#mhachi

[mythandral]

the mother of sighs

[yloiseconeillants]

i am a machine that turns 80 minutes in explorer mode duty finder into 16 miserable pin-ups of my wretched ocs

[cantspelldragoonwithoutgoon]

am i a pretty girl? 🌹

[sntoot]

finally finished something enough to put it together in a post

anyways i looked at the sky pirate raids and i was like hey what if i put a whm in there. that couldnt make things worse right

more details about them under the cut in case anyone is curious

(gron ehsk means escaped tree in dravanian)

they r born and raised in gridania, and reach adulthood as the autumn war hits. thats how old they are.

anyways time goes on and they become more of a cryptid and harder to interact with until quarrymill kicks them out and demands the elder seedseer take them in front of the elementals for some kind of punishment. the elementals dont give a shit bc gron was doing everything correctly for the forest, just not the people

so they get banished from the shroud by the elder seedseer and head to coerthas instead. they get branded a heretic pretty quick from having horns and offering to teach the lowborn conjury, so they end up in anyx trine with vidofnir and the dragons there. the dragons there give them their new name and they stay there for a while. the dragons think they r a funny little guy.

after the calamity they find that not only does the shroud still not want their help but the people of coerthas also dont want them around, and even when they offer the highborn conjury they r rejected for obvious reasons (heretic). they r chased out of coerthas and end up in the sea of clouds instead of dravanian forelands, much to their displeasure

as theyre running from camp cloudtop, leofard takes pity on them and takes them to ok'zundu where the zundu are kind enough to let them use an abandoned hut a little ways off from the village to live in. the redbills find having a healer accessible is really damn convenient

leofard visits to ask them to join the redbills repeatedly and also to pay them for healing all the random injuries the pirates get, they repeatedly refuse and also make him eat vegetables from their small garden. it doesnt seem to make him less inclined to visit. (they remind him of his mother; they obviously want to live freely but something is holding them back)

when they hear about the mhachi stuff and the void ark they demand to come along because as a white mage its technically their job to clean it up, since amdapoor and mhach are why these magicks are forbidden.

over the course of the raids they go from hating cait sith to becoming besties, and they finally join the redbills officially at the end of the quests because they do actually like the redbills despite the idiocy

[tallbluelady]

■ -  Bedroom/house/living quarters headcanon

... Uh. Wait. I may not have shared this detail yet...

After she marries Emet-Selch, Aoife lives in a magic cottage. A bit of a fusion of the Tardis (bigger on the inside), Baba Yaga's hut, and Howl's Moving Castle. Most of the time it's trundling along the borders of Mhach, but it'll make forays into Mhach proper if Selch needs some sort of artifact.

Aoife's room in particular is very pink because it reminds her of the field of flowers she and her sister would go to as children.

Thanks for the ask!

[seaseren]

What if...baby Dion... was a Riku...

[or-fi-s]

Wing-it TF for bobjoestevebill

She learned this old Mhachi trick to become beautiful and powerful! Conjurers hate her!

Posted using PostyBirb

[anneapocalypse]

What is "the occult" in FFXIV?

Ever since I first laid eyes on the EE3 bit about Urianger's parents I have been noodling on one thing in particular. Encyclopedia Eorzea volume 3 refers to "the occult" as Urianger's parents' field of study (and the reason they were so absent from his life). Every since that discovery, I have been curious what that actually means. What is "the occult" in a universe where magic is real, measurable, and a highly legitimate and prestigious field of study?

So, where else is "the occult" referenced in the game?

Thanks to this invaluable searchable transcript, I've found a few other references in MSQ.

The first use of the term "occult" in MSQ that I've found is way back in the Gridania starter quests when some Ixali "Occultists" are trying to summon Garuda at the Guardian Tree. In isolation I'd take this one with a grain of salt since it's very early in ARR, but I think it's consistent with other usages. The description for Whorleater Extreme also uses the term, referencing "the occult knowledge of the Ascians," so from the start there is an association of the occult with Ascian magicks and specifically with summoning.

