Gradus ad Capitolium

Gradus ad Capitolium is the first quest in .
==Steps==
# Head to "Domus Aurea"
# Fend off the golems
#* 
# Explore the mysterious space
# Rebuild the golden aqueducts
# Head to where the golden aqueducts are
# Talk to Scylla
==Gameplay Notes==
* During step 2, the active party will be limited to a trial Traveler of the same elemental alignment as the player's own Traveler.
==Trial Character==
==Dialogue==
;(After passing though the water current)
:Paimon: Phew! We're finally here!
:Paimon: And there's Domus Aurea. It looks more like a giant harp, though. Why did your Sebastos construct it like that?
: It certainly seems well-preserved.
::Paimon: Yeah, nothing like the rest of the stuff we saw up there.
: Completely different from all the ruins above.
::Paimon: Yeah, it feels like this only just sunk.
:Monsieur Os: Of course. This palace was fashioned from a giant ship. It was designed to be a titanic instrument on which the symphony was to be played.
:Monsieur Os: See those pipes extending outward? Though the symphony now lies broken, this was once how it would be broadcast to the four corners of the world.
:Paimon: The whole palace is an instrument!? The entire thing!?
:Paimon: Uhh, then, wouldn't this entire water body start vibrating if it were to play? We might get blasted apart like tofu if we get too close...
:Monsieur Os: Meow, meow? What is tofu?
:Paimon: Wait, you've never had any, Osse? Uh, then it might be hard to explain. We could always take you to go have some next time... Wait, can cats even eat tofu?
:Scylla: The "Eternal City," indeed... Remus's will protects this place still, just as I expected. No wonder that brazen, shameless traitor has endured even til this day...
:Monsieur Os: Hmph. I imagine that Boethius owes his survival of time's erosion to having laid low in the palace for all these millennia.
:Monsieur Os: And over those long years, he gradually mastered the power of Phobos...
:Paimon: Well, now that we're here, we should meet up with that rude guy. He might just be shocked to see us for all you know!
:Scylla: In that case, let us part ways for now.
:Paimon: Huh? You're not coming along?
: You're not afraid, are you?
::Scylla: Hah. Why would you think that? I merely do not wish to see that particular one again.
: You've been a great help already.
::Scylla: Haha, and I was pleased to be of aid! But to tell the truth, I have no desire to see that one ever again.
:Scylla: I wish to never again hear a word from that devil's mouth. His words are a sham, and shameful are his lies. See that you do not fall for them!
:Scylla: Besides, I could not help you even if I came with you, for I am but a temporary occupant of this Ichor-made body.
:Scylla: Were battle to be joined, I would have no recourse...
:Scylla: Not that I would mind terribly, but no gain would salve the loss of his seizing the symphony that Remus bequeathed unto me.
:Scylla: Let us part here for now. Though I cannot aid you in battle, I can use the currents to send you hence. Come to me, should you need such aid.
:Scylla: Regardless, let us meet again once you have vanquished that traitor.
:Scylla: When that time comes, perhaps I too shall have the chance to make amends for my past regrets.
;(Talk to Scylla again, optional)
:Scylla: Take care not to fall afoul of his deception, !
: You sure you don't want to go with us?
::Scylla: I fear that I shall be of little help. Come back once you have defeated that traitor.
::Scylla: When that time comes, perhaps I too shall be able to amend my past regrets.
: We're good.
::Scylla: Indeed. Come see me once you have vanquished that traitor.
;(Talk to Monsieur Os by the Wonderchime Flowers, optional)
:Monsieur Os: I feel as if aligning the Wonderchime Flowers' rhythms will cause something beneficial to occur...
;(Talk to Monsieur Os near the mural north of Alta Semita, optional)
:Monsieur Os: Just like those in the Faded Castle, the murals here were painted using the power of the "symphony"...
:Monsieur Os: But that's enough of that for now. Let us first find Boethius, he must face his reckoning!
