#dawntrail spoilers kinda sorta

[ofdragonsdeep]

4: Reticent

Reluctant, unwilling.

Ar'telan has mixed feelings about being in Tural. Orn Mahr makes him talk about them

The seas washed over the glittering beach of Tuliyollal, dyed a brilliant orange by the setting sun. Ar'telan found himself sat on the rocks near the For'ard Cabins, his thoughts anywhere but the ocean stretched out before him.

He felt out of place. Tural was vibrant and bustling with life, people of all stripes mingling in the streets. The people Eorzea had once called Beast Tribes existing on an equal footing, no attention paid to circumstance of birth, reminded him a little of home. But only a little.

"You're moping again!"

Orn Mahr barreled down from the roof of the cabins, battering his paws against Ar'telan's head. Ar'telan tried to fend him off, managing to vocalise a noise of dismay and little else as he fought the dragonet's determination with his hands. After a little while, he managed to get a grip on the dragonet's body and hauled him away, plonking him unceremoniously on the rocks instead.

"Please," he said, exasperated. Orn Mahr crossed his arms. It was not a particularly natural movement for a dragonet, but he managed to pull it off.

"Haurchefant told me to make sure you didn't mope," he declared, and Ar'telan sighed wearily. Of course the two of them had chosen to conspire.

"I am not moping. I am thinking,"he replied, and Orn Mahr wrinkled his face up in doubt.

"Is there a difference?"

"Yes."

It would be hard for him to really articulate his thoughts to the dragonet, though. Orn Mahr was young, relatively speaking, and was still treating his time away from Meracydia more like a very extended holiday than anything else. He heard Tiamat's song, of course, but he lacked the life experience to do much with it. Not to mention that now she had returned to Meracydia, it was no longer full of empty notes.

"Tell me! Tell me!" Orn Mahr hopped from rock to rock with every word, flapping his wings impatiently. Ar'telan hesitated.

"Do you ever feel… out of place?" he asked. Orn Mahr paused his hopping to tilt his head.

"Not really," he said, which was the answer Ar'telan had expected. "My job is to look after you, so if I'm where you are, then I'm in the right place."

"Your service is appreciated," Ar'telan replied, a sigh on his lips as he said it. "You know I can look after myself, though." Orn Mahr seemed skeptical at that.

"Don't think so," he said. Ar'telan thought it must be nice to not need to think about your words before you said them. Orn Mahr was far too small to have the weight of nations on his shoulders, after all.

"It's complicated," Ar'telan settled for. "Sometimes, if I have a lot of big thoughts, I have to sit with them for a while to sort them out. Does that make sense?"

"Not really," Orn Mahr said. "All my thoughts are big. We think them all the time! You know, when I hear our Sire singing, she sings about lots of big thoughts, too. She sings about Bahamut dying." Ar'telan made a surprised noise at that. "And she sings about feeling her siblings dying, too. Sometimes when the eggs break they come out wrong, you know."

"The Tempered," Ar'telan said, and Orn Mahr nodded.

"And she sings about her Sire, too. How back home all the eggs went wrong. How he ran away so his wouldn't." Orn Mahr tapped his feet on the rock thoughtfully. "I think sometimes it's good to run away, and sometimes it isn't good."

"If only we could tell in the moment," Ar'telan said, the motions of his hands small and muted.

"But I think mortal people work different," Orn Mahr continued. "Because you don't think the big thoughts all the time." Ar'telan nodded at that. "You feel them and then you stop feeling them! And that's why Nidhogg got mad."

"It was a little more complicated than that, but you're not entirely wrong," Ar'telan allowed. Orn Mahr nodded enthusiastically.

"And that's why Tiamat said it was ok to go to where the bad people came from, because the bad people aren't there any more," he declared. "And all their children and their children's children don't remember all the bad. They don't feel the bad. She said it was a word like… fog wetting?"

"Forgetting," Ar'telan said.

"We don't have a word for that," Orn Mahr said. "Cause we don't do it, you know."

Not for the first time, Ar'telan wondered how they managed it. When Fordola's artificial Echo had shown her everything he had been through, she had asked him how he bore it, and he hadn't had a good answer. But if every wound was as fresh as the day it was caused? If he still remembered the moments that hurt with just as much clarity as the sweetness after?

He supposed people wouldn't move so rashly, so quickly, if they knew they would remember it all forever, as if it were still happening.

"It's not just that we forget," Ar'telan said. "It's that… We don't have a song. So my parents, I know what stories they tell me. And I know what stories their parents told them. But we don't have the same memories as you do, not really. I don't remember anything of the people from ten generations ago as anything more than vague pictures."

"Ten generations…" Orn Mahr attempted to count on his claws, and ran out of claws. "That's a lot!" He tilted his head. "I suppose if you don't live very long then you need a lot of them, though."

"Something like that."

"I can't go back ten," he said. "Tiamat is four away, and Midgardsormr is five. And then after that the Song stops." His tail thumped against the rock as he thought. "It's strange actually. Midgardsormr should have sung about before. But I don't hear before."

Ar'telan remembered Ultima Thule. Remembered the landscape, scarred and barren where it wasn't twisted out of shape by aetherochemical weapons. The water turned to sludge. Omega's recreation of Midgardsormr in his prime, before the long cold of space had put out the fire in his mane and the life in his heart, how he had been dogged by the doom of his race even to Etheirys.

"I don't think there's a before to hear," Ar'telan said. Meteion had ushered them into her nest, and then the Endsinger's defeat had set them free. He wondered if the souls of those dragons would come back to Etheirys, now that it was the new home of the dragons, or if they would go back to that dead and barren rock.

"Even if before has stopped, there's still a before to hear," Orn Mahr disagreed. "Like we all go back to Midgardsormr eventually. We sing back to the before, but it doesn't answer." He seemed unhappy by that revelation. "I suppose it's gone gone. I didn't think we could do that."

"With help, maybe," Ar'telan said, and Orn Mahr heard the sarcasm in 'help' clear enough, even with his signs.

"Is that why you're sad?" Orn Mahr asked. "Because your before is gone gone?"

Ar'telan started at that. Raised his hands to sign a reply, then lowered them again as one didn't come.

"I don't… think so," he managed eventually. "It's more that… I'm here, and I'm helping, I know. But I feel like I shouldn't be. Not because I'm not suited for it, but because…" He shook his head. "I don't know if I can go home, but I'm meant to be fit to guide a potential ruler. I'm the one they call on when they want Eikons dead and the enemy routed, I'm not… I'm not a guide. I'm a weapon."

"I think you're a person," Orn Mahr said. "Weapons don't talk."

"That depends on the weapon."

"That's circle talking!" Orn Mahr said, flapping his wings in irritation. "They trust you because you're good. Because you can help. Because you want to help. And you can keep Lamaty'i stay safe while she works out the rest."

"I suppose I can," Ar'telan allowed. Orn Mahr nodded.

"See, and now the big thought… what happens to the big thoughts. Do they go away for you?" he asked, tilting his head quizzically. "Where do you put them?"

"That's up to the thought," Ar'telan replied. "I keep them until they don't need to stay any more, and then I let them go."

"That sounds nice," Orn Mahr decided, and Ar'telan thought he might be right about that.

[therovingstar]

I do wonder how Turali folks first reacted to Odzaya as an Au Ra, seeing as (far as I could deduce) there are no Au Ra on the continent. Do they think her scales and horns are a condition? Is she a Hyur with some Mamool Ja mixed in somewhere? Have they seen enough Auri sailors/travelers to know what she is, and her kind are just a rare sight, a la Eorzea?

Regardless, I like to think there’s been at least one exchange in which she was described, and folks got a little confused. “Blah blah blah Wuk Lamat’s party from across the salt blah blah skilled adventurer blah blah blah a fetching woman with pale horns and scales!”

