The Black Wolf's Ultimatum

is a Quest in Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn.
==Journal==
* In urgent tones, Minfilia reveals to you that Gaius van Baelsar has issued the Alliance leaders with an ultimatum. Even now, they are discussing how best to respond. Lest they make an uninformed decision and inadvertently seal Eorzea's doom, it is imperative that Minfilia be given an opportunity to plead her case. Make haste to the Royal Promenade and ask Bartholomew to admit you to the Fragrant Chamber.
* Owing to your timely intervention, Eorzea's leaders have resolved to fight the Empire to the last. Return to the Waking Sands in Vesper Bay, and speak with Minfilia.
* The path ahead is now clear─all that remains is to walk it. Join your fellow Scions in preparing for the battle to decide the future of the realm.
==Objectives==
* Speak with Bartholomew on the Royal Promenade.
* Speak with Minfilia at the Waking Sands.
==Script==
script 	script
 	
Minfilia 	Grim tidings, [Player Name]. It seems that word of the Ultima Weapon's existence has already reached the Alliance leaders...in the form of an ultimatum. They have gathered in the Fragrant Chamber, and are deliberating their answer even as we speak.
Minfilia 	Beleaguered as they are, I fear they may well elect to lay down their arms in the belief that surrender will spare their people untold suffering. Yet nothing could be further from the truth.
Minfilia 	That which the Black Wolf offers will doom Eorzea, not deliver it, and the leaders must be made aware of this. Let us hurry to them, [Player Name], and ensure that they do not act in ignorance of the consequences.
 	
Bartholomew 	The council of the Alliance leaders is presently in progress in the Fragrant Chamber. I must ask that you step away from the doors, madam/sir.
Bartholomew 	...I'm sorry? You're here on behalf of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn!? A thousand pardons, my lady/lord! Of course you may enter!
Raubahn 	Bah! We keep treading the same ground.
 	
Merlwyb 	Van Baelsar's demands are clear...
 	
Kanesenna 	Alas, our minds are not.
 	
Raubahn 	I've never been one to shy from a fight. But if this weapon of theirs can do all they claim...
 	
Kanesenna 	It has been five years since the Calamity, and our people have scarce begun to rebuild their lives.
 	
Kanesenna 	Can we now, in good conscience, call upon them to risk what little they have left? I would spare them the pain of further conflict.
 	
Kanesenna 	Conflict, I say, though that would imply forces set in opposition. If the combined might of three primals could not stay Garlemald's new terror...
 	
Kanesenna 	What meaningful resistance can we offer? We who struggle to quell the foes who rise up within our own borders...
 	
Merlwyb 	Long have we fought the primals, but to what end? We strike them down at no small cost, only for them to rise again and again.
 	
Merlwyb 	Are we to play this profitless game for the rest of days? I for one grow tired of it.
 	
Merlwyb 	Mistake me not, I do not propose to trade one tyranny for another.
 	
Merlwyb 	I love liberty. But conciliation need not mean oppression.
 	
Raubahn 	By the Twelve... Though neither of you cried “surrender,” your every word betokened it.
 	
Raubahn 	Not that I deny there is truth in what you say. Nor can I rightly claim that Ul'dah is ready to fight.
 	
Raubahn 	Refugees flood our gates, and beastmen swarm our land, while the great and the good do nothing. My Flames struggle to bear the burden.
 	
Raubahn 	I put on a grand show at the remembrance service, made all manner of lofty promises... I've made good on not a bloody one.
 	
Nanamo Ul Namo 	Do not blame yourself, Raubahn. You said only that which the people needed to hear. All present have done the same.
 	
Nanamo Ul Namo 	Our citizens had become lost to hope. If our words served to kindle it in them anew, better we speak than remain silent.
 	
Nanamo Ul Namo 	Our enemy condemns us for failing our people, yet what does he care for their well-being?
 	
Nanamo Ul Namo 	While we labored to rebuild their lives, the Black Wolf built instruments of murder with which to end them.
 	
Kanesenna 	Her Majesty speaks true. For all our failings, the people's well-being has ever been our foremost priority.
 	
Kanesenna 	While none among us ever doubted that the Empire would one day resume its war, we scarcely had means enough to solve the problems of the present.
 	
Merlwyb 	Aye, which is why we looked to others to safeguard our future─
 	
Merlwyb 	The Scions of the Seventh Dawn. Alas, they are gone, and the Black Wolf is at our door.
 	