;(Talk to Monsieur Os by the two Auric Anglerfish near Collegium Phonascorum, optional)
:Monsieur Os: Looks like this child has been trapped by those two golden fish... If we could find some way to lure them out...
;(Talk to Monsieur Os in Capitolium: Old Palace, optional)
:Monsieur Os: Come to think of it, I do recall that an envoy from Fontaine was once imprisoned here by Boethius...
----
;(Approach Domus Aurea)
:Boethius: Cassiodor, dear friend! I knew you would come.
:Monsieur Os: ...
:Boethius: Ah, and the uninvited barbarians...
:Paimon: When it comes down to it, you're not the boss of this place. Besides, it was Osse who brought us here — that counts as an invitation as far as Paimon's concerned!
: Really, you're the discourteous one here.
:Paimon: Exactly! And we've heard all about it, you know! All the bad stuff you've done...
:Boethius: Silence, you noisome, obstreperous insects... I am speaking to Cassiodor. Do not interrupt!
:Monsieur Os: , Paimon, I'll take care of this.
:Monsieur Os: Boethius, I have come as promised. Honor your pledge, and relinquish the souls of the surface dwellers.
:Monsieur Os: They do not deserve to suffer this unforeseen calamity... The grudges between us should stay between us.
:Boethius: You... call this "unforeseen"!?
:Boethius: Have you not looked upon our kindred? They lie trapped in these lightless waters, like walking corpses!
:Boethius: Are they not supposed to walk upon sunlit shores?
:Boethius: If my brief internment of surface-folk souls is a disaster bereft of rhyme and reason, then what would you call the millennia-long suffering of our kind?
:Boethius: Listen, and listen well! The judgment of the surface peoples has only just begun!
:Monsieur Os: No. The one who imprisoned them was you. And it was you who turned our kin into monsters.
:Monsieur Os: They... We once had a choice. So long as we discarded our old grudges, the Mistress of Waters agreed to accept us into a new nation.
:Monsieur Os: But you used them, took advantage of their pain, their trust in you. You turned them into tools of your ambition.
:Boethius: That was their choice. They chose the old order, not the honeyed death you brought.
:Boethius: And just as they gave unto us the conducting batons the Sebastos bestowed upon them, so too are we duty-bound to lead them unto the correct path.
:Monsieur Os: How dare you swagger, you shameless traitor! You who betrayed the Sebastos's trust, and led our nation to ruin!
:Boethius: Hah! I hear that vile dragon's slander in your words. And you would believe a foe of our nation, rather than your kin and comrades!?
:Boethius: I serve no god, no king. Only mighty Remuria, and our noble ideals.
:Boethius: Remus proved unworthy to reign supreme from the moment he uttered that perverse command. And so, there are no traitors. If anything, it was I who rescued our nation from his error.
:Boethius: He colluded with our foes, commanding the vile drake to flatten our cities. He even attempted to destroy the Grand Symphony, which would have consigned us to live under Fortuna's yoke once more.
:Boethius: How could I have stood aside and done nothing in the face of his madness?
:Monsieur Os: And so you betrayed him. You shut the Initium Iani... and in the end, Phobos's power went out of control, and the royal palace sank into the depths...
:Boethius: Will you not open your eyes to the truth? It was Remus who betrayed us, betrayed Phobos. That was the true prelude to tragedy.
:Boethius: I have already spent thousands of years struggling to recreate the symphony of the past, weaving the broken melodies together in the deep waters just to recreate what you hear now.
:Monsieur Os: No... In your hands, it has become harsh, and the discordant voices of agony and hate denounce your violence.
:Boethius: Hah, and who decides what is harmonious or not? Is it not absolute power? Remus bent the knee to the savages and odious dragons precisely because he failed to comprehend this.
:Boethius: But it matters not. This inverted world shall soon be righted, and I shall become the new Sebastos!
:Monsieur Os: That is impossible, Boethius. You are but a mortal human! Humans can never become gods...
:Boethius: But ah, Cassiodor, you forget! Was Remus's ideal not for all humans to become gods? To seize their own destinies?
