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An Empty Vessel (Blue Mage Flag Quest)  

Realm:Aht Urhgan
Start Area: Aht Urhgan Whitegate
Start NPC:Waoud (J - 10)
Type:Job Related
Related Areas:Bhaflau Thickets
Min Level:30
Max Level:75
Rating
*****
(Average from 28 ratings)
Items Required:Dangruf Stone
Siren's Tear
Valkurm Sunsand
Last Updated: Thu Aug 20 05:58:37 2009

Contents [hide]

Summary

There is a rare treasure in the "Middle Lands" that Waoud needs someone to obtain for him...

Walkthrough

The background of the Immortal Lions, the blue mages of Aht Urhgan:

The Immortals are the personal guard and the highest ranking soldiers of the leader of the Aht Urghan Empire, currently Empress Nashmeira II. Decades ago Emporer Balrahn feared an uprising of the chimaera, which the Empire used at this time as soldiers and warmachines and had to see how weak his palace guard were, leading to the death of his beloved son. The alchemists which created the chimaera thought just a monster can defeat a monster, so they took the strongest palace guards and tried to make monsters out of them. But after some horrible mistakes where the guards (in lucky cases) died from the transplantations the alchemists decided to stop the biotechnological way and turned to the way of magic: They fused the soul of the monster directly into the spirit of the guards!

These new guards, which wielded a magic called 'blue magic', could embrace the beast within themself and the monster they defeated. Their azure blood drew strength from the enemies they defeated and added them to power of the Blue Mage - the price being horrible pain and the loss of their humanity.

An Immortal never died after a normal livespan. They died in ferocious battle succumbing to their beastly nature ...

So, what is the way to immortality?

Before you do this quest I suggest you visit the Quon continent to gather some items:

  • Dangruf Stone: go to (I-5) in Dangruf Wadi and search a shining spot there. It will give you the Dangrif Stone (may just happen during bright daylight).
  • Siren's Tear: go to (J-8) in North Gustaberg an un-equip all weapons, shields and ammo from you. You will find a ??? which gives you the Siren's Tear. But be careful, it is a very delicate treasure which will slip away when you fight!
  • Valkurm Sunsand: Go to the overturned ship at (H-9) in the Valkurm Dunes (shiver), wait for a sandstorm and then click the ??? to get this item.

Travel to Aht Urghan Whitegate and go to a guy named Waoud at the Heretic's Alley (if it is your first visit to Aht Urghan I recommend buying a map at the vendor in the port), where he stands on top of the middle buildings. Waoud is a diviner which has a rather unique way to tell your future. He will ask you 10 questions. If you anwer correctly, you will start "An Empty Vessel", the BLU flag quest. Here are the questions:

I. What is destiny?

II. Does the accomplishment of a goal require sacrifice and hardship?

III. You hold in your hands a forbidden scroll. Reading it will bring you untold wisdom, but cost all that you own.

IV. If the loss of one life would save ten thousand, would you offer yourself without hesitation?

V. Would you choose a tumultuous life where fame or fortune were attainable, or a tranquil life where both were forever beyond your reach?

VI. You stand on the precipice between life and death. Would you choose to live life as a beast if it would save you from falling into the shadowy abyss of the underworld?

VII. A companion in battle turns against you, raising a weapon to attack.

VIII. A loved one is afflicted with a terrible illness and has little time to live. You are asked to end that life by your own hand.

IX. You are in the midst of a fierce battle. The enemy lying at your feet was once a friend. His breath is ragged and weak.

X. A superior to whom you owe a great debt orders you to act in a way that violates your sense of justice.

The catch is this: there is no 100% 'correct' way to answer this question. When you answer the question think like a Blue Mage might answer - a ruthless beast without mercy but still honourable. For some people a certain set of answers work and for other people not. Perhaps the 'correct' way depends on the race and/or job you have while doing the divination ... but I'm pretty sure there are always 3 correct ways and the chosen way will determine the item you have to pay. For me 'take all bottom answers' worked, others say the right combination is 2-2-3-3-2-1-2-1-2-2

If you answer wrong, he will charge 1000 gil from you and you can do it again one Vana'diel day later. But when all the answers are right, he will see the symbols of the five serpents (Sky, Flame, Stone, Gale and Spring) and ask for no payment. Talk to him until he mentiones something from the Middle Lands (Mindartia / Quon) that he wants: either a golden sand, a red stone, or a blue jewel. Zone and wait a full Vana'diel day, then talk to him again and after that trade him the according item.

