The Eternal Dream, Ever Lush

The Eternal Dream, Ever Lush is the sixth part of the .
==Steps==
# Exit the cave
# Continue onward
# Go to where the Goddess of Flowers slumbers
# Collect Liloupar's fragment
# Talk to Liloupar
# Find Jeht
# Accompany Jeht
# Talk to Jeht
# Talk to Liloupar
# Leave the Orchard of Pairidaeza
# Talk to Jeht
# Report your findings to Babel
==Gameplay Notes==
* Completing the quest grants the .
* There are three purple Flower Buds (unofficial name) found throughout the Eternal Oasis. The player can interact with these buds to complete the Hidden Exploration Objective Memories of Pairidaeza.
* If the player chooses to ask for a toast on the Traveler's behalf at Jeht's birthday celebration, the two quest rewards they miss out on will be added to the rewards for completing For Her Judgment Reaches to the Skies....
==Dialogue==
;(Approach the marked area)
:Paimon: Wow! We're here! This place feels...so still. It feels pretty weird...
:Jeht: So this is the oasis that my father spoke of...
;(Approach the marked area)
:Paimon: Wow... Paimon didn't think that a place like this could exist in the desert...
:Paimon: Huh? Was the sun already going down when we first came out from underground?
:Liloupar: No... This is my mistress' paradise, a place frozen at the point where the sky kisses the waters, where ingenuity and devotion . The resultant here and now, then, is named eternity.
:Paimon: Wow... Paimon understood almost none of that, but it's why nothing moves here, right?
:Jeht: Is this why my parents regarded this place as their final destination?
:Liloupar: Those are not my words... *sigh* Interpret this however you will, poor child...
;(Collect Liloupar's fragment)
:Liloupar: My mistress... She is not here.
:Liloupar: Instead, here is another fragment of myself...
:Liloupar: ...
:
:
:
:
:
:
:Jeht: You're awake... How are you feeling?
:Jeht: You just... *sigh* Never mind. The important thing is that you're alright...
:Paimon: What... What did you see? You look like you just woke up from a long and scary dream...
: I saw the Mistress of Flowers...
: I gazed upon this place as it appeared long ago...
:Liloupar: ...
:Liloupar: She is gone. He lied to us. He lied to us all.
:Jeht: What do you mean?
:Liloupar: It's nothing — just the cancellation of an ancient pact. I believe I'm... finally free?
:Liloupar: The Lord of the Sands once swore to us that our Mistress of Flowers slumbered here, destined to awake someday. But...
:Liloupar: How strange. Our mistress has already passed. He... He deceived me. He deceived my people.
:Liloupar: I should feel maddening hatred for him right now. For this desert. For the death of my mistress... My loathing should have matched the love and admiration I once held for him...
:Liloupar: Yet, I find myself empty of want or will to hate... How odd...
: Maybe this is what it means to be free.
: You are now neither bound to "lovers" nor "foes."
:Liloupar: Is that so...
:Jeht: ...
:Liloupar: Hmph, spare me the niceties. My master you remain, and our pact endures yet.
:Liloupar: Come. Let us depart. Jeht was waiting for you this whole time, you know.
:Jeht: Y'know what? I see a nice spot just over there. I'm going to head over first.
:Jeht: Don't forget to come over in a bit.
----
;(Use Nahida's All Schemes to Know on Jeht, optional)
:Jeht: (This must be the place father and mother mentioned, right?)
;(Talk to Jeht)
:Jeht: ...
:Jeht: This place should be it... It matches the sketches in my mother's journal.
:Liloupar: A fine place for a restful slumber, no?
:Jeht: ...Yeah.
:Jeht: We've faced countless dangers in our trek across this desert: betrayals, plots... Unforgivable wrongs, incomprehensible events... All in quick succession too...
:Jeht: But here, I feel calm... Happy. I don't know why. I just do.
:Liloupar: It is because this place is the Mistress of Flowers' final sphere of influence... The offerings of the skies protect its serenity here, deep beneath the earth. Thus does this place preserve the last of her essence...
:Liloupar: And though she is long gone, this place remains as calm as it was at its inception, as if it was never disturbed. Hence, those who arrive in this place... will know only peace and joy.
:Liloupar: For the mistress was once the guardian of maddened monks and lost wanderers. To them, this place was indeed a paradise they could call home.
:Jeht: ...
:
;(Open Ufairah's Notes)
::
::To my dear Jeht, loveliest of daughters,
::A thousand hugs and kisses to you. May the unchanging moonlight grant you a thousand blessings, and may the blazing sun smile upon you alone!
::I imagine that you'd be a bright, beautiful young lady by the time you read this, hmm?
