Summary: Dueling Gilgamesh and Enkidu. Completing the lancer questline.
Hildibrand Quests
To recap: The mysteriously returned “brilliant” (lucky/bumbling/goofy) inspector Hildibrand is investigating a duelist who has been defeating people and stealing their weapons.
-The duelist is rumored to target the home of The new rumor is that the duelist will try to steal the legendary Truce-Blade from the home of Durilda, and Ishgardian.
-Alas, she’s already hired a criminal inspector. An Elezar who is actually COMPETENT AND GOOD at his job. Briardien.
-Since we’re cut out of this, Hildibrand and I try to help Durilda’s daughter find a vase she lost.
-We track it down to a river. It’s in pieces because a “Flamboyant Oaf” stepped on it by accident.
Gilllll!
I love the design of Gilgamesh in this game. Bless the PS4.
-He’s sulking. A “demon bird” swooped down and stole Gilgamesh’s favorite weapon.
-He feels so bad for breaking this girl’s vase that he offers to help us repair it. YAY QUESTING WITH GILGAMESH!
-AND ENKIDU! In FFV, Enkidu was an odd green demon monster that Gilgamesh befriended. In FFXIV, Enkidu is a random chicken that Gigamesh befriended and painted green just because. XD
-We all go track down a legendary goldsmith to repair the broken vase. Hildibrand seems to know the guy. The only way to lure him out apparently is to do the MOST RIDICULOUS DANCE IN THE HISTORY OF DANCES: the Manderville Dance.
It’s hard to describe this dance, so I found some gifs.
Hildibrand himself doing the Manderville.
Two Lalafells doing the Manderville. This was posted by RoirRoar on the XIV reddit.
-Me doing the Manderville summons him. A naked old dude in sunglasses named Godbert.
-Hildibrand is freaked to see him. Godbert chases him down – and when I say chase, I mean this is basically coyote running down roadrunner. That level of cartoony speed effects and sound effects.
-AHA! Godbert is Hildibrand’s dad. That’s why the Manderville dance – passed down through the Hildibrand line for generations – summoned the dad.
-Godbert successfully fixes the antique vase (if making it a bit gaudier).
-We return to the mother, Durilda. It turns out that Lord Godbert Manderville is a HUGE deal. A new member of the “Syndicate,” the hyper-wealthy oligarchs who run Ul’dah.
-Anyway, with that done, let’s investigate the mysterious duelist. (Who happens to be Gilgamesh.)
-Our buddy Gilgamesh meets up with us, and is clearly the guy we’re supposed to track down, but Hildibrand being Hildibrand has no idea.
-We start our stake-out, trying to lure this mysterious duelist thief out of hiding.
-WHAT. Five years ago, Hildibrand found a spear he still holds. The exact weapon Gilgamesh has been searching for.
I have no idea how Hildibrand came upon Gilgamesh’s spear.
Hildibrand Quests
To recap: The mysteriously returned “brilliant” (lucky/bumbling/goofy) inspector Hildibrand is investigating a duelist who has been defeating people and stealing their weapons.
-The duelist is rumored to target the home of The new rumor is that the duelist will try to steal the legendary Truce-Blade from the home of Durilda, and Ishgardian.
-Alas, she’s already hired a criminal inspector. An Elezar who is actually COMPETENT AND GOOD at his job. Briardien.
-Since we’re cut out of this, Hildibrand and I try to help Durilda’s daughter find a vase she lost.
-We track it down to a river. It’s in pieces because a “Flamboyant Oaf” stepped on it by accident.
Gilllll!
I love the design of Gilgamesh in this game. Bless the PS4.
-He’s sulking. A “demon bird” swooped down and stole Gilgamesh’s favorite weapon.
-He feels so bad for breaking this girl’s vase that he offers to help us repair it. YAY QUESTING WITH GILGAMESH!
-AND ENKIDU! In FFV, Enkidu was an odd green demon monster that Gilgamesh befriended. In FFXIV, Enkidu is a random chicken that Gigamesh befriended and painted green just because. XD
-We all go track down a legendary goldsmith to repair the broken vase. Hildibrand seems to know the guy. The only way to lure him out apparently is to do the MOST RIDICULOUS DANCE IN THE HISTORY OF DANCES: the Manderville Dance.
