“Worry not, Erden.” Your sweet lips deceive,

“Wheresoever light or dark may tread

There will always be room for love,

And forgiveness to be spread.”

But time would show the fiction of your words,

Sweet and sentimental as they are--

Corruption festers everywhere

across this radiant star

To protect that which matters most, he yields,

Kept under the scrutiny of day.

The world watches with bated breath

Waiting for our strings to fray

- Khasar, 'The Pontified,' Part Three

The Scions are welcoming-- almost bizarrely so. You had expected the air to be stiff with tension, but the rapport is comfortable and kind. While not everyone is as eager to speak with Erden directly, most of them are happy to talk to you about your adventures thus far and, most excitingly, your research. Something that doesn’t escape your notice, however, is that Phekda seems to place a lot of weight on how Erden has ‘The Gift,’ which serves to excite most of the organization's members.

The Antecedent, Minfilia, invites both of you into The Solar to give you a lengthy introduction to The Scions’ very nature. Most of them remain in the hall to give you peace and quiet, but Phekda of course remains by Erden’s side the entire time, and S’olahr by yours.

Minfilia makes the Waking Sands feel like home better than any other. She is one of the very few members of the group who do not possess any combat skills, so it speaks volumes of her character that she is at ease in Erden’s presence. You were fully expecting at some point that they would awkwardly ask to take Erden’s axe, but this never comes to be. Instead, she delves straight into the root of their goals.

She begins by explaining the nuance of the ability known as The Echo, going into much greater detail than Phekda awarded you. You start to feel a little self conscious as the conversation goes on, being the only person in a room of five who does not have it. She emphasizes that this gift is highly rare, and yet…here you are.

The Echo grants the ability to transcend ‘the boundaries of the soul,’ a fantastical boon in itself, though it manifests in many different ways depending on the person. For reasons not known to scholars, the complexities of The Echo are largely case-by-case.

S’olahr, for example, possesses the ability to commune with animals, a highly unusual variant. Phekda, on the other hand, possesses the ability to peer into the past, though she has no control over its activation. Hers is unusual, and also grants her the ability to commune with any other intelligent creature regardless of language, and furthermore she will witness what other people’s echoes see as well. Minfilia herself similarly has the ability to view into the past, but nothing beyond that.

There are only two universal constants with regards to this power: The aforementioned transcendence of the soul, and the immunity to tempering, a magical influence exuded by Primals. Primals, also known as Eikons by most academics, possess the ability to pull anyone, regardless of race or species, under their magical sway, enthralling them into an endless and fervent worship. The aetheric mechanisms behind such a phenomenon are entirely unknown, as these supplicants are not known to patiently sit around and wait as researchers study them.

Eikons are also known to have devastating influences on the world around them. Since they are not truly corporeal, they constantly draw on aether from the world around them, most commonly in the form of crystals. Over time, this reduces the land to a barren, uninhabitable waste, thus bringing doom to whomever was foolish enough to call them forth in the first place.

With no cure for tempering, that means the only solution is to send forth those who possess The Echo, and are thus able to safely dispose of these threats, and those who summoned them. There are often deep, complex reasons behind the summoning of a primal, be it lack of resources, a desperate need to protect your home, or some terrible grief-- and under all but a few select cases, these are done by beast tribes as a last ditch effort to protect themselves from Eorzeans who are intruding on their land. That being said, there is not a single recorded instance of a primal being summoned in Eorzean history that did anything but make everything worse for everyone involved, where the summoned continue to demand more and more aether, no matter the method or the cost.

Here is where you start to get a better understanding of why this group was so excited to receive the two of you. You possess a penchant for spellwork and research, and Erden has this ‘gift’ and has proven himself a capable fighter. You suppose, then, that you should be extremely grateful that he has this power, as without it...it’s hard to say for sure how the room would read right now.

As a group, you don’t know for sure how powerful Erden’s echo truly is. When pressed, he remarks the only facet of it that he knows of is that it requires eye contact for activation, and that he can only use it around once a day, and to use it that often in itself causes him long-lasting migraines that he prefers to avoid. Phekda mentions that she can take him for a quick check on the ‘language barrier’ component, a feat which would serve him and the organization quite well.