::Know that I am here this night, imagining your future beauty. My intellect and looks, and your father's stubborn tenacity combined! I imagine you wearing the graduation gown of the Akademiya. I imagine you, proudly standing at the head of your own household. I see Jebrael and myself, full of joy at the wonderful life you lead even as we grow old together...
::Haha! I know what you're thinking, you bad girl! You're thinking that you should read these words out loud so you can embarrass me, hmm?
::Be that as it may, I'd like you to see these hopes and blessings that I wrote down, and that I imagined a lovely, happy future for us.
::It does feel kind of strange if you think about it. I mean, this was supposed to be an academic notebook... But it ended up being full of my hopes and dreams for you. Is this how mothers are? So... sentimental?
::Still, I wish that the day would come when we can all be proud of each other — though destiny might render our little sand dune a wreck, and though all the lovely expectations that we hold may be lost... I hope that you can look into my eyes and tell me that even with my lack of experience as a mother, ours was not a relationship defined by regrets.
::I'm sorry that I wasn't able to give you the best family.
::But I'm glad that I could be your mother, and Jebrael's wife.
::Really, now! Just as I am writing this, little one, you are making a ruckus in my arms, painting your own face with ink-dipped dark hands... Do you mean to become an artist? Or a wandering desert demon that shall keep your mother's nightmares at bay?
::Alright, alright. Sleep now, my baby gazelle.
::Allow me to pen this song down that shall send you into peaceful dreams. May you remember it, just as you remember me:
::O stars high above the wasteland,
::O nightingales weary from the day,
::It's time to take off your crowns of roses,
::Cleanse yourself with wine made from grapes.
::Sleep, sleep.
::The eternal oasis welcomes the lonely wanderer,
::And here the crisp springs flow,
::And the memories are forever sweet.
::Sleep, sleep.
::Yon golden slumber summons thee, wandering sand,
::Drink not that bitter salt water,
::For the sorrows of tomorrow have gone away.
;(Talk to Jeht)
:Jeht: Sorry... I'm just at a loss for words right now.
:Jeht: It's like... time forgot how to flow and everything stopped. I don't know why. I can't even gasp in astonishment at all that's around me here because... All I feel is peace.
:Jeht: For my parents to slumber here alongside our fallen goddess... Though I wish they had never left...
:Jeht: I truly wish that they could stay here eternally, never to be forgotten by the passing of time.
:Liloupar: ...
:Liloupar: When we first entered, we disrupted the fragment's power and broke the device that long maintained equilibrium here... This place is destined for ruin, to be swallowed by the sands sooner or later.
:Liloupar: When that time comes, the fading power that our mistress put forth to ward this oasis in perpetuity will dissipate... This is inevitable.
:Jeht: I know that. But at least my parents were reunited before the end, as if they'd never left each other at all.
:Jeht: Maybe there will finally come a day when I return to this place. After I grow weary of adventuring, and after I have left every place I regard to be "home" behind.
:Jeht: At that point, I think I'll just say: "I'm back!" and then lay between my parents to join them for a grand old nap.
:Jeht: ...
:Paimon: Jeht... But that day's still far, far away! Right now Jebrael is probably happily... um, not-smiling, because his face is always blank. But Paimon's sure he's happy...
:Jeht: Thanks, Paimon...
:Jeht: And you too, . Thanks for walking this path with me, and for fulfilling this willful, cherished desire of mine... But I'd like to have a bit of alone-time with my parents...
: I understand.
::Jeht: Yes... Thank you.
: Don't forget to come back to us, alright?
::Jeht: Don't worry about me... I'll catch up. Ha. I mean, it isn't my time to settle down here yet, is it?
:Liloupar: My master, I would speak to you, if you will incline your ear unto my sayings.
;(Talk to Liloupar)
:Liloupar: She is a good child, my master.
:Liloupar: Though born to beastly brutality and slight of wit, her survival instincts are astute beyond compare...
:Liloupar: She perceives who it is who wishes to see her hurt, and upon sensing such intent, she gives her all to retaliate without mercy, regardless of how much intimacy may lie between...
:Liloupar: Still... She does not know the schemes woven against her. She does not yet know that the home she seeks... is a thing most hollow.
:Liloupar: Master, if you care for her, then protect her well.
:Liloupar: A mere suggestion on my part, of course. You may take it to be... I do not know. Perhaps you might consider it the unworthy atonement of one who was once a mother...
;(Use Nahida's All Schemes to Know on Jeht, optional)
:Jeht: (...Drink not that bitter salt water, for the sorrows of tomorrow have gone away...)
;(Talk to Jeht)
:Jeht: ...
