You spend some time out in the city along with Vincent who treats you to some baked goods courtesy of the Culinarian’s Guild. While you’re out and about, he tells you about some of the happenings of the Arcanist’s Guild that have transpired in your absence, especially concerning your mutual roommate Mina.

She has spent some time assembling the adventuring foray that is meant to investigate the floating city of Nym very soon, though she was quite insistent on you accompanying them despite your insistence that it is fine to proceed without you. She has had difficulty finding front-liners, though, and wanted to know if anyone knew of any that were available. Typically, she’d enlist the aid of the Maurauder’s Guild, however they’ve recently been preoccupied with Sahagin resistance.

Of course, you do know a man perfect for the job, but you don’t volunteer that information just yet-- you wouldn't want to get anyone's hopes up. Instead, you offer that your carbuncle, Brick, is well-equipped for helping ward off bigger foes, information which he says he will pass forward to her.

On your way back to the guild, you ask how Mor Dhona went, and watch as exhaustion sweeps across his face.

“The Crystal Tower is possibly one of the most frustrating spires in all of Eorzean history!” He shouts, throwing his arms up. “The Allagans had so much knowledge at their fingertips, and it’s all been locked away! What I wouldn’t do just to spend a day within those walls…”

He explains that he spent time with a researcher, Rammbroes, who has begun to investigate the tower in an effort to find a way to breach its outer layers. Without better technology, however, it seems an insurmountable task. Before they can even approach the tower, they must first get through several elemental gates, and so far no amount of magic or knowledge they throw at it seems to work.

You see a fire in Vincent’s eyes that threatens to consume him whole, but he takes a breath after ranting about his situation and explains that like yourself, he has taken a step away from his work in hopes of time and a clear head providing better answers.

You have never been much of a historian, but your knowledge of the Allagan’s crystal tower is as follows: It is a massive monolith which pierces well into the heavens and absorbs energy directly from the sun to fuel...well, everything connected to the structure, but especially its defenses. Not you, nor nobody else alive, have any idea as to what exactly lies within, but any theorist worth their salt can tell that it must be filled with incredible arcane knowledge given that it’s within the already impressive tower to begin with.

Regardless, piercing ancient barriers that are powered by the sun itself is a little outside of your area of expertise, so you give a resigned ‘good luck’ to Vincent. He thanks you for the concern, and then asks to know more of what has been keeping you up at night-- especially given your great strides in the recent months.

When you explain your situation in full, he ponders on it for a moment, before giving you a piece of advice so obvious that you’re ashamed you didn’t think of it sooner.

“Why don’t you consult the guildmaster?” He proposes. “Or...barring that, at least an expert on whatever field you’re trying to copy?”

“I...haven’t met him yet.” You confess, though it’s not a fact you’re particularly ashamed of. Statistically, only 1/16th of arcanists ever actually encounter K’rhid Tia, as he spends most of his time out in the world, though the rumors of what exactly he does in this time are scattered at best. Periodically, he returns to the guild with some tremendous discovery-- the last was on a new type of Carbuncle, moonstone. However, K’yoko was able to also discover a new flavor of carbuncle, and it didn’t require retreating into the wilderness or ghosting those who would be your students.

Despite it all, you decide to give it your best go-- at least while you’re still waiting on Mina’s group to be finalized. Before you go, you first check in with Erden to ask if he can help with this mission. Unfortunately, he has been sent on another family trip...back to Ul’dah, and by carriage no less, meaning he will be entirely unavailable for the next few weeks. His mother apologizes for the inconvenience but makes up for it by giving you one of her legendary grape tarts, which turns even the darkest days bright.

Unfortunately, finding the guildmaster is an issue in itself, as he deliberately makes that a trial-- if he dares make a mark on the world, it is in the form of a riddle. You spend a few hours asking around, and instead you find a much better solution to your problems when the acting guildmaster, Thubyrgeim, takes a look at the peculiar rock that Himoto gave you.

"Ah, I see-- it's an aetheric lodestone."

"...I've never heard of such a thing." You rub your chin and examine it more closely. There doesn't seem to be anything particularly outstanding about it. “It just looks like a regular stone to me.”

