#noward

[autumnslance]

FFXIV Write 2024: 21 Shade

(You can all blame @voidsentprinces and one of their posts for inspiring this one cuz I sure as heck am. Spoilers through Dawntrail.)

-

In the colorful forests of Kozama’uka, a strange movement of light green catches my eye. For a moment, I imagine.

“This one finds this forest so lively! Will these ones feast soon with the bright feathered ones again?”

It was a trick of the light on banana leaves. The shade of our little courageous one is gone again.

-

We’re still in Kozama’uka, but the roar of the waterfalls is below instead of above, and we’re trying to reach out to the bandits harassing the Potsworn.

I think of a boy with gold hair and an eager smile, no longer wearing blue. “You gave me a second chance, and I’ve never regretted it. We’ll find a way to help them, too!”

I blink, and realize the only resemblance in the bandit before me is that he’s young and blond. The shade of our foolishly brave boy is gone again.

-

I cross the bridge to Shaaloani, with its hot, dry plains rolling into the distance, eventually leading to grasslands in the northeast and craggy hills in the west, toward what was Yyasulani.

A Landsguard officer speaks an order, but in familiar tones, a comrade to his men. His voice stirs a memory, and my mind wanders again.

“We’re a long away from Quarrymill, but this reminds me in some ways of home. I bet you still hear thanks enough whenever you go back.”

I look at the soldiers laughing with each other before dispersing to their duties. The shade of our revolutionary captain is gone again.

-

The sky always seems so close in Worlar’s Echo. The Yok Huy see a few more traders these days. I’m watching the moon cross the sky when someone lights a pipe, the smoke wafting past my nose. Comfortable as I am, I’m halfway to dreaming already.

“Foolishness. We know what it is now, hardly deserving the veneration bestowed upon it for so long. And you surely have better things to do than mourn the likes of me.”

I turn to protest, but now I am fully awake and see the pelupelu merchants smoking and haggling. The shade of our spiteful witch is gone again.

-

There’s a sense of responsibility to the people afflicted with levin sickness, especially the children. I make sure that Oblivion is getting the families everything they need. I visit the first boy we met with this illness, and offer a treat of real fruit juice from the farms. It’s a good day, and he smiles as he sips, his mother smiling through her tears as he manages the straw.

“You learn to take what moments of happiness you can get. You figured out how to help the light afflicted and the tempered; this too will be defeated in time. But find the little victories where you can meanwhile.”

I look up from the boy’s bed. It’s just him, his mother, and me in the room. The shade of our fierce carer is gone again.

-

I’m still awake in the pre-dawn hours, so take a mug of mate with me to the end of the boardwalk to watch the dawn. The endless blue of the water, with the light piercing into my eyes, makes me remember a similar sight at the end and start of everything.

“There is no true challenge in this land. ‘Tis a wonder you are not bored. But you always have found meaning and pleasure in people and their small matters.”

The sun continues rising and the city wakes. The shade of my antagonistic mirror is gone again.

I finish my mate, return to my cabin, and go to bed.

-

They come and go, these ghostly memories. Some not as much as they used to, since that journey into the aetherial sea. Perhaps their aid and that last chance to say goodbye made a difference.

Maybe I am simply sentimental.

“The burden of heroes and leaders,” one of my newer ones says. “We spend all our time fighting for their lives and happiness, and feel it keenly when we fail them. Yet they helped to shape us, and so stay with us. And we strive to do better by those who come after them.”

I look up, but the shade of that heroic father is gone, the echo of his boisterous laugh ringing through his city’s streets, in his daughter’s own laughter. She waves to me now, her brother, her nephew, and our comrades with her. They are all exuberant and bright and alive, with so much possibility ahead.

I laugh as I wave to my friends.

[orime-stories]

Day 12 - Quarry

"You don't remember me, do you?" one of the Resistance officers at Rhalgr's Reach asked once the chatter had died down and everyone had started splitting off.

Shrinking away from the sudden test, Aurelle stammered out the beginnings of an apology.

"Quarrymill. Was seeking refuge with my men. Your elementals said no."

Her stomach tightening as she did remember. The small band of Ala Mhigan refugees arguing with the conjurers, one of them — this man — turning to her. Noting her adventurer's garb and mistaking her for someone bound by different rules.

But the Hearers had spoken. And therefore the forest had spoken.

There was nothing Aurelle, or the man, or anyone could do.

"One of my men, Gallien, he was sick," the man continued, the barest of echoes of the rage she had seen on his face that day trembling at his lip anew.

"I want you to know that he died."

For the Final Fantasy XIV Writing Challenge 2024

Other Entries: Steer / Horizon / Tempest / Reticent / Stamp / Halcyon / Morsel / Lend an Ear / Stable / Surrogate / Quarry

[mimble-sparklepudding]

Has your character been apart of any of the restoration or donation efforts? If so which one? All of them?

