#one of the things I absolutely loved dawntrail for - it gave me these moments where I could feel like a mage

[thelongestway]

FFXIV Write 2024, Prompt #3: Tempest

Later, Erenville would say he'd not seen such a storm before - or since. I'd met a number that were its equals previously. One crucial thing had been different, however. Never before had I gone into one on a civilian ship.

And I had no idea how they would survive all this. If worst came to worst, I could teleport, but the rest of the people here?.. With the levins striking water all around us, it was only a matter of time until the masts went down.

There's only so much redirection of lightning-charged aether I can do before even my soul crystal gives out...

"The crystals, damn you!" someone screamed at a fellow mate. "Haul the crystals!"

"I've got 'em!" A Roegadyn shouted, unbending her back from the crates glowing with a familiar burnt orange. "Bosun, ready!"

Those pillars. They were dull the entire journey, and I'd assumed they were merely lights so that the larger ships could avoid each other close to harbor. Could it...

I was running for the Roe and her crate well before I finished the thought. If I was right, we needed the shield up now, and if I was wrong... Well, we were in for a rough ride.

The crystals were positioned correctly, and when I reached for them, the lines did not feel broken. But the shield was still down, and we were running out of time.

"The converter?" I yelled through the howl of the wind.

"Quarter deck! Bosun's got it!" the shiphand yelled back. "You can work one? Then go, GO!"

The bosun was indeed working the converter, but even he was having trouble. Our initial makeshift device had easier, more visible inlays; the artisans knew I'd need it mid-fight. This one? More sophisticated; created to handle not one element, but at least three... And damned if you could see which of the identically-dull stones was the right one in this weather.

I was as impressed by the engineer as I was irked. Did they have any idea of the conditions operators would be facing when they made this? Cid and Nero...

Aren't here. I am.

"Llymlaen's salty loins!" the bosun looked up at me and snarled: "Landlubber, below decks!"

"I'm a mage!!" I did not wait for him to respond, but he'd gotten the message and moved as I laid my hands on the console, forcing my senses into the gems. A moment - and I found the one that shielded us from the levin.

The pillars lit up: one, two, three... Shield! Shield operational!

Giddy, I laughed up at the stormy sky. "Good show, Llymlaen! But not today!"

...And got a smack up the head for my trouble.

"Are ye daft, mage? Do NOT taunt her!" The bosun snapped.

"Well, she started it," I grinned at him, and at the sea. The rush was giving way to memory - and sadness. The Navigator had never been my goddess, but I respected her, and right now - I missed her.

"Ye are daft," the bosun said, giving me a stare. "Get below decks!"

"I'll stay," I said, meeting his eyes. "Should your towers fail, I'll be able to restart them."

He gave a grudging nod.

"Jus' don't go tauntin' the Twelve any longer, hear?"

"Your ship, your show. Wouldn't dream of it."

[sjofn-lofnsdottr]

A friend a while back did a little photo series of her WoL through the MSQ, and I thought that was cute, so I also did it. Why not make the faceless internet void look at it?

One of the funniest things to me is no one remembers Dusk started his little FFXIV career as an arcanist. I didn't have any idea what I was doing or what class I would like, and I basically picked that because I found the idea of using a book for a weapon very amusing. Dusk, as you can see, is realizing this nerd-ass class is not where his gifts lie.

I actually picked up lancer pretty much as soon as I got sent to Gridania. I fell in love with the idea of shipping Dusk and Estinien pretty much the moment he dramatically landed in front of Dusk and insulted him immediately, because I found that hugely funny. I had NO IDEA Heavenward would have me hanging out with him so much, and turn my ironic 'lol this is silly' ship into an actual ship. I also had no frickin' idea how correct dragoon would be (I didn't watch trailers! I didn't think there'd be so many specific callouts about my class!). Also being Blue Spiky Dork to Estinien's Black Spiky Dork gave me inordinate amounts of joy.

I picked up dark knight during Heavensward, as my FC had no one who wanted to tank, and I figured ... why not? I fell in love with the class story, of course, and I do actually like tanking! I had done it in other MMOs, I was just skittish when I was a baby sprout. I had started during the Stormblood era, so my sprout was gone by the time I headed into SB, which is a little crazy to think about now, but I did feel experienced enough to subject strangers to my tanking. Also, jumping puzzles can go fuck themselves.

Dusk, by the way, is basically 'what if a golden retriever was an elf?' which is why I kept playing DRK. Because I found the idea of poor Fray riding along with this sweet man without a resentful bone in his body absolutely hilarious. Alas, after the end of the Shadowbringers MSQ, I decided to give this newfangled gunbreaker class a try. I find gunblades extremely stupid. I find the concept ridiculous and not remotely cool.

But the class was *fun* and Dusk looks amazing in the armor. I am a simple creature, okay?

I want to say he'll probably still be a gunbreaker in Dawntrail's MSQ, I can't imagine either of the new classes drawing me away from it, since MSQ aside, I love tanking for my dork friends and will want to keep doing it. But who knows, I never thought I'd switch to gunbreaker, either.