FFXIV – Part 239: Oathbound [Paladin 30-50]

Summary: Reuniting the paladins of Ul’dah.

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Paladin’s Pledge

-The Sultansworn are in charge of paladin training and they’re opening up instruction.

Already this answers one of my initial questions. Would paladin be a job that anyone could learn? Or something more like FFIV, where there’s one legendary paladin? Looks to be the former. Makes sense for an MMO, though they’ve definitely had jobs like black mage where there are canonically only a few who exist.

-Paladins are sworn to the Sultanate. No problem. UL’DAH FOR LIFE.

-The main recruiter is a guy named Jenlyns.



The Sultana has been relying more and more on sellswords as the number of paladins shrinks.

Also due to some as-yet-unnamed paladin traitor (who I’m 95% sure will be the focus of this questline).

-So they’re changing their standards a bit. I’ll learn to be a paladin, but I won’t be relegated to an Ul’dah defender. I’ll be a free adventurer.

-I go out to some testing grounds – kill some undead to show my mettle. Then a PHENOMENALLY BADASS ROEGADYN pops out.


This white and blue armor is 10000% my jam. Azorius for life.

“Simply learning paladin swordplay does not make you a paladin – nor does the armor you wear, or the status you claim.” 85% chance he’s the “traitor” and is misunderstood or something.

I frigging adore aesthetic. Very Azorius from MTG.

-He gives me a paladin soul crystal. I bring it to Jenlyns, who confirms that guy was the “traitor.” And boooooy howdy does he hate him! Says the guy polluted the paladin order, etc.

-And yeah, my main task is to bring this old guy to justice.

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Honor Lost

-Jenlyns holds the paladins in high regard. When he was a kid, the prior paladin captain saved him from being killed by stray arrows during a riot.

But by the time he rose through the ranks, their honor was gone.

“The loss of Oathkeeper… Yes, that was the mortal blow.”

Oathkeeper was the sword held by the paladin captain, whoever they were. But the traitor stole it.

…Really? That’s the thing that destroyed your honor? I get that it’d be embarrassing, but I was expecting, like, a paladin to have tried assassinating the Sultana or something given your hatred.

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Power Struggles

-The traitor’s name is Solkzagyl.

-There once was a power struggle between the military and the Monetarists, a wealthy faction within Ul’dah. The Monetarists won, and Solkzagyl fled with Oathkeeper. (Presumably in fear for his life as the captain of the losing faction, but not sure.)

-I’m really disliking how they’re delivering the story in these quests. It’s totally detached from any combat. I learn some story, then have to go train or whatever against some random animals. 

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Poisoned Hearts

-When Solkzagyl became captain, some higher-ups in the Sultansworn were mysteriously killed. Poisoned by assassins. Jenlyns thinks Solkzagyl hired them to clear the way for him to become captain.

Lol no. There’s a 0% chance of that being the case, given my knowledge of how XIV storylines work.

-The Sultansworn have tracked down Solkzagyl. The choice: he turns over Oathsworn and gets a fair trial or we kill him. Parley time!

-…wait, what’s happening? I arrive at the parley spot. The sword is in the ground and Jenlyns and the rest of the Sultansworn close in on me.



They think I betrayed them? I’m really confused.

-Ohhh, they think I’m in league with Solkzagyl since he gave me my soul crystal.

-After I defeat the lot of them, another Sultansworn fires his bow to land a killing shot… on Jenlyns.

That makes sense. The Sultansworn brothers of Jenlyns betrayed him, and he was so up his own butt about the noble paladin brotherhood and whatever that he didn’t think they were capable of that.

-Solkzagyl comes in with the save.



Yeah, the Monetarists were the baddies all along, manipulating Jenlyns with disinformation.

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Keeping the Oath

-Now we’re all on the same team! I love harmony.



-So Death’s Embrace (the Monetarist assassins) was behind the fake parley and behind Jenlyns’ rise. That has to feel awful – they used his zeal and trust to manipulate him.

-It’s interesting that there’s no Big Bad here. We bait and take out a contingent of Death’s Embrace in a final fight, but it’s not like there’s a single antagonist.

This, I actually like. I’m totally fine with the storyline focusing on rebuilding the trust between these two.



-I also like that Solkzagyl doesn’t return to Ul’dah to usurp Jenlyns’ captaincy. He’s been on his own path as a “free paladin,” just as I will be (since I’m not sticking around to guard the Sultana, much as I love Her Tomatoness).

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BOY did that questline start slowly, but it ended in an interestingly open-ended place. Nice recovery.


Ququshu in her level 50 paladin armor.

And I’m super forgiving of it because the paladin is aesthetically my THING. White knight theme, one-hander with a shield, heavy armor, nonsense about nobility of purpose and whatever. Super into it. That level 50 armor set is phenomenal!

Except the crown. I wish it were just a helmet.  

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Random Stuff Around Eorzea

-Tanking is super fun, largely for the image of a solitary lalafel facing down a giant boss.


Ququshu vs. Titan.


Ququshu vs. Midgardsormr.

Playing a paladin reminds me of how much I love straight-forward, unironic Western fantasy and its naming conventions.

Note: I’m not especially well-read – I’m thinking of stuff like Tolkien, and I’ll bet there’s a good chance that this tradition is specifically a white tradition.

Usually I highlight the goofy or funny names. For these paladin posts though, I’ll focus on some of the more classic names I’ve seen of late:

Thor Bloodchild
Robin Blackmore
Remedy Starlight
Ariel Moondown
Isarion Faircloud
Ruelle Fellwind
Angelo Leonhart
Mertra Darkflame
Raphael Ironshield
Midna Voidlight
Justin Lightstar

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Next time: the 50-60 paladin quests.