Summary: Cait Sith origins and treachery. The brutality and temptation of Lilith.
Mission: Crossroads of Time (Wings of the Goddess)
-I head to San d’Oria. Lilisette is panicking. “It’s me, Lilisette! You do remember me, don’t you? Oh, please tell me you do!” Of course. What happened?
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Mission: Sandswept Memories (Wings of the Goddess)
-Lilisette drags me to the tavern. The Troupe Mayakov is here… but the dancers don’t know her. They don’t know me. They don’t remember anything about our time together.
-Orbs of light leave the dancers’ heads. Their memories.
-We go into the tavern itself, and… huh. Mayakov himself remember us. Portia too. Whew.
A relieved Lilisette.
-Lilisette thinks the future is being erased by all these changes to the past. Portia and Mayakov start to accept that Lilisette and I really ARE from the future.
-Word came in that the purple Lilith guys were seen in Beaucedine Glacier. Off we go, while a new samurai-looking Elvaan woman takes care of Sir Ragelise.
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Mission: Northland Exposure (Wings of the Goddess)
-Lilisette, Portia and I I head north to the glacier.
-IT’S RAINING CATS! Specifically, Cait Sith Naoi. Naoi is shocked about the wiped memories. It signals to her that a turncoat is among the caits. (She’s right.)
-Cait Sith Naoi promises to help reset the memories if we help her. Maybe. Possibly. Cagey cat.
LILISETTE: “Who in the world do you think you are, acting all suspicious and secretive? For all the drudgery you make us do, you’ve hardly given anything in return!”
The DEFINITION of a cat.
-Cait Sith Naoi thinks our party here is the prophesied Champions of Dawn, so she trusts us. She wants our help to find the cait defector. All five Caits are in Beaucedine Glacier now, so if we attach a shadow bug (tracking device) to them, we’ll find the truth.
-As we go to our task, Cait Sith Naoi sings to herself:
“When the Harbinger cometh, the Champions of the Dawn shall descend. The Maiden of the Dusk shall descend. O Merciful Altana, which of these is the will of the world?”
-So we’re probably the Champions of the Dawn, and I assume that Lilith is the Maiden of the Dusk. Who is the Harbinger?
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Mission: Traitor in the Midst (Wings of the Goddess)
- The Cait Siths of course don’t want me to attach the shadow bugs (tracking devices), so I have to do this secretly. I shoot the first one with a blowgun in a mini-game.
-This next Cait is a mini-game where I wait until Cait’s back is turned and gradually sneak up on her. The following Cait-taggings are the same thing.
-I love the last tagging game. Lilisette transforms me into an ADORABLE CHOCOBO CHICK! I lure the cat close by looking helpless and tasty.
Irresistible bait.
At the last second, Lilisette pounces and lays on the tag.
-I return to Naoi, and we look in on each cait. They laze about as cats are wont to do.
-While we wait for the betrayer to reveal herself, Cait Sith Naoi gives some backstory on her “regal kindred.”
-Once, there was a “beneficent soul possessed of boundless love and compassion.” She was grief-stricken by the Great War and the dark future. This must be Altana.
“When the Harbinger cometh,
The Champions of the Dawn shall descend.
With wings divine in radiance blessed,
The eternal night is end.”
Altana wished for the end of pain and suffering, for a peaceful Vana’diel. The Cait Siths were born from the Goddess’ tears to fulfill this wish.
-One of the Cait Siths leaves her post. We follow.
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Mission: Betrayal at Beaucedine (Wings of the Goddess)
-We track down the traitorous Cait Sith Ceithir. He meets with one of the Lilith-serving “Spitewardens.”
Spitewarden: “…We gotta locate and secure the matron, sooner’s the better. Time’s about run out.”
But… didn’t they already secure the matron? It sounds like Lilith is someone else.
-Cait Sith Naoi is enraged at this betrayal – and at Spitewarden calling him “a mere cat.” They see us.
-Cait Sith Ceithir tells Naoi he just wants to join the winning side, and Lilith’s winning.
