The Grave of the Guarded

==Steps==
# Investigate the ruins ahead and find a path
# Defeat the Black Serpent Knights
#* 
# Go to the entrance to the ruins
#* Co-Op Mode is disabled during this step
# Go to the lit room in the ruins
# Defeat the Black Serpent Knights
#* , 
# Continue investigating the ruins
# Defeat the Black Serpent Knights
#* , 
# Examine what the Black Serpent Knights were protecting
# Go to the chamber at the center of the ruins' summit
==Gameplay Notes==
* Completing this quest grants the .
==Dialogue==
;(Upon arriving at the location)
: Paimon: There are signs of hilichurl activity here. Could these be the hilichurls the requester was talking about?
: Dainsleif: Requester? ...In fact, hold on. You still haven't told me what you're doing here. I doubt that most travelers would have any reason to venture down this way.
: Paimon: We took a commission from the Adventurers' Guild to investigate The Chasm. Apparently, a whole load of hilichurls have been gathering here, and the requester wants to know why.
: Paimon: And now, it looks like we've finally found our first clue...
: Dainsleif: Do you want the answer?
: Paimon: Huh? You mean, you know something about this?
: Dainsleif: As it happens, I do.
: Huh? Did I miss something?
: Does this have anything to do with the upside-down city?
: Dainsleif: It's understandable that you did not perceive anything unusual. What makes this place so strange is that...
: Dainsleif: ...the environment here weakens the effect of the curse.
: Paimon: The curse? Oh! Paimon remembers, last time you guys were saying that Khaenri'ah's people were cursed to immortality or something...
: Dainsleif: For centuries, I have suffered daily from the curse that was laid upon me. But here... I suddenly feel a small amount of relief from this suffering.
: Dainsleif: And right here, right now, I can feel my body sending a strong message to me... It is telling me, "stay."
: Paimon: So this place weakens the curse? That's pretty incredible, but how?
: Dainsleif: That I shall need to investigate. But to the best of my knowledge, the Abyss Order does not have the technology to achieve this.
: So you're saying...
: The hilichurls that come here are also from...
: Dainsleif: Indeed. Do you know why hilichurls wear masks?
: I think so?
: I'm not sure...
: Dainsleif: It's to hide their appearance, lest they catch sight of their reflection in a body of water...
: Dainsleif: Compared to how they remember themselves, it is a terrible sight to behold, one that causes them great despair.
: So these hilichurls really are from...
: Dainsleif: The curse of "immortality" denies death to those afflicted with it... and yet, it does not truly mean that they will never die.
: Paimon: So you mean, there's a way to undo it?
: Dainsleif: No. I mean that the body and soul will continue to be eroded until they are virtually nonexistent, even if "death" is not the form that this erosion takes.
: Dainsleif: When the hilichurls realize that the end is nigh for them, it seems their instinct is to seek out a calm and dark corner of the world in which to finally say goodbye to the centuries of suffering they have endured.
: Dainsleif: And of all the places they could lay down to rest, one that can ease the effects of their curse would surely be their first choice.
: Paimon: Wow... That's so...
: Dainsleif: Conversation's over, brace yourselves!
: Paimon: Wh—What is it!?
: Dainsleif: We're under attack.
;(After defeating the Black Serpent Knights)
: Paimon: What were those? And why did they attack us all of a sudden?
: Dainsleif: Black Serpent Knights. They once belonged to the Royal Guard of Khaenri'ah.
: Paimon: Wait a second! Royal Guard? So... they used to be your troops!?
: Dainsleif: Yes, they were. But now, the curse engulfs them, and they fight with none of the honor they once had...
: Paimon: Because they've become pawns of the Abyss now?
: Dainsleif: ...Let's continue on.
: Paimon: Wait, Dain...
: Dainsleif: Hmm?
:
:???: ... 
: Dainsleif: Seems we missed one...
:???: ... 
: Dainsleif: Wait, stand down. There's something different about this one...
: Dainsleif: ...It's disappeared.
: Paimon: What the heck? What was going on with that one? Was it trying to say something?
: Dainsleif: (How is this possible... How could he have retained self-awareness for 500 years without... it?)
: Dainsleif: (But more importantly, why did he seem so familiar...)
: Maybe he recognized you.
: Dainsleif: That would be a miraculous outcome indeed for a cataclysm that brought total doom and destruction... Or perhaps it was just a coincidence.
: Dainsleif: We should press onward, to the city.
----
;(Upon arriving at the entrance to the ruins)
: Paimon: Looks like there's a strange energy surrounding the city. We can't go any further.
: Paimon: Guess there should be a mechanism or something around here, right? Traveler, looks like it's time to get into ruin-exploring mode!
