Summary: Matoya the Witch. The Great Gubal Library. Small changes in Y’shtola. Preparing to bust into Azys Lla.
Onward to Sharlayan
-Matoya is a master in the field of aetheric research. She’s also apparently… “willful.”
Y’SHTOLA: “Gods forbid anyone disagrees with her.” I expect her to be a bit like Toph.
-Sharlayan is nearby, in the Dravanian Hinterlands. For some reason, I thought it’d be its own continent.
The name is also familiar because, iirc, Krile was a scholar of Sharlayan, no?
-The omniscient narrator voice says that Sharlayan is a “great seat of knowledge, now abandoned by her keepers.”
-It’s a small stone city. The defining building is what looks like a clock tower with a glowing green clock. It’s probably not actually a clock.
-as I get closer, I see it’s not a clock. It’s a seashell design.
The language beneath means “Knowledge seeks no man.” The Sharlayan believe it’s our duty to seek enlightenment.
-Sharlayan used to be a nation. Scholars traveled far and wide seeking knowledge. Many settled here, founding a camp for scholarly endeavors. It grew into a great city-state. Its keepers are gone now.
-Or are they? A voice interrupts: “Pshkohhh… Sharlayan has new keepers, is on cusp of new age of glory!” A group of goblins.
-Y’shtola and Alphinaud were born here, but these guys have been squatting here. They seem friendly.
-The lead goblin with golden gear is Slowfix. They call this settlement Idyllshire.
-Idyllshire isn’t just for goblins. There are also non-goblin treasure hunters joining them.
---
Golems Begone
-Matoya lies across a river. We need Idyllshire’s help, and they want ours.
-lol there’s a hostile goblin faction called the Illuminati. They have super cool gear.
-My favorite part of this side area and helping out the goblins is a woman named Midnight Dew. She’s a foul-mouthed treasure hunter helping the goblins with supplies (and helping herself to the goodies in the ruins too).
Nothing too specific. I just adore her design.
---
Matoya’s Cave
-Matoya’s cave is in a swampy, overgrown part of the zone. It’s well-guarded, hidden behind a rock wall with angry frog sentries.
-Oh BLESS – Matoya is a full-on witch.
Onward to Sharlayan
-Matoya is a master in the field of aetheric research. She’s also apparently… “willful.”
Y’SHTOLA: “Gods forbid anyone disagrees with her.” I expect her to be a bit like Toph.
-Sharlayan is nearby, in the Dravanian Hinterlands. For some reason, I thought it’d be its own continent.
The name is also familiar because, iirc, Krile was a scholar of Sharlayan, no?
-The omniscient narrator voice says that Sharlayan is a “great seat of knowledge, now abandoned by her keepers.”
-It’s a small stone city. The defining building is what looks like a clock tower with a glowing green clock. It’s probably not actually a clock.
-as I get closer, I see it’s not a clock. It’s a seashell design.
The language beneath means “Knowledge seeks no man.” The Sharlayan believe it’s our duty to seek enlightenment.
-Sharlayan used to be a nation. Scholars traveled far and wide seeking knowledge. Many settled here, founding a camp for scholarly endeavors. It grew into a great city-state. Its keepers are gone now.
-Or are they? A voice interrupts: “Pshkohhh… Sharlayan has new keepers, is on cusp of new age of glory!” A group of goblins.
-Y’shtola and Alphinaud were born here, but these guys have been squatting here. They seem friendly.
-The lead goblin with golden gear is Slowfix. They call this settlement Idyllshire.
-Idyllshire isn’t just for goblins. There are also non-goblin treasure hunters joining them.
---
Golems Begone
-Matoya lies across a river. We need Idyllshire’s help, and they want ours.
-lol there’s a hostile goblin faction called the Illuminati. They have super cool gear.
-My favorite part of this side area and helping out the goblins is a woman named Midnight Dew. She’s a foul-mouthed treasure hunter helping the goblins with supplies (and helping herself to the goodies in the ruins too).
Nothing too specific. I just adore her design.
---
Matoya’s Cave
-Matoya’s cave is in a swampy, overgrown part of the zone. It’s well-guarded, hidden behind a rock wall with angry frog sentries.
-Oh BLESS – Matoya is a full-on witch.
