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The Elder’s Answer
-The Nu Mou have decided that they’ll never have the power to deal with Titania. They’re giving us the stone scepter. Three out of four key fragments down.
-Titania isn’t a name. It’s “a title bestowed upon one chosen to lead the pixies by the grace of nature.”
-The Nu Mou are happy with our presence, and offer me a home…
LOLOL, FEO UL SAYS NOPE. She’s that fairy that we bonded with early, and now she’s super possessive.
Shows up to block other fae folk trying to steal me away.
-The last key fragment lies with the amaro at their Wolkedorf settlement. Our next step.
-The amaro we’ve met up to now have been just beasts, like chocobos. These amaro are different.
-We find their leader, Seto, sleeping, and wake them up.
SETO: “Ard...bert?” They must get regular visits from our ethereal friend.
-Seto is reluctant to give us the shoes. He’s concerned. “It will bring you naught but sorrow.”
What to make of this? Do they feel affection for Titania, preferring their imprisonment to death?
-Let’s talk with other amaro here to learn more.
-I pet one amaro, and it brings strong memories of their former master.
“He was a knight of Voeburt. A noble and valiant soul. But like so many others, he died fighting the sin eaters. Though he is long departed, I remain in this land out of respect for his memory.”
They’re like the Nu Mou. A deep affection for mortals.
-The amaro started as mindless beasts until a Ronkan mage – there’s Ronka again – gifted them with intelligence to better serve their masters.
Since the Flood and loss of contact with mortals, few amaro still have this gift.
-Seto may still feel affection for mortals, not wanting to put us in danger.
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A Resounding Roar
-They confirm my thought. We seem gentle and kind. Seto wants to protect us.
-I give Seto the hard sell. “To save the world” and all.
-It works? That phrase seems to ring a bell for them. Perhaps something their old master once said.
-Fine. If I can prove myself against some nearby sin eaters, they’re in.
Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.
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Memento of a Friend
-Seto asks a favor of me. Long ago, while hunting sin eaters, they dropped a medallion in a lake. Won’t I help get it back?
-It’s not too tough to find. It’s in a ruined church under the water
-It belonged to an old traveling companion of Seto’s.
“This medallion he found during an adventure – fashioned it into a necklace for me, his ‘partner in crime.’”
-OH MY FUCKING GOD, IT’S ARDBERT. HOW DID I NOT GUESS THIS?
“Everyone blamed him for the Flood. Him and his comrades.” That’s why Seto left behind the world of men. They shit on someone he loved.
EVEN NOW, ARDBERT’S SPIRIT IS NEARBY.
“He was a good man. He deserved to be happy.”
ARDBERT HEARS THIS. HE’S VISIBLY MOVED AND WALKS AWAY. I’M FRIGGING TEARING UP
-I remind Seto of Ardbert. He’s trusting in me with this relic.
-A pixie flits by with some bad news. They screwed with the Eulmoran army at first which was fun, but then “a scary, bony, wrinkly old mortal came along.” Nothing worked on him.
That must be General Ran’jit.
-I’ll take on the Lightwarden while Urianger and the others will obstruct Eulmore.
-Minfilia wants to join me against the Lightwarden but Thancred shuts her down. Dude. You’re being a dick. I get you have issues and this is hard for you, but don’t take that out on Minfilia.
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Acht-la Ormh Inn
-I take the relics to the gate of Titania’s castle. The seal breaks.
-My fairy friend comes by to encourage me.
FEO UL: “Know this, my adorable sapling: though we fae folk may appear to live unfettered lives, there are still laws that bind us. To take back as much as is taken. To create as much as is destroyed. To give as much as is received.”
Full Metal Alchemist: Faeriehood.
-The 8-player Titania trial is now unlocked. “The Dancing Plague.”
[Later edit: Even after beating it, I’m not sure why it has this name.]
-I prep for this with mizzteq’s always great guide: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2BZP0IsBag
Lightwarden Titania.
-The mechanics of this fight aren’t anything too wacky. Stuff to dodge, adds to kill.
A thorny maze.
-The music for this fight is INCREDIBLE!
-Titania brings their Shakespearean flavor, turning the castle into the forest after the first phase with the “Midsummer Night’s Dream” spell.
Titania’s woodland friends. Peaseblossom and Mustardseed.
-We wipe a couple of times. Titania provides a lot to dodge and a tough DPS check on top of that.
AND GOT EM!!
-I disperse the Lightwarden’s essence. The light over Il Mheg gives way to night.
-Feo Ul is in awe. The relics that undid the seal aren’t just a key; they bless the new king. As the person who vanquished the old king, that’s me. Uhhhhhhhhh.
-Ququshu chooses to not take this. It’d require becoming fae myself. Feo Ul supports me, giving an impassioned defense of my mortality:
“To strive for a dream you will never see – to sow seeds that others might one day taste the fruits of your garden – that is the beauty of your kind.”
-Feo Ul will accept the king role instead. The relics surround them, empower them.
Hail the new Titania. Feo Ul looks absolutely incredible.
NOW IT’S TIME FOR KING TITANIA TO KICK SOME EULMORAN ASS, I AM SO EXCITED
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Fae Counterattack
-Scene change to General Ran’jit and his troops in Il Mheg.
-How does Ran’jit see through pixie magic so easily? One faerie was flitting invisibly among the Eulmorans, and Ran’jit snapped them out of the air like it was nothing.
CHRIST DUDE, STOP SQUEEZING THE POOR THING
-The twins, Thancred, Urianger, and Minfilia emerge from hiding.
-Minfilia assumes the rogue fighting stance she learned from Thancred. Ran’jit tears into her for this, trying to shame her for behavior “unbecoming” an oracle.
And Thancred sticks up for her.
-The sky’s light breaks. This is the moment we defeated Titania.
IT’S ALSO THE MOMENT EULMORE’S ARMY IS ABSOLUTELY FUCKED. The fae have their king back.
-The ensuing scene is a thing of beauty. FFXIV has done a fantastic job showing the fae as goofy, silly, mischievous, and dangerous. Now they show off the raw horror of being on their bad side.
Wrath of the pixies, transforming the Eulmorans into topiary:
Wrath of the Fuath, dragging Eulmorans into puddles to drown them:
Wrath of the Nu Mou, levitating Eulmorans high into the air:
It’s hypnotic and brutal.
I recommend checking out the full scene, from around 3:30-6:00 in this Krimson KB blind play video:
-And just as the amaro – bearing Ququshu – and Titania themselves fly in, Ran’jit retreats.
-Titania says that the fae folk are very “in the present” types. They won’t join us on our mission against the sin eaters in a tactical campaign.
“But if it was to repay a debt? Well then, that’s another matter... Such is the way of Il Mheg”
That’s our in. All hail the Rainbow Kingdom.
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Random Stuff Around Eorzea
-Some great player names:
Fursona Five
Hermione Villainess
The noble hero, Booger Mcfartybutt:
-A strangely named elite enemy, “O Poorest Pauldia”:
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Next time: the aftermath of this rout. I’m not really sure where we go next. Finding another Lightwarden, or perhaps dealing with Eulmore more directly.
