Louisoix’s Finest Student
-We report the bad news about Papalymo back at Scion HQ.
-Alphinaud is unsure how exactly Ilberd got the Eyes of Nidhogg.
-He clears up my confusion about why we threw the Eyes of Nidhogg off a bridge. It’s not just water beneath that bridge in Ishgard. Instead, it’s a “perpetual storm of water- and wind-aspected aether.”
-Y’shtola and Krile want to inspect the cocoon of light where Paplymo trapped the primal.
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The Obvious Solution
-Time passes from the events of the Griffin.
-The leaders of the Eorzean Alliance will meet to discuss the trapped primal.
-Scene change to a “Towering Traveler” stepping off a boat. He wonders if he’s in Eorzea.
And now I’m CERTAIN this is the wind-up to the current expansion, “Stormblood.” Stormblood introduces the samurai job, and this guy looks like a samurai.
-He sailed from wherever Stormblood takes place to here in just that little canoe thing? Jesus.
-lolol he gives a speech about how he’ll hearken to his duty rather than his hunger or weariness to press on. And promptly collapses from hunger and weariness.
-Urianger sees the Traveler. He seems familiar with the samurai on a general level.
-Scene change, to the meeting in Gridania.
-The cocoon of light is still intact. Y’shtola confirms a primal is trapped inside.
-A warship tried getting close to the ship when a “lance of light” from the cocoon obliterated it. So the primalis trapped but not asleep. Able to act. How can we get close?
-And just now, a new and unexpected member joins the council. It’s Nero tol Scaeva.
“Former tribunus of the XIVth Legion of the Garlean Empire. These days, however, one might say that I am something of a free agent.”
[Non-rhetorical question: did we previously see that he left the Empire or was kicked out? I have a sort of vague recollection but nothing specific.]
-He wants to fight fire with fire by unearthing the Allagan creation that first captured Bahamut: Omega. It’s sat dormant since the Allagan time in the Carteneau Plains. Nero thinks he can wake it up.
OK THAT SEEMS LIKE A BAD IDEA THOUGH? The power of Omega led the Allagans to destroy themselves. I’m more worried about Omega gaining sentience or something and going wild.
I’m also nervous because Omega is a classic FF superboss I’ve only beaten once through the series.
-But we don’t really have a choice right now. We’ll keep an eye on Nero as best we can, before what I’m sure will be his sudden yet inevitable betrayal.
---
The Greater Obeisance
-Our group heads back to Scion HQ to learn any news on the cocoon before starting for Omega.
-Nero is grating about how backwards we Eorzeans are compared with the Empire.
”It never ceases to amaze me how primitive you Eorzeans truly are…”
-BLESS YOU TATARU! She stomps her foot angrily, boasting about her high tech tea kettle or something.
-The Towering Traveler enters the HQ. He has an overwhelming personality, and reminds me no small amount of Gilgamesh in his combination of good cheer and physicality.
-Huh – he already knows Yugiri, calling her “shadow walker!” (She’s a ninja.) Does that mean he’s from Doma too?
-The samurai’s name is Gosetsu. He came here searching for her.
“We must make ready to depart! Our master languishes in dire peril, and Doma calls her daughter home.”
(Note: I’d heard Stormblood would go to Doma, just from being around the XIV community.)
-Yugiri won’t leave yet. The Scions helped the Doman refugees too much. She wants to repay that hospitality before returning home.
-LOLOL - Nero is growing on me. He’s all “Yes, yes, honor and duty and whatnot and that’s very nice but THERE’S A FRIGGING PRIMAL IN THE SKY! HOW ABOUT WE MOVE RIGHT TF NOW OK?”
-Gosetsu joins us for now, excited at the prospect of killing Imperials.
-Before we depart, Tataru gives me a traveling outfit she made for me.
It looks pretty slick. I get the items as a cosmetic set called the Scion Adventurer’s gear.
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Fly Free, My Pretty!
-Nero and Cid will focus on rousing Omega. Yda, the Domans, and me will protect them.
-I LOVE Gosetsu! He constantly flexes and idk why and idc why.
-We arrive at Carteneau Fields. Nero enables a teleporter to get us to Omega’s control room.
-Imperials find us, led by a guy named Grynewaht.
-Cid and Nero head inside while we fight off the Imperials.
-SWEET! Nero lends us “The Red Baron,” a slick magitek suit. It wrecks the enemy imperials.
-Grynewaht is a coward. His soldiers desert him and he flees. The fight is still pretty tough. I even wipe once because I don’t get out of his big attack fast enough.
-We teleport inside Omega. Cid and Nero are successful. Omega is waking.
-Wonderful. Omega is designed to act autonomously. SKYNET, I CHOOSE YOU!
