Enter the Ivy
-Urianger is working on the Ascians and the Primals are in check, but there’s a new problem. A Garlean agent known as "the Ivy” lies embedded within one of the three cities’ Grand Companies.
-A Crystal Brave named Ilberd leads the search.
-We meet with Raubahn to discuss the Ivy, and it seems like he and Ilberd are old friends.
-Ooh, Raubahn backstory! The Brass Blades imprisoned him when he first arrived in Ul’dah, but he fought as a gladiator and won his freedom, along with power and glory.
-Back in Mor Dhona, the Ivy has struck. Garlean soldiers learned Crystal Brave training routines and captured one. I break them out of holding in the nearby Imperial fort.
-That’s all for now. This Ivy-the-spy thing is going to cook in the background.
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Ser Aymeric of Ishgard
-But for now, an ambassador of the Holy See of Ishgard wishes to meet me. Ser Aymeric.
-Ishgard was an original member of the Eorzean Alliance two decades ago but has since closed their borders. They rarely contact us and didn’t even help at the Battle of Carteneau.
-Our past efforts to reach out to them involved us talking to some lowly messenger. Ser Aymeric is a big deal.
(Too bad the Scions getting all excited about this outreach didn’t see Ascians lurking and manipulating Ishard like I did.)
-We head to Coerthas for the meeting.
-Uh oh. Aymeric seems especially interested in me. Is this the Ascians manipulating Ishard to take me out?
-Aymeric reiterates that Ishgard will not rejoin the alliance. They see the Primals as internal affairs of Gridania, Ul’dah, etc. The Garlean Empire will return, but for now he doesn’t see them as a threat.
-Plus, all their knights are committed to the “Dravanian conflict,” the civil war against dragon-worshipping Ishgardian heretics.
-So…. What’s his goal with this meeting, if Ishgardian policy remains unchanged?
-Ishgard has been supplying aid to Revenant’s Toll for construction, provisions, etc. Revenant’s Toll is the town with the new Scion HQ in Mor Dhona. Political pressure in Ishgard has fought to restrict that aid, but Ser Aymeric is offering to fight to continue it.
No way this is just out of the kindness of his heart. What does he want?
-Ishgardian astrologians have seen signs that dragon power will wax soon. They fear the old dead dragon, Midgardsormr, might rise, and want us to watch over his corpse.
-We agree. We’ll watch over Midgardsormr and the aid from Ishgard will continue unabated.
-Suddenly, a guard busts in. Another shipment from Ishgard has been raided by Iceheart.
Current theory: Iceheart and her Dravanians will get more and more crystals and use them to resurrect Midgardsormr.
-I speak to a survivor of the caravan attack. A girl approached the caravan, spoke with the leader, kissed his cheek, and the leader crumped dead to the ground. Then the attack began in full.
SURVIVING SQUIRE: “Iceheart’s people spoke of deliverance and resurrection. And… they spoke of Shiva.”
Aha! So that’s Iceheart’s goal, not Midgardsormr.
-In XIV, Shiva was an “apostate who lay down with dragons.” *pops on some Barry White* She’s the Ishgardian Patron Saint of Heretics. The caravan was full of crystals, crystals used to summon primals.
Quick side note: much as I love this game, the story is getting more than a little repetitive.
1) Bad Guys steal crystals.
2) Bad Guys use crystals to summon Primal.
3) Good Guys defeat Primal.
I feel like that pattern has happened a whole lot. The particulars vary plenty – like, Titan is way different from Ifrit, from Shiva, from Garuda – but still.
-Iceheart’s Heretics have taken the crystals to the nearby stronghold (dungeon) of Snowcloak.
-Scene change. We see the heretics, including one particular mage kneeling before Iceheart.
-Btw, some new gear makes me look like a Vegas magician and I love it.
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Snowcloak
-We head to Snowcloak. This is immediately my favorite dungeon in Final Fantasy XIV. By far. It looks like a bright, shining crystalline icy cave.
And the music! The music throughout is so peaceful, which is an unusual choice for a dungeon.
The bosses are are also fun! My favorite is a yeti boss. Little bunnies run around during the fight, and he freezes them, turns them into snowballs. We have to kick the snowballs at him at certain points.
-The final boss is Fenrir. I’m a bit surprised he’s a dungeon boss rather than a Primal.
-Afterwards, Lady Iceheart reveals herself.
“This endless cycle of hatred, of bloodshed, of sorrow – you would see it continue, o noble Warrior of Light?”
”I would not. I will not. I will bring an end to this war between dragon and man – no matter the cost.”
-She teleports away to continue preparations for summoning Shiva.
-Meanwhile, the Scions have been researching Shiva. Lots of contradictory information, but one clear line: she was a real person who really “laid down” with a dragon.
-And yet, she did so in the name of peace. She wanted the dragon-human war to end. Blasphemy in the name of peace. I'm #TeamShiva.
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Dragoon: Lance of Fury
-Now for something completely different: continuing my dragoon job questline.
-A quick recap: an old Ishgardian dragoon trainer and ex-dragoon, Alberic, began training me to take out a corrupt dragoon named Estinien.
-Alberic’s training begins by teaching me the origin of the dragoons, tied to the origin of Ishgard itself. It relates to a man named Haldrath who took out the great wyrm Nidhogg (who I met not long ago in FFXII!).
Haldrath took Nidhogg’s eye as a powerful relic and became the first Azure Dragoon. It has a corrupting influence, but the most pure dragoons can fight the corruption and only get the Eye’s benefits: power.
-Nidhogg isn’t even completely dead. Every so often he rises and wreaks vengeance on Ishgard. He’s risen EIGHT TIMES so far. Yeesh.
-Twenty years ago, he arose and obliterated Dravania. This time, other dragons sensed him and rose as well. Ishgard got roasted.
Alberic was the Azure Dragoon at the time. He pursued Nidhogg and caught up with him in Coerthas. They fought for three days and three nights, at the end of which they struck each other down. Alberic was insensate and Nidhogg fled, wounded.
-Estinien was an orphan of that last assault. Alberic took him in, trained him. Out of guilt.
-The dragoon quests themselves have not been that great. These two quests here consisted of an info dump, followed by a “test” where they summoned a random enemy for me to kill. The story is awesome; I just feel they could have done better with the quest itself.
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Random Stuff
-Finished off the “Immortal Flames” Ul’dah rank-up quests. There’s a hunt board now available that I want to try in the near future, something that sounds modeled on FFXII’s hunt board.
-I’ve been doing a lot of Yo-kai Watch weapon hunts. It’s grindy but relaxing. Some of my favorite weapons associated with Yo-kai minions are Venoct and Manjimutt.
Venoct and her weapon:
Manjimutt is terrifying. Utterly terrifying. He’s a poodle with a human face, and it makes sense then that his weapon looks like a satanic tome:
-This isn’t really related to anything, just a pic of me on my Yo-kai Whisper mount, but putting it here because PS4 graphics are amazing and snowy zones are my favorite:
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Next time: Continuing with the Snowcloak/Shiva hunt, and trying to finish off the dragoon questline.
