#ramuh be a man and fight us

[holly-fixation]

Sharing my first FFVII experiences for fun: (spoilers for a 25 year old game below)

-I have no idea when or how I learned who Sephiroth was. I just knew "oh yeah that's Cloud Strife and Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII". "Cloud has a big sword called the buster sword. Sephiroth has a big katana". Literally Cloud got into Smash and I'm like "Oh cool it's Cloud" But I knew NOTHING

-let me be clear, I haven't played a kingdom hearts game either. WHY I knew them both, I do not know.

-my brother introduced me to to One Winged Angel about a year after Cloud got onto smash. And I fell in love immediately. With the song. Yes, the song. He said "hey you should learn how to play this on piano". It took me 2 years to learn but that's besides the point. He showed me the Advent Children fight and I thought it was cool and all but it was really the SONG that got me.

-soon after he showed me Aerith's death. Why? There's this mash up of Spongebob's "stepping on the beach" and OWA and it WORKED?? But in the video they photoshop spongebob's face on Sephiroth when he kills Aerith. Then he kinda had no choice but to show me the actual scene (again, I had no context)

-So my brother bought me VII after he played it under the condition that I do not look anything up. No online walk through or anything, He was my only guide. He didn't want me spoiling myself with anything else that happened in the game, which was fair. Because he purchased VII for me, I listened. He was my only source of help.

-This lead to a few problems. Recruiting Yuffie without a guide is just AWFUL. I got lost and confused so many times. I never learned how to breed chocobos. I never got Knights of the Round. I didn't understand that stronger summons were just summons you got later, not a higher level materia. I didn't know about the single save point you can set in the Northern cave.

-Most inportantly: I never met Vincent.

-I had no idea how good of a healer Aerith was, so losing her abilities hurt. Yes her death still made me sad even though I knew it was coming. Ill argue it hurt the same amount because I watched every piece fall into place up to her death knowing what was at the end of the tunnel. But after it, I was so mad I had no good healers, I made Cloud my healer so I'd never lose them again.

-Two words: Black Materia. God I was not ready.

-Because I played it on a modern console, it had cheats like max health + limit breaks at all times, turning off random encounters, and triple speed. I did use triple speed a lot for farming sessions. And Though I made it through most of the game without the (basically) god mode, I did use them for the two robots in the elevator of Shinra Tower.

-I also used them through the entire Northern Crater because I didn't think the game was over yet. The third disk just started, I went straight down into the crater, and I didn't see a single save point. This couldn't be the end of the game, right?

-I literally did not acknowledge this was truly the end of the game until One Winged Angel began. I turned off cheats immediately and genuinely tried with what might possibly be the worst materia set up possible.

-I used Ramuh against Sephiroth. RAMUH. The man was doing so little damage it was pissing me off because "This materia is maxed out! Why isnt it doing more damage??"

-So after probably 10 Supernovas and at least 45 minutes, I turned cheats back on. I did not care anymore. NONE of my characters/materia were strong enough for this and I'd been playing for probably 4-5 hours straight at this point.

-anyway I had already seen and not understood any thing that happened in Advent children, so once I finished the game, I watched the movie again a few days later.

-Skip a few years and now we're here.

-oh I also never got that scene with Zack in the bottom of Shinra Manor.

-use a spoiler free strategy guide, kids.

[pathfinderunlocked]

Storm Elder - CR10 Fey

A boss based on Ramuh from the Final Fantasy series.

Artwork by Rui Maruyama on ArtStation.

This creature is based on Ramuh, a recurring summonable creature from the Final Fantasy series.  He’s generally one of the weakest ones, and their power varies a lot from game to game anyway, so I didn’t feel the need to make him exceptionally powerful.  The combat abilities and creature type of this creature are partially inspired by Final Fantasy 14, which is one of the only games where you can fight him.  I’m a HUGE Final Fantasy nerd, so this isn’t the first classic Final Fantasy summon I’ve turned into a Pathfinder monster (I previously did Atomos and Phantom Train), and it won’t be the last.

You could absolutely use this creature in the Final Fantasy D20 system, which is based on Pathfinder rules.  However, like the other two, I did create some lore for this as an actual Pathfinder creature.  I think that’s helpful to people who aren’t familiar with the source material, as well as to people who aren’t running their game in a Final Fantasy setting but want to use this creature anyway.

A storm elder is a wise fey being that protects more helpless fey and natural beings, in addition to guiding them.  Storm elders are wise and slow to anger, counseling a strategy of retreat and isolation rather than military defense in most cases, but if their charge is being hunted or the land itself is under attack, they don’t back down from just causes.

Outsiders who wish to entreat with a storm elder that’s protecting something or someone are known for being asked to prove their worth first by defeating the storm elder in combat.  A storm elder that’s protecting something will generally not give it up unless it has seen that its opponent is capable of taking up the charge of protecting it in the storm elder’s stead.  Once a storm elder has been defeated by someone it was testing in this way, the storm elder typically trusts that the person who defeated it has the power to take up the storm elder’s duties, and leaves, entrusting its charge to that person.

In battle, a storm elder’s abilities frequently create lightning orbs which can render its opponents resistant to the storm elder’s magic.  It understands and expects that its opponents can use these orbs to their advantage, and considers figuring that out to be part of their test, even if it’s fighting to the death.

Its staff is really only for attacks of opportunity.  It should be casting spells or using its special abilities as often as possible, and cycling between different ones because they kind of interact with each other.  You always want to use Judgment Bolt right after a successful cast of Hold Monster.  Call Lightning Storm is only useful after it’s out of lightning bolts.

The fact that sonic damage can break the effect of Hold Monster is pretty unusual, and not something players will guess on their own.  They’ll only figure it out if you tell them, you show it happening somehow before the battle, or they do it by accident.  So don’t shy away from telling them if they earn it.  Each time the storm elder casts Hold Monster, you should prompt anyone trained in Spellcraft to make a DC 19 Spellcraft check to identify the spell; on a success, tell them exactly what’s going on, and on a failure, tell them that it’s clearly similar to a Hold Monster spell but something is different about it.

You probably don’t need any minions in this fight, other than the lightning elementals that it summons.  Just put the storm elder up on a cliff or something so it’s not trivial to full-attack.

Storm Elder - CR 10

This being appears as an ancient, robed man with an exceptionally long white beard, holding a clearly magical staff that releases a boom of thunder each time it touches the ground.

XP 9,600 NG Medium fey Init +4 Senses low-light vision 60 ft.; Perception +24

DEFENSE

AC 22, touch 14, flat-footed 22 (+4 deflection, +4 mage armor, +2 natural, +2 shock shield) hp 142 (15d6+90) Fort +10, Ref +9, Will +15 DR 5/cold iron Immune electricity Resist sonic 10 SR 19

OFFENSE

Speed 20 ft. Melee +2 keen thundering shocking quarterstaff +11/+6 (1d6+3/19-20 plus 1d6 electricity plus thundering) Special Attacks electrical tether

Spell-like Abilities (CL 12th; concentration +13)     Constant—clarion call, mage armor, shield of faith     At will—dancing lights, faerie fire, shock shield (DC 12, already cast), summon nature’s ally v (1d3 medium lightning elementals only, see text)

Spells Prepared (CL 12th; concentration +18)     5th—call lightning storm (DC 22), quickened judgment bolt (DC 18, 2 round cooldown, see text), quickened judgment bolt (DC 18, 2 round cooldown, see text)     4th—ball lightning (DC 21), hold monster (DC 20, see text), hold monster (DC 20, see text), hold monster (DC 20, see text)     3rd—lightning bolt (DC 20), lightning bolt (DC 20), lightning bolt (DC 20), lightning bolt (DC 20)

BASE STATISTICS

Without its quarterstaff, a storm elder’s statistics are: AC 21, touch 13, flat-footed 21; Spell-like Abilities CL 10th, concentration +11; Spells Prepared CL 10th, concentration +16; CMD 21

STATISTICS

Str 12, Dex 10, Con 20, Int 15, Wis 23, Cha 13 Base Atk +7; CMB +8; CMD 22 Feats Combat Casting, Divine Interference, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Quicken Spell, Spell Focus (evocation), Toughness, Weapon Focus (quarterstaff) Skills Diplomacy +19, Handle Animal +9, Knowledge (arcana, history, planes) +17, Knowledge (local, nature) +20, Perception +14, Sense Motive +24, Use Magic Device +9 Languages Auran, Common, Sylvan SQ keen thundering weapons, limited druid spellcasting, merciful electricity spells, pierce resistance, staff focus Gear +2 shocking quarterstaff

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Electrical Tether (Su) As a free action, while holding its staff, a storm elder can conjure an electrical tether which hovers overhead.

At initiative count 0, this electrical tether stops hovering overhead and instead targets two creatures within 30 feet of the storm elder and tethers them together, becoming a chain made out of lightning.  If there are not two creatures in range, it readies an action and waits until there are.  For as long as they remain tethered to each other, each creature takes 1d6 electricity damage at the start of its turn, is entangled and moves at half speed, and takes damage any time the other creature is healed.  The damage taken is equal to the healing received.

This tether remains for 1 minute or until the creatures break the tether.  The tether is broken if the creatures no longer have line of effect to each other.  A storm elder can only create one electrical tether at a time; using the ability again cancels the previous effect.

Hold Monster (Sp) When a storm elder casts hold monster, the effect is automatically broken as soon as the target takes any amount of sonic damage.  If a target takes sonic damage that is negated because of its resistance or immunity, the hold monster effect is still broken.

