Hitting the Books

is a Quest in Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker.
==Journal==
* As a means to gain insight into the Forum and their confounding obstinacy, Krile has been scouring Sharlayan's archives for any mention of the Final Days. Progress has been slow, however, and she enlists you and your fellow Scions to help with her research. For your first task, you are to meet Krile at the nearby entrance to Noumenon─the grand library of Sharlayan.
* Krile instructs you to seek out any books on the subject of Sharlayan history or the workings of the Forum. It seems she wishes for you to brush up on your fundamental knowledge for the sake of the ongoing investigation.
* Having reviewed the basics of Sharlayan's founding and the establishment of the Forum, you feel sufficiently prepared for the task ahead. You then recall that you were to rendezvous with the others at the stone benches just outside Noumenon's entrance.
* Alisaie and G'raha Tia are the first to join you, and following a revealing discussion of their respective family situations, they settle down to study their borrowed books. Alphinaud and Krile should both be along soon...
* As expected, Alphinaud and Krile appear next, bearing their own armfuls of reading material. Krile subjects you to a sudden interrogation regarding your experiences in Amaurot, wishing to compare your firsthand account with what she knows of the Final Days. Satisfied that her understanding is now equal to the rest of the Scions, she and Alphinaud focus on their reading, leaving you to keep an eye out for the final member of your research group.
* Last to arrive, Y'shtola expresses doubts that the sensitive knowledge you seek would be contained in Noumenon's public archives. She is of the opinion, however, that some snippet of useful information might still be found, and enlists you as her research assistant. After what feels like an age, you are released to speak with Krile.
* Despite your exhausted appearance, Krile informs you that, should you so desire, Noumenon's reference mammet can point you towards the same books you located earlier. For the moment, however, you are excused from further reading duties.
==Objectives==
* Speak with Krile outside Noumenon.
* Read books in Noumenon on the relevant subjects.
* Wait at the designated location.
* Wait at the designated location again.
* Wait at the designated location once more.
* Speak with Krile.
==Script==
script 	script
 	
Alphinaud 	If the Forum is intent on concealing its intentions, then a cursory investigation will avail us little, I suspect. We will need to dig deeper─and with the greatest of care...
 	
Alisaie 	I still don't understand how the vote could be unanimous... What could possibly convince them all to turn their backs on Eorzea?
 	
Yshtola 	The process by which Forum members are elected is fair and equitable─neither wealth nor social standing offers any advantages to a prospective candidate. But fairly elected or not, Master Matoya still found them all to be insufferable.
 	
Grahatia 	Our tour of the city was a pleasant distraction. I feel more than ready now to tackle the challenges of the day!
 	
Krile 	An unsettling change has come over Sharlayan, but together we will divine the underlying cause for the Forum's callousness.
Krile 	As I mentioned before, however, questioning the councilors directly is a fruitless endeavor. They seem to have already come to a consensus as to what─and how little─they are willing to divulge.
Krile 	Which is why I began scouring Sharlayan's archive of historical records for any hint of a connection to the Final Days.
Krile 	Suffice it to say that progress has been slow─there are only so many dusty pages one can skim in a day. But now that I have this band of willing reinforcements, the search should proceed all the swifter!
Krile 	Let us reconvene outside Noumenon, shall we?
Krile 	Exit the annex to the right, and you'll find the archives on the western edge of the woods.
 	
Krile 	My directions were easy enough to follow, I hope? In any case, you stand now before the doors of Noumenon, Sharlayan's grandest collection of books and tomes!
Krile 	This building is actually only an entrance─and one of many at that─for the archives of Noumenon extend deep beneath the surface like the roots of a tree. The vast halls of the Great Gubal Library pale in comparison to Noumenon's endless maze of subterranean chambers.
Krile 	Any citizen of Sharlayan is free to enter and peruse its shelves. ...Well, most of its shelves. Only Archons are afforded access to certain restricted vaults.
Krile 	I've dispatched Y'shtola and Raha to investigate those. Meanwhile, Alisaie and Alphinaud will help me continue my search through the stacks open to the general public.
Krile 	Your status presents more of a problem. As a non-citizen, you are only permitted to browse the first floor here at the entrance. Even so, there should be a number of books which touch upon Sharlayan history or Forum policy.
Krile 	Your task will be to find and study the relevant publications. I promise you, a working knowledge of those subjects will make it far easier to spot the sort of clues we're looking for.
Krile 	Let us be about it, shall we? I've told the others to meet us at the stone benches over there once they've found some promising tomes. Happy reading!
 	