Erden and her are dismissed, and you are of mind to follow, but Minfilia asks that you remain for just a moment longer. Once Erden and Phekda are gone, you make a point to mention that you are very thankful that the organization is willing to give Erden a second chance like this, and she returns this gratitude with a peaceful smile, remarking that the Scions are comprised of many adventurers and scholars alike, and that her focus is on the future rather than the past.

She informs you that you have been added to the retainer registry, and should you deem it appropriate, you will be able to employ a retainer through Limsa to manage items and money for you. Erden will receive a similar benefit after a bit more time has passed, as while they are happily willing to provide aid for all of their members, they need to ensure that he will not resort to further vigilantism-- something The Scions don’t condone.

Finally, she mentions that you will now have access to some of their academic resources in Sharlayan, though admits that their selection of tomes isn’t quite what it is in The Motherland. She welcomes you to investigate them for yourself while they are testing Erden’s Echo a bit further, and once it is concluded, the two of you will be given your first assignment. She says that you shouldn’t consider it as a ‘test,’ but then describes how it is basically like a test in every way. Should you be found wanting, they still would accept you onto the team as a researcher, but never mention what will happen with Erden. Probably for the best.

You are shown to a single modest bookshelf with books messily and haphazardly placed and let out a deep, loathsome sigh before getting to work sorting them all. In the middle of sorting, you happen upon a book a little too important to put back entitled Geomancy: A Comprehensive Guide to Hingan Arcana, which rather mysteriously lacks any direct authorship. (If any readers happen to know the author of this book please let me know!)

Your tail is flicking at a malm a minute before you are cruelly forced away from this groundbreaking discovery to instead complete your trial assignment. Phekda happily informs you that Erden can comprehend other languages without difficulty, something he just never realized due to his life spent mostly in Vylbrand.

Your first task is a bit monumentous, but also precisely what you expected it to be. You are to find who killed Louix, and then safely apprehend them for trial. You will be given full access to The Scions’ resources for this investigation, but you are also instructed to return to them immediately when you believe you have found your suspect, at which point you will form a small group to catch them.

S’olahr and Phekda will be working directly alongside you for this, though you are told that you specifically are free to move about on your own. As such, you propose a small split-up. You will go to Limsa to meet again with K’yoko and ask for her account on things, while the three of them can return to Gridania to investigate matters there. S’olahr can specifically discuss with the Conjurer’s Guild about the poison that may have been used, as that could prove vital in tracking back to the responsible party.

“Before we split up, I have a gift for the two of you.” Phekda pulls out two small blue crystals with a faint purple glow. “You are familiar with teleportation lodestones, yes?” You nod while Erden nervously smiles. “These crystals will slowly accumulate aether and can be attuned to an Aetheryte of your choice. When they emit this purple glow, you will be able to channel into them and teleport to wherever you have attuned to at no cost to you.” She hands one to you each. “The greater the distance, the longer it will take both to fill and to channel, so don’t depend on them for a quick exit! Also, try not to break them-- if the crystal is charged, that will cause the spell to go off instantly on whoever is closest.” She rubs her chin. “Ah, and these are specifically designed for teleporting one person, so nobody else will be able to follow you either. Do you have any questions?”

“Are they attuned already?” You stash yours in your pocket and Erden does the same.

“These were both made by The Goldsmith’s guild in Ul’dah, so they’re attuned there by default just to make sure they work.” Phekda crosses her arms. “I personally recommend attuning them to wherever you sleep, just in case an adventure leaves you too aetherically drained to teleport normally.”

“Sounds good to me!” You say your goodbyes and head down to the ferry and get one ticket back to Limsa, while the other three begin to make the trek back to Horizon so they can teleport from there to Gridania. Once the boat takes off, you quietly and sneakily pull the soul crystal that Erden gave you out of your pocket and take the time to inspect it a bit more closely. In your open palm under the dawn of day, it does not emit shadows as it did in Erden’s hand, and instead sits completely inert. After a moment of contemplation, you stow it once again and focus instead on the ride in front of you.