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A Digging We Will Go
-The Goggs, hated dwarf rivals of the Tholls, guard the material we need for the giant Talos.
-One particularly cute dwarf named Korutt is excited to join us. LOOKIT HIS BEARD
-He’s a kid. A great miner, not a fighter.
-The Crystal Exarch and I guide him through a gauntlet of sin eaters. And as we go, Korutt makes an interesting comment.
He says the Exarch and I work well together. As if we’ve had years of practice by each other’s side.
Fighting a particularly beefy sin eater.
Who tf is the Exarch?? Why do we already have chemistry?
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The Duergar’s Tewel
-We head into the Goggs’ sulfurous land, the “Tewel.”
-Huh. They don’t seem that bad. Rivals more than villain.
-Korutt digs up what we need.
-The Exarch gets woozy. Being away from the Crystal Tower weakens him. He must be bound to it.
-Before we can get out, the Gogg chieftan Glagg spots us. He gets into a… well, a cute spat with Korutt.
KORUTT: “Our beards are soft and luscious and smell like freshly tapped ale! Gogg beards are dry and crusty and smell like a knocker’s arse!”
GLAGG: “Better a hobgoblin’s nose hairs than the feeble, floppy things you Tholls have hangin’ from your faces!”
-The Exarch dream powders Glagg to knock him out. We aren’t done with the Goggs.
-My hope is further bolstered when I explore and find a neutral Gogg town of Komra. I can’t interact with it yet, but this is certainly a town that’ll be friendly after a bit more story.
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Rich Veins of Hope
-The Top Rung of the Ladder is packed! Team Scion seems to have found success in its recruitment.
-Old friends are here. Kai-Shirr from Eulmore, Magnus from the mining town, Rhon Ron the Mord…
-Some Journey’s End caregivers too, who care for and ultimately euthanize the sin eater infected before they transform. With great news: when night fell over Amh Araeng, the transformations stopped.
Holy shit. That’s a big deal.
-Y’shtola was successful too. She brought mages from the Night’s Blessed, including Runar.
I still ship tf out of these two cats.
-AWWWW! They even are giving us the heartstones from fallen Blessed to help power the Talos.
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A Breath of Respite
-The Crystal Exarch is not in great shape. He’s woozy. “The future is where my destiny awaits…”
This dream speak confirms for me (as if I needed any more) that he’s from our past, somewhere.
-He wanted to live indefinitely to save this world, and thus bound himself to the Crystal Tower. That’s how he got all these crystalline body parts and why his power wanes when he’s away.
-He urges me to take some time to enjoy Norvrandt and relax after we win. What are his victory plans?
-He speaks of a woman. “One who is unaware of the full extent of my plans… She is my inspiration, and I would give much and more for the chance to speak with her as friends, with no thought of concealment.”
If this were a different game, like Dragon Age, I’d think he was talking about Ququshu.
“Together, we would travel the lands and cross the seas and take to the skies upon the eternal wind… My heart swells simply to imagine it.”
[Later edit: I’m pretty sure he is talking about me. It’s more that if this were Dragon Age, I’d expect he meant it romantically where with FF I’ll bet it’s platonic.]
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Meanwhile, in the Imperial Capital
-“Zenos” (really the Ascian Elidibus in Zenos’ skin) speaks with Emperor Varis. He’s been fighting Yugiri’s rumors that he’s possessed.
-He also shares that Emet-Selch has taken to the First to secure its demise. Or, probably to secure that.
ELIDIBUS: “Even to those who have known him since the beginning, his actions can prove… unpredictable.”
Very interesting. They’re at least opening the possibility that Emet-Selch could be doing his own thing, though I’m still sure he’s playing the wacky frenemy role to help facilitate the First’s end still. This is his audibled Plan B since my presence precludes Operation Lightwarden’s success.
-Elidibus shares a report from Emet: the Scions haven’t taken the field recently because our spirits have traveled to the First. And yet, our bodies remain in the Source.
-He seems almost insulted at how well Ququshu has done, and now I understand why. The Ascians see us as incomplete.
-He urges Emperor Varis to take this chance to strike out with full strength. Reasonable plan.
???: “Oh dear... You do not wear the mummer’s motley well. I was never one to take an interest in tedious conflicts.” Is Emet back? I suppose he can hop easily between worlds.
-WAIT NO, IT’S THE KATANA-BEARING CENTURION WHO’S BEEN SLINKING TO GARLEMALD THIS WHOLE TIME! This is the guy that noybusiness thinks is the spirit of the real Zenos, and I agree.
-YUP. Elidibus confirms that this is the real Zenos yae Galvus. Shock clearly hits Varis, his father.
-Zenos wants his body back. “Without it, I cannot enjoy my hunt to the fullest.” Same old Zenos.
-He draws his sword. Fade to black.
WHEEEWWW what an ending! I love how they’ve teased the story back home with these little clips.
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Message in a Bottle [seasonal event, “The Rising”]
-The Rising celebrates XIV’s rebirth with “A Realm Reborn.”
-I find a message in a bottle eon the beach with ominous words: “Ne’er till land… Heavens spew crimson… seep black dooms… stray seeds… valiant.”
-It’s from the Divine Chronicles, some ancient holy text that prophesied the Seventh Umbral Calamity.
-Oh cool! The bard who wrote that message did so before the Calamity. He sent these message out to warn Eorzeans.
-The minstrel begins strumming his lute… and I’m shunted into a dream, a starry void.
-It’s full of others Ququshus, from many different jobs.
-lolol hi again, Naoki Yoshida. The guy behind XIV’s rebirth meets me in this dream world.
(I saw him first back in 2017: http://coldrungaming.blogspot.com/2017/09/ffxiv-p...
“It’s a pleasure to welcome you here again, old friend. Or shall I call you… the Warrior of Darkness? In any event, it’s been quite the adventure we’ve shared, you and I.”
You done good, Yoshi-P. Spent years of my life in this world of yours. Bless you.
“Each adventure brings meetings and partings, and countless trials… and at journey’s end, we emerge stronger, more enlightened, and closer to the individuals we want to be.”
Do we? I struggle with balancing my love of gaming with other priorities. What if that his words were true though? What if you could draw inspiration from this sort of thing? Hm.
-He and the various Ququshus cheer me on. “Now, the time has come for this vision to end. Time for your eyes to open from this waking dream.”
A lesson to take to heart: sometimes, it’s good to cheer for yourself.
-Back to the “real world.” Fireworks shoot off as the denizens of this world celebrate its rebirth.
And what a rebirth it was. Has any game ever rebounded from such a crappy release as Final Fantasy XIV with “A Realm Reborn?”
-The rewards from the event are pretty awesome. One is automatic, a wind-up Y’shtola:
I also bought two paintings from the event vendor. One shows the characters from the FFXIV raid Tactics raids in Rabanastre:
The other is from my favorite patch in all of FFXIV. Under the Moonlight, the Yotsuyu patch:
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Next time: I expect that we create the giant Talos and climb to Mt. Gulg.
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ReplyDeleteI prefer to think the Crystal Exarch's interest is romantic but that's partly because I have a crush on the character
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