#Patch 6.2 MSQ

[bi-disastersoup]

Into the Void - Part 1

Welcome to a new VN series. These ones are much shorter, so I won't be doubling up the images.

Greatly recommended you read Shifters first if you haven't, or some of the stuff covered in this series might not make a ton of sense.

very mild CW for emetophobia and also spoilers for patch 6.2 MSQ (takes place right after the second fight with Scarmiglione)

Let's go.

Strap in, ya'll.

[yloiseconeillants]

Also thinking about Late EW fashion plates and I'm honestly obsessed w/ this hair?

[ehslye]

try hard not to kill me (ramble under da cut)

this was not meant to be the way it turned out cus he wasn't even grinning when i sketched it BUTTTT 

- jelly being partially voidsent means he siphons aether out of his enemies when he fights (re: no avatar)  - the longer he fights, the more he feeds on said aether which sends him into a bloodlust so he grows more off kilter n fights like a starved man (literally) - enshroud is sort of the catalyst to him losing his shit – he says fuck the scythe n lunges w/ his claws :] he fought like this while trapped in pandaemonium its all survival instinct babey

[farfromdaylight]

anyway now that i dont have to spend all weekend in ucob pf i have an actual chance of finishing post-ew msq on rune, pray for me

[lavampira]

4, 16, 17, 26 for the ff14 asks?

ffxiv questions

ty friend!! 💚

4. favorite expansion?

shadowbringers!!!!!! the themes just hit me in such a profound way, and I love almost all of the fights whether dungeons, trials, or raids, so it still has a special place in my heart.

16. favorite primal?

it feels like a copout if I say hydaelyn, so I’m going with shiva, both normal and eden versions. I love her design and ties into the story!!

17. which patch did you start in?

I started the game in june 2022 so it was between 6.1 and 6.2, but I didn’t catch up on msq until a week or so right after 6.3.

26. favorite mount?

if I’m not riding around on the island gator then I’m probably on the garlond GL-II motorcycle c:

[tarounoden]

FFXIV - Patch 6.4 Golbez Theory

Alright folks, this is the big one. I’d been holding off on going all-out on this theory for some time, if only because I felt I needed some more concrete evidence to support my point. But with the release of the Patch 6.4 Website, I now feel confident enough to speak up about what I think will be an upcoming twist in Patch 6.4; that being the reveal of Golbez’s true identity in Final Fantasy XIV. Spoiler warning for the FFXIV MSQ obviously; and spoilers for Final Fantasy IV as well while we’re at it, since it’s kinda hard to talk about Golbez’s identity without talking about the big twist in the original game.

Anyhow, let’s start by recollecting what little bits of information we know about Golbez; based on the cutscenes that he appears in (or is the subject of).

Golbez’s Cutscenes

Golbez has appeared directly in 10 cutscenes so far. They are as follows;

1. 6.1 A Brother's' Grief (Post-quest cutscene) 2. 6.2 Where Everything Begins (Echo flashback after instance) 3. 6.2 Nowhere to Run (Cutscene after walking segment) 4. 6.2 Buried Memory (Post-quest cutscene) 5. 6.2 Shadowed Pasts (Scarmiglione 2) 6. 6.2 Shadowed Pasts (Barbariccia 2) 7. 6.3 Desires Untold (Echo flashback after trial) 8. 6.3 Gods Revel, Lands Tremble (Post-quest cutscene) 9. 6.3 Shadowed Pasts Once More (Cagnazzo 2) 10. 6.3 Shadowed Pasts Once More (Rubicante 2)

Beyond these cutscenes, however, it’s also worth nothing that the scene of our conversation with Rubicante after #7 is massively important; as this scene directly states Golbez is hiding a secret desire beyond that of his planned crusade. I’ve labelled this one under the heading of “X. 6.3″.

Many of these cutscenes are hiding small hints that imply Golbez may be much more than he seems; and that his true identity may not be what some may initially assume. Let’s review.

