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Nowhere to Turn
-Dullia Chai’s husband is missing.
-With Lord Vauthry gone, Eulmore held an election. Chai Nuzz was the only entrant, and he vanished soon after.
She thinks it’s because of the pressure. That doesn’t seem likely, given our interaction with the guy.
-A search around town shows he’s been busy learning the city’s problems – wealth inequality, businesses in disrepair, unemployment, military in disarray after Ran’jit’s death, and more.
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For the People
-Chai went out in Kholusia to seek more input, advice, volunteers. I find him in Wright.
-…lol. Dullia was acting as if he abandoned her without a word, but he actually left a note on their bed about his trip that she just overlooked. I really like Dullia, her sincerity and caring and love.
-He’s still not sure he’ll take the role of mayor, but he legitimately seems to care.
-Anyway, he’s out here looking for someone named Wrenden to help guide Eulmore. Former advisor to Vauthry’s father.
-Wrenden is a… god I can’t remember the name, but he’s a First!Roegadyn. Tall, proud, noble dude who’s of course skeptical of this rando.
-His advice got shut out when Vauthry took power, and he left. Now we’re asking for him to come back.
-Chai gives a passionate speech describing his vision. An equitable Eulmore, one close to its neighbors rather than dominating them. Eulmore for the people.
-He’s intrigued. Especially when Chai proposes a detailed plan to solve the food shortages, and then (in a neat little mini-game) goes out to secure the Talos necessary to put the plan into action.
-It’s enough to convince Wrenden. I like how Chai is seeking out this old guard full of institutional wisdom. No need to make a fully fresh start.
-We march back to Eulmore, Talos’ in hand. Dullia is delighted and proud to see him.
So proud in fact that she hugs Chai into unconsciousness. It’s played as slapstick, and I know it shows her love.
But it’s also uncomfortable to watch. When you only decide to put like one good fat character in your game, maybe don’t set up jokes about her size, please and thanks.
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Moving Forward
-Time for Chai’s inauguration speech. He presents to Eulmore’s wealthy, poor, bonded, even those of Gatetown who could never get in.
-He’ll only serve for an interim period. No new Vauthry, this one. Teach them how to say goodbye.
-His speech is fine enough, but this storyline drags for me. Not sure why. Much more into the soul restoration stuff in Amh Araeng.
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Vows of Virtue, Deeds of Cruelty
-Speaking of which! Back to the Crystarium to check on Beq Lugg’s progress.
-Still tinkering with the mechanics of soul transfer. White auracite won’t hold our minds, so that’s out.
-Back in ARR’s Crystal Tower arc, we learned that G’raha’s royal eye contains the memories and blood of ancient Allagans. What if we could repeat that for the Scions?
-I return to Tataru in the Source and get one of those exciting “several cutscenes will play so BUCKLE UP BUTTERCUP” messages. Something big’s coming.
-HI ESTINIEN! Back from the chaos in Garlemald.
-He shares how he met Gaius and how Zenos wrested back his body and slew the Emperor.
At this point, the Echo hits me. Flashback time.
(Btw, for all this storyline’s strengths, it’s unfortunate that we’re just hearing about it rather than participating more directly.) [Later edit: LOL they IMMEDIATELY addressed this.]
-So after Zenos killed the Emperor, Estinien and Gaius teamed up to attack.
-Zenos’s pulses with shadowy power. I think this is another sign of his artificial Shinryu Echo.
-He EASILY holds off both Estinien and Gaius, despite all their anime combo attack shit.
-Guards rush in… hey, it’s those two final bosses from Ghimlyt Dark, Julia and Annia! Nice continuity.
-Zenos warps away. For all purposes now, it looks like Estinien and Gaius killed Emperor Varis.
-OK THIS IS FUCKING COOL. I play as Estinien, escaping the palace past Annia, Julia, and a host of guards.
-WTFFFFF – “Volatile Protype – Arch Ultima.” It’s a giant mech with what looks like some empty-eyed Garlean body riding it.
The pilot (or corpse?) screams as the thing powers up.
-Estinien goes super Saiyan, powered up by Nidhogg.
-WHAT A FIGHT! Throughout, they kept loading data onto Arch Ultima Past encounter mechanics.
My favorite part had to be the final limit break for Estinien. An image of Nidhogg erupted over him before Estinien smashed down on Arch Ultima, destroying it.
-The memory ends. Back to the present.
KRILE: “[Zenos] is an Ascian in all but name.” He’s certainly traversed enough bodies.
-The Empire is in disarray. Zenos himself destroyed Black Rose. Who knows what comes next for them? Civil war, power struggle?
-Gaius got away safely. Told Estinien another threat had arisen… I’ll bet we get an Echo flashback in a future patch where we see Gaius’ escape, and see him learn about this other threat.
ESTINIEN: “The absence of some device or other in the capital gave him reason to believe they’re planning something.” No clue what this could be, but I have trash memory.
-Estinien’s contract with Tataru and the Scions is done, now that Black Rose is done with. He’ll move on to his own business.
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Meanwhile, in Garlemald…
-A centurion is yelling about people denying “Lord Nerva” the throne. Some rando imperial I guess. Civil war hit sooner than I expected.
-Imperial troops and magitek machina march through the streets.
-The camera pans to Zenos. “Boring, boring, boring…” Yeah, he couldn’t give two shits about succession.
???: “Do you think? I find it amusing. Like dogs herding cattle to the slaughterhouse.”
Five bucks says this is some incarnation of Elidibus. Sure looks like that, but I give the white robe like a 30% chance of being a red herring and this person having nothing to do with Elidibus.
WHITE ROBED FIGURE: “Before your majesty, I am but another dog. Lost, in want of a new master. A hunting dog if you should wish it so.”
He immediately knows how to play to Zenos’ self-image as a hunter.
“For I know full well the prey you seek next.” Yeah, my lalafel ass. “Zodiark.” OK THAT’S NOT WHAT I EXPECTED WTFFFFFF
Zenos smiles in response. WHELP.
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Meanwhile, in the First…
-Mayor Chai is reopening the Daedelus Stoneworks. It’s infrastructure week in Eulmore! Villagers are getting repopulated, and things are looking up.
[Later edit: I mean to write “villages,” but whatever. Post-war baby booms are a thing. This is probably right too.]
-Someone lurks in the foreground.
???: “Hope…?” The camera pans up to…. uhhh, is that a young Ardbert?
WAYWARD WARRIOR: “So long as I yet live, I would see that feeble flame rekindled. It is my destiny. To see our dream fulfilled.”
Zero clue who that guy is. Elidibus’ thing about wanting to create new Warriors of Light to fight me comes to mind. Perhaps this is some alternate, memory-wiped Ardbert variant.
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So that’s patch 5.1! The raid was awesome, most of the main scenario content too. I especially liked the new dungeon, “The Grand Cosmos.”
What next? A few possibilities jump to mind:
1) The Stormblood Manderville quests.
2) Bringing my 70 warrior to 80 for the tank role quest.
3) The new pixie beast tribe quests.
4) Diving back into crafting since it was revamped.
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Random Stuff Around Eorzea
-Soft Harmony, a player with some Gothic/Victorian/something flavor:
-Some great player names:
Ra’ba Dakki (my hall of fame pick for this session)
Tylenol Codeine
Perry Th’paladin
Kitten Blur
Meowster Chief
Penny Tration (I can be kind of a prude but this still cracked me up)
Strong Mom
Shigeru Miyamoto
Joosh Magoosh
Beefy Mcwhatnow
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Next time: Catching up with Manderville in Stormblood.
