Draco: Okay, a quick perusal of my chosen wiki reveals that Monk, Bard, and Black Mage all have a quest at Lv45 before the Artifact Armor hunt. So that has precedent.
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Lv. 40: A Gleam of Death in His Eyes
Ayleth was wearing some somewhat sturdier mail than before when she returned to Camp Bluefog - and Zyaire had a grin on his face.
"Well, well, well," he mused. "You're making swift progress with those blades, aren't you? Keep this up, and soon you'll pose more of a challenge than any wild beasts." He shook his head. "For now, though, there's still worthy foes to be found. Why don't we go to Coerthas, and see what sort of challenges we can find?" Ayleth nodded. "In that case, I'll meet you at Camp Dragonhead."
He started off, and Ayleth made to inspect her equipment, not wanting to take off in armor on the edge of breaking.
QUEST ACCEPTED
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Zyaire was standing near the aetheryte when Ayleth arrived, and as she approached he took a deep breath.
"It's so cold in Coerthas," he admitted. "The snowy weather shocks you awake, makes you feel alive. And when you push yourself in this kind of environment, the heat of battle warms you right up." He shook his head. "But when the battle fades, the cold closes in again. It's dangerous to fight in this kind of weather for too long - I have no idea how the Ishgardians manage it."
He turned to face Ayleth. "Speaking of which, we'd best make sure we're not getting in their way. They say the man in charge of this camp is one Haurchefant Greystone, and unlike most Ishgardians, he's all too eager to greet travelers. Why don't you and I go pay him a visit, and ask where we can go that we won't endanger anyone else."
Ayleth nodded, and the two made their way into the war room on the east edge of the camp. They found the man they were looking for seated at a desk - a silver-haired Elezen in chain mail - and he raised his gaze in surprise as they approached him.
"Ah, the unmistakeable swagger of well-traveled adventurers," he greeted. "If you are come to pay your respects, be at ease, friends. I am not one to stand on formality. Truth be told, I would gladly welcome many and more brave souls like yourselves. But enough chatter - pray tell me why you have come."
"We've come to train ourselves," Zyaire explained, "by fighting whatever there is to be fought in Coerthas. That said, we'd rather not get ourselves or anyone else in trouble by interfering with Temple Knight business. Might I ask where we could find a challenging foe, without being in anyone's way?"
Haurchefant nodded. "Indeed you may. Today's a fortunate time for you, as there's been relatively little-"
"Lord Haurchefant!" The yell from nearby drew everyone's attention as a chain-clad knight charged in, panting. "A man returned from our patrol in Whitebrim - they've run afoul of a behemoth!"
Ayleth and Zyaire both started at that, and Haurchefant shot to his feet. "What?! How? Whatever brought them into its territory?"
"He said they'd seen someone traveling north, and the leader made to pursue!" the reporting knight proclaimed. "Said they could handle any heretics or dragons-"
"But he didn't think about the giant beastkin that every adventurer fears?!" Zyaire swung his arm down angrily. "Damned fool!"
He turned and charged out of the war room, the knight's "Wait!" unheard as he flung the door open. "Does he mean to strike down the monster to spare them?" he exclaimed. "The report said it was merely a juvenile, but it still overcame the entire patrol!"
Harchefaunt turned to Ayleth. "We can't let him face it alone! Let us hurry!"
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Ayleth and Haurchefant caught up to Zyaire before he reached the Behemoth's Dominion - and they did not like what they saw. A juvenile behemoth was still twice the size of a grown Roegadyn man, and knights were strewn throughout the battlefield, unconscious or wounded. A few were still standing, surrounding the beast, yet as the three newcomers arrived, the behemoth reared up and roared... and black comets descended on the battlefield, knocking their shields aside.
It charged towards one man who had been trying to flank it - and the impact of its horns threw the man a hundred yalms, leaving him to slam into the snow before Zyaire as his helmet and spear fell to the snow on different trajectories.
"...Impossible..."
His body went still, and Zyaire grit his teeth. "No... No!" He drew his blades with an angry yell. "Not again!"
He charged forward as Ayleth drew her own blades, and Haurchefant brandished his sword and shield as they advanced on the behemoth, furious. Zyaire began to carve at the beast with all the rage of a burning fire, swinging his blades furiously across its limbs and hide; Haurchefant drew the beast's attention by lobbing his shield at its head, and as it turned to the knight he reclaimed the plate and bashed it across the behemoth's horns, leaving it reeling. The swing of its claws was wide, and Ayleth made sure she was clear every time a leg started moving, but Zyaire was fighting like a man possessed, and soon the beast turned away from Haurchefant and slammed down, a blow that left him stumbling backwards.
"Faster...!"
He drove his blades into the behemoth's leg and then dragged them down the beast's body, wrenching them out at the point where its tail began. Haurchefant slammed his sword into the ground, and beams of light shot up around him, searing against the behemoth's body and drawing its attention back to the Elezen; Ayleth swiftly drove her blades into its back leg, then leapt clear when the beast swung its tail in her direction. As it was swinging back, Zyaire brought his blades down on the tail, but the Behemoth roared, turning to face him again and swinging its claws hard enough to throw him back.
"Faster!" Zyaire closed the gap with a cross-blow as Haurchefant tried to regain the beast's attention. "I have to go faster!"