Bookone 	Have you ever gazed at the skies above and contemplated the mysteries contained therein? I speak not of shifting cloud patterns, but of the vastness beyond─of the sun and the twinkling tapestry of the night.
Bookone 	Some think the dome above us to be a finite space, yet amongst the leading thinkers of our age, one scholar's depiction of a boundless sea of stars has firmly taken root.
Bookone 	Alas, this heavenly sea remains an unreachable, unknowable destination. There are few indeed who can explain, in satisfactory detail, why our own star is believed to revolve around the sun.
Bookone 	It was the technologists of Allag who came closest to understanding the laws which govern that starry abyss. It was they who launched Dalamud, and sought to expand beyond our earthbound existence.
Bookone 	...Having read of their ancient ambitions, I wonder: has your interest in this field of study waxed or waned?
Bookone 	What if I were to tell you that the eternal constellations were arranged differently in the distant past? That their positions continue to shift almost imperceptibly but measurably as we journey into the future?
Bookone 	Would it shock you to learn that the stars drift further and further apart, and may indeed do so forever? Are you eager to learn more?
 	
Booktwo 	In the years which followed the founding of Sharlayan, civic policy and other matters of import were decided at the Ecclesia─a public forum at which every citizen was eligible to speak.
Booktwo 	As the city's population grew, however, this format became increasingly impractical. The larger number of participants gave rise to ever-longer debates, resulting in significant delays of vital resolutions.
Booktwo 	Various measures were introduced in an attempt to curtail protracted discussions, but in the year 201 of the Sixth Astral Era, it was ultimately decreed that Sharlayan would transition to a new form of governance.
Booktwo 	The nation would now be led by a body of ninety-nine members─citizens chosen from amongst their peers by means of a nationwide vote. Thus was the Forum as we know it today conceived and created.
 	
Bookthree 	During the chaos of the Sixth Umbral Calamity, Archon Nyunkrepf, founder of Sharlayan, bore witness to the madness and savagery of men brought to the brink of despair. Upon raising a settlement on an island in the Northern Empty, he instructed his people thus:
Bookthree 	Renounce the ways of war, and pursue enlightenment through knowledge and reason.
Bookthree 	The Sharlayans took to heart the words of their savior, and thenceforth served as stewards of wisdom.
Bookthree 	Upon a foundation of accumulated learning, they built a homeland unlike any other─a nation born from strength of minds, rather than strength of arms.
Bookthree 	With knowledge of economics came shrewd trading. With knowledge of agriculture came bountiful crops. Engineering brought wells and sewers, ending squabbles over water.
Bookthree 	Wealth of expertise could be bartered for wealth in coin. And the more their wisdom spread throughout the world, the more mankind as a whole would thrive.
Bookthree 	And so it was that no matter the trials and tribulations of the age, the citizens of Sharlayan would live by their founder's teachings. For the sake of a better tomorrow─for the sake of a brighter star─they would eschew the tools of war, and with knowledge deliver the world.
 	
Bookfour 	My beloved seekers of knowledge. Have you ever put learning before your health, and neglected to feed and rest your body as you should?
Bookfour 	I, too, once engaged in such foolish practices. But one night, engrossed in philosophical study, I had an epiphany:
Bookfour 	For all the world's mysteries that drive us to reckless abandon, we have so very few years of life in which to achieve our goals.
Bookfour 	Thus do I share with you this mantra: I am forever twenty summers young.
Bookfour 	The number itself is unimportant─you could be nineteen, or twenty-three, or forty. Whatever age you are when you discover this manual, let that be the age you aspire to remain.
Bookfour 	Through mindful, healthy living, will you extend the time available to spend upon your chosen research─another day, another moon, another summer to grasp the greater truths you pursue.
Bookfour 	In the pages that follow, we will explore the secrets of maintaining one's physical condition from a biological, aetherological, and arcane viewpoint...
 	
Bookfive 	Long, long ago, on an island in the northern sea, there lived a Roegadyn man by the name of Nyunkrepf.
Bookfive 	Nyunkrepf was a student of astrology, and he divined that a flood of terrifying proportions would soon sweep over the lands of Eorzea.
Bookfive 	So it was that he built a gigantic ship, assembled a crew, and set sail for that imperiled realm.
Bookfive 	The flood arrived as foretold, and to their horror the strangely churning waters drove the people towards the ocean. It was there, however, that Nyunkrepf's crew hauled them aboard his ark, but the danger had not passed: a towering wave approached, threatening to smash the vessel to pieces!
Bookfive 	With only moments to spare, Nyunkrepf wove a mighty spell of teleportation, and shifted the entire ship to safety atop Abalathia's Spine.
Bookfive 	Refugees from the surrounding regions huddled there alongside them, but it was not long before disputes over the dwindling supply of food led to violence and bloodshed.
Bookfive 	Saddened by the sight, Nyunkrepf gathered to him his crew and his grateful passengers, and abandoned the ark to those reddened peaks. They journeyed to the coast where they built a new ship, intent upon returning to the northern seas.
Bookfive 	They landed on the beach of an island, and settled upon that very spot. That settlement prospered and grew, and in time it became the city of Sharlayan we live in to this day.
 	
