Of Men and Dragons

[HiirNoivl]

Bored, I decided to go Loremongering. I hadn't gone down this path on the forums before, because it's not a "Major questline" But it was an inquiry niggling in the back of my head for years.

It revolves around Damielliot, the sickly son of the Head Alchemist in Ul'dah and Morys, the Mysterious Conjurer.

Damielliot faints a lot, possibly due to Echo dreams, but the cause really isn't known. His fainting spells actually last so long that they're all afraid he'll waste away and die. That's when you wander in at the Alchmist Guild.

Sleep, Cousin of Death

Nogeloix: Among the patients here at the Phrontistery, there is one whose situation is far more dire than the others─young Damielliot, son of our own guildmaster, Master Faustigeant.

Nogeloix: His affliction is...a strange one. We are not entirely certain of its nature. For years now he has simply been taken with long fits of slumber, sometimes not returning to us for days on end.

Nogeloix: All here at the Phrontistery are making this case their absolute priority. We must discover an efficacious treatment before it is too late.

Nogeloix: It is known that an excess of sleep can wreak havoc with the humours. We fear Damielliot's condition may be worsening by the day. Please, aid us in our efforts.

* * * *

When you approach with the medicine, he wakes without taking it, complains of a "strange power" (assumed to be your presence) and falls unconscious again.

Afterward, you get a visit from Maelvaan's Gate, the Arcanist's Guild, asking to assist with a cure. While this seems to be a loose lore scrap, it's the only indication of the connection between Alchemy and Arcane Magic that exists in 1.0 as far as I can tell. In 2.0 Alchemy creates the books used by Arcanists.

* * * *

After that comes the part where you first hear of dragons in the story. The children think that he's dreaming of dragons and was telling them a story about them when he collapsed and refused to wake up.

Boy and the Dragon Gay

Damielliot: Ugggh... Dr-Dragons... No...
Soft-spoken Schoolgirl: Dragons!? Damielliot's dreaming about dragons! I'm sure he'll tell us all about it when he wakes up.

Soft-spoken Schoolgirl: I knew he wouldn't forget to finish his story. He was telling us about dragons last time. Before he fell asleep.

Soft-spoken Schoolgirl: There was a child, just like us, who lived in the forest. And then, one day, some bad people came down from the mountains and took him away. And they were going to try and ransom him back to his mother and father.

Soft-spoken Schoolgirl: They put him on a chocobo and rode north and north and ever farther─all the way back to the mountains. But before they got back to the bandits' hideout, a dragon appeared in the sky!

Soft-spoken Schoolgirl: It was so big that when it beat its wings it made a wind that blew all over Eorzea!

Soft-spoken Schoolgirl: And Damielliot said the wind was so strong it blew all the bandits off their chocobos! And it blew the little boy from the forest off his chocobo too, and then─

Soft-spoken Schoolgirl: That's where Damielliot ended the story that day. We're all waiting for him to wake up so we can hear the rest!

* * * You hear a similar story from a Bard named Penelope * * *

Penelope: Aye, I've heard the tale afore─that of the boy and the dragon. As I recall, the lad was snatched from the forest by bandits of the north before he was a man grown. Spirited him away to the mountains, they did. Yet dragons fly the northern skies, and the eyes of one such beast came to rest on our bandits and boy. It swooped down upon them from on high, wings beating and teeth gnashing.

Penelope: Screams of terror and blinding dusts filled the air, and as the young lad's chocobo reared and took flight with fear, he was flung from its back, and tumbled from the narrow pass and down the mountainside. Yet the gods spared his life, and he awoke sometime later at the base of a great, rocky ledge, wounded and broken and unable to move. Hours passed, and before long the foul beasts what roam the crags caught scent of his blood and began to close in all around.

Penelope: It was then, as the boy was making his peace with the Twelve, that another dragon, small and feeble, came upon him. Yet instead of tearing him flesh from limb, it charred and maimed and chased off the circling beasts, saving the boy's life. The tale ends with the dragon bearing the wounded boy on his back, and the two flying through the blue skies of the north together.

Penelope: A beautiful enough story for an Ul'dahn audience. But milord would do well not to regale a soul with it around these parts.

Penelope: For it has been branded a heresy by the archbishop in Ishgard, and his Holiness has ears even in this very wood.