: Puzzle time, huh.
: I'll take a look around and see what I can find.
: Dainsleif: Don't waste your time.
:
: Paimon: Huh...!?
: Dainsleif: Khaenri'ah's technology, Abyssal power... Two things I couldn't be more familiar with. They're just cheap tricks to me.
: Paimon: Okay! So the Abyss Order really is trying to hide something here, right?
: Paimon: Hmm... Dain seems like he really understands what's going on here. No wonder the Abyss Order doesn't want him around.
: Was this upside-down city built by Khaenri'ah?
: Was this upside-down city built by the Abyss Order?
: Dainsleif: Not necessarily. The closer we draw, the more I am inclined to conclude that these ruins belong to a more ancient civilization still.
: Dainsleif: The Abyss Order simply got to them before anyone else.
: Paimon: Even older than Khaenri'ah? Whoa, Paimon can't even imagine back that far...
: Dainsleif: That said, the architecture here does somewhat resemble that of Khaenri'ah... At least, it would if it were the other way up.
: Dainsleif: Let's head toward the light over there. Mind your footing on the way ahead. It's a long way down.
----
;(Upon arriving at the lit room in the ruins)
: Paimon: Aah, Black Serpent Knights!
: Paimon: Is this where they're based? Or wait, are they guarding something here?
: Dainsleif: We are likely drawing near to whatever the Abyss Order is trying to hide. Let's take them out first.
;(After defeating the Black Serpent Knights)
: Paimon: Hey look, vines. You should be able to climb up, right?
;(After climbing up)
: Paimon: Oh no, more Black Serpent Knights!
: Black Serpent Knight of Old: !!!
: Paimon: Huh, they're not coming after us. Are they just trying to scare us off?
: Paimon: These knights seem like they're hiding something behind them...
: Black Serpent Knight of Old: !!!
: Dainsleif: Hold on, I think they...
: Black Serpent Knight of Old: !!!
: Paimon: Aah, they're coming! Quick, get them!
;(After defeating the Black Serpent Knights)
: Paimon: Whew, that was the last of them! Now, let's see what it was they were trying to hide.
;(Investigate the hilichurls)
: Paimon: Huh!? What's this?
: Dainsleif: ...So the Black Serpent Knights have nothing to do with the Abyss Order's secret. Huh, I should have guessed.
: Paimon: So what exactly is going on with these hilichurls?
: Dainsleif: As I said, for these hilichurls, the end is nigh.
: The hilichurls are preparing to meet their end...
: "End"...
: Dainsleif: They have grown old and fearful of the light, even become one with the darkness. And yet the curse continues to corrode them.
: Paimon: But why would the Black Serpent Knights wanna stay here and guard them?
: Black Serpent Knight of Old: !!!
: Paimon: Aah! More of them are closing in!
: Black Serpent Knight of Old: !!!
: Let's try to avoid fighting them.
: Fighting them is meaningless.
: ???: !
: Paimon: ...It's him! The guy that came out of nowhere and disappeared again!
;(??? shakes his head)
;(The rest of the Black Serpent Knights retreat)
: Paimon: And now they're retreating... Did he just order them to do that?
: Dainsleif: ...Halfdan?
:???: ...
: Paimon: Whoa, whoa, what? You recognize him?
: Dainsleif: ...Could it be... If it's as I suspect, then this is a truly tragic state of affairs.
: Paimon: Dain?
: Dainsleif: You want to know why they were gathered here guarding the hilichurls, don't you?
: Dainsleif: It's because as far as the Black Serpent Knights are concerned, they are simply doing their duty.
: Dainsleif: The one who ordered them to retreat just now... I suddenly recognized him. I knew him as a young man, an elite in the Royal Guard of old... His name is "Halfdan."
: Paimon: So he's from 500 years ago, too...
: Dainsleif: To this day, I still remember the final orders I, the Twilight Sword, gave to Halfdan on the day of disaster in Khaenri'ah, before I made haste back to the palace...
: Dainsleif: "Inform all Black Serpent Knights to protect the people of Khaenri'ah at all costs."
: Dainsleif: Because we, of course, were royal guards. But this would mean nothing in the events that followed... Royals, gentry, common folk, these identities made no difference.
: Dainsleif: Against the might of the gods, the only identity that mattered was being from Khaenri'ah.
: ...
: Dainsleif: These Black Serpent Knights have lost their intellect. But perhaps, in whatever remains of their minds, they are still protecting the people of Khaenri'ah.
: Dainsleif: If you see these ruins as Khaenri'ah in the throes of disaster, and these hilichurls as the people crying for help...