:Boethius: Do you not remember? Did the rites we researched and recorded in the golden castellum not chart a course to that very destination?
:Monsieur Os: But we did not then know what lay beyond. Had we known, those thousands of years ago, we...
:Boethius: Times have changed! Things are different now, Cassiodor. Join us. My preparations are complete. Only together can we accomplish this deed.
:Boethius: I have rid my soul of all impurities, obtaining a true will. The stairway to heaven is but a single step away!
:Boethius: I merely need to gather all wills that have been scattered throughout the waters — yes, even yours, which Remus personally severed.
:Boethius: Two minds shall merge into one, and thus shall Remuria be whole once more — once more clad in immortal form, infused with refined steel and stone.
:Boethius: I... No, we, shall "take on flesh" once more, and a new Sebastos shall be born... But not only that! I shall also gain that which even Remus could not attain — the power to change the very essence of this world.
:Boethius: I will turn back the wheel of fate, usher in the old world's return, and bring justice to the land. The surface dwellers shall submit to our will, as they must.
:Boethius: It shall be as the hymn says: "And when they use their will to command, the rest shall bow down and listen."
:Monsieur Os: You know I will not acknowledge you. You have defiled his ideals.
:Monsieur Os: I will uphold my own justice.
:Boethius: Hmph! It matters not! You will understand once you enter Phobos's melody — then, you shall join me!
:;(Boethius transports Monsieur Os into the symphony. The Traveler attempts to rescue him, only to be transported as well.)
:: (This is... Domus Aurea.)
:: (Have I entered Remus's memory again?)
:: (No, the atmosphere... it's different from before.)
:Boethius: Welcome to my palace, outlander. My symphony.
: Boethius!?
:Boethius: Do not be startled. Have we not met aforetime, and more than once?
:Boethius: Whether through my phantom in the real world, or in the memory-palaces Remus left behind.
:Boethius: But this is no phantasm of Remus's memory. This is my symphony. My golden stage.
: I knew it...
:: Wails of sorrow ring off every wall...
:Boethius: Is that so, outlander? I know not from whence you came...
:Boethius: It seems you are not a human birthed from the primordial waters, nor are you any surface being at all.
:Boethius: I cannot see the color of your soul, nor can I touch it.
:Boethius: Nonetheless, this is not your war. My vengeance against the surface dwellers is none of your concern.
:Boethius: I know not why you hinder our work.
: For Monsieur Os...
::Boethius: Ah, but can your short friendship surpass the span of our kinship?
::Boethius: Cassiodor and I... We were new crafted by Remus's own hand, and we are the final survivors.
::Boethius: Compared with our other kin, his soul is like insoluble Ichor.
::Boethius: Other than myself, only he has true will, and only when we are combined, can we become a complete "self."
::Boethius: "So too are our wills one." The opera's final act shall see him return to us. This is his "fate."
::Boethius: Have you anything else to say, outlander?
:;(Return to option selection)
: To save the people of Petrichor...
::Boethius: Those people... They are neither your kin nor your subjects.
::Boethius: On the contrary, so far are you above them that they may as well be ants. Perhaps not even that.
::Boethius: The weak should submit to the strong. Is that not the law that this world should follow?
::Boethius: And yet, you say you will protect them? Is this your boundless mercy? Or simply folly?
::Boethius: Have you anything else to say, outlander?
:;(Return to option selection)
: For the justice in this world...
::Boethius: Justice? You can't actually be serious, can you?
::Boethius: You may possess power that even I cannot perceive, but you would be naive, outlander, to think that brute force alone will defeat me.
::Boethius: I have long become one with the symphony that fills these deep seas. Even if you should destroy my physical form, so long as the agonized waters flow, and so long as the memories of vengeance do not fade...
::Boethius: My will shall not perish, and I shall remain a nightmare that haunts this world.
::Boethius: Unless you choose as Cassiodor... as that stray cat did, exiling oneself to become the jailer of the old world... But I do not believe that one so distinguished as you would do so.
