FFXIV – Part 192: Not Ardbert

 
Summary: Elidibus iniates his plan to combat us on the First. The tomb of Archmage Tiuna.

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Seeking Counsel

-A stray sin eater was spotted in Lakeland. Not a huge deal, but Captain Lyna wants to give her soldiers some experience fighting alongside the Warrior of Darkness.

-These are four soldiers I only vaguely remember. I’ve brushed up against them through the MSQ.

-We arrive at the site where the sin eater was spotted… and someone already killed it “with a single axe swing” claiming to be the Warrior of Light. Uh oh.

I’m piecing together two things from last patch in my mind:

1) The guy who looked sort of like a younger Ardbert that appeared at the end.
2) Elidibus on the moon, plotting to attack me via Warriors of Light.

That must be the person who took down the sin eater. Maybe someone actively malicious or a good intentioned person being used as a pawn by Elidibus.

-It’s strange for that person to openly claim themselves as a Warrior of Light here too. The Warriors of Light are blamed for the Flood.

-Before our little ad hoc party breaks up, Lyna pulls me aside. She’s concerned for the Exarch. He’s been acting different of late. “Younger.” More positive, more hopeful.

Captain Lyna.

Awww! Lyna worries that if she remains by his side, she’ll just be anchoring him down to a life he’s getting away from.

I LOVE MY CHARACTER’S DIALOGUE OPTION HERE: “Anchors help tie us to where we choose to be.”

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Facing the Truth

-Alphinaud has been researching the time leading up to the Flood. The original Warriors of Light – Team Ardbert – did so many great deeds and got unfairly tarnished. Maybe sharing that Ardbert’s spirit played a key role in finishing Emet-Selch will help redeem him.

-I gather the townsfolk of the Crystarium, and share the story of Team Ardbert. It goes well.

AND THEN IN WALKS NOT!ARDBERT. He has the same gear, same axe, everything, but younger.

-He starts speaking. His textbox flat out names him as Ardbert.

-I don’t trust him. At all. Something about the way he speaks feels off compared to the Ardbert I know. His tone feels overly grand. He lacks that note of self-deprecation.

NOT!ARDBERT, to the gathered crowd: “The time to rely on saviors from afar has passed. It is you who must rise. You who must become the new Warriors of Light!”

All noble words, and reasonable! But I still don’t trust him.

-The rest of us retreat to discuss this.

QUQUSHU: “It looks like him and sounds like him. But it isn’t him.”

-Is he an Ascian? Is he straight-up Elidibus?

URIANGER: “Elidibus hath ever been an enigmas, his ostensible purpose being to preserve the balance between Light and Dark.” I don’t really understand that, since he seems pretty clearly on Team Zodiark.

What if that’s just because he thinks Hydaelyn is winning? Like, if Zodiark started to “win” too much, would he bounce to Team Hydaelyn to restore the balance?

-Anyway, for now we’ll watch and wait. Anything more drastic without evidence will just confuse things given how we just talked up the Warriors of Light.

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A Sleep Disturbed

-Y’shtola leads us back to the Rak’tika Greatwood. The local Viis tribe discovered something new in the ruins to show us that might give us insight into the Ascians.

-They discovered an ancient Ronkan statue, but it’s not a statue of a regular beast. It’s something new.

It’s legit creepy. A cross between Dark Souls’ Asylum Demon and The Exorcist’s Pazuzu statue.

-Beyond this statue is a sealed door. There’s an empty pedestal in front, so maybe we have to replace the missing statue to open the door.

-There’s a message: whoever disturbs a hero’s slumber will awaken a beast instead.

Unfortunately, Uimet – one of the Viis – hears this warning too late and messed with the statue. The beast comes alive and transports us to a new room.

LOLOL IT BREATHES ON Y’SHTOLA AND THE VIIS AND TURNS THEM INTO PLAYING CARDS???

-I have to answer its three riddles about Ronkan philosophy and beasts to free them, then a memory/match game. I love these types of mini-games.

-After the riddles, a fight against the guardian, Huaca. I wonder if Huaca is an actual thing in the Mesoamerican cultures on which the Ronkans seems to be based.

-The game uses the new trust AI well. It really feels like I’m part of a party, with full group mechanics, even with four non-player characters helping me.

-The door opens. There’s a giant tomb with a mural behind it of a Viis mage.

ALMET (one of our Viis companions): “Could it be the archmagi Tiuna?” A legendary Ronkan sorcerer who could destroy armies with a single cast, but fought in the name of peace.

-Y’shtola reads a message: “By the light of fallen stars, great power awakens.”

-Archmage Tiuna was also supposedly able to see into the hearts of others, and see past events. SHE HAD THE FRIGGING ECHO

-This scene also resembles what we saw in Amaurot. Falling stars and the Final Days.

-So if the Echo is a power that belonged to the Ancients, and we’re part of that ancient heritage, maybe we’re all just ancestors of those original souls. The falling stars trigger that memory/power in our souls.

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An Old Friend

-We leave the temple. No insight into the Ascians, but some interesting outlines on the Echo.

-Before returning to the Crystarium, Y’shtola wants to stop by Slitherbough to see Runar. Always nice to see one of my prime ships hanging.

-It’s not a dramatic visit to Y’shtola’s old quarters in Slitherbough. Just some maintenance as she goes full Matoya, animating a broom to sweep up.

-Runar approaches her quarters, and he overhears her:

Y’SHTOLA: “I will dearly miss this place. These people…”

NOOOO HE DIDN’T KNOW SHE’S TRYING TO LEAVE THE FIRST

-Later, he cooks stew for us all. Tries to keep a calm face, and doesn’t say what he overheard.

-Alphinaud, Alisaie, and Urianger join us. They’d been following “Ardbert” as he spreads the gospel of the Warriors of Light. He’s coming this way.

-We catch up with him in Rak’tika and he drops the act. Admits he’s Elidibus.

Can I just say: GOOD! I hate it when everyone knows A Thing but The Thing isn’t acknowledged in the open for a while.

Elidibus, dressed as Ardbert.

-He seeks “to enact the will of the Convocation.” The rejoining?

-We share Emet-Selch’s final words with Elidibus. “Remember us. Remember that we once lived.” At the end, he finally viewed us as something potentially worthy. Will this sway Elidibus?

ELIDIBUS: “Emet-Selch… How very unlike you, to err so gravely.” that’s a nope lol.

“You fail and you fail and you learn nothing – allow that which is most important to slip through your fumbling fingers like so many grains of sand. Again and again and again. And you would remember us? You do forget yourselves.”

I’m really curious how they’re going to make Elidibus’ arc different. Is he just going to be an unrepentant antagonist, like Lahabrea?

“There is no common ground to be found between you and I. Nor do I require any.” He walks off.

-So what now? We have to learn more of Elidibus. Back to the Tempest, where more structures like the initial ruins of Amaurot.

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Random Stuff Around Eorzea

A shark minion named “The Major-General,” for some reason:

An adorably-dressed Lalafell:

Celebrating a dungeon victory with my scantily-clad rl friend:

-Some great player names:

Catjiojio Giaojiojio
Strong Point
Lemon Soda
Sweetrad Jenkins
Rufus Brickface

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Next time: Beneath the waves to the Anamnesis Anyder dungeon and the end of 5.2’s main story.