Patch 2.4
Introduction
Patch 2.4: Dreams of Ice is the fourth major content update introduced for A Realm Reborn.
Notable Features, Additions, and Changes
New Content
- Main Story: Dreams of Ice (19 quests, later reduced to 18 in patch 5.3)
- Side Story: Hildibrand, Agent of Enquiry Chapter 4 (4 quests)
- Side Story: Delivery Moogle (3 quests)
- New Class:
Rogue - New Job:
Ninja (
Melee DPS) - Dungeons:
Snowcloak, Sastasha (Hard), The Sunken Temple of Qarn (Hard) - Trials:
The Akh Afah Amphitheatre (Hard), The Akh Afah Amphitheatre (Extreme), The Dragon's Neck - Raid Series:
The Final Coil of Bahamut - The Ceremony of Eternal Bonding now available (2.45)
System Changes and Additions
- Duty Finder: List of selected duties is now displayed at the bottom of the window.
- Failure to accept a ready duty 3 times in one day will now result in being locked out of the duty finder until the next day.
- Housing: Subdivisions added to all wards, doubling the amount of plots from 720 to 1440.
- Zodiac Weapons seventh part added (2.45)
Miscellaneous
- New Allagan Tomestone currency:
Allagan Tomestones of Poetics
Allagan Tomestones of Mythology are now deprecated and can be exchanged for 
Allagan Tomestones of Soldiery for a limited time.- Allagan Tomestones of Soldiery are no longer limited to 450 per week.
Allagan Tomestones of Philosophy have been removed.
Note: Not all content listed here will launch on the same day. This article is about the 2.4x season as a whole.
Main Story Summary (Spoilers)
The Second Coil of Bahamut (Spoilers)
Hildibrand, Agent of Enquiry (Spoilers)
Lore
The lofty ambitions of Alphinaud Leveilleur had at last been realized, and the newly formed Crystal Braves now stood as the vanguard for a united Eorzea. Together with the Warrior of Light and his allies, they were ready to confront the myriad problems which beset the realm, beginning with a mysterious plot that threatened to bring the land to its knees.
Tendrils of Intrigue
Owing to an anonymous source, the Crystal Braves identified a suspected Garlean agent within the Immortal Flames. Upon further investigation, they learned that he was but one of many such agents in the employ of the Ivy, an imperial spymaster who had long ago infiltrated the Grand Company. Uncertain how widespread the Ivy’s tendrils were, General Raubahn of the Immortal Flames and Captain Ilberd of the Crystal Braves agreed that they would need to proceed with all due discretion, lest the Ivy become aware of their efforts.
Meanwhile, in the northern lands of Coerthas, the city-state of Ish- gard, which had for so long kept her neighbors at arm's length, reached out to the Scions of the Seventh Dawn. Ser Aymeric de Borel, Lord Commander of the Ishgardian Temple Knights and viscount of House Borel, agreed to treat with Alphinaud Leveilleur and the Warrior of Light at Camp Dragonhead, at a meeting hosted by Lord Haurchefant of House Fortemps.
Though Alphinaud had hoped Ishgard might be persuaded to rejoin the Eorzean Alliance, it quickly became apparent that the Holy See had no such intention. Furthermore, to his dismay, the cordial relationship between House Fortemps and the Scions of the Seventh Dawn had come under scrutiny, leading to calls for restrictions on the provision of aid to foreign powers.
The ambassador then revealed the true reason for which he had come to the meeting: the astrologians of Ishgard had foretold the return of Midgardsormr—the fallen guardian of Silvertear Falls—and Ser Aymeric wished to enlist the Scions’ aid in keeping watch over the great wyrm’s remains. In exchange, he would ensure that the shipments of aid from House Fortemps to Revenant's Toll would continue unabated.
Though it was not the grand success he had envisioned, Alphinaud was nevertheless satisfied with what he hoped would serve as the foundation of a future relationship between Ishgard and her neighbors.
The Lady of Frost
Alas, mere moments after agreeing to terms with Ser Aymeric, Alphinaud learned that the latest shipment from House Fortemps had been waylaid by heretics-rebels who had chosen to cast their lot with the Dravanians, the sworn enemies of Ishgard, with whom they had fought for a thousand years in what was known as the Dragonsong War.
This particular band of heretics was loyal to a mysterious figure known only as Lady Iceheart, and under her leadership they had grown more aggressive, seizing large crystal shipments with alarming regularity. A survivor of the latest attack reported that the heretics had spoken of the impending resurrection of Shiva, the patron saint of the heretics-and a messianic figure whom they likely intended to summon as a primal.
The Scions and the Crystal Braves sprang into action, and together with Ser Aymeric's Temple Knights they managed to track the heretics to a network of secret tunnels in Snowcloak, the great ice wall formed in the aftermath of the Calamity, which was long thought an impenetrable barrier between central and western Coerthas. Deep within this labyrinthine warren the Warrior of Light confronted Lady Iceheart for the first time, only to see her slip away with the aid of an aetheryte, her declaration that "What we do, we do for the greater good," ringing in his ears.
Although she had made considerable efforts to discourage their attempts, the Scions of the Seventh Dawn eventually managed to follow Lady Iceheart to her sanctuary, the Akh Afah Amphitheatre. Once more the Warrior of Light attempted to dissuade her from her path, but in the end he could only look on as the young maiden offered her own body as a vessel for Shiva's soul. The resurrected saint of eld lashed out with a righteous fury, pushing the Warrior of Light to his mortal limits...yet the battle ended as it had begun, with the young maiden kneeling in the snow, cursing his ignorance, before she once more made her escape.
The Scions' other quarry, however, would not prove so elusive. The Ivy-imperial spymaster whom Allied forces, with the aid of Lady Yugiri and her people had labored in secret to track-had at last been identified as none other than Flame Marshal Eline Roaille, General Raubahn's second-in-command. Though the spy escaped her confines once and attempted to seek refuge with her imperial allies, she was eventually recaptured at Raubahn's Push by a combined force of Crystal Braves and Doman shinobi. With the Ivy unmasked and her network of spies in disarray, the Empire's power to observe and influence Eorzean affairs was greatly diminished. Nevertheless, the revelation of Eline Roaille's betrayal had shaken the Alliance to its very core.
Apostate to the Holy See, patron saint to the heretics, Shiva lay down with draguas long ago. A historical figure long dead, she would find new life when summoned into the body of Yuyle, the young maiden who had taken the title of Lady Iceheart. [1]
References
- ↑ Encyclopaedia Eorzea: Volume I, page 63