Mimble has been very involved in almost all the restoration efforts, including improving the conditions of the impoverished citizens of Kholusia in The First and the victims of the Final Days in Thavnair.

Not only is Mimble remarkably generous with his time and resources, but he is also the cause of generosity in other people - sometimes entirely against their better judgement. Many hard-nosed merchants and cynical mercenary captains have found themselves donating lavishly to causes such as the Meffrid Noward Memorial Orphanage or Saint Finnea's Convalescent Home and Sanatorium for Veterans of the Dragonsong War, without being entirely sure how they came to agree to do so...

[hyrtwynwrites]

Dramatis Personae - Book 1: Gridanian Prelude

Next

Yenifer Falle

Age: 21 Pronouns: she/her Our protagonist; Yenifer has lived her whole life in the small hamlet of Quarrymill, one of a small community of refugees far from home. When desperation meets hope, she takes the gamble to join Gridania's renowned Lancers' Guild... and unwittingly becomes a part of a cosmic war for the survival of the star. Impulsive, brave, and good-hearted, Yenifer is trying to find a way forward not just for herself, but for her people as well.

Ala Mhigans of Quarrymill

Aebba Falle

Age: 36 (†) Pronouns: she/her Mother to Yenifer, Aebba raised her daughter through the collapse of Ala Mhigo and their dangerous escape to the Twelveswood. Alongside the other refugees, she worked to build a good a life as possible in this new land - and alongside other refugees, she died during the Calamity.

Meffrid Noward

Age: 38 Pronouns: he/him A former member of the Ala Mhigan Resistance, Meffrid has traded his sword for a laborer's tools. The leader of the Ala Mhigans in Quarrymill, he works tirelessly to keep his people alive malms from his homeland.

Scions of the Seventh Dawn

Papalymo Totolymo

Age: 42 Pronouns: he/him One of the foremost members of the Scions, Papalymo has been the liaison between the organization and Gridania for summers. Erude, quick-witted, and perhaps a little mad, the thaumaturge has seen the city-state through many crises... but fears that the next is near on the horizon.

Yda Hext

Age: 31 Pronouns: she/her A hot-blooded pugilist and member of the Scions, Yda hails from conquered Ala Mhigo and now works to protect her new home in Eorzea. Alongside her friend Papalymo, she has defended the people of the Twelveswood from danger. Beneath her mask, however, lies an unspoken secret.

Gridanians

Mother Miounne

Age: 36 Pronouns: she/her The owner of the Carline Canopy, Mother Miounne has run the tavern and inn for summers, despite the devastation wrought by Bahamut.

Beatin Mainrocquet

Age: 30 Pronouns: he/him Timbermaster of the Carpenters' Guild, Beatin is a perfectionist by nature. Constantly coated in the debris of his labors, nothing but the finest of work is allowed to be sold.

Thya Epocan

Age: 18 Pronouns: they/them One of Gridania's many forgotten faces, Thya does their best despite being on the city-state's lowest rung.

Residents of the Twelveswood

Bremondt

Age: 48 Pronouns: he/him An enigmatic figure in the Twelveswood, Bremondt has been running cargo, passengers - and contraband - up and down the Black Shroud for summers. Despite his many days in the forest, he is a surprisingly unsuperstitious man.

Kuplo Kopp

Age: Not telling, kupo! Pronouns: he/him... if he finds it amusing, kupo! One of the Twelveswood's many myths, Kuplo Kopp is perhaps one of the more talkative Moogles - and a friend of sorts to Yda and Papalymo.

Sergeant Galfrid Mossback

Age: 34 Pronouns: he/him A member of Gridania's army, the Twin Adders, Galfrid is tasked as being one of the organization's many liaisons with the Wood Wailers - and, in a pinch, the leader of a manhunt.

Lancers, Guild or Otherwise

Ywain Deepwell

Age: 36 Pronouns: he/him Guildmaster of the Lancers' Guild, Ywain has worked stoically for summers to turn trainees into fighters. As a new crisis darkens Gridania's sky, so to does a nemesis emerge out of the shadows to challenge both him, the guild, and his prize student: Yenifer.

Foulques of the Mist

Age: 34 Pronouns: he/him An enigmatic figure and rogue lancer, Foulques bears an axe to grind against the Lancers' Guild; one that he is perfectly willing to bury into a skull or six if it gets the point across. Obsessed with bravery, in Yenifer he has found a rival - and potential ally - in his mission.

Jillian Little

Age: 20 Pronouns: she/her The receptionist of the Lancers' Guild, Jillian is herself a lancer, though has taken on the hard work of handling the considerable paperwork that shuttles in and out of the Wailing Barracks on a daily basis.

