Dear Dee:
Being from Ilsabard, you would think I might know something about Garlemald, but you would be wrong. Sure, Shedell is part of Ilsabard, but we are far south, nowhere near the snowy wastes of the northern area of the continent. I honestly have never had the remotest of inklings to visit there and why would I? From what I have heard, it is not a pretty or pleasant place to visit. But thanks to this damn Echo I have, it looked like I was going to get my chance to see if that was all true.
After that fiasco with the school, I was informed by Krile that an Eorzean task force was forming to both deal with the Telophoroi and assist those in Garlemald that were affected by the chaos there. And of course, being the Warrior of Light, they wanted me to assist to deal with what I am sure would be well, everything. I, of course, did NOT really want to go, but I did not say that. I knew that saying that I would be seen as a callous bitch, (aren't I already?), and agreed to go to the meeting being held in Limsa.
Upon entering the command chambers a surprising sight awaited me, all the female leaders of Eorzea were there to greet me. I don't think I have ever seen them all together outside one of those grand meetings everyone seems to love. This was no social call though, just another meeting without the 'grand' title in it, and of course I got stuck in it, typical. I swear Dee, WHY do I keep getting included in these things? I keep telling them, don't care people, just command me to do things like you ALWAYS do; it's not like Hydaelyn gives me any choice to refuse them you know.
Anyway, I won't go into the particulars here Dee. They just talked about the Garleans and how we had to both deal with them and um, help them? Honestly, this kind of surprised me, but on reflection I guess it shouldn't. Not all Garleans are soldiers, many are just innocent civilians caught up in this mess. I cannot imagine what they are going though, but it seemed I would soon find out.
Through mutual cooperation, the Grand Company of Eorzea decided to send that task force I mentioned earlier and they wanted me along. Going to Ala Mhigo, I met those who would be coming along with me and let me tell you Dee, it was a LOT of people, some who I had not seen in a long time. Others, like the Au-Ra from the stepps, and that pirate who wanted to kill Mer, surprised me. Lucia, another one who I have not seen in a while, was leading this whole thing. Not a bad choice since she was, you know, a Garlean and Livia's sister.
Group put together and provisions gathered for the journey, we were soon ready to head up north. Thank the Twelve there were no boats this time, only airships, which of COURSE ruined my hair style, sigh. I swear Dee, travel just HATES me.
One thing I totally forgot about this, though everyone kept mentioning it, was the cold. Being from Ilsabard, one assumes I knew about all it, but they would be wrong. I was TOTALLY not prepared for HOW cold it was Dee. I mean I spent lots of time in Ishgard, but Gods, it was WORSE! HOW do the Garleans deal with this crap? I bet the soldiers cheer when they get assigned far far away from this place and groan when they have to come back to it.
So yeah, it was COLD and I have no idea how long I was stuck here, sigh. At least I brought my warmest dresses and tights with me, no Spring dress here. Not that it would make that much of a difference what I wore, from what I have seen of Garlean fashion, they cared more about covering up from head to toe than any elegance. No matter what I wore I was going to stand out.
So Dee, big Eorzean force heading toward Garlemald, do you think they would mind that we were coming? Of COURSE they did! Yeah, there was a BIG reception waiting for us and boy did they make us NOT feel welcome. We could not be mean to them though, at least TOO mean because of the whole tempering thing. Many were fighting against their will, so it was try to disable their machines and subdue them. It took some doing, but we were able to win with the help from the others on our group. Who know that that crazy bloodthirsty Sadu would win the day with her weird mystical abilities? Not me, THAT'S for sure! I still remember when she tried to use it on ME!
Battle won, we soon got to a town with some strange Garlean version of an aetheryte. The place had been totally abandoned, so we decided to use it for a main camp. The cold was REALLY affecting people, not to mention seeing that huge ugly black tower on the horizon. I will tell you Dee, this was not a pleasant place, not at ALL! I Being a heroine has it's downsides and it was REALLY rearing it's ugly head right now.