::Boethius: Forsake that superfluous sympathy of yours! Should the guilty not be punished? Is that not justice?
:: Guilty, you say... They are innocent.
::Boethius: No Fontainian is innocent! They are the spawn of our barbarian foes...
::Boethius: Their ancestors seized from us the realms that should have been ours by right, and they must pay the price for that original sin!
::Boethius: Have you anything else to say, outlander?
:;(Return to option selection)
;(After choosing all 3 options)
:Boethius: Since you insist on sabotaging my plans, I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to stay in my palace for a while longer.
:Boethius: I cannot detain you for long, of course, but it should be long enough. Let us meet again when I become a god and sit upon the Sebastos's throne.
:Boethius: Before that, let my little ensemble occupy you for a time.
;(While fighting the golems)
:Someone's Voice: . ...
:Someone's Voice: Fear not, I wish to aid you...
;(After a cutscene plays)
:████: ! I've found you at last...
: And you are...?
::Cassiodor: Cassiodor, you mean! I believe you might have met me in the Sebastos's memories, though I suppose this is our first time meeting in this manner.
: Cassiodor...
::Cassiodor: Indeed, it is I! I believe you might have met me in the Sebastos's memories, though I suppose this is our first time meeting in this manner.
: Monsieur Os...
::Cassiodor: Haha, well, you might have seen me in the Sebastos's memories, but I believe this is our first meeting in this manner.
:Cassiodor: Time is short. Maintaining this form in Boethius's symphonic palace is no easy task.
:Cassiodor: Let us keep this brief.
: Where are we, exactly?
:Cassiodor: This is a space created by Boethius, the manifestation of his soul.
:Cassiodor: It is maintained, just as the Sebastos's memories you entered before are, by the grace of the symphony's might.
: So just now...
:Cassiodor: Yes. He used the music's power to pull us in.
:Cassiodor: I suspect that Domus Aurea is too close to the heart of the Phobos, allowing him to directly influence the present world.
:Cassiodor: If we truly allow him to obtain power that surpasses reality, he might even pull the entire surface world into this space.
:Cassiodor: When that happens, his delusions will replace the real world, and Fontaine will revert to its appearance from thousands of years ago.
:Cassiodor: Just like what happened in Petrichor... No, I suspect it would be worse still.
: Will he really become a god?
:Cassiodor: That depends on your definition. It is not hard to give shape to false fantasies, but he will find transcending fate futile.
:Cassiodor: Were it truly that simple, then those thousands of years ago... we would have already succeeded.
:Cassiodor: All he can do now is drag more innocents into the nightmare of his making, turning them into walking, corpse-like puppets.
: Then we must stop him.
:Cassiodor: That we do, but that cannot be done here. You must return to the real world.
:Cassiodor: In that, I shall aid you.
: And what about you?
:Cassiodor: Not to worry. He has no plans for me at the moment. As for me, I've just thought of a way in which we can destroy him utterly.
:Cassiodor: He has prepared a mighty form for himself in the real world, and plans to initiate a ritual within Domus Aurea that will have him "take on flesh."
:Cassiodor: As long as we can get him to lower his guard and gather the symphony scattered throughout the deep waters into that body...
:Cassiodor: We can seize that opportunity to destroy both him and that body. That will put an end to everything.
:Cassiodor: Only you can do this, .
:Cassiodor: Phobos's melody does not sing of your destiny, and Boethius cannot influence your soul.
:Cassiodor: You are the exception to all that is planned. Perhaps that is why the Sebastos guided you here...
:Cassiodor: Go now. My strength will not hold for long.
:Cassiodor: Let us meet again in the real world, and we may yet bring an end to this long nightmare.
:Paimon: Aaaah! You finally woke up!
:Paimon: Paimon was worried sick! She thought... she thought you might have had your soul stolen by that jerk, just like all the townspeople!
: I'm fine, Paimon.
::Paimon: *sniff* You'd better be!
::Paimon: After you passed out, Boethius and Monsieur Os disappeared along with that wave of sound, leaving Paimon all alone here...