-She knew Alphinaud when he was a baby, and initially calls him
“Louisoix’s granddaughter.” He corrects her, that he’s actually
Louisoix’s grandson. She accepts this. I read this as Alphinaud being a
canon trans man.
-AWWWWW THE CALLBACKS! Matoya has enchanted mindless brooms to sweep her cave.
-Matoya recognizes the name Azys Lla. It’s actually not a floating city, but a floating research facility dedicated to finding ways to master primals and dragons and similarly powerful beings.
MATOYA: “And find ways it did, too - frightening ones.” I’m really excited to explore Azys Lla.
One of Matoya’s sentient frog servants.
-Long ago, Matoya developed an “aetheric converger” to stave off an Imperial attack. Her Sharlayan higher-ups it would do more harm than good so she locked her research away.
-That research is in the Great Gubal Library of Sharlayan. Dungeon time.
-This library is wonderful. Not only is it a beautiful zone in its own right, but also it serves as a homage to FFV’s Library of the Ancients. The book enemies are similar, some demons jumping out of pages, and Byblos even returns as a boss here.
Page 64 rises again!
Return of Byblos.
The music is… not my favorite. It’s light jazz that hits me like elevator music. Maybe it’s great jazz – that genre is just not my cup of tea. I’m still torn. I like that they tried something new, but felt a bit disappointed. FFXIV often remixes music from past games when thematically appropriate, and the Library of the Ancients them from FFV is one of my favorites from that game.
The boss design in the library is INCREDIBLE. My two favorites are the boss who is bursting out of a giant book. He has an ability where he slams the book shut and if we don’t get behind him in time we die.
The final boss is a weird, blocky creature who opens up her face every so often to reveal a book as she casts her major spell.
-The boss goes down and I go into that mental headspace once more where I stand in a circle of crystals. After the library, I’m back in the crystal area. Another lights up.
Only one more to go until I’m back to full Hydaelyn mode.
-I awaken, find Matoya’s research notes, and leave.
-AWWWWW THE CALLBACKS! Matoya has enchanted mindless brooms to sweep her cave.
-Matoya recognizes the name Azys Lla. It’s actually not a floating city, but a floating research facility dedicated to finding ways to master primals and dragons and similarly powerful beings.
MATOYA: “And find ways it did, too - frightening ones.” I’m really excited to explore Azys Lla.
One of Matoya’s sentient frog servants.
-Long ago, Matoya developed an “aetheric converger” to stave off an Imperial attack. Her Sharlayan higher-ups it would do more harm than good so she locked her research away.
-That research is in the Great Gubal Library of Sharlayan. Dungeon time.
-This library is wonderful. Not only is it a beautiful zone in its own right, but also it serves as a homage to FFV’s Library of the Ancients. The book enemies are similar, some demons jumping out of pages, and Byblos even returns as a boss here.
Page 64 rises again!
Return of Byblos.
The music is… not my favorite. It’s light jazz that hits me like elevator music. Maybe it’s great jazz – that genre is just not my cup of tea. I’m still torn. I like that they tried something new, but felt a bit disappointed. FFXIV often remixes music from past games when thematically appropriate, and the Library of the Ancients them from FFV is one of my favorites from that game.
The boss design in the library is INCREDIBLE. My two favorites are the boss who is bursting out of a giant book. He has an ability where he slams the book shut and if we don’t get behind him in time we die.
The final boss is a weird, blocky creature who opens up her face every so often to reveal a book as she casts her major spell.
-The boss goes down and I go into that mental headspace once more where I stand in a circle of crystals. After the library, I’m back in the crystal area. Another lights up.
Only one more to go until I’m back to full Hydaelyn mode.
-I awaken, find Matoya’s research notes, and leave.
---
An Eye for Aether
-I bring the book back to Matoya to decode. Now we just have to find a power source for her device.
-Interesting! It sounds like we might be able to use the Eye of Nidhogg as a power source. Let’s go borrow it from Estinien.
-Matoya stops Y’shtola on our way out. “Shtola… when did the light fade from your eyes?”
-Not sure what exactly that means. Could be figurative, like she doesn’t have the same pep in her step, or could be literal, like something in her soul is drained. Either way, the forbidden teleportation magic impacted Y’shtola somehow.
