The Path of Most Resistance

Quest giver: Lina Mewrilah
Location: Kugane (X:10.3, Y:12.0)
Quest line: Return to Ivalice
Level: 70

Experience: 0
Gil: 1,262
Previous quest: Annihilation
Next quest: Welcome to Their Jungle
Patch: 4.5

“

The worried look on Lina Mewrilah suggests she bears grave tidings. Or not.

— In-game description

Steps

Ride the transport shuttle to the Prima Vista.
Speak with Mikoto.
Speak with Bwagi down on Kugane landing.
Speak with Bwagi again.
Speak with Montblanc.

Journal

Alma is unwell, but as to what ails her, none can say. Lina suggests you continue your conversation on the Prima Vista.
Jenomis is near a decision on where to take his next expedition, or at least so Lina believes.
According to Jenomis's newest findings, the auracite are creations of an otherworldly being sealed beneath the Orbonne Monastery - an ancient sanctuary deep within the heart of a Dalmascan jungle. During the principal's speech, Cid appears to deliver Mikoto a device she requisitioned the chief engineer to build, then leaves without as much as a farewell.
The device conceived by Mikoto is, in fact, a means of protecting Alma from the aetherial influence of Otius.
Former royal fusilier and sky pirate Bwagi invites you aboard his airship that he may take you to speak with a general for the resistance movement to which he and his companions now belong.
General Fran of the Dalmascan resistance group, Lente's Tears, promises her assistance in locating Orbonne Monastery in return for financial and military aid from both the Eorzean and Doman alliances, and the East Aldenard Trading Company.
Montblanc appears both frightened and excited at the notion of aiding the Dalmascan resistance in their plight against the Garlean Empire; though, perhaps you should speak with Jenomis first before sharpening your blade.

Dialogue

Accepting the Quest

Lina Mewrilah: 
 Greetings and salutations, [Forename]! I suppose you are wondering whether or not the good Jenomis has finally determined where in the world our next adventure is to take us...
 The good news is, he has. The bad news, however...
 Now, while it is not in my nature to be sensationalist, sensationalism is in my job description, so please bear with me when I tell you not all is right aboard the airship Lexentale. Something about Alma has me deeply worried.
  I would not trust this information in the hands of my publisher, let alone some sullen gate guard. Shall we continue our conversation on the Prima Vista away from inquisitive ears?

(Optional) Lina Mewrilah: 
 Principal Jenomis claims to have learned much from his continued study of the Durai Papers. Still, he appears to be frustrated at a lack of information crucial to solving the mystery.

In the Prima Vista

Jenomis cen Lexentale: The question is, then, where exactly did Ramza and his fellowship journey next? Ah, [Forename]. To what do we owe this unexpected visit? I had not planned on summoning you for another several turns of the sun.

Ramza bas Lexentale: I apologize if we have caused you any worry. I suppose one cannot allow a reporter in their midst and not expect her to report what she sees...though I did expect a tad more discretion from Miss Mewrilah. Alma has, as of late, been experiencing...difficulties with her health. Chirurgeons have been called upon to discern what exactly it is that ails her, but as far as they can tell, there is nothing physically wrong with my sister. The consensus is the rigors of an extended stay in a foreign land have taken their toll on her fragile heart.

Alma bas Lexentale: [Forename]! When did you─

Ramza bas Lexentale: Alma!

Alma bas Lexentale: I'm fine, Brother.

Ramza bas Lexentale: It is obvious you are not! You must return to your chambers and rest!

Alma bas Lexentale: Forgive me. Perhaps we shall speak again once I regain my strength. Until then, please... Look after my father.

Jenomis cen Lexentale:
Now then, where were we? Ah, yes. The matter of our next expedition.
As we discovered during our most recent foray into the Estersands, the Dalmascan capital of Rabanastre appears to lie upon the ruins of what can only be the Royal City of Lesalia─ancient capital of the lost kingdom of Ivalice.
Shortly after, we stumbled across remnants of the legendary Clockwork City of Goug cleverly repurposed into a lighthouse overlooking the Ridorana Cataract─remnants which now sit suspended above the fathomless chasm.
Lesalia, Goug. What have they in common, you ask? I shall tell you─they both appear in my ancestor's account of the rise of Ivalice: The Durai Papers.
And with each new discovery, this forbidden chronicle is now proving Ivalician legend to be more fact than faerie tale.
There is no denying the proof, and it is but a matter of time before scholars and historians from across the realm come to the same conclusions.
But as you all are aware, my aim has never been to simply prove the existence of Ivalice. No, I shall not rest till I have revealed the truth of young Ramza's role in King Delita's ascension, and cleared my ancestor Orran Durai of the false accusations made against him by the church.
Kugane's chirurgeons would have us believe she is in no immediate danger, as her illness is not one of the body, but of the mind. To borrow their words, her spirit is in a state of unbalance and merely requires time to right itself.

Ramza bas Lexentale:
Alma will be fine as long as she remains in bed. The last thing she needs is any further excitement...especially at the paws of these meddlesome mole-bats.
Though, I must admit, both Montblanc and his brother have proven more useful than I would ever have dared to imagine.