Judgment Bolt (Sp) As a standard action (or as a swift action with Quicken Spell), as a spell-like ability, a storm elder can call down bolts of electricity to illuminate and then strike up to 1 creature per 2 caster levels (usually 5 creatures).  When the spell is first cast, each targeted creature begins glowing with a 10-foot-radius halo of electrical energy, which follows the target, illuminating the target and all creatures within the radius as if with faerie fire.

One round later, this effect ends, and each targeted creature is struck by a bolt of electricity which deals 3d6 electricity damage and 1d6 sonic damage and staggers the target for 1 round.  Other creatures within 10 feet of the target take the same amount of damage, but are not staggered.  A DC 17 Reflex save halves the damage.  A single creature cannot be targeted twice in the same casting of this spell, but can take damage multiple times due to the AOE effects; if it does so, add the damage together before applying resistance.

After casting this spell, a storm elder cannot cast it again during the next 2 rounds.

This counts as a 1st-level evocation spell with the electricity descriptor, but uses a 5th-level spell in the above stat block slot due to being modified by the Quicken Spell metamagic.

Keen Thundering Weapons (Su) Any melee weapon or unarmed attack in the hands of a storm elder gains the thundering and keen properties when the storm elder attacks with it.  This is already included in its statistics.

Limited Druid Spellcasting A storm elder is a prepared divine spellcaster with a limited number of spell slots.  Its spellcasting is similar to a druid, except that it can only cast 3rd through 5th level spells, and its spell list consists only of the spells it has prepared in its stat block.  A storm elder uses Wisdom as its spellcasting ability score.  It does not gain domains or any of a druid’s other class features.

Merciful Electricity Spells (Su) A storm elder can choose to deal nonlethal damage whenever casting an electricity spell, and ignores a target’s immunity to nonlethal damage when it does so.  This decision is made at the time of casting, and the storm elder suffers no penalty for doing so.

Pierce Resistance (Su) A storm elder’s spells ignore half of a target’s electricity resistance.  Electricity immunity works normally.

Staff Focus (Su) A storm elder’s +2 shocking quarterstaff functions as a divine focus component for all of its spells, and can be used as an optional focus component for spells that don’t require a divine focus (including spell-like abilities).  A storm elder adds the quarterstaff’s enhancement bonus to its caster level whenever it casts a spell with the staff in hand and uses it as a focus or divine focus component.  This bonus is already included in its statistics.

If a storm elder loses this staff, it can spend 1 week imbuing a new magic quarterstaff with the properties needed to function as its staff focus, granting that weapon the shocking property in the process.

Summon Nature’s Ally V (Sp) When a storm elder casts summon nature’s ally v, it can only summon 1d3 medium lightning elementals.  When one of these lightning elementals is defeated, an orb of magical energy remains floating in mid-air at the location where the lightning elemental was located.

A creature other than a storm elder that touches this orb gains 10 points of electricity resistance and 10 temporary hit points for 2d3 rounds, and any ongoing magical effects on the creature created by a storm elder’s spells or effects with the electricity descriptor are instantly dispelled when it touches the orb.  After a creature has touched the orb, or after the full duration of the original summon nature’s ally v spell ends, the orb vanishes.

A storm elder gains DR 15/— and 15 points of resistance to all energy damage while casting summon nature's ally v.

[slumberingchaos]

Final Fantasy 16: Aftermath (Great Ending)

verse tag: 𝕧; 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕂𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕠𝕗 𝕎𝕒𝕝𝕠𝕖𝕕

synopsis: The boys all live after fighting Ultima. Clive and co must find a way to harness Origin to have it regulate the flow of aether from the air back into the land to save it. Clive is reluctantly made leader, again, this time over an entire barren kingdom. Fitting.

Ultima was right in the end. Mythos was the perfect vessel and to the so called God’s detriment he did achieve the accursed Logos. Something he never fathomed one of his creations would ever achieve, especially not the one being created to be his perfect vessel.

Clive survives the influx of power that Ultima’s absorption grants him, though it does render him useless for a moment as he acclimates himself to the true power of each Eikon pulsing through him. He could feel it, how each of them became complete within his breast save for the sliver of consciousness that still remained in the surviving dominates of this world. Never had he felt so alive and rife with vigor, and had a lesser man come upon this power Clive was sure it would have gone to their heads. But he was a Rosfield, one who held fast to their convictions, and they were bred to harness power for the greater good.

Selfishly he revives Joshua, using the rebirthing flames of his brother’s eikon to pull him back from the brink of death mending his flesh and giving him back all of his Eikon making the bird within complete and whole - a thing that manages to rid his body not only of its mortal wound but erases the remnants of the curse from his flesh.

Again Clive is faced with the choice once he looked upon the spiderweb of aether running to the heart of Origin, but instead of using the wellspring of power within him to sever it and rewrite the worlds history the wisdom of Ramuh is imparted to him - the Eikon staying his hand as Clive saw odd glimpses of the world flourishing around them within his minds eye. Bearers with no curse living as men, the use of origin to restore the Aether into the world rather than have it hanging poisonously in the air, dominates made whole and the world seemingly at peace. With his resolve now swayed to the future that looked so promising, Clive took the leap of faith to believe the oddly comforting visions Ramuh offered him - it almost felt like Cid himself was at his ear steering his hand.

The chrysalis surrounding Origin disappears, the ambient aether dispersing once more leaving the floating landmass visible to all before it shifts floating down back to the Earth though it does not find its resting place back upon the ruins of Twinside, instead landing in the ocean of Waloed almost exactly where the Crystal once impaled the world’s aetheric vein.

It is there that the search party finds him tending to the wounds of Dion, saving him in much the same way that he saves his brother rejoining him with the true power of his dominate and lifting the curse ravaging his flesh. And thus their great work truly begins after the reunion. The world as they had left it is in shambles and they were the last keepers of the noble bloodlines that the people trusted. The Rosarian Duchy. The Sanbreque Empire. The Northern Queendom. And loathe as he was to accept this - though Tomes and Edda stated it was his by right just as it had been Barnabas’ - The Kingdom of Waloed was his, as his defeat of the Dominate of Darkness decreed. And Mid herself is given the task to harness Origin, to use it to cycle the aether back into the world to reverse the effects of the blight.

It is there this verse begins, just after returning to the Hideaway to celebrate their return and the fall of the so called God.

[crossroadsdimension]

So, I bought FF16 on Saturday, and started playing it Sunday afternoon. I'd dipped my toe in with the demo-prologue beforehand to get a feel for the game mechanics, and I think I've got a good idea of how to handle things.

The plot suddenly took a hard left today that I can't say I was expecting. Well, I was expecting a part of it, but, uh....

(putting a minor rant under the cut; if you do NOT have your third eikon power set, do not read past this. Or do, if you don't care about spoilers. Keep in mind that I've only played FF14, FF1, FF2, FF7, and FF16 so far to varying levels of completion, although I have a decent amount of knowledge about important plot points in the series as a whole. Except for everything past this point in 16.)

I was not expecting an Ultima reference in this game???

I mean, I probably should've -- this is Final Fantasy after all, and considering who's at the helm and the stuff that was pulled recently in FF14 it makes sense that they'd keep using a name THAT foreboding -- but THAT?

CLIVE BEING A POTENTIAL VESSEL FOR THAT?

And then Joshua just -- MMMMMMMM ---

I am very worried for these two boys because Clive is very much in the dark about Ultima and everything connected with that. Cid knew something, but he obviously didn't get a chance to warn Clive before he went down. Joshua knows, but I haven't seen him yet post-timeskip since I only just got to the New Hideaway and had to jump off to make dinner. So I highly doubt that Joshua's been able to tell Clive anything, either.

I'm just sitting here worried about Clive's state as Ifrit and what absorbing more primals means for him with Ultima involved...and what Ultima's going to do to Joshua considering what he may or may not have just done at the end there.

Is Ultima a Fallen? Was Typhon a Fallen?

Were they people who were experimented on, then sealed away when they became too dangerous? Or were they from something beyond Valisthea that the Fallen sacrificed themselves in order to seal away? Considering what the people exposed to an aetherflood turned into, I find it likely that the creatures that were "guarding" the mural at Phoenix Gate and the Mothercrystal in the Imperial Empire were sacrificed Fallen, but...well. I'll have to wait and see, I guess.

(I'm aware Typhon is a wind-based summon from other FF games, like Garuda, so clearly he's meant to represent the corrupted element in some way, although I didn't see him using anything wind-based in that fight. Thank you FF14 for helping me know he existed in FF before 16, but now I need to go through the pixel remasters and find out where he really came from....but that appearance was just straight-up UNNERVING.

As concerned as I am for their current plans involving Titan (and the inevitable build-up towards a Titan fight because CLIVE?? GOING BY CID?? How much of a gasket is Kupka going to blow when he finds out he isn't going to get to kill Ramuh and that someone else beat him to it? Killing the man who killed Garuda, on the other hand....), I am that much More Concerned over what's going to happen the next time Ultima and one of his (its?) servants rears their ugly heads. Is Joshua going to end up possessed? Are we going to have to fight Phoenix again?

I hope Clive isn't forced to kill Joshua for...well, a second time, from his perspective. He doesn't deserve that. Neither of them do.

They better get rid of Ultima another way. I don't want to be forced to watch a brother sacrifice brother in order to save the world.

On the other hand, there's still the problem of the Blight....

[flameblessed]

@svnsworn said: "Another devastating defeat," Sleipnir says with a cruel smile as he places one boot upon his chest, holding him in place where he had been thrown to the ground. It takes but hardly any strength, what with how weak Mythos is compared to Sleipnir himself. Still, he presses down a touch harder, knowing it will hurt, it will press on his ribs and make it difficult for the man to breathe. But Sleipnir will let up after a few moments. "You cannot even be an entertaining match for me. Or, perhaps, you like it when I win. Hmm?" his lips curl into a wicked grin, and again he presses down on Mythos's chest. He could break him so easily, right now - but he will not. He is still a fun toy to keep around.