-Our only hope is to put it back to sleep after it captures the primal. Here we go.
NERO: “Hahahahahha! Yes! Fly free, my pretty! Show us what you can do!”
-The cocoon above breaks out open and Omega locks on.
I see wings – huh. I was certain Rhalgr would be a humanoid.
-OH SHIT, ILBERD DIDN’T SUMMON RHALGR - HE SUMMONED SHINRYU! GIANT MONSTER VS GIANT ROBOT!
-SHINRYU USES HIS CLASSIC TIDAL WAVE ATTACK
-OMEGA TAKES FLIGHT AND BLASTS AWAY
-BOTH OF THEM ARE PREPARING ULTIMATE ATTACKS
-A titanic blast rocks the earth. Not sure who won, or if they just destroyed each other and fell to ground. What a badass fight.
-Back in the control room. Omega has stopped transmitting even though Cid didn’t re-engage its stasis. Is it destroyed or just out for a pack of cigarettes?
-Wait, what just happened to Yda? Her neck tattoo dissipated.
YDA: “It destroyed the cocoon. Papalymo’s spell is fading. It was bound to his aether, and if the connection is broken…” The tattoo must’ve come from Papalymo’s magic.
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The Far Edge of Fate
-We regroup in Gridania. Some saw Omega and the dragon fall to earth near Ala Mhigo.
-The Domans give the dragon the name Shinryu (of course) after a creature from their legends.
-Raubahn and his son Pippin took advantage of the chaos to secure Baelsar’s Wall.
-All the Scions are rocked by the raw power of what just happened. Yda’s crushed in a more personal way. That cocoon of light trapping Shinryu was all she had left of Papalymo, and now it’s gone.
-WHOA! She removes her mask for the first time all game.
YDA: “I can’t hide in Papalymo’s little shadow anymore and I shouldn’t hide behind my sister’s mask.”
-The Empire took Ala Mhigo twenty years ago. She was five. Her father helped lead the revolution against King Theodoric. Her sister fought then too.
When the Empire came, her father fought, never to be seen again. Her sister took her far away to the city of Sharlayan.
OH SHIT! Yda WAS the sister. She died six years ago, smuggling refugees out of Ala Mhigo.
-The person masquerading as Yda this whole was actually Yda’s little sister, Lyse.
-She had a fake Archon’s mark on her neck from Papalymo, to mirror Yda’s real Sharlayan rank.
Yda inspired Lyse. Now she plans to carry on that fight.
LYSE: “Whatever I choose to do from now on, I do as Lyse. And I choose to continue my family’s fight. I want Ala Mhigo to be the country that Yda and my father always wanted it to be.”
-Scene change, to Yugiri and Gotetsu. They prepare for the fight ahead and depart for Doma.
-And the credits roll.
That’s the end of the Heavensward expansion!
---
Post-Credits
-There’s a sort of post-credits cinematic.
-Marshal Pippin and Raubahn leader Alliance troops atop Baelsar’s Wall.
“Very well, Ilberd… I will take our homeland back. For the both of us.”
-Scene change to an imperial throne room. An officer addresses the new viceroy that Baelsar’s Wall is in Alliance hands.
-He also reports extensive damage done by Shinryu and Omega, asking if the viceroy wants to divert resources to rebuild.
-lol that’s a big no. The viceroy just stares impassively, leading the officer to apologize in a panic.
“The coming days promise to be most interesting. Most interesting.”
-We zoom in on the viceroy and see her sinister, smiling face in the mask.
-One final closing narrative on a black screen:
“At the far edge of fate, the road begins anew.
The heroes look to eastern skies
And behold their crimson hue.
A dawn of liberation.
A gathering of storm and blood.”
The “Stormblood” expansion is next, heading east to the Imperial held or threatened territories of Doma and Ala Mhigo.
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Random Stuff Around Eorzea
What a beautiful game this is:
A tasty lalafel breakfast:
An awesome gearset:
lolol:
Dark Knight Ququshu standing against a sunset:
Ride the clouds:
A player (named “Space Pirate”) with their dark knight-esque chocobo:
Two beautiful purple mounts:
The crowded marketplace of Limsa Lominsa:
Sparklepony!
A griffin mount with… bubbles coming out of it? For reasons?
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Pharos Sirius
-I did a dungeon with some friends called Pharos Sirius. A spooky (but not TOO spooky, not overselling it) place with crystal-encrusted zombie sailors.
The music throughout was beautiful, a vocal track. And the reason why I think is because the end boss was Siren. She was singing throughout.
The main questgiver for this place, the woman who sent me out to Pharos Sirius, seemed like a callback at first to FFT.
Diamanda.
Turns out it wasn’t. I only thought so because Diamanda was the main generic FFT member I used through most of the game. XD