The general Turali populace: “oh neat! Wait what?”

[mirateski]

I meant to post this here and completely forgot, lmao! My raid group cleared the tier on Thursday morning!

This was my first tier healing after a long career of tanking, and I was kind of nervous about it, but we crushed it. Top 200 worldwide and I don't feel like a complete scrub on ast any more thank god XD

(Naturally, the gunblade dropped, which would have been great any time last expansion. Thanks rng)

[agent-yolk-writes]

FFXIVWrite 2024 (Day 2) - Horizon

AO3 is back up but I'm keeping my promise to keep up with Tumblr as well, even if it isn't same day posting. I'm trying to get all the prompts in before the hard deadline is enforced so bare with me if there's any delays.

Gotta give some love and food to this blog too, ya know?

Spoilers for: Endwalker finale to Dawntrail beginning cutscene

Warning: mentions of blood, injury, and sorta kinda almost death

To the edge of the known universe, Riida thought her journey’s end would come to fruition. A heroic sacrifice it would’ve been, saving her allies and bleeding out alongside her sister in the most climatic battle of their lives. The struggle for air and yet embracing the futility of it all made it beautiful, in a way only a bard could compose into words. 

Then she finds herself bedbound, a complete flip of what she thought her destiny had written for. The allies she sacrificed everything for watched her diligently as she started her moons-long recovery. Alisaie made sure to go through with her promise of tying her down to the bed after once again sleepwalking to where Yuna was recovering and vice versa. Riida didn’t have the heart to tell her it wasn’t sleepwalking at all. It may have impeded her recovery process in the long run, but she didn’t care. For all she knew, this whole thing could’ve been some sick trick taunting her between the heavens and hells. 

But now she finds herself in the middle of the ocean, feeling more alive than she’s ever been. The powerful sea breeze dances through her grown-out hair as it threatens to blow away her hat. The endless blue horizon around the boat sparkles like gems under the unobstructed sun. Hearing the sounds of the waves crashing against the vessel made the Miqo’te feel at ease for the first time in a very long time.  

Her next endeavor on the other side of the horizon, thankfully, was not another high-stakes escapade. She had invited Yuna to come along on a much-needed vacation, but the Au Ra was already occupied with something else. Riida will be sure to tell her all about it through letters and linkpearl calls, promising to grab as many souvenirs as she can physically carry. Just thinking about arriving at Tural made her tail wiggle in excitement. 

She looked back at Wuk Lamat, fighting for her life to hide the seasickness, and couldn’t help but give a sympathetic smile that the prospective noble wouldn’t see. It brings back memories of being on a boat for the first time, even if she boarded in a not-so-legal way.

Whatever comes their way during this rite of succession, Riida will be sure to tackle it tenfold.

[miqo-tales]

Dawntrail MSQ

Some brief thoughts on Dawntrail's base MSQ, trials and dungeons.

WARNING: There will be spoilers in here. I recommend you stay away until you've finished the MSQ story.

MSQ

Overall I liked this story. It is not my favorite; I think that's still the Shadowbringers base story. But it's good!

The first half goes a bit quick and the second half goes a bit slow, but overall I enjoyed it. Wuk Lamat is a fun character, and while her presence in the story occasionally gets a bit too "Nanoha"-ish at times, I like her a lot.

Also that trading sequence early on was funny, I enjoyed that.

I'm also impressed how much the story keeps most of the other Scions out of the story. I really expected Estinien to join up with Koana, Thancred, and Urianger. And then I expected him to join us in Shaaloani! Plus I thought Y'shtola would show up much earlier. But the story really does try to focus on Wuk Lamat and her journey as much as it can, and keeps the more developed characters in the background.

It keeps you in the background a lot too.

On one hand, this doesn't bother me that much. Mainly cause I know this storyline is setup for the new long running story. Plus because of what was teased near the end. Well, ESPECIALLY because of that, because it's something I'd been wanting ever since the end of 5.3. (I'll talk about that later.) So I think it's likely there's going to be more focus on you later on. Also this is Wuk Lamat's journey. It's pretty obvious they're focusing on that.