The only other mention in MSQ comes from Alphinaud in Endwalker, where he and Krile are giving us the tour of Sharlayan, and specifically Phenomenon:

Alphinaud: As the center of what would later become the Studium, it was established to promote the study of aetherological phenomena, hence the name. Alphinaud: Though with aether being a fundamental aspect of nature, its scope expanded to include every conceivable facet of life and even the universe itself. Alphinaud: And then, in the four hundred and thirty-second year of the Sixth Astral Era, Phenomenon was decreed complete and the Studium officially opened as a place of learning. Alphinaud: With a long and storied history, it is without question the world's leading authority in aetherology, the arcane, the occult, astromancy, and countless other fields, standing proud as─ Alisaie and Krile: ...Sharlayan's foremost educational institute!

Okay, so "the occult" clearly falls within the general field of aetherological phenomena and magic, though that we could have guessed already. Something that catches my eye is how in more than one place, "occult" is contrasted with or referenced as distinct from "arcane." This is the case in Alphinaud's speech above, as well as in the Blue Mage quest "Everybody Was Fukumen Fighting," wherein Bluehood says, "No occult tricks or arcane incantations can contend with the all-surpassing might of blue wizardry!"

In the Loporrit Allied Society quests, we also get this odd little quest "Hare-Raising Thrills," in which we're asked to make "Occult Paraphernalia" for a Loporrit called Thrillingway. Depending on crafting job, dialogue with Keepingway will elaborate thus:

"It seems he requires a pair of shears─but not just any pair. No, he desires blades sharp enough to carve fur clean off!"

"He wants a sturdy coil of rope suitable for binding all four limbs of…a 'friend,' allegedly."

"Seems he wants a highly acidic gel for some dubious purpose I did not have the heart to inquire about. Honestly, I think it's best if we don't know."

Which. I mean. Okay. lol. Do what you will with that.

But probably most illuminating is the use of the word "occult" in a couple of Red Mage quests, and in the Sky Pirate raid quests.

In "The Weeping City," Cait Sith says, "Thus did the Mhachi magi construct an occult device that would more securely bind the voidsent to their will..."

And in the Red Mage quests "With Heart and Steel" and "Traced in Blood" we have, respectively:

"The tomes with passages pertaining to the voidsent Lilith are all forbidden occult works..."

and

"...the secrets behind Lambard's occult transformation."

In both contexts, "occult" seems to be connected to voidsent, specifically to Lilith in the case of the Red Mage quests.

And this ties back to the references in ARR as well, since from the beginning Ascians have been connected with the Void, even before we knew what the Void actually was. So it's safe to say at this point, I think, that "occult" can refer to magicks connected to the Void and to Ascians.

There's just one more reference I found that flummoxed me a bit, and that's this description of the Arcanist class, which refers to arcanist weapons as "occult grimoires." I found it odd initially because in most other contexts "occult" seems to refer to magicks seen as illicit, as opposed to the socially acceptable "arcane." But it does make a kind of sense, given that it is from Arcanist that we get Summoner. If summoning of primals is occult, then by extension so is summoning in the arcanist sense, even if it's not truly the same thing. This would seem to be the exception to "arcane" and "occult" being distinct categories, which leads me to believe that the distinction is more cultural than ontological.

So I think from the above, we can consider "occult" to be a fairly broad term that may be used in several distinct but overlapping senses:

Magic related to the summoning of primals.

Magic related to the Void, voidsent, and Ascians.

Magic which is taboo, forbidden, or otherwise outside of that which is socially accepted.

As a footnote, I think this is particularly interesting in the context of Urianger being introduced as our resident expert on primals, despite the fact that that's... really not specifically his field of study but merely adjacent to it. Urianger's primary interest is prophecy, and certainly plenty of prophecy seems to reference primals and Ascians and that's where we see him doing a lot of his research, but it's not the same field, merely overlapping.

Without more information we can't know for certain what his parents were actually studying. Maybe they were interested in primals, or Ascians, or the Void. Maybe they were studying Void-related magics. It's also possibly they were simply arcanists particularly interested in the summoner side and we shouldn't read much more than that into the reference to "the occult." Who knows.

