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Disarmed
[Note: this is a raid from Heavensward, but my friends and I are only getting to it now. This all canonically happened before Stormblood.]
-Y’shtola and I FINALLY get to deal with the primal Alexander. It spontaneously burst out of a lake, and it trapped in stasis. Inactive as of now, yet still bleeding the land of aether.
-Cid thinks that the Illuminati, the local hostile goblin faction, summoned Alexander.
-There’s history though. Someone tried to summon it a few years ago.
-The colossus isn’t the primal itself; rather, it’s just the primal’s casing! Interesting. We gotta get inside.
-We come upon an Illuminati code. Can’t crack it. (lol that we’re fighting the goblin illuminati)
-Just now, an awesome pale blue Au’ra named Mide approaches us, offering to crack the code. She’s a “treasure hunter.” Locke-style treasure hunter, I’m guessing.
-Success! The code grants us access to the colossus: “Fist of the Father.”
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Disarmed
-I dig the vibe in this place. Very steampunk.
-First boss, Oppressor. Its aesthetic is similar to Alexander’s overall aesthetic. An architectural grid theme, with parts that look like towers.
-Mide arrives. Some nice treasure here, and she’s a treasure hunter. Roundrox is here too. She’s a friendly goblin, a collector of shiny junk.
-Our victory is short-lived, as an army of eeeevil-looking goblins appears,
-Their leader is Quickthinx Allthoughts, Illuminati master.
OMG HE HAS A CAT ON HIS HEAD, SO CUUUUTE
“Enigma Codex for plansmaking is gone! Illuminati are already undertaking Alexander Initiative!” Dunno what either of these things are yet.
-Mide fires at the gobs to cover our escape. The Enigma Codex sounds like the treasure she’s after.
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Steel and Steam
-We may have started a war with the Illuminati. The comms are ablaze with “Death to Uplanders!”
-The next area, Cuff of the Father, is just an add rush. Why are all these areas called “of the Father?” Is Alexander the father of the goblins or something? I doubt it.
-I love the design on the goblins’ mechs. They’re much rounder and squatter than the Imperial mechs.
-Mide’s heard that the Codex contains design specs for all kinds of machina, from cheese-makers to energy generation. Very profitable.
But it also included plans for a walking citadel. “It was to be a beacon of logic and reason for all the world.” You best start believing in walking citadels. You’re in one!
-She’s read this codex. She already knows about it. The citadel was to be called Alexander. It may already be a store of knowledge.
-The Illuminati want to take control of Alexander and its knowledge. “Create a world ruled by a few chosen scholars.” How Platonic.
-Still, this Alexander has now been infused with a primal somehow. It was active for a few seconds and nearly drained this whole zone of aether. An active Alexander would devastate the world.
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Tinker, Seeker, Soldier, Spy
-The Illuminati set up shop inside the colossus. They must have some backdoor entrance, perhaps aided by a goblin spy in Idyllshire.
-Brayflox went inside? Or someone like her. She was a cheese-seeking goblin from way back in the A Realm Reborn. I love when old characters pop up.
-The boss in this section is Living Liquid. It’s basically another version of FFV’s Living Flame, the boss of another steampunk area.
It even has the same transformations! Humanoid, hand, tornado.
-Quickthinx and (still with his ADORABLE KITTY) is all aboard the Utopia express. Death to anyone who doesn’t fit his vision of it.
MIDE: “Alexander is wonderful in itself. Perfect, even. But in the rush to realize its ideals, even the best of us can be led astray.”
I get now that Alexander is just the tower, the casing. I’m really curious how the primal inside will fit into all this. My best guess is that it’s the outcome of the Illuminati’s destructively utopian ideals, sprinkled with aether.
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The Pulsing Heart
-The colossus’ next section is “Burden of the Father.” The boss is Manipulator.
It’s a fun fight, though these bosses look kind of samey.
-We reach “The Gordian Knot.” A giant red orb down below. I was waiting for why it was called Gordias.
-Omg. A friend just made the connection that this is all Gordian because it’s Alexander. The person who cut the Gordian knot.
-Mide climbs atop the Knot, the heart of the machine, and sets it to explode. Deactivation successful.
-Quickthinx descends. -His goal is tied to the goblins’ nomadic ways. “End of gobbies’ long wanderings is close.”
-He doesn’t seem all that put-out, and leaves. What’s his plan? We just shut down Alexander’s core, right? Why isn’t he more worried?
-We exit to learn that the goblins raided our camp. Don’t know what they were seeking.
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Next time: the second section of the Alexander raid.