-The Spitewarden notices the ornaments on Portia and Lilisette. He was looking for people with those.
-A swarm of demons swoops down to attack us, and we take them out. This impresses the Spitewarden.
“Let me introduce myself. I’m Larzos, Captain of the Bismuth Musketeers and a Spitewarden of Lady Lilith. We might stand on opposin’ sides of the board, but you’ve got guts. I like people with guts.”
Between Aquila and Captain Larzos, the Spitewardens are already my favorite villain faction in all of FFXI. They are funny and personable. Evil, but not taking their villainy too seriously.
-The earth starts rumbling. An avalanche.
-After the snow settles, we see Portia and Lilisette unharmed inside a protective bubble. Who cast that?
-AN AHRIMAN CAST IT?? WHAT THE FUCK?
-The Ahriman uses the bubble to carry off Portia and Lilisette. Those two are important to the Spitewardens and Lady Lilith.
-Cait Sith Naoi and I shake the snow off and get up. Naoi is especially upset that the dancers are taken, calling them our “trump card, our most important piece.” What role do those two have?
CS NAOI: “But how can we hope to prevail against an opponent that brought even Ringaling to heel…?” Ringaling? Is that her term for Sir Ragelise?
-Scene change to Lilith’s palace, inside the Atomos/Cavernous Maw. Larzos pushes the bound dancers inside and approach Lilith’s throne.
-There’s an AWESOME shot of Lilith casually floating a chess board in front of her.
I love her design. Not just how she looks, but how she moves. She has this slow, lazy – dare I say catlike? – quality.
-She points to Portia as the one she wants. Huh. I’m surprised. I was expecting her to point to LIlisette.
LILITH: “If I were to judge by looks alone, [Lilisette]’d be no more than a mere pawn – a throwaway piece.” As she says this, she snaps her fingers and a white chess pawn materializes in her hands.
-She turns to Portia; “You are welcome here.” WHY?
-Scene change back to CS Naoi and myself. Naoi is convinced that Lilith’s group came to the past to steal the future. I still don’t quite understand what this means, what their endgame is.
-Scene change back to Lilith’s palace. Aquila and Haudrale watch the scene. “(The manipulation begins…)”
LILITH: “I know your heart’s innermost desire. You wish to save the life of Ragelise B Baloumat. Join our cause, and what you seek shall be yours.”
-Lilith shows Portia an image of the future. A future where Portia is weeping over the corpse of Ragelise.
Things that have may yet come to pass.
“No one – not that petulant girl [Lilisette], not the felines, nor the so-called Champions of the Dawn – can save your beloved. No one can… but us.”
-This is working. Big time. Portia’s clearly affected
-Lilisette objects and tries to snap Portia out of it. Lilith turns her attentions to Lilisette.
“Poor misled child. Ask yourself this: why is it that you’re disappearing from people’s memories? It’s because you’re unwanted.”
JESUS. Lilisette’s core vulnerability is her constant loneliness. Lilith is pounding away at that.
“No one will remember that you ever lived – not even those you hold most dear. The solitude will torment you every waking second until you die, forgotten, without a single tear being shed in your name.”
JESUS JESUS HOLY SHIT
The brutal Lilith.
“Look back on your past and you’ll see. You’ve always been alone. Nobody needs you. That’s why they all abandon you and disappear.”
FDSFHHDHDSFLDHSFDJKLSF
Okay. Lilith has been on screen for like five minutes total, and she’s already one of my favorite FF villains. Not FFXI villains – FF villains. Her art, her movement, her dialogue, everything.
-Lilisette is clearly hurting, but screams out: “Detolilla is different! My tag-team partner. She believes in me and would never abandon me.”
The defiant Lilisette - most definitely not alone.
Damn right.
-Scene change. Naoi is worried about “Ringaling’s fury” on learning that Portia and Lilisette have been captured. Maybe he’s talking about Sir Ragelise.
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Next time: bringing this news to San d’Oria.
