Onwards and Upwards
-Emmanellain is the youngest son of Count Fortemps. The elder brother in Ishgardian society inherits everything, so Emmanellain is eager to make his mark.
-We head to the Sea of Clouds via airship to help House Haillenart, friends of Fortemps.
-Our main contact there is Lady Laniaitte. She’s AWESOME. Competent, business-like, and someone who doesn’t take Emmanellain’s sucking-up well.
-Camp Cloudtop houses the Ishgardian airship Protector,, currently undergoing repairs. They also have to deal with the local beast tribe, the Vanu Vanu.
-The Vanu are burly bird people.
They’re like snuggly owls! The started as allies, but something changed.
-Camp Cloudtop is peaceful and lax. One of the troops describes it as “where ambition comes to die.”
-Lady Laniaitte sent Emmanellain on some “boring” sentry duty, so he changes his mind and heads out to the field for some ADVENTURE! This is not going to end well.
-The Vanu find and capture him on his li’l adventure, so I now have to rescue him from their camp. Ugh.
-The prison break goes reasonably well, until the Vanu chief corners us near a cliff edge.
CHIEF HONU VANU: “Offer netherlings to the White! Cloud sea swells and He comes!”
HOLY SHIT HE’S NOT KIDDING! A giant bird dragon fish thing soars out from the Cloud Sea before crashing back down.
”The White! The White! Mighty Bismarck, Lord of the Mists!”
-Huh! So that’s this game’s version of Bismarck. That’s… unusual. [Later edit: It’s not unusual. I was mentally mixing him up with Alexander at the time. Bismarck made an appearance in FFVI as a whale, and in FFXI as a Notorious Monster.]
-We’re about to get pushed into Bismarck’s territory when an airship swoops to the rescue. Cid, Biggs, and Wedge!
Bismarck going full Monstro.
-Bismarck leaps out once more from the Cloud Sea to snap at us. Cid evades and we escape.
-Back at camp, Emmanellain has learned precisely zero things. He’s excited about all the adventure, sure that Lady Laniatte will be proud of him. What a jackwagon.
-Anyway, this may explain why peace with the Vanu went south. The Vanu worship Bismarck as a god, but Bismarck is a frigging Primal.
-We return to House Fortemps in Ishgard. The Count is not pleased with his son’s conduct.
EMMANELLAIN: “Father, he… he did not approve how I handled matters in Camp Cloudtop – how I endangered the lives of others through my own… <sniff>… recklessness and incompetence.” GOOD.
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Over the Wall
-With Emmanellain’s tasks wrapped up, I help out Lord Artoirel, the older brother.
-He’s having me help out the other two houses, Durendaire and Dzemael. I seem to remember that name, Dzemael. Dzemael Darkhold was a dungeon iirc.
-Their houses are rivals, but the Holy See commanded cooperation.
-It’s just quick travel, but I still love that I travel now to Falcon’s Nest via black chocobo.
-Falcon’s Nest was a normal hamlet before the Calamity. The Calamity caused a major climate shift, dumping snow and frost on the place and forcing withdrawal. Lady Iceheart and the Heretics took over. Now the Holy See wants us to reclaim this territory and expel the heretics.
-I like Falcon’s Nest more than Camp Cloudtop. The nearby Dravanians and threat of the wyverns gives the people here a greater sense of purpose. They’re also kinder to other.
A statue of the first dragoon, Haldrath.
-I like Lord Artoirel far more than Emmanellain. He’s diplomatic, serious, competent.
-He sends me to track down a Dravanian camp. Their outpost has a statue of Shiva and her dragon lover.
-And who do I find here but Lady Iceheart herself? Shiva’s vessel.
-Midgardsormr reappears: “Ah, the child who has glimpsed the truth. She cameth unto me, as didst thou. Alike in gifts, yet set upon different paths.”
-Lady Iceheart has the Echo!! Hydaelyn blessed her. When the Calamity hit and Falcon’s Nest froze over, she was caught outside the walls of Ishgard. Rather than freeze, she fled for Dravania.
A dragon found her on the way, the “great wyrm Hraesvelgr.” The Echo allowed her to hear and understand him. That was when she found a new mission to bring together dragon and man.
-I ask her about all the innocents who died when she allowed the wyverns into Ishgard after bringing down the wards. …wow, she feels legitimately guilty.
“It… it wasn’t supposed to be like that.”
-Jesus. Even Midgardsormr is chastising her.
”Men die, and their children forget. But we are everlasting. To us, then is as now.”
I’m still not sure what the sides in this conflict are, but it sure seems like Midgardsormr isn’t necessarily on the side of the other wyverns and the Dravanians.
-Iceheart vows to atone, to do better.
-She says something before leaving: “We are as one.” Does she means this figuratively, that dragons and man have the same interests? Or literally, that she and Hraesvelgr are now bound somehow?
-I return to Ishgard. Lord Artoirel is more graceful than his younger brother. Apologizes for misjudging. He’s diplomatic, serious, reflective.
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Divine Intervention
-Back to Ishgard. As Count Fortemps thanks me, a steward busts in with awful news: Alphinaud and Tataru were arrested for fomenting heresy. Uhhh wtf.
-A knight of the Heaven’s Ward, whatever that is, apparently caught them contacting heretics in a tavern. Sounds like BS. The knight is Ser Grinnaux.
-Some kind of internal politics is in play. Ser Grinnaux is with one of the other houses, and is taking a sideswipe at House Fortemps.
-The Heaven’s Ward is the archbishop’s 12 personal guards. Ser Grinnaux’s bullshit testimony is gonna be tough to impeach.
-Thankfully, Alphinaud and Tataru get to ask for trial-by-combat.
Alphinaud will fight himself while Tataru will name me her champion.
-Trial time. Okay, I get that the Heaven’s Ward is probably corrupt af, but their gear is SWEEEET.
-The Ishgardians seem to worship Halone, “the Fury.”
-Victory! My reward is the best thing ever: a black chocobo.
-This seems more than just a regular mount. I can now ride “aether currents.” I’m excited to test that out. Maybe this is a legit flying mount!
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Random Stuff Around Eorzea
Only one thing of note here, but for fellow FFV fans, it’s a doozy. I found a player riding what’s either a Lapras or (more likely) Syldra:
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Next time: I’m honestly not sure. I’ll probably get back to the dragoon questline. For the main story, we’ll see what’s up with the two main balls in the air of Lady Iceheart and Bismarck.