Power seemed to surge up around Zyaire, and his blades seemed to shine as a single massive blade as he swung them once, twice, thrice, four times, five; a descending blow caused a wave of light to wash over the beast, which roared in retaliation. It reared onto its hind legs, as it had before, and Haurchefant and Ayleth leapt away from the descending comets - but Zyaire was too drained from his onslaught, and was thrown to the snow from the impact.
"No!" Haurchefant brought his shield forth in a ferocious blow before the behemoth could charge, drawing its attention back to him; as it lowered its horns for the rush, Ayleth swiftly leapt onto its back and slammed her blades into its heart. The beast reared again, but this time its roar was one of pain, and it soon fell to the ground, slain.
Zyaire was trying to stand by the time they were certain the beast was dead; one of the chirurgeons from the patrol made to approach the group as Ayleth and Haurchefant stepped up to him, and Cure magic washed over Zyaire as he tried to raise his gaze. "Are... Are the knights okay?"
The chirurgeon's face fell. "Two were thrown from the cliff before you arrived," he confessed. "And the captain was struck down just before you engaged the beast. But the rest of us are alive - wounded, but alive."
"...Good," Zyaire gasped. "That's... good." He managed to rise, though he wasn't upright for long. "I'm... ah... I'm alright. I can walk."
"Let's get you a bed to recover in," Haurchefant insisted.
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The knights and Zyaire reached Camp Dragonhead before Ayleth did; as she approached, she found Zyaire sitting on the edge of the bed, looking much better than he'd been in the snow.
"I'm sorry for what happened, Ayleth," he pleaded. "I shouldn't have dragged you into that." His gaze fell. "When that knight mentioned they'd wandered into the Behemoth's Dominion thinking they could handle whatever happened... I couldn't just stand back and let it happen again."
Ayleth angled her head to the side, not understanding.
"When I told you about my friends, and Amdapor Keep... I didn't tell you the whole story." His gaze fell. "The truth is, it wasn't just because she carried a shield when she didn't want to. We were all of us more confident than we should have been. Thought we could take on anything, thought we were capable of so much more than our usual fare."
He raised a hand before himself. "Deep down, I knew it wasn't true. That we weren't as good as we thought we were, that our biggest victories were as much blind luck as anything. But when our leader insisted we could handle it, and everyone cheered him on... I pushed those thoughts down. Right up until they all got killed." His eyes closed. "I've watched them die in my head time and time again. Kept telling myself, if I'd been better, if I'd been faster, I could have saved them."
He shook his head. "So I tried to get faster, to grow stronger on my own, before I tried to find new friends - and it didn't work. And then, when I found someone else to get stronger with, I end up in the same situation again - and it makes no difference. They all would have died if you and that knight hadn't been there."
→"We kept them alive. That's what counts."
→"Does it matter who did the saving if they were saved in the end?"
Zyaire smiled. "I guess you have a point." He got to his feet. "The chirurgeons have treated my wounds. I think I can make it back to Camp Bluefog."
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He did indeed make it back without too much issue, and it was pleasant to return to the warmer environment of Thanalan.
"I'm going to have to do a bit of training on my own," Zyaire admitted. "I'd like to make sure that behemoth didn't wreck me permanently. Take the time to get back to your adventures. I'd rather not keep you. We'll meet again when we're both ready for the next round."
QUEST COMPLETE
Draco: Yes, Haurchefant would be involved in the Lv40 Champion quest. Considering that Gundobald is involved in the Lv35 Dark Knight quest, "acting leader of a small settlement is part of the job quest" is something I have precedent for (and Haurchefant WAS just "acting leader of a small settlement" before the patches started coming out). And while Haurchefant dying in Heavensward would make the Champion quest incongruous with canon if you took up Champion after the middle of that expansion... so too does Estinien being a #GrandTheftMe victim make the Dragoon quests incongruous with canon if you take up Dragoon after the end of that expansion, so I have precedent for that, too.
Haurchefant's greeting for this quest would, by necessity, change based on how far into the "heretic inquisitor" plot of the Main Scenario you've gotten (and, consequently, his greeting when you meet him at Lv36 would change if you've completed THIS quest), but figuring out all the possible branches of dialogue for that is a bit beyond me. Based on my personal experiences with levelling rates, I'm going to be writing this quest as happening pre-Stone Vigil.
I'm not going to defend the Behemoth battle, and in fact I'll admit that this is at least partial wish-fulfillment on my part. I would have very much liked it if we had the option to face a Behemoth in an 8-man Trial the same way as we can face Odin. But I'm also not going to claim that this is a full-on proxy for the rare FATE like Urth's Fount is. As mentioned, it's a Juvenile Behemoth - young and smaller, not as potent as the FATE target or the Labyrinth boss. Mostly melee attacks, close-range AOEs; comets, but no meteors.
...Mind, if we did have an 8-man Trial with a Behemoth, the battle in this quest would be largely justified. The Summoner questline has battles with Ifrit-Egi, Titan-Egi, and Garuda-Egi that use many of the mechanics from the battles with the full primals, so a Juvenile Behemoth using many of the mechanics from the battle with the grown Behemoth wouldn't be too far out there.
