[Note: I accidentally deleted my screenshots from quests before “The Room Where It Happened,” so I retook those screenshots after the fact from a YouTube video of the quests.
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In Crimson They Walked
-Hien’s ready to leave the Steppe. Cirina suggests we head south past the Dusk Throne to reach Yanxia.
-The Dotharl sealed it during the Doman Rebellion to stop the Empire from intruding.
-Hien wants to stop by the Dawn Throne first to see Radiant Brother Magnai. Cirina assures us he won’t harbor any ill will from his loss at the Nadaam.
-It’s true. Magnai still kind of hates us, but not because of the Nadaam. Just cause he’s an arrogant jerk.
-And yet, he promises to answer our call when we need the Oronir.
-Something about Cirina sparks his interest. (Not that I blame him.) Magnai suddenly stands.
“Look into my eyes, child! See you Azim? Are you my Nhaama!?” CHILL THE FUCK OUT DUDE
-Cirina looks back at him, cocks her head. She doesn’t quite know what to make of this.
Yeah, that’s gonna be a no from Cirina.
-Magnai’s a jerk, but I think he might just be awkward? On the other hand, he’s like two seconds away from writing a long Reddit rant about the “friend zone.”
Prediction: he’ll find his “Nhaama” and marry by expansion’s end.
-Next on our victory tour is Sadu at Dotharl camp.
-She definitely holds no grudges from the Nadaam.
SADU: “Resplendent were the souls [of the fallen Dotharl] in the chaos. It was a good battle – a good day to die. Soon we will greet them again.”
-AWWW! Geser’s partner is pregnant. (Geser is the hunter who died last session.) Maybe we’ll see Geser again soon.
-She relishes the coming battle with the Empire.
-Oh, and her face LIGHTS UP on seeing Gosetsu.
He was an absolute “demon” on the battlefield and now I have YET ANOTHER SHIP. Gosadu.
-Cirina walks to the Yanxia gate. She gifts Lyse a Mol banner as a farewell present. They’ve grown close.
-GODDAM IT ANOTHER SHIP
CIRINA: “May you ever walk in crimson. For in crimson there is life. There is liberation.”
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The Hour of Reckoning
-We re-enter Doma and head to the House of the Fierce, aka Doman Liberation Front HQ.
-Lord Hien enters, to Yugiri’s joy.
-Things are looking better! To summarize, we now have the Azim Steppe Xaela tribes, the Confederacy, and even some Doman villagers.
-Alphinaud mentions that Zenos left Doma for Gyr Abania, though he’s not sure why.
-Yotsuyu is still acting viceroy and is apparently planning some big operation.
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The Room Where It Happened
-First off, lol at a Final Fantasy game having a “Hamilton” reference.
-Alphinaud has a plan to retake Doma Castle.
-First, Lyse and the Domans will draw attention by raiding a variety of Imperial targets.
-Second, the Xaela will attack Doma Castle’s airborne defenses to cut off escape routes and stop support.
-Third, Alisaie, Alphinaud, and Yugiri will disable the magitek field generators around the Moon Gates.
-Fourth, the Kojin and Confederates will bombard the castle with cannon fire while sailing west towards the Doman Enclave, a civilian home. Don’t let the Imperials take hostages.
-Fifth, Doman Liberation Front, Lord Hien and I will attack Doma Castle directly. (I imagine that’s likely a raid.)
-Finally, scour the castle for the viceroy and subdue her.
-Lord Hien approves the plan. Let’s do this!
-I next head to Kugane to retrieve a message from Cid about the magitek field generators, but when here I see Tataru for the first time in a while.
The radiant Tataru.
-She’s been in Kugane for a while now, and dresses in Hingashi fashion. So good to see her.
-Cid couldn’t come in person because he’s still on the hunt for Omega and Shinryu. This is a cool way to show me what others have been up to.
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Seeds of Despair
-Alisaie and I will search for updated intel on the Imperials. It’s unusual that they haven’t had a new round of public executions and purges in the wake our Yugiri’s attempt on Zenos’ life.
-On the way, Alisaie tells me she learned to use her rapier from a miqo’te. X’rhun, my red mage trainer!
-We find an imperial in disguise as a villager and capture him. He’s marked as “Haunted Elder.” Haunted by what? His actions as an imperial most likely.
HAUNTED ELDER: “You think you understand, but you do not. She will burn it all before she surrenders. She will never kneel again. Nor should she…”
-He suddenly attacks me, when I’m struck by the Echo. First time in a while.
-I see a moment in the Haunted Elder’s past, when he was just a “Keen-eyed Soldier.”
