The Steps of Faith
-The dragons move on Ishgard, and it’s up to us to stop them.
-The instanced trial for this battle is called “The Steps of Faith.” It takes place on the road approaching Ishgard. Vishap, a titanic dragon, leads the attack. He marches down the road and it’s up to us to stop him.
What makes the fight so cool is the tactics. There are cannons set up that we have to use to blast him down. At another point, two players have to launch chains binding Vishap to the ground while me and another party member climb towers to launch huge spears at Vishap.
We wiped the first time, but got him the second go around. Ishgard is saved.
-One thing bothers both me and Estinien, the Ishgard dragoon helping us out: why didn’t Nidhogg join?
-Estinien is determined to take out Nidhogg directly. He jumps off.
-Ser Aymeric thanks us on Ishgard’s behalf. It’s a bit awkward, given how isolationist Ishgard has been in the past.
-Alphinaud is especially happy. He hopes this has shown Ishgard the value of cooperation. Maybe one day they’ll even join the Grand Alliance alongside Gridania, Ul’dah, and Limsa Lominsa.
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Administrative Decision
-Back at Scion HQ, Tataru brings a message from Ul’dah inviting us to a celebratory feast.
-Minfilia side-eyes this. The Alliance barely helped! But this may be our chance for Ishgarde to join the Eorzean alliance.
-Tataru seems down delivering this message.
-She feels underused! She wants to protect us, not just be a receptionist. I’m ALL FOR THIS.
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An Unexpected Ambition
-Minfilia supports Tataru’s desire, and I love her for it. She sends Tataru to the Arcanists’ Guild to learn a new job, and asks me to help out.
-The Arcanist guildmaster is concerned that Tataru might not be up to the job. [later edit: I’M LEAVING THE PUN IN]. I watch over Tataru in her first arcanist quest.
-OMG TATARU HAS A CARBUNCLE AND SINGS TO IT AND I CAN’T, IT’S SO CUTE
-Oh nooo! The Carbuncle abandoned her and ran away to do its own thing! What a dick.
-She’s dejected. Noooo I want to hug her and help her become the most badass arcanist ever.
-She heads back to the guild to withdraw. …really? That’s it? The guildmaster praises Tataru’s mathematical skill for allowing her to summon Carbuncle at all, but more in a sense of “You’re good at something! Just not this” rather than “keep trying!”
I get it, but I hate it. Star marmots nearly killed me as a level 1 thaumaturge because I was just getting used to the PS4 controls. Thank god the thaumaturge guildmasters were more patient than this woman.
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Ancient Ways, Timeless Wants
-Tataru doesn’t want to go back to her receptionist life just yet. She asks me to join her at Costa del Sol.
-She goes to the beach to harvest some special pearls as wards against dark magick.
-Aww! Okay. I’m (sort of) okay with this. Even if she’s not going to become a warrior, she wants to protect people. So she’s creating these charms for the Scions.
-And since she’s good at haggling, she’ll head to the marketplace and make the most of our resources to improve the Scions.
-I’m split here. On one hand, I like the idea that she’s using her talents and creativity to grow. On the other hand… I really, really wanted her to become an arcanist or marauder or something.
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Where We Are Needed
-An odd little side quest here. The Scions task me to protect a Scholar doing research.
-The scholar goes about his business and I fight off the wildlife. He finds that the aether concentrations in Eorzea have significantly decreased since the Calamity.
-The scholar wonders if it’s a primal sucking up all the aether, or if it’s something else.
-Uh-oh. We find the body of a Crystal Brave in the woods.
-It’s Wilred. He’s the one who disappeared under mysterious circumstances.
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A Time to Every Purpose
-But for now, it’s celebration time in Ul’dah.
-The Empire’s still out there. So are the Primals and the Ascians. But you gotta celebrate when you can.
-Crystal Brave Riol finds me at Scion HQ. Wilred’s death pisses him off. Riol finds it super suspicious.
-Riol’s done some investigating. The Crystal Braves have been getting funds from the “Dodo Consortium,” no doubt a dummy corporation run by the “Mirage Trust.”
It’s Teledji Adeledji’s group. (He’s one of the sleazy Monetarist oligarchs in Ul’dah.) He’s bribing Braves.
Wilred asked too many questions, and got killed.
-So we have a new mission: find and purge the traitors from the Crystal Braves.
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Come, But Not Gone
-I arrive at Ul’dah for the big celebration, but get pulled away for another side mission to the Quicksand, Ul’dah’s Adventurer’s Guild.
-A Crystal Brave left me a message to meet her in the desert, in the middle of nowhere. This is either some super-secret conspiracy stuff, or she’s luring me out to kill her on behalf of Teledji Adeledji.
-Nobody’s at the rendezvous point. I get an odd message as I wait indicating that my character is thinking about everyone she met, everyone she defeated, her friends and enemies. Definitely coming to the end of this story arc.
-Still no sign of Alianne. All I find is an empty vial.
-Laurentius, one of the Crystal Brave higher-ups, finds me here. What’s he doing out here? Patrolling. Odd place to patrol… GOD I’M SO PARANOID RIGHT NOW.
-As I walk off back to the city, I see him reporting into someone surreptitiously.
To break up the tension, here’s a random baby imp pet I saw someone with!
-Scene change to Ul’dah. The sultana prays in her bedroom.
Btw, the Sultana’s bed is adorable. It’s super fancy, but it has a stuffed moogle and stuffed chocobo on it.
-She feels her house, the House of Ul, is fading. She suddenly looks up, fierce and determined.
-I return to Ul’dah and show the vial to Momodi, the barkeep at the Adventurer’s Guild. All she can say is that it’s an alchemist’s vial. Oh god. Alianne was poisoned, wasn’t she? [later edit: lol noooope]
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The Parting Glass
-The Sultana wants a private audience with me.
-Brief scene change giving me a glimpse of the celebratory feast. Everything is in full swing. Ser Aymeric of Ishgard is here too.
-I head to meet the Sultana, and get a message that’s OMINOUS AS ALL HELL. A game message. It warns me that I’m about to view a series of cutscenes in a row, and I should set aside time.
Christ. I’m expecting some Red Wedding level of shit to go down at the feast.
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Next time: the end of “A Realm Reborn.”