If he had claimed he hadn't truly tried, it would have been a pitiful lie. An obvious one. Clive had always been a dreadful liar. Even if he had fully accepted that fact until it had been proven time and time again.

He had been trapped on Ash for quite some time. Away from his allies. He wanted to kill Barnabas. He wanted so badly to put this place behind him. Yet, he found himself bested by Sleipnir yet again. Was he ever going to be able to face Barnabas, to face Odin, if he could not defeat the commander?

He glares for a moment before he feels the boot against his chest. His body aches, he cannot keep moving -- keep fighting. But his spirit still burns. He cannot give up. Even as his body and his pride take beating after beating.

He grits his teeth as he feels the weight on his chest increase. It hurts and even pulling air into his lungs is difficult. He hides his agony with a glare, however. He can only hope the other doesn't notice the desperate breath he takes as soon as some of the weight is lifted.

It is short-lived. With a taunt, the weight is pushing back upon him. Calling force the power of Ramuh, Clive using the limited energy he has left to try to shock the other man and get him off of him.

".... I haven't lost..."

[heartxandxhome]

"It was a risk, I know, but I wouldn't have minded that. I've never minded the risk once you asked, Kaleb." And that was the truth; their entire lives had always been a bit of a risk; depending on temperamental crops influenced by changeable weather - rain coming a week too early or late would ruin a harvest's yield, and the price they could see it for. Soft ground for too long would have the garula herd churn up the soil too much that the grass wouldn't grow for most of the year, which meant they had to buy feed in.

The fishing fleet was at the mercy of Leviathan's temper, and Ramuh's storms. "- home was always where we were. All of us. There was never any defeat in all of us being together." It was bittersweet that that wasn't the case and she couldn't undo the frostiness between Kaleb and Nyx; her boy was a grown man in the glaive, fighting in the King's war, and he had seen all his parents' arguments over the years, always on her side. "Nyx would like it here too."

Again the words weren't unkind and they lacked the bitter tone she had learned to adopt over the last few years in these arguments. Instead Sarah looked out over the east towards a pretty landscape of rugged coast that gave way to a picturesque seaside that hadn't fallen into the trap of tourist development like Galdin.

This place would be a risk too; it was away from most of the settlements, as far as she could tell. But that was a bonus too for Sarah as the salty hair tossed her hair in its blustery breeze. It felt familiar. But she didn't want to lean too much into that. This was up to Selena too. "- we should bring Selena here too, see what she thinks." A second's pause and she shook her head, pointing at Kaleb as he crouched down near the dry ploughed ground. "You should bring her here. She's missed you."

And her girl had always been stuck to Kaleb, probably because he had been hunting since she was young and it meant he was gone for long period of time. "Is there much traffic this way? How close is the nearest outposts in either direction?"

Her mind was already a few steps ahead; how much of an effort would this place be to fix up, how difficult would it be to get supplies or call for help if they lived here? But also if there weren't many stops along the way, then this could be a needed stop-gap for travellers too.

that was question that had been a long time coming. surely it had been living rent free in sarah's head since he'd broached the possibility of them moving to the mainland all those weeks ago? but maybe she'd been too hesitant to ask it - too aware of the shaky middle ground they'd found to stand on and not wanting it to give rise to another argument that might have them both lose their last chance at starting over?

why hadn't he considered caem all those years ago? it wasn't as if he hadn't known of the cape - disused as it was, the place had always been a favourite stop of kaleb's, its sea-view and weather-beaten cliffs had always reminded him of galahd and he'd rarely passed the place by without stopping for visit.

' i know you did, ' kaleb accepted with a small dip of his head, slowly letting go of sarah's hand when she walked on to examine the abandoned drills. he followed a step behind, leaning against the post of the fence that ran around the small square of land.

' because i was an idiot and i thought i could earn enough here, to somehow keep our farm afloat, ' idealistic, naive and too fucking prideful to accept that he couldn't keep both worlds afloat. pushing himself away from the fence post, kaleb dropped down to a squat next to the unsown drills, picking up some of the dark soil to run through his fingers.

' pride too, i guess i thought i could be the hero and save our little world somehow, and if i moved us here, then it'd be admitting defeat. '

[mrslittletall]

Final Fantasy 14 Update: I tried to queue for some trials, but at the end, I could only fight hard mode Garuda, because the other ones are unpopular and the queue was forever and I decided to abort it. Anyway, I continued the main quest then. We found out more about the Ul'dah revolutions and what is behind it and it is Omega weapon! But before we could do anything here, we learned that Ramuh got summoned. Of course instead of handling the primal problem right away, I first did a mail man quest where yet another ul'dahn merchant turned out to be evil. They are all evil little fuckers, but I love them anyway ^^ And then I could fight Ramuh, which was a nice fight ^^ He only wanted to test us, so I guess it was a friendly fight. Anyway, another primal fought!

[theherosreturn]

Bradley, not even flinching: …You don’t understand the true power of what we’ve fought, be living that quirks, as you call them, automatically are better somehow. It isn’t. Using just what is from my home universe, Ifrit could scorch your very soul, either tempering you as many Primals can and as he did to anyone he could or just turning you to ash, and set the desert on fire. Titan threatened to sink Limsa Lominsa with his earthquakes, and could easily kill with his Landslides. Garuda created a vortex so powerful, it took a very tough and specially prepared Airship just to get past it, to say nothing of her bloodthirsty gales. Leviathan was set to flood all of La Noscea with his tidal waves, and had just as devastating strikes when directly confronted. Ramuh was prepared to purge the woods of the Black Shroud of all that would be considered man if I hadn’t proved man’s worthiness of staying, his Judgement Bolt almighty and his thunderous power undeniable. That’s just a taste of what I’ve fought, what I endured, what I’ve triumphed over…do you really think you, with your arrogance and reliance of explosive strikes, could really triumph over deities born of belief made flesh?

(A.N. Then I shall get it started)

Bakago: Well-!

Serial designation N, in a shockingly serious tone: Or better yet, could you have beaten Victor all by yourself? Considering the fact that, oh yeah, you needed "Our" help in getting rid of at least a small piece of his army within your home...

Bakago: That was different! He just came outta nowhere-!

Jackrow: That's not even mentioning all the other great dangers we've been forced to fight. We've seen just how powerful Sadistic Sam was before he became a God, seen entire cities get destroyed by certain factions, fought a literal Maskra insect demigod, and had to fight a Frankenstein monster of all the weapons combined made by Code Stringer himself.

Bakago:...Well, I doubt that the Bandits were that much of a struggle. They seem like pushover-!

Uzi, after sarcastically laughing: "Pushovers"?! Those f***ers never give up and they've taken us by surprise more than once! Remember how we said a city or rather, a kingdom was destroyed? Yeah, that was them! And their leader is absolutely no joke/slouch either! He's managed to kill an entire hivemind of the strongest and smartest people within the kingdom in just 5 minutes!!

Bakago:...You know what...No! I'm gonna prove to you punks that these bandits are absolute whimps and you can't stop me! *He soon blasted off to the closest Savage Scavengers camp available...Unaware that their Leader and Second in command were there to inspect the camp's quality at the time*

Bob: And people call me the A**hole!

Uzi: I'll give him five minutes 'til he gets his a** kicked.

[charlottedabookworm]

Reveal AU for a Nyx as Regis’ son au that I’m considering actually writing, just playing around with it right now. This is pretty sad but *shrug* Inspired by @sparklecryptid ’s Royal Bastard AU – because Ace is awesome and it made me want to write my own royal bastard au and this is what I got. Also inspired by @luxroyalty and their Cor as Mors’ son thing that they posted recently. Tagging the usual enablers @hamelin-born @distressedherbalist ---- He doesn’t think before moving, he just does. Maybe, in another life, he wouldn’t have managed it. Maybe, in a world where he hesitated for even the barest of moments, it wouldn’t have worked. Maybe, before he hadn’t spent over a decade serving under the Lucian King, he would have stopped to think. Maybe, if Regis was just his King, if he wasn’t more than that, he wouldn’t have been so fierce about it – wouldn’t have had the tools to make it work. But this isn’t that other life, isn’t that other world, and Regis wasn’t just his King. But Nyx doesn’t hesitate, he doesn’t think. Once, he would have hesitated. He would have stopped to consider the scene – even for only the barest of moments. In any other situation, he still would have – because he was reckless, but it was always calculated recklessness, despite what everyone liked to believe. This time, however? This time it was just instinct. He sees Glauca attack, sees the way that Lord Amicitia is injured and down, sees the Ring of the Lucii fly through the air, sees the look that flickers across the Kings face alongside fresh blood, and Nyx is moving even before he can process the scene. Because he knew that look on Regis’ face. Could tell at a glance what the man was planning. Nyx couldn’t – wouldn’t – let that happen. Not to him. (He had always been thankful that he took after his mother – that he looked Galahdian, looked like an Ulric, despite not being full-blooded. He doesn’t look like his father, doesn’t look Lucian, unless someone was to know to look for it. His eyes are blue-grey enough to hide the slight flecks of green, his hair sun-bleached enough that it isn’t compared to Royal Black, his skin dark enough by Lucian standards that he looked like a foreigner. His tattoos and his braids and his resemblance to his mother protect him, keep everyone from realising that he and the King have the same jawline – that they stand at the same height and share the same nose. Nyx was very obviously Galahdian, and it helped keep the world from realising that he was also a Lucis Caelum) Nyx flickered across the room like lightning, snatching the ring from where it was tumbling in the air. In a single, smooth movement, he raised his kukri to block Glauca’s blow even as he shoved the ring onto his finger – ignoring the protest from the King that was bitten off as nothing happened to Nyx. All of those in the room who knew about the Ring froze, shocked that it hadn’t killed him, and Nyx used the moment of hesitation to shove a wave of magic out – tossing Glauca away from him and sending Lady Lunafreya, Lord Amicitia and the King towards the exit. Tilting his head over his shoulder, he locked eyes with the King. He could see the dawning realisation on the man’s face – the shock and the horror and the understanding – as he finally figured out what Nyx had never advertised. What he had never felt the need to advertise – because he had never needed a father, had never wanted to be royalty. But Nyx was a protector – was one of Ramuh’s Chosen – and he had followed his people to Insomnia, had joined the Glaive, to do just that. Even though it meant meeting the other side of his family. And, though he had grown fond of them over the years, he had never revealed who he was. (Not when it would cause a huge scandal, not when it would hurt both them and the Galahdians, not when he wasn’t certain that the man would accept him, not when he wasn’t worthy of it). Not until now. Standing there, crouched in a defensive stance with lightning dancing across his skin, Ring of the Lucii on his finger like it belonged there, armiger humming around him like a brewing storm, Nyx was very obviously his father’s son. The magic that stained his eyes a rich green, the same green inherited from the man in front of him, just confirmed it. Nyx smiled, bright and sad and cheeky, trying his best to ignore the heartbreak in the eyes of a man who he respected – in the eyes of the man who he wouldn’t have minded having as a father – as he waved a hand.   A shield sprung up, blocking Nyx and Glauca from the others and leaving their path clear. “I’m sorry, Your Majesty. But your son needs you alive.” He said, turning back to Glauca and so missing the pure heartbreak that crossed Regis’ face for a moment. He didn’t bother to turn around again, knowing that doing so might as well be signing his death sentence, but he did manage to grit out a “Go!” between blocking blows. Old Man, Grandfather. I think I might need your help with this one. Nyx thought, even as he felt his father leave with the other two. He didn’t turn to watch. Nyx had a battle to win. Outside, the sky rumbled.

