Deeper into the Maze

Quest giver: Alphinaud
Location: Labyrinthos (X:29.3, Y:11.0)
Quest line: Endwalker Main Scenario Quests
Level: 80

Experience: 448,800
Gil: 1,135
Previous quest: Glorified Ratcatcher
Next quest: The Medial Circuit
Patch: 6.0
Links: EDB GT TC

Main Scenario Progress: 705 / 978 (72.1%)

Endwalker Progress: 7 / 155 (4.5%)

“

Alphinaud is gazing into the Archeion with an appraising look.

— In-game description

Rewards

1 Horse Chestnut Head Gear Coffer (IL 515)

Walkthrough

Speak to people outside the Archeion:
Bemused Student: (X:29.1, Y:12.1)
Bone-weary Worker: (X:30.8, Y:12.3)
Search for the pack-bearing gleaner:
Erenville: (X:33.0, Y:11.1)

Steps

Speak with the Archeion custodian.
Speak with Y'shtola.
Speak to people outside the Archeion. 0/2
Search for the pack-bearing gleaner.
Move to the designated location, and sedate the target with the sleeping dart.
Speak with Alphinaud.

Journal

Alphinaud is gazing into the Archeion with an appraising look.

Dialogue

Accepting the Quest

Alphinaud: Well, we won't learn anything of value standing out here. Let us proceed into the main building and speak with the custodian.

Speak with the Archeion Custodian. (Cutscene)

Alphinaud: Greetings. We are here to peruse the Archeion's vaults.
Archeion Custodian: Peruse? You are clearly not gleaners, then. Might I ask your affiliation?
Krile: We belong to the Students of Baldesion, but...is that relevant? I was given to believe that the vaults ─ those open to the public, at least ─ were...open to the public.
Archeion Custodian: Ordinarily, yes, that would be the case. At present, however, access is restricted. Only persons directly involved in the reorganization efforts are permitted to enter.
Y'shtola: Not us, then. I suppose we had better move along to another facility.
Krile: This building has a lift which connects to the middle tier, yes? Might we at least make use of that?
Archeion Custodian: That service has also been suspended, I am afraid. For the time being, priority has been given over to the conveyance of inventory.
Alisaie: What, so this is as far as we can go!?
Archeion Custodian: I apologize for the inconvenience. Please come again after our restructuring operation is concluded.
Alisaie: By that time, it will be too late. And we were so close to getting answers...
Y'shtola: We need to rethink our approach. Let us step outside for the moment, shall we?
Archeion Custodian: ...Students of Baldesion. Hmph.

Optional dialogue

Alphinaud: The Forum must be wary of exposure indeed to so heavily restrict the use of public institutions...

Alisaie: If they're going to close off facilities, then they ought to announce it! The students must be furious!

Krile: Labyrinthos is constructed in the shape of a mortar. This upper layer is called the “Outer Circuit,” and the “Medial Circuit” lies one tier below us...

Speak with Y'shtola.

Y'shtola: We are at an impasse. As we have no other leads, I should like to pursue this one further...
Y'shtola: But I doubt that our stone-faced custodian will be swayed by heartfelt pleas. We must seek another means to access the lower levels.
Y'shtola: 'Tis likely that the people in this area are involved in the restructuring in one way or another. If we were to ingratiate ourselves, they might allow us to accompany them on the lift.
Y'shtola: Let us ask around. Surely someone is in need of a few strong backs to lighten the load.

Speak to people outside the Archeion.

Bemused Student: Ah, do not tell me, this is your first visit to this stop. I shall update my register with your name, so that you may access this location in the future.
Bemused Student: ...Actually, we have no idea what it is we found ─ there's no record of such a creature anywhere. But it was wandering around Tranquility, and so we thought to donate it to the vaults.
Muffled Voice: <squeal> <squeal>
Bemused Student: Oddest little squeal, don't you think? Anyway, I suppose we'll have to take care of it until the Archeion is open again.

(Optional)
Bemused Student: At first we thought it might have escaped from one of the research laboratories, but when we reported our find to the Studium, they were just as dumbfounded as we were...
Bemused Student: If it truly is a newly discovered species, we could have our names appear in a gazette!
Muffled Voice: <squeal> <squeal> <squeal>

Bone-weary Worker: What's that? Take you down on the lift with me? Sorry, but not a chance. I've been up and down all day, and only now have I finally found a spare moment to rest.
Bone-weary Worker: I did see a gleaner fellow heading out the gate there, though. Shouldering a large pack─engaged in some manner of task. Maybe he'll be headed down below after he's done with...whatever it is he's doing.

(Optional)
Bone-weary Worker: Please, even talking is an effort. Go and bother that gleaner I told you about...

Search for the pack-bearing gleaner.

Erenville: Quiet. You'll frighten it away.
Erenville: ...Ah, it's you again. I don't mean to be rude, but I'm in the middle of another task. The cloudkin I need to capture is close. Very close.
Erenville: Hm? You wish to help me with this, too? You spend your time in unusual ways, my friend.
Erenville: Still, two hunters are generally better than one. Very well.
Erenville: The canal here is a common gathering spot for birds of all kinds, but the one I'm after today is the hornbill.
Erenville: Its feathers are green, and its cry a distinctive “caw.” Single it out and shoot it with this sleeping dart.
Erenville: The effects are short-lived, so I'll lie in wait down by the riverbank to claim our quarry. Be sure to hit the right one!

Move to the designated location, and edate the target with the sleeping dart.

System: Search your surroundings for the hornbill. You may move the camera, as well as zoom in and out. Target the hornbill and use the blowgun with [Left-Mouse button].

| Voiced cutscene |
Erenville: A fair shot.
Erenville: Nicely done! Let me truss this one up, and I'll make my way over to you.

Krile: There you are. Any new revelations?
Alisaie: So you met with that gleaner again, this time to...capture a hornbill?
Alisaie: I understand catching and bringing in creatures from the outside, but what's the point of chasing after ones already here?
Erenville: Oh, it's a simple thing, really.
Erenville: Occasionally, we remove specimens no longer needed for study, or those we've had difficulty raising. But we can't simply turn them loose.
Erenville: Safely returning such creatures to their native habitats is another facet of a gleaner's duties.
Erenville: But not in this case, I'm afraid. I've been asked to bring the bird “below.”
Y'shtola: The restricted section in the lower levels of Labyrinthos. Open only to a select few researchers handpicked by the Forum.
Y'shtola: The projects down there are the subject of rumor and hearsay. Forbidden magicks. Advanced technologies that can never be allowed to fall into outside hands. Even Archons are not privy to the truth.
Y'shtola: Those who are ─ the researchers involved in this secretive work ─ are not permitted to walk freely in the city, and are instead required to live in isolated quarters.
Alphinaud: What could a facility subject to such strict security protocols possibly need with a hornbill? An...an experiment?
Erenville: Possibly. I wasn't afforded an explanation.
Erenville: But judging by the requisition list given to me and my colleagues, I doubt it's for any kind of advanced research.
Erenville: I'd be more inclined to believe we were making preparations to migrate to the south. Meracydia or thereabouts.
Alisaie: What? Why would you say that?
Erenville: Much of the flora and fauna we were asked to procure could serve as reliable sources of sustenance.
Erenville: They're comparatively hardy species, too. Able to endure harsh climates. And among them are specimens known to be effective in improving soil quality and purifying water.
Alisaie: When you put it that way, migration does sound like a reasonable assumption.
Erenville: That's all it is, though ─ an assumption. Through our tasks, we gleaners glimpse only bits and pieces of the Forum's plans.
Erenville: Our prime concern is that our requisitions, be they living or otherwise, are properly preserved for the knowledge of future generations.
Erenville: Now, I really must be going. I regret that I cannot reward you as you deserve.
Y'shtola: Perhaps you might reward us after a fashion, then? It is imperative that we reach the lower levels.
Erenville: And seeing as you are already set to descend with your assigned cargo, mayhap we could accompany you as your...assistants?
Erenville: I am afraid that won't be possible. Once the animals have been prepared for transport, we send them down separately via the lift.
Erenville: I will, of course, follow after to make my report, but I can hardly pass you off as porters when there is nothing left to carry.
Y'shtola: ...Indeed. Pray forget I said anything.
Erenville: How do you feel about climbing? If you've strength and the courage to brave it, then there is another way down.
Erenville: This path leads to the thirty-third facet ─ a mineshaft excavated during one of our expansions of Labyrinthos.
Erenville: While I cannot guarantee that the passage is safe to traverse, it should provide access to the Medial Circuit below.
Krile: I never even knew such a place existed! Thank you, this is the perfect solution.
Erenville: You're quite welcome, but consider yourselves warned. If the going proves too treacherous, you'd do well to turn back. I bid you good day.
Alisaie: Well, turning back is hardly an option, not when we've come this far. Let's go and take a look at this mineshaft.