On the other, man, I do kinda feel like my character didn't do anything in this story. I really wanted one chance to punch Bakool Ja Ja or Zarool Ja in the face? If nothing else, just something in a CS where we encounter either of them by on our own and there's some tension when they realize "oh shit, this person could wreck my shit".

Again, doesn't matter much, but it's there.

(It helps that before the Bakool Ja Ja fight, you basically get to tell him, "don't worry, I'll stay out of this, so that you'll only get beaten instead of absolutely destroyed.")

I think I only have two real issues with the story. One minor, the other more serious.

1 - Progress vs tradition

They really didn't go into this as much as I thought they would, and I'm sorta bummed about it. It seemed like that was going to be a big thing with Koana, and then he kinda quickly changed his mind.

And then we got to Shaaloani and the train, ceruleum, rroneeks, Hhetsarro and oh nevermind there's not really a conflict here. OK...

Like, did I miss something? In particular there's one scene, I forget exactly when, but it's during or after the talk of how the train seems to be affecting the rroneek. And in the background are two rroneek, who seem to be charging towards one of the towns? But, nothing comes of that. It was so odd to me.

Maybe it'll come up in further patches?

2 - Oh no I'm out of extra lives

So... uh... could someone explain to me why none of the protagonists seemed to have an issue with the whole "consume souls to avoid death" thing?

Obviously the grand plans of "use the souls of the dead" and "fuse the reflections and consume all their aether" to maintain the Endless was, y'know, universally disliked.

But the base system of using souls to avoid death... it seemed to mostly fall under "well, it's your way of life and I don't want to judge you until I learn about it"?

Cause the whole soul consuming thing removes them from the cycle of rebirth, right? How is my character not pissed as hell at this? I find it very odd.

I know they mention them using the souls of beasts sometimes, but I don't recall them saying if that was more common. I got the impression that was just the hunters and elite soldiers.

I'll admit, I haven't done any sidequests yet, so maybe there's extra information there. If so, great, but I still feel like my character and the Scions should be making a bigger deal about it.

Oh, one more quick thing:

Thancred and Urianger

I liked how they were a similar kind of guide and support for Koana like you were for Wuk Lamat.

THAT SAID

I'm terribly disappointed the devs didn't have at least some kind of conflict between us and these two. I was really, really hoping we'd have to fight Thancred and Urianger (and maybe Koana too) in the 91 dungeon.

Speaking of:

Dungeons

Actually, nothing really stands out here? They're fine. I think the 93 and 97 dungeons are my favorites of the bunch. Like the visuals and music of those two come together the best for me.

The lvl 100 dungeons are good too though, even if the halloween-y one has some annoying bosses. And the 100 MSQ one, I dunno, I like it, it has a really good song, the place and voices glitching out later on is neat, but it also feels very similar to Amaurot, so loses some points there for me.

Also, I just wanna say it's a bummer the train sequence that leads into the 97 dungeon was only a cutscene and not an instance of any kind.

Trials

Damn, the music for the 99 and 100 trials. Good shit.

And that 100 trial is just weirdly fun. I dunno. I imagine there's plenty of people that don't enjoy it, but there's something about it for me.

(Admittedly, I'm not sure how I summoned 7 other people to that fight while I was inside a computer. But this game is full of "sure, why not" moments like that, so it's whatever.)

I do kinda feel like this one didn't need another of the cinematic near impossible to fail final phases though. (Or maybe I'm just annoyed that Wuk Lamat stole my kill?) It's a minor thing though.

I've tried both Extremes and so far they are fun. EX1 is definitely the harder of the two, mainly because holy crap there's so much AoE damage. But also there's a lot of pairing up and if one person dies it tends to lead to more people dying very soon after. Kudos to anyone that heals that fight.