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Sisterly Act
-Some time passes in-game since the events of the last patch. Alisaie and I are hanging at Scion HQ when
Thancred contacts us. He’s been spending time in the Garlean territories and has news to share.
-Other imperial provinces have started to rebel. Not all have gone well, which we saw in the razed Rabanastre. Still, the Alliance has continued to support resistance movements materially.
-In the Garlean homeland, the more liberal Populares have been in trouble. “Zenos’s” plan succeeded at stoking fears of foreign primals.
But most concerning is the lack of a Doman emissary in the capital. Alphinaud’s missing.
-Thancred heard a brief message from Alphinaud’s emergency linkpearl. Two words: “The Burn.”
-Alisaie and I check in at Doma on our way to the Burn. Y’shtola’s been working on the rebuild and on securing Kojin artifacts. She’ll join us our search.
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Feel the Burn
-We already know the legend of the Burn, a land bled dry of aether by summonings. It inspired Emperor Solus on his anti-eikon crusade.
-The Burn is one of the new patch 4.4 4-player dungeons. And it’s another great one.
-It starts and ends as a sandswept wasteland, with a brief section that’s a ruined Allagan facility.
-The second boss in the facility is a defective drone. It has kind of a hilarious mechanic where it summons a line of drones to help attack us.
We have to recognize which drone is defective and get out of the others’ path.
-The final boss is glorious. It’s the Mist Dragon from FFIV. She even has that thing where she dissolves into mist, dealing damage if you attack her before she coalesces.
-We see Alphinaud’s crashed imperial ship and find signs of the battle. Yugiri recognizes the attackers as the Emperor’s personal guard.
ALISAIE: “Where in the world are you, brother? If you die on me, I will never let you hear the end of it.” :' (
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Shadows in the Empire
-Back to Doma where a foreign emissary awaits Lord Hien. HI LYSE!
-We’re trying to parse this business with the attack on the Populares. Did the Emperor support this or did “Zenos” do it without his support?
The official word in Garlemald is likely that the exchange never took place. For all intents and purposes, there is no treaty between Garlemald and Doma.
-Anyway. Lyse is here to say that Ala Mhigo is joining the Eorzean Alliance officially.
-She also tells me how worried she is about Alisaie handling her brother’s disappearance. Something to watch.
-The conversation turns to Doma’s defense. With the Garlemald peace treaty kaput, they could choose to re-invade at any moment.
HIEN: “It was only with the aid of others that Doma succeeded in winning her freedom. So I mean to take a leaf out of our Eorzean friends’ book and form an alliance of our own.”
WOOHOO! He’s going for the Steppe tribes, the Confederacy, Hingashi… even Sui-no-Sato (the underwater group) and even “the myriad peoples of Nagxia and Dalmasca.” This is HUGE!
-We gotta buy time against a Garlean air invasion.
Y’shtola has a plan. She noticed Allagan ruins in the Burn, perhaps something similar to their force field around Azys Lla. If we can reactivate it, we can block the imperial march to Doma.
-Even if the tech is in the Burn, we need energy. Lord Hien thinks the Xaela tribes of the Azim Steppe can help us. Time to visit the Xae’la tribes. We’ll also introduce a possible alliance.
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A Power in Slumber
-Hien will join us in the Steppe. He’s delighted to be back here. Me too.
-He learned a Xaela myth about “a tainted land cloven from the earth, and an offering of blood to the heavens.” Azys Lla and Dalamud.
Now I see. If those floating bodies originated here, Hien thinks he can find the launch center and use it for fuel.
-We go see Cirina again for more on this myth. I’m so happy we get more of her!
-She points us to a northern crag where the myth may originate. And she’s open to an alliance.
The problem is that the crag is sacred. Disturbing it could turn the Steppe tribes against us.
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The Will of the Moon
-That crag holds a strange, glowing, tree-like structure, sacred to the moon goddess Nhaama.
-Y’shtola marks it as an Allagan artifact that regulates aetherial flow. It has plenty of stored energy. Maybe even enough to restore life to the Burn.
-She notices that the area around it is drained of aether. She also noticed this effect around Doma.
These hints are SUPER ominous. They keep being dropped casually then tossed aside for now, in such a way that makes me think this will become a major plotline in the near future.
-Now we just have to get the Xaela tribes’ permission to use it. First up is the Dotharl, I cannot WAIT to see my murderous blue friend again, Sadu Khatun. She’s one of my favorite characters in XIV.
-Sadu is open to our proposal. She wants something in return. “Battle. With you, khagan!”
She’s wanted another shot at me ever since the Nadaam.
-AND WHAT A FIGHT IT IS! It’s a one-on-one duel where she keeps getting knocked down and keeps getting back up. Each time more joyous than the last.
The fourth and final phase is absolutely ridiculous. I have to dodge all the mechanics from the prior phases, and also kill her before she finishes SUMMONING A MOTHERFLIPPING METEOR!
I barely knock her out before the meteor hits. Not that she minds losing – she’s all about the joy and energy of battle.
“Yes! YES! Not since the Naadam has my soul burned so!” One day I want to be as happy about literally anything as Sadu is about having lost to me in a fair fight.
-She gets up for round five, when Magnai of the Oronir, aka “That Asshole,” joins in. He’s offended we didn’t ask his support, so he swings down to judge us directly.
-Ququshu will continue to fight Sadu… but not me. I play as Y’shtola, holding off Magnai. This is great! Last patch we played as Alphinaud, now as the dry, acerbic Y’shtola.
Azim’ll be watching you.
-Afterwards, Sadu is still in ecstasy, even in defeat. She’s practically glowing. BEST CHARACTER EVAR.
-Magnai is on board too… oh god. He’s about to hit on Y’shtola, isn’t he?
MAGNAI (super dramatically): “…Are you my Nhaama?”
Y’SHTOLA (confusedly and dryly): “I beg your pardon?”
Magnai is obsessed with finding his match at first sight, so he latches onto every woman he sees immediately.
“In battle, you shone with all the majesty of the full moon’s light, your healing touch the embodiment of the Dusk Mother’s love.”
ok relax buddy
“Long had I wondered if my Nhaama might not be a woman of the Steppe. Beholding you, I am all but certain!”
…you’re not relaxing. You’re at an 11 and I need you to take it down to a 4.
-Romantic music swells. The camera zooms in on Y’shtola’s face. And then the music cuts out.
Y’SHTOLA: “I am… not interested, little sun. Try again when you have become a man.” LOLOL
I feel a little bit bad for Magna for constantly trying and failing, but seriously. Chill a bit.
-OMG BLESS SADU FOR ENJOYING THE SHIT OUT OF MAGNAI’S HUMILIATION I CAN’T STOP LAUGHING
SADU: “Does it pain you, little sun? Crave you salve to soothe the ache? Fire to sear the wound in your heart?” There’s still like a 30% chance these two get married this expansion.
-Magnai the Salty breaks out his axe to defend his honor. Sadu unsheathes her weapon just for fun. The Dotharl and Oronir prepare to fight, and we peace out. Not getting dragged into this lol.
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Next time: the conclusion to patch 4.4’s main story quest.
