The Sins of Antiquity

Quest giver: Alphinaud
Location: The Pillars (X:11, Y:11)
Quest line: Heavensward Main Scenario
Level: 57

Experience: 52,260
Gil: 752
Previous quest: A Knight's Calling
Next quest: In Search of the Soleil
A Full Stomach and Happy Heart
Unfulfilled Dreams
Patch: 3.0

Main Scenario Progress: 307 / 853 (36%)

Heavensward Progress: 66 / 138 (47.8%)

“

Alphinaud is lost in thought.

— In-game description

Rewards

Unlocks

You Say You Want a Revolution

Steps

Speak with Aymeric at the Congregation of Our Knights Most Heavenly.

Journal

Gathering himself, Alphinaud suggests you visit the Congregation of Our Knights Most Heavenly and see if Ser Aymeric is recovered from his injuries. Accompany him to Foundation and inform the Temple Knight on duty of your desire to speak with the lord commander.

In Ser Aymeric's private chambers, the power of the Echo stirs within you once more, and you are granted a vision of the past. You watch as the lord commander accuses the church of hiding the origins of the Dragonsong War, and hear the archbishop acknowledge it to be the truth. Ser Aymeric continues, challenging his father on the morality of the church's deception, but the archbishop, steadfast in his conviction, is unswayed. Though it is a lie, Ishgard's sons and daughters must fight and die for it, for the crimes of King Thordan and his knights twelve are beyond reparation. Recognizing the futility of convincing his son to accept this state of affairs, Archbishop Thordan has Ser Aymeric arrested -- but not before revealing that he has plans of his own to free the people of Ishgard from the sins of antiquity.
Reflecting on the unnatural powers demonstrated by the knights of the Heavens' Ward, your companions conclude that they are using their own bodies as vessels for the souls of the legendary King Thordan and his knights twelve, much as Ysayle did for Saint Shiva. Though Ser Aymeric knows not his father's plans -- or the significance of “Azys Lla” -- he declares that the archbishop and the Heavens' Ward must be stopped.
The lord commander duly entreats you and Alphinaud, as representatives of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn, to help him bring his father to justice. In response, Alphinaud states that if the Heavens' Ward have indeed harnessed primal powers, it is the duty of the remaining Scions to oppose them. And so, with newfound purpose, Alphinaud bids you join him to discuss how you might find the archbishop.

Dialogue

Alphinaud: I...We must press on with our mission. Tataru, pray return to your duties at the Forgotten Knight. Let us go and speak with Ser Aymeric, [Forename]. I worry for his well-being.

Congregation of Our Knights Most Heavenly (Cutscene)

Aymeric: My friends. I am in your debt.
Alphinaud: Think nothing of it. Your wounds are healing well, I trust? 
Aymeric: Some wounds do not heal...

Warrior of Light Flashback

Aymeric: The founding, the scriptures - a thousand years of lies - all to deceive the common man! Nay, our own brothers and sisters - for the blood of the knights twelve flows within all our veins! you knew this to be true. You knew and you concealed it!
Archbishop Thordan VII: I should be interested to hear how you came by this knowledge. But yes, you have the right of it. The architects of Ishgard, King Thordan and his knights twelve, entrapped and butchered the great wyrm Ratatoskr, that they might partake of her eyes, and thereby transcend their mortal limits. Upon learning of their treachery, Nidhogg was consumed with a murderous - and justified - rage. I daresay you know what followed...
Aymeric: The great wyrm slew the king and half of his knights.
Archbishop Thordan VII: Aye...but Nidhogg was subdued, and his eyes plucked from their sockets by the knights that remained. Their one mistake was to show mercy, for from his brother Hraesvelgr did Nidhogg receive a new eye, thus rejuvenating his form and empowering him to embark upon an eternal quest for vengeance.
Aymeric: ...Whilst Thordan's son Haldrath took one of Nidhogg's eyes and learned to wield its power in defense of his people...
Archbishop Thordan VII: Thus was the first Azure Dragoon born. And ever since that time, his honored successors have risen to drive Nidhogg from our lands whenever the wyrm has returned to plague us.