* * * * * *

After that in the next quest, we have an interesting cut scene. You use the Echo to find Damilliot lying in Coerthas.


Dream on, Dream away -- Journal

Mumbling frantically in the midst of what appears to be a nightmare, you use the Echo to gaze into Damielliot's past. Where is this strange place it has brought you? Is there not a single soul to be found here?

You find Damielliot, injured grievously from a fall and unable to move. You must do what you can to help him.

Damielliot has given you a Frondale's all-purpose poultice together with an alchemical recipe. Use them to create a salve with powerful restorative properties.

Your successfully created a jar of Faustigeant's salve. Deliver it to Damielliot with all haste.

Damielliot tells you that he was kidnapped by a band of brigands from the mountains, but fell from a cliff when the group was attacked by an enormous dragon. Upon coming to his rescue, you find that the feverish, bedridden, nightmare-stricken Damielliot in the Phrontistery miraculously wakes from his coma. Go and report the good tidings to Nogeloix.

* * * *

This is by far the strangest Echo in the game. Echos are for informational purposes only. You can see what happens and even participate, but you can't effect outcomes. And even if you could, Damielliot was saved by something other than you, since there was no one around at the time and clearly he was still alive before you even got the echo.

Another inconsistancy is that the story had been around long enough for the Bard Penelope to hear about it in Gridania, the Archbishop of Ishgard to brand it heresy, and for the boy to be snatched "before he was a man grown". This seems to suggest a much longer period of time than Damielliot's illness actually lasted since he is still not a man grown at time of quest.

While he may have been kidnapped by bandits and seen a dragon, I don't believe Damielliot is the boy from the story. You're the one who saves him. He thanks you for it. There simply is no other dragon. So where did that story come from?

And why is Ishgard so interested in it to the point of putting "ears" in Gridania?

* * * * *

Good Knight, Sweet Dreams

When we start the Conjurer's guild quest, when you discover a man fallen in the woods, an Ishgardian knight. He's taken back to the Owls nest by Morys, a strange conjurer and you hear this explanation.

* * * *

Soileine: As you may or may not know, the nation of Ishgard lies far to the north and west of here, down the Furline.

Soileine: Long have her gates been closed to the world, and it seems the irreverence of her knights has fermented within their confines. They enter the wood as they see fit, hacking and slashing with reckless abandon, paying no heed to what their plate and chain crushes underfoot.

Soileine: This is no isolated incident. Trespassers are ever losing their way in the forest─at great harm to themselves, more often than not.

Ingram: There is something here which they seek. And I fear they will not stop until they find it.


* * * * *

So what are they looking for?

* * * *

Yuhelmeric: Hm? So it is other business that has brought you here. The knight found fallen within the Black Shroud?

Yuhelmeric: Yes, I am most glad that you found him before he could come to further harm. Thanks to the conjurer Morys, he is here now, and well. His strength returns with each passing day, and he is eager to brave the wood again once he fully recovers.

Yuhelmeric: He claims to have spied a dragon in the forest...though I grant such a report may owe more to wounds and weariness than fact. The elementals are not like to suffer such a creature in their midst!

Yuhelmeric: You may see him, and make what inquiries you will, should you so desire. Perhaps repeating his tale will remind the poor lad what a mummer's farce it all sounds.

* * * *

So you talk to the knight and the Echo goes off. You see a burst of flames and the knight in clear danger... but when you go to investigate all you see is Amberscale Rock.

The knight says: Newly Outfitted Knight: Wh-What happened? The dragon... There was a dragon─

Then... somewhere you hear: ???: More...time... Await me, master. We shall return to Ishgard...together

* * **

Who was speaking? How many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll Center of a Tootsie pop? The World may never know....

* * *

After the echo, the knight stammers an apology.

Newly Outfitted Knight: I beg of you, speak of this to no one! It will bring me naught but disgrace.

Newly Outfitted Knight: Conjurer Morys...the one who tended my wounds. I-I wronged him. I accused the conjurers of concealing a dragon in the forest. Please, tell him I am sorry.

* * * *

After you recount the story of what happened to the knight, Soleine babbles incoherently.

Soileine: You heard Brother Morys speak of returning? Odd, we have yet to see him.

Soileine: Gods... Perhaps his memory is finally coming back.