1. 6.1 A Brother's' Grief (Post-quest cutscene) Our introduction to Golbez. He warps into the room with a wave of shadow engulfing him, and clutches his right fist, before doing a dramatic cape twirl leading with his left-hand.

Whilst it’s a small detail, I should note that in Dissidia, Golbez had a similar cape-flick in his fight intros; except he led with his right-hand there instead. This ties into another detail that I noticed in a later cutscene...

2. 6.2 Where Everything Begins (Echo flashback after instance) Golbez is named here, and whilst he hints about having other plans for Azdaja, this scene doesn't seem to be hiding much beyond what it tells us directly.

3. 6.2 Nowhere to Run (Cutscene after walking segment) Interestingly, despite his fears of a memoriate interfering in his plans, the patch 6.4 artwork seems to depict a memoria crystal by Golbez's side. Could Golbez be a memoriate himself? Unless he's half-voidsent (or even completely human) like Zero, he shouldn't have been able to retain that ability following the flood of darkness.

Golbez being (or having once been) a memoriate would also have interesting implications for his past. Given the ongoing theory that the power to wield memoria was a “blessing” granted by the Ascians, and with us later learning that Golbez has spoken to Ascians in his past, could it be that Golbez recieved some of his power from the Ascians directly? After all, the original Golbez’s famous twist was that he had been possesed by a greater evil; a greater evil associated with the moon (much like how the Ascian’s are associated with Zodiark and the moon by extension).

4. 6.2 Buried Memory (Post-quest cutscene)

"The prison of passivity is an obstacle to my cause. And so you must fall. What irony that the blessed damned should set us free!"

The line and scene that started many an MSQ theory. We all know it; that still image of Golbez striking down a robed figure that resembles the Watcher, foreshadowing the reveal of Golbez's headquarters, and furthermore the means by which he could achieve his goals. And yet, what if I told you there were two small details in this image that I haven't seen others note up to this point?

For one, Golbez's sword. Golbez is clearly wielding a Moonward Longsword here. The Moonward Longsword owes its design to the sword Cecil is depicted wielding in several pieces of official artwork for Final Fantasy IV; including several Amano artworks. See the above comparison; top left being (FFXIV) Golbez’s sword, top right being the Moonward Longsword, and the bottom being Cecil’s sword from the Amano art.

Secondly, Golbez is wielding the sword in his right-hand. Whilst this may be a superfluous detail, it should be noted that in his past appearances across the Final Fantasy series, Golbez has historically been a left-hander. Combined with Golbez using his left-hand for his cape flick instead of his right, I suspect that, for one reason or another, Golbez’s dominant hands have been deliberately mirrored for his FFXIV incarnation.

I should also note that Golbez is seen holding a different sword (alongside his Shadow Dragon) in the Patch Art for Patch 6.4. However even then, his sword seems to owe a few design queues from Cecil’s sword; with a grooved handle, a golden orb near the crossguard, and a blade that widens just after the crossguard before tapering off further down the edge. Interestingly, the crossguard on Golbez’s new sword is inverted, pointing towards the pommel rather than the tip of the blade. Finally, I should also note that Golbez is, once again, holding this sword in his right hand.

5. 6.2 Shadowed Pasts (Scarmiglione 2, Cutscene 2 in Unending Journey) Golbez's aether is described as "overwhelming" by Scarmiglione. It is unclear if Golbez has already feasted upon some of Azdaja's aether at this point (though it is possible). And if Golbez’s “overwhelming” aether didn’t come from Azdaja, then where did it come from? I have multiple theories. One possible source could be, as raised earlier, power recieved from Ascians. But there’s another possibility that may tie into Golbez’s supposed secret identity...

6. 6.2 Shadowed Pasts (Barbariccia 2, Cutscene 4 in Unending Journey) No notable details here.

