Final Fantasy XI: Chains of Promathia

Final Fantasy XI: Chains of Promathia (also referred to as CoP) is the second expansion pack for Final Fantasy XI.

This expansion pack brings several new areas, quests, and a new mission storyline to the game. No additional jobs were released with the expansion.

Chapter 1: Ancient Flames Beckon
On Qufim Island, the Ducal Guard led by Wolfgang rush to Delkfutt's Tower and order all adventurers to stay away. Jeuno scientists in the tower are baffled when the flow of energy in the northern crystal line reverses.

In the sea to the north of the tower, the ruler of the skies Bahamut emerges from the water. He issues a warning to the children of Vana'diel, stating that the arrival of the Keeper of the Apocalypse is near and calls for his minions to spill the blood of the gods.

Back in the tower, an explosion occurs, presumably killing all the scientists. The Ducal Guard find an unconscious boy who survived the explosion and take him to the infirmary in Upper Jeuno.

Monberaux, the physician in Jeuno, finds the boy uninjured and does not know what is wrong with him. When the player visits the infirmary, the mysterious boy awakens. He gives the player an amulet and shows him a vision of Al'Taieu. The Ducal Guard, together with a Jeunoan diplomat Nag'molada, attempt to bring the boy in for questioning but he runs away and vanishes.

The player investigates shattered telepoint crystals at Holla, Mea and Dem, and is drawn into the dark realm of Promyvion. After climbing to the spire within Promyvion and defeating monstrosities known as the Empty, the player arrives at a giant crystal known as the mothercrystal. Nag'moloada arrives and tries to kill the player to prevent harm to the crystal, but is stopped by the mysterious boy who appears and blocks the pursuers with shrouds of darkness. The boy gives the player another vision, that of Yve'noile foretelling the final battle between the Twilight God Promathia and the Dawn Goddess Altana.

At the second crag the player explores, the mysterious boy appears at the mothercrystal again and shows him a vision of Prishe.

The player arrives at the third crag and is ambushed by Nag'molada who has been waiting for him. Nag'molada orders Wolfgang to kill the player but he hesitates for lack of proof of crimes committed. When the mysterious boy appears, Wolfgang strikes him down without a fight. The boy however appears unhurt even after being smote and draws them into Promyvion.

At the third mothercrystal that the player reaches, Nag'molada claims the enigmatic boy has released Emptiness, a dark destructive force, on the crystal. The boy shows the player yet another vision, this time of Eald'narche, pledging his faith in the mothercrystal and Yve'noile stating that there is no salvation for the world.

Chapter 2: The Isle of Forgotten Saints
Nag'molada and the player are teleported to a distant land, which they later learn to be the Tavnazian Archipelago. While the player is unconscious, a trio of Tarutarus known as the Chebukki triplets steal the amulet from his possession, thinking it belongs to Prishe, the leader of their settlement. Nag'molada and the player arrive at the Tavnazian Safehold and are greeted by Justinius, who is wary of them but asks them to rest there until Prishe returns.

They meet with an elder, Despachiaire, who explains that he and other survivors from the Tavnazian Marquisate were led to safety by the cardinal Mildaurion during the war. The survivors have since lived in isolation because the landbridge connecting it to Quon was destroyed. Nag'molada volunteers their aid to slay a minotaur lurking in the nearby Phomiuna Aqueducts in order to gain their trust. Nag'molada confirms his suspicions and discovers a precious artifact there.

Prishe returns with her good friend Ulmia after making her rounds patrolling the vicinity and informs the town that fierce monsters and a dragon have gathered at Cape Riverne. She meets with the two castaways and agrees to let them stay on account of their good deeds.

While Prishe returns the player his amulet, which is identical to the one she received from the cardinal, and gets him to explain where he got it, Despachiaire seeks her counsel. He postulates that the dragon that appeared could be Bahamut, as depicted in a painting of the city of Al'Taieu given to them by Grezzo of the Tenshodo.

The player has to locate Ulmia for Prishe and finds her in Misareaux Coast. She is there singing the first verse of the Lay of the Immortals. When Nag'molada hears this, he is impressed and shares the second verse of the song, also known as the Memoria de la S^tona, with her. He reveals that the song continues with a third verse that is sung only by the gods.

Back in the safehold, Prishe fears Bahamut's appearance signals the opening of the gates to Paradise and intends to confront him in Cape Riverne for answers. She finds out that Nag'molada and the Chebukki triplets have already headed there too. Prishe, Ulmia and the player arrive at Cape Riverne to find that it has been spacially distorted. At the Monarch Linn there, Nag'molada sings the Memoria de la S^tona to Bahamut, proving to him that he is a Kuluu. Because of this, Bahamut decides to honor the pact he made with their race ages ago.

An airship of Jeunoan scientists led by Esha'ntarl appear and they subdue Bahamut with a magical web. Prishe and the player are attacked by a few mammets that resemble the scientists and defeat them, freeing Bahamut from his binds. In his fury, Bahamut teleports Prishe, Ulmia, the Chebukki triplets and the player away.

In Delkfutt's Tower, Nag'molada meets with Esha'ntarl, who is revealed to be a Zilart and a member of the same society as him. She chastises him for approaching Bahamut alone, and blames him for letting Bahamut and the mysterious boy escape.

Chapter 3: A Transient Dream
Prishe and the player regain consciousness in Gustaberg. She blames the airship for what happened and looks for Cid, the engineer who built the airships to find out more. Prishe then decides to head to Jeuno to look for an old friend at the Tenshodo, with hopes that he can ready a boat back to Tavnazia for her.