Wood Wailers & Gods'bowmen

Bowlord Lewin Hunte

Age: 54 Pronouns: he/him One of Gridania's elder warriors, Lewin has led the Gods'bow against the Ixal, bandits, and worse for many summers. The Calamity casts a shadow over his heart, and the emergence of a new crisis will only redouble his fear that the city may not withstand another storm.

Sergeant Albert Miller

Age: 38 Pronouns: he/him A member of Gridania's police, the Wood Wailers, Albert is one of the more honest members of the organization - and, due to chance circumstances, becomes a strange friend of Yenifer in her time of need.

Wailer Mordin Sawyer

Age: 18 Pronouns: he/him A young member of the Wood Wailers, Mordin Sawyer was destined for an unexceptional career... but a growing emergency changes his course perilously.

Gods'bow Okhi Lanbatal

Age: 19 Pronouns: she/her One of the elite Gods'bow, Okhi was willing to blend into a sea of faces and uniforms... but war changes many fates.

Padjal and their Keepers

Seedseer Kan-E-Senna

Age: 28 Pronouns: she/her The spiritual leader of Gridania, Kan-E-Senna is the city-state's figurehead and commander of the Twin Adders. As one of the almost mythical Padjal, she is frozen in age - and by fear. Beneath that glass, however, lies a different woman, one who is trapped by the duality of her responsibility and the weight it bears.

E-Sumi-Yan

Age: Around 230 Pronouns: he/him A fellow Padjal, E-Sumi-Yan is the guildmaster of Gridania's illustrious Conjurers' Guild. Despite his incredible age, E-Sumi-Yan remains humble, and marries his wisdom with a wry sense of humor.

Keeper Roger Goodfellow

Age: 26 Pronouns: he/him One of Kan-E-Senna's elite bodyguards, Roger cuts an unusual figure alongside his more traditional companion. Beneath his stern public façade, however, lies a secret that ties his life to the Seedseer's forever.

Keeper Bernon Ouraux

Age: 28 Pronouns: he/him Kan-E-Senna's other hand, Bernon is a child of Gridania and is so proudly. Stern, restrained, and a little arrogant, he would still suffer any indignance on behalf of the woman he has sworn his life to.

[skitchwill]

Howard and Noah - - #myart #art #oc #originalart #originalcharacter #cute #adorable #doodles #doodleart #doodle #sketch #sketches #sketching #calm #color #bromance #cartoon #illustration #noward

[rorvk]

Ala Mhigo Indulgence

[yloiseconeillants]

Yloise 🤝 Meffrid / Deliberately undermining Gridanian and Elemental authority

[thecat-inthehat]

One thing I’m really thankful for is that the 5.3 trim of ARR didn’t cut out Meffrid and the Ala Mhigan quests, or really do much of anything to change it. I kept having this lingering fear that it would be cut down into almost nothing, and that’s probably the Ala Mhigan stan in me who’s still disappointed over AM’s treatment in SB.

The Little Ala Mhigo quests are a bit of a long haul tbh, with characters sending you on the run around a couple of times. Most notably, in order to even talk to Gundobald, you have to gain the trust of another faction of the Resistance, which won’t talk to you until a man in the Waking Sands gives you an in by penning a letter of introduction to his former lover. Who is very mad at him. It’s a pretty damn good sense of just how insular Ala Mhigans are, and for pretty good reason. With the occupation of Ala Mhigo some 20 years ago, they tend to band together to keep from outside threats. (I’m reminded of a starting quest in Ul’dah --starting quest has you give some “questionable medicine” to Ala Mhigan refugees on Pearl Lane, who cant afford to do anything but take it. They know they’re essentially being experimented on, but they have no other medicine to take. It’s pretty bleak).

That being said, there’s a lot of character to these quests, and with Meffrid in particular. More than once I remember being surprised by him on my first playthrough, and that extends to this one as well. That bit where he fully admits to being too angry to properly convince anyone always strikes me as a good character tic -- it’s not often that you see characters know their own flaws and readily admit them, especially when a person’s life is on the line.

Anyways, Quarrymill is also your introduction to Gridanian ... ethics? Politics? If you didn’t start there, or you haven’t spent much time in the city proper doing quests. You’re told, repeatedly, that absolutely no help can be given to the refugees because the Elementals Will Not Allow It, and to defy them would bring down the anger of them on the entire forest. It’s um. Well. Christ I do not like Gridania at all. It fucking sucks tbh, between Albreda’s insistence that she’s one of the “lucky ones” who were permitted to live inside the Twelveswood, and her refusal to help her kinsman, and the amount of loops you have to go through in order to help heal Gallien. Like-- they literally haven’t done anything wrong, they need help and yet you’re the only person who’s willing to give it to them.

In one fell swoop, it paints a damning picture of Gridania, as well as works to give you some sympathy for the Ala Mhigan cause themselves, before you interact with Little Ala Mhigo proper.