7. 6.3 Desires Untold (Echo flashback after trial) Golbez reveals that he has, at some point, spoken to Ascians. In the French translation, Golbez uses the gendered-term "Ascianne" here, implying the Ascian he spoke with identified as a woman. Ergo, it is highly likely that the Ascian he spoke with was one we know was highly involved in their efforts on the Thirteenth; Igeyorhm.

We also finally confirm Golbez's goal; to invade and conquer the Source. And yet...

X. 6.3 Desires Untold (Cutscene after echo flasback, cutscene 6 in Unending Journey) Notably, after the echo flashback, Rubicante states that Golbez has a goal seperate to that of his plan to open a gateway to the Source. Quote;

"And perhaps your own will resonate with his...and draw forth that singular jewel which abides deep within his heart. A desire which lies beyond his quest to free us from our purgatory. A desire...all his own..."

We aren’t directly informed of what that desire is- However, I believe that it’s already been hinted at across the patches.

8. 6.3 Gods Revel, Lands Tremble (Post-quest cutscene) "The end to life on that star. And the end to my suffering..."

An interesting phrase, that. One that could have multiple meanings; as he’s gazing up at the 13th reflection of Etheirys as he says this line, one could probably assume that “that star” is the 13th reflection.

When Golbez says this, does he mean “life” as in living, and his plan to invade the source, ergo no longer having to “live” on the 13th? Is he speaking of his desire to escape the endless life of the 13th? Or is he perhaps being more cold; expressing a desire to end all life on the 13th reflection entirely? Could this darker interpretation be a hint as to Golbez’s true desires?

9. 6.3 Shadowed Pasts Once More (Cagnazzo 2) (Cutscene 2 in the Unending Journey)

Golbez defends himself from Cagnazzo's attack using a magical barrier that closely resembles Collective Unconcious. Leveva in the Astrologian quests describes the skill as;

"Aether is the building block of all that surrounds us, meaning that everything is connected. Someone closely attuned with that aether can, in a sense, link themselves with others, feeling their joy, feeling their pain. Scholars of the soul call this empathy. Crystal-gazers and card-readers call it the wheel of fortune. We astrologians call it collective unconsciousness."

Prior to its formal introduction as an Astrologian skill, Y'shtola employed a magical barrier that resembled Collective Unconcious at several points in the MSQ. It's interesting that Golbez is able to use a form of magic typically associated with healers; as several later releases of Final Fantasy IV made Golbez's lack of proficiency in healing magic a critical part of his backstory.

10. 6.3 Shadowed Pasts Once More (Rubicante 2) (Cutscene 4 in Unending Journey) Golbez describes his goals in an odd manner.

"It matters not who I am, but what I seek to do. Join me, and together we shall banish the Darkness and see that the sun rises again."

At this point, however, we would know this isn’t completely accurate- Golbez doesn’t want to banish the darkess at all; merely free the inhabitants of the void from it by leading them unto the source. Is he just being poetic here? Or does how he’s phrased his plans offer insight into his 'desire' that is seperate to his stated goals? After all, Rubicante was seemingly the only archfiend to know of these desires.

Tying into #8, we know that darkness / the astral can have an association with life and growth; as we see in E9′s bramble phases and the like. Could it be that Golbez views the two interchangably? That banishing the darkness means a quest to expunge (the endless) life from the 13th? And could he mean to not only invade the Source, but find some means by which to draw its light (the umbral) back into the 13th to end the endless life that has taken root there?

In Summary

Based on all of the above cutscenes, we can conclude the following;

Golbez has a secret desire beyond his war with The Source.

His dominant hand appears to not be his left hand, but his right.

He wields a sword that is almost identical to Cecil’s sword from Amano’s artwork.

His aether is described as “overwhelming”, seemingly prior to the Archfiends being allowed to feast upon Azdaja’s aether.

Golbez can use a spell that resembles Collective Unconcious, which is typically associated with Healers.

He’s interacted with Ascians before; furthermore, if he was once a memoriate, then he may have recieved his power directly from them.

He seems to not only start a war with the Source, but also seeks a means by which to banish the darkness from the 13th. 