[aeniqmata]

Clive stayed quiet as he watched his father find something to defend himself, clicking his tongue when the man went for a piece of wood. He as here because he was a bearer, and while he would never want someone to use magic to fight if they could help it, a piece of wood wasn't going to do much for him if they came across any guards on their way out. But for now it would do, especially as he turned and looked down the hall to ensure that not only were all of his Cursebreakers going in one direction, but that there were no guards coming from the other.

With his father in tow he would need to be a little more careful than he was intending to, but it wouldn't stop him from summoning a lightning bolt and alerting nearly every remaining guard in the compound to his location. And for the most part he wouldn't let his father do much of anything when it came to fighting, using the aspects of Phoenix, Ramuh and Garuda to tear through any guards they found with reckless abandon.

And the moment he found a sword of decent weight and balance, the thing would be promptly passed to his father with less than a second thought. The conversation of how he could use multiple elements could be broached later when he was sure that his father wouldn't slay him where he stood for supposedly killing his brother.

It would be hard to explain how he was a Dominant, and how Joshua was not only alive but keeping him safe in what was quite possibly the most confusing reversal of their roles one could have imagined.

" Cid is the name of the man who helped me escape from Imperial custody. I was trained and assigned to a branded group highly skilled in magic and espionage, was sent on no small number of assassination missions. " Clive kept his voice even, trying to ignore the feeling of disgust and nausea he felt at the kind of life he'd lived to this point. " He's... not actively out in the field now, but he's still taking care of things while I do all the heavy lifting. "

And Founder, he couldn't wait to get back to the man.

" I am what people see of Cid the Outlaw, but the real Cid is a fair sight smarter and more cunning than I am. I wouldn't have thought to destroy Mothercrystals, nor would I have realized that they were draining the Aether from the lands around them. " Though if it weren't for Clive, Cid would still be wandering about Valisthea whole and hale, and not using a cane to help himself about while he healed.

That they would reunited here, of all places. More than that, to find out that Clive was not just alive, but free... It brought tears to his father's eyes, though there was no time to feel the onslaught of (positive) emotions that welled up within him. Not right now, not while they were still in dangerous territory.

Cid. So the rumors were true, then. Elwin listened closely to the man's words, and it was not so much the message itself that struck him, but how effortlessly Clive now took control of the situation. He had grown to become the leader he had always known his son would be, if this encounter was anything to go by.

Slowly but surely, the numb confusion was being replaced by pride and hope.

He watched the other Branded trickle their ways out under the guidance of their saviors. When it was just Clive and him that remained, it was the other's inquiry that turned his head so that he could once more gaze upon the former Marquess.

"Worry not for me, boy. I can still walk," he reassured with a small laugh, the latter used in attempt to distract from his less than favorable condition. Still, the statement itself wasn't a lie -- he could walk, despite his weakened constitution. "It is the others that need the concern far more than I."

As an afterthought, and perhaps to emphasize the point, Elwin glanced around at their surroundings until spotting something he could take with him as a makeshift weapon: a sturdy plank of wood. It was broken and splintered at one end, but it would do for now.

"Lead the way, Cid." The name was not spoken in mockery, but in amusement and intrigue, letting Clive know that his father would absolutely be asking about it on their way to Northreach.

[weatheredpileoftomes]

refulgence

For FFxivWrite2022 Day 10, “channel”. Frydlona, post-Shadowbringers, ~1100 words. Spoilers for the eighth Eden raid; discussion of canonical character death, war, anthropophagy, etc. Variant on a canon scene.

Memories of ice.

“Perhaps you could describe her for us,” Thancred says.

Frydlona sighs. Titan had definitely not had wheels when she fought him, nor Ramuh a unicorn’s body below his chest. She’s not sure Ramuh had had legs at all, for that matter, but more to the point he’d been less warlike than the one Ryne had used Eden to call forth. That’s what worries her more. “Brave and wise. Kind.”

None of them say anything.

“The real Shiva was in love with the great wyrm Hraesvelgr, and he with her. She knew he would outlive her by…” Frydlona shakes her head, thinking of the ancient depths of Midgardsormr’s voice, of Bahamut, Nidhogg, Hraesvelgr. Tiamat, mourning and tempered and chained. “More time than any of us can imagine. So she asked him to eat her to keep her spirit with him forever. He did, and it was—we all would have died—”

“Sorry,” Ryne says, wide-eyed. “Eat her?”

Frydlona nods.

Ryne’s voice pitches up. “Like Vauthry’s people and the meol?”

“No, no—she… She wanted to do it. Really wanted it, not because it was expected or anyone told her she should. Everyone told her she shouldn’t, even Hraesvelgr, at first, but she insisted. I think she must have known something they didn’t yet. Maybe it was Hydaelyn’s plan, somehow.”

A chancy thing to say to the Oracle of Light, and yet. It’s true. Man and dragon had still lived in peace when Shiva lived.

“What a romantic,” Gaia says. She tries to sneer it, but there’s something vulnerable in the twist of her dark-painted lips.

“How can she have wanted to stay with him?” Ryne shivers. “I’m not saying you’re lying, but it sounds horrible, becoming part of someone else forever, losing everything you are—”

Thancred reaches toward her and stops, his hand just short of her shoulder.

Urianger clears his throat. “Yet thou hast told us only of the Shiva of long ago, and not of the one hight Ysayle, at first thine enemy and then thy true ally.”

Eden’s core is almost as unlike Coerthas as Frydlona can imagine. It has no cold, no wind; the air around them is dark and lit with a garden’s worth of color all at once. “The Shiva I fought was a—a memory, I guess you’d say. Ysayle saw her through the Echo and wanted…not peace, but justice. She lived in a frozen land with cruel laws—a little like Eulmore, but without the parties, and they didn’t eat their dead. They didn’t turn them into sin eaters, either, they just killed them. Or tortured them and then killed them. Or let them freeze to death on the streets, or—”

“These faults they lay at the feet of dragonkind,” Urianger says, “though ’twas their own betrayal of the wyrms that made strife twixt those who walked the land and those who soared the skies, and bloodshed begat bloodshed for a thousand years.”

If Frydlona were Ryne and Gaia’s age still, she might mutter something about Urianger knowing something about betrayal and strife. “Yes. The Ishgardians called everyone who didn’t hate the dragons heretics, and Ysayle made herself the leader of a group of these so-called heretics. She learned to summon what she thought was the real Saint Shiva, as a primal, but she summoned her into her own body.”

“Did she…remember it?” Ryne asks.

Ysayle had never asked questions about what Shiva had seen, and Shiva certainly responded without hesitation to everything Ysayle had known. Whether Ysayle had truly remembered Shiva’s actions, or whether they were lost the way a battle-frenzy can make people lose them, Frydlona is less sure. She hadn’t ever spent time talking to Shiva, for Ysayle to remember or forget later on. “I think so. She switched between the two easily enough, and she never seemed confused.”

“And she didn’t forget who she was?”

Frydlona shakes her head. “Never. I had to fight her once, because her summoning was draining too much aether from the land, but I was glad when we were able to fight together instead of against each other. I liked her.”

Ryne stares into the space between them, considering. “So she found a way to be powerful, when she wouldn’t have had anything like that normally. I wonder how it first occurred to her that she could do that…”

“It was about faith, for her,” Frydlona says slowly. “When Hraesvelgr told her that she had made up her Shiva and insulted his beloved’s memory in doing so it destroyed her. She thought it was about being Shiva. If she had lived she might have figured out who she was on her own, and what Shiva meant for her as a…a weapon, or even a prayer, but.”

Neither Ryne nor Gaia looks surprised. “How did she die, then?” Gaia asks, frowning at—Ryne?

“Saving our lives,” Frydlona says. “All of us, in the end, but right then mine and Alphinaud and Y’shtola’s, as well as allies of ours you don’t know.”

Cid and Biggs and Wedge among them, but she doesn’t—she flinches away from wondering whether, if Cid had survived, if the Ironworks had survived, if the Eighth Umbral Calamity had still struck, whether there would have been anything left at all those centuries on. If they still would have been able to awaken G’raha, if he would have looked at the ruin she’d made of everything she touched after he bid her farewell, and shrugged, and sought a better hero to undo it all.

“Frydlona?” Thancred’s voice is strangely gentle.

She shakes her head, flicking the thoughts away like so many flies. “We would have died, and failed at stopping a—just like Vauthry again, really. A ruler eaten up by his own power and self-image, making the worst of everyone he ruled and turning himself into a monster that had to be stopped. And Ysayle—Shiva—came out of nowhere, just in time, and took the shots aimed at our airship herself.”

For a moment, there is silence. Urianger bows his head. Ryne presses a hand to her heart, fingers spread.

Frydlona thinks of her last sight of Ysayle, a blue-white spark vanishing into the murky yellow skies below Azys Lla. “Hraesvelgr brought her to us, in the end. I hope…I hope she had peace.”

Ryne nods thoughtfully. “You’re right. She does sound brave and kind. To do something she knew was right, and had to be done, in spite of the cost…”

“Ryne,” Gaia says.

“What!” Ryne says. “It wouldn’t hurt you to honor the memories of the dead too. Anyway, we’d better get going!”

[noirbriar]

FFXV AU: Coeurl-Kin

Head canon that Nyx is not only old nobility but his clan was still rather well to do before Galahd fell. 

prompts: ( storm / scars )

——

If you were to ask Nyx, he will tell you that younger Nyx was not a dumbass.

Just. Not very smart.

Out on his First Hunt and he had gotten the stormiest monsoon. Ramuh must not like him very much. Selena is probably back at home having a laugh. She had literally mentioned about wanting rain just as he wanted to leave, when its been days of dry heat and boom! The Fulgurian had granted her wish. Great, just great.

The young boy huffs and quickly hid himself in Etro’s ruined Shrine at the sign of the first heavy drops of rain. Though not before giving a prayer and thanks to be given shelter by his Clan’s Goddess.

Nyx doubts that he will find any decent game or beasts worth of his coming of age ceremony. Unless the weather miraculously turns in his favour. Armed with his kukri and some dried meats he had carried for his journey, he takes a bite and prepares for the long wait. The rain continues to pour relentlessly.

The First Hunt marks the maturity of every Galahdian child at 13 after they stop being the Goddess’ children at 7. Its not much of a legal thing, as 16 is the official legal age in Galahd. It is more of a formality and tradition to show they are old enough to understand and help their Clan in their everyday. To provide and protect. This year, Nyx has obtained the spiritual elders, Shaiks, blessing to do his hunt with a day chosen by divination and consulting the patron gods of their choosing. His naturally, was Etro. His clan’s patron goddess.

Nyx is not sure how long it has been as the rain continues to pour, but he soon realises that in this Shrine, he is not alone. There is another being here with him. The young hunter wisely chooses to play a waiting game with it, hoping to catch this presence off guard. The minutes drag on, he feels more than he hears. Once Nyx feels the tickle of a breath, his kukri strikes. Yet his swing falls short as his target dodges away.

The young hunter did not expect THIS at all.

A Coeurl. A Galahdian Coeurl! His clan’s patron beast and Etro’s beloved creatures. A young one judging by his horns, and comparing it to the one his mother has as one of their many family heirlooms. However, it was still pretty big, all muscles underneath the lush white fur. The beast’s whiskers flicker with sparks of discontent. At this point, any proper Galahdian would have backed away with a prayer. Any sane man would retreat. Any smart hunter would know their limits and leave.

But sadly, young Nyx was neither of those.

The Coeurl attacks, trying to pounce onto the human. In that moment, every bit of his spiritual teachings by his elders had disappeared, respect to Etro and hers gone. Its just plain survival now as the Coeurl lunges, pushing him into the storm.

Nyx uses his lithe form and struggles, getting free and strikes again, this time, his kukri falls true. Blood sticks to the glinting blade and the Coeurl cries. It quickly shakes itself and glares at Nyx. Blood staining its beautiful immaculate white fur, a bloody scar across its nose. Thunder and sparks fills the ozone charged air mixing in with the rain as the magic infused whiskers whips wildly. The beast jumps, fangs bared-

“Ahhh, shit.”

——

There was no winner to the fight, Nyx’s young body was not prepared for a clever Coeurl. The Coeurl too juvenile to know how to deal with a human hunter. As the storm subsides, it reluctantly chooses to back off, but not before throwing a final baleful look of disdain at Nyx. It quickly disappears into the deeper parts of the Shrine and deeper into the forests, possibly to lick its wounds.

Nyx, in his exhaustion, slumps onto the ground bloody and scarred. The boy is more frustrated that he had to return empty handed as the time limit for his hunt is almost up.

In thinking back, Etro had probably taken pity later and sent a Nidhogg in his path as he trudges back home. A large crimson canine looking drake with tough scales native to the isles. With adrenaline still flowing through him from his previous encounter, he manages to best the creature and takes it down. The difficult beast almost nothing compared to the Galahdian Coeurl. The dazed hunter then pulls the carcass along and returns to his tribe with something to show for it.

His people were joyful at the sight of his success as he approached the town. Selena greets him excitedly, jumping into his arms and giving a prayer of thanks for his safe return. His sister eager to hear of his trip as she tugs the other side of the Nidhogg along with her brother. Libertus, Luche and the others had all jumped on his back, congratulating him. His proud mother striding over elegantly from the crowd and attends to her battered son, but quickly spots the curious mark on her son’s chest. She pulls his shirt open and pales.

The Ketua of the Ulrics in all her wisdom, knows immediately what it was.

The Ulric matriarch pulls her son close and demands an explanation despite Selena’s gentle persuasions. His sister clearly worried as Nyx recounts to her and the tribe of the encounter.

The tribe is amazed, taking it as Etro’s sign that the boy will be a magnificent hunter. Thana though, not as much. The matriarch screams, and chases after the boy with her sabre, dismayed by his blatant disrespect and ignoring his duty as Etro’s Keeper. Nyx’s cries for his mother’s leniency.

“What am I to do, Mam? Let it eat me?!”

“You foolish boy! A Coeurl-kin attacking Etro’s familiar is as good as attacking Her Grace! You would have been taken and dropped at Etro’s door right there! Leaving me without a son and your sister missing a brother! I ought to smack the foolishness out of you!”

In the end, it takes some convincing from the other Ketuas and Shaiks. With Selena’s pacifying their mother until she finally relents. Nyx nonetheless had survived Etro’s test and came back with a prey successfully in their eyes. The Son of Ulric is now reached maturity and the tribe celebrates. Thana Ulric huffs, but nonetheless she is still proud of her foolish boy and his achievement in his First Hunt. Although the Ulric matriarch thinks that her son still has many a ways to go in life.

——

Years later, as his lover traces the electric mark idly in the safety of their room, Nyx recounts the tale to him. Which draws a laugh from the older soldier and hunter. Cor remembers another boy as reckless and foolish as the Galahdian youngster. Only difference was that he had instead taken on the undead spirit of the first Shield and came out sword-less, with only scars to show for his stupidity.

——

.

.

.

Extra:

In that exact moment. Somewhere else in a cold wasteland under the depths of unforgiving snow, a young man cradles a shivering babe close beneath his coat. Under the cover of Shiva’s wrath, the soldier and the baby slowly makes their way towards Lucis.

[thepleasuregoblin]

Ok this was a day or two ago and idr much of it. After the library we head to several places. Taking the boat we fight 6,275 fish and Sahaugin, and make it to a town and someone says "hey there's a monster who looks like an old dude zapping people in the woods." Sounds like our man. Head to the woods and fight Ramuh, who eventually recognized Ifrit after uses Hellfire like 6 times on him.

Run around to other towns to grab Bard songs and stuff, then make our way to to crescent isle, boat gets sucked into the sea, pick up the black (pink) chocobo and the two crystals it coughs up, Bard and Hunter. Now I can (have to) use bard! I set Faris as a bard and get going.

We got visit Bartz's hometown, then go to tackle the desert. Fight the sandworm (didn't go well but we did it), get lost in the desert, but eventually make our way out, and to the ruined town.

King Tycoon is acting funny, so we chase him around the ruins and fall into the secret Ronkan whatever. Find a teleporter, and it takes us to bigger ruins on the other side of the world. The boat is in there, and an airship! Cid and Mid drop in, and get the airship running. The Ronkan ruins are a floating fortress, we have to fix up the airship and go in there. Go through that maze of a dungeon, kill the archeoaevis (didn't go well but we did it), and get the Earth crystal. Dragoon! Finally someone tanky. Exdeath and Krile both show up. Krile and Galuf head back to their home planet, and we aim to chase them.

i'll post a more detailed Fiesta update at some point but I got the earth crystal job and its dragoon. Finally some fucking hit points. Healing will be... difficult.

[elevatorelevenhatesyou]

Final Fantasy 14 Part 30: The Ascian Finally Tries To Kill Brash With Lasers

Labradoodle begins our dramatic final encounter by talking about wealth inequality.

So now that Gaius is done with, we get Labradoodle's big villain speech. His has I guess a little more substance to it? 

It's still extremely vague and basically just boils down to "Your god is Bad and my god is Good so I'm going to summon my god to beat up your god."

GEE IF ONLY YOU'D TRIED TO STOP US SOONER OR SOMETHING. The counter is at 8 times you fucking loser. What was stopping you from trying to kill Brash all those times?

