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The Way of the Samurai
-An old Hingashi swordsman named Musosai has been kicking ass in Ul’dah’s arena, taking on all challengers. (This presumably takes place before the events of Stormblood, when samurai are not known.)
-He lends me a sword for a test. Let’s DO THIS!
-First, I check out the samurai’s combat system. It’s highly combo based. Various weapon skills add to your “Sen Gauge” up to three, and finish with a big strike.
That strike differs depending on how full the gauge is. Using it at one poisons the target, at two does a strong frontal cone, and at three does a massive single-target hit.
I like that. It means the third strike isn’t the “best.” They’re situational.
-We step into the arena when someone else interrupts, Beroald.
-Musosai kicked this guy’s ass earlier. He’s salty and back for more.
Lolol Musosai slices his blade in half before the “rematch” even begins.
-Our duel doesn’t last long. Musosai doesn’t really try – he just wants to see what I have, and rewards my effort.
MUSOSAI: “As promised, I shall bestow upon you the rarest of Hingan treasures: training in the way of the samurai!”
-Beroald emerges yet again, enraged to hear that the purse he was fighting for wasn’t even coin.
Btw, props to the game for making Beroald’s outfit every bit as ridiculous for close-range combat as those many women in high fantasy are saddled with.
-After dispatching them easily, Musosai shares some of the history of Hingashi with me.
-Long ago, Hingashi underwent a time of factional strife called the Age of Blood. This period forged the art of the samurai.
-The realm eventually unified. Peace set in. The samurai were the only ones who kept the katana as a symbol of authority, to protect the peace.
MUSOSAI: “We shall journey the land, you and I, on a quest to right wrongs. A sone who has grasped the foundations of our art, it is your surest path to mastery.”
I love how simple this premise is! We start in Ul’dah.
-A lalafel named Momozigo may join us. He’s the Ul’dah arena showmaster who Musosai saved.
He looks like a newsie.
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The Sands of Debt
-The first evil Musosai wants to take out is a loan shark, Phelyp, who enslaves his clients.
-We find Phelyp threatening a girl who borrowed money for her dad’s medicine and is struggling to repay him.
“Is that supposed to move me? If anything, you should be thankful. I’m offering you a chance to earn money without any effort – you need only lie on your back, heh heh heh. Now, come quietly.”
-It’s true that I hate this pustulant asshole, but this still feels cheap and exploitative. The same critiques of Game of Thrones could likely be applied here.
Idk. I’m not sure how to ethically and respectfully use/depict sexual violence in fiction.
-Musosai doesn’t just jump to action. The Brass Blades (Ul’dah’s guards) would back Phelyp, complicating the question of what’s best for the victim.
-We follow Phelyp and find him bribing Brass Blades for this human trafficking operation. Now comes the slicing, and it’s satisfying af.
-Momozigo even helps us close the deal. He knows some of the nobler Brass Blades to take Phelyp and he corrupt guards into custody.
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Blood on the Deck
-Our tour of justice continues to Limsa Lominsa, where a katana-wielding serial killer is at large.
-Time to shine, Momozigo! Lalafel bait.
-It works. He walks “alone” (with us watching nearby) at night, and a lalafel dressed all in black approaches him with katana drawn.
Momozigo screams, scaring the attacker away. Something about this rings bells with Musosai. Is the killer a former student or something.
MUSOSAI: “Some while ago, a wealthy lalafel merchant of this land came to Kugane. The man had a fetish for blades, and proceeded to buy up the finest he could find.”
He’s like a homicidal version of a western dude who collects katanas. I feel like I’ve seen this lalafel’s YouTube channel.
-A lead points us to Gurumi Borlumi, an Eastern-obsessed merchant with a huge katana collection. “He said that he wanted to feel what it’s like to cut a man down.”
-So Team Samurai crashes Gurumi’s party ship. And what a party it is. Everything in eastern fashion. The food, dress, lighting, dancers.
-He’s not that subtle about it, even recognizing Momozigo from the other night.
-The fight itself is tough and hilarious. His guards include a gladiator dressed up like a samurai, and a bunch of random street toughs dressed like eastern shinobi.
[Non-rhetorical question: is there a word for people like this, westerners unhealthily obsessed with all things Japanese?]
-In the end, I don’t even fight Gurumi himself. Musosai takes him out, not wanting me to “sully my blade” with one such as him.
-Gurumi recognizes Musosai’s name as part of some mysterious legend.
MUSOSAI: “Whatever I may have been in the past, now I am but as you see me: an old man long past his prime.”
As he says this, Musosai stumbles. Fatal illness ticking away is my guess.
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A Fraudster in the Forest
-Onto the last main city, Gridania. Momozigo is missing.
