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The Lightwardens
-Time for the first dungeon, Holminster Switch. I’ll use the trust system, grouping with NPCs.
-Alphinaud heals, Alisaie will red mage with me, and the Crystal Exarch will tank.
-I love that the trust system lets me go into a dungeon blind! I usually look up strategies to not drag down other players. Here, it’s just me!
-We fight out way through a bunch of smaller sin eaters, many of whom hatch from that grotesque feathered cocoon before our eyes.
-First boss is the angel who turned Tesleen! I thought she’d be a final boss at the least.
Forgiven Dissonance.
-Simple mechanics, lots of dodging aoes. The trust NPCs handle it like champs. The Exarch tanked the boss away from the group, Alphinaud kept us alive, they moved out of aoes. Awesome start!
-Sin eater cocoons are EVERYWHERE in this burning farmland.
-Second boss is Tesleen, “the Forgiven.” That seems to be a sin eater naming convention. Do they really eat sins and just become pure and good monsters? Is it ironic? I don’t know.
I especially like the little bits of dialogue they add in. After we beat Tesleen:
ALPHINAUD: “Alisaie? You’ve gone pale.”
ALISAIE: “…I’m fine. We should keep moving.”
-The final boss lookshfdjksfhdshklamaaAAAAZINGG! Like a cenobite from the Hellraiser series.
Lightwarden Philia.
-Its creepiest part are the humanoid hands at its base. Idk why it bothers me so much. The Dark Souls 3 enemies called Monstrosity of Sin have the same thing.
-GOT HER! It took two tries. First try, I messed up on a mechanic and went to an instant death spot when she started rotating around, pounding the ground around her.
Now that the Lightwarden’s dead, how do we prevent one of us from taking her place? Time for the Crystal Exarch to do whatever he’s got planned.
CRYSTAL EXARCH: “The blessing of Light! And the hero who wields it now stands before you!” He thinks I can take the brunt and not be transformed because I have Hydaelyn’s blessing?
-The light tries to possess me. It suffuses me.
Like Lightning seeing Bhunivelze in "Lightning Returns."
-I hurl it up, redirecting it to the sky like Frog cracking a cliff. And… wow. It dispels the light from the sky, as far as the Crystarium.
IT’S NIGHT. Real night. The first these locals have ever seen. They stare up in wonder.
This is heart-stoppingly beautiful. I’m thinking of that Ray Bradbury story, “All Summer in a Day.”
-The librarian thinks the mythical Warrior of Darkness has come. She’s not necessarily wrong.
-Back in Holminster. The Crystal Exarch kneels down before me. “How many years have I waited for this moment? For the one possessed of Her blessing.”
The sin eaters have to retreat now. If we keep this up, move against the rest of the Lightwardens, we may yet save things.
-Ardbert, the prior Warrior of Darkness, lurks in the background.
CRYSTAL EXARCH: “There are… things which we can ill afford to lose. I sensed from the first that I had a part to play in preserving them.”
Current theory: he’s a good Ascian.
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Warrior of Darkness
-The villagers we evacuated from Holminster arrived safely at the Crystarium.
-The Exarch asks me to keep my role hidden for the moment, lest it throw their civilization into disarray. Agreed.
-How will Lord Vauthry in Eulmore respond to this? The light only receded from this zone, Lakeland.
-Before we head off, Alisaie wants to walk Holminster once more in memory of Tesleen.
-Later, back in the Crystarium. Rumors are flying fast about the Warrior of Darkness.
-There’s a group of strong stray sin eaters called “Cardinal Virtues,” and some bounty hunters seek them out. “Virtue-Hunters.”
-Some are in the Crystarium’s bar. A mystel, a hume…
FHDJKLSFHDSL THERE’S A DWARF TOO! NAMED GIOTT! (Like King Giott in FFIV.)
-There are four Virtue Hunters. A healer, a tank, a magic DPS, a physical DPS. XIV’s job stories have been replaced by these “role” stories.
I’m skeptical. I like the job stories, and this would feel like cost-cutting if XIV hadn’t earned so much trust with its amazing games. We’ll see how the role stories do.
-For now, I retire to an inn room. Ghost time. Hi, former WoD!
ARDBERT: “So it’s your lot’s turn to be the Warriors of Darkness, is it? Funny how things work out.”
-He’s been through a lot of crap. A LOT. Urges me to keep my friends close in these trying times.
-Scene change, to a woman in a field, staring up at the sky.
“So this is what the light was hiding… She’s here. I must go to her.”
-The mystery woman stares at the Crystal Tower.
Wait wait is that tesleen? Hard to say.
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Magitek Meeting
-Scene change again, to a magitek factory in the Source.
-Imperial soldiers storm back and forth as Estinien charges through. HI ESTINIEN!
-He runs into Gaius’s/Shadowhunter’s group. They’re familiar with each other. Kind of on the same side here, trying to destroy Black Rose (the imperial chemical weapon).
-Estinien is here on the Scions’ behalf. Team Gaius too.
GAIUS: “There will be no one left in the lands they conquer. No citizens to conscript, no skills to exploit, nothing the Empire needs. And they will call it victory.”
-Black Rose is like a magic poison that disrupts aether In living beings, stops their life energy.
-His path leads to Garlemald. He wants to confront the corruption in the Empire head on. He offers Estinien a spot on his team.
YAY TEAM UP!
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Random Stuff Around Eorzea
I’m calling this a Tenacious D reference:
Some FATE gremlins taunting me:
A viera dressed like someone you might see in real life:
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Next time: Finishing off level 71. I need to hit level 72 before continuing on. But speaking of Estinien, my next XIV post will be the level 60-70 dragoon job storyline.
