Summary: Garuda was summoned and the lands were in danger. With the Scions of the Seventh Dawn either massacred or captured, it falls to Rhea de Baphineaux to return to her homeland in a desperate search for Cid's airship, the Enterprise. However, like all things Ishgardian, nothing is simple and soon her homeland's internal strife's threaten to draw her in. Her only hope to stay the course? A knight of House Fortemps and the assistance of a kind lord of House Haillenarte.
Author's Note: Our story begins a short time after the massacre of the Waking Sands at the hands of Livia sas Junius, when Rhea finds herself returning to her homeland in search of Cid nan Garlond's airship, the Enterprise.
Knowledge of the Main Story Quest of A Realm Reborn (ARR) is highly recommended as there is little in the way of an introduction into the MSQ storyline from the beginning.
Returning home to Coerthas came with its challenges. Rhea knew this to be true the moment she stepped back into her homeland. It was because of this, in dealing with the Knights of Durendaire at the Observatorium, Rhea had chosen to keep her identity a secret - even if it meant she was subjected to suspicion as an 'outsider', it was too risky otherwise.
The elezen knew informing others of who she was would likely expedite her quest to find the airship she needed to stop Garuda but in doing so, she knew it would call attention to her family. She certainly didn't want her mother's involvement in these affairs - they were messy enough - but she also didn't wish to bring harm to her family from the Garlean Empire. She was already a target - the Scions had been killed or captured because of her, her 'Echo' and her ability to fell the Primals. She couldn't bear for her family to end up the same.
This was to be a simple 'in-and-out mission' and as such, Rhea didn't expect the subsequent events that would suck her into the internal strife and politics of her homeland. She should have expected it but trying to stay out of it was not in the cards.
As an Ishgardian, of course Rhea took claims of heresy very seriously but something with how the rosary she discovered was found, and having known of Lord Francel's honor and devotion being raised as she had been, made her suspicious of the accusations. Rhea knew she needed to stay out of it but she couldn't let a man, known to be devout and honorable, not be warned about accusation which could claim his life.
So when she was encouraged to warn Lord Francel of House Haillenarte, she did so without hesitation. Were her true identity to be discovered, it would prove perilously dangerous to her own house but she couldn't stand by while innocents were harmed or accused. Could Francel be a heretic? It was possible but she doubted it.
To get embroiled in her homeland's holy war would distract her, possibly indefinitely, from her quest to find the airship and stop Garuda from hurting her people and the land. Yes, the dragons were dangerous but the rest of Ishgard was focused on them and the heresy problem with no eye to the primal threat. She was the primal feller. She had to keep her focus.
So it was that she warned Lord Francel and, in turn, he thanked her with a letter of introduction to a 'Lord Haurchefant of House Fortemps' at Camp Dragonhead. She prayed he would be of help in her endeavor and she could be on her way as quickly as possible.
With letter in hand, she departed for Camp Dragonhead.
Every noble had heard, at least peripherally, of Lord Haurchefant Greystone - the illegitimate son of Count Edmont de Fortemps. The Lord had reportedly worked his way up through the knights to be positioned as the Commander of Camp Dragonhead, making a prominent name for himself. However, that was the extent Rhea had known of him, at least, and truth be told, she'd never paid that much attention to it or other such things. The politics - widespread and societal - were something she was aware of intellectually, but growing up, she'd left the passion of getting involved in all that to her twin brother. Her mind had always been set on the lands outside of Ishgard, and her adventures with their father, rather than within. Besides, he was a Fortemps and her family served House Dzemael and the two Houses were, needless to say, quite at odds with one another.
Yet, meeting Lord Haurchefant for the first time was not like she expected. Most lordlings she'd met were all pomp, ego and heightened opinions of themselves with little thought to those outside of themselves except in how they could be helped by others. Yet immediately, Lord Haurchefant, was different. Even not knowing Rhea's true identity, thinking her only an outsider elezen, he was warm, welcoming and inviting. A true host and a man to bring honor to the name of Fortemps and to the Holy See. He was jovial with a seriousness beneath the surface, a kindness in his eyes and a true consideration for the words of all who came to him. She'd seen as much waiting for an audience and then with her own interaction with him.
Just upon first meeting, she knew he was special and different. She could see why the men surrounding him looked upon him with such fierce loyalty. She, herself, felt a pull to him like she'd naught found towards any other. And, by the way Lord Haurchefant returned the look, she wondered if he had felt something similar. Yet, for all he was charming and welcoming, Rhea could not be distracted from her quest.
The people of Coerthas, though they didn't know it, were in danger of something just as great as Nidhogg and his brood. If she was to save them, and find a way to rescue her friends from the Garleans, she knew she couldn't get distracted - not by the politics of her homeland nor by the very warm and charming lordling who welcomed her so readily into his camp.
So it was that Rhea, with the aid of Lord Haurchefant, dove deep into her quest to try to find some information on the airship . She prayed Halone was on her side and this would be quick. She needed to be out with the airship before the weight of her country sucked her back into its thrall.