Summary: Shifting from Doma back to Gyr Abania. Attack on Castellum Velodyna. The Ananta summon their primal.
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The World Turned Upside Down
-A fitting Hamilton reference. But there, the British formally surrendered. I doubt the Garleans will give up their claims on Doma so cleanly.
-Gosetsu’s loss is felt badly.
-The Domans are overwhelmingly thankful to Lord Hien.
HIEN: “We are a sorry lot, are we not. Tired, dirty, stinking of blood and sweat and ash. A people pushed to the point of breaking. And yet we won.”
-They rose up after 25 years of Imperial oppression. Time to rebuild.
-Lyse, Alphinaud, and Alisaie are pumped. Ready to help free Ala Mhigo. (I’m still worried the Doman victory isn’t as stable as people here seem to think.)
-I wonder – will we push on eventually towards Garlemald itself in this expansion? I doubt we have the power to do so. Maybe we’ll just have to deal with Garlemald being a thing and try to hem them in.
-Cirina will return to the Steppe. The Oronir and Dotharl have already withdrawn. The Blue Kojin and Confederacy return to their lives too.
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A Swift and Secret Departure
-Tataru booked us passage to Gyr Abania. She’ll remain behind in Kugane as a middle woman, a faciliator. I understand this is the best place for her administrative wizardry, but I’ll still miss her.
-Hien and Yugiri came to say goodbye! Hien even plans to send his forces to Eorzea to help us.
-Alphinaud pushes back, suggesting that they keep their forces in Doma. Right?
HIEN: “I had a mind to pursue a more aggressive defense. To wit, we will send forth shinobi to provinces far and wide to spread word of our victory, that we might inspire others to take up arms as we did.”
That’s kind of brilliant. Don’t turtle up (no offense to the Kojin), but rather apply pressure widely. Yugiri will join us.
-Scene change to the Royal Palace of Ala Mhigo.
-Imperial higher-ups crowd around Zenos’ throne, complaining about Yotsuyu. Zenos is having none of that and bisects one of the complainers.
ZENOS: “The beast yet lives. Mayhap it is time I sharpen my claws.” He’s smiling.
-Fordola enters with a prisoner: Krile. Shit. (Though tbh, I’m weirdly happy that Fordola’s doing well?)
-And Zenos promotes Fordola! Gives her a fresh new gunblade.
I’m scared for Krile. Not sure when/how she was captured.
The World Turned Upside Down
-A fitting Hamilton reference. But there, the British formally surrendered. I doubt the Garleans will give up their claims on Doma so cleanly.
-Gosetsu’s loss is felt badly.
-The Domans are overwhelmingly thankful to Lord Hien.
HIEN: “We are a sorry lot, are we not. Tired, dirty, stinking of blood and sweat and ash. A people pushed to the point of breaking. And yet we won.”
-They rose up after 25 years of Imperial oppression. Time to rebuild.
-Lyse, Alphinaud, and Alisaie are pumped. Ready to help free Ala Mhigo. (I’m still worried the Doman victory isn’t as stable as people here seem to think.)
-I wonder – will we push on eventually towards Garlemald itself in this expansion? I doubt we have the power to do so. Maybe we’ll just have to deal with Garlemald being a thing and try to hem them in.
-Cirina will return to the Steppe. The Oronir and Dotharl have already withdrawn. The Blue Kojin and Confederacy return to their lives too.
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A Swift and Secret Departure
-Tataru booked us passage to Gyr Abania. She’ll remain behind in Kugane as a middle woman, a faciliator. I understand this is the best place for her administrative wizardry, but I’ll still miss her.
-Hien and Yugiri came to say goodbye! Hien even plans to send his forces to Eorzea to help us.
-Alphinaud pushes back, suggesting that they keep their forces in Doma. Right?
HIEN: “I had a mind to pursue a more aggressive defense. To wit, we will send forth shinobi to provinces far and wide to spread word of our victory, that we might inspire others to take up arms as we did.”
That’s kind of brilliant. Don’t turtle up (no offense to the Kojin), but rather apply pressure widely. Yugiri will join us.
-Scene change to the Royal Palace of Ala Mhigo.
-Imperial higher-ups crowd around Zenos’ throne, complaining about Yotsuyu. Zenos is having none of that and bisects one of the complainers.
ZENOS: “The beast yet lives. Mayhap it is time I sharpen my claws.” He’s smiling.
-Fordola enters with a prisoner: Krile. Shit. (Though tbh, I’m weirdly happy that Fordola’s doing well?)
-And Zenos promotes Fordola! Gives her a fresh new gunblade.
I’m scared for Krile. Not sure when/how she was captured.
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While You Were Away
-We arrive back in Eorzea, in Limsa Lominsa.
-Admiral Merlwyb updates us on Gyr Abania. The Alliance has held the Wall from imperial counterattacks without successfully pushing further into occupied territory.
-Commander Kemp has begun rebuilding the Ala Mhigan Resistance.
-Krile was captured on a mission transporting wounded Resistance fighters to Mor Dhona.
-I meet Thancred at the Wall and a Commander Arenvald. Arenvald has the Echo.