It’s hard to describe this dance, so I found some gifs.
Hildibrand himself doing the Manderville.
Two Lalafells doing the Manderville. This was posted by RoirRoar on the XIV reddit.
-Me doing the Manderville summons him. A naked old dude in sunglasses named Godbert.
-Hildibrand is freaked to see him. Godbert chases him down – and when I say chase, I mean this is basically coyote running down roadrunner. That level of cartoony speed effects and sound effects.
-AHA! Godbert is Hildibrand’s dad. That’s why the Manderville dance – passed down through the Hildibrand line for generations – summoned the dad.
-Godbert successfully fixes the antique vase (if making it a bit gaudier).
-We return to the mother, Durilda. It turns out that Lord Godbert Manderville is a HUGE deal. A new member of the “Syndicate,” the hyper-wealthy oligarchs who run Ul’dah.
-Anyway, with that done, let’s investigate the mysterious duelist. (Who happens to be Gilgamesh.)
-Our buddy Gilgamesh meets up with us, and is clearly the guy we’re supposed to track down, but Hildibrand being Hildibrand has no idea.
-We start our stake-out, trying to lure this mysterious duelist thief out of hiding.
-WHAT. Five years ago, Hildibrand found a spear he still holds. The exact weapon Gilgamesh has been searching for.
I have no idea how Hildibrand came upon Gilgamesh’s spear.
-The other inspectors involved in this converge on Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh
is confused why everyone thinks he’s a weapon thief – after all, he’s
just collecting weapons as trophies for having defeated them in single
combat. He EARNED those weapons, dammit!
-Gilgamesh runs off with his chicken Enkidu following behind. Hildibrand pursues.
-I track him down. He’s ready to duel. And he grows like three times his size.
HAHAHAHAH YESSSS GILGAMESH IS A TRIAL BOSS
AND THE PLACE WE FIGHT HIM IS ON A GIANT BRIDGE
AND THE BOSS MUSIC IS A VARIATION ON “BATTLE ON THE BIG BRIDGE” FROM FFV AAAHJKHFDSLKFDS
-The fight itself is amazing. [Rot13ing this because a friend reading this is midway through FFV.]
Ur obeebjf urnivyl sebz gur SSI svtug. Ur fgnegf ol zbecuvat - abg vagb n zhygv-nezrq zna, ohg vagb na "rzovttrarq" irefvba bs uvzfrys. (Uvf jbeqf, abg zvar.)
Ur nyfb qbrf gur guvat jurer jr orng uvz va cunfr bar, ur frrzf gb tvir hc, naq ynhtuf. Whfg gebyyrq hf, yvxr ur qvq ba gur ovt oevqtr va ssi.
-But the main mechanic is his chicken, Enkidu. We can’t target Enkidu, but sometimes he transforms a target into a frog. Enkidu then chases the frogged player, and the frog has to run away as fast as possible. If Enkidu catches them, they take massive damage.
-In the second phase of the fight, there are like 5-6 Enkidus and Gilgamesh frogs multiple players who have to escape the flock of murderous chickens. It’s pure, joyous chaos.
-We defeat Gilgamesh. He doesn’t quite admit this – just says “Well, looks like… uh… you’ve had enough of my beating! Time to leave.” His escape is as glorious as everything else. He has Enkidu fly him away, off the bridge.
The problem is that Gilgamesh is a giant warrior. Enkidu is a chicken. The flight lasts for about two seconds before they plummet to the ground. See ya, Gil.
-The “thief” defeated, the inspectors pass the now-secure Truce-Blade to its rightful owner, Durilda. She leaves.
-…and then the REAL Durilda emerges to ask for the blade. Whoever the first Durilda was was a con. A disguise. We see the a mask on the ground nearby.
-OH SHIT! Gilgamesh just talked about getting his HALBERD back, not the Treaty-Blade. Someone else must have been the real thief! Gilgamesh was a red herring.
-The real thief sends another calling card – like, a physical calling card – flying at the inspectors from a distance:
“Four hundred years have I slept, one thousand faces do I wear. What is yours will be mind. I shall come to claim the lapis maiden’s virtue.”
-Not sure what the lapis maiden’s virtue is. Sounds like the next target. We even see the thief in the distance, a naked man. Can’t see his face.