Waoud will send you to Aydeewa Subterrane. Go to the Bhaflau Thickets and then walk as far northeast as possible. There you will find the entrance to the Subterrane. Go right until you come to a room where many diremites crawl around. A ramp is there which leads down to a deeper cave where a great blue pool is. Step onto the pool ... and then decide ...

Do you want to get the power of an Immortal? If yes, take his hand...


To read the transcripts and see videos for this quest, see the An Empty Vessel Spoilers page.


Quest Series

This is part of the job flag quest series. Other quests of the series include:

This page last modified 2010-01-16 19:45:39.
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testing
# Apr 29 2006 at 2:03 PM Rating: Decent
Ok this time I purposly failed for test purposes defintly onto soemthing: He senses the flameserpent. It suggests an aggresive stance and not to shy away from a challange. My answers:

Its unknowable.
Occasionally.
Read it.
Without hesitation.
Chaotic life.
Fall if it saves my humanity.
Brace for the blow.
Seek a cure.
Ignore him.
Remove him from power.

This time I tried to mix it up a bit but Instead of the aggressive answers I answered last time I took more of a "*****" approch.
More to come stay tuned...

(Note) Only thing I dont get is how I failed answering identically to others that passed. There is obvisoulsy alot of ways to pass this and Im sensing that it has to do with a equal balance of "approch types" to the questions.


Lets beat this
# Apr 29 2006 at 1:45 PM Rating: Decent
Ok I followed the directions and got it wrong... but i believe that if we ca all post about these serpents we can crack the quest. I think Karih is onto something. Through my answers he saw the symbol of the sky serpent and suggested I take time away from battle. So I believe I may have answered too unmercifully... Post the other serpents and what he says about them and I think we can figure this thing out. Here were my answers:
One must Forge it themselves.
Not if you try hard enough.
Burn it.
Offer another.
Chaotic Life.
Live as a beast.
Cut them down.
Grant the request.
End thier pain.
Follow your justice.
Worked for Windurstian taru but not for me...
GOod luck

not too bad at all
# Apr 29 2006 at 11:32 AM Rating: Decent
34 posts
I managed to get it first try.

I answered 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 2, 2

Elvaan from Bastok, Rank 5, and a Drk/War at the time I did it. I had to bring him sunsand (which I had already collected).

I think....and I'm not sure since it's been a long time since I tried to calculate something like this....that there's around 720 different combinations. Not sure though.
Questions
# Apr 29 2006 at 8:01 AM Rating: Decent
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52 posts
I'm beginning to think the questions work so that each answer has an affinity to one of the serpents, and to get the blu job you need to answer them so that your 5 affinities are in complete balance (2 to each one).

I have not been testing that, and it would be hard to.. so probably wiser to go with a pretested set of answers though :/
Answer list
# Apr 29 2006 at 3:55 AM Rating: Decent
Avatar
37 posts
I tried 12 times before I got the right answers from a LS member. I think it has to do with where you're from cuz, we're both from Bastok and everyone's that didn't was from elsewhere. So here's the list I used,using just the key words, you'll know which is which^^
1.Forge
2.Absolutly
3.Read it
4.Without
5.Chaotic
6.Embrace the beast
7.Reason
8.Grant
9.Tend to
and
10.Follow

Hope this works for someone or I just wasted a bunch of time I could have been playing.

Ballin RDM70
World~Sylph
Bastok~Rank 7
CoP 3-5~ZM 15
Cooking~70
____________________________
Ballin Rdm90,Thf90 Full Merits
One Bad *** Elvaan Female.
Sylph
Bastok Rank 10/Windurst Rank 1
Cooking90
S.San d'Oria ^Naughtybutnice^
eh...
# Apr 28 2006 at 11:48 PM Rating: Decent
i just answered the same way that was typed up in the description.... and most definitly got told to come again
"Answer truthfully" indeed
# Apr 28 2006 at 3:03 PM Rating: Decent
*
52 posts
this quest reeks. "answer truthfully" my tail.. seems all the answer sets that work are not what I would consider my "truthful" set. :( He should just say "do you have the guts to be an immortal warrior etc" or something..
Thanks for the good information / description
# Apr 28 2006 at 1:06 PM Rating: Decent
16 posts

Wanted to thank you for the good description!
item required, as far as I know
# Apr 27 2006 at 11:38 PM Rating: Decent
I'm not sure about this, but I just picked what I thought and he at the end asked for a Stone. All I know is that I didn't ask for a fortune telling and gave him the Dangruf Stone(I-5).