"You can only tell because of how it influences the aether around it-- it indicates a strong crystal within that has fused with the rock that shells it.” She points to the staircase behind you. “See how the Carbuncles react to it?” Turning around, you examine a trio of them cower behind the wall, warily watching the object in question. “For creatures made of aether, crystals can be quite dangerous if they get too close! One such thing must lie within, though safely contained within this stone, it doesn’t pose any real threat to them-- it’ll just send them into a scurry!”

She offers to find out what aspect the crystal inside poses-- the most likely is earth, of course, but particularly valuable lodestones will be aspected in different ways. One reliable function for them is to craft elemental weapons, but they can also be used as a core piece of complex rituals. The marriage of crystal and stone means transmitting aether with the crystal is more reliable and safe than it is through air or wood, as less energy is lost to vibrations.

All of this sends your heart aflutter at the possibilities, though you decide to leave it in Thubyrgeim’s care since the biggest step forward would be learning how it can be used. To think, Himoto was able to tell at just a glance…

Your companion’s impressive feat aside, you instead divert your attention to the more tangible situation before you: The floating city of Nym. You are not foolish enough to let such an incredible hands-on experience pass you by, and are more than ready to help your roommate Mina with her mission. She has even graciously decided that all of the arcanists who aid her will be given written credit on any discoveries she finds, something which you and Vincent reciprocate without hesitation.

Some precautions are in order, of course. For one thing, the city is surrounded by floating islands, bound by corrupted crystals of air and earth. Secondly, the building itself is not in a sure state of safely, so you each equip emergency Lodestones, not to be confused with ‘Aetheric’ lodestones, since arcane research and inventions are nothing if not a jumbled, precise mess, which can be activated to safely teleport the bearer back to the closest aetheryte.

They are not to be used unless it is urgent, as the aether required to create even one is tremendous, let alone the toll it takes on the user. For Arcanists of your rank, however, their use is much safer than the alternative of plummeting to your possible death.

K’yoko is actually invited after whispers of her success with carbuncles make it around the guild, but she instead opts to stay behind to write a few papers on her very creation. Instead, she asks that Mina herself take the carbuncle and try a live field test, but does seem to stress that she must be very careful not to bring her child to harm-- safely in the backline, healing Brick and any other tanks you have managed to scrape together.

Mina initially seems hesitant, but warms up to the idea quickly when the Sapphire Carbuncle leaps directly into her arms-- in an instant, she is smitten as it bundles up using its own tail as a pseudo-pillow. Once she swears her life to protecting K’yoko’s baby, you all proceed by carriage toward Northeastern La Noscea, and join a camp stationed in Camp Bronze Lake.

Almost all of the palace’s internal structure should now be accessible, Mina tells you, and you can see the light in her eyes shine brighter than ever before as she explains every facet of the palace. Most of the rooms seem to have been kept air-tight during the flood with a few exceptions, so she is hopeful that the most important areas are still in mint condition. Even near the very top, there have already been hints of ancient arcanistry lost to the ages-- a veritable goldmine or new patterns and techniques.

Of course, this excursion will be posed with danger, but you are confident that you can hold your own with a repertoire of holy spells at your disposal. Rumor has it that the halls are filled with voidsent energies, which Mina informs you is a key reason she wanted to wait for you-- beyond your friendship, of course.

You aren’t entirely sure what to expect, but Mina tells you that you have quite a large team with you-- seven members in all, or ten if you count all the carbuncles. One marauder, the three of you, a conjurer from The Twelveswood, and two Hingan sellswords. She was too nervous to ask if they knew each other, since they were both hired in The Drowning Wench-- it seems rude to ask. One is well-versed in the Samurai arts, while the other is a trained ninja. Neither seem much for conversation, but she’s confident they will get the job done.

You have pretty good team synergy for your carbuncles, too. Brick is your frontliner, while Mina’s Sapphire Carbuncle, who she has begun to call ‘Sapphy,’ will be your backline healer for him. Vincent’s carbuncle, Emerald, will be your source of consistent damage, at least for dealing with crowds. Together, they also all cover the elements used by Gridanian conjurers, but it’s more of a fun trivia fact than anything relevant.

Since the Tonberries tend to be less active in the morning, you all decide it would be best to get a good night’s rest and storm the palace when dawn breaks. Mina spends a good chunk of the night recounting her experiences with Tonberries thus far to you so you can get as good of an idea as possible for the mission ahead, but before you realize it you have each settled into your nap sacks and let moonlight’s sweet embrace take you.