But nonetheless, several of these interpretations would mean that in a way, Urianger has followed in their footsteps despite their making apparently little effort to guide him that way, which I find to be an interesting angle to his character and also profoundly sad in its own way--not that he found his own interests in those areas, but that the Augurelts had a child so naturally inclined toward their own interests and still took so little interest in him.

[misedejem]

I really did just log in today mainly to put my Elezen in fun seasonal outfits and not much else

It’s his nameday so I had to give him a little bit of appreciation, in the form of getting him a deeply OOC new outfit :3

Mise’s all saints wake glam from last year has evolved into her pvp glam, so I think instead of embracing the edge today I’m going to give her cat ears in seal rock :3

[amons-hat-enthusiast]

Roevember 2024: Day 2 - Roots

To stand upon the place your ancestors built... It can take your breath away...

For some context here - Set'ia is a mage of Mhachi ancestry

[ofdarklands]

mhach was like the fifth era's allag. you pick up a rock? voidsent assassins. you sneeze? mhachi conspiracy. receive mail? mhach cursing you into tonberries

[lizzy-calaxio]

Which jobs are canon to Lizzy? Did she get trained by the Canon npcs? What are her thoughts on her teachers?

Lizzy's canon jobs are BLM, DRK, GNB, SCH, NIN, SAM, and PCT

She doesn't learn any of them through the canon NPCs, her teachers are: - a mhachi mage that's somehow still alive (Black mage) - Feo Ul (Dark Knight) - GNB.....I haven't worked out yet - She's a self taught Scholar - yugiri teaches her ninja - Shio Shinju teaches her SAM - Krile teaches her PCT

She's fond of all of her teachers, and dating a couple of them

[mimble-sparklepudding]

White Magick.

The mages of Amdapor devised the arcane art of white magick during the Fifth Astral Era to counter the destructive black magick of Mhachi sorcerers in the infamous War of the Magi. Focusing upon spells of restoration and purification, the practice of white magic led to great advances in Amdapori society. 

[sealrock]

so this guy hit me over the head with a baseball bat looney tunes style and his place in the story is kinda funny—meet paris' former fiance, agamemnon 'aggie' tiryns. some lore in no particular order:

second son to a mining empire, good-natured but spoiled

has dalmascan and mhachi ancestry, has a natural talent for spellcraft

the tiryns are rivals of the tatlongharis thanks to a 150 year long political feud a la romeo and juliet

elder brother is a soldier for the immortal flames. his name is menelaus and they don't see each other often

was promised to paris when they were kids by the elders of their families as a marriage of convenience to end the bad blood between them

completely ignorant (or at least in denial) to paris' visible disdain of him

showered paris with gifts, praise, and public displays of loyalty and devotion

was meant to marry paris when they became adults, only for paris to run away from home to become an adventurer, and later the warrior of light

despite being rejected, aggie doesn't hold that against paris. he is probably paris' biggest supporter

can you feel the love in the air?

[ffxivxd]

Calofisteri was once a Mhachi mage who transformed into the voidsent you see by combining the power of an aether-infused crystal with the ritual consumption of voidsent blood. This form not only granted her immense power but also immortality.

[vahalia-cress]

⸸ Tíu ⸸

The Creature behind her eyes squirmed, the familiar rake hissing deep within the darkest parts of her mind as it often was. A voice and murmurs she had learned to block out over time until there was reason not to.

While Creature had proven a reliable weapon, it was often a game of words to him, especially about how he would lead Vahalia upon a course based on riddles and nearly nefarious natures. One she had come to appreciate for what it was, simply an entity that stirred the pot of thought all the more, the itch of necessity when it came to remaining the course.

“Lady Cress?” The voice sounded from the pearl nestled to her ear.

Within the cabin still in Tural, Vahalia’s hands absent mindedly smoothed over the papers before her, a tidy mess is what she often called it, “I’m here.” Vahalia replied, “The envelope I sent you with, open it.” she lead Miss. Bancroft on the other end of the transmission, “Within is a detailed report of everything that happened here in Tural, you may share that with Miss. Slater when you arrive. Within is also the blueprints for the Keep, be sure to give that to Greyson. You can find him in the market in three days time, I have it setup for you to meet with him on my behalf regarding the construction of the Keep, hand him the blueprints and gil I sent you with, he will have a white orchid pinned to his jacket.”

