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ALCHEMIST: “The Forbidden Blade”
Not Quite Dead Yet
-A guard in Ul’dah needs me to examine a maybe-corpse.
GUARD: “Go on, open that fresh sarcophagus. You alchemists live for this stuff, don’t you?” lolol
-She doesn’t look dead, but she has no pulse. Hasn’t started to rot. Very weird.
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The Forbidden Blade
-Guildmaster Severian thinks someone tried resurrecting her, so I head to Ul’dah’s thaumaturges.
-Resurrection is taboo. Only one recent thaumaturge expressed interest. But he can’t remember.
Really??? You forgot what thaumaturge wanted to raise the dead?? Lol ok, I craft a memory potion.
-…He actually did remember. He just wanted the brain boos of a memory potion. Frigging lalafels.
-The thaumaturge in question is their old guildmaster, Mumuepo. He came into possession of the blade “Heartstrike,” rumored to return the dead to life.
-He was expelled a while back for an assortment of crimes, but owns a coffin in the burial chamber.
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Do Goldsmiths Dream of Gilded Sheep
-Mumuepo won’t confess easily, since he’s already in prison. Doesn’t want more time. Withotu his permission to search the coffin, we need an alternative.
-The person buried in there is survived by… huh, by F’lhaminn, Minfilia’s mother!
-She eventually admits the coffin holds “Nielie,” murdered just before the Calamity. She’s being really cagey about how she knows him. She’s on the case with me now.
-We open the coffin. Nielie looks like the other woman, like he’s sleeping.
-One of F’lhaminn’s old friends, Greinfarr, meets us at the coffin. He stole Heartstrike about five years ago to try undoing the Niele’s death but it did nothing. He threw the drained blade away.
So… new Heartstrike? Re-charged Heartstrike?
-A mysterious Roegadyn watches from the shadows. Perhaps Mumuepo’s apprentice, idk.
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No Sin Unpunished
-Greinfarr and F’lhaminn both have to confess to me, about “[an] unforgivable crime that denied a young girl a happy life.”
-In the face of weak Ul’dah leadership 15 years ago, they plotted rebellion. Part of this was fomenting a riot. It went badly, and got a man killed. Minfilia’s father. And so F’lhaminn raised her.
Holy shit! That’s some bombs about a core XIV character, just dropped in the alchemist questline.
-She raised her well too, but Greinfarr still regrets that day.
(There’s a lot more exposition dumped here, and I have a hard time keeping up tbh.)
-They tried working with Mumuepo to revive Warburton, and probably used Heartstrike on Nielie as a test. Another victim of their rebellion, albeit unintentional.
-It’s possible someone grabbed the drained Heartstrike after Greinfarr tossed it. We split up to ask around with the merchants of Ul’dah if anyone’s been shopping it around.
-I hear of counterfeits that traded hands before getting news that Greinfarr was attacked. He wounded the assailant, who fled and somehow masked their blood trail.
Not with Alchemist Ququshu on the case! I craft some luminol, which I remember from Phoenix Wright as a thing that helps with fingerprints and the like. We’re on the trail.
-Sounds like it was a merchant who came into contact with Heartstrike, Ansobert, who attacked.
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A Love Beyond Lifetimes
-Shady rumors follow Ansobert, about disappearing servants. One of his current maids identifies the first dead girl in the coffin as one of those servants.
-We catch up with him in Mor Dhona. His bodyguard is the dude who was stalking us. He denies everything, until Greinfarr shows up.
ANSOBERT’S GUARD: “Y-You!? Impossible! You were stabbed… Through your very heart!”
-I thought Heartstrike might be involved, but no. Greinfarr is just that badass. So much so that the guards flee.
-Ansobert fesses up. He was an abusive asshole who murdered servants that rejected his advances. Using the real Heartstrike, that he somehow got a hold of? (I don’t quite understand the Three Blade Monte game going on with counterfeits and non-counterfeits changing hands, but whatever.)
-He turns over the real Heartstrike. Can we still reverse the deaths?
