optional dialogue

Elite Flyer

Captain Wolf and his squad of summoners await you on Seal Rock. Permission has been granted to use the island for your...exercise, but we must ask that you avoid damaging the relics.

Make for Ul'dah when you are ready, Forename. There should be an airship waiting to take us to Seal Rock.

I don't know about you, Forename, but my nerves are beginning to get the best of me! Captain Wolf and the others have already landed on Seal Rock, so let us not delay the challenge any further.

Who could that be? ...Oh, Summoner Jajasamu, how might I— Pardon!? ...By whom!? We— ...Lieutenant!? Can you hear me!?

Blast! The call was cut off. Forename, our Immortal colleagues are under attack.

Their situation sounds dire indeed. All the summoners are crippled by injuries, and Captain Wolf alone fights to keep the foe at bay.

...Our planned battle has become rather more real than we anticipated. We'd best explain matters to the pilot, and arrange a rescue party!

Speak with the Elite Flyer

Optional dialogue

Captain Wolf needs our help, Forename. We must inform the pilot at once!

The situation sounds grim, Master/Mistress. We should make for Seal Rock immediately!

I know not what possessed us to return here, but Captain Wolf and his soldiers are in mortal peril! Quickly now, back to the landing in Ul'dah!

Elite Flyer

...Ambushed, you say!? Understood.

I'll put in a call for reinforcements, but my ship is ready to depart now if you are. Shall we go in ahead?

Rescue the summoners

Follow me, Forename!
They should be over this way!

I've located a survivor.
Let us ensure his continued survival!

Flame Private Crispin

I'll live, I think...
The others! We became separated...

His wounds are not too serious.
Come, Forename, we mustn't tarry!

Forename, where are you going!?
We must stay together!

Are these egi!?
I've never seen their like!

I recognize them from Allagan times.
But few could summon so many...

Such odd vocalizations.
I have no records of egi speech.

Another survivor located.
The wounds appear grievous!

We must treat these at once!
Prin, can you, uh, apply pressure?

Flame Sergeant Denise

We were completely overmatched...
The captain... He drew them away...

We shall tend to the injured.
Go with haste, Master/Mistress!

Defeat the unknown summoner

Forename! Thank the gods!
I'm in over my head here!

Off-center Summoner

Ah, the "potential" has arrived.
Shall we test the limits of your power?

So, this is what the art has become.
More. Show me more!

Familiar with Bahamut's power, are you?
You must have another taste!

We can't avoid those flares!
But they seem weakest at the center of the blast.

Who is this man!?
He's worse than the Ascians...

Off-center Summoner

You exceed my expectations.
Shall we try something new?

Wait, those don't look like egi!

Off-center Summoner

Consummate skill. Expansive aetherial might.
You truly are a fascinating specimen!

My energies wane...
This location was not ideal.

He's just...too strong...

Forgive me. I'd hoped to be more help...

Start of cutscene.

???

Anomalous potential confirmed.
Commencing scan.

Latent aetherial capacity: immeasurable.
Standard parameters exceeded.
Reinitializing system.

What, he wants to go another round!?

Master Sari!? How have you come to be here?

Master...
Surely you do not mean that Sari!?

Sari

Ah, Principia, they have woken you.
...This should suffice.

What did you do to Prin!?

Sari

The construct is unharmed. I simply added another layer of...security.

Do not disappoint me, summoner. I will be waiting.

How odd. The way he vanished was almost as if...

Thal's teeth! What was that all about!?

Bah! We'll discuss this back in Ul'dah after we've seen to the wounded.

End of cutscene.

Speak with Dancing Wolf

Optional dialogue

That summoner on Seal Rock, he...
I have so many questions.

My pages are all aflutter.
Master Sari... Here... Now...

Summoner Denise was gravely wounded. Had we arrived but a step or two later...

Elite Flyer

I thank you for saving my comrades. Your decisive action carried the day!

Crispin

That was like to a nightmare. What manner of summoner can command so many egi at once...?

Denise

I felt Thal's hand on my shoulder for a moment there, but Miss Y'mhitra's magicks brushed it away. Thank you for coming to our rescue!

Jajasamu

That bloke called up an army all by himself, an' I'm pretty sure some of 'em weren't egi. I didn't know that kind o' thing was even possible...

You arrived in the nick of time, Forename! Thanks to you, my soldiers survived that ambush, and they'll be fit for duty again after a bit of rest.

Crispin

Aye, you have our gratitude. If you hadn't plunged into the fray like that, we almost certainly would have perished.

Jajasamu

Ye said that bastard was "Master Sari," didn't ye? A summoner of ancient Allag? Did them mages have some way o' comin' back to life?

Alright, Lieutenant, let's not jump to conclusions!

Denise

Well, he was wielding summoning magicks unlike aught we've ever seen before. Maybe Prin has some idea...

...I'll be sure to ask. Come, Forename. Let us return to Gridania.

Speak with Y'mhitra in Gridania

Optional dialogue

What misfortune that such an incident should occur on the cusp of your final challenge...

Y'mhitra surprised me once before with her cunning, but I knew in my gut that that ambush was no part of her agenda—it was too sudden; too brutal. Even worse, we're not even sure of who our foe actually was...

Start of cutscene.

Well, what was meant to be Forename's final trial was certainly testing, to say the least. Tell me, Prin: what makes you so sure that that was Master Sari?

Based upon the evidence at hand, there can be no doubt. The vocal and aetherial signatures were identical to those exhibited by my creator.

The only aspect that gives me pause is his behavior. Master Sari was never one to offer harm to others with such callous indifference.

Ah, I would say there is a larger inconsistency to consider here, Prin: your creator supposedly died several thousand years ago.

There is one other possibility. The greatest minds of Allag unlocked a science known as "cloning," by which they could artificially create a replicant of a living being.

Seal Rock is, after all, a construction of the Allagan Empire. Assuming the individual you battled was indeed a clone of Master Sari, then my senses would recognize no appreciable difference.

An exact copy of the original person...
'Twould explain much, but the very thought of it is horrifying.

...Oh, and did he not tamper with your enchantments!? Are you truly unharmed?

My faculties are undimmed, but the wisdom I was to impart to Master/Mistress has been sealed behind an arcane lock. I can do nothing—only my creator holds the key.

Then your secrets are lost to us! If only Forename had been able to attempt that third challenge!

Attempt? Master/Mistress has already passed it.

Allow me to explain: the third challenge is a test of the summoner's nature. Thus does the trial require the presence of companions and a realistic threat. Master Sari's ambush did, of course, bring an unexpected dimension to proceedings.

Yet Master/Mistress leapt to the aid of his/her fellow summoners without hesitation, and braved considerable danger to see that they were safely rescued—selfless acts that more than qualify Master/Mistress as a worthy successor.

I had wondered why power and skill were not sufficient... Sari wished to see his teachings passed on to summoners of noble heart.

Correct. He could not countenance the idea that such knowledge might be put to evil ends. Now you understand why his display of violence so confused me...

Aye, and all the more reason to suspect an impostor. But whatever this man's identity may be, we will track him down and make him remove that seal. Your purpose is too important.

And I will assist you in any way I can. The Master Sari that made me would not stand to see his memory profaned with such wickedness.

Well said, Prin. For an enchanted stack of ink and parchment, you have an impressively developed moral compass!

I possess neither morals nor a compass—I merely follow my enspelled directions to guide worthy summoners. If I give the impression of such characteristics, then mayhap I am overstepping my bounds as a familiar?