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Where Men Go as One
-Alphinaud arrives at Rhalgr’s Reach with new recruits of his own, from within the Scions.
-Scene change, to a cutscene at the Royal Palace of Ala Mhigo.
-…is this the Imperial anthem? It’s AWESOME! Not only is it a great theme, but it sounds uplifting.
”On march the ivory standard/ United we prevail!”
It’s not, like, the imperial march theme from Star Wars that clearly indicated it was about villains. This is the kind of anthem heroes get.
-The viceroy leads a parade, marching into the palace.
-One of her troops, the commander of that patrol we destroyed, reports in about the Alliance action. How they hold the Wall now and ambushed that patrol.
-The viceroy’s name is Zenos yae Galvus.
-Hm. I thought they were female by looks but their voice could go either way. I’ll go with gender neutral pronouns until the game indicates anything more specific.
GOD I LOVE THEIR DESIGN SO MUCH! There’s something casual and feline about them. Calm, but with a sense of being coiled and able to strike at a moment.
I maaaaaay possibly have a large crush on the villain?
-HOLY SHIT THEY PROVE ME RIGHT IMMEDIATELY! THEY WALK CALMLY UP TO THE SOLDIER AND SLICE HIM IN HALF!
ZENOS: “Cowards who defer critical missions to their subordinates – who hide within their castra, never meeting their pray in battle, never staring into the whites of their eyes.”
They’re a lead-from-the-front type.
-Fordola, the leader of that Skulls contingent, steps forward with a suggestion.
One of the Imperials immediately lashes out at her for daring to speak. Fordola is an Ala Mhigan, and the soldier blasts her as a “savage.”
The Empire favors Garleans specifically. And while I don’t know for sure, I’ll bet they’re hume-centric too.
Zenos’ response makes me like them even more than I already do. They smile and defend Fordola:
“This ‘savage’ yearns to hunt her own. The floor is yours, commander.”
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Future Rust, Future Dust
-This quest is an interesting side path. I talk to a historian and he wants me to document this moment in history, talk to folks around Rhalgr’s Reach.
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Ye Wayward Brothers
-The questgiver here is an “Ananta Battlemaid.” There are a few like her around Rhalgr’s Reach, a new beastman tribe of lamia-types.
-She’s a battle trainer within the Resistance.
-I go around town gathering up the recruits for their training session. They all snap to. The Ananata Battlemaid doesn’t seem like a forgiving instructor.
-Hee! She refers to me as “sssstrider.” ‘Cause I have feet.
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Token of Faith
-A Swarthy Resistance Fighter lost some token. I help him find it.
-Interesting. His mother made a pilgrimage here to the “Temple of the Fist,” to get the monks’ blessings. That must be the old order of monks we heard about, no longer here.
-The evil king Theodoric sounds like the guy who wiped out the monks, and the Garleans cared about that order even less. But this fighter sticks to the old ways.
-The Temple of the Fist shows up on the map as a dungeon. I wonder what’ll be there. Maybe some remaining monks who test us? Or maybe it’ll be the site of an imperial invasion of Rhalgr’s Reach, where we have to defend.
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Crossing the Velodyna
-The new recruits have completed their initial training.
-The joint Alliance-Resistance leadership has been preparing an assault on Castellum Velodyna.
-Lurking in the back of all this: Shinryu. Shinryu’s out there somewhere. A ticking time bomb.
A random badass ninja player.
-Alphinaud, Alisaie and I head back to Baelsar’s Wall and check in with Raubahn and Pipin. He’s in.
I’m really, really worried this is gonna be one of those times where we win but lose a whole mess of those recruits who just joined up.
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In Crimson It Began
-Pipin will lead a brief reconnaissance mission first.
His battle gear is fantastic. A variation on his father’s “Bull of Ala Mhigo” theme.
-Shit. While we watch imperial patrols, smoke rises behind us. Rhalgr’s Reach is on fire.
-The scene changes to Fordola leading the Skulls in a full assault of the Resistance HQ. How did they find out where we were??
-Meffrid charges her. She brushes him off like he’s nothing.
MEFFRID: “Traitor! Kinslayer!”
FORDOLA: “You’re no kin of mine!” She really sees herself as separate from the Ala Mhigans. There’s some story there. Or maybe there’s not – sometimes people just like hurting other people.
But speaking honestly, I don’t think that’s the case with Fordola. The conquered rising among the conquerors gives me major Gabranth vibes.
SHE SLICES RIGHT THROUGH MEFFRID
-Lyse leaps in and fares much better.
-The viceroy is here?! (Conrad refers to Zenos here as “he,” so I’ll go with he/him pronouns for now.) I respect Zenos for walking the walk about leading from the front.
-Lyse attacks. He blocks everything casually. The graphics make it look like he’s using magitek.
ZENOS: ”So spirited. And yet, so empty.”
-Y’shtola casts some magic bubble, protecting Lyse from a killing blow.
-Zenos activates some sort of magitek thing on his blade and cracks the barrier.
AND HE KILLS Y’SHTOLA JESUS!
-AND FORDOLA KILLS CONRAD EVERYONE’S DYINGGGG [Later edit: I forgot this is FFXIV.]
Some managed to escape, including M’naago and Krile. They meet us as we rush towards Rhalgr’s Reach from our reconnoitering.
-Alphinaud, Alisaie, Krile and I will head to Rhalgr’s Reach. Hopefully we can slow the Imperials long enough for Raubahn to send reinforcements.
-We fight our way through the attacking imperials. Including Fordola.
-Lyse is okay. Whew.
-Wait, Y’shtola’s okay too? The game should really stop signaling fake character deaths.
-Viceroy Zenos orders Fordola to see to her troops, and it’s a one-on-one battle between me and Zenos.
-He wrecks me. Summons all kinds of powerful elemental magick. I survive while barely making a dent in his health.
-He rushes towards me for a massive slash, knocking me down. His sword breaks. This confuses me – I guess it means he hit me really hard.
-He walks away, leaves me struggling to get up.
-Raubahn arrives. He think of launching himself at the Viceroy but holds himself back.
“There has been enough death this day. See to the wounded.”
-The camera pans around Rhalgr’s Reach. Lots and lots of corpses.
-Conrad is still alive too? Really? I suppose it only LOOKED like he got sliced through the torso.
-Krile and Alphinaud set to work healing the wounded.
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Next time: licking our wounds.
-And not necessarily soldiers! I learn how a cook contributes to the cause. An alchemist whose family was killed by the Garleans while enduring forced labor.
