Excerpt from ‘Records on the Traverse of Dalamud’s Ruins – A Handbook for Scholars of Allag’ by Archon Niniri Niri.
It was at the zenith of ancient Allag, during the second reign of Xande, the revived Emperor, that the elder primal Bahamut was captured and ensorcelled within a colossal metal sphere containing vast apparatus aimed at imprisoning the primal and draining its power. This sphere would later go on to gain the name Dalamud, likely a derivation of Bahamut’s own name by later peoples, and was intended to generate power enough not only to sustain the Empire, but to bring destruction upon it by the madness-invoked apocalyptic designs of the Emperor. The Warrior of Light, in conjunction with the Scions of the Seventh Dawn and other adventurers explored the ruins produced by the fall of Dalamud in response to a loud roar emitting from them, eliciting fears that the Elder Primal’s threat may yet remain. This work is produced using testimony from these groups, as well as records volunteered by the Garlond Ironworks and recovered from the XIVth and VIIth legions of Garlemald.
The Exploratory Site Entrance
Records indicate that the first shard of Dalamud was accessed via a large elevator leading deep into the earth. Disembarking from this elevator, the heroes of the realm entered a large metallic room of Garlean artifice, home to a number of stations used for charging the warmachina of that younger Empire as well as various forms of storage crate. The exterior of the structure was apparently host to a network of scaffolding and walkways, fortified with the bladed barricades typical of Garlemald. This space was constructed in a massive chunk of fire-aspected aether crystal, and the aether in the air was so thick that even experienced mages struggled to catch a breath.
The Meteor Fissure
The point through which access was assured first by Garlean, then Eorzean, forces. This gap in the crystal and stone was likely generated by the impact of the fall, though the Garleans may have also carved it out.
The Aetheroacoustic Exploratory Site
The main body of the initial segment of Dalamud was apparently a vast cavern with walls of the same crystal as encountered previously. Progress through the cavern was achieved by crossing a number of floating Allagan platforms. Although the origin of the name assigned the chamber by the Garleans is unclear, it may result from the study of the roars emitted by Bahamut.
The Allagan Megastructure
The megastructure, as termed by those exploring the site in the wake of its purging, was a cluster of allagan floating platforms, their number and density likely the source for their name.
The Lower Aetheroacoustic Exploratory Site
Reached after a teleportation device was activation, this region of the ruin was much deeper and thus known as the ‘second turn’ of the exploration. The walls of the cavern here were less richly populated with aether crystal than the higher reaches, though the imbalance of the aether was still intense. The site was composed of a number of joined platforms host to large Allagan metal walls, giving it a tiered structure that well suited defense. It seems to have been a fortification within Dalamud, likely to expel outsiders and keep the captives under control, as well as providing various utilities.
The Engine Room
After departing the Lower Site, the parties investigating the moon-fall found themselves in the wrecked ship named the Ragnarok, one of a number of vessels referred to as Internment-Class ships within Dalamud equipped to assist with keeping Bahamut contained. This area seemed to have been of particular interest to the forces of Garlemald, who sought to improve their own vessels by reverse engineering the Ragnarok, as they had with so much of Allag’s technology. The initial area reachable from the elevators was apparently the engine room, a vast chamber that could only be navigated by the use of various jump-platforms. The platforms of the area were in fact blades of some immense rotor.
The Compression Chamber
An extension of the Engine Chamber, this next region seemed to be used for the compression of some kind of propellant used in the engine, perhaps even the aether generated by Bahamut, or Ceruleum in some form.
The Propellant Chamber
The propellant that runs the engine was likely injected into the engine through here, possibly through the large glowing ports that lined the walls.
The Upper Drive Cylinder
The deeper recesses of the ruins were accessed through the use of one of the Ragnarok’s drive cylinders as a makeshift lift. Perhaps these cylinders once acted a pistons of some kind, used for the function of the Ragnarok’s engines.
The Lower Drive Cylinder
As the descent into the depths of the wreckage concluded, the relevant parties found their faithful drive cylinder delivering them into a large cavern with walls veined with aether crystal.
The Right Hand of Bahamut
After exiting their makeshift vessel, the Warrior of Light and their companions arrived at a gristly destination, the colossal, lithified and crystallized hand of Bahamut.
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