TW: imagery of imperialism specifically against Native Americans.
---
Why They Call It the Blues
-I have to learn Mind Blast before I pick up this quest. It’s an interesting challenge! Mind Blast is only available from the level 16 dungeon, Tam-Tara Deepcroft. I’m able to solo it at level 22. Blue mage spells are that strong.
My real all-star spell is 1,000 Needles. It does titanic damage split between enemies around me. The main drawback is that it has a slow cast time, but other blue magic supports it. Like Acorn Bomb, that puts enemies to sleep, or Faze that stuns a single target, giving me time to blast away.
-Martyn’s being pursued by a loan shark, literally shaking him down for the clothes on his back. Why is he in such heavy debt?
CONDESCENDING VOICE to MARTYN: “My, my. This is certainly a far cry from your days at the Arcanists’ Guild.”
Interesting! So he started as an arcanist. I’m guessing this voice belongs to the main story antagonist.
-His name is Whastrach. He’s here on business of some sort.
-Yeah, he and Martyn used to work together, researching magic outside Eorzea.
-They learned blue magic in the New World, with the Whalaqee. The guild was not impressed. They cut his funding, so he borrowed heavily to fund another expedition. Hence the loan sharks.
Whastrach ditched the research, came back here to run a trading company. Separate paths. Whastrach’s is probably more practical, but Martyn’s is WAY cooler.
---
Scream Blue Murder
-I meet Royse in Ul’dah. Hopefully I’ll be ready to perform soon – the Masked Carnivale sounds awesome.
-Martyn’s still in trouble, despite saying he’s paid off his debtors.
-Royse and I follow Martyn to the Alchemist Guild.
ROYSE: “He’s trying not to draw attention by wearing something inconspicuous – and by that, I mean ‘not blue.’” LOL
-Then we follow outside the city. He’s meeting up with someone.
-Okay, it really looks like he’s a drug dealing re-upping his supply. He complains to the two people that it’s costing him more and more, and the “packages” keep getting smaller.
-His packages contain “dream flowers.” More and more druggy.
-I take out the dealers. Royse is pissed at him, saying that he’s been concocting “somnus.” Must be a sleep/dream drug.
-Ah. He claims it’s not for somnus, but rather for medicine for the Whalaqee.
MARTYN: “There’s an epidemic, you see, most likely brought over from Eorzea by people like me.”
They’re REALLY going hard on the Whalaqee/Native American parallel.
-This disease is just a minor cold to Eorzeans, but it’s highly dangerous to the Whalaqee.
-He blames himself. He’s been been doing what he can to repair the damage.
-Woo Royse! She understands, and will let him continue working. She’ll even help him find more flowers.
---
Blue Gold
-Martyn’s been working himself way too hard. Overperforming, trying to earn for the dream flowers.
-Whastrach overhears this. He offers to teach me in Martyn’s place. I’m… skeptical, to say the least.
-He’s got some magitek with him. Again, suspicious af, though eh claims it’s just from work doing ceruleum mining.
-Whastrach tests me a bit against the machine, then asks: is sword and sorcery all I can do with blue magic? Technology is coming – why not embrace it?
WHASTRACH: “The future lies in ceruleum. If you ever decide you want to make a real difference in this world, I could use someone like you.”
One word: plastics.
I thought he was about to propose how to adapt blue magic to learn from technology, but no. He’s basically saying “screw blue magic, let’s build computers.”
-Back in town, Martyn emerges from his hospital bed.
-This is very interesting. Whastrach says he backed out of the project because (quite reasonably) he didn’t want to bankrupt himself. He still appreciates the Whalaqee, and didn’t know about this disease until now.
I like that they’re not pushing him in an overtly villainous direction.
(Martyn didn’t tell him because he assumed Whastrach wouldn’t see any profit in curing it and wouldn’t be interested.)
-Whastrach offers to mass produce a large batch of medicine. And now my hackles are raising again. This is the level 40 quest only. There’s a good chance Whastrach will be like “Thanks for giving me the formula, Martyn! MWA-HA-HA! NOW I CAN USE IT TO MAKE WEAPONS!”
---
The Real Folk Blues
-Martyn received a note that… Whastrach was successful? Wow. The medicine worked and the Whalaqee are saved. Yay? (I’m still waiting for the other shoe to drop.)
-A Whalaqee surgeon named Ceadda suddenly runs up to Martyn and the music gets ominous.
CEADDA: “He wasn’t content to simply give [the medicine] to us – he’s used it to lay claim to Lapis Canyon!”
There’s that other shoe.
-Lapis Canyon is sacred ground. It glows blue because of the ceruleum beneath. That’s why Whastrach “cared.”
-We head out to Northern Thanalan, and Whastrach is being exactly as you’d think. “We signed an agreement. It’s all perfectly legal, I assure you.”
CEADDA: “You know full well the elders can’t read Eorzean! You told them that if they didn’t sign the contract, they couldn’t have the medicine.”
-He even thinks he’s being generous because he wants to employ the Whalaqee at the mining plant. fuuuuuuck this dude
-Royse arrives on the scene. She’s Whalaqee’s backer, though this is the first time she’s heard of the ceruleum mine.
-She’s undecided about what to do, who to support. So we’ll settle this in the blue mage arena.
-Time for “Azuro the Second” to make her debut. Ququshu’s stage name.
-Ceadda is okay with this too. That sort of dispute-settlement-by-combat is part of their culture.
-My costume is ready:
OMG SHE MADE WHASTRACH’S COSTUME LIKE THE FFV BLUE MAGE BOSS, AZULMAGIA
ROYSE: “The dread warlock who transcends dimensions of time and space – Azulmagia!” I WAS RIGHT! I love when prior game experience pays off lol
WHASTRACH: “Why must I be the villain?”
Again, I like that he’s bemused rather than a straight-up mwa-ha-ha villain.
-I tried this fight a couple of times. It’s a three phase fight, but I only could make it through the first one. I simply don’t have enough of an array of spells.
Lots of the spells I’ll need to get come from bosses of higher level dungeons, things I can’t solo. I’ll return to finish off this job storyline later.
-Same goes for many parts of the Masked Carnival. It’s a long set of challenges, solo puzzle fights. They’re both fun and really, really tough. I want more spells in my arsenal before diving in.
---
Random Stuff Around Eorzea
Only three found in this session… but they’re something else, alright:
Dump Elephant
Long Rod
Poggers Dude
Doctor Cid
Shin Stabber
El Presidente
Slightly Moist
Abnormally Small
-A player who looks a lot like FFXI’s Lilith:
-Purple chicken-dancer:
-Space Balls hunt mark:
---
Next time: Bard is the next job I’m working on, but will try the new patch content next. The Easter event, too.