Soileine: I spoke to you before of the mysteries surrounding Brother Morys. But I was not entirely open. He was found some time ago, fallen in the forest. Not unlike the knight you yourself found.

Soileine: He bore no sigil or crest, and claimed to have no memory of how he had come to be there. Try as we might, our attempts to coax him into recollection yielded nothing. And so he began his life again, in the forest, as one of us.

Soileine: But it may very well be that we have picked up the scent at last. As you bore witness, Brother Morys felt the call of the fallen Ishgardian.

Soileine: Perhaps it was the elementals within the knight's metals whose voices he heard. If so, there can be no doubt that he is in some way connected to Ishgard.

* * * * *

Whatever voice was heard by Morys, you heard it too. Labeled only as ???, it talked about a "Master" and "Returning to Ishgard."

* * * * *

Ingram: Ah, so it was the elementals of Amberscale Rock, was it? Then it seems you have learned of Brother Morys's secret.

Ingram: Yes, Brother Morys was indeed a wildling. Very few of the conjurers are privy to this. Those who do know have been forbidden to speak of it.

Ingram: Once claimed by the wood, one undergoes certain...changes. Wildlings have great potential to become powerful, powerful conjurers. If knowledge of this fact were to become widespread, we fear many would allow themselves to be turned out of lust for power.

Ingram: But once claimed, wildlings can seldom be retrieved from the wood. And that is why you, too, must protect this secret, <Name>. Believe me, I would not ordinarily have asked you to bear such a burden. <sigh> If only I knew what the elementals were planning!

Ingram: But enough of that. Allow me to congratulate you. Having heard the elementals, you have taken your first step towards greatness as a conjurer. Go and report to Soileine.

**********************************

Yeah so, uh... what about the dragon?

The sight of flames bursting out of that cavern happened more than once. It doesn't take a brain genius to know that Amberscale Rock isn't just a dragon shaped formation. In the Cutscene from the echo in The Call of Nature we see fried elementals and such right before the young boy is taken away.

This is the boy, I believe, is the one from the boy and the dragon gay tale. Following on the heels of the boy from the wood and his dragons story, the newbie knight probably would assume that offing a weak and feeble dragon would be easy. But Morys is no longer a kid, but a powerful wildling conjurer.

Of course, it's not just Morys concealing him, but the elementals themselves, the elementals of Amberscale Rock keep Morys there in Gridania and ask him to wait. But why would they do that?

Hmmm... maybe someone can have fun helping me... or just as much fun tearing my little theories apart.

Either way, I'd like some help on this one.

[Myranda]

That's a lot of text. I may have missed a nuance or two in there but here are a couple of my thoughts:

Are you suggesting that the boy from the story is actually Brother Morys?? If not, then may I offer it as my own conjecture.

In Damielliot's case, his affliction could be that he was trapped in a dream state until we came along? Having heard the old folk tale of the boy and the dragon (so it predates himself), he was reliving the story in his dreams with himself as the boy, but his mind convinced itself that the dream was reality and refused to wake up in the real Eorzea as it was psychologically tricked into thinking his body was beat and broken. Our Echo then comes in and helps his dream-state body, restoring Damielliot's ability to separate dreams and reality and he snaps back to the waking world. Does that at all make sense? It definitely is one of the most confusing plots from v1.0 and I believe it has been discussed elsewhere before but more in the context of what is actually possible with the Echo. (i.e. maybe we can actually change the past??)

As for why Ishgard wouldn't like the story, that I think is a simple mission of propaganda for their holy war against the dragons. The tale tells of a dragon being friendly and helping the boy, whereas Ishgard wants dragons portrayed purely as evil creatures to be eradicated from the realm.

[HiirNoivl]

I think it is clear that Damielliot's echo is not a memory. But what was it? I don't even know where to begin.

As for Morys he is a boy in a forest when he was with a dragon... but there's no sign of brigands. So even in the case of him the whole story may not be true.

[Myranda]

As for Morys he is a boy in a forest when he was with a dragon... but there's no sign of brigands. So even in the case of him the whole story may not be true.

I wouldn't say the lack of brigands means anything. It could potentially be after the dragon fried them all to a crisp and carried him to the safety of the forest? The story just says they fly off into the blue so there's no real reason to expect this to be the case. And although Morys isn't so young as Damielliot, he doesn't seem terribly old either, so his age compared to the age of the story's first telling may be discrepant as well.

