#I put too much work into figuring out how Garleans would date journal entries

[ecosystem-administrator]

Envoy

Timeline: 4.2-4.3, Stormblood MSQ spoilers

A few journal entries from one Maxima quo Priscus, illuminating the course of an ill-fated diplomatic mission.

Journal of Maxima quo Priscus, 18 medihiems, 57 IE

I can scarcely believe how swiftly our fortunes have shifted. The uprisings in the provinces have set the Optimates back immensely, all their rhetoric now ringing hollow in the face of our recent losses. As we have long warned, the policies of brutal repression have inspired backlash, not dutiful submission to their so-called betters. Though the majority opinion is still in favor of expansion and subjugation, reports from the soldiers who have returned from the field are vividly illustrating the need for a more nuanced and considerate approach to treating with other lands and nations.

The Crown Prince himself, Zenos yae Galvus, reached out to us a week or so past, still in recuperation from the injuries he took in Ala Mhigo, and to all accounts the near-death experience has seen his attitude quite altered. The rumors of his actions in the field carry a tone of shocking brutality, but when he met with us he seemed calm and erudite, if notably distant and calculating. After hearing out our priorities and planned initiatives, he agreed to offer his support, and told us he would speak with his father about making overtures of peace to the provinces which have so emphatically declined to remain under direct rule.

Today, the official word arrived that Emperor Varis himself has approved, tentatively, a mission to go to Doma. We will attempt to secure a treaty of mutual non-aggression, under the condition that they forswear the summoning of Eikons and do as much as they can to keep the local beastmen in line, to be sealed with an exchange of prisoners-of-war. Of course, the prince insisted on appointing an ambassador of his own choosing; Asahi sas Brutus, a young man of much ambition and wealth and little actual accomplishment, will be leading the negotiations.

I can’t say I’m deeply impressed with his character, but he seems competent enough to present our case, and we would be fools to reject such immense progress on a technicality of leadership. The young lord will be allowed to advance his career on the coattails of our cause; we have put in too many years of work not to seize this opportunity for everything it’s worth.

12 finis-hiems, 57 IE

By any standard, our mission is going well; and yet I cannot help but find myself ill at ease with our ambassador.

We approached Doma from the air, offering a signal of peace that Asahi assured us the locals would understand, and indeed after some delay they reciprocated our overture and allowed us to land. Lord Hien met us personally, and while he treated us with an entirely justifiable suspicion, he was cordial enough and open to negotiation. We remain his guests while the official treaty’s language is drafted and agreed upon.

Asahi sas Brutus… I knew, of course, that he was the brother of the former viceroy of Doma when we took up this mission. He speaks often of his sister; our spies in Kugane spotted her in the company of one of Lord Hien’s retainers months ago, and it’s understandable that he should be eager to have her returned. …But I can sense no true care or sentiment behind his words, about her or about our mission. I did not survive the long hard years of political repression and upheaval by being unable to interpret the intentions that underly a person’s speech. Asahi speaks well and offers all of the Populares’ arguments smoothly, without fault, and he believes not a word of what he’s saying. Why join us, then? He is not undermining us, save perhaps that our counterparts may espy his insincerity; but even so, there is nothing in his demeanor that they could seize upon to offer a concrete objection to.

It may well be that he witnessed Prince Zenos’ change of heart and decided to tie his political ambitions to whatever the Empire’s heir is currently supporting. That’s probably the most sensible explanation, as he certainly doesn’t lack for ambition generally, and this is a venue that offers one of his ilk little enough competition. And the way he speaks of the Crown Prince generally…well. If he were more pleasant personally, I might offer when we return home to show him the venues where a man of his proclivities can find like-minded company. So it’s unsurprising, on the whole, that he would simply chase at Prince Zenos’ heel without a care for what he needs to say in order to remain there.

Still, I can’t help but feel uneasily as if there’s something more at work. Something I’ve missed seeing. All I can do for now is stay on my guard, to intervene if the negotiations begin to turn.

23 finis-ver, 57 IE

Months, years of postulating and theorizing could not have allowed me to predict this end. This mission was a sham from the beginning, and I’m ashamed to have been so taken in. The Populares have been used, and it is only by the grace and prowess of those we have looked down on that the situation is remotely salvageable.

I should explain, if I can calm myself enough to find the words. Lay out what happened, what must have transpired outside of my view. Crown Prince Zenos devised this plan to undermine our faction, or…perhaps the being possessing him? I’m still not sure I believe it’s possible, but the Eorzeans are quite confident that Zenos yae Galvus died in Ala Mhigo and was buried there. The plan was devised, nonetheless, and brought to the Emperor for approval, which was then duly given. It was always the collapse of the Populares that they sought to support; they had not “seen reason” as I had dared to hope. They selected Asahi and gave him his orders, sent us with a plausible excuse of an overture, and set it all up to fail.

Asahi’s true mission was to trigger a summoning from the Domans or their allies, fueled by boxes of crystals he claimed were brought as trade goods. Such a summoning would of course cause the negotiations to collapse, and we who chose to sue for peace would be shown up as fools for attempting to treat with “savages” who could never give up their gods.

In hindsight, the manipulation is plain as day. I was a fool to think that our views would ever be taken up in good faith; but even saying so, I cannot bring myself to condemn the path that brought me here. It cannot be a crime to have hope, to believe that one’s own countrymen can act like the reasonable and upstanding citizens they claim to be. If only they would stop proving me wrong.

For what it may be worth, though, thanks to the Eorzeans and particularly their champion who was in attendance at the negotiations, we have gained something from this mission after all. Up to this point, they were largely unaware that any faction within the Empire would be willing to negotiate with them at all; even by setting us up to fall so dramatically, our enemies have given us the opportunity to be seen.

And it would seem that they are as interested in peaceful negotiation as we are. One of their own, a young Elezen named Alphinaud, has volunteered to return to Garlemald with us, to bear personal witness and offer an outsider’s perspective. He seems quite politically insightful for a boy so young; I can hardly wait to introduce him to the core membership of the Populares and see what an actual Eorzean’s views can do to shape and reinforce our ideals. Despite the disaster that spurred it, this thin line of contact with the world outside the Empire’s borders may yet be of great benefit to our cause.