: Dainsleif: ...then suddenly, I can make sense of what I'm hearing. Their growls are less of a threat and more of a warning.
: Paimon: Then... what are they saying?
: Dainsleif: Though it is barely discernible, I can just about make it out. They keep repeating a word from the old language of Khaenri'ah... "Run."
: So they're not talking to us...
: So they're telling the hilichurls behind them to escape...
: Dainsleif: Even I have to admit, the fact their will is strong enough to survive 500 years of erosion... It is nothing short of a miracle born from hopelessness.
: Paimon: Oh... So Paimon had them all wrong...
: Dainsleif: It doesn't matter. Even I took them for enemies for a moment.
: Dainsleif: Let's keep heading toward the light at the top. I believe the Black Serpent Knights will no longer try to stop us.
;(Investigate the three hilichurls again)
: Paimon: So there's no Abyss Order secrets to be found here... Just a bunch of hilichurls nearing the end of their existence.
: Paimon: We probably shouldn't disturb them.
;(The Traveler nods)
----
;(Upon entering the room with the upside-down Teleport Waypoint)
: Paimon: Sure enough, we aren't seeing any more Black Serpent Knights. Guess that Halfdan guy really did recognize Captain Dain, huh?
;(Investigate the hilichurls in the room with the upside-down teleport waypoint)
: Paimon: More hilichurls. And they look really well-protected.
;(Upon entering the room with a desk and tablets)
: Paimon: Dain... Why so quiet?
: Dainsleif: I'm just thinking, nothing more. If you're trying to console me, I can assure you there is no need.
: Paimon: Hmph! Fine...
;(Investigate the hilichurls on the upper level of the room)
: Paimon: All these hilichurls want is to quietly fade away in peace... Paimon hopes they can get their final wish.
;(Upon entering the next room)
: Paimon: Hey look, there's no door sealing this room off. Looks like we can finally head to the room in the center.
: Paimon: C'mon, let's go!
;(Investigate the hilichurls at the other end of the room)
: Paimon: Paimon's never seen such well-behaved hilichurls before. Paimon wonders if it has anything to do with being an old soul.
;(Upon arriving at the chamber at the center of the ruins' summit)
: Paimon: Look, up there! A water pool!
: Paimon: Even the water pool is upside-down. Wow! This is a pretty amazing place.
: Paimon: Dain, do you have any idea at all how it works?
: Dainsleif: The pool must be part of the entire city structure, a relic of this ancient civilization.
: Dainsleif: And more importantly... it is the very thing that is weakening the curse.
: Dainsleif: Here, my whole body feels more at peace than it has in a long time. The effect is stronger here than it was before, and I think it's because that water pool has something akin to a cleansing effect.
: Paimon: Cleansing? So that means... the water in that pool can wash away the curse for good?
: Dainsleif: No. That would be impossible.
: Paimon: How are you so sure?
: Dainsleif: I have lived with this curse for 500 years, and I have been fully conscious the entire time... Suffice to say, no one understands the curse like I do.
: Dainsleif: It is a way of branding us at the level of the fate of the world itself. When a god applies a curse, it takes effect at a higher level of reality than the person themselves.
: Dainsleif: Even now, I can feel the curse slowly permeating my entire being, becoming part of me, slowly but surely replacing me.
: Dainsleif: Perhaps it may be possible to suppress the corrosive effect of the curse for a time, but cleansing it entirely...
: Dainsleif: Consider it tantamount to burning away an integral part of your body. It is not a process that one could ever hope to survive.
: Paimon: Huh!? Cleansing the curse costs you your life? Whoa... An irreversible curse, Paimon can't even imagine...
: Dainsleif: In any case, I can feel that the water's cleansing effect is not nearly potent enough. At most, it might suppress the curse but a little.
: Paimon: Hmm? So what's that contraption there? It looks kinda out of place...
: An Abyss Order device?
: Perhaps it's the Abyss Order's secret.
: Dainsleif: Frankly, I have never seen a device of this design before either. It is not unreasonable to suspect that it could belong to the Abyss Order. But what could they be planning to do here...
: ???: (*clunk* *clunk*...)
;(A gate is raised)
: Paimon: Yikes! That gave Paimon a fright... So all the doors are open now?
:Halfdan: ...
: Paimon: Wah, Halfdan's back again...
: Dainsleif: Halfdan. Do you have something to say to me?
: Halfdan: ...
:
: Paimon: He ran off... but he didn't disappear like last time!
: Dainsleif: He's indicating that we should follow him. Are you coming?
: This could be a useful lead.
: He doesn't seem to hold any malice toward us.
: Paimon: True... So, uh... We going, then?
==Other Languages==
==Change History==
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