Montblanc: When it comes to usefulness, I am first in the field...or was it furriest in the field? Would you like to feel my fur, kupo?

Hurdy: And you wonder why Ramza despises you so, Brother! They do all the work, and all you do is jest, kupo!

Ramza bas Lexentale: Ah, but you are mistaken, Hurdy. I bear neither you nor your brother any ill will. Any further ill will, that is. If anything, I owe you my thanks for your recent contributions.

Lina Mewrilah:
His thanks? Are you hearing what I'm hearing? What happened to the venom-spitting adder we all used to know and hate?
Alma certainly seems pleased with the change, but forgive me for not buying into this all-too-convenient transformation.

Jenomis cen Lexentale: Simply showing the world that Ivalice actually existed will not validate the claims chronicled in the Durai Papers.

Ramza bas Lexentale: That is correct, Father. The key lies with Ramza Beoulve. If we can find evidence of his hidden role in history, it will prove Orran's testimony true and safeguard our family name from ridicule.

Jenomis cen Lexentale: Which is why I turned the focus of my research to Delita's forgotten companion and his actions during the War of the Lions. It was only then I discovered something most intriguing─an underlying struggle with an unknown force, a force with the power to bring about calamitous ruin.

Ramza bas Lexentale:
Auracite! The twisted abominations we encountered in both Lesalia and Goug─the Lucavi─they are born of these unholy crystals.
While nobles of the north and south squabbled over Ivalice's crown, Ramza silently sought to rid the world of a darker evil─evil manifest from the deepest desires of men and women whose minds had fallen prey to the auracite.

Jenomis cen Lexentale: And with each confrontation did Ramza's fellowship grow smaller. Countless companions lost to a cause that would go unwritten, yet was far more important than any clash of armies. And so did they endure, until reaching their final destination: the Orbonne Monastery.

Lina Mewrilah:
Oh, I know this one! The Orbonne Monastery is where Princess Ovelia was raised! There is a scene about it in The Zodiac Brave Story!
After Delita emerged victorious in his final campaign, he married the princess to legitimize his claim to the throne of Ivalice.

Jenomis cen Lexentale: Ah, I see someone has been paying attention.

Speak with Mikoto

Mikoto:
I sense that you are interested in the package Cid delivered. I have every intention to apprise you of its contents, but first I believe we should speak of Alma's condition.
Do you not find her illness all too timely? Jenomis and Ramza would like to believe that her bouts of vertigo are naught but a result of a mind fatigued, but the answer is clear: it is the auracite that plagues her.
Alma recently confided in me that she would hear her father speaking with the Otius, well before even his first foray into Rabanastre.
However, I do not think this entirely true.
Which is not to imply that Alma is trying to deceive us. Rather, I think she saw something that led her to believe her father was conversing with the auracite. Moreover, I suspect it was the auracite itself that granted her this vision.
You recall my hypothesis on distinct-frequency NRR-type harmonic vibrations and their tendency to promote aetherial amplification?
Or when I mentioned that despite being in the principal's possession for an extended period, the Otius exhibited none of the imprinting present in the Duma?
No?
The Otius has never resonated with Jenomis; it has always been his wife's pendant and its auracite shard─the Virgo─that fueled his passion for Ivalice.
No, the Otius is bound to Alma's deepest desires...whatever those may be.
The only reasons I can fathom that Alma has not fallen victim to the auracite's grasp is that her desires are not as strong as those we have witnessed in Argath or Ba'Gamnan.
That and the aetherial interference caused by other nearby shards.
I have explained all of this to Alma and recommended that she destroy the necklace, yet not only did she refuse, but she begged me to keep this revelation from her father.
And so I did the only thing I could: I devised a means with which I might impede, or at least lessen, the effects of the Otius.
This device, while still incomplete, will amplify the NRR wavelengths emitted by the Virgo. This should work to interfere with those emitted by the Otius, thereby shielding Alma from the brunt of their effect.

Back in the Airship Landing

(Optional) Montblanc: The city below is all abuzz with word of a Bangaa brigand loitering about the airship landing. Do you think it could be someone we know, kupo?

Bwagi: Apologies, [Forename], but I needed to speak with you...and you alone.

Montblanc: Oh don't mind me, kupo! I'll just be floating over here in perfect earshot.

Bwagi: Why you─! What makes you think I won't lay you low, right here, right now?

Montblanc: Because we're here to offer you a proposition, that's what! We need information on the Golmore Jungle, and thought a man as well traveled as you might be persuaded to provide some.

Bwagi: Golmore? You of all creatures should know that is Viera land. What are you offering, then?

Montblanc: Why, the opportunity to tell us what you know! Jenomis believes our next adventure lies beneath the jungle canopy, kupo.

Bwagi: <sigh> I should have expected as much.

Bwagi: Very well. [Forename], I came to ask if you would meet someone. Now it seems that someone may be able to assist Jenomis, as well. Seeing as you and the principal did right by us before, I do not see a reason why I cannot take both of you.

Bwagi: Let me know when you are ready to depart for Rabanastre. We will travel in our airship. The Prima Vista would draw too much unwanted attention.