-I wonder if the thief is someone we know. Gogo is my best guess, given that “one thousand faces do I wear” line.
-Gilgamesh runs off with his chicken Enkidu following behind. Hildibrand pursues.
-I track him down. He’s ready to duel. And he grows like three times his size.
HAHAHAHAH YESSSS GILGAMESH IS A TRIAL BOSS
AND THE PLACE WE FIGHT HIM IS ON A GIANT BRIDGE
AND THE BOSS MUSIC IS A VARIATION ON “BATTLE ON THE BIG BRIDGE” FROM FFV AAAHJKHFDSLKFDS
-The fight itself is amazing. [Rot13ing this because a friend reading this is midway through FFV.]
Ur obeebjf urnivyl sebz gur SSI svtug. Ur fgnegf ol zbecuvat - abg vagb n zhygv-nezrq zna, ohg vagb na "rzovttrarq" irefvba bs uvzfrys. (Uvf jbeqf, abg zvar.)
Ur nyfb qbrf gur guvat jurer jr orng uvz va cunfr bar, ur frrzf gb tvir hc, naq ynhtuf. Whfg gebyyrq hf, yvxr ur qvq ba gur ovt oevqtr va ssi.
-But the main mechanic is his chicken, Enkidu. We can’t target Enkidu, but sometimes he transforms a target into a frog. Enkidu then chases the frogged player, and the frog has to run away as fast as possible. If Enkidu catches them, they take massive damage.
-In the second phase of the fight, there are like 5-6 Enkidus and Gilgamesh frogs multiple players who have to escape the flock of murderous chickens. It’s pure, joyous chaos.
-We defeat Gilgamesh. He doesn’t quite admit this – just says “Well, looks like… uh… you’ve had enough of my beating! Time to leave.” His escape is as glorious as everything else. He has Enkidu fly him away, off the bridge.
The problem is that Gilgamesh is a giant warrior. Enkidu is a chicken. The flight lasts for about two seconds before they plummet to the ground. See ya, Gil.
-The “thief” defeated, the inspectors pass the now-secure Truce-Blade to its rightful owner, Durilda. She leaves.
-…and then the REAL Durilda emerges to ask for the blade. Whoever the first Durilda was was a con. A disguise. We see the a mask on the ground nearby.
-OH SHIT! Gilgamesh just talked about getting his HALBERD back, not the Treaty-Blade. Someone else must have been the real thief! Gilgamesh was a red herring.
-The real thief sends another calling card – like, a physical calling card – flying at the inspectors from a distance:
“Four hundred years have I slept, one thousand faces do I wear. What is yours will be mind. I shall come to claim the lapis maiden’s virtue.”
-Not sure what the lapis maiden’s virtue is. Sounds like the next target. We even see the thief in the distance, a naked man. Can’t see his face.
-I wonder if the thief is someone we know. Gogo is my best guess, given that “one thousand faces do I wear” line.
-This quest wraps up with another of those movie trailers. Next time, in the Hildibrand quests – mystery! Excitement! Romance!
I’m so happy these quests exist.
---
Lancer - Questions and Lancers
-My next trial requires me to learn from more experienced lancers.
-I learn the story of Mistalle, the first lancer. He helped break through Gridania’s insularity and accepted outside lancers to improve their skillset.
-There are many lancers who have great respect for a long and open heritage. Foulques seems to be in the minority in his disrespect for the Lancers’ Guild.
---
Lancer – Proof of Might
-Final lancer quest. Foulques attacked a group of lancer trainees, yelling about “true courage.”
-I arrive at the scene of the crime, just in time to save a wounded trainee from a pack of raptors. Foulques set them on the trainee as another of his brutal “tests.” Frigging Jigsaw-wannabe asshole.
-I track down Foulques himself. He’s still barking up the “your friends are too weak” tree.
“It is only a matter of time before they betray you. Aye, just like those wretches who saw me imprisoned and exiled.” I KNEW there was something personal lurking here.
-Foulques used to be a lancer of Gridania. As we’ve heard before, lancers live in poverty. This got to him. He and his mates conspired to steal from the guild coffers.
