tw: mention of demons and angels at the end
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BOTANIST: “Late Bloomer”
Never Meet Your Heroes
-The botanists’ guild received a request from Edgyth, a botanist in the goblin/human town of Idyllshire. She wants to improve her business, the Mudplots.
-She’s got terrible confidence. Her plots are in good shape, but she was self-taught and feel unsure.
-It doesn’t help that it’s ME helping out. The player character is basically a legend at this point. Edgyth is all “I’M UNWORTHY OH GREAT LALAFEL.”
-The Gridanian guildmaster, Fufucha, joins me too.
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You Say Popoto, I say…
-Fufucha suggests cultivating a new species of popoto. It’s a hearty food that can thrive even in Idyllshire’s rough climate, and a new breed unique to Dravania would sell well.
-I go harvest the wild popotos near Rhalgr’s Reach to bring back.
-It hurts me to see anyone hate on themselves as much as Edgyth. “I’m only worthy to wash your boots,” “The best I can do is carry these popotos,” etc.
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Walking for Walkers
-The cross-bred popotoes are coming along nicely, but we can do better.
-Fufucha wants to crossbreed these with Walker’s popoto, which retain their shape when boiled. Great for stewing.
-Edgyth will help by… asking people in that region where to pick the popotoes.
EDGYTH: “Asking people questions is one of the few things I’m good at!”
I relate to her more than anyone else in any of these crafting questlines. Self-beratement before people who know more than me is, like, my m.o.
-The Walker’s has gone extinct in the west, but thrived out east. They’re growing wild there now.
-Back in Idyllshire, her boss Sawney pops in to say hi. She starts in about how she’s nothing next to me, and he’s done.
SAWNEY: “I’ve no problem with a bit of humility, but you’re well on your way to beatin’ your self-confidence to a bloody pulp. Have you already forgotten just who it was that created this place?”
AMEN
-Edgyth always wanted to be a botanist, but her parents died when she was young, and she’s been struggling ever since. Only started studying botany formally as an adult when Sawney gave her this plot to tend. “Some semblance of order amongst all the chaos.”
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The White Death
-The first generation of crossbred popoto plants withered. Investigation uncovers a white, chalky stone near the plant. Hm.
-Edgyth has an idea! The guild is stumped, so this may be her time to shine. She sends me out to grab a reagent from an alchemist, and GOOD! About time she feels comfortable doing more than apologizing.
-And she was right. Her test confirmed that it’s the pest eelworm. The stone was one of their eggs.
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Edgyth’s Winning Streak
-The main solution is “companion planting,” planting different crops in close proximity for mutual benefit and to prevent pest damage.
[Later edit: I Googled it just now and this is apparently a real thing! I love learning real-life stuff from games.]
-The companion plant ideally should be Rhalgr’s streak. Extremely rare, but that’s nothing to THIS little botanist. Sounds Ala Mhigan, so off I search.
-I track down the rare spawning plant – only spawns at 4am and 4pm briefly (game-time) – and bring samples back to the plots. (Note: I found its spawn cycle through the power of Google. I have no shame with that for this game’s crafting and gathering.)
-Success. The Mudplots are in great shape now, and the pests on their way to elimination.
AWWW – Fufucha gifts Edgyth with a master botanists’ garb, and a new title: First Botanist of Idyllshire.
Well-deserved.
-XIV has given us a fair share of meek but good-natured characters to root for. While this isn’t the most original questline, I really enjoyed it! Felt great to help her along, and her self-hatred was… relatable.
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MINER: “Roll as One”
Gift of the Gob
-I’m tasked with helping a small manufactory in Idyllshire, Stickqix’s Bangpots.
-Uhhh the lalafel who greets me in Idyllshire is wearing a goblin mask.
-The Bangpots are idealistic, aiming to further Eorzean technology through cooperation of man and goblin. Cooperation that’s core to Idyllshire life.
-Their current project is to make a Gobroller, a vehicle to help goblins reclaim the Sharlayan ruins.
LOLOL, EVERY NON-GOBLIN HERE IS DRESSED AS A GOBLIN. Only two are actual goblins.
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Thick Skin
-Two workers are in a heated argument over how best to protect the Gobroller. Krystrymm wants to use heavy armor while Fohcwyda wants to protect it against magic.
If we’re taking this thing into a dangerous area, we probably need both.
-Chief Stickqix (a goblin) sends me to mine beggar’s mythril. It should help with both magic and physical attacks.
-Stickqix is an incredibly diplomatic goblin. The ore’s introduction turns his crew’s attention from fighting towards cooperatively crafting a new type of armor.
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Pedal to the Metal
-Another fight, this time between Zansei and Stackblox about the Gobroller’s controls. Stackblox (the goblin) wants to design the controls to be Hyur-friendly, while Zansei wants them to be goblin-friendly.
Please let this be a quest about the value of universal design!
-This time, I mine feather iron. Light and pliable when smelted, allowing these engineers to craft something… well, universal.
-It works again, but Stickqix is frustrated with his crew’s constant clashes. He deeply values harmony. I can see how this is frustrating to him on a philosophical level.
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Where the Money Takes You
-The guild forgot to pay Rowena for a task. She’s a major XIV business presence, so this is a doozy of a mistake. Now we have to pay her extra by mining some serpentine. A weird side path.
-Aha - the company is in rough shape, hence the late payment. Chief Stickqix is missing.
-Stickqix’s friend confides in us. Apparently, Stickqix was once part of the Illuminati. (An intellectual but antagonistic goblin faction that featured in the Alexander storyline).
”Stickqix had the shiveryshakes as his workers trade fists instead of tongueflaps!”
I love XIV’s goblin-speak.
He left for the peace of Idyllshire. The manufactory environment has disrupted that peace.
-The Bangpots crew takes this to heart. They determine to turn over a new leaf.
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A Miner Success
-The Gobroller is nearing completion; it just needs more oomph for its pistons.
-lol I have to mine “pummelite.” Perfect name for a tough mineral.
-The newly-united company turns the ore to ingots, then pistons, and boom! Working Gobroller.
-It’s very… goblinish. And rollery.
-Stickqix comes by and sees the new and successful test.
HEE! We also just read way too much into his absence. Apparently he just got sidetracked on some business rather than abandoning us. He’s touched nonetheless.
STICKQIX: “You have all turned that dream [of goblins and non-goblins working together] into a beautiful reality. And for that, you have my sincerest thanks.”
-It was true, what we learned about his Illuminati days. Now he gets to apply the engineering prowess that had been turned towards domination instead towards harmony.
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Some Random Angel/Demon-Themed Player Names I’ve Seen Recently
Scarred Bysatan
Lord Hades
Demon Lords
Demons Angel
Neo Angel
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Next time: The 60-70 fishing quests, and one more I’ve yet to determine (whichever storyline I next complete).
