Grand Companies Remember Carteneau

This time of year, the three Grand Companies of Eorzea all schedule memorials with the intentions of honoring those who were lost one way or another at the battle of Cartenau Flats, where years ago, a cadre of adventurers, flanked by the Maelstrom, the Twin Adder, and the Immortal Flames gathered to take on and buy enough time through battling the VIIth Imperial Legion to an utter standstill. Many, if not all Eorzeans, remember what happened that day, whether through word of mouth, or because they had actually been there.

From the outset, it had been almost obvious that the Grand Companies had been there to provide backup and support for the adventurers, with many a division and squad laying down their lives that day to try to stop then-legatus Gaius van Baelsar from conquering the city-states much as he had Ala Mhigo. But even as the battle drew towards a climax, both sides were nearly obliterated as the elder primal Bahamut emerged. Not even the efforts of such individuals as the Circle of Knowing's illustrious leader, Louisoix Leveiller, could even bind the primal, much too great was its rage. And so, with a sudden burst of light, a wave of aether, and... suddenly, the primal, the adventurers, even Louisoix himself, had all vanished into thin air.

Though with much trial and tribulation, I managed to track down someone who had been there at Cartenau that very day - a young woman going by the name of Adelaide de Sardet, who took time out of her day to talk to me about what she had experienced- and perhaps why a number of other adventurers or Warriors of Light had been not really all that forthcoming of their experiences:

"I was in a company of Ishgardian volunteers in the Maelstrom Foreign Levy. Provisional Sargent. It felt a little absurd, honestly? Fighting a war with doomsday hanging over our heads. I understood why we were there, but I would look at the poor sods on the other side and think it was so pointless to kill one another with the bloody sky falling. I guess I have Louisoix Levelleur to thank for not being crushed under that hatching egg of a moon? Because one moment I was swinging a scythe against some fellow fool and the next blink I was in a swamp, five years later, with a mark on my back. The experience was hell, to be sure, but in a surrealist nightmare kind of way instead of the usual hell of war."

Being in one place and then suddenly somewhere else... it must have suddenly been a very jarring for all of those who had went out to fight at Cartenau and then suddenly found themselves scattered willy-nilly across the continent, trying to regain their wits and to explore a land that had changed so drastically in the intervening years.

But as for the Grand companies, each marked the occasion with somber ceremonies of remembrance, recalling the people who had died to give Eorzea- nay, all of Hydaelyn- a second chance at the very beginning of the Seventh Umbral Era. But while each ceremony held was different, the meaning was all the same: taking a moment out of a long, busy year to honor and mourn the fallen.

Gridania's ceremony was the quietest and most somber with Hearers, the Order of the Twin Adder, and even the Wood Wailers and the Gods' Quiver had shown up. Prayers for easy rest under the watchful eyes of the Elementals, as well as a procession to the purified Tam-Tara Deepcroft were held, as were many other private gatherings of remembrance. Several were seen walking to Stillglade Fane to apparently ask to see what else they could do to ensure their friends, relatives and loved one could have a peaceful rest.

Ul'dah's was somewhat lighter in tone- while some in the Flames took the opportunity to listen to sermons from the church of Nald'Thal. Others simply took the day to gather and share stories and spend time at the ossuary, leaving fresh offerings and flowers. Others made for Camp Drybone, where their loved ones of friends were interred in the lichyard of the Church of Saint Adama Landama. Candles were lit, and prayers were offered, even as the Flames themselves, under new Flame General Pipin Tarupin, held moments and hushed toasts in memory of their fallen.

The observances of the Maelstrom, on the other hand, started out somber, but quickly became a day of old friends and units getting together over spreads of food and alcohol to offer up stories and memories of the deceased, oftentimes breaking out into favorite songs and uproarious laughter at some of them. Plates of favorite foods and bottles of favorite drinks were poured into the sea as offerings to Llymlaen, to ask for her help in guiding the wayward souls of the fallen Maelstrom home. More often than not, there would be a little brawling involved, but only to a point, and seemingly never to any great injury. More often than not, the time ended with a gathering at sea's edge, and one final salute to the fallen.

In remembrance of their sacrifices, no matter how you may feel about them, maybe it might be nice to at least stop by the offices of your local Grand Company and tell them, for no other reason, thanks for being there when it counted. For all we know they could have been the ones to buy us enough time to stop us from either all having to learn how to speak Garlean or from ending up dead or worse thanks to Bahamut. Maybe buy the Flame in your life dinner, or invite your favorite Maelstrom member out for drinks, maybe a prayer for that Twin Adder who's always standing there and glaring at you.

It's the least you could do.