Booksix 	Many years ago, on the banks of the Thaliak in the Dravanian hinterlands, a Sharlayan colony once thrived.
Booksix 	This settlement was originally established as a mere outpost to study the aetherial sea in the year 1311 of the Sixth Astral Era.
Booksix 	Scholars dispatched to Eorzea found the facilities wanting, and their demands encouraged a gradual expansion in structures and services.
Booksix 	As rumors spread of a growing community of academics, the area was further inundated with Eorzean students hoping to share in the renowned wisdom of the Sharlayans.
Booksix 	Fifty years later, the Forum passed a motion to recognize what had become a flourishing town as an official Sharlayan colony.
Booksix 	Eorzean residents took to calling the colony itself “Sharlayan,” which led to no small amount of confusion when discussions turned to the subject of the motherland.
Booksix 	In response, some Sharlayan inhabitants, if pressed for a name, would simply refer to it as “Emporium.”
Booksix 	Following the great exodus, however, goblins and treasure hunters claimed for themselves a corner of the abandoned colony and gave it yet another name: Idyllshire.
 	
Alisaie 	Sorry, were you waiting long?
Alisaie 	I wanted to make sure I'd borrowed at least a few promising volumes. Alphinaud and Krile should also be along shortly.
Grahatia 	I was delayed in similar fashion. As far as I could see, no titles in the Archon stacks mentioned the Final Days specifically, so we have no choice but to start with the tangentially relevant tomes─if they are even that.
Grahatia 	At present, the plan is to skim through as quickly as we dare, and share our discoveries as we make them.
Alisaie 	It would've been nice to invite everyone to the estate. Plenty of comfortable places to read, and a ready supply of hot tea...
Grahatia 	Oh, I was always quite fond of reading outside.
Grahatia 	...But it's not about the little pleasures, is it? You miss your home.
Alisaie 	It's been...difficult. After our arrival, we managed to speak with one of the family servants and ask how things were.
Alisaie 	It seems our dear father has instructed the staff that even if Alphinaud and I were to return to Sharlayan, we were not to be allowed across the threshold.
Grahatia 	A harsh measure, indeed. I hope that our efforts to understand his position─and that of the Forum─will perhaps lead to a reconciliation...
Alisaie 	We'll mend this rift one day. I'm certain of it.
Alisaie 	And what of you, G'raha? Have you been to visit your family? Or do they not live here in the city?
Grahatia 	Ah, well... My situation is also somewhat complicated. I was raised in Sharlayan, yes, but I was born rather further away.
Grahatia 	In the southern reaches of Ilsabard, in fact. For generations, my people have dwelt in Corvos, the coastal region opposite the island of Thavnair.
Grahatia 	The Allagans founded a city in that fertile land, and by ship, brought in the subjugated tribes of the Miqo'te to serve as laborers.
Grahatia 	Of course, the massive earthquakes of the Fourth Umbral Calamity brought an end to the empire's reign. And when the Fifth Calamity froze the seas solid, many of the tribes still living in Corvos braved the journey back to Eorzea...
Grahatia 	My ancestors, however, chose to remain, that they might prevent the remnants of Allagan technology from being misused.
Alisaie 	Isn't Corvos under Garlean rule?
Grahatia 	For the past fifty years, yes. Some semblance of local culture remains, as is the case for most imperial provinces, but Garlemald renamed the region “Locus Amoenus.”
Grahatia 	...When I was a boy, a nearby town came under the jurisdiction of an illustrious imperial family─the nobles of House Darnus.
Grahatia 	House Darnus demonstrated a singular interest in Allagan civilization, and so my tribe was forced to consider a plan of action.
Grahatia 	For some time already, voices had been raised in favor of abandoning our ancient customs─after all, the Allagan Eye no longer passed to our eldest children as reliably as it once had.
Grahatia 	Fear of discovery eventually tipped the scales, and the decision was made to bury our ties to the knowledge and traditions of Allag.
Grahatia 	As the last child born with the Allagan Eye, I was given over to the custody of friends in the Students of Baldesion, who had me registered as a Sharlayan citizen.
Alisaie 	I never even considered... Forgive me, it was an unkind question.
Grahatia 	Even Thancred was taken in by Archon Louisoix, was he not? Stories of adopted waifs and rescued orphans are more common among Sharlayans than you might think.
Grahatia 	Yet regardless of our origins, we are all provided with an equal opportunity to learn. And with sufficient perspicacity, we outsiders can even earn the vaunted title of “Archon.”
Grahatia 	'Tis exactly why I have such love for this country. And why I wish it to remain a nation of which its citizens can be proud.
Alisaie 	Hear, hear! Another good reason to get to the bottom of the Forum's stubbornness─aside from the trifling matter of our impending doom.
Alisaie 	Excuse us while we try to make some headway into these books, [Player Name]. More company should be arriving any moment now!
Alisaie 	There are others better suited to poring over old history books, so I thought I'd try my luck with more recent events. If I can find anything to better inform the Forum's baffling behavior...
 	
