In the wake of the Japanese-only trailers showing off the the continents of Lightning Returns, a community member provided me with a link to a translation of Hope and Lightning’s conversations. The translation serves to clarify the position of the “Salvation Council”, which we previously believed to be the followers of Etro who have been killing women that resemble the Savior. The original translator has asked to be credited as Ryu-Chan.

THE ARK

Hope: Welcome home, Light.
Lightning: Hope Estheim, a boy who once shared the same fate as me and fought against it.
Hope: Light, welcome~! It’s very safe here, so feel free to relax. There’s no need to worry about time either. Time has stopped within the Ark.
Lightning: Thanks to the powers of the almighty god, right? He’s able to stop the motion of time in here, but not the whole world.
Hope: You can use this device to teleport down to any location in the world. Time has halted since that day. I’ll transport you into the monorail.
Lightning: Got it. Send me in.
Hope: Don’t push yourself too hard. Okay, let’s go.

LUXERION

Hope: Luxerion, the city of light and prayer. It is the capitol of faith where salvation is preached. Strict order holds this location together. Life in Luxerion revolves around obedience to God. This city is ruled by the Salvation Council, a religious group worshiping Bhunivelze. The hope of salvation by God brings light to the people here. However, there is a darkness here that cannot be reached by God’s light – a darkness against the teachings of God. “The Shadow Hunter will kill the wicked Savior.” Is this “wicked Savior” referring to…
Lightning: Probably me. The Shadow Hunter is said to carry the will of the Goddess. Is he the one behind all these crimes?
Hope: He believes that the Salvation Council is the head of all the heretics.

YUSNAAN

Lightning: “The Shining Capitol”, huh. I take it this is Snow’s taste?
Hope: I don’t know about taste, but it sure is his idea. The undying liveliness of this festival-city is an order from Snow, the patron. Lately, Snow has been locking himself away within the palace and his motives have become unclear. Have the centuries changed his character?
This is the area where humans and beasts fight blazing battles. The sight of dripping blood gives excitement to the spectators. Recently, the tournaments have become so heated that people have actually died fighting in them. This is the area of pleasure. Beautiful fountains and the Cactuar monument are famous landmarks. This is also a renown dating spot for couples, so you might stand-out since you’re alone.
Lightning: Am I really that noticeable?
Hope: Just saying that it might be difficult for you to sneak around. This VIP area is geared towards the wealthy. Regular citizens are not allowed to enter this area of the city.

THE DEAD DUNES

Hope: The residents of this location are mostly, if not all, bandits and treasure-hunters. If it wasn’t for the abundant valuables here, no one would want to live in this desert. I did some research on the artifact. It’s supposedly a tool that beckons the souls of the dead, but any further detail is unknown. However, the Salvation Council has shown strong interest in this artifact. They’ve dispatched numerous expeditions to recover it.
Lightning: I’m not sure how valuable the thing really is, but if it’s got the power to beckon souls, it may be of some use to the Savior.
Hope: It’s an object that even the Salvation Council is itching for. I’m sure it’ll be worth searching around.

THE WILDLANDS

Lightning: So this is only remaining land of nature…
Hope: The Wildlands, a sanctuary for wildlife. Here, beasts live and die on natural instinct. In this land where life and death stand back-to-back, the movements of Chaos are especially active. Unlike those in the cities, the people living here are not loyal to the Salvation Council. They reject all support from the Council and live off of the land. Here, the people continue to hold faith in the goddess Etro. They wish to return to her side… Does that mean they wish to disappear along with the world?

No English version of the trailers seems to be forthcoming for now, but Square Enix Japan appears to be ramping up for their native release in November. In addition to more details on ‘Go THERE’ (their cross-game promotion currently involving Lightning Returns, Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, and Final Fantasy X|X-2 HD), it is expected that a brand new character will be revealed at TGS. This is also where we hopefully get some information on the “previously unseen” features we were teased with a while back.