The Myriad Arms of Balrahn

By now the name of Balrahn, great restorer of the Empire of Aht Urhgan, has resounded throughout Vana’diel, reaching the ears of all in the form of both history and legend. Blessed with multifarious talents and gifted in nearly every field of human endeavor, the tales of his exploits and travels have become an undying source of entertainment and delight. The restoration of the reign and dignity of the throne which he ushered in has earned him recognition as the greatest hero that empire has ever known. Though, we would of course be getting ahead of ourselves to posit that his grandeur or regality was on a scale with anything approaching that of our King Ranperre. During his time on the throne, Balrahn garnered enormous respect amongst the people for his utter lack of interest in the superfluousness of royalty. The magnificent structures, the lush garments, the grand banquets… Rather, Balrahn was obsessed with, and dedicated himself wholeheartedly to, the amassing of rare and powerful weaponry. Indeed, the vast majority of valuable weapons stored in the Imperial armories are from his personal collection. These are weapons heralded to be unparalleled in their artistry in form and efficacy in battle. However, according to an Imperial spy, the official ledger containing the list of those weapons, though guarded to the utmost and never permitted to pass through the palace gates, was obtained by subversive means and made known to the public. What degree of truth and significance can be ascribed to these entries? Could it possibly be some clever scheme on the part of the Empire to leak false information for its own ends? Or could this truly be an instance of espionage unprecedented in scale throughout history? But for our purposes here, this is a moot point. The information has been made known, adventurer. Whatever action that knowledge may lead to is entirely in your hands now. History teaches us that the misuse or misappropriation of weapons of this magnitude can only lead the most disastrous of consequences. We can only pray that a threat so great as to warrant their consideration for use will ever cast its shadow over our Aht Urhgan. Halver M Borel