Alphinaud 	Admiral, I fear you are mistaken!
 	
Merlwyb 	Alphinaud? Minfilia? And─seven hells─MASTER GARLOND!
 	
Kanesenna 	And you, dear friend...
 	
Raubahn 	By Rhalgr... You're alive! All of you!
 	
Alphinaud 	As we approached, I would swear I heard talk of surrender, but I know that cannot be! It is not the Eorzean way!
 	
Minfilia 	Hear me, my friends! Accepting the Garleans' offer to vanquish the primals would be folly.
 	
Minfilia 	Folly, I say, for might is not the answer to the primal threat. Indeed, the more the Empire exerts its strength, the worse matters will become.
 	
Minfilia 	Primals enter this world when mortals call upon them, and mortals are wont to appeal to a higher power when they are desperate.
 	
Minfilia 	Nothing is more certain to breed desperation in the beast tribes than the Garleans' proposed solution.
 	
Alphinaud 	The true answer lies in a lasting peace, but the Garleans only know war and conquest. Should Eorzea fall into their hands, there will be such suffering as none can imagine.
 	
Minfilia 	We are not blind to the many challenges that each of your nations face. Yet you must not give in.
 	
Alphinaud 	Aye! Remember five years ago, when you wagered all for the sake of the realm! Remember what you fought for, what you were willing to die for!
 	
Alphinaud 	Let the memories rekindle the fire in your heart, for Eorzea has need of it again!
 	
Minfilia 	Come what may, we Scions will never give up the fight.
 	
Minfilia 	And so I bid you stand with us, and together we shall safeguard the future of the realm!
 	
Cid 	A great man once said that a shrewd merchant grasps not for the quick profit, but invests in the future. Wise words...eh, Raubahn?
 	
Raubahn 	Cid... I...
 	
Kanesenna 	Your words stir...and shame me in equal measure. How could I contemplate surrender...?
 	
Kanesenna 	I know full well that all we have, we owe to the sacrifices of those who went before us. Yet the seeming hopelessness of our plight robbed me of my insight.
 	
Kanesenna 	We Gridanians have no love for war...
 	
Kanesenna 	Yet we have still less for those who would threaten our homeland. Ever have we fought to protect those things we hold dear, and this shall never change.
 	
Kanesenna 	Gridania will go to war. We will fight the Empire, for the sake of the realm and all who abide here!
 	
Nanamo Ul Namo 	Ahaha... Ahahahaha!
 	
Nanamo Ul Namo 	Hahaha! Hear, hear!
 	
Merlwyb 	Hahahaha...
 	
Raubahn 	Hah hah hah hah!
 	
Nanamo Ul Namo 	At long last, I hear words worthy of a founder of the Alliance!
 	
Nanamo Ul Namo 	Raubahn! Are we to be outdone!?
 	
Raubahn 	I lost one homeland. The thought of losing another had blunted my resolve.
 	
Raubahn 	But no man knows better than I that if you want aught, you'd best be ready to die for it.
 	
Raubahn 	With great danger comes the chance for great glory, and great profit─we Ul'dahns, who have turned sand into gold, know this well.
 	
Raubahn 	How many times have we fallen into the pit of despair, only to have you pluck us out? I've fair lost count.
 	
Merlwyb 	Reckless, the lot of you─like bloody pirates! Well, I won't waste my breath trying to talk you 'round...
 	
Merlwyb 	...On account of being a pirate myself. And the pirate who shrinks from a challenge is no pirate at all!
 	
Merlwyb 	Those who would pick a quarrel with us must choose: back down, or go down with all hands.
 	
Merlwyb 	Let the Garleans come. The united strength of Limsa Lominsa will be waiting for them!
 	
Nanamo Ul Namo 	If our realm is to be free of this pall of darkness, let it be by our own hands!
 	
Leaders 	For Eorzea!
 	
Kanesenna 	We must needs consider how the weapon may be brought to bear against us.
 	
Merlwyb 	The Maelstrom will secure strategic points along the coastline.
 	
Raubahn 	In the meantime, the Flames will deploy at...
 	
Nanamo Ul Namo 	Be at ease, my friends. You have banished our doubts.
 	
Nanamo Ul Namo 	Pray leave the military matters to us, and retire to the Waking Sands. We will send word anon.
Minfilia 	No text
 	
Minfilia 	I cannot well express my relief. To think that the Alliance came so close to surrender...
 	