But what does this all mean? I believe that all of these are the key to the puzzle around Golbez’s identity, and from looking at all of them, there is one conclusion I come to in particular;

Golbez is Cecil

“Golbez” in Final Fantasy XIV is not Theodore, first son of Kluya and brother to someone named Cecil (as was the case in Final Fantasy IV). Rather, I believe that Golbez in Final Fantasy XIV is Cecil, and for one reason or another, he has adopted a seperate moniker.

“Golbez” here lacks quite a few traits of his namesake, whilst seemingly adopting a few subtle traits from whom I believe to be his secret identity. For one, Golbez is seen wielding Cecil’s sword (in the form of the Moonward Longsword). Furthermore, unlike his namesake, Golbez is right-handed, much like Cecil has been across his many appearances series-wide.

Furthermore, Golbez is seen casting a spell resembling Collective Unconcious; which is associated with healing magic. His namesake was not able to cast healing magic at all; and that in particular played a notable part in his backstory. Cecil, meanwhile, obtained the ability to cast White Magic in Final Fantasy IV after becoming a Paladin.

Speaking of which, Golbez at multiple points states his desire to “banish the darkness” or see the “sun rise again”. Whilst they do pertain to his goals, Golbez seemingly holds a strong disdain for the darkness in particular, hinting that he hides a holy nature, and that he perhaps is more associated with the Umbral / Light. “Golbez’s” secret desire is to return to his past as a heroic Warrior of Light; which is why Rubicante believe’s we may hold the key to drawing that desire out of him.

I believe that, come patch 6.4, we’ll either get a dramatic reveal of Golbez’s true name being Cecil, or perhaps a dramatic unmask that reveals a face resembling Final Fantasy IV’s main character beneath his helm.

Cecil, prior to the flood, may have been a heroic memoriate, much like Zero was. Or perhaps he fell to darkness; and it was his fall that tipped the 13th over the edge and triggered the flood of darkness. Furthermore, Cecil may have recieved the power of the memoriate directly from the Ascians themselves, much like how Cecil recieved the power of a Paladin from someone tied to the moon in the original Final Fantasy IV.

Either way, it’s hard to say for certain just what Cecil’s potential role may be; only that I think it’s possible he has a very large part to play.

However, whilst this theory does tie back to most of the collected evidence I’ve presented, there’s one point that I haven’t been able to tie to Golbez’s secret; that being the source of his seemingly “overwhelming” strength. But I think there may be another possible theory around Golbez’s identity that could answer that.

Or, Golbez is both Theodore and Cecil

I’m taking a mildly Doylist perspective here; a small but noticeable part of Patch 6.2′s plot emphasises the nature of the impacts of voidsent devouring the essence of other voidsent; with Ciriatto demonstrating how voidsent can take on the personality and memories of their pray after he devours Farfarello.

I believe this could be foreshadowing for an upcoming reveal. Goblez, rather than just being either Theodore or Cecil, could instead have been born from one devouring the soul of the other, resulting in a fusion of their abilities, memories, and personalities. Whilst “Golbez” seemingly has a lot of Cecil’s abilties (using healer magic, a 1-handed sword, and being right-handed), he also demonstrates many of the original Golbez’s mannerisms as well as borrows his appearance.

Be that as it may, Rubicante’s comments may not neccesarily be just about a secret desire of “Golbez”, but rather a hint that we could draw out Cecil’s more heroic personality from that of the harsher Theodore; with one side more hopeful of restoring light to the 13th, and the other resigned to invading the Source in search of salvation. In fact, end to Golbez’s “suffering” that he may seek is a final death to split the souls of Theodore and Cecil apart; perhaps one has been dealing with the guilt of devouring the soul of the other.

Thus, explaining why Scarmiglione found Golbez’s aether so “overwhelming”; Golbez is not just a single void-corrupted soul, but the fusion of a mighty Paladin and (armored-and-sword-wielding) Dark Mage.

