-Back to Scion HQ. YDA IS HERE! Hi, Yda!
-Papalymo and Minfilia were taken alive. Gaius must want them for the Echo.
-But still. How did the Empire even KNOW of this secret HQ? There must be a traitor. My working theory is that it’s Alphinaud’s sister. She wanted to take a different path for Eorzea than Alphinaud. Maybe that path leads through the Empire.
-Dream sequence. Like the beginning, with Hydaelyn’s voice. “Hear. Feel. Think.”
-She warns me against the bearer of the Crimson Brand (Lahabrea.) The Crystals will be my salvation.
“Steel thyself. For at the appointed hour, thou shalt stare into the heart of darkness.”
-I wake. Y’shtola returns – she knows the location of the hostages. Castrum Centri, in Mor Dhona.
-As we plan to infiltrate the prison, scene change to the imperials looking over their Weapon.
-Nero and Rhitahtyn present it to Gaius.
-Rhitahtyn will command the western front in Vylbrand. There’s an oddly touching moment where Rhitahtyn wonders whether he’s worthy of this command and Gaius reassures him that he earned it.
-I really like Rhitahtyn’s design. He looks like he’s dual-wielding shields.
-Back to us. Biggs and Wedge were captured by the Empire as part of their raid, but the rumor is that they’ve managed to break free in the snowy region of Coerthus.
We need to find them quickly. They have no Echo; the Empire see them as more expendable.
-I find Wedge huddled, freezing and starving, beneath a bridge He escaped from the prison airship alone. Biggs ran elsewhere.
-Yay! Some more quests later and we rescue Biggs from a cadre of Imperials.
Wedge is so happy to have his friend back. AND CID TOO!! This group escaped the Empire together. This is the first time since Cid’s amnesia that they’ve reunited.
-Wedge and Biggs are badasses. They were captured, imprisoned, and put on an airship for Garlemald. They managed to sabotage the airship over Coerthas and escape.
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Infiltrating Castrum Centri
-Our next mission is to save the other Scions from Castrum Centri.
-The plan is stealth. We’ll disguise ourselves as Imperials and walk through the front door.
-Stole some armor from soldiers and got it repaired.
-Foreigners apparently make up a large part of the Garlean Empire’s army. The Empire conquers a land, conscripts that land’s fighters as Imperials soldiers, and sends them elsewhere. Nip rebellion in the bud. Is this modeled on a real life strategy?
-Now we’re cooking! We ambushed an Imperial patrol and stole their Magitek reaper, one of these FFVI-esque war walkers.
-I love how heavily crafting features in this questline. I constantly return to the main cities for repairs. The weaver and armorer improve the gear, the goldsmith provides a core item for the Magitek reaper, etc. Combat is just one element in this world.
-LOLOL! In order to get the Magitek suit up-and-running again, we have to replace its core with essentially an AI. That means we can’t just pilot it; we have to make it feel welcome, like part of the team.
-Castrum Centri. The prison’s spotlights remind me of FFVI’s Vector.
-Scene change. Livia sas Junius is interrogating Minfilia.
LIVIA: “You wish to be rid of the eikons, do you not?”
-Minfilia does not break, despite Livia’s brutality. Livia has enough, and orders Minfilia to be sent to Castrum Meridianum. I can only assume that’s some maximum security torture center.
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Escape from Castrum Centri
-Back to me. I’m inside Castrum Centri, asking around for info. My favorite piece here is the imperial guard who has a massive crush on Tataru.
I can’t blame you, friend.
-THE MUSIC HERE IS INCREDIBLE
-We procure access and move inside.
-Prison break! We defeat the captives’ guards. Everyone’s here but Thancred.
-Scene change. Yda and Y’shtola are here!! They corner the tribunus, Livia.
-These two infiltrated Castum Centri via supply train. And oh good lord, the FFVI references. XD
YDA: “That was one of the most uncomfortable things I’ve ever stowed away in. It’s no wonder it’s called the Phantom Train - no passenger would be seen dead on it!”
-Reinforcements arrive before they can engage in a real fight, and Yda/Yshtola escape.