[Catapult]

Storytellers always like to take artistic license, especially in ambiguous parts and endings when it is based of a true story. Let's try changing a few things...

Penelope: It was then, as the boy was making his peace with the Twelve, that another dragon an elemental, small and appearingly feeble, came upon him. Yet instead of tearing him flesh from limb, it charred and maimed and chased off the circling beasts, saving the boy's life. The tale ends with the dragon elemental bearing the wounded boy on his back away, and the two flying through the blue skies of the north together he was never seen again.

Does that fit better with Morys? Taken by the forest as a wildwling, bound to the will of the elementals. "We saved your life, so you are now ours."

Given the (great) elementals in question dwell within the dragon-shaped Amberscale rock, a degree of draconic characteristics would be understandable.

[HiirNoivl]

Morys is clearly some sort of asset to the elementals. They refuse to let him leave for some reason, that not even Morys knows, but their hold on him is slipping and they have to beg for him to stay. Which may be Ingram's doing.

Wildlings are spoken of as condemned sinners, lost souls cursed to wander the wood forever. And maybe this is the case for some. But in Morys case it's more of a possession than a curse. The Elementals have some plans for him. The Conjurer's guild would love for you to believe their story about how they found a cute wildling and he just followed them home and omg please Elementals can we keep him?

But Ingram has to know something of his past. He's the one that informs you that Morys is headed to the Owls Nest, accompanying the Ishgard Knight, who accuses him of harboring a dragon. He hands you a mysterious bag in the cutscene of Call of Nature and sends you to go speak with the elementals. As you wander around wondering what to do, Morys shows up asking if you called him. But you didn't. You weren't even looking for Morys at the time. Whatever was in the bag must have had some connection with him.

Ingram admits that the only thing stopping people from becoming wildlings out of lust for power is the fact that Wildlings can't really be freed. So why not just try and free one? No masks and fruity dancing here. After his memory is jogged, Morys says he feels a pull towards Ishgard.

Likely from the mysterious formation. We don't know whatever happened to the poor thing. The dragon was already frozen in shape by the time you saw the kid banging on it, as if trying to wake it up. You never actually see it move. But until the newbie knight reflects on how nice Morys was and that such a nice guy couldn't be a friend of the dragons, he was convinced that there was one there.

If ??? that was speaking is the Amberscale Rock, and it does refer to Morys as its "Master"... and that they're to return to Ishgard "together", than Ishgard has it's own explaining to do regarding it's anti-dragon policy. If I were a dragon, Ishgard would be the very last place I wanted to go...

EDIT: Wow Catapult that's a great idea... but how do the burnt elementals you see at the entrance of the cave fit with that theory? The kid couldn't have harmed the elementals. He didn't seem hurt at the time he was taken, and from the looks of things, you were the one who prevented Morys from getting ripped to shreds by the wolves. So... I dunno.

[Anonymoose]

I'm really glad you made a forum post about this because I was never going to be able to reply in 140 characters and Damielliot intrigues me. We might want to talk a little about his appearances in the Ul'dah storyline, as well. He appears both in Echoes and in the present, and Calamity Cometh (LV13) is (if I'm remembering correctly) the first time you see him pass out.

Court in the Sands
In an Echo, Warburton is pronounced dead and Corguevais (the THM whose spell was broken by the horn, causing the Goobbue to rampage) berates Faustigeant (father of Damielliot and master of the ALC guild) for daring charge 1,500,000g (150,000 ARR) for his funeral arrangements. Damielliot enters and says that the cost of not burying the dead is much higher and the Echo ends. In this scene, Dami looks the same age as he does in present-day. I'd considered the possibility that Dami, too, was in our echo (as his father strolls right by without even looking at him) but this isn't likely. Corguevais recognizes him just fine, the two speak, and Damielliot later hires mourners to attend Warburton's funeral. He just ages slower than Minfilia, apparently.

Calamity Cometh
Upon mentioning F'lhaminn's condition to Damielliot, me stumbles over the words "Nanawa Mines" before getting dizzy and excusing himself because "his medication" makes him feel off. He starts walking away as we're pulled into an Echo. When we leave said Echo, we see he's passed out on the floor.

