Fire in the sky

Dear Friends,

The time for the grand rite has come, and so have the moogles! Who would have imagined, but the moogles did accept the children's invitation after all and showed up for the ceremony.

As we were all standing on stage with our masks on, I caught the outsiders mumbling to themselves about spilling the beans on some "great secret" that the elders of Gridania were keeping from everyone. Before I could hear more, the rite had started - then all manners of hell broke loose. Dunstan collapsed to the stage.

 I remember rushing to help him when suddenly there was a brilliant flash of light, then as if in a dream, I found myself and the outsiders somewhere deep in the Black Shroud of the Twelveswood. Confused, we noticed just a few feet away there was a conversation between Khrimm and a group of adults, Dunstan included. It appears that somehow we were seeing the moment right before Khrimm set that tree on fire! He was arguing with them, about keeping secrets and lying about the wildlings. I got the impression that this band of people he was talking to are some of those  that have gone "missing" from Gridania.

As soon as the mysterious vision began, it was over, and I found myself back on the stage surrounded by everyone. I looked to my right and I saw Fye kneeling next to Dunstan. He sat up and smiled at her. Also, Khrimm seemed to be awake and lucid! E-Sumi declared that  Khrimm and Dunstan had been saved!

The celebration was short. For at that very moment the sky darkened suddenly, in a way I've never seen before. It sent chills up my spine... Lightening began to flash through the clouds, and then out of nowhere, the clouds swirled into what appeared to be a fiery vortex! A blazing projectile spewed forth from the vortex and streaked fiercely across the sky. I could tell by the look on brother E-Sumi's face that this was NOT something he was expecting to see.

I caught Dunstan whispering to himself: "So it has begun." Oh, what I wouldn't give to know what secrets these people are keeping. I fear that something VERY perilous is on the horizon. The outsiders seemed to know more then meets the eye as well. I heard the Lalafell, Papalymo, mention something about "The Echo". I tried to hear more, but I suddenly found myself overcome with vertigo and, well... this is a bit embarrassing, but I blacked out!

When I awoke, I found myself in a room at the adventurer's guild. Miounne, the owner, advised me that my expenses were seen to by my friend, and that he also suggested that when I was ready, not matter when that might be, I should stop by the "Waking Sands" in Ul'dah.With that, she left me.

One of the first things I did, after getting back on my feet was to seek out Spark. He mentioned that he had seen the fire too. However, he claims that he did not have anything to do with getting me to the Canopy after I passed out. What "friend" was Miounne referring to? Oh, I hate all this mystery!

~Kiji

The truth is out there...

Dear Friends,

Well wouldn't you know it... danger certainly has a way of finding me when I'm completely unprepared for it! Remember when I said I was skeptical about the existence of the "elementals"? Well forget that! They are most certainly real...

I know this because I had to face one in combat! It started when we found Khrimm... We caught the little bugger standing in front of an ancient tree that he had set ablaze! Also in the vicinity were the two outsiders that I rescued during the airship crash. The whole scene was quite suspicious. But honestly, before I could think on it very much, a forest spirit emerged from the burning tree. A bunch of us from Gridania engaged the elemental and warded it off. But poor Khrimm was left in some type of catatonic state...

Sadly, Fye did not take the news very well. I've figured out that the mask she was attempting to fix was for her brother Dunstan, the one who has been lost to the forest. As if the loss of her brother wasn't hard enough on the girl, now her friend Khrimm may be lost to her as well.

Well, just as I pondering this tragic turn of events, the word begins spreading through town that Dunstan has been found and returned to the Gridania. It seems that the outsiders discovered him deep in the woods and together with some of Gridania's soldiers, escorted him to town.

After a brief meeting, it was decided that a grand rite would be held in attempt to clear him of his woodsin and allow him to remain in Gridania. I have to be honest, watching Dunstan and E-Sumi (one of the horned conjurers I mention earlier) talk, I get impression that there's some secret between them... I'm not quite sure what, but I suspect that there's a lot more to the "wildling" business than meets the eye. Plus, some things said between E-Sumi and the outsiders lead me to believe that they may just be spies for the Garlean Empire to the north!

~Kiji

Dangerous Times

                                                                                Sonata

            

Dear Friends,

I wanted to write to let everyone know that I am doing well. Gridania is being very good to me and I'm happy to report that I am making progress in my alchemical studies! However, it is with sadness that I must relay this horrible news. The new friend I mentioned in my previous letter; Pinot, appears to have gone missing.

After a day or two of not seeing him around, we fear that he may have been slain in the forest outside of town. Some of my shellmates suggest that perhaps he was taken in by his woodsin and turned into one of the "wildlings" that people here in Gridania speak of so often. That would be terrible! With these thoughts fresh in my mind, I have been focusing on improving my combat abilities quite a bit. I hate to admit it, but I've actually been slacking a bit on my study of alchemy. But in times like these I feel that safety is a first. It is important to defend oneself against the terrible things that lurk outside the safety of town.

On a much happier note, my exploits in working for the adventurer's guild have blessed me with many spoils. So many in fact that I've had a hard time finding buyers for many of the items that I don't need. Luckily I have found a solution! The good people at the Carline Canopy have helped me employ a nice young Elezen lady to tend to the security and sale of my property! Her name is Sonata and she is more than happy to work directly for me spending her days in the Market Wards selling the things I don't want and buying the supplies that I do need! Of course, she is receiving a percentage of all the sales and transactions, but that's only fair.

I still have not received my cleansing ritual- some of my new friends are very concerned about this. They worry that the woodsin that clings to my spirit may overtake me. But I'm not so sure anymore. I'm starting to become very skeptical about all of this "elemental" business. I did stop by the carpenter's guild to be fitted for my ritual mask. In fact, while doing so I met the young woman Fye that the moogles told me about. Her's is a sad story indeed. It seems that her brother was contaminated by woodsin as well and even though he had undergone the cleansing ritual he was changed into a wildling and vanished into the twelvewood. The girl had taken his ritual mask to the moogles for repair, thinking that the mask was broken. Why else would the ritual not have worked properly? Upon meeting her- she implored me to talk to the moogles again and ask them if there was anyway to save her brother Dunstan from his fate. Fye has a friend, a very rebellious young man; Khrimm, who doesn't seem to believe in the elementals. While I was seeking out the moogles to comply with Fye's request. I found him in the deep of the woods chopping and wounding many of the great trees there. The moogle I was speaking with was very distrught over his behavior! All that aside, the pudgy little moogle I spoke to did claim to confer with the elementals and he gave me a message to take back to Gridania: They want Fye to stay out of the forest. How unusual, don't you think?

Anyways, my delivering this message seems to have caused quite an uproar in Gridania. Apparently, the elementals never speak to anyone, even through moogles. So the fact that I was given this request is quite a big deal. I was asked to speak at the Archer's guild to relay my story to them. Afterwards, they explained to me in the utmost confidence (so don't go telling everyone!!!), that Fye's brother Dunstan has been discovered to be the one that brought down the Hedge on the day of my arrival. They are worried that in his "wilding-form" he is trying to track down Fye and take him with her. They have implored me to help them hunt him down for the safety of Fye... I don't know what to do. Something about all of this just doesn't seem right. So far there's no word on Dunstan's whereabouts. So I suppose I'd better continue my training, as it seems I'm going to get stuck in the middle of all this nonsense one way or the other.

I will close this letter with a bit of good news. My old friend Victorino Sparkajen has written me! He is planning to come to Gridania as well. In fact, he is expected to arrive in just a few days! It will so nice seeing an old friend. Perhaps, the two of us will even team up in our adventures!