-He caught a glimpse of Fordola’s memories. She was promised education, training, citizenship, and more if she but turned on the Ala Mhigans. “A traitor to her people, a pretender to her masters.”
-Thancred will try to be a sneaky beaver to learn more about Krile while we cause a distraction.
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Rhalgr’s Beacon
-First, a leadership meeting. We relate our victory in Doma.
-The Empire is nervous, distracted, defensive. Raubahn wants to take this chance to capture Castellum Velodyna, the fort overlooking the whole of the Fringes.
-He calls this “Operation Rhalgr’s Beacon,” after the time when Rhalgr guided ancient Ala Mhigans to this land with a star.
-Fordola herself defends the bridge.
-An Alliance force will draw attention on the main road. Flee, and tempt the Imperials to pursue while others tackle the bridge’s main defenses.
-Interesting! Raubahn doesn’t even need us to fully capture Velodyna. As long as we fly our flag from it, the Imperial forces on the road will THINK we’ve captured it and retreat.
-Around Rhalgr’s Reach, I get a chance to see what a diverse group is part of the Resistance, what a wide variety of backgrounds, purposes, and experiences. Both Conrad and I think Lyse is the perfect leader – if she wants it.
-The operation begins. The Imperials take the bait. M’naago will try to change the flag ASAP.
-We push past the token imperial forces guarding the bridge, but Fordola and her Skulls remain.
-One on one duel with Fordola. Got her!
-M’naago successfully swaps the flag and blows her shofar in victory.
The Skulls retreat, despite Fordola’s orders. She’s PISSED. She sees that this is a trick but can’t stop her forces.
-Scene change to the larger and more brutal conflict going on. The Imperials are doing pretty well against the Alliance forces until Raubahn the Bull busts in.
-Still, when the Imperials see the Ala Mhigan flag above Velodyna, they retreat.
-The Skulls beg Fordola to order retreat. She’s disgusted, sees the ruse, but does so.
-Lyse is shocked. This is one of the first real Ala Mhigan victories in a long time.
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Rising Fortunes, Rising Spirits
-Even if imperials return, the Resistance is now entrenched behind Castellum Velodyna’s walls.
-M’naago left for her village of Peering Stones to make sure they’re okay. They are.
M’NAAGO: “Better than the Ananta, at any rate.” The Lamia beast tribe.
-There was a quarrel between the imperials and the Qalyana, the strongest Ananta tribe. The Vira helped us but the Qalyana swore fealty to the Empire.
-God I LOVE the Ananta design.
I want them added as a playable race. Badly. Though I doubt they’d add them. MMOs find non-humanoid races notoriously difficult to design armor for, especially with the snaky Ananta bottom.)
-When Fordola the Butcher came to defend the Bridge, she demanded a Qalyana hostage. She didn’t know the difference between Qalyana and Vira and didn’t care. She assumed the Qalyana were as likely to turn hostile as the Vira.
Prejudiced and foolish. Fordola, I’m disappointed.
-She took the Qalyana broodmother’s daughter, Anamika, as hostage.
-The broodmother stopped the fleeing imperials after we took the bridge. She demanded Anamika’s return. Fordola refused.
-Tensions rose. An imperial soldier cut down Anamika in the chaos.
-The broodmother despaired, and cried out for her daughter to be returned to life. The memory of that kobold kid mourning his father and summoning Titan is fresh in my mind. I see where this is going.
VIRA BATTLEMAID (telling the story): “She bessseeched Sri Lakshmi’s intercession.” Smells like our next trial! That’s DEFINITELY a primal.
-The imperials fled in terror. The Vira revere Sri Lakshmi but will not “prostrate themselves” before her. They want my help as Eikon-slayer.
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The Lure of the Dream
-Alphinaud wants to find another way to deal with Lakshmi than pure confrontation. After all, primals vary. Ravana likes battle, but Ramuh and Odin keep to themselves more.
-We head to a nearby Vira village to learn more.
SARISHA OF THE VIRA: “In the beginning was Sri Lakshmi. We were created in Her image – daughters blessed with Her beauty. Her breath became ours. Her ssserenity our sssolace.”
She sounds like a goddess of peace. And she was summoned for resurrection… mostly. A grieving mother summoned her. Vengeance is likely part of this incarnation’s package.
-To the Vira, Sri Lakshmi embodies freedom. Hence the Vira resistance to the empire.
-To the Qalyana, Sri Lakshmi embodies “transcendental beauty.” They’re artists, crystal-shapers. The Empire has left them to their own devices up until this recent incident.
-lol these dialogue options.
I accidentally chose the “I’ll kill your god” option. Sarisha doesn’t immediately kill me as I expected. “That sssimulacrum is not Sri Lakshmi.” An accurate outlook within the XIV lore.
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Random Stuff Around Eorzea
An unusually useful bag for a side quest:
The Ananta seem to have an Indian theme. Sri Lakshmi, and these battle elephants in their territory:
[Non-rhetorical question: Is the Ananta influence wider than India alone?]
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Next time: Lakshmi.
