A Still Tide

Quest giver: Szem Djenmai
Location: Kholusia (X:37.4, Y:26.5)
Quest line: Shadowbringers Main Scenario Quests
Level: 70

Experience: 216,000
Gil: 1,080
Previous quest: In Search of Alphinaud
Next quest: Open Arms, Closed Gate
Before the Tide Comes
Retaking Territory
A Clam to Die For
Patch: 5.0

Main Scenario Progress: 546 / 953 (57.3%)

Shadowbringers Progress: 5 / 157 (3.2%)

“

Whatever Szem Djenmai has to tell you, he plainly deems it worthy of your undivided attention.

— In-game description

Steps

Deliver the lake thyme to Eybor.
Wait for Alphinaud.
Search the field for vermin to exterminate.
Knock on the barred door.
Knock on the barred door again.
Knock on the barred door a third time.
Speak with Theva.

Journal

Whatever Szem Djenmai has to tell you, he plainly deems it worthy of your undivided attention.

Dialogue

Quest Acceptance

Szem Djenmai: ...If you head south along the coast, you will eventually come to a fisherman's shack.  A friend of the Crystarium lives there─a man who goes by the name of “Eybor.”  Eybor keeps an eye on everything that happens in Kholusia, and will be able to point you in the right direction. Just hand him a sprig of thyme─that will let him know you can be trusted.  Here─this should be enough. Find your friend. I will stay here with the amaro until you are ready to return.

Deliver the lake thyme to Eybor

Eybor: What you after? Fish? Crab? Think I've got an eel in a barrel somewhere, if you've a taste for 'em...

Eybor: Ooh, I do love a bit of thyme. Chuck some in the pan, and it's like a bloody festival of flavor.  ...Now what is it I can do for you? Can't say as there's been any major upsets to report these past few weeks.
Eybor: Alphinaud, eh? Aye, I know the one. Our young champion of the downtrodden.  Eulmore's richer than all of Norvrandt put together, but it's a different story for them as live outside the city. Most spend every wakin' moment just tryin' to stay alive─which makes your friend's dedication to helpin' others stand out all the more.  Aye, I can hazard a guess as to where he is now, get a message to him. But you'll need somewhere quiet to meet, away from pryin' eyes... 
Eybor: Make for Stilltide─that's the fishin' village just up the path there. You're lookin' for a run-down excuse for a tavern the locals call the Leaky Keel. Wait there, and I'll see that Alphinaud joins you.

Wait for Alphinaud

Theva: This your first time in a tavern? It's customary to buy a drink if you mean to loiter. What'll you be having?
What will you order? Ale. / Mead. / Water.  -> Water.
Theva: A fine choice. And what'll you be paying with?
Theva: Well now...those are exotic. Where did you come by coins like that?  I'm sorry, dear, I don't doubt they have value... But I don't have a touchstone to test their purity, and I'm not about to go begging for one from the neighbors─so we'll just have to come to some other arrangement.  Ah, here's an idea... There's a common to the north where we grow our vegetables, but lately the pests have been eating more of them than we have. What do you say to a bit of extermination work?  I want you to squash any vermin you find, then visit the caretaker and give him an earful from me for sleeping on the job. He'll be in the old silo next to the fence─snoring, like as not.  Do that for me, and you can laze about here as long as you like.

Knock on the barred door

No response. Maybe you need to knock louder.

Knock on the barred door again

No response. Perhaps the occupant is hard of hearing...?

Knock on the barred door a third time

You hear a faint squeaking from the room beyond. Time to burst in and save the day, brave adventurer! ...No one is home, and judging by the lack of furniture, they haven't been for some time. The gnawed scraps of vegetables on the floor suggest rats have taken up residence in their absence.

Speak with Theva

Theva: Welcome back, dear. What did that good-for-nothing caretaker have to say for himself?
Theva: ...Gone? Hmph. Must have left to join the rest of the hopefuls.
Theva: ...In Gatetown. Outside Eulmore? You don't have a clue what I'm talking about, do you. And there I was thinking you were another dreamer. Well, never mind all that. Take a seat wherever you like, dear, you've more than earned it. I'll even throw in another drink, on the house.

???: And how is business today, Mistress Theva?
Theva: Oh, frenetic. Look. I have a new customer.

Alphinaud: ...'Tis good to see you, my friend.  The barley seeds you wanted. They should produce a better harvest than the last.
Theva: (laughs) What, just like that? Oh, Alphinaud, you really are a dear. Well, I'd best be tidying up some of those empty shacks before the pests move in. Keep an eye on the place while I'm out, eh?
Alphinaud: It seems an age since last we spoke. Not since the prisoner exchange in Doma. And Yotsuyu...  It has been even longer for me, of course, if you count the days I have spent here. But the time has only added to the relief I feel, seeing you safe and well.
What will you say? Me? I was more worried about you. / We thought we'd lost you.  ->  Me? I was more worried about you.
Alphinaud: Hah! Alisaie said much the same thing. I don't think I've ever had such a scolding.  But I believe an exchange of news is in order. Come─tell me of your arrival, and all that came before!

Alphinaud: I see. Both the Exarch and Alisaie told me what they knew of events, but I had stubbornly clung on to the hope that all-out war might yet be avoidable... And poor Tataru─she must be sick with worry. We must endeavor to return as soon as we may... 'Twould be nice to bring her good tidings for a change. But before we bid this world farewell, we must first ensure that it is not rejoined to the Source. We must prevent the Eighth Umbral Calamity. Urianger's vision of the future has, I fear, every chance of coming true. By his description, the catalyst for the Calamity was a formless and deadly weapon employed by the Garlean Empire. Which can only mean one thing: Black Rose. Gaius was telling you the truth. When we were on the trail of the Ascians, we saw evidence that the gas was being manufactured once more.
Alphinaud: Gaius was adamant that the project had been scrapped. But so long as there are wars to be waged, there will always be those determined to win by any means. And thus simply destroying the existing stores of Black Rose would do little to alter fate's course. In that sense, our involuntary journey here to the First was something of a boon. Together with the Exarch, we've developed a theory as to how we believe the Rejoining will be set in motion.
Alphinaud: I am sure Urianger himself will cover the subject in more detail... But I can tell you the process requires that both worlds─the Source and the First─be facing an existential threat. One being sin eaters, of course. They are a menace that I would dearly love to remove, and not just to avert a calamity.
Alphinaud: I may be a stranger to this world, but I will not stand idly by and let innocent people be slaughtered. That is what brought me to the gates of Eulmore. Ignoring its pretentions as a kind of capital city to what remains of the world, it is nonetheless a center of power and authority. If any solutions are to be found, I believe our search should begin there. What say you, old friend? Hungry for another adventure? (Warrior of Light stands up, excited)
Alphinaud: And so we take to the road once more!