-Y’shtola’s response is a bit creepy. She sort of enjoyed wandering in the Lifestream. Matoya tells her that doing so, seeing the aether so directly, drained her lifeforce.
“There’s a reason those spells are forbidden. What were you thinking, girl?”
No way are we done with this Y’shtola subplot.
-We return to Ishgard. Estinien and Ser Aymeric are willing to help us and lend the Eye of Nidhogg to our cause.
Y’SHTOLA: “So this is the fabled Eye… by the Twelve, it seethes. ‘Tis a wonder such power can be contained, much less controlled…”
-I’m super concerned for Y’shtola. She’s like Gollum staring at the Ring. I wouldn’t even be surprised if she were possessed by some other being – even an Ascian.
-Cid, Biggs, and Wedge take the Eye and get to work on the aetheric ram.
-We say our last goodbyes around town. In a nice touch, Count Fortemps gives us Haurchefant’s broken shield as a token of his faith.
RIP Haurchefant.
An Eye for Aether
-I bring the book back to Matoya to decode. Now we just have to find a power source for her device.
-Interesting! It sounds like we might be able to use the Eye of Nidhogg as a power source. Let’s go borrow it from Estinien.
-Matoya stops Y’shtola on our way out. “Shtola… when did the light fade from your eyes?”
-Not sure what exactly that means. Could be figurative, like she doesn’t have the same pep in her step, or could be literal, like something in her soul is drained. Either way, the forbidden teleportation magic impacted Y’shtola somehow.
-Y’shtola’s response is a bit creepy. She sort of enjoyed wandering in the Lifestream. Matoya tells her that doing so, seeing the aether so directly, drained her lifeforce.
“There’s a reason those spells are forbidden. What were you thinking, girl?”
No way are we done with this Y’shtola subplot.
-We return to Ishgard. Estinien and Ser Aymeric are willing to help us and lend the Eye of Nidhogg to our cause.
Y’SHTOLA: “So this is the fabled Eye… by the Twelve, it seethes. ‘Tis a wonder such power can be contained, much less controlled…”
-I’m super concerned for Y’shtola. She’s like Gollum staring at the Ring. I wouldn’t even be surprised if she were possessed by some other being – even an Ascian.
-Cid, Biggs, and Wedge take the Eye and get to work on the aetheric ram.
-We say our last goodbyes around town. In a nice touch, Count Fortemps gives us Haurchefant’s broken shield as a token of his faith.
RIP Haurchefant.
---
Random Stuff Around Eorzea
-TW: arachnophobia: V sbhaq gur jbefg rarzl rire. N gnenaghyn unjx. suqwxyfsqufyswxqf V'z abg nenpuancubovp rira gur vqrn rira tvirf zr gur jvyyvrf.
https://i.imgur.com/pypV0Un.png
-I’ve been working a bit on the Vanu Vanu beast tribe quest. Their culture is just really cool. They declare hostile intentions via intimidating dances, and this one Vanu wears a flower crown just cause:
I WANT 2 SNUGLE U BOTH
hello welcome to hell:
A sweet sword:
Neither do I.
Sneaky, sneaky…
Sorry to hear that, friend.
A visitor from Undertale.
I have to imagine that “Cat Puccino” was already taken.
An intimidating battle chocobo.
A mini-Alexander wind-up toy.
Page 64’s little sister.
A character in an awesome dress.
---
Next time: to the floating research lab of Azys Lla!
Random Stuff Around Eorzea
-TW: arachnophobia: V sbhaq gur jbefg rarzl rire. N gnenaghyn unjx. suqwxyfsqufyswxqf V'z abg nenpuancubovp rira gur vqrn rira tvirf zr gur jvyyvrf.
https://i.imgur.com/pypV0Un.png
-I’ve been working a bit on the Vanu Vanu beast tribe quest. Their culture is just really cool. They declare hostile intentions via intimidating dances, and this one Vanu wears a flower crown just cause:
I WANT 2 SNUGLE U BOTH
hello welcome to hell:
A sweet sword:
Neither do I.
Sneaky, sneaky…
Sorry to hear that, friend.
A visitor from Undertale.
I have to imagine that “Cat Puccino” was already taken.
An intimidating battle chocobo.
A mini-Alexander wind-up toy.
Page 64’s little sister.
A character in an awesome dress.
---
Next time: to the floating research lab of Azys Lla!
