Beneath a Star-Filled Sky (continued)
-The next morning, back to me and Alphinaud. The Ishgardians are investigating the crystal crates, and our next step is to deal with crystals that might summon Leviathan.
-No change in Ga Bu. He’ll stay here with the local guard.
Alisaie speaks kindly to Ga Bu: “When it hurts so much your heart feels fit to burst, let it burst. Let it burst, and fill up again with your love for them. And never, ever forget.”
-HE SPEAKS! He thanks us, and walks away. He’ll recover in time.
We meet back up with Urianger. It hits me now that we haven’t seen Urianger’s hair or eyes. He always wears a hood and goggles.
-He’s done some research on the WoD. (I’ll say.) He thinks that each time we face one of these Calamities, it destroys one of these parallel worlds.
-If the Warriors of Darkness succeed in the Ardor, their world still dies. But it’s a clean death, and a death that leaves the souls of the dead intact. If they fail, there’s somehow an absence of life and death.
Holy shit. If that’s true, what an awful thing for the WoD to have to work towards.
-He’s also learned that several shipments of crystals made it to the Ala Mhigan resistance, perhaps for the summoning of “Rhalgr.” Idk who that is – some Ala Mhigan patron saint or protector, maybe.’
-The Ishgardian suppliers appear to be the remnant’s of Eline Roaille’s spy network. Idk who that is. [Later edit: oh right! She’s the imperial spy we caught.]
-We’re off to Little Ala Mhigo to learn more.
-On our way out, Thancred contacts us remotely to share good news. The Ishgardians found the smugglers, in the employ of a man in black robes. I wonder if that’s Urianger/the Masked Man.
-lol he’s just sharing what Urianger already told us.
…which is suspicious af. Alisaie is all but certain now about Urianger’s betrayal.
---
When We Were Free
-Little Ala Mhigo is rife with rumors of a new Resistance faction called “The Masks,” led by “the Griffin.”
-He’s giving a speech nearby. We go listen.
-Credit where credit’s due: he’s got a SWEET mask.
-The Griffin relates recent history. The Ala Mhigans revolted against a tyrannical king, but then the Empire swooped in and took over. Meet the new boss. Those here in Little Ala Mhigo were the ones who fled.
-Now they feel shame at the loss and at those they left behind under the Garlean Empire’s yoke.
-A new Imperial viceroy rules Ala Mhigo.
-They see the Eorzean Alliance doing nothing to rescue Ala Mhigo, so it’s up to this Resistance. His speech is laced with promises of liberation and vengeance via “a power befitting our pride.”
Yeah, this guy’s definitely prepping a primal.
-HOLY SHIT IT’S YDA AND PAPALYMO, TWO MISSING SCIONS!
They’re in the crowd. We haven’t talked to them since the end of “A Realm Reborn.”
-Some old Ala Mhigan Resistance friends helped them flee Ul’dah. When they learned it was safe to return, they were far away and out of contact.
-The Griffin is suspicious of outsiders, and doesn’t want the help of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn. He probably sees us as part of the same machine as the Eorzean Alliance. Inactive in saving Ala Mhigo.
-lol Papalymo says that most of the speeches – including the one we just heard – aren’t actually performed by the real Griffin, but rather by an impersonator. Makes sense. Harder to assassinate.
---
Honorable Heroes
-Alphinaud wants to learn more by questioning the Griffin’s double. We’ll get close by posing as adventurers fallen on hard times who want to join his resistance.
(I’m skeptical. Ququshu is the Warrior of Light and widely known at this point.)
-lolol I get in “disguise” by donning a crappy old tunic and pants… but I’m still wearing my top hat and monocle that’s part of my normal gear.
The dapper Ququshu in her normal garb. Swapping out only the shirt and pants doesn’t really make for a complete disguise.
-It works. We get close and corner him.
-The Griffin – now, “The False Griffin” – admits that they’ve received crystal shipments, but not to summon a primal. (Not directly, anyway.) They traded them to the Amal’jaa in exchange for their aid to the Resistance.
-Yda tut-tuts the False Griffin for this act. I kind of agree with her since the Amal’jaa will use the crystals to summon Ifrit, but they’re desperate!
FALSE GRIFFIN: “It’s because the likes of you wouldn’t sully your saintly hands that Ala Mhigo’s been under the yoke for the past twenty years! But the Griffin won’t stand for it, and neither will we! We’re ready to do whatever it takes!”
-The False Griffin turns to me. He tells me how many have joined their Resistance because of me. Because I set an example that a single person can make a difference.
Oof. I don’t know how to feel here. I feel badly equipped to judge the Resistance harshly. They lack power and they’re doing what they can.
-Apparently I helped this False Griffin too once. I made him some medicine in Quarrymill a long time ago. That must’ve been waaaay early in the story! It sounds vaguely familiar?
-This whole thing hits Yda pretty hard. She’s Ala Mhigan, and probably feels like she hasn’t done enough.
---
Random Stuff Around Eorzea
-My favorite mount by far is my flying Christmas bear. She’s got this big goofy face and a fuzzy bear butt.
-A new series of solo trials open where I have three minutes to destroy a target dummy. A nice DPS check tool, since I think the target dummies are meant to have similar HP to specific raid bosses.
-Gained access to the “Alexander” raid. Alexander seems to be a primal stuck into a colossus who’s sitting there draining the land’s aether/resources, so we have to enter him like a raid and defeat his core.
It’ll be a while before I’m able to give this a full shot.
-We did one of my new favorite dungeons: the Lost City of Ampador. Rainy beautiful ruins. The last boss is a stone angel with a few phases.
Oh, and the music here is gorgeous!
-This guy, Broken Wind, tanked for a random dungeon. My inner 12 year old snickered. A lot.
-A miqo’te who has been kast out:
-There’s a questline with a miqo’te kid named Khloe Aliapoh. Her orphaned friend loves stories, and she wants me to bring her new ones. It’s a mini-game called “Wondrous Tails.”
Get it??
-Oh, this is cool! It’s sort of like Bingo. There’s a square of 16 tasks to complete weekly. Some are specific raids, specific trials, general categories of dungeons, probably more.
A lot of these are beyond my grasp… but there are some neat rewards, too! Once I hit level 70, I’ll explore this more.
-Another quest that opens up in Ishgard at 60 is called “Gods of Eld.” Some strange person in a mask, Unukalhai, wants to tell me about a growing threat from “eikons.” Eikons are different from primals. They’re far older. Gods from the time of the ancient Allag, like Dark Divinity Odin.
OH SHIT HE’S TALKING NOW ABOUT THE WARRING TRIAD! Those were eikons too, powerful beings that the Allag managed to capture and harness.
-Wait, one of Triad is called “Sephirot.” That must be new. [Non-rhetorical question: did the Triad have names in FFVI, or just titles (e.g. “The Goddess”)?]
-We head into the containment facility with Krile, Urianger, Unukalhai, and Y’shtola. Our first target is Sephirot the Fiend, once the patron deity of a tribe of treelike beings native to the ancient kingdom of Meracydia. His mind is currently bound in a dream.
At the gate of the Fiend’s containment facility.
-One more dungeon I did with my friends was an ancient Allagan facility. But not a super weapon or anything like that. IT’S A MUSEUM!
There are exhibits (that attack us), placards, and the final boss is a curator.
The Curator.
The facility viewed from the outside.
---
Next time: the Warriors of Darkness.
