Summary: Aiding the rat beast tribe in the Rak’tika Greatwood delving into the past. Remembering Nidhogg.
---
The Stewards of Note
-It took a bit of pre-questing to unlock this beast tribe, centered on two separate plots in Rak’tika Greatwood.
1) Some Viis (the bunny peeps) are feeling adventurous. They want to connect with others.
2)
A prophetic weirdo, Quinfort, pursues visions of the Great Serpent of
Ronka, a legendary beast and protector of the woods. The serpent appears
currently as a cute fat little worm.
The two groups meet up, determined to protect the Rak’tika Greatwood together.
-The quest picks up when some rat people – the QIQIRIN, first met in FFXI – wander into the Viis woods. The guards are about to skewer them when Quinfort busts in, all “These beautiful mice are the descendants of Ronka! My vision said so!”
-Oh my frigging lord. The Qiqirin have a Great Ronkan Serpent (little round wormie) of their own. And she has a HAT AND NECKERCHIEF.
-They’re the Qitari, the First’s Qiqirin. They’ve come here seeking ancient artifacts stowed away when the Flood drove them away.
-In the ancient days of Ronka, the Qitari were known as the Stewards of Note. Keepers of written knowledge. These treasures sealed away are the Qitari Stelae, written records.
-The Qitari are short-lived, usually dying around 20. I like this departure from so many fantasy races.
-We find the cave where the goods were likely buried. This’ll be the Qitari hub where they’ll excavating their legacy.
---
Wisdom of the Night
-The Qitari design seems to draw heavily on the South American dress.
I don’t know what counts as appropriation or homage, but I’m not inclined to give XIV the benefit of the doubt based on their “New World” designs.
-The excavations in the caves have been slowed by (of course) monsters. Quinfort and I help craft them some protective talismans…
-…and boy am I glad we did, cause they found ANOTHER SERPENTWORMY! It’s wearing a hardhat.
My favorite part about all this is how the worms’ divinity and Quinfort’s prophecy is legitimate. The worms are really helping the Qitari. Quinfort can really communicate with them.
-The Stelae they find down below are interesting. They show the Ronkan emperor towering over a cowering Qitari.
Is this going to upend their view of their role within the Empire?
-ohhhh! This is awesome. I get to choose which version of history gets remembered.
I go with the more cynical view, that the emperor was oppressive. They edit the stela accordingly.
---
Delving Deeper
-The charm we crafted has
allowed the Qitari to delve deeper safely. They learned that in the
empire’s earliest days, Ronkans would offer individuals from conquered
races as sacrifices to their gods.
That said, once some were
sacrificed, the conquered peoples would be allowed to live “peaceful,
prosperous lives.” Could be far worse, I suppose.
-They came
upon a shrine to their protector, Ox’dalan. They’re now too scared to
push farther since they think it’s warding off some horrible monstrosity
deeper in.
-Off to the Viis! They are very long-lived, and vaguely remember prayers that might be adapted for these Qitari.
-They push on, finding another vague stela depicting a Viis nocking a bow in front of a Qitari with their hands up.
OPTION #1: The Qitari was SO HAPPY to see a friendly hunter it raised its hands in glee!
OPTION #2: The Viis saw the Qitari scurrying around and assumed the Qitari were prey.
I
hate to keep going with the pessimistic option, but I saw how the Viis
first reacted to the Qitari they saw. I assume something similar
happened back then. Option #2 it is.
-They excavate and brush up the stela. A history of a people under constant threat who ended up developing strong bonds with those threats.
---
A Chilling Fate
-Subsequent discoveries confirm our interpretation. The Viis hunted, skinned, and ate the Qitari. The Ronkans were about to take vengeance when the Qitari brokered a truce.
-A Qitari named Towarl recently got flooded when exploring and sickened.
-The Night’s Blessed and I help warm her up with potions and blankets. Another budding alliance.
-The next stela discovered shows a Qitari holding a fish. Next to him is a “miniature catfish man with two little legs.” A Namazu of the First! Alas, they no longer exist on this world.