Congratulations Labradoodle, you finally tried to actually kill Brash with lasers. Except this time she seems to be powered up by God, and more importantly also a level 71 unsynched ally, doh better luck next time.

Man, let's just beat him up! So they did! The End.

Not really of course, because again we're not allowed to win until God says we can. YAY I FEEL SO FUCKING INVOLVED.

Cutscene, Brash summons the power of god and boobs again and friendship punches Labradoodle out of Thancred somehow. guess that's sorted. thought we were gonna have to muck about with trying to get that dark energon crystal off of him like we talked about before but nope let’s just god zap him. 

Well at least the chaos emeralds finally did something. 

Are they doing something? I think they’re doing something.

Then Brash summons all the planeteers and we all fly past Labradoodle so fast that he evaporates.

nyoom

Great! Guess we're done! Not sure where my teammate went. Maybe she died in the explosion or something.

Oh right, the devastation.

Brash escapes with Thancred thanks to Maggie, and I guess possibly also God? Whatever. Maggie mvp.

Oh hey, looks like Gaius is still alive!

No wait, no he's not.

Maggie best pony.

She's certainly more helpful than YOU lot. seriously what were you guys doing while I was punching my way through those like six boss fights back there?

Ending cutscene, credits roll, new day, having a celebration, Thancred’s back to  normal, and of course more Alf talking.

I am incredibly checked out right now.

Victory speech, yay we did it, we did it by working together, all of us. Except for the beastmen. Fuck those guys.

After the incredibly long but thankfully skippable credits, we cut back to the afterparty where everything seems to be going fine, but then Brash feels Kenpachi Zaraki's spiritual pressure, oh shit.

No wait it was just a vision of a giant hunk of dark energon, never mind we're okay. It's identical to Crystal Mommy except purple and red so it must be the bad guy, presumably the evil god Labradoodle was talking about. 

I wonder if the intention was to make the two gods look basically interchangeable, cuz that was the impression I got, but then I already hate both of these super powerful idiots.

Before that shit can matter, the party is interrupted by a giant beastly roar in the distance, and we're informed that a new primal has appeared. I've been told this is supposed to be Bahamut from the Binding Coil raids, but I never did those, so I guess in my playthrough it was actually coming from Good King Moggle Mog.

Yay, fun little sequel teaser. Well, back to work!

Except then there's a second sequel teaser, with a much bigger, more horrific, and more foreboding revelation than I could have imagined.

YOU THOUGHT YOU WERE DONE WITH THIS BORING ASSHOLE?

FOOLISH MORTAL, THERE ARE DOZENS OF BORING ASSHOLES! EVERY ONE EVEN MORE BORING THAN THE LAST

THE BORING ASSHOLES WILL GO ON FOREVER

I cannot describe how depressing this cutscene was to see for the first time.

Woo.

And so we close the first chapter of Final Fantasy 14.

So it's time for Heavensward, right? 

NOPE! Not for another like hundred fifty fucking hours, actually! Still gotta go through that raid thing I skipped the first time, Mog, Ramuh, Leviathan, that tower thing with even more raids, Shiva's in there somewhere, gotta go fight that ghost dragon dude, get to meet the cute dragon ninja lady, Minfilia gets kidnapped again, and Alf has to start a private army because Alf being in charge of things always seems to go so fucking well. There’s so much more talking to Alphinaud we have to slog past!  Oh yeah, we're gonna be doing this FOREEEEVVVERRRRRRRRRRRRRR

Spite will see me through all of it. Spite is infinite. 

I'll show YOU who's the boring asshole.

I suppose since this is the end of the first of the major stories I plan to cover, I should do some kind of conclusion. A summary, wrapping up, final thoughts, that sort of thing. Should I bother? No one cares. What a dumb waste of time that all was, wasn't it? Especially seeing as I think basically everyone already agrees that ARR is garbage, even a lot of the people who play this game. They keep saying things like 'oh don't worry about ARR it's just the prologue, Heavensward is where the REAL game starts.'

Boy is that a load of shit. Now that ARR is over and we're in the Inter War Period, let's analyze that dumbass claim. You mean to tell me that I shouldn't judge the game on the basis of this enormous many hour long story? That ARR doesn't COUNT? You can't just write off this entire section of the plot. It's still HERE isn't it? New players still have to do this don't they? Unless they pay extra money of course OH WELL THAT MAKES IT ALL BETTER DOESN'T IT. Of course ARR fucking counts, get the fuck out of my face with that shit.

Secondly, looking at it now, I don't think it feels like a prologue at all either. It has a beginning and a middle and an end. It is very much a complete story. If ARR was meant to be only a tour of the basics in preparation for future stories, that would be one thing. I can understand shaving effort off the story if the point was just to introduce the setting. I think that would be a bad idea, but I don't think that's even what they were going for. I can see the things they tried to set up and pay off; they just did a terrible job. If your job is to make a story that gets the player familiar with major setting elements, you need to make those elements actually relevant to the story. Which is what they DID. See again, explanation of fast travel stations as part of going to fight Titan. The trouble is that they didn't do this ENOUGH and most of the time they did it poorly, see again that fucking Duty finder crowbarring its way into the middle of every major boss.

And then of course they muddled up a bunch of the setting elements they did introduce with all the inconsistencies. I still don’t know what I’m supposed to think about tempering. Sometimes it’s the main reason primals are dangerous and sometimes it doesn’t seem to exist. Same for the primals themselves, really. They’re often talked up as major threats to whole city states, but Titan and Garuda literally never hurt anybody. The tonal inconsistencies hurt the setting too, because all the shit they threw in because they thought it would make their writing deep and mature means I have no idea what level of cartoon laws the world is operating on. 

Shamus Young wrote a great many words on what he called Details vs Drama.  Sometimes a story is Details First and puts a lot of effort into worldbuilding and lore and such, and some stories are Drama First and put their effort into characters and narrative and themes and so on, and both of these approaches are fine. FF14 is very much Drama First, but even a mostly drama story shouldn’t contradict itself so much, because not knowing what the fuck is happening hurts the drama. One scene Alf is saying let’s kill Garuda to serve as a warning to the other beastman tribes not to summon primals, then later Gaius kills Garuda and Alf and Minfilia say this will just make the beastman tribes want to summon primals even more. The Alliance leadership is terrified of the Ultima Weapon’s apparent invincibility, but then we just smash our way in and punch it until it explodes, its invincibility apparently having been forgotten. We see Ultima Weapon in action twice, and then after that we get Nero saying soon it will be ready for action. What am I supposed to expect from this story, what kind of emotion am I supposed to be feeling? This isn’t just about plot holes or lack of details. Like I said before, THIS IS NOT NITPICKING. I am having difficulty figuring out what even the INTENT is. What is even SUPPOSED to be being conveyed to the audience? I’m not even sure what kind of attachment I’m supposed to have to these places and characters.

And then after all that, instead of building on what they've done, they get bored and move on. From what I've seen, a lot of later stuff doesn't even build on the things set up in ARR; they introduce whole new places and characters to play with. That's fine, of course, but if ARR is supposed to be the prologue that makes it a really crumby one. Especially for Heavensward, which has pretty much fuck all to do with any of the stuff we were doing before. It follows the stuff in Coerthas with Ishgard, but that chapter in ARR had its conclusion, so it wasn't only there to be set up. Heavensward does have a prologue; it's the stuff that comes AFTER this. The stuff that comes next is going to introduce more of Ishgard politics, more heretic shit, and Ysayle the sexy elf with long white hair that Astra likes so much.

I don't care if the majority of players already dismiss ARR as the early part that's bad and doesn't matter somehow. They shouldn't, because it keeps being bad in the same ways, and if they say otherwise, they're lying. It'll still be a while before I get there, but hate to break it to you Heavensward also sucks, and it sucks for a lot of the same reasons that ARR sucks. So, just like how the player should be going through ARR to get the foundations that later stories are built on, I am committed to going through ARR's horribleness to lay the foundations that later mistakes failed to learn from.

[a-world-in-grey]

Sola/Nox fusion - Buckler snippet

@secret-engima because the recent one-shot motivated me to type this up. First meeting between Axis and Sola!

.

Tredd knew getting Axis in to see Nox - who Axis hadn’t just adopted, but adopted as his Chief, what in the name of Ifrit’s Pyre - would be tricky, even with Nyx knowing all the back hallways and timing everything so that both the King and his Shield would be busy in meetings with one of the Councilors. They’d probably manage an hour, before they had to sneak Axis back out or risk discovery. At best.

But right after getting Axis to Nox, right after seeing the far too skinny kid cling to Axis like he was the only anchor the kid had outside the freaking Chancellor of Niflheim, magic had suddenly flared, hot and bright and furiously protective, making everyone freeze for the brief moment it took for the angry magic to fade.

Axis had looked bewildered and wary, even as Nox relaxed and Luche sighed. Tredd buried his face in his hands. “Ramuh, dammit. Who pissed off the Shortstack now?”

The Chancellor snorted.

Nox had answered Axis’ silent question with a shrug and a helpless smile. “Sola has a temper.”

Axis glanced at Tredd, gaze far too knowing. “Did you pick a fight?”

“Yes.” Luche said. Tredd squawked in protest. Shortstack had been looking for a fight! He did not start that one! “And the Crown Princess gives as good as she gets. We’ll leave you to catch up, Axis, Highness.”

Tredd did not want to leave Axis alone with the Chancellor of Niflheim, but Luche had all but dragged him out of the room, throwing him a look when he opened his mouth to protest.

Leading to four hours later, and still no sign of either King or Shield or even the Marshal.