Grahatia 	Hm? What else do I know of Corvos? Precious little, I am afraid─I've not returned since Master Galuf first brought me here.
Grahatia 	I can tell you that Corvosi rebels still seek to slip the yoke of their imperial masters, though the fighting is far less fierce than it once was.
Grahatia 	Oh, and they have carpets. Flying carpets! The legends are quite extraordinary!
 	
Alphinaud 	We've returned with our selections!
Alphinaud 	Although I must say, the pickings were quite slim indeed─Mistress Krile has already flicked through every history book devoted to disasters, and more than a few which barely made mention of them.
Alphinaud 	As such, we will be looking into research papers on the Umbral Calamities, as well as articles written by prominent Forum members. Perhaps their knowledge of the Final Days comes from an unexpected source...
Krile 	Speaking of which, might I ask you a few questions related to the Final Days?
Krile 	I'm the only one here who didn't witness the events of Amaurot firsthand, and fear I may be overlooking critical details.
Krile 	My thanks! Now, where to begin...
Krile 	First things first─what kind of phenomena did the ancients encounter as the Final Days drew nigh?
 	
Alphinaud 	Yes, the unfolding catastrophe wrought havoc on all manner of life...
Alphinaud 	The chaos extended to the ancients themselves, causing their powers of creation to spiral out of control. Fear and despair manifested in terrible, tangible fashion─meteors raining from the sky, fire erupting from the ground, indescribable abominations prowling the streets...
Alphinaud 	Ahem, I believe Hydaelyn and Zodiark were summoned after the Final Days had arrived. Quite deliberately, in fact.
Alphinaud 	If we are speaking of phenomena caused by the Final Days, the chaos of creation magicks run rampant is what first comes to mind. Fear and despair manifested in terrible, tangible fashion─meteors raining from the sky, fire erupting from the ground, indescribable abominations prowling the streets...
Alphinaud 	Well, that certainly is an accurate─if somewhat ambiguous─impression.
Alphinaud 	To expound upon that explanation, the unfolding catastrophe wrought havoc on all manner of life...
Alphinaud 	The chaos extended to the ancients themselves, causing their powers of creation to spiral out of control. Fear and despair manifested in terrible, tangible fashion─meteors raining from the sky, fire erupting from the ground, indescribable abominations prowling the streets...
Krile 	That more or less aligns with my understanding. If only the arts of creation had survived until the present day, we might have had something substantial to analyze.
Krile 	To the best of our knowledge, however, those techniques were not preserved or passed on. Y'shtola surmises that the closest known magick is that of the summoning rituals promulgated by the Ascians.
Krile 	Was there aught else of note which heralded the approach of the Final Days?
 	
Alphinaud 	I...think you may be misremembering. As I recall, 'twas more of a gradual spread.
Alphinaud 	The Amaurotines spoke of a “keening” sound that rose from the land itself just before a region was visited by catastrophe. We never did hear this sound ourselves, of course, thrust as we were into the midst of the madness...
Alphinaud 	Ah, yes, the Amaurotines spoke of it, didn't they? We never did hear this sound ourselves, of course, thrust as we were into the midst of the madness...
Alphinaud 	But it seems that each and every one of the catastrophes was preceded by this ominous noise. Eventually it resounded all across the star, and not even Amaurot was spared.
Alphinaud 	M-Me!? Well, as you wish...
Alphinaud 	The Amaurotines were debating the cause of an anomaly which had been observed in the lands across the sea. By this fact alone, we can deduce that the Final Days occurred not all at once the world over, but rather had a point of origin from which it began to spread.
Alphinaud 	Others also spoke of a “keening” sound rising from the land itself, just before a region was visited by catastrophe. We never did hear this sound ourselves, of course, thrust as we were into the midst of the madness...
Krile 	So the ground was crying out, you say? To be considered the harbinger of doom, it must have been quite distinctive...and probably quite loud.
Krile 	I'll have to speak with one of Noumenon's mammets, and ask after any books which make mention of such a sound.
Krile 	Last but not least, would you describe how the ancients sought to quell this unprecedented calamity? What definitive action did they take?
 	