Conclusion

I’ll lead my conclusion with a disclaimer; whilst I believe I’ve collected plenty of solid evidence, these theories are by no means guaranteed to be true; and I would not be surprised if Patch 6.4′s MSQ or even the upcoming Patch trailer presents a very different outcome to what I have put together.

However, with the evidence that I’ve gathered up to this point, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that “Golbez” in Final Fantasy XIV seemingly draws a notable amount of inspiration from Cecil instead of his namesake; and I believe that ties into the hinting given to us by Rubicante following the latter’s defeat.

In conclusion, I believe, based o nthe presneted evidence, that “Golbez” in FFXIV is actually either Cecil Harvey and not named Theodore at all, or perhaps is a fusion of the two brothers that owes inspiration to both of them.

[alannah-corvaine]

Patch 6.45 is here and I've been on 6.2 since idk probably January bc I have to do Storm's Crown to continue the MSQ and I just straight up don't want to, lol.

[eemamminy-art]

I think the only spoiler stuff I post from the patch will be stormblood duty support yelling lol if that even counts as a spoiler??

Otherwise I will keep stuff to DMs! If I draw any spoilers it will be tagged appropriately with a spoiler warning tag so check your blacklist terms!

MSQ hasn't really hit for me for a long while and I don't want to be negative so I don't really want to bring those vibes when I know others are having a good time! I hope the patch will be enjoyable but even if it isn't I'll keep that to myself or again, just in DMs

There's one thing I'm really invested in but I think it can go a number of ways so depending on how it goes it might turn things around for me! I really liked 6.1 and some of 6.2 so I hope this patch will click like those did :3

[lila-liliheureux]

Patch 6.2 MSQ really asked the big questions, like "what if a lesbian had a cool hat and a scythe", and I think that's beautiful.

[starrysnowdrop]

Thoughts on Patch 6.3 MSQ, Myths of the Realm, and Tataru’s Grand Endeavor

Everything is under the cut! Avoid if you don’t want any spoilers!

So far, this was a solid patch overall, though I do think it feels a bit shorter than I would’ve expected. I guess I’m still not used to 6.3 not being the end of a particular expansion’s story arc, unlike 3.3, 4.3, and 5.3 was, and all of those were massive patches in terms of story. We are still in the middle of this arc about the Void and saving Azdaja so it feels shorter. This arc also feels much smaller in scale than some other previous arcs, but that’s not exactly a bad thing. After saving the whole star from literal oblivion and despair incarnate, it’s nice that the story right now feels different in that way.

I will admit, after 6.2, I wasn’t invested in the msq much at all, but 6.3 has made me a bit more invested, though not nearly as much as I feel that I should. Perhaps it’s because there hasn’t been that much build up and the plight of the people of the Thirteenth doesn’t hit me nearly as hard as the First did. I do think that most of the emotional beats that did really well are because of Zero’s character development and not the storyline itself.

Speaking of Zero, they’ve done a fantastic job on her character development and I’m looking forward to seeing more of her in the next patches. I’m very curious as to what they plan to do with her character. And I don’t know how most others feel about this, but boy did I get shippy feels from Zero and Jullus. I’m just here to say that I ship it.

Last point on the msq is that I’m wondering if any of this arc is going to carry over into 7.0 at all, or is this just a smaller story arc that is more self contained? I can’t help but feel like a lot of this seems like… dare I say, filler? I seriously hope I’m mistaken about that, but I worry that this won’t have much impact once we get to 7.0, whatever that might entail.

The highlight of the patch for me was Myths of the Realm. I’m enjoying the alliance raid series SO much right now, and learning more about the Twelve and battling them has been so much fun for me, and so has been my theories about their origins and their motive for fighting us. Euphrosyne is just as amazing as Aglaia was, and I’m obsessed with the fights, the gear sets, and the music. Literally obsessed with “Dedicated to Moonlight” right now, as I have the song on repeat on YouTube.

