the twenty-second main story quest, The Gathering Storm sends Clive back to his home region of Rosaria after completing Home, Sweet Home, which has once again come under attack. The mission takes place around Martha’s Rest and at the end, unlocks three new facilities at The Hideaway, as well as introduces your first Notorious Mark or hunt. Defeating the Notorious Mark can be tough. The guide below goes over how to complete The Gathering Storm, defeat Ahriman, and use the three new facilities at The Hideaway.

Enemies in Martha’s Rest¶

Enemies in this Area
Adamantoises
Ahrimans
Antelopes
Arachnes
Bighorns
Black Shields
Bluebirds
Cray Claws
Death Blossoms
Gigas
Gloom Widows
Goblins
Killer Bees
Padfoots
Provincial Guards
Wild Chocobos

Items in Martha’s Rest¶

Items in This Area
Briar Clam Shell
Sharp Fangs
Magicked Ash
Bloody Hides
Black Blood
Steelsilk
Bone Necklace
Wyrrite

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Finding the !Ahriman during Release.

Returning to Martha’s Rest¶

Much of the area around Martha’s Rest is the same, but it’s now been invaded by a new group of enemies called the Black Knights. Upon returning to the area, head into the tavern to check on the situation. You will be told that soldiers had dragged Martha away to Sorrowise Bay, the area you find Glaidemond Abbey in. This will start the sub-quest Dark Clouds Gather.

Dark Clouds Gather, Where to Find Martha¶

Head outside of the building, and use the elevator to move down to Sorrowise Bay. You will be heading back towards Glaidemond Abbey. The enemies around Martha’s Rest are mostly the same as before and should be at a lower level than your party so you can safely ignore them. Once you come to the bridge, you will find an injured Martha leaning against the bridge rails, speaking with her teaches Clive that the Black Shields are going to the Abbey. Head up the road, when you get there, you will learn that those inside have already been killed. As you exit you will be stopped by three Black Shields and two Provincial Guards.

There’s nothing all that special about these enemies and they are easy to wipe out using combos that you’ve tried on previous soldiers. Once you’re done, another cutscene will play where you check the side house and find that even the Abbot has been killed, after speaking with a Bearer that was barely hanging on, you set out to release their ashes at Riddock’s Jump, starting Release.

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(1 of 3) Head back to Martha’s Rest.

Release, How to Defeat The Ahriman¶

Riddock’s Jump is down the road from Glaidemond Abbey. Follow the quest marker to the destination, as you turn to go up the new path, you will spot a large enemy called an Ahriman. This introduces a new feature to the game, Bounties. The Ahriman is a tougher monster and a C-rank bounty that can give you quite a bit of trouble. This is an optional battle so you can run by it if you wish, but you do get 10 Renown and 5,000 Gil for your trouble. This fight also won’t take too long, so it’s a great idea to go ahead and knock it out now.

The Ahriman has a few attacks like throwing a lightning ball at you and shooting a laser out of its eye, these are easy to dodge. Ahriman also has the ability to teleport, which will make you miss a few attacks or interrupt your combo. You can use Phoenix Shift to quickly get back next to him. The strategy here is to dodge his attacks and wail on him as much as you can before he teleports away. The only real threat in this fight is when Ahriman uses Doom. When this happens, four blue marks will appear around Clive, and after four seconds they will disappear and a red ring will appear. Quickly dodge out of the ring, if it activates with Clive inside you will be insta-killed. For a more in-depth look at the Ahriman hunt, check out our guide here.

Once Ahriman is defeated head down the path to the water and release the ashes. You will now want to go back to Martha’s Rest and head inside to speak with Martha. Return to The Hideaway, and head inside to finally speak with Gav, after the cutscene you will unlock three new facilities in The Hideaway, The Hunt Board, Alliant Reports, and The Patron’s Whisper. After this, the world map will add a new location and proceeding to Hawk’s Cry Cliff will start the Bloodlines main quest.

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(1 of 4) Head to Riddock’s !Jump and find the Ahriman.

Where to Find Hunts, Use Renown, and See Alliant Reports¶

All three of the new facilities can be found in the same area of The Hideaway. In this hub, you will find two NPCs at a counter, the woman, Desiree, manages The Patron’s Whisper, and the man, Gaute manages Alliant Reports. The Hunt Board is overseen by a Moogle named Nektar.

The Hunt Board¶

The Hunt Board displays the monsters that are currently causing trouble across the land. Depending on if you chose to beat Ahriman or not, there will be four monsters for you to chase down when checking the board. As you progress through the main story more hunts can be accessed. You can see the rewards you earn for slaying each monster and get a hint to where they are located. All that’s left is to go out into the field and find them. For more on hunts, check out our guide here.

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(1 of 3) The Hunt Board.

Alliant Reports¶

Next, you will want to head over to the counter to speak with Gaute and look at Alliant Reports. This handy tool brings up all the side quests that are currently available around the world and shows you where they are. By selecting them you will be transported to the closest Obelisk. More side quests will appear as you progress through the game’s main story.

Patron’s Whisper¶

The Patron’s Whisper is located right next to Alliant Reports. By speaking with Desiree you can redeem the Renown you’ve gained for rewards. The higher your renown the more items you can claim in her shop. For more on all the rewards you can earn and how to earn Renown, check out our guide here.