-So does the stela show the Qitari providing fish for the hungry Namazu, or the Qitari beating out the Namazu for crucial food resources? I vote the former.
Let the Qitari have the bloody history for once. (Plus, we saw so many extinction events in the Namazu beast tribe quests that it’s totally plausible this one came true.)
---
What Ails the Forest
-A plague has spread through the Greatwood.
-The Great Serpent (apparently) proclaims: the excavation must continue. The son of the main excavator will go alone. I mean, he’s three years old, which is like 18 in Qitari years.
-He finds a fourth stela. It shows the great serpent with a fluffy green mass on its head. A nearby Ronkan raises its hand in jubilation.
Not sure what that could mean. What is the green fluffy mass? A caterpillar crown?
OHHH, they think the green mass is a cure for the plague. Y’know what? I’m feeling optimistic. GLORY BE TO THE SCREE.
-I gather some local moss for synthesis into the appropriate medicine. It works.
-It sounds like the Qitari were carriers for that plague. (Rats, man.)
Delving into the cave may have brought it out, but they’d dealt with
this before. That’s why the local moss was etched in stela as a cure.
And
this whole plot is what makes the Qitari story unique and interesting.
It’s a story of a nomadic people who have adapted to each culture
they’ve encountered, even if they encounter them from a position of
weakness.
They’re survivors, who change and thrive and enrich
those they come into contact with. I love that. (As a Jew, it especially
resonates with me.)
---
Glory Be to the Scree
-This
whole quest line has shed a complex light on the Ronkan empire. They
ruled with tyrannically at times, but they did end up uniting different
races for its citizens in peace and prosperity.
(That tyrannical rule likely heralded their fall, but still.)
That unity carries over even now, to how the Qitari and Viis and Night’s Blessed all dealt with the plague.
-And
all still guided by the Great Serpent. The prophet Quinfort got a
vision of the original Great Serpent, a winged dragon that looks like
Alte Roite from the Omega raids.
The little SCREEEEE worm here may be its avatar.
-There’s even a little bit of confirmation here. We give thanks at a sacred tree, and a cocoon there glows in acknowledgment. The spirit of the Great Serpent lives.
SCREEEEEEE
Ququshu riding her new beast tribe mount, a singing Great Serpent in a barrel.
What
a neat beast tribe quest line. My only problem with it is that
gathering is so easy to level up. Would have much preferred a combat or
another general crafting beast tribe than one that just helps with
gathering.
---
Gone But Not Forgiven [Dragoon 80]
(Continued from July 2019: http://coldrungaming.blogspot.com/2019/07/ffxiv-p...
-I just hit level 80 on my dragoon. The quest awaiting me is back in Coerthas, with Alberic.
-Heustienne has been kicking ass as a hunter in Dravania.
-They’ve been thinking about Nidhogg. Did he ever find peace, or is his soul restless.
QUQUSHU: “Perhaps we could honor who he once was, if not what he became.”
-We go see Faunehm, one of Nidhogg’s brood, who can share more about the dragon.
Nidhogg
valued strength above all else, and despised mortals. He loved
Ratatoskr, one of the legendary wyrms, though she valued peace with
humans while he did not. When Thordan killed her, he was overwhelmed by
rage.
Not so different in his sins and virtues from people.
-I leave a flower on the site of our last fight. A somber tone in memory of the Dragonsong War, a long way from some more joyous level 80 job quests like the dancer one. It fits.
---
Random Stuff Around Eorzea
-The badass level 80 dragoon armor. I like the tail coming out from behind the helm.
-A player I often see around is now dressing like the proudest snowman:
-Some great player names I saw recently:
Ace Clown
Throbby Quelch
Melon Felon
Toni Braxton
D’oc Mc’stuffin
Meowster Chief
Thigg Thighs
Mistah Darcy
Aggro Bae
Brumpt Debrumpt
Nestle Snocaps
---
Next time: Close to the end of the dwarf beast tribe. Will also start the patch 5.35 content, the Bozjan Southern Front.