“Anything else?”

Vahalia paused, her brows knit and her gaze swept over the scrolls splayed out before her, “Yes, actually.” she continued, “Check on the advancement of the water way. Let Greyson know you will need his men in the coming weeks to construct two additional wells near the farms. The harvest is upon us, we’ll need to prepare for shipment and check the stores to ensure there is enough for the colder months. Put kale, radish, broccoli and chard on the list for this coming season’s bounty. I need trade for additional salt for the piers.”

A small hum of affirmation came from the line and Castien spoke again, “And the ruins?”

“A project for another day. I’ll be in Black Water in a few weeks time, perhaps sooner. I’ll see to the Laeves when I arrive, I have yet to fully take in the damage to the old structure.”

“Very well.” the response came.

The line fell quiet and the static in her ear began to blip out as Vahalia removed the linkpearl from her attention and placed it to the table.

Harvests.

Additional grain would have certainly been a boon to the market itself for colder months ahead, which was all the more reason to take the proposal from Hingashi seriously. While Ishgard supped easily upon winter-born vegetables and produce that were well rooted, that wasn’t to say that other places had the luxury. Wheat and rice would become a demand in a short time. It was simply time to meet the need with supply.

Spiced pumpkin filled the air with sweet apples. The festivities were in effect and the four children ran through the glade, the three girls with long dark hair squealing with delight as the older of the four, Willem, chased them with a blindfold over his eyes. Hands splayed as he reached for the voices he had been chasing. The laughter echoed out from the girls, wisps of bright ribbons afloat in long seas of ebon and sable, skirts absorbing the muck of the earth at their hems.

The Equinox was upon them as the greens of the trees gave way to vibrant pops of speckled oranges and reds that aimed to take their place. The air hung cooler these days and a fog settled in the mornings as the clime came to a slow crawl with each passing day.

Music and the chatter of the families beyond were nearly drowned out by the children playing and not too far off sat Odessa and Adelle at the woods edge, sister’s of old Mhachi blood, ever vigilant. Sigils of House Cress and House Blackheart in fabulous brocade respective to the two houses were woven neatly into their robes, their sashes simply homage to the families and their corresponding colors.

Odessa watched her youngest drift from the game, small body worn from the festivities as Vahalia made her way over to the two women and curled up towards her mother where she had rested her head along her warm lap.

“Finished already my dear?” Odessa smiled, hand lowering to comb through the child’s hair.

“I need a break.” the small child huffed out, she looked no older than eight summer’s at most.

The silken voice of Adelle seated next to Odessa chimed out, “Sister, when do you plan on having her meet the Whitlock son?” her voice was low as she looked between Odessa and Vahalia, who was more than happy resting within her mother’s lap, eyes closed and her attention elsewhere beyond simple chatter and the music in the distance.

“That depends on Adrian. I do not like the idea. I would not be faced with such heartbreak had I of had sons. Perhaps that is simply the pain we mother’s of daughters must endure.” she placed a slow stroke along Vahalia’s head before shaking her shoulder and soon ushering the child off towards her sister and cousins once more.

“It’s your turn Valeria!” Willem called out as he removed the blindfold from his face, hair wild, and he handed it towards his cousin, “Fair and square.”

“Awww you cheated!”

“I did not! You’re just slow!”

“It’s okay Valeria, prove him wrong.” Carrera piped up, excited to string the chaos along, “You’ll have to make sure he’s caught first. Revenge!”

The children laughed as Valeria groaned and Vahalia walked up to take the blindfold that was extended out, “I’ll do it.” she invited herself in as the predator, the other three simply prey in this game of catch.

The back of Odessa’s fingers smoothed over her lips, lost in thought as she watched Vahalia place the cloth over her eyes and the game once again began for the children. Once more scurrying and running about in the small glade that was soon to be kissed by the first year’s frost in mere weeks.

“Why not Valeria?” Adelle asked, “She is the oldest.”

“When you have twins, people tend to see them as one in the same when it comes to who is youngest or oldest. Valeria is…meek, timid. I fear she might not make out well in a forced situation.” Odessa peeled her eyes back to her kin.