[onwesterlywinds]

FEBHYURARY 8TH - FAITH @FEBHYURARY

"Meffrid."

The captain halted his steps and turned back to face her, and she held out the token he'd dropped: a charm made out of wood, the leather cord snapped from age or strain.

His friendly but questioning smile faltered as he stared down, then he breathed out a sigh of relief. "My thanks," he murmured. "If I'd lost it here-" He gave a vague gesture to their surroundings, to the dense undergrowth reaching up to their knees. "Well. It doesn't bear thinking about." He clasped the charm tight in his hand as he accepted it from her; in the moment before she fully turned away, she saw him raise his knuckles to his lips.

In that moment, her religious knowledge failed her: it had been years since she had attended a proper veneration of Rhalgr, and the Corpse Brigade's devotion to Nymeia was more a matter of principle than abiding faith. "Which saint does it depict?" she asked, before she could think better of it. "A woman and a child."

Meffrid kept his voice low, though his company were already so far ahead of them as to be nearly out of sight. "Not a saint," he replied. "Just an old token to remember Ala Ghiri." He returned her own line of questioning with a deftness that took her by surprise. "I've not seen any emblems on your person."

He spoke with well-placed certainty, as her leather protectorates left little room for tokens of any sort. "If I had one," she said, letting the bitterness seep into her words for the moment, "I'd have had to barter it away long ago."

He gave a bitter, humorless laugh. "And if you did have one? Something that was yours alone?"

Gisfrid had told her that the old Riskbreakers had had a dragon for their sigil, shown only on the rare occasions their sigil had been left out for lesser knights to find - but the notion of carrying a dragon into battle, of perhaps being buried with it, felt a few steps too removed from her own ambitions. "If you laugh-"

"I wouldn't dare."

"There was a type of lily that only grew in the shadow of Cotter Tor. Galbanas. ...I'd carry a token of one if I could."

Meffrid nodded. "Why would I laugh? It seems perfectly fitting."

She did not know how to respond, unless it was to say that she had grown used to the older fighters painting her desires as invariably selfish. "I suppose," she muttered, and fell back into silence as they reached the border of the desert.

[moosmiles]

aesthetic:

    Clare Edwards & Zig Novak on a coffee date (Degrassi)

[basedicons]

Like the post if you save/use.

[fistfuloflightning]

In a world where the Calamity doesn’t happen, but the Garlean invasion does, things go a little different for the Hext sisters.

20 years before HW, Garlemald invades Ala Mhigo and the Hext sisters (Yda 10, Lyse 4-5) flee to Sharlayan after their father is killed. Yda is trained by Louisoix and paired up with Papalymo to balance out their temperaments/fighting styles. Lyse is also trained, but she’s mostly known as the younger sister and soon she gives up on the Scion training and goes her own separate way.

There they stay until the beginning of ARR (15 years later) when the Scions are summoned to fight Primals. Each has been sent to a city-state to combat the problem.

Yda has been sent to Gridania, saving the world one Primal at a time and working against the Garlean influence alongside her partner/husband/boss/personal nag Papalymo. After 5 years (bringing it up to HW) they manage to purge Gridania and the Shroud. Eventually they decide to settle there, becoming the guardians of Nophica’s stone.

Lyse leaves as well shortly after her sister and returns to Rhalgr’s Reach, where she meets Meffrid and they’re paired up for missions/scouting, since Conrad’s hoping to groom her into the leader her father had been before his death. She’s trained by a silent monk, finally reaching her potential as a fighter in her own merit and no longer in the shadow of her sister.

Conrad dies early in the campaign, leaving her in charge of an organization that still doesn’t trust her. But Meffrid steps in as a co-leader and the two firebrands drive out Garlemald, finally freeing Ala Mhigo and achieving their dream.

[tarajenkins]

When I’m trying to warm back up to drawing and drawing fanart, I really shouldn’t pick the most pure and perfect subject in this game to test doodle, I can only fail

[ketanjupadhyay]

#Historicalday #Article370,35(A) #Nowards https://www.instagram.com/p/B0x-49hg2LP/?igshid=1r2jlz6funnyp

[thinkorganickenya]

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[livvyplaysfinalfantasy]

The second M’naago turn-in quest! She introduces you to Germainne, one of the regulars around Rhalgr’s Reach. The fact that Germainne lost her father in the Garlean attack on the Reach has always been apparent - but only here does M’naago tell us that Zenos himself cut her father down.

That revelation prompts M’naago to reflect on the others who died that day - including Meffrid Noward.

Meffrid, M’naago explains, had a family who he left behind. He never mentioned them to M’naago or, presumably, to anyone else in the Resistance. Tracking them down has been difficult, but that hasn’t dissuaded M’naago from ensuring that they receive the same aid as other families of the Ala Mhigan Resistance.