Guilt wracked him afterwards. He convinced his friends to confess their crime. He confessed… but then his friends stayed silent. They let him take full blame for the crime.
The worst part is the racial issue. Foulques is a Duskwight Elezar, a group of Elezar especially mistrusted and seen as low, thieving, untrustworthy. It burned Foulques to see that everyone now used him to confirm their suspicions about the Duskwight, when it wasn’t just him in the crime.
-He wished badly to be stronger. Bolder. More courageous. If he had more courage, he could have made his friends confess. This injustice wouldn’t have been done to him. And so he reshaped his worldview,with courage at the center.
-He thinks he’s now achieved his goal. He’s the greatest, most fearless, most courageous lancer ever.
-Let’s see. Duel time.
Ququshu vs. Foulques.
-It’s a tough duel. He summons adds near the end. I didn’t take them out fast enough on the first attempt and I tied. The second time, I knock them out quickly.
-He panics in defeat. “Nooo! My courage is absolute!” So flustered that he unwittingly backs off a cliff and plummets to (what I assume is) his death. RIP Foulques.
-I return to Ywain. I’ve gone as far as I can on the path of a lancer.
The next quest awaiting me is the first dragoon quest. I’ll do that later.
---
Disciples of the Land/Hand
-I’m going to gradually try building ALL the crafting jobs up at once. They interlock heavily and mesh with each other.
-Level 15 fisher: got a new trait, “Gulleye.” It lets me see legendary fishing holes throughout the world.
-Level 20, I get to use lures. I love the lore behind it. Qiqirin (the rat people) want to fish, but when they use live bait they can’t help but eat it before they use it. Hence, lures. :D
Fisherwoman Ququshu.
-I have how cumbersome/awkward item retrieval is for crafting. If I need Ingredient A to craft something, and Ingredient A is in my bank/retainer, I have to manually hunt through my retainers’ hundreds of items in stock, withdraw it into my inventory, and then craft. Ughhhhh.
I gotta be missing something here.
---
Random Stuff
-I gained access to my first large raid. I won’t do this, not for a long while. It’s a 24 person raid in a crystalline fortress called “Labyrinth of the Ancients.”
-I got a new mount, a magitek armor mount. It looks sleek and badass, but my favorite part? The music that plays while I’m on the mount is Terra’s Theme from FFVI. <span class="idc-smiley"><span style="background-position: -48px -12px;"><span><3</span></span></span>
A hippogriff mount.
A player dressed as a gentlemanly moogle.
My friend in her dragoon gear. Sure, the gear looks great, but I can’t help but think that on a Lalafell she looks like a kid dressing up as Kain for Halloween.
---
Next time: Continuing with the Hildibrand quests and starting the dragoon. Perhaps also starting the main post-Ultima story.
Disciples of the Land/Hand
-I’m going to gradually try building ALL the crafting jobs up at once. They interlock heavily and mesh with each other.
-Level 15 fisher: got a new trait, “Gulleye.” It lets me see legendary fishing holes throughout the world.
-Level 20, I get to use lures. I love the lore behind it. Qiqirin (the rat people) want to fish, but when they use live bait they can’t help but eat it before they use it. Hence, lures. :D
Fisherwoman Ququshu.
-I have how cumbersome/awkward item retrieval is for crafting. If I need Ingredient A to craft something, and Ingredient A is in my bank/retainer, I have to manually hunt through my retainers’ hundreds of items in stock, withdraw it into my inventory, and then craft. Ughhhhh.
I gotta be missing something here.
---
Random Stuff
-I gained access to my first large raid. I won’t do this, not for a long while. It’s a 24 person raid in a crystalline fortress called “Labyrinth of the Ancients.”
-I got a new mount, a magitek armor mount. It looks sleek and badass, but my favorite part? The music that plays while I’m on the mount is Terra’s Theme from FFVI. <span class="idc-smiley"><span style="background-position: -48px -12px;"><span><3</span></span></span>
A hippogriff mount.
A player dressed as a gentlemanly moogle.
My friend in her dragoon gear. Sure, the gear looks great, but I can’t help but think that on a Lalafell she looks like a kid dressing up as Kain for Halloween.
---
Next time: Continuing with the Hildibrand quests and starting the dragoon. Perhaps also starting the main post-Ultima story.