Alphinaud 	Yes, with Elidibus serving as His heart. So many gave themselves in sacrifice to bring Him into being...
Alphinaud 	Ah, I believe it was Zodiark who was summoned in response to the Final Days. Many sacrificed themselves to bring Him into being, with Elidibus serving as His heart...
Alphinaud 	Surely you can't be serious! That was the Seventh Umbral Calamity─hardly an event of the distant past. And even if Dalamud had existed at the time, bringing down a moon of any kind would surely only make things worse!
Alphinaud 	The ancients summoned Zodiark in response to the Final Days. Many sacrificed themselves to bring Him into being, with Elidibus serving as His heart...
Alphinaud 	We do not know exactly how Zodiark brought salvation to the star, only that by His godlike will were the laws of nature set aright.
Alphinaud 	Then, once the balance was redressed, the ancients offered up a further sacrifice to heal the ravages of the Final Days.
Alphinaud 	Lives sprouted anew, and it was these fledgling souls they intended to render unto Zodiark. A “trade” that would have allowed them to resurrect the shades of loved ones absorbed by the primal...
Alphinaud 	...Or might have, had Venat and her fellows not manifested their opposition in the form of Hydaelyn.
Krile 	Thank you─both of you─for the detailed review. I feel much more confident now in my understanding of events.
Krile 	With all that freshly in mind, it does make me wonder what the Telophoroi truly mean when they speak of bringing back the Final Days.
Krile 	We've seen what they're doing with those towers of theirs. Is forcing people to summon primals a kind of catalyst? Are they attempting to mirror the conditions caused by unstable creation magicks?
Krile 	Or are they simply using the Final Days as a figure of speech? A convenient metaphor for the scale of destruction they plan to unleash...
Krile 	<sigh> But this is all just pointless conjecture at this stage. Let us return our attention to the Forum, shall we?
Alphinaud 	We should keep an eye out for Y'shtola, but 'tis time we began studying these research papers...
 	
Alphinaud 	Many Forum members are also researchers or professors. If they know aught of the Final Days, then that knowledge might surface in their writing. That is my hope, anyway...
 	
Krile 	It really is comforting to have all these dedicated assistants on hand. Right, then! Enough chatting, more reading!
 	
Yshtola 	I'm the last, am I? Well, my extended search of the Archon stacks produced one or two possibly useful books.
Yshtola 	...But I wouldn't get your hopes up.
Yshtola 	If you recall, Urianger learned of the Source's reflections from The Gerun Oracles. For its potential to cause panic and confusion, that tome was deemed apocrypha and sealed away in the Great Gubal Library.
Yshtola 	'Tis even less likely that knowledge of the unsundered world, not to mention the horrors of the Final Days, would be left sitting on a shelf for any curious scholar to find.
Yshtola 	It stands to reason then that my colleagues─be they Archons or councilors─should perforce be largely ignorant of the subject.
Yshtola 	Yet when you confronted Master Fourchenault with knowledge of the Telophoroi and their machinations, he scoffed at the suggestion that they posed a threat. He seemed adamant that the Forum would know if the Final Days were truly upon us.
Yshtola 	Which only supports the conclusion that whatever privileged wisdom is guiding the Forum's behavior, it is being kept secret from the rest of the nation.
Yshtola 	...Not that I mean to excuse myself from reading duty. Whether they contain mention of the Final Days or no, these books could yet hold something of value.
Yshtola 	You weren't thinking of leaving, were you? There's plenty of work for everyone.
 	
Alphinaud 	I've found naught of interest so far. I think Y'shtola might be right about not getting our hopes up.
 	
Alisaie 	Ngh...
 	
Grahatia 	......
 	
Yshtola 	Thank you for your help, but I think I can manage the rest without your assistance. If I were you, I'd steal a few quiet moments for myself...
 	
Krile 	Oh dear, you look exhausted! But what about your studies? Were you able to find any books on the subjects I mentioned?
Krile 	Then the day was well spent! Should you wish to read them again, a mammet at the reference desk will point you in the right direction.
Krile 	For the moment, though, I suggest you take a well-deserved rest─we might be occupied with our research for quite some time...
Quest complete.	Quest complete.
Category:Endwalker Main Scenario Quests in Final Fantasy XIV