-No. Severian looks over the blade and sees it can only grant undeath, not life. We have to destroy it to free the trapped spirits of the servant and Nielie.
-I pop on my alchemist hat and craft a potent acid to break Heartstrike.
-The bodies fade. No gorey, “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” quick decay; rather, they twinkle away. F’lhaminn and Greinfarr get the chance to bid their spirits farewell.
F’LHAMINN: “I love you, my sweet. Then. Now. Always. Farewell, my darling Nielle.” Aha! So they were lovers in the rebellion.
-A neat little quest line, but I felt too bogged down in the logistical confusion to get really invested.
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CULINARIAN: The Way to a Man’s Heart
Flavors of the Far East
-I meet an admirer, another adventurer who took up cooking on the side. Raulf.
-He found himself spread too thin and quit adventuring to work full-time at a Mor Dhona café. Things have been going okay, but business is tough. He wants to get an edge via incorporating eastern food.
The restaurant business is tough. He needs an edge.
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Rice to the Occasion
-The town has a high Doman population. They’re sick of bread, and miss rice. Especially onigiri.
-Raulf tried winging the dish. The Domans weren’t impressed. They thought he squeezed it too tight, used too much water, and too much seasoning.
-Hearing their advice, I give it a shot. Success!
-Then something weird happens. A woman named Anzu approaches, making sure Raulf is okay. He starts to panic. “Anzu! We shouldn’t be seen together!” A tryst?
-No, they’re engaged. There’s some complication he’ll tell me about later.
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A Broth from the Brine
-Elderly Domans often complain about rich, greasy western food. It’s udon time. I LOVE UDON.
-The key is dried fish broth. I grab some mats from Limsa and cook it up while Raulf makes the noodles.
-The elders love it. Tastes of a home they never thought to experience again.
-One old Au’Ra is unimpressed. “I will not give my precious daughter to some vagabond!” The broth is okay, but the noodles are a soggy mess.
His fiancee’s father, Unzan. This explains partly why Raulf quit adventuring at least.
“The very personification of their maker! You’re worth little as an adventurer and even less as a culinarian!” Unzan was a chef himself.
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Teach a Man to Make Fish
-Next up: sushi. It requires master training, so off to Kugane to meet Chef Shamoji.
-Hee! He’s a Kojin. Perfect for a sushi chef.
-He’s reluctant to teach us until Dellemont (from the 50-60 quests) gives his recommendation.
-I get some tips from Shamoji, though mastery would require years. Enough to start with in the west. I’ve heard that real life sushi training is similar, the work of years and a decade plus.
-We put what we learn to the test in Mor Dhona, preparing a sushi plates for Anzu and Unzan.
-He likes mine. Not great, but not bad. Raulf’s, otoh…
“Shoddy rubbish. Sushi in naught but appearance, a pale imitation bereft of depth.” Still, he sees the effort and respects it.
-Alas, it doesn’t answer the heart of Unzan’s objections: Raulf isn’t “one of us.” Not Doman, not “pure.” Ughhhh.
-Raulf leaves, dejected. This is rough to watch; I really feel for him. And for Anzu.
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The Way to a Father’s Heart
-Raulf has a new idea, to make sukiyaki. He grew up on stews as an Ala Mhigan war orphan, and the sukiyaki he tasted hit him with nostalgia.
This is a great point. Sort of like that “write what you know” advice, it’s about finding some sort of connection between yourself and your craft.
-We head to Ala Ghiri to backtrack his memories. It was “buckler stew,” made of whatever was around.
-Raulf was right! There’s an actual historical connection between the two. Buckler stew made its way to the east as sukiyaki. An old man here teaches Raulf that original recipe.
-Back in Mor Dhona, I help him prepare this final trial meal. Again, I really like the twist that this isn’t about showing he’s skilled enough, but rather showing the shared bond. It grants cooking such a lofty aim.
-Unzan and Anzu find Raulf’s stew super close. The father is gobsmacked.
A few bites in, and Unzan invites Raulf to sit and join him as family.
I love this. This was super great.
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Next time: The final 60-70 crafting storyline – goldsmithing.