-Now it’s really prison break time. All cover is blown, and they send in Magitek armor units against us along with a new unit: an Iron Giant.
-HAHA Y’SHTOLA WITH THE LAST MINUTE SAVE AS WE’RE SURROUDNED
-Cid swoops in with the Enterprise and we escape. Phew.
-Gaius van Baelsar watches all this calmly and fires at us with his huge mech Weapon.
-Yup. It’s Ultima Weapon. A relic of ancient Allag (some ancient kingdom?), excavated from Ala Mhigo.
-Lahabrea is here with Gaius. For the first time, Lahabrea removes his mask/cowl.
WAIT ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME
Bearer of the crimson brand.
LAHABREA IS THANCRED????
I WAS BLUE-SKYING BACK LIKE THE FIRST OR SECOND TIME I MET LAHABREA THAT THANCRED IS LAHABREA LOLOLOLOL
Well. This explains how the Imperials knew so much about the Scions.
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Decision Points
-We head to meet the Alliance leaders to update them.
-They meet. Ishgarde is sitting this out unfortunately.
-Gaius has issued an ultimatum. Join with him (or more likely, become subservient to him) and he’ll eliminate the primals for us. Resist him, and Ultima Weapon will take us out too.
-They’re on the verge of surrender. They’ve barely been able to keep their own individual beastman tribes and their primals at bay while the Garlean Empire took out three.
And as far as they know, the Scions of the Seventh Dawn are gone.
LOL NOT SO FAST. The freshly-escaped Scions bust into the meeting.
-Minfilia makes a wonderful speech urging the alliance leaders to stand fast – and while she does so, she makes a fantastic point: the Primals are summoned through desperation, and the Beastmen would grow ever more desperate.
The Empire’s plan would only temporarily remove the Primals. It would drive the Beastmen to desperation, which would lead to more powerful primals.
This is like the same argument that says Batman should have focused more on social programs that address the roots of crime rather than vigilantism. I agree with her.
Burning the Empire’s ultimata.
---
Moonfire Faire
-The Moonfire Faire is my first FFXIV holiday. It celebrates the felling of some “Bombards,” bomb enemies that must have attacked at some point.
-Gegeruju is the Lalafell who runs the faire.
-Rumors of secret buried “faire treasures” abound.
-I love the music playing during the faire! It takes place at Costa del Sol, and the music sounds vaguely Cuban. (I know jack shit about music; it just reminds me a bit of the Buena Vista Social Club music.)
-Guess which sleazy octopus washed up on the beach to say hello?
Hi Ultros!
-He was part of a FATE that I missed (one of XIV’s public quests). I didn’t complete the FATE; I arrived too late. But he hung out for a bit afterwards.
-I investigate the rumors of Faire treasure. The quest is called “The True Meaning of Summer,” so there’s a decent chance that the treasure will end up being “enjoyment of the outdoors” or something.
-Gegeruju was sighted hiding something. I find his “buried treasures.” It’s a spyglass. What was he watching?
Mini-game time. There are four huge muscly dudes flexing in front of four women. I have to use the spyglass to look at the women. If I look at the dudes instead, the mission fails lol.
-A bit later, I catch Gegeruju (and his female assistant) using the spyglasses. He’s staring at the women from afar, she’s staring at the dudes. I guess the true meaning of summer is being a super creeper.
-Hah! They were the ones who spread the rumors of treasure to increase turnout.
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Random Stuff
-I unlocked a new dungeon called Wanderer’s Palace that sounds somehow Tonberry-based. I am CONCERNED. To say the least.
-Also unlocked Aurum Vale.
A beachgoer with a mini-Ultros waving to me.
Sunset during the Faire on Costa del Sol.
A mini-pet who was part of an anime crossover apparently. I don’t remember its name.
Dudes flirting.
A Lalafell in a costume that reminds me of an FFX-2 Festivalist. With a pet brachiosaur, who my experience in FFVI taught me will soon blast me with meteors.
A Tidus card in Triple Triad.
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Next time: Pushing towards confrontation with Gaius, the Imperials, and Ultima Weapon.