Moose's Note: If he doesn't have the Echo, it's possible that his mind was messed with as a result of the events surrounding Niellefresne and Warburton. Perhaps Corguevais...? After watching it again, I'm struck with the possibility that it was in fact Corguevais who raised Warburton, and by the time Niellefresne had the same idea, Warburton's coffin was empty and Warburton himself, now raised, ran him through as Corguevais left town with the information he wanted. Or maybe Dami is just sick and making "memories" out of dream and stories. We'll see. Ferne will be back eventually and he'll hopefully help us close the book on V1's questions so we can solidify Loremonger V1 and move onto ARR. (Who are we kidding? He'll probably be happy to see the story not go to waste...)

Sleep, Cousin of Death
Cut to the ALC quests 17 levels later. Damielliot has been fainting for years now, due to either awakening to the echo, being mindf[kupo!]ed by someone in town, or some third unknown reason we've yet to realize. The ALC guild sends you to Camp Black Brush to procure a mummified mole for use in a new theoretical cure. When you deliver it to Damielliot, he stirs for a moment. Now, this doesn't come up a lot, but Damielliot's reaction to you, as well as what his guildmates think of it, changes depending on a certain condition. There are actually two ways for it to play out! In one scenario, Damielliot wakes speaking of a strange power. The guild members say he sometimes rouses in the presence of adventurers. In the other, however, Damielliot recognizes you, "You... I know your face... Yes... it was... ten years ago..." and the guildmembers assume you two already know eachother.

The Boy and Dragon Gay
In order to wake Damielliot, you're sent to Gridania to retrieve Starfall Grass for another attempt at a cure. When he fell asleep this time, he was telling children the story of the Boy and Dragon Gay, and they eagerly await the rest of the tale. In Gridania, you meet with the guild;s contact, who tells you the whole story: a young boy who lived in the Twelveswood with his parents was stolen by brigands in order to be ransomed back to them. However, dragons destroy the brigand group and the boy takes a nasty fall. Before he can be finished off by beasts around him, a second, younger dragon rescues him and the two fly off together. Returning to the guild, you finish the story for the children and they happily let the guild members go about the business of preparing their next cure.

Dream On, Dream Away
Using the Echo to peer into whatever memory is causing his dreams, you find him injured in a cave in Coerthas. He begs for aid, giving you a recipe that you craft on the spot. The cure gives him strength and he stands, telling you that he was kidnapped and injured in a fall after the group was attacked by dragons. He hopes to return to his parents before the ransom is paid. When the Echo ends, Damiellot awakes, claiming that you saved him. The guild doesn't know what to make of it, but thanks you deeply. One member begins to mention that Damielliot did spend some time in Ishgard some years ago, but immediately cuts off, realizing that they shouldn't speak of it.

What really happened? No idea. The boy in the story was from the Wood, as far as we know Damielliot wasn't (unless he was adopted by Ul'dahns later... or the Guildmaster wasn't from Ul'dah at all...). The boy in the story was saved by a dragon and flew away, Damielliot was saved by... us? How does that work if we're not able to influence the past in an echo?

Anyway, let's move onto the Conjurer story. We looked at the whole ALC story so we can't isolate just one quest for CON.

Dendrological Duties
In exchange for blessing a recently hewn tree, the elementals wish for the fury of a pack of coywolves to be quelled by culling their numbers. Once you've cut your way through the pack, Morys arrives and tells you the trees have said you can stop and are pleased with the restoration of balance. You return to the guild, but Telent mentions that the conjurer you ran into, Morys, has not been completely accepted within their group because he is an outsider and many fear admitting that he hears the forest better than they. Only after you've completed the hunt does it become apparent that some elementals did not consent and thus the woodsin is about you... albeit a manageable amount.

Good Knight, Sweet Dreams
Sent to patrol the Twelveswood, Morys leads the way to where the wood reports great pain. Arriving at the source of the voice, you find a mass of elementals has knocked out an Ishgardian knight. Defeating them (which I thought was a crime but apparently it never comes up), Morys recognizes his voice as the caller, seemingly surprised. He bids you contact the guild, who send a group to check on him. Morys escorts him back to Owl's Nest (an Isghardian fortification), and you are sent to ensure everything is alright.