Not until the off-key humming that precedes the arrival of the Crown Princess. Who is grinning far too cheerfully for someone who blew her top mere hours ago.

She doesn’t give either of them the chance to come up with an excuse for their presence - and how the hell did she get past Nyx and Libertus because Tredd refuses to think they wouldn’t try to deflect her - just fixes them with a raised brow. “Just here to warn Little Brother that he’s got about thirty minutes if he wants to keep Papa in the dark about his guest.”

Wait, what- “You knew?” Tredd sputters. How?! No one saw them-

Luche regards her thoughtfully. “You distracted the King.”

The Princess grins that smug grin again. “Upsetting Lord Egestas makes for a convenient distraction.”

The Councilor meeting with the King today. Tredd puts two and two together and gapes. “You helped us?”

“Of course.”

“Why?”

Shortstack gives him a look, like she can’t tell if he’s seriously asking that question. “The man you snuck in is important to my brother.” She says slowly.

Well, yeah, seeing Nox latch onto Axis killed any of Tredd’s remaining doubts about the kid returning Axis’ loyalty.

The door opens behind them, and Tredd turns to see Axis in the doorway. Words die in his throat however, as Axis and the Crown Princess eye each other with equally sharp, measured stares, and suddenly Tredd feels like he’s been caught between two predators on the brink of violence.

Then Shorstack smiles, and just like that, she softens, like a wave washing over her. She sticks a hand out. “Sola Lucis Caelum.”

Axis cautiously takes it. “Axis Arra, Your Highness.” Shortstack’s smile turns sad and knowing, but for what Tredd cannot fathom. But the tension in Axis’s shoulders finally fades.

“Just Sola.” Shortstack insists, still mind-bogglingly soft - Tredd has never seen Shortstack this gentle, ever, it’s always fiery temper and furious snarls - but a firm note enters her voice. “You are Nox’s brother.”

Tredd wonders when the world stopped making sense. The Crown Princess helping refugee soldiers sneak around behind the King’s back? Treating a refugee civilian stranger not only as an equal, but as family? Sure, in Galahd it wouldn’t be so strange, Axis and Nox are beaded brothers and every Galahdian understood that. But Shortstack is Lucian. She doesn’t know that, so why is she calling Axis Nox’s brother?

Axis must know, because Axis smiles, a small quirk of the lips but it’s a genuine smile all the same, and Tredd is so grilling him for answers later. “Sola then. Thanks for looking after him the past few days.”

“I should be thanking you.” Sola counters, expression twisting with something Tredd cannot name. “For being there. For staying.”

And before them, she bows, so deep she’s parallel to the floor. “Thank you, Axis Arra.”

Tredd has to pick his jaw off the floor. Luche’s not much better.

Shortstack straightens. “You’ve got about twenty minutes, if you want to avoid Papa and Uncle Clarus. If you ever need another distraction, let me know.”

[secret-engima]

Saw a bit with baby Sola braiding Ardyn's hair. A World in Grey's? Made me think, though- What if Ardyn was the one with the Galahdian mother? Except he remembers a bit more- not enough to feel like he's one of them (no one could, or would, claim him now, surely) but some. His mother disagrees strongly and is pitching the most unholy of fits in the afterlife. Ramuh sympathizes, really he does, but there's nothing that can be done at this point- wait just a little longer- (1/2)

talisward

said:

Come the time Ardyn is released from his hell, it's not by the Nifs. No, one very determined teenager Who Walked Twice snuck in ahead of the Nifs and stole him out from under their nose. They were more than a little miffed that they got the blame but none of the reward for the deed. Now Ardyn's getting mothered by someone maybe half his age, but with all the baby stories. All of them. And she's determined to teach him /properly/ this time.

Me: Okay so 1, yes Sola belongs to @a-world-in-grey  and 2, this is ... a wee bit out of my comfort zone for some reason? Maybe it’s because this idea kinda walked up behind me and decked me with a muse bat. But I’m not uncomfy enough to not do a really long ramble so here we go (also buckle up the angst gets going REAL FAST):

-Ardyn remembers his mother fondly, if .. vaguely. He was only 4 when she died after all, and by the time he was 5 his father had already remarried and had had Somnus.

-But he does remember her a little bit. He remembers her sound of her voice when she sang (but not when she spoke), he remembers that she always smelled like rain and wildflowers. He remembers the braids in her hair with glittering beads of purple and black, how she wouldn’t let her touch them, but would gently braid his hair so that he had the pretty beads too. He thinks he remembers her voice telling him that someday she would teach him to make this braid himself, that someday she would teach him everything. That he would see her home one day with his own eyes.

-He remembers her war scream, wild and feral and primal with fury, as she fought off the assassins that had come for them. He remembers cowering under the dining table as people screamed and guards fell bloody and unmoving to the floor and his mother surged to the battle with glittering knives in her hands. He remembers crying for his father, who usually spent dinners with them but just this once had been too busy, he remembers sobbing as his mother’s war scream turned wet and pained.

-He remembers the silence that had greeted him when he finally crawled out from under the table, moments before the doors burst open for his wild-eyed father and a host of more guards. He remembers, in those moments of silence, of staring around at the unmoving bodies of the assassins and the guards.

-And his mother, slumped near the dining table. Not moving. Not reacting when he pushed at her arm, or tried to clean the front of her dress with his hands because it was her FAVORITE and now it was covered in Red.

-His father was never the same after that. Nothing had ever been the same.

-He’d kept her beads, after the funeral. Kept them hidden away from his step-mother, who was nothing like HIS mother. He’d been afraid she would take them away, or try to wear them along with all of her other jewelry, and that would have been wrong on a level Ardyn couldn’t explain.

-Sometimes in the dark, in between screaming himself hoarse just to hear something and the hallucinations of Aera and Somnus that haunted him, he wondered what had happened to those beads. What his mother would think of him now if she could see him.

-Sometimes he laughed, rasping and broken, because of all the ghosts to come torment him, his mother was never one of them at least. Maybe her memories were too faint and blurred to come taunt him.

-He doesn’t know how long he’s been in the darkness (days, weeks, years, an eternity perhaps) when something in the air changes. He thinks it’s another hallucination at first. The shaking of his prison, the rumble of dust falling onto his numb skin, the loud crack of stone giving way in front of him. Something stabs his eyes with pain and he whimpers since he cannot scream (his voice gave out a long time ago). It takes a long, breathless moment of cringing away from the pain as much as his chains allow to remember that the thing hurting him is LIGHT. That this is what light looks like.

-He’d forgotten what it had looked like.

-Something enters into his prison and he wonders if this is some kind of new, even more vivid creation of his isolated, screaming mind. He cringes from the hands that touch his skin near the chains, sobs without sound as this new dream wrenches the chains free of his skin and curses in his ear over the blood that splashes to the stone floor as a result. The world gets blurry after that, fractured and strange. He hears someone talking (to him?) but he doesn’t know the voice. He feels something get poured over his wounds that burns and hears the cursing get worse and wonders if the pain was unintentional or a new kind of torment.

-He drifts away into the void of unconsciousness to the sound of someone shakily singing what might be his childhood lullaby.

-Ardyn wakes up and he is ... not free of pain, but in so much LESS pain that for a moment he is breathless with it. The Scourge still writhes under his skin and there is still the wordless screaming for blood and fury in the back of his mind, but for the first time in a long, long time, the noise is muted. There are other things to focus on.

-Like the strangely colored ceiling over his head, the blankets under his hands and the mattress so soft he feels he could sink into it and never emerge. Like the LIGHT creeping in through the window nearby that lets him SEE all of this. Light. There is light. There are WINDOWS and blankets and- and-

-Is he really out? Is he really free? Or is this some new nightmare that will break him beyond repair?

-He turns his head slowly, every part of him aching, and he sees-

-A living being. Another human. A teenager, no more than a girl really, huddled by his bed in a strange white chair that has a very odd shine to it (or maybe he’s just no longer used to how things look in the light). The chair is small and has no cushions and looks supremely uncomfortable even to a man who has been chained and strung up on great metal hooks for unknown ages, and the girl is somehow small enough (thin enough, too thin, his healer side whispers) to curl up in it with her legs to her chest and her head resting awkwardly on her knees.

-He doesn’t recognize her in the slightest.

-Surely ... surely if this was another nightmare, it would be Aera sitting there, or Somnus, or one of the servants, or even one of the common folk he had befriended in his travels. Not a stranger. Right?

-He tries to say hello and all that comes out is a pained croak. Her eyes snap open in an instant despite the deep bags beneath them from lack of sleep. She stares at him for a moment with eyes of bright amber, then she’s scrambling. Clattering around the very small, oddly shaped room they are in. She pulls a cup down from a cupboard and holds it under a metal rod. She turns something and from the rod comes ... water?

-Maybe he really is dreaming.

-But her hands feel real as she helps him sit up a little, and the water feels heavenly against his throat as she helps him drink, and even if this is a dream, Ardyn prays that for once it will not turn to ruin and pain. Let him keep dreaming of kind things. Just for a little while longer. Please.

-She talks to him only after he’s drunk. She pets his hair and tells him everything will be alright now, that she got him out of his prison and took him to the caravan in Galdin Quay (he does not know where that is, but he knows of a region of Galdin and thinks perhaps it is a village there), that he’s very weak and sick, but she will help him get better. That she’s so, so sorry it took her this long to come find him.

-Ardyn looks at this tiny girl who cannot be more than 16 and wonders why she was looking for him to begin with. Then his eyes catch on her hair. There are braids there. They are not like his mother’s braid, they are different in style, and the beads are purple and yellow rather than purple and black but they are SIMILAR and- and he wonders. He manages to ask for her name before sleep drags him away.

-She tells him, and he doesn't have the energy left to laugh and tell her that she shares a name with his long lost mother.

-It takes Ardyn a long time to be functional again, and when he is (when he is finally sort of convinced of reality) it is to find that everything has gone strange and alien. The world is 2 thousand years beyond his last known date, and technology is its own kind of magic that is confusing and exhausting by turns. Food tastes different, though perhaps that is just because he no longer needs it and has gone without for so long. The only anchor he has is Terra, and even she is an impossibility.

-He knew the legends of the Walked Twice, he had even met two of them on his travels, but to think that his own mother would fight her way out of the afterlife just to come find him-. To RESCUE him-.

-Sometimes he still wonders if this is all a dream. Because surely that is just a wishful fantasy.

-But the dream never wavers or changes, and the girl with his mother’s soul never leaves. She knows him, knows his childhood stories and songs and secrets, she knows how she died. Her knowledge of his life after that is patchy, but apparently she took note when he did not arrive in the afterlife well after he should have, and she had fought her way back to the lands of the living just to find out why, and that apparently the Fulgarian had taken pity on the soul of one of his island children trying so desperately to find her child and told her where he was and why.

-Ardyn struggles with believing, and with accepting, and with the waking nightmares that still try to haunt him with his brother’s face and voice. But Terra Khara (no longer Terra Ulric or Terra Lucis Caelum, yet still so very much both of those at the same time) refuses to leave or let them take him. She talks him down from his panic, and lifts him out of his depression when the world feels overwhelmingly strange. She leads him into the wilderness, away from modern people and their strange behaviors and the familiarity of walking through the wilds on the thin chocobo trails is soothing. They find Havens, and she tells him they were made by Oracles as safe places for the night (a novelty and a wonder, for there were none in his day save the handful Aera made) and Ardyn lies on them for an hour or two, vomiting black sludge and shivering in pain while Terra rubs his back and sings, but the periods of painful sickness HELP. It scrubs him raw on the inside, but each time he recovers from it he feels a little more stable and the screaming in his head is a little fainter. It makes him feel hopeful, tentatively, and it is the excuse Terra keeps bringing up when he begs her to leave him after another hallucination nearly made him hurt her AGAIN.

-She tells him about her culture, braids Khara beads into his hair and tells him the Songs and Stories. She drags him to civilization eventually, when he is stable enough to go entire days without a hallucination and is slowly starting to remember what hunger for food is rather than the hunger for human blood the Scourge breeds under his skin. They sail across the water to the islands of Galahd, to what she calls a little fishing village but to him is as robust as a respectable trading town, and there she introduces him to her (their) family.

-The Khara Clan welcome Ardyn with open arms. They have known for years that their little Terra was a Walked Twice looking for her son. They have known for years the story Ramuh told her, about a sickness and a curse that will not let him die until the new Chosen arrives to cure the Starscourge entirely, and a part of him would be so very bitter of that (a new Chosen King because he wasn’t good enough, born of the line of his brother who betrayed him), but ... it is hard to be angry when there is family HERE. When there are grandparents who pat his hands and press new, comfortable clothes into his hands to help him not burn in the sun. When his mother’s uncles and aunts and cousins flock to him to feed him and sing to him and weave a braid in his hair that is ornate and beautiful and then tell him that it is a Hero braid. A story of his perseverance, of how he tried so hard to protect his people at such great cost to himself. It is done up in a different style from his Khara braid, and his ... new grandmother (Terra’s mother, who is older than him physically but not by much) tells him that it is an Ulric style braid, to acknowledge that he was born of Ulric blood first before his mother became a Khara.

-There are only the barest handful of Havens on Galahd, and all of them are on the coast. The Oracles rarely came here even over two thousand years of history. The nearest Haven is still outside Khara territory, and Ardyn cries from gratitude when the Khara Chief (his chief now he supposes) goes to negotiate with their neighbor Clan for access to the Haven.

-The islands may be modern and all the Clans on good terms, but apparently even now the Bellum are a wary, prickly neighbor to have. He has no real knowledge of the Clans save what he is learning at the feet of the Elders and what his mother whispers in his ear, but according to them the Bellum have always been ... temperamental. Still, they agree to the Khara’s request to set up a little Clan outpost near the Haven for medical purposes so long as a Bellum stays to monitor them and make sure they’re not doing anything too strange on Clan lands.

-Ardyn meets Kassandra Bellum and is immediately charmed. His mother laughs her head off when he says as much to her after the meeting, even though he has no intentions of acting on the surprise attraction to the woman who is built like a Coeurl, is a head taller than him, and who’s reaction to seeing him writhing and vomiting Starscourge on the Haven was merely to raise her eyebrows and offer him some strong whiskey afterwards. It has been two thousand years, but Aera’s death is still a weeping wound and he is not, and probably will never, be ready to move on romantically.

-Ardyn lives there for years. Surrounded by a Clan that cherishes him, and a mother who still acts like it even though she is far, far younger than him physically, and by the prickly Bellum neighbors who hear about him from Kassandra and instead of being horrified are in Awe that he is apparently stubborn enough to out fight the Starscourge itself (Kassandra starts bringing him dead things and weapons, Ardyn is not so blind as to not recognize the courting attempt, but for all there is a physical attraction, he gently refuses. He is still mourning Aera. Kassandra eyes him thoughtfully, then nods and lets the matter drop. He isn’t sure when exactly she goes from being a former attempted lover to his Shield, but one day he wakes up and realizes she is).

-The Ulric Clan gets involved eventually because rumors spread through the islands of the Khara’s Sick Member who has kept his human form despite being sick enough to Turn and who uses a Haven to slowly burn it from out of his veins and who wears an Ulric hero braid.

-The nearest Ulric branch comes to visit and the Khara tell their story only after the Ulric have sworn not to tell the Mainland. Ever. The Khara know how Ardyn got locked away, they’ve heard the legends of Adagium. They will not let some Mainlander king and his troops come to steal away their lost child if they can help it. The Ulric listen to the story and glom onto both Ardyn and Terra with a ferocity that matches the Bellum in intensity but is a lot more open (the Bellum just tend to give him shiny things and threaten to fight anything that looks at him wrong, the Ulric are HUGGERS and the children are not afraid drag him into cuddle piles). Ardyn meets one Nyx Ulric, who is maybe 13 and utterly, adorably reckless and he isn’t sure when this boy becomes his Heart, but he does and by extension his best friend Libertus sighs as he slots into the roll of Hand without hesitation.

-Then one day- the Empire he's heard complaints and dire warnings about comes to take the islands, and as the ships approach, Ardyn sees blood in his mind’s eye and hears the dying war scream of his mother from a lifetime ago and when he Rages, the Scourge in his veins, thinned and mutated and almost tamed by repeated exposure to the Haven, Rages with him in perfect unity.

-The initial invasion force shatters under the might of a Lucis Caelum two thousand years matured into his power and when night falls, the daemons that lurk on the beaches and in the trees do not so much as look at the Galahdians, but instead pick through the wreckage, tearing apart any MT unit or soldier they find (btw MT units are still a thing, but are not Starscourge infected clones, they’re straight robots that Besithia invented based on Solheim tech).

-Niflheim tries again, and Ardyn repels them again, this time with the help of the Clans to whom he gives his magic freely (he is a monster in his own mind, but he is also still a healer, a KING, and these are his people now. Any weapon he can give them to help them survive he WILL).

-King Regis, young and only married, hears rumors and reports of Galahd being protected by a Lucis Caelum with blood red magic and comes to see for himself, and once he finally gets past the frantic interference of the Clans (who cannot hurt him because he is still Ardyn’s Kin no matter that his ancestor was a Kinslayer, who know he is their king of Lucis and to whom they swore oaths of loyalty), Regis comes face to face with a red-haired man who has one blue eye and one eerie gold eye. The man smiles and tips his battered, ugly hat, “King Regis Lucis Caelum, descendent of Somnus, I was wondering if you would ever come pay me a visit.”

-Regis narrows his eyes, but he has manners, and this man has protected citizens of Lucis, and is quite possibly a ... half-brother maybe, or a distant cousin of some sort, “It is a pleasure to meet you...?”

-The man grins and the expression is almost childish, “Ardyn Khara. Though once I was known as Ardyn Lucis Caelum, but you would not know that name.” Regis can feel the nearby Galahdians circle closer and the hairs on the back of his neck rise as he instinctively knows that if a fight breaks out in the next five minutes, these people will NOT be on his side and there are a LOT of them and he only has Clarus and Cor and a handful of Crownsguard at his side. The man’s smile shifts into something predatory and all teeth, “But perhaps you might know the name my dear, late brother gave me.” He tilts his head and his white of his golden eye almost looks black for a split second, “Adagium.”

-Regis tries to remember how to breathe.

-(so yea there you go. Things happen and once Regis calms down from his heart attack over meeting the Adagium he gloms onto having another relative with draconic fervor. Ardyn saves Aulea from dying with his Healer magic and he gets to be Noctis’s Weird Galahdian Uncle. Also Terra is Pelna’s big sister so Pelna grows up gleefully calling Ardyn “nephew” and Ardyn finds it kinda hysterical).

-Also also the Oracles get involved somehow and the Prophecy goes sideways because of course it does I like my happy endings. This one involves Regis not dying to the Ring, Galahd not burning, and Noctis and Ardyn both living happy lives once Noctis goes into Science and figures out a new magical remedy that can cure/vaccinate people to the Starscourge.

-Also Prompto still exists but he’s Besithia’s illegitimate kid who’s mother ran away to Lucis with Cor’s help (he was in Niflheim on another mission but he couldn’t help but aid the woman and her tiny blond baby) and ended up marrying Cor. Because Dad!Cor is my jam.)