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Shall We Dance?
-I’m especially excited about this. I love dancer’s style. Never really played it in FFXI, but it’s probably my favorite FFV job after geomancer. (I’m a sucker for the randomized mechanics.)
-A dance troupe has come to perform in Limsa Lominsa.
-OMG THEY’RE DANCING TO FFIX’S CHOCOBO HOT AND COLD MUSIC!! THIS IS THE BESSSST
-The troupe is from Radz-at-Han, a desert land in the east we’ve never been to.
-FHDJKLSFHDKLS I CAN’T, THE TROUPE MASTER IS AN OLDER WOMAN NAMED NASHMEIRA! She was a central figure in FFXI’s “Treasures of Aht Uhrgan,” a princess. Though a puppetmaster in that game.
FFXI’s Nashmeira.
-Some dances are just performative, but this troupe’s “Kriegstanz” doubles as an ancient war dance, mixing mystical support with graceful attacks.
-The troupe has only two dancers currently, Nashmeira herself (injured) and Ranaa, the woman who just performed. Sounds like Ququshu the Dancing Protégé makes three.
-I really, really love Nashmeira’s design.
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Gamboling for Gil
-The Troupe traveled to Eorzea to share their art and to help hear lingering wounds from the Calamity.
-Before we continue our tour, we need funding. We’ll have to perform for a potential patron.
-Crap, it’s the creepy Lalafel dude Gegeruju.
-The instance is super fun. And tough! Takes me a couple of tries. Nashmeira breaks out her classic FFXI puppets for me to battle, and it gives a great sense of battle-as-dance/art form.
-Incidentally, I wonder where puppetmaster ranks in terms of likely new FFXIV jobs. Less iconic than, say, geomancer, but an interesting design space.
-The audition dance works! We got a backer.
Ranaa.
-Ranaa takes Gegeruju’s fawning praise to heart more than I expected. It hints at a potential “overconfident artist takes a fall” arc for her.
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A Soiree in the Sultanate
-We arrive in Ul’dah, and Nashmeira has an idea.What if we perform in one of the poorer districts?
“Bringing joy and succor to the scorned and the suffering is no less than our calling in life.”
-The Stonesthrow district is apparently dangerous. Rumors of a riot.
-Crap, Ranaa went off with some stranger. I like her! Don’t kill her now please.
-Whew. Not quite, but she was attacked when they lured her away.
RANAA: “It was the strangest thing. As soon as he brought me here, his body began to sway and spin in the strangest way. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he was… dancing.” EVIL DANCER FACTION YESSSS
-The Brass Blades catch her assailants, but they claim to be… well, puppets, for lack of a better word.
“They claim to have a vague recollection of their bodies moving, but insist they had absolutely no intention of doing so.” Uhhhh are puppetmasters going to be marked as an evil dancer faction?
-I’m glad we’re not carrying on the overconfident-Ranaa storyline. This was as much of a fall as I think she’ll have.
-Nashmeira has some investigating to do. Perhaps a rival dancer using their power for eeeeeevil?
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Dances with Duskwights
-The troupe performs successfully in Ul’dah. Onto Gridania.
-There’s been recent social unrest here too, related to a group of Elezen called the Duskwights. They eschew city life and have recently become aggressive.
-We head out to the forest nearby to investigate, and… this is weird. We see a group of people dancing as if in a trance.
NASHMEIRA: “The dance of the damned. Yes, it is just as I feared.”
-The supremely badass Nashmeira waltzes up to them and starts her own counter dance to the IX Hot n Cold theme. It draws a void spirit out of the possessed Duskwights.
-The spirit is an “aetheric disturbance.” Hm. Not a single mwa-ha-haing possessor as I expected, unless this is the result of that person’s work.
-This is the Totentanz, the dance of the damned. When despair and anger fill people’s hearts, it disturbs the aether and creates this dancing malaise that consumes people. Troupe Falsiam’s ancient mission has always been to fight the Totentanz.
It’s so ridiculous and I kind of love it.
“Tales tell of mothers blissfully unaware as they trampled their beloved children. Men who danced so violently they ripped the limbs from their own body.”
…more graphic and scary than I expected, but still ridiculous. (I mean that as a compliment.)
-Interesting! It doesn’t manifest in the depths of the chaos. Like, it didn’t take hold when the Calamity hit, because people were so focused on survival. It happens after, when overt improvements have been made but deeper wounds and traumas have had time to fester.
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High-Steppin’ in the Holy See
-Onto Ishgard. Ranaa Mihgo and I will tackle this.
-For our dance, Ranaa requests that those in the worst social and economic situations get priority seating. They’re the ones we’re most likely to have an impact on.
-Ranaa’s dance (still gorgeous btw – I LOOOOVE the dancer’s animations!) draws out the audience’s nascent despair. The audience starts to panic, seeing these spooky apparitions appearing above their head, but Ranaa is determined to put on a good show.
“Er, pay no mind to those ominous clouds! It’s all part of the performance, you see.” Smooth, Ranaa.
-It works. Defeating the apparitions gives the audience a hope, the ability to face the next day.
And y’know what? Music and dance can have that impact. It may not immediately change your circumstances, but it can change the energy and perspective with which you approach those circumstances.
-The two of us return to Gridania. Nashmeira is gone.
Shit. Is she gonna be some Totentanz-possessed final boss?
-Nm, she just had a matter to attend to with an old friend.
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Save the Last Dance for Me
-Nashmeira summons us for a final performance in Ala Mhigo.
-Ranaa steps up in front of the large crowd. Her dance draws out a specter from the assembly, and our TRUE performance/battle begins.
-WOOHOO!! Nashmeira joins in, and we defeat the Aetheric Shadow. It’s a really cool fight, almost like a mini-trial with the way it uses mechanics to keep me moving and engaged.
-OH SHIT, Nashmeira’s talked-about friend joins and it’s F’lhaminn, Minfilia’s mom!
Not sure why she’s a thing popped in here, but I don’t mind it. More F’lhaminn is rarely bad.
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Next time: the Shadowbringers physical DPS quests.