Cid 	But the fire in their hearts has been rekindled, and they will fight to the last.
 	
Alphinaud 	This warmth inside... Did you feel it too, Grandfather?
 	
Alphinaud 	I would know something─was that your power at work earlier?
 	
Minfilia 	Nothing of the sort. The leaders of Eorzea had lost their way─I merely helped them to find it again.
 	
Minfilia 	Oh, hello!
...Yes, our party returned just a moment ago. How close are you?
 	
Minfilia 	It's all right, Cid.
 	
Alphinaud 	We must needs plan our next move. Pray continue liaising with your respective nations. Cid, would you be our man in Ul'dah?
 	
Cid 	I'll be whatever and wherever you need me to be!
 	
Yshtola 	We haven't a moment to waste.
 	
Yda 	All right! Let's do this!
 	
Minfilia 	Thancred's fate weighs heavy on my mind. I cannot bear to think of him in thrall to an Ascian.
 	
Minfilia 	Mayhap you know this already, but the Ascians are immortal beings without physical form. Since time immemorial, they have fanned the flames of chaos from the shadows.
 	
Minfilia 	That they might work unseen, the Ascians entrap and possess mortal men by means of malign artifacts known as Crystals of Darkness.
 	
Minfilia 	One such Crystal may yet be the key to saving Thancred.
 	
Alphinaud 	This is a Crystal of Darkness?
 	
Yshtola 	A mere replica, created using data obtained from anomalous crystals found across Eorzea.
 	
Minfilia 	It comes to us courtesy of the Students of Baldesion, our distant allies.
 	
Minfilia 	Even for an Archon, Thancred's talents are exceptional. We all had complete confidence in him.
 	
Minfilia 	It was for this reason that none among us foresaw the danger in sending him to investigate the Ascians alone.
 	
Papalymo 	Thancred had been striving to fill the void left by Louisoix. Yet it was plain that he was overtaxing himself.
 	
Yda 	Yeah... He would volunteer for everything and work till he was dizzy.
 	
Alphinaud 	And the toll taken by his exertions made him vulnerable to Ascian influence...
 	
Minfilia 	The Crystal that binds Thancred must be somewhere on his person. If we could but destroy it, his Ascian possessor would be compelled to relinquish control over him.
 	
Minfilia 	You have proven the stoutest of allies, standing with us through thick and thin.
 	
Minfilia 	Yet the most perilous struggle is still to come. For the sake of the realm─and Thancred─I ask that you lend us your strength once more.
 	
Minfilia 	Thank you. From the bottom of my heart.
 	
Minfilia 	As I am sure you are aware, the realm was saved from certain doom five years ago by heroes known as the Warriors of Light.
 	
Minfilia 	What you may not be aware of is that your many feats in service to the Scions have prompted folk to make certain...comparisons.
 	
Minfilia 	I must confess, you do remind me of them.
 	
Minfilia 	One can only wonder at their insight. Perhaps a touch of the Echo resides in everyone.
 	
Minfilia 	Yet remember this: however glorious the past, it is the hero's lot to be judged on the deeds of the present.
 	
Minfilia 	A new darkness threatens the realm, and the people cry out for a savior.
 	
Minfilia 	I believe that you are s/he─a Warrior of Light, here in the present, guided by the Crystal's will.
 	
Minfilia 	Come, my friends! Let us fight to safeguard the future of our beloved Eorzea!
Minfilia 	I meant to ask you. Are you, perchance, in possession of your own chocobo? I would be remiss to send you into a battle of this scale without a mount.
Minfilia 	If you do not, I would encourage you to procure one from your Grand Company as soon as you are able. I can guarantee you that it will serve you well to have your own steed.
Sistem 	In order to undertake the next main scenario quest, you must first complete the quest “My Little Chocobo (Maelstrom/Twin Adder/Immortal Flames/).”
 	
Sistem 	You may accept the quest “My Little Chocobo (Maelstrom/Twin Adder/Immortal Flames/)” by speaking with R'ashaht Rhiki at Maelstrom Command/Vorsaile Heuloix at the Adders' Nest/Commander Swift at the Hall of Flames/.
 	
Elyenora 	Greetings, madam/sir. Do you wish to proceed to your vessel?
Quest complete.	Quest complete.
Category:Seventh Umbral Era Main Scenario Quests in Final Fantasy XIV