Unfading Skies script
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Alberic
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You grow ever stronger, and I speak of more than just the flesh. Aye, you are slowly but surely realizing your potential as an Azure Dragoon. It is heartening to look upon...though I must confess that my presiding feeling is one of relief. You must understand, the mere thought that the Eye would choose an outsider─one who ill comprehends the threat posed by the dragons─filled me with the gravest of misgivings. Yet you have... Ah, but I shall say no more, lest flattery impede your improvement!
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Alberic
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Now, during our last lesson, I enlightened you regarding the origins of dragoons. You will recall how Haldrath heroically triumphed over the great wyrm Nidhogg, and Ishgard came into possession of the Eye.
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Alberic
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Tell me, [Player Name]─do you believe that these events truly transpired? Or are you inclined to think them faerie tales? I ask you this because few folk have seen dragons in the flesh besides we Ishgardians, and most would as soon dismiss them as products of the imagination.
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Alberic
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Alas, dragons are no less real than you and I, with Nidhogg perhaps the most real of all. In the course of its history, Ishgard has suffered the creature's wrath on eight separate occasions. Each time the great wyrm rouses, the blood of countless Ishgardians is spilled.
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Alberic
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Let us revisit the past once more, [Player Name]. The time is twenty summers past, and the place Dravania.
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Alberic
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After a century in slumber, Nidhogg awakened once more to resume his reign of terror. Entire villages were razed to the ground, their inhabitants reduced to smoldering ash.
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Alberic
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Sensing the great wyrm's unbridled rage, others of his kind began to rouse, and in such numbers as to blot out the sun with their wings. A deep, foreboding darkness swept over Ishgard.
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Alberic
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Raging infernos painting the belly of the sky an angry red... The agonized screams of innocents fading into deathly silence...
In my station as the Azure Dragoon, I was there through it all─bore witness to all the horrors.
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Alberic
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But there was no time to offer even a silent prayer. Nidhogg lingered in one place only long enough to lay it to waste, and when he took wing, so too did I pursue him, a man possessed. This game of cat and mouse continued for what seemed an eternity before I found myself face-to-face with the great wyrm.
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Alberic
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The battle unfolded in a tiny settlement on the edge of Coerthas, raging on for three days and three nights with neither side able to gain a decisive advantage. Remaining on my feet by sheer force of will, I realized that it must end now else it shouldn't end well.
Marshaling my last onze of strength, I wagered all on a single thrust.
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Alberic
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My lance struck home, burying deep in the ruin of my opponent's empty eye socket. Yet before I could withdraw my weapon, the wyrm lashed out wildly in its agony, dealing a blow that left me sprawled upon the scorched earth, nigh insensate.
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Alberic
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In that instant, I thought myself surely doomed...but Halone was not finished with me. Having lost the taste for battle, Nidhogg let loose a bloodcurdling roar before fleeing to the sky. The battle was over.
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Alberic
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While I did not perish from my injuries, they rendered my body unfit to bear the power of the dragon, and I was Azure Dragoon no more. Lying bedridden, my thoughts wandered to all the innocent lives that had been lost─the people I had failed to protect.
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Alberic
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That last conflict with the dragons of Dravania left countless orphans in its wake. Estinien is one of them, the sole survivor of Ferndale, the final village to suffer Nidhogg's wrath.
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Alberic
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With none left to care for him, I did the only thing I could: I took Estinien as mine own son, instructing him in the way of the dragoon when he was of an age to learn. Yet I would not have you think me noble. My actions were born not of compassion but of guilt. My guilt at having failed him.
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Alberic
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But alas, I have also failed him as a father. For what manner of man did I bring him up to be? A thief who would endanger the life of every one of his countrymen.
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Alberic
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Aye, you heard me right─all of Ishgard may suffer for his crime. Though we know little and less of the minds of dragons, it is conceivable that the disturbance surrounding his stolen eye will rouse Nidhogg to awaken once more. That his kin have already stirred from their slumber serves as fair warning of that.
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Alberic
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Time is not on our side. Fortunately, it would seem you are more than ready to embark on your next trial.
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Alberic
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Make your way to Witchdrop, where the knight Heustienne awaits your arrival. My nation is depending on you, [Player Name].
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Heustienne
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You are the one who would aspire to be Azure Dragoon? Why, you are not even of Ishgard! If you truly possess the power that Ser Alberic sees in you, then prove it to me with your lance. En garde!
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Heustienne
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That strength... I have not seen its like since Estinien himself stood before me. Mayhap Ser Alberic has the right of it, after all. Return and show your crystal to him─I have no doubt he will be pleased.
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Alberic
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You have passed yet another trial with flying colors, [Player Name]. The day when you may stand before Estinien as an equal is not far off.
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Alberic
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And when that day comes, the Eye will choose you over the traitor─I have no doubt of this. But we must be patient still. For now, you must continue your training. When you can do no more on your own, seek me out once more.
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Quest complete.
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