Oh, and Deryk is Oschon. It’s not even just a theory anymore to me. I’ll be way more surprised if he wasn’t. Same with what I think their origins are. The Twelve, plus the Watcher on the Moon, were the ones who summoned Hydaelyn, and they are making sure that humanity will be alright without them, now that Hydaelyn is gone and their duties are done. That’s my theory, and once again, I’ll be shocked if that’s not the case.

Lastly, this was my favorite part of Tataru’s Grand Endeavor so far, as I love the Four Lords and seeing Tataru with Hancock again was such a treat. Another npc x npc ship that I love. Oh, and Yume with the Flaming katana!!! Holy shit, can she keep it??? Like for real, seeing her with a flaming katana was so much of a serotonin shot for me, just perfection.

Anyways, that’s all I’ve got for now. Feel free to chat with me on your thoughts on patch 6.3! Do you agree with me, or am I just wrong about everything?

[mihri-the-sasscatte]

undefined

I know this is not the usual stuff you all followed me for, but these are my dumb little projects I’m working on these days. I always thought editing was cool, so I decided to work on this.  This is, essentially, what is going on during the 6.2 patch of FFXIV in conjunction with the MSQ. OC storylines and the like, I can’t stop DMing even in MMOs god damn me. Maybe one day I’ll get good enough at this stuff to make cooler ones in the future, hahaha. ha. aaaah.

[bananarose]

FFXIV Write - #13 "Check"

Noun

Also called check mark . a mark, often indicated by (✓), as on a list, to indicate that something has been considered, acted upon, or approved.

---

⚠️Endwalker Spoilers⚠️Patch 6.2 Spoilers⚠️ Set at some undetermined point of the patch quests, I recommend just being caught up on msq for this one

Banana, the warrior of light, invites some companions to visit her private island. Shenanigans ensue - this piece is not serious, at all.

Masterlist

“Where in the seven hells did they go?” the warrior of light cried out, entrapped in her worst trial yet. Packing. “I had my favorite pair of shorts here just a moment ago!” Banana sighed, slumping her small body against the bed of her room in the Meghaduta, sliding to the floor with a soft thunk.

“Perhaps you put them into the bag already.” Estinien supplied unhelpfully, leaning against the wall in one of his usual tough-guy stances. Banana stuck her tongue out at him, earning an unimpressed stare in return. 

Quiet footsteps sounded from the hallway, the soft clicking of boots on tile. 

“Our hero is rather irritable, you might want to get out while you can.” Estinien spoke without moving a muscle, other than whatever muscles were working to form that irritating grin on his face. 

“I am not irritable… I’m annoyed. That’s different.” she huffed, crossing her arms and glaring at Estinien from her spot on the floor as Zero tentatively stepped into the room, wary of the dragoon’s warning. The voidsent took stock of the situation in front of her: clothes, weapons, and other personal effects were strewn across most of the furniture in the room, there was a travel bag on the bed, sat open and nearly empty, and on the floor beside it was the vaunted warrior of light - small body curled in on itself as she pouted. 

Zero had trouble understanding a lot of things about life here on the source - it was so different from the void she had come from - but this… She was almost afraid to ask.

“She’s lost some clothing, and we’re set to leave in just under a bell.” Banana glared harder, if such a thing is possible. 

“I did not lose it, it was right here.” she laid onto the floor, looking up at her companions “It’s just so hot on the island… and I know when we’re meant to leave, you needn’t remind me!” she rolled over, dramatic, easily rolling her small body under the bed without a thought. Her hand landed on a lump of familiar fabric. “OH!” she rolled back out from under the bed, triumphantly standing up, holding the pair of shorts in the air. “Here they are! They must’ve fallen!” she stuffed the lost and now found article of clothing into her bag with a smile.

“I will not pretend to understand what just happened… but it seems it was… a good thing?” Zero mutters, glancing at Estinien. He nodded, pushing off the wall.

“Seems we may leave on time after all.” he silently padded out of the room, presumably to see how Varshahn was doing with his packing.

