#w.strider

The journey into the frozen wastes of Coerthas began with a spark of hope and the rhythmic "blip" of a transponder. Kaleb Mal, captain of the Windstrider, led a small company: Zenovia, Rissea, Seren, and Sigmund out of Ishgard’s gates fueled by the belief that his missing crew had activated an emergency signal. As Zenovia guided their chocobo drawn carriage through a blizzard that threatened to freeze the very marrow of their bones, the group braved white out conditions, trusting in Kaleb’s "Diplomat" firearm to lead them to the source. However, the hope that warmed them was extinguished at the ruins of Hemlock, where they found a grim graveyard; three of Kaleb’s crew Tyra, Jaren, and Barron had been executed and left frozen in the snow. The investigation revealed a sickening level of cruelty: the signal had been a lure, produced by a brass tuning coil that had been violently forced into a mechanical jack in the engineer Tyra's neck. While the killers had looted the other relic keys to the ship, they left behind tranquilizer rounds, suggesting their true goal was to capture Kaleb alive to unlock the Windstrider's cargo bay. The tragedy was interrupted by a sudden, piercing screech as a void-tainted Anzu descended from the broken buildings. The beast unleashed a massive orb of darkness, encompassing both Kaleb and Rissea in a pitch-black void. Despite the freezing winds and the suffocating magic, the team rallied; Zenovia and Sigmund identified the creature's weaknesses while Seren engaged it in a flurry of steel. The battle ended when Seren's blades detached the creature's head, leaving Rissea to incinerate the remains until they were nothing but ash. The aftermath left the group in a somber silence as they loaded the fallen crew onto the wagon for a final rest in the Sea of Clouds. Though they recovered the tuning coil Kaleb was left broken by the loss of his friends and with the compass and ledger still in the hands of the killers, the Windstrider remains a ghost ship locked somewhere deep within the ice.