:Jeht: (There she sits in silence, enjoying a pleasant time with her parents.)
: (Best not to bother her.)
::Jeht: ...
: Let's head back.
::Jeht: If you don't mind, I'd like to stay a while longer... If that's okay with you, I mean.
:: (Best not to bother her.)
:::Jeht: ...
:: The tribe is waiting on us.
:::Jeht: Yeah... Just... Give me some more time.
:::Jeht: You go. I'll follow after.
:
:Jeht: I feel much better now. Thanks.
:Paimon: Are you sure you're fine? You can rest more if you want...
:Jeht: Let's head back. We need to tell Matriarch Babel about the details of our journey.
:Paimon: Alright, if you say so... Then, let's go!
----
;(Use Nahida's All Schemes to Know on Babel, optional)
:Babel: (...If the scout's message is true, they have already... Then that would have cleared up a problem for me.)
;(Talk to Babel)
:Jeht: We're back and intact, Matriarch Babel.
:Jeht: We have discovered the secrets of the Eternal Oasis, and opened the path there for the tribe.
:Jeht: I... Thank you for this opportunity. To help me fulfill my parents' dreams... Even if they didn't receive the blessings of the Tanit.
:Babel: Please, child, there's no need. I have always held your hopes close to my heart. To be able to fulfill the desires of the young is my duty as Matriarch.
:Jeht: Thank you...
:Babel: Well done, Jeht. Now, there is the matter of Azariq...
:Jeht: Your judgment was accurate... He's undoubtedly a traitor.
:Paimon: Wait, so you already knew that Azariq would betray you?
:Jeht: No. I only suspected him at first, and spent most of the journey watching him... I just didn't expect him to reveal his true intent so soon.
:Jeht: Matriarch Babel warned me, but I chose to believe him at the time.
:Jeht: Here: proof of his collusion with the Fatui.
:
:Babel: ...
:Jeht: Please don't be sad, Matriarch Babel...
:Babel: Yes... I long-suspected his disloyalty. It is just a shame that I didn't get the chance to end him personally... And I had such high hopes for him, too.
:Babel: But now, with the tribe facing increasingly treacherous circumstances, and the loss of two individuals I invested much time and effort in, I must count on you, Jeht, to help me in matters both great and small going forward.
:Paimon: So... What you're saying is that Jeht got a promotion? Yeah! Congratulations, Jeht!
:Babel: Promotion? Haha... That's not a word you hear in the desert very often.
:Babel: We desert-dwellers aren't so hierarchical. In the end, they who govern more affairs will be the ones to bear greater authority.
:Babel: Jeht... The future of the Tanit now rests on your shoulders. Don't let the tribe down.
:Jeht: Tribe... So, you're saying I'm truly one of the Tanit now?
:Babel: Do not be deceived, child. I have always seen you as one of us. Whatever happened before, you are a daughter of the Tanit, and the truth of our consanguinity will always run in your veins.
:Jeht: I... Thank you.
:Paimon: Hmm, Paimon feels like we've forgotten to mention some suspicious things we saw...
:Paimon: , do you remember seeing anything suspicious?
: About the abandoned camps in the canyon...
::Liloupar: You once dispatched other tribespeople into the oasis and left them to perish there. Then, you laid a taboo upon it as a pretext to prevent anyone else from trespassing, did you not?
::Liloupar: Yet, you encouraged us to head deeper into that same treacherous territory, mentioning nothing of your actions. Why did you do this?
::Jeht: ...
::Babel: ...
::Babel: Esteemed Liloupar, allow me to offer my deepest apologies for all the inconveniences and misunderstandings you must have experienced.
::Babel: But you are right. We have been exploring the ruins of Gurabad and the Eternal Oasis for quite some time... I sent many people from the tribe there in times past.
::Babel: That we learned these few key locations and the general layout of the area is all thanks to their efforts...
::Babel: Yet, due to the extreme danger of the missions, a vast majority of those brave explorers never returned, and the efforts from these expeditions bore scarce fruit.
::Babel: Hence, I put a stop to the forays and marked entry into the place as taboo.
::Babel: The traitor, Azariq, once led teams to survey the canyon and the ruins, and so I thought I could trust him to serve as your guide. I did not initially think that he would turn on us...
: So, about the traitor's letter...
::Liloupar: In Azariq and Aderfi's correspondence, it was mentioned that the reason they turned traitor was because you showed favoritism toward Jeht, who is a traitor's daughter in their eyes, and wanted her to serve as inheritor to your duties...
::Jeht: ...
::Liloupar: Aside from that, you also seem to be actively culling those who work with those you call the "northerners." Yet, you once relied on these very same traitors to strike deals with said northerners.