: Did I pass out?
::Paimon: That's right, and after that, Boethius and Monsieur Os disappeared along with that wave of sound, leaving Paimon all alone here...
:Paimon: And then this big guy came along. Not that he helped much either...
:Scylla: I fear that was not up to me. I am but a soul that dwells within the Ichor, and though that Remus did give me his final symphony...
:Scylla: But to wield its power against Boethius is a different matter.
:Paimon: Anyway, 's woken up and seems okay at least, but where'd Monsieur Os go? Did Boethius...
: I saw him.
:
:Paimon: Huh? So Monsieur Os is in there alone?
: He seems to have his own plan. Don't worry.
: It is a bit concerning...
:Scylla: Regardless, should he prove correct, then we still have a chance to defeat that shameless devil. But first, you must enter Domus Aurea...
:Paimon: Well then, big guy...
:Scylla: What are you looking at me for?
:Paimon: Didn't you once lead a host of dragons to attack Remuria's capital? Getting us into Domus Aurea should be a piece of cake!
:Scylla: You have many ideas for one so small, little one. Still, this shall not prove as simple as you think.
:Scylla: The chief strength of Dragonborn lies in our powerful flesh. Embedded into Ichor as I am, all that remains to me is but the feeblest of wills.
:Scylla: Destroying the Initium Iani exhausted nigh all my power — and Domus Aurea, defended by the symphony's power, cannot be compared to gates of mere stone.
:Paimon: Wait, then aren't we fresh outta options? Are we really just gonna watch while that Boethius guy eats Monsieur Os up!?
:Scylla: Peace, you rash little thing. I merely said that I was powerless, but it is not so for you.
:Scylla: The power of the symphony defends the palace. That same strength can be used to break it.
: But the symphony that I can wield is...
:Paimon: Yeah! That super-powerful Phobos thing is protecting the palace, right? How can we possibly beat it...
:Scylla: If you cannot beat it, then simply borrow what you need from it!
:Scylla: Once upon a time, the will of Phobos flowed through golden aqueducts into every corner of Remuria.
:Scylla: Though these paths and pipes have been destroyed, if you can connect the section that lies before you once more...
:Scylla: The great gates of Domus Aurea shall surely open, just as they once did. That is what is written in the symphony, after all!
: Sounds like it's worth a shot.
: Looks like we don't have other options...
:Scylla: I too made some discoveries while searching for anything Remus might have left behind. It appears that this devil has yet to join some fragments of the symphony to his music, and they are scattered in this part of the sea.
:Scylla: Come with me. If we can find them and use their strength, we might yet reverse the flow of time and return the aqueducts to their original form.
:Paimon: Ooh, that does sound kinda promising! Let's get a move on, then!
:
:
;(After restoring the aqueduct)
:Paimon: Alrighty, looks like the waterways are reconnected!
:Paimon: Next, we should go back and look for that big lunk, eh?
:Paimon: Hmm... Paimon wonders how Monsieur Os is doing. We've gotta hurry up!
:Paimon: Huh? ? What's going on? Is it happening again...?
:
:Scylla: Remus, I must remind you...
:Scylla: That in my view, both your kingdom and the symphony you composed are now beyond your control.
: ...
:Scylla: Though I have never expected much from those created by the Usurper of the Many Waters and nurtured by yourself, the extent of their degradation is shocking nonetheless.
:Scylla: The civilization created by you and your subjects shone brighter than all others in this world, but naught remains now but deep, impenetrable darkness.
:Scylla: The atrocities committed in the name of civilization and order were far crueler than even pure barbarism. Even the most savage and violent of vishaps would never engage in such meaningless slaughter.
: I am perfectly aware of all that you say...
:Scylla: You know, and yet you remain indifferent? Or are you powerless?
:Scylla: No. You could easily destroy those mortals who deserve punishment if you so wished, but you cannot bring yourself to do it.
:Scylla: You love humanity. This is the curse you bear as a usurper.
