FFXIV – Part 227: Password

Summary: Starting the 5.4 main story quest. Seeking a way to cure Ga Bu’s tempering.

Continuing the main story quest I last dealt with in September: http://coldrungaming.blogspot.com/2020/09/ffxiv-p...

---

Alisaie’s Quest

-So now everyone’s back at Scion HQ in the Source, with G’raha as a new member. What now?

-Thancred and Urianger want to go to Garlemald to learn its state after the Emperor’s death.

-HI LYSE!! I haven’t seen you since Stormblood. She meets G’raha for the first time, and she’s another legend to our adorable cat fanboy.



-After Varus’ assassination, civil war broke out in a power grab. The Alliance will meet in Ala Mhigo to determine next steps.

-Alisaie has her own thing to look into. I wonder if it’ll involve that tempered kobold kid Ga Bu.

ALISAIE: “I want to find a way to cure the tempered.” That’s a yup. G’raha and I will join.

We’ve checked in on him a couple of times since, but his story mainly wrapped up over two years ago:
http://coldrungaming.blogspot.com/2018/06/ffxiv-p...

-Alisaie wants to adapt what we learned from Halric’s cure on the First. To build on that idea, we’ll zip over to the Allagan research lab in Azys Lla.

-Tataru even procured a Scion airship – go Tataru! The Bonanza.



It’s no FFVI Falcon, but what is? Thinking of that music still gives me chills.

-G’raha’s presence adds such an interesting element here. He’s like a Doctor Who companion, always like, “I get to meet Tataru, the legendary accountant I’ve read about!”

---

The Wisdom of Allag

-We find traces of a deleted report about Eikonic corruption written by “Owen.” Sounds promising.

-Something I’ve always loved about XIV is how it utilizes old zones and storylines constantly. Too bad in this case it’s Azys Lla, which I think is one of XIV’s ugliest zones.

-Okay, this is weird. As I find some old elemental shards to help unlock the facility, a “Disembodied Voice” acts as if it’s excited that I beat it to this shard. Five bucks says it’s Fandaniel.

-…Never mind. I was as wrong as wrong could be lol. It was G’raha. I mistook sincerity for sarcasm.

-HE’S SO DANG GREAT! I love his earnestness, his sincerity, and how happy he is to just be alongside me.

-G’raha goes into the now-open facility alone. His Allagan blood should let him bypass the security systems.

-Alisaie and I sit outside. She talks of Sharlayan, and it has major “Black Panther” vibes as an advanced group with a non-interventionist policy. Alphinaud in particular wanted to open up and help the world.

As I hear this, I’m wondering about 6.0. What will the next expansion be? I’ve seen rumors that it’ll be about Sharlayan, and this is not dissuading me.

-G’raha (to my honest shock) recovered Owen’s archive from the facility without incident.



I thought we’d have to save him by fighting through a dungeon or something.

-…Shit. It’s password protected.

OMG ALISAIE TRIED JUST “PASSWORD.” It didn’t work but god bless this game. 

---

Reviving the Legacy

-Back to Scion HQ to meet Cid.

-First, news from that alliance meeting. Different imperial legions are acting independently. The IIIrd legion aligned with a Lord Nerva has the backing of House Brutus.

I didn’t recognize the name, but apparently they’re the group that took in Yotsuyu and Asahi.

-Cid is on the job and cracks the code – through technology, not guesswork. It’s “Freedom.”

-Tempering is sort of as Alisaie thought. It’s a corruption of the soul’s aether.

RECORDING OF OWEN: “By way of an example, exposure to the aether of the Fiend, Sephirot, would cause a subject’s aether to become aligned with the element of earth.”



Makes sense. But what separates a Sephirot-tempered from a Titan-tempered?

-The soul also becomes stagnant, making it vulnerable to the specific eikon’s will.

-Owen wanted to pursue a cure, but Amon – that Syrcus Tower boss with the great fashion sense – nixed it. (Just disdain/assholery, or something else?) So it’s up to us to follow Owen’s research path.

That memory transference process that helped us get back to the Source may help.

G’RAHA: “We could theoretically drown out the incitements of false faith which had come to dominate the individual’s thoughts.”

Team Cid is on the case, with help from Ishgard and even Nero. (Nero says he’s helping just for insight into dimension-hopping science, but I know it’s just so he can be closer to Cid.)



-Success. And just like that, we have a cure for tempering? Wow. This is ginormous if it works. We’re currently just thinking in terms of curing the beast tribe tempered, but what about the Ascians, who are Zodiark’s tempered?

Or us, who are (maybe) Hydaelyn’s?

---

Forget Us Not

-Time to put this to the test with Ga Bu.

-I don’t quite understand the mechanics, but it involves channeling large amounts of aether into the flying pig Angelo.

-AND IT WORKED HOLY SHIT! Again, this legit shocks me. I thought he’d, idk, turn into a giant Titan beast that we’d have to defeat first before the magic took.



-G’raha is quick with some caveats around this cure:

1) It requires lots of aether. Tough for wide use.
2) It only can change the soul. If someone’s body has been altered, no luck.

-Our next step is to create a veritable porxie army. We need help from Matoya (the actual Matoya).

---

Next time: uh… talking to a crabby witch about making an army of flying piggies?