Summary: Defending the Celestium from a hostile takeover. Finding a role for the new blue mage guild.
---
Into the Blue Again
-Martyn’s been doing well of late. Still performing running a new blue mage guild.
-LOL HIS STUDENTS JUST WANT TO MEET AND HANG OUT WITH ME
-I get to see him in action in the arena, where he takes out a behemoth. The same one I beat in the Masked Carnivale.
-He’s doing especially well with his new tricks. Oh, right – in the timeline, this is at the start of the 50-60 content. I’ve already gotten all those new spells, but in canon I have not.
-Martyn was so impressive that a mining businessman wants to sponsor him. Which is nice, since apparently all the monsters we keep are expensive to maintain.
In our world, horse ownership is expensive af. How much money must it take to maintain a behemoth?
---
Something Borrowed, Something Blue
-Like many 50-60 quests, this one involves teaching the students. Demonstrating some combat for them to start.
-Martyn’s also thinking more about blue mages as part of a group. (
Personally, I’m not a fan. I liked blue mages as a solo job rather than one that needs groups.
---
Bolt from the Blue
-The wealthy sponsor, Fyrgeiss, is back. Wants to learn more about the various mammets and beasts we maintain in our arena menagerie. I’m worried something sinister might be on the horizon.
LOLOL
“Ultros and Typhon… are now part of the Masked Carnivale. For slavering spawn of the netherworld, they are remarkably cooperative.” XD Just like in FFVI.
-But we may have a rival. A gladiator in the arena, not a blue mage, whom Fyrgeiss also sponsor.
SPEAKING OF FFVI! It’s Siegfried! That dude from the phantom train in FFVI. We see him impressively taking out Ultros in one swing. Sounds like he may be the real deal (unlike VI’s version).
-He apparently takes the stage name Siegfried from a mythical swordsman.
-He THROWS DOWN THE GAUNTLET. Points his swords at Martyn/Azuro in a challenge. This is hilariously pro wrestling.
-Outside the arena, Siegfried looks super badass without his mask. Real name: Zimberk. Fyrgeiss’ son.
-Ahhhh.
The other shoe drops. Fyrgeiss thinks blue magic is a sham and just
wants to use this challenge to attract mercenaries when “Siegfried”
kicks our ass.
---
Blue in the Face
-While Martyn preps for his fight, a random voidsent appears on the loose.
Seems
that our benefactor has been stealing them from our menagerie. That’s
why he wanted the lowdown on where they’re kept and how they’re
acquired.
-Wait. It’s even WORSE. He wants to use the voidsent
as guards that go in and chase beasts away from his businesses. Really?
That sounds like it’ll go full-on “Jurassic Park” in five minutes.
-The
Celestium’s (blue mage arena’s) owner, Royse, is not having it. Things
get heated before Martyn steps in with a pretty dang good proposal: what
about hiring the blue mages themselves instead?
FYRGEISS: “We all know that he who embraces too much has a weak grasp. I have no need of pathetic jesters in silly costumes.”
I get that. MMO “jack of all trades” jobs usually suck. But this is a limited job, friend!
And
so, a bet. Martyn vs. Siegfried. If Siegfried wins, Fyrgeiss gets the
Celestium. If Martyn wins, Royse still owns the arena and Fyrgeiss hires
the blue mages.
---
Blue Scream of Death
-LOL, that quest name.
-Azuro’s freaking out. Keeps hearing that Siegfried has no weaknesses even from other gladiators.
-IS THAT A TOMMY GUN??? Siegfried’s got some new tricks.
-The battle begins and Siegfried uses illusions and his gun to kick ass.
-Martyn is on his last legs when he lets loose with a self-destruct… and it doesn’t work. Siegfried is still standing. (I hate when that happens.)
-And yet, Siegfried is surprised. Impressed. If he didn’t have his new magitek armor, he would’ve been destroyed.
[Later edit: I really like this, how Martyn’s not just a blowhard. He may not be as good as me, but he knows his shit and did well.]
He demands a rematch, this time against me. I love that, that he wants to really be sure who’s the stronger rather than just taking the win.
-The blue mage log (some group thing?) unlocked. I’ll deal with that after Siegfried.
-It’s a three phase fight. Phase 1 isn’t too bad. Position myself around bombs, avoid aoes.
-Phase 2 wipes me with a weird aoe and knockback, but my second time through I do okay.
-Phase 3 is much tougher. He summons a copy of himself and it’s TOTAL CHAOS. Luckily, he only summons the adds twice. From around 60% health onward, it was basically just Act II again.
-It feels SO GOOD to have done that. Super awesome and satisfying fight! Like a solo raid.
---
Blue Cheese
-I avenged my master, hurray! And we saved the Celestium.
The fashionable Royse, owner of the Celestium.
-“Siegfried” is quite gracious in defeat. I like him. Fyrgeiss is now ready to admit blue magic is legit. I still dislike him.
-Martyn’s prize for our victory: a position as corporate mercenaries. Congrats?
-The students go off to explore the bounds of blue magic. Maybe we’ll see them in 6.0
-Martyn
will now retire his “Azuro” persona… LOL, nm. He’s going to retire and
come back as a new persona, “Azuro the Third.” Hard to give up show
business.
---
What Now?
There are a few directions left:
1)
Keep collecting new spells. I’ll try this as my friends’ time and my
interest allows. It’s fun going back to old content to Catch ‘Em All.
2)
Work on the new Masked Carnivale fights. I did one fight (again Papa
Humbaba, hee!) and three remain. Typhon kicked my butt. I’ll chip away
at the last challenges as interest and time permit.
3) The blue mage log.
This
is the biggie. And not one I’m really stoked about. My enjoyment of
FFXIV is mostly around story content rather than group challenges. To
the extent I like group challenges, it’s the ones that don’t need
communication with strangers. 24 player raids, normal trials, etc.
The
blue mage group challenges likely require a fair bit of communication
to get through. That doesn’t really appeal to me with strangers. I’m
glad it exists, and it sounds like an AWESOME option for those who want
it! Just not going to worry about it for now. Maybe later.
This
job was a blast. So glad they did it as a limited job rather than just
making it a blue mage-flavored black mage. I’ll be curious how it
changes and improves with future patches and expansions.
---
Next time: Working on the Shadowlands beast tribe quests for Qitari and Dwarves.