“Rest assured, the Naeuri will receive due compensation. Young Asahi has great potential. That much is plain.”
Okay, my hackles are up. Gosetsu called Yotsuyu the orphan of the Naueri. Is this Yotsuyu backstory?
-The Keen-eyed Soldier is telling a mother and daughter how Asahi (a male, so not Yotsuyu) may get the chance to learn about magitek from leading authorities in Garlemald.
-The mother is enthusiastic about her son getting an imperial education. A privileged family.
-A “Starveling Girl” wanders into the picture, and the mother angrily orders her back inside.
The girl is Yotsuyu.
-The mother apologizes for the interruption. Yotsuyu is her stepdaughter, and clearly mistreated. The only question is: how and how badly?
-The soldier questions why the mother hasn’t told him about Yotsuyu when she should be getting an education. She pulls some nonsense like, “She’s sickly! She’s useless!”
-She asks the soldier if they can come to “an understanding.” A bribe?
The soldier and Yotsuyu lock eyes.
I’m not sure what’s happening or implied. Is the mother offering a bribe to get him to stop asking about Yotsuyu?
[TW sexual assault: Be rira jbefr, vf gur tnzr vzcylvat gung gur fbyqvre nohfrq Lbgfhlh frkhnyyl? V errrrrrrnyyl ubcr guvf vfa'g gur pnfr. Vf gung jung V'z fhccbfrq gb gnxr njnl sebz guvf fprar?
Be qbrf gur fprar whfg inthryl uvag ng onq guvatf sbe lbhat Lbgfhlh sbe abj? Guvf vf jung V'z tbvat jvgu.]
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Broken Steel, Broken Men
-Next, Lyse and I head to the nearby village of Namai. Isse leads an effort to gather supplies.
-A local craftsman, Tsuranuki, mocks the idea of rebellion. Wants no part of it.
-Even so, we bring him some steel to forge for armor. He laughs even more.
TSURANUKI: “Fools! Doma is dead, and so are her people. Lord Kaien, Lord Hien – all dead! Their blood is on our hands!”
He helped the earlier failed rebellion and feels massive guilt at upsetting the balance before.
-But Hien’s alive!
The news shocks him… and revitalizes him.
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The Doma Within
-The attack on Doma is near. Lord Hien asks me to accompany him to his old hometown, Monzen.
-Samurai used to lives her. Families too. The Empire razed most of it and executed many.
-He remembers that imperials walked these streets too. Sometimes undercover, sometimes openly.
HIEN: “We were always aware of their presence. And we… we were complicit.”
-Lord Kaien served as a puppet ruler of Doma for a while to keep the peace. Hien thinks back now on the cost of that compliance.
-We search the town for arms to use and find an old samurai sword. Hien recognizes it as having belonged to the son of a samurai he trained with.
“He never even had a chance to draw it.”
-He looks across the water and sees Doma Castle. His father lived there for a time before the Empire gave it to Yotsuyu.
-There’s something very “Thor: Ragnarok” here. He notes that Doma Castle and Monzen are just small parts of Doma. Much of it can’t be seen and touched.
HIEN: “Not the land or the soil… but the story. And what is life if not a story? The story of our journey from dawn to dusk, day after day after day. The story of our mothers and our fathers, our families and our friends, our peoples and our nations.”
-This line of thought sparks a plan in Hien. He hurries us back to the House of the Fierce to talk to Alphinaud.
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Next time: the attack on Doma!
The Doma Within
-The attack on Doma is near. Lord Hien asks me to accompany him to his old hometown, Monzen.
-Samurai used to lives her. Families too. The Empire razed most of it and executed many.
-He remembers that imperials walked these streets too. Sometimes undercover, sometimes openly.
HIEN: “We were always aware of their presence. And we… we were complicit.”
-Lord Kaien served as a puppet ruler of Doma for a while to keep the peace. Hien thinks back now on the cost of that compliance.
-We search the town for arms to use and find an old samurai sword. Hien recognizes it as having belonged to the son of a samurai he trained with.
“He never even had a chance to draw it.”
-He looks across the water and sees Doma Castle. His father lived there for a time before the Empire gave it to Yotsuyu.
-There’s something very “Thor: Ragnarok” here. He notes that Doma Castle and Monzen are just small parts of Doma. Much of it can’t be seen and touched.
HIEN: “Not the land or the soil… but the story. And what is life if not a story? The story of our journey from dawn to dusk, day after day after day. The story of our mothers and our fathers, our families and our friends, our peoples and our nations.”
-This line of thought sparks a plan in Hien. He hurries us back to the House of the Fierce to talk to Alphinaud.
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Next time: the attack on Doma!