“Yet you are entirely convinced Vahalia would be a better fit for such a burden?” Adelle loosed a huff, “An odd way of thinking.”

Odessa lifted her hand as she motioned to the children, “Look at her. She is a child who isn’t scared easily nor waves from anything new or difficult. Something within me feels she can handle the labors of expectation. With Valeria?....” she paused briefly before continuing, “ – It would consume her.”

A stern sigh escaped Adelle as she shook her head, “So what you are telling me in such subtle terms is, you have no other choice to bridge the Whitlock and Cress household and so you’ve picked and chose between your two daughters as to which one can carry the burden without crumbling?” Delicate and slender fingers found Odessa’s as Adelle gave her hand a small squeeze, “Sister, you cannot make a choice based off of the lesser of two evils. Tell Adrian you will not do it. Tell him the Whitlock’s must find another means of peace that does not result in you giving away your daughter.”

“I cannot.” Odessa stood firmly, her golden eyes lifting to meet that of her sister, “There is little I can do. There is ruin otherwise as Adrian has placed us in a hole we cannot climb out from unless we have assistance.” There was a stint of silence before Adelle spoke again, “I can speak with Hakurou and his clansmen, I’m sure there is som –” A shriek filled the mist of the glade as the children had stopped playing and Willem ran over to Adelle, frantically trying to slap the ambers of fire that cling to the hem of his tunic. The smell of burnt linen followed him as he approached, Valeria and Carrera in tow as the fun and games seemed to cease. Adelle rose to meet him as she looked at the scorched linen, “What happened?”

“Vahalia cheated! She threw a fire spell at me.” he glared over his shoulder to his cousin who had been tailing behind the trio of kin.

“I did not mean to! I was playing by the rules, it just HAPPENED!” she hollered.

“No harm no foul.” Adelle muttered down to Willem and her knuckles propped his chin gently, “Well find you a new tunic, come.” she ushered to the boy and waved Carrera along, a small pointed gaze was afforded to Odessa as she too rose to meet her girls.

Adelle led her children back towards the festivities with Valeria following in a close gait.

“Fire Vahalia? That’s dangerous for a silly game with your cousins. You should apologize.” Odessa reached for the child as she and Vahalia walked hand in hand several paces back from the others.

“I will not.” Vahalia proclaimed, “I did not mean it.”

“Even if we do not mean to harm someone, sometimes it is in our best interest to apologize all the same, child. Where did you learn to cast such a thing?”

Vahalia held loosely to Odessa’s hand as they made their way along the slick ground, “Your books, modir.” she admitted and she remained stonefaced to the area before them as Odessa walked and with some measure of surprise gazed down to her daughter.

The walk felt long and cold as they meandered to meet with the others, the joyous music of the Equinox hadn’t quite reached Odessa to spark some jubilant sensation within, she simply focused on the possibilities now laying before her as her daughter had demonstrated something quite extraordinary for someone her age.

Perhaps she could bargain with Adrian over this, now that Vahalia had proven some affinity for magikca that ran deep within her Blackheart roots, roots that would need to be carefully nurtured and fed.

One for sorrow,  Two for joy Three for a girl Four for a boy Five for silver Six for gold Seven for a secret never to be told. Eight for a tale that the stars have spun Nine for a gate that can’t be undone Ten for a river of forgotten lore Eleven for a key to the spectral door Twelve for a mirror that reflects the night Thirteen for a beast that lives in spite Fourteen for a realm beyond our reach Fifteen for a speech no tongue can teach Sixteen for a dream trapped in stoneSeventeen for the old gods’ hollow moan Eighteen for the abyss that gazes back Nineteen for the cosmic formless wrack

Twenty for a Magpie’s final verse in a universe where shadows converse the end of the rhyme the start of the dread where naught a single word is said.

Creature's words coiled through her head as he sang the slow rhyme, through the echo of darkness behind her eyes. Her attention was brought to the blackbirds that sat under the balcony’s edge to avoid the rain that had started to fall within Tural.

Without thinking, her mind washed over their forms, counting each from where she sat with her papers. Ten. She had counted ten as once more Creature continued the rhyme though this time opting to hum in through breaks of sickened chuckles.

Ten.