The other ones that it could be are:
Sand=Valkurm Dunes sunsand (H-9)
Tear=Siren's Tear (found in N Gustaberg) (J-9)
Olduum Ring quest in same area
# Apr 27 2006 at 11:35 PM Rating: Good
***
1,085 posts

Suggestion: Also flag the Olduum Ring quest and do both quests at the same time. The excavation point is beside the pool you stand in for this quest.

By doing both quests, you get the BLU flag and the Olduum Ring (Ring] All races, enchantment: Teleport (Wajaom Woodlands); Lv.60 All jobs; <1/1 0:30/[20:00:00, 0:30]>).

doing this as a BLU
# Apr 27 2006 at 4:54 PM Rating: Decent
i went back to waoud when i was a BLU9/WHM4 and he allowd me to do another divination. this leads me to believe that this may have something to do with the Learning Skill, either that or something else that would pertain to the further progress of the BLU job class.

RE: doing this as a BLU
# May 01 2006 at 7:35 PM Rating: Decent
Yeah, I went back talked to him right after finshed the BLue mage quest. Got a cut scene showing Waoud was the ghost blue mage in actual. Anyway, I talked to him again and he asked me those 10 questions again.
>.<
# Apr 27 2006 at 4:14 PM Rating: Decent
*
177 posts
all 3s didnt work for me, instead, i picked 3 3 3 3 2 3 Cut him Down(3?) Grant the Request, End his Pain, and Act with justice and I got it
answers
# Apr 26 2006 at 4:13 PM Rating: Decent
16 posts
I answered all with the 3rd option, no problems :)
RE: answers
# Apr 26 2006 at 8:59 PM Rating: Decent
*
155 posts
I did the same and it worked, tyvm--I wasted 2k before this.
RE: answers
# Apr 26 2006 at 6:47 PM Rating: Decent
**
309 posts
I also answered all 3rd, he stole my 1k >.>

/crucify
Answers
# Apr 26 2006 at 2:54 PM Rating: Decent
***
1,563 posts
I am a tarutaru, current nation at the time was windurst, and I was a blm at the time of doing the quest. I dunno any other possible contributing characteristics might alter the answers, but here they are for me:

1) What is destiny?
A) One must forge it themselves.

2) Does the accomplishment of a goal require sacrifice and
hardship?
A) Not if you try hard enough (something like that)

3) You hold in your hands a forbidden scroll. Reading it
will bring you untold wisdom, but cost all that you own.
A) Burn it.

4) If the loss of one life would save ten thousand ,would
you offer yourself without hesitation?
A) Offer someone else.

5) Would you choose a tumultuous life where fame or fortune
were attainable, or a tranquil life where both were
forever beyond your reach?
A) A chaotic life.

6) You stand on the precipice between life and death. Would
you choose to live life as a beast if it would save you
from falling into the shadowy abyss of the underworld?
A) Embrace the beast.

7) A companion in battle turns against you, raising a weapon
to attack.
A) Cut him down.

8) A loved one is afflicted with a terrible illness and has
little time to live. You are asked to end that life by
your own hand.
A) Grant the request.

9) You are in the midst of a fierce battle. The enemy lying
at your feet was once a friend. His breath is ragged and
weak.
A) End his pain.

10) A superior to whom you owe a great debt orders you to
act in a way that violates your sense of justice.
A) Follow your sense of justice.


I did these answers myself, as well as each person that asked me also gave the same answers and all got the quest completed. Had to get the Dangruf Wadi Stone which if I remember correctly was in like J-5 or something on a wall to the right/east.
RE: Answers
# Apr 27 2006 at 2:43 PM Rating: Decent
I totally answered the same way you did, Nao.

Blue Mages are supposedly very strict, harsh warriors that will not let anyone or anything get in their way. They have the tiniest shred of mercy, but it doesn't show much.

ADVICE

When you answer these questions, answer the way that an honorable but relentless Samurai would. I did the exact same answers that Nao did and it worked for me. I'm a DRK60/WAR30.

Good luck to everyone who attempts this.
RE: Answers
# Apr 27 2006 at 12:11 AM Rating: Default
Elvaan male, Sandy, Red Mage/BLM at time I talked to him. I got it the first time I tried.