-Gridania’s guards arrested him on an outstanding minor embezzlement charge. But he was only held for a few days, and fled on release.
-We find him fleeing through the woods… Aw, he was ashamed! Here we were, tracking down criminals, and he was one himself.
-Confession time. Momozigo organized a concert where the singer bailed, leaving Momozigo with the bills. He fled with the ticket sales.
Dude. That’s not great, but Musosai took out a serial killer and a human trafficker. You’re not on his list.
-Of course, Musosai forgives him, urging him to use his new earnings to repay what he stole.
-As Momozigo runs off to make back to town, Musosai again stumbles. There’s a not-small chance that he dies by the end of this questline. Or maybe just retires with me as his successor.
But first, Musosai has one goal: to track and punish a disgraced samurai named Kogarashi.
“Mark my words, his is the face of true evil. And it is my solemn charge to strike him down.”
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Tears in the Snow
-We conquered evil (or “evil” in Gridania’s case) in the three starting cities. On to Ishgard.
-A young couple recently threw themselves off a cliff. Both lovers were from lowborn families. A young nobleman named Honfraint became obsessed with the woman, and rumor is that he hounded her until the couple chose to end it all.
Jesus. We had a human trafficker, a serial killer, and now a stalker.
-Or worse. Investigation suggests that this might not have been a straight-up suicide.
-Oh, and Momozigo is missing. He was kidnapped when asking questions about this event.
-We catch up with Honfraint. And… huh. He’s about to jump off a cliff in despair. There’s more to this situation than we thought.
HONFRAINT: “I-I tried to break them apart, that much is true. But they didn’t kill themselves.”
-The girl learned how Honfraint’s father was illicitly dealing in “Furite,” whatever that is. His father killed them and Honfraint feels responsible.
There’s a common theme emerging in the samurai questline. Sin is common, but not all sin is equal. Honfraint sounds like a bit of a shit, but he’s not a murderer.
MUSOSAI: “Know this: you are still young. You have all the time in the world. To begin anew, to make amends. Unlike this tired old man.”
I wonder which category Musosai’s past actions fall into. Small wrongs, or capital-e Evil?
-We find Honfraint’s father nearby, about to kill Momozigo. I take out his guards… and just like in Limsa Lominsa, Musosai is so disgusted by this dude that he doesn’t want me to stain myself by killing him.
He does it himself, nearly collapsing with the effort despite killing him in mere seconds.
-lolol Musosai constantly mispronounces everything western, but my favorite may be him calling Eorzea “Heir’s Ear.”
-All that’s left now is Kogarashi.
-We get back to Ishgard and Musosai has collapsed completely. He’s bed-ridden.
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The Face of True Evil
-Musosai is up and moving. He’s still badly injured and took something to last a bit longer.
“Kogarashi’s crime was to create a killer. His pupil went on a killing spree, cutting down numerous Hingan dignitaries, one after the other.”
Calling it now: Musosai is that killer, and Kogarashi was his teacher.
-Kogarashi was held responsible for his student’s crimes and sentenced to seppuku. He forsook his honor and fled to Eorzea.
Actually, I wonder if Musosai is Kogarashi. Maybe he trained a student who failed him and now just wants to be punished as he feels he deserves.
-Musosai has tracked down this Kogarashi to a cave near Ishgard, so there I go.
-Yup. Musosai is Kogarashi. His first student strayed from his path and became a killer. We’ll probably face that former student in the 60-70 questline.
Now I have to do what he couldn’t bring himself to do: kill the failed master.
-My first attempt at the fight goes horrifically. He obliterates me in seconds. I hadn’t upgraded my gear in a while, so I purchase a whole new set.
-Victory!! Even geared properly, it’s a brutal fight. And a beautiful one, with all his various wind attacks.
-He’s dying for real now. Thanks me for what I’ve done, and asks me to finish the job.
Ququshu puts her hand on her hilt and OH JESUS AM I REALLY DOING THIS???
Whew. Sort of. I rush at the fallen Musosai, drawing my blade and slashing, but it’s symbolic. I slash away his evil deeds.
MUSOSAI: “Ququshu… you have become a greater samurai than even I dared to hope. Living in shame and coming to this land… it was all worth it.”
-Momozigo has arrived, and is at least able to tearfully say goodbye to his friend.
MUSOSAI: “Our work here is done. One fewer evil afflicts this realm…”
I feel confident in saying that any sins of yours are not evil.
He passes away, at peace.
-Momozigo and I bury him on a cliff overlooking the western seas, where he can watch the setting sun begin its return journey to Hingashi. A journey he never got to make.
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Random Images Around Eorzea
Ququshu in full level 60 samurai gear:
A flower-tossing moogle minion:
Koala!
A player named Dirty Burger:
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Next time: the level 60-70 samurai story.