The player is wanted for treason in Jeuno, but its offered refuge by Aldo in the Tenshodo. Prishe's old friend, Grezzo, who is also Aldo's father is long gone but Aldo agrees to help her return to Tavnazia. He recently received a request to travel to Tavnazia and can allow her to ride along with the other passenger's consent.

At Ru'lude Gardens, the player turns himself in to prove his innocence. The duke vicarious, Esha'ntarl receives an audience from Tenzen, a messenger from the Far East. He states that the Emptiness has encroached on the Far East and is rapidly swallowing the land, signalling the return of the Keeper of the Apocalypse. Esha'ntarl suspects the mysterious boy may be the keeper and tasks the player with his capture to prove his innocence. She tells him to seek out the original members of the Allied Expedition for more information.

The Chebukki triplets appear in Windurst and attempt to find their long lost father, going as far as to claim Yoran-Oran and Honoi-Gomoi to be the one. To avoid ridicule from Shantotto and Koru-Moru, Yoran-Oran gets the player to procure a mimeo mirror, an object that can view memories, in order to clear his name. The triplets leave Windurst with the belief that their father is the late Karuha-Baruha and look for Nag'molada in Jeuno.

Ulmia appears in San d'Oria and heads for the cathedral there to find out more about opening the gates to Paradise, to no avail. She discovers that Cardinal Mildaurion may still be alive. The player meets with Louverance, a descendant of Francmage and eventually learns the expedition was originally set up by Bastok.

In Bastok, Cid explains he was the one who got Bastok to send the expedition to the Northlands, after being sold a piece of magicite said to be a fragment of the crystal in the Northlands. The stone was said to be part of a largr gem known as the Star of Tavnazia. Cid suggests that Prishe may know more about it.

Back in Jeuno, Nag'molada and the Chebukki triplets prepare to return to Tavnazia by airship. Ulmia makes her way to Jeuno and meets with the player. Prishe suddenly falls unconscious and is taken to the infirmary by Tenzen. Her amulet appears to be missing and she struggles violently in her sleep. They player gives his amulet to Prishe, which stabilizes her condition but does not wake her. Monberaux reports that the boy who gave the player the amulet has been spotted in the ruins of Pso'Xja.

Tenzen and the player try to locate the boy in Pso'Xja but stumble upon the Shrouded Maw where they surprisingly find Prishe lying there. They battle with Diabolos and realize that he has drawn them into his dreamworld. The mysterious boy appears and rescues Prishe from the dream before escaping. Tenzen reveals his blade houses the avatar Phoenix and implores Diabolos to help defeat the Emptiness. Diabolos claims there is no salvation from the Emptiness and offers the dreamworld of Dynamis as an eternal escape from reality but is refused.

Prishe awakens in Jeuno. Tenzen explains that Diabolos and Phoenix are two of five terrestrial avatars born to protect Vana'diel, along with Carbuncle, Fenrir and Bahamut. Tenzen is revealed to be the one who sought Aldo out to hire transport to Tavnazia. Prishe Ulmia and Tenzen head to Tavnazia together and resolve to seek out Bahamut for answers again.

Enemies
This list does not include reskinned enemies of the same genus or unique bosses.

Gameplay Systems
Listed in order of implementation.
 * Clamming
 * Additional Orb Battles
 * Empty Notorious Monsters (ENM)
 * Lumoria NM System
 * Limbus
 * Dreamworld Dynamis
 * Brenner
 * Voidwatch

CoP also allows the player to challenge Diabolos and acquire his summon, though this possibility was not present when the expansion first came out.

Chains of Promathia was once considered the hardest expansion in the game.The vast majority of the areas must be unlocked, and many of the areas have a level restriction on them, not to mention enemies that can see/hear through stealth effects. Out of all expansions, it involves the most amount of battlefields and NM fights that need to be won. In spite of this, Chains of Promathia is known by some to be the most epic storyline in Final Fantasy XI.

As of the June 2010 update, the level caps of the Chains of Promathia areas and mission battlefield events have been lifted, and now only apply to empty notorious monster (ENM) battles and Chains of Promathia quests with level restrictions such as "The Big One" and "Return to the Depths". Provided a character is sufficiently leveled, many early missions can now be completed solo with relative ease. Many later missions, however, are still designed to provide a challenge for groups of high level players.

Music


Chains of Promathia sees new music being introduced for areas and battles within the expansion. As with the previous expansion, all new music is composed and arranged by Naoshi Mizuta with exception of three tracks that are arranged versions of riffs taken from "Memoro de la Ŝtono", which is composed by Nobuo Uematsu.

This expansion also sees the return of Uematsu to Final Fantasy XI in the form of vocal track "Distant Worlds", featuring opera soprano Izumi Masuda, which serves as the theme song for the title.

Once Chains of Promathia is installed, a new track "Unity" is played once, in place of the "Vana'diel March" on the Final Fantasy XI title screen. This introduction of new title screen music will become a tradition that continues on with subsequent expansion packs.

An arranged version of "A Realm of Emptiness", the Final Boss Theme of the Chains of Promathia expansion is featured in the Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy Original Soundtrack.

A number of tracks used in the Chains of Promathia expansion are not featured in the Original Soundtrack but have since been released on the Unreleased Tracks disc in the Final Fantasy XI Original Soundtrack Premium Box.