::Liloupar: Now, the jargon of your people eludes my understanding, but I am curious as to what the words you just spoke meant.
::Babel: ...
::Babel: Esteemed Liloupar, allow me to offer my deepest apologies for all the inconveniences and misunderstandings you must have experienced.
::Babel: But the survival and prosperity of the Tanit can only be sustained through multilateral trade. That includes those who hail from the north.
::Babel: Preoccupied as I was by a multitude of matters surrounding the tribe, I was unable to foresee the treachery these northerners harbored...
::Babel: Later, I would discover that the dangers they represented far outweighed the benefits they offered... But by then, I could only take to removing the traitors within our tribe that had turned to them first.
::Babel: This is also why I needed Jeht. Her ability to swiftly and efficiently cleanse the tribe of traitors is unmatched. Additionally, I deeply appreciate her loyalty and capability.
:Jeht: You... never spoke of this.
:Babel: Because I knew from the start that you would return unharmed. Of all who inherit our legacy, you are the one I trust the most, Jeht.
:Babel: Your fearlessness, your fierceness, your cunning, along with the gentleness and sincerity with which you treat your tribe and friends... They have not gone unnoticed.
:Babel: If my daughter had not been stolen from me by the sands, I like to think that she might've turned out to be like you. Unflinching in the face of all peril, one whom even the desert could not smother...
:Babel: So I believed in you and prayed for you in silence.
:Jeht: ...
:Jeht: ...I'm sorry for doubting you, Matriarch Babel.
:Babel: No. The fault is mine for incurring your doubt and mistrust. It is I who should ask for forgiveness instead.
:Liloupar: ...
:Liloupar: My apologies as well, my master. It seems that my paranoia got the best of me.
:Babel: Well, it is good that we all managed to clear the air between us. You are our honored guest, , and the Tanit will always welcome you.
:Babel: Esteemed Master of the Jinni, whatever you may desire, I will do my utmost to fulfill, if you would only ask.
: Anything?
:Babel: Anything.
: I'd like to be compensated in Mora.
::Paimon: Yeah! Mora! Mora! That's what we want!
::Babel: Very well, you have earned it indeed. And... I thank you for taking care of Jeht for me.
:;(Adds 10,000 Mora to quest rewards)
: I'd like something commemorative.
::Paimon: What? We're not going for Mora?
::Babel: Your friendship with the Tanit is indeed worthy of memorialization. Please accept our meager gift — I hope you shall keep it close to you, never to be discarded.
:;(Adds 4 Amethyst Crown artifact to quest rewards)
: Just offer a toast on my behalf at Jeht's birthday celebration.
::Paimon: Yeah! And don't forget to offer one on Paimon's behalf, too!
::Jeht: Eh? Thank you...
::Babel: Oh? Is this one of your outsider traditions, then? Very well...
::Babel: I will bear your good intentions in your stead, then.
:Babel: Alright, don't let us keep you much longer. Again, I thank you for your help, O Master of the Jinni... May it not be long before you visit us again.
:Babel: After all, we will need your guidance... and Liloupar's also.
;(Use Nahida's All Schemes to Know on Babel, optional)
:Babel: (...The Eternal Oasis is in the hands of the Tanit tribe, as long as our people gain control over that place...)
;(Talk to Babel)
:Babel: Apologies, our business has me distracted... Was there something you needed?
: About the traitors...
::Babel: You speak of Aderfi and Azariq, yes? Their actions have shamed the Tanit, and before a guest no less...
::Babel: They spent too long in contact with those northerners, and forgot that they were children of the Tanit, bound to the rules of the tribe.
::Babel: Thankfully, I still have Jeht... She has lived up to my expectations and more.
: About Jeht...
::Babel: Jeht? She is a good child. She learns our ways quickly and greets trouble with neither grimace nor complaints.
::Babel: Heh. Speaking of her, it's a shame that there was an... incident between us and her father in years prior...
::Babel: But I'm just glad that Jeht has returned to us. Though her father... *sigh* I suppose we can consider this a delayed resolution.
::Babel: She likes you, you know. I can tell.
::Babel: So... Please don't disappoint her and ruin the friendship you have.
: About Liloupar...
::Babel: Naturally, she has her own perspective. That which provoked her rancor was a misunderstanding regarding our actions...
::Babel: But if we wish to rejuvenate the desert, the lands need to be fertile, that they may offer an easier life for our people. Hence, we must rely on Liloupar's favor.
::Babel: We hope to come to a mutual understanding on this point at least...
: See you.
::Babel: Farewell. I bid you safe travels for your coming adventures.
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