Lucia soon called a meeting to discuss what to do next. Getting warm was a BIG thing on people's lists, so many were tasked with getting the heaters in the buildings working. Not being, you know, mechanically inclined or anything, I got stuck with scouting the icy wastes. Gee, where have I done THAT before? Grrrrrr, and believe me Dee, I sooooo told Lucia how thrilled I was with doing it, again. She pointed out though that doing this was to try and find any Garlean civilians that might need help. Saying that kind of quieted my objections.....kind of.
So me, Alisaie, Alphanud, and that fool Emma...(yeah Dee, believe it or not, HE came along on this thing, Twelve help us all), to scout and see what we could find. Surprisingly, we got lucky and spotted a pretty blond in a rather nice dress walking through the wastes. Intrigued, I followed her to a house where she was holed up with others who had escaped the tempering effects of the tower. This girl, Licinia, and the others looked really bad off, they were cold, hurt, and starving. Using some of the heating medicine Emma gave me, I used it to help them feel better. In return they gave me some information about what had happened and it was not good. It sounded a real mess Dee and honestly, we had a real uphill battle ahead of us.
One unusual thing the group also had was a thing they called a 'radio', used to transmit information as well as music. It was an odd device and of course, I had NO idea how it might work. Just another unusual piece of Garlean technology, though kind of useless right now.
Licinia also told me of some workers that were hold up in a camp nearby that produced the ceruleum that powered up everything. She said they might give some up in exchange for supplies, so Alisaie and I trudged through the ice wastes to see what I could find out. The men were NOT thrilled to see me, but I convinced them the 'Anna' way to let me into the camp. While there I found out that these men were not Garleans, but people taken to do the drudge work. They were also thrilled that the empire had fallen and wanted all that were left to rot and die. It was a rather callous opinion, but I could not fault them Dee. The Garleans had wronged these people and seeing their captors suffer was Karma in their eyes.
Telling them that we would want to establish trade for their ceruleum convinced the workers to give us some to give to Licinia in a show of good will. But when I returned with the goods, I found all was NOT well Dee. All was silent with no one in sight, not Licinia, not Alphy, not the other Garleans, no one. I did not like this, not one bit. A little searching found some of the others, dead at Alphinaud's feet, the others on the ground hurt. It seems Dee that they had attacked him when we were gone. Questioning them, the refugee said that he did not trust us one bit and they all would rather die then have the invaders foul magics taint them.
I asked what had happened to Licinia. He replied snootily that she had fled with her sick sister into the wastes to protect her. PROTECT her? from US? Was he KIDDING? Not wasting any time, Alisaie and I rushed out into the wastes again to try and find them....
Dee, we found them...Licinia and her sister dead and cold on the ground; hands held, the sister having bled out, her dried blood pooled around her. I....I just stared at them, not knowing what to say, what to think. Luckily Alisaie did, and we took the bodies back to the house to be buried. Then in total shock at what had just happened, the three of us made our way back to the camp to report on what had happened.
Dee....she didn't trust me...why? WHY didn't she let me help her, SAVE her sister? WHY? I could have done it, saved them both For once, someone would not have DIED on me! Died like.....Tesleen....
NO, this was not like that at ALL! Tesleen died a heroine, Licinia died a coward. She made a stupid choice and along with her sister paid the price for it. Her and her companions bullshit xenophobic ways doomed them, and I will not cry over someone dying this time Dee, I will NOT! I cry over people who died for no fault of their own, for those who made heroic sacrifices for others. I cry for those who were victims, who had no chance to save themselves. Licinia DID have a chance to save everyone in her party, had a chance to get her sister the care she needed to live, and she failed them, she failed them all........
If this is the crap I am to witness, to experience, then why the hell am I even here? It's pretty damn obvious to me that these people don't want our help, don't give a shit if they die off. Hey, better than getting 'TAINTED' by the 'impure' foreigners, right? Hell, maybe those miners were right Dee, forget the Garleans, let them die, it's what they deserve.
Sigh, I'm sorry Dee, I'm just so mad, so upset right now. Maybe I better stop this before I write more crap I will end up regretting later. Maybe a little rest will clear my mind and change it.
But will it Dee? Or will it just reinforce the feeling that this is all just a colossal waste of time, for me, for everyone.....
Till next time;
Anna
