Orange Crush

Side quest, level 7. 21st of 102 in play order.

Quest giver: Bhirdraeg, Middle La Noscea (X 25.4, Y 16.9).

Next: Fool Me Once ›

Steps

Slay puk hatchlings.
Report to Bhirdraeg.

Journal

Bhirdraeg seeks to restore equilibrium by having the local fauna culled.
Puks prey on the insects that pollinate La Noscean oranges, upsetting the balance of nature on Summerford Farms. Assist Bhirdraeg by culling five puk hatchlings.
You have carried out the culling as bade. Return to Bhirdraeg and inform him that the puks stop here.
With the bees back about their business, the La Noscean oranges will grow. Nevertheless, all will be for naught if the lazing pirates let the fruit rot on the boughs.

Hidden

Easter egg The journal says 'the puks stop here'. This twists Truman's famous 'the buck stops here'. It was his motto that responsibility cannot be passed on.

Easter egg Bhirdraeg

twists 'fish out of water', someone in the wrong place, into 'whelps-out-of-water'. Whelps are young dogs. This is for the retired pirates stuck on a farm. Bhirdraeg wishes you could rid him of them, like the puks.

In-game text The Encyclopaedia Eorzea says puks are also called 'wind dragons'. But these fierce little creatures have no proven link to any real kind of dragon.

Title reference The title is Orange Crush. That is the name of an orange soda brand and of an R.E.M. song. But here, you crush puks to save the oranges.

Characters 1

Bhirdraeg
Bhirdraeg wants five puk hatchlings culled at Summerford Farms. Puks (small, fierce beasts) eat the bees his oranges need.
What you know from earlier quests 1
- #20 The Time Is Ripe: Bhirdraeg is delighted with the sweet oranges and pays you partly in goods, including 10 Orange Juice. He wishes scurvy (a sickness fresh fruit prevents) on the ex-pirates he finds lazy, and mocks the Admiral: you can't teach an old sea dog new tricks.

What happens in this quest spoilers for this quest

Bhirdraeg: Because puks eat the bees, his workers must pollinate every orange by hand. With the hatchlings gone, the bees can work. Bhirdraeg still calls the ex-pirates the real pests, 'whelps-out-of-water' (like fish out of water), and wishes you could rid him of them too.

What the Japanese version says 1

Japanese

EN Orange Crush · 'We have to pollinate each orange by hand because of the blasted puks that prey on the nearby bees.'

JA 「真心仕込みのオレンジ」, 'oranges grown with loving care' · 「花粉を運ぶ小さな蜜蜂をプークどもが根こそぎ食っちまうもんで、俺たちがひとつ、ひとつ手で受粉させてんのさ。」, 'Those blasted puks gobble up every last one of the little honeybees that carry the pollen, so we pollinate the blossoms ourselves, one by one, by hand.'

The title praises oranges grown with this much care. The English title puns on crushing.

Dialogue 6 lines

Accepting the quest

Bhirdraeg

La Noscean orange nectar is sweet, but rest assured it's paid for in sweat.

We have to pollinate each orange by hand because of the blasted puks that prey on the nearby bees.

FR Ces arbres requièrent déjà eux-mêmes beaucoup de soins, mais en plus de ça il faut aussi protéger les petits insectes qui en favorisent la pollinisation contre des prédateurs. ‘These trees already need a lot of care themselves, but on top of that one must also protect the little insects that help pollinate them from predators.’ English says they pollinate each orange by hand; French says they must protect the pollinating insects.

If we could only eradicate some five puk hatchlings, it would save us from having to do nature's work.

DE Dann werden sich die anderen bestimmt auch bald zurückziehen. ‘Then the others will surely soon withdraw too.’ English says culling would spare them nature's work; German says the other puks would then withdraw.

Report to Bhirdraeg.

Bhirdraeg

The buzz on the wind tells me you've done the deed.

The only pests plaguin' my orchard are those woeful whelps-out-of-water.

FR Mais je ne peux pas m'empêcher de continuer à penser que tout serait plus simple pour tout le monde ici, si ces tire-au-flanc de pirates décidaient de se mettre au travail. ‘But I can't help still thinking everything would be simpler for everyone here if these shirking pirates decided to get to work.’ English calls the pirates the only pests in the orchard; French wishes they would get to work.
DE Vielleicht nehmen sich die Ackerpiraten ein Beispiel an dir und engagieren sich in Zukunft mehr für die Landwirtschaft ... ‘Maybe the field pirates will take a leaf out of your book and do more for farming in future... That would be nice.’ English calls the pirates the only pests in the orchard; German hopes they follow the hero's example.
JA まぁ、それもこれも海賊上がりの連中が、素直にシャキシャキ働いてくれりゃ、いいって話なんだがね。 ‘Well, all of this would be solved if the pirate-turned lot would just work briskly and do as they're told.’ English calls the pirates the only pests in the orchard; Japanese wishes they would just work.

If only you could rid me of the parasitic pirates as you did the pesky puks!