“Clothing suited to warm climes.”

“Check!”

“Extravagant gifts for Tataru… who wrote that?”

“Check!”

“Weapons.”

“Check, but don’t attack the animals on the island please!”

“Swim clothes, towels, and sun protectant.”

“Check, check, and we need to pick that last one up from the alchemists on the way out.”

divider credit - @cafekitsune

[tk-layla]

After an incredibly rough week and a lot of recovery, streaming returns tonight! Double header of MSQ 6.2 Patch, followed by another hunt for the 1st Extreme mount, and a Lore/OC focused podcast at the end! 6:30pm GMT / 1:30pm EST starts for all! Sorry it has been a while since I posted... will gradually get back into the swing of sharing stuff here. Love you all ^^

[la-scree]

6.1 MSQ Differences: Mira

So here's some Mira Lore that I'll finally talk about, mainly as I replay the patches on her.

For starters, there is a longer period of time between the end of 6.0 and 6.1 around two years. It's enough time that rebuilding can start and the Scions can really be seen as disbanded and give them time to be known for their things as themselves. Mira spends her time between Ishgard and Thavnair during this time helping both her homeland and her second home. During this time, she and Vrtra are officially a couple, married even, and have a newborn daughter.

So everything is peaceful and good mostly. Also as a note, the trade agreement from 6.4 was made during this time between Radz-at-Han and Garlemald but minus the access to the Tower of Babil until that time since not needed. (Because that part is pretty iffy but anyway) It's during this time that Mira hears rumors about a vault that is under the Bounty and remembering what Emet said back in Ultima Thule, that proves that she somehow carried the shared braincell from the Scion group: she asks Vrtra about it since it involves a satrap of old. He is a bit hesitant to talk about it but Mira brings up that there are places here that still are recovering from the Final Days even after the period of time. (Look, if they said that they're still rebuilding and cleaning up five years after the Calamity, it works here too). Both of them are compassionate to people and it convinces him to use the treasure.

Buuuuut it's also around this time that he senses someone broke into the vault and both of them go out to see what's going on. And then...

"What are you all doing here?!"

Things Mira did not expect to see: Scions going treasure hunting. Of course, G'raha is the jumpy one. Here instead of in the original story, Estinien takes the lead to go treasure hunting and asking the trust Scions because he's been in Thavnair too and knew Mira just became a mama and thought 'maybe she wants to spend time with her daughter' hence why he didn't ask. Mira just gets on them all since minus Estinien, they all got fancy PhDs and no one thought to ask the satrap they all KNOW about it?!

Yes, Mira drags them. It's amusing. But from there, the canon story and Mira's version is mostly the same. Also, Vrtra never uses small Varshann after the adamantite search and the body we see in 6.2 is his 'default'.

[laeorinel]

It's finally happened. While I haven't touched patch content yet for endwalker, I have been slowly making my way through other misc questlines, one such being the studium quests for disciple of the hand/land, and there is some very interesting stuff there. When I start nerding about lore, I inevitably start trying to come up with theories about where the story/lore is going next.

Endwalker spoilers are under the cut for general MSQ stuff and the studium quests if you haven't finished them yet. The long and short of it, some stuff is mentioned in those quests that perhaps hints at future plotlines.

The two quest lines, in particular, that stand out are the Faculty of Archaeology (BM/ARM/GM) and the Faculty of Aetherology (Fishing)

We will start with the fishing quest line first because the stuff mentioned in this feels like it may have far-reaching consequences.

To summarise the questline, you aid T'laqa Tia in researching underwater aetheric currents for his thesis by catching fish and measuring their aetheric levels to back up his theories. The aether currents ebb and flow with the tides, and fish follow those patterns during migrations and such. Over the course of it, you discover that the death of Zodiark messed with the aether currents over Etheirys, causing various fish to get extreme aether sickness and end up in places they shouldn't.

