Summary:
Reconciliation and a soft reset in Ul’dah as the Sultana awakens. A
cute holiday event turns horrifying, tragic, ultimately bittersweet.
TW: human trafficking
The Wyrm’s Lair
-We continue our journey east. Along the way, I encounter my old nightmare from FFV:
-She’s just a regular enemy this time. None of that “Knock Silly” nonsense.
There’s what looks like a floating island in the sky. It looks like a giant clump of debris.
It’s the Aery. Where Nidhogg dwells.
-The Aery is protected with stormy winds. Time to check in with Cid. Maybe he’ll know how to breach them.
---
New Winds, Old Friends
-Cid’s in Ishgard. The Holy See hired him get that titanic airship of theirs working.
Not sure if he always dressed like this, but I love it!
-He says we need a fast, small, and agile ship to break through to the Aery. Biggs and Wedge have been working on just such a thing.
-They call it a “Manacutter.” Cid et al. will work on getting it ready to fly.
-Tataru busts in with news from home! General Raubahn uncovered something about the Sultana.
---
A General Summons
-Back to the Waking Sands, the original Scion HQ.
-Flame General Raubahn has learned that alchemical supplies intended to sustain deep-sleeping patients have been delivered in bulk to the palace.
(I still hate that they’re undoing that shocking assassination at the end of “A Realm Reborn.” Haaaate it. Holding out hope that this is a false dawn.)
-We should learn more about the poison that knocked the Sultana out before we attempt a rescue. The poisoner is a woman named Meriel.
-We head to Meriel’s hometown, where she’s hiding. She tries to flee but nope. lol she is fuuuuucked
-Aaaand Lord Lolorito appears with Dewlala. He’s got some explaining to do.
-Lolorito claims Teledji Adeledji was entirely behind the assassination attempt on the sultana. He discovered a maid from House Thorne (the ruling family of Ul’dah prior to the sultana’s family). He planned to put her in the sultana’s place as a puppet ruler.
I have a feeling we’ll meet that maid from House Thorne at some point. Especially if she has a legit claim to the throne.
[Later edit: I’m assuming “maid” here means “young woman of the House Thorne line.” If she’s actually a maid, like a housekeeper, then… nm lol. But House Thorne hasn’t been a thing for a long time, so I doubt that Meriel was a former maid to that house. But idk. We’ll see.]
-Lord Lolorito hijacked Teledji Adeledji’s assassination by convincing the poisoner, this Meriel, to use a powerful sleeping potion instead of lethal poison.
-Lolorito had Ilberd as his man on the inside within the Crystal Braves this whole time. The Crystal Braves were compromised from the beginning.
-The main thing I don’t understand at this point is this:
Lolorito claims he values stability. He actively averted the sultana’s assassination to do so. But then after Teledji Adeledji’s plan was brought to light and he was killed, why didn’t he stop everyone and say “Friends, it’s okay! She’s not dead! Raubahn and Ilberd, stop fighting, everything’s fine!”
Did he just want to take out/imprison Raubahn because he sees him as a rival and this was his chance?
-Lolorito bought Ilberd not with money, but rather with the promise to help fund the liberation of his homeland of Ala Mhigo from the Empire. So as much of a dick as Ilberd is, he’s still aimed towards a particular (and noble) cause. His rage at Raubahn for aligning with the Sultana was real. He sees Raubahn as abandoning their cause.
LOLORITO: “What say you, general? Both you and the sultana are alive; we have one corpse and one fugitive; and preparations have been made to restore your good name. Shall we cry quits again and start with a blank ledger?”
-Raubahn does NOT want to forgive and forget, but Dewlala steps in. She claims that Raubahn is guilty too, of executing Teledji Adeledji without trial, so he’d do well to let bygones be bygones.
BULL. SHIT. Teledji Adeledji had for all intents and purposes executed a coup gleefully and openly and successfully. I’d say Raubahn was in the right for what he did.
-The threat of exposure seems real enough for Raubahn though. He accepts.
-Lord Lolorito offers a “gesture of conciliation.” He gives Raubahn a potion to wake the Sultana.
RAUBAHN: “I like not your motives, Lolorito… but you saved the sultana’s life, and for that you have my gratitude.”
-Reconciliation completed, Dewlala officially declares Raubahn forgiven, reinstated as general of the Immortal Flames.
-I’ll say it once more, and will try not to harp on it much after this: I hate this plotline. They ended “A Realm Reborn” with a tremendously bold action. A change of government in Ul’dah. A successful coup. The sultana assassinated and the Scions in hiding.
And now they’re wiping it all away to return to the status quo. I guess they just didn’t know what to do with all the balls they tried juggling.
I’ll keep an open mind. Maybe this goes somewhere interesting. Just feels like a wasted opportunity at this point.
---
Awakening in Ul’dah
-We head to the city of Ul’dah. Raubahn walks into the sultana’s room, sees her sleeping on the bed.
-He gives her the potion. She lets out a yawn and wakes.
RAUBAHN: “Tis time to wake up and face the sun, your grace. Another day begins in Thanalan.”
-Scene change to a council room led by Raubahn, with Dewlala and Lolorito there.
-Are they going to just ignore her desire to abdicate and convert Ul’dah to a republic?
-NO THEY’RE NOT! Good. Raubahn reports she plans to move ahead with those plans. Gradually.
-Lolorito worries that about instability here because the Empire is apparently on the offensive again. His sources tell him that the Empire is working on a giant airship to replace the crashed Agrius.
---
A Colorful Affair (Little Ladies’ Day)
-Now for a change of pace, there’s a holiday in FFXIV now: Little Ladies’ Day. A band called the Songbirds will perform.
-Each singer in the Songbirds has a signature color. My friend Raq told me this is a J-Pop thing.
-There are SO MANY PLAYERS AT THE CONCERT!
I love how wild it makes the concert feel. The wide array of player garb and design is great to see too.
Getting into the rhythm with an awesome hat:
Jolly Lalafells. Jollafells!
A Lalafell with a pompadour:
The most intense partiers ever:
-The concert itself is a FATE. As each singer steps to the fore, I have to use the appropriate colored lightsticks to cheer her on.
The main challenge is seeing it because there are so many people here.
-I even get to meet the band afterward!
The Songbirds.
-I later learn about the history of Little Ladies’ Day. Long ago, there was an Ul’dahn princess named Edyva. She got bored one day, and escaped the castle in search of an adventure. She swapped clothing with her friend, a miller’s daughter, to hide.
-Her father panicked on learning his daughter was missing. He especially raged at the miller’s daughter for her role.
-When Edyva returned safely, the sultan felt awful. He apologized by serving as her seneschal/steward for the day. The tradition lived on. One day a year, dudes celebrate girls and women and serve as their seneschals.
My friend Raq made the great point that this holiday is basically a gender-swapped “The Princess and the Pauper.”
Awakening in Ul’dah
-We head to the city of Ul’dah. Raubahn walks into the sultana’s room, sees her sleeping on the bed.
-He gives her the potion. She lets out a yawn and wakes.
RAUBAHN: “Tis time to wake up and face the sun, your grace. Another day begins in Thanalan.”
-Scene change to a council room led by Raubahn, with Dewlala and Lolorito there.
-Are they going to just ignore her desire to abdicate and convert Ul’dah to a republic?
-NO THEY’RE NOT! Good. Raubahn reports she plans to move ahead with those plans. Gradually.
-Lolorito worries that about instability here because the Empire is apparently on the offensive again. His sources tell him that the Empire is working on a giant airship to replace the crashed Agrius.
---
A Colorful Affair (Little Ladies’ Day)
-Now for a change of pace, there’s a holiday in FFXIV now: Little Ladies’ Day. A band called the Songbirds will perform.
-Each singer in the Songbirds has a signature color. My friend Raq told me this is a J-Pop thing.
-There are SO MANY PLAYERS AT THE CONCERT!
I love how wild it makes the concert feel. The wide array of player garb and design is great to see too.
Getting into the rhythm with an awesome hat:
Jolly Lalafells. Jollafells!
A Lalafell with a pompadour:
The most intense partiers ever:
-The concert itself is a FATE. As each singer steps to the fore, I have to use the appropriate colored lightsticks to cheer her on.
The main challenge is seeing it because there are so many people here.
-I even get to meet the band afterward!
The Songbirds.
-I later learn about the history of Little Ladies’ Day. Long ago, there was an Ul’dahn princess named Edyva. She got bored one day, and escaped the castle in search of an adventure. She swapped clothing with her friend, a miller’s daughter, to hide.
-Her father panicked on learning his daughter was missing. He especially raged at the miller’s daughter for her role.
-When Edyva returned safely, the sultan felt awful. He apologized by serving as her seneschal/steward for the day. The tradition lived on. One day a year, dudes celebrate girls and women and serve as their seneschals.
My friend Raq made the great point that this holiday is basically a gender-swapped “The Princess and the Pauper.”
---
Untended Dreams (Little Ladies’ Day)
-The follow-up quest has an interesting stipulation. It won’t mark my quest log or map to tell me where to go. I just have to read the quest text to figure where to go.
-The Songbird singers saw a lone girl during the concert, lost. I’m supposed to find and check on her.
-Found her.
“Lonesome Lass.”
She’s looking for a lost necklace and pair of earrings her parents gave her.
-They’re nearby this gate. She draws me a picture of where to go.
-It’s tricky, but I wander around until I find the area that looks like her drawing.
I’m… a bit worried. The jewelry I find is rusted and old. I thinks he might be a ghost.
-She’s giddy when I return the jewelry. She gets super into the spirit of Little Ladies Day. I kneel before her to very formally deliver the items, and she very formally accepts.
”Alright, then. Ahem… Yea verily, thou art returned and brought unto me mine’s heart’s desire. By your great deed, this shall be a momentous celebration, forsooth!”
Awwww she’s SO HAPPY!
-She instructs me to bring the jewelery to a man named Tobyn by some docks.
-I turn around briefly and she vanishes. I was sort of kidding before, but now I legit think she’s a ghost.
TOBYN: “The girl in white, this necklace, these earrings… I think you’ve met with my late aunt.”
YUP A GHOST. He tells me his late aunt’s story.
-Back when she was a kid, she was out at her first Little Ladies’ Day celebration. Men dressed up as seneschals, waiting on the ladies of Ul’dah.
But some of those men had hostile intent. They used the holiday’s trappings to get close to girls they could kidnap and sell. They kidnapped her, sold her, and she was never seen again. Died in captivity.
Holy SHIT. This took a turn. This was NOT what I was expecting from Little Ladies Day.
-Her request for me to find her lost jewelry… it was just an attempt for the girl to experience the feeling of being a princess that she never got at that fateful celebration.
Lord, I’m welling up. This is heartbreaking, but even kind of beautiful. We were able to give her that holiday feeling at the end. She disappeared because she’s been found, and found some peace.
---
Next time: Not sure where the plot goes next. We could start finding our missing Scion allies, or investigate the Garlean Empire’s airship development, or return to the Ishgard storyline and the Aery.
Untended Dreams (Little Ladies’ Day)
-The follow-up quest has an interesting stipulation. It won’t mark my quest log or map to tell me where to go. I just have to read the quest text to figure where to go.
-The Songbird singers saw a lone girl during the concert, lost. I’m supposed to find and check on her.
-Found her.
“Lonesome Lass.”
She’s looking for a lost necklace and pair of earrings her parents gave her.
-They’re nearby this gate. She draws me a picture of where to go.
-It’s tricky, but I wander around until I find the area that looks like her drawing.
I’m… a bit worried. The jewelry I find is rusted and old. I thinks he might be a ghost.
-She’s giddy when I return the jewelry. She gets super into the spirit of Little Ladies Day. I kneel before her to very formally deliver the items, and she very formally accepts.
”Alright, then. Ahem… Yea verily, thou art returned and brought unto me mine’s heart’s desire. By your great deed, this shall be a momentous celebration, forsooth!”
Awwww she’s SO HAPPY!
-She instructs me to bring the jewelery to a man named Tobyn by some docks.
-I turn around briefly and she vanishes. I was sort of kidding before, but now I legit think she’s a ghost.
TOBYN: “The girl in white, this necklace, these earrings… I think you’ve met with my late aunt.”
YUP A GHOST. He tells me his late aunt’s story.
-Back when she was a kid, she was out at her first Little Ladies’ Day celebration. Men dressed up as seneschals, waiting on the ladies of Ul’dah.
But some of those men had hostile intent. They used the holiday’s trappings to get close to girls they could kidnap and sell. They kidnapped her, sold her, and she was never seen again. Died in captivity.
Holy SHIT. This took a turn. This was NOT what I was expecting from Little Ladies Day.
-Her request for me to find her lost jewelry… it was just an attempt for the girl to experience the feeling of being a princess that she never got at that fateful celebration.
Lord, I’m welling up. This is heartbreaking, but even kind of beautiful. We were able to give her that holiday feeling at the end. She disappeared because she’s been found, and found some peace.
---
Next time: Not sure where the plot goes next. We could start finding our missing Scion allies, or investigate the Garlean Empire’s airship development, or return to the Ishgard storyline and the Aery.