:Scylla: It is time for me to depart... I will not aid them in butchering innocent mortals, but neither do I harbor any desire to stop them.
:Scylla: You once promised the Usurper of Many Waters that you would use the pure water she granted you to create a world of endless prosperity, one without conflict.
:Scylla: I followed you to the surface precisely because I wished to witness that future, but this is how it turned out... You have failed, Remus. You could not defeat "."
:Scylla: Blood shall stain the High Sea red once more — such is the cruelty the heavens show to their creations.
: I have a plan...
:Scylla: Oh? You always were one to have many plans, Remus. But all of them lie in the dust now. Even you do not know where it all went wrong.
: Would you like to hear it, though? This will be the last one.
:Scylla: I distinctly recall you saying the same thing when you persuaded me to leave the Fontemer... But speak now, before I return there, to the side of the Usurper of Many Waters.
: (...)
:Scylla: ...
:Scylla: Hahaha! Fascinating. Fascinating!
:Scylla: Only you could be so toweringly selfish, yet so utterly selfless!
:Scylla: You even took me into account, did you? Recklessness. How terribly rash of you, usurper-lord of mortals.
:Scylla: Still, your plot pleases me.
:Scylla: The mere thought of leading my vishaps and trampling your arrogant, foolish people underfoot brings me joy.
: But this shall be mere ceremony. Just a show...
:Scylla: Fret not. I shall be as you said — merciful.
:Scylla: But if you do this, your life as a god shall come to an end. There will be nothing left but the symphony. Have you considered this fully?
: Of course. Of course.
:: The box of horrors that I opened, so too shall I shut.
:Scylla: Good. Then I accept your proposal. If the time should come, I shall join my strength to that of your symphony...
:Scylla: Phobos's chains shall be broken, and your people shall once more be free.
: In that case, please accept...
:: My final... symphony.
:
:Paimon: Did you see Remus's memories again, ?
:Paimon: It wasn't another one of Mr. Evil-and-Rude's this time, right?
:Paimon: Even in dreams, that jerk's just super irritating!
: I think I know what Remus's plan was...
:: To accomplish it, we will need to play Scylla's symphony.
: We must destroy Phobos...
:: To accomplish it, we will need to play Scylla's symphony.
:Paimon: Eh? What's with that all of a sudden? What did you see in the memory?
:Scylla: Fascinating. Remus's power lingers still in the deep seas, and has not dispersed... and I, too, am here at last. Do you know what that means?
: The conditions have been fulfilled.
:Scylla: Indeed. That is why I have come here with you. To make amends for millennia of regret.
: Now, the final question is Phobos...
:Paimon: Wait, wait! Paimon's confused! What are we using the music for? It's nice that you understand each other and all... But you're leaving Paimon out!
:Paimon: That's unfair! Tell her what's going on!
:Scylla: The final symphony Remus gave me, or the Requiem, is an order for the Phobos to self-destruct.
:Scylla: He was to sacrifice himself to unleash the symphony's power, and it would fall to me to control the primordial, savage energies that he would awaken.
:Scylla: That was how he would free his subjects from their stone bodies and give them back forms of flesh and blood, destroying the artificial barrier between races.
:Scylla: He once instructed me not to reveal this plan to any of his subjects, for it was only by making them realize their limitations that prejudice and arrogance could be set aside.
:Scylla: It appears, however, that you have pieced together his plan through the memories he left behind, .
:Paimon: So that's what happened... But his sacrifice was wasted in the end...
:Scylla: Perhaps, but now that my soul has been freed, there is a chance to make amends.
:Scylla: The lost souls of Remus's former subjects remain imprisoned in their statues. If we defeat that monstrosity...
:Scylla: We can use the Requiem to give their souls release, allowing them to return to the High Sea, to the eternal cycle of life and death.
:Scylla: That way, I may consider myself to have fulfilled his wish.
: Perhaps that is why I came here.
:Scylla: Indeed, outlander. Perhaps this is indeed a fated encounter.
==Other Languages==
==Change History==