There, you use the Echo on the knight to see if he truly did see a dragon in the wood. In the echo, we do see and hear the stomps of a large creature and the deep ragged breathing of one as well. Fire erupts from the cave as the knight dives for cover, but when they go back to look again all that remains is Amberscale Rock (which looks like a dragon, at least...) Before the echo ends, we hear an unknown voice whisper: "More... time... Await me master, we shall return to Isghard... together." After the echo, the Knight admits that maybe his imagination got away from him and bids you apologize to Morys for his accusing the Conjurers of concealing a dragon in the wood. Morys, however, feels compelled to learn more about Ishgard and to "return." Back at the guild, you learn that Morys was found, memoryless, in the wood not unlike the knight. They consider the possibility that he is connected to Ishgard and was called to the aid of the knight by the elementals in his armor. However, Morys returns, talking cryptically of the one home to which he can return.

The Call of Nature
In your studies, attempting to hear the voices of the wood, you come across Morys in the forest again. He hears the beckoning voice, yet again coming from the same area as before. He resolves to return to Ishgard, heeding the compulsion within him. However, as he attempts to march there on foot, the Spirit of the Wood, one of the ancient elementals, recalls him and transports him back to Amberscale Rock. While we don't learn what the rock is or how it got there, we do learn that it is home to ancient elementals that have laid claim to Morys, making him one of the true Wildlings. This time, we Echo Morys. In this vision, we see an eruption of the same flames we saw before, scaring away a pack of coywolves. In the cave, ancient elementals are burned and dead, the boy bangs on Amberscale Rock to no avail. Another ancient elemental appears and spirits him away. The Echo ends and Morys awakens. He remembers now that he is a wildling and returns to the guild. Back in Gridania, Ingram admits that Morys' status as a wildling is kept very secret among even them, for if people knew how powerful of conjurers wildlings could become, they might seek to anger the wood simply to be turned.[/HB]

WHERE DOES THIS LEAVE US?

Believe it or not, I think you're right. I still don't know what the hell is up with Damielliot, but Morys may very well indeed be the boy from the tale.

Perhaps, after being saved, the boy from the wood and his dragon retreated to the forest together. They hid the dragon in a cave, where it feasted on the wolves of the wood. This angered the elementals, who set upon the dragon as they would anything that wreaks havoc on the balance of life in the forest (remember how it's said in the quest that they don't differentiate between man and beast?). However, the dragon slew these elementals as well, burning them alive with intense flames.

Furious, the ancient Spirits of the Wood sealed the dragon in stone, encasing it in what is now called "amber." The boy was beside himself, banging on it in hopes to free his friend, but the Elementals would have none of it. They claimed him as their own, wiped his memory, and refused to let him return... The Ishgardian knight saw the rock for what it was, recognizing the shape of the dragon in the darkness. However, the elementals didn't want it disturbed and attacked him. The dragon remains encased, awaiting the boy's return... Perhaps it is the dragon who wanted to use the boy to infiltrate Ishgard...

This brings every single element of the CON story full circle - the appearance of the wolves and explanations of when they numbers can be culled without angering the elementals, Amberscale rock itself, the voice in the cave, why Morys is compelled to go to Ishgard, the Knight's accusations... it's all accounted for. For all we know, the dragon was manipulating Morys and the Elementals are giving him a more meaningful life.

Now... what the hell is up with Damielliot?

[Catapult]

Nice job at pulling that together, Moose, although I reserve the right to pick holes after I've read through the text again (it's been about eighteen months).

And I confess I never got to play through the ALC quests. ;_;

[Skies]

Uhn... Moose

Remember that in one of the latest trailers for ARR

Features a large yellow dragon in a forest? That pretty much runs away the moment you the player sees him?

I'm making a wild guess here but... Guess who the Calamity woke up?

[Rocl]

Uhn... Moose

Remember that in one of the latest trailers for ARR

Features a large yellow dragon in a forest? That pretty much runs away the moment you the player sees him?

I'm making a wild guess here but... Guess who the Calamity woke up?

Alas, if it were so, it'd be a much nicer fit.


Amberscale Rock currently exists as it did pre-Calamity !

The dragon you speak of is Aiatar from the Brayflox's Longstop dungeon in La Noscea; it even begins with her in the forest and as your party approaches she flies off