Archbishop Thordan VII: I ask you, my son: will you answer for my sins? Will your son and his son answer for me as well?
Aymeric: What do you mean?
Archbishop Thordan VII: If a man cannot atone for his sins in the course of his all-too-fleeting life, must his progeny then be held to account? Must every subsequent generation be judged as well? Thordan's betrayal of Ratatoskr was an unconscionable, unforgivable sin. Should we, then, as his descendants, meekly surrender ourselves to an eternity of punishment? Nay, say I. I would not see our children sacrificed in a vain attempt to appease an implacable foe. Dragons are not like us, my son. To they who live forever, the wrongs of antiquity are as those of yesterday. No reparations shall ever suffice. This fact alone should serve as ample justification for our actions, yet some refuse to see it as such. For men like you, who yearn to commit themselves to a nobler cause, a more compelling narrative is required.
Aymeric: This is your solution!? This is how you protect our people? You have given us a lost cause! A death sentence! With your compelling narrative, you but doom our countrymen to give their lives for a lie!
Archbishop Thordan VII: And they do so gladly. Highborn and lowborn alike are proud to serve - to fight and die for this country. And what would you say to them? What would you tell the wives who have lost their husbands, the mothers who have lost their sons? ... That their loved ones died for naught?
Aymeric: I...
Archbishop Thordan VII: Over the course of a thousand years, countless men have donned these robes, and every one of them came to accept the necessity of this solution. Once, I hoped you might come to accept it as well. Do not despair, my son. Soon I shall free us from the sins of antiquity...And bring about the change you so fervently desire. If he has spoken with others, I would have their names. Escort him to a cell and question him - thoroughly.
Zephirin: Your Eminence.
Aymeric: growls, tries to step forward but is stopped by Zephirin

Speaking to Aymeric

Alphinaud:You saw something, did you not? A vision of the past? 
Aymeric: So this is the power of the Echo. Would that it had shown you a finer moment from my past. 'Twas an exercise in futility, as you saw. Faced with the firmity of his conviction and his many ready rejoinders, my words deserted me. To be frank, I am embarrassed to recall it. 
Alphinaud: (shakes head) A friend once impressed upon me the importance of differentiating between words, deeds, and beliefs. Were he here, I suspect he would judge your father's "conviction" to be no more than rank, self-serving delusion. Even so, I cannot help but wonder what manner of "change" he intends to bring about.
Aymeric: I have given some thought to that as well. During the battle within the Vault, the Heaven's Ward demonstrated strange and unnatural abilities. Aye, the manner in which Ser Zephirin struck down Lord Haurchefant was unlike anything I've ever seen before. The spectacle called to mind King Thordan and his knights twelve as they are depicted in scripture - holy powers and all...
Alphinaud:Mere fabrications...which have become objects of faith...instilled with the belief of countless devoted souls...

Alphinaud:Seven hells! 
Aymeric: If lady Iceheart can use her own body as a vessel for summoning, I see no reason why others could not...
Lucia: Are the Heaven's Ward truly so reckless?
Alphinaud: Unbelievable.
Aymeric: As they fled, my father spoke of Azys Lla. Though I know not what he intends, I fear no good shall come of it. his ambitions are too great, and his minions too powerful...We must find the Heaven's Ward, and stop my father, before it is too late.

Aymeric:(Master/Mistress)[Forename], Master Alphinaud - I, Aymeric, lord commander of the Temple Knights of Ishgard, do hereby entreat the aid of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn. 
Alphinaud:Our aid in preventing whatever it is that the archbishop intends? 
Aymeric: Your aid in bringing him to justice. Too much blood has been spilled for the lies he perpetuated. No more.
Dialogue options:
Forename: "I shall pursue him to the end of the world if I must." / "Life for death. I will have Ser Zephirin's heart for what he did to Haurchefant" / "..."

Aymeric: I thank you, [forename]. I have heard many men make such pledges, but you - you speak in earnest.
Alphinaud: Much has changed since our order's founding, but our duty to combat the primal threat has not. If the archbishop and the Heaven's Ward are guilty of the crime of summoning, then [Forename] and I will stop them.
Aymeric: Would that I could join you in the pursuit, but alas, my father's absence has thrown our government into chaos. Ever since the founding of our nation, there has been an archbishop to serve as a guiding light for the masses - a force for stability to counterbalance the High Houses' ceaseless maneuvering. Convincing people to recognize the truth of our origins would have been difficult even with my father's support. The road ahead is that much more fraught with peril without it. Yet walk it we must, for unity is more vital to our survival than ever. After all, Nidhogg's death did not mark the cessation of Dravanian hostilities.  Far from it. We will have a great need of each other in the days to come.
Estinen: You may ever count on my lance, Ser Aymeric. To my dying breath, I shall defend Ishgard from the Horde.
Lucia: If I may, Lord Commander, I would like to assist the Scions in their search for the archbishop. [Forename], Master Alphinaud, pray attend me outside.
Alphinaud: Very well. With me, [Forename]. I believe we have much to discuss.