I don't remember the exact answers, but:

1. make your own destiny

2. yes

3. Read it

4. yes

5. both

6. keep my humanity

7. try to reason

8. find a cure

9. tend his wounds

10. follow sense of justice

I also had to get the Dangruf Stone.


Aydeewa Subterrane is the little dead end area at I-7.

Edited, Thu Apr 27 00:25:52 2006
RE: Answers
# May 02 2006 at 2:51 PM Rating: Decent
Elvaan M, 68 brd, San d'Oria

These answers did not work for me.
71whm
# Apr 26 2006 at 11:44 AM Rating: Decent
*
103 posts
I had no idea there was more than one way to answer the questions but had heard that you should pick the last answer in each question. I did this as 71whm and got valkurm sunsand. Worked first time for me using this method. Hope this helps.
BLAH
# Apr 26 2006 at 10:58 AM Rating: Decent
well none of these suggestions worked...now im 4k gil poorer for even trying this stupid quest
results
# Apr 26 2006 at 10:08 AM Rating: Decent
i think it may be possible to set which item ya have to go for, depending on how you answer this questions. post your results, wat answers you gave, ur race, and wat you had to retrieve for the quest. lets see if we cant figure this out.

Edited, Wed Apr 26 10:03:04 2006
Wow... lucky
# Apr 26 2006 at 4:21 AM Rating: Decent
I answered this guys questions, without prior knowledge and got the quest just fine. I guess I think like a Blue Mage. I was actually stunned to learn later on that you can actually fail the questioning! Sometimes its great to be me ^^
2-2-3-3-2-1-2-1-2-2
# Apr 26 2006 at 3:28 AM Rating: Decent
elvaan 50PLD used this answering scheme, worked where other attempts (answering my own way, and picking 3rd option everytime) didnt work. i was asked to get a dangruf stone. this answering scheme also worked for a friend of mine-a hume 54PLD.
Random stuff
# Apr 26 2006 at 12:46 AM Rating: Decent
I'm a male hume and the following answers worked fine first time and i was asked for sirens tear;
http://ffxi.allakhazam.com/forum.html?forum=10;mid=1145555968166733689;num=22;page=1

Also, from what i have noticed BLU is quite a heavily unbalanced job at the moment i am BLU/WHM and i can take on Very Tough mobs with very little trouble through just spamming blue magic spells. BLU/WAR is pretty alright if you want the bonus attack damage too.

Anyone tried any other subjob combos?
Heretic's Alley
# Apr 25 2006 at 2:15 PM Rating: Decent
RE: Heretic's Alley
# Apr 25 2006 at 2:16 PM Rating: Decent
isn't listed on the map. I don't know why they are calling it that yet but don't go looking for that
the answers
# Apr 25 2006 at 1:08 PM Rating: Decent
I believe the key to answering the questions the way he wants is to give the answer that would give you the longest lifespan. That also goes with the idea of the immortals. It's often an honorable or ruthless answer, but not always.
Got it.
# Apr 25 2006 at 1:05 PM Rating: Decent
*
74 posts
Elvaan WHM50, after 3 tries I chose all the last answers and got it. Valkurm sand was what he asked for.
Where's Waoud?
# Apr 25 2006 at 12:45 PM Rating: Decent
Maybe its just me, but this "Heretic's alley" as described in the guide is not shown on the map. Waoud is at <J-10> in Aht Urghan Whitegate

Edited, Tue Apr 25 12:39:03 2006
RE: Where's Waoud?
# Apr 25 2006 at 2:41 PM Rating: Default
On the in-game map, there are several things written that are light grey, and sometimes unable to be seen by monitors or television sets that have low contrast. However, either the words "Heretic's Way" or "Heretic's Alley" are written on the section of the map where Waoud is at. I can't remember which, but it is there.

There are other things, such as "Balrahn's Way" also, that are written in this manner. There is one that labels the Teahouse, one that lables each docking port, and the middle of the map is called Serpent Square I think. These are all written in light grey on the map. Just look closely.

Edited, Tue Apr 25 15:42:48 2006
RE: Where's Waoud?
# Apr 29 2006 at 2:22 PM Rating: Decent
Its Gladiators alley.
Question game
# Apr 25 2006 at 11:59 AM Rating: Decent
*
212 posts
0/3 now. I'll post my answers if I ever get it right...

EDIT: 0/4

EDIT (2): 1/5 - chose the last (third) answer for every question. Was Darksday. I was a 68RDM/34BLM Hume male. Just in case those are factors.

Edited, Tue Apr 25 16:48:41 2006
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