The Coeurl and the Colossus

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Mide warily eyes a thicket a short distance away.

— In-game description

Rewards

As Mide tells it, she was thinking of Roundrox when she espied a coeurl kitten scampering through the brush. Struck by the creature's resemblance to Shanoa─feline companion to Quickthinx Allthoughts, Grand Master of the Illuminati─the treasure hunter suggests the two of you give chase, as where the cat goes, so too go the Illuminati.

You quickly come upon the coeurl kitten, who indeed appears to be Shanoa. Moments later, you hear a sudden crash, and rush towards the source the sound to find Cid and Y'shtola standing over the body of a fallen Illuminati agent. They explain that they were in Master Matoya's cave, making final preparations for a plan to cut off the primal Alexander's source of aether, when Shanoa appeared and led them straight to the goblin's hiding place. Cid relates the ramblings of the beastman in his final moments, including his claim that Quickthinx is an all-knowing prophet come to this time from the future. All are skeptical, but further insight provided by Backrix leads Y'shtola to conclude that there may indeed be some truth to these otherwise inconceivable claims. Fearing dire consequences if the Illuminati succeed in activating Alexander's third and final core─granting them the power to travel freely through time─Cid decides that you have no choice but to venture into the colossus once more. He leaves to begin his own preparations, and bids you go on ahead to the Makers' Quarter and rendezvous with Biggs and Wedge.

Upon your arrival in the Makers' Quarter, Biggs briefs you on the mission at hand. The first step will be securing a suitable entry point through the barrier that surrounds the steel colossus─a barrier which, most inconveniently, also serves to hold the primal in check. There will be no margin for error─Wedge will lower the barrier, and the Excelsior will take you as close as possible to Alexander's head. It will be your task to infiltrate the colossus, secure a way in, and then make a swift escape so that the barrier can be raised before the primal stirs. Time is of the essence─godsspeed!

You have managed to secure a path through the colossus's cranial plate. Make haste and withdraw to the waiting Excelsior.

The mission was a resounding success. Thanks to your efforts, a passage leading to the colossus's third and final core has been opened, and the barrier restored before any damage could be done. All too soon, however, the resultant mood of optimism is tempered by some troubling revelations. In response to Y'shtola's frustration over her failure to deprive Alexander of aether, Mide reveals a heretofore-untold twist in the tale of the summoning: specifically, the part played by an ancient horn entrusted to her by a strange man in her youth. Y'shtola quickly identifies the horn as the lost treasure of Seal Rock─the selfsame artifact that once eluded her grasp─and the stranger in Mide's story as an Ascian. She further surmises that Alexander's third core is somehow bound to the relic, and will thus continue to drink aether from its surroundings until the land is reduced to a barren waste. Though there is some concern that any attempt to destroy the core will be for naught if the Illuminati can turn back time, Cid reminds the party that this power is dependent on the goblin girl Roundrox─the only one with the ability to access the knowledge of the Enigma Codex. Your task is clear: you must infiltrate the colossus, find the third core, and rescue Roundrox before the Illuminati achieve historical domination.

Though understandably overwhelmed by all the talk of a time-traveling instrument of mass destruction, Biggs remains resolute in the face of danger, determined to rescue Roundrox and thwart Quickthinx's maniacal machinations. He reveals that the coeurl you encountered earlier was not Shanoa, but her nigh-identical twin, Backrix having seen the real Shanoa standing alongside Quickthinx atop the colossus. It would also seem that Backrix has taken a liking to the kitten, bringing it back to the Shortstop and bestowing upon it the curious name of Schrödinger. Might the two kittens and the primal have more of a connection than meets the eye? As the gears of the colossus turn, the mystery ever deepens...