The 'big bad guy' was Nighthelm in the South and/or the '~V~' guild, neither of which I had much familiarity with because as difficult as it may be to imagine now, Galiard was quiet and did what he was told without asking too many questions.
I can attest to some of that since my first Far East character, Cid, arrived in 2005 as well. I remember Nighthelm being the realm everyone was out to get (at least in Soliferum) and arguments broke out between people who supported or were members of ~V~ and their detractors constantly. I remember a few duels being fought over the issue.
My only real memory of Nighthelm was a short stay in their dungeons and associating them we some very shady people. Wasn't there some bit about their ruler potentially being host to a demonic possession or something of that nature or am I mixing that up with something else?