This would make a lot of sense, given what we know of Zodiark. He was created to essentially control/restore the various forms of aether to restore the world to how it was before the Final Days. However, there is another arguably more important thing that will likely have consequences I believe we have yet to see. The death of Hydaelyn and the presumed draining of the Mother Crystal. It can be argued that Zodiark and Hydaelyn were a central part of controlling aether flows on Etheirys; the lack of one of them would throw things out of balance, but both?

Etheirys as we know it has never existed without the influence of both Zodiark and Hydaelyn. While we do not know the specifics of what they affected or didn't, it feels like their absence will likely have some tangible impact on things. What that impact will be remains to be seen, but it may have to do with the Lifestream. The end of the fishing questline mentions T'laqa Tia's research could go some way to helping understand the Lifestream further. Perhaps this new understanding will help with travelling between shards, or maybe making using spells like Flow less risky or possibly even finding a way to "heal" the damage done by those spells.

However, there is something else their absence could lead to. Less or more rejoinings, the one of importance being that of the 13th.

While we only have the word of Ascians to go by, and their lore has been rewritten and changed a few times already, the 13th was the first shard they sought to rejoin with the source, but for some reason, it failed. We know the 13th still exists, so it's not as if the rejoining happened but wasn't recorded in history. It still meets the criteria for a rejoining even now, but something is, or was, preventing that from happening. So we can presume there is either something in the 13th preventing it from happening, or there was something on the source. We could assume it was Hydaelyn's influence, light fending off shadow and all that, but she has not been able to stop other rejoinings, so why would she be able to protect against this one?

Regardless, energies of the 13th have been bleeding into the source for millennia, given the presence of voidsent. Before, it may have only been a little bit, but with the absence of Hydaelyn and Zodiark, it could potentially become a flood. We could start seeing more and more voidsent appearing in greater numbers.

Like I said at the start, I haven't started patch content yet, so some of this stuff may come up in 6.1/6.2 MSQ stuff; if it does, then tell me.

Now, onto the Faculty of Archaeology.

This is the more interesting, if vague potential hint for what's coming. In this questline, you help restore a relic called the Golden Dhyata, once at the end of the questline, you restore the weird little mammet and find that it is, in theory, a type of auto translator. It is a full NPC come the end but only has this to say.

This certainly sounds like a calamity like event…

As for who or what the sleeping serpent is, I cannot say, but the description sounds very much similar to the symbol of the ouroboros, which according to Wikipedia.

"The ouroboros or uroboros is an ancient symbol depicting a serpent or dragon eating its own tail. The ouroboros is often interpreted as a symbol for eternal cyclic renewal or a cycle of life, death, and rebirth."

Now we know Azdaja is in the void, again I haven't played through the patch, so I'm unsure if we actually meet her or if she's still lost there; the long and short of it, though, this could mean we end up fighting either her or another dragon, perhaps one artificially made.

There is however another theory we can apply here. It is not a physical serpent at all but a metaphor. The Great Serpent of Ronka is a metaphor for the Lifestream in the first; if the Lifestream is now uncontrolled by Zodiark or Hydaelyn, perhaps it is doomed to become chaotic and has the potential to influence other shards as well.

As for the seven wedges driven into its back…well…there are seven remaining shards, and there are seven scions as of right now; it could be alluding to either, honestly. Could we have to trigger rejoinings ourselves? Maybe finding a less destructive way than the Ascians used? Or would bridges/connections between the shards be enough?

Writing all of this just makes me want to play the patch content even more, but I'm trying to be patient and wait for 6.3 at least T.T

[lily-of-rabanastre]

Ascilia, Scion of Light—Chapter 17(Final)

Whew! At long last, I've finished the final chapter of Ascilia, Scion of Light. The whole fic took me a little over a year now, and has been a rather enjoyable experience for me. I hope that all who read it enjoyed my rewrite of FFXIV Patch 6.1's MSQ, Newfound Adventure—and I hope